Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

And it's critical that we do so, because, when it comes down to it, the alternative from the other side of this chamber—we've heard this through the heckling through my speech just now—and the only response from the opposition has been to reheat old, tired, ideological debates designed to achieve their own political objectives rather than to build the future of this great country.

We, the people on this side of the chamber, know that we are not at the end of this period of difficulty. We know that small businesses and workers will continue to face challenges in the weeks and the months coming. We know that we're not just going to face this challenge here. There is going to be a race towards competitiveness globally, and we have to make sure we build businesses that can support workers and produce goods and services that people demand, sustainably and into the future. Part of that's going to be having a discussion around how we build a tax system that's competitive for the 21st century and how to bring people together to have an industrial relations conversation that breaks down the ideological divide that so many on the opposition benches are wedded to, not just because of their own political interests, though they are, and not just because it empowers them, though it does, but because it comes at the disempowerment of Australians.

We want Australians to be able to stand on their own two feet. It's about having an energy conversation, led by the minister for energy, about how we can have a competitive energy sector to make sure we can support a manufacturing base to match, to meet and to support our geopolitical strategic challenges as well as job creation. At every point, this government has looked to the challenge today and said, 'What do we need to do to support Australians now?' but also, 'What do we need to do to build the future competitiveness of Australians so they can continue to be successful and so we can be successful as a country?' And we make no apology for it. (Time expired)

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