Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Will the minister outline to the House how the government's policies are supporting the Australian tourism industry and creating record growth? Are there any alternative schemes that threaten the livelihoods of almost 600,000 Australians, many of whom are in my electorate in the tourism industry?

Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt for his question about Australia's tourism industry, because we have a terrific track record: record numbers of tourists staying for a record length of time and spending a record amount of money, with record funding invested by the coalition government. The other record that goes along with that is this government's track record in creating jobs for Australians: we've created over one million jobs over the last five years.

I was in Leichhardt not that long ago and took that opportunity to open a new tourism investment, the new Cairns Aquarium. It is a new investment in the tourism industry that is helping to create new jobs. I note that this government is continuing with its plan to make sure that we create further incentive for investment. We're creating further incentive for investment, especially in Australia's small to medium-sized enterprises, by reducing the tax burden on them. We know that lower levels of tax on Australia's small and medium-sized enterprises will drive investment, and that investment will drive economic growth and drive jobs.

But the member for Leichhardt asks about threats. Well, unfortunately, there are threats to the creation of new jobs and there are threats to investment. Those threats to the 600,000 Australians employed in the tourism industry come from this heavily divided and very confused opposition. Because we start to see, increasingly, that the little fight that's breaking out between the member for Grayndler, the aspiring Leader of the Opposition, and the current Leader of the Opposition is driving more confusion and more division on that side of the House. You see it manifesting every single day now. Now we see the Leader of the Opposition moving to block the member for Port Adelaide from having a chance in Adelaide, instead forcing the member for Port Adelaide to take his fight—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is completely irrelevant to the question.

Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, it's about the threat that this division is causing to the policy.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's just too long a bow. Even though the question has come from your side: amazingly, it's just not relevant to it.

Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Fair enough, Mr Speaker. Let me move away from the division on that side of the House and focus on the fact that that is actually having an impact on investment decisions that people make. On Kangaroo Island, Southern Ocean Lodge, for example, is a small business that has employed 50 locals in an island economy. But we actually see now that those businesses are having further investment threatened. And that investment, Mr Speaker, is threatened because of the policy division on Labor's side of the House.

We will make sure that we continue to set the right economic conditions and the right business conditions to encourage Australia's small to medium-sized enterprises to keep investing in the tourism industry and to keep investing in their businesses. We will make sure that Australia's small businesses create the economic growth that will drive jobs into the future.