Senator O'SULLIVAN (Western Australia) (20:46): I too rise in reply to the Governor-General's speech in this place on the opening of the 46th Parliament. In the 122 days since the election, this government has provided certainty and stability. On 18 May, the Australian people had a critical decision to make: to stay the course with tried, tested and trusted economic policies or to venture down the path of reckless and blatant socialism. As the Prime Minister has said: you've seen a plan, a plan that we took to the Australian people, a plan that we put in our budget, a plan that foresaw the challenges that Australia was going to face, and a government that's steadfastly getting on with implementing that plan. This decision by the Australian people resulted in our nation being led by a stable, united government getting on with the job with a clear plan delivering on the promises it made versus a Labor Party now conflicted on policy and tarnished by scandal. It's about certainty versus uncertainty, stability and practicality versus chaos and confusion, on work over welfare, border protection over union power and economic policies where the only certainty and consistency are on this side of the chamber. We on this side are a united, strong and disciplined government because the Liberal Party of Australia, the party organisation responsible for our election victory, is also strong, disciplined and united. As at April 2019 more than 1.3 million more Australians are in jobs since this government was elected. Nearly 60 per cent of those jobs have been full-time jobs. There were 413,800 more jobs created in 2017 alone. That is the highest number of jobs in any year on record. Over 100,000 more jobs for 15- to 24-year-olds were created in the 12 months to June 2018. That is the strongest result of any financial year on record. It is a record that we as a government are very, very proud of. The unemployment rate is now 5.2 per cent. When Labor left office unemployment was at 5.7 per cent and rising. The Governor-General spoke in his speech of the plan that we have as a government. We are working to build a stronger economy. Through welfare-to-work the percentage of working-age Australians on welfare has fallen to 14.3 per cent, the lowest rate of welfare dependency in 30 years. In 2017-18 there were 90,000 fewer working-age Australians on welfare than there were in the previous year. Think about that: these are figures, but they're not just numbers on a page. These numbers represent the lives of real people, real Australians who are now able to provide for their families and for themselves to provide a better future. We're backing small businesses as well. Tax relief is being delivered for businesses with an annual turnover to $50 million. We have record infrastructure investment, with $100 billion being invested over the next decade. The Governor-General spoke about efforts to fix the budget. Labor racked up $240 billion in deficits over six years. Without action, debt would have been on track to head towards $1 trillion—a massive handbrake on the economy. We've halved the growth in spending from four per cent per year under Labor to 1.9 per cent—the most restrained of any government in 50 years. We've delivered the first budget surplus in 12 years. There is tax relief for working Australians. We are making taxes lower, simpler and fairer. In 2018-19 around 4.5 million Australians will get tax relief of $1,080 per year. Over 10 million taxpayers will get some tax relief. Our legislated plan means that after six years 94 per cent of taxpayers will pay no more than 30 cents in the dollar. We're boosting exports. Australia's exports increased to a record $438 billion in 2018, up from $307 billion in 2012-13. In 2018, Australia had a trade surplus of over $22 billion. We're providing more opportunities for Australian businesses with China, Japan and Korea as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. We've signed the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations and agreements with Indonesia, Peru and Hong Kong. I could go on, with the work we've done with industry and defence. The previous Labor government ran down our Defence Force and failed to commission a single ship from the Australian shipyard for our Navy. We're building 54 new naval vessels, and this will boost Australia's Defence Force and create thousands of new skilled jobs. We're investing in skills, with over $525 million in the Delivering Skills for Today and Tomorrow package. This will create 80,000 new apprenticeships in areas of skill shortages. We will lay the groundwork to deliver a stronger skills sector well into the future. The government invested over $3 billion into the VET sector in 2018-19. I also want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Liberal Party's campaigns across Western Australia. The results across the state were outstanding, as they were in your home state, Madam Acting Deputy President Stoker. In fact, in Western Australia, we had the strongest results in the country, seat by seat, in the face of a socialist campaign of those opposite which did little to resonate with the voters in my home state of Western Australia. In particular, I want to pay tribute to a few candidates that we had in seats that we didn't win. In the seat of Brand, we had an excellent candidate, Jack Pleiter, supported by the chair of that campaign, Mihael McCoy. They were able to achieve a swing of 4.77 per cent towards the Liberal Party in that seat. Jack was a great candidate—a local guy, a builder, a small business owner, a great representative of our party—and he did a terrific job. I want to pay tribute to him and his efforts. In the seat of Burt, we had a swing of 2.12 per cent, with a great candidate in David Goode. I was a candidate there in 2016 and I know the area very well. David was able to achieve an even better result than I was able to achieve only three years earlier. He was supported by Stephen White, the manager of that campaign. An outstanding effort was put in by David Goode. In Cowan we had Isaac Stewart, supported by Dean Smith, the chair of that campaign, and Gary MacLean, who supported him as well as being manager. We just missed out in Cowan. Isaac was an amazing candidate; he put so much work in and he took so much time off work to contest this election. I want to pay tribute to Isaac and the effort and the work that he put in. In Fremantle, we had a swing to us of 0.6 per cent. Nicole Robins was our candidate there—a local schoolteacher. She was a great candidate—someone who represents the values of the Liberal Party so well. She was supported by Paul Connolly and the chair of that campaign. Again, they did a great job right across that electorate. It's my home electorate. It's where I live, and I spent many an early morning at train stations with Nicole campaigning for that seat. I also want to pay tribute to Jim Grayden in the seat of Perth and the chairs, Victoria Jackson and Jeremy Quinn. Jim and his wife, Tammy, are amazing people. They're true representatives that typify the spirit of the Liberal Party. They gave so much of their own time and their energy and their efforts. I single these people out because I've been given this opportunity to be here in this place because of the efforts of all of our incumbents but also those who ran in really difficult seats. I'm here, not just because of my own strength and my own efforts, but because of the support of the Liberal Party right across the state, including these wonderful candidates. I hope that this will light a fire in their hearts and in their minds, and that they will be inspired to go again and, hopefully, be victorious at a future date. It is a great honour for all of us to be here, and we have a tremendous task ahead of us over the remainder of this term to implement all that the Governor-General spoke about in his speech. I look forward to working with the Morrison government to see the delivery of everything that was laid out.