Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

They are very cocky, aren't they? They are very, very cocky. It was the Leader of the Opposition who said, 'Just leave the keys to the Lodge there in the door.' That's what he said. As they would have heard those words from the Leader of the Opposition, I reckon a chill would have gone through Australians, for two very important reasons: Australians do not trust a potential Shorten government to run a stronger economy or to keep Australians safe. They know that they will not be safe under a Shorten-led government. They know that their jobs, their wages, the fiscal strength of this government, the AAA credit rating and the future they hope for will not be safe under a Shorten government. But they can trust the Turnbull government. They can trust the Liberal and National parties because our plan for a stronger economy is working and our plan for a safer Australia is working.

Our plan is ensuring that unemployment is going down and jobs are going up. We have had 95,500 young people get a job in the last fiscal year, the best result in 30 years, and that deserves a strong cheer. That's what that deserves. We get no cheers from that side because there are jobs being created in this economy under the plan of this government. Debt has turned a corner. The deficit is falling and will return to balance next year. The AAA credit rating has been ensured and kept under this government. And, as for thuggish unions and big companies who want to take people for a ride, we've put in the powers and are putting in the powers to stop them in their tracks, while this Leader of the Opposition cheers them all on.

On top of that, our plan for keeping Australians safe is working. It is this government, a Liberal National government, that is legislating to protect Australians from foreign interference. It is this government and these parties that have put in place the funding to restore our national security agencies, our police officers and our border protection. The ABCC has been put in there to put a real cop on the beat; union thugs were off the leash under a Shorten led government, but they are certainly not under this government. Our Defence Force is being rebuilt after the waste and the neglect of the Labor Party, who let them run down to the lowest level since pre-war times, and they should be ashamed of that.

But it is also this government that has been protecting not only our values but our borders. We ended the absolute chaos and wreckage that came particularly from the shadow Treasurer, the worst immigration minister in this country's history. He made the biggest contribution to 800 boats, 50,000 people and more than 6,000 children in detention. Every single one of them, including those who were otherwise supported by the Greens, should hang their heads in shame for the human carnage and wreckage they were responsible for and the lives they destroyed by their neglect. We've been talking about a big stick to take to energy companies. This mob couldn't find a big stick with a flashlight and two pairs of hands. Under them, there will be no stick, the unions will be off the leash and the big companies will be off the leash. They will run away under the weakness of this opposition.

But more important than that, and more important than the strong policies we have, are the strong beliefs that underpin those policies: the fair go for those who have a go and who put in the hard yards. That's what our tax cuts have been about for personal income tax, for small business, for farmers—for all of them. We are ensuring that we reject the disgraceful politics of envy championed by this Leader of the Labor Party. We don't think that for you to do better someone has to do worse. All Australians will recoil from the punishing taxes of this potential Shorten government. Five billion dollars a year of a slug on retirees, on pensioners, on those who have worked hard, small businesses—that's what this fella has ensured for them if he is elected.

We have an immigration policy that brings people to this country who want to make a contribution, not take one. We have a policy to ensure that the best form of welfare is a job. We don't think tax is a privilege; we think it is a burden, which should be eased on all of the Australian people who work hard. And, when it comes to our sovereign interests, this side of the House always believes we will decide.

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