Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

The 2007-08 budget continues to demonstrate the strength of this government’s sound economic management. After such an unprecedented period of growth and stability, I think it is all too easy to believe that the good times will keep on rolling, that the economy is a self-righting ship that will keep sailing through the night no matter who is at the helm. The truth is very different. The Australian economy is now worth more than $1.1 trillion, and this year’s budget is worth some $231 billion.

Australia has outperformed almost every other industrialised economy. The results of this are far more significant than just having a decent balance sheet, being an attractive place for foreign companies to invest in or having a AAA rating from Moody’s. Having a secure and stable economy means that the government can invest back into the community through tax cuts that benefit all Australians, through investment in skills, trades and higher education and through road funding and other infrastructure projects. It means that we can look after our senior Australians with increases to the senior Australians tax offset and with a continuation of the utilities payment, which recognises the needs of self-funded retirees when state governments are ignoring them.

It means that the government can continue to make up the shortfall of funding in our hospitals and schools—areas that are the responsibility of state governments. It means that the government can put money towards environmental projects that will actually help fight the challenge of climate change rather than produce empty promises like ratifying a UN agreement that has already been shown to be failing and promising to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in two generations time, as the opposition has suggested.

It also means that we can fund programs like the Volunteer Small Equipment Grants program. This grants scheme has been a great success in the electorate of Sturt. In the last financial year 46 local clubs and community groups have received over $91,000 in funding from the Volunteer Small Equipment Grants scheme for a range of equipment. The equipment ranges from something as simple as a collection of storage containers for the Glenunga Croquet Club to a vacuum cleaner for the Hectorville Sports Club or a PA system for the Florey Reconciliation Task Force. It ranges from a set of GPS units for the Athelstone Country Fire Service brigade—and I note that the Campbelltown Rotary Club very generously matched the amount of money put in by the federal government—to a barbecue and gardening equipment for the Payneham Cricket Club or a printer and telephone for Grandparents for Grandchildren. These are essential items that make the running of these organisations that little bit easier. While the individual dollar amounts for these grants might be small, as a member of many community groups I know how hard it is to find the money to purchase that item that the club often really needs.

I was also pleased to see additional funding for skills training, apprenticeships and universities. The $5 billion Higher Education Endowment Fund for capital works and research means that, for the first time, our universities can be sure of an income specifically for those two areas. I note that the Treasurer has already said that he would like to add a similar amount to the fund next year, and I applaud this investment.

It is worth remembering, though, that only about 30 per cent of school leavers will go on to university. The government recognises that the large number of apprentices also deserve help. So I welcome the new Skills for the Future package that targets apprentices. The tax exempt payment of $1,000 to those apprentices in areas of skills shortages, the $500 voucher to help cover the cost of course fees and the continuation of the successful Tools For Your Trade Program are all examples of where the government is getting on with the job.

Of course, we all know that before a young person can consider their career after school they need the right foundation at school. Last year, schools in the electorate of Sturt received over $3.4 million for 43 projects under the Investing in Our Schools Program. There has been a $2.75 million investment in the Lynden Park Primary School—a school practically forgotten by the South Australian state Labor government. There has been $287,334 invested in whole-of-school intervention strategies at the Open Access College in Marden, the Magill Youth Training Facility and the Gilles Plains Primary School to help with school based projects such as developing a homework centre for Indigenous students, developing an e-learning homework centre and helping students learn effective studying techniques. In addition, three schools in my electorate have shared in $33,500 of funding from the Success for Boys Program, which ensures that boys have their education needs met. These are real programs that are producing real results in our schools. I recently opened the new shadecloth shelter at the Windsor Gardens Vocational College, which had been funded through an Investing in Our Schools grant. This improvement had been driven by the students. They had approached the school’s governing council for an enhancement that they wanted. On the same day, I also opened the new veranda at St Joseph’s School at Payneham.

These are the sorts of grassroots projects that the government is funding. But we can always do better, and that is why in this budget there is funding for tuition vouchers of $700 for children who do not achieve national literacy benchmarks in years 3, 5 and 7. There are bonuses for teachers who undertake additional training in Australian history, science, maths or literacy and numeracy. There will be $50,000 bonuses for schools that improve their literacy and numeracy standards, and additional funding for students who are training to be teachers to receive more practical experience in teaching.

I, like many of the constituents of Sturt, am concerned about the state of our roads. I know that it can come as a surprise to many people to learn that different roads are funded by the three different levels of government: some are council roads, some are state roads and some are federal roads. But it is also worth remembering that a lot of the money that the local councils use to fix up their roads comes from the Australian government. In Sturt, the local councils have received more than $7.6 billion this financial year in general and specific road grants, as well as an additional $1.7 million funded under the AusLink Roads to Recovery program.

The announcement in the budget of $22.3 billion for the land transport system is good news for all Australians, not just those who directly use the roads. If our transport system is safer and more efficient, it leads to lower costs for transport companies. In turn, this leads to lower costs for the items being transported, whether they are food, petrol or other goods.

There is no denying that one of the greatest challenges facing us today is the spectre of climate change. The opposition promises that it will make the world a better place in two generations time—a promise that no-one will remember then, as all opposition members well know. Telling the public that it will ratify the Kyoto protocol is another ruse of the opposition. Current figures show that Australia is one of the best performing countries under the Kyoto protocol, while countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain and Japan are all well above their 2012 targets.

The simple fact is this: the Australian government did sign but did not ratify Kyoto because we were confident that the agreement would not work. By signing Kyoto we remained part of the process for the next agreement on climate change. However, unlike many other countries, we have continued to get on with the job of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. We have reduced the rate of land clearing and we have invested in our road system so trucks are more efficient and emissions are lower. We are investigating carbon sequestration and are funding a cooperative research centre specifically into that—the CRC for Greenhouse Gas Technologies. I congratulate this CRC on its recent announcement that a new power station in Western Australia will most likely be able to use geosequestration to trap all of the CO₂ produced from this power station. None will be released into the atmosphere.

This budget included an extra $741 million over five years to help address climate change. We are doubling the rebate on solar panels to $8,000. This means that for an average home more than half the cost of installing solar panels will be covered by the Australian government. Community buildings and schools will be eligible for up to $12,000; $59.6 million will be invested in developing alternative transport fuels; and $126 million will be available to establish a new Australian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation. This will be the central focus point for all the different areas of knowledge and research on climate change and there will be $103 million for the CSIRO’s climate change adaptation and energy research flagships.

But we are also funding projects closer to home. There was $25,000 from the Natural Disaster Mitigation Program given to the City of Campbelltown in Sturt for the construction of gabion walls on Fourth Creek, just behind the Stradbroke Primary School. These walls will help reduce erosion at this location and will help protect the nearby houses. And $70,000 was provided to the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Natural Resources Management Board for a study into flood mitigation requirements on the First to Fifth creeks. Those people in my electorate who will remember the devastating floods of a couple of winters ago will know how important this study is. Through the community water grant, more than 7.8 million litres of water will be saved this year at institutions like the City of Campbelltown, St Pius X College, Mary MacKillop College and Marryatville High School.

My first priority is always to be the voice in this place for the people of Sturt. In addition to this, I have recently been appointed the Minister for Ageing. The Howard government established the ageing ministry recognising that our population is growing older and needs dedicated ministry to ensure that we are preparing to face the challenges of the future. The Howard government has revolutionised the ageing sector since forming government 11 years ago. We have made significant reforms in how the sector is funded and established one of the most rigorous and thorough accreditation and standards requirements in the world. In 1995-96 the Australian government expenditure on aged care was $3 billion. Annual government outlays on aged care will increase to around $10 billion by 2010-11, a more than three-fold increase.

In February the Prime Minister announced the Securing the Future of Aged Care for Australians package, which provides $1.6 billion over the next five years. The budget handed down in May contained new announcements totalling $161.4 million. They included $41.2 million over four years to establish 20 respite demonstration centres in both metropolitan and rural areas. This is in keeping with the government’s commitment to encouraging innovative respite care options so as to assist frail, older people to remain in their homes. The demonstration sites will serve a dual purpose by offering respite to local carers and by providing the lead to the aged-care industry as a whole. There is $998.5 million over four years so that an additional 54,000 Australians with permanent incontinence will have access to subsidised incontinence products from 1 July 2007. This new funding brings total funding for the Continence Aids Assistance scheme to $148.7 million over the next four years.

There is $13.2 million over five years to help older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds access the full range of aged-care services for which they are eligible. Around 70 projects will be funded under the Community Partners Program to provide activities such as information sessions, community visits to aged-care facilities and translated materials about the availability of appropriate aged-care services. There will also be $8½ million over four years to provide 120 Indigenous Australians with the opportunity to gain real jobs, working in community care, in place of positions previously subsidised for community development employment projects under the CDEP program. The positions will be in the National Respite for Carers Program and in urban and regional areas in the Home and Community Care program.

The Australian government supports choice in aged care and recognises that older Australians prefer to stay in their own homes rather than move into an aged-care facility. We spend $1.7 billion per year on community care services. This is more than a threefold growth in the expenditure on community care since 1996. Community aged-care packages have grown from around 4½ thousand places in 1996 to almost 40,000 places in June 2006. In 1996 there was no program to provide high-care support in the home. To date, there are around 2,575 such places in the form of Extended Aged Care at Home packages. It is no wonder that the member for Shortland hangs her head in shame as I announce these figures to the chamber.

All up we are working to take Australia’s aged-care target from 108 places per 1,000 people aged 70 or over to 113 places in 2011, compared with around 93 places in 1996. By June 2011 there will be around a quarter of a million operational aged-care places and over 100,000 of these will have been added by the Australian government since 1996—an almost 48 per cent increase. But there is no point in pouring money into the sector without the checks and balances in place to ensure the quality of the care provided. In 1996 there was no independent oversight of the quality of aged-care homes. Now there is an independent agency, the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency, which accredits every aged-care home. All aged-care homes in Australia will receive at least one unannounced visit every year. It is no surprise that confidence in the aged-care sector is high, and that can be judged by the $5.7 billion of private investment from the sector into the building and upgrading of aged-care homes over the last eight years.

It is an easy headline and a cheap shot for detractors to claim that the aged-care sector is in crisis. The reality is far different. It is a reformed sector, and aged-care homes are different places than they were 10 years ago. I, the accreditation agency and the Department of Health and Ageing are all working with the aged-care sector to consolidate the changes we have made and ensure that we continue to address the teething problems that arise within what is a complex but vital sector. This budget continues that commitment to the aged. It also continues the sound economic management of this government that allows so many of the projects and programs in Sturt that I have spoken about in this speech tonight to continue. I commend the budget to the chamber.

Debate adjourned.

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