Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to congratulate the Treasurer and the Prime Minister on a tremendous budget—an outstanding budget indeed. The 2008-09 budget did three fundamental things: it delivered comprehensively on our election commitments; it struck the right balance, addressing the complexities of the medium-term economic outlook and its challenges; and, most importantly, this budget looked into the future, putting in place the building blocks to secure this nation’s wellbeing for future generations.

I want to talk about how we have delivered on our election commitments and to look specifically at what this means for my own electorate. But first of all I would like to say something about the spirit of the 2008-09 budget. The 2008-09 budget restored the faith of many Australians in politics and government. We went to the Australian people with a series of promises and commitments and in our first budget we have delivered on them all. That has not happened in a long time in Australian politics. A blanket of cynicism, born after a decade of coalition budget cons, has been lifted.

In Labor’s first budget there were no ifs and no buts; we simply delivered the funds we promised. We delivered the money we said we would and we did it in the very first year. After 11 years of squandered Costello budgets, phoney black holes, excuses and slip-sliding by the former government, Labor has restored the people’s faith. I have received tremendous feedback in my electorate on this budget. People in my electorate of Corangamite were heartened to see a government that did what it said it would. I congratulate the Treasurer and the Prime Minister again on a great job.

I would like to talk a about the impact of the budget in my own electorate. As most members know, Corangamite has been a safe Liberal seat for over 70 years. It has been shockingly neglected. Such was the arrogance of the previous government that they did not promise one single major project in Corangamite at the last election. This was par for the course. Corangamite never got anything at budget time under the previous Liberal government. But this time, under a Labor government, Corangamite’s boat came in. Funding has been delivered for a whole range of projects—infrastructure that will have a lasting impact on our local community. This budget begins a Corangamite transformation. Corangamite is about to become one of Australia’s most exciting regions through these Labor initiatives.

Let me go through what has been provided in this budget for our region. First of all, business in our region did very well. The 2008-09 budget has put $20 million into an Innovative Regions Centre in our region aimed directly at offering support to small- and medium-sized businesses. The Innovative Regions Centre puts our region at the forefront of business innovation in Australia. The Innovative Regions Centre provides assistance in business strategies and operations; benchmarking of business and manufacturing processes against best practice; helping in finding the latest research, technology and organisational knowledge to improve products and efficiency; prototyping and testing facilities to turn good ideas into products; and helping to cut through red tape and get the best access to government programs. It is a great commitment, which we have funded upfront in our very first budget.

In addition to this we have made major commitments which will transform our road transport system in the region. There is $30 million for the next stages of the crucial Geelong ring road, and money to ensure the Princes Highway duplication and Lavers Hill road upgrade can now both go full steam ahead. The electorate, and particularly the Colac end of my electorate, are absolutely ecstatic about that.

Another $10 million has been put on the table in this budget for the Blackrock water recycling plan. This project is critical for sporting fields, parks and industry in the Surf Coast Shire and, importantly, for the Armstrong Creek development, Victoria’s largest housing development and Australia’s second largest. This money for the Blackrock water recycling plan means that there are no excuses why we cannot get on with this project. The spotlight is squarely on the water authority to get cracking.

Another real beneficiary of the budget was Deakin University, which received an additional allocation of $30.8 million. What a great kick-along for our education system in my electorate. We also funded a $7 million GP superclinic, which will also double as a GP training facility. The GP superclinic will be fantastic for our region, adding to our service capacity across a whole range of important health services.

In our local area we also delivered on funding for some other projects of which I am very proud. We have delivered on funding for a range of important sports and recreation projects that will mean we have a fitter and healthier community. There is $4 million for the Torquay Sports Precinct. This money will enable the Surf Coast Shire to bring forward this much-needed project. These funds will be spent on building two more football ovals, three more soccer pitches, half a dozen new netball courts, and a shared pavilion. It is a great project and great for the health of our community.

On top of this we also provided in this budget money for the Quay Reserve sports lighting project, sports lighting for the South Barwon Football and Netball Club, and $3 million for the important Leisurelink replacement facility in Geelong. Thousands of local residents will benefit from these projects. Then there is the money for other community projects in the budget—money for Bannockburn Community Hub, money for the Colac Beechy Centre and money for another great project, the Colac Botanic Gardens.

But that is not all; there is more. We have also provided funding for an upgrade to the Torquay Senior Citizens Centre and to the Torquay Community House—all projects again delivered in our very first budget. The Great Ocean Road has been allocated $1 million in the 2008-09 budget to attack weed threats, undertake a climate change risk assessment, build cultural interpretation signage and upgrade the Torquay Surf Life Saving Club. This is a sensational budget for our region. This is the biggest injection of community infrastructure in our region ever. Yes, without a shadow of a doubt, this is the biggest injection of community infrastructure ever in the Corangamite region. And it has all been delivered in year 1 of the Rudd Labor government. I am very, very proud of that.

But these are not the only things this budget delivered for our region. As important as this community and business infrastructure is, there are even more important opportunities for our region in this budget. And this is about the long-term vision of this budget. The great thing about this budget is that it is not offering that tired, old, short-sighted fistful of dollars that was the hallmark of coalition budgets. It is about community building and long-term infrastructure provision. It is about both doing things today and providing vision for the future. This budget in that respect is tailor-made for Corangamite. It is tailor-made to address the fundamental long-term challenges faced by our region.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I want to draw for you a vision. I want to draw for you a future vision for our region. It is a vision that has emerged with this federal budget. It is a vision that combines all the abovementioned community infrastructure commitments with the other broader major infrastructure fund opportunities this budget also contains. This budget has put a vision within our community’s reach. Think about this: just a few years down the track most of the abovementioned community infrastructure projects will have been completed. We will have a range of new community infrastructure promoting a healthy lifestyle and a stronger community. We will have an efficient road transport system putting a big area of our region within an hour’s drive of Melbourne, and an even broader area within an hour and a half. Within a similar period of time—just a few years ahead—thousands of new housing blocks will be available through Armstrong Creek, in the Golden Plains, Surf Coast and Colac shires with a significant supply-side effect across a range of real estate market niches. A very significant supply-side effect will counter the upward real estate spiral we have witnessed now over a prolonged period. If we put land availability together with existing commitments to community infrastructure, then add to this access to the major infrastructure funds, there is a unique opportunity.

Within a few years I am confident the new $20 billion Building Australia Fund will be working to further improve our road and public transport systems, addressing the bottlenecks. I am hopeful we will be successful in winning a slice of the $254 million National Water Security Plan for Cities and Towns fund. Let us say we win some access to the $500 Housing Affordability Fund, $359 million of which will be available in the 2008-09 budget. The Housing Affordability Fund is aimed specifically at providing further money for possible water, sewerage, transport or other projects to help councils and developers provide more affordable housing in new developments. Let us imagine many of our residents taking advantage of the $1 billion in funds for making homes energy and water efficient. What do we have? We have a vision of quality housing that a range of people can afford. We have communities where people have amenities, services and facilities, community building facilities, modern environmentally sound suburbs and houses where people are healthy, engaged and active. So we are moving towards that vision in this budget. The 2008-09 budget offers the people of Corangamite a great opportunity to tackle one of the great challenges of our generation—the issue of affordable housing. I cannot underline the opportunity enough. Through this budget, if we play our cards right, Corangamite can become the envy of the rest of Australia.

We can offer a wonderful lifestyle, a good standard of living and a strong regional community, and become one of Australia’s more affordable places to live, whilst still being within striking distance of a major capital city. With all levels of government helping to provide community infrastructure, services and land availability, we will have developer competition and few excuses for high land prices. We can become the affordable housing capital of Australia whilst we build a stronger, healthier community.

Corangamite and the greater Geelong region are uniquely placed to take advantage of this budget. We are uniquely placed. The federal government has put its money on the table. We are funding crucial roads projects, innovative community water projects and other community infrastructure. And there are further opportunities presenting through the Infrastructure Australia review and the other major infrastructure funds.

This region must position itself to take advantage of this terrific budget. Our local councils, and the City of Greater Geelong in particular, need to do the planning and forge the alliances with the other public authorities and the private sector to position themselves first in the queue for the opportunities being made available by the federal government through this far sighted budget. I am talking to all councils, the G21 and the state government about a coordinated effort to take advantage of this budget.

The key challenge now for us is to get all levels of government working towards fully capitalising on the opportunities this budget has presented for our region. This budget provides very significant funding to overcome the massive skills shortages that are one of the principal legacies of the previous coalition government. Skill shortages in the building trades are also very important factors in pushing house prices up, so I am working with local schools to take advantage of the $2.5 billion fund to provide improved school trade facilities in all high schools.

That is my vision. That is my vision for the working families in my region—more affordable housing by all levels of government contributing to building community infrastructure, utilities and services, good land supply and developer competition; healthier, engaged communities, thinking about the challenges of tomorrow; opportunities for working families within our local region; and more local jobs. That is what this budget puts within our grasp. I do not underestimate the complexities and difficulties of the issue of affordable housing but I do say this: this budget gives us some real opportunities if we have a go. And I want our region to take our best shot at it.

I would just like to finish by pointing to the importance of responsible economic management. This is a responsible budget that delivers for working families and invests in Australia’s future. This budget has a clear eye on the long term. But there is also a clear focus on the immediate concerns of today, particularly the fight against inflation and the need to do the things that will keep downward pressure on interest rates. The Rudd Labor government and the Swan budget have a strong surplus of 1.8 per cent of GDP. This surplus will enable us to continue to invest in long-term improvements in our hospitals, roads, universities and TAFEs.

The government has found savings to offset any new spending. We have identified savings of $33.3 billion over four years, including $7.3 billion in the 2008-09 budget. Every dollar of new spending in 2008-09 is more than matched by spending cuts. We have found savings, primarily by getting rid of inefficient and wasteful programs, and better targeting benefits to those who need them most. The 2007-08 and 2008-09 surpluses will be used to invest $40 billion in three nation-building funds: a Building Australia fund, an Education Investment Fund and a Health and Hospitals Fund. Labor governments are consistent. We are the nation builders. Labor are, and have always been, our nation’s builder. This is a budget of heart, intelligence and vision. Australia and my region of Corangamite can build a better future with this budget as its foundation.

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