Chris Trevor (Flynn, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2009-2010 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2009-2010, important bills and imperative parts of the budget process. In speaking on these bills tonight I would also like to speak more broadly on the 2009-10 budget and in particular on its impacts on my electorate of Flynn. The Appropriation Bill (No. 1) is of course an annual appropriation and, as per section 83 of our Constitution, this bill facilitates the withdrawal of funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the ordinary services of the government. This bill will appropriate approximately $71.283 billion to facilitate government services in the 2009-10 financial year and, along with the Appropriation Bill (No. 2) and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2009-2010, forms the solid legislative foundations for this year’s budget. The main purpose of Appropriation Bill (No. 2) is to make annual appropriations from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for services that are not the ordinary annual services of the government. These include over $1 billion for the Building Australia Fund, over $1 billion for the Education Investment Fund and over $400 million for the Health and Hospitals Fund.

On budget night the Treasurer commented that this budget was forged in the fire of the most challenging global economic conditions since the Great Depression, and I could not agree with him more. The challenges for the Australian economy today seem worlds away from the challenges faced by us only 12 months ago. The global financial crisis has well and truly sent shock waves across our country and our economy with a speed and depth not seen for many decades. In my own electorate of Flynn, skills shortages and employee retention difficulties have been replaced with new challenges. There is an air of uncertainty and palpable fear in workplaces today in my electorate and, sadly, no-one is taking their job or job security for granted.

As I speak today I have at the forefront of my mind those in my electorate of Flynn who have recently lost their jobs. It is almost crippling, as their local federal member, to watch as hundreds of workers are sent home from mines and industry sites in Flynn to face their families and begin the search for new employment. Some have left with their dignity intact and others have not. The global financial crisis has well and truly gone from a foreign, overseas phenomenon that we would only hear about on the six o’clock news and spread widely to find its way into the homes of the people of Flynn, causing heartbreak and loss as it goes. On budget night our Treasurer also stated that he understood the dignity of work and the cost of being without it. Again, I could not agree more. That is why I am proud to be part of a government that has embraced every effort to combat the dire economic forces that challenge our prosperity, and I am proud to be part of a government that has attempted to shield hardworking Australians and their families from the worst effects of this global financial crisis.

In the face of this crisis, the consequences of government inaction would be completely unacceptable. Without the government’s stimulus packages and without our measures in this year’s budget aimed to tackle the global recession, it has been forecast that our economy would be 2¾ per cent smaller in 2009-10 and unemployment would peak at 1½ per cent higher. It is because of my government’s action to address the economic circumstances that confront us all as Australians and my government’s commitment to support and protect jobs that, as I travel the length and breadth of Flynn in recent times, I can look my constituents in the eye, knowing that my government is doing all it can to support their jobs and to support their dignity.

The budget also delivers for those whose hardworking days are behind them—our retired pensioners. After a down payment on pension reform late last year as part of the government’s Economic Security Strategy, over 16,000 pensioners in my electorate of Flynn alone are set to benefit from an increase in their fortnightly payments delivered in this year’s budget. Again, I am proud to be part of a government that recognised the cost-of-living pressures that were faced by many people living on the pension and has taken appropriate action.

This budget also tackles another important issue for the Flynn community—the lack of access to general practitioners in some regional parts of Flynn. Flynn covers an area bigger than Tasmania and Victoria put together, most of it dotted with small communities and all of it rural and regional Australia. As we are all too aware, GPs play a significant role in the provision of health care. They fight in the front line in our battle with chronic diseases and play a crucial role in preventative health measures.

Last year, as chairman of the Prime Minister’s country task force, I took task force committee members to Longreach to experience firsthand the issues that people face living in regional Australia. The response from the Longreach community was overwhelming. At a public forum the community let us know in no uncertain terms that health care was their No. 1 issue. I am pleased that my government has heard and listened to rural and regional voices and I welcome the new regional health incentives that will not only help attract GPs to practice in rural and regional Australia but also assist in keeping them in these communities.

This budget will see the introduction of a new classification system which will retarget financial incentives paid to GPs to encourage them to practise in western outback communities. GPs who wish to relocate to areas such as Longreach, Aramac and Barcaldine may be eligible for relocation grants of up to $120,000 as well as yearly retention grants of between $8,000 and $47,000 per year, depending on their length of service in the area. I am confident that these realistic measures will go a long way towards attracting GPs to these wonderful and proud outback communities.

Of course this budget also delivers on this government’s nation-building agenda. The Bruce Highway, which has long been the main artery along the Queensland coast, will benefit from $44 million worth of safety enhancements, maintenance, and strengthening and widening to improve safety between the townships of Curra and Sarina. This work will benefit many in the Flynn electorate who use this vital highway.

On top of this $44 million investment to improve the Bruce Highway, this budget also delivers on two particularly notorious and dangerous sections of the highway in the Flynn electorate, with $1.7 million allocated to the planning and development of a $55 million upgrade of the Calliope crossroads near my home town of Gladstone. In addition, a further $1.7 million has also been allocated in this budget for planning and design work for the southern approach to Gin Gin, south of my home town of Gladstone, as part of a $20 million upgrade. I look forward, as the local member for Flynn, to the eventual completion of both these important projects and the benefits that this will bring to local communities that rely heavily on these intersections.

This budget delivers on my long-held commitment to the people of my home town of Gladstone to finish the third and final stage of Kirkwood Road with the provision of some $16.95 million in this budget, with the remaining $8.35 million to be paid in the 2010-2011 financial year. The completion of Kirkwood Road in my home town of Gladstone will ease congestion and time delays at the Phillip Street roundabout, Kin Kora; deliver on what was the No. 1 infrastructure project for Gladstone in the lead-up to the 2007 federal election; deliver a whole-of-community project for Gladstone and provide vital linkages for outlying suburbs and their residents; provide alternative and quicker access for Boyne/Tannum residents; and provide vital infrastructure and jobs for my home town of Gladstone. In addition to taking the burden of funding this council-owned road away from the ratepayers of the Gladstone regional council, it will also provide a valuable ring road to the port of Gladstone.

This budget forms a new era of partnership and collaboration with our local councils, of which there are 13 that fall, either in full or in part, within the electorate of Flynn. These councils will benefit from around $10.3 million in funding for community infrastructure projects, with an additional $2.33 million to be delivered to the Banana Shire Council to redevelop the Magavalis Sports Complex in Biloela to help budding netball, tennis and sports fans in Biloela realise their full sporting potential.

This budget also provides funding to local councils in Flynn of more than $19 million to undertake the Roads to Recovery program. It provides a further $2.3 million to local councils to target dangerous road black spots and it delivers funding to build 10 new local boom gates in Flynn, all at high-risk rail crossings.

This budget is also aimed at improving learning, literacy and numeracy, and educational attainment for school students through funding for quality teaching and learning environments, workplace learning and career advice. This budget will assist the 140 schools in my electorate of Flynn. It is through my government’s commitment to education that students from rural and regional Queensland, including Flynn, will have the opportunity to attain their dreams and goals. This budget will also assist the smallest schools, who previously did not have the opportunity to fund teachers, infrastructure or services. The budget will improve access to quality services that support early childhood learning and care for children through a national quality framework, agreed national standards, investment in infrastructure and support to parents, carers, services and the workforce.

The electorate of Flynn stretches from the Great Barrier Reef to the western deserts of Queensland. The electorate of Flynn has some of the most diverse and environmentally sensitive areas of Australia. This budget will assist the conservation and protection of Australia’s terrestrial and marine diversity and ecosystems through supporting research, developing information, supporting natural resource management, regulating matters of national environmental significance and managing Commonwealth protected areas. The budget will also help fund programs with the adaptation to climate change, wise water use, secure water supplies and improved health of rivers, waterways and freshwater ecosystems by supporting research and reforming the management and use of water resources.

My government is also committed to closing the gap in relation to Indigenous health. The electorate of Flynn is not only home to the Indigenous community of Warrabinda but also home to many Indigenous people living in all of the different communities. My government is committed to improving access to cost-effective medical and allied health services. This budget will also assist in accessing quality and affordable aged care and carer support for older people. It will also assist in accessing comprehensive community based health care and assist in closing the gap in life expectancy and child mortality rates for Indigenous Australians, including child and maternal health through primary health care.

The electorate of Flynn is an area of 314,000 square kilometres in which a large number of agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries operate. From cattle to sheep, from sugar to sorghum, from fishing to mills, my electorate of Flynn has a diverse range of agricultural activities. This budget will assist in delivering a more sustainable, productive, internationally competitive and profitable Australian agricultural food and fibre industry through policies and initiatives that promote better resource management practices, innovation, self-reliance and improved access to international markets. This budget delivers safer communities in Flynn. This budget delivers stronger communities in Flynn. This budget protects jobs in Flynn. It puts food on people’s tables. This budget is great news for the people of Flynn. I commend this year’s budget and I commend the appropriation bills to the House.

See this speech in context