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

Of course we want to see a strong economic recovery on the other side of this crisis. That is self-evident—that that's what we want to see. And let me say: any Australian who had been watching what has happened in other economies around the world and compared that with what is happening here in Australia would say that, both on the health front and on an economic front, Australia is performing comparatively better. That doesn't mean that we're not facing continued challenges. Of course we are. And of course there is going to be much hard work that will need to be done. But let me tell you: our agenda of lower taxes, smaller government and encouraging and incentivising hard work, effort and risk-taking—these are the sorts of policy values and principles that will stand Australia in very good stead and will help us to ensure that Australians will have the best possible opportunity to get ahead in the future. We need a strong private-sector-led recovery. We need to ensure that the nine out of 10 working Australians who work for private sector businesses have the best possible job opportunities into the future. (Time expired)