Judi Moylan (Pearce, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member must have been asleep at the wheel somewhere if he did not notice the Howard government’s Investing in Our Schools Program or Roads to Recovery. They were similarly well received by the Australian community. When the Rudd Labor government came to office in 2007, it inherited a country in superb shape. There was a record low number of industrial disputes, two million new jobs were created and unemployment was at a 30-year low.

In 1997 the coalition government skilfully navigated around the Asian financial meltdown and Australia came through that crisis in very good shape. It should serve to remind us all that prudence in shaping policy should always prevail, because the alternative—reckless spending and reckless policy—has a devastating long-lasting impact on the lives of every citizen. I remind the House that it took 10 years to pay off the last federal Labor government’s spending spree.

Recklessness, though, has so far been the hallmark of the Rudd Labor government, with the decision to give an unlimited guarantee to the four major banks when the global financial crisis first emerged. This decision had an immediate and adverse impact, draining liquidity out of the investment banking sector, with dire consequences for business, the effects of which will be felt for a very long time to come. There will be an effect on jobs. Such reckless decision making is dampening business confidence, stopping business projects in their tracks and beginning the downward spiral of job losses.

Given the severity of the global financial crisis, the Leader of the Opposition offered to work with the government and made the suggestion of a modest guarantee that would have preserved savings without the savage impact of drawing capital away from business investment and development. That offer was rejected. So much for bipartisan work to try and look after the best interests of the Australian public!

Hot on the heels of that ill-informed policy, the government now proposes further measures that will cause businesses, at worst, to review their future prospects in Australia and whether there is a future for their companies in Australia or, at very best, certainly to review their position and possibly to cut jobs. We are already seeing evidence of that in abundance every day. The other two damaging measures are the industrial relations reform and the emissions trading scheme.

The industrial relations reform will inhibit employment, damage the economy and cause anxiety about future job prospects for those already employed and those about to seek employment. Like it or not, we live in a global context where it is easy for enterprise to move to the countries that offer the most advantageous conditions and, while I would not advocate always acceding to the demands of enterprise, it is foolish and naive to put unnecessary barriers in the way of enterprise, which will therefore jeopardise jobs in Australia.

The second policy based on a scheme designed by the international community over a decade ago is the dangerously flawed emissions trading legislation—another enterprise and job killer. By having such a narrowly cast policy, the government is missing an opportunity to build new industries and create new jobs while meeting Australia’s greenhouse targets. I am not a climate change sceptic. I support the need for measures to address climate change. But, sitting as it does in this great Asia-Pacific region, Australia has an incredible chance to develop a strong alternative energy industry and to export that know-how. We have some of the best scientific and technological brains in the world, and neighbouring nations want assistance in driving the great engines of their economies while at the same time reducing pollution. The recent Envirogen comments highlight the negative effects of Labor’s ill-conceived emissions trading scheme on the renewables sector and therefore on future job growth in that sector.

Australia has a real chance to maintain high employment by supporting existing industries and by creating new green jobs. The best Labor can come up with is the job-destroying policies of an outdated ETS and industrial relations legislation designed to drive down employment prospects. (Time expired)

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