Steve Gibbons (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The economic crisis continues to reverberate around the world, affecting both developed and developing countries and economies. Of course, Australia is not immune from the impacts of this global recession, and new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have confirmed the impact of the downturn on the business investment and construction industries. Capital expenditure fell by 8.9 per cent in the March quarter and businesses are scaling back their investment plans for the coming year. This is not surprising in the face of the worst global economic conditions in 75 years, and that is why the Rudd government has taken decisive action to provide incentives for private-sector business investment through small business and general business tax breaks.

This investment allowance was increased and expanded in the budget to provide additional help for small businesses to invest in building their future capacity. Businesses with a turnover of less than $2 million can claim an additional tax deduction of 50 per cent of the cost of a new asset, and those with turnovers of more than $2 million can claim up to an additional 30 per cent deduction. But in the current economic climate, we cannot rely on the private sector to keep investing and supporting jobs. That is why the government is taking action to stimulate economic activity at a time when the private sector either is reluctant to invest itself or cannot raise finance because of the freezing up of global credit markets. This action will result in thousands of Australian businesses, large and small, getting government contracts to supply goods and services. This will keep thousands of Australians in jobs who would otherwise be unemployed and unproductive.

In 12 months time there will be about 35,000 individual construction projects around the country, including the largest school modernisation program ever. All of these will be boosting local economies and small businesses right across Australia. They will be keeping contractors, trades men and women, truck drivers and small businesses working and employing Australians.

We have just seen again the impact of the Rudd government’s actions on retail sales, with consumers spending a record $19.4 billion in April. This was a 0.3 per cent rise in the month and followed a 2.2 per cent increase in March. Retail sales are now running at an impressive 4.8 per cent above the levels for November last year, when the government’s first stimulus payments began to flow. The government’s response to the global economic crisis has been decisive and it is working, but there are still risks ahead for the country, and among the biggest risks are the parties opposite. Their continued ideologically driven scare campaign to undermine the government’s economic strategy puts at risk Australia’s ability to weather the global economic recession. They are putting much needed investment in the country’s failing infrastructure at risk and they are putting Australian jobs at risk.

A few days ago we saw a disgraceful attempt by the coalition to claim that the government’s funding has not been directed to rural and regional Australia. I represent a regional electorate and one that includes towns with some of the lowest scores in Victoria on the socioeconomic indexes of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Since the election of the Rudd government my electorate of Bendigo has received funding of around $145 million—$145 million of essential investment in Central Victorian schools, hospitals, roads, railways and other community infrastructure. We started by delivering on our election commitments, with $5 million for the new GP superclinic in Bendigo, almost $2 million for Bendigo’s Chinese precinct and $500,000 for a complex care unit in Maryborough. We have also honoured a $15 million commitment for the Central Victoria Solar City project. Then there was $10 million for a shared trade training facility for Bendigo’s secondary schools, $2.4 million for computers in schools, $500,000 for a rural health unit at Elmore and another $500,000 for respite care.

Then we came to this year’s budget. Almost $60 million will fund the construction of the La Trobe University’s Northern Victorian School of Rural Health in Bendigo. This is great news for Central Victoria and I am delighted that the hard work by La Trobe University and my office on this project has paid off.  The tireless support for this project of La Trobe University’s Vice-Chancellor, Paul Johnson, demonstrates his personal commitment to the university’s regional campuses, and this funding must be particularly gratifying for him and his colleagues. It means that Bendigo’s entire health education precinct is now fully funded and construction work can start almost immediately.

This will help stimulate economic activity and support jobs in Bendigo, both during the construction phase and later, when the precinct is in full operation. The health education precinct will also include Monash University’s School of Rural Health and the Bendigo regional clinical school, the existing Monash University Primary Care Research Unit, the proposed GP superclinic development and the chronic disease management and education unit. New jobs will be created and the influx of new healthcare students will be good for Bendigo and regional Australia, because studies clearly show that students who study at regional campuses are much more likely to work in regional locations after they qualify. Once again, Labor has demonstrated its commitment at both federal and state levels to addressing the healthcare needs of people living in Central Victoria.

Also included in the budget is $3.2 billion of funding to improve regional rail services in Victoria. This project includes duplicating the existing tracks in the western suburbs of Melbourne to speed up access to Southern Cross Station. This is great news for V/Line passengers travelling to and from Bendigo and other stations in my electorate, as it will remove the congestion that country trains currently face when they get to the Melbourne suburbs. At the moment, V/Line trains often get stuck behind metropolitan trains on their way to Southern Cross Station, leading to delays and frustration for country passengers. Journey times and reliability will be improved because country and metropolitan trains will for the first time run on separate lines to the suburbs. This will be the first new rail line in metropolitan Melbourne for 80 years, and it not only helps bring Melbourne closer for Central Victorians but it brings Central Victorians closer to Melbourne. Businesses in the region, including those involved in tourism and hospitality, should get a boost from this significant Commonwealth government investment.

With this funding Labor is again showing its commitment to rebuilding transport infrastructure for the benefit of regional Australia—transport infrastructure that the coalition ignored for almost 12 years while they were in office, with the exception of course of the blatant pork-barrelling by the Nationals, in particular, who were desperately trying to shore up their declining vote by targeting marginal Labor held electorates.

Central Victoria has already shown its commitment to clean energy technologies with projects such as the Central Victoria Solar City and the establishment of Solar Systems’ $10 million research and development facility at Bridgewater just outside my electorate. The budget is now offering the region a fantastic opportunity to confirm its leadership and the use of renewable energy. The City of Greater Bendigo is sponsoring a community oriented team to prepare a bid for the $100 million national energy efficiency initiative announced in the budget. There is widespread local interest in this proposal and several local organisations are keen to participate, including the Bendigo and Mount Alexander sustainability groups, the Central Victoria Solar City group, Bendigo Bank, Bendigo Business Council, Bendigo Media, Powercor, Regional Development Victoria, Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE and La Trobe University.

The government is offering $100 million in the next financial year to one regional city of at least 25,000 people. Winning this new funding would enable Bendigo to create a modern renewable energy network that integrates a smart grid with smart meters in homes to significantly increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The smart grid technology uses sensors to monitor electricity supply across the distribution networks and makes it easier to integrate renewable energy like solar and wind power into the grid. The budget is giving central Victoria a fantastic opportunity to confirm its leadership in the use of renewable energy technology and there is no reason why Bendigo should not be able to compete successfully for this funding.

The government’s $800 million Community Infrastructure Program is the largest ever one-off federal investment in local infrastructure across Australia. Almost $15 million of funding under this program has been allocated for projects in my electorate. These include $3.3 million for Maryborough’s station domain, a new community precinct which is the most substantial infrastructure component of the Central Goldfields Community Action Plan; and $5 million towards a new sports and aquatic centre at Kyneton to replace an outdated 50-year-old outdoor pool. This project includes a new 25-metre eight-lane pool, a learn-to-swim pool, an exercise pool for physical rehabilitation and four new synthetic tennis courts that will help conserve water in a drought affected town. This investment will also go some way towards rebuilding the community spirit after the recent bushfires.

There is $2.2 million to fund enhancement works at Castlemaine Botanical Gardens to refurbish the significant heritage infrastructure and improve pedestrian access. In addition, a further $4.2 million has been allocated for a myriad of smaller infrastructure projects as part of the Rudd government’s initiatives to boost central Victoria’s economy during the global recession. Community infrastructure, including footpaths, community halls, libraries and sportsgrounds will be upgraded while generating construction activity and supporting local jobs.

The Rudd government has invested $26 million in schools in my electorate, $9 million of this through the National School Pride Program and a further $17 million for primary schools under the Primary Schools for the 21st Century program. These programs are delivering much-needed investment in school facilities and funding for school maintenance. Importantly, they are also supporting local jobs by creating demand for tradespeople in communities across the region.

The construction of 32 social housing units will also create work and support jobs in my electorate. Funding of $6.7 million for these has been approved and construction will start shortly and be completed by June next year. Another $1 million has been allocated for road safety improvements in my electorate under Black Spots Program funding, and five high-risk rail crossings will get new boom gates and warning lights.

The opposition has been running a scare campaign in regional areas about the changes to student income in the budget. There has been a considerable amount of misinformation about these changes which mean some 68,000 additional students, including many from regional and rural Australia, will now qualify for the youth allowance. The scare campaign by the opposition has been about one element—the workforce participation criteria for independence—and it has done nothing to help parents and students understand how the changes will affect them. In working out how their children will be affected parents need to take into account all of the changes to student income support and not just the changes in the workforce participation criteria. From 1 January next year more regional students will qualify for youth allowance under changes to the parental income test. They will receive full allocation if their parents earn up to $42,559, up from the current threshold of $32,800.

Youth allowance payments will only start to reduce if parents earn more than this threshold, and many regional students will receive some allowance up to a much higher income cut-out point based on their family circumstances. For example, a single child aged under 18 living at home will receive some allowance until their parents earn $74,419 instead of the old cut-out of $58,288. If that child lives away from home, the cut-out point increases to $90,974. And for families with more children, the limits are even higher. For those with two children aged 17 and 21 living away from home, the cut-out will not be until their parents earn $139,388.

Any student who receives at least part-payment of youth allowance can also receive a range of other support, of particular benefit to regional students and their families. These include the Student Start-Up Scholarship of $2,254 each year, higher away-from-home rates for youth allowance payments and relocation scholarships of $4,000 in the first year and $1,000 for each year thereafter. More students will also qualify for youth allowance as a result of changes to the age at which they are considered to be independent from their parents. At the moment students are not considered to be independent until they are 25 years old, unless they can demonstrate their independence in other ways. This age limit will be progressively reduced to 24 years in 2010, 23 years in 2011 and 22 years in 2012.

Some students undertake paid work to demonstrate independence from their parents, but the Bradley review found that many students who qualified for youth allowance in this way came from better-off families. More than one in every three students came from families who earned an income of more than $100,000, almost one in five came from families earning more than $150,000, and one in every 10 students came from families earning more than $200,000. The Youth Allowance was designed to help less well-off families give their kids a decent education, not help those who can well afford to send their children to university. The government’s tough decision to tighten the workforce participation criteria for independence means that more support will go to students who need it most, including many from rural and regional Australia.

All central Victorians have welcomed the $32 a week increase in the single age pension and $10 a week increase for couples that was announced in the budget. This is great news for older Australians, many of whom are finding it hard to make ends meet in the current economic climate. In December last year, the Rudd government made lump sum payments of $1,400 to each single pensioner and $2,100 to each couple, payments that did their bit to support retailers, as I mentioned earlier. I estimate around 17,000 central Victorians will benefit from the increase to the age pensions, and this will inject an additional $15 million into the local economy. Of course, this pension increase is just one step Labor has taken to reduce the impact of the global economic crisis on pensioners’ budgets.

The Rudd government’s other initiatives to help older Australians include reviewing the value of investments following the recent dramatic falls in share markets, twice lowering the deeming rate to take account of lower investment yields and tax bonuses of up to $900 for self-funded retirees who paid tax on their investment income last year. As you can see, the Rudd government is not neglecting regional Australia and it has certainly not been neglecting central Victoria, with $145 million invested in the region in its first 18 months of government.

So how would that compare with the coalition’s record when they were in government? Their record has to be the very definition of neglect. With the exception of the Calder Highway duplication, which they had to be dragged kicking and screaming into funding, in almost 12 years of coalition government we saw only a tiny fraction of investment in my electorate compared to the Rudd Labor government’s massive boost, which is designed to cushion the impact of the financial crisis we inherited. While the Liberals and Nationals were pork-barrelling unviable projects in their own electorates under their discredited Regional Partnerships program, the infrastructure of central Victoria was left to crumble and decay. Of course, the story was the same under the coalition state government of Jeff Kennett: schools were closed, hospitals were shut, rail services were terminated and road improvements and maintenance were neglected. It has taken Labor governments in Melbourne and Canberra to start to restore the infrastructure of regional Victoria, and this year’s Commonwealth budget is Labor’s latest commitment to the regions. Central Victoria will enjoy a major uplift in its schools, health care services, transport infrastructure and community facilities from the Rudd government’s latest budget. I congratulate the Treasurer on bringing down a budget that is appropriate for the economic circumstances that we face as a nation and I commend the budget to the House.

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