Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I can tell the member for Cowan that in Western Australia no government assets will be privatised under this legislation because, under this legislation, if there is a divestment at last resort of a government asset then it goes to another government entity. But I can say to the member for Cowan: if you want to do something for the people of her electorate and make their lives better off, then stand up to the Leader of the Opposition and his big new property tax, because there are 9,443 people in the electorate of Cowan who are going to be worse off as a result of Labor's policy. And what about Labor's big new retirees tax? What about that? In the electorate of Cowan, there are 3,173 people who will be worse off at the next election as a result of Labor proposing a big new retirees tax.

The hyperbole of the member for McMahon in this debate was very, very funny, because the other day on divestment he got up in the parliament and he started saying, 'I'm going to have to write to the government of Venezuela about this legislation.' I thought to myself: 'Venezuela—the Labor Party. The Labor Party and their union friends—they've already got the Venezuelan government as a penpal.' I discovered a letter from the CFMEU to the government of Venezuela and it's titled 'Comrade Daniel'. Let's remember: the Venezuelan election was described by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as 'not in any way fulfilling minimal conditions for free and credible elections'. But what did the CFMEU say to the government of Venezuela about their elections? 'It's with great satisfaction that we've received reports of your successful presidential elections. We've observed the electoral process and we're satisfied with the transparency and the broad participation of its citizens.' There we have it—the CFMEU, known for its transparency and its adherence to the rule of law, praising the government of Venezuela and their elections for their transparency and adherence to the rule of law. The member for McMahon, the member for Port Adelaide and now the member for Cowan are not interested—

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