Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Science and Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

He was doing arts/law. I was just a humble arts student, but I did do economic history, so I understand full well the impact of this downturn. I want to say that I think that the decisive leadership shown by the government is something which deserves the support of the whole community. I say that because I recognise and understand the questions the previous speaker, the member for Lyne, raised. I will not be responding to those here, but I do think you and your electorate accept—and I know that everyone, certainly on this side of the chamber, accepts—the importance of this infusion of money, that this stimulus package is most important for every Australian family. We ought to understand that the leadership shown by the government is something which we should be proud of.

Whilst I acknowledge that the Leader of the Opposition may have different views about these things—in fact, a lot of different views—we should acknowledge that the government, in taking these decisions, has done so in a way which should give us great heart. The government made tough decisions earlier in the year, in the May budget. It reintroduced discipline into the government’s spending and delivered us a $22 billion surplus, and it is because we have that surplus that we are able to make this investment. It is a buffer for more difficult economic times, and those economic times we are in.

Whilst we did not expect it at the time, the failure and the dynamics of the American subprime crisis have been exported around the world and we are all now suffering. We can see the dilemma which is confronting governments across the world in how they deal with these issues. I have to say, when you look at what is happening around the world, the decisive action which has been taken by the government is, I think, seen and applauded across the world. I thank the government and I thank the Prime Minister and the Treasurer in particular for the leadership they have shown. The government is acting decisively, using the surplus that it worked to produce.

The Prime Minister and the Treasurer announced the five measures taken here on 14 October: firstly, $4.8 billion for pension relief, an immediate down payment on long-term pension reform; secondly, $3.9 billion in support payments for low- and middle-income families; thirdly, a $1.5 billion investment to help first home buyers purchase their first home; fourthly, $187 million to create a further 56,000 new training places in 2008-09, a doubling of the training places we have currently; and, fifthly, the acceleration of the government’s nation-building agenda.

It is a solid package by any measure, and it is a package, moreover, which is unashamedly aimed at protecting the most economically vulnerable members of our community from the full effects of the global economic crisis. I could go into each item, but I know that time will preclude me from examining each and every one. Instead, I just want to put things into perspective here as to what this means for an electorate like mine. I live in the centre of Australia, in Alice Springs. My electorate is 1.3 million square kilometres and it has within it a population which is very poor. It is a very diverse population, although 40 per cent of my voters are Indigenous Australians. I do not think many people understand the costs that these communities suffer and the cost of living generally in these remote communities in places like the Northern Territory. We confront the highest fuel prices in Australia; we have the least access to communications, child care, health services, and higher education and training facilities.

Since 1998 the Northern Territory government’s Department of Health and Families has prepared its market basket survey of remote community stores, a regular survey of the cost of household food baskets in rural and remote areas, as part of its nutrition and physical activity program. A standard basket has been priced for each of these stores. This basket is sufficient to provide food for a hypothetical family of six for a fortnight. A major supermarket and corner store in each of the district centres were surveyed for comparative prices. It discovered that the cost of a food basket in remote communities was, on average, 32 per cent above the same basket of goods in Darwin supermarkets. So you can see that the reforms that have been introduced by this economic stimulus package, in particular the assistance to families and pensioners, are of great significance. And the payments are quite substantial. I am certain that in this context, at least in my communities, people will be most grateful for the changes which have been introduced through this legislation.

The government has acted decisively and while we see the opposition are supporting the legislation in the chamber they are doing their darnedest to white-ant it outside of the chamber, and that is a difficulty. I read this morning in the Australian Ken Henry’s comments at the Press Club yesterday. In part, he said that it was a shame all this contestability had occurred as a result of him effectively being accused of doctoring figures. I think it is a sad reflection on the way in which we treat those people who are responsible for running our economy. Importantly, the way it was described is that by attacking the Reserve Bank and the Treasury in the way in which the opposition have done they have effectively undermined confidence in the Australian economy. Not a smart thing to do. The opposition talk through both sides of their mouths: on one side of the discussion they say, ‘We support the government’s package,’ but on the other side of the discussion they say: ‘Frankly, there are many aspects that we don’t like. We don’t like the projections you make, because they don’t give us the story we want. We—the opposition, that is—would like to see our economy grow a lot slower than you’re anticipating. In fact, for political purposes, we’d like to see us in recession.’ That is effectively what they are saying.

See this speech in context