Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I will actually talk about Tasmania a bit later on, but this is about Western Australia and the 1.3 million Western Australians who are starting to vote from yesterday and are voting in the dark, without the Commission of Audit's report. Interestingly, we have already had two speakers from those opposite, and they do not mention the Commission of Audit at all. What are they hiding? Why don't they want to talk about it? We are not really surprised that they do not want to talk about it—900 pages, and we have had a few leaks about what is in this Commission of Audit report. No wonder they do not want it out there: a GP tax, $6 to go to the GP, which will cost Western Australians $59 million each and every year, going up, to go and visit their GP. There are nervous pensioners on the disability support pension in Western Australia, waiting and wondering what is in the Commission's of Audit's report as they go to vote. There are age pensioners wondering what is going to happen when they go to vote. There are people with disability wondering about the NDIS before they go to vote.

And why are they so concerned? They are concerned because they have already seen cuts from this Abbott government. They have seen $500 million cut from public rail infrastructure that was to be built in Western Australia. They have already seen cuts to the Regional Development Australia Fund, cuts to the tennis sporting hub at Busselton, cuts to the surf club for the Secret Harbour community and other cuts right around the community in Western Australia. There have been cuts to the Building Multicultural Communities Program, cuts of $140,000 to the Multicultural Services Centre of Western Australia, cuts of $26,000 to the Shire of Mount Magnet, and a whole range of cuts from this government right across the community in Western Australia. People are worried about what is next, what this government is hiding and what they will see in this Commission of Audit report, and they have a right to know before they go and place their vote.

As we have heard, Western Australians are voting already. Pre-poll voting started yesterday, and 1.3 million Western Australians are going to cast their vote without any idea about what this government will do with the Commission of Audit's recommendations. We have heard from Treasurer Joe Hockey that many of the recommendations are likely to be implemented, so why not tell Western Australians what you are planning? Because you do not want them to know before they go to cast their votes, because there will be a whole range of cuts recommended by the Commission of Audit.

Interestingly, this Commission of Audit was considered urgent after the September election, but we have had the release of the report put off three times: before the Griffith by-election and before the Tasmanian and South Australian elections and now, surprisingly, there is a Senate election in Western Australia, and what have we seen? It is sat on again. It is sitting on desks of ministers in this government, and they should be releasing this document urgently to the people of Western Australia.

Tony Abbott promised that he would lead a government of no surprises. The Prime Minister also promised that his would be a government of no excuses. There are plenty of excuses about why this Commission of Audit report is not going to be released, and we know that there are going to be plenty of surprises in it when it turns up. We have seen many surprises and excuses so far from those opposite, and the fact that they are sitting on this report just demonstrates that there is so much more pain and there are so many more cuts to come.

Pre election, we heard Mr Abbott say there would be no cuts to education or health, no change to pensions or the GST and no cuts to the ABC or the SBS. What we have seen in government, of course, is a very different thing. We have seen cuts of $10 million of cancer workforce money to Western Australia; that was a cut to health last time I checked. We have seen winding back of Gonski right across the country; that, of course, is a cut to education. We are hearing all sorts of things about the DSP changes that may be coming; that, of course, is a cut.

We heard today from the shadow minister for communications that there are plans to cut radio in regional Australia. People in regional Western Australia have a right to know what is coming from this government. They have a right to know what is in that 900 pages, and the government should be releasing that 900 pages of the Commission of Audit urgently so that the people of Western Australia, as they go to vote in coming weeks up to and including 5 April, actually have information before them on what is going to happen. (Time expired)

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