Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I appreciate this opportunity, my last opportunity to speak in this parliament. Upon reflection, we have been a good government. We have returned the budget to surplus. We inherited a budget deep in deficit and we have turned that around. We have the budget back in surplus. We have seen the creation under this government of 1.2 million new jobs, a number that was laughed at when we first suggested a million new jobs. We have unemployment under five per cent—with a four in front of it—a tremendous achievement. The AAA credit rating has been maintained. We have stopped the boats. There have been no further deaths at sea, and we have been able to increase our humanitarian refugee intake from places like Syria.

Yet I look at the possibility of an alternative Labor government and I am frightened by what I see for the future of our nation. We have Labor's housing tax, which will slash house prices in electorates across the nation. In my electorate, those who own a house are likely to see a $100,000 devaluation of their homes. We see their attack on self-funded retirees on modest incomes—a discriminatory, regressive tax that slugs those people that have saved and worked under the rules of the day only to find in their old age the Labor Party wants to move the goalposts and steal their franking credits.

Then, of course, we have the report from Brian Fisher of BAEconomics—truly independent modelling from Brian Fisher, who used to be employed by the Keating government and the Hawke government. Labor's 45 per cent emissions reduction target that they brag about will cost this nation 336,000 full-time jobs. We'll be able to fill the MCG up three times with the number of people that Labor's policies will put in the unemployment lines.

Then there is the slash for those that still have jobs—an eight per cent cut in real wages across the board. The opposition leader said this should be a referendum about wages. I say, 'Bring it on!' because he is taking to this election policies that will slash wages by eight per cent. For the average wage earner, by 2030 that will be something like $9,000.

Then we have Labor's policy on electricity. The modelling tells us that it'll increase the wholesale price of electricity by up to 58 per cent. We already have some of the highest electricity prices in the world. The Labor Party's policy will see a de-industrialisation of this nation if they proceed with those reckless and wanton targets.

One of my greatest concerns about what the Labor Party's policies will do if they're elected will be in motoring and the freedom of people to own and purchase the type of car that they would like to buy. We have seen this absurd stunt of talking about electric cars.

Electric cars are nothing other than expensive green toys for rich virtue-signalling people. If someone wants to buy an electric car, good luck to them, but they should not come with their hand out asking for a government subsidy and asking for governments to assist them. This morning we saw how absolutely clueless the Leader of the Opposition is in this area. He was asked how long it takes to charge an electric car up. After a long pause, he said something along the lines of: 'Oh, um, ah, it depends on—it can take 8 to 10 minutes.' This shows how completely clueless he is and that he is not across his brief. The time to charge a Nissan Leaf at home from 0 to full on a three-pin plug is 18 hours! On a special 3.7 kilowatt plug, it is 11 hours. Even on the so-called fast charge, it is six hours. A Tesla Model S charged at home takes 44 hours to charge! We have had the Leader of the Opposition out there today saying it will take eight to 10 minutes! (Time expired)