Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Minister for Education and Training and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (14:40): What matters most to the people of Australia is policies and outcomes, and this government, this Liberal-National Party government, has delivered good policies and strong outcomes in spades. We as a government stand proud of a strong record of achievement, and we will continue to deliver on behalf of Australian families, on behalf of Australian households and on behalf of Australian businesses. We already went through in question time—but I am happy to remind the Senate—the significant achievements of this government, particularly in terms of working through the debt and deficit legacy left to us by the Australian Labor Party, to the point where the budget comes back to balance in the next financial year. That's what people expect a good Liberal-National Party government to do, despite the obstruction and the opposition of those opposite, who at every single step of the way, when a budget savings measure was proposed, voted against it. They blocked it. They tried to be the wreckers and the destroyers in terms of repairing the budget. And, notwithstanding all that they did to block the efforts to repair the budget, we are in a position now where because of the good work of an economic team, Mr Morrison, Senator Cormann and Mr Turnbull, and the work, indeed, of Mr Abbott and Mr Hockey prior to that—because of that teamwork over that period of time—the budget comes back to balance, delivering what Australians think a good Liberal and National government should do. We have delivered on that. Australians believe a good Liberal-National government should, of course, as well focus on jobs and growth, and 'jobs and growth' is not just a slogan we took to the last election; it is a reality, an outcome—some of the strongest economic growth in the developed world, strong economic growth that has actually delivered real benefits for Australians in terms of jobs growth that has overwhelmingly been jobs growth of full-time employment. As well as acknowledging our economic team, I pay tribute to Senator Cash for her work in terms of jobs growth around Australia, for her work as the minister for jobs and the minister for employment in ensuring that we have jobs growth that has helped more Australians enjoy the dignity of work and enjoy the opportunity to get ahead. But, what's more, those Australians who have now got a job because of what our government has delivered are going to get to keep more of their hard-earned income. That's the critical reform from this government. Because we've managed the economy strongly, because we've achieved strong economic growth, because we've achieved strong jobs growth, we have been able to bring the budget back to balance and still afford to legislate the most far-ranging tax cuts that Australia has seen—tax relief that will affect and benefit all Australian hardworking households and will ensure that Australians, in terms of the income tax they pay, will no longer be forced and pushed into a higher income tax bracket. Bracket creep has been a disease that has afflicted the Australian workplace for too long, and the coalition government has passed legislation to address bracket creep in a significant way. But guess what? What do the Australian people face when it comes to bracket creep if there were to be a change of government to those opposite? A return to bracket creep, because the Labor Party plan to roll back tax cuts. They plan to roll back the tax cuts that this government has legislated. In rolling back those tax cuts, bracket creep will be back on the deck for hardworking Australians. As Australians work hard, as they seek to get ahead and as hardworking Australians right around the country go out and perhaps work an extra shift or an extra day, do you know one of the reasons they can do that? It's because of our childcare reforms. This is a virtuous cycle for Australians. We've created more jobs, we've created the environment where wages are growing faster and we've created the circumstance where people can afford to work an extra shift or an extra day. It's because they no longer have to pay so much in relation to childcare costs. Because of our tax relief, they're also going to get to keep more of their hard-earned income. All of that is at threat because of those opposite. Those opposite promise to roll back the tax cuts for Australian households. They promise to roll back tax cuts for small businesses. They, of course, voted against our childcare reforms. It's not just the Australian economy that will be at risk. We know from past history that, of course, the Labor Party can't be trusted in relation to our national security interests either. In relation to our national security interests, the Labor Party will no doubt, once again, team up with the Australian Greens, and then we will see a weakening of our border protection policies. We've seen that happen before. We know the track record. Do we remember Mr Rudd standing there before the 2007 election, promising that, in terms of economic management, he would be a careful and prudent manager? And yet he blew the budget wide open. He blew the budget wide open, and it has taken five years of hard work and toil to bring it back to balance. Mr Rudd also promised that, when it came to national security and particularly to border protection, he would keep all of the Howard government's policies. But what happened? Mr Rudd was found to be telling untruths. He lied to the Australian people before that election. Once elected, the Labor Party systematically went about doing what the Australian Greens wanted them to, which was to dismantle those border protection policies. That will happen again. It will happen again as clearly as day follows night. We know that those in the left wing of the Labor Party opposite—and, indeed, some in the right, such as Senator Keneally—want to dismantle the border security policies that have saved thousands and thousands of Australian lives. That will be a live topic when the Labor Party national convention happens. No doubt, that once again it will take backroom deals to stop embarrassing debate in relation to their reforms and their policies. The Labor Party can come in here and they can seek to try to make this a debate about politics, but this coalition government will ensure that we continue to focus on the things that will matter to the Australian people in terms of good policies and good outcomes. Our careful economic management has delivered a strong economy, record jobs growth, the opportunity for wages growth and the conditions for us to deliver tax relief also allows us to invest in the essential services that Australians rely upon. Despite the lies we hear from those opposite, there is a record and growing level of investment in Australia's health care and in Australia's education system. We do it in a way that balances the budget and invests more in terms of the health and education for Australians. Despite the lies of those opposite—and we remember the Medicare scare campaign at the last election—we have record GP bulk-billing rates. We have some 86.1 per cent in relation to bulk-billing rates. Perhaps more importantly, we have listed—or amended—some 1,700 medicines on the PBS. The PBS is particularly important in terms of essential services for Australians. It's important because it gives them access to groundbreaking new drugs at an affordable rate. Do you know what a consequence of the last Labor government was? That, as the budget spiralled out of control under Labor, one of the steps they took was to stop listing PBS medicines. They denied Australians the opportunity to access those cheap, groundbreaking new drugs to help with their health care. That's what we saw last time around, when it all went horribly wrong with those opposite. What we saw last time around was that the Australian Labor Party, in losing control of the budget, took panicked measures such as stripping Australians of the right to new drugs that should have been listed on the PBS. This government, this Liberal and National Party government, has ensured that, when recommendations are made through the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, they are acted on. They are acted on! So what is at risk for Australians? What is a threat from those opposite? Jobs. From those opposite: higher taxes and weaker jobs growth. From those opposite: ultimately, our balanced budget will be destroyed. From those opposite: weaker border protection. We will ultimately see those opposite go down that track record again, whether it's the PBS or something else. But the next election, due next year, will no doubt be another occasion when we will also see the despicable lies of those opposite. We saw that in the last election campaign. Who could forget the way in which they rolled out the 'Mediscare' campaign. They took the Medicare logo and misused it. They took an approach of spreading lies and mistruths to scare vulnerable Australians, pensioners and others. That is what we saw from those opposite. We saw an approach in the last election campaign where they tried to win it based on scare tactics—scare tactics that were completely untrue, and scare tactics that were based on lies. Senator O'Neill: They can't afford to go to the doctor under you! Senator BIRMINGHAM: Senator O'Neill was happily out there spreading them, of course. They can sit there screaming and yelling, because for them it's always about politics. Opposition senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator O'Neill interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order, Senator O'Neill. Senator BIRMINGHAM: For us, it's about policies and outcomes. We have worked as a government to tackle difficult issues—difficult, challenging issues. People said that we'd never manage to legislate our income tax cuts, and we did. People said that we would never manage to legislate to reintroduce the ABCC or the Registered Organisations Commission, but we did. People said that we'd never legislate other key reforms the Labor Party and the Greens proposed—reforms in my portfolio area, such as child care—but we did. People said that we'd never manage to legislate to bring the budget back to balance, but we did, through perseverance and hard work. People said that fixing the GST problem was an intractable problem, yet it wasn't intractable, not at all. All it took was hard work from a dedicated team, who came up with a solution that was fair and reasonable to every Australian. I challenge everyone opposite from Western Australia to go back there and try to explain how it is that they never came up with a credible GST policy, yet this Liberal-National Party government did and is delivering it. And that is absolutely to the credit, in this place, of Senator Cormann, Senator Reynolds, Senator Brockman, Senator Smith and Senator Cash. Each and every one of them worked hard in a team to ensure that we delivered that reform. We tackled other difficult issues, such as the question around same-sex marriage. People said that a plebiscite or a vote or giving Australians a say would never happen. It did happen. It did happen, and we saw a strong endorsement for change, and we saw this parliament then legislate that. Different people expressed their different opinions. That's what you expect on an important social reform like that. But this government provided the framework for that decision to be resolved and to ensure that it was resolved in a way to provide certainty for all Australians into the future. When we go to an election next year, the Australian people have to make a choice about the next three years. And the choice that they will face is absolutely a choice between the Liberal and National parties, who have shown through our actions to date that we will back their interests. If Australians work hard, we will make sure they keep as much of their hard-earned money as they can. If they want to grow their business, we will make sure the circumstances are there to grow their business. If Australians want to ensure they can start a business, we've created small business tax policies that are more competitive than what those opposite have. But it will be a choice. Every election is a choice, and I'm going to give the Labor Party one bit of credit. They have released policies for the next election: policies for more than $200 billion of higher and additional taxes. That choice will be whether Australians want to pay higher taxes on their wages. I look around the full public gallery today. I doubt there are terribly many people in the public gallery or elsewhere who want to be paying higher taxes on their take-home wages. The question will be whether Australian retirees want to see higher taxes on their hard-earned savings. Who'd have thought that Mr Shorten would come up with a tax policy that went after the savings of retirees? But there are retirees in the gallery today, and I'll bet they don't want to be paying higher taxes on their savings. Of course, the Labor Party also has plans for higher taxes on Australian houses. People want to buy an investment property, get ahead and save a little bit for the future. The Labor Party still has a policy that will see higher taxes in relation to people doing that, and the result of that will be higher rents for many Australians and lower property prices—a devaluation of the major asset that many Australian households have. Australian small businesses face the threat of higher taxes. So many Australians, more than 40 per cent of Australians, work in small businesses, and under the Labor Party they will be paying a higher tax rate in those small businesses than what has been legislated by this parliament, by this Liberal and National Party government. The result of that will be that those businesses have less money to invest, to grow, to create more jobs and to create higher wages. Of course, in relation to electricity, this government has tackled again the difficult issue of electricity. Just this week, we have announced reforms that build upon the work we had already delivered as a government. We started out by making sure that we fixed issues around network transmission costs—no more gaming of the system by transmission networks and companies in terms of energy policy, but instead a clear, transparent system where they can't gold-plate infrastructure and slug people on their electricity bills for it. We ensured, in relation to gas prices, that gas prices were brought down—again, something that many said couldn't be done. But this government made sure that it was clear to businesses who were doing the wrong thing by Australians that we would take whatever action was necessary to keep Australian gas here for Australian energy generation, to drive down Australian electricity prices. We tackled the retail market and this week went even further in relation to the retail market. We have ensured that Australians will get, in terms of electricity bills, a fair default price. No longer will Australian pensioners find that, when they come out of an electricity contract, they have to go through the confusing or difficult choice of what electricity contract to go on. Instead, because of our policy change, pensioners will know and can have confidence that there will be a default price that is a fair and efficient price, and that they will not be able to be ripped off by those electricity companies. We can have confidence that they won't be ripped off by those electricity companies, because we've put strong penalties in place as well. We have said that, of course, what is required is a range of penalties, including the power to force divestment of assets if required—strong penalties to make sure there is clear action in that energy market. We have accepted and are acting on those ACCC recommendations, including ensuring that more generation capacity can be built. So the choice for Australians could not be starker when it comes to next year's election: a choice between a low-taxing Liberal and National Party government and a high-taxing Labor government; a choice between a Liberal and National Party government where wages will be taxed at a lower rate and a Labor government where wages will be taxed at a higher rate; a choice between a Liberal and National Party government where small businesses will be taxed at a lower rate and a government where houses will be taxed at a higher rate; and a choice between a Liberal and National Party government where electricity bills will be lower and a Labor government where electricity bills will be higher. That is the choice that is on offer. People will not, in the end, risk their jobs, their wages, their homes, their retirement savings and the potential for lower electricity bills on that mob opposite. They will not risk our national security and the border protection of the country on that mob opposite. Because, in the end, Australians care not about the political stunt of this motion but about good policy and good outcomes. And the Liberal and National coalition government has delivered good policy and strong outcomes in spades, and hundreds of thousands—even millions—of Australians are better off as a result of our doing so.