Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

With its educated workforce, its natural resources and its geographic proximity to the Asia-Pacific, Australia has tremendous opportunities. If we realise them, those opportunities will provide Australians with the jobs and careers they need for the future. They will also provide the high wages and the ability to pay for the high-quality government services that Australians expect.

But to create these jobs and to achieve these benefits, Australia needs reform. It needs free trade agreements. It needs to stop the waste. It needs a viable tertiary education sector that can compete with the rest of the world. There can be no standing still in today's world. Unless we reform so we can adapt, we will be left behind. That is why this government is so committed to the necessary reforms for the future of our nation. (Time expired)