Well, Brett, I was struggling to recognise myself in that introduction, I have to say. But nevertheless you have set forth some marvellous aspirations. You have set forth some marvellous goals, you have set forth, if you like, some key performance indicators for me and I really, really appreciate that.
I just want to say what a thrill it is to be here in Launceston, how great it is to be here in Tasmania, how exciting it is to be here in a great State which is once more contemplating not what it can't do but what it can do.
I don’t pretend for a moment that the whole timbre of a nation or a state or a people depends on government but I do know that government makes a difference. You can have a fearful, pessimistic, narrow government or you can have a government which wants people to be their best selves and that is what you have got here in Tasmania under Will Hodgman and that is what I believe you have got in Canberra under the government that I have the honour to lead.
We trust people, we believe people, we want the Australian people to be at our best and that is what all our policies are designed to produce. A richer, better, braver Australia with a brighter future today than it had yesterday and a brighter future tomorrow than it has today. That is what we are building.
You know here in Tasmania, a great place to live, a great place to visit, but it needs to be a great place to work, a great place to start a business, a great place to invest and that is what is happening now thanks to a change of Government in Hobart and a change of government in Canberra.
Tasmania has to be an economy as well as a national park. That is what we have got to be and everything that this government is doing in Hobart, everything my government is doing in Canberra is designed to give the people of Tasmania the strong and prosperous future that you want and you deserve.
For too long you have had our nation’s highest unemployment, our nation’s lowest gross domestic product per person, our nation’s lowest life expectancy and our nation’s lowest education attainment.
Well, I know that you are better than that and I know that under good government you will be better than that.
So, I thank and congratulate my friend and colleague Will Hodgman for everything he has done. Will had eight years as Opposition Leader. That is eight years too long, mate. But I've got to say those long years of striving, those long years of preparation are bearing fruit now in a strong and united Tasmanian Government.
I want to thank my Tasmanian parliamentary colleagues in Canberra, led by Eric Abetz, our Senate leader, supported by Richard Colbeck, the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, supported by Stephen Parry, the President of the Senate, supported by David Bushby, the Senate whip. It says something about the calibre of our Tasmanian Senate team that every single one of them is a serious player in Canberra. But I particularly want to thank and congratulate my three Tasmanian House of Representatives friends and colleagues; Andrew Nikolic – the man who always beats me on a bike whenever I come down to Launceston, Eric Hutchinson who has the decency to let me beat him on a bike whenever I come to Launceston and Brett Whiteley who doesn’t even turn up. That’s not true – Brett is always there for breakfast at the end of the ride!
But you know, some people look at my ears and they think this guy played too many games of rugby in the front row. This guy's been too long in the boxing ring; well, the truth is these ears are the way they are because Whiteley, Nikolic and Hutchinson are always chewing my ear about something to do with Tasmania!
Whether it's the $400 million for the Midland Highway, whether it's the $120 million for the freight rail upgrade between Burnie and Hobart, whether it's $40 million to put the ‘international’ back in Hobart International Airport, whether it's the support for the freight equalisation scheme, the determination to keep the freight equalisation scheme and make it work, the determination to ensure that Tasmania continues to get a fair go from the Federation. Whatever it is, these three amigos from Tasmania are there making sure that the voice of this great state is heard long and loud in our national Parliament.
My friends, every day, every week, every month, every year is significant in the life of our state; in the life of our nation. But next week marks the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Liberal Party. And in founding the Liberal Party, Sir Robert Menzies said that he wanted to change the current of Australian politics. Well, he certainly did. The current of Australian politics has been vastly different over the last 70 years for one thing, for almost two-thirds of that time the Liberal Party that Sir Robert Menzies founded has guided and shaped the destiny of our nation. But politics is not just about being in office, important though that is. As John Howard said, in the splendid Life of Menzies that he has just published, “power without purpose is pointless.” I don't know that he added but he should have - purpose without power is useless. But, nevertheless, we haven't been working for 70 years just to put ourselves in office. We have been working for 70 years to build a better Australia – that’s what we have been doing. For 70 years, we have been fixing budgets, we have been building infrastructure, we've been spawning new industries, we've been securing our borders and we've been safeguarding our nation. That is what we've been doing for 70 years. We're the party of universities, we're the Party of medical research, we're the Party of immigration as well as simply being the Party of business.
Yes, we are the builders of Australian public life. But alas often enough we have had to be the cleaners of Australian public life as well, cleaning up the mess that Labor governments leave us.
That is what Will Hodgman is doing right now here in Tassie. But it's what we have been doing for the last 12 or 13 months in Canberra as well, we have been cleaning up Labor's mess. Hasn't it been good over the last few weeks to watch the book wars of the last government?
We had Rob Oakeshott write a book, we had Tony Windsor publish a book, Bob Brown, I believe, had a book written about him. We had Julia Gillard write a book called My Story, then we have Wayne Swan publish a book called My Surplus, well, that is the book he wanted to write but he wasn’t able to. Instead his book is called The Good Fight. Well, he was half right because that is all they did. They fought for six long and dispiriting years – long and dispiriting years. Years which essentially were wasted – six wasted years. Yes, our country did its best to get on with things but we got on with things, held back, not pushed forward by the government in Canberra.
So that is our mission; to build a better Australia, to fix the mess that we inherited – and that is exactly what we have been doing over the last year. We said we'd abolish the carbon tax – the carbon tax has gone. And you know, just today to celebrate his first anniversary what do we have Bill Shorten doing? Promising to bring it back. He wants – what is the one idea he's come up with in 12 months as leader? Bring back the carbon tax! Well, nothing's changed. It’s still the same old Labor. Labor spells more pain for families and small businesses right around our country.
We said we'd abolish the mining tax and the mining tax has gone. Labor wants to bring that back too. We said we'd stop the boats and the boats are certainly stopping. Labor wants to reverse the policies that we put in place to do that.
We said we'd build the roads of the 21st century and the roads are starting but whether it's big things or relatively small things, we are getting on with the job, it's fantastic to look at the front page of the Launceston paper today. We are fixing the Tamar, we are fixing the Tamar and we said we would do it, Greg Hunt promised it would happen and it's happening because that is what Coalition governments do.
We make commitments and we get on with delivering them. We said we would be open for business. And we so need to be open for business because we understand in the marrow of our bones what Labor has hardly ever known and certainly has forgotten now that you cannot have strong economies without strong private businesses to sustain them.
So, we have to be open for business and you know, again, thanks to Greg Hunt, some $800 billion worth of new projects have been given the environmental go ahead since last year's election.
Thanks to Julie Bishop, and it's great to have my friend and deputy here with us today, thanks to Julie Bishop, under the New Colombo Plan, the best and brightest people in our country are spending some time, some serious time in the universities of our region. Yes, it's great that the best and brightest of our region come and study here including in the University of Tasmania. But we need to return the compliment. We need to be as familiar with our region as our region is with us and that is exactly what is happening, thanks to Julie Bishop's Colombo Plan.
You know, we have scrapped 10,000 pages of unnecessary legislation and regulation in our first repeal day and there's another one coming up later this month because we want to ease the burdens on you. We want to make it easier for you, the productive people of our country, to get on with doing well what you do best and what only you can do.
And, yes, we said before the election that we would bring the Budget back under control and inch by painful inch, step by difficult step, compromise by hard negotiated compromise that is exactly what we are doing. We got $7 billion worth of savings by changing the foreign aid budget. We got $10 billion worth of savings through a repeal of the spending associated with the mining tax. And just in the last sitting week, we achieved $2.7 billion worth of future savings in the social security budget. So, we are getting there. It's not easy.
Every single step has to be negotiated through a Senate dominated by our political opponents but we will never, ever give up because you cannot have a strong economy without a strong Budget. A strong Budget is the foundation of a strong economy.
Now, you have heard me say time and time again that our mission is to build a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia. You heard Brett Whiteley repeat the phrase just a few moments ago – and Brett, you are a very promising young Member of Parliament when you find the phrases that the Prime Minister repeats and repeat them yourself. That is a lesson to all of you out there. Find the phrases and repeat them.
But, you know, it is very important to have a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia. And because we have faced some very serious national and international security challenges over the last few months, the emphasis has been on a safe and secure Australia. We can never forget the strong and prosperous economy which is the absolute foundation of such security as is to be had in a difficult and uncertain world. That is the foundation of everything we do. That is the bedrock of all of our strivings – to build a strong and prosperous economy. So, we can never neglect the task of Budget repair. We can never neglect it. And that is why we have put so much emphasis, over the last 12 months, on our fundamental economic strength.
That Budget, that Budget which has had its ups and downs, is a Budget which was absolutely essential for our country at this time. Note that it's a Budget for building as well as a Budget for saving; the biggest infrastructure spending package in our country's history. It's a Budget to play to our strengths as well as a Budget to live within our means. The biggest medical research package in the world was part of this year's Budget. It was a Budget for reform, as well as a Budget for economising.
I know there were tough things in that Budget, but they're necessary changes for our country's long-term future. I know there's been some argument about the Medicare co-payment, first, conceived of by Bob Hawke back in the 1990s. You know if it's right and proper to have a modest co-payment on pharmaceutical drugs why is it not right and proper to have a co-payment on Medicare, particularly when every dollar is being reinvested into medical research that will give us the research and the cures of the future.
We all love our universities. We love them. We know what they have done for our country. We know that our universities are largely responsible for the 15 Nobel prize winners that Australia has produced. The best thing we can give our universities is their freedom. Surely those power houses of learning and knowledge, those hot beds of curiosity and ideas, the last thing they need is a government micro-managing every detail of their lives yet that is what they have had and we are putting an end to all of that. We are giving them their freedom.
Yes, our changes to the welfare system, particularly for young people have come under some criticism. But I tell you, what are we saying to people if we let them leave school and go straight on to the dole? What are we saying to people about our expectations of them and their expectations of themselves if we let them leave school and go on the dole. Particularly, when we have the training opportunities which are found in our country. Particularly, when we've introduced things like the trade support loans to ensure that the tradies of the future get the support that they need?
So, this was a visionary Budget. It really was – a Budget of visionary reform. The bravest and boldest Budget that this country has seen in several decades and I want to thank Joe Hockey and Mathias Cormann and all of my colleagues for the work they put in to making it happen. I say to everyone who doesn't like the changes that we have put forward – give us your alternative. Tell us what you would do because, one thing that we cannot do is go on endlessly along the path of debt and deficit where Labor put us. We just can't do it. As things stood on the day the Labor Government was swept away, as things stood, we were headed for another $123 billion of deficits in just four years. Building on the $240 billion of deficits that Labor gave us over six years. As things stood, when Labor left office we were heading within a decade to $667 billion worth of debt. That is $25,000 in debt for every Australian man, woman and child, thanks to the long spending spree, the long splurge of Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.
We have heard a lot of talk over the last few months about fairness. Well, I say the ultimate unfairness is intergenerational theft. The ultimate unfairness is saddling our children and grandchildren with debt so that an irresponsible Government in Canberra will continue buying votes with dollars it doesn't have.
I have got to say to you, that is not how we will be. We will be different. Our character is different. Our values are different. Our policies are different. Our competence is different. If we want to have the long-term prosperity that we crave, the long-term prosperity that we need, the long-term prosperity that every generation of Australians has given to its children, the long-term prosperity that has been the gift of each generation of Australians to the future, we have got to make these tough decision and if you don't like these tough decisions tell us what your tough decisions are. We cannot avoid – we cannot avoid – if we are to be strong and secure, if we are to be prosperous into the future, we cannot avoid doing these things.
I regret the fact that it has fallen to us to meet the challenges of these times but, frankly, you elect a government to do what is necessary. That is why the people of Australia elected this government. At the heart of our Party is this profound conviction that our future can and will be better. At the heart of our Party is faith in the strength and the decency and the capacity of the Australian people.
I look at the people in this room, I look at the citizens in the street; I don't see helpless people – I see strong and creative people who don't want a hand out, they want a hand up. They don't want government to tell them what to do, they want government to encourage them to do what is best for them and for their children.
I look at the farmers and the miners and the fishermen of this country. I don't see environmental vandals. I don't see people who are out there trying to pillage our countryside and our oceans, I see the ultimate conservationists. That’s what I see and I particularly see that here in Tasmania. I see people who are wanting to do the right thing by the environment that sustains them.
I visit the businesses of our country. I don't see greedy rip-off merchants, I see people who are creating jobs for millions of Australians. I see people who are putting their houses on the line so that they can employ their staff and invest in their future. I look at the institutions of our country. I don't see entities that are out there degrading and letting us down. I see the guardians of the best traditions of our country. As a Liberal, I have faith in our people, I have faith in our institutions, and I have faith in our future.
I hope that, when people look objectively at our country today, and compare it with 12 months or so back, they are able to have a measure of pride today that was very difficult just 12 months ago. Over the last 12 months not only have we carefully and methodically set about implementing our election commitments but we have stood up for our country. We gave stood up for our best values. We have advanced our interests, we have protected our citizens and we have upheld our values.
When other countries have been in trouble Australia has been there for them. When Australians were murdered our government was there to call it for the atrocity that it was. Now that civilisation is under threat we are there with our friends and allies to lend a hand because that is the Australian way. We do not let people down. We make the most of our country and our world.
My friends, it is so good to be here with you today. I want to thank you for everything that you have done – not so much for our Party, important that it is, but by working for our Party I want to thank you for what you have done for your state and our country.
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