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

The member for Solomon is not raising a point of order; he's just going on a bit of a gallivant and a bit of a rant, and that's okay. He is entitled to do so. I believe in free society and I believe in free speech and I am not from time to time without the capacity to make an occasional contribution to another member's speech as well!

In the end, we made sure not just that JobKeeper supported those people who are employed but that additional support was provided to those who needed to rely on JobSeeker through a critical time. In many cases, many people found themselves unemployed through no fault of their own, and there was a near parity between the two when you factored in the different components of tax and everything else and, of course, the other supplements that went with them. And that is what this government has been able to do at every stage throughout the COVID-19 recession. We were able to do that because of the prudence, because of the sense of responsibility that we took not in the rainy days but in the days leading up to the pandemic when the sun was shining. We looked at the challenges facing our country and said, 'It is important to be prudent and it is important to be responsible,' because we are only the custodians of taxpayers' money. And our objective has been to balance the budget—and we did—so that we could put ourselves in the best position should a rainy day come. And, Deputy Speaker, a rainy day tragically did come. You know it. I know it. Even the members of the opposition know it. So to question how we went into this crisis, Australia went into this crisis better than most for a number of reasons.

On the health front, the biggest public health measure taken throughout this whole pandemic was the one introduced by the Commonwealth in closing our international borders and introducing a quarantine scheme for Australians arriving or returning home and, of course, for those from overseas seeking to get into our country. We're not alone in that. Ask New Zealand. Obviously, being in a comparative position, surrounded by ocean, has enabled us to keep the virus out. In fact, we've only had two big incidents of the virus penetrating that border. The first, of course, was the Ruby Princess in New South Wales, sadly because of failures at the New South Wales end, and of course the horrible consequences of the hotel quarantine scheme in Victoria, which has led to a mass outbreak in the great state and the lockdown of it for many months, which has had a ruinous impact on people's lives and livelihoods. We can all go on a long discussion about who's responsible and whatever else. As the Treasurer correctly said in parliament today, that is a matter that is being investigated by an inquiry and we expect that inquiry to fulfil its full duty, its full responsibility, and ask every question to make sure that we get to the bottom of it and make sure these failings aren't repeated again, and make sure that Victorians and Australians can have confidence in the security of their borders should we have further waves of this virus.

I know, like many Victorians, how difficult this time has been. The lockdown has been punishing for so many people through no fault of their own. The Treasurer was right today: getting case numbers down in Victoria is the victory of the Victorian people and no-one else. Now we have a policy framework which seems to have been built, finally, on trusting and respecting Victorians to do the right thing and not on implementing punitive measures when people should be trusted and respected. But, at every stage throughout this crisis, the Commonwealth has had Victorians' backs. We have provided every bit of assistance we can, on the health front, on the economic front, on the household front, on the individual front and on the mental health front. Wherever it has been, we have stood shoulder to shoulder, side by side with the great state to make sure that they can get through this stage. Now we pray and hope we are in the rebuilding stage as much as the rest of the country has been for many months.

This budget, under the Treasurer and the Prime Minister, is focused clearly on helping our great nation rebuild itself and build a sustainable footing, not just resuscitating the economy of the 20th century but building the future of the Australian economy for the 21st century, so that the investment we make delivers the return and that we can have the jobs that Australians need today, tomorrow and into the future. In doing so, we have also cast an eye on making sure the measures we introduce are temporary, though necessary, and that we target the budget so that we can head it back to a trajectory of prudence and responsibility, because that's what Liberal governments do. We take your money seriously. It is not our money; it comes from the hip pockets of Australians. Every time we take a dollar from the hip pocket of an Australian who's trying to get on with their life, it is only because we see an advantage in how we can spend it collectively to the improvement of their welfare and the interests and the security of the nation. Any dollar more than that is an indulgence of the hubris of members in this place and in the other place, because it says, 'We know more than you'—and we don't—'We have a better understanding about the challenges facing your kitchen table than you do.' That can only come from a position of arrogance. That is why Labor budgets always seek to raid the hip pockets of Australians in the way that Liberal and National governments do not. They carry the arrogance of thinking they know best. They carry the arrogance of thinking that they can run households better than people can themselves—without the information, without the proximity, without the localised context. It's not just the households: it's citizens' lives, communities' lives and the foundation of our great country that they're ignoring.

Our focus in this budget is clear: what do we need to do to get Australians back into jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs? We do so not for some sort of esoteric reason. We do so because we know that jobs are the foundation of people's dignity, their independence, their capacity to be able to live out their lives and their ambitions, realise their dreams and support themselves and their families. If we had a nation of 25 or 26 million people who could all stand on their own two feet and be independent, that is a better nation than the alternative of empowering 600,000 bureaucrats in this city. If you don't think that, I don't know, frankly, what members are doing here. We are elected to represent people and to empower them. That's what my focus is every day as the member for Goldstein: what do we need to do to provide assistance and enable people to live out their best selves?

In Goldstein, in the budget alone, we provided 75,700 taxpayers with relief this year so they could support themselves and their families. We made sure there was new investment through business cashflow. The government is providing a temporary tax incentive that will allow 25,300 innovators in business to write off the full value of any eligible assets so they can bring cashflow forward and be in a position, not just to help their business, but to go on and employ more others, to build confidence and the strength of the economy of the nation.

We provided 8,100 businesses in Goldstein with JobKeeper to carry them through this period. The cashflow boost has helped 5,800 small and medium businesses, and 5,300 Goldstein residents have received the JobSeeker supplement to carry them through this period too. We have also provided assistance to 10,957 pensioners in the community. One of the first measures we took in the pandemic was to reduce the drawdown rate of self-funded retirees so they are able to conserve more of their capital while the market rebalanced—because we get that, no matter what stage of life you're at, you need an income and you need surety and confidence.

The rebuild is where our focus now is. It's about what we need to do to deliver jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. That's why a critical part of this budget is focused strategically on making sure that those young Australians who are in temporary work, who have found themselves unemployed, who had their careers interrupted or are on the pathway of going into the workplace—we're going to provide assistance directly to those businesses to encourage them to employ young people. We do not want a lost generation. We do not want young Australians growing up in a country where they don't think that their ambitions and their dreams can be realised. We want them to get a job so they can go on and form their own success: have a family, buy a house, contribute towards the success of the nation and be in a position to retire with dignity and confidence.

This COVID-19 recession can be a moment that can destroy lives, or it can be one that provides us with an opportunity to build them. We're focused on the building, and we should be focused on the building. That's why there's so much investment and skills: to make sure that if people need to restructure their lives or their employment or professional arrangements, they can do so, so they're not exposed to risks unnecessarily. But, critically, we also understand that there are many people who aren't young who have faced adversity because of this pandemic. Support for mature workers, in encouraging them to be re-employed because of their skills, their knowledge and their capacity, should be valued by employers. They shouldn't be set back, as well.

At every stage throughout this pandemic, the Morrison government has had Australians' backs. Critically for the great state of Victoria, at this difficult time and over recent months, we have had their back. Now is the time for the nation to be able to stand up. As the member for Solomon, to his credit, said: we need the great state of Victoria and its economy to rev up, to be part of the powerhouse, the engine, of the economy of the nation. That is what this budget is about.

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