Address to LNP State Council
2nd March, 2014
Well thank you very much Keith Pitt for that introduction. Bruce McIver, our President, and other members of the executive, Ministers state and federal - and it's great to be able to say that in Queensland, for the first time for a very, very long time - Federal and State Members of Parliament and Senators, our guests, and ladies and gentlemen.Well, it's a great pleasure to be talking to state council once again. My apology for not being with you for most of yesterday. I was actually off at the centenary of my primary school, where I spent eight years trying to learn to add up and subtract.
But on this occasion, the first time that we've met as a state council since the federal election, we have certainly a great set of LNP achievements to commemorate, and to celebrate. We're just days away from the second anniversary of the first Newman Government. And the council is meeting, as I've just mentioned, for the first time since the election of the first Abbott Government.
Both those results represent high-water marks for our party. And as this is my first opportunity to talk to you since the federal election, can I first say thank you to the LNP organisation for the role that it has played in achieving this electoral success for our party. Can I acknowledge the tremendous effort that went into campaigns right across the state; thank the campaign teams, their directors and all of the workers; the people who raised the money, who put in such a huge effort, who stood outside the pre-poll for three weeks, and sometimes a little more. Those people who talked to their neighbours over the fence about why there needed to be a change of government; those who did the canvassing; those who took part in the functions.
All of that helped to build the momentum that delivered the result that we can all feel so proud of last September. That effort has made a real difference, and delivered a great result.
Of the 30 federal seats in Queensland, we now hold 22, and Labor only six. Now I know that there were times when some hoped that we might win every seat in the state, and it's good to have high ambitions, but 22 is one of the best results we've ever achieved in this state, and I thank you all for the effort that you put into achieving that excellent result.
And there were some remarkable achievements that we can feel very proud of. Michelle Landry won Capricornia, only the third time, since federation, that we've held that seat. Luke Howarth ousted Yvette D'Ath in Petrie. Although sadly I note she's popped up somewhere else since that time. Mal Brough returned to the House by taking Peter Slipper's seat in Fisher. Keith Pitt succeeded Paul Neville in Hinkler. And from his opening remarks you know the contribution he's already making in the parliament. And of course Matt Canavan and James McGrath were elected to the senate.
Most sitting members did well, and recorded increases in their majority. But there're just a couple of other things I'd like to mention. Bert van Manen showed Peter Beattie the door in Forde. Surely written off the political map now for all times.
Let's also remember the fantastic effort of Bill Glasson in Griffith, not once, but twice. An unheard of swing in the by-election, and a fantastic clawing back of the margin against the man who was in fact the serving prime minister. That was a clear message to Labor, that Labor had got it wrong, and that Kevin Rudd was not the man to lead our country - a man that not even many people wanted in his own electorate.
But let's also welcome Barry O'Sullivan, at last sworn in to the casual vacancy in the senate. It was great to pay tribute to Barnaby Joyce last night, but this was also a celebration occasion for Barry, as he now has had just over a week as a member of the senate, and already made his contribution to the Senate Estimates process.
And I also don't want to let this occasion go by without mentioning those candidates who worked so hard for us, who put in so much time and effort, but in the end didn't quite get across the line. And all of them did a fantastic job, and we're proud of the contribution that they make. But I think we particularly want to mention Noeline Ikin, who gave Bob Katter such a rattling in Kennedy.
And I have to say that Bob Katter doesn't look anything like the cocky individual he was prior to the election. I notice he seems to be travelling around the country trying now to find other parties that he can amalgamate with. Not that the fact that he no longer has a big team to look after has improved his parliamentary attendance. His attendance has remained rare, and I guess we could count on our hand the number of hours that Bob, and for that matter Clive Palmer, and a few others amongst the independent team, have actually spent in the parliament since they've been elected. So there's a few electorates around Queensland not represented by the LNP, but frankly not represented by anyone who bothers to make much of a contribution to parliamentary debate.
These really were decisive results. Once again the people have rejected the Labor Party strategy of debt and deficit, and lack of direction. The 1996 Federal Election was an emphatic rejection of Keating over debt, deficit, and a lack of direction. In the elections of 2012 at the state level, and 2013 federally, the people were saying the same. There was a wholesale rejection of the worst state Labor Government in modern history in Queensland, and the worst Federal Labour Government in history.
Whitlam left a massive debt and deficit, and not much else. Bligh left a massive debt and deficit, and not much else. Gillard left a massive debt and deficit, and not much else. And Rudd especially left a massive debt, and a deficit, and nothing else other than the extraordinary string of policy failure and administrative disasters on a scale that we've never seen.
Now, that's been our inheritance. At a state level, a debt for Queensland that could hit $80b or more beyond 2016-17. And nationally, a government debt that will reach $667b if there's no change in policy direction. Two-thirds of a trillion dollars' worth of debt, all chalked up by a government which had less than six years in office. They squandered the surplus, they squandered the savings, and they've left this country with this massive debt.
At a federal level, Labor has left behind a legacy of four more deficits ahead totalling $123 billion. And the cost of all this debt is just phenomenal. The Bligh-Beattie debt burden leaves every Queenslander with a debt of the equivalent of $15,000. The Rudd-Gillard debt burden on Queenslanders, and on for that matter every Australian, is worth about $23,000. So between them, Labor at a federal and state level have left Queenslanders a debt of $40,000 each. That means every man, woman and child will have to pay $40,000 more in taxes than you should just to pay off the legacy of Labor governments.
That's an awful set of numbers. It's a result of out of control expenditure. And all of this money, all of this spending, was the result of governments spending what they didn't have. And that's typical of Labor's madness when it comes to economic management. And so, just as the Queensland LNP Government is being called upon to repay the debt so they can get on with rebuilding the state, so we at the federal level will have to start the task of repaying Labor's debt, so that we're able to achieve a brighter prospect, and a brighter future, for the generations to come.
Now we're setting on with that task. Just as Campbell and Jeff and Tim have begun the job in Queensland paying back debt and seeking to balance the budget, we're working now on our first federal budget. And let me say, it's a huge challenge. Not only do we have to reign in expenditure, not only do we have to start preparing a strategy to retire debt, but we have our own agenda, which we believe is essential to helping to build a bright and prosperous future for our country. We have election promises that will make a difference to Australia, and which we're determined to deliver. So we do need to get on with the task of making sure that we wipe out our inheritance of debt and get on with the task of building a better country.
Now, of course, we have a difficult environment in so many other areas. The immediate and long-term impacts of the high dollar, although softening somewhat recently, has made it difficult for our export industries. It's made it good for imports, and therefore a challenge for our balance of trade. The high dollar has been one of the problems confronting manufacturing and, for that matter, primary industry in this country. It was certainly a contributing factor to the demise of car manufacturing in Australia, as it is for the problems that Qantas faces now, SPC, and so many other Australian industries. Very high costs and an uncompetitive workforce are major factors in holding back our competitiveness and our capacity as a country to be able to build for the future. We need to deal with these kinds of issues if we are going to be a competitive country in the future, and not just in the car industry but right across the board.
And of course, there's the carbon tax. The carbon tax which continues to place a burden on every Australian industry, and, indeed, everyone who lives in this country. You know the Qantas carbon tax bill this year and next year is equivalent to the entire six month loss that they reported last week. So we need to get rid of the carbon tax. The legislation has passed the House of Representatives, but Labor's on an industrial go-slow in the Senate, and only two bills out of nine have been dealt with so far in the Senate? And they've already been debating it for essentially a month or more. So we'll be lucky if they get to the ninth bill by 1 July, and sadly, the result of the votes is not very encouraging.
And we have to get rid of the mining tax, where the story is the same. The legislation has passed the House of Representatives, but it's awaiting the pleasure of the Senate.
So what we need to do is to act decisively to try and get rid of some these costs, but also to improve the climate for business to operate in this country. We have to slash the red and the green tape. The motive has to be to unleash the energy in the private sector, so that people are prepared and encouraged to invest once again and to build a much stronger economy. Labor just believes that government is about itself, not about creating a better environment for business to grow and prosper. We believe that government should get out of the way as much as possible and encourage and enable Australians to achieve the life that they want for themselves and their families with as much freedom as possible from the weight of government regulation. We just want to do whatever we can to help business to prosper and families to be comfortable about our country.
Now these are fundamental differences between the LNP and Labor, and we regard these tasks - the task of rebuilding confidence - as a fundamental objective both for Queensland and for our nation. To undo the damage of Labor, and then to make sure that we also succeed as a government. There's already, at the federal level, a much stronger emphasis on self-reliance - an end to the age of entitlement, as Joe Hockey puts it.
If there is to be a discussion about the sustainability of our current programs, we do have to talk about how we're going to deal with and fund what's necessary in relation to health and schools and other important social and community objectives as we move to the future. We can only have what we can afford to have. But in reality many of these things are so essential that we have to find ways in which we can create enough wealth in the economy for us to be able to deliver on these important themes.
Now while Labor seeks to interrupt and disrupt our agenda and reduce the Parliament to a farce, we are getting on with the job. In just over 100 days, these are some of the things that we have already achieved:
• We've axed Labor's $1.8 billion fringe benefits tax on the car industry
• Legislation to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation has passed the House of Representatives
• We've stopped the boats. We've stopped the boats, and we've given the Navy new orders to protect our borders
• Legislation to abolish the carbon tax has passed the House of Representatives
• We've established a Business Advisory Council
• $1.2 billion that Labor cut from school funding in Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania has been restored
• The New Colombo Plan has been launched, with 700 students to benefit in this its first year
• A strategic review has been completed into Labor's disastrous NBN, and a new business plan is underway
• The Productivity Commission is working on ways to reduce child care costs and to make childcare more accessible
• The Prime Minister has honoured his promise to make Indonesia his first overseas visit
• We have established a scheme to compensate Australian victims of terrorism
• We are working with the States to establish one-stop shops to streamline environmental approvals, and in our first 100 days, projects worth $160 billion have cleared their federal environmental approval processes. We are working on the backlog amounting to hundreds and hundreds of projects which Canberra has been holding up for environmental approvals
• We have scrapped Labor's cap on self-education expenses
• Legislation to repeal the mining tax has passed the House of Representatives
• The comprehensive review on competition policy is underway
• The Commission of Audit has delivered its first report
• Later this month, we will devote a whole day of federal Parliament's parliamentary sittings to getting rid of red tape and regulation
• Twenty-one non-statutory bodies have already been abolished
• Most of Labor's near-to-one-hundred announced but not enacted tax changes have been axed
• We've negotiated a free trade agreement with Korea, the most comprehensive ever
• Legislation has been introduced to restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission, and to require greater transparency and higher standards of management by registered organisation. Trade union officials should have to abide by the same kinds of obligations as company directors, and face the same sorts of penalties if they transgress
• We've established a Royal Commission into corruption and illegal behaviour in unions and on work sites
• We've announced a new assistance scheme to help farmers affected by the current drought
• The agricultural White Paper is under preparation to outline a blueprint for future of agriculture in Australia
• The Northern Australian White Paper is also underway with Warren Entsch chairing a Joint Parliamentary Committee and the Premiers of Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia joining with the Prime Minister to give high power leadership to this campaign to develop the north
And in my own portfolio:
• Legislation has been introduced into the parliament to support our record $35.5 billion road program
• $342 million has been provided for hundreds of local community projects under our Community Development Program and that as a forerunner to our committed $1 billion National Stronger Regions Program
• An international panel has been appointed to review Australia's aviation regulatory system, which is likely to lead to a major reform of CASA and the way in which we regulate the aviation sector
• Legislation to reform Infrastructure Australia to make it more independent and transparent has passed the House of Representatives
All that in just over 100 days. Now, we know we've got a lot more to do, but we're getting on with the task.
Finally, can I just make a couple of comments about our roads program. The biggest road and rail program in our nation's history. We have a real commitment as a government to be a government for infrastructure. You've heard Tony Abbott say many, many times that he wants to be the Prime Minister remembered for his contribution for infrastructure. And let me say as Minister for Infrastructure, that's music to my ears.
And so we have a very substantial program, and just to mention some of the key projects in Queensland:
• Our $6.7 billion contribution with the state government which is providing another $1.5 billion to upgrade the Bruce Highway, to at last bring this important state-wide link to the standard that we need to carry the traffic and the volume of freight that use that route everyday
• $1 billion for the Gateway North project in Brisbane
• $210 million for a Cape York package, which will involve substantial upgrading in the Cape York Peninsula
• $500 million for the Warrego Highway west of Toowoomba
• and, of course, the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing. Now, when I drove up the range yesterday it occurred to me that we were already getting a second range crossing with all the construction works there, but that's not this project. There's another and even bigger plan east of the city that will help move some of the trucks that you've no doubt seen over the last couple of days that trundle the central parts of Toowoomba. And that will be built as a major public/private sector partnership with the private sector contributing significantly to the financial cost of the project which they will recover through tolls on the road, but also being responsible for the actual design and construction of this project to make it happen faster and more efficiently than otherwise would be the case. The Federal Government will meet 80 per cent of the cost not met by the private sector and the state government has volunteered and guaranteed their 20 per cent to make this much needed project come to a reality.
• And there's the Roads to Recovery program, which I know is so important to local governments and cities and country areas right across the country. We are committing to fund that program for another five years
• A new $300 million program to help restore and replace local bridges that have reached their used by date
• And we're committing $33 million with the cooperation with the states to build the Outback Way, which will link essentially Cairns to Perth from corner to corner across the continent with major upgrading in some of those roads, particularly west of Boulia in Queensland and right across to Laverton in Western Australia.
There is also a major commitment to upgrade our nation's rail system. We are committed to the Melbourne to Brisbane railway line, the major part of the cost of which will be incurred in Queensland in developing a new rail line between Brisbane and Toowoomba. A 4 foot 8 1/2 gauge connecting Melbourne to Brisbane will transform the movement of freight in this country and make a real difference to the capacity of particularly Brisbane and Melbourne to act as port gateways to our nation.
And as many of you may be aware, with Scott Emerson, I announced a couple of days ago that the Australian Rail Track Corporation is beginning a due diligence study on whether it should extend its nation-wide rail network to include a large proportion of the Queensland track system. So we'll be working with the Queensland Government to see whether some parts of the Queensland rail system should be joined to the national system and enjoy the benefits of the ARTC's investment program and linking those rail lines in as seamless a way as possible with the national network.
So we have ambitious plans ahead of us. We have a commitment to making a difference for our whole country. I think we have started well and I can assure every Queenslander that the members of the Queensland team, as part of the Government, are more than pulling their weight as we get down to the task of getting the country back on track.
It's great to enjoy the support of a strong Queensland team in the cabinet itself and then ministers and parliamentary secretaries who are participating strongly and actively in this key policy development phase and implementing the long list of commitments that we have made for our country.
Many of our backbench members are now committee chairmen. All of them have responsibilities, key responsibilities, in the committee work that's so vital for the perusal of policy and the establishment of directions for the future. So it's a strong team and we are committed to delivering for Queensland.
The plan's in place, based principally on removing obstacles to growth and productivity gains, combined with strategic infrastructure investment and the development of long term plans to generate prosperity into the future based on our existing strengths and the new opportunities. That's what we need for a strong future for our country.
Now, it's tougher than usual because even by Labor's dreadful standards, the debt and the deficit and the direction corrections that we have to make are huge. But we're getting on with that job with a great team and with great determination, and with your help I know we will get there.
Thank you.
