Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let me tell you what we are doing. You say we have no plan. That is absolute rubbish. We are focusing on new opportunities, new industries, new markets and new jobs. Consider what we are doing. We are trying to get rid of the carbon tax, which members opposite are blocking. This is a tax on jobs, a tax on Geelong and a tax on the people of my electorate. This is a tax on manufacturing. This is driving up the cost of energy and it is hurting manufacturing. Two million businesses are being hurt by the carbon tax, and what do those opposite do? Not one cent of compensation—absolutely nothing We are working hard to get rid of the mining tax, which is being blocked by members opposite. We are working hard to build a strong economy and to boost investment and confidence. But the more you drag our nation down as a centre of manufacturing, the more damage you do.

Consider the basket case of the economy we inherited. Unless we get the budget back under control, we are heading towards $123 billion of accumulated deficits—$667 billion of government debt. We are slashing government debt.

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