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

I thank Senator Gallagher for the question. I can confirm the release of the national accounts today, which show a contraction of 1.9 per cent through the September quarter. This is the result and the price of lockdowns. It is not an unanticipated result, although it is in fact ahead of market expectations in terms of what the result was likely to be.

I'd don't have the precise tally for the quarterly figures across OECD countries that the senator asked for. But it is certainly the case that Australia's economic performance in recovery through the pandemic is in the top 3 across advanced economies across the world, with our performance in recovery and three-year growth stronger than Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and many others.

Through the course of this year there have been many disruptions. Since the delta variant became the dominant variant of COVID-19 there have been lockdowns or state of emergency declarations in at least 81 different countries. That has obviously had significant impacts right around the world. But, in Australia, growth remains up 3.9 per cent throughout the year. Growth remains up 3.9 per cent throughout the year, driven by strong performances in a number of sectors, with our rural exports, in particular, driving strongly, increasing by 47 per cent throughout the year. The terms of trade and trade surplus for Australia are now the highest on record. This is a demonstration of just one area of the policies that our government has pursued to create the maximum range of opportunities for Australian businesses and exporters. Our government is delivering for them, and delivering for the nation as well.