Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister outline to the House the government's plan to build a stronger economy for all Australians?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lindsay for her question and I welcome her commitment to getting on with job creation, particularly in Western Sydney. We have a plan for Western Sydney. We have a plan for Australia. It means stopping the boats. It means fixing the budget. It means building the future. It means creating an Australia where everyone can expect a fair go and everyone is encouraged to have a go. That is the kind of Australia that this government is creating.

We have only had five months. We have made a good start, but we did inherit a mess: 50,000-plus illegal arrivals by boat under the border protection disasters of members opposite; a Commonwealth debt skyrocketing toward $667 billion because of the policies of members opposite; under members opposite unemployment queues were 200,000 people longer when they finished than when they started. Two hundred thousand extra unemployed Australians were the legacy of members opposite after six years in government. There was Mitsubishi, which closed down under them. There was Ford, which announced it was departing under them.

They created the problem; this government is fixing it. Members opposite created the problem; this government is fixing it. We have $20 billion worth of savings before the Senate because governments, like businesses and households, have to live within their means. That is $15 billion worth of savings that we took to the election plus $5 billion worth of savings that members opposite took to the election, and they are opposing all of it, even the savings that they took to the election. We have legislation before the Senate to abolish the carbon tax and to abolish the mining tax. Abolishing the carbon tax alone will add almost $1 trillion to our GDP over the next few decades. We will restore the ABCC. That will add $6 billion in productivity improvements every year in that industry. There are $400 billion worth of environmental approvals thanks to the new minister. There is a Korean free-trade agreement negotiated thanks to the Minister for Trade. And there is WestConnex, funded to the tune of $1½ billion under this government.

Everything we are doing is designed to make it easier to create jobs. That is what we mean when we say Australia is under new management and open for business.