However the data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics also showed that the country’s economy slowed to its lowest level since 2009 in the first three months of the year.
First quarter growth was recorded at just 0.3%, compared to 1.1% in the final three months of last year.
ABS chief economist Bruce Hockman explained that “broad-based growth” across 17 out of 20 industries had been tempered by falls in exports and investments in housing.
The country’s treasurer Scott Morrison said this was down to bad weather, which hit iron ore exports in particular, and was likely to remain a factor in second quarter results also, pointing to the aftermath of a severe tropical cyclone – Australia’s worst since 2015 – that hit in March.
Morrison added that the government have a national economic plan to address the economy’s challenges and to “secure the better days ahead”.
“What we need now is the parliament to meet us in the middle, and work with the government to provide the policy certainty and stability that will encourage and support investment,” he stated.
He highlighted policies on energy, tax, housing and delivering services.
Elections in 2016 saw the government achieve a majority of just one seat in the country’s House of Representatives – the slimmest in decades.
