House debates

Thursday, 2 March 2017

Questions without Notice

Economy

2:05 pm

Photo of John McVeighJohn McVeigh (Groom, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on the importance of economic growth for jobs and investment? What threats are there to the Australian economy, including in my electorate of Groom?

Photo of Malcolm TurnbullMalcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. I recall my visit to Toowoomba when we looked at the developments there, including the new airport. We also saw the optimism there for the big export opportunities that we have opened up. The new Wellcamp airport is one that will be taking the finest produce of the Darling Downs to the dining tables, the restaurants and the homes of Asia. It will be able to do that because of those big export deals that the Labor Party opposed but that we supported, we carried through and we delivered. We are seeing that again and again.

We saw on the weekend a cut in the Indonesian tariff on Australian sugar, making Australian sugar competitive with sugar from Thailand and the rest of ASEAN. There was also a big increase in the availability of Australian beef cattle live exports to Indonesia. Every day we are working hard to create more opportunities for Australians to export, for the Australian economy to grow and for businesses to create jobs. And we are having real success, thanks to the hard work and enterprise of millions of Australians, including those in the honourable member's electorate. We have seen strong economic growth in the last quarter. Our economy is now growing faster than any of the world's biggest economies, any of the G7. That is despite economic headwinds and the inevitable downturn in the mining and construction boom. Nonetheless, the resilience of the Australian economy, supported by pro-business policies and opportunities created by the government, is enabling us to forge ahead.

We know that there are, however, many Australians in some parts of Australia who are doing it tough. They need support too. One thing they need more than anything is affordable and reliable energy. Those parts of Australia—and I am thinking particularly of South Australia—which have seen a decline in their manufacturing base and are seeking to re-industrialise to draw in and retain the manufacturing industry, need affordable and reliable energy.

What they have from the Labor Party is the promise of a 50 per cent renewable target with no plan to implement it and no idea of how it can be paid for with a $48 billion cost. If we look at South Australia with 40 per cent renewables already, they cannot keep the lights on and, when they are on, they cannot afford to pay for them. That is Labor's vision. In every element of their policies there are higher taxes, unaffordable energy, unreliable energy and an anti-business agenda we have not seen for a generation. That is the modern Labor Party. (Time expired)