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

Senator Conroy may think that the strength of the Australian economy is a laughing matter. It is not actually a laugh matter. This is about growth and jobs and better opportunity for people across Australia. When we came into government we were confronted with a weakening economy, rising unemployment and a budget position that was rapidly deteriorating. Of course, what Senator Dastyari would know if he looked at Labor's last budget is that, by the end of June 2015, the unemployment rate was lower than had been anticipated in Labor's last budget. He would know that the Reserve Bank governor has clearly outlined that the unemployment rate is forecast to be lower than had been anticipated. Why is that? Because employment growth in Australia is stronger than what it has been. In the economy, we have had more than 335,000 new jobs created since we came into government, and 19,100 on average a month. That is more than four times as many as the last year of Labor in government. What I would say is that the growth rate and the unemployment rate are what are called lag indicators.