Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

If Senator Bullock from the great state of Western Australia is concerned that what is implicit in his question is actually true, I would invite him to get his colleagues on the Australian Labor Party side of this parliament to support the Chinese free trade agreement and see the boost it will generate to the Australian economy so that we see even further jobs growth than we were able to announce today—a reduction in unemployment to 6.2 per cent, meaning that there were more Australians gainfully employed; a good move ahead and something which is indicative of the fact that we are sticking to our plan, that we are implementing our plan and that indeed we are achieving our plan.

Do we want to achieve more? Of course we do, because we have great ambitions for this country. But time and again, as we seek to implement our ambitions for this country, we are blocked by those opposite who are blocking the free trade agreement. They want to reintroduce a carbon tax, they want to reintroduce the mining tax, they stop us from getting rid of red and green tape by putting in silly amendments about Defence Materiel Organisation matters. This is an opposition that has irresponsibility written all over it in capital letters. We will continue to be dedicated to the task of serving the Australian people by keeping jobs growth and economic growth going in a way that sees as many Australians as possible in employment, in circumstances where jobs growth is four times the rate it was in the last year of the Labor government—and that is without the Chinese free trade agreement. Just imagine what we could get with it. (Time expired)