Mr HOCKEY (North Sydney—The Treasurer) (14:41): No. Australia was pretty excited to get rid of a bad Labor government. That is one of the reasons why they were brimming with hope. And we have delivered—and it is hard work, but we are delivering. We were never going to turn it around on a dime, but I tell you what: all the trends are positive. Employment: do you remember, at the beginning of this year, the Leader of the Opposition was on his feet saying that all the jobs are going to go: 'All these car plants are going, all these jobs are going and aren't you guys the great wrecking ball of jobs'? One hundred and twenty-five thousand new jobs created this year! Mr Shorten interjecting— The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition will desist! Mr HOCKEY: Listen, mate. You were the last employment minister and you had a really bad record. Mr Shorten: You're shocking, mate. The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition will desist! He will either desist or leave. Mr HOCKEY: Fifteen thousand new jobs a month under this government. The second thing is: job advertisement numbers for September are at an 18-month high. Mr Champion interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Wakefield is warned! Mr HOCKEY: Job advertisements are now 7.9 per cent higher over the past year, indicating that labour conditions are improving. According to the ANZ consumer confidence data released on 21 October—it is quite a volatile index—the four-week average is sitting above the monthly average since 1990. Let me say it again: consumer confidence, under a four-week average—from ANZ—is sitting above the monthly average since 1990. How about business expectations? Dun & Bradstreet's business expectations survey says: Business owners are optimistic about seeing a jump in sales during the run-up to Christmas … What about dwelling starts? Let us go to the ABS dwelling starts. Dwelling starts have lifted to 180,408 new dwellings over the 12-month period to June, which is the highest result in 19 years—the highest dwelling start construction activity in 19 years. Hang on; there's more! The more comes about because we are delivering the outcomes that Australians expected. One of the ways we did that was through getting rid of the carbon tax, which effectively reduced electricity prices by 5.1 per cent in the last quarter. What does that mean? That will flow through the economy. It is the first time— Mr Perrett interjecting— The SPEAKER: The member for Moreton is warned. Mr HOCKEY: there has been a reduction in electricity prices since records were first kept. These are the building blocks for a stronger Australian economy; only the coalition can deliver.