Australia is bouncing back from the pandemic off the back of government leadership, increased activity and renewed private spending, Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said.

“Today’s national accounts numbers are great news for the country reflecting that we went into this pandemic stronger and our leadership has served us well.

“This has built confidence and means we have the benefit of choices in how we rebuild our economy for the future. 

“We are not out of the woods yet. To lock in today’s success, we need to act now to ensure Australia is competitive with the rest of the world, not stuck in the slow lane.

“Only through sustained private sector investment will we see new jobs created and sustained growth.

“Business investment remains stubbornly low. To reverse it we need to make it easier to do business including having the certainty to get new projects off the ground.

“Today’s numbers also show that our closed international borders are hampering our ability to sell our products and services to the world. Exports are critical to our prosperity as a nation, we must continuously advocate for free and open markets.

“Creating new jobs continues to be a priority.

“The government’s record levels of support have protected lives and livelihoods, now is the time to enable the private sector to do the heavy lifting for the recovery – business creates jobs.”