Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister update the House on the government's plan for jobs and growth; and how are we getting on with the job of delivering our election commitments?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question, and thank him, too, and all my colleagues for their commitment to delivering our national economic plan. Just this week in the House, the House has passed the amendments to secure the reforms to the backpacker tax, and passed the reforms to ensure that Labor's gross mismanagement of vocational education will be brought to an end with a new scheme, saving billions of dollars.

We passed the two bills that were the triggers for the double dissolution election: the restoration of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, restoring the rule of law to the construction and building sector, and the registered organisations bill, which will ensure that the Kathy Jacksons, the Craig Thomsons and the Cesar Melhems—these people who have been ripping off their members for years and who have been ripping off some of the lowest paid workers in Australia—will have to face the same standards of accountability and transparency as company directors and be subject to the same penalties when they do the wrong thing. We have passed the legislation to deliver on our election commitment to have a plebiscite on the question of same-sex marriage and we passed it in plenty of time for the Senate to pass it to enable the vote to be held on 11 February.

In previous sitting weeks, we have defended the 60,000 volunteers of the Country Fire Authority of Victoria, whose dignity, whose independence and whose morale was being undermined and overtaken by that militant union, the UFU, which apparently has the Victorian Labor government completely in thrall. We passed the legislation through both houses to ensure that that takeover cannot be delivered by the Labor government.

Mr Champion interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Wakefield will cease interjecting.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have delivered, as we promised, tax cuts to middle-income Australians. Half a million Australians on middle incomes will not be going into the second highest tax bracket—thanks to our national economic plan.

Of course, a key part of our plan has been the delivery of open markets, free trade—that opportunity of jobs and growth for Australian exporters. So we have seen the signing of the new and considerably expanded Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement, as part of that providing jobs and growth in North Queensland and $2¼ billion of investment by Singapore in Australian defence facilities at Townsville and Shoalwater Bay. So right across the board—with the omnibus savings bill delivering $11 billion of saving—we are governing, we are delivering and we are getting on with the job.

On that note, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.