Liberal Party of Australia - News Feed

Tony Abbott Remarks to Coalition Joint Party Room Meeting

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:27:03 GMT

TRANSCRIPT OF THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MHR

REMARKS TO COALITION JOINT PARTY ROOM MEETING,

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA

E&OE……………………….……………………………………………………………

Colleagues, welcome back. It’s the start of a new parliamentary year and I’ve got to say it is great to see you and it is great to see you all looking so good.

All of us, I think, have had a good break but it’s important that we have had a good break because this year we have a great mission for our country and one of the good things about the break was getting the chance to mix with the decent people of our country: with the teachers, with the nurses, with the police, with the firies, with the small business people. These are the heart of our country. We can lead the people of our country because we represent the people of our country.

As I look around this party room there are no faceless men and women. What we are are the representatives of the good and decent people of this country and those people know we need a better government, that’s what we need now, and we will give them a better government as soon as we can go to an election.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, we all know that this country is in trouble. Not because there’s anything wrong with the Australian people but because there is a great deal that is wrong with the Australian Government. People are losing confidence in our country because they have no confidence in the Australian Government and why would you have any confidence in the Australian Government when this is a government which has proven comprehensively that it has no plan to deal with the economic problems in which we find ourselves? For almost 12 years, the people of Australia enjoyed good government under the Coalition and that good government delivered great outcomes for the Australian people: twenty per cent increase in real wages, more than two million new jobs and over the life of the Howard Government, our real net wealth per head more than doubled. What a terrific outcome for the Australian people. What we have seen, by contrast, over the last four years, Australians’ real wealth has gone backwards, productivity has stagnated and last year for the first time in 20 years, there was no net increase in jobs. What a disgrace.

Now, the fundamental reason why this government is so hopeless with the economy is because it just can’t be trusted with money. This government has turned $70 billion in net Commonwealth assets into $133 billion of net Commonwealth debt. This government has turned a $20 billion surplus into the four biggest deficits in Australia’s history - $167 billion worth of deficits. They say there’s going to be a surplus next year. It will take 50 years of Wayne Swan’s surpluses to pay off four years of Wayne Swan’s debt. That is the economic disaster that this government has given to our country.

Now, they say that they want the focus to be on the economy. They say they want the political battle to be about the economy. Well, if I can plagiarise for a moment, “make my day!”

This is a government that says that the test of economic management is going to be the great political battleground of the year and this is a government which wants to clobber our economy with the world’s biggest carbon tax. Every time they say economic management, we say carbon tax, because this is the worst possible time to be hitting our economy with the world’s biggest carbon tax.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I know that we can be a good government. We can be a good government because we have plans to make a better country. We will have a stronger economy for a stronger country. The key to a stronger economy is getting spending down so we can get productivity up and that means less borrowing, it means less pressure on interest rates, it means less tax and that means more money in the pockets of the Australian people.

We have a plan for stronger communities and at the heart of that plan is giving more community control over the great public schools and public hospitals which are at the heart of our society. We have a plan for a cleaner environment. We will take direct action to get emissions down. That makes sense. What makes no sense whatsoever is clobbering the employers and the families of this country with a tax on the necessities of life – that is socialism masquerading as environmentalism.

We have a plan for stronger borders. There’s no mystery to it. It’s the plan that worked in the past. It’s the plan that will work in the future. It’s the plan that Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd were too proud and too stubborn to put into place, because it was John Howard’s plan. Well, if it was good enough for John Howard, if it worked under John Howard, it can and will work again.

Finally, we will build the muscle and the sinews of a strong economy, because we have a plan for the infrastructure of the future. Yes, we’ve got to spend money, but we’ve got to spend money in accordance with rational analysis, in accordance with published cost-benefit analyses. This government has spent billions. It’s never spent a dollar on infrastructure in accordance with a published cost-benefit analysis. The National Broadband Network was cooked up on the back of a coaster in a VIP aircraft because the Minister and the Prime Minister were too busy to see each other, other than in the back of an RAAF aircraft. That is no way to run a country.

That’s what Australians are looking for now. They are looking for responsible, prudent, frugal government that can be trusted with money. They know that they need adults in charge and that is what we will be. They know that it can be so much better than this and our challenge this year is to demonstrate that it can and will be so much better than this.

Colleagues, thank you so much for everything you have done. We have been a terrific Opposition and we can be an even better government and that’s what Australia yearns for right now.

A great country deserves a better government and that’s exactly what we want to give.

It’s about competence and honesty – not gender

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:58:02 GMT

The Prime Minister and Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown must explain the role that gender played in the decision to impose a carbon tax after the 2010 election, to justify the claim that criticism of Julia Gillard is sexist.

The criticisms of the Prime Minister are about her competence and honesty, not her gender.

Gender played no apparent role in the Prime Minister’s decision to tell the Australian people days before the 2010 election that “there will be no carbon tax under the Government I lead”.

Gender played no apparent role in the Prime Minister’s decision to mislead Andrew Wilkie and renege on the written agreement with him that underpinned her ability to form Government.

Gender played no apparent role in the Prime Minister’s betrayal of Kevin Rudd and her decision to remove a first term Prime Minister from his position.

Any Prime Minister who blatantly broke as many commitments to the Australian people and to other members of Parliament as Julia Gillard would attract similar criticism.

The Prime Minister should stop wallowing in self-pity as her leadership comes under increasing pressure.

AHRI Institute shows HR experts having problems under Fair Work: How can you expect small business to cope?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:54:45 GMT

The Australian Human Resources Institute’s release of their annual research report on the Fair Work Act shows some deeply concerning trends.

“If human resources professionals are finding life more difficult under Labor’s Fair Work regime, heaven help small business,” Senator Abetz said today.

“With 63% of respondents reporting an increased level of record keeping and 47% of respondents believe that operating under the Fair Work Act will decrease their organisation’s willingness to employ people over the next three years, there are some very real concerns that must be addressed.”

“There has also been a sharp increase in the number of people who have noticed a decrease in productivity as well as more reports of visits by union bosses.”

“Bill Shorten must explain why people are finding it more difficult to operate under the Fair Work Act instead of trying to use his current role to fulfil his unfulfilled ambition to become ACTU Secretary.”

“Labor must ensure that the review of the Fair Work Act looks at these very concerning statistics,” Senator Abetz concluded.

Interest rate freeze on farmers ‘unconscionable’

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:34:13 GMT

The Hon Warren Truss MP

All eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) tomorrow for the first interest rate call of the year, with nervous home owners facing ever-rising cost-of-living pressures holding their breath.

But Australia’s farmers have all but given up hope of seeing RBA cuts reflected in agribusiness loans.

“Home owners are painfully aware that when interest rates go up the banks show remarkable dexterity in passing on the rise – in full and immediately, but when rates fall they are notoriously tardy in providing relief,” Leader of The Nationals Warren Truss explained today.

“But it’s even worse for Australian farmers. With attention on mortgage rates, agribusiness loans slip under the radar and the banks are getting away with not passing on cuts.

“Despite successive official rate cuts of .25% in November and December last year, farmers were shafted. Only Suncorp Agribusiness, to its credit, passed on the full .5% cut to its farm loan holders.

“But ANZ Agribusiness, Commonwealth Bank Agri, NAB Agri, Bananacoast Community Credit Union, Bendigo Bank and Westpac Agribusiness only passed on miserly partial cuts. Others, like BankSA Agribusiness, simply abandoned our farmers and hoped no one will notice that they failed to pass on any cut at all.

“Embattled farmers are struggling to recover from the physical, emotional and financial ravages of a decade of drought – the worst on record, which was brutally compounded by last summers’ worst floods on record that engulfed parts of all six states.

“Today, farmers in Queensland and northern NSW are again battling rising floodwaters. St George is facing their third record-breaking flood crisis in a year.

“People are drained. Gouging farmers, let alone under these most trying and desperate of circumstances, is unconscionable. While the focus is on home loans, interest rates for business and farm loans must equally be exposed.

“Mortgage stress, mounting cost-of-living pressures and languishing business and consumer confidence are biting all families, urban and rural. But it is especially galling for farmers that rate cuts designed to relieve these economic hardships are specifically denied to them.

“Tomorrow’s rate decision will be keenly watched, as will the banks’ eventual response should there be a cut in official rates. But I will also be watching what happens to the real rates paid on agribusiness loans. Light must be shed light on the agri-banking sector.

“For small businesses, including farmers, it is increasingly difficult to keep tabs on and compare loan rates and bank products. Unless the rate decisions of banks and non-bank financial institutions on these loans are required to be publicly reported, affected businesses will remain financially in the dark.”

Shorten must break his super tax silence

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:02:07 GMT

Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten must clarify Labor-Green government plans to yet again increase taxes on people's retirement savings.

Last week the union movement came out pushing for further increases in taxes on superannuation.

Today Labor's Alliance Partner the Greens are announcing plans to increase taxes on super further.

There is already widespread concern that Labor's Superannuation Roundtable announced by Bill Shorten a week ago is nothing more than a Trojan horse for its secret tax agenda on superannuation.

When called on last week to rule out further tax increases on superannuation Bill Shorten responded with a deafening silence.

He must break his super tax silence today.

He must reassure Australians committed to achieve a self-funded retirement that the Superannuation Roundtable is not part of another secret Labor-Green agenda to increase taxes on their super savings.

Labor has already dramatically increased taxes on superannuation since coming to office.

By cutting concessional super contribution caps from $50,000 and $100,000 down to $25,000, Labor has increased taxes for those Australians committed to saving more for their retirement.

In the most recent MYEFO Labor has extended the tax increase further by refusing to index that low $25,000 threshold for another year.

Labor also cut the successful Howard government initiated co-contribution scheme which was designed to encourage lower income Australians to save for their retirement.

Instead of encouraging Australians to make additional voluntary superannuation contributions to complement their forced savings through the superannuation guarantee, Labor is making it harder for people to save more.

Come on Bill. You're in the media often enough. Say the words: "Labor will not increase taxes on superannuation – not one jot not one tiddle".

Pressure on Govt and cross-bench to cut red tape

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:57:55 GMT

Pressure is building on the cross-benchers and Labor to back changes to the Paid Parental Leave Scheme which would relieve business of the compliance burden of acting as the ‘pay clerk’ for the scheme according to the Coalition.

Shadow Small Business Minister Bruce Billson said he knows that small business people and their representative organisations want to see these changes and have been trying to harness the support of the new Small Business Minister and the cross-benchers.

“There is no reason why the Parliament shouldn’t pass these changes which would make life easier for small business,” Mr Billson said.

“I can only see one way these changes will be defeated and that is if the cross-benches or the Government want to play politics with the issue and oppose it simply because it is a Coalition initiative.

“It has been the Labor Government aided and abetted by some cross-benchers who have blocked positive and practical Coalition efforts to assist small business.

"Here is another test for MPs who claim to be pro-small business with the ball well and truly in Labor and the cross-benchers’ court to get these positive changes through the Parliament.”

Mr Billson said this isn’t about reinventing the legislation or changing the Government-funded parental leave benefits, it’s about making sure small businesses don’t have to deal with more unwarranted and unwelcome red tape by acting as the ‘pay clerk’ for the system.

“Unlike big employers with whole departments to handle the ‘PPL pay clerk’ or their own scheme, most small businesses are already stretched,” Mr Billson said.

“This legislation is a test for all MPs who claim to support small business.”

The Government has scheduled debate on legislative amendments to the PPL scheme for Tuesday.

ALP leadership; The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee; Craig Thomson: Tony Abbott interview with David Oldfield, 2UE

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:04:35 GMT

TRANSCRIPT OF THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MHR,

INTERVIEW WITH DAVID OLDFIELD,

RADIO 2UE, SYDNEY

Subjects: ALP leadership; The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee; Craig Thomson.

E&OE……………………….…………………………………………………………………

DAVID OLDFIELD:

Tony Abbott has been good enough to join us this morning. I only want to touch on this briefly, Tony. It really would be better from your point of view to have Gillard remain there, even though it’s not necessarily in the country’s interests, by argument?

TONY ABBOTT:

David, look, I think that what’s best for everyone is that we have a better government as soon as possible and that’s why I say that it doesn’t really matter who the Labor leader is – if they don’t change the policies, we are still in the same fix. At the moment, whether it’s Rudd or Gillard, we will still have the mining tax, we will still have the carbon tax, we will still have the spending spree, we will still have the total failure of due process and that’s why I say that it’s time to get away from this whole idea of a Prime Minister chosen by the faceless men; get back to the idea of a Prime Minister chosen by the people and that’s why an election can’t come soon enough.

DAVID OLDFIELD:

In terms of this supposed leadership challenge – and of course the suggestion is that it is just Mr Rudd’s people giving it more and more oxygen helped along by the media – if you were in the same sorts of circumstances, would there be a temptation to bring on the challenge if you were Julia Gillard?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, I hope I would never be in the same sorts of circumstances. I think Barnaby Joyce was asked some time ago what would he do if he was Julia Gillard and he said, well, I’d go and take steps to get out of this situation promptly. Look, I just think that you shouldn’t be a Prime Minister who says one thing before the election and does the opposite afterwards. You shouldn’t be a Prime Minister who tells fibs in post-election negotiations to stay in The Lodge and I think that, you know, the important thing is to give the Australian people the better government that they think our country deserves and needs and is capable of and that’s my job, David, every day, to talk about how it can be so much better than this and as I said to the Press Club last week, the Coalition has plans for a stronger economy, for stronger communities, for more secure borders, for a cleaner environment and for infrastructure for the future and that’s what I want to talk about because I think we all know this is a hopeless government. What we want to know is how it can be better.

DAVID OLDFIELD:

I’m joined by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. Tony, this week of course, the reconvening of parliament, what can we expect? What is it that you are going to go after in this first week?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, I think there will be two dimensions. First of all, I will be talking about our plans for a better government but also it is important that the Prime Minister come clean particularly about the whole sorry Craig Thomson saga and what interference or contact there may have been between the Government and Fair Work Australia. We know very early on in the piece there was a phone call from the Prime Minister’s office to Fair Work Australia and we’ve had Kathy Jackson say that she has reason to believe that there’s been political interference. We’ve had various reports to the union that show there’s been horrific misuse of the members’ money and abuse and misuse of entitlements and all this means that we’ve got a tainted government because it’s relying on the vote of a tainted member. Now, I think the Prime Minister’s got to come clean and declare: Does she still have full confidence in Craig Thomson? Does she still have full confidence in Fair Work Australia’s investigation?

DAVID OLDFIELD:

All last week I was rabbiting on, I suppose, as a way of putting myself down in that circumstance, that Craig Thomson does not deny that the card, his credit card, was used wrongly. He doesn’t deny that. He simply denies being the person who used the card. Three years to simply try and ask him the question, if it wasn’t you Craig, who was it?

TONY ABBOTT:

Exactly right. On the face of it, on the admitted facts, it looks like an open and shut case and that’s why the fact that all of these investigations are dragging on for so long makes the public think that there is an institutional go slow here to protect the Government. Now, that is very damaging for our polity to think that institutions like this should regard all this as too hot to handle.

DAVID OLDFIELD:

And indeed it would seem that Ms Gillard doesn’t have a monopoly on such allegations with more and more on the Wivenhoe Dam in Queensland coming to the fore and the suggestion that the Bligh Government in following suit is also perhaps involved in trying to, well, write a PR-related report on what took place rather than a factual report.

TONY ABBOTT:

And David, look, I’m only looking at the media when it comes to the Wivenhoe Dam but certainly if the press reports are correct there has been a failure and more than anything a failure to be transparent and that’s a pity. All of us from time to time make mistakes and that’s bad but what’s even worse is a cover-up, particularly when you have so much that was impacted by what may turn out to have been a grievously mistaken strategy.

DAVID OLDFIELD:

Tony, finally, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – New Zealand and Canada are both holding major events, they’ve even released a stamp to mark the occasion, as well as presenting Jubilee medals. It would seem that Kate Lundy, the senator in the ACT was in charge with doing something – why it would be given to someone so junior under the circumstances is beyond me – but she seems to be doing nothing at all whilst having plenty of time on her hands, no doubt. Should we be doing more?

TONY ABBOTT:

Well, it’s very hard to do all this from Opposition but as far as I’m concerned, David, The Queen has been a model of duty and service. She has been an absolutely exemplary individual. It’s hard to think of someone who has been more assiduous in serving the public of the various countries of which she is Queen: Australia, in particular, because she has certainly been utterly diligent and utterly devoted when it comes to coming to Australia and I just think that the important thing is that we Australians obviously, today of all days, hold her in great respect and affection and I think it should be suitably marked and, yes, it is disappointing that there doesn’t seem to be more institutional commemoration in mind.

DAVID OLDFIELD:

Tony, I’m grateful for your time. I hope that we can talk to you later in the week, perhaps after the first shots of the reconvened parliament have been fired.

TONY ABBOTT:

Look forward to that, David.

DAVID OLDFIELD:

All the best to you.

Loyalty means nothing for Thomson

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:38:42 GMT

Speculation in this morning's press that disgraced Labor MP, Craig Thomson, will not back his Prime Minister in a leadership ballot shows that Ms Gillard should stop protecting Mr Thomson and end the farce that has become the Member for Dobell.

This morning's Daily Telegraph lists Mr Thomson and 36 other MPs and senators as supporters for Kevin Rudd in a race for the Labor leadership.

This is despite Ms Gillard's repeated statements of support for Mr Thomson over allegations of fraud, incompetence and corruption.

In fact, on 16 August last year, Ms Gillard told the House of Representatives:

"I have complete confidence in the member for Dobell. I think he is doing a fine job… I look forward to him continuing to do that job for a very long, long, long time to come."

It is now clear Mr Thomson does not share the same faith in his Prime Minister, who has well and truly supported him no matter what the cost to her and her shattered credibility.

Liberal senator Michael Ronaldson said: "Ms Gillard has protected Mr Thomson to the enth degree, using wafer thin excuses to prop up her wafer thin majority."

"Now that Mr Thomson will cut Ms Gillard loose in a leadership ballot, despite her support for him, Ms Gillard should finally do the right thing and order Fair Work Australia wrap-up their investigations into Mr Thomson and make the findings public."

"This Labor Government now survives on the vote of the Member for Dobell, Craig Thomson. If Ms Gillard can't rely on his vote, then its time to call an election."

The Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:22:37 GMT

It was sixty years ago today that Her Majesty The Queen ascended the throne on the death of her father, King George VI.

Though The Queen will formally celebrate her Diamond Jubilee in June it is appropriate that we acknowledge today The Queen’s sixty years of service.

As evidenced by the tens of thousands who greeted her during her most recent visit last year, The Queen has a special place in the hearts of all Australians.

The Queen’s first Australian Prime Minister was Sir Robert Menzies. No less than 11 Australian prime ministers and 17 opposition leaders have come and gone in those sixty years.

Whilst The Queen herself has been unchanging in her commitment to the values of service and loyalty, the Crown has evolved with the people it serves. Over the past sixty years, for instance, the office of Governor-General has evolved into a fully Australian office.

Today Australians will think of our Queen with respect and affection.

I hope all Australians will have the opportunity to celebrate and commemorate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee during 2012. The Coalition will be supportive of appropriate national commemorations that honour this significant event.

New commercial costings for Nauru expose absurdity of Labor's $2billion claims

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:56:37 GMT

The Coalition will reopen the processing centre on Nauru, closed by Labor, for less than a third of the cost Labor claims, with the first 350 beds available in less than 12 weeks, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Scott Morrison said today.

“These new commercial costings expose the absurd estimates released by Minister Bowen last month which were designed to do nothing other than continue Labor's ten year campaign of demonising and trashing Nauru as a location for offshore processing,” Mr Morrison said.

“These costings show that the first 350 beds on the site of the Howard Government processing centre will cost less than $10 million to get up and running again, with an even faster timeline possible if required,” he said.

“A further 1,000 beds on a new site called 'The Location', would be available from three to six months later, at a cost of $70 million, plus accommodation for staff to work on the island at a cost of $15 million.

“Operating costs on Nauru would be no greater than running detention centres in remote locations such as Christmas Island. Even assuming a 25% loading and operating at maximum capacity, the Coalition's costing is still less than half the Government's estimate, and delivers 600 more beds.

“With the implementation of the Coalition' full suite of border protection policies, abolished and rejected by Labor, these costs would also fall as the boats stopped coming. From 2001 to 2007 the total operating costs for Nauru and Manus Island were $ 289 million.

“The Coalition’s costings are based on new commercial in confidence advice from a major company that was directly involved in running and establishing the centre over eight years, when it last operated on Nauru.

“Last year this company approached the Government and the Opposition offering to provide advice on the costs and logistics to re-establish the offshore processing centre on Nauru. We took them up on their offer.

“The company has extensive experience in building and running facilities in remote locations, not only in Australia but also Nauru, East Timor and Papua New Guinea.

“The Government's costings make it clear Labor has never been serious about reopening Nauru and their claims to do so were disingenuous.

“Not only would the type of centre Labor costed be unacceptable to Nauru, as confirmed to me by their President, their claimed operating costs on Nauru would be five times more expensive than running other facilities such as Christmas Island and building costs four times more expensive than reopening the remote detention centre at Curtin, WA.

“Every morning Minister Bowen wakes up trying to think of more excuses for why he has failed to fix Labor’s border protection failures. If he isn’t directly blaming the Opposition for the Government's impotence, he is endlessly criticising the Coalition’s longstanding policies that the Australian people know worked.

“Minister Bowen has become the 'Minister for Excuses' on border protection. He should spend less time carping about the Opposition, admit the Government got it wrong and just restore the policies that actually worked to stop the boats.

“If Labor had started the job of reopening Nauru before Christmas, rather than trying to blame and fit up the Opposition for their own policy failures, it would now only be a few weeks away from opening.

“It is clear the only way to reverse Labor’s failures on our borders is to change the Government. As long as Labor have a job, the people smugglers will have one as well,” Mr Morrison said.