Subjects: Aston by-election; Scoresby Freeway; economy.
E&OE..................
Well thank you very much Chris. To Peter Costello, to Andrea Pearce, my other federal and state parliamentary colleagues, Graeme McKewin, the Chairman of the Aston Electoral Council, and supporters. None of us wanted a by-election in Aston and as Peter said it came about unexpectedly and in very sad circumstances. And it is important as we contemplate the last three weeks of the Aston by-election campaign that we recognise the very high quality of the representation and the local character of the representation that Peter Nugent brought to the seat of Aston.
And in looking forward the Liberal Party has chosen in Chris somebody who really does represent and resonate with the local issues that are important in this part of Melbourne and really will in my view be an outstandingly energetic representative for the people of Aston in the national Parliament.
More and more people in Australia, whether it's here in Melbourne or in Sydney or in Brisbane or in the regional parts of our country, are looking to have representatives who resonate and connect with their local communities. They are becoming increasingly impatient with political parties and political movements who believe they can move candidates around as though they were pieces on a chess board. They want somebody who comes out of the district, they want somebody who feels for a district, and they want somebody who can represent that district in the national Parliament. And when I heard of Chris's interest in running for the seat, and I was told of his background, his commitment to local government, his very strong business background, somebody who understands the real world, who knows what it's like to get out there and make a quid to use that well beloved Australian expression. And after all isn't part of our nation about people starting with nothing and building up a business and achieving through hard work? That's always been very much part of the Liberal ethos.
And Chris has all of those attributes and he also has a strong commitment to local community and church organisations. And all of those things in this day and age are very important to the quality of representation. So when you examine all of those things, if you're asking yourself who is the best local, who is the best person able to articulate the local concerns and the local interests, there can be little doubt that the man who's been chosen as the Liberal Party standard bearer - Chris Pearce - is the person who fits that bill.
But over and above that he's also identified with some causes and some policies that are tremendously important to the people of Aston. He's identified first and foremost with the construction of the Scoresby Freeway. And let me remind you ladies and gentlemen that the first federal voice that unconditionally committed itself to the construction of the Scoresby Freeway was the voice of the Howard Government, the voice of the Liberal-National Party Coalition. We were the ones who got out there first. And last week I wrote to Mr Bracks and I said our money's on the table, the beginning of it's in the budget. We'll match you. We'll not only match you with the initial commitment of $220 million but we'll also form a partnership with the Victorian Government so that in collective partnership with the private sector we can fully fund the construction of this very important transport corridor.
Now what reaction do we have from federal Labor? We have Simon Crean, that great master of walking both sides of the street and the middle at the same time. We have Simon Crean saying oh look, I want some Greens preferences so what will I do? I will hold out the prospect that we won't construct the Scoresby Freeway. And when the Greens said that they had three demands, one of which was total opposition to the Scoresby Freeway what did Simon Crean say? He said that sounds fairly reasonable, I'll have a look at that. And then when he was pinged on that he said oh no I'm really in favour of it. I mean you can't believe them, any more than you can believe them in relation to so many other issues.
Now I know the importance of the construction of this freeway to the people of this part of Melbourne. I remember the representations that Peter made in the Party Room. I remember the advocacy of his colleagues in the federal House. Of Phil Barresi and Bruce Billson and Bob Charles and of Michael Wooldridge and many others, and Kevin Andrews and Kay Patterson and the list goes on. Your Victorian members, your Melbourne members have been fighting for this freeway now for months and indeed probably over a period of a couple of years. Now we have made a firm and unconditional commitment. If you want it built stick with the Liberal Party. If you want doubts cast over of its construction then go way and vote Labor or something else. But at the end of the day we are the only party in town that is really unequivocally and unconditionally committed to its construction. So that my friends is a very powerful local reason why you should support Chris in this by-election.
But there are a number of other reasons that have a particular resonance locally, although they also have a resonance nationally. Now Peter Costello couldn't have put it better when he said that the last time the Australian Labor Party held the seat of Aston interest rates were at 17%. And this is an electorate which has disproportionately large number of people paying off a mortgage. Of all the federal electorates in Australia none in my understanding has a higher percentage of people who are paying off a home and therefore servicing interest on a home mortgage. And therefore above all other general things the level of interest rates is of great importance to the people of Aston.
And when I think back on those 13 years of Labor rule, and I think of the claims now being made by the Labor Party to be given another chance. And make no mistake if they win the seat of Aston they will think they're on the road to victory at the next federal election. Their complacency, their tendency to take the people of Australia as well as the people of Aston for granted will only grow. And when I look back on that period in office there are three things that stand out to the great economic management shame of the Labor Party. The first of those is 17% interest rates on housing and it often went higher for small business and farmers. The second thing is $96 billion of government debt. And the third thing was the 11% unemployment that we reached when Mr Beazley was the Minister for Employment in the Keating Government.
Now those three things are the hallmarks if you like, the symbols, the metaphors of the failure of the Labor Party as economic managers when they were last in power. And there is no sign that they have learnt anything or they have changed anything. One of the distinguishing features of Labor in Opposition is that it has wasted its more than five years. It has developed no policies, no alternatives, no vision, no alternative way, no new approach to the governing of Australia. The sole political stock in trade of the Labor Party is to criticise, to undermine and to sabotage. Not only did they leave us with a $96 billion government debt, but they have tried at every turn to stop us introducing the measures that have been required to reduce that debt. And despite their worst efforts, despite their guerilla tactics they have not been successful.
And as Peter said in his Budget Speech in May, by July of next year we will have repaid almost $60 billion of the $96 billion of government debt that we inherited from Mr Beazley and Mr Keating. And remember we did inherit it from Mr Beazley. He was the Finance Minister. He produced five budgets each of which were severely in deficit. And as a result of paying back all of that debt we now have the wherewithal to invest in Australia's future. When you have a smaller debt as you all know you have a smaller interest bill. And our interest bill now is $4 billion a year smaller then it was when we first took over government. That's why we can afford to invest in the Scoresby Freeway, that's why we can afford to spend more money on defence, that's why we can afford to tackle the really serious environmental challenges such as salinity and water quality, that is why we're able to afford to give people the incentive of a 30% tax rebate on their private health insurance.
So ladies and gentlemen, this by-election overwhelmingly is about who is the best person to represent the people of Aston in the national Parliament. It's overwhelmingly about who is the best local candidate, it's overwhelmingly about the man or woman who is best able to articulate the concerns of the people of Aston. But it is also about some broader judgements, it's also about whether you reward negativity and political sabotage, or whether you reward political courage undertaken in the national interest. We knew there were challenges in reforming the tax system. We knew that in the process of transition to the new system there'd be some criticism and there'd be some difficulties. But we also knew in the long run that it would be good for Australia and it will be. It is. It is already proving to be effective for our country. We are growing strongly again. We had one quarter of interruption due to some transitional factors and we are now back growing more strongly at the moment than just about any economy in the world.
Now that is the behaviour of a government that believes that Australia's interests are more important then its own political interest. That's the behaviour of a government that believes that you have the responsibility to try and do good things for your country, not just feather your own political nest. And over the last five years we've been faced with a group of men and women who've never adjusted to losing power. They really thought that 1996 was a temporary interruption to long sunlit years of Labor government. And all they have done is to carp and to criticise, to oppose, to trip, to torpedo and to sabotage. At no stage have they tried to build any kind of authentic honest alternative. And you see it time and time again, the politics of negativity, not the politics of building some strong visionary future alternative.
Those things are important in this by-election. This by-election is going to be very tough. All by-elections are. There's always a natural tendency for people in by-elections to say oh well I'll give the government a bit of a kick in the shins, it doesn't matter, it's not the real thing, we'll have another one towards the end of the year and if I don't like the decision that I took in the by-election I can always vote a different way in the general election. And don't for a moment imagine that that mood isn't abroad here in Aston. Of course it is. There's always a danger in by-elections that people will lodge a protest vote no matter what the circumstances surrounding the vacancy might have been.
Now it is important that we continue to campaign hard. But isn't it encouraging when you've got a good product to sell. I mean you've got a candidate here who commends himself naturally to the people of Aston. You've got a candidate here who I think will resonate and represent and be able to advocate the causes and the concerns of the people of Aston in an extremely effective way.
Ladies and gentlemen I commenced my speech by saying that we didn't want a by-election. It came in very sad circumstances. The people of Aston had been very well served by Peter Nugent since his election in 1990. He understood you well, he worked very hard for you. But he is with us no longer. And we now have in Chris Pearce somebody, different style, different temperament, different resonances and different connections to the electorate, but equally strong, equally powerful. He's a family man. He knows what it's like to raise young and teenage children, he knows the challenges of paying off a housing mortgage, he knows the importance of business, he knows the importance of community linkages and he certainly knows the value of the Scoresby Freeway.
So ladies and gentlemen I couldn't commend him more strongly to you. I think he'll make a great representative. I think he'll work his heart out for you, I think he'll identify with your concerns, and I think he will continue in his own way the very strong work of a strong well connected grassroots local representative for you in Canberra. I know that you'll work very hard. Keep doing it right up until six o'clock on polling day. It's a tough fight, it's a real challenge. We can't and we won't take anything for granted but if we get behind him, we all work for him, I think we can get him over the line.
Ladies and gentlemen give it all your heart. It's a great cause and if you win you'll have a great member in Canberra. Thank you.
[Ends]