Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services and Disability Services) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this questionable and spurious MPI. It is reprehensible that such drivel from those opposite is debated today when there are more important issues at play. But it is unsurprising that Labor has chosen another farcical stunt like this one.

We as members all have our own opinions about who is a good leader and who is not. The very fact that each of the members is here today demonstrates the opinions of their constituents. They may even think you are a good leader in their area. However, like my colleagues, I base my opinion of a good leader on actions and on merit. As Rudyard Kipling said, 'Let each man be judged by his deeds.' Merit is at the very core of this MPI, mainly because it establishes what our Prime Minister has achieved so far. Today represents one year of leadership by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. In that time, this government—under his leadership—has indeed achieved. A few examples that I would like to share convey only a brief taste of just some of the achievements the Turnbull-led government has delivered.

Under Prime Minister Turnbull, our economy and budget are strengthening. Economic growth has strengthened to 3.3 per cent, and Australia's 870,000 incorporated small businesses—the engine room of our economy supported by this government—will be further boosted as a result of our changes, giving them a fair go at competing. We have also delivered a crackdown on multinational tax avoidance, something the other side never delivered. Under Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, 220,000 new jobs have been created in the past year alone. Sixty per cent of those jobs have gone to women. The Turnbull government has delivered a Defence industry plan—not talked about it, not written papers, not had committees; they have delivered a Defence industry plan: a $195 billion spend on defence capability over the next 10 years. They have not ripped the heart out of Defence, which is what the Labor government did when they were in power. Our naval shipbuilding plan involves the construction of 54 new naval vessels—not one was ever delivered by the other side; not one single dinghy was delivered by the other side. We will be using Australian steel for our new submarines and creating, yet again, more Australian jobs. The Turnbull government is investing in critical telecommunications infrastructure in regional Australia. Through the new NBN Sky Muster satellite and our $230 million Mobile Black Spot Program, we are already delivering 449 new or improved mobile phone towers, covering 3,000 black spots left by Labor, with more to come. The Turnbull government has grown more export markets, which have opened up. This means Australian small businesses have access to some of the fastest growing consumer markets in the world. Beef and wine exports, just to mention two, have seen record growth.

The Turnbull government is delivering health care. In the last year, there were 17 million more GP services bulk-billed, compared to Labor's last year in office. We have made many medicines cheaper and added life-saving drugs to the PBS, including drugs for breast cancer and melanoma. The Turnbull government is investing in more localised mental health care and support. This includes trialling innovative IT solutions, and it also includes 24/7 support, 12 suicide prevention sites around Australia and 10 more headspace facilities. The Turnbull government has implemented stronger laws to give our security agencies the tools they need, and to give our troops the powers they need. The Turnbull government is building stronger communities. On 1 July this year, the coalition government began the full rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. And let us not forget that it was the Turnbull government that delivered Senate voting reforms which have ended the days of backroom deals and preference whisperers determining election results, rather than Australian voters—

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