Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is interesting to discuss the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2011-2012 in the context of the government's budget this year, which was delivered by our Treasurer. There has been much discussion about this budget. There seems to have been a collective amnesia about what transpired in our country over the past three years which has led in many respects to the way this budget has been framed.

On reflecting on my contribution to the debate today, I cast my mind back to what was actually occurring in 2008, because it does have a very profound bearing on the responsible budget that was delivered by our Treasurer. It is probably worth reminding those here and people more broadly about what was occurring. We basically had the collapse of, initially, the United States banking system, which then spread like a contagion throughout other countries, including and particularly in Europe. As I recall, during that period there was great uncertainty within the Australian community and concern, I might add, amongst governments around the world about whether the world financial system would hold up or collapse. There were banks in America that would not lend to each other; effectively, capital dried up in America and then almost throughout the world. As I understand it, on as many as three occasions during that turbulent period of time in 2008, policy makers, legislators and governments from countries around the globe were effectively looking at the collapse of the global financial system. Here we have escaped the ravages of that global recession, as has been discussed elsewhere. Let's look at what was occurring within Australia before the introduction of the—much-criticised by some—stimulus packages. We had a situation, for example, on a weekend in October where our government through its SPBC, Strategic Priorities and Budget Committee, had absolute evidence that, were we not going to introduce a bank guarantee, there was going to be a run on our banks. That evidence was not just anecdotal, it was evidentiary and it was conclusive, which led to the Australian government underpinning our banks with the bank guarantee—and it did.

I was actively speaking to people in my electorate who, had we not issued that guarantee on that weekend in October, were going to take enormous amounts of money out of their banks, and these were solid banks with triple A credit rating at that time—these were our four banks. These business people saw what was occurring globally and they were effectively reflecting that onto our existing banking system, notwithstanding the fact that it was underpinned by fundamentals. But at that stage when you are dealing with consumer confidence, you have to take measures that restore consumer confidence, so that bank guarantee was put in place and it actually stopped a run on the banks.

The second issue that we dealt with at that time from talking to a number of major employers around the area was that they were tremendously concerned about that consumer confidence and what was actually going to occur, which was major employers in my electorate were going to lay off workers. In fact, they were going to lay off thousands of workers. I would meet very regularly with groups of employers around the Dandenong region, major manufacturers and major retailers, and they would be effectively saying that the government needed to take action; we needed to spend money; we needed to stimulate the economy—and we did through two stimulus packages, and as a consequence of that we saved many thousands of jobs in the south-eastern area.

It is instructive to recall the background which led to these stimulus measures being taken, which have been very heavily criticised but in reality saved a lot of jobs in our region and delivered much-needed social infrastructure in our region as well. It is important to note that in that period of time, notwithstanding the global financial crisis and its potential impact on Australia, as a consequence of the actions that the government took we created over 300,000 jobs in this past year alone.

But one thing we should take note of, and the budget looks at, is that there are still 320,000 young people who are not in education, who are not in employment and who are not in training. In my electorate of Holt, which is one of the fastest growing areas in the country, there is an ever-increasing need to invest in education infrastructure to support the needs of families in our area. According to the statistics provided by our local council, the city of Casey, there are approximately 23,000 Casey residents attending primary school and 17,000 attending secondary school, which adds up to about 18.4 per cent of the Casey population. There are approximately 5,000 Casey residents attending university and an equivalent number attending TAFE.

Now as these statistics indicate, with a large population of young people in my electorate, it has been imperative for our government to invest in education infrastructure in the local area as well as supporting families coping with increasing educational costs. As I have said, in my electorate since 2007 we have delivered 101 educational projects at a cost of more than $129 million. We have seen the construction of new multipurpose halls, performing arts centres, trade training centres and improved sporting facilities at many schools in my electorate.

Before looking at how these projects have made a real difference—and they have made a very significant difference—to the local community, let us look at some of the other measures we have taken in terms of delivering further opportunities to people in our area and ameliorating some of the cost of living pressures that we know they are experiencing. For example, the $1,700 trades apprentice income bonus will be provided for up to 3,005 people in Holt to encourage them to complete critical trade qualifications. There are up to 8,700 families in Holt that could be eligible for the extra $4,200 per child for kids aged between 16 and 19 under the changes to the family tax benefit. With the educational tax refund, which is very important in terms of families in my area, we are increasing the government's investment by $460 million. In addition, payment advances of $1,000 will be provided to meet unexpected family expenses, which happens a lot particularly in areas like mine, and give parents the choice to receive child care support fortnightly.

There are other significant investments, one of which I was particularly proud of and that I think would be supported by those on the other side—that is, the $222 million to support the National School Chaplaincy Program. I presume that that is being supported. I think that is a much needed program that delivers essential support.

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