Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The 2008 budget, the first handed down by the Rudd government, delivers on the election commitments we made to the Australian people last year. It is a budget that both invests in Australia’s future and provides real and tangible support for working families in my electorate of Calwell to help them cope with today’s rising cost of living and all the pressures associated with that. In particular, the government’s $55 billion Working Families Support Package puts the needs of working families squarely at the heart of this budget. As part of this government’s commitment to invest in a better future for all Australians, $40 billion is set aside for infrastructure, education and health improvements; $22 billion is allocated to rail and road projects; $15.2 billion is directed towards new initiatives aimed at tackling climate change and addressing Australia’s water shortages; and the budget includes a package of new measures totalling $2.4 billion that channel much needed help to Australian seniors and carers who are doing it particularly tough. All of these are significant investments and they all have a direct bearing on those who live in my electorate of Calwell.

Calwell is a diverse electorate. Today’s influx of young families into the area makes education, child care and health care key issues in my electorate. We also have a fast-ageing population, making aged care and more support for seniors equally important. More generally, better access to more affordable services and ensuring available infrastructure is able to keep up with local demands are crucial challenges for the people in my electorate.

The government’s $55 billion Working Families Support Package includes a raft of measures that many will welcome, given the increasing pressures household budgets are under. These measures include $46.7 billion in tax relief over the next four years. Families in my electorate on a single income of $40,000 will be $1,050 a year better off, while those on a single income of $80,000 will be $1,100 a year better off. Local families with a combined income of $100,000 where the primary earner’s income is $60,000 will be $1,650 a year better off. These tax cuts will provide substantial support to low- and middle-income families, who are struggling to cope with today’s cost of living pressures. Parents work hard to provide for their families and they deserve these tax cuts, which are more generous as a percentage of income than tax cuts announced in previous years. When fully phased in over the next two years, they will provide continuous support to working families in Calwell and of course across Australia.

The government’s $55 billion Working Families Support Package also includes a new education tax refund initiative, under which eligible families will be able to claim a 50 per cent refund on key education expenses of up to $375 a year for each child in primary school and $750 a year for each child in secondary school. Effective from 1 July this year, the education tax refund will help parents in Calwell cover expenses such as home computers and laptops, home internet connections, education software, school books, tools for trade subjects and stationery.

When it comes to child care, the Rudd Labor government is lifting the childcare tax rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent and increasing the cap for the rebate from $4,354 to $7,500 per child, paid quarterly instead of once a year. This will help with out-of-pocket expenses for those working parents in my electorate who rely on child care.

The government is also introducing a new Teen Dental Plan that will provide $150 each year towards the cost of a dental check-up for teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 in families that receive family tax benefit A and teenagers who receive the youth allowance or Abstudy. Of course, for many Australians the exorbitant cost of private dental health care leaves them no choice but to rely on Australia’s public dental health system. This is certainly the case for many people living in my electorate, who face up to 30 months sitting on waiting lists as a result of the former government’s neglect of Australia’s public dental health system. To rescue Australia’s failing public dental health system, the government will re-establish a Commonwealth Dental Health Program, at a cost of some $290 million, which will target public dental waiting lists and provide better access to dental services.

Other healthcare initiatives announced in this budget and very relevant to my electorate are the $600 million made available to slash elective surgery waiting lists in public hospitals, the $87 million to expand bowel cancer screening to all 50-year-olds, in addition to the existing screening of 55- and 65-year-olds, and $39 million to fund incentives to bring nurses back into the workforce. The government will also increase the Medicare levy threshold from $50,000 to $100,000 for singles and from $100,000 to $150,000 for couples.

The budget also provides funding for measures designed to tackle today’s housing affordability crisis, with the establishment of the first home saver accounts, which will provide a simple, tax-effective way for residents in Calwell to save for their first home deposit through a combination of government contributions and lower tax. This is in addition to the government’s National Rental Affordability Scheme and the new Housing Affordability Fund. Taken together, these measures will help ease some of the pressures working families in my electorate face and provide them with much needed help.

The 2008 budget also provides $5.9 billion in funding over the next five years towards a range of educational initiatives that form part of the Rudd government’s education revolution agenda. Unlike those on the opposite side of the chamber, we understand that investing in education is about investing both in our children’s future and in Australia’s future. That is why we have undertaken to comprehensively reform Australia’s education system, from kindergarten through to university, targeting key areas that have long been crying out for improvement. What local parents want is for their children to have access to high-quality education and to all of the opportunities which follow. Initiatives in the Rudd government’s first budget to improve education include investing $534 million over four years to provide universal access to preschool for all four-year-olds, investing $2.5 billion over 10 years for trade training centres in schools, $1.2 billion over five years to deliver information and communication technology to all year 9 to 12 students, $626 million to reduce the cost of studying maths and science at universities, $578 million to improve literacy and numeracy skills, and $62 million for the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program. We are also investing $500 million this year to assist universities with capital funding, and I am pleased to say that Victoria University, which has a campus in Sunbury, in my electorate, has received $8.2 million to that end. And we will deliver an extra 630,000 training places at a cost of $1.9 billion.

When it comes to supporting seniors and carers, the Rudd government has increased the utilities allowance to $500 a year in order to help seniors cope with the cost of household bills. A similar increase has been made to the seniors concession allowance and we have also increased the telephone allowance for those with a home internet connection. Pensioners and eligible seniors will also receive a $500 bonus in this budget. More importantly, the Rudd government has made a commitment to review current arrangements for pensioners with a view to finding ways to better support them. This review will form part of the government’s broader review into Australia’s taxation system. The budget also includes $822 million in measures to increase support for carers. Parents caring for a child under 16 with a severe disability will now be eligible for the carer payment of up to $546 per fortnight. A $1,000 bonus will be paid to recipients of the carer payment and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs carers services, while carer allowance recipients will also be paid $600 for each eligible care receiver. The 2008 budget also provides $100 million over the 2007-08 financial year to increase the supply of supported accommodation for people with a disability whose ageing parents can no longer care for them at home. This extra funding will provide up to 35 new facilities, accommodating up to six people each.

I am pleased to announce that the budget also sets aside funding to establish two new early learning and childcare centres in Calwell. The centres will be located in the growth areas of Tullamarine and Craigieburn in my electorate. Over the last decade, childcare shortages have become a significant problem in my electorate. That is why I as the local member have campaigned very hard for federal funding to establish more childcare centres in my electorate. I am very pleased that these two new centres will go a long way to addressing the shortfall.

There has been $14.2 million set aside for important upgrades to the Hume Freeway and the Donnybrook Road interchange, which is aimed at easing traffic congestion. An additional $5 million has also been allocated to improve traffic capacity along the Western Ring Road, which runs through my electorate, and the Hume City Council will receive more than $1.4 million under the Roads to Recovery program for road maintenance and upgrades in the area over the 2008-09 period. This is a responsible budget, one that reins in reckless government spending and channels substantial funding and support where it is needed the most. I commend Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2008-2009 and the related bills to the House.

See this speech in context