Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Justice, Customs and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

I do believe it is important to establish the context in which we are having this debate today. What is very important is that a government can set a course and stick to it. It is important that they can provide certainty for investors in Australia. What business needs when it comes to making investment decisions, the time frames of which can sometimes be years or even decades out, is knowledge that when a government gives its undertakings about what is going to happen, those undertakings will actually be delivered. When you have a government that cannot even deliver a budget document six weeks after it has been brought down, clearly that investment climate is being sabotaged.

Sovereign risk is a very important issue. It is not one which investors in Australia traditionally would need to be concerned about. Something that we as a country have been able to go out and sell as one of the vital parts of the investment climate in Australia is the fact that, when you invest in Australia, you are not subject to the types of sovereign risk that you would be subject to if you were investing in other parts of the world. That reputation for stability is being trashed by this government. It is being trashed by the fact that they cannot hold onto a budget document for even six weeks after it has been brought down. It has been trashed by the fact that the Assistant Treasurer cannot even today give some certainty to investors about what is going to happen going forward with this particular measure. It has been trashed by the other measures that the government has taken to destroy the investment climate in Australia. You wonder why consumer confidence is low in Australia. You wonder why people who have the money are not prepared to invest it. This amendment we are discussing here today is a great example of why.

This government cannot even bring down a budget and hold on to it for six weeks. This is the greatest indication that minority government has failed, and the only way to address that is via an election.

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