Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Be it on your head if that is what you want to do. I have given the guarantee time and time again that EC will be granted under the same rules. There is nothing more irresponsible than running a fear campaign amongst people who are already so desperately vulnerable in so many ways.

The projects that are part of the Nation Building and Jobs Plan are designed to make sure that we can help to generate economic activity and support jobs at a time where comparable nations are in recession. We are in a global recession, and if you were going to be anywhere in the world you would want to be here. We want to make sure that as a government we act decisively and early to make sure that we continue to generate economic activity with long-term and lasting benefits.

On this side of the House we support the $950 payments going to singles. For so long we as a parliament have made sure that we have provided assistance for families, but how many times have singles missed out, even though they have been suffering and have tremendous bills to deal with? For the first time in a long time there are bonus payments for them. On this side of the House we support the farmer’s hardship bonus, which members opposite are trying to block. We support those bonuses because we understand the situation that the globe is in.

Years ago there was a Supertramp album cover that was all doom and gloom except for a little bit of colour where someone was wearing sunglasses and sitting on a banana lounge. The album was called Crisis? What Crisis? That is the world that the opposition are living in if the comments from the shadow minister are any guide. It is as if they think the global economic crisis does not demand immediate decisive action. It is as if they have no idea how our economy interacts with the economies throughout the rest of the world. It is as if they do not understand that drought is but one of the challenges that farmers are facing. It is as if they have no idea about world commodity prices and what has happened over the last year with fertiliser and chemical prices. We know how responsive our economy is to what happens in the rest of the world. While the rest of the world is in such extraordinary hardship and recession, members opposite say, ‘Sit back, relax and take your time. But this government is going to make sure that we act decisively.

Our Nation Building and Jobs Plan covers different policy areas and will be felt right throughout the nation. The measures include free ceiling insulation for around 2.7 million Australian homes; building or upgrading a building in every one of Australia’s 9,540 schools; building more than 20,000 new social and defence homes; $950 one-off cash payments to eligible families, single workers, students, drought affected farmers and others; a temporary business investment tax break for small and general businesses buying eligible assets; and significantly increasing funding for local community infrastructure and local road projects.

When members opposite go back to their electorates this weekend, to each and every constituent who asks, ‘Am I eligible?’ they not only will have to explain whether or not they would be eligible under the government scheme but also will have to say, ‘You’d be eligible under what is proposed but we are trying to stop it.’ Make sure that you explain to the farmers in your electorates who are on EC—midway through trying to scare the hell out of them, as you seem to want to do—why you do not believe in a $950 payment for their family. Tell them why, in your judgement as the shadow minister for agriculture and representative of the National Party, you do not think they are worthy of that $950 payment.

Go and visit your schools tomorrow. Ask them first what sort of infrastructure project they would like, and then explain to them that you are trying to stop them from getting it. Explain that to the local contractors who would have got the work. Explain it to the construction workers who would have had an economic opportunity. Explain it to the subbies who would have been able to get a job. Explain why you are opposed to it to the people in retail who would have benefited from there being a higher level of economic activity in the town. If the members opposite do that this weekend, we will see if they are still as irresponsible when they come back next week.

The people of Australia understand. The people of Australia are able to watch the news and understand what is happening in the rest of the world. They want to make sure that there is strong and decisive action so that we are not exposed to the full level of pain that the rest of the world is having. They want to make sure that we have a plan that generates immediate economic activity and, beyond that, makes sure that we have the long-term infrastructure for which people have been waiting for such a long time—such things as improvement of black spots on roads, dealing with level crossings and upgrading schools. These are things that members of the Labor Party are proud to have always believed in and are proud to be able to now deliver on. We are proud that we are able to be seen as members of the Labor Party. We are proud that we are able to look at our constituents in good faith, that we can see people in genuine need and be able to say that we are on their side, notwithstanding that we sit in this chamber and face people who want to take benefits away.

See this speech in context