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Mr MIKE BAIRD (Manly) [12.40 p.m.]: It is incredible timing for the Government to move a motion about jobs stimulus programs. I imagine that when the member for Bathurst rose this morning and was enjoying his Vegemite on toast, he was very excited about the motion and about being able to proclaim all the wonders of jobs, employment and economic correction that the State has achieved. Unfortunately, at 11.31 this morning he might have been a little disappointed to discover that the State's employment rate again has gone backwards. In fact, the highest increase in unemployment of any government in Australia is attributed to New South Wales. New South Wales has the highest rate of unemployment of any mainland State. Let us forget the rhetoric and examine the statistics that have been released today.
The statistics I will cite do not represent a one-off increase in unemployment. To be fair, it is not right to take a one-off statistic and say that this is cogent evidence of a long-term trend. It is not. The better approach is to examine the long-term trends to arrive at an informed conclusion about the success of a government's policies. The current Labor Government should feel nothing but shame. In 54 of the past 55 months, the State's unemployment rate has been higher than the national average. That is the truth. I will deal with that in greater detail later. The member for Bathurst is very eager to talk about merchant bankers. I think we all remember that he was an accountant for a mining company.
Mr Gerard Martin: I was not.
Mr MIKE BAIRD: He was not an accountant?
Mr Gerard Martin: I was, but I worked as a human resources and industrial relations officer.
Mr MIKE BAIRD: So he was an accountant. The member for Bathurst has just admitted that he was an accountant. As we all know, accountants were chiefly responsible for the financial engineering that resulted in the Enron financial disaster. The member for Bathurst is part of a profession whose financial engineering brought about outcomes such as Enron, so the member for Bathurst is personally responsible for what happened to Enron! I really think he should take a good hard look at his career.
Mr Gerard Martin: Ha, ha.
Mr MIKE BAIRD: That is the type of argument he runs. Notwithstanding the Enron experience of the member for Bathurst, I will move on. The member for Bathurst moving a motion about the Federal Government's economic stimulus policy and the State Government's response to it is beyond belief. I will begin my analysis by examining the performance of the Federal Government. We are in the middle of a Federal budget that was released on Tuesday. It was partly a boring, tradesman-like budget, but at the heart of it is a tax grab that is being questioned not only by stakeholders in the mining industry but generally throughout the world. It is recognised as evidence not only that the Federal Labor Government is not taking economic management seriously but also that it could be jeopardising the future prosperity of Australia.
I do not intend to cite the opinions of a list of political identities to support my analysis. Instead I will quote the Wall Street Journal. The member for Bathurst moved the motion because he was very happy to talk about jobs. The member for Bathurst would know the Wall Street Journal very well from his accountant days at Enron. I would be interested to know the feedback the member for Bathurst is receiving from his constituency, especially the mining interests in his electorate and farther afield in the Hunter region. The Wall Street Journal has stated in relation to the mining tax grab:
This economic thinking runs counter to everything that made Australia rich over the last three decades: namely, the embrace of competition ... which rewards high risk with high returns. Setting up a mining company is not akin to opening a restaurant. Companies invest billions of dollars in exploration, build infrastructure to bring their products to a port, and then have to compete in a global marketplace and deal with volatile prices for their goods. As Rio Tinto recently discovered, the political risks of selling to countries like China are high, too. Mr Kerry Hickey: Point of order: I ask for the member for Manly to be directed to confine his remarks to the motion. What he is saying has nothing to do with the motion. The motion is about job stimulus programs to offset the financial crisis.
ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! I do not uphold the point of order. The topic of the motion is wide ranging.
Mr MIKE BAIRD: The article goes on to state:
Given that record, it's hard to have faith that the [Rudd Government's] announcement is about "fairness" as much as it's about plugging fiscal holes that the government itself created. It doesn't hurt to whip up populist sentiment against big corporations in an election year, either. I do not think anyone would argue against paying a fair share of taxes; that is not questionable. Most people think that mining companies should. Big corporations must pay their taxes. But the issue here is: How competitive is our industry going to be on a global basis? In New South Wales, what will be the impact on jobs, future employment and future investment as a result of the tax, especially on workers in the Bathurst electorate? I would be interested to hear the comments of the member for Bathurst in relation to the mining tax.
Mr David Harris: They are happy with their superannuation.
Mr MIKE BAIRD: Members opposite cannot deny that the Federal Government's mining tax and its impact on jobs will become evident in the next few years, should it win the next Federal election and should the mining tax be imposed. There is real concern that the mining tax will cut jobs and cut investment in this nation, and the Federal Government will be held accountable for that. So much for the Federal Government: I turn now to discuss the economic management of the State Government.
We all have views on the State Labor Government, but it is pretty clear what CommSec thinks of the Government's economic performance. There are eight key indicators that CommSec examines: economic growth, retail spending, equipment investment, unemployment or jobs, construction work, population growth, housing finance and dwelling commencements. CommSec's comment is that New South Wales continues to bring up the rear of the States and Territories in economic rankings. In terms of economic growth, CommSec states, "NSW still occupies the bottom ranking of the economic performance table."
In relation to jobs, CommSec states that New South Wales is equal worst in the country and is above the New South Wales decade average of 5.4 per cent unemployment. Today's figures indicate that unemployment has increased to 5.8 per cent. In other words, 10,000 people in this State lost their jobs in the past month alone. For the member for Bathurst to move a motion and debate employment in the face of those statistics is almost beyond belief. CommSec states in relation to the commencement of dwellings:
NSW remains [again] at the other end of the leader-board. Dwelling starts are almost 24 per cent below decade averages. In relation to its view of the implications and outlook of the State's economy, CommSec states:
NSW is anchored firmly at the bottom of the table and there is a fair gap to bridge with seventh position ... [a key] risk is that workers will be drawn away to the resource states. As we move forward, I think that everyone will understand that the New South Wales Government has failed. It has failed in economic performance in terms of growth, unemployment and job creation, which is what the motion is supposed to be about. Recently the Premier stated on the ABC News, "New South Wales is back where it should be, leading the nation's economic recovery."
Mr Kerry Hickey: It took you seven minutes to get to that.
Mr MIKE BAIRD: Yeah, yeah.
ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! The member for Manly has the call. He does not need the encouragement or assistance of the member for Cessnock.
Mr MIKE BAIRD: Just quietly, I do not think the Premier will be repeating those comments today. The Premier went on to state:
I am proud to say that New South Wales is leading the nation's recovery from the global economic downturn. How will that sit with unemployment increasing from 5.4 per cent to 5.8 per cent today?
Mr Anthony Roberts: How much would the increase have been if the mining tax had been implemented earlier?
Mr MIKE BAIRD: I will tell you how much the increase would be. The trend is evident. Government members cannot argue against the trend. The Government has failed. It has failed jobs, investment and the economy. If Government members are looking for a way forward—and I am happy to oblige—they really should be supporting the Opposition's Jobs Action Plan.
ACTING-SPEAKER (Mr Wayne Merton): Order! The member for Manly has the call. He will be heard in silence. He extended that courtesy to the member for Bathurst.
Mr MIKE BAIRD: The Opposition's Jobs Action Plan is a very good plan. It is detailed and supported by economic modelling, and it is open to the Government to adopt it. If the Government supports the next 100,000 jobs that are created being given a payroll tax rebate—and that is the Coalition's commitment, should we win the election next March—in essence most jobs will be payroll tax free. The proposal has been benchmarked at the average rate. For the year in which that rebate is provided, there will be a huge incentive for industry to employ. The way to start the State's economic turnaround is to get off the back of businesses and support small, medium and large businesses. The Government should say to business, "Do you know what? If you go out and back yourselves and if you put a job on, for this year we will give you a rebate that will take away payroll tax." That sort of approach works. This plan is built on nothing but economic facts.
Modelling suggests that, should a Labor Government adopt our plan, the unemployment rate would drop by 0.3 per cent. So rather than having an unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent today, the rate would be back at 5.5 per cent, which is much more in tune with the national average. That is what the Labor Government should do. Not only do we endorse the plan; it is a positive, practical plan that should be endorsed by a Labor Government. Stephen Halmarick, the head of Investment Markets Research and a respected economist in the city, said that this is:
a very positive initiative designed to provide a targeted boost to job creation that should help ensure that NSW is able to increase jobs in an expected growing national economy.
On Monday I visited Moorebank, where I met with Michael Simonetta, the Chief Executive Officer of Perfection Fresh, which also has the fantastic food lovers' market at Moorebank. He supports the plan. He said that if the plan were in place he would be able to take on employees immediately. That is one way the Government could start to grow the economy. The last endorsement I am happy to put on the table is that of the member for Kiama, who is not in the Chamber. It was terrific to see this in his local paper. He told the Kiama Independent:
I agree that a payroll tax rebate would create more jobs.
The member for Kiama has not done many sensible things, but he endorsed our Jobs Action Plan. Our number one referee is the member for Kiama. The Labor Government needs to support businesses, get jobs back and stop giving us spin. [Time expired.]
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