Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

This House is hearing a great deal about debt and deficit versus building and infrastructure from the two tribes that go to war in this place on a regular basis. They are both very legitimate positions, and I will follow the debate closely. I continue to place faith in our national economics and in the budget, and in the Secretary to the Treasury, Ken Henry, who is a local mid-North Coast person. I have a very high regard for him and the role he plays, and the status he holds in the Australian Public Service. I therefore place faith in the general budget settings that we see implemented in these budget 2009-10 and associated appropriation bills.

Whilst the debt and deficit versus building and infrastructure debate is all legitimate and very alive, my focus is on whether the mid-North Coast of New South Wales has a net gain or a net loss from these appropriation bills and the budget generally. Generally, in my view, we have net gains. In a lot of ways this budget allows the public policy participants and makers on the mid-North Coast to continue the long and difficult campaign to address some of the deep structural issues faced on the mid-North Coast. I am referring to some of the very real and too often undiscussed issues that the mid-North Coast and indeed the entire North Coast face when compared to the rest of the country.

The mid-North Coast and North Coast areas of New South Wales have tertiary education levels among the lowest in the nation. Poverty levels for all four electorates, including Lyne, Cowper, Page and Richmond, are some of the highest in the nation. Employment rates and participation rates for the mid-North Coast region, Richmond-Tweed, are the lowest in the nation right now when compared with other electorates. We have some deep structural issues there. It is even worse when we consider that we have low employment and a low participation rate alongside some of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. Whilst we hear plenty of debate in this place about whether the national figures are going to tip over 10 per cent or not, we are there. Last month we went over 10 per cent unemployment for the mid-North Coast and Richmond-Tweed. We hit 10.6 per cent in the last figures, and we are now down, right on 10 per cent. Hopefully this makes the point to everyone in this place that we have a very low participation market and, alongside that, a very high unemployment rate—so people are looking to participate—which indicates that we face some very substantial structural issues.

As well, our region is not immune to what the rest of the nation is facing from the trigger of the situation we are in—the global banking collapse. The practical implications of that are seen in the fact that some of the local authorities have been significantly caught in regard to their investment portfolios. One local council has now written $25 million off its investments. That is a significant loss on investments for a regional local council, and the implications for future service delivery to the community cannot be understated. As well, in my home town of Port Macquarie we estimate that between 3,000 and 5,000 people in a private sense have been affected by the collapse of three locally managed funds. Again, this is in an area where we have a high population of retirees. Investment funds are incredibly important for people at that stage of life, and having three local managed funds in receivership is placing a great strain on many individual households and the community generally on the mid-North Coast. We are faced with a suite of issues, both structural and more immediate, in regard to people’s financial situation. This means the work that government does through measures such as appropriation bills and the general policy settings really do matter in a practical sense, on the ground.

We can, of course, throw into the mix the more immediate and natural disasters which also have practical implications on the ground. For the third time in three months my region is currently going through a recovery process after the floods, winds and evacuations which occurred on the weekend. The question for me, then, as the federal member for this area, is how this budget fits in with that setting.

There are some pretty important net gains for my region, which the region is certainly appreciative of and which will make a difference with regard to some of those structural issues. Without doubt, the investment in the Pacific Highway and, in particular, the bringing online of the Kempsey bypass—a $618 million commitment of infrastructure—will make a significant difference. It will employ hundreds of people in the Macleay Valley in the short term. It will also remove one of the significant bottlenecks, which is currently the township of Kempsey. It will therefore, overall for the Pacific Highway and particularly the stretch from Hexham to the Queensland border, make a much safer and much more efficient dual carriage highway and be one step closer to the completion of a job that should have been done already.

Plenty of political commitments and promises have been made by all sides of politics, and it is a frustration for many of the one million residents in the North Coast window that still only 50 per cent of the job has been done when it was promised in 1996 by Paul Keating and John Fahey. They were hand in hand up on the Tweed and said it was going to be a 10-year job, and we are 50 per cent there in the year 2009. It is a frustration—and it is dangerous. I think the figure is that there have been close to 500 deaths on the highway since those commitments were made. If each of those deaths equates in public policy terms to at least $1 million in coronials and the whole process around a highway death, in purely economic terms there is a very strong argument for fixing this highway a lot quicker than it is being done—and that is before we get into the family and the emotional and moral arguments for it to happen.

So any commitment that the federal government delivers for the Pacific Highway is certainly welcomed, and the $618 million in the budget for the Kempsey bypass had people jumping in the streets of Kempsey and the Macleay. So, to the minister involved, to the executive and to the government generally: thank you very much, on behalf of residents of that region.

Also, some of the infrastructure projects did make a difference and have made a difference in this 12-month window. The commitment of the federal government to build a closer relationship with local authorities that we are seeing through the Community Infrastructure Program is a real winner on the ground on the mid-North Coast. The three councils that I represent are very happy and want to see that program continue. I again say to the executive and the minister in question that, when the mayors and shire presidents come together nationally at the end of June, I would certainly hope that something that comes out of that is a re-commitment to the Community Infrastructure Program.

Regardless of which side of politics is in government, I think there is a general recognition of the need to build a closer relationship between the federal government and local authorities. The previous government started to do it through various roads programs—Roads to Recovery springs to mind. We are now seeing this government take it a step further with community infrastructure. It is working. It does make a difference, it does have general support on the ground and it does make the federal government real for many communities. So it is a fantastic program. Our region is very happy that it has happened. As I have said, there has been record council funding from the federal government so far this year, and I implore the minister and the government to continue that program, because it does very good work.

As well, there were two larger projects in our region that were successful through this budget process that will be funded through these appropriations. One involved the Wauchope Bonny Hills Surf Life Saving Club, which was about to close its doors. Again, they were very, very happy with the money and will certainly be enjoying that new facility in a couple of years time. It is not only a surf club facility but a general community facility for Wauchope, Bonny Hills, Lake Cathie and the Camden Haven region.

In addition, the Taree recreational centre received a substantial amount of money. And, again, for the range of sports on offer in the Manning Valley—there is a very rich tradition of elite sports people coming from the region—this was very well received. It will make a difference and it will allow local communities to attract more events to the region. Our area is realising that there are some real financial benefits in having a strategy of trying to attract more and more sporting and general events to the region. But to do that good facilities are needed.

Debate interrupted.

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