❓ Question concerns the perceived negative impact of federal government policies on WA industries, particularly agriculture (live sheep export) and mining (nickel). The Minister defends the Prime Minister's commitment to WA and criticises the opposition's record.
AnsweredQoN 622Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PRIME MINISTER — FEDERAL GOVERNMENT POLICY
622. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Federal–State
Relations:
I refer to Prime Minister Albanese's
increasingly desperate attempts to convince Western Australians that he is pro-business and pro-worker, despite proving the
exact opposite with his FIFO visits to Western Australia. Has the minister confronted the Prime Minister about the damage his government is doing
with its supposedly pro-business policies to
Western Australian industries, specifically the agricultural sector with the
effects of the live sheep export policy
or the nickel industry, both of which previously employed many thousands of
hardworking Western Australians who
no longer have work in those industries?
622. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Federal–State
Relations:
I refer to Prime Minister Albanese's
increasingly desperate attempts to convince Western Australians that he is pro-business and pro-worker, despite proving the
exact opposite with his FIFO visits to Western Australia. Has the minister confronted the Prime Minister about the damage his government is doing
with its supposedly pro-business policies to
Western Australian industries, specifically the agricultural sector with the
effects of the live sheep export policy
or the nickel industry, both of which previously employed many thousands of
hardworking Western Australians who
no longer have work in those industries?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
Of course, I raise these issues with the Prime Minister all the time. How do I do
that? I can do that because he has come to Western Australia more times than
Scott Morrison, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull combined. In the short time
that he has been Prime Minister, he has come here more times than all those
Liberal Prime Ministers combined during that dreadful period when we had
Liberal Prime Ministers. I would much rather
have a FIFO Prime Minister than a missing-in-action Prime Minister, as we had
under the federal Liberal Party in government. This Prime Minister gets
WA. He has brought his cabinet to WA on four occasions. I cannot remember a single
occasion when just about the entire cabinet from the federal Liberal–National
coalition government came to Western Australia. Let us not have any of this
nonsense that the Leader of the Opposition is trying
to promote that somehow Anthony Albanese does not get WA, because he does. He
understands how important it is that we keep this economy going because Western
Australia is the engine room of the nation's economy.
I am astounded that the Leader of
the Opposition would have the temerity to raise the issue of nickel in this
place when the only people to oppose the production tax credit in Australia was
his national leader—sorry, perhaps not Mr Littleproud, because he is
the leader in name only. It was Barnaby Joyce who attacked it. Peter Dutton
attacked it as being some sort of sop to billionaires, when we know that it is
an important part of promoting downstream processing in Western Australian.
This is the perfect example of why the Liberal and National Parties are the
biggest risk to business in Australia.
Let us look at the record of those
opposite. When they were in government, they raised land tax. They raised the
cost of utilities. I think water and power costs increased by around 90 per
cent. I think members will find that the real risk to business in WA and
Australia is not the Labor Party in government, but those who, when they get
into government, exhibit the incompetence we know they are absolutely capable
of and continue to ruin the state's finances and economy and send this
state backwards.
We are working closely with the federal
government to make sure that Western Australia remains the engine room of the
nation's economy. Those opposite have no idea and no experience. They
simply oppose, attack and delay and they are essentially providing the service
of ''whinge on advice'' or ''call for a whinge''.
Those opposite have no solutions for Western Australia. They are chaotic,
dysfunctional and negative; they oppose everything and they represent a risk to
WA business.
Of course, I raise these issues with the Prime Minister all the time. How do I do
that? I can do that because he has come to Western Australia more times than
Scott Morrison, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull combined. In the short time
that he has been Prime Minister, he has come here more times than all those
Liberal Prime Ministers combined during that dreadful period when we had
Liberal Prime Ministers. I would much rather
have a FIFO Prime Minister than a missing-in-action Prime Minister, as we had
under the federal Liberal Party in government. This Prime Minister gets
WA. He has brought his cabinet to WA on four occasions. I cannot remember a single
occasion when just about the entire cabinet from the federal Liberal–National
coalition government came to Western Australia. Let us not have any of this
nonsense that the Leader of the Opposition is trying
to promote that somehow Anthony Albanese does not get WA, because he does. He
understands how important it is that we keep this economy going because Western
Australia is the engine room of the nation's economy.
I am astounded that the Leader of
the Opposition would have the temerity to raise the issue of nickel in this
place when the only people to oppose the production tax credit in Australia was
his national leader—sorry, perhaps not Mr Littleproud, because he is
the leader in name only. It was Barnaby Joyce who attacked it. Peter Dutton
attacked it as being some sort of sop to billionaires, when we know that it is
an important part of promoting downstream processing in Western Australian.
This is the perfect example of why the Liberal and National Parties are the
biggest risk to business in Australia.
Let us look at the record of those
opposite. When they were in government, they raised land tax. They raised the
cost of utilities. I think water and power costs increased by around 90 per
cent. I think members will find that the real risk to business in WA and
Australia is not the Labor Party in government, but those who, when they get
into government, exhibit the incompetence we know they are absolutely capable
of and continue to ruin the state's finances and economy and send this
state backwards.
We are working closely with the federal
government to make sure that Western Australia remains the engine room of the
nation's economy. Those opposite have no idea and no experience. They
simply oppose, attack and delay and they are essentially providing the service
of ''whinge on advice'' or ''call for a whinge''.
Those opposite have no solutions for Western Australia. They are chaotic,
dysfunctional and negative; they oppose everything and they represent a risk to
WA business.
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