Tony Abbott has again shown that he is either deliberately misleading Australians about the economy or he is, as Peter Costello famously said, an 'economic illiterate'.
Last year, Mr Abbott dropped this clanger about economic growth:
Now, at the heart of what I offer to the Australian people is a return to economic growth.
[DOORSTOP, 20 SEPTEMBER 2012]
Mr Abbott repeated these claims this morning, saying:
What we need to do essentially is restore stronger economic growth…
[RADIO 2GB - 2 MAY 2013]
The only problem with Mr Abbott's statements is that Australia has been growing strongly for 21 consecutive years.
Australia's economic growth continues to outstrip all of our major competitors. Unlike most other advanced economies, Australia didn't fall into recession during the global financial crisis thanks to the Labor Government's successful stimulus, together with the hard work and resilience of the Australian people.
Since the Global Financial Crisis, Australia's economy has grown by more than 13 per cent, while the United States has only grown by 3.2 per cent. Countries like the United Kingdom have gone backwards over the same period, with their economy shrinking by 2.5 per cent.
Mr Abbott has no idea about the economy. After all, in 2009 while the Parliament was debating Australia's response to the Global Financial Crisis, he fell asleep in his office and missed the vote (the Daily Telegraph).
Mr Abbott simply isn't up to the job of managing Australia's economy.