Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is always a pleasure to follow the member for Maranoa. I rise today to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2009-2010 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2009-2010 and to congratulate the government on its ongoing commitment to assuring Australia’s immediate economic wellbeing while at the same time building for our country’s domestic and international future. That is very important. While I respect the fact that the honourable member for Maranoa has a view about the government, the reality is that people in the electorate—and no doubt in his electorate, as in my electorate—are very concerned about the economic stability and the economic future of this country, because an economic future that is bleak or that runs the risk of going the way that a lot of other economies in the Western world appear to be going would be detrimental to the daily lives of all Australians, in particular my constituents and, I am sure, the member’s constituents as well. That is why I am very pleased to be speaking to appropriation bills Nos 3 and 4.

As I have said, we are all aware that the recent period of global economic meltdown has affected all major economies. Despite the instability and uncertainty, whichever way you want to cut it the reality is that Australia has come out of this period in a very strong position. That cannot be denied under any circumstances. However, while we are in a strong position, we are not in the clear yet. That is also a truth. The people in my electorate are relieved that their jobs and their homes have weathered the economic storm that has brought near disaster to countries around the world.

We will all be aware of the great difficulties that my place of birth, Greece, finds itself in. I think most of us are reading on a daily basis of the trouble that the Greek economy is in, and not only the Greek economy but also other economies in Europe—the Spanish, the Portuguese, the Irish and the Italian. We almost have to hold our collective breath knowing that, if something is not done to assist those economies, further financial problems are afoot. Not only would that affect the Europeans but it could have an impact on the rest of the world. I think that my constituents see that and are relieved that the Australian economy has managed to pull through in relatively good stead, and of course that has an immediate impact on their daily lives.

This round of appropriations that I am speaking to today continues that trend of sensible, confident and far-sighted financial management that this government has put in place, and that is probably the best way to describe it. Our attitude and our management of the economy have been sensible, confident and very far-sighted. These bills seek to appropriate authority from the parliament for additional expenditure of money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund in order to meet requirements that have arisen since the last budget. The total additional appropriation being sought through these bills is over $2 billion. Today I want to take the time to focus on a number of elements of this round of appropriations that I feel deserve praise because they have an immediate impact not only on the country nationally but also on my electorate.

I recognise and welcome the fact that this round will be directed towards our important nation-building agenda and will continue the practical measures that this government has committed to in order to ensure we can all take practical action to reduce our collective and individual impact on the environment. Importantly for my electorate of Calwell, in speaking to this round of appropriations I am afforded the opportunity to recognise how the national agenda has very real and very positive local outcomes. My electorate is located, as I have said many times before, in Melbourne’s north and has a substantial manufacturing sector. Many of the people of Calwell are from low-income households and are extremely vulnerable to the uncertainties of the market. Of course I watched with concern, as they did, as a number of factories and businesses closed in the face of the global financial crisis.

As the threat of a global financial crisis reared, we all watched trade exposed companies who had to turn long-term employees out off their jobs. While the Rudd government stemmed that tide with its economic stimulus package, the impact of the slowdown on some of our trading partners is still being felt, and I referred to some of those at the beginning of my speech. That is why I want to welcome the $40 million in additional funding for the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme, or the GEERS program, as it is known. As a government we have responsibility at a national level to do the best we can to help businesses and companies grow, but sometimes the best endeavours of local industry may succumb to international commercial pressures. Government has a responsibility to support vulnerable workers when this situation arises. In appropriating this funding for GEERS, the Rudd government is displaying its capacity to balance macroeconomic management with compassion and consideration for working Australians.

I also welcome the $45.2 million appropriation to fund the government’s response to the H1N1 influenza virus. Calwell, I am proud to say, is home to the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, Australia’s leading biopharmaceutical company. CSL is the only commercial manufacturer of influenza vaccines in the Southern Hemisphere and has been contracted by the government, as we all know, to supply 21 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine. CSL employs over 1,600 people across its Broadmeadows and Parkville sites. CSL is one of the companies that is keeping Australia at the international forefront of research and development. This appropriation is complemented by $26 million to purchase the H1N1 influenza vaccine and support the associated clinical trials.

As Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Innovation, I am particularly aware of the necessity for the government to remain focused on research, development and innovation. This is important for the development of our innovation capacity, but it is also important because Australia’s medical research sector leads the way in important medical research. And, of course, that important medical research that we led the way in also leads in the end to life-saving treatments and vaccines. The H1N1 vaccine is very much a case where Australia is at the forefront of its development. As proof of how highly regarded Australia is internationally for its scientific and medical advances, I can give an example from when I was in Greece last July while that country was coming to terms with the first of its swine flu cases. Like a lot of other countries it was not prepared for the onslaught of swine flu or H1N1.

I was interested because, in the few days I was there, it was in fact to Australia that the Greek media and even the Greek politicians continuously referred when talking about the development of a vaccine. It makes you stop and realise just how highly regarded we are. Not only are we highly regarded internationally but we are also relied upon, and of course we want to be able to develop that capacity. We are proud of that, we want to develop it and we want to be out there at the cutting edge where we have been on many occasions. In order to do that, governments have to be serious about funding and providing money for research and development. This government does that and it does it as part of a central theme of its agenda as a government.

Speaking on the H1N1 virus—because I have spoken to a lot of my constituents, as I am sure a lot of other members have also—I want to take the opportunity to raise some concerns about the general public’s attitude towards the H1N1 virus and in particular their attitude toward the vaccine. As I said, I do not have the figures for how many people have been vaccinated, but I get the feeling just from talking to people that not as many as we would have expected have actually taken up the opportunity to get themselves vaccinated. In speaking to many of my constituents, I get the sense there is a bit of complacency around. A lot of people feel that the virus is not as deadly as was initially thought. So I want to take this opportunity to remind the House that vaccination generally, let alone the H1N1 vaccination, is a significant factor in protecting our community from viruses that have a history of killing people. Medical and scientific research has benefited our community. In Australia in particular, our medical and scientific integrity is second to none. We should be proud of our doctors and scientists and we have every reason to be confident in their work. So I want to say to people out there who might feel a little apprehensive about it that being vaccinated in Australia is as good as they are ever going to get anywhere in terms of the confidence we can have in our medical and scientific research.

That is why I want to support the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon. Nicola Roxon, and support her call for a vaccination against the pandemic flu. It is important to remember that those amongst us who are most vulnerable need to be vaccinated and the most vulnerable are children. In the case of H1N1, the vulnerable are also the elderly, pregnant women and people who are in contact with the general public on a day-to-day basis. Receiving the backing of the Australian Medical Association, the minister’s call serves to demonstrate that the government is willing to show leadership on an issue no less important than the health and wellbeing of all Australians. This is a government that is not willing to take the risk of Australians dying unnecessarily of infectious diseases as a result of not having made the vaccine available. This is a government which has taken all necessary steps by way of prevention to ensure that we are spared the pressures of a pandemic flu on our public health system.

Australians have to be aware that the precautionary measures taken by the government reflect the reality of the pandemic flu. With 37,196 cases verified and 5,000 people hospitalised, the Australian newspaper reported last month that Westmead Hospital in New South Wales had to cancel elective surgery for several weeks in response to the H1N1 virus. It is important to note that one-third of all people in intensive care with the virus were from at-risk groups. It is really incumbent upon all of us not to be complacent about this issue and to not assume there is nothing to worry about.

Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2009-10 proposes an additional appropriation of $12 million for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. This amount will go towards the establishment of a local government reform fund to help councils manage their infrastructure and to plan for their future needs. It will also provide funding under the Regional And Local Community Infrastructure Program to support investment in community infrastructure for very important things such as libraries, community centres, sportsgrounds and environmental infrastructure.

I would like to report that in December last year—in fact, on 16 December—I was very, very pleased to officiate on behalf of the minister for infrastructure in the sod turning for the Craigieburn Library and Learning Centre in my electorate. I cannot overstate the value of this facility to my community. I have spoken before about the dynamic role played in my community by the existing Hume Global Learning Centre based in Broadmeadows; in fact, this is Broadmeadows’s first ever library. So we are very proud of it, but we are proud of it because it is an extraordinary state-of-the-art facility. The new facility in Craigieburn, just up the road from Broadmeadows—a high-growth corridor with lots of young families, where infrastructure is struggling to keep up with the number of people moving into the electorate and into Craigieburn—will extend the valuable cultural, educational and social networks of the Hume Global Learning Centre to that growth corridor.

Facilities such as these in my electorate, including the learning centre, community sporting facilities, parks and halls, have been supported all over the nation through the government’s Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Fund. I cannot overstate the value of that fund to the broader community at a local level. It is these small and not-so-small projects that make a genuine difference to the lives of local residents. All you have to do is ask a community that has outgrown a cramped and outdated library, as is the case in Craigieburn. Quaint as the old library might be, as nostalgic as we all were over more or less waving it goodbye, you cannot understand the stress that is placed on a community by cramped and outdated facilities. We also cannot underestimate the impact of old netball courts or the lack of available netball courts for young women who love to play netball. Netball is a very popular sport amongst young women, certainly in my electorate. In Craigieburn, which is very much a sporting community, netball and other sports are very popular. Of course, in order to play them effectively, you have to have the right facilities.

So the federal government is supporting local government in providing these basic but vital facilities through its nation building. I am very pleased that my electorate is a recipient of this kind of support. Community infrastructure, we all know, is very much reliant on strong and vibrant local government that works effectively in partnership with the federal government, as is the case now. This is a very important appropriation for my community.

Last Wednesday—unfortunately, I was here, so I could not attend—marked the official opening of the Broadmeadows Primary School and early years centre, and the Hume Central Secondary College in my electorate, in Broadmeadows. Both schools were opened by the Premier of Victoria, John Brumby, and the Minister for Education, Bronwyn Pike. Today I would like to note the great achievement represented by these schools. They are fantastic new buildings that are a real credit to the innovative thinking and sheer hard work of the school community—the students, teachers and parents and of course, most of all, the school community leaders. I appreciate the enormous amount of work and foresight that was put into the planning and design of the new school as well as the complex processes of consultation and negotiation. This was all a result of a significant state government investment in local schools of about $30 million, which is complemented by the federal government’s $142 million investment in Building the Education Revolution in my electorate.

So a significant amount of money has gone into Calwell, into building our schools, and in this case the beneficiaries have been many of our public primary and secondary schools. I know that in my electorate over the next five years a transformation of our entire school system will take place, and that can only be to the benefit of the young people who study there.

17:29:51

The federal government has also invested over $142 million in my electorate, with over $125 million of that money spent on 116 projects in 58 schools as part of Building the Education Revolution. The federal government has been pleased to work with schools within my electorate through projects such as the Smarter Schools National Partnerships initiative and the National School Pride Program. These appropriation bills and the overall government stimulus package have provided significant money to my electorate. We can now look forward to a future in which the local education sector will be strengthened, in particular in our local public schools, which, of course, is crucial to the future hopes and aspirations of our local young people. We can also look to a future where our local jobs are secured through the government’s industry packages and where the everyday lives of my constituents continue to be strongly supported by the Rudd Labor government acting in the national interest at a very local level.

See this speech in context