Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline to the House and the people of Ryan the importance to the Australian economy of a prosperous Australian business sector? What are the threats to an economy of policy being made without any understanding of the impacts on business?

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

I thank the honourable member for Ryan. I can tell him, and through him the people of Ryan, that it is only when you have a healthy business sector in this country that you are able to create jobs. Jobs are created by profitable businesses supplying goods and services that people want to buy. We would not have been able to see the creation in Australia of two million jobs over the last 10 years if it were not for a profitable business sector. I pay tribute to the small business men and women of Australia who have been part of that wonderful story over the last 10 years of job creation.

As we know, the Australian economy grew through the Asian financial crisis, through the tech boom and bubble, through the threat of SARS, through September 11, through war and terrorist attacks. And notwithstanding even a one-in-100-year drought, the Australian economy has continued to grow.

It is important that people understand the contribution that business makes to Australia. That understanding is not just a question of gimmicks. You do not get that understanding just with some gimmicky announcement—some PR research advertising a focus group initiative. It is done by doing hard work, taking hard decisions, standing up here and fighting for things that are important in the Australian economy.

It is now four months since the Leader of the Opposition promised to establish a council of business advisers. This council was to be chaired by Sir Rod Eddington and, according to his announcement on 1 February, the council was not going to be a rubber stamp; it was going to advise Labor on business. I think I can successfully report that since 1 February to this day, Sir Rod is yet to be joined by any members on this council. It would not be that hard for Sir Rod to chair a meeting of this council because no-one else comes. There is only member: one constitutes a quorum and one constitutes a unanimous majority.

I am aware of those members who have been approached by the Labor Party and refused to join the council, but I will be keeping a very close eye on further invitations. But people will think it is passing strange that Sir Rod was going to chair a committee which has no members, and to which the Leader of the Opposition has managed to attract absolutely nobody in the last four months. I must say that the promise that this council would not just be a rubber stamp proved to be extraordinarily hollow, because when it came to the first critical test—the industrial relations policy—not only was Sir Rod not consulted but he was described as ‘just another voice’ by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. And no doubt in due course, if anybody else does join the council, they will just be ‘other voices’ in relation to that.

We can contrast Labor’s business council, which has no members, with Labor’s support for and inextricable involvement with the trade union movement. I will be corrected if I am wrong, but I think I can say that every single Labor Party member of this House is a trade unionist. I think I can say that every single Labor member is a member of a trade union. If those that would like to out themselves as not being trade union members would like to raise their hands now, I will conveniently read into Hansard those that are not members of a trade union.

Government Members:

Oh!

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

The member for Hunter is not a member of a trade union. I don’t think there is any other member of the Labor Party that is not a member of a trade union. I just have to get this clear in my mind: Labor has one member—

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. I refer you to the standing orders.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I call the Treasurer, and I ask him to come back to the question.

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

I have been asked about the importance of business, and the importance of business to national policy. I am making the point that, while there is only one businessperson that has been appointed to advise the Labor Party, there is only one Labor Party member that is not a member of a trade union, apparently.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

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

She is a member! I thought it was unanimous! At the next election—get a load of this!—the Labor Party plans to bring into the parliament Greg Combet, Bill Shorten and Doug Cameron to join ex-ACTU bosses Martin Ferguson, Simon Crean and Jennie George. Richard Marles from the ACTU is coming on—

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Treasurer will refer to members by their titles.

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

Richard Marles—that is his title; he is an official of the ACTU. In fact we would hope very strongly that a better member than Richard Marles is elected in Corio. And I know Mr Gavan O’Connor is with us in relation to that particular idea. If you want to know where Labor stands on business, just contrast the lack of any businessperson joining their council with the 100 per cent coverage by the trade union movement of the members of the parliamentary Labor Party. Labor does not seem to have any trouble getting trade unionists into this parliament—none whatsoever—but it does seem to have a great deal of trouble getting businesspeople onto their council of business advisers. That tells you where the Labor Party stands. The Labor Party does not understand business. The Labor Party does not have strong relations with business, and if the Labor Party gets elected it will not be in the interests of business but in the interests of the trade union movement that it will govern.