Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

We do have strong data coming through to show that, although there is a tough road still ahead, the economic comeback in Australia is well and truly underway. We know that the recovery has some way to go and that we face many global headwinds, but indeed consumer confidence has once again surged to its highest level in a decade. When Westpac's monthly index jumped 4.1 per cent their chief economist, Bill Evans, said, 'After only eight months, the evidence seems clear that sentiment has fully recovered from the COVID recession.' That's only sentiment. We acknowledge that the work is in continuing the strong jobs growth that we have seen to date and to make sure that we get Australians back into more jobs. That's what our budget is built around and what our policies are built around—maintaining that whilst also seeing Australia's AAA credit rating reaffirmed and the support to make sure that we have growth across the economy.