Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. The only issue as to relevance is the opposition’s relevance deprivation syndrome. The opposition are completely irrelevant when it comes to tax law, efficiencies for small business and other things, which is exactly what this bill is about. I am sure if anyone is listening or perhaps will read this later—if I am so lucky—they will think I am being completely relevant.

The changes we are bringing about in this bill will provide a better tax system, doing the things that the previous government either were not interested in or did not have the fortitude to do. That reminds me of all the lost opportunities, the things we could have done in those 10 years in opposition by stimulating the economy and providing a legacy of infrastructure—ports, rail, road, things which make a difference to communities, regardless of who represents them.

We have been left with a great task, a task which we willingly face with great responsibility. My community shares the Ipswich Motorway—which we have heard a lot about—with neighbouring electorates. For all of the transport companies and small businesses using that lifeblood of a highway as a link between workplaces and homes, or business-to-business interactions, having to wait more than a decade for action to be taken and having to wait for a change of government has had a huge cost. It would be an interesting exercise to see opportunity cost, the cost to the economy today and how better placed we would have been during those three revenue rich years of the previous government—(Time expired)

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