Subjects: National Accounts Figures.
E&OE................................
JOURNALIST:
.to the Minerals Council tonight?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well of a strong growing economy that has not been mugged by the GST. But in the long term has been enhanced by tax reform. This is a tremendous vote of confidence in the forward looking views of the Australian people. They weren't diverted, they weren't depressed, they weren't influenced by all the doomsday talk from our political opponents, aided I have to say by some quite outlandish headlines at the time of the December quarter National Accounts.
What has happened is that we have now moved into the post-GST phase of the economic debate in Australia and we are now focusing on the long term growth dividend of the government's economic policies.
JOURNALIST:
So they're not taking any notice of the Opposition?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well in think the Australian public know that this economy has been run very well. They have a lot of confidence. The consumers are out there spending. I mean if the GST had mugged them they wouldn't be spending so much. If the services sector of the economy, which copped an indirect tax for the first time with the introduction of the GST had been mugged by the GST it wouldn't be growing at its fastest rate for 25 years. I mean all of the evidence today refutes line by line the negative talking down of the Australian economy by the Labor Party. They should apologise to the Australian people for talking down the national economic interest.
[ends]