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

In this matter of public importance debate we have been talking about challenging times. It is interesting that we have had those opposite suddenly starting to say that the world changed on 24 November last year and that the state of the economy since then is all our fault, yet they have not looked at the legacy that they really left us. Because of their lack of leadership and their lack of vision, they did not spend on vital infrastructure to clear bottlenecks around this country. There was a lack of strategic investment by those opposite when they presided over 12 years of inaction. They did nothing about the skills shortage, unless you count the money they ripped out of the universities. They did nothing on climate change and nothing about broadband, but they did give us Work Choices, ripping money out of the pockets of working Australians. They also left us with underlying inflation at a 16-year high of 3.6 per cent. Australians did endure 10 interest rate rises in a row. The government’s real spending, when those over there were in government, grew at an average of four per cent a year over the last four years. They had $40 billion in new spending and not a single dollar of savings in their last budget. That was their leadership of and their legacy to this country.

In stark contrast, this government is showing some leadership. We are acting to assist all Australians out there during this challenging time. We are acting now for the long-term future. We are showing strong leadership. We are preparing for our prosperous future and we are strategically planning for this country’s future, unlike those opposite. That is why we have put $41 billion into long-term nation-building funds. That is why we have put $20 billion into the Building Australia Fund, $11 billion into education infrastructure and $10 billion into health infrastructure. In addition, we are spending $26 billion on other road and rail infrastructure. We have ratified Kyoto. We are committed to introducing a carbon pollution reduction scheme. We are building a national broadband network. We are addressing years of neglect in our schools with an education revolution. We are acting. We are investing in trade training centres. We are putting computers in schools. We are investing in universities to help address the skills shortage.

Yesterday the Rudd government announced a plan for some of Australia’s most disadvantaged children. This government wants to offer educational support to very young children from disadvantaged families, including in the community of Clarendon Vale in my seat of Franklin, and I welcome this vision and this leadership from our government. It really does beggar belief that the opposition leader, in only day two in the job, has the audacity to question this government’s leadership. Those over there are only worried about counting numbers in their own party; they are not worried about the numbers in the economy and the people of Australia. They failed to show any leadership in the 12 years they were in government, and in opposition they continue to show a lack of leadership. This can be clearly demonstrated by their recent actions in the Senate. They continue to be obstructive, and Liberal senators are failing to support the working families, the carers, the pensioners and those doing it tough by their actions in that chamber. They have blocked the Medicare levy surcharge, leaving nearly 500,000 Australians without tax relief, and this measure is worth around $1,200 for an average-income family. They have sided with luxury car makers, they have sided with the alcohol distillers and last night they let down the thousands of people who will now not be able to get access to dental care. Is that something to be proud of? Is that what they call leadership? I call it irresponsible politics.

The Liberal Party is blocking legislation not for strategic policy reasons, not because it is something it truly believes in but for cheap political point-scoring. We want to maintain a strong budget surplus. We want to ensure we can invest substantially in Australia’s future, and the member for Wentworth, the new Leader of the Opposition, should show some leadership. He should break down those barriers in the Senate and support this government rather than continue to block important measures in the Senate and smash a hole of over $6 billion in the budget. That is not economically responsible. That is not leadership.

This government is investing in health infrastructure, education and the economy. They are the great challenges facing this nation at this time. This government had the foresight to listen to the Australian people. We listened to what they wanted. During the election campaign we heard they wanted a party to show leadership in health, in education, in climate change, in broadband, in the economy and in a fair go for workers when it comes to industrial relations laws, and this is what we have done and we will continue to do. But the blocking by the opposition of our budget measures is not helping those people who voted for this government. (Time expired)

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