Mr MARLES (Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs) (4:14 PM) —This debate has confirmed that the opposition are the masters of carp. This debate—

Mr Ian Macfarlane —Masters of what? I didn’t quite catch that.

Mr MARLES —The masters of carp; masters of carping and bleating. The opposition are the masters of fearmongering. We heard the shadow Treasurer in this matter of public importance discussion talk about Australia. The phrase used was ‘We go with a begging bowl to the rest of the world,’ when the reality is that we stand here today with one of the lowest public debts in the world. We heard the shadow Treasurer talking about our economy ‘being in peril’, when the OECD has just said that we have one of the most robust and resilient economies in the world. I think that I heard it right when I heard the shadow Treasurer talking about Australia in the same breath as Ireland and Portugal. This is fearmongering at its worst; this is carping and bleating at its worst.

What we have seen with the shadow Treasurer over the last few weeks when he has tried to mount an argument in relation to the cost of living or the banks has been thought bubbles here, knee-jerk reactions over there, a slogan next and him jumping up and down with ever greater feverishness on the one spot like a hyperactive frog. The shadow Treasurer is a man who has absolutely no solutions whatsoever.

Despite the carping and the bleating of the opposition, despite the slogans and the populism, despite the cynical politicking and despite the utter absence of any solutions whatsoever to the real issues that are facing the Australian people, on the positive side we have a government that has recognised from day one the difficulties that are associated with balancing the family budget that are being experienced by everyday Australians. And not the least of the reasons why they are experiencing those difficulties is the state that they were left in after 12 long years of the Howard government. We saw what was happening with interest rates in 2007 when the Howard government came to its end. We understand the difficulties faced, such as rising grocery prices, paying the mortgage and petrol prices. We know the difficulties that are being faced in balancing the household budget.

That is why we took the action that we did at the height of the global financial crisis at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009. And if you want to talk about ‘decisive action’—words used in this matter of public importance—that action was decisive. The Labor government took decisive action to bring direct stimulus payments to those who most needed it: families, pensioners, carers and self-funded retirees. It is a great example of how this government has from day one been keenly aware of the pressures that families are under.

That is why we have taken other decisive actions, such as raising the pension. Since September 2009, the pension has been increased by $115 a fortnight and $97 a fortnight for couples. We have indexed that to wages, which are growing faster than the rate of inflation, so that pensions have a degree of protection from price increases in our economy. This is the biggest reform to the pension in 100 years. There are 2.1 million age pensioners receiving that benefit, 764,000 disability support pensioners and 167,000 care payment recipients. It stands as decisive action in stark contrast to the inaction on the pension by the Howard government over a period of 11 years.

We can also look at paid parental leave. From 1 January next year, 148,000 new parents each year will be eligible to receive 18 weeks at the minimum wage, a value in excess of $10,000. Applications for that are being taken right now. That is again decisive action that stands in stark contrast to the inaction of the Howard government over 11 long years.

When we are talking about the cost of living, one of the most important things that we need to understand is that it is not just about what needs to be paid out; it is also about what you can bring in—the revenue, if you like, for a household; the wage packets. The most decisive action of this Labor government was abolishing Work Choices. Work Choices will be etched on the tombstone of the Howard government. Work Choices monstered the household budget and income by giving rise to a loss of penalty rates for working on weekends, for example, a loss of shift work allowances and a loss of overtime. Studies have estimated that casual and part-time sales assistants lost 12 per cent of their earnings under Work Choices. Full-time working women under Australian workplace agreements—that legislated scheme of workplace contracts—were $87.40 per week worse off than their counterparts working under collective agreements.

In that brief window of light that the then Howard government allowed to be shone upon the scheme of AWAs, we learnt very rapidly that 64 per cent of AWAs were cutting annual leave loading, 63 per cent were cutting penalty rates, 52 per cent were cutting shift work loadings, 51 per cent were cutting overtime loadings, 46 per cent were cutting public holiday pay and one in five were providing workers with no pay rise at all and in some cases preventing a pay rise for up to five years. That is what we had under the Howard government.

As much as Work Choices is etched on the tombstone of that government, we have seen attempts to resurrect Work Choices by the Abbott opposition. In the lead-up to this election—on day one, I think—we heard Tony the politician talk about giving the Fair Work Act a go.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Hon. Peter Slipper)—The parliamentary secretary should be aware of standing order 64.

Mr MARLES —We heard the Leader of the Opposition talked about giving the Fair Work Act a fair go. That is what the Leader of the Opposition said when being a politician. But when it came to Tony Abbott the conviction politician—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER —Order! The parliamentary secretary ought not to disregard my gentle advice.

Mr MARLES —Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. When it came to the Leader of the Opposition priding himself on being a conviction politician and on being an ideologue, we know that he regarded Work Choices as one of the great achievements of the Howard government, which is why he said that he could not rule out any changes to the Fair Work Act going forward. That was the real indication of where the opposition would go when it comes to Work Choices. It may be on the tombstone of the Howard government, but the Abbott opposition is attempting to resurrect it and it was up there front and centre when it came to the last election.

In terms of dealing with the cost of living, you can look at the decisive action that this government has taken in relation to manufacturing jobs, with almost one million jobs in that industry. For example, the $6.2 billion car industry package is a critical thing in my electorate, particularly for those people who work at Ford in the suburb of Norlane because of the cost-of-living issues they face. In 2007, in the dying days of the Howard government, Ford took a decision to close their engine plant, which said everything about the sense of confidence, or rather the lack of it, that they had in the future of manufacturing under the Howard government.

Mr Ian Macfarlane interjecting—

Mr MARLES —It is not rubbish; that is absolutely what happened.

Mr Ian Macfarlane interjecting—

Mr MARLES —I absolutely do. Fifteen months after that, in the spring of 2008, with renewed confidence in what the government was doing for manufacturing we saw that decision overturned. One thousand jobs were saved right there—not to mention the indirect jobs—in the economy. That was decisive action, which absolutely affected the people in my electorate of Corio in meeting the costs of living. That action stands in stark contrast to the opposition, which, frankly, would not know industry policy if it jumped up and bit them on the nose. At the end of the day, what we in this country have is an economy in fantastic health. That is what we hear from the OECD when they talk about our economy being ‘one of the most resilient’ economies in the world. There were 375,000 jobs created last year, and 200,000 jobs were saved by virtue of the stimulus packages that we put in place, which were opposed by the opposition—stimulus packages which are now praised by the OECD. Labor have a record of decisive action. The economy that we now preside over is the envy of the world and it stands in contrast to the populist, rank and cynical politics that we see from the opposition. (Time expired)

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Hon. Peter Slipper)—I call the honourable member for Dawson on what is probably his maiden participation in a matter of public importance debate.