Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Senator, we are ambitious for Australia. We do have high aspirations for Australia, and, after 12 years of do-nothing, achieve-nothing government, we actually think there is a need for reform, both in our economy and in our society. We have set about delivering on that agenda, but it is also true that the major challenge this government has faced is the onset of the global financial crisis. That is what has taken up the vast majority of the government’s efforts over the last couple of years. The most important thing Australians needed was strong economic leadership. They needed protection from the worst impacts of the global financial crisis. We delivered the leadership the country needed. We delivered the stimulus and other responses that allowed us to come out of the recession and the global financial crisis in better shape than virtually any other economy in the world. The Australian people understand that that was one of our core requirements, and we delivered in spades. We protected Australian jobs and kept Australians working, which I think was a great achievement. We also ensured that the economy would now be growing at a very healthy rate with relatively low unemployment. Those are important deliverables that the government is very proud of. (Time expired)