Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware of claims that the Australian economy is strong only because of the mining boom? Are these claims correct?

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It so happens I am aware of those claims. Those claims are made every day by the Leader of the Opposition and by the member for Lilley. They are made every day by people on the front bench of the Labor Party. It is very interesting that that question has been asked of me by the member for Greenway, and the last time I checked there were no iron ore mines in Greenway. The last time I checked there were no major coal deposits in Blacktown. The last time I checked there was no source of gas in the western suburbs of Sydney.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You know the gas I am referring to.

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Natural gas.

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Natural gas. It is very interesting that, despite the absence of all of those wonderful commodities, the unemployment rate in Greenway was 8.8 per cent in March 1996 and it is now 4.2 per cent. What the Leader of the Opposition would have us believe is that all of that is due to what is happening in Western Australia and Queensland—that it has all been transported, courtesy of I do not know what, over to the western suburbs of Sydney.

The truth is that most sections of the Australian economy have undergone massive growth over the last 10 years. I point out to the House that the December quarter national accounts show that in the year to December 2006 mining output grew by 5.8 per cent in real terms compared to 8.8 per cent in construction, 7.4 per cent in transport and storage, and 6.7 per cent in communication services. The latest statistics of the Australian Taxation Office show that the fastest growth in company income was in fact in finance and insurance, which comprised 23.7 per cent of company income in 2003-04 compared to 25.4 per cent in 2004-05. There is no doubt that it is a great time to be in mining in Australia. There is no doubt that the mining boom is contributing massively to the strength of the Australian economy. But it is totally fallacious to claim that the only reason we are now doing well is that providence gave us a wonderful array of resources that are in great demand around the world. The Australian economy has performed strongly right across the board. Mining has made a great contribution to that.

On the subject of mining, there is a risk to the strength of the mining industry in Australia. There is a real risk, and I reminded the people of Western Australia of this when I spoke on Western Australian radio. I pointed out that the real risk to the mining boom is Labor’s industrial relations policy. The real risk to the mining boom is the abolition of AWAs. The real risk to the mining boom is to bring back the supremacy of collective bargaining across all the mining operations of this country. The real risk to the mining industry is that this country, once again, if a Labor government were to be elected, would be burdened with an industrial relations policy not serving the interests of the mining industry, not serving the interests of workers in the mining industry, not serving the interests of the future prosperity of our nation but rather serving the interests of union power. That is why if we worry about the mining industry, if we care about the mining industry, we will understand that the greatest threat to the mining industry is the election of a government with the policies of the Australian Labor Party.