Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with pleasure that I rise to speak in support of Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2010-2011 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2010-2011. In the time I have today I wish to touch on some of the important initiatives that will be funded under these appropriation bills. Firstly, the bills will deliver an additional $120.7 million through the Attorney-General’s Department to assist people in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia who have been adversely affected by the floods which began in late 2010. Of course, there are many members on both sides of the chamber who have talked about the devastating effects of the floods in Queensland, but we should not forget that there are other homeowners and other businesses across the country that have been affected by floods as well.

This additional funding will enable Centrelink to make payments for up to 13 weeks to people who have temporarily lost their income as a direct result of the flooding. People in that situation will be eligible to apply for those payments. We need to make sure that those who have lost income as a direct result of the flooding get the support they need and get access to that payment through Centrelink. The extra funding measures contained in these appropriation bills are very important initiatives.

Another important initiative under these appropriation bills is the provision of funding to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to introduce the fair entitlements guarantee to protect employee entitlements when an employer enters liquidation. I have to congratulate the Labor government because, in fact, the minister has already changed from the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme that existed prior to the fair entitlements guarantee through administrative arrangements. The reason this has been done was so that these new entitlements could commence from January this year so that people who have found themselves redundant due to their employer’s liquidation are able to access these new entitlements already. However, this additional funding will ensure that that entitlement continues to flow until such time as the minister is able to introduce into this House legislation to ensure that these important entitlements are protected by statute and can be changed only by the agreement of this parliament.

Under the previous GEERS system, someone who was made redundant as a consequence of liquidation could get up to a maximum of only 16 weeks redundancy payment. This was irrespective of how many years service they had. Under the new fair entitlements guarantee, what is provided is the ability to be paid up to a maximum of four weeks for each year of service. So if someone had 20 years of service then they are going to see a redundancy payment that will at least be closer to what they would have got if that company had not been in liquidation and those assets were available as opposed to walking away with no more than 16 weeks for all those years of service with that employer. This is a fantastic initiative. I just want to point out that, through these changes by this Labor government, which were announced during the election in 2010 and are already operational, about 97 per cent of employees will now be eligible for this redundancy payment. It is a fantastic initiative and important funding to flow through these appropriation bills.

There is also an additional $20 million which will go to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This is part of Australia’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals. We have an obligation to contribute to the Millennium Development Goals and the issues, especially the health issues, and those targets that we seek to meet by 2015 under the World Health Organisation. Some of the figures are certainly scary, to say the least. In 2009 there were 1.8 million AIDS related deaths across the world. Yes, this was lower than in 2004. That means that the contributions of countries through the global fund and their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals are making a difference. That means that we need to continue our commitment to meet those targets in 2015.

Can I say how disappointed I was when the Leader of the Opposition, in reference to Indonesian school funding that the opposition would seek to cut to deliver new infrastructure of reconstruction after the floods, said in passing, ‘By the way, in relation to the Millennium Development Goals, we are still committed to them but that is for 2015 and so doing nothing for the next couple of years is okay.’ I do not think it is okay to do nothing for another two years. Certainly people across the electorate of Petrie do not think it is okay to do nothing for the next two years.

Another important initiative under the appropriation bills is the government’s undertaking of the first stage of an implementation study into a high-speed rail network. This first stage will involve a high-level costing and identification of routes and is expected to be completed by July 2011. The Department of Infrastructure and Transport will be provided with $6 million to undertake this study. I have spoken in this House about our local commitment to having a new rail line from Petrie to Kippa-Ring, a commitment that this government made in the 2010 election. It is already underway and will be operational by 2016. It is such an important initiative to have this study done. Australia is not a big country. It is hard to believe we did not have a national gauge before Labor came into government in 2007. This is the next step. Look at other developed nations and their high-speed rail networks. The fact is that, if Australia wants to compete, if we want people to move around this country for jobs, for school, for study reasons, we need to make sure that we have transport that accommodates that, that meets that need—and right now our transport does not meet that need.

Another important initiative, one that really is not part of the debate out there at the moment—we know that the Labor government is committed to solar power and clean energy sources—is one of the funding programs under these appropriation bills which is providing funding to the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism to support joint projects with the United States designed to reduce the cost of solar energy technologies. The funding will support new research on advanced solar technology projects, exchange programs and research scholarships focused on affordable solar energy solutions. We know that, at the federal and the state level, there have been many programs to assist homeowners with the costs relating to solar energy, but the fact is that solar energy is still quite costly—and we want more homes and more businesses to be able to take up this initiative. We need to invest in that research, and to do that in collaboration with the United States is fantastic. We can gain skills and knowledge as well as, hopefully, move closer to reducing the cost of solar energy technologies in our country.

An issue that is very close to my heart and that I am very pleased to see in these appropriation bills is additional funding to the Australian Sports Commission to extend the Active After-school Communities Program until the end of the year. This is a fantastic program. Many of my primary schools run this program after school. We know that many of the children who participate in these programs are children who otherwise would not participate in extracurricular activities and sporting activities outside of school, because of the costs involved in those activities. So this Active After-school Communities Program is such an important program. It has my full support. I will continue to advocate for the continuation of this program. It is a fantastic initiative and I am very pleased to see additional funding in these appropriation bills.

There is also additional funding for Centrelink in these appropriation bills, to provide families with the additional option of receiving childcare rebate payments directly to their bank accounts on a fortnightly basis from 1 July 2011. Those who have young children, like me and the member for Dobell, who is in the chamber, know the costs involved in child care; we know the importance of the childcare rebate and how it is appreciated by the community that the Labor government increased that childcare rebate for families. But we need to make it more accessible. Instead of parents receiving a cheque, they will be able to get it directly paid into their bank accounts. This is a fantastic option. It is a choice, and a great choice for us to provide to parents. I applaud the government for that initiative as well.

The last important program I want to raise, which is receiving funding under Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2010-2011—the ones I have just raised were under Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2010-2011—relates to the $69.8 million being brought forward from 2011-12 for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to meet contractual commitments of projects relating to the non-government schools component of the Building the Education Revolution program. The reason this funding is being brought forward is that these projects have been completed earlier than expected.

We have heard so much criticism from the other side of the House in relation to the BER projects and their alleged failures or problems. Firstly, on behalf of the schools across the electorate of Petrie I can say that the BER program has been an absolute success. Schools, students and teachers appreciate the use of these state-of-the-art facilities and so does the broader community. We will not just listen to my words. I take the House back to the comments of the Building the Education Revolution Implementation Taskforce Chair, Brad Orgill, when he talked about the BER projects in the task force report and said:

The vast majority of the BER projects across the country in the government and non-government systems are being successfully and competently delivered, which has resulted in quality and, from our own observations, generally much-needed new school infrastructure, while achieving the primary goal of stimulating economic activity.

In the executive summary, Mr Orgill stated:

It is projected to support approximately 120,000 jobs over the full life of the program, filling a gap left in demand from the private sector and playing an important role in supporting apprentices and skill retention in the building and construction industry.

I know these programs are still supporting jobs out in the community right now. If those on the other side were willing to go out and talk to those construction workers and those managers, they would find that this work is sustaining their employment and providing training that is much needed where there are other gaps in work available at this time. This is an important initiative. I am very pleased to see additional funding for the reason that this project is going so well that some projects are running ahead of time and need the funding brought forward to pay for them.

I certainly support these two appropriations bills. There are many more important programs that are being funded under these appropriations bills, but I have just touched on some. They are important initiatives. They are important programs for the country and important programs that will see benefits flow to the people in the electorate of Petrie. I commend the bills to the House.

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