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

Thank you very much, Mr President. I would just remind the Australian people that in 2013, on coming into government, we inherited a weakening economy, rising unemployment—with the unemployment rate headed past 6¼ per cent—and indeed a rapidly deteriorating budget position. We were able to turn that situation around. Let me just say that the increasing trajectory of unemployment we inherited from Labor was a key ingredient for a softening in wages growth when we came into government. And since then, as a result of our policies, as a result of our plan, we've been able to create more jobs: 1.4 million more new jobs and an unemployment rate down to 5.2 per cent.