Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt for his question about Australia's tourism industry, because we have a terrific track record: record numbers of tourists staying for a record length of time and spending a record amount of money, with record funding invested by the coalition government. The other record that goes along with that is this government's track record in creating jobs for Australians: we've created over one million jobs over the last five years.

I was in Leichhardt not that long ago and took that opportunity to open a new tourism investment, the new Cairns Aquarium. It is a new investment in the tourism industry that is helping to create new jobs. I note that this government is continuing with its plan to make sure that we create further incentive for investment. We're creating further incentive for investment, especially in Australia's small to medium-sized enterprises, by reducing the tax burden on them. We know that lower levels of tax on Australia's small and medium-sized enterprises will drive investment, and that investment will drive economic growth and drive jobs.

But the member for Leichhardt asks about threats. Well, unfortunately, there are threats to the creation of new jobs and there are threats to investment. Those threats to the 600,000 Australians employed in the tourism industry come from this heavily divided and very confused opposition. Because we start to see, increasingly, that the little fight that's breaking out between the member for Grayndler, the aspiring Leader of the Opposition, and the current Leader of the Opposition is driving more confusion and more division on that side of the House. You see it manifesting every single day now. Now we see the Leader of the Opposition moving to block the member for Port Adelaide from having a chance in Adelaide, instead forcing the member for Port Adelaide to take his fight—

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