Gavan O'Connor (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries) Share this | Hansard source

Let me say right from the outset that I am disappointed that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has not graced the chamber with his presence. That is no disrespect to the parliamentary secretary. I would have thought that, with an expenditure of this amount, the minister would have at least shown the parliament the courtesy of turning up to these proceedings.

Many Australian families are under real financial pressure. They have recently endured several rises in interest rates, courtesy of the Howard government, which have simply meant significant increases to their payments on their farm loans, credit cards and personal loans. They have had to bear the direct and indirect costs of petrol price rises on their family budgets. Like other families, they have had to bear increased child-care costs and increased private health insurance premiums. Like other households, they have had to get by while this Treasurer and government have had their hands deep in their pockets for a long time. Now, of course, the wives of farmers—and indeed some farmers themselves—who are working off-farm to keep their farms going will suffer at the hands of the government’s industrial relations changes. These are broad areas of economic and industrial policy that matters in this budget attempt to address at various stages of programs.

The opposition has mounted some broad criticisms of this. There is no plan for skilling the sector in this budget. There is no coherent infrastructure plan, and there is no new wave of innovation and R&B development that is going to propel the productivity improvements that the sector will need in coming decades to compete with emerging competitors. The Howard government has been fond of talking big in its budgets but actually delivering very little, and there have been significant underspends in many of the programs. This is typical of this government. It will go to the rural sector saying, ‘Yes, we’re going to spend $850 million a year,’ and then, when we go back through estimates, time and time again there are significant underspends. Of the $7.8 million allocated in last year’s budget for the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality, only $1.9 million was spent. Of the $42.5 million allocated to the Farm Help program, only $11.2 million was spent. Now, the government spends its advertising dollars telling the rural sector how good it is in allocating moneys in these programs, yet we have significant underspends. Of the $2 million allocated to the HomeGrown campaign, only $540,000 was spent. Of the $4.7 million allocated last year for recreational fishing community grants, only $2 million was actually spent. There are significant underspends in around 20 items from last year’s budget.

This government is simply not accountable to this parliament, to farm communities and to the Australian taxpayer. It is arrogant, incompetent and unaccountable. I give an example. In table 2.5 on page 29 of the PBS, in the industry development section, there is a $10 million allocation for 2006-07 for ‘other decisions yet to be announced’. That is what the government says. During recent Senate estimates hearings, officials with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry were asked if a line such as this had ever appeared in previous portfolio budget statements. The chief operations officer, Mr Allan Gaukroger, gave a clear, one-word answer to this important question. He said, ‘No.’ This makes a mockery of the letter from the agriculture minister that appears at the front of the PBS statement:

I present these statements by virtue of my responsibility for accountability to the Parliament and, through it, the public.

The users guide on page 7 of the PBS elaborates on this and says:

The purpose of the 2006-07 Portfolio Budget Statements (PB Statements) is to inform Senators and Members of Parliament of the proposed allocation of resources to Government outcomes by agencies within the portfolio.

Here is a significant item of taxpayers’ money, farmers’ money, and the government cannot answer—or would not answer in the Senate estimates process—what this money has been allocated for in the budget. I certainly hope the parliamentary secretary has an answer, because we put it to the government in Senate estimates and they could not come up with any sort of explanation as to this line item in the budget and how it will be expended. This is not good enough. It is not accountable government. I ask the parliamentary secretary again: will she clarify for this parliament what that line item of $10 million is going to be used for? (Time expired)

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