Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport) Share this | Hansard source

As we would all recognise, it is the time in the night for little children to be going to bed and we have just heard one of the great fairytales, told to us by the member for Kingston. It starts with this story that once upon a time there was this Treasurer who promised a surplus. No-one on this side of the chamber and certainly no-one from the broader Australian community actually believe a single word this Treasurer says when it comes to the word 'surplus'. Keep in mind, we are talking about a Treasurer who has delivered record deficits four years in a row. Even the Treasurer himself does not seem to believe he can deliver a surplus, because last year I remember speaking in the House and I challenged the Treasurer. I said: 'I'll bet you $1,000 that you will not deliver a surplus in the next financial year. I'll bet you $1,000 and I'll donate that to your favourite charity if you can actually deliver a surplus. Of course, if you can't deliver that surplus, you'll need to make a donation of $1,000 to my local surf lifesaving club.' I am afraid the Treasurer would not take the bet. He did not have the courage of his convictions, because this is a Treasurer who simply cannot be believed.

I want to raise several issues tonight in relation to the budget, particularly the impacts they will have on my community in Gippsland. My concern particularly relates to an aspect of the budget that the Treasurer cannot bear to name—that is, the carbon tax. Overall, I believe this is a disappointing budget for regional Australia, particularly for my electorate against the backdrop of the government's Contract for Closure scheme, part of its so-called clean energy future package. There is already a crisis of confidence in my electorate, particularly around the Latrobe Valley, and it is directly linked to the uncertainty that this government has created through its reckless decision to legislate for what is the world's biggest carbon tax. We have already seen job losses in the Latrobe Valley and there is a very real prospect of more to come. I know the government likes to use the high Australian dollar as a defence and the reason that these jobs are being lost. Of that assertion, I simply ask: why on earth would you make it harder? When we have a high Australian dollar, while there are difficult times facing many factories, some parts of the agricultural sector and certainly the power-generating sector, why make it tougher for Australian manufacturers to do business? Why make it harder for them to compete on world markets?

I believe that regional Australia already makes an amazing contribution to this nation. We heard the member for Maranoa speak previously about the great contribution that regional Australians make in their day-to-day lives. But they are desperate for a government to show real leadership on this particular issue. The carbon tax debate is followed very closely in regional communities, particularly in my community of Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley. As I have said to the House before, my community is at the absolutely pointy end of this debate. For them it is not some abstract argument. It is about their jobs. It is about the lives they lead today. It is their hope for the future, the opportunities that they can provide for their children in the future and the role that they can play in helping this great nation be even greater in the future. The fundamental problem that this government has relates to its carbon tax broken promise. This Prime Minister will simply not recover in the eyes of my community, because of that fundamental breach of trust. That is the simple fact of the matter.

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