Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Attorney-General (Senator Brandis) to a question without notice asked by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Senator Wong) today relating to the economy.

There was not any defence from Senator Brandis in his contribution today in this chamber. When he spoke about the few jobs that have been created, he could not respond in relation to the 800,000 Australians that are out there looking for work. That is the highest unemployment figure for 20 years—two decades. When those opposite try to defend the indefensible, it gives us a lot of avenue to respond. It is not just what we are saying and what we are hearing when we are out in the community talking to workers, talking to members of the community and visiting interest groups. It is out there in the community that the Australian public have given up. They have no trust in this government. They have particularly lost trust in the Prime Minister and they have certainly lost trust in the Treasurer. We have heard, in the conversations that have been had between the deputy leader, Ms Bishop, and the Prime Minister, that one of the ways that she sees that things can be resolved for the good fortunes of this government is to replace Mr Hockey as Treasurer.

I draw the attention of the Senate to an article by Lenore Taylor in The Guardian on Friday. It was a good article. We know that those opposite mostly get their references and research from The Australian. The article states:

All these "wars", of course, have a political purpose – to silence dissent, sideline unwanted advice and distract from critical scrutiny – the same motivations for systematically removing Labor appointments from boards and advisory groups and defunding or sidelining groups that advocate for the poor, the sick, the disabled, the disadvantaged, refugees or the environment.

We know this because we hear it every day when we are out in the community. People have lost confidence in this government. People who are out there trying to find employment are desperate. What has this government done? It has done nothing but make cuts. When Tony Abbott was going into the last election, he promised to be the Prime Minister for jobs, jobs, jobs. We know that he has failed, failed, failed. He has not delivered on that commitment, not by any stretch of the imagination.

I have to say that those opposite have got nothing to celebrate after being in government for two years, because what is underpinning this government is that it is a government that has broken all its promises. They were empty promises. So, even when Tony Abbott says, 'If it's written down then you can take it as gospel,' that is not true because of all the backflips; all the slogans and policy objectives that they went to the last election with—no cuts to health, no changes to the pension, no cuts to education—have all been broken. And we know what they are trying to do to higher education in this country.

But, as I said, with the highest number in 20 years of Australians looking for work—800,000—those people on that side should hang their heads in shame. And then we had Senator Brandis come in and say, 'The unemployment figure wasn't as bad as we thought,' as if that is supposed to give us some light relief!

This was also the government that went to the last election promising that there would be lower taxes, fewer taxes and fairer taxes. And what has it turned out to be? It is a government of taxes. This is despite what those opposite are saying because they are scared of the reaction that they are going to have in Canning in Western Australia's election. That is, this government is all about increasing the GST. There is no mistake. That is firmly on their agenda. And what they will do is: they will stifle the states for funding so that they will try and force the states to accept that there needs to be an increase in the GST. And that is the most unfair tax. The Australian community no longer believes anything that this government says, and they certainly do not believe anything that Mr Abbott says.

Quite often we hear from those opposite referring back to the fact that John Howard was very unpopular in his first term of government and yet they went on to win the next election. Well, the people of Australia will decide who will win the next election. But this government is bereft of policies, ideas and vision for this country. (Time expired)

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I first arrived here as a freshman senator, one of the most intimidating things I found was when you were put on to the speakers list for speeches on the motion to take note of answers. It caused a slight panic, because you were not sure of what the subject matter was and whether you would be equipped to respond. Today, the Labor Party have done us a tremendous service by giving us an opportunity here to speak about the economy!

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Keep telling yourself that!

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Polley, before you leave the chamber: whoever wrote your speech forgot to mention the 335,000 new jobs. This is a government that just lives and breathes jobs and stimulus for the economy.

Senator Polley interjecting—

I know you do not like it, but you should sit and listen quietly while I educate you on this issue.

We have delivered three free trade agreements. Let us look at the current one. It is going to create tens of thousands of jobs in this nation, and you people had every opportunity to try to prevent it. I make a prediction: in the next couple of weeks, you will have to roll over. You are going to have to roll over because the pressure that is coming your way from within the Australian labour movement and within the business community will be just too great for you to bear. I will be looking with great interest to see what reason you use to cloak yourself as you back off. You will go backwards so quickly when the time comes, your shadow will remain in place!

We inherited an economy that was on its knees after six years of Labor chaos. We had to get rid of the carbon tax that you were never going to introduce! I am pleased that Senator Polley brought up the issue of promises. 'There will be no carbon tax under my government'—two people said that; one was Gillard and one was Abbott, and only one of them was telling the truth; the other one was not telling the truth. That carbon tax was bringing industries in our nation to their knees. And that was even before we get on to the impact it was having on the cost of living for ordinary Australians.

You see, your problem, on that side, when you want to talk about the economy, is that you do not understand what an economy is. You simply do not understand. You come from a trade union background where your whole life is devoted to trying to take something off somebody else. You are not wealth creators. I understand that. There are some things that Labor is strong at. The economy is not one of them.

Twenty-seven years ago I could still do push-ups and run six kilometres. That is how long ago it has been since you delivered a surplus!

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How long ago?

Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Twenty-seven years ago, Senator Brandis. It is a long time, and I know that it would be hard for you, looking at me now, to think that that might ever have been the case.

Senator Dastyari interjecting—

You have got no expertise here, can I say to you, Senator, because you were about five the last time your mob delivered a surplus. You cannot have an enduring economy unless you produce a surplus. A surplus is that amount of money that is left after you have done what you have had to do, excluding borrowings. And do you know what happens when a nation turns in surpluses and it has its budget in order, just in the manner that we are doing? You employ people. It constantly surprises me that the Labor Party has turned into an anti-job political franchise. When you make money, when you have surpluses and the receipts of the nation are strong, we invest them—just as we had done, despite the economic conditions, with a $50 billion infrastructure program. They tell me that that is just about seven Snowy River schemes, relatively. And what does that do? That puts money into the economy. That creates jobs—J-O-B-S. Those jobs then start to get into the micro-economies of our country. They create more employment. There is more investment. And do you know what happens with more investment? You need more jobs. So one thing the Labor Party can no longer do is to lecture this side of the House in relation to employment opportunities. Everything we are doing—the free trade agreements, the abolition of the carbon tax, the introduction of 335,000 additional jobs—

Opposition senators interjecting—

That got a squeal out of you then, because not one of you have mentioned it, and I will bet you a carton of stubbies, Senator—through you, Mr Deputy President—or a carton of anything you drink that you will not—

Senator Lines interjecting—

No, I have been caught before; I had to pay for an airfare to somewhere or other, when I told him to go and deal with the Ebola scheme; that cost me five grand! I am happy to do this. I bet you that not one of you mentions the impact of all those additional jobs on this economy in our term of government.

Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers by Senator Brandis to questions on jobs and a strong economy, both of which we have yet to see materialise under those opposite. Again, they are living in a parallel universe. Remember the famous quote from Mr Hockey: 'Just go and get a good job with good pay.' The jobs that have been created are low-paid jobs. They are low-paid, part-time and casual jobs. It is time those opposite revealed the truth about those jobs. They are not high-paying, good jobs where people can rely on an income. That is the truth of it.

There was another thing we heard today in response to the question I put to Senator Brandis. He told me that the only premier in the country calling for an increase in GST is Mr Weatherill. Again, that is completely wrong from the government because in July of this year their very own Colin Barnett, the man who has single-handedly wrecked the Western Australian economy, particularly for the people in the Canning electorate, said he wanted a GST increase. He even named the increase. He wants it to go up to 12.5 per cent. Again, when those opposite attack, they should at least get their facts right.

But let's just be clear about what the Abbott government's inaction has done for the people of Canning. It will mean that their health services will be down $3.5 billion because cuts have been made to the South Metropolitan Health Service and the WA Country Health Service, which serve the Canning electorate. Most of those opposite do not travel south of the river, but I lived in the Canning electorate for 12 years. In fact, as a young person, I went to school in the Canning electorate. My children went to the local hospitals. My children went to the local schools. These are the schools that those opposite have taken funding off. In fact, in the seat of Canning, almost $2 million has been taken out of schools. These include the primary school that my children attended, the high school that I attended and the health services that I and my children used when for 12 years I lived in the seat of Canning. Make no mistake, the Premier of Western Australia, the wrecker of Western Australia's economy, along with the Abbott government, wants an increase to the GST.

We have had two years of the Abbott government and two years of suffering in the electorate of Canning. Let me tell you some other things about the seat of Canning. It has the highest number of pensioners in a metropolitan area. That is completely lost on those opposite as they rip money out of health services, make going to the doctor more expensive, increase fuel taxes and incur additional cost to pensioners. There is no regard for that.

In relation to education, where we have seen almost $2 million ripped out of the seat of Canning, let me inform the Senate that Canning has one of the highest truancy levels in a metropolitan area. Again, what action have we seen from those opposite? We have seen absolutely nothing. Between 2009 and just last week, we have had two Auditor General reports in Western Australia looking at the issue of truancy right across the state of their mate, Colin Barnett, the wrecker of the Western Australian economy. There have been two reports put out on Western Australian schools, and the premier has said categorically that there is no plan to attack issues of truancy in Western Australia. So we have very high truancy levels in the seat of Canning.

In Mandurah—none of those opposite would know where Mandurah is, but it is in the seat of Canning—youth unemployment is the highest in the country. It is way, way above the national average—14.6 per cent of young people in Mandurah in Canning have no job prospects and are completely out of work. Since those opposite have been in power, 1,000 more people in Canning have had to rely on income support because there are no jobs and because the jobs those opposite have created are low paid, part time and casual. That is the truth of it.

The people of Canning know about the ChAFTA. When I speak to them, they tell me they are very worried about their jobs. They are very worried about health. They are very worried about education. And they are very worried about the Prime Minister. It does not matter whether they vote for us or they vote for the Liberals; they are united that the Prime Minister has to go. (Time expired

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is almost un-Australian the way the Australian Labor Party continue to talk down the economy and continue to say untruths about the economy and misrepresent the facts. The simple fact is that, since this government has been in power, some 335,000 additional jobs have been created in this country, many of which are in the electorate of Canning. The previous Labor speaker seemed to be making a policy speech for Canning and not talking on the subject of this debate at all. But I am sure the people of Canning are worldly and intelligent enough not to follow the lies and lines of the Australian Labor Party and particularly the union movement.

One of the things that the Abbott government is doing to bolster the economy is creating new jobs through additional trade opportunities around the world. The China free trade proposal is a great example of that. We all know the benefits that will come from the China free trade agreement, and yet the Labor Party continue to talk it down. One would almost think that they are xenophobic and anti-Chinese in their approach to this particular proposal.

The lies that the union movement tell about the free trade agreement are legion. We understand why the Australian Labor Party are mouthing the words of the ETU and the CFMEU. It is because the union movement generally, including the ACTU and the ETU, control the Australian Labor Party. They determine the preselection of all of the senators sitting opposite. They control the parliamentary Labor Party. Most of the shadow cabinet are former union hacks. That might be okay if the union movement actually represented Australian workers, but the union movement represent only 17 per cent of Australia's workers. That means 83 per cent of Australian workers choose not to join a union. You can well understand why, when you see the miserable efforts of the unions to help workers. They are pretty good at helping themselves, as the royal commission has shown, and pretty good at putting their hands in the workers' pockets, but not much good at helping workers. That is why only 12 per cent of workers in the private sector—which is mining, agriculture, services, finance—choose to join a union. That is, 88 per cent of workers in those areas determine not to join a union. When you have the Electrical Trades Union continuing rogue house calls across the country to say the China free trade agreement will endorse electricians who do not meet our licensing or registration standards, that is simply a lie.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is true.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is simply a lie. We do not allow unqualified electricians from any country—including China to work in Australia and threaten the safety of Australians. I might add that that is quite different to the Labor government, which was allowing untrained people to put pink batts into people's houses, causing regrettable and lamentable deaths of people who were untrained. Under this government, electricians will only operate in Australia if they meet Australian standards. The campaign by the Electrical Trades Union and the ACTU in particular comes from the concern that, by representing only 12 per cent of Australian workers, the union movement sees that it is facing the end of its rort-laden career. The only chance they have of continuing to be relevant in Australia is that they can somehow get the Australian Labor Party back into government. They, representing only 12 per cent of Australian workers, will then control Australia. This is a conspiracy, I think, of major proportions. You only need to look at those numbers to understand what a scourge on the Australian economy the union movement is—(Time expired)