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

I rise to speak on this MPI brought before the chamber by Senator Steele-John, and I do so as the nation begins this long road to economic recovery. Due to the efforts of the Australian community and the way they have heeded the advice of medical experts, we're able to commence this journey well ahead of many of our international counterparts. Now is not the time for politics as usual; it is the time for the team approach which has underpinned our response so far. Our focus now is on ensuring Australia is reopened as soon as possible and on getting Australians back into work. Despite these events, our plan for Australia has not wavered. We will continue to implement our growth-enabling, job-creating agenda.

It remains the case that Australia has one of the strongest and most targeted social welfare safety nets in the world. It has served us well. In doing so now, it is critical at this amazing time of need. But this safety net should not come at the expense of people finding a job, which is what would happen if what Senator Steele-John is proposing were to occur. Those who need support the most receive it. The additional payment of $550 per fortnight is appropriate recognition of the economic shock which has impacted Australian households. As this shock will ultimately be temporary, the payment itself should also be temporary.

The coming months and years will call for greater fiscal responsibility and economic management, and this is what we will deliver. Those same policies which have put us in the position to weather the crisis will also serve Australia well in the recovery phase. We must continue to stay the course. We will continue to stick to the plan. The Treasurer, quite rightly, said this morning in his ministerial statement that there is no money tree. What we borrow today, we must repay tomorrow. Despite this, the Greens continue to come into this place and endorse a reckless policy agenda—an agenda which would mean Australia continues to borrow, an agenda which would tie future generations of Australians to the debt burden the Greens socialist utopia would create. And we all know how those on the other side like to play and pay for their back-of-the-envelope ideas, all of which result in increased spending and new taxes on hardworking everyday Australians. People would receive less take-home pay under their policies, businesses would pay more tax and the cost of living would increase exponentially, and Australians know this. Growth-enabling, job-creating policies and strong economic management have never been as important as they are today.

The Prime Minister has released a three-stage plan to get Australia reopened as soon as possible. The states and territories are now mapping out what this means for them and they're putting those measures in place. In addition to health considerations, the single most important pillar that underpins these plans is getting people back into work as soon as possible. In my home state of Western Australia, restrictions will start to ease on Monday and will continue to do so incrementally, should we continue to see the good health outcomes that we're seeing. This means that business can start to reopen and Australians can get back to work.

Since we were last in this place, I've spent time speaking to so many businesses in WA who have been impacted by the coronavirus—service focused businesses in particular and those in their supply chains. I've heard some positive stories of innovation and reinvention and I've also heard some stories of those who at this time are not doing so well. But, above all, the message has been very clear. While so many have had to make tough business decisions—indeed, sadly, many have had to close their doors temporarily—the policy agenda of this government has been well received. The JobKeeper payment has been critical in keeping people connected to their employer. Take Alba Edible Oils in WA, for example. They've told me that the JobKeeper payment system has saved at least 17 jobs in their business, and, combined with the cash-flow relief and the instant asset write-off, they are using this time to build their capability for when things reopen.

The JobKeeper payment isn't the only thing there, of course. There's the jobseeker payment and the supplement that goes with it. That is there to assist those who are in the position where maintaining a connection with their employer is not possible. This means that, when we're through to the other side, these Australians will be ready to get back to work, as many of them are already doing. These businesses are able to enter into and maintain, effectively, a hibernation period. This means that more people will be able to transition from the jobseeker payment to paid employment at the appropriate time. The temporary boost to this payment has injected the confidence we need to exit this challenge in the best possible position. It means people can continue to support their families from a position of relative strength, continue to make their rent payments or mortgage payments where possible, continue with their regular purchases, fund household expenses and support local businesses that need it. Without this, the impact on the economy would have been more catastrophic.

We know that, each and every week that the restrictions remain in place, there is a reduction of $4 billion of economic activity. This is the result of lower workforce participation, productivity and consumption. But, from where we are today, GDP can be expected to increase at $9.4 billion per month with the effective implementation of the three-step plan. This would see 850,000 Australians back at work—a direct result of the economic response to this challenge. Further, we know that the unemployment rate would climb to over 15 per cent if Australians are not able to maintain a connection to their employer, and the start to recovery would be much slower than it is under this program. It would mean businesses would need to find people, rehire people and retrain people, and they would lose their investment in human capital and would need to start from square one.

This is why our economic response is critical. Now is not the time for the Greens to come to this place with their standard rhetoric. Every Australian has been impacted by the economic consequences of this challenge in some way. It might be a family member, children, friends or a staff member. We're all familiar and acutely aware of the pressure that this is placing on individuals. We understand the seriousness and consequences of the times that we're in. There will be time for the Greens to come back in here and play their politics, but now is not the time. There will be a time for the Greens to come back in here and air their grievances against every other party in this place, but now is not that time.

This economic package that this government has delivered is unprecedented. At $320 billion, it's a historic investment in our future and represents over 16 per cent of GDP. Now is the time to work together constructively in the national interest. Parliament is, quite appropriately, playing its multipartisan role in assessing the policy agenda of government. This is taking place through the relevant committees, on the things that are related to the coronavirus response, as it has been in this chamber. Now is the time for the Greens to look at the environment we're in, understand it and, importantly, play a constructive role.