Senator DASTYARI (New South Wales) (15:44): I do think it is worth acknowledging, as other senators have done today, the contribution of the former Prime Minister, Mr Tony Abbott. He is certainly not someone who I have agreed with on many things—or anything, to be honest. But you have to understand and appreciate that there is a very personal element to these kinds of events. Sometimes in politics we forget that we are dealing with real people and real consequences. Again, while he is not someone who, on a policy level, I would necessarily agree with, I do want to acknowledge that there are people in this place who have contributed their lives to public policy. It may not be public policy that we all share and it may not be public policy that we all agree with, but in doing so those people do it in the way that they believe is best and in the national interest. When we are talking about the economic path, plan and direction of this government, I think we really have a government with no plan for jobs and no plan for growth, and with no business confidence being built. There is no plan for emerging industry. What we have seen is a government that has been relying on slogans over substance and a complete and utter lack of economic leadership. These are not simply words and language being used by me; this is the description that was used by the now Prime Minister of Australia about the economic performance of those opposite. The former Prime Minister, John Howard, said of Mr Turnbull a few hours ago: … he has the capacity to explain economic concepts very clearly and very lucidly, and that, as he indicated yesterday, will be a very important part of the skill-set he brings to his new responsibilities. What is that a demonstration of? It is a demonstration of the fact that this is a government that has failed on the economic front. But they have misunderstood what they have actually failed on. The problem has not just been how the message has been delivered; the problem is the product. The problem is what they are trying to sell. The problem is what they are trying to perpetrate against the Australian population. What has been the common theme between these two governments—between this Abbott government and this new Turnbull government? It is that those right at the top have not necessarily changed. Sure, there might be one small change between who the Prime Minister is and who is not. But on all the other key economic positions there still has not been a change. And most damaging of all, we still have the same deputy leader driving the same economic policy—the same deputy leader who is now onto her fourth leader. I appreciate that these are difficult things for people to participate in. I appreciate that these are not easy times. And I appreciate that people come to it with different perspectives. What I have never appreciated in politics is rank acts of disloyalty. And I will leave the judgement of disloyalty on that front for others to make. But this is about their failure in the economy, on how this has been treated and on the role that the deputy leader and foreign minister—and a key member of cabinet—has had in these economic decisions. This morning I said that if the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party ever ran for the leadership there is a song that I think would be her campaign song. I said it would be Destiny's Child's Survivor—a song I know that you are very familiar with, Mr President. But that sparked some other interest. Some other people put their own views forward. Rob Walter told me that I was wrong, that in fact it would be a song by the group called Survivor—Eye of the Tiger. Robert Gunner told me that in fact it would be MC Hammer's Can't Touch This. Tanya Plibersek, from the other place—the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party—chimed in and told me it would be Gloria Gaynor's, I Will Survive. Jordan Jansen told me it would be the Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive. Teo, all, as I affectionately refer to as 'Teo from Oz', as it is his Twitter handle, told me it would be Britney Spears', Oops, I Did It Again. But then there was Samantha Ajardi, who brilliantly—and I think she was right on this—said that it would be Bob Marley's I Shot the Sheriff. Let's be clear here: I shot the sheriff But I didn't shoot no deputy. The problem is with all these references is that they are kind of from the seventies, eighties and early nineties. I just do not think they are really relevant to the debate we are having as a nation now. But I will tell you who is relevant: Taylor Swift. And in Taylor Swift's poetic, beautiful and—I think—touching song, Blank Space, which really is a modern soliloquy on the Liberal Party, she says— Honourable senators interjecting— Senator DASTYARI: I am quoting a poet here. I notice that other senators are laughing; I just do not think they are treating this with the respect that it deserves: Magic, madness, heaven, sin Saw you there and I thought oh my god Look at that face, you look like my next mistake … … … New money, suit and tie I can read you like a magazine Ain't it funny rumors fly And I know you heard about me … … … So it's gonna be forever Or it's gonna go down in flames You can tell me when it's over If the high was worth the pain What we have here is a government in crisis, a government in dysfunction and a government that has completely fallen apart. What have they done? What is the decision they have made? They are prepared to throw anything or anyone overboard simply to protect their own political hides. But, frankly, they think the problem has been in the delivery of the message. The problem is in the message itself. I noticed in question time today that Senator Ronaldson had a bit of a Freudian slip. I think he was trying to say that he was really worried about 'xenophobia', but he actually said he was worried about the 'xenophonic' attitudes of the Australian public. That is a new word. It means when there are one or more Nick Xenophons in the same place at the same time. I know that something, certainly at the South Australian level, has really frightened the Liberal Party. But, frankly, this is a government that is in crisis and is out of control. (Time expired) Senator BACK: I thank Senator Moore—she is a gift that just keeps giving. I saw this today: The Coalition Government’s failure to provide the economic leadership our nation needs. My first message to Senator Moore, of course, is about the absolute disdain with which Senator Dastyari treated this question. Before he leaves the chamber, if Senator Dastyari wants to talk about deputy leaders and foreign ministers he need go no further than Ms Gillard, because one thing all of the leaders of our party know is that the deputy, Ms Bishop, was never there with a knife in her hand—do not worry about shooting sheriffs, it is that knife in the back—with every single solitary leader of this side or the other side looking to see whether the deputy was going to put the knife straight in. It is not the opportunity today to speak about public sector people in New York, but I will speak to Senator Dastyari and I will share with him the information that came to me from senior officials in our mission at the UN, and they will compare the performance of Ms Bishop with that of Messrs Rudd and Bob Carr—you would not have raised that comparison, Senator Dastyari. I am delighted to speak about the performance of our government because it enables me to start with what the last crowd in government, the Labor Party, did. Of course they had inherited no net debt; they had a $20 billion surplus and they had $45 billion in the bank. There is an old saying in Western Australia: 'If you want to lose a surplus, vote in a Labor government.' And do not think that over six years they did not perform. The people of Canning will remember this on Saturday. What did they do with the $20 billion surplus in six years? They turned it into a $220 billion deficit. What did they do with the no net debt? They raced it towards $670 billion of debt. People in the gallery need to know that this country is borrowing $1 billion a month to pay the interest—not to repay the debt. Do colleagues know how much that is? It is two new primary schools a day. It is a new teaching hospital. The new teaching hospital in Perth, the children's hospital, is worth two months of interest on the debt. That is what this mob left us with. When Senator Moore invites me to comment on the failure of the economic leadership of our government, I say to her, 'Thank you very, very much.' Even in their last year Labor produced 11 estimates in 2013-14, eight of which they said were going to produce a surplus. We know the results of that. In government, just by way of comparison, the coalition's MYEFO estimate in 2014-15 was a $47 billion deficit. The budget estimate was $49.9 billion. What did it come down at? It came down at $48.5 billion. How close, how accurate—how excellent is that economic management? Let me turn to the economic performance of this government. Already in two years the budget is $68 billion bigger. We have spent $50 billion repairing the budget. Is that economic failure? In two years there have been 313,000 new jobs, 440 a day, and half of them are for women. Compare that with the last three years of Labor—not 440 new jobs a day but 44—10 per cent of the coalition's performance. Some economic failure! It gets even better. In the eight months of this year, there have been 167,000 new jobs. That is 700 new jobs a day, seven days a week—outperforming the US, the UK, Canada and every other G7 country. Job advertisements are 16 per cent up from when we took over from Labor; retail sales are nine per cent higher; exports are 11½ per cent higher. Do I need to keep going on about the economic failure of the coalition government? I intend to. I intend to bury this issue. Dwelling starts have increased—and we know what new residential dwellings do. They create jobs in the construction industry. You would not believe it, would you? Residential dwelling starts are now 23 per cent higher than when we came into government two years ago—33½ thousand new dwellings. Multiply that by four, and that is the number of people in new homes—better than the absolute high point under the Labor government. One million construction workers are benefiting from this, a lot of them in the seat of Canning. Bankruptcies are at a 20-year low—15 per cent lower. Those opposite do not like this because they have to sit and listen to it—it is the fact. Investment in the services sector rose by 12 per cent last financial year, and the story gets even better. Last week Dun and Bradstreet said: … we're seeing robust levels of optimism against all sectors in the Australian business community. It is a shame for Labor in opposition to have to suffer this when we inherited what we did from them. In 2014 a record 223,000 new companies registered. Iron ore exports out Port Hedland were at a record level last month—34 million times, better than a million times a day. What has the Labor Party done to assist us in this whole process? We remember the $5 billion of budget savings that Labor themselves announced prior to the last election that they were going to bring in with our support. What happened to that when it came into this chamber? They opposed it—they stood on the hose. That is what we are seeing with the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. Gough Whitlam was their great hero, and fortunately for Gough he lived long enough to find a Prime Minister worse than himself, in Ms Gillard, but when he went to China, the first opposition leader, he was lauded by the opposition side. This is an interesting story; Senator Bullock might know it but apparently when Gough met Mao Tse-tung he was introduced as the Leader of the Opposition and Mao reportedly turned to a translator and said 'What's opposition?'. Whitlam should quite rightly be accorded credit for his work in establishing the relationship with China, and yet we see today in this place and in the other place, with poor leadership from Mr Shorten and Senator Wong, this opposition standing in the way of hundreds of thousands of opportunities. We will lose $600 million if we do not ratify this agreement by the end of this year, and another $600 million three weeks later. This is what the Labor Party is doing. Senator Moore refers to economic leadership for our nation. Let me go through that topic in a little more detail. This is how the coalition government is delivering more jobs, stronger growth and a better economy in Australia at a time when, around the world, Asia and Europe are absolutely suffering. Yet see what Australia is doing: $5.5 billion in the last budget in the new Growing Jobs and Small Business package, which is already kick-starting economic growth, better outcomes and employment in the engine room of our economy. The Labor Party do not know about the engine room of the economy called small business; they think it is all either government employment or big business, who they can try to dominate. It is small business, where we have that $5.5 billion. Again, in the small business sector, we see $3.25 billion in tax cuts for small business and $1.75 billion in accelerated depreciation measures, encouraging small business to start up and expand. Do you know what they do when they start up and expand? Senator Ruston knows—they employ people. And if those employees work well they get permanent employment and so the whole thing grows. The next thing we want to look at is $6.8 billion in jobactive, the new employment services system, helping people get jobs which they will be able to sustain over time. Then we have a record $50 billion for infrastructure. Senator Dastyari was courteous to give some accolades to Mr Abbott. Certainly he will be known as the infrastructure Prime Minister, because he has invested that $50 billion in infrastructure for the 21st century. I conclude my contribution with the three free trade agreements that Labor could not get anywhere near. Since 2007, when New Zealand negotiated a free trade agreement with China, their trade has gone up by a factor of five. It has quintupled. In that time, ours has doubled. If anybody wants to know the value of the free trade agreement with China to this country's economy, it is two against five. That is where the potential lies. The other side had better get on board.