Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on the investments the government is making to ease congestion, support businesses and create jobs in Bennelong and across Australia? Are there any threats to this investment and can the Prime Minister describe them?

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

I thank the honourable member for her question. As she knows, like all members on this side know, competitive businesses are the foundation of a strong economy, and a strong economy means more jobs. We're seeing our policies pay dividends, with strong jobs growth, nearly a thousand jobs a day, over the last year—a thousand jobs a day for Australians, 85 per cent of them full-time. We want to go further. We want more jobs, more Australian jobs and better paid jobs. It's why we're backing business. It's why we're cutting taxes, ensuring that energy is affordable and reliable and expanding access for Australian exporters to the big markets of Asia.

The overwhelming majority of Australians—about 86 per cent, in fact—are employed by private business. That's why we're supporting those private businesses—the overwhelming majority of them Australian family owned businesses—with policies that help them compete. It's why we're cutting taxes for 17,500 small and medium businesses in Bennelong and 3.2 million across the nation. It's why we're cutting the cost of energy and ensuring it's reliable for businesses and families. It's why we're investing a record amount on vital infrastructure, including in Bennelong. Projects like the Macquarie Park transport interchange in Bennelong are creating more jobs and more efficient transport systems. This is a $100 million investment with the New South Wales government that will ensure faster and smoother transitions for the more than 20,000 commuters who travel through the Macquarie Park precinct every day. It will deliver better public transport, improve local traffic flow, reduce congestion and provide better access to Macquarie University and Macquarie Centre.

This is the direct result of John Alexander's tireless advocacy for the people of Bennelong. No-one has campaigned more ferociously for better transport services for their community than John Alexander. His interest in and his passion for urbanism and planning and city development are well understood by all of us here, as they are by the people of Bennelong, and his advocacy is having results.

Compare that to the track record of Labor's candidate. When she was the Premier, she signed off on more than 100,000 new apartments in Bennelong without the infrastructure necessary to reduce the congestion. She cancelled the Sydney Metro project, wasting half a billion dollars of taxpayers' money. In other words, she helped create the problem—the demand for infrastructure—and then cancelled the infrastructure. Gladys Berejiklian and my government, backed by the formidable advocacy of John Alexander, are setting this to right and reducing congestion in Bennelong.