Fact-checking Australia's likely next PM

But here's the deceit: Australia's average growth through the Howard years was matched or bettered by several other economies. The USA averaged 3.04%. Canada 3.3%. Some European countries were higher. Luxembourg averaged 4.78%.

Then came the GFC. All economies were clobbered. In Labor's five years, growth has been 2.44%. But in the USA 0.54%, Canada 0.94% and Luxembourg 0.52%. And the Euro Zone negative 2.3%!

4. "Australia's fundamental strengths owe far more to the reforms of previous governments than to the spending spree of the current one."

Evidence affirms the opposite. Most recently, a UNICEF paper by Bruno Martorano shows that while Europe's austerity measures worsened their economies, Australia's prompt spending "limited the possible negative effects caused by the macroeconomic shock and favoured the process of economic recovery."

5. "Australia's debt position is better than that of some other countries – not because we've done better, but because we started better."

Not true. If it were, then other nations with no debt and strong budgets surpluses should have done well through the GFC. And nations deeply in debt and deficit would have done poorly.

There is no such correlation. Several countries which emerged from the GFC in good shape went in with huge debts at the outset. These include Israel, Switzerland and Singapore.

In contrast, Spain, Finland, Iceland and Chile all had modest debt and budget surpluses in 2008 yet suffered severe reversals.

6. "Sure, our economic position is stronger than that of the United Kingdom and much better than that of Greece and Italy and Spain, and France; but so was Ireland's until quite recently."

Coalition spokespersons often suggest snidely that "Sure, Australia is doing better than Greece, Italy, Spain and Ireland". Australia is in fact doing better than every economy. Economists debate whether Canada or Switzerland is second. But no-one challenges Australia's position as world leader – and forging further ahead with each quarter's results.

7. "It's good that Mr Rudd … committed the Government to a new effort to boost productivity … but he's never actually taken the steps needed to convert aspiration into achievement."

False. The data shows productivity increased dramatically for four quarters in 2009, despite the GFC. It stalled in 2010 as the global downturn hit businesses badly. Since 2010, productivity has increased for a record nine consecutive quarters to an all-time high.

8, 9, 10. "Tax reform starts with abolishing the carbon tax and the mining tax, which have done so much to spook investors, threaten jobs and hurt every family's cost of living."

Three fibs in one sentence. Investment in Australia has not been impacted by the carbon tax. Total numbers of people employed have risen every quarter since the tax was introduced. And inflation is currently 2.4%. This is below the rate for most of the Labor period prior to the carbon tax, and below the rate for most of the last five Howard years.

11. "Based on previous experience we are confident that these changes will produce a million new jobs within five years … unlike the anaemic job creation record of the past six years."