Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank again the member for Mayo for his question, because once again he is forced to confront facts as opposed to the fear campaign which those opposite are mounting. The member for North Sydney says, ‘What about Morgan Stanley?’ Can I say in response to that that I thought the CEO of BHP spoke for BHP, rather than the representative of Morgan Stanley. But I will leave it with those opposite, as they claim to have better connections with corporate Australia than this side of the House.

This also forms part of a pattern of what has been suggested by those opposite in terms of the impact of tax reform on individual projects. Remember, of course, that particular claim in relation to Clive Palmer. Two of Clive’s projects were going to be torpedoed in South Australia. It is about four weeks on, and we are still trying to find those projects. Maybe the member for Mayo could help us; we are still searching for them. I simply conclude by making a point about projects and companies like Clive Palmer’s. It is important that the member for Mayo listen to this because I am told his illustrious predecessor, a very good friend of mine, Alexander Downer, is in fact on the board of a company called Resourcehouse, of which Clive Palmer is owner and chairman. So I know there is a good and strong connection between the seat of Mayo and Clive Palmer’s company and this broader campaign of fear concerning companies and associated tax reform.

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