Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With the Australian economy growing at 3.4 per cent and unemployment down to five per cent, you can see why this Liberal-National government has economic management as its strong suit. Only last week, we brought forward tax cuts for small and medium businesses. Only last week, we ratified and passed through the TPP-11, opening up new opportunities for businesses. But a strong economy isn't the endgame. It's the means. It's the means by which people can have a job and can have money in their pocket. It's the means by which we can pay for the bridges, the roads, the highways, the railways and the airports. It's the means by which we can afford vital public services. It's how we have the hospitals and the schools. It's how we pay for the teachers, the nurses, the doctors and the soldiers. It's how we have a strong economy. But it's at risk, Deputy Speaker. It's at risk because of those opposite: the Labor Party. Only this morning, we heard reports that 32,000 jobs in the construction sector would be abolished due to the negative gearing policy of those opposite. These are people that work hard every day to put food on the table—those opposite will rip that away. We need to do everything we can to keep this economy strong, and that means keeping them out of this side of parliament.