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

It's a bit rich hearing about economic recovery from those economic vandals on the other side of this chamber who have denied the fact that the Australian economy has seen unemployment fall, in the seventh consequent month, to 5.1 per cent. Today we have the highest female workforce participation ever and Australia's AAA credit rating has been reaffirmed. We are one of only nine countries in the world to have a AAA credit rating.

We've been working closely with businesses and with Australians to get our economy back on track. But what have those opposite been doing? They have been frustrating important economic reforms in this parliament. There is one that we are in the middle of debating now: reforms to ensure that we can improve environmental outcomes but reduce red tape and duplication, which is costing projects. Today a contingent of Western Australia industry associations—the Chamber of Minerals and Energy, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, and the Pastoralists and Graziers Association—has written to the Leader of the Opposition, calling on the opposition to get on and support urgently the bills that are in this House to ensure that the $140 billion worth of projects that are in Western Australia now can get on and we can secure the jobs that Australians need.

It costs over a million dollars a day for every day a project is delayed. But it is not just resource companies and business representative companies in Western Australia calling for this. In fact, it was Premier Mark McGowan in 2019 who said that reforms to the EPBC Act to allow for bilateral approval agreements would slash approval times for major projects and unleash jobs. He said:

This plan ensures we maintain the highest environmental standards, but don't get bogged down in bureaucracy.

He's called more recently for the Labor Party to support these reforms, but the Labor Party are not even listening to their state counterpart, Premier Mark McGowan. I would've thought that if there was somebody Anthony Albanese would listen to it would be Mark McGowan, but it's not. They're going there next week. They're going to try to don their high-vis and their hats. They're going to pretend that they support Western Australian industry while they're demonstrating the opposite. Mark McGowan has said this week:

We support this legislation and WA continues to work with the Commonwealth to progress a bilateral agreement for approvals which will maintain environmental standards and reduce red tape …

Now, if you can't support Premier McGowan on the week before your shadow cabinet goes on a holiday to Western Australia, I tell you what, there's something seriously wrong with the Labor Party in Australia.

I'm not the only person who thinks that there is a sickness in the Labor Party in this country. In fact, the member for Hunter published an opinion piece titled 'Approvals reform can protect natural assets & boost economy' in the West Australian only yesterday. What is he encouraging his colleagues to do? He is encouraging them to do the right thing, which is to get on and reduce regulation, red tape and duplication to make sure that we can protect the environment. He said:

It's time to get on with reforms to better protect natural assets and deliver a needed boost for our economy.

You see, those opposite like to say something on the east coast and do something completely different here in parliament. They're heading over to my state of Western Australia. They're going to pretend that they support and understand the resources industry in this country. They're going to pretend that they are supporting our economic recovery, when their actions in this place are the opposite.

This afternoon we'll be considering amendments from the Senate for a reform to the recognition of occupational licences. This is something that's gone through the Senate and will come through this House. It is something that has passed the parliament in New South Wales, and we will consider it in this chamber. And why will we consider it today? It is because the Victorian government is putting this legislation in their parliament tomorrow, and the people sitting opposite, the Labor Party, voted against it in this chamber and voted with the Greens in the other chamber. They can't even support legislation supported by the Victorian Labor government. Shame!

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