Find your Local Liberal

See it and Read it First
  • Newspaper

  • Tony Abbott Address to West Australian Liberal Party

    24/07/10

    E&OE

    Well, what a welcome. What a magnificent, West Australian welcome. Ladies and gentlemen, my life is full of strong women. I have a wife, Margaret, who is an independently minded career woman. I have three sisters. I have three, powerful young women – they are my daughters. I have a female chief of staff, I have a female press secretary, and the strongest woman of them all, my female Deputy Leader, who is going to be one of the greatest foreign ministers that Australia has ever had. Premier Colin Barnett, President Barry Court, my distinguished parliamentary colleagues, and members of this great West Australian Liberal team, I am so pleased to be amongst you here today. But of all of the distinguished guests of all the great Liberals here in this room the person who I most especially want to acknowledge is my wife, Margaret. And it’s not just because of everyone in this room she has made the longest trip to get here. It’s not just the trip from Sydney to Perth. It’s that long journey that we have now been on for 22 years. It’s a long, long journey, but it’s a good journey, and there is so much further to go. So much further to go. A journey, which I hope, will include a stop in the Lodge in Canberra.

    Now, ladies and gentlemen, as I look at this vast concourse of people, I see a disciplined and powerful political force. You were not expected to win the last state election, and you did. The federal Coalition was not expected to stop Mr Rudd’s great big new tax on everything, the Emissions Trading Scheme, but we did. The Coalition was not expected to bring down a first term Prime Minister who had the highest popular standing in the history of Newspoll, but we did. And ladies and gentlemen, if the truth be told we are not expected to win this election, but we can, and I believe we will.

    Now I read in the paper yesterday that neither side of politics would have been too pleased with the first week of the election campaign. And I have to say that I am much happier to have started the week exorcising the ghost of an old policy than I would have been to have finished the week, as Julia Gillard has done, demonstrating that she is not fit to be the Prime Minister of this country. What we saw from the Prime Minister yesterday was either a total failure of leadership or a deceptive pre-election fudge to mask the coming carbon tax, and ladies and gentlemen I don’t think the Prime Minister is weak, I think she is being utterly deceptive. And make no mistake if this Government is re-elected there will be a carbon tax. It will be a great big tax on everything. It will be a tax on your jobs, it will be a tax on your standard of living, and it will be above all else a destructive tax here on the great state of Western Australia, and we must stop that tax.

    Ladies and gentlemen, the next election is very winnable because the Australian public are not easily conned. And the Australian public will not re-elect a very bad Government. And let’s make no mistake whatsoever. This has been a very bad Government. It has been the most incompetent national Government in living memory. It just doesn’t get it on the economy, but worse than that it just doesn’t get it on democracy. And ladies and gentlemen, since Julia Gillard became Prime Minister we have seen from this Government the most shambolic, the most disorganised and the most deceptive four weeks in this Government’s sorry history. It is undeniably an incompetent Government. Think of the pink batts disaster. They spent $2.4 billion putting insulation into people’s roofs, and what have we got to show for it? We’ve got 240,000 dodgy or dangerous insulations, we’ve got up to 1,000 electrified roofs, we’ve had nearly 200 house fires, and tragically four deaths, and this is a result of this Australian Government that now wants you to re-elect it.

    Think of the so-called Building the Education Revolution Programme which gave new halls to schools that wanted gymnasiums, and new gymnasiums to schools that wanted halls. It wanted to spend $1 million building a covered outdoor learning area to replicate once which had previously been built for $80,000 and which could actually be built by an independent builder, as opposed to the builder picked by the state bureaucrats for a quarter of a million dollars. Rip-off after rip-off, and its all been done by this Government which is now seeking your vote. But above all else this is the Government which has turned a $20 billion surplus into a $57 billion deficit, which has turned $60 billion of net assets into $90 billion of net debt. That’s almost $5,000 worth of debt hanging around the necks of every Australian man, woman and child for years and years to come. It’s not good enough, it must end, and only the Coalition can end it.

    Ladies and gentlemen, this Government just doesn’t get it on the economy. What sane Australian government would say to the most important industry in our country, the mining industry, the industry which above all else has been responsible for getting us through the global financial crisis, ‘thanks very much and we are now going to give you the highest rate of tax in the world.’ Well, frankly, no sane government would do it. I’ve said it before, let me say it again. The mining tax is a moon beam from the larger lunacy. It just should not happen and it will not happen under a Coalition government.

    And it’s not just the idea of the tax. It’s the way it was done. In May, the Treasurer of this country announces that he’s got this great big new tax on mining and it’s going to raise $12 billion. Just a few short weeks later, he goes before a press conference and says, ‘oops, sorry, didn’t quite get that right, the $12 billion tax is actually going to raise $24 billion.’ Well, apart from proving the complete ineptitude and incompetence of our Treasurer, it proves above all else that this Government cannot be trusted with the economic future of our country.

    And they don’t get democracy either. What democratic political party would execute the elected Prime Minister in the dead of the night? What democratic, political party would subject its future to the whims of the Sussex Street death squad? That’s what happened to Kevin Rudd. He may not have been a particularly good Prime Minister but he was elected by the people and he should have faced the judgement of the people. He should not have faced the faceless union and factional assassins who are now calling the shots inside the Labor Party.

    If the Government is re-elected, Julia Gillard cannot guarantee that she would in fact serve a full term in office because she cannot guarantee that the factional warlords will let her. That is the situation that Australia faces, of entrenching in government, not just a political party, but of the faceless and factional warlords that run it. And that’s not good enough. We are natural democrats, Australians. And we want to see governments and parties run by the people, not by unelected, faceless, factional warlords.

    But ladies and gentlemen, it’s just got worse since Julia Gillard has become the Prime Minister of this country. And what we’ve seen from our new Prime Minister is a pattern of deceptive conduct. She does a deal. She tries to run away from scrutiny. She pretends the deal hasn’t really happened. And we’ve seen it again and again over the last month.

    First of all, there was the mining tax fix which turned out to be a fake. Then there was the boat people fix which turned out to be all at sea somewhere off Dili. Not only did the boat people fix get lost somewhere in the Timor Sea, but our Prime Minister revealed herself as someone who thinks that you can announce a deal with a foreign country without getting that country’s permission first, and you can do a deal with East Timor by talking to the head of state, rather than the head of government. Well, I have to say, Kevin Rudd was a lousy Prime Minister, but at least he wouldn’t have made that particular mistake.

    And then of course, ladies and gentlemen, just yesterday we had the climate change fix. This from a Prime Minister who said as recently as November of climate change that delay is denial. This from a Prime Minister who said as recently as November that if you can’t manage climate, you can’t manage the future. And what did she give us yesterday? Not a decision. Not a policy. But a Citizens’ Assembly. So if this Government is re-elected, what we will have is this issue, which Julia Gillard said was the greatest political and social challenge, the greatest economic and social challenge of our time, we will have that decision sub-contracted out to a Citizens’ Assembly. And I say, what is the Parliament for, if it’s not to make these decisions?

    Ladies and gentlemen, it’s just not good enough. But if you want to see respect for decent democratic processes, if you want to see respect for the will of the people, as expressed through the ballot box, you’ve got to change the government. You’ve just got to change the government.

    And let me make this very clear. When Julia Gillard set out to fix the self-inflicted, self-created messes, she essentially moved towards the clear positions that the Coalition has been advocating for the last seven months. We have clear policies on all of those issues which the Government can’t handle. We have a clear policy on the mining tax: there just won’t be a mining tax. We already have a profits-based tax: it’s called company tax. We already have a charge for the use of non-renewable resources: it’s called royalties. Company tax and royalties are a perfectly acceptable taxing system for our mining and resources sector. Under the company tax and royalties regime our mining sector has become the most effective, the most efficient and amongst the most, and amongst the best in the world. This is the goose that’s laid the golden egg for Australia and the last thing that any responsible government should do is put that at risk.

    We have a clear policy to stop the boats. Ladies and gentlemen, we stopped the boats before, and we can stop the boats again. The Howard Government found a problem and created a solution. The Rudd/Gillard Government found a solution and created a problem because it wasn’t sensible enough to leave well enough alone. We will stop the boats, and only the Coalition can stop the boats.

    And ladies and gentlemen, we have a clear policy on climate change. Climate change is real. The issue is what do we do to deal with it. And what we do to deal with it is sensibly reduce emissions in ways which do not damage our economy. Because if we damage our economy, we will not help our environment. If we reduce our emissions while China and India do not reduce theirs, we will not help our environment. I think the environment is incredibly important but I will not put at risk the Australian economy and by putting at risk the Australian economy, put at risk the Australian environment, just to make a futile green gesture.

    Ladies and gentlemen, your economy is safe with the Coalition and your environment is safe with the Coalition.

    Your economy is safe and your environment is safe because this is a Coalition with good values. Ladies and gentlemen, as a Liberal I want lower taxes, smaller government and greater freedom. As a conservative, I want a fair go for families and respect for values that have stood the test of time. But as an Australian, I want policies that work and that do not trifle with the future of this great nation.

    Ladies and gentlemen, mine is a genial, pragmatic political creed. But it is pragmatism based on values. Those mainstream values that have always stood this country in good stead in the past and will continue to stand this country in good stead into the future. And, ladies and gentlemen, as part of those mainstream values, I support, the Coalition supports safer communities. Now I know this has been an issue here in the West, and I know that Premier Barnett has made a big difference over the last 18 months or so in giving the people of Western Australia safer communities.

    And I announce today that to support the crime-fighting efforts of local communities and the states and territories, the Coalition will commit an additional $50 million towards a full-blooded, sustained national approach to community crime prevention. Central to this national approach will be the re-establishment of the National Community Crime Prevention Programme. This $50 million will go to a range of measures, including the installation of close-circuit TV and other security related infrastructure, and all of this will be done with the involvement and the support of local police.

    Ladies and gentlemen, this is a good example of the Coalition intelligently using limited budget resources, taking real action in support of Australian communities under pressure.

    Ladies and gentlemen, the election let’s be very clear. The election due four weeks today is very winnable. It is a very winnable election. I would rather be in my position four weeks out, than in Julia Gillard’s position, particularly after yesterday’s disastrous announcement. This election is very winnable. Yes, the Australian public don’t want to admit that they got it wrong last time. But they don’t want to reward an incompetent Government either. Yes, the Australian public don’t want to humiliate or embarrass our first female Prime Minister. But they don’t want another three years of shambolic Government like the last three years of shambolic Government either. That is the truth.

    What we need to do over the next four weeks is indicate very clearly to the Australian public the consequences of re-electing this bad Government. The Prime Minister says that it’s all about ‘moving forward.’ Well, in a sense, she’s right. If we re-elect this Government we will be moving forward all right, we will be moving forward to more spending, more backflips, more boats, and above all else more taxes. That’s what we will be moving towards if we re-elect this Government. In particular a carbon tax that will be the biggest hit on Australian households in living memory. Well, I say, ladies and gentlemen, that Australia deserves better than that. Australia deserves better than a carbon tax that the Government doesn’t have the guts to tell you about before the election, but will as surely as night follows day deliver after the election. Australia deserves better than that, and it’s our job as a political movement to give them something, something good. It’s our job as a political movement to save them from the fate that they do not deserve. So I will be leaving you, ladies and gentlemen, with a very simple message. If you want to stop the boats, you’ve got to change the Government. If you want to stop the tax, you’ve got to change the Government. And if you want to restore competence in Canberra, you’ve got to change the Government.

    We have got four tough weeks ahead of us. They will be very tough weeks. Some days we won’t feel encouraged. Other days we will feel encouraged. But we owe it to the Australian people to give it our very best shot. This is a great country, but it has been let down by its Government. This is the supreme challenge of my life. This is the supreme political test for all of us, and we will not let people down. We will give this great country the government that it deserves. Thank you very much.
Back To Top

Search News

GET INVOLVED

Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott

Leader of the Opposition

FIND YOUR ELECTORATE

NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP

Liberal logo

LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Authorised by Brian Loughnane, Liberal Party of Australia, Cnr Blackall & Macquarie Streets, Barton ACT 2600
Bookmark | Print Page | Disclaimer | Privacy | Copyright | Contact