Page 2346 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 16 September 1992
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Let us look at this allegation that we have contempt for the unemployed. Mr Berry has made much over recent months of trying to explain the Fightback program. Let us look at the Fightback program. What does it attempt to do? The Fightback program attempts to do what the Labor Government has screwed up for the last 10 years.
Mr Connolly: There is a good article about Fightback in this week's Bulletin.
MR KAINE: There is a good article I have here, too, and it is a good explanation of it. What does the Fightback program aim to do? It aims to deal with the state of the economy that the Labor Government has created over the last 10 years. Living standards have been seriously eroded. Can anybody deny that? Nearly one million Australians are unemployed. Can anybody deny that? Stand up and say that that is not true. Thirty per cent of young Australians are unemployed. Can you deny that? We have a massive foreign debt. Can you deny that? Incentive has been stifled by a heavy tax burden on individuals and business. Can you deny that? That applies even in the ACT. Have a look at yesterday's budget. There are falling education standards and quality of training. Labor obviously believe that, because whenever you talk about unemployment they say, "More training. More positions in TAFE and schools is the solution to unemployment". There is an inefficient national infrastructure.
That is the result of 10 years of Labor government. The Fightback program attempts to attack that. Mr Berry gets up and he talks about the 15 per cent GST. The coalition's Fightback program has 20 major points to it.
Mr Berry: We are distancing ourselves from the GST now?
MR KAINE: I will get to that in a minute. There is a total program covering 20 different points. I will not run through them all, because some of these people over here would not understand the words in most of them; but there is a commitment to labour market reform to achieve more productive and rewarding workplaces.
Mr Connolly: Yes, bashing unions.
MR KAINE: Boy, they are paranoid, this lot. You talk about labour market reform and they say that it is union bashing. Another element of the 20-point plan is lower, fairer taxes across the board, including a 30 per cent reduction in personal income tax; abolition of wholesale sales taxes; reductions in capital gains tax; abolition of superannuation lump sum taxes; abolition of payroll tax; abolition of petroleum product excises; and a reduction in taxes on business, including import competing business, and on exports.
Mr Berry: Madam Speaker, I raise a point of order. If it were related to the York Park matter, this would be entirely relevant. Reading out the propaganda that has been printed by the Liberal Party is probably testing the relevance rule.
Ms Follett: Straying from relevance.
Mr Berry: It strays from the relevance rule. If you want to talk about Fightback, we are happy to do it.
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