Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, after the breathless and hysterical performance we just saw; after the ranting and raving from the senator for North Korea in this chamber, it is little wonder that those on the other side have such little confidence in him—and that Senator Carr finds himself in and out of the industry portfolio over the years. Many seem to doubt his capacity in this portfolio. Certainly, his tenure as industry minister in the previous government demonstrates a significant lack of capacity, as funds came and went, and were axed and then grown, and then axed again, and the swapping and changing that occurred under the previous government that caused such a crisis of confidence in Australia's industry, especially in the manufacturing industry, in relation to the situation that government had created. Senator Carr tried to create a big deal about the fact that the statement provided was not read to the chamber. Of course, having been a minister off and on in different portfolios in the previous government, he would know full well that these statements are generally tabled, as exactly was the case. There was nothing exceptional about that. Senator Carr was just seeking to make a cheap political point.

Senator Carr wanted to talk about jobs—well, the truth is that if he and the Labor Party cared about jobs, and if they truly cared about creating jobs in this country, they would at present be getting out of the way of the reforms this government is seeking to introduce. If you listen to Senator Carr, all you need to worry about to create jobs is having some kind of comprehensive government industry plan—that is how you create jobs. But that is not the case at all. Yes, industry plans and industry funds are important, of course; but they pale into insignificance when compared with the fundamentals of how we structure the economy, how the government taxes the economy, and how all of the different areas of government regulation impact on the economy. It is not government that creates jobs. It is industry and business that create jobs. Government policies simply have a great capacity to impede the ability of industry and businesses to create jobs. And that certainly is what those opposite are doing at present.

Just last week, we saw them come in here and vote against the government's attempts to repeal the carbon tax, a multibillion dollar annual cost on Australian jobs and on Australian businesses that flows through to all aspects of the Australian economy. We see them continuing to filibuster against the government's attempts to repeal the mining tax, a tax on jobs, once again, in some of our most successful industries. We see their opposition to our attempts to reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commission—an initiative to make sure that we actually stamp out rorts and union practices that drive up the costs of doing business in Australia and eliminate competitiveness for this country. All of these things that we as a government are seeking to do are fundamental to trying to make Australia a more competitive place in which to do business and trying to establish a lower cost base for all businesses and all industries.

It is not about lower wages, as Senator Carr wants to claim in some type of fearmongering campaign, but about lower costs for businesses to operate under. Lower costs can create more economic activity; lower costs and lower taxes can create more jobs. Senator Carr may not be here to listen to these remarks, but if he was serious in caring about jobs, and if he was serious in caring about growing the Australian economy and creating more high-paid jobs, then he would be supporting the government in our measures to reduce the tax base and increase competitiveness in Australia. He would be supporting our measures to grow free trade, and to establish and finalise free trade agreements with other countries. We have already done so with South Korea, and we are aggressively pursuing opportunities with China and Japan. He would be supporting those things—but no, he carps and complains from the sidelines. If is not fear about wage cuts, it becomes fear about other areas of government spending reductions. Senator Carr rails on about the Commission of Audit and what it might be doing. Never mind the fact that he seems to completely ignore: the reality that the previous government was completely incapable of controlling their spending and completely incapable of managing a budget.—

Senator Bilyk interjecting—

You can sigh all you want there, Senator Bilyk, but you were part of a government that in cumulative terms generated $123 billion worth of budget deficits—

Senator s Bilyk and Moore interjecting—

That is your legacy, Senator Bilyk, and yours, Senator Moore—