State Final Demand

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:37): Supplementary arising from the answer, talking about contemporaneous economic figures: is the Treasurer able to outline to the chamber, as of the figures released today, which state in Australia had the lowest growth in terms of state final demand, the figure that the now Premier used to use as the measure of economic activity?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:37): Mr President—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: This is the point that I am making. The Labor Party likes to look back at the figures from last year, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. They are referring to state final demand figures from the December quarter, which are obviously from October, November, December last year. What we are talking about are in the last fortnight: February 2021. We will let the Labor Party live on the historical figures of last year. Good luck to them. They can luxuriate in the problems of the past but this government is all about the confidence and vision for the future. We are looking at what is happening now, not what happened last year. We are talking about the here and the now and the future and where this state is going to head, and under this government it has got an optimistic future.