Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This motion is typical of the coalition and their inconsistency and hypocrisy when it comes to economic issues. Those opposite are always claiming in this House that they are the party of low tax. They always claim that, yet when you look at the record they are the party of high tax. They are the party that squandered the mining boom mark 1. They did not invest in health, education and infrastructure and they never matched our contribution of $4.3 billion to the regions, in places like Queensland and Western Australia.

This motion is a disgrace. It simply shows just how many Western Australians in this place wag the dog when it comes to the coalition. It also shows the hypocrisy of the Western Australian Liberal Party and of the Leader of the Opposition. Have we had one question today about issues of economics? What about the budget reply speech? What about the National Press Club performance of the shadow Treasurer when it came to economics? On that side of the House, there are no economic credentials, there is no economic capability and there is no economic record that they can boast of.

What about the high-taxing government they were when they were in power last? Let us have a look at that. They claim that our policies impact on the mining sector and other sectors. In 2005-06, when they were in government, there was a 25.6 per cent tax to GDP ratio. In 2007-08, it was as high as 24.9 per cent. In the 2011-12 budget, it is 23.2 per cent. That is the reality. Those opposite always like a tax. Then they will squander it on middle-class welfare rorts. That is what they like to do.

They should have a talk to the mining industry. They went to those boardrooms and those business lunches in the lead-up to the last election and said: 'We won't do anything. We'll look after you, mates. We'll make sure we do.' When their state colleagues got in, they decided to whack on another $2 billion tax. I do not care if the member for Durack calls it a levy, a royalty or a tax; it is $2 billion. He knows that is what it is about. He knows this is a political strategy. He knows this is a tactic by those opposite. That is the reality. He knows also that, when it comes to the mining boom mark 2, in Queensland and Western Australia we are seeing massive investment.

The Treasurer, in a speech to the Brisbane North Chamber of Commerce on 13 May 2011, made the point very clearly when it comes to my home state of Queensland. I grew up in Ipswich and grew up with the coal mining industry. We still have New Hope colliery there and coalminers in rural parts of my electorate, around Rosewood et cetera. The coalmining industry is very, very important to Queensland. But it is not just that; the LNG industry is now growing. The Treasurer said in his speech:

The total pipeline of investment in Queensland is about $180 billion.

So much for the adverse impact of government policy on the mining industry in Queensland. He went on:

And over the past year, the state's LNG industry has committed to more than $30 billion in investment, driven by the Queensland Curtis LNG and Gladstone LNG projects. Big projects like this are going to support rising incomes and export capacity, and strong economic growth in the years ahead.

Those opposite know that is true. They know that is the case. They know that, according to the Treasury, the mining industry is planning to invest $76 billion in 2011-12—about eight times the annual level before the mining boom mark 1. That will boost Australia's export capacity. Investment will increase, the LNG sector will have many large projects and we will see projects by Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Xstrata. We will see all kinds of minerals and energy projects across the board. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences estimates a total pipeline of resources investment of over $380 billion. That is going to increase export volumes and high commodity prices, and that will lead to increased incomes.

Nationally, Treasury estimates income from non-rural commodity exports over the next two years will increase by 15 per cent to $203 billion. I can tell you something, Mr Deputy Speaker: that really shows that somehow the federal Labor government is adversely impacting the mining sector! Our policies quite clearly are assisting in terms of economic capacity, investment in infrastructure and what we are doing in the regions. Locally I speak to blokes like John Berry, who is the CEO of JBS Swift, the big meat-processing plant in my electorate. John said to me a couple of months ago, when I had a conversation over lunch with him, 'We're finding it difficult to get workers because they're all going to the mining sector in Queensland and Western Australia.'

It was the same thing when we had the opening of the $2 million investment by the federal Labor government in Bremer TAFE, where the new machine shop has been entirely done. I was talking to apprentices and instructors there. What is happening is that the mining sector is grabbing hold of the apprentices and taking them up into Central Queensland and Western Australia. So much for the mining sector being adversely impacted by the federal Labor government's policies. It is just a nonsense. Those opposite know in their heart of hearts that this is a nonsense. It is a stupid MPI topic from those opposite. They know, of course, that we need to invest in skills and infrastructure.

That is why I was so pleased to see that we are building Australia's future workforce with $558 million for tailored quality training places through what we have called the National Workforce Development Fund. And we are giving $1.75 billion to the states and territories for vocational education and training. We are partnering with the states—for example, the department in Queensland known as DEEDI. I saw that on Friday when I was speaking to some women who were graduating from work ventures with a certificate II. I saw what they were doing. We have great organisations.

I was at the trade expo in Ipswich run by Apprenticeships Queensland. You can see what is happening. I spoke there to Brett Kitching, who is in charge of the Ipswich Turf Club. At the turf club in Ipswich they put on the trade expo. There you have a whole host of people from various sectors in vocational education and training, people from TAFE et cetera, including the federally funded Business Enterprise Centre Ipswich Region. Over lunch, Brett was saying to me that there is more interest in this trade expo than ever before. I was speaking to Anita Dwyer, from Apprenticeships Queensland, over lunch as well. I was talking to them about what is going on in the work that they are doing. Workers with qualifications in carpentry and building and construction trades, electricians et cetera are not just staying in South-East Queensland; they are going up to Central Queensland and Western Queensland and to the Western Australian regions because they are getting jobs there.

This is what the government is doing, spending $3.1 billion in trade training, skilling, increasing the capacity of our workforce and investing in the regions. Those opposite did not invest in regions. In my region alone, in South-East Queensland, it is quite clear that they did not invest. They did not take the benefit of the mining boom mark 1. We are taking the benefit of the mining boom mark 2, and in Regional Development Australia we are seeing an extra billion dollars put in for projects.

The Regional Infrastructure Fund that we have announced is part of the minerals resource rent tax. We are putting $6 billion in that fund, and locally we are seeing the benefit of it. We are seeing the benefit in my electorate with the $54 million to upgrade the Blacksoil Interchange. That is important not just for farmers but for the miners from the Surat Basin. You can see the mining trucks going through. You can see the farm produce going through. You can see the kids going to school. You can see the workers going to Ipswich and Brisbane and up to Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley as well. That is what we are doing: investing locally.

And we are investing in major projects in South-East Queensland that the coalition refused to do. We have used the money we have beneficially, and I think it is important to note that we are going to use the money from the minerals resource rent tax to invest in important infrastructure in Queensland and Western Australia. Those opposite would not provide that infrastructure. They would not invest in organisations. The shadow minister for energy and resources, the member for Groom, has gone missing in this debate. There is a great project that he should have funded in his electorate during the time he sat in the cabinet—that is, the Toowoomba Bypass. He did not fund that project, and he squandered the money from the resources. He talks about the Toowoomba Bypass all the time, but did they use the money from mining boom mark 1? No way. Those opposite did not fund that project. They would not fund that project. They would not fund the Ipswich Motorway. They would not fund so many projects in Queensland and Western Australia which we are doing through the minerals resource rent tax. Those opposite should hang their heads in shame over this MPI topic. It is a disgrace. They should go back to their Western Australian colleagues and tell them they should fix this—

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