Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

For those that might be listening or watching at home, I think it's important to be clear that the House of Representatives is not sitting this week, which means that Labor senators have to operate independently of their House colleagues. And boy, haven't we seen where the real power, the real authority, the real skill is—I'm stretching it a bit there. The real skill is not in the Australian Senate for the Australian Labor Party; it might be in the House of Representatives. What we have had this week is a very lacklustre and weak attempt at trying to undermine—

Senator Carol Brown interjecting—

Senator Brown, I thought your contribution was particularly lacklustre. You were trying to undermine the credibility of the Prime Minister—the evidence is there and I'll come to it in a moment—on what was a very successful marketing campaign aimed at encouraging visitors to Australia. It was so successful that Kevin Rudd, when he was the opposition leader, said it was 'great'; you won't be surprised to learn that, when he became the Prime Minister, he changed his tune. I will just take people back down memory lane for a bit. This was the 'Where the bloody hell are you?' marketing campaign. It featured an outback pub, fireworks on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and a bikini-clad young woman called Lara Bingle. It was successful.

Senator Cormann has drawn to the attention of the Senate in his contribution today that this campaign contributed an additional $2.1 billion to the tourism industry's bottom line over 2006-07. He also shared with the Senate that the Australian National Audit Office itself has said that the accounts were found to be a true and fair view of its final position. Senator Cormann said that the Prime Minister, in his role at Tourism Australia, met all the requirements and that people were fully satisfied. The number of nights stayed by international visitors increased by 12 per cent as a result of the marketing campaign. The tourism spend in Australia increased by 10 per cent, and there was an increase of three per cent in the economic value of inbound tourism to $18.8 billion. Having presided over the Tourism Australia 'Where the bloody hell are you?' campaign is a demonstration—not a criticism—of the Prime Minister's acumen.

We've heard a lot over the last two days about what Tim Fischer, the former Deputy Prime Minister, had to say. What did Tim Fischer have to say? You'll have to trawl back through the archives, but on 26 July 2006, in an article in The Sydney Morning Herald, he praised Mr Morrison's performance. He said: 'I acknowledge the dedicated contribution Scott Morrison has made to Tourism Australia—in particular, with the development and launch of the new international marketing campaign.'

Lacklustre and dispirited—that is the way Labor has prosecuted a very lame attempt at trying to undermine the community's confidence in the Prime Minister. So you might well ask yourself: where the bloody hell have you been? I know where the coalition has been. It's been out there developing and implementing a campaign for personal income tax reduction. It's been out there building confidence in the Australian economy. It's been out there driving economic growth in our country. It's been out there negotiating with the states and territories for a fairer share of the GST, a deal that no-one thought could be done. That is a deal that not only rewards Western Australia and corrects the great anomaly in regard to the GST issue but also benefits every state and territory. I know where the coalition has been; it has been out there working and building confidence in the Australian economy for families and for small businesses.

So, where has Labor been? Where the bloody hell has Labor been? I know where you've been. You've been building a plan for higher taxes. You've been building a plan for slower economic growth. You've been building a plan to dismantle all of the economic growth and prosperity that this country has seen over many, many years. That's where you've been. You'll have to lift your game. The House of Representatives will be back in a few days time. You've got a chance. (Time expired)