00:00Now, today I'm here to announce the first part of the Coalition's Australian Values
00:05Migration Plan and to talk about the upcoming budget and some of the economic issues we
00:12face there.
00:13But before I turn to that, it's important to set some context, because this goes to
00:18the heart of protecting our way of life and restoring our standard of living that Australians
00:24have worked so hard to build over such a long period of time.
00:27I want to make five observations about recent decades which are shaping our thinking about
00:33the key issues our country faces.
00:36I make these observations not to criticise past governments of either colour, including
00:41past coalition governments to which I belong.
00:45After all, governments are a product of their times.
00:48They act and respond to the circumstances in front of them.
00:52And Australian governments of recent decades all made policies for a very different world,
00:58indeed a more benign world than we face today.
01:01And in the main, they delivered prosperity for Australians.
01:05Of course, they didn't get everything right.
01:07And the frustration of many Australians today about some past decisions is both understandable
01:14and reasonable.
01:16To paraphrase a Danish philosopher, we live forwards, but we understand backwards.
01:21So I make these observations with humility, with the wisdom afforded by hindsight, of course,
01:27and with a view to our present predicaments, with a resolve to course correct.
01:33Observation one.
01:34Past governments welcomed the benefits of globalisation, but they were less attuned to the risks.
01:43Today's fuel crisis reinforces the fragility of global supply chains and the folly of allowing
01:50our sovereign industries to be hollowed out where those industries are of strategic importance.
01:57The obvious example is liquid fuels.
01:59And that's why, when I was Energy Minister, we established a minimum stockholding obligation
02:04and saved the last two refineries from closing.
02:07Perhaps we should never have got to that point, but that's what we did achieve at the end of
02:12the last government.
02:14Observation two.
02:16Past governments rested comfortably behind the security conferred by American predominance.
02:24Today, in a different age where events are being shaped much more by the sword and the
02:28shield, in a time when we can't just free ride off the generosity of our friends, Australia
02:35finds itself poorly equipped to defend and deter.
02:40Observation three.
02:42Past governments blindly repeated mantras about Australia being the world's most successful
02:48multicultural society and diversity being our strength.
02:51faith.
02:52Such doctrines saw us open our borders to people who, far from wanting to join and contribute
02:57to Australia, have wanted to take from Australia and even change Australia to suit them.
03:05Observation four.
03:07Past governments moved away from energy pragmatism and embraced energy ideology.
03:14Consequently, energy prices have surged and costs across the economy have skyrocketed.
03:20Labor's net zero obsession is one of the most economically destructive ideas foisted upon the Australian
03:26people, and that is why we have rejected it.
03:30Observation five.
03:32The pandemic required a national response, yet National Cabinet became a means for some
03:38state governments to normalise heavy-handed intervention.
03:42Moreover, with many Australians reliant on government in that crisis, we inadvertently animated a belief
03:49that bigger government is the solution to every problem.
03:54is the question of financial aid?
03:56The point found that we have, was a national benefit, which is a national benefit of the society
03:58neo-human, which is not a war, is not a mandate.
03:58The person who has become a leader, is not a new leader, is not a father, the leader.
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