Question to the Treasurer, Joe Hockey MP - Trade with China

Mr HAWKE (Mitchell) (14:12): My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer inform the House how the government's economic plan is helping to create jobs? What will the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement do to further strengthen the economy and create more jobs in my electorate and elsewhere?

Mr HOCKEY (North Sydney—The Treasurer) (14:12): I thank the honourable member for Mitchell for his question. I really do appreciate it. When we came to office, the economy was creating 3,600 jobs a month. Last year we got that up to 16,000 jobs a month. And this year we have got it up to 23,200 jobs a month We inherited 3,600 jobs a month on average under Labor. We now have it at an average of 23,200 jobs a month under the Abbott coalition government. It bounces around from month to month. But the average best indicates exactly what is happening in an economy and it is not an accident. You do not get that improvement in job creation by sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, chewing a blade of grass. You actually have to do real things. It starts with getting rid of taxes. We got rid of Labor's carbon tax, we got rid of Labor's mining tax, we got rid of Labor's car- manufacturing tax, we got rid of Labor's piggy bank tax and we got rid of Labor's—

Opposition members interjecting—

Mr HOCKEY: Oh, that was a great tax on motor vehicles. That was a brainstorming session from Labor. And we have got rid of Labor's bank deposit tax.

Opposition members interjecting—

The SPEAKER: Members on my left will cease interjecting.

Mr HOCKEY: When you get rid of Labor's taxes, even when you get rid of the Labor Party, you see more jobs created in Australia. And that is on the back of the $50 billion infrastructure program and it is on the back of abolishing 80,000 pages of red tape regulation that we inherited from Labor. Now Labor is opposing more free trade. Labor is opposing the opportunity for Australia to benefit from an improvement in the trade relationship with China.

Each year we have a $150 billion trade relationship with China—$100 billion in Australia's favour and $50 billion in China's favour. Our trading relationship with China is to our benefit at a two to one ratio. What that means is that anything we can do to grow the relationship with China means more jobs with better pay for everyday Australians, because every dollar of trade with China works in our favour at a rate of two to one. Now the Labor Party and the CFMEU are playing games with that relationship.

Mr HOCKEY: China's growth this year accounts for 30 per cent of the world economy's growth. Thirty per cent of the world economy's growth comes from China. As it moves from an investment focus to a consumption focus, the job opportunities as a result of the free trade agreement are going to be rich for every single Australian.