Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a spooky policy. I would describe it as ‘special’—but not in any positive way, because even the very special leadership of Mr Latham was unable to craft such a backward-looking, Dark Ages policy. Then again, I suppose that the Labor Party have learned a lot over the last three years and they have had to reinvent themselves by taking another step back, another decade, into the 1970s, so that they can have confrontation at every single level.

We in the government have demonstrated that we have a vision. We have fixed Labor’s incompetent mess: the $96 billion deficit, the $10 billion black hole, the 17.2 per cent interest rates, and the 21 per cent and 22 per cent interest rates which left farmers in pain. Because of Labor’s maladministration of the economy, thousands of businesses went to the wall. It is an amazing, shameful thing when you see the same faces coming forward and saying, ‘We’ve got it right this time,’ and the policies are exactly the same. It is very sad. The only thing we know about Labor’s plan for the future—and it is a rock-solid guarantee—is that a Labor government would be absolutely controlled by the faceless, anonymous union powerbrokers that are already pulling the strings in Labor’s preselection process and policy development. It is a cartel. It is a racket. Compulsory unionism exists only in the Labor Party. It is an absolute racket and the Australian public deserve to know what they are getting into.

I have to wind up, but I want to say that I heard Senator Sherry talking about productivity gains. I have to say that Senator Sherry has got it wrong. I respect the fact that Senator Sherry has got it wrong. I respect the fact that he has got to carry the torch—and a very difficult torch it is, because there is no oxygen around it. You cannot keep it alight. The fact is: in 2005-06, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, productivity in the market sector—measuring output by hours worked—increased by a solid 2.3 per cent. This is in line with Australia’s long-term average rate. Productivity is measured on a number of cycles over five years, and the last cycle finished a couple of years ago. Our productivity growth is on target, as is our employment growth, as is the growth in our economy. They are all threatened by the Labor Party, and the Labor Party should hang their heads in shame for failing to come up with a coherent policy to the benefit of the Australian public.