Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Acting Deputy President Bernardi. I note you are in the chair at the moment and this may well be my last speech with you as Acting Deputy President, so I will take this opportunity and I appreciate the privilege that it is. I rise to speak on this urgency motion brought before the chamber by the Greens, and I thank them for the opportunity to do so. Whilst on this side of the chamber we believe in having a strong economy, which creates jobs and provides more opportunities and new skills for all Australians, sadly that is not always shared. Whilst we on this side of the chamber believe in lowering the cost of and raising the national standard of living, again, sadly this is not always shared. Those on the other side of the chamber don't believe in lowering energy prices, don't believe in tax relief, which allows businesses of all sizes to employ more people, and they don't believe in lowering the tax burden on individuals. In fact, they believe quite the opposite.

They believe in putting policies in place that will see the Australian economy weaken, job creation evaporate and the cost of living increase exponentially. I have lost all hope that they will ever realise that a strong and robust economy that is able to withstand the headwinds that ours is facing is what makes service delivery in this country sustainable. Their ignorance reminds me of the famous quote by Winston Churchill:

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle

If we lived in the Greens' version of this perfect world, where all their nation-weakening policies were put in place, any chance of Australians out of work finding meaningful, well-paying and long-term employment would be gone. If that wasn't enough, under their vision regional communities, those that are doing it the toughest, would all but cease to exist. They don't support any industry that drives our economy. We want to see, on this side of the chamber, the agricultural sector grow to $100 billion by 2020, and they want to see much of that shut down. We want to encourage new investment in resource projects across the country, which drive jobs in regional centres and lift millions—millions around the world, in fact—out of poverty. Sadly, they do not. We want to futureproof regional Australia through new investment in water infrastructure and resilience. I guess we can come to our own conclusions about where they sit on this. This is the type of country they want to see Australians living in: no investment, no industry, no jobs, no regional economies and no future. This is all for the sake of putting in place their socialist fantasies, as if we do this in this place as some type of left-wing board game.

Well, as a government, no-one is saying that it's easy to live without a job. I know many people, and I've worked with many people throughout my career, who have had that as the reality in their lives. We recognise that there are times when people need a safety net to help them get through when they're down on their luck. Few countries provide the strong safety net that we get to enjoy here in this country. Australia has one of the most targeted welfare systems in the world. Newstart is a non-contributory taxpayer funded allowance that provides a safety net for people while they look for a job. It's increased twice a year, in spite of what we heard Senator Siewert saying, in line with CPI, and it is not a wage replacement.

Our social services system touches almost all Australians at some stage in their lives. The safety net provided for the most vulnerable among us is particularly important. That's why it's critical and crucial that the system remains sustainable. It's the responsibility of government to ensure that our social security welfare system is sustainable into the future so that it can continue to provide support for those who need it most. Newstart was never meant to be a salary or wage replacement. It's a safety net for people while they are looking for work. It's often a convenient point of oversight by those across the chamber that everyone who receives Newstart is eligible for other forms of additional assistance from our welfare system, which is one of the most wideranging in the world.

It's also a convenient point of oversight that this government has a range of programs and initiatives in place to ensure our strong and job-creating economy is one that delivers benefits and opportunities for all Australians. The Morrison government is delivering the job opportunities, providing pathways and breaking down barriers for people on welfare, and I want to go through just a few of those. There are programs, such as Try, Test and Learn; individual placement support and Youth Jobs PaTH, which are providing a new and bright future for so many in this country who want nothing more than to get a job. As a Liberal, I'm proud of the results of the Transition to Work program, which is delivering on our investment of more than $570 million. I encourage those who are listening to have a look at this program and to understand the transformation that's happening in the lives of people—young people in particular—across this country through this program. Employees can ensure that they have access to intensive pre-employment support and become job ready. And employers can make sure that jobseekers have the skills that are requisite for the jobs that they have, setting them up for long-term employment. Since starting this program in 2016, Transition to Work has placed more than 40,000 young Australians into their career of choice. They are provided with the support that is necessary for them to be able to get a job and, importantly, then be sustained in those jobs after they're placed. It's an excellent program that needs to be examined. It's something that could actually inform the future of the more mainstream program called jobactive.

Throughout my life, I've worked with people from all walks of life, in all parts of the great state of Western Australia and, indeed, in the nation. From our cities to our remote regions, many individuals and families who find themselves entrenched in our welfare system with significant barriers to employment are being able to see the transformative effect that happens in their lives when they're able to move from welfare and into a job. And I've never heard them sympathise with the unfunded empathy of those opposite. They don't like the empty promises. They don't like hearing the rhetoric. What they want to say is: 'Give me the tools; equip me. Help me to be able to get into meaningful employment.' They want the skills and they want meaningful employment. I've been privileged to see the reality and the practical effect of this in countless lives. When you lift people up so that they can see over the horizon, when they earn their first pay cheque, and when they see that they can independently support their family and take part in all the advantages of 21st century life, the transformation is truly amazing. This is why I'm proud to be part of a government that's created 1.3 million jobs since coming into office—a government which is overseeing an economy that will create 1.25 million jobs over the next five years.

Our promise on this side of the chamber is to do everything we can to get people off welfare and into jobs, but that doesn't fit within the narrow ideology of those opposite. We believe in individualism, opportunity and, importantly, personal responsibility, whilst providing support for those who need it most. They believe only in policies which recognise collectivism, enable intergenerational dependence, create extortionate cost-of-living pressures and kill industries which drive the national economy. The Morrison government is focused on growing the economy, getting more people into work and delivering a well-targeted social security system that is funded through a strong budget.

The topic of this debate is nothing more than a cruel hoax on the part of the Greens. If they really want to deliver for those they claim to represent they would be working with us to ensure a strong economy, not working against us. Work with us to drop the cost of living; work with us to grow the economy; and work with us to get more Australians off welfare and into work.