Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a little bit of a shame—despite the valiant attempts of the contribution we have just seen—that the shadow minister could not make it down here to actually outline what the opposition’s position is in relation to this legislation. But it is not surprising, really, that the opposition is not quite sure where they are in relation to responding to this legislation, because they are in a mess. They are not quite sure where they are in responding to the economic crisis that is engulfing Australia and the rest of the world. They are not quite sure where they should be in relation to the issue of Work Choices, and they are even all over the place on the question of who should actually be their leader. So it is not surprising that we have had the kind of contribution that we have just seen there, one that has had to be done on the run and one where the shadow minister himself could not make it down to talk to this particular legislation.

The Federal Financial Relations Bill 2009 and cognate bill are important pieces of legislation, and they mark a stark contrast between the approach to government adopted by the Rudd government and that of the previous government. This approach is about working and cooperating with the states to get better outcomes for all Australians. It is not about trying to stand over the states. It is not about trying to have money conditional on them adopting a particular philosophical approach—which we saw all too often under the previous government. This is about sitting down, cooperating and coming up with clear objectives and clear ideas that are going to help all Australians in a wide range of areas. It is about delivering on the important promise that we made, going into the last election, that we would look to end the blame game with the states. This legislation is a terrific example of the concrete steps that this government has taken to do that by sitting down and cooperating, by clearly defining roles and responsibilities, and by making sure that there are fair and sustainable financial arrangements between the states and the Commonwealth.

With this bill there is a focus by all the parties in these financial relations—the federal government and the state and territory governments—on long-term development and enhancement of government service delivery. We will see enhanced public accountability through simpler, standardised and more transparent performance reporting by all jurisdictions. There will be a stronger effort towards the achievement of outcomes, efficient service delivery and timely public reporting. These bills will bring other positive aspects as well: reduced administrative and compliance overheads; stronger incentives to implement economic and social reforms; ongoing provisions of the GST payments to the states and territories, equivalent to revenue received from the GST; and the equalisation of the fiscal capacities between states and territories. The national specific purpose payments will be spent in the key service delivery sectors. Of course, when we are doing this, we are talking about schools, early childhood, health and disabilities, vocational education and housing.

In my electorate of Dobell on the Central Coast, we enjoy a great lifestyle. It is probably one of the country’s best, with some beautiful beaches and coastline. We have large areas of natural and pristine national parks, and we are very close to Australia’s biggest city. But like many growing areas, we are still in need of better services; we still have some way to go to achieving those. This bill is about trying to coordinate and provide better services in those key areas of schools, early childhood, health, disabilities, vocational education and housing. In Dobell our schools need upgrading. Early childhood facilities need to be expanded. Health services are in higher demand. In fact, Wyong Hospital has the fifth busiest emergency department in New South Wales, and Gosford Hospital has the seventh busiest. So we have very busy health facilities and a growing population. At the last election the Rudd government committed to establishing a super GP clinic in my electorate. I know, from talking to constituents, that they are all eagerly awaiting the announcement of the successful tenderer for that, and we are expecting that to happen any day now. Such a facility has been earmarked for the area where the demand for health services is highest. In this case it is in the fast-growing suburbs of the Wyong shire in the northern part of the Central Coast. Hospitals and their busy emergency departments are getting busier and, with an ageing population, these health facilities are coming under increasing pressure because of what is still a low per capita number of doctors compared to many areas of New South Wales.

We have important issues relating to water infrastructure that need to be addressed. In the last election the Rudd government promised to construct a pipeline between the Mardi Dam on the coast and the largest storage dam, the Mangrove Creek Dam, in the mountains behind the Central Coast. This sort of infrastructure is vital for the Central Coast. We have experienced the full effects of the drought. In fact, we were down to less than 13 per cent of our water supply. Even with a heavier than usual period of rain in the last 12 months, our dam capacities are still at only 31 per cent. The Rudd government is working with the local council on this issue to make sure that solutions are worked out cooperatively, that they provide outcomes that benefit everyone on the Central Coast and that they help to secure the water supply for all the citizens there.

The Council of Australian Governments has developed a new integrated approach to improving health outcomes for all Australians and improving the sustainability of the Australian health system. The agreement identifies the long-term objectives of the Commonwealth, state and territory governments. Those objectives are: prevention so that Australians are born and remain healthy; primary and community health so that Australians receive appropriate high-quality and affordable primary and community health services; hospital and related care so that Australians receive appropriate high-quality and affordable hospital and hospital related care; aged care so that older Australians receive appropriate high-quality and affordable health and aged care services; patient experience so that Australians have a positive health and aged care experience which takes account of individual circumstances and care needs; social inclusion and Indigenous health so that Australia’s health system promotes social inclusion and reduces social disadvantage, especially for Indigenous Australians; and sustainability so that Australians have a sustainable health system. These are important and very worthy objectives that, by sitting down and working together, the federal and state governments have been able to reach agreement on. Part of this bill is about making sure that these sorts of important long-term goals, which are so vital to ensuring that our health system functions properly, are enacted and put into place and that we have both those levels of government working together for a common outcome rather than working in silos, with the public losing as a result.

In the area of disabilities, we have made many improvements but there is still a long way to go. Recently in this place I spoke about our local disability groups and how they regularly give accounts of the struggles faced by many people with disabilities and their carers in my community. Transport is a major problem for people with disabilities. Finding a job is still a major challenge in many ways for people with disabilities. The Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services spoke to a number of groups on the Central Coast recently and told them how important it is to fight for fairness and equity for people with disabilities, at both a local and neighbourhood level. This fight is ongoing, and we intend to persevere. But the smooth delivery of funding to the states and territories in this area on an ongoing basis will help make that fight easier. That is partly what these bills will do.

These bills help provide the appropriation for the Commonwealth to make an ongoing financial contribution in the following vital areas—that is, health care, schools, skills and workforce development, disability services and affordable housing. In my electorate on the Central Coast, we have 46 schools in total, 38 of them government schools. Can I say there has been an overwhelming positive response from the school community about the Rudd government’s stimulus package, which will go a long way to improving much-needed educational infrastructure on the Central Coast. All of these schools will be able to upgrade their facilities and in doing so will create local economic stimulus, giving tradespeople much-needed work, not to mention improving the school facilities for teachers, students, P&C groups and other organisations that use them.

I have said before in this place that, if you were designing a stimulus package for my electorate, it would be exactly the stimulus package that the government announced earlier this year. In my electorate of Dobell, one of the key areas that the stimulus package has a major effect on is retail, and employment in the retail sector is larger than in any other sector. We have a disproportionately high number of people employed in retail, so clearly that is something that is directly affected by the stimulus package. But the other interesting thing about my electorate is that we also have a disproportionately high number of tradesmen and tradeswomen, who both work in the electorate and commute to Sydney. Providing this kind of stimulus package, which addresses the infrastructure requirements of schools and makes sure that the local tradespeople have the opportunity to work on the 46 schools in my electorate, is absolutely vital for the seat of Dobell. The seat of Dobell has traditionally been affected by unemployment disproportionately, by more than the national average. In fact, youth unemployment has gone close to 20 per cent in my electorate, and the unemployment rate is already in the area of seven per cent, which is much higher than the national average. It is vital that areas like this, which are more susceptible to economic downturns, are addressed properly and squarely by the stimulus package, and that is exactly what the stimulus package does for my electorate. I have had nothing but people saying to me, ‘Thank God the federal government has done something.’

What we have done in terms of the stimulus package in this particular bill and the way in which we are cooperating with the states stands in such stark contrast to those sitting opposite. Those sitting opposite find it very hard to come up with a coherent position because they are so wracked with division. At the moment so much of their energy is being occupied by negotiating who is going to be leader and who will be on the rival frontbenches that they have completely forgotten their obligation to the Australian public in looking at and addressing the financial crisis that we find ourselves embroiled in because of what is happening overseas. So it does not come as any surprise that there is such a stark difference between the government benches and the opposition benches in this particular issue.

And what do we get from the opposition in relation to any of the positive steps that this government puts up to stimulate jobs, to make sure the economy is cushioned as best we possibly can from the global financial crisis? At the moment, what we get is the Turnbull threestep. We have all heard it. It starts off with: ‘We support the government’s position.’ They then raise some doubts about the government’s position as the backroom dealing on who is going to be leader hots up in the Liberal Party room, and then they get to the final position of objecting to or opposing the government’s legislation. This opposition has not supported substantially, for any length of time, for anytime more than a few days, any of the positive initiatives that have been put up by this government, and in my electorate people are saying, ‘Which of our schools is the Leader of the Opposition saying won’t be upgraded? Which of our people who need the economic stimulus are going to miss out? Is it going to be pensioners who will miss out? Who is going to be missing out if the opposition have their way?’ They are very disturbed at the approach that is being taken by the opposition, who are spending too much time navel gazing and worrying about who sits where on their front bench rather than dealing with the issues that confront the economy and the world generally.

This government, though, in stark contrast, is about providing solutions by both short-term stimulus and long-term structural changes. This particular bill goes to both of those issues. Most particularly, though, this bill is important because it provides a dramatic change in approach from the previous government. Previously, the former Howard government’s engagement with the states was minimal. They took a position of dealing with the state and territory governments which said: ‘We have a proposition. Take it or leave it. There is no room for discussion. There is no room for compromise. If you have different objectives, that is just tough. This is the way that we are going to operate.’ How can we get the best outcomes for all Australians if we have two levels of government that do not share a common view as to the outcomes that they want to seek in service delivery? It has been absolutely vital for us to sit down and reach agreement with the states and territories on a whole series of issues of service delivery. It was vital because not only does it put resources into the areas where they are required but it makes sure that both levels of government are working to a common purpose. If that is not to be the case, then clearly resources are going to be wasted. Outcomes that may be sought by the Commonwealth may well not be able to be achieved if different outcomes are sought by the state and territory governments. This cooperative approach with the state and territory governments is so important to making sure that we get better delivery of those vital services.

The National Affordable Housing Agreement provides the framework for the parties to work together to improve housing affordability and homelessness outcomes for Australians. Parties to this agreement are committed to: providing direction on a range of measures including social housing assistance to people in the private rental market, support and accommodation for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and home purchase advice; working towards improving coordination across housing related programs to make better use of existing stock and underutilised government assets, and achieve better integration between housing and human services, including health and disability services; and, of course, the very important goal of reducing the rate of homelessness. This agreement is ongoing and may be amended as necessary by the agreement of the Council of Australian Governments.

This is a very worthy goal to have. It is one that is backed up in this bill by financial commitment. It is one that has been backed up by the government’s stimulus package in providing public housing and it is one that I would think all members of this place would want to support—making sure that people who are sleeping rough have some chance of having a roof over their head is absolutely vital. In any society that describes itself as a civilised society these kinds of initiatives need to be at the top of our agenda. But this is more important than that, because not only does it help achieve these morally important issues for our culture and our country but it also provides that stimulus in terms of providing work in the building sector that is so vital to making sure that we are cushioned from the worst effects of the global financial crisis.

Again, to further emphasise the difference in approach, this is something that is agreed between the states and the Commonwealth. This is not something that is imposed without discussion; this is something that has been negotiated so that we have a common set of values, a common set of aims and a common set of goals. That is the only way that we are going to be able to achieve change in relation to these important issues: by making sure that in terms of service delivery across these vital areas we sit down and cooperate with the states and territories and we reach agreement. By reaching agreement we have common goals and outcomes and we can then make sure that they are adequately financed. I commend the bills to the House.

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