Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I can tell you, Derek Zoolander would not behave like that here! Derek Zoolander would be much calmer. And he certainly would not be wearing that tie-suit combination, I can tell you! He is a very snappy dresser, but he is not going to be a very good Treasurer because he will never get there. He makes a better shadow Treasurer.

Of course, the government has a very considered agenda and a very considered plan. In December, we announced the National Innovation and Science Agenda—24 measures costing $1.1 billion, which of course the member for Isaacs regards as a joke. But I can tell you that, in the start-up industry, in the business community, amongst the millions of people in Australia who work in the innovative industries, it was regarded as a very substantial breakthrough by the government, and the government is setting about implementing the 24 measures of the National Innovation and Science Agenda. In fact, the tax breaks for angel investors in start-ups have already been introduced into the House, as has the capital gains tax discount.

On the other side of the House, Labor want to increase the capital gains tax by 50 per cent. That is their policy. Now, we all know what you do when you want to discourage something: you increase the tax on it. For example, we have high taxes on tobacco because we want to discourage people from smoking. So the only possible construction you can place on the Labor Party's proposal to increase capital gains tax is that they want less investment, not more investment, in Australia.

By contrast, the government, through the National Innovation and Science Agenda, want to encourage more capital investment in Australia, and that is why we are exempting certain investments in start-up businesses from any capital gains tax at all for assets held for between three and 10 years. We want to encourage investment. Labor want to close down investment through increasing taxes.

But it has not been just the National Innovation and Science Agenda. Since the election of Prime Minister Turnbull, we have had an incredibly busy program of change in the country. We have democratised the Senate. We have put the power over individuals' votes back in their own hands by reforming the Senate voting system—a very significant reform to our democracy. We have introduced changes to media ownership laws in this country, an issue that was kicked into the long grass for decades, in spite of those laws being hopelessly out of date and not in the least bit prepared for a modern economy. We have reformed competition law in Australia through the effects test and the changes to section 46—a vitally important reform that supports small businesses against big businesses when they misuse their market power.

We have the competition law reform, we have the media ownership law reform, we have reformed the Senate and we have the National Innovation and Science Agenda. We have had the incredible announcements around the defence industry policy statement and the defence white paper. We have committed $30 billion to new defence spending, which was reduced by the Labor Party to its lowest level since 1939 as a percentage of GDP.

Mr Conroy interjecting—

Opposition members interjecting—

The defence industry policy statement, the defence white paper, creating jobs and creating growth: these are real decisions, real announcements that are changing our economy.

In a state like mine, South Australia, the defence industry is vitally important, and yesterday we announced the winner of the Pacific patrol vessel bids, which is Austal in Henderson. We have also announced that the 12 offshore patrol vessels will be built in Adelaide and then moved to Perth when the future frigates begin in 2020. Then of course there are the future frigates; we tightened up the process for that as well, by choosing the three designs from which the final frigates will be chosen. We have the submarines decision to come, but at least we have promised a commitment to 12 submarines.

In all the time that Labor were in government, six years, they never awarded one contract in Australia to build any ships at all, not one. Not one ship was built for the Navy in Australia under the Labor Party. They awarded contracts—the lowest funding since 1938—for shipbuilding but none of them for here in Australia. By the time the government are finished the continuous naval shipbuilding, we will have built 21 Pacific patrol boats, 12 offshore patrol vessels and nine future frigates, and we have a commitment to provide 12 submarines to the Navy. We are making a real difference in creating jobs. In Adelaide, in Cairns, through maintenance, in Perth and right around Australia, we are fulfilling the requirements of the Rand report on future naval shipbuilding in Australia and we are defending our country as a consequence.

So this government has an agenda, and it has a budget coming up on 3 May. On 3 May, the Treasurer will hand down his first but by no means his last budget. It will be his first but by no means his last budget. In this budget, the government will outline its agenda for the election campaign that will come at some stage this year. The government will outline to the people how we will, through our policies, repair the budget mess that was left to us by the Labor Party. Let us not forget that the high-taxing, high-spending Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government—

An opposition member: Where's the crescendo?

took over an economy with surplus budgets—

Opposition members interjecting—

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