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

It is remarkable and shows a lack of any prescient foresight to ask Senator Ludlam to lead a debate about the failure of leadership. Senator Ludlam, when he was the Minister for Agriculture, was responsible for virtually shutting down Australia's cattle export industry, which decimated the livelihoods of farmers and absolutely decimated our relationship with Indonesia. One of the hallmarks of this government is that it has rebuilt international relations that were a disaster under the previous government. Whether it be Indonesia or our relationships right around the world, this government, led by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, has a record of achievement, a record of mopping up the spills of the previous chaotic governments.

When we were elected, the Prime Minister very clearly said he was going to get rid of the carbon tax, get rid of the mining tax, stop the boats, stop the drownings at sea and work hard to rebuild our budget and our economy. And he has delivered on this. He stopped the boats. He stopped the 1000-plus deaths at sea that occurred under Labor and the Greens, who washed their hands and said, 'It's not our fault, it's not our responsibility, it can't be done.' But Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his team stopped the boats. It is a credit to him. One of the most humanitarian things that any government can do is to stop the senseless sacrifice of men, women and children on the perilous seas through poor policy making.

We also said we would stop the carbon tax to save the families of Australia $500 a year because it was not going to have any impact on the environment, it was merely a new tax impost for the government of the day. So how can it be a failure of leadership to deliver on what you promise? We said we would stop it, and we got rid of it.

And what about the mining tax? The mining tax was supposed to pay for a whole range of other schemes that Labor had implemented. But, of course, it collected next to no money. Only Labor and the Greens could implement a tax that actually cost more than it raised. It was one of the most inept pieces of public policy legislation, and it describes very accurately and succinctly just how hopeless things were under the chaos and dysfunction of the previous government.

True leadership is about having a vision for the country, and Prime Minister Abbott has demonstrated that in spades. He wanted to reduce the other side's budget deficit—and that is exactly what we have committed to doing—from $48 billion to around $7 billion in five years. And it was, of course, all about jobs because it is not much use having any other benefits unless you have a job or the opportunity to have one. There have been 335,000 additional jobs created under the policies led by Prime Minister Abbott. And 163,000 of those new jobs have been created so far in 2015.