Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his failure to answer my question yesterday about the $2.5 billion tax grab from gas field condensate announced in the budget. Is the Prime Minister aware that Western Australia relies on natural gas for more than 50 per cent of its energy needs, including electricity generation? Can the Prime Minister guarantee that his new $2.5 billion tax will not drive up the price of domestic gas and electricity for pensioners, households and businesses in Western Australia?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is very interesting that this question is posed in the absence of the alternative Prime Minister. On the question of condensate, the measure—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do not think that was the coup d’etat arrangement. Wasn’t it supposed to be Wentworth and not Curtin? On the condensate arrangement, it was actually instituted back then in order to provide encouragement for the industry to start with. That is the first point. Secondly, that is quite a long time ago, and since that time the industry has not only become profitable and been established; if you look at the return to the industry concerned, its actual profits in recent years have been not just in the hundreds of millions of dollars but in the billions of dollars.

What this seeks to do is to actually close a tax loophole which has existed for a long, long time and, furthermore, to use those taxation measures to underpin the robustness and the financial integrity of this budget, with its $22 billion surplus, which is necessary as an instrument of economic responsibility. What we have witnessed in this chamber just now with this debate and this vote is quite remarkable. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition—

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order, on relevance. The Prime Minister was asked to give a guarantee that his $2.5 billion tax grab would not drive up prices of electricity and domestic gas in Western Australia. He is straying off the topic onto unrelated areas.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will respond to the question.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I said, these measures close a loophole which has long existed. I suggest that those opposite look at the original rationale for the measure in question, which is to do with the establishment of this industry in the first place, and then look secondly at the actual returns which those companies are generating by way of profit now. Given their preferential taxation treatment, I have a simple response: let’s use that revenue to assist families under pressure; let’s use that revenue to start doing something about investing in the schools of Western Australia; let’s use that revenue to invest in the hospitals of Western Australia; let’s close a tax loophole that in fact can deliver revenue to the overall integrity also of the budget. This debate has been quite extraordinary, because those opposite have just voted against FuelWatch.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No!

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Oh, they say, no, they have not voted against FuelWatch! I take the interjection from the Manager of Opposition Business, where he says they did not vote against FuelWatch. He has just said they have not—

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order, the Prime Minister wrote out on the back of a question paper exactly what his hashed-up proposal is for FuelWatch. We have voted against it; we are standing up for the motorists!

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the great principles of politics in this place for the Manager of Opposition Business is: the greater the volume the lesser the content. What we have had most recently is a complete tactical implosion on their side of the House. They know what has happened. They moved their censure motion, we moved a substantive amendment and we asked them to vote one way or the other on supporting this fuel tax measure—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Dickson is not enhancing his chances of getting the call.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on relevance. This was a question about domestic gas prices going up in Western Australia and he is not relevant to the answer.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will respond to the question.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the question of condensate, it is quite clear where our position lies—that is, that that revenue stream should be delivered to assist working families, including in ensuring that that money we have allocated to the establishment of national FuelWatch, some $20 million, can be delivered from an appropriate and secure revenue stream for the Commonwealth. The Manager of Opposition Business said they have not just voted against FuelWatch. That is exactly what he said.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order, if the Prime Minister wants to verbal me, he is entitled to move a substantive motion. We are happy to do that, Mr Speaker. We voted against the hashed-up proposal put together by the Prime Minister.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for North Sydney will resume his seat. A point of order is not an opportunity to enter into a debate. I call the Prime Minister.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I said before that those opposite had voted against FuelWatch, the interjection from the Manager of Opposition Business was: ‘No, we haven’t.’ That is what we all heard over here. Now he gets to his feet with great gusto and says, ‘No, I didn’t say that.’ What is the position of those opposite? You are not opposing FuelWatch; it is just that you are not supporting it.

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The point of order is that he was asked a question on gas prices and he is not answering the question. He needs to be relevant.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will return to his response and, hopefully, end the response.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is an arduous task, given the level of interjection and the number of interjections from those opposite, who are desperate not to confront a single fact—that is, they voted against FuelWatch. So when the motorists of Australia confront the challenges at the bowser—

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, three times you have asked the Prime Minister to be relevant to the question. He has failed to do so. He is defying your order and you should sit him down.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the National Party will resume his seat. I call the Prime Minister.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So condensate and all the other measures in the budget represent an exercise in financial integrity. The measures represent how you construct a robust surplus for the Commonwealth and how you produce, through that surplus, insurance for Australia’s long-term economic interest and sufficient revenue flow to ensure that we can help working families on the way through, including by establishing a national FuelWatch scheme. The direct connection between the two propositions is quite clear-cut. Those opposite have just voted against FuelWatch. They have tried to deploy every procedural device to avoid the vote. They voted against it and now they are seeking to wriggle out from under. It is quite clear-cut.

Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Dunkley will resume his seat. The Prime Minister will bring his answer to a close.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Therefore, this overall debate has been most instructive about where those opposite stand and where we stand on the question of condensate, on the overall taxation arrangements for the Commonwealth and on assistance to working families. This debate has been about the Liberal Party, not about working families. Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.