Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In an outstanding act of deceit, the Labor Party are now blocking legislation in the Senate, legislation doing just what they promised they were going to do. They were going to get rid of the carbon tax, but here we have them blocking legislation to do just that. The Leader of the Opposition promised one thing to the Australian people before the election—he was going to get rid of the carbon tax—but now he is blocking it. They are going to keep the carbon tax. They want to keep the carbon tax. All the Leader of the Opposition and his party members do is mislead the Australian people. They did it for six years and they are continuing to do it now.

On this side of the House we are methodically going about the challenging task of cleaning up Labor's mess. We are keeping our commitments, commitments like abolishing the carbon tax. Labor's reaction to this is to stall and frustrate. The mandate of the Australian people was to get rid of the carbon tax and that is exactly what we are going to do. The people of Darwin and Palmerston voted to get rid of the carbon tax because the carbon tax was increasing their cost of living. So we are working to get rid of the carbon tax.

This was not the only promise the Labor Party have failed on. The Leader of the Opposition and his cronies promised a better deal for Northern Territory schools. They promised the people in my electorate that the Labor Party would look out for local schools in Darwin and Palmerston and give them all the support they needed. Luckily the Northern Territory government are pretty switched on. They realised that the deal the Labor Party was offering was not that good—taking from schools in my electorate and giving to schools where the kids do not even go to school. It is just ridiculous. So the Northern Territory government did not sign up to Gonski—and thank God they did not. After that, the Leader of the Opposition cut $1.2 billion from education funding, a cut that was going to affect people in my electorate.

Again, in contrast to the Labor Party, the Abbott government is keeping its commitments on school funding. We are actually delivering more funding over the next four years than was promised by the Labor Party. Territorians are going to be better off under this deal. The coalition will improve schools and educational outcomes for students in Palmerston, Darwin and the Northern Territory more generally. Our plan is focused on what we know will work—good teachers, more power for principals, more say for parents and the community and a stronger curriculum. That is what will work.

As well as honouring our pre-election commitment to match the previous Labor' government's school education funding for the next four years, Minister Pyne has addressed Labor's appalling decision to slash $1.2 billion from the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australian education budgets. As part of an additional $230 million going to those three jurisdictions in 2014, the Territory will receive an extra $67 million. So we will be able to give parents and teachers more say, create a sound national curriculum, improve the quality of teaching and generate funding certainty.

There is no doubt that the party that breaks promises—that overpromises and underdelivers—is the Labor Party. We are the party that delivers on our promises. The Australian people believe us and trust us. They know they cannot trust Labor. That is why they voted them out.

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