Tony Abbott’s year as recorded in Hansard

8/11/2019 Tony Abbott’s year as recorded in Hansard

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'Carbon tax abolished'.' I am not making it up. Here it is in black and white; a brochure fromKevin Rudd and the Labor Party. It is here in red, white and blue in fact! It is here in red,white and blue from Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party: 'Carbon tax abolished'. Kevin Ruddand Labor removed the carbon tax! Well, I do not know what they have been doing since the

election. If they removed the carbon tax since the election, why have they been voting for itafter the election — three times? Methinks I thought the cock crowed! Three times thismorning! Really and truly, hypocrisy, thy name is Labor: in denial about the election result,in denial about the debt and deficit disaster and in denial about the damage the carbon taxdoes. I table, for the benefit of members opposite, this document. Madam Speaker, you wouldthink that this would be a man who would be too embarrassed to ask a question after the lastanswer. This is the tax that he had already abolished. This is the tax that members oppositeclaim to have abolished, but, far from abolishing the carbon tax, members opposite areconsistently voting to keep it even though they know that it is adding massively to the costsof businesses and significantly and substantially to the costs of every household in Australia.This is the problem: the Labor Party just does not get it. I absolutely guarantee that thefarmers of Australia will be massively better off without this tax. Some of them will benefit

by much more than $12,000. What hypocrisy we see from members opposite. They are nowsupporting a tax cut that they abandoned in government, they are opposing savings that theysupported in government and they are supporting the tax that they thought they had abolishedin government. Really and truly, no-one can take this Labor Party seriously. They do not

believe anything, they do not stand for anything, they have no confidence or competence insaying or doing anything — Once upon a time there were Labor leaders who did stand forthings, who did believe in things and who did do good things for our country. This particular

Labor Party were wreckers in government and now they are wreckers in opposition. I invitethe member who asked the question to vote this week to terminate the carbon tax, becausecertainly that should mean that the price of a leg of lamb will come down. If membersopposite keep voting to keep the carbon tax and, if the carbon tax stays under membersopposite, the carbon tax would just go up and up and up and eventually — who knows? — may

be there would have been a $100 leg of lamb. I am inviting members opposite to do the rightthing by the lamb consumers and producers of Australia and vote to terminate the carbon tax.I am delighted to get a series of questions from the opposition on the carbon tax, becausewhen it comes to the carbon tax we are against it and after the election we are doing what wesaid we would do before the election. They are for it and they are acting completely contraryto what they said they would do before the election. Let's be absolutely crystal clear: if youget rid of the carbon tax, you remove a nine per cent impost on power prices, a $9 billion ayear hand break on our economy and a $550-a-year hit on the average household. We want tosave the average household money; that is why we want to terminate the carbon tax. We willnot just claim that we will terminate the carbon tax, we will. We will not rest until this toxictax is gone. Even if it does go this week as it should, members opposite will want to bring it

back. They will want it back because they are so convinced that this carbon tax is good foryou, Madam Speaker. It is very, very clear that we are against the carbon tax and we wantlower prices — The member interjecting loves the carbon tax, and just wait until she has got

rid of the Leader of the Opposition, she will be telling us every day how good the carbon tax.If they win the next election, the carbon tax will be back with all its toxicity, all its ugliness





and eastern Syria with growing horror. We have seen with our own eyes on our screens andon the front pages of our newspapers beheadings, crucifixions and mass executions ofinnocent people. We have beheld the holding hostage, as it were, of tens of thousands ofminority people on Mount Sinjar, and I am pleased and proud to say that the Royal Australian

Air Force has been part of humanitarian relief efforts there. What we have seen in recentweeks is medieval barbarism, perpetrated and spread with the most modern of technology.Regrettably, what might otherwise be horrific events in a faraway country have, because ofthe interconnectedness of the modern world, ramifications here. What happens somewherethese days tends to have ramifications everywhere. And, regrettably, some 60 Australians areknown to be fighting with various terrorist organisations in Iraq and Syria. Some 100Australians are known to be supporting and facilitating these same terrorist organisations.The vast majority of these people are Australians born and bred. At some point in time atleast some of the 60 will seek to return to Australia. We need to be able to deal with themwhen they return to their home. A few weeks ago the government announced there will be$630 million in additional support for our intelligence and security agencies. In addition,there will be three pieces of legislation to strengthen agency powers to make it easier todetain and jail people returning from terrorist activities and to ensure we keep the necessarytelecommunications metadata. I want to make it absolutely crystal clear that the enemy hereis terrorism. It is not any particular faith; it is not any particular community. But I do have aclear message to people thinking of going overseas to join in terrorist activity: do not go —

because if you do, and if you return, you will be arrested and you will be jailed. I thank themember for Melbourne for his question. It is a very serious matter and it deserves to be takenseriously by the House. Certainly I take it seriously and the government takes it seriously.

Australian forces have already been deployed, as the Leader of the Opposition and I haveacknowledged, as part of the humanitarian relief efforts in northern Iraq, and they stand readyto engage in further humanitarian relief work in northern Iraq. As you know, PresidentObama, witnessing the atrocities unfolding before our eyes, witnessing what he called a'potential genocide' of the Yazidi people and others in northern Iraq, has deployed UnitedStates forces. Thanks to the air strikes carried out by United States forces, the ISIL advancehas for the moment been halted and the siege of Mount Sinjar was lifted. I think the worldshould be grateful to President Obama for effectively deploying United States forces for thisessentially humanitarian purpose. Australia is a very close and very supportive partner of theUnited States, as are other countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Canada. Talksare going on between the United States and its close partners on what can best be done tocontinue to relieve the humanitarian situation in northern Iraq. I assure the member that thisgovernment will not commit forces without the fullest possible consideration, without theconsideration of cabinet, without consultation with the opposition. That is the way it alwayshas been and that is the way it always will be. I move: That this House: (1) express its outrageand condemnation at the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Eastern Ukraine on18th July 2014 AEST; (2) extend its deepest and heartfelt sympathy to the families, friendsand loved ones of the 38 men, women and children aboard MH17 who called Australia home;(3) offer its condolences to the family and friends of all those lost on Flight MH17, which

also included citizens from the Netherlands, Malaysia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom,Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and South



Africa; (4) condemn the perpetrators of this terrible crime; (5) note the Australiangovernment has committed to work with the international community in accordance withUnited Nations Security Council resolution 2166 to ensure a full, thorough and independentinternational investigation into the crash, to identify the cause of the crash and those

responsible, and (6) support the Australian government’s cooperation with other countries in bringing the perpetrators of this barbaric crime to justice. When this parliament last met,news was just breaking that flight MH17 had been shot down by Russian backed rebels overeastern Ukraine. This was not just a tragedy; it was an atrocity. Two hundred and ninety-eightinnocent people, including 38 Australians had been murdered. I now report to the House whatwe know, what we have done to help bring our people home, and what we are continuing todo to support the bereaved and to seek justice for the victims. It was a scheduled international

passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, so basic humanity should havesafeguarded its passage. Instead, it was shot out of the sky. Children lost parents, parents lostchildren, and an aching void opened in hundreds of lives, made worse by the wanton crueltyof shooting down a passenger jet. We could not bring them back but we here in this

parliament promised to bring them home and to seek justice for their families. I believe thatthe Australian response has been both swift and compassionate. By nine o'clock on themorning of the atrocity, the government's crisis centre, working out of the Department ofForeign Affairs and Trade, was operational, giving information and support to the families ofthe lost. And throughout the families' long ordeal, our officials in the Department of ForeignAffairs and Trade and in the Australian Federal Police have done tireless, efficient andcompassionate work. At 10 o'clock on that fateful Friday, the National Security Committee ofthe cabinet met and decided that the Russian ambassador should be called in and an assurance

demanded that Russia would fully cooperate in the investigation and recovery operations.Later that day I started calling overseas leaders to register Australia's shock and anger. In thecourse of the following fortnight I had many conversations with many leaders around theworld. The next day, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, set off for the SecurityCouncil in New York, and our Special Envoy, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, set off forKiev. Both Foreign Minister Bishop and Air Chief Marshal Houston have done extraordinarywork over the last few weeks, and I thank them both. Our nation thanks them both. TheSecurity Council resolution that Australia sponsored was adopted unanimously, thanks not

just to the skill of the foreign minister, but to the skill and hard work of our diplomatic teamin New York. I should also thank the Leader of the Opposition for his support throughout thiswhole issue, as I thank him for his ongoing support for the government's efforts to bring our

people home and seek justice for the victims. It is important to acknowledge in all of this theleadership of Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands and also the help, support andleadership of Prime Minister Najib of Malaysia. No country lost more of its people than the

Netherlands. After the chaos and pandemonium on the ground in eastern Ukraine, the wayour dead — all the dead — were received in the Netherlands was so dignified and so gracious; itsent a message of reassurance and support to everyone affected by this tragedy. The airline,its crew, and many of its passengers were, of course, Malaysian. I also acknowledge thecooperation and support of President Poroshenko of Ukraine, who has demonstrated goodwill

and decency during a difficult time for his country and for ours. He has Australia's enduringgratitude. Operation Bring Them Home eventually deployed over 500 Australian personnel,



including about 250 military personnel to work with the Dutch and the Ukraine to recover,identify and repatriate the remains of the Australian victims. In extremely difficult conditionsAustralian, Dutch and, subsequently, Malaysian experts spent six days searching the crashsite under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. They

recovered further remains and a substantial amount of personal effects, but regrettably thewar was sweeping over the area, and conditions were simply too dangerous for them tocontinue. But I do advise the House that when security conditions improve, and if we judgethere are more remains to be recovered, recovery efforts will resume. I should also thank ourGovernor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, who travelled at very short notice to the Netherlandsand performed a sad duty with grace and dignity. Disaster victim identification is a very, veryslow process. Only this week the first Australian victims are coming home to their families. Isay to all the families: you have the deepest sympathy of all of us in this parliament. Somefamilies will want to share the difficulty of this grim time, others will want it to be entirely

private but, either way, the families' wishes should be respected. Australians have ralliedaround the bereaved, sharing their shock and sorrow. The national memorial service inMelbourne a few weeks ago was a reminder of the ties that bind us as Australians and I thankall who participated and organised that service. I can announce today, Madam Speaker, that amemorial will be erected in the parliamentary gardens to all who perished, especially the 38Australian victims. I thank you and the President of the Senate for your agreement to this. Itwill be established for the first anniversary and as a reminder that we will never, ever forgetthem. Two investigations are underway: an aircraft accident investigation under theConvention on International Civil Aviation led by the Dutch Safety Board and amultinational criminal investigation led by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service. These

investigations will take some time. Australia has contributed experts to both of them. Ournation will continue to support all who lost loved ones on flight MH17. We will doeverything in our power to ensure that this horrific act is investigated and its perpetrators

brought to justice. I inform the House that the Minister for Trade and Investment will beabsent from question time today and for the remainder of the week. He is in Burma where hewill participate in the East Asia Summit and ASEAN related trade ministers meetings and theMinister for Foreign Affairs will answer questions on his behalf. I thank the member forGilmore for her question and I can reassure her and all members of the Australian communitythat the safety of our nation is the first priority of government. It is the first priority of thisgovernment. It was the first priority of the former government. It has been the first priority ofevery Australian government as it should be. But, regrettably, at least 60 Australians areknown to have gone overseas to fight with terrorist groups in Syria and northern Iraq,including with the ISIL movement, and about 100 Australians are known to have beensupporting or facilitating these terrorist groups. We know what these people can do. We haveseen it on our screens and we must make sure that it never happens here in this country ofours. We need the capacity to deal with people, preferably to stop them from going overseasto join terrorist groups in the first place but, certainly, to stop them, should they seek to returnto this country. The government has recently announced a further $630 million in newfunding for the Australian Federal Police, for the Australian Security Intelligence

Organisation, for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, for the Office of NationalAssessments and for the Customs and Border Protection Service. I am pleased to remind the



House that soon there will be biometric screening at all our international airports. I want tostress that extremism is our enemy, not religion, and that it is terrorism that is being targeted,not the members of any particular community. I make a further announcement today that latelast week the Customs and Border Protection Service began operating counter-terrorism units

at Sydney and Melbourne international airports, and similar units will shortly be establishedat all international airports in Australia. There will be an additional 80 Border Force officersstationed at international airports to monitor the movements of people on our nationalsecurity watchlists. I am advised that these new units have already intercepted at least one

person of interest. I do want to assure the House that this government will do — I am sure this parliament will do — everything that is reasonably necessary to keep our country safe. Theanswer to the honourable member's question is as follows: a) The following information issourced from the Report on Government Services 2014. Data is provided for each year level.The rate of school attendance (a)in Government, Independent and Catholic schools inVictoria in 2012 for each year level is as follows: b) The Australian Government is taking thefollowing steps to ensure that all children throughout Australia attend school each day:Working with jurisdictions to progress school attendance measures agreed by the Council ofAustralian Governments on 13 December 2013. Proposing to add a new Closing the Gaptarget for school attendance to the existing Closing the Gap targets, with the aim of closingthe gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous school attendance within 5 years.Implementing the Remote School Attendance Strategy. Rollout to 40 schools in NT, WA,SA, QLD and NSW commenced in Term 1 2014, with the programme to be expanded to afurther 30 schools in Term 2 2014. Using the improving School Enrolment and Attendancethrough welfare reform Measure (SEAM) in the Northern Territory. c) This is not a matter

of Commonwealth responsibility. I suggest that you contact the Victorian State Governmentfor this information. d) This is not a matter of Commonwealth responsibility. I suggest thatyou contact the Victorian State Government for this information. I inform the House that theMinister for Foreign Affairs will be absent from question time today. She is in Indonesia tosign the Australia-Indonesia joint understanding on a code of conduct with Indonesianforeign minister Marty Natalegawa. The Deputy Prime Minister will answer questions on her

behalf and on behalf of the Minister for Trade and Investment. I thank the Leader of theOpposition for his question, and I do appreciate the spirit in which he asks it. I appreciate thesupport that he and the opposition have given to the government as we do our bit to deal withthe humanitarian disaster now unfolding in northern Iraq. We have all seen atrocity afteratrocity on our TV screens — beheadings, crucifixions, mass executions. This is as near to

pure evil as we are ever likely to see. As President Obama pointed out a week or so back,what is at risk in northern Iraq is potential genocide — a humanitarian catastrophe on a scaleunparalleled in recent times. To his great credit, President Obama has authorised air strikesagainst the murderous hordes of ISIL. Those air strikes have lifted the siege of Mount Sinjar.They have apparently stopped the advance of ISIL forces into Kurdish areas. There areobviously discussions going on between the United States and its friends and allies aboutwhat more can be done to avert further disasters in this part of the world. I have to say thatAustralia has not been officially asked for military assistance. If we were asked for military

assistance there would be the standard approvals process, which would involve cabinetdecision-making, and consultation with the opposition. Should we be asked, we would want

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to look at any request in the light of achievable objectives, a clear role for Australian forces, afull risk assessment, and an overall humanitarian objective. But I do wish to say that I amsure that no-one in this parliament — no human being anywhere — would wish to stand by andwatch the preventable slaughter of innocent people. None of us would wish to see a

preventable slaughter of innocent people. I am sure that the Leader of the Opposition wouldnot, in this context, mind me echoing the words of Ben Chifley in his 'light on the hill'speech, when he said that our objective is to work 'for the betterment of mankind not onlyhere but anywhere we may give a helping hand', because that is the Australian way — to keepour country safe and to do what we can to build a safer world. I thank the member forRobertson for her question. I reiterate to this House today, as I have on earlier days, that thesafety of the community is our first duty. It is the first duty of government, and Iacknowledge the commitment of this parliament — both sides of this parliament — toupholding that duty by supporting strong national security laws and strong national securityagencies. As this House knows, there are, regrettably, a growing number of Australians whoare fighting with terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq. There are 60 that we know of, who arefighting with these murderous groups. There are 100 that we know of, who are working withand facilitating the work of these murderous groups. There are people who are killing withoutcompunction in these countries, and the fear is that there would be at least a predisposition tokill without compunction should they return to Australia. That is why we need moreresources for our security agencies — hence the government's commitment of an additional$630 million. We need stronger laws to deal with people returning from terrorist activityoverseas, to boost agency powers, to strengthen anti-terrorist offences and to retain access totelecommunications metadata for crime-fighting purposes. This is why we need counter-

terrorism units at our international airports, such as those units that became operational latelast week. I can inform the House that yesterday the government signed an agreement fordata-sharing between the United States and Australia, which will make it easier to monitor

people on national security watch lists. I stress that data-sharing will take place in conformitywith both countries' privacy laws. I further stress that it is terrorism that is being targeted, notmembers of any particular community. It is extremism that is our enemy, not religion. I wishto stress to this House and to the Australian people that this government and this parliamentwill do everything that is reasonably necessary to keep our community safe. I suspect theLeader of the Opposition might know, while small travelling exhibitions will not be fundedover the next few years, a very large travelling exhibition is going to be funded. While$800,000 for small travelling exhibitions has not been paid, $10 million in seed funding for avery large travelling exhibition has been paid. This very large travelling exhibition will be atthe very heart of our Centenary of Anzac commemorations right around our country. There isscarcely a centre of any size around Australia that will not receive a visit from the Centenaryof Anzac travelling exhibition. In addition, my advice is that the War Memorial funding will

be up from some $40 million last year to $47 million this year, because the Australian WarMemorial is the keeper of a sacred flame. It is the place where we cherish the memory, theexample and the inspiration of all who have served our country, who have worn our country'suniform. In time of peace and war we honour them, we salute them and we will suitably fund

them over the Centenary of Anzac period. As I think I made it clear in answering the lastquestion, we have not cut support for the War Memorial. A series of small travelling



exhibitions are giving way to a much larger travelling exhibition that we have already fundedto the tune of $10 million and that will be the centrepiece of the Centenary of Anzaccommemorations. Surely, rather than complain, members opposite should be saying: 'Isn't itgood that the government is continuing the plans that were put together by the Centenary of

Anzac committee, which was put in place with the support of both sides of the parliament.'The travelling exhibition that was put together by the Centenary of Anzac committee with thesupport of both sides of the parliament is going ahead. It will very substantially enablemillions and millions of Australians right around our country, in centres big and small, toappropriately learn the history of our great — Yet again senior members of the opposition aresimply wrong. They are simply, simply wrong. Pensions go up every six months every year.They go up this year, they go up next year, they go up the year after that, they go up the yearafter that — they always go up and they always will go up every six months under thisgovernment. The opposition have, day in and day out, made claims about public hospitalfunding and school education funding that are simply, simply wrong. For the benefit ofmembers opposite let me repeat: this year public hospital spending goes up nine per cent — next year it goes up nine per cent, the year after that it goes up nine per cent and in the finalyear it goes up six per cent. For the benefit of members opposite, public hospital funding goesup nine per cent this year, nine per cent next year, nine per cent the year after that and six percent in the final year. School funding goes up eight per cent this year, eight per cent nextyear, eight per cent the year after that and six per cent in the final year. So every single yearschool funding goes up, public hospital funding goes up. The Leader of the Opposition likesto wave around our budget documents. I am pleased that he likes to wave around our budgetdocuments, because that is the closest he will ever get to fiscal responsibility — waving

around our budget documents! Because, I tell you what: you will never, ever get fiscalresponsibility from members opposite Remember in 2012 when the absent member for

Documents

Tony Abbott’s year as recorded in Hansard