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The member for North Sydney on indulgence.
Mr Speaker, when I first spoke in this chamber on 10 September, 1996, my very first words were, "I'm in Canberra today because I want to make a contribution to the future of Australia." I believe I have made a contribution to the future of this nation.
Hear, hear.
And I would like to begin by thanking the people of my electorate of North Sydney for giving me the honour, the opportunity and the privilege of representing them in this great chamber. We've walked a successful journey together and I appreciate the enormous effort many locals made in helping me along the way and I have prepared a report card to my constituents to let them know what I've done for the last 20 years and I seek leave to table that and make it available to my entire electorate.
We will assume leave is granted.
(LAUGHTER)
Mr Speaker, I am not so conceited as to believe that I could have taken a seat in this chamber without the fulsome support of my beloved Liberal Party. In particular, I want to thank Robert Orrell for his outstanding commitment to help me from the first day of my career. He and my Federal electorate conference have given me unqualified support through seven elections, their advocacy and wise counsel has sustained me through the darkest of days. Other Liberals that have gone on to bigger and better things have been great mates along the way including the Treasurer of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian, who is here today.
I am very proud of you all. Like all members of this place, my electorate office has coped admirably with the slings and arrows of local challenges and national expectations and I particularly want to thank Leona Sierakowski for her efforts. Of course,without volunteers our offices would never be able to meet the demand. I've had volunteers aged from 12 to 94. The 94-year-old was the most enthusiastic. In particular, there's barely a day that doesn't pass when I don't think about my second mum, the late Barb Elliott, with Erica Wylie, Sirenne and Nat Gould, Dick White, Bill Tafe and Pamela McLeland, I have been blessed with unwavering loyalty and my personal staff over 17.5 years on the frontbench have been outstanding, I admire them all. As Treasurer in particular, there was Grant Lovett, who's here today. He is one of the smart and say most selfless people I have ever met. Alistair Campbell, my "boy wonder", is over there. Many of my colleagues know who is. Angela Scirpo and Jacquie Parker have worked with me in a personal capacity for over 21 years as my PAs and they are honorary members of my family.
Former treasurer Joe Hockey delivers his valedictory speech at Parliament House on Wednesday October 21.Credit: Andrew Meares
I in particular want to thank all of you, the members of this great House and senators that have come along today. For the enormous effort you put in every single day to serve the Australian people.
Most people leave this parliament as a result of defeat, death, disillusionment or disgrace. We all have to work harder to leave with dignity. There are plenty of Australians who are critical of the politicians that they've never met. Our jobs have become much more challenging over the years with the advent of a need-it-now culture. That's been backed by the unending and often unreasonable demands of social media. Yes, a 24-hour news cycle has changed politics forever but I'm not sure the system has kept pace with that change. It is now far more difficult to examine and debate policy issues in a measured and considered way. Of course, one of the things that sustains us all in this place is the friendships we make and I have mostly met very honourable people in this place. To all of my colleagues, thank you for making me laugh and on a couple of occasions making me cry. You've stirred me to great anger but equally we've all shared many laughs. Above all else, you've made me very proud to be an Australian.
In particular, to my long-term Canberra flatmates Jamie Briggs, Brendan Nelson, who's here, and Bob Baldwin. They've seen more of me than many would care to see!
(LAUGHTER)
I can now confess that our happiest moments were sitting at home late at night eating Paddle Pops, watching Jerry Springer and admiring the latest Nickelback album, in my case alone. Ladies and gentlemen, if everyday Australians are to be their best then we, as community leaders, must be even better. That's why the revolving door in Australian politics must be jammed shut. If we don't show enough respect to each other then how can we hope that the electorate will respect us? The stability of the Howard government has been replaced with rapid and unpredictable changes of government on both sides. That turnover has dramatically weakened the policy hand of whoever occupies the government benches in this chamber. Most public servants are very good but some confused by the inconsistency of policy and the rapid change in the number of ministers. They will simply wait out a minister or a government when they are asked to implement very difficult decisions. In this Parliament, the Senate has the capacity to turn every policy proposal into a bit of a mess, thus undermining public confidence in the process of government.
Ultimately, this chamber can end up being responsible for its own undoing. We cannot make it normal to have four prime ministers and four treasurers in just four years. Leadership instability and ministerial turnover is the enemy of good public policy. It was a great honour to serve as a minister in a number of Howard government ministries. It was an even greater honour to serve as treasurer in the Abbott government. Tony Abbott, who sadly is overseas today, is one of the most selfless, hard-working and honourable people I have ever met. Yes, at times we have clashed, I confess, for more than 30 years we've argued our differences on everything from the republic to budget savings but I say directly to the Australian people that the real Tony Abbott is more of a good and decent man than you may know.
Prime Minister Turnbull embraces Treasurer Joe Hockey after his valedictory speech.Credit: Andrew Meares
Mr Speaker, the Abbott government was good at policy but struggled with politics. When faced with a choice, I would always prefer to do what was right than what was popular. On the economy and job creation, national security, border protection, taxation, climate change, immigration and federal-state relations I believe we got the policies right. However, I admit that we could have done more to win over third-party endorsements and to win over the Senate. And we could have done more to win over the Australian people. We tried to achieve a lot in a short period of time and whilst we were dealing with significant domestic policy challenges in health, welfare and education, we underestimated the massive time requirements associated with national security and chairing the G20.
Nothing illustrated this better than the 2014 budget where the government had more courage than the Parliament. As my good mate, the outstanding minister for finance, Senator Mathias Cormann will tell you, it is easier to spend money than to save money. Unfortunately, in modern politics it's far easier to demolish good policy proposals than to build and implement them. In this place, we all know that it will only be our family and very close friends who will push our wheelchairs around as we grow old. My closest mate, Andrew Burns, has been a tower of support for me, through thick and thin. My family, both the Hockeys that I was born into and the Babbages that I married into, have provided much love and unconditional support. My parents taught me values and for that I'm forever grateful. I hope I made them proud. My brothers who are here and my sister chauffeured that journey.
Former Treasurer Joe Hockey embraces his youngest son Iggy after his valedictory speech at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday 21 October 2015. Photo: Andrew MearesCredit: Andrew Meares
Mr Speaker, I grew up in a house full of integrity. There was no back door you could sneak out of with a temporary leave pass to be disloyal or dishonest for just a few days. Growing up in a small-business family, I learnt that the reward will come as a result of hard work and innovation. In particular, you should never, never, ever put your honesty or your integrity up for sale. I was taught by the Jesuits that it's better to serve than be served, to be a man for others, and it would have been impossible for me to serve in this place without the support of my wife, Melissa, and our children.
You know, last Monday was Iggy's sixth birthday and I've missed every single one of his birthdays. I won't miss another one. On the day I got married I officially joined the men that bat above their weight club and I was heavier then!
(LAUGHTER)
For more than 20 years Melissa has earned the majority of the income, paid the bills, paid the mortgage, given birth to our children and raised the family. I suppose she's probably asking why did I bother?
(LAUGHTER)
She ran a global business and suffered my long absences from home. My wife, like all of your wives, husbands, partners, well, my wife was a conscript to politics, I was the volunteer, yet her counsel has been wise and her loyalty has been fierce. She shares my value and well exceeds my capacities and I'm so pleased for our children, Xavier, Adelaide and Iggy, that their mother's DNA has been dominant over mine. It's been the greatest advantage for them in life to have a mother that is simply the most impressive person I ever met. Of course, the greatest achievement of a parent is to leave the next generation better off. The best measurement of political success is to look around you and see that you have made a positive difference (speaks Latin), meaning if you are looking for a monument, look around you.
Former treasurer Joe Hockey leaves the House after his valedictory speech with son Iggy and daughter Adelaide.Credit: Andrew Meares
If you are looking for a monument, look around you.
I have always subscribed to the view that no matter what, I want my successors to succeed. I want them to be better than me. I want the Turnbull government to succeed. I genuinely want you, Malcolm, and all of my colleagues to be very successful, to be the best government Australia has ever had because I owe that to my community and I owe that to my children. All my life I've subscribed to the principles of modern liberalism. In my maiden speech I defined them as protection of individual rights, defence of parliamentary democracy, a commitment to positive reform and equality of opportunity. It's true but it must be said, if you don't have core beliefs then you have no core. When you're asked to make very difficult decisions that have a huge impact on people's lives, without a guiding philosophy, you'll inevitably be indecisive, or worse, inconsistent.
In the darkest days of opposition I delivered a number of speeches that encapsulated my values. They focused on issues as diverse as faith, liberty, youth, opportunity, enterprise and, most controversial of all,entitlement. Finding the solutions to the social challenges and the financial threats of today, it can't be postponed to another time, it can't be left to another generation. Intergenerational theft and betrayal is not the Australian way.
Hear, hear.
Because we are running deficits and borrowing money, our lifestyle today is being paid for by our children and the generations beyond. I challenge all and sundry to name a speech in the last 20 years that has influenced the national debate in the way that the end of the age of entitlement speech did. I gave it in Opposition to a group of just 40 people in London, quite a few Tory MPs, no media were present. Yet the speech had an impact in a number of different countries from opposition it gave the Labor Party,
in government, a leave pass to start to wind back unfair welfare entitlements and when we came to government.
If we had not begun by ending the age of entitlement for business, there would have been no free trade agreements because the cost to the nation would have been too great. And they are outstanding agreements but they have been earned. We didn't write out billions of dollars of taxpayer-funded cheques to Toyota, Holden, Qantas or Coca-Cola Amatil, because we could not justify taking money off the local butcher or the local plumber or the local farmer so that a profitable big business could be even more profitable. And we began ending the age of entitlement in welfare by abolishing seven different payments and means testing three others, but there is still a long way to go.
It is unconscionable in 2015 to have non-means-tested welfare. How someone in the top 1 per cent of income earners can still qualify to receive welfare payments, free healthcare or free education is beyond me. When Iggy broke his leg last Christmas, the total cost for us was just $35 to cover the cost of a water-proof leg cast, otherwise everything was deemed free. But in truth it wasn't free. We borrow billions of dollars to pay for the health and hospital system and he and his generation are going to end up paying for it.
I see that as unsustainable. It's unfair and I will not be party to a generation that passes the buck. What we have to do is live within our means. We need co-payments in health, greater cost recovery in education, and universal means testing in welfare so that we have a sustainable and affordable social safety net for those most vulnerable in the community. Of course, the easiest way to achieve these reforms is for bipartisan agreement to be reached and I'm pleased that there is some agreement that is coming through now. It is possible because I think we all genuinely care for the elderly, the sick, the poor and the disadvantaged, but the only way for future generations to be able to pay for compassion is to end the age of entitlement.
Earlier this year I released an intergenerational report which detailed the challenges and opportunities Australia's ageing population brings.Living longer is something we should all celebrate but it requires careful economic planning. We must prepare for change and not squander it. Some experts have observed that babies born today could live to 150, meaning the challenge is even greater than we're currently planning for, so we've got to think ahead.
Consider this: unless we change the retirement age to 70 by 2035 and then index it to longevity, then by the middle of this century some Australians will be spending the majority of their lives in retirement. Both our superannuation system and our age pension entitlements must be calibrated for our changing demographics. We need a comprehensive and bipartisan review followed by action in this area and we need the infrastructure to support the change in demographics.
Over the last 20 years, mobile phones, coupled with better, more affordable broadband, have been a technology and lifestyle game changer. Over the next 20 years, battery technology, energy efficient technology and driverless cars will be revolutionary. If we build the infrastructure now, that facilitates the future, rather than languish with infrastructure that impedes the future, we will fail our children. I want to pay tribute - at some risk to my safety getting out of this building - I want to pay tribute to the previous Labor government for initiating the national broadband network. It wasn't fully paid for and the Prime Minister did a great job repairing it, but it was a very significant commitment.
The recycling fund and record infrastructure funding in the 2014 and 2015 budgets will make a big difference. The medical
research Future Fund is my single proudest achievement and it will dramatically change the lives of Australians and people around the world forever. But of course we need to pay our pay for this new social and economic infrastructure - for example, for 20 years I've joined with the member for Grayndler to fight for Badgerys Creek airport. At long last it seems to be happening but it
will only truly happen if it is fully funded. As Treasurer, I started work on this and had policy approval for a levy on traffic movements at Kingsford Smith airport that locked in the funding for a fair dinkum Badgerys Creek airport and fast-tracked transport services to Western Sydney to match. I sincerely hope it goes ahead.
And our soft infrastructure is crucial as well. The finance system inquiry I initiated ensures we have the best financial system in the world. I'm very proud of it and I'm very pleased that the Turnbull government has embraced it. The competition policy which I initiated - policy inquiry which I initiated in opposition and it had the support of the indefatigable Bruce Billson, member
for Duncan - is a positive new direction for commerce in Australia and we are the only government that had the courage to introduce the most significant changes to our foreign investment regime in 40 years.
I make no apologies for being the first treasurer to have the courage to properly enforce the divestment powers in the act. But ultimately, if you want to be more innovate and competitive, we must have an industrial relations system that's contemporary and a tax system that is fair. John Howard always loved giving me the easy jobs, so I was very enthusiastic when he gave me
responsibility for WorkChoices.
(LAUGHTER)
I relished the chance. Yes, WorkChoices did go a little too far and the fairness test was too late but I'm afraid Labor went too far the other way and we have a structural imbalance in our workplace relations system that does cost Australians jobs and better-paying jobs at that. The current structure of penalty rates is profit murder for small business, particularly if they're competing on a
digital platform. It also drives consumers to buy their goods offshore.
Mr Speaker, our taxation system needs reform for the 21st century economy, integrity is crucial for that and through our leadership of the G20 we hardened the resolve of major economies to address base erosion and profit shifting. In the 2015 budget I released legislation that goes after profit shifting by multinationals with what would now be regarded as the strongest laws in the world. I also managed to carry the states, no mean feat - sorry Gladys - on GST reform that ensures our offshore supplies charge the GST and are not disadvantaging Australian-based businesses.
Integrity is hugely important but the best way to get compliance is to have lower, simpler taxes. We abolished seven taxes
and fixed 96 tax problems but reform had to go further and through a comprehensive review of the tax system I endeavoured, and failed, to keep all options on the table. We must increase and over time broaden the GST, we must lower all income tax those people and companies are given more incentive to take risks and receive rewards. As a minimum, we should aim for a 40-20-20 rule: 40% top personal tax rate at a much higher threshold, 20% tax rate for most taxpayers, and 20% tax rate
for businesses. We should be wiser and more consistent on tax concessions to help pay for that, in particular tax concessions on superannuation should be carefully pared back. In that framework, negative gearing should be skewed towards new housing so that there is an incentive to add to the housing stock rather than an incentive to speculate on existing property and we should never ever forget small business.
The 2015 budget was the best ever budget for small business. And it was all about tax cuts, not more government spending. The $20,000 instant asset write-off was a game changer for Australian small business and the budget gave more farmers more choices; gave them an opportunity to have a go. It gave Northern Australia an opportunity to have a go and it gave families the chance, through better child care, to have a go. The 2015 budget aimed to fire up ambition for everyday Australians. On the back of that, we really welcome the Turnbull government's commitment to facilitate new innovation policy. It will be a key contribution to our economic future.
Mr Speaker, in this House over 100 years ago the former prime minister George Reid defined our Australian values better
than anyone I've heard, he said there is no country in the world where the people are less paralysed by reverence to the past. There are no people in the world who have fewer fears for the future. We should encourage Australians to be their best, to achieve what they can and to share the rewards as they choose. As a nation, as a parliament we must continue to be ambitious and bold. So I say to this House - as I say to my own children seated here in this chamber - it is far better to dream mighty things, to see glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to be amongst those poor souls who neither suffer much nor enjoy much because they live in the great twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.