Prime Minister Julia Gillard has taken a swipe at irresponsible commentators talking down the Australian economy.
In a bid to put Labor back on the political front foot, she said the most recent national accounts data showed the Australian economy was growing, stable and strong.
But some of the commentary in the wake of the data, showing annual growth slowing to 2.5 per cent, was “strikingly misguided”.
“I’m not talking here about criticism of the government’s economic policies – not at all – I’m referring to glaring misstatements about the economy itself,” she told CEDA’s State of the Nation conference in Canberra on Monday.
“If irrational exuberance has an opposite it’s probably unreasonable pessimism and we’ve witnessed that in some quarters these past three weeks.”
Ms Gillard said some commentators ignored two important features of the national accounts: new dwelling investment rose by 10.2 per cent – the strongest annual growth in 10 years – and non-rural commodity export volumes were up 13.2 per cent.
These were important signs that the transitions the government planned for in the budget were underway, yet they went unremarked.
The most irresponsible pessimists had tossed around the “r” word – recession – Ms Gillard said, describing such predictions as “silly”.
“It is a claim I’m frankly somewhat reluctant to repeat, even in order to contradict it, lest I give it weight,” she said.
Stay informed, daily
Ms Gillard said even the most pessimistic predictions were themselves statements that the glass was actually three quarters or four fifths full.
“As prime minister, I am concerned that left unchecked, this kind of distorted coverage could continue to spread,” she said.
The continued pessimism was not being matched by the performance of key economic indicators, she said, adding low expectations could themselves become an economic problem.
