Ben Small (Forrest, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Electoral Matters) | Hansard source

You might not have heard, but east coast activists are trying to get rid of the fuel tax credits that our farmers, freight companies, builders and fishers in the Forrest electorate depend on. Fuel tax credits simply refund a road tax on fuel that is not used on roads. These activists are supported by the senator for Canberra in the other place just over here, whose answer to everything is a new tax and the solution to every problem is simply more government spending. They don't understand that getting rid of fuel tax credits just means another cost to the small businesses in our community at a time when they can't afford to pay more in tax. Enough is enough. It's time regional WA stands up against the east coast on this, so go to the website and sign the petition to keep their hands off our fuel.

I've spoken about the damage that east coast activists will cause if they succeed in getting rid of the fuel tax credits for our farmers, builders, fishers and miners. A new Parliamentary Budget Office report shows that it isn't just small businesses who'll be impacted. If these east coast activists get their way, it is you who will pay more. The impact will flow through the economy with higher costs for your food, freight, housing and local services. It will put further pressure on jobs, investment and our regional community. It's time we stood up and told the influencers and activists from the east to bugger off, so go to the website and sign the petition to keep their hands off our fuel.

Too often in this place, in response to some issue or another, the answer is always the same—more government programs, more rules and more spending. It is this exact instinct that has plagued our nation in recent times and exacerbated the issues we seek to confront. But what if reaching for an expansion of the state was replaced with backing the strength, the judgement and the responsibility of our Australian people? Australia is at its best not in the halls of this building or in the bureaucracy around it but in each of its citizens. It is our people who must grow for our nation to thrive, because to grow the government the people themselves must wither, because the state is inherently parasitic. This is about building a society of responsibility, not one of dependency.

No government could ever replace the judgement collectively of our Australians, and that judgement must again lead the way forward. When the state does overreach, not only does it grow in size, but it shrinks the space in which those individual Aussies can act, thrive and grow. That's the fundamental principle that we seem to have forgotten in this place. A strong society is not built by a bigger government. It is not grown by expanding the reach of career politicians who've never worked a real day in their lives. It is built by stronger citizens who make the best decisions they can, who take responsibility for their lives, who jump on opportunity, who build, who create, who participate—not because the government tells them so but because they choose to.

The challenge facing us as Australians is to once again define government properly. A government that attempts to do everything will ultimately achieve little and come at great cost to those who support it. We need to focus government on its core functions—to protect Australians, maintain our sovereignty and set out the framework for opportunity. That's the type of government that enables Australians to flourish. We need to find that balance between support and independence because it's in that sweet spot that the best growth exists for our country. When we allow those decent people of Australia to grow and to get on with their own lives, they build the nation with us. Growth therefore is defined by the people who live it every day. It's something that the people themselves create, and it's why ownership matters.

When we allow people the chance to determine their destiny, they seize it. They take responsibility. They invest and build. They dream. And every possible reality may well be within reach when they work like nothing else until their ambition is met. These people are not spectators in their nation, but they are active participants building it and pushing it ever on. Of course, we shouldn't be turning our backs on those who need support, but we must have regard to those for whom ambition is everything. The goal must always be to lift the Australian people from dependence and deliver them towards independence. That's backing Australians to do the right thing, and that's what so easily forgotten in this place.

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