Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am in the throes of preparing for the annual trip I make to western Queensland, driving out into those areas and speaking with and listening to the concerns of people in north and north-western Queensland. I try to do this every year for four, five or six days. It is a great opportunity for me as a legislator to get to understand some of the problems of people living in remote parts of Australia. While I was planning that, I was talking to someone who said to me: ‘You’ll be travelling on some of those old beef roads, and you know the Menzies government will go down in history as the government that actually built those roads, those nation-building pieces of infrastructure.’ That led me on to a conversation about what governments are remembered for years later. It made me think of some of the initiatives of the Menzies, Holt, McMahon, Gorton and Fraser governments and some of the significant things that the Howard government have done for Australia. Historically, John Howard will go down as the man who reformed Australia’s taxation system in a way that could not have been envisaged in the five decades before we won government in 1996. That reform in itself had a fundamental impact on and benefit for Australia.

I was talking to this same person and saying, ‘Well, what would you remember the Hawke and Keating governments for?’ Without any prompting, people will immediately say huge inflation and very high interest rates—the 17½ per cent interest rates on housing loans. I well remember that because I myself paid it. I still have my bank statements showing 17½ per cent. My younger staff did not believe me—hence I was grateful that I had hoarded those bank statements—because younger people these days, who have bought their houses in the last 10 years while the Howard government have been in control, cannot believe that people like me were paying 17½ per cent on our housing loans. And when I say that clients of mine—I was a lawyer and had a lot of business clients—were paying up to 22½ per cent and some even 28 per cent on business loans, people today cannot believe it. I know it is true because I was paying 17½ per cent on my housing loan and I knew business people who were paying up to 28 per cent.

Imagine having those sorts of interest rates today—the country would be broke. And of course it was under the Hawke and Keating regimes. That is what the Hawke and Keating regimes are renowned for and will be remembered for: high interest rates, high unemployment, double-digit inflation. It just shows what Labor are like. They cannot be trusted with the Treasury. Just look around at the state governments today. Similarly, state Labor governments cannot control themselves. They just spend, spend, spend. If people want something, they just hand out the money. So, certainly, that is what the Hawke and Keating governments will be remembered for.

The Howard government will be remembered for reforms in taxation and many other areas. The banning of guns was something that governments and leaders had wanted to do for decades but had never been game to do. John Howard had the courage to do it, and aren’t we all grateful for that now?

Those are some of the things in recent years, but I was also looking at some of the things that the Menzies government did. These are initiatives that the Liberal Party are not often given credit for. Mr President, would you remember that it was actually the Menzies government that introduced the Medical Benefits Scheme? It was the Menzies government that completed the rail standardisation between Sydney and Melbourne and funded other standardisation work. It was the Menzies government that introduced the Home Savings Grant Scheme and the Housing Loans Insurance Corporation. It was the Menzies government that introduced sheltered workshops, a particular benefit that Labor governments prior to Menzies had never even bothered about. It was the Menzies government that introduced invalid pensions, something the Liberal Party are never given credit for. We do not want credit; we are just glad that it was a Liberal government that introduced invalid pensions. The Menzies government also established the Australian Universities Commission and started funding what were then called colleges of advanced education and subsequently became technical and further education institutions and, even more recently, Australian technical colleges. So, looking back even to the Menzies days, Mr President, you can see the great social innovation and education innovation work that the Liberal Party were involved in.

In the period of the Holt, Gorton and McMahon governments, there was an expansion of assistance to secondary schools for science laboratories. Remember how Labor opposed that and how the government gave state aid to government schools; remember how Labor opposed those things in those days? The leopards really do not change their spots much. During the Gorton, Holt and McMahon governments we also introduced assistance for deserted wives. The Aboriginal Affairs Office was established. The Institute of Marine Science, which I proudly pass every day on my way to work between Ayr and Townsville, was established during those Liberal governments. They did fabulous work not only in Australia but right around the world. The Ord River scheme was established under the rule of these governments. Very proudly, I say, Mr President, it was during those governments that we held the referendum that allowed Aboriginals to be regarded as full citizens, something that no government before them had done. I am pleased it was a Liberal government that introduced that.

In the Fraser years, family allowance was introduced, providing direct help for mothers and families. The lone fathers benefit was introduced. We prohibited sand mining on Fraser Island—one of the greatest environmental actions of any government in Australia. It was the Fraser government that banned whaling in Australian waters. It was the Fraser government that declared the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It was the Fraser government that proclaimed Kakadu, Uluru, Christmas Island and the Coral Sea. And the list goes on. It was the Fraser government that gave the Northern Territory self government and land rights. Under the Fraser government, state and local governments were given a permanent share of money, and local governments these days are in many instances very substantially supported by Commonwealth financial assistance grants. It was the Fraser government that established commercial FM radio. It is the Howard government that is establishing digital radio. It was the Fraser government, as my friend and colleague Senator Brandis would rightly honour, that established the Australian Institute of Sport.

Looking through the histories of governments in Australia, it is easy to ascertain that the good educational, social and infrastructure developments that have occurred in our country have proudly occurred under Liberal governments. Liberal governments have fixed and reformed the tax system and managed the economy to give us the fabulous lifestyle we have in Australia today. That sort of activity will only ever continue under Liberal governments, and I am proud to be a part of one. (Time expired)