E&OE....................................................................................................
This is a great day for the Australian economy and for the Australian
people. And we're introducing into Parliament an historic reform
of our taxation system that will build an even stronger Australia
in the next century. We've had dramatic evidence of just how
strongly the Australian economy has grown despite the Asian downturn.
We have defied that downturn. And we have another cut in interest
rates, which is good news for homebuyers. It adds up to the strongest
and best run economy Australia has seen for 30 years. It's
good news all round and it's certainly a defiant repudiation
of the doomsday talk from our political opponents.