Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased that question time, at least, is happening. My question is to the Prime Minister. Now in its seventh year, the government has got to the point where it won't support freedom of the press, won't support the freedom to protest and won't support freedom of association—and now it won't support debate in Australia's parliament. When the Prime Minister talks about 'quiet Australians', doesn't he actually mean 'silent Australians'?

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

On the night of the election I thanked all those Australians who go about their lives honestly, decently, with their aspirations. They're the Australians that our government spoke directly to. Those Australians endorsed the agenda, the objectives and the work program of this government. That program was to ensure that we kept our economy strong to guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on. Those Australians have grown completely tired of the games that are played in Canberra and the confected drama that the Leader of the Opposition has spent a career in politics pursuing. This is a Leader of the Opposition who's more interested in the drama and theatre of politics in Canberra than he is—

Ms Catherine King interjecting—

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

The member for Ballarat will cease interjecting. The Leader of the Opposition, on a point of order.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It goes to relevance. The question I asked was about the ramming through this parliament, without a single word of debate, without one—

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

The Leader of the Opposition well knows he mentioned a number of things in the question, including a very wide-ranging question in the final sentence. The Prime Minister is in order.

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

What those Australians and their decent and honest aspirations wanted was a government that backs them in, believes in them and isn't going to engage in the tawdry political games and the toing and froing in this place. This is a Leader of the Opposition who has spent his political career focused on the bubble of this place, not on the issues of economic management and national security.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

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

The member for Isaacs is warned.

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

He spent a couple of months on the NSC and the ERC in government—

Mr Albanese interjecting—

I did not say that at all. I said the Leader of the Opposition did not spend any time on an ERC that produced a budget, and he didn't. He spent a couple of months there, and he has shown himself interested only in the tawdry drama of Canberra, not in the hard work of policy which guarantees a strong economy, which ensures we can protect national security. We saw this yesterday in this parliament, where once again, under the direction of the Leader of the Opposition—he said, 'Vote again to keep our borders soft.' That's what the Leader of the Opposition stands for. The Leader of the Opposition, at the last election, did not get the message from the Australians he speaks about. They said no to the $387 billion of higher taxes, but he continues to keep them. They said no to Labor's lax policy on border protection; he has decided to keep it. There is no difference between this Leader of the Opposition and the former one. They are birds of the same feather. They cannot manage money and they cannot protect national security, and the Australian people know it.

Mr Conroy interjecting—

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

The member for Petrie, on a point of order?

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Community Housing, Homelessness and Community Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just on reflecting on members. The member for Shortland should withdraw the comments he made about the Prime Minister then.

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

I ask the member for Shortland whether he made an unparliamentary remark.

Mr Conroy interjecting—

The member for Shortland, having acknowledged he did, will withdraw.

Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw calling the Prime Minister a liar.

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

The member for Shortland will leave under standing order 94(a).

The member for Shortland then left the chamber.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister: We live in the best country in the world, and I am confident about Australia's future. Will the Prime Minister advise the House how the Morrison government is getting on with the job of securing Australia's future?

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

When I went to the Governor-General earlier this year and called the general election, what I said was that we would create another 1¼ million new jobs over the next four years. Since that election in May, almost 70,000 new jobs have been created. When I went to the Governor-General and stood before the Australian people, I said we will maintain budget surpluses without increasing taxes and pay down the debt. This year the budget is in surplus, and that is the first time that has happened in 12 years. We are committed to keeping it that way so we can reduce the debt and not put the burden of the current generation on future generations. That is the legacy we inherited from the former Labor government, and we have spent the last six years cleaning up their fiscal mess. And now, after six years, we have been able to bring the budget back to surplus. That means that we can pay down the debt and ensure that we do not put that burden on future generations.

I said we would deliver tax relief to the Australian people, and we have—and we have done so in spades. I said that I wanted Australians to keep more of what they earn, and that is what we have delivered in these first six months alone. I said we would give small business support and, through the deregulation work done by the Treasurer and the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, we are delivering on those deregulation targets and, in particular, removing the regulation that enables a sole operator to employ their first person. Our government is about jobs and our government is delivering on jobs. We are removing the burdens that get in the way, that prevent small businesses employing people.

I said that we would keep Australians safe, and that is what we have done with record funding to our security agencies and record funding to our defence industries, backing them up with laws dealing with everything from countering foreign interference to ensuring that we're protecting children from child abuse. I said we would do that and we would keep our borders secure, and yesterday we kept that promise to the Australian people.

And we learned of the Labor Party, which has learned absolutely nothing from the Australian people and the last election, when the people said they will have no truck with a party that will not keep the borders secure, and that's why Labor were rejected. I said we would guarantee increased funding—record funding—for hospitals, schools and disability services. All of this has been delivered in a surplus budget without the need to increase taxes, as those opposite proposed to do, and we could do so while reducing debt at the same time.

That's what I promised to do when I went to the election in May, and that's what our government is delivering.