Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great pleasure for me to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2008-2009 and related legislation because they reflect the very first budget for Labor in 12 years. This budget is about building a strong economy that delivers for all Australians. This government was elected to not only represent all Australians but also act in the nation’s collective best interest. This government is funding its election commitments and responsibilities by investing in the future. The Rudd Labor government takes the economic situation left to it by the previous government very seriously. It will do everything in its power to responsibly manage the economy for this and for future generations.

Every single dollar of new spending has been more than matched by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget, which makes this the most responsible budget in many years. This government has built a strong surplus because it is an important way to fight inflation and invest in long-term improvements in our hospitals, roads, universities, TAFE colleges and schools. This budget will fight inflation and keep downward pressure on interest rates while at the same time investing in all of our futures.

On the other side, the Liberal’s response to this budget shows that it is the party of irresponsible spending. It is the party of high inflation and welfare for high-income earners, who just do not need the money. I have been talking extensively with people in my area in the western corridor of Brisbane. They admit that times are tough and that making ends meet is more difficult than it has ever been. Times have been getting tough for most Australians, for families and for the aged for many years. That is why this budget is so important. This government is pleased that their needs are no longer being ignored in favour of the top end of town. This budget rebalances the scales to give everybody a fair go.

People will also be pleased to see that all of Labor’s election commitments are being and will be met and delivered fully funded, instead of previous years where non-core promises continually knocked them for six in the budget directly following an election. The Rudd Labor government will keep all of its promises—core and non-core. This budget sets out a long-term plan to build a stronger economy that will deliver in the western corridor and right across the nation.

The past 12 years prove, if anything, this: the Rudd government actually understands the pressures on working families, ordinary people, the aged and those who are doing it tough. We will do everything in our power to make life a little bit easier for them. The reality today is that more and more of the family income is being eaten away by mortgage repayments, rent, groceries and petrol. This is the reality of life as it has been governed over the past decade. We will now do everything within our power to step in and make life easier. There is still a bitter taste in the mouths of a lot of Australians—in fact, I would say most Australians—from the former government’s statement ‘Working families have never been better off’. Today, just as it was then, that is an offensive statement.

It is time that we actually reward those who have worked very hard, and those that are working hard, and help them cope with the rising costs of living. This budget is that reward. It is the first stage in the reward for all Australians. Take for example the Working Families Support Package: $55 billion worth of support, which includes targeted initiatives specifically delivering in a range of key areas, such as personal income tax relief. Our commitments to personal income tax are fully met and will be fully met. We will help with childcare fees because we understand the pressures that ordinary families face. We have made a serious move in childcare fee rebates, raising them from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. We will support parents investing in their children’s education, by making some educational expenses deductable for the very first time—something that has been asked for by parents for a very long time.

We will move on the big-ticket issues, the big items that are hurting ordinary people, such as improving housing affordability. We are the party that listens to people, understands their needs and will deliver their needs. We will support older Australians and carers. We are introducing a Teen Dental Plan. We understand that people’s teeth are central to their health and their full enjoyment of life. We will introduce a fairer Medicare levy surcharge threshold for individuals and for families. And, for the first time ever in the country, we will introduce the national FuelWatch scheme, which will follow the lead from Western Australia on their very successful model and is based on advice from the ACCC.

This suite of budget measures, along with a whole range of other measures, is a comprehensive package. It is the first budget from a government that has very seriously taken its obligations and the things that it needs to do for all Australians. The previous government would not even have comprehended a package like this, because it simply did not understand the pressures that people were under. While this government discusses within its cabinet easing the pressures on working families, ordinary people, the aged and carers, around their cabinet table the previous government talked about themselves and about slugging ordinary Australians and workers.

The Rudd government is taking action in this budget to address cost-of-living pressures, household budgets and those sorts of pressures. This government has shown a disciplined approach to its budget management to take the pressure off inflation by paying for all new spending promises with savings. It is a responsible budget, with spending met through savings. Every dollar of new spending is offset by savings. This government promised during the election that a minimum of 1.5 per cent of GDP would be a surplus. Not only have we met that but we have exceeded that: we have actually achieved a surplus of 1.8 per cent of GDP. Very importantly, the government is also tackling the skills shortage and road and port bottlenecks, which push up the cost of doing business and hurt the Australian economy for everybody.

These are the matters that were ignored for over a decade by the previous government. These matters were ignored boldly in the face of countless recommendations, countless sets of advice and countless reports and indicators that pointed to the growing need for the government to take action. I just cannot understand the logic or the thinking of the previous government and why it was so focused on its own re-election and on what it was doing, on its own survival, rather than the needs of the nation as a whole. We will invest in skills and education, and we will deliver 450,000 new training places over four years. The new $20 billion Building Australia Fund will provide the economic infrastructure for that future.

One way that any budget can help all Australians—a very central key—is by keeping inflation in control. Everybody wins when inflation is low. This budget is about keeping inflation down. Fighting inflation is the Rudd government’s No. 1 priority. Inflation does not discriminate but it does treat people on lower incomes worse than it treats others.

Inflation pressures have intensified over recent years, with underlying inflation now rising to 4.2 per cent in the year to March 2008, its highest rate in over 16 years. This is the legacy, this is the reality, that was left to us by Costello, by the Howard government. We will not sit back and allow that to continue. It is not good enough. Prices for many essential items have gone up, and that has put a lot of pressure on ordinary people’s budgets—on the families and on the aged—and we are acting to alleviate those pressures. Inflationary pressures have led to the Reserve Bank of Australia lifting interest rates eight times in just over three years—in fact we saw 12 consecutive interest rate rises under the stewardship of the previous government. This is their legacy; this is what they left ordinary Australians. Australians are feeling the impact and the effects of the inflationary rises of interest rates through their mortgage repayments, their rent, their grocery bills, the price of petrol and the cost of living, and all we get from the previous government is: ‘Don’t do anything.’ They themselves do not know what to do, and yet anything we do they say we should not do.

The build-up in inflationary pressures is the result of years of strong growth in demand that has not been met by increases in the supply capacity of the economy. Governments need to avoid wasteful spending that puts unnecessary pressure on the economy, which makes the Reserve Bank’s job of controlling inflation even harder. That is why we are working very hard to keep inflation under control. We must also note that productivity growth has fallen to its lowest level in over 17 years. A key driver in keeping this country prosperous is keeping productivity up. Even with productivity at its lowest level in 17 years, the previous government did not acknowledge that a problem existed. This budget actually begins to meet the much needed investment to expand our productivity capacity and our economy through infrastructure, through education and through training. These are the policies that lift productivity and are a key part of our reform agenda, including investing in key economic and social infrastructure. Investing in skills is vital to help us work more productively. A workforce with the right mix of skills leads to higher productivity and participation, lower unemployment and increased living standards and is a long-term approach to ensuring that we have a prosperous country that delivers to everybody, not just to a few people. Tighter monetary and fiscal policy is expected to gradually ease underlying inflation from the current 16-year highs.

In the western corridor, residents regularly talk to me, particularly recently, about a wide range of topics, but none more so than my local pensioners and the aged. Pensioners are doing it tough—there is no escaping that—and that is why we have invested an extra $5.2 billion in this budget to try and take away some of that pain for them. On this side of the House the government recognises the financial pressures that seniors face. We are the only ones committed to helping seniors make ends meet. We understand the problems that they face. We must not forget that it was Labor, when in opposition, that called for a Senate inquiry into the cost-of-living pressures that face senior Australians. The then government could have done something but it chose not to. It made a conscious decision: when it was in the cabinet room, it chose not to act. We are committing $5.2 billion in additional new funding for seniors in this budget—that is, 3½ times the amount that was pledged by the previous government—because we understand that more needs to be done. That does not mean that all has been done; it just means that we have taken those first essential steps to ensure that those who need our support the most in the community actually get it—real long-term adjustments that will make a real difference for seniors.

The implementation of Labor’s election commitments in this budget will provide an average additional annual benefit of $400 for aged pensioners and seniors. Recently we introduced into the parliament a bill to pay aged pensioners and seniors a $500 bonus, with 2.7 million seniors benefiting from this measure—that is, $900 extra for millions of seniors on top of other measures, which makes a huge difference. This bonus will be paid before the end of the current financial year, 30 June 2008. These bonuses come on top of an increase in the utility allowance from $107.20 per year to $500 per year. I note that the first quarterly instalment has been paid to aged pensioners and seniors already, in March. These important financial measures come on top of an extension of the telephone allowance, new dental funding for concession card holders and petrol vouchers for volunteers who use their own transport in helping others in the community. There are more dollars for carers and aged care as well. But still more needs to be done—I acknowledge that, we acknowledge that and we have taken the first steps.

One of the most pressing issues now affecting all Australians—in fact, affecting just about every country in the world, and we have seen in the media in recent days what is happening in the UK, in France and globally—is the price of petrol going through the roof, and this is hurting ordinary people. While the opposition get on the petrol bandwagon, for 12 years while they were in government they did nothing that would ease the pressure in the long term. They talk about taking just a few cents off, but the reality is that with the huge price differences in major cities around the country a few cents is insignificant. While it might seem good for a day or a week, the reality long term is that when there are price gaps of 20c to 30c between bowsers at different places it is a matter of being informed by having that information readily available to make the right choice and get 20c rather than just a few cents off.

Our government will introduce a national FuelWatch scheme to improve the transparency in pricing and promote competition. It is a tough decision being made in the face of some strong criticism, but there is also some very good backing. There will be some very good outcomes that give consumers choice for the first time to understand where the cheapest prices are. If the fuel companies and those selling at the bowser want to compete, want to play by the rules and want to provide people with a fair and decent price at the bowser then let them use the system. Let them attract customers and get people to their service stations by keeping the price low and competitive. That will ease the pressure on people paying too much for petrol at the bowser, unlike just sitting back and saying. ‘We’ll remove some excise and give you a few cents off.’ That would literally disappear into thin air within weeks or months if the global rise in petrol prices were to continue as it is now.

On the issue of housing affordability, Mr Deputy Speaker Georganas, you would know and understand that the western corridor in Queensland is booming, and my electorate is probably the fastest-growing electorate in the country. This rapid growth and expansion comes with some unique challenges of housing affordability and access to broadband and road networks and a whole range of infrastructure and social issues. It is obvious that it is becoming harder and harder for first home buyers, especially with rents going the way they are. The Rudd government has committed $2.2 billion to do something about housing affordability—again, something the previous government did not even acknowledge. We are not just acknowledging it or just having an inquiry or a summit—

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