Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. I refer to reports that the Prime Minister held crisis talks with Victorian Liberal MPs about the Liberals' horror performance on the weekend. Who attended said crisis meeting? What reflections did Victorian MPs have for the Prime Minister, following the Liberals' horror performance on Saturday?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Newsflash: Prime Minister meets with his colleagues to talk about the best way forward! Oh! There was an election on the weekend in the great state of Victoria and—another newsflash—we didn't do as well as we would have liked! Oh! I think that every Australian would expect the Prime Minister to sit down with his Victorian colleagues after the weekend and discuss the results, the issues at hand and how we can ensure that we continue to provide the best possible government for the Australian people, making sure that all Australians have the best possible opportunity to get ahead.

We remember that, when Labor was last in government at a national level, what they delivered was a weakening economy, rising unemployment and a rapidly deteriorating budget position. We want all Australians to have the best possible opportunity to get ahead, and that is why we will continue to work very hard to implement our plan for stronger growth, for more jobs and to put the budget in as strong a position as possible for the future.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, Senator Cormann—Senator Kitching on point of order.

Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, on relevance—one of the questions was 'Who attended the crisis meeting?' I've given Senator Cormann one minute and five seconds, and he hasn't come to that yet. I'm hoping that he can do it in the remaining time.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Kitching, senators know that I cannot instruct a minister to answer part of a question nor how to answer a question, as long as they're directly relevant. The minister is being relevant to part of the question asked. Senator Cormann.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr President. As I said right up front, of course the Prime Minister meets with his colleagues. Given we had an election on the weekend in the great state of Victoria, as is indicated in the question the Prime Minister met with his Victorian colleagues. I think it's a matter of public record who his Victorian colleagues are. I don't subscribe to the description that Senator Kitching has attached to it. It was a meeting very much in the context of our efforts at all times to be the best government we can be to deliver the best possible outcomes for the Australian people.

Look at the economic outcomes that we've been able to secure over the last five years. Economic growth is much stronger than it was under Labor. The economic growth outlook is better. Employment growth is much stronger, and indeed our budget is in a stronger—and improving—position now. That of course is helping us ensure that we can fund all of the important services Australians expect their government to provide in a sustainable fashion.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Kitching, a supplementary question.

Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Victorian Liberal MP Tim Wilson has said that, while on polling booths, Liberal voters raised the federal leadership change, emissions policy and many of the party's priorities. Did Mr Wilson raise his concerns in today's crisis meeting?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I reject the characterisation of the meeting. It was a usual meeting that the Prime Minister has from time to time. In the context of the election on the weekend, the Prime Minister meets with colleagues on a state-by-state basis as appropriate, and that is an important part of the job he does as the leader of our team nationally. It was a very constructive meeting. It was a meeting focused on making sure that we deliver the best possible outcomes for the Australian people right across Australia and that we put ourselves in the best possible position to win the next election, because that is in the national interest; it is in the interests of families around Australia wanting to get ahead, who would be harmed by the anti-business, high-taxing, politics-of-envy, socialist agenda prosecuted by Mr Shorten.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Kitching, a final supplementary question.

Kimberley Kitching (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This morning, Mr President, you warned: 'Our voters sent us a message: Liberal voters want us to focus on their issues.' When will Mr Morrison learn the lessons of Wentworth and Victoria, end the policy paralysis of his divided government and focus on the issues that Australians care about?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are always focused on the issues that the Australian people care about. Let me tell you something. When Labor lost government in 2013, a lot of Australians were not able to find a job. In fact, the number of Australians not able to find a job was on the up—and up and up. But today, after five years of Liberal-National government, we are able to point to more than 1.1 million new jobs having been created—including 350,000 new jobs in 2017-18, which was 150,000 more new jobs than we had anticipated when we delivered the 2017-18 budget. That, of course, has helped to drive a significantly improved budget performance, with an improvement in the budget bottom line to the tune of about $19.3 billion because 150,000 more Australians paid personal income tax and 150,000 more Australians didn't pay the same level of welfare they otherwise would have. This is the virtuous economic cycle that we— (Time expired)