Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Thirty years of deregulation and privatisation has resulted in electricity, at $670 a year for 11 years, exploding to $2,400; housing skyrocketing from $5,600 to $15,000; food markets shrinking to just Woolworths and Coles, resulting in margins between farm gate and Miss Housewife soaring from 80 per cent to 300—

Mr Laming interjecting—

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

The member for Kennedy will resume his seat. The member for Bowman will cease interjecting. I'm trying to hear the member for Kennedy. Could the member for Kennedy begin again.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Obviously, Mr Speaker, you thought it was so good that you wanted it to run again! I appreciate that.

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

If you could read my mind! Anyway, let's start, Member for Kennedy.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Question to Treasurer: 30 years of deregulation and privatisation has resulted in electricity, at $670 a year for 11 years, exploding to $2,400; housing skyrocketing from $5,600 to $15,000; food markets shrinking to just Woolworths and Coles, resulting in margins between farm gate and housewife soaring from 80 per cent to 300 per cent; outpatients being abolished; the impossibility of getting elective surgery; and retirees and families having to now pay $4,000 a year in medical insurance. Treasurer, is policy going to continue to be based on ideology or judged upon real, tangible outcomes? (Time expired)

Mr Fitzgibbon interjecting—

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

Member for Hunter!

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kennedy for his sentiment and for his question. I can inform him that, when it comes to energy, this side of the House is taking action that is driving people's power bills down; those opposite will send them up. We are implementing the ACCC's recommendations to create a default offer, which I can tell the member for Kennedy will see a household save up to $400 and will see a business save up to $1,400. The member for Hume is busy implementing the ACCC's recommendations, creating new generation to support those industrial customers. So the actions that we are taking on this side of the House are driving prices down, as we have seen from 1 July this year in Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales. When the Labor Party was last in office, prices doubled.

When it comes to housing, we are taking action to improve the affordability of housing, and we have seen that the prices have come off in the key markets of Sydney and Melbourne, moving to a more sustainable footing. We have seen more supply, more targeted measures around foreign ownership and stronger protections in terms of investor loans. When you talk about manufacturing, the national accounts show that we're actually seeing good growth in the manufacturing sector—3.3 per cent up through the year. A total of 61,000 jobs were created in the manufacturing sector in the last year. That compares to those opposite—when they were last in government, they lost 150,000 jobs from manufacturing. They pretend to look after the blue-collar workers, but they sold them out, and jobs went as a result. When it comes to jobs overall, as the August numbers today show, there are 44,000 new jobs. The numbers confirm that younger people are going into the workforce in greater numbers than ever before. More than 100,000 young people are getting a job.

Mr Perrett interjecting—

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

Member for Moreton!

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For a financial year, that's the best result since records were first kept, and it builds on the one million jobs that we have created as a coalition. So I say to the member for Kennedy: we on this side of the House are in favour of more jobs. We're in favour of more jobs in the manufacturing sector and we're delivering. We're in favour of lower prices in the electricity sector and we're delivering. And we're in favour of a more affordable housing market and we are delivering.

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development. Will the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on how the government's plan to keep our economy strong provides benefits for regional areas, including in my electorate of Dawson? Is the Minister aware of any risks to this economic growth that would hurt rural and regional Australia?

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dawson for his question. He's very engaged today. Getting the books in better shape means that we can share the benefits in regional Australia and build the future that the regions deserve. It means that we can boost productivity. We can get people home sooner and safer, whether it's in and around Mackay or anywhere else in Australia. We are getting on with the job of doing just that. It means that young people in the regions can get a job.

Today's job numbers are very, very positive news. It means that small businesses can have a go, can invest, can back themselves. And we back them. Whether they're tourism, whether they're farming—no matter what it is, in Mackay and in the wider Dawson electorate we're there supporting them all the way. It means that older Australians can have the confidence that their hard-earned savings will not be raided to fund Labor's tax attack. It means that we can invest more than $1.4 billion in regional projects and billions more in infrastructure in the regions to make Australia even greater.

In the member's electorate that includes our $10 billion commitment to building the Bruce that the people of regional Queensland and regional Australia deserve. In the member's electorate there is the Bowen Road bridge upgrade: $3 million, yet another Queensland road project to get people home sooner and safer. It's investment in the Whitsundays Sportspark precinct redevelopment: $1.9 million and yet another investment in making regional communities stronger, building that regional capacity and building those communities. It's the new Sugar Bowl skate park in Mackay—a $1 million injection to make sure that our youth have somewhere where they can have good recreation. It also means 15 jobs in construction and two ongoing. It's our $176.1 million in the Rookwood Weir. We've been talking about it for years; now we're getting on with the job of actually building it. Well done to the members for Capricornia and Flynn. They have delivered. They're projects which give regional Australia a much-needed boost.

These regional programs and regional funding initiatives are the very first thing that Labor will cut. When Labor were last in government, it was regional programs which were raided. I know the member for Watson's electorate—hardly regional—benefited from a regional project. It should have been set aside, dedicated, quarantined to the regions. That's what we did. We made sure the money for regional programs was spent where it needed to go—in rural, remote and regional Australia. They're a party happy to get in bed with the Greens, happy to make sure that regional programs are going to go, happy that coalmining projects are going to go by the wayside just so they can get Greens votes in the inner cities. We want regional Australia to have a ring of confidence and a future. The Labor leader just wants to raid its funding.