Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Well, that was electric. It was matched only by the enthusiasm of his own members sitting behind him for that monologue style of his—that very loud monologue, which I know the member for Hughes struggled to hear! So make it a bit louder next time and maybe the member for Hughes will pick up what you were saying. It is as if the shadow Treasurer has not received the memo about what is needed in the Australian economy, because he is talking in the same way that he has talked over the past two years, using the same old language the Australian people have indicated they do not want to hear any more.

They want to hear a government that is talking about promoting economic growth. The shadow Treasurer ridicules the concept of growth and why we need growth in the economy. But economic growth is at the core of this government's agenda. It is at the core of improving our way of life and improving our standard of living. It is a given fact, which the Prime Minister reiterates time and time again, that Australia cannot afford to stand still and that we must grow our economy, to provide the jobs and higher incomes and the greater prosperity and financial security that we all deserve.

When we sit through this kind of monologue from the shadow Treasurer—really just ranting at us for 10 minutes—it really is not very constructive in regard to how we are going to improve our economy and what we are going to do to improve our standard of living. This week we have been able to come to an agreement on free trade—finally, the Labor Party has been able to stare down their union friends and say that they want to support the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. They have said they are finally going to stand up in the face of the false advertising campaign the CFMEU is running around the country and say, 'We support free trade with China because it will produce jobs, growth and prosperity.' That did not cross the shadow Treasurer lips in his presentation about the economy. Why wouldn't he get up and raise the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement and the benefits we have worked together as a parliament to deliver to the Australian people?

The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, one of the first free trade agreements China has signed in the world, will be one of the great enablers of Australian prosperity for the 21st century. It will set up all of our children and grandchildren and it will deliver more jobs and prosperity than any other single measure taken by a government in Australia's history.

Yet, we did not hear one note of optimism cross the shadow Treasurer's lips in his presentation—not one hope, not one dream and not one ambition. There was just a simple memo from the past that he has not got the message from the Australian people that they expect better of this parliament and they expect a government that will deliver better in relation to the economy.

Since coming to office, the Treasurer has been working very hard on a national platform for economic growth. That is what we are all about in the Turnbull government: working collaboratively with some of our most important partners, the states and territories, to deliver the growth and prosperity we need. What does this mean? There are a number of pillars the Treasurer talks about, and none of these crossed the shadow Treasurer's lips, either: having a tax system that is fit for purpose, and I think everyone in here understands what I mean when I say that; and, competition policy that encourages the states to undertake necessary and long-overdue microeconomic reforms that we all know we need. If the shadow Treasurer does not want to listen to me, he can listen to that great reforming Treasurer Paul Keating, who said in a famous answer given in this house:

I guarantee if you walk into any pet shop in Australia, the resident galah will be talking about microeconomic policy.

Well, perhaps the resident galahs in the opposition could listen to the great Paul Keating about microeconomic reform. It is certainly the intention of this government to work collaboratively with the states to ensure that, in collaboration with the states, microeconomic reform is at the centre of the Turnbull government's agenda. That means infrastructure, involving the private sector, assisting the government, and recognising that there are infrastructure shortfalls that cannot be funded by government alone. No government can commit the amount of capital required to deliver and meet the state and federal infrastructure challenges all over our country.

That is why this government brought in the asset recycling scheme. The shadow Treasurer said that the former Treasurer was no good. The asset recycling scheme, which is being enabled by every single state and territory is of course providing the capital from the federal government, providing the microeconomic reform, and delivering capital from the public and private sectors to enable infrastructure funding. As the Prime Minister and the Treasurer have said time and time again this week in response to every negative question the Labor Party has thrown at us, when you want to fund something you have an obligation, a responsibility and an onus to tell the Australian people how you will fund that commitment. It is not 'somehow' or 'anyhow'. It is not an obscure request for detail. It is a vital component for any promise or commitment from any government or any serious member of this place or serious senior politician.

But the 'somehow' for Labor is always missing. So, when we talk about infrastructure in our national platform for economic growth, when we talk about funding the critical infrastructure shortfalls that our nation has, you have to be able to enable private sector capital, you have to be able to have public and private partnerships, and you have to enable asset recycling. That is what the Turnbull-Morrison government is doing.

Through our free trade platforms, we are also working very hard on exports and new markets. With the free trade agreements, whether it be with Korea, Japan or China, this is the government that has progressed and signed all of these deals. So, criticise it all you like. Speak with us about your ideas on the details. But it is the Abbott and Turnbull governments that have signed these agreements. It is the Turnbull government that every single day is speaking about the new opportunities in emerging markets in our region. It is the Turnbull government that is pursuing government of the 21st century that recognises the need to modernise our laws, our tax system and our federation so that we can take advantage of the free trade opportunities that exist in our region.

This week we saw that at the forefront of the government's agenda is a stronger financial system. We already have one of the strongest financial systems in the world. It is the case that the Howard-Costello years produced a strong financial system through world-leading prudential regulation of our economy, from APRA, which enabled our banks to be in the best place in the world in the lead-up to the most serious economic challenge that faced us, namely, the global financial crisis.

This week we saw a considered measured approach on the financial systems inquiry and the Murray inquiry response. We saw the Treasurer and the Assistant Treasurer outline in detail exactly how this government will ensure we have a very strong financial services system into the future. What is most pleasing about that is that, for once—and I recognise some of the shadow ministers opposite—we did not have the usual snarkiness that we saw from the shadow Treasurer in this debate today. We did not have the usual sniping and attacks. We had, again, a collaborative approach from the opposition and the government on this. They recognised that the government has made common-sense responses to common-sense recommendations about our superannuation system and our financial services system that will enable a strong financial services sector into the future. Never mind that they do not agree with us about very important matters like independent directors on super boards.

Dr Chalmers interjecting—

I know you do not agree, but I note today that APRA is pushing to complete the journey on this to have a majority of independent members on superannuation boards. It is not the government's position, mind you; the government's position in legislation is to have just one-third of independent directors in place on superannuation boards—prudent management of superannuation funds. And yet the Labor Party opposes such a common-sense, middle-of-the-road approach.

Further to all of these points, a strong budget that maintains our AAA credit rating and responsibly allocates money to the key drivers of growth is vital to the national platform for economic growth that the Treasurer is implementing. Last of all, but not to be discounted—not to be dismissed, because it is a central focus of the Turnbull government and a central focus of the Treasurer in his approach to all of these economic matters and the national platform for economic growth—is innovation to stimulate an agile economy so we can meet the challenges and capitalise on the opportunities. What you will see in the national platform for economic growth is that innovative approach brought forward by government so that we have a government for the 21st century—the government that the Australian people want, that is agile, that is responsive and that is capable of taking up all of these opportunities in our region to ensure that we have jobs and growth.

It is a pleasure to rise today to talk about economic matters because it allows me to highlight the government's national platform for economic growth. It is the Treasurer's intention to make sure that this economic agenda is not derailed by negativity. It will not be derailed by the negativity of the shadow Treasurer. We must accept the good ideas when they come forward. Our aim is to put the ideas forward that will meet the challenges of the 21st century—to ensure that we have a tax system that is fit for purpose, to ensure that all Australians can work, save and invest, and to ensure that everything that we do as a government meets the needs of the 21st century and the modern changing economy.

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