Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Duniam for that question and yes, I can. Over the past week, both the International Monetary Fund and the OECD have released important fresh assessments of the Australian economy and the economic growth outlook for Australia. Both those independent international organisations gave a ringing endorsement of the strength of the Australian economy and our economic growth outlook. The International Monetary Fund pointed out that our economy's strong growth momentum would continue and that private consumption growth would remain buoyant, supported by strong employment gains. The OECD pointed to a robust outlook for the Australian economy, noting that 'rising employment is boosting incomes and consumption' and 'growth of wages will rise gradually while the unemployment rate will edge lower'.

It is worth remembering what the IMF was saying about the Australian economy back in 2013, when Labor was in office. Back then, the IMF was warning about the prospect of below-trend growth. The IMF said then that there was a real likelihood that demand for labour would fall, that wages and employment growth would slow, that consumption growth would decline and that government finances would weaken. That is exactly what we found when we came into government in September 2013. Labor left behind a weakening economy, rising unemployment and a rapidly deteriorating budget position. We had to fix Labor's fiscal and economic mess. What we have delivered through our plan for a stronger economy and more jobs and to repair the budget is what the IMF and the OECD today reflect on as a stronger economy, more jobs and a stronger and better economic growth outlook: 3.4 per cent growth—twice as fast as the French economy, nearly three times as fast as the UK economy and well above the OECD average of 2.5 per cent. That does not happen by accident; it's happened because we turned the situation left by— (Time expired)