Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this MPI on the Gillard government. I welcome it because I am very proud, as all of us are on this side on the House, of the good work that this Labor government has been doing and has committed itself to do, together with the crossbenchers in this House, and the support it has for the work being done within the community. Members of the crossbenches and the government alike, the Australian public and our constituents in our electorates will be able to take pride in the substantial very important changes to which we are making a positive contribution and which will affect a variety of important, if not critical, areas of our lives and the lives of all Australians.

If we look back over the period of the Howard conservative government, we saw inaction and we saw neglect for many years. Of course, it is up to a Labor government—here it is again—to deliver to the Australian people. There is no alternative, as the opposition do nothing but obstruct. All we heard today at question time—and all this week and in the lead-up in the last couple of weeks—was how they will obstruct, how they will delay, how they will oppose and how they will be wreckers. The opposition have not come up with a positive strategy. There are no positive policy plans. All we see is obstruction, opposition for the sake of opposition, and the destruction of anything good that will better the lives of Australians. As they have removed themselves from the political debate by their opposition and their destructiveness, they have made themselves irrelevant. We see that through the inept policies that they have not been bringing to this House.

I take this opportunity to speak to all of us in this place, but especially to the crossbenchers and the Australian public at large, about just a few of the improvements that we are making through working together and the few improvements that we can all anticipate. We can reflect on one of the strongest policy initiatives of this government, that being a new telecommunications network for this new century, which is again being opposed by those on the other side for the sake of opposition. It is a substantial reason for this government’s coming into being.

There is a commitment to replace our reliance on century-old technology with a network that will have the capacity to deliver all that we require. In this period of radical communication change, the National Broadband Network is not a once in a generation initiative but a once in a century initiative. Again, this is being opposed. The acute increase in broadband capacity and speed that this network will give us will see changes in many parts of our lives and will affect Australian lives all over this country.

We have heard about some of those anticipated improvements in question time this week. These include better access to markets, better access to professional services, better access to information and education, and better access to our friends and loved ones around Australia and the world. These are just some of the areas that will improve but which those opposite are opposing just for the sake of opposing, destroying and delaying.

The network will also give us remote access to professional health services, which is just one area where it will better the lives of Australians. This will be just one part of the transformation of our health and hospital system that had $1 billion pulled out from it under the former government. Labor invented universal health care in Australia. The conservative Liberal Party privatised it. Labor re-created universal public health care and the previous Liberal Prime Minister described it as a rort.

Again, it falls to Labor to restructure our old, failing health system, which for far too long was a hot potato passed between federal and state governments. In the lead up to the 2007 election we saw the report The blame game: report on the inquiry into health funding. Anything and everything that was discussed in health was the fault of the states, and the blame would be handballed to the states and they would have to deal with it. Well, this is a government that is dealing with the issues.

As I said, at last we have a national government doing what is required to improve the health system through the restructuring of funding responsibility and improving services, and not just passing the buck to the states. By introducing clarity and certainty for the first time, the public will know who is responsible. This government will fund substantial improvements in this area, such as a four-hour emergency department turnaround guarantee to ensure patients are admitted, referred or discharged within four hours of arrival at an emergency department. That is what we stand for; the Liberals are opposing this measure.

Further improvements include targets for maximum waiting times for elective surgery and a guarantee that 95 per cent of surgeries will be delivered on time. Again, this is opposed by the opposition. There will also be extra GP services in aged care homes to improve access for older Australians to primary care services. These are the people who have paid taxes all their lives and have fought in wars, yet the opposition opposes these important policies. These are just some of the benefits that we can anticipate as a result of this Labor government’s national health agenda. This is the agenda the public supported in the lead up to the last election. This parliament makes the rules and, most importantly, the majority of members in this House support that agenda.

As it will with health care, the NBN will increase the access of Australians to information and education resources. It is clear that part of the strategy behind providing a higher value education to the next generation is this government’s substantial direct investment in the IT capacities of our schools. As a direct result of this government’s education agenda we will have schools with the computers they need to supercharge our children’s education through the resources and materials they will be able to access through—here it is again—the National Broadband Network. Again, the opposition are opposing our children having the tools to access the information and technology needed to make us a better nation.

The opposition are opposing, blocking and delaying for the sake of opposing. In spite of those opposite, constituents absolutely welcome this government’s investment in their schools—public and private alike—and in their children’s future. We heard from earlier speakers about the Building the Education Revolution. The investments made by that program have been a tremendous success. We have seen how those opposite all clamour to have their photographs taken when there is an opening of a BER project in their local electorates even though they are opposed to it.

The BER has been a tremendous success in our electorates. This is evident from those on the ground. All of us on this side speak to the principals, teachers and students in our electorates. They have all welcomed it and said how much it was needed after so much was taken out of the system during the many years those opposite were in government. In ceremony after ceremony that I attend for the opening of BER projects, the people on the ground who I speak to support the government’s agenda and more than welcome its ongoing fulfilment. This is because they know the value of education. We all know that a good education in our society will improve the future chances of those students. They know how important it is to get the skills needed to get and hold a job.

Even with all the turmoil in the world—such as the recent turmoil felt in Ireland—we are continuing to grow our economy and workforce. This is an outstanding achievement that continues to get better. If we had listened to those on the other side who opposed our infrastructure programs and stimulus packages, who knows where we would be today? Additionally, if they had won government with their $1 billion budget black hole I think we would have been in very dire straits. We know that many jobs were created in the economy through the infrastructure packages from this government. For example, well over 600,000 jobs have been created since this Labor government came to office.

The students of today can take great heart from the condition of our national economy and their likelihood of securing, with requisite training, work to fund their lives well into the future. What this Labor government has done will enable our economy to grow by 3¼ per cent in 2010-11 and in 2011-12. So this government’s actions have kept people in work. This is very important to consider when you think about how those on the other side opposed all of the packages designed to keep our economy going. This government’s actions have kept people in work through the worst financial crisis in over half a century. (Time expired)

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