Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I rise to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2008-2009 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009, I am mindful of a conversation I had last night at an Australian Hotels Association dinner—where I enjoyed your company as well, Mr Deputy Speaker Bevis. It was a conversation I had with one of the representatives from the AHA, a fellow Queenslander who runs a very large hotel in Brisbane and has done for 28 years, he was saying. Understandably, he has been through all kinds of circumstances, all kinds of ups and downs, in that period. But what he really impressed on me was his view that what he is looking for as a businessman, and I guess he wants his customers to feel the same way, is some confidence—not for the government to wear rose-coloured glasses and send a message that everything is fine but for the government to be realistic about the times that we are in and at the same time do everything we can to send the message that there is cause for confidence and cause to believe that we will get through this. That is what the government’s stimulus package is all about: telling people that we understand the difficulties that we are facing as a result of the global economic downturn or recession, but now is not the time to throw our hands up in the air and take whatever comes at us from overseas but to roll up our sleeves and do things that will boost activity in the Australian economy and in that way boost confidence.

The fellow that I was speaking to last night is employing 100 people in his hotel. He is seeing his takings decline a little bit year on year when he compares February 2009 with February 2008. At the same time he is trying to face these circumstances with confidence, and the Rudd government is really trying to support him in doing that by making sure that there is activity in our communities, in our cities, in our schools and in the building sector. It is about making sure that people can continue to spend and continue to invest. It is about seeing that we support jobs however we can through the government’s actions to make sure that the economy can stay as healthy as possible while we are dealing with the crisis overseas.

These two bills are about the government putting in place these stimulus measures. There is about $2.2 billion in funding included in the two bills. This goes to a range of different measures to support the government’s stimulus package. It includes funding for initiatives agreed with the minor parties during the debate on the Nation Building and Jobs Plan package. This is very much about not sitting back but rather doing everything that the government can to deal with the circumstances that we are faced with. We do not want to, as the former shadow Treasurer advised, wait and see what happens next as the global financial crisis unfolds. We actually want to get ahead of the game and put in place measures that will boost activity and protect jobs. So one of the key thrusts of this funding is to do just that: to secure the jobs of workers and in particular—and I will go through this later in my speech—to put in place measures aimed at assisting apprentices and trainees to keep their foothold in the workforce.

Whether it is in the manufacturing sector, as we have seen with Pacific Brands, or whether it is in mining or banking or retail and other services, there are men and women across Australia whose jobs will be at risk during this economic downturn that we are facing courtesy of the global financial crisis. There is no getting away from that in my electorate. Up in Capricornia there have been job cuts in the hundreds in the last couple of months, particularly in the mining industry. Most recently, in late February, the magnesite miner and magnesium producer, QMAG, announced a restructure of its operations and resulting job cuts. We are talking about 130 workers. A large proportion of those are contractors. They have been made redundant. The expectation is that the company’s Kunwarara mine and Parkhurst processing facility will operate at 30 per cent of capacity until demand improves. There is no doubt that these job cuts are attributable to the world economic crisis, particularly the cooling resources demand from China and elsewhere. In QMAG’s case, its major customers are part of the supply chain for steel production in Europe, where demand has fallen steeply in the last six months. The outlook for this sector shows little sign of improving.

The QMAG announcement followed similar cuts by Macarthur Coal and Xtrata in December, and Anglo added to the total two weeks ago by announcing cuts of up to 650 jobs across its Bowen Basin sites. These cuts will be felt in towns like Moranbah, Middlemount and Moura. So it is the unfortunate reality that at the moment the global financial crisis is impacting on resource based businesses such as QMAG and on the coal industry. This is having a ripple effect on jobs as companies deal with tough trading conditions.

But, going back to my opening remarks, to stave off the worst effects of the global financial situation the government has unveiled its Nation Building and Jobs Plan. This is about not pretending that we can stop what is coming at us from overseas. As exporting companies like QMAG and the big coalmining companies have found, we cannot stop what is happening overseas. But the government can take action to support economic activity and jobs here in Australia. We have acted very quickly in doing this. There was the $10.4 billion stimulus package last year and now we are backing that up, as international conditions have deteriorated, with this $42 billion package.

The impact of this package—the activity that it will generate—will be felt right across the country. A lot of these jobs will be in Central Queensland as people insulate their homes and connect their solar hot water systems and as schools begin construction of new libraries and community halls.

As I said before, we have not forgotten the particular plight of apprentices and trainees, who often find themselves the first to be let go—however reluctantly—by employers who find that they just do not have the work to support them. Part of the funding in Appropriation Bill (No. 5) will provide the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations with funding for a range of measures, including $38.8 million to assist apprentices and trainees to return to the workforce and to maintain their training if they are out of work. Employers and training organisations will be encouraged to retain apprentices and trainees through an additional payment on completion of training. There is an additional $43.7 million for the expected increase in commencements and completion claims under the Australian apprenticeship system.

On the topic of apprentices, I would like to draw the House’s attention to some positive news from my electorate of Capricornia. I have talked about the job cuts and about the downturn that has been experienced in the coalmining and other mining sectors. But, on the positive side of things, at Plane Creek Sugar Mill at Sarina, the owner—CSR—is investing in the long-term future of the milling industry after years of struggling to compete with the high wages in the mining regions of the Bowen Basin and struggling to attract an ideal number of workers for its mill. With job vacancies still on its books, CSR is making the most of the opportunity to attract new labour—and not only that; CSR is investing in young people by recently employing seven new apprentices for 2009, which totals four more than its usual intake.

The apprentices—Clint Wheeler, Chris Buccholz, Zeb Shepperson, Lachlan McAulay, Dave Preston, Hayden Clair and Jeff Hodgson—have recently donned their hard hats and safety goggles and are at work after three weeks of safety training earlier this month. Most of them are actually undertaking cadetships, which have them working dually on apprenticeships and university study. It will see them undertake four years of apprentice work and two years studying engineering—so they are going to be highly skilled workers at the end of that training. Of this group of seven, there is an extra electrical apprentice and an extra mechanical apprentice. CSR is definitely making the most of the job market to attract workers after years of finding it so difficult to compete against the high wages in the mines in our region. CSR has also put on 19 new apprentices at its Burdekin operations and six new apprentices in the Herbert region.

I really want to congratulate CSR for its efforts and its commitment to the young people of Central Queensland, and of Sarina in particular. I know that the company will be rewarded by the hard work that these new apprentices will be putting into mastering their trades, and I hope we get to keep those highly skilled young men in our region once they have completed their apprenticeships and their university studies.

I also want to mention another aspect of funding that is being appropriated in these bills, and that is additional money for the Emergency Relief Program. The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs will be provided with funding to double the emergency relief program until 30 June 2011. The funding of $11.1 million will enable the community organisations concerned to respond to the expected increase in demand for emergency relief resulting from the recent deterioration in economic conditions.

I spoke yesterday afternoon to Major Laurie Robertson, who is the Divisional Commander of the Salvation Army for Central and Northern Queensland. Major Robertson told me that there is no doubt that the demand for emergency relief is increasing in our region, coming off those job cuts and the general difficulties that people are experiencing. The Salvation Army is just one of a number of organisations which provide that emergency relief funding to people in Central Queensland. All organisations involved will be eligible to apply for that additional funding. This is a practical measure from the government which comes, again, from the attitude that this problem is not of Australia’s creation and that it is coming at us as a result of what is happening in the international finance sector. That is not to say that we sit around and do nothing; we take practical steps to provide a safety net for people and to increase building and economic activity in our country domestically until such time as demand for our exports increases and other activity increases.

There is also funding in these bills, and of course in the broader Nation Building and Jobs Plan, for infrastructure. I think the previous speaker, the member for Fadden, was trying to make the point that somehow the government was—what were his words?—not doing anything. It was all about people just saving the money. It is handouts that people are saving. There is billions and billions of dollars worth of building activity in the package, so I do not really see how he can say that this money is not going to be felt in the economy. We are talking about billions of dollars worth of building, and among that is a lot of investment in roads and other transport infrastructure.

It was interesting to hear the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in question time yesterday highlighting the fact that we in Queensland know only too well as we drive around on the Bruce Highway or other significant transport links in Queensland that in fact the Howard government in its final year slashed road funding. It slashed road funding by 35 per cent in its final year. Road funding in 2005-06 was $4.3 billion and in 2006-07 it fell to $2.8 billion—a cut in road funding of 35 per cent at the height of the resources boom. So at a time when the Howard government was raking in revenue hand over fist it was actually cutting funding for the vital infrastructure that in my region was going towards supporting the activity in the resources sector.

By way of contrast with that shameful performance, I want to mention a couple of projects that are happening in my electorate. One of the important components of the Nation Building and Jobs Plan is the additional money for black spots. The Rudd government had already doubled funding for black spots in the previous budget; we are now tripling it under this plan. One of my local councils, the Rockhampton Regional Council, got funding just a few months ago of three-quarters of a million dollars for black spots in the last round. That was when the money for black spots had been doubled, so you can just imagine the allocation that my local councils can be looking forward to now that the money for black spots has been tripled. And it is not just the roadworks, of course, that are welcome when money is spent on black spots; it is also the increase in road safety and the reduction in accidents.

Something else that has happened—and this is us delivering on one of our election commitments in my area—is the upgrade to the Bruce Highway south of Mackay. Mackay is at the very centre of the mining boom that has been happening in Central Queensland in recent years. There has been an enormous explosion in traffic, heavy vehicle traffic particularly, on this section of road, and it is also a major section of road that is used by workers coming from Sarina and places like that into Mackay and out to the mines west of Mackay. The Rudd government committed to making that part of the Bruce Highway south of Mackay four lanes. That has been completed. The minister for infrastructure and transport was up there on 18 February 2009 to open that new road. It is a $14.4 million project that will boost safety and improve road access on Mackay’s southern entrance. Anyone who knows that part of Queensland, that part of Mackay, will know what a very busy and important, strategic road that is. That is very welcome news to the many people in my electorate south of Mackay who actually traverse that road each day on their way into the major industrial area on the southern outskirts of Mackay or further on to the mines west of Mackay.

Another road, which links Mackay to the mining towns out west, is the Peak Downs Highway, and a section over the Eton Range, 30 kilometres west of Mackay, is notoriously dangerous. It is a very badly designed road that seriously needs attention. Needless to say, it got no attention under the previous government. I wrote letters; I made speeches; nothing happened. The Prime Minister came to Mackay for a community cabinet in the middle of last year, and I brought a delegation to see him representing transport operators who try to drive trucks over this range, where trucks are rolling over every couple of months. The Prime Minister said, ‘Right, we’ll look at that.’ On 25 February I had a letter from the transport minister saying, ‘Yes, we’ve agreed with the Queensland government we’re going to do a study to realign that road over the Eton Range which has been so dangerous in previous years.’ The good news from the Queensland government is that the Eton Range crossing will be included in Queensland’s Roads Implementation Program for 2009-10 to 2013-14. As such, it will see this work reflected as a state priority. So that is great news for those people who really take their lives in their hands every day crossing that very dangerous stretch of highway.

I will finish where I started, and say that we do not hide from the fact—we as a government cannot hide from the fact—that Australia is in for some tough times, but that is not to say that we should just throw our hands up and take whatever comes at us. We will do everything in our power through these kinds of stimulus packages, which, I might add, have been supported by basically everyone except for the opposition. For some reason, the opposition do not support payments to families or payments to workers; they do not support building infrastructure in schools; and they do not support improving our transport infrastructure, as seen by their cutting of funding for that infrastructure in the past. (Time expired)

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