As the debate over the strength of Australia's economy rages, there are growing signs that a key and often forgotten force is awakening. That is, the good old Australian consumer.
JB Hi-Fi's recent result captured this better mood perfectly, with sales that were nearly 5 per cent higher over the year and earnings that were 6.4 per cent higher. All the metrics were good - gross margin, EBIT margin etc. As JB Hi-Hi's CEO Richard Murray noted on Sky News last week "if "consumer sentiment is ticking up bit, that's a good outcome for us".
Of course, and to some extent, the government's decision to lift write-offs for small business helped to boost recent sales. Yet it would be too simplistic to attribute this performance solely to the temporary impacts of that policy. 
Or confine it to one firm. The trend is broader and firms such as Super Retail Group and Harvey Norman both reported strong sales earlier this year (forecast sales are also expected to be solid).
Similarly, the rebound is supported by macro data from the Australian Statistician. Total sales are up nearly 5 per cent, close to the average, which rises to 6.1 per cent excluding food.
Why exclude food? Because for some bizarre reason food sales are very weak - a fact at odds with population growth, expanding waistlines and the experience in other Anglo nations. Whatever the case, the growth rate of consumer spending (excluding food) is well above average - almost twice the historical norms so far in 2015. So really, when we talk about the consumer rebound, the reality is we're not facing down modest growth - a tentative pick-up.
What we're witnessing is very strong growth and a clear signal that the Australian consumer is back - if a little hungrier than they perhaps once were.
Looking further ahead, prospects are bright and there is every reason to expect this strong spending rebound to continue. There is certainly no reason to think that it would weaken.
Sure a lot of the commentary and many economic talking heads are more than happy to tell you how weak things are. That doesn't gel very well with everyday experience though. Jobs growth is strong for a start - and the unemployment rate is substantially lower than where people thought it would be by now.
More to the point, and while debt levels are high for some, heavily indebted consumers are actually in the minority. In any case, for those who do carry debt, the interest servicing costs on that debt are very low. The lowest in about a decade. For everyone else - savings rates are high.
Now admittedly there are a couple of developments worth watching. Wages growth is low for instance and this has a number of people alarmed about the outlook for consumers. That's not quite the right way to look at things though. Largely that's because wages growth isn't disastrous. Even at a record low, we are talking growth rates only 0.9 per cent below average.
Similarly, consumer confidence has been volatile - currently around average levels. It's important to note however, that this volatility doesn't appear to have impacted the consumer decision to spend money.
Car sales are surging for instance - up 6 per cent for the year on the latest figures.Amid a positive economic backdrop - wild swings in consumer confidence simply reflect sensitivities around negative news flow. The constant bombardment of an increasingly incorrect pessimistic narrative.