Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Member for Warringah from moving immediately:

That this House censures the Prime Minister for the deceptive, dysfunctional and directionless government she leads which doesn't trust the people, doesn't consult the people but which always consults Bob Brown and the Greens and is now headed for a crisis mini budget.

This year Bob Brown did the deciding and the Prime Minister delivered what he wanted. Bob Brown wanted a carbon tax, so the Prime Minister broke her solemn promise to the Australian people and hit families with the world's biggest carbon tax. Bob Brown wanted a dirty deal in the dead of night on the mining tax, so what did this Prime Minister do—the Prime Minister that has just, shamefully, scurried out of this chamber? She delivered.

And after deciding on the East Timor solution, the Manus Island solution and then the failed Malaysia people swap, what did this Prime Minister do? The Prime Minister who does not have the courage and the principle to face up to this parliament today—what did she do? She gave Bob Brown what he wanted all along: onshore processing.

This is a Prime Minister who claims that this has been the year of decision and delivery. Wrong, wrong, wrong. This has been the year of backflips and broken promises. There is the carbon tax based on a lie. There is the mining tax based on a secret deal. There is the border protection policy in an absolute shambles as the boats just keep coming day in, day out.

This is a government which illustrated in this parliament last night the totally chaotic and shambolic process that is the Gillard way of government, and that is why standing orders must be suspended. The mining tax was based on a secret deal done with the three big miners. Then more deals were cut with the various Independents. Then there was a second secret deal, done in the dead of night last night with the people who really pull the strings in this government. The Treasurer, who is sitting there at the ministerial table now, said that this is a deal which will stand the test of time. This deal did not last until breakfast time this morning. It has been changed five times and will be changed again and again as this panicked government goes to its crisis mini-budget next week.

This is a mining tax. It is a bad tax from a bad government. It is a secret tax from a bad government which is run not by its own backbench but, fundamentally, by the real Prime Minister of this country: Bob Brown. This deal was done without any knowledge of the cabinet, without any knowledge of the ministers, without any knowledge even of the Independents—but they can speak for themselves. I say to the minister at the table: if the Independents knew anything about the deal that had been cut with the Greens, why don't they tell us what they knew? Oh, no. It was not ministers. It was not the caucus. It was not the cabinet. It was not even the Independents. No, it was just two people who knew what was really going on in this parliament last night. It is this Prime Minister and the person who pulls the strings in this government: Bob Brown.

Everything about this mining tax is bad. The first version of the mining tax would have killed the mining boom stone dead. This is the industry which saved this country from a recession, and what is the reward that this government gives this vital industry which has saved Australia from a recession, this vital industry which is essential to the prosperity which every family in this country needs and cherishes? Their reward is a great big new tax that will cost jobs and cost investment. The first version of the mining tax would have killed the goose that laid the golden egg for Australia. The second version, cobbled together in secret with three big miners who had a gun to their heads from a government which practises payback, is a version that will punish the entrepreneurial local companies that this country will rely on if the mining industry is to expand in the years ahead.

This is a government which just does not get it when it comes to the prosperity of our country. This is a government which is consistent only in its desperate scramble to survive. The carbon tax was the greatest example of deception from this government. We have a Prime Minister who said one thing to win votes before an election and did the opposite to stay in office after the election, but what was done last night was all of a piece with the carbon tax. Like the carbon tax, it was another special deal done with the Greens and the Australian parliament and the Australian people were the last people to know. We all know that the Greens hate the mining tax. We all know that the Greens are fundamentally opposed to a modern economy which depends upon mining and resources in this country for the prosperity which each Australian needs.

This is a bad tax from a bad government which just does not get the essence of a modern economy. This government does not understand that you cannot have a society—you cannot have a community—without an economy to sustain it. You cannot have a functioning economy without profitable businesses, and profitable businesses cannot be taxed as soon as they start succeeding. What this government does not understand is that the last thing you should do if you want to improve the economy of this country is penalise success. You do not penalise success if you want to improve our economy. You do not give an uncovenanted advantage to this country's competitors. Above all else, you do not speed up the slow lane of our economy by slowing down the fast lane. This is what this government fundamentally does not understand.

This government thinks that somehow you can build prosperity with new taxes. No country ever got rich by increasing taxation. No country ever built a strong economy by clobbering itself with tax after tax after tax. It is typical of this government that it cannot even get it right. It is hitting our economy with two big new taxes and in the process is opening up a $10 billion budget black hole. More taxes, even more spending, even more borrowing—that is the Labor way, and that is the way to disaster for our country.

Every time the Prime Minister got up in question time today, every time the Prime Minister got up in question time yesterday, every minister who gets up—and let me let you in on a little secret, Mr Speaker: when the minister gets up in a few moments time, he will say, 'This is an opposition that says no to everything.' I looked at the paper yesterday, and there it is:

The Sydney Morning Heraldproudly says no.

No to fear.

No to favours.

No to pulling punches.

…   …   …

No one person's influence.

…   …   …

No to agendas.

Well, I am like that—I say no to Bob Brown's influence and no to the Green agenda. I have to say I am quite happy to say no to what is destroying the prosperity of this country and I am happy to be on— (Time expired)

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

Is the motion seconded?

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

I second the motion. I am glad the Treasurer is staying here for this debate because I think every comedian that cracks a joke should be entitled to hear whether or not the audience laughs. When the Treasurer said a little earlier today that this is a tax that will withstand the test of time, we all had a giggle. When the mining tax was originally announced it was not five months before they had to negotiate a new secret agreement with BHP, Rio and Xstrata. It did not withstand the test of time.

Then, of course, after the election there was a transitional working group, and it was revealed that the royalties were going to have to be refunded in full out of a secret deal. So the new mining tax did not withstand the test of time. Then, of course, the draft of the legislation came out, and that changed again before the legislation was introduced. That did not withstand the test of time. Then a deal was done with the members for Lyne and New England, and the tax did not withstand the test of time. A separate deal was done with the member for Denison, and the tax did not withstand the test of time. Now, a $140 million deal has been done with the member for Melbourne, and the tax did not withstand the test of time.

After all of those compromises, totalling in excess of $13½ billion in deals, arrangements and secret negotiations, this Treasurer has the audacity to say: 'We are in it forever. This is a tax that will withstand the test of time.' I read the member for Melbourne's comments from last night very carefully. He said:

I'm very pleased that we have reached agreement with the government on a set of arrangements that will allow us to support the passage of the mining tax through the House of Representatives tonight ….

We will be reserving our position in the Senate.

So the tax that is meant to withstand the test of time is not going to make it from the House of Reps to the Senate. They have spent $140 million buying off the member for Melbourne and they are going to have to spend more money with the Greens in the Senate. What a joke. This government has seen more deals than a Las Vegas croupier. This is the way they are behaving. They do deals. They do whatever it takes.

We had to drag the Labor Party to the table to reveal the overnight deal. They were not going to reveal the deal because the Greens in here—and it is light Green in here and dark Green in the Senate—said they had entered into a secret negotiation with the government and could not reveal the details. One of the reasons for that is that it was the Treasurer who said that the interest withholding tax on financial institutions was being introduced by the government so that major banks would have access to cheaper funding so they could offer cheaper loans to Australian households and businesses. The government expects this reform will allow such bank branches to continue their active lending to Australian businesses, including infrastructure investors, at even more competitive interest rates.

The Treasurer said that the deal with the Greens—the light Greens—to get the of the mining tax passed through this place was at a cost to lower interest rates, in his view. He sent out the Assistant Treasurer to give the bad news, to say that this is the way they are going to pay for the Greens deal to get it through the House of Representatives. So we have good cop here, bad cop there, but the police commissioner in the Senate. The police commissioner is calling the shots in the Senate—the guy that is wagging the dog. It comes back to the fundamental point: the Greens are asking for more.

We know the Greens set budget policy, because on fringe benefits tax they came up with a $970 million change to fringe benefits on cars. Now I can reveal to the House that there is a report from the Treasury that states that Senator Brown has requested costings on increasing petrol prices by CPI, amounting to over $4 billion. The last time we saw this costing by the Greens from the Treasury, it came through in budget policy. Now we know that the Greens have requested from the Treasury costings on increasing the cost of petrol for everyday Australians with a higher excise. Stop wagging the dog. Get rid of the Greens— (Time expired)

Mr Laming interjecting—

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

The member for Bowman will leave the chamber for one hour under 94(a)

The member for Bowman then left the chamber.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For this Leader of the Opposition, his whole notion of leadership is the political equivalent of going the biff. That is his way of acting. He has done for political discourse in this country what the vuvuzela did for World Cup soccer in South Africa.

He is saying that his very first commitment, if he is elected to office, is to give a tax break to 30 of the wealthiest companies in this country—people who are having superprofits. These people are not only making these profits but saying they are prepared to pay the tax. They should pay the tax. We on this side of the chamber say yes to the minerals resource rent tax. The Australian public say yes to the minerals rent tax. The big miners say yes to the MRRT. The only people in Australia who say no are those opposite.

Mr John Cobb interjecting—

And last night they said it 32 times.

But there is something that is very interesting. As everyone would know, there was no gagging of the debate last night. Everyone had an opportunity to make a contribution, but there is one person who did not make a contribution to the debate on the minerals resource rent tax—and that is the Leader of the Opposition.

He could not get to his feet: not yesterday, not the day before, not when we introduced the legislation. Not one word during the debate did he have to make, yet he says this is the most important issue facing Australia. He could not be bothered getting to his feet. He slept through the economic stimulus plan vote and last night had to have a person either side of him to nudge him and wake him up during the divisions. You had the Chief Opposition Whip on one side and the Manager of Opposition Business on the other nudging him every 10 minutes to get him to wake up, having slept through the economic stimulus plan.

But of course he has got form because he could not be bothered speaking on the minerals resource rent tax legislation. When the carbon price came to a vote in the Senate—remember the other big piece of legislation—he was on a plane—

Mr Tony Smith interjecting—

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

The member for Casey is warned!

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to Europe where he told them that the Australian economy led by this Prime Minister and this Treasurer was the envy of the industrialised world. That is what he had to say overseas, and it stands in stark contrast to his behaviour in this House.

The fact is that this Leader of the Opposition is hoping to survive and get out of this place because he is looking forward to Christmas. He is hoping that Santa brings him a policy because what happened late yesterday in his own caucus room is that, one by one, they stood up and spoke about the National Party tail wagging the Liberal Party dog. They spoke about the pathetic failure of modern liberalism under this leader. Robert Menzies, the founder of the Liberal Party, had this to say:

In other words, on far too many questions we have found our role to be simply that of the man who says 'No.'

A visionary was Robert Menzies: 67 years ago he picked this bloke, and this is what he also said about this bloke:

There is no room in Australia for a party of reaction. There is no useful place for a policy of negation.

That is what Robert Menzies said about this person who has led the coalition of yesterday into the 'noalition' of today—the 'noalition' who have just one policy to every issue: no, no, no, no, no. We heard it 32 times last night, and so desperate were they that we had the unprecedented action from the opposition of moving divisions and having counts on third readings of legislation. That is how strong they were in their opposition to big miners being taxed. That is how strong they were in making sure that they go to the next election. They are going to say to the people who have had the income tax-free threshold lifted from $6,000 to $18,000 that they are going to bring it back in. They are going to put a million people back into the income tax system, the lowest paid Australians in this country. Why? So that BHP, Rio Tinto and the big miners who say they can pay more will get a tax cut. What a disgrace, and that is on top of the fact that they are going to increase company tax for Australia's 2.7 million small businesses. That is the policy that they have.

Last night we saw the farce of them having a bit of a focus group—and maybe it came through: maybe they are being a little bit too negative. 'Maybe we need to have a bit of a nuance.' So we saw the little nuance with regard to superannuation. They did not trust the shadow finance minister, so he was out of the loop. But they made an announcement about superannuation about how they were going to support it, and guess what? Last night—

Mr Christensen interjecting—

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

The member for Dawson is warned!

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

they voted against it again. They voted against the super changes last night. This is a person who was saying no in his sleep. We know that this is the case because we saw it last night. There he was asleep on the front bench. He only woke up to say no, no. It was unbelievable but that is what we saw last night for 2½ hours. This is someone who thinks that he will sleepwalk into office. I have got news for him: the Australian people are better than that. We are a country that believes in fairness. We are a country that understands the importance of superannuation.

Mr Pyne interjecting—

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

The member for Sturt is warned!

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are a country that understands the importance of giving tax breaks to low-income earners and companies, of stimulating our economy. This is a government that is proud of the fact that we have created 770,000 jobs since we came to office, including 100,000 in the last year. But the hypocrisy: while they were out there voting against all this, this is what they say about regional infrastructure. Today's paper in Gladstone, where we have announced a fast-tracking of funding for the Calliope crossroads, had this to say about the member for Flynn:

Mr O'Dowd said the announcement was a direct result of representations by himself …

I checked the records. He has not written me a letter. He has not had a meeting. He has not picked up a phone. I know who he is vaguely but I have never had a conversation with him in my life. I do not plan to have one soon, because this is the sort of pathetic performance they have of opposing all the funding. They oppose everything, but then they try and get their snouts in the trough to get every bit of funding they can. Then they claim credit for it. We have two years to go, two years of the relentless negativity of the Leader of the Opposition. The game is up. Your backbench know it and pretty soon you will know it too.

Question put:

That the motion (Mr Abbott's) be agreed to.

The House divided. [14:57]

(The Speaker—Mr Harry Jenkins)

Question negatived.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the absence of any questions from the opposition I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.