Treasurer Joe Hockey has described as "clowns" commentators who warned Australia's economy was heading for recession.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As he delivered the national accounts for the March quarter on Wednesday, Mr Hockey said solid economic growth of 0.9 per cent was consistent with the government's "measured and appropriate budget forecasts including our expectation of 2.5 per cent GDP growth for this financial year".
"We've had a terrific set of numbers that came out today and those numbers have proven that there are some clowns out there that are talking about recession and dark clouds on the horizon," Mr Hockey said.
"They have been proven to be looking foolish, those people, and we should be focussing on what is before us which is raw data that says the Australian economy is in the last quarter one of the fastest growing economies in the developed world.
"How good is that?"
Australia's gross domestic product grew by 0.9 per cent in the March quarter, compared to 0.3 per cent in September and 0.5 per cent in December.
Year-on-year growth was 2.3 per cent.
Mr Hockey said the growth was broad-based across exports, household spending, services and exports.
He said growth in exports of 5 per cent was the strongest quarterly result in 15 years, while service exports were up 8 per cent, "the fastest growth since 2007".
Household spending was up 0.5 per cent, fuelled by low interest rates and rising household wealth.
"The biggest post budget bounce in consumer sentiment since 2007 suggests the outlook for household spending remains bright," Mr Hockey said.
Some commentators had stated concerns about Australia's economic outlook last week after a Bureau of Statistics survey showed business planned to slash investment by 21 per cent in the coming year.
The Treasurer used a media conference in Canberra to return to the issue of housing affordability, which the government has faced some criticism over in recent days.
Both Mr Hockey and Prime Minister Tony Abbott said this week that rising house prices in Sydney and Melbourne were a good thing, after Treasury Secretary John Fraser warned of a housing bubble.
Mr Hockey said on Wednesday the national figures showed an "encouraging" increase in investment in new housing supply of 4.7 per cent.
The Treasurer told the Parliament on Tuesday that an under-supply of housing was one of the factors driving the problem of affordability.
"So there is clear evidence of a construction response to elevated house prices," Mr Hockey said on Wednesday.
