Senator CORMANN (Western Australia—Leader of the Government in the Senate, Minister for Finance and Vice-President of the Executive Council) (14:04): The national accounts released today show what Australians already knew: our economy has been hit hard, very hard, by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Australian economy contracted by seven per cent in the June quarter, which is indeed the largest quarterly fall in real GDP on record, since records were kept. This was driven by large drops in household consumption, dwelling investment and business investment. The largest contributors to the decline in consumption were hotels, cafes and restaurants, which were down 56.1 per cent, and transport services, which were down a staggering 85.9 per cent. But the numbers today show that Australia is performing comparatively well when compared to other countries around the world facing precisely the same challenge. The IMF is expecting that 157 economies will contract this year, with unprecedented falls in many. COVID-19 has been a wrecking ball through the global economy. The impact in the June quarter has been staggering, with GDP falling by 20.4 per cent in the UK, 13.8 per cent in France, 11.5 per cent in Canada and 9.1 per cent in the United States. Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator CORMANN: The decisions our government made prior to this crisis improved our budget position by more than $250 billion over the 10 years to 2022-23. That put us on a better, more sustainable fiscal trajectory for the future as we went into this crisis. It has enabled us to provide record levels of crisis support into the economy—to business and to working families. If we had not done what we did in our first six years in government, we would have had less fiscal capacity to respond and our economy would have been less resilient— Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order on my left! Senator CORMANN: and today our economy would have been weaker. It is because we repaired Labor's— Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order on my left! Senator CORMANN: mess in our first six years in government that Australia is in a better position today than we otherwise would have been. The PRESIDENT: Order on my left! I will call Senator Brockman when I can hear him. Senator Wong interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Wong! Senator Brockman, a supplementary question?