Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

that everything they do is incentivised so they can get ahead and realise their dreams.

That is what Labor used to be all about, and the abandonment by the Leader of the Opposition not only flies in the face of what Keating, Hawke, Wran and others said but also flies in the face of what he himself said. This is a leader who said in his maiden speech:

The old class war conflicts should finally be pronounced dead.

Hang on, I'll just check—yes, that was the member for Maribyrnong, absolutely.

The real conflict—

he said—

is between those who are stuck in a business-as-usual routine and those that pursue innovation, knowledge and creativity. Those are the drivers of economic growth around our world.

He said:

What I want to accomplish for working people is about aspiration …

Can this be true?

Can this be true? Is there an impersonator? Is this the same Leader of the Opposition, the same member for Maribyrnong?

Everything the Labor Party stood for and was founded on was about encouraging Australians to get ahead. That was their ideal. And our values of enterprise, investment, innovation—that's what we stand for. The aspirations of both sides of politics often coincided, but now we see this huge gulf. Labor is for less investment; we are for more investment. We are for a stronger economy; Labor is for a weaker economy. We are for lower taxes; Labor is for higher taxes—$70 billion more personal income tax. This is what this bloke is going to go to the election on. He is going to ask people to vote to pay $70 billion more personal income tax.

Dr Leigh interjecting—

See this speech in context