Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister outline to the House how the Morrison government is providing stability and certainty in response to the major challenges Australia is facing both at home and abroad? Is the Prime Minister aware of alternative approaches?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lindsay for her question. All those on this side of the House went to the last election with a plan to ensure we could further strengthen our economy, operate with a very disciplined and strong budget, and provide the stability and certainty Australians were seeking at that election. That is what we have been doing from the day we were elected, and that is what we have been delivering in accordance with the plans we set out at that election. Importantly, a strong economy and focusing on ensuring our economy can move ahead are at the centre of everything. That is why we have already acted, as part of our plan, to ensure Australians can keep more of what they earn by lowering taxes.

The government is acting to reduce the costs of actually operating in this economy, whether it is through the review being done on the regulations that can slow employment in the industrial relations area or, on top of that, the stultifying regulations and bureaucracy that can impede investment in housing developments, or whether it's environmental regulations that are unnecessary. We are ensuring that we can move through and get these projects happening where there are dams like the Dungowan Dam. I commend the New South Wales state government for the decision they took last night in cabinet to ensure that those dam projects could proceed, reducing the cost of doing business.

The government are ensuring that we can give our young people and those right across the age spectrum in our labour force the skills they need, and the business skills they need, to be successful, so that those businesses who are going to employ them are getting the skilled workforce they need. We need to fix our skills system. It is in urgent need of repair. I thank the state and territory premiers for their engagement on this issue, and I look forward to working closely with them as we continue to fix the problems in our skills sector to build the $100 billion of transport infrastructure we need to enable our economy to grow, to connect our markets with our farmers, to connect our businesses to their customers and to connect employees to their workplaces so people can get home sooner and safer. We can ensure that our cities operate in a more efficient way to lift productivity and expand our horizons, whether it's through our trade barriers, through realising opportunities in new sectors like the space industry or through backing our traditional sectors in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and mining, which have always been such a central part.

The government is delivering a stronger budget for this nation, which means it will have the resilience to face future challenges, to respond to the drought—as we're doing now—and to deal with pressures on the budget, whether it is in aged care or disability, so it can guarantee the essentials that Australians rely on.

There is an alternative path offered by those opposite. Instead of stability and certainty, they want to blow the budget with their reckless spending. (Time expired)