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

I refer the Prime Minister to reports that BHP Billiton has cancelled plans for its Red Hill mine that would have created work for 3½ thousand Australians. Given that the chairman of BHP and the chief executive of BHP have both been warning for months that higher taxes are making it difficult to invest in Australia, why does the Prime Minister keep asserting that her government's tax policies have no impact on the mining sector's investment when clearly that assertion is untrue?

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

I thank the shadow Treasurer for his question and believe that the shadow Treasurer should take into account the facts about the Australian economy. Of course, individual businesses will make commercial decisions every day in the Australian economy. Of course we expect that to happen. But the shadow Treasurer should recognise, too, when he is talking about our resources sector in Australia, that there is currently a $270 billion pipeline of investment committed and $230 billion in planned capital.

Mr Hockey interjecting—

The shadow Treasurer may want to bellow, but no amount of bellowing changes the facts, and they are the facts. The shadow Treasurer, too, if he is interested in this question, may want to pay some regard to the work of the bureau of resources, which has recently published some material, and even to the Reserve Bank of Australia minutes—the shadow Treasurer might be interested in those. The data from the bureau of resources shows that we will see export earnings, in their calculation, in 2012-13 at $189 billion. They, of course, are replicating to the Australian community what we have said about the commodities boom, and that is: that we expected commodity prices to peak in 2011, but then we expected, beyond the peak of commodity prices, to see the continuation of production and the continuation of investment, and so we will. The Reserve Bank has made similar points about the Australian economy and its outlook.

The shadow Treasurer has determined that it is his job not to pursue Australia's national interest but to talk the Australian economy down. It ought to be incumbent on everyone in this House to be talking about the strength of the Australian economy and to be talking very clearly about the trends in the Australian economy. There are businesses under pressure as a result of the sustained high Australian dollar; there is no doubt about that. And that is why we have been working so strongly with manufacturing, why we will continue to work with tourism, and why we have worked hard with our universities on international education, because the high dollar matters to them as it matters to a large number of other businesses. But the shadow Treasurer should be out there telling the truth about the Australian economy—an economy that is growing, an economy that is offering Australians the benefits of work, an economy with low inflation, an economy with low interest rates. Of course we will not see the shadow Treasurer speaking about those truths, because he is following the Leader of the Opposition down a path of reckless and destructive negativity.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister will return to the question.

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

But we will keep managing the Australian economy in the interests of working people. (Time expired)

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

My supplementary question is to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister seriously expect Australians to believe that her policies are helping investment when BHP has now cancelled the $30 billion Olympic Dam—

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

Madam Deputy Speaker, I raise a point of order. It is not within standing orders to begin a question or a supplementary like that.

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

Like what?

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

It is totally against the standing orders to introduce arguments such as that.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Could the member for North Sydney start his question again, and I would ask him to rephrase the beginning of his question.

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

My question is to the Prime Minister. BHP has now cancelled $30 billion of investment in Olympic Dam, the $20-billion-dollar expansion of Port Hedland, and $3 billion at the Red Hill mine. Does the Prime Minister expect Australians to believe that her tax policies are actually helping investment, or are they actually hindering investment?

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

Now the supplementary question does not relate to the original question.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The supplementary question is in order.

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

What I expect the shadow Treasurer to know, and what I expect to inform the debate about the economy in this country, is pretty simple: it is the facts. I know that might be hard for the shadow Treasurer to deal with, because it would require research and it would require the absorbing of information, but he should know, and he should not seek to misrepresent in this parliament, the strong growth that we have seen in investment. The shadow Treasurer, as part of the Leader of the Opposition's fear campaign, has been in this parliament in the past pretending that we will not see business investment, because of the carbon price, for example. But, actually, since we announced the carbon price, we have seen business investment grow and grow, by large amounts. Since the Minerals Resource Rent Tax was first announced by me and the Treasurer and the minister for resources, we have seen business investment grow in this country. What that means is: business people, informed by the facts rather than the blind negativity of the shadow Treasurer, knowing about carbon pricing and knowing about the Minerals Resource Rent Tax, have made the decisions to invest. The shadow Treasurer tosses his head, just as he seeks to toss the facts aside. You cannot toss the facts aside when talking about the Australian economy. We are seeing strong business investment, and a decent person would welcome it.