Chris Pearce (Aston, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

endorsed by one of my parliamentary colleagues. The government has indicated that it does not plan to cap the endowment fund at $5 billion; it plans to make further capital contributions from further budget surpluses. What is important about that is that there need to be budget surpluses to be able to do that. If you do not have a surplus, you do not have the facility to be able to top up a fund like this, and I do not need to tell you, Mr Deputy Speaker, that the Labor Party operated budget deficits. Instead of topping up a fund like this, the Labor Party’s practice and its track record is to have deficits. It wants to go into these types of funds and take money out. That is the Australian Labor Party’s stated policy on a fund that is similar to this: the Future Fund.

Another important initiative of the education package is in regard to higher education initiatives—$768 million over four years to increase the capacity of universities to respond in a more flexible way to student demands. This is by allowing funding to more closely match student enrolments and by reducing the number of Commonwealth grant schemes funding-clusters from 12 to seven. There is also another $209 million over four years, including new funding of $67 million for the Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund for universities. This is to allow them to promote greater specialisation, diversity and responsiveness to local labour market needs.

There is funding in the budget for vocational education and training, a critically important area for the people of Aston and for young people; $549 million over four years to first- and second-year apprentices in skills shortage trades for an additional tax-exempt payment of $1,000 as wage top-ups for those under 30 years of age and, regardless of age, a $500 fee voucher to help offset fees. There is money in the budget for student assistance initiatives and, most importantly, money in the budget to assist our schools.

There is $457 million to provide national literacy and numeracy vouchers worth $700 to parents whose children do not meet the national literacy and numeracy benchmarks, and these vouchers will be available for parents of children in years 3, 5 and 7 from 2008, and for those with children in year 9 from 2009. There is $102 million to establish summer schools for teachers to provide additional training and $77 million to improve the practical component of teacher education. So, again, it is a budget that is full of practical measures to help our young people in our schools and to help our teachers in professional development to help our young people who are wanting to get technical and trade expertise and skills—and of course there is money there to help our important higher education system.

There is also a whole range of budget measures in support of our senior Australians. I do not need to tell you, Mr Deputy Speaker, that senior Australians are wonderful people who have made Australia what it is today. There are tax cuts for senior Australians who qualify for the senior Australians tax offset. There are also one-off tax-free bonuses for all self-funded retirees who are eligible for the seniors concession allowance. As I mentioned, that is a $500 one-off tax-free bonus. This will benefit over 300,000 self-funded retirees. There is also a $500 one-off tax-free bonus to all seniors who receive the utilities allowance as of 8 May 2007. This will benefit over two million seniors.

Importantly, there are also wonderful support initiatives to help carers who look after people that need help. Carer payment recipients will receive a $1,000 bonus payment while those who receive the carer allowance will receive a $600 bonus payment. Again, the budget has wonderful supports for our senior Australians and for those who are caring for people.

In the time I have left I also want to mention one of the wonderful budget initiatives in and around caring for our environment—the solar technology funding. This is where we are doubling the rebate for solar panels on homes. The rebate will increase from the current $4 per watt up to a maximum of $4,000 to $8 per watt up to a maximum of $8,000. This is all about supporting Australians, particularly those who live in Aston, to be able to care for our environment, to be environmentally friendly, and about supporting them in many ways.

This initiative does not stand alone. The government have been providing initiatives in the area of environment and climate change in many budgets. In fact, we have spent more money on direct funding for the environment than any other government in Australia’s history. This year we will spend around $2 billion on direct funding for the environment. I think it is interesting to contrast that with the Labor Party in 1995 and 1996, when we came to office, which spent less than $380 million.

In summary, what is this budget about? I think it is true to say that this budget is all about encouraging Australians who work hard. I think it is about investing in education and skills. I think it is, importantly, about supporting our families. I think it is about securing our water and the environment. I think it is, most importantly, about saving for our future. There are initiatives in the budget to build important infrastructure and to support our critically important small business sector and our stronger defence and national security. (Time expired)

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