Colleagues, it is good that we are gathered here today on the first of July – the day that the new Senate starts.
The new Senate has some very important work to do because not only does the new Senate start today but of course, pending its repeal, the carbon tax goes up today.
Pending repeal the world’s biggest carbon tax just got bigger now and this is why the repeal legislation that will be dealt with next week is so important.
The carbon tax, as we know, is nine per cent on the price of power. It is a $9 billion handbrake on our economy. It is a $550 hit on every household’s cost of living so it is very important that the first significant item of business for the new Senate is the carbon tax repeal legislation.
We do welcome the new Senate. We do want to work constructively and respectfully with the new Senate.
Obviously, Eric, you in particular have been having discussions with the incoming Senators. I have had discussions with some of them. I am reasonably optimistic that we can do good things together for our country and for the benefit of our people.
There are other things happening today. Work for the Dole as a mandatory continuous activity for people under 30 – for unemployed people under 30 – starts today or is beginning today in 18 areas right around our country.
The youth job retention bonuses start to operate from today.
The Restart wage subsidy programme for older workers starts to operate from today.
These are some of the constructive new policies that were announced in the Budget kicking off from today.
Finally, could I just say what a good, strong team we have been over the last nine months. Obviously, we had a very difficult inheritance from our predecessors – $123 billion of prospective deficits, debt peaking at $667 billion. This is a dreadful legacy of debt and deficit disaster that we inherited from the government on top of all the other disasters; such as the border protection disaster, the sheer incompetence and untrustworthiness that we had for six years but the commitments that we made are being implemented. We are stopping the boats. We are building the roads. We are getting the Budget back under control and the carbon tax and the mining tax are going to be repealed.
So, I think we can all be very confident that the deal that we struck with the Australian people in the election campaign is being delivered upon so, well done.
I think we can feel reasonably happy with the first nine months – it hasn’t been easy, it certainly hasn’t been easy. There have been lots of political ups and downs but nevertheless those fundamentals, those fundamentals that we made a commitment to the public on – we are delivering.
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