Mining boom enters exporting upswing: Swan The billions of dollars invested in mining over recent years is starting to pay off, after a lift in exports helped to buoy the economy in the final months of 2012 when other major economies went backwards. The latest national accounts released on Wednesday show the economy expanded by 0.6 per cent in the December quarter, leaving the annual growth close to its long term trend at 3.1 per cent. Treasurer Wayne Swan said it was a "pretty impressive outcome" and reaffirmed Australia's position as one of the most resilient economies in the world. "Australia has managed to achieve solid growth in the December quarter at a time when around half of all advanced economies contracted, including five major advanced economies," he said in a statement. Net exports - exports minus imports - were a major contributor to growth. It added 0.6 percentage points to gross domestic product (GDP), after growing by 3.3 per cent during the quarter, the second fastest pace in nearly a decade. "What we are starting to see here is the upswing in the next phase of the mining boom ... as projects ramp up and go into production," Mr Swan told reporters in Canberra. But overall conditions remain patchy and households are still cautious, even though price pressures remained subdued and pose no or little threat to inflation. Mr Swan blamed a high Australian dollar and a declining terms of trade for nominal GDP - which includes price increase - growing by just two per cent annually, well below its long term trend of six to 6.5 per cent. But shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said the undershooting of real GDP - which excludes price movements - by nominal GDP was a symptom of declining company profitability due to government mismanagement. "The government cannot blame the decline in the terms of trade," he said in a statement, adding that the terms of trade were still more favourable than at any time under the former coalition government. Mr Hockey also said it made government's projection of four per cent GDP growth in 2012/13 very unlikely, leaving the budget in a precarious position. Mr Swan disagreed, saying government finances are in "good nick" to pursue policies that support jobs and growth. "We have seen what austerity for austerity's sake has done elsewhere in the global economy," he said. Mr Swan also rejected the idea of an independent audit of government spending, as suggested by the Business Council of Australia, similar to that conducted by the Queensland coalition government. Mr Swan said in Queensland's case it was nothing more than an excuse to provide a rationale for cutting health and education budget across the state. Meanwhile, the growth numbers had few immediate implications for the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) interest rate settings. "The RBA is likely to remain in 'assessment mode' for the next few months at least," ANZ Banking Group head of Australian economics Justin Fabo said in a client note.