Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

Across Australia over the next few days, Liberals in our home state of Western Australia, Senator Cash, in New South Wales and, indeed, in South Australia will be wishing the Tasmanian Liberal Party all the very best of good campaign fortune as Tasmanians go to the polls. We'll be wishing them all the very best of good campaign fortune because we don't want Tasmanians to be subject to the 'coalition of chaos', as it was called by Senator Duniam. We don't want them to have to suffer the same sort of bad Labor policies that the rest of the country is experiencing as a result of having elected Anthony Albanese and the Labor government in May 2022. Indeed, in our own state of Western Australia we don't want Tasmanians to have to suffer the same sorts of bad policies and poor economic management that Western Australians have seen first under Premier McGowan and now under Roger Cook. We know that, when Labor is in government, things go astray.

Just to follow on from Senator Sheldon's comments on cost-of-living challenges, they are very real for Australians. That's whether they're in Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia or your home state of New South Wales. They are struggling under the cumulative effect—just think about that—of layer upon layer of interest rate rises. They're struggling at supermarket check-outs as cost-of-living pressures are seen and realised on the shelves of our shops. Indeed, as we talked about yesterday, Senator Sheldon, their ability to travel and stay connected with loved ones is suffering as a result of the government's inaction on high airline prices.

In my home state of Western Australia, they have much to be concerned and disappointed about, having now lived for about two years under a federal Labor government. What has that seen? I see Senator Sterle from Western Australia mocking, but let's just think about this. A ban on live sheep exports cost the Western Australian economy $120 million and cost the livelihoods of regional families, Senator Sterle, that you often come into this chamber and defend. The trucking industry will be imperilled as a result of a ban on live sheep exports. They're regional communities that you quite rightly come to this place to stand up for, argue for and barrack for. I'll give you credit for that, but you can't have it both ways. You can't come here and say you barrack for these people and then sit idly by when the government continues with a ban that will decimate rural and regional communities across our state.

Just to add to that, the changes to the industrial relations system have been said by the peak people in Western Australian business to make it harder for Australian companies to succeed and grow in Western Australia. Think about that for a moment. The 120,000 Western Australian workers who work in our resources industry and the families that are supported by them are all being imperilled by the industrial relations policy being pursued by this government. Just add to that the $10 million decision to fund the EDO, which is like a wrecking ball across Western Australia's resources industry. That resources industry doesn't just make Western Australians wealthy; it improves the living standards of every Australian. This afternoon is not the time to talk about the GST debate, but no doubt when we come back during the budget session GST matters will be top of mind.

When Tasmanians go to the polls on Saturday, they don't have to look too far to see the risk and peril of electing a Tasmanian Labor government, who I hear is hand in glove with the Greens. They don't have to look too far to see the evidence that Labor is bad news for Tasmania in the same way that it's been bad news for Western Australia and bad news for Australia.