Senator RONALDSON (5:26 PM) —I think Senator Sterle wanted me to incorporate my speech, but I think in all fairness it is probably appropriate that I do talk to this legislation, albeit briefly.

Senator Murray —Give it a go!

Senator RONALDSON —Ah—Senator Murray is here! I do not share Senator Sherry’s views about wishing Senator Carr was back. We are actually quite happy to have him where he is—

Senator Sherry —Wherever that is!

Senator RONALDSON —Yes, as long as he is not playing Father Christmas again, as he did with the $35 million of working families’ funds by giving it to Toyota, when Toyota had not even asked for it. That was an appropriation that I suspect Toyota was certainly not expecting—

Senator Sherry —Oh, what a feeling!

Senator RONALDSON —Oh, what a feeling—a very, very generous one. Obviously, I do wish to make some comments today in relation to Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2007-2008 and Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2007-2008 and, in some respects, set the scene. The former Howard-Costello government, probably for the first time in this nation’s history, put the budget front-of-mind for the Australian community. In 1996 the Australian community realised that the former Keating and Hawke governments had left this country in an appalling mess. There was a $96 billion budget black hole, a black hole that they were—

Senator Coonan —Economic vandalism!

Senator RONALDSON —As Senator Coonan said, economic vandalism—like we have never seen before. I am sorry, I am doing a Senator Wong: I am pointing, and I will not do that. The former government were very careful to ensure that, on behalf of the Australian people, we actually paid that $96 billion back. Currently, there is an expectation from the Australian people that all governments will be responsible. We set that up 12 years ago and we will continue to do so. You would think that an incoming government that had been left with no net government debt, where everything had been paid off and where they had a healthy budget surplus would actually be lauding the activities of that former government.

Senator Coonan —They certainly should be a bit more gracious.

Senator RONALDSON —As Senator Coonan said, they could at least be gracious about what was achieved. But we are seeing exactly the opposite. I want to put on the public record tonight—and I think it is a crying shame that someone from this side has got to do it; I would have hoped someone from the other side would have been prepared to do this—and acknowledge the extraordinary economic efforts of the previous government.

Senator Coonan —Over a sustained period.

Senator RONALDSON —Yes, and I would have hoped that would be done. Quite frankly, it is a bit of a tragedy that it has not been done before and it is now left to me to do so. I will go through some of these so that at least my Victorian colleague and Senator Sterle from Western Australia hear them, and I am sure they will then go out and tell their colleagues about them, which would only be fair in the circumstances.

Senator Coonan interjecting—

Senator RONALDSON —Indeed. Firstly, in 1996 the Index of Economic Freedom placed Australia 10th. In 2008 the ranking was fourth, so go out and tell your colleagues about that. Spread the word about that, brother. Secondly, in 1995 the UN Human Development Index placed Australia 15th. At the end of your term of government, it was 15th. In 2008 our ranking was third. The UN Human Development Index placed Australia 15th in 1996 and third in 2008.

Senator Parry —What happened in the intervening years?

Senator RONALDSON —Senator Parry has asked what happened in the intervening years. You had a government that was committed to this country’s future and that was serious about unwinding some of the disasters of the previous government and getting in there and doing exactly what the Australian community wanted—and that is the outcome of that.

Thirdly—and, as you know, Mr Acting Deputy President, I do not normally read speeches, but there are some facts here that I need to have properly on the record—between 1996 and 2006 Australia’s economic growth increased on average by 3.6 per cent per year compared to 3.2 per cent for the USA, 2.8 per cent for the UK, 2.2 per cent for Europe and 1.2 per cent for Japan. That was a quite extraordinary effort from a nation of some 21 million people. I will go through those figures again. Between 1996 and 2006, Australia’s growth increased on average by 3.6 per cent. The growth of those powerhouses—the US, the UK, Europe and Japan—was 3.2 per cent, 2.8 per cent, 2.2 per cent and 1.2 percent respectively.

Fourthly, over 10.5 million Australians are currently in work. That is 2.2 million more than were in work in March 1996. I think that a fantastic figure, a sensational figure and a figure that we do not hear from those on the other side is that a massive 60 per cent of those jobs—some 1.32 million—were full-time jobs. That is an extraordinary legacy left by the previous government, which is again not acknowledged by those opposite. It is a churlish attitude to a marvellous record. The unemployment rate in 1996 was 8.2 per cent. In August 2007, the rate had fallen to 4.3 percent—as Senator Parry knows.

Fifthly, between March 1983 and March 1996, real wages of working families decreased by 1.8 per cent. Under the former government, real wages increased by 21.5 per cent. If you want to deliver for working families in this country, then the way you deliver is you give them real wage increases, you provide opportunities for education, you keep inflation under control and you keep interest rates down—which brings me to my next point. Over the 12 years of the coalition government, home mortgage rates averaged 7.25 per cent. Between 1983 and 1996 under the former Labor government, it was a whopping 12.75 per cent, with a high of 17 per cent. I remember getting my first mortgage in 1983—obviously I was a very young man then—and I was paying 18.25 per cent. And after five years we had a mortgage debt which we had not paid a red cent off. What a legacy 18.25 per cent was for Australia’s working families!

Finally, I want to return to inflation. Inflation averaged 2.5 per cent from March 1986. What was it under Labor when they left office in 1996? It was 5.2 per cent, with a peak of 11.1 per cent. So it averaged 2.5 per cent from March 1996 until 2007. Under Labor, the average was 5.2 per cent with a peak of 11.1 per cent. That is not a genie; that is an inflation monster. We are not prepared to be lectured by the Australian Labor Party in relation to our record. I would have thought they would actually give us some support and praise for the economy that the new Rudd government inherited.

I would like to make a couple of other final points because I am acutely aware of the time frame. I want to talk about a couple of budget measures. The first of those is the Tax Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2008, which was introduced in the other place and debated within about 24 hours. I have seen some stupid policy decisions and I acknowledge that all governments, of all persuasions, make some very silly policy decisions. But I tell you: this is the one that is going to come back and haunt this government. More importantly, it will come back and haunt the very people who you pretend to be supporting: Australia’s working families.

Australia’s working families know who is going to support them better and they know, from the record I have just given, that that is the coalition and not the Australian Labor Party. Why you would, for revenue means and revenue means only, risk taking between half a million and one million Australians out of private health insurance and loading up the public system absolutely beggars belief. I have not yet heard any reasonable explanation for this. What we do know, from my memory of what happened in the estimates process, was that no-one bothered to ask Health about this. This was all done out of Treasury. This was a revenue measure, which took absolutely no account of the impact or of the people that you pretend to represent—Australia’s working families. Treasury estimates it is half a million; industry believes up to a million people will go out of private health insurance into the public system. We already have a crisis in the public health system. You take that half a million out and you single-handedly—

Senator Marshall —A crisis!

Senator RONALDSON —Yes, we have. Because the state governments around this country, which happen to be of the same political persuasion—

Senator Marshall interjecting—

Senator RONALDSON —Clearly, Senator Marshall is so completely out of touch that he is unaware that state governments actually run public hospitals. I am a little surprised that you did not know that, Senator Marshall—but it is a bad day if you do not learn something new, I suppose, isn’t it? And you have learnt something new today. I think probably about 99.99 per cent of the rest of the population knew it. If you did not know it, well, you do now. And the bottom line with this is that you are going to put up to a million people back into the public health system. Have you allocated any funding for that?

The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT (Senator Barnett)—Senator Ronaldson, I remind you to address your remarks through the chair.

Senator RONALDSON —Indeed. I apologise. The Australian Labor Party is going to put upwards of a million people into our public hospital system, which they are not prepared to put any further money into. And what did the Western Australian health minister say? ‘Not on your sweet Nellie! We are not interested,’ is what he said. ‘You put some money up to counter what is going to happen, and we will talk about it.’ This was not done with any consultation at all. One of the most fundamental challenges of any government is to make sure that the community has appropriate levels of health. That surely is one of the most basic things that everyone in this chamber is here for—to make sure that we provide a decent health system. Whether it is your side or our side, surely that is one of those basic obligations that we have as members of parliament. And what has been done under this measure? There was no consultation with the health department, no consultation with industry, no consultation with the very people who deliver the public hospital system in this country—the state governments, the state health departments—and you want to put a million people back into a system that you, Mr Acting Deputy President, and I know, and those in this chamber know, is already under significant stress. I cannot for the life of me understand what motivated this decision. I can tell you that, if the government reverses it, I will be the first one here to congratulate them, because this issue has got to be addressed.

Mr Acting Deputy President, the whip is quite rightly indicating to me that we want to get through this non-controversial legislation, and I accept that. There are a large number of bills to deal with. I thank the Senate for the opportunity to address this.