Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There can be no denying that, when there are state and federal elections, the results of those state and federal elections cause political parties, members of parliament, candidates and party organisations to take a very, very hard look at themselves. There's no doubt that the Victorian state election results for the coalition over the weekend have given us a very fresh opportunity to revisit the way that we are approaching our issues and to revisit the way we're engaging with the Australian community, but that happens to all parties and it happens over time. So my caution to Labor senators on the other side is: don't get too cocky, because you will fall over yourself. There are some important lessons for the Liberal Party in the Victorian state election result, but, in the first instance, I will trust the attitudes and opinions and perceptions of Victorian Liberals before a Western Australian senator like myself will comment on what's happened in Victoria. But it is a unique opportunity for the Liberal Party to take a hard look at itself before we go into the next federal election.

Yesterday, Senator Cormann gave the Labor opposition in the Senate a wonderful opportunity to come back into the Australian Senate today and ask questions about the economic performance of the government. Yesterday, Senator Cormann shared with the Senate what the OECD and the IMF had been saying about the performance of the Australian economy. Why is that important? Because that is the single most important issue that is confronting Australian families. What do their future employment opportunities look like, what do their future growth opportunities look like and how are they going to raise their families and ensure that their children and grandchildren have employment opportunities into the future? But, no, Labor senators today couldn't risk the opportunity to talk politics, play politics and focus on issues that are so far away from the minds of ordinary Australian families and small-business owners; so far away from the minds of Australian families in my home state of Western Australia, in New South Wales and in the Northern Territory. These are the issues that are top of mind to Australian families and small businesses: what does the economic future of our country look like? It is as simple as that. That is not an alternative government on the other side of the Senate chamber. Those people want to play politics—petty-minded politics—when, in fact, when you leave Canberra, the issues that are important to Australian families beyond here are much bigger and more significant than that.

Why do they not want to talk about the Australian economy? Why would Labor senators not want to ask Senator Cormann and other economic ministers about the Australian economy? The answer to that is: Paul Keating. What Senator Cormann shared with the Australian Senate yesterday was what Paul Keating had to say about Bill Shorten. Let's be very, very clear about this: if there is a Labor government, it will not look like the Hawke and Keating governments; it will be a dangerous Labor government. I'll come to that in one moment. What did Paul Keating say about Bill Shorten and the Labor Party? He said that Labor has 'lost the ability to speak aspirationally to people and to fashion policies to meet those aspirations'. That's what Keating said. No-one knows the Australian Labor Party better in this country than Paul Keating, and he said that Labor has 'lost the ability to speak aspirationally to people and to fashion policies to meet those aspirations'. Why would Paul Keating say that? Paul Keating says that because he knows that Labor has no plan for growth. You have a plan for taxes—you have a plan for taxes on retirees, you have a plan for taxes on families and you have a plan for taxes on small businesses—but you have no plan for growth.

When Australian families and Australian small businesses come out of the summer holidays next year, they're going to be presented with a very stark choice, and on that point alone Senator Cameron was absolutely right. Australians will have a very stark and clear choice—a choice between employment growth and economic growth, delivered by a coalition government led by Scott Morrison, or a plan for taxes and no growth, which will impoverish Australian families and small businesses.