Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am proud to be here today to stand and support the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2008-2009 and related bills, bills that make the first Labor budget in more than a decade. I want to start by talking about the budget’s impact on my electorate of Franklin. The seat of Franklin has been a Labor seat since 1993. As a safe Labor seat under a coalition government, it had been ignored. In fact, it was not until 2005, when the sitting member announced his plans to retire at the next election, that the coalition government took any notice at all. For the first time in over a decade, the coalition saw Franklin as a seat that was winnable. In fact, only then did the federal Liberal politicians with any real clout even remember the name of Franklin, even though sometimes they forgot the name of their own candidate. It was only then that the electorate saw any substantial commitment of funds from the then coalition government. I am proud and pleased to say that this budget has honoured every election commitment made by federal Labor to the seat of Franklin. As an electorate that rarely saw anything under the former government, it is now the recipient of nearly $50 million worth of vital infrastructure projects and other initiatives.

Two critical and desperately needed major infrastructure projects have been funded through the federal government’s $12.9 billion Water for the Future package. In the Huon Valley south of Hobart, federal Labor has pledged $12 million to improve the quality of water provided to residents. Residents are on bore water alerts in summer and they live only 30 minutes from the city. The Huon Valley water scheme will also help to secure up to 200 local jobs in the aquaculture industry, an industry which is vital to the region and is a major contributor to the state’s economy.

The Clarence municipality will also be sharing in the funding from Water for the Future in this budget. The federal member for Lyons and I lobbied hard for the $10.5 million water recycling and reuse scheme in the Coal River Valley, which is delivered in this budget. Irrigators in the region have been looking for an alternative source of water and I am pleased that it has now been delivered. In addition to providing irrigators with this alternative water source, the scheme will also reduce the level of water discharge into the River Derwent, making this project both an economically and environmentally important initiative.

The Kingston bypass has been talked about for many years. Prior to the federal election, Labor committed $15 million towards the Kingston bypass with the Tasmanian government contributing the remaining $15 million. This project is now a reality. The Kingborough Council is among the fastest growing in the state and this infrastructure project will help remove some of the traffic congestion which has plagued the district’s commuters. In the next financial year, as outlined in these budget papers, the federal government will be spending $1.1 million on the project as part of the initial planning phase. At the moment, land acquisition and initial planning on the bypass is well underway. Approvals are expected to be finalised by June 2009 with construction expected to begin in November of that year.

The Tasmanian government anticipates that the project will be completed by June 2012. Dennes Point on north Bruny Island will receive more than $140,000 in this budget to redevelop their community hall. The money will give the north Bruny Island community group and the Kingborough Council the chance to refurbish the hall and build much needed infrastructure including a shop, post office, dining area, gallery and medical rooms. Another key infrastructure project in Franklin is an upgrade of Bridgewater Bridge, with the Commonwealth providing nearly $11 million towards this $14 million project. More than $800,000 has been allocated to the Esperance Coast Road upgrade. The Esperance Coast Road is a gateway to a number of remote and incredibly beautiful tourism destinations in south-west Tasmania. Tourism is a major contributor to the Tasmanian economy.

The federal Labor government has committed funding to the tourism environmental audit project—or ‘Green TEA’—in the Huon and Kingborough regions. $166,000 has been allocated to this new project to encourage tourism operators in southern Tasmania to adopt environmental best practice by cutting their water and energy consumption. This will cover around 40 tourism operators and has the potential to be expanded to other parts of the state. Tasmania has long been renowned as a clean, green tourism destination and many fine environmentally friendly tourism operators are based in the Huon and Kingborough area.

Federal Labor is also providing the people of Franklin with more than $60,000 for various sporting and recreational facility grants. The electorate will also benefit from the establishment of a GP superclinic on Hobart’s eastern shore in Bellerive. This will involve GPs, nurses, allied health professionals and other healthcare providers. I am expecting consultation to begin soon with the Tasmanian government, medical professionals and other relevant stakeholders. This will ensure that the services provided through the new superclinic will be best tailored to the needs of the community.

Franklin is a diverse electorate. It will experience considerable benefits as a result of this budget, benefits stemming from both the initiatives I have outlined above and more general measures that are of benefit to all Australians. Indeed, the federal government’s pledges in the areas of health, education and affordable housing will be of major value to the people of Franklin. We have $3.2 billion for the Health and Hospital Reform Plan; $1.2 billion to deliver information and communication technologies to all students in years 9 to 12; the $1.2 billion to help first home buyers save for their home; and, the $55 billion Working Families Support Package. These are all initiatives which will assist the people of Franklin.

More than half the families in the electorate survive on a gross income of less than $60,000 a year. As a result of federal Labor’s tax cuts, families on a single income of $40,000 a year will receive an extra $29.19 a week. The tax cuts Labor has included in this budget are not the same as the former Liberal government’s tax cuts, as they would have us believe. They are in fact tax cuts that we promised in the election campaign and we have included as part of our package an education taxation refund for families. As the elected representative of Franklin and a working mother, I am pleased to see that the tax cuts are going to the people who need them most.

This budget is also about the future. It provides for three new funds—the Building Australia Fund, the Education Investment Fund and the Health and Hospitals Fund—with an initial investment of around $40 billion over the next two years. It is a budget which balances the long-term needs of the nation and the more immediate pressures faced by all Australians. On the one hand it is a budget with a focus on nation-building after 12 years with none of that from those on the other side. On the other hand it is a budget designed to benefit working families, all working Australians and those doing it tough. It was framed within the tight parameters of being economically responsible about putting downward pressure on inflation, delivering on our election commitments and planning for Australia’s future. It is a budget I am sure Tasmanians will be proud of and, with nearly $50 million in funding for initiatives in a previously ignored electorate, it is a budget the people of Franklin can be proud of. It is a budget I am very proud to support.

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