Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is my great pleasure to rise to speak on the Family Assistance and Other Legislation Amendment (Schoolkids Bonus Budget Measures) Bill 2012. Let me start by telling the House that this is bad legislation. This bill before the House is a desperate, crude, blatant cash splash designed to win votes. There is no productivity outcome for the Australian economy, there is no positive educational outcome for kids at school and there is no dividend in terms of job creation and investment in Australia. That is why we oppose it. And we oppose it because it plans to replace a perfectly viable and effective scheme, the education tax refund.

The education tax refund was based on parents with school-age children at primary and secondary school providing receipts at the end of the financial year. They then received reimbursements for those particular educational related expenses. It was such a good scheme that the coalition took to the last election improvements. We took to the last election policies to expand this particular dividend. In fact, if you go to our election policy, under the title 'Real action plan: Reducing the pressure on families', it talks about how the Liberals will increase the education tax rebate. It said that we would 'increase the maximum rebate to $500 per year'—up $110 per year—for every child in primary school. That same document said that the Liberals and the Nationals, the coalition, would 'increase the maximum rebate to $1,000 per year'—up $221 per year—'for each child in secondary school'.

What is more, we were planning to expand the eligible expenses for the rebate so that it included government and nongovernment school fees; special education costs for children with disabilities, like dyslexia; camps and excursions; musical instruments; extracurricular school activities, such as music, sports, dance and drama lessons; and tutoring costs, sporting fees and equipment and school photos.

This education tax rebate is a targeted scheme. This is a scheme that put money in the pockets of parents who have primary and secondary school-age children. They would provide receipts. This encouraged responsibility in our system. Instead, we have this proposal before us in this Family Assistance and Other Legislation Amendment (Schoolkids Bonus Budget Measures) Bill particularly designed to cushion the impact of the carbon tax. This is not an education related expenditure.

This government is so embarrassed by its record on education, including the fact that it believes that a billion-dollar cost blowout on its computer in schools program means better educational outcomes and that spending more than $15 billion or $16 billion of taxpayers' money on overpriced school halls leads to better educational outcomes. It was wrong on both accounts. This government commissioned the Gonski review to look at how to improve educational outcomes in our schools and has done nothing in this budget to meet the recommendations of David Gonski and his committee. Instead, it has rebadged this cash handout the 'schoolkids bonus'. How ridiculous is that. There is nothing that is linked to school outcomes. This is just a desperate bid for votes.

You tell me, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker: what is the connection between school outcomes and handing out cheques for $800-odd for secondary students and $410 for primary students with no receipts and no commitment by the parents that that money will be spend on education related expenses? They have got rid of that responsibility, that accountability, that viability and that transparency in the current system. Instead, they have replaced it with this desperate, blatant cash splash. It is a bad outcome for parents and a bad outcome for taxpayers and it does not produce the educational dividend. What would have produced a better educational dividend is the policy that we took to the last election, designed, as I said, to increase the maximum rebate for parents with students at primary and secondary school and designed to expand the eligible expenses for the rebate. That would have produced a better educational outcome.

So why has this government done this? Why are we having this legislation thrust upon us the morning after the budget? I will tell you why. It is because Australia is about to face an economy-wide carbon tax—the biggest carbon tax in the world. If you go to the United States, there is no cap-and-trade system. In Canada, their Prime Minister, a conservative, just won the biggest election victory in over 100 years campaigning against a carbon tax. If you go to China, you see that they are increasing their emissions by 500 per cent. But if you go to Australia, you have a Labor government which wants to burden every taxpayer and every household with higher cost-of-living expenses through a carbon tax.

I can tell you from my own experience in the electorate of Kooyong that parents and households are worried about this. Small businesses are getting desperate, and they know they are not going to be compensated. That is why this government has decided, through this fictitious bill called a schoolkids bonus, to hand out money to parents, with no link to educational outcomes. I will tell you about the drycleaner in Cotham Road, Kew, who employs four people. He works six days a week. He has seen his electricity bills rise and now they are going to rise another 10 to 12 per cent on July 1 this year with the carbon tax. He does not know what to do in order to recoup those expenses. He cannot lift his prices because that will see a fall in his trade; but he can put off a worker and that will not be good for the economy. He cannot work any harder because he has a family and he works six days a week. I will tell you about the self-funded retirees in my electorate, who are under the age of 65 and have an income of around $30,000, who went to the government's own website to see what compensation they get under the carbon tax—and they get nothing. They are over $200 out of pocket and worse off every year under the carbon tax, but they do not get compensation.

Under the carbon tax this government is going to be spending $3½ billion of taxpayers' money on offshore permits by 2020 and $57 billion by 2050. In my electorate people—

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