Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

It will be a great relief to the Australian people that the government does not intend to adopt the economic policies of the Greens. I can't speak for the Labor Party, because they're known to like quite a few of the Greens' ideas when it comes to economic policy, and so I don't think they can provide that same assurance.

What our government will continue to do is lower taxes and to support small and family businesses around the country to ensure that we continue to expand our trade markets all around the world. We've seen trade deals for our country expand from 26 per cent of our trade to over 70 per cent of our trade, and we're heading to 90 per cent. We're going to continue to build the infrastructure that is necessary to grow our economy; $100 billion is the plan that we've been rolling out now for many years. We will continue to invest in the skills that Australians need to ensure that they can be part of the vibrant economy that we know is ahead for this country when you get the right policy settings in place. We will continue to ensure that we put in place the fiscal discipline that ensures we treat taxpayers' money with great integrity and ensures that we are spending it on the things that matter to Australians on the ground—building their infrastructure, supporting their communities and giving them the opportunity to get ahead.

We will also invest in the climate resilience of this country going forward. We will continue to support, through myriad investments, the energy sector and, more broadly, investments in renewable energy. I'm pleased to let the member know, as he raised it specifically, that throughout 2019 the government's Renewable Energy Target and Emissions Reduction Fund carbon markets delivered more than 50 million tonnes of emissions reductions. This is expected to ramp up to more than 59 million tonnes in this calendar year, in 2020, I understand. This was a record year for carbon markets in Australia. Total renewable investment grew strongly to a record of 6.3 gigawatts in 2019, and it's expected 2020 will achieve similar results.

Our policies are growing the Australian economy. Our policies have led to the creation of more than 1.5 million jobs in this country, while cutting taxes and relieving the burden on the cost of living for Australians. Energy prices have fallen. Electricity prices have fallen 3½ per cent in the last year as a result of the many measures we've put in place to ensure that customers get a fair deal. That includes legislation passed through this parliament—the big, thick legislation—which was championed by the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction and which those opposite have always wanted to have a bet on each way every time on that legislation. They were for it; they were against it; they were for it; they were against it.

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