Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Hansard source

It's always a great pleasure to be able to follow on from the member for Bruce. I actually have an affection for him. He's theatrical in his performance. In fact, he performs substantially better than most of the other members, particularly on the frontbench, of the opposition. Of course, the actual matter of public importance has been about a focus on Australians. That's an entirely legitimate thing to raise as an issue. We care deeply on this side of the chamber about Australians and their future. Yet the member for Bruce focused only on one Australian. Despite his claim that the criticism of the government was about its failure to focus on every Australian, he was obsessed with only one. It's part of a constant attempt by the opposition to assassinate the character of the Prime Minister—with one objective only. We all know that, within a few months, the people of Australia will go to the polls and they will make a decision about who is going to run this country for the next three years.

Of course, the opposition know they can't win the hearts and minds and confidence of Australians. They don't actually have any solutions to the challenges that our country faces. They know, as was remarked many times throughout the last question time, that Australia is entering a very challenging period. The director-general of ASIO outlined that in his threat assessment recently. The opposition have no actual answer for that. This government is actually focusing on not only governing but also making sure that every Australian is safe, secure and has those economic opportunities.

The only objective of the Labor Party is to win the election by assassinating the character of the Prime Minister, because they have no other way of doing it. It's based on a sneaking-in strategy with, of course, the help of the Greens. We know that. The Greens now talk about how they have shadow ministers waiting to be sworn in to a Labor-Greens coalition government. But, increasingly, as the member for Warringah and others have highlighted, the opportunity for them to leverage their position should they be re-elected with others will mean that they will be able to hold the government of the nation hostage too. Because they don't actually want stable government or government that is focused on the full spectrum of the Australian people; they're just looking for a pathway to sneak into power.

They know what Australians know, which is that, past the colour and light of parliament—and let's not pretend otherwise: sometimes there is. We were all here until 5 am this morning. We are all tired. Some of us are even a little bit cranky. But, past the colour, movement and light of parliament and Canberra and the things that obsess the media, the purpose of this parliament is to design laws and deliver programs to make sure not just that we advance the national interest, economic opportunity and national security but that Australians are able to live out the fullness and the opportunity of their lives every day.

Think of the challenges we have faced over the past few years. When we were all elected into this chamber at the start of this term, not a single one of us would have said: 'You know what we're going to spend most of this term doing? Fighting a global pandemic and securing Australia against one of its biggest external threats, on a health basis, in over 100 years.' None of us thought that. I certainly didn't. I had different plans, focused on what we were going to do to reform the superannuation system and making sure Australians have an economic opportunity through home ownership. But we all know that the focus has shifted because of a much more immediate and urgent concern. Despite this challenge, despite everything we have faced as a nation—and full credit goes to the Australian people for the sacrifices they have made to support themselves, their families and their communities, because that is their victory and their success—the numbers tell the story about where we are.

I remember when weren't sitting here until 5 am. I remember getting on flights to Canberra when only a small number of us could come into this chamber, at the start of this pandemic, and we sat for very short periods of time to pass urgent legislation. We were looking over the precipice and thought the economic costs of a pandemic could very well lead to mass unemployment, Australians losing their homes, collapses in property prices and Australians finding themselves in an economically perilous situation. Now, nearly two years later, look at the numbers. There have been 1.1 million jobs created since the pandemic hit—the lowest unemployment in over 30 years. That is Australians living out their lives and their full opportunity, against that backdrop. There are 11.5 million Australians benefiting from tax relief—people keeping more of their own money in their own pocket to support their own families. Recently, there was data out showing that Australians have up to four years of repayments in their mortgage offset accounts because they're unsure, quite reasonably, what's going to come next. If there's anything Australians don't need right now it's uncertainty and the indulgence of a Labor government that is the more focused on the character assassination of the Prime Minister than on what it is that they can do to back Australians to live out the success of their lives.

Of course, the story continues. Where have the majority of those jobs and opportunities for business operators gone? To women. We often talk in this place about gender equity and how important it is, and I'm very much a strong believer in that. We want empowered women to be able to live out the success of their lives. There were 815,600 female business operators in August 2021. We want Australians from all backgrounds to be able to have a go and to be able to get on with their lives. And we have 220,000 trade apprentices—a record high. We have an incredible story to tell, as a nation, of our success.

While jobs have been going up and the economy has been going up, our emissions have been going down, and this is something I'm particularly passionate about in my portfolio area. So many countries promise big, high-theory numbers about what it is they're going to achieve, but Australia is on the pathway to carbon neutrality by 2050. We have cut our emissions by 20 per cent on 2005 levels, and we're already projected to cut them by 35 per cent by the end of the decade, smashing our targets. This is because we have the policies in place to make sure that Australians are empowered, and it's built on a partnership. We're not going down the reckless and irresponsible path that the Labor Party has chosen so many times in the past by seeking to impose taxes as a single blunt instrument. For the Labor Party, everything is a nail and the hammer is always a tax, and it's directly on Australians and their households.

The other thing we have seen is electricity prices going down. Bills have been going down. Taxes are down. Electricity bills are down. The empowerment of Australians is up. We've seen one in four Australian homes with rooftop solar—the highest in the world. We are a No. 1, and we are very proud of that.

But it's also all of the other things we're doing to make sure Australians have their success and can live out the best of their lives. Ninety-nine per cent of homes and businesses, more than 12 million, have access to the National Broadband Network, in comparison to the legacy of the Labor Party, who basically couldn't even find an electrician to turn on any household in the country. Over 1,200 mobile black spot base stations have now been funded, with over 900 already built—a huge improvement to the welfare of rural and regional communities in particular, where black spots can have a direct impact on whether people get access to phone reception at life-or-death moments. There are 135,000 new home projects, backed, of course, by the HomeBuilder program.

Over 93 per cent of Australians are protected with vaccines. Whatever the Labor Party likes to say or has constantly harped on about in the past, we have seen Australians take up vaccinations at internationally epic levels, and we should be proud of that. We thank all our healthcare first responders and those healthcare workers who have been part of that solution with the Australians who've been prepared to roll up their sleeves so that they can get a vaccine directly into their arms to protect themselves and their fellow Australians, particularly the most vulnerable. We're ranked second in the world for pandemic preparedness, according to the Johns Hopkins index—something that we should all be proud of.

Of course, we are focused on making sure that Australia is prepared, no matter what may yet come. We've made compelling and challenging decisions on defence which have led to some of the highest spending. There are 100,000 new defence industry jobs and 15,000 small and medium businesses that are being supported across the supply chain. Seventy defence vessels and 1,700 vehicles are being built here in our great country, to defend our country no matter what may come. And of course there are significant agreements with alliance partners, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States—something we should be proud of.

We are caring for our vulnerable, with 163,105 new aged-care home packages. There are 502,413 people on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, funded—unlike the Labor Party—so that those who are disabled aren't just sold a promise; they're also sold a delivery. There are 857 new medicines listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. At every point, the focus of this government is on the Australian people, not on the Canberra bubble.

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