Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on today's matter of public importance submitted by the opposition on the record of the Gillard Labor government. I am particularly proud of this record and particularly proud of Labor's plan for Australia's future. We have just heard a lengthy diatribe from those opposite, seeking to talk down this record as though working to secure the jobs of hardworking Australian families through the greatest economic challenge since the Great Depression is a bad thing. This government has stayed focused on securing the jobs of working Australians throughout our term, and what better marker of ongoing success than the creation of more than 800,000 jobs during the worst of economic times around the globe. When nations around the world were putting their hands in the air, this Labor government got on with the job of governing, of assisting the community to build vital roads and classrooms and assisting business to create jobs. Everyone in this place knows the fantastic job done throughout the global financial crisis by the Labor government. Labor's fast, targeted action to stimulate the economy has seen our economy now 10 per cent larger than before the GFC, while many other advanced economies are still smaller than they were before the global crisis.

I would like to list five economic statistics that show that as things stand Australia's economy is tracking along quite nicely. They are: (1) annual GDP growth is 3.1 per cent, around the long-term target of three per cent; (2) the annual inflation rate is 2.2 per cent, nicely within the Reserve Bank's target range; (3) the unemployment rate is 5.4 per cent and, while never low enough, it is well below the average of the Howard government; (4) the annual wage-price index is at 3.7 per cent, just 1.5 per cent higher than the inflation rate, giving working Australians more opportunities each year, and; (5) the standard variable mortgage rate is 6.45 per cent, which is making home ownership affordable for many Australians. These five statistics highlight that the Australian economy is tracking very well.

And just for the fun of it, I would like to add a sixth, a sixth that definitely would not be possible without the interventionist approach the Labor government took in 2008 and 2009 to stimulate the Australian economy. The sixth is that starting with the Hawke-Keating Labor government, Australia has achieved 21 years of consecutive economic growth. During these 21 years, with roughly half under a Labor government and half under a Liberal government, sustained reforms began with the Hawke and Keating governments, continued through to the Rudd and Gillard governments—like the reforms and quick action we took in 2008 and 2009 to stimulate the economy—and continue to set Australia up as a great place to work, to do business and to raise a family. I would like to turn my focus to the great achievements of the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments for the electorate of Braddon, in north-west Tasmania, where I live. We have had achievements across health, education, roads, rail and ports, tourism, industry development and innovation. North-west Tasmania always does better with a Labor government. Federal Labor has delivered two GP superclinics for north-west Tasmania, one in Burnie and one in Devonport. It was interesting to read in our local paper, the Advocate, earlier this week when Senator Colbeck was caught knee-deep in the mud. Senator Colbeck was caught trying to sling mud at the proprietors of the Devonport superclinic for not accepting new patients when a quick call to the clinic would have alleviated his concern. In fact there are three new doctors now taking new patients at the clinic. Together with the Burnie clinic, the strain is being taken off the emergency departments at the North West Regional Hospital and the Mersey Community Hospital. People who do not need the high level of care of an emergency department are being seen within the community—a Labor reform that is saving the community money and keeping people from the stress of going to hospital.