Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

The policies that we put in place have ensured that businesses have been able to reopen their doors and, in many cases, keep them open and also get Australians back into jobs. When we look at the national effective unemployment rate, it has fallen to 7.4 per cent from 14.9 per cent. Almost 75 per cent of those who had lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19 are back at work. Certainly there are, encouragingly, signs of recovery. The OECD has upgraded Australia's economic outlook by 0.3 per cent, confirming our economic recovery is underway. The OECD has also emphasised the Morrison government's economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic and specifically pointed to JobKeeper, personal income tax and the JobMaker hiring credit as all assisting in getting us to where we are today. Again, it is those small and family businesses that are the backbone of the Australian community, and we say— (Time expired)