Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

These are certainly strange times that we are living in, strange times indeed. We have an African-American President in the White House who won the candidacy of the Democratic Party from a women who would have also made a great President. The British Prime Minister is Scottish. The Governor-General of Australia is female and a Queenslander. We have a Prime Minister who is a Queenslander; we have a Treasurer who is a Queenslander. We have a female Governor in Queensland. Next Saturday, we will even have the first elected female Premier of Queensland. These are very strange times. We even have the Liberals and Nationals staying together in Queensland. These are very strange times in which I rise to support the Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2008-2009 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009, which will appropriate $2.1 billion.

This is all part of the Rudd government’s response to the global financial crisis. Yes, it is global and it is a crisis. These are difficult times indeed around the world. Corporate greed, extreme capitalism and neoliberalism have combined to create a perfect storm of financial ruin. The crisis has thrown major economies like those of the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany into recession. Thirty banks around the world have collapsed or been bailed out. We say that, but people do not understand the sorts of banks that we are talking about. Some of these are so substantial that it would be like our four major banks going over. Every country in the world faces a dramatic rise in unemployment, as we have seen today.

No country is immune from the fallout of the crisis, but the Rudd government is doing whatever it can to shelter Australia from the storm. Early on, the government guaranteed deposits held in Australian owned banks to stimulate confidence in the banking sector and to ensure that our banks remain competitive in the difficult international market. We are also providing relief to pensioners, support for low- and middle-income families and support for students. We are building confidence in the housing market and boosting training opportunities. Through the Nation Building and Jobs Plan, we are supporting drought affected farmers and small businesses and investing in infrastructure and skills for the future.

We have the largest school modernisation program in Australia’s history. I am sure that all members in the House, even those who voted against the Rudd government initiative, welcome this injection of money into their school communities. It is a fantastic opportunity to bring money into communities quickly while investing in something that will pay off in the long run—education. This program will deliver a new school library, multipurpose hall or classroom upgrade for all primary schools. The principals in my electorate tell me that this is exactly what their schools need. They simply cannot believe that a government is finally doing it. I am sure, Deputy Speaker Scott, that, as a longstanding member of parliament, when you have gone to schools over the last 10 or so years they always had a list of wishes and what the community would like to achieve. It is great that we are going to be able to achieve some of those dreams in so many schools. We are also putting pink batts as insulation into the roofs of many Australian homes. This will decrease people’s carbon footprints and improve their living conditions in winter and summer.

Unfortunately, the opposition opposed all of these measures. Every single one of them opposed every single measure. Unfortunately, they have no plan to respond to the global recession and no plan to support struggling Australian families. While we have the ESS and that NBJP, they have the WAS strategy, which is of course the ‘wait-and-see’ strategy—wait and see what happens.

I turn now to the details in the bills before the House. The amount of $384 million will be appropriated through Appropriation Bill (No. 5). It includes $34 million to support 241 childcare centres until 31 March 2009 and $70 million for wages and entitlements under the General Employment Entitlements Redundancy Scheme. As a former union official, I commend John Howard for the Stan Howard initiative. I always give credit to John Howard for three things, and that is one of them. Having being a union official and having worked with GEERS, I know how difficult it is when you do have to access the GEERS. It is a great initiative. Also, there is $46.5 million for infrastructure and training places at DEEWR, $43 million for new apprenticeships and apprenticeship centres, $38.9 million to help trade apprentices find new employers, $36.8 million to help redundant workers access employment programs, $16.4 million for developments in the East Kimberley, $11.1 million to expand emergency relief, and $68.7 million for the Nation Building and Jobs Plan, including informing citizens about the opportunities they can access to build confidence and to build jobs.

The Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009 will also appropriate $1.83 billion for significant nation-building programs; $1.2 billion will go to the Australian Rail Track Corporation to fund 17 rail freight projects around the country. Railways were a significant issue at the time of Federation and it is good to see that, 100 years on, we still have a commitment to supporting our rail networks. A further $392 million will go to AusLink to bring forward spending on roads, and $250 million will also go to bring forward the purchase of water to return flows to the Murray-Darling Basin, which is something I am sure the member for Mayo would be very supportive of. I am proud to support these initiatives because I know they will secure thousands of Australian jobs, they will provide support to those who find themselves without a job as a result of the global economic crisis and they will help finance our nation-building agenda.

As a former schoolteacher, I return again to schools because I really think that is the masterstroke in this plan in terms of ensuring that we have a plan for the future so that we are ready, when the economic situation stabilises, to go forward and take advantage of the good economic times that will come rather than just lay back in a hammock and do nothing in terms of economic restructuring which, unfortunately, is what happened on 2 March 1996 for 10, 11 or 12 years.

In between jockeying for the leadership position that takes place on the other side of the chamber, the opposition has also cried foul over the size of the deficit that will come about as a result of this stimulus package. This is typical of the Liberal and National parties. I would like to call it ‘dole queue schadenfreude’, for those familiar with that psychological term. They are rubbing their hands—not in public, of course—hoping that there will be dole queues, that there will be misery, that lives will suffer so that they can then magically go to the polls and say, ‘I told you so.’ That is the Peter Costello plan if he ever finds the backbone to come forward and execute it. But it is all based on this dole queue schadenfreude. They would rather Australian businesses close their doors; they would rather Australians moved to the unemployment queues. Unfortunately, that means that lives are damaged and that families will suffer. Thankfully, we do have a clear choice in front of us.

The government could ignore the global economic crisis. We could take economic advice from Lawrence Springborg, the leader of the Liberal National Party in Queensland, and just say, ‘It’s a peripheral thing; don’t worry about it.’ We could ignore the global—I repeat, global—recession and let the free market rip, as per Liberal Party policy, without regard for the impact it will have on Australian families. Or, through targeted and responsible spending initiatives we could stimulate our economy, support jobs, support families, strengthen small businesses and stand shoulder to shoulder with Australian working families and farmers, who are doing it tough.

The Rudd government believes there are no responsible alternatives. The Treasurer delivered a surplus of almost $22 billion last budget, which gave us room to move in terms of our response to this crisis. But let us be clear about the size of the deficit we are talking about. I will make it very simple for the audience. It is the equivalent of a situation in which you are earning $100,000 a year—if you are lucky enough to be—and you take out a loan for $5,000. It is not irresponsible; it is very manageable and very serviceable. It is a small price to pay to help Australian small businesses and to secure Australian jobs. And, obviously, we have the commitment to return the budget to surplus after the global recession is through. Through responsible economic management we will get through the global recession and return to a budget surplus.

Don’t listen to the henny penny collective opposite saying that the sky is going to fall in. Instead of taking advice from the other side of the House before coming to parliament I was playing around with a couple of my local businesses and business contacts and they all say the same thing: they hear that tough times are coming but at the moment they are holding steady. They are not listening to Malcolm Turnbull saying that the sky is going to fall in. They say: ‘No, we are holding up, we are doing okay and the government is doing a great job. We are holding steady.’ So the dole queue schadenfreude that is found opposite is bad for the soul and it is bad at the polls. So my advice to Malcolm and the rest of the people opposite is to give it up. I commend the bills to the House.

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