Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2009-2010 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2009-2010 and related economic issues. I have taken the opportunity over the last few weeks, and obviously well before then as well, to doorknock my way through various parts of my electorate of Cowan. I enjoy those opportunities to go up to the front doors of houses, to introduce myself and to genuinely surprise people that I actually do my own doorknocking. It is very interesting to speak to these people. When you surprise them at their front door and they are not prepared, they generally talk about the things that really matter to them right up front. Mostly, they talk about local government stuff and state issues. A consistent theme I have heard both at the front doors of houses in Cowan and in the shopping centres of Cowan, when people have just come up and started talking to me, has been the arrival of the boats into Australian waters and what has changed in the last couple of years.

It is a matter of great concern. They want the government to change the laws back to the way they were, to deter these illegal arrivals—that is, those who jump the queue. They do not like the special deals that were given to those involved in the Oceanic Viking fiasco. A lot of people speak to me about fair treatment for all and not special treatment for some. The government should know what is happening with those who jump the queue. What they should know is that all those who have waited and done the right thing feel that they have been slapped across the face. Those who have languished in refugee camps, waiting their turn, and those who know of their relatives still waiting in refugee camps in places like the Thai-Burma border are greatly irritated and unhappy about the government’s attitude, which allows those who have money to come straight here—albeit via the gym and modern recreation facilities on Christmas Island.

Then what about the South Africans, the Zimbabweans and the British? We see a lot of these people in Western Australia and it is excellent. They are the ones who follow the established rules and procedures to get their visas. There are also all those who remember all too well how long it took them to actually make Australia their home. These are the points made to me by my constituents at their front doors and by those who have approached me in shopping centres across Cowan, and I have to completely agree with them. Maybe that is not what people think here in Canberra, 3,000 kilometres away, or maybe down in Melbourne, but it is a big issue in Perth. That is why I am keen to see a return to temporary visas and restrictions on access to benefits—as our leader, Tony Abbott, has outlined. What this country needs is to be back in control of our borders. What this country needs to do is restore the integrity of the immigration system. What this country does not need is a Rudd Labor government that gives special deals and that is soft on those who seek to sidestep the queue. This is the problem that so many of my constituents tell me concerns them.

Already the government has released the third Intergenerational report, where they now bleat about the struggles of keeping the budget under control. I can tell the House that this government long ago gave up trying to keep the budget under control. Record debt levels place our ability to pay for our future needs in the greatest danger. The point needs to be made that while the government might whinge about our fight to preserve the private health rebate and how we are stopping them from cashing in on their 2007 broken promise to not change the rebate, that promise was made with full knowledge of the circumstances of the ageing population. It is therefore not our move to hold the Rudd government to their 2007 promise on the private health rebate that is undermining the economic future of the economy; rather it is the outrageous spending that has been the hallmark of this Rudd Labor government that has undermined our future.

When considering these bills, they are clearly evidence that this is a government addicted to spending and pork-barrelling. Spend now and build a lot of vertical structures upon which to put some very big signs. I recall being at the Carramar Primary School graduation in December, Carramar being in the north of the electorate of Cowan, and I saw a small plaque commemorating the former government’s Investing in Our Schools Program placed on the wall next to the stage. In recent months, and in direct contrast, we have seen huge signs placed outside schools around Australia. They are great big signs costing hundreds of dollars each and they are all paid for by the taxpayer in the huge interest bills that this government has inflicted upon this generation and the next.

These bills comprise an additional $2 billion of borrowings inflicted upon the Australian people, all to justify a huge sign in front of a building and a photo opportunity, with or without hard hats, for Labor Party MPs or candidates. I would reiterate that there is a huge difference between the acknowledgement required by the Howard government, normally an A5-sized plaque, versus the around two-metre-wide signs required by the Rudd government, signs that have been placed outside polling booths, also known as schools.

In other places in Cowan where things are happening I note that there is a lot of construction going on. I have personal involvement in a number of infrastructure projects around Cowan. My petition regarding Wanneroo Road in the vicinity of Ashby and Tapping has seen the long-awaited state government work commence with the construction of a dual carriageway well underway and expected to be completed by mid-2010. I was also involved, again with a petition in 2007, in the construction of Hepburn Avenue at Ballajura between Alexander Drive and Beechboro Road. Later that year the Howard government’s funding commitment identified the need for and led to the building of the road in Ballajura and the duplication of Hepburn Avenue at Alexander Heights. That was $10 million that put critical infrastructure on the public agenda, and it led to an obvious attempt to catch up by Labor, who later matched the commitments made. In addition to where we led the way in that part of Cowan we also added $10 million for the Reid Highway and Alexander Drive overpass. All these involved us leading the way for the benefit of the local people. Although Labor later followed in matching our commitments, the progress has been slow. My question is: what has actually been achieved? The only road that is in use and funded federally is the first stage of Ocean Reef Road, and who funded that road? We, the coalition, did. Who put their sign up claiming it? The Rudd government did.

It is worth noting why this road was so important. It was designed to alleviate congestion on Gnangara Road. The key element was that transiting traffic would be put on a better road, easing the difficulties for families getting in and out of Landsdale and Gnangara during the peak times of day. My position on this issue is well subscribed, with hundreds of people supporting it and with this support being a key factor in the Howard government granting and delivering $7 million to the City of Wanneroo to get the job done. This job was to make travel safer for families and other users, linking up to near Alexander Drive, making this main route a dual carriageway with two lanes each way as opposed to a single lane each way at Gnangara Road, thick with trucks and other industrial traffic.

The funding agreement was for the City of Wanneroo to complete the building of that road by June 2010. This was the plan as to when the lives of local residents would be made safer and easier, with this new road completed. I can unfortunately inform the House that the road will not be completed by that date. It currently ends well short of Alexander Drive and it does not help local families, with the congestion issues remaining not only unresolved but worse. It would seem that the government has authorised the delay in the form of a varied funding agreement with the City of Wanneroo.

The stark reality is that every road promised by Labor, or now controlled by Labor, has not been delivered, and I cannot see those roads being completed by the time of the next election. Add that failure to that of the comprehensive failure of the government to deliver the Wanneroo GP superclinic. Bids closed some 10 months ago and since then there has been no operator announced, no building established and therefore no patients seen or assisted. The question then becomes: when will this clinic open and when will the patients be seen? Will it be before the federal election or is this another promise ready for re-announcing?

In considering the track record of delivery, this is not good. Delay and failure to deliver outcomes is the hallmark of this government, unless you judge success by the erection of signs. In that category there has been great success—the big signs claiming spending are all up. The priority of this Labor government is clear: never mind the construction, focus on the signage. As a case in point, when I was at a school in third term last year I saw on the reception counter a framed certificate celebrating the government’s spending at the school—however, not even a sod had been turned; but the branding was already there, positioned prominently. Again, it is clear that the priority is the signage, the self-promotion; it is not about delivering.

I noted before that, when combined, these bills allow another $2 billion to be borrowed—that is, $2 billion to be put on the national credit card, racking up interest, only to be paid back down the track when the coalition has to address the debt and deficit and pay it off. The question is: does this represent responsible spending? Speaking of spending, what then are the consequences of reckless spending? What we face now is pressure on interest rates due to the spending that has taken place. Much of the money that has been pumped into the economy has contributed towards inflation by driving up prices.

Already what is being faced is that the government provided up to $21,000 for first home buyers when interest rates were at the lowest levels as the RBA cut rates to stop the economy going into recession. Three rises in rapid succession have increased the pressure on these first home buyers, and if the predictions of three more rises before the end of the year take place then I really fear for these people. Fortunately, the RBA did not raise interest rates on Tuesday; but this is a big warning, not for the RBA but for the government. They need to reduce their spending and try to help stop the pressure on new home buyers. Mortgage defaults were okay in 2009; however, that was not everywhere, as the member for Lowe said recently in his contribution. Extreme care needs to be taken in 2010 to reduce the increase in mortgage defaults that may be expected with the projected three interest rate rises.

Further out in our considerations, we should also look at the outcomes of excessive government spending, being that if you borrow money, you do actually have to pay interest. It is also the case that when you pay your interest bill that reduces the amount of money you can spend on other items, or programs in this case. Unless government spending again accelerates, we can expect that in 2013-14, some $9 billion in interest payments would be required. That is $9 billion spent on servicing debt and not on the delivery of essential programs. I wonder what more could have been achieved if the Rudd government had adopted our more modest stimulus package. Is it any wonder that Appropriation Bill (No. 3) sees the clawing back of money that has been set aside for replacement of assets and returns that money to consolidated revenue? Done under the guise of Operation Sunlight and billed as enhanced budget transparency, this looks more like a desperate pursuit of money to make up for the reckless and record spending undertaken by the Rudd government.

As the government risks the ability to replace assets in the future through this measure the search for cash reminds me of those beachcombers with their metal detectors heading out to the beach in the evening or the early morning searching for coins or other valuables that may have dropped out of beach bags or pockets of the last beachgoers. Perhaps the government could contract these beachcombers to help find some cash!

What we know for sure is that the books, the financial sheets of this nation, will not be in the black for years. The government is still taking us further into the red, true to the great Labor tradition of debt and deficit. What we should be concerned about is the tenacity the government shows in uncovering opportunities to spend more. I wonder how long it will be before new ways are found to spend money from our future or to find ways to fleece the people of more money to help pay for that part of the government’s spending that is not borrowed. It is worth reminding this chamber that when Labor was last in government, just after we were assured the budget was balanced and no debt existed, we won the election and found that there was an immediate $10 billion deficit, and $96 billion of debt. I recall that it took some 10 years to repay the money for that debt. This is a point worth noting: it was 10 years of interest payments sucking opportunity out of the Howard government’s policy options.

When we are returned to government in the future it will take time to pay back the debt and return the federal budget to surplus. It will take time but it will happen. That, of course, is the other great tradition of Australian politics: the coalition is the side of surpluses and the side that pays off Labor debt. I only hope that it will not be too much longer before we can begin.

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