David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Federal Financial Relations Bill 2009 and the Federal Financial Relations (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2009, which are before the House. I think these bills over time will be seen as having made a very significant contribution to the evolution of Commonwealth-state relations in this country. I recall well, as a young student studying constitutional law, immersing myself in the details of the Constitution and its impact upon the various relationships that exist between governments at all levels but in particular between state and federal governments.

As I read through the bill and the material accompanying the bill, whether it be the explanatory memorandum or the communique that was entered into at the COAG meeting, I see references to expressions such as ‘vertical fiscal imbalance’ and ‘horizontal fiscal imbalance’. I think these days they would be known as VFI or HFI rather than in the longhand form. But these things are not just the subjects of esoteric debate for constitutional lawyers. The reason we are debating these bills today is that what lies at the heart of these bills and the process that is being established, whose implementation these bills begin, is a process of identifying how we can better deliver services to people in our communities. It might seem like a lofty debate to have about the Constitution, which was largely entered into over a hundred years ago and has only been amended on a handful of occasions—it still recognises the political realities of the late 1800s and early 1900s without any real reference to the massive technological, political and geopolitical changes that have occurred since—but it is not such a lofty debate when we consider what it means to people back in our communities.

When a family come to see me and raise with me the fact that they were stuck waiting in an emergency department for several hours, and then when I probe and ask questions about their situation and find out that they were there because they could not access a GP, I see one of those practical tensions that exist in the overlap of responsibilities between state and federal government. Who is looking after and responsible for the emergency department? Is that in fact the same level of government that is looking after ensuring that there is adequate provision of GPs in a local community? These are the ways in which intergovernmental relations impact on the lives of people within our communities.

It is with a very clear determination to overcome the overlap, to overcome the duplication and to achieve greater efficiency in service delivery that we are pressing ahead with this COAG reform agenda. I think it is a very ambitious agenda that the government is supporting. It is not the first time we have had a new form of federalism. If I go back to my days as a student, I know that just about every government that came to power had a new federalism. But the reality has remained that it has been difficult—and, I think, increasingly difficult—for governments at both levels to ensure that there is sufficient accountability, sufficient transparency, in the way they raise funds and expend them. I think the proposals that are currently contained within these bills will go a very long way towards giving us as a nation our very best shot at trying to ensure that there will be some accountability, that there will be an end to some of the buck-passing, to some of the blame game, that we have seen on such a consistent basis over many years.

Of course, many people would say that if we were beginning with a blank sheet of paper today we would not draw up a constitution that resembles the one that was passed by the British parliament and then subsequently adopted by the Australian people in 1901. The reference to the states and the lack of reference to local government are two things that stand out very clearly. The powers that were enumerated for the Commonwealth at that time were of a scale that reflected the contemporary debates and the contemporary understandings of the issues that people were facing back in those days. Unfortunately, all of the other powers—the residue of powers, in effect—were retained and reserved by the states.

As our economy has become increasingly integrated into the global economy that has presented great challenges for us in the regulation of our economy within the Australian economic setting. We have over the years seen various and indeed numerous courts or benches of the High Court take a fairly liberal interpretation of the Commonwealth’s powers. Since the Second World War we have seen a massive shift in the fiscal power of the Commonwealth vis-a-vis the states. To some extent that has been redressed with the changes that were implemented with the new tax system and the revenue-sharing arrangements that existed there. But the simple obstacle, the barrier that has created most of these problems, remains—that is, the Constitution entrenches with the states many of the powers which would otherwise be very handy to the Commonwealth government in going about delivering outcomes for people and communities across a wide range of policy areas.

What we see with the proposals that are contained within these bills is a new direction that seeks to continue the general revenue assistance that has always been part of the mix. We have also seen a continuation of specific purpose payments, but we have seen a rationalisation and a consolidation of those payments so that, rather than having the more than 90 national specific purpose payments that we previously had, we are moving towards five national specific purpose payments. In addition to the specific purpose payments we see the new notion of a national partnership payment. I think sometimes the terminology can give you an insight into the philosophy that the legislators are seeking to bring to a particular initiative. It is in that sense that I acknowledge the importance of this notion of partnership.

It was a very curious and perhaps unique political alignment of the stars that there was such symmetry between the political parties in power at a state, territory and federal level when the Rudd government came to power. Of course there have been some changes to that. No doubt in the course of this term of the parliament there may be some more. But that does not detract from the fact that, in coming to power, the Rudd government has evinced a commitment to work with the states and territories. If constitutional reform is not a real and practical possibility, and we have seen the difficulties of that in the past, then the best means through which the national parliament can work to achieve the best possible outcome using the powers that are given to the parliament in the Constitution is to work cooperatively and collaboratively with the states and territories—and that is what is at the very heart of these bills. At the very heart of these bills is a philosophy of partnership, and that is why the national partnership payments are thus called.

In moving towards a system that has national partnership payments as well as a more streamlined list of national specific purpose payments, we see that there is a real move towards imposing a greater degree of accountability. There is not only greater flexibility—in the sense that there is not the same degree of conditionality that was once imposed in relation to the national specific purpose payments, and therefore a greater degree of flexibility—but also a greater degree of accountability in terms of the operations of the COAG reform council. I note in particular the mechanics of the way in which the COAG reform council will operate in respect of the national partnership payments. I note, and very much support, the thrust of the proposals that provide for a system where national partnership payments build in incentives and opportunities for reward—opportunities through the accountability mechanism of the COAG reform council, in a similar vein to the competition council in relation to the payment of national competition payments. I am very supportive of the initiative to involve the COAG reform council in overseeing, supervising and making determinations in respect of the actions of the states and territories to determine whether or not incentive payments or reward payments should be made. I think that is an important consideration.

What we have seen with the agreement that has led to these bills which are now before the House is what I think is an unparalleled degree of consensus between the leadership of the respective tiers of government. I think when you add to that the Rudd government’s commitment to incorporating and enmeshing local government within the overall intergovernmental relationships in this country then we see an even greater value that will be realised by the partnerships that can be delivered by working with governments at all levels and, of course, of all political persuasions. We are under no illusion in believing that this will not be without its challenges, but just because something presents challenges does not mean that we should not take on that challenge.

I am very pleased to see that in delivering reform the government has provided additional resources for the states and territories. As I move around my community, I see that there are real challenges in service delivery—for example, there are challenges that face our hospitals and there are challenges that face the disability services sector. Indeed, I too acknowledge the presence of the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services, the member for Maribyrnong, in the chamber. Evidently he has been very busy because he has also visited my electorate and not all that long ago held a forum with local disability service stakeholders. He was able to present, I think in a very cogent way, the benefits that this government hopes will flow to community organisations right across this country from embarking upon a cooperative and collaborative approach with the states. In the end they still have responsibility for delivering services in most respects. Therefore, all of the goodwill and good intentions in this place will not necessarily deliver those outcomes unless we are able to set in train a set of arrangements between governments at the two levels that will ensure there will be some cooperation in delivering on the objectives that the Commonwealth government has set.

I note in relation to education funding that a significant increase in investment in education will be secured as part of this package of bills. The Rudd government said prior to its election that we would endeavour to deliver an education revolution. I think that now, 18 months down the track, we can look back and see some of the things that are going on in our schools, in our preschools, in our technical colleges and vocational education institutions, and in our universities. We can see that that revolution has commenced. I am seeing computers being delivered in record numbers to local schools. I am seeing trade training centres in my local schools. I am seeing a revolution well and truly underway.

So when those on the other side mock the notion of an education revolution I invite them to come on a tour with me through my electorate. Come to Caroline Chisholm College in Glenmore Park and have a look at the computers that are being delivered for the young women who are securing an education at that school. Come to Cambridge Park High School and I will show you the plans for the trades training centre that will be delivered across seven campuses of local high schools and that will deliver improved educational and training opportunities for people wanting to get a trade in metals and engineering. Come into our local schools and see the aspirations and the plans that our primary schools have for building that hall that they have been waiting to have for longer than I have been alive. They have been waiting for improvements to be delivered. Fixing a toilet block seems to be a very common request coming from many local schools. These are the sorts of things that will be delivered. So take a tour through our schools and you will see that the revolution is well and truly underway. What is occurring is revolutionary in its scope and its scale.

Health is one of those issues that are consistently raised with me by constituents. We have the Nepean Hospital located within the electorate of Lindsay. It is a significant hospital, delivering services to a very large catchment. Our health services are under pressure, they are under strain, and that is why the Rudd government took some early steps to provide additional investment—even outside of this funding arrangement—in our public hospitals. But, as a result of this package of bills, we see even more investment going into our health services. I note some of the specific initiatives that I read about with great interest that relate to some of the national partnership payments—whether in relation to preventative health or taking pressure off public hospitals—which will fund a significant number of additional presentations to emergency departments. These are the services that, if we can deliver them, will provide the very thing that constituents in our communities are crying out for.

I come back to the point that, whilst the origins of a debate that leads to the tensions that have existed over time between state and federal governments will be debated in legal lecture rooms by constitutional lawyers all around this country, the reality is that the work that we are currently engaged in in passing these bills will have a very significant practical impact on communities such as my local community. It is in that vein that I support these initiatives. I restate the fact that I think that this is a very ambitious set of proposals, but we owe it to the people in our communities to be ambitious, to try to shrug off the history of buck passing and finger pointing and to do our best to work with our colleagues at state and local levels to deliver better services in our communities. That is our hope. We are putting some serious money on the table and we look forward to the passage of this legislation and indeed to working very closely with our state and local government colleagues into the future to deliver better services to our local community.

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