Page 3687 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 21 November 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
These were two great men in the life of Marist College, Pearce, and indeed two great men in my life. They were individuals who really did challenge you to lift yourself, whether it be academically, socially, on the sporting field or charitably. These two individuals always led by the example that they set and they will be sorely missed by the community and they will be sorely missed by me.
Greens—election policies
MR MULCAHY (Molonglo) (6.16): We are all very cognisant of the federal election that will occur this weekend and the importance of this election in shaping the future of Australia. Quite a lot has been said in the campaign about the merits and problems of the major parties, but another issue that has arisen, virtually unchallenged, is the proposition by the Greens that they are an appropriate third party to control the balance of power. This assertion has been common in Greens party advertising on television and in other material and I have had their supporters raising this issue at shopping centres, gloating over the power they are going to control in the federal parliament after this weekend.
It is an assertion that I feel obligated to challenge because I believe it would be a serious mistake for the voters to believe that the Greens are a worthy party to hold any power in the Australian parliament. People of Canberra should not believe that the Greens are a warm and fuzzy third party alternative. They should not believe that a minority government with a Greens party balance of power is a safe outcome. Indeed, having the balance of power held by the Greens would likely be a fate far worse than having a majority government by either major party. The Greens having this balance of power is, as far as I am concerned, a far bigger threat than even a Labor government getting elected federally.
The Greens would like to present themselves as a warm and caring party, but in reality they are an organisation that can barely contain or disguise their core socialist authoritarian beliefs. I emphasise that—authoritarian beliefs—because, much as they claim to be these peaceful loving people who simply concern themselves with the environment, they show no tolerance of those who do not subscribe to their agenda. The Greens economic policy is a blueprint for big government and the destruction of private initiative. It is built on long-discredited economic policies that are known to be destructive to personal initiative and economic performance.
It was significant today to hear the Chief Minister again in the course of a week tear strips off the Greens leader for their lack of preparedness on policy and the manner in which they come into this place and cast aspersions on all and sundry. In their economic policy—and that is an important thing for people to focus on—the Greens promised to introduce capital gains tax on the family home. They want to introduce death taxes and they want to increase the rates of tax on Australian companies. Their polices are the logical application of their ideological belief in larger and larger government and their innate hatred of private enterprise and wealth.
Observe that, despite their supposedly kind and gentle facade, these measures are aimed mainly at penalising families. Capital gains tax on the family home would
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .