Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to take note of the answers to questions, particularly those relating to the economic performance of the government. One would be challenged, I suppose, in considering the contributions to this debate this afternoon, to understand that, despite the rewriting of history that we have heard today in the chamber, three years of the Labor government has actually delivered some extraordinary reforms and some extraordinary outcomes. Senator Wong, addressing some of those issues today, made the point that, regardless of the challenges that we have in explaining and understanding the implications of surviving the GFC, that is what Australia did. Australia survived the GFC because of the work and the decisions of the Australian government to keep our economy strong and to protect jobs when, around the world, hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs in the global recession. We even understand that we could have been looking at something like 200,000 Australians losing their jobs. That would have had a massive impact on our economy and on our society.

The work that we did in preventing that crisis from happening included the introduction of the bank guarantees and the introduction of the stimulus program, which created 50,000 projects around Australia—500 libraries, 400 halls, 360 classrooms in schools and 10,000 families being supported through the solar hot water rebate system. Think about what else we have done over the three years. We have avoided recession and we have lower debt and a lower deficit than any of the other major advanced economies. We have an unemployment rate that is the envy of the world—5.4 per cent at the moment. That unemployment rate is significantly lower than in most countries; in fact it is lower than all but one of the major advanced economies. We have created more than 375,000 jobs this year, and there are 650 more Australians in work today than when we took office three years ago, despite the impact of the GFC.

What else have we been doing? We recognised the cost-of-living pressures. A question about that was asked of the government today. We have reduced income taxes in the last three years. Significantly, someone on $30,000 a year now pays $750 less tax than in 2007-08, and someone on $50,000 pays $1,750 less tax than in 2007-08. We have lifted the low income tax offset to $1,500. We have provided an education tax refund for parents supporting kids getting back to school. For laptops, school textbooks and uniforms, eligible families can claim almost $400 to help support their children in primary school and almost $800 for each child in secondary school.

We have introduced First Home Saver Accounts and First Home Owner Boosts. We have looked at unfair mortgage exit fees and reinvestment in RMBSs to support competition. We have raised the childcare rebate. We have become the dominant funder in the health system. We have reformed the pension system. Those were significant reforms, increasing the pension by around $115 a fortnight for single pensioners and around $97 a fortnight for pension couples. We committed to returning the budget to surplus in 2012-13 and we are on track to do so.

These are the things that, as a Labor government, we have delivered. We have stayed true to our commitment to the Australian people. We have ensured that we will commit to a fair go and a fair sense of opportunity for all. In doing so, we will ensure that the legacy of our Labor government is a stronger economy, a stronger Australia, a stronger society, a more inclusive community and a sense that those who are really struggling on the edge are going to be supported and be given a leg up. Our social inclusion strategy is a very powerful approach that ensures that everyone in Australia has the chance and the choice to have a job, to learn, to work, to engage and to have their voice heard. That is a very powerful legacy.