THE federal election will be a choice between the coalition's positive plans for the future and more of the same under Labor, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.
"At last the choice is yours, it's not the choice of the caucus, it's not the choice of the faceless men, it's your choice," Mr Abbott told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.
"And the choice couldn't be clearer."
Mr Abbott said he and his coalition team were determined to build a "better Australia".
"We will build a stronger economy, so that everyone can get ahead," he said.
"We will scrap the carbon tax, we will get the budget back under control, we build the infrastructure of the future, and we will stop the boats."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had earlier asked the Australian people who did they trust.
Mr Abbott said the real question was: "Who is more fair dinkum? Who do they see as more fair dinkum?"
Mr Abbott said the coalition had delivered on border protection in the past and would do so again.
Unlike Labor, the coalition won't "simply rely on another country doing the job for us"- a reference to the government's plan to send asylum seeker boat arrivals to Papua New Guinea and Nauru for processing and settlement.
"Yes, we'll work with our friends and neighbours," Mr Abbott said.
"No one is more committed to the welfare of the Australian people than the Australian government."
The opposition leader said he was "happy to place myself in the judgment of the Australian people".
The coalition offered stability and consistency with an unchanged team for the past three years, compared to a Labor line-up that had "been wracked with division and dysfunction".
Labor offered weekly policy shifts and budget "spendathons".
"It's really about who is more fair dinkum. Who can you rely on to build a better future?" Mr Abbott said.
He pledged to provide a stronger economy by getting taxes down - including a "modest" company tax cut "as soon as it is responsible" - and by reducing business red tape by $1 billion a year.
"So if we get taxes down, if we get regulation down, then we can get productivity up," he said.
Mr Abbott said the coalition would give Australians more control over the running of hospitals and schools.
"One thing I'm determined to do is build a country where no one ever feels like a stranger," he added.
"To build a country where the bonds of solidarity, bonds of community are stronger and stronger."
He accused Labor of trying to "turn Australian against Australian".
Mr Abbott referred to the first piece of legislation parliament passed upon Mr Rudd's return to the top job - the laws cracking down on 457 visas for temporary foreign workers.
He said Labor had tried to demonise people coming to Australia to work legally and pay taxes.
"You'll never find this kind of divisiveness from me," Mr Abbott said.
Mr Abbott asked voters if they really wanted another three years of Labor, when the country's best years were still to come if opportunities were seized.
"I know we are a great country, I know we are a great people," he said.
"You know that too.
"There's almost nothing wrong with our country that wouldn't be improved by a change of government."
He also swore he'd never form a minority government by doing deals with minor parties and independents.
Mr Abbott said Labor's economic statement showed the budget balance had been deteriorating by $3 billion a week since May, "gross debt" was "skyrocketing" toward $400 billion, and the number of unemployment was marching towards 800,000.
"What's Mr Rudd's solution to this? Three new taxes," Mr Abbott said.
"The last way to build a strong economy is to clobber people with taxes."
If someone had a company car, put savings in the bank, or lit up a cigarette, "there's a tax on you."
"If this is what the government does before an election, just think what it will be like after an election," he said.
Mr Abbott dismissed Mr Rudd's claim that Australia's economic outlook was stable, pointing to the economic update released on Friday that showed the budget position "deteriorating to the tune of $3 billion a week"
"This was a massive admission of failure," Mr Abbott said.
"If you can't manage the budget, you can't run the country."
Mr Abbott re-committed a coalition government to reducing the size of the commonwealth public service, which he said has grown by 20,000 since Labor took power in 2007.
He said voters have not seen a better quality of government services in that time.
"I don't think the people want big government, I think you want strong government, you want effective government, you want government that gets things done not government that's all talk and no action," Mr Abbott said.
Mr Abbott rejected suggestions the coalition was to blame for the referendum - to recognise local governments in the constitution - not going ahead.
He said it was a good call the referendum has been put on the back burner.
"We were happy to lend bipartisan support so long as the referendum process was handled properly," he said.
"This government mishandled it from start to finish."
He said the funding of both cases was "grotesquely one-sided."
"The government hadn't done the spade work with the state governments to ensure they were supportive of the change," Mr Abbott said.
"I've always said if you're not sure vote no."
Asked why the coalition had not released more details about the costings of its policies to date, Mr Abbott promised, "The public will know exactly what they will get from us".
"They will know exactly how much it will cost. They will know exactly how it is going to be funded," he said.
"Because what I want to do is to reestablish the bonds of trust that should exist between a government and a people, between a prime minister and citizens, and sadly those bonds of trust have been repeatedly broken by the current government."
Mr Abbott said he was confident there would be full scrutiny during the campaign.
He also said he would be happy to debate Mr Rudd during the campaign and the Liberal party had already written to the ALP about a series of debates.
But he did not immediately agree to Mr Rudd's call to have to first debate on Monday night.
The final few days of the election campaign coincide with the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders Summit in Russia on September 5 and 6.
Mr Abbott said it was up to Mr Rudd how Australia was represented at the G20.
"I think it is very important that we make the most of our position in the world," Mr Abbott said.
"I think Australia should never under estimate its heft in the world."
He said Australia was the world's 12th largest economy, it had a significant military power and was a country of global reach.
"We should be ambitious for what we can achieve as a global country, as a global power, but in the end it's up to Mr Rudd how we are represented at the G20."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Australians finally get a choice: Abbott
Dengan url
http://flasdiskvirus.blogspot.com/2013/08/australians-finally-get-choice-abbott.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Australians finally get a choice: Abbott
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Australians finally get a choice: Abbott
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar