Ben Morton (Tangney, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet) Share this | Hansard source

It has been a long time since I have debated matters of national importance with the member for Rankin. We last did so here in the ACT at the Australian National University, and it is a delight to stand here and do it again today.

This government is upfront with the Australian people about matters of national importance. We are upfront with them because we took to the election a plan to keep our economy strong, to keep Australians safe and to keep Australians together. We were upfront with the Australian people and they rewarded us with their support to continue in government. This is in contrast with those opposite, who could not be upfront—particularly with the actual cost of their 45 per cent emissions reductions target. And what is their target today? Exactly.

The coalition is always upfront about its plans. We are focused on the matters that matter, the matters of real importance to the Australian people, unlike the bubble issues we've seen demonstrated by those opposite in the last two days. We are about a stronger economy, building resilience, rewarding aspirations, creating jobs, delivering better services, lowering taxes, reducing the cost of business whether it be in energy or in deregulation and equipping Australians with the skills they need and that businesses need as well.

In relation to jobs, this is what we took to the Australian people: that we would be a government focused on jobs. Have we been upfront with them and have we delivered? The answer is yes. The labour market is strong, with workforce participation at record highs, and working age welfare dependency is at its lowest level in three decades. Since the coalition came to government, 1.4 million new jobs have been created. Our economic plan is working.

We saw another strong month for jobs, with 29,000 jobs created in December and the unemployment rate falling to 5.1 per cent, again beating market expectations. Employment growth of 2.1 per cent through the year to date is more than double the OECD average and nearly three times what it was when we came to office. But our very disciplined approach to budget management has allowed us to respond to areas of need without increasing taxes or cutting spending in other areas.

Let me turn to the areas of national importance that this government is focused on today. It's been a devastating summer for many Australians, with bushfires and drought. And we have the coronavirus outbreak that the government is dealing with as we speak. It's our strong economic management, which we were up-front with the Australian people about delivering, that allows us to stand strong on behalf of the Australian people and respond to these issues.

Firstly, the bushfires: since MYEFO we've announced a $2 billion national bushfire recovery fund. We've stood up a national bushfire recovery agency, modelled on the great work of the drought and North Queensland flood recovery agencies, capably led by the Hon. Shane Stone. As the Prime Minister has said, we will focus, we will do whatever it takes to support those communities and businesses hit by these fires and, if we need to do more, we will. The government this week has introduced priority legislation—the Treasury Laws Amendment (2019-20 Bushfire Tax Assistance) Bill—to make sure that all of the payments we are providing to volunteers, individuals and businesses during this crisis, during this bushfire season, are tax free. We will also make sure that donations to the Australian Volunteer Support Trust and the Community Rebuilding Trust are tax deductible.

We haven't forgotten those Australians facing drought. We're investing more than $8 billion in drought relief, including the $1 billion announced since the election. One of the areas that I'm most proud of is the initiative the federal and South Australian governments have struck in a deal, and that is the up to 100 gigalitres of water which farmers can access. Farmers can buy that water at a discounted rate. To do what? To grow about 120,000 tonnes of fodder, to put more fodder into the market, which is so needed by farming communities across Australia.

But the coronavirus that we're focused on today is most important. Government departments and the Prime Minister leading the National Security Committee of the cabinet is focused on protecting Australians with what is a very difficult issue not just here but globally. We can't do this unless we're up-front about our need to keep our economy strong. That's what we're focused on doing—the Morrison government will always be up-front with Australians, because we're focused on them, not petty politics like those opposite.

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