Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's very touching that the Australian Labor Party is so concerned about the internal events of the Liberal Party. But can I tell Senator Watt something? The Australian people are more concerned about energy prices. They're more concerned about jobs and jobs growth for the future. What I would say to Senator Watt is this: you can roll out Mr Turnbull, and we can respond by rolling out Mr Latham or Mr Rudd. We can talk about the Labor Party's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, which was the 'greatest moral challenge of our time' until the opinion polls turned and then the Labor Party, including the vast majority of those sitting in this chamber, discarded their policy like a soiled tissue—of no value. There was no thought given; it was just dismissed.

Well, we can go tit for tat on that. But do you know what? Does that create one extra job for the Australian people? No. Does it decrease their energy prices? No. But this morning, the Liberal-National party room put through its meeting a policy to ensure the divestiture of big energy companies which are gaming the system—something Labor will not do because they're on the side of the big energy companies, whereas we in the coalition are on the side of the consumers, the farmers, the small-business people and the pensioners. And that is where we as a government are getting on with policy.

When we in opposition announced that in the first five years we would seek to help create one million jobs, the Labor Party scoffed. What we have we done? We have delivered the one million jobs before time, and now it is well and truly over one million jobs. Today there are fewer adults on welfare than in the last, I think, 15 or 20 years. That's another good not only economic indicator but also fantastic social indicator, showing that we are getting more of our fellow Australians engaged in the mainstream economy, where they can be self-reliant, where they have the dignity of a job, and where the young people, in particular, are engaging in the economy, where there is jobs growth and an opportunity for their future. They're the things that we as a government are delivering on for the Australian people. That's what we were elected to do. That is what we are doing. That is what we are delivering.

The Australian Labor Party, devoid of any policy other than to destroy the economy, seek to play their political games, as was witnessed in question time today in this Senate. What did we see? We saw silly questions about what Mr Turnbull may or may not have said. The Australian people are over it. What they want is policy and policy delivery. What I say to the Australian people is: when the Labor Party engage in such immature politics, what they're really doing is asking you not to look at their policies. The Labor Party has a policy that would destroy the Australian economy: their 45 per cent or now 50 per cent, I think, Renewable Energy Target. This is a target that would destroy household budgets, small businesses and manufacturing.

They would have made the $400 million payment to the International Climate Fund with what? With borrowed money. Where from? From China. And guess where we get our money from to fund the deficit from China, and guess who was trying to hook into that international climate change fund? None other than China. So the Labor Party economic policy is: borrow money from China to pay it into an international fund, to pay it back to China so we can then pay interest to China. That is the way the Australian Labor Party would wreck our economy.

We know that Mr Shorten is union bred, union led and union fed. He would do the bidding of the militant CFMMEU. He would do the bidding of Sally McManus and the ACTU. That would take us back, way beyond what Mr Hawke and Mr Keating did as prime ministers to ensure that we became a modern economy. They are now, today, repudiating the policies of Hawke and Keating and going way back. We, on this side, are focused on delivering for the Australian people, for jobs and growth. (Time expired)