Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the facts that, firstly, the economy is now shrinking; secondly, the government is pushing ahead blindly with changes in industrial relations; and, thirdly, the government is pushing ahead with a flawed emissions trading system. I ask you, Prime Minister: how can you expect business to keep people in jobs when the risk of a Rudd recession is coming from three different directions?

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

I thank the honourable member for North Sydney, the minister for Work Choices, for his question. What I can say about the impact of a global recession is that the last thing Australian workers want now is the reintroduction of Work Choices. There the Liberal Party stand, led by the member for North Sydney, saying that what working families across Australia want now is Work Choices—Work Choices, which strips away redundancy payments; Work Choices, which strips away penalty rates; Work Choices, which strips away overtime; Work Choices, which strips away basic protections in the workplace. In a time of global recession, the free market fundamentalists opposite say that their solution for the future is to rip and tear away at the protections for Australians in the workplace.

The government’s strategy is clear. We will implement an economic stimulus strategy in order to reduce the impact of the global recession on Australian jobs. That is the government’s plan. That is the government’s strategy. That is what we are getting on with doing. I say this to the member for North Sydney: it is very easy to sit there and carp and be negative. It is very easy to tear down and not to build up—

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Now that the Prime Minister has finished carping, I say to the Prime Minister: there are three pressures on business which are causing people to sack—

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

Order! The member for North Sydney will resume his seat. There is no point of order.

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

The member for North Sydney, the minister for Work Choices—and I presume he is part of that group within the Liberal Party which still wants to visit Work Choices upon the Australian community—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The Prime Minister well knows that this undergraduate humour of giving people the wrong name is quite unacceptable. He should refer to people by their seats or by their titles. He knows that. We know that his puerility knows no bounds—

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

Order! The member for Sturt will resume his seat. There will be no opportunity for him to continue on like that. The Prime Minister referred to the member by his title.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members—No he didn’t.

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

I am not going to repeat what he said, but he referred to the member by his title and then added something to it. It was title plus, all right? As I have indicated, I would hope that at some stage the House might address some of the matters to do with question time. What is happening here is permissible under the present standing orders, and the Prime Minister has the call.

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

I thank the member for North Sydney and the former minister for Work Choices for his contribution to the debate. What is a live concern for everyone in the nation is when they will seek to bring Work Choices back, because Work Choices is in the Liberal Party DNA.

Let us go to the three elements of the position put forward by the member for North Sydney in his question. The first is on economic stimulus. What they said when we introduced the economic stimulus plan was, ‘We, the Liberal Party, support it.’ Secondly, on the abolition of Work Choices what they have said is that Work Choices is dead. Thirdly, on the question of the emissions trading scheme, what did we have from the member for Flinders? When it came out in July last year, what did the member for Flinders say? He said:

Basically, what they’ve done—

that is, the government—

is they’ve dusted off the document that we had.

There you have those opposite saying that there is nothing different between them and us on emissions trading, saying that Work Choices is dead, supporting our economic strategy and trying to argue that somehow they have a credible basis on which to enter this debate today. Consistency, Joe, will help every day.

Sharryn Jackson (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on developments in the global recession and Australia’s response?

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

I thank the honourable member for her question. Data from the United States overnight continues to confirm the impact of the global recession on its national economy. In the month of February, industrial production in the United States fell a further 1.4 per cent, taking production down to its lowest level in seven years. Capacity utilisation in the United States has now fallen to 70.9 per cent, down from 71.9 per cent in January. This is now equal to the lowest capacity utilisation level in the United States ever recorded.

Beyond the United States, we have received further confirmation of the way this global economic cyclone is hitting economies around the world. Canada has recorded a sharp jump in unemployment from 7.2 per cent to 7.7 per cent, and Italy has seen a fall in GDP of 1.9 per cent in the December quarter, its largest fall since contemporary records began in 1981. In Singapore, the largest fall in retail sales in a decade was recorded in January, with retail sales down by 12.2 per cent compared with last year. What these figures from the United States, from Canada, from Italy and from Singapore demonstrate is that this global recession is affecting every national economy. The key question within each national economy is, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ That is why the government has put forward its economic stimulus plan for the future, which is, firstly, based on us providing guarantees for bank deposits in order to underpin confidence in the Australia financial system; secondly, based on what we are also doing with support payments to pensioners, to carers, to veterans and to farmers in hardship, which will support the 1½ million Australians employed in the retail sector; and, thirdly, based on our investment in long-term infrastructure—our school modernisation plan as well as what we are doing in social housing and energy insulation.

On the impact of the stimulus package—and I noticed those opposite are no longer asking us about the effect of the economic stimulus package—I draw the attention of those opposite to the minutes of the 3 March RBA board meeting, which were released today.

Chris Pearce (Aston, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What about jobs?

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

The chortling member for Aston might listen to this, as he was asking questions yesterday about the impact of the stimulus on activity in the economy. The RBA minutes say:

… retail spending had increased sharply in December, after a run of weak readings in previous months … the higher level of December sales was maintained in January, with sales rising by a further 0.2 per cent.

Further, the RBA attributed this rise to increases in household disposable income which were driven by ‘lower lending interest rates, lower petrol prices and government transfer payments’. Moreover, the RBA noted that the government’s second stimulus would provide further support for the economy. It went on to say:

Looking at government finances, the Australian Government’s fiscal package announced in February would provide significant stimulus to the economy over the next two years.

That is from the Reserve Bank Board’s meeting of 3 March. That goes to the heart of the relationship between the government’s economic stimulus strategy and its impact on economic activity in Australia across the period ahead.

The response to what the government has done is reflected by comments not just by a number of large retailers but also by small business operators in Australia. I note that support is coming in from Mildura, in the member for Mallee’s electorate. Rob McKinnon from Fantastic Furniture in Mildura said, ‘We have doubled our sales since Thursday and made $2,000 more than we did before Christmas.’ Then you have Office Works in Mildura saying, ‘March typically is a tough month in Mildura, but it is very encouraging and I think retail in general in Mildura is doing okay.’ There will be different reports from different parts of the country over time. What I find interesting in the baying and howling from those opposite, though, is that they do not like any good news. You know why? Because they celebrate bad news. That is because they seek to take political advantage out of bad news. We are getting on with the business of providing an economic response to the global economic crisis; they continue in their attempt to take political advantage from the economic crisis.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Yesterday in a question that was asked by the member for Ryan you asked him to vouch for the statements that he was seeking to repeat in question time. I hope you will ask the Prime Minister to vouch for the efficacy of the ones that he has read out.

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

The member for Sturt will resume his seat. The Prime Minister has the call.

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

The member for Sturt should vouch for each of the P&C—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Pyne interjecting

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

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The Manager of Opposition Business has adopted a tactic of continuing debating with the Speaker as he sits down. If he wants to do that, he can do that at the dispatch box. I gave the Prime Minister the call; that dealt with the point of order.

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

The member for Sturt, in his electorate, should look at the impact of the Nation Building and Jobs Plan on each of the primary schools in his electorate. I say this to the member for Sturt, who is very quick to the dispatch box—why doesn’t he come back and answer this?—does he oppose the grants going to each of the primary schools in the electorate of Sturt?

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Pyne interjecting

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

The member for Sturt will resume his seat.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

No, settle down. The member for Sturt will resume his seat. The Prime Minister will resume his seat for a second. As the Manager of Opposition Bus-in-ess will understand, there is no provision under the standing orders for such a rhetorical question to be answered unless—

Chris Pearce (Aston, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tell the Prime Minister that.

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

I think that all members might, if they open their ears and do not chatter away, understand that I am talking to all of you, whilst my comments might be directed to the member for Sturt. But sometimes some people seem to be above all this. The member for Sturt probably only has very limited ways of being able to do this, but he might explore the standing orders to find out if there is a way that he can find a space within the pro-ceedings of the parliament to make a response.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I can think of a mech-anism if you granted me the indulgence, as you have on other occasions to mem-bers of the government, to respond to this kind of rhetoric. So I do seek indulgence.

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

No, the member for Sturt will resume his seat. I am not going to grant indulgence because—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Order! I think that I would ignore—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

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

Unbelievable, you people! Many of you do not need indulgence to try to make a point. Luckily, they are ignored by the Hansard. I think that in indulgence I have actually been very fair in giving both sides the same amount of indulgence. That is not one of the mechanisms that I thought might be possible for the member for Sturt. The Prime Minister has the call.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. When the Prime Minister encourages an opposition member to stand up and answer a question and does so in the full light of the television, what he is seeking to do is create a situation—

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

Order!

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, hear me out—where the opposition appears to be unable or unwilling to respond. So this is a—

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

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat.

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Energy and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Randall interjecting

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

Again, people like the member for Canning think that this is open slather to continue to make comments. I think he has granted himself indulgence by saying it is a very good point. Perhaps it is a very good point, and it has been used by governments of both persuasions. It has not changed. If the Leader of the Opposition were really very thoughtful about what happened before the last election, he would be able to think of examples where senior—

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don’t recall those.

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

I think that the member for North Sydney is feigning the type of forgetfulness that is advantageous to him at the moment. I just wish to illustrate so we can get back on with question time, because I am sure that the people of Australia would prefer to be having question time rather than this very intense discussion about practices in the standing orders of this place. The fact is that these types of rhetorical questions have been used. Rhetorical questions suggest debate. This is something that has been addressed by this House over many, many, many parliaments. If the opposition have some problem with it, they might take this up with the procedure committee.

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

I take it, at least from the member for Sturt’s vote in this House, that he does oppose every single grant to every primary school in his electorate of Sturt. In the absence of him saying no, I assume that is the case. I have referred to the impact in terms of retailers in Mildura, but also I would refer to what some major retailers have had to say most recently about the impact of the government’s economic stimu-lus strategy. For example, Big W has seen a very positive sales trend. Michael Luscombe of Woolworths said on 17 March in the Daily Telegraph that the government’s strategy:

… certainly resonated very strongly in Big W as families stocked up on everyday general merchandise such as kids clothing.

What you have, therefore, is a stimulus felt by smaller retailers, by larger retailers and also, of course, by the range of measures which have gone into the housing sector, as the Minister for Housing has referred to at the dispatch box before. These measures to provide for payments to families, to carers, to pensioners and to veterans are all designed to support stimulus for the 1½ million jobs in the Australian retail sector, which those opposite do not care about.

Beyond that, what are the government doing? We are investing in the largest school modernisation program in Australia’s history. We are also investing in order to make Australian homes energy efficient by installing ceiling insulation in 2.7 million Australian homes. The government are investing in building 20,000 new units of social housing. The government are investing $1.2 billion in the Australian Rail Track Corporation. The government are bringing forward $700 million in a roads program—a Black Spot Program. The government are investing $1.6 billion in critical upgrades to university and TAFE infrastructure. The government’s strategy is clear cut: an economic stimulus plan to support jobs now and to build the infrastructure Australia needs for the future. What we have instead from those opposite is a political strategy of ‘wait and see and do nothing; hope it gets better’ to take political advantage out of the global economic recession. We, the govern-ment, are getting on with the job.