Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Current world events and the destabilisation of our geopolitical climate demonstrate that Australia, despite our challenges, is a resilient and strong democracy. This should never be taken for granted. Having the opportunity to stand in this place today and make this speech after a seamless transition post election proves that we are indeed the greatest country on earth.

Entering my second term in the Senate, I've been reflecting on what the past six years threw at us. Obviously, for those that were also in the class of 2019, we didn't have very long in this place until, suddenly, life was far from normal. COVID entered the scene in early 2020, and we were trying to work out what it meant for Australia. Parliament was cancelled, and we spent all that time in isolation. We Western Australians spent a few too many days cooped up in hotel rooms—or, as it was for me, in a caravan—after parliamentary sittings. Then came the economic shocks, the supply chain challenges—we all remember the rush on toilet paper—the rising inflation, the growing uncertainty in global affairs and the creeping sense that things would never be the same. And we've faced compounding pressures on families, small businesses, budgets and national morale. Yet here we are.

I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge some of my colleagues who have finished their service in this place and the other place. Firstly, I acknowledge our leader last term, Peter Dutton. Peter was a great support to me, and I'm incredibly grateful to him and his family. The election result was disappointing, but Peter deserves recognition and respect for his almost 25 years as a member of parliament, including as a cabinet minister and, most recently, the Leader of the Opposition.

Secondly, I acknowledge my fellow Western Australian, former senator Linda Reynolds. Linda has been such a strong advocate for Western Australian and the coalition. Linda, you can be proud of your contribution and what you achieved in our nation's parliament.

I would also like to acknowledge my other colleagues Hollie Hughes, Perin Davey and David Fawcett. Thank you for being such great colleagues and supporters and for all the work that you did in this place. I wish you the very best for what comes next.

It is through these reflections that you realise the immense privilege that it is to serve in the Australian parliament. I never want a day to go by without that feeling of great pride. We should never feel entitled or be comfortable in this job, for it is for Western Australians and it is with Western Australians, who have placed their trust in me to represent them and deliver for them.

This is a sobering time for the Liberal Party. The results of the past two elections highlight that much has gone wrong. It is easy to rush to judgement, despair or fear and think that it will always be, but there are important lessons for me and indeed for the whole coalition. This moment that we're in right now presents a new opportunity, and we must seize it. The great Sir Robert Menzies once reminded us that 'the greatest enemy to present joy and high hopes is the cultivation of retrospective bitterness'. Drawing on past grievances won't help us rebuild, but honest reflection, clarity of purpose and renewed commitment to our longstanding beliefs will.

Like it or not, voters always get it right. You may not like the decision, but in a democracy they are the better judge. It's clear Australians did not think that the coalition was ready to govern. With the benefit of hindsight, I suspect they were right. In my view, we failed to express some of our most important beliefs, the very same beliefs for which we've seen the coalition elected many times before. How can we be the party of lower taxes and sound economic management if we oppose tax cuts and fail to deliver and outline a clear vision for tax reform? With bracket creep coming into sharper focus, we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and allow it to happen. Put simply, it's robbing hardworking Australians of money that should be in their back pockets and not in the Treasury.

Speaking of robbery, this is what the current Treasurer is doing with the proposed tax on superannuation for those with a balance of $3 million or more. You know it's a bad idea when the father of superannuation, former prime minister Paul Keating, is saying that this is unconscionable. He knows, like everyone else, that it needs to be indexed; otherwise, the very workers that he sought to protect by creating this superannuation guarantee will be the ones most affected by Treasurer Chalmers's foolish ideas.

With millions of Australians paying billions in tax each year, the electorate is crying out for taxation reform. With productivity continuing to decline, reforming the tax system is one pathway to restoring it. We face a very simple choice: should governments find more ways to tax Australians, or should we collectively work together to get Australia's budget back into a sustainable position? As Liberals, it should definitely be the latter. It is in our DNA. But we need to find the collective will and courage to fight for this. I firmly believe that, if we contest the next election with a vision of economic strength and a plan for tax reform, Australians will see the coalition as the alternative government that they've been looking for. We must cast a vision for Australia, something more than just good policy.

Under the leadership of the Hon. Sussan Ley, I've been privileged to serve in her shadow ministry as the shadow minister for infrastructure, fisheries and forestry. These sectors are critical to the Australian economy. Infrastructure impacts Australians every day. Through efficient and safe infrastructure, we enable businesses to boost productivity and transport goods. We enable people to get to work safely, parents to do the school run, public transport to operate and so on. In this portfolio, I'll be primarily investigating the need to improve road safety. Last year, 1,300 lives were lost on our roads, the highest in a decade. That is one less person at family dinners or at Christmas gatherings. We must ensure that funds are allocated correctly to make our roads safer, and I'd add to that we must ensure that projects are delivered on time and on budget for that to occur.

I'll also champion the infrastructure needs of my home state, Western Australia. Infrastructure fuels economic growth, yet WA seems to be missing out, despite being the engine room of this country, as I'm sure you'd agree, Acting Deputy President Cox. A 2019 Australian infrastructure audit estimated that congestion in Perth would cost $3.1 billion annually by 2031. Winding roads and freeways are sensible, but often we react to congestion rather than proactively plan and build before it becomes an issue. We also need to rethink commuting options. Perth has one of the lowest rates of walking and cycling trips nationwide. According to Infrastructure Australia, there are 4.2 million private car trips daily, with 2.8 million under five kilometres.

The other major element of my portfolio is fisheries and forestry, two industries under constant attack by the Australian Labor Party and the Greens. Along with Senator Cadell, I work constructively to ensure government policies support these industries and enable sustainable operation for future generations. Bizarrely, the Left seems hell-bent on squeezing these industries until they collapse. In WA, the Cook Labor government has banned native logging, with little regard for the regional towns that relied on it and offering limited alternative economic opportunities. Let me be clear: while the coalition agrees that these industries must operate sustainably, we also believe in the people and the towns that rely on them and the vibrant economy that they contribute to. My family hails from Manjimup, a beautiful part of the world. I love native forests, but everything must be balanced, and a total ban is not the answer.

As many of you know, I also love the great outdoors. During recent school holidays, only a few weeks ago, my family and I drove the Great Central Road to the Red Centre. This is the road that cuts straight through from Laverton all the way to Uluru. It's Australia's longest road route and it's an incredible shortcut. In fact, it's known as the great shortcut. It saves you about 1,200 kilometres if you take that direct route rather than going through Port Augusta and across the Nullarbor. The journey along the Great Central Road is an epic odyssey. There remains a 736-kilometre unsealed section on the Western Australian side. Having experienced it firsthand, I will advocate for this part to be fully sealed. I want to give a special shout-out to the Mayor of Laverton, Patrick Hill. He has led this cause for over 25 years. He is someone who deserves great recognition.

A heads-up to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee budget estimates process: I will be coming to that committee with many questions on why this road has not been sealed already. The funding is there. My initial investigations suggest that the delays are linked to native title issues. The Morrison government allocated $400 million to this project. The money's sitting there. But the state Labor government has sat on it for over three years. My understanding is that the conflicted areas cover only a small part of the route, so why is the Albanese government allowing it to stall?

This is a vital infrastructure project for Western Australia and, indeed, the nation. A third transport link into WA is critical. Two years ago, there was a fire down on the Nullarbor and a flood up in the Kimberley. The flood destroyed the Fitzroy Crossing bridge, and, of course, the transcontinental railway and the Eyre Highway were blocked by the fire. Freight had to be shipped from either Melbourne or Adelaide to get across to Perth. That included groceries. The case for sealing this route is clear, and the inaction shows that WA is being taken for granted. I'll have more to say about this in coming months.

In closing, much work remains for my party to return to government. It's obvious the Australian people didn't think that we were ready to govern on 3 May. The Liberal Party has a lot of rebuilding to do. But, when faced with adversity, we should meet those challenges head-on. Restoring trust with the electorate, delivering policies that bring meaningful change and building a stronger Australia for families should be our guiding goal. Building a stronger Australia starts with stronger families. Policies like income splitting for families with young children are more than good ideas—and a special shout-out to you, Senator Collins, for your great first speech last night and for raising this important topic. They recognise that the great sacrifices of stay-at-home parents are important. These mothers and fathers do vital work raising the next generation and deserve a fair tax system that honours their choices rather than punishing them.

On education, we need to get back to basics. Every Australian child deserves a solid foundation in literacy and numeracy within a calm and orderly classroom. This involves backing evidence based teaching methods and raising standards, not lowering them. On energy and climate, Tony Blair, in his foreword to the paper The climate paradox: why we need to reset action on climate change, makes it clear: we cannot meet our climate goals with ideological divides that continue to hold us back. Australia needs realism and support for technologies that can deliver clean, reliable, affordable power. Nuclear energy should be on the table, not as a last resort but as part of our energy mix. I want to be part of a process that makes these changes happen, not one that stalls progress—a process that seeks to improve rather than stifle good ideas.

There are many challenges facing us as a nation. One of them, of course, will be the advancement of artificial intelligence. We're less than 18 months away from having artificial general intelligence. That is going to profoundly change the way we go about life. It will happen within this term of parliament. Within this term of parliament, we will see dramatic changes in the way that our lives are impacted. In fact, it's going to impact upon government, and it's going to impact upon revenue. There are many challenges that we are going to have to face in this parliament.

In the Liberal Party, we've faced lows before. We're at an all-time low right now, but we can deal with it. We've been written off before. We've been written off as out of touch before. We've been written off, but we will rise again. As the 40th president of the United States, who endured a period in the political wilderness himself, once said:

From times of hardship, we've always emerged with a renewed sense of confidence and a determination to meet and to conquer whatever challenges lie ahead.