Speech at Doltone House, Pyrmont - 9th March 2007Thank you Barry for your introduction. And thank you to all of you for coming along today. We appreciate your support. This is a difficult week for all Australians. The events in Indonesia have saddened us all. And our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. It’s great to be here with John Howard – unlike Morris Iemma John Howard is a man who’s not ashamed of his party, his party’s record or his team. The Prime Minister will speak in a few minutes time. And before I introduce him I would like to make few comments about the State election in just two weeks. I have launched a straight forward plan to fix NSW. A summary of this plan is on your table. At this election there is clear choice – reward Labor for twelve years of failed infrastructure, failed services and failed management. Or vote to fix NSW. If Labor is re-elected on March 24, NOTHING will change – and that is NOT good news for NSW. It’s NOT good news for the 20% of patients waiting more than 8 hours for emergency treatment in one of our hospitals, often parents with their children or the mentally ill. It’s NOT good news for children sitting in run down classrooms without air conditioning. And it’s NOT good news for families and small business who are paying too much tax – especially land tax and payroll tax. I have had a lot to say about these issues, and will say more as the campaign continues, but in the short time I have today I want to talk about the election campaign itself. Morris Iemma is running a dishonest campaign, and is becoming increasingly cocky by the day. Just imagine what Labor will be like if they win this election – and even worse win easily. Rather than campaigning on Labor’s record in Government. Morris Iemma is seeking to buy this election by running a dishonest multi million dollar advertising campaign, blanketing TVs and radios across the state. Morris Iemma thinks he can make you forget Labor’s 12 years of disasters. Night after night, Morris Iemma, continues to his dishonest and negative attacks, lying about our policies to fix NSW and attacking my Navy and business experience. Morris Iemma is seeking to scare people back into the arms of the Labor Party, the same Labor Party that has abused the people of NSW for 12 years. What else would you expect from someone who learned his politics from Graham Richardson … ... ‘whatever it takes’, isn’t that his mantra? Morris Iemma has had a lot to say about risk, and he has had a lot of negative and dishonest things to say about me. I want to talk about those things today. Morris Iemma believes it’s a risk to elect someone in NSW who has experience outside of politics. Of course he would – he has had NO experience outside of politics. Morris Iemma and Labor have put up a sign at this election – People with real life experience NEED NOT APPLY. Small Business Owners NEED NOT APPLY Nurses and police NEED NOT APPLY Farmers NEED NOT APPLY People who have served in the Army and Navy NEED NOT APPLY These are the candidates you will see from the Liberal and National Parties at this election. But real life experience is exactly what this state needs. We need real people to fix real problems, NOT political hacks from Sussex Street trained by Graham Richardson. Political hacks know how to spin a problem away. But they don’t know how to fix a problem. And that is what we have seen from the Carr-Iemma Labor Government for twelve years. Morris Iemma believes all wisdom in NSW resides at Labor Party and Union Headquarters in Sussex Street, he would, because they are the ones who put him in his job and made him Premier. And they are the ones who are pulling his strings now – and they are the ones who will be pulling his strings if he is re-elected on March 24 - so he will re-appoint Michael Costa, Joe Tripodi and Frank Sartor. For the past six months, Morris Iemma and the Labor Party have attacked my record in the Navy and in business. Yet today, Morris Iemma has the front to complain about negative ads. How cocky can you get? Unlike Morris Iemma, I actually have a record in the Navy and in business, and it’s a good one. I am proud to have served my country in the Navy. This is where I learned all about leadership. When you are ‘on watch’ on the bridge of a destroyer, hundreds of nautical miles out in the Pacific Ocean, in the middle of the night with hundreds of people asleep below deck – that is when you learn what responsibility is all about. I am also proud to have worked in business. Whether it has been small business start ups, working with stock and station businesses in a drought, or getting new industries like prawn hatcheries established that are now a multimillion dollar a year industry in this state. This is where I learned about the challenges business face and how they drive our economy and deliver for our community. Business is tough. It doesn’t always go
your own way. Ask John Symond or the
many other great business successes in this state who have toughed it out
through difficult times and now make major contributions to our economy and
jobs. Morris Iemma would not have a clue about the difficulties of running a business, he’s never run one. The only jobs Morris Iemma talks about are those he wants to protect in the backroom of his own bloated Sydney bureaucracy. But it is the jobs in frontline services of police, nurses and teachers and in the private sector that I want to see created. These are the jobs that will come from a stronger economy in NSW. .. by getting our budget out of deficit, .. by reducing the burden of taxation and .. by restoring public confidence in major infrastructure projects – confidence that has been shattered by Labor’s bungling, and has stained our state’s economic reputation. And for the past 13 years I am proud to have served my community in Parliament. This is where I have learnt about listening and responding to community needs and have championed causes such as lowering the tax burden, supporting police and getting funding through to frontline services that are closest to community need. For ten years, in my various portfolios – planning, police, treasury - I have been visiting residents in Macquarie Fields to listen to their concerns about what can be done to support their own efforts to create a better way of life for them and their families. And for ten years, the story has been the same - nothing has changed. Labor cannot be rewarded at this election for what they have done to families and young people in Macqaurie Fields and how they’ve ignored this community. It is a disgrace. Morris Iemma has only ever known politics. He learnt his craft from Graham Richardson and Bob Carr. As Nick Greiner often says about Labor – they’re great at politics but lousy at Government. Unlike Morris Iemma – I am not a career politician. After twelve years, I believe NSW has had enough of Labor’s grubby politics. I believe NSW now wants a team that will come in and fix the problems in this state. That’s why I’m proud of my team – all of them. But Morris Iemma is not proud of his team. He has hidden them away. But if he is re-elected, he will re-appoint them all to continue to make the decisions that will affect the future of people, families and business in this state. If he won’t talk about them, then I will. And so starting tonight this is what we’ll do – here’s a short preview. [RUN TVC] As the election draws closer, Morris Iemma and Labor are getting cockier by the day. Just imagine how cocky they will be if they’re rewarded at this election. It takes more than one person to run a Government. John Howard understands this. And it will certainly take more than one person to fix NSW. Someone who knows how to stay in touch and listen to the community is our Prime Minister John Howard. John Howard is someone who always campaigns on his record and is always proud to lead a strong team. Together with Peter Costello he has presided over an economy that has enabled business and families in this country to prosper. Ladies and gentleman, the Prime Minister.
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