Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Growth last year was stronger than in the year before, the last year of Labor government. Growth last year was 2.4 per cent compared to 1.9 per cent in the last year of Labor, and this year we had one of the strongest starts, when it comes to economic growth, of any country in the developed world.

Today we have got some further good news. Senator Wong does not like good news, but today the Commonwealth Bank released its monthly business sales indicator, and what does it show? It shows the biggest lift in business spending in three years, and that is directly attributed to the growth-promoting budget of the coalition government. We came into government with a strong plan to strengthen growth, to create more jobs and to repair the budget, and we are making progress in that. The Commonwealth Bank business sales indicator shows that economy-wide spending grew at a solid pace of 0.8 per cent in May after similar gains in March and April, the strongest three-month gains in 15 months. It is notable that spending by business services rose by 1.9 per cent in trend terms in May, the biggest monthly lift in three years, and it is directly attributed to our budget. In annual terms the business sales index grew by 7.5 per cent in May, up from 7.2 per cent annual growth in the year to April. Labor does not like the good news. (Time expired)