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

I will take that interjection. It is a shameful reflection on the Labor Party that we joined with the Greens in the Senate to pass this legislation, and this goes to show that we are serious about making sure that dollars do not get thrown down the drain, whether it is debts owed by Australian taxpayers or whether it is multinationals ripping off Australians and ripping off Australian jobs. In not supporting our legislation the Labor Party has said, 'We do not have any interest in combating multinational tax avoidance. We do not care. We are quite happy for this money to keep on going offshore, denying Australians important revenue and denying Australians jobs.' This is not good for Australians. I say very strongly that this is a good example of where the Greens have joined with our government to support this legislation to ensure it gets through to maximise the revenue for Australians and to maximise the revenue for this government. It is a shocking indictment, and we know it is a shocking indictment because whenever this is raised, as happened today in question time, members opposite hang their heads in shame. They know that this is a terrible error. This sends an appalling message to Australians that the Labor Party is not serious about combating multinational tax avoidance, and it really is a disgrace.

In so many ways we are very proud of these important measures that we have taken. There is other legislation to ban excessive credit card surcharges. It is such an important consumer protection measure but the Labor Party never took it on. It is incredibly important that Australians know they are governed by a government which cares with compassion and with a sense of fairness. That is another great example of how we are standing up for Australians and saying we will not cop people being ripped off. Again, we never saw any movement on that issue under Labor.

Whether it is implementing our free trade agreements, signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership or rolling out our $1.1 billion innovation agenda, we are very, very proud of the work we are doing. Locally, so much is happening in my electorate. There is the new ABS Centre of Excellence, the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, $2.6 million for Geelong Region Job Connections, a new TradeStart office and hundreds and hundreds of jobs being created through the Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund. Whether it is our peak national policy changes or whether it is locally on the ground in Corangamite, I am very proud of our government's efforts. I commend this bill to the House.

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