It is great to be here at this South Australian State Council. Before I begin, I probably should observe that the 15th of August 2015 is the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. This is the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific Day.
Now, I daresay there are very few of us in this room who are old enough to remember that. But let us recall what was almost certainly the most joyous day in our nation's history. We had emerged victorious from a terrible war, a war that had not simply been fought thousands of miles from our homes, but had come to our doorstep.
We emerged victorious from a terrible war, we emerged with our alliances intact, with our values confirmed, with our freedom secured. And so on this day, I salute, we salute, the men and women who won that war, who built the peace, who created the modern world. For all its faults, for all its perils, the modern world has given us the best times in human history. For this we must always be grateful and we must always conduct ourselves to be worthy of the example and the sacrifice of our mighty forebears.
While I'm in the business of saluting people, I salute your state leader, my friend and colleague, Steven Marshall. Steven has done an outstanding job leading this Party here in South Australia for the best part of three years and I have to say, Steven, my hope is to do as well in the next Federal election as you did in the last election because if I can get 53 per cent of the two-party preferred vote, we will increase our majority in Canberra.
I suppose I should also pay tribute to all my Liberal Party Federal colleagues who are here arrayed before you this morning, led by the irrepressible and indomitable Christopher Pyne. Christopher had the best possible birthday present this week – a Labor Party that was determined to focus the entire attention of the Parliament on the Trade Union Royal Commission and didn't you take advantage of it magnificently, Christopher.
But it is great to be here amongst my South Australian friends and colleagues, amongst the people who make it possible for us to go to Parliament, to go to Canberra and to make a difference for the betterment of our country. And to talk to you about the plan that we took to the last election, the plan for a strong and prosperous economy, the plan to focus on jobs, growth and community safety, the plan to back hard-working Australians. That's the plan that we took to the last election. That's the plan that we have been carrying out every single day in Canberra and I can inform you, I can report to you, that the plan is working.
You will be pleased to know that Australia's economic growth in the March quarter was amongst the very highest in the developed world. You will be pleased to know that there are 335,000 more jobs in our economy than there were on election night in September 2013. Yes, that's due to the hard work of our businesses. Yes, that's due to the creativity and the commitment of our workers. But yes, that's also due to the sensible policies of your Government in Canberra.
Bankruptcies are at record lows. Car sales are at record highs. Company registrations are happening in record numbers. Export growth in the March quarter was the highest in 15 years. Services exports in the March quarter were the highest in eight years. Housing growth in the March quarter was the highest in six years. Our economy is going well and it's going well in substantial measure because this is a Government which is open for business. This is a Government which is determined to back the people of our country who want to have a go, who want to do the right thing by themselves, their families, their workers, their neighbours and their communities.
And we have kept our commitments. The carbon tax is gone and every household is better off to the tune of some $550 a year. The mining tax is gone and Australia is once more seen as a safe place to invest right around the world. The boats have stopped and that means you don't have hundreds of people a year dying at sea. The roads are building, including here in this great state, the Darlington project, the Torrens project and I am talking, Assistant Infrastructure Minister and Roads Minister Jamie Briggs is talking, to those that we need to talk to, to work on the northern connector.
The roads are building. The Budget is coming back under control. Last year we had a Budget for savings, a difficult Budget, a tough Budget but a necessary Budget and I can report to you that thanks to the hard work of the Treasurer and the rest of the economic team, $45 billion worth of savings over the forward estimates have been secured and because we did the hard work last year, this year we've had a Budget for confidence, the best Budget ever for small business, the first Budget ever that had specific initiatives, tax initiatives, the instant asset write-off initiative specifically for small business.
And, yes, three Free Trade Agreements. The three Free Trade Agreements that the Howard Government started, that the former Labor Government could not conclude. The three Free Trade Agreements that the Howard Government started and the Abbott Government concluded, which will mean so much, particularly for the agricultural exporters of our country.
Now, I know from time to time here in South Australia we focus on the things that aren't happening. But I want to talk to you about the things that are happening. Yesterday, for instance, I went to see Thomas Foods in the Adelaide Hills – a great Australian success story. A great South Australian success story. A business that did not exist 27 years ago, but a business which today employs more than 2,500 people, a business which is now exporting to 80 countries around the world, a business which plans to put hundreds more people on in the next couple of years, in part at least because of the work of this Government in securing trade opportunities with China, with Japan and Korea.
I have to say this is typical of what is happening in this state. Behind the headlines, good decent people, smart hard-working people are building a better life for everyone in this state and creating employment opportunities for more people in this state.
Now, we kept another commitment this week. You know there are lots of difficult issues which the Federal Parliament one way or another has to grapple with. And we can't run away from things, however difficult they might be once they have been raised. I was asked on numerous occasions prior to the last election what would happen if the subject of same-sex marriage came up. I said, well look, if it comes up in the next Parliament, it will be dealt with by the Coalition Party Room in the usual way. And that's exactly what happened this week.
We had a six-hour debate, more than 90 members of the Coalition Party Room spoke. It was a debate which was conducted with great decency, with great respect. It was a debate that you as Liberals could be proud of. It was a debate that made me feel more proud of my colleagues perhaps than I've ever been before. And what we did, we decided to confirm the position that we took to the election. We decided to keep faith with the people who had voted for us, in part because of the position that we took to that election. But I have to say that this is the last Parliament in which there will be any attempt to bind Liberals on this issue. In the next Parliament, this issue will be put to the Australian people, which is where it belongs. Something as sensitive, as personal, as difficult as this should rightly go to the Australian people and that's what we, as a great Democratic Party, will do.
As I said, this is a Government which is more than capable of dealing with the most difficult issues our country faces. Another difficult issue has been naval ship building. You know that's such a difficult issue that the former Labor Government refused to make any of the decisions, any of the necessary decisions in six long and wasted years. You know the former Labor Government did not place a single naval ship building order with an Australian yard in six long and wasted years. Not one, not one! That testifies to the difficulty of these issues.
Now, I have to say that whatever happens with the competitive evaluation process for submarines that is now underway, there will be more submarine jobs in Adelaide in the years to come. There will be more subs, the work will be centred here in Adelaide, therefore there will be more submarine jobs in Adelaide in the years to come. But you know even under the most optimistic scenario, even if the Labor Party had made submarine decisions when they should have been made several years ago, the sub building would not have started until the second half of the next decade. Even under the most optimistic scenarios, it would be 10 years or more before any submarine construction jobs were to happen here in Adelaide.
What this Government has done is brought forward jobs, not to 2025, not to 2024, we've brought jobs forward to 2018. Because the Labor Party failed to make decisions when they had to be made, we cannot entirely avoid the so-called valley of death but we can fill it in and that is exactly what this Government has done. We've brought forward the decision on offshore patrol vessels or Corvettes by two years. These will start construction most likely here in Adelaide in 2018, just three years' time.
We've brought forward the decision on the future frigates by three years. These will start construction here in Adelaide in 2020. So what we've done is quite historic. We have made the decisions needed to ensure that we don't just have a ship building industry here in Australia, we don't just have a ship building industry here in Adelaide, but we have a fleet building industry here in Adelaide. And from 2020 onwards, centred here in Adelaide, there will be 2,500 permanent high-skilled good jobs in ship building here in Australia, in fleet building here in Australia.
This Government has not shirked the decisions which the Labor Government found too hard. Now, my friends, another difficult subject – climate change. Let me tell you, climate change is real, humanity makes a contribution and Government must take strong and sensible action to deal with it. Climate change is real, we must take action because humanity does make a contribution. Remember Kevin Rudd said it was the greatest social, political, economic and moral issue of our time. This week, of course, gay marriage was far more important, but nevertheless this was the week when this Government took a very important long-term decision. This was the week that the Government took a decision which is both economically and environmentally responsible. This is the week when the Government released our targets for emissions reduction to 2030.
Now, let me put this in some context for you – this Government, this country of ours, has always been an exemplary international citizen. This country under this Government's policies is well and truly on track to meet or beat our 2020 target of a 13 per cent reduction of emissions on 2005 levels. We are on track to meet or beat that target. Not many countries are but we are. And this week we declared our target for 2030. A 26-28 per cent reduction of emissions on 2005 levels – 26-28 per cent. That's the same as the United States announced target, that is higher than Japan's target, that is much higher than Korea's target. It's immeasurably better than China's target which is a 150 per cent increase – not decrease – increase on emissions by 2030. It's a little bit less than New Zealand, it’s a little bit less than Canada and it’s a little bit less than Europe but, as we know, Europe's economic growth is low and its population growth is stagnant, unlike Australia which has high economic growth and high population growth.
When it comes to emissions per capita, our target – a target that we are absolutely confident that we can and will meet – is the best in the world. So, let's not have anyone say that this is a Government which is indifferent to environmental outcomes. This Government cares passionately about the environment. We only have one planet. We must leave it in better shape for our children and our grandchildren but the last thing we should ever do is clobber the economy to protect the environment because if we clobber the economy, the environment will surely suffer.
So, my friends, we have a strong and responsible position on this as on all things. Where do our opponents stand? Well, unnoticed a few weeks ago, largely unnoticed a few weeks ago, we had the Labor Party's bi-annual conference. And they committed there to embrace the emissions reductions targets of the Climate Change Authority: a 40 to 60 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030. They also committed to a 50 per cent renewables target by 2030.
Now, I have to say to you, and to the Australian people, a 50 per cent renewables target means an $85 billion overbuild of renewable capacity. That's $85 billion that the consumers of Australia will have to find out of their pocket to meet Labor's target, which is purely and simply a result of Labor's need to maintain its de facto alliance with the Greens. In order to achieve a 40 per cent plus emissions reduction target, they will need a carbon tax of well over $200 a tonne. Now, we saw the damage that a $23 a tonne carbon tax did. Imagine the damage that a $200 a tonne carbon tax would do. The former Government actually commissioned some modelling of all of this. They actually modelled the results of a 44 per cent emissions reductions target and that showed a 2.6 per cent reduction in Australia's gross domestic product. What that means is that every Australian household would be worse off to the tune of some $5,000 a year.
Now I don't say, friends, that our emissions reduction target is absolutely cost-free. It always costs money to make change. But the costs under us are between $3 about and $5 billion a year in 2030 are well and truly manageable. The costs under Labor, should this ideological obsession of theirs be maintained, would be simply catastrophic. That is the carbon bill which Labor wants to impose on the people of Australia.
So, ladies and gentlemen, my friends, my fellow Liberals, we have had two great years in government. I don't say that they have always been easy but they have been two great years in government because there is no greater privilege, there is no greater responsibility and ultimately there is no greater honour than to have the government of this country, to be entrusted by the people of this country with the honour and the responsibility of governing Australia.
We've got about a year to go until the election. I know there will be plenty of ups and downs between now and then but I am supremely confident that come the election next year, we will do very well indeed. In the end every election is about trust. Every election is about who do you trust to do the right thing by the people of Australia? Who do you trust to manage the economy – the people who gave us the six biggest deficits in our history or the people with a proven record of getting the Budget under control? Who do you trust to keep our borders safe – the people who gave us more than 50,000 illegal arrivals by boat and more than 1,000 deaths at sea or the people who have stopped the boats? Who do you trust to keep our country secure – the people who cut $16 billion out of Defence spending, the people who couldn't place a single naval order with an Australian shipyard or the people who are increasing Defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP and who are finally putting naval ship building on a secure long-term basis? And who do you trust to keep promises – this Government, which has kept faith with the Australian people throughout the difficulties of the last two years or someone who backstabbed two prime ministers? Who do you trust?
That is going to be the question the Australian people will consider at the next election and I have to say I trust the Australian people to get the big decisions right. Every day the way we conduct ourselves demonstrates that we trust the Australian people to get the big decisions right.
Can I say to you, thank you for your support, I could not achieve anything, none of my colleagues could achieve anything without the steady and sustained support of Liberals right around our country. I am proud of you and I am determined that we will make you proud of us.
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