Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to highlight the investments in jobs that our budget is delivering to the people I represent in Corangamite and to the nation. Despite the difficult decisions that we have had to make, the Australian people would not have forgiven us if we had squibbed the hard decisions. We were duty-bound: we were elected to get Australia back on track, to repair our budget and to restore the nation's finances.

As I write in the Geelong Advertiser tomorrow, our budget shows that our government has a head, a heart and a backbone: a head because we understand the importance of making critical investments in long-term, sustainable jobs, which our economy so desperately needs; a heart because we are caring for those who most need our help, the most vulnerable in our society; and a backbone because we have the courage to tackle Labor's shocking legacy of debt and deficit, even if it does involve some difficult decisions. This is the courage that Labor never had.

One of the first emails I received on budget night concerned the Restart program that we announced, which will provide businesses which take on an unemployed person aged over 50 with a bonus of up to $10,000. This person wrote: 'Even though I am now employed I still wanted to thank you for the help you have offered my generation in getting work. I know firsthand how difficult it is and I am hopeful that my fellow unemployed 50-year-old Australians will be better off in the future.'

The budget reflects our government's determination to deliver a cultural shift in the way we work. Older Australians will be supported where necessary and younger Australians need to earn or learn. Despite what the member for Lalor has said, this is the best thing that we can do for youth unemployment.

The key message in the budget is that Australia must contribute and build. There is no greater demonstration of that than our unbelievable commitment to infrastructure: $50 billion in infrastructure investments over the coming years which will deliver and support $125 billion of construction activity. It is absolutely shameful that one of our most important projects in our region, the East West Link, to which we have committed $3 billion, is being opposed by Labor. The western section, the section that will service the people of Geelong, is being opposed by Labor. Clearly no-one from Labor has ever had to cope with the 'car park'—the two-hour wait to get to Melbourne in peak hour. That is an absolute disgrace.

There are plenty of other initiatives: $482 million for the Entrepreneurs' Infrastructure Program to help bring research and business together to develop and commercialise home-grown ideas; $476 million for an industry skills fund; $20,000 available in low-cost loans for apprentices to support their pursuit of a career; Commonwealth funding will be extended to students studying higher education diplomas; and $50 million for manufacturing transition grants. Of course, there is our commitment to abolish the carbon tax, which will save families on average $550 per year, to abolish the mining tax and to deliver a 1.5 per cent cut to the company tax rate.

A number of weeks ago the Prime Minister announced in Geelong a $155 million growth fund. It was very disappointing that the Secretary of Geelong Trades Hall, Tim Gooden, wrote a very deceptive article, 'Jobs scoreboard not looking good so far'. He did not bother to even mention this incredible fund for our region, which was announced in the wake of the end of car manufacturing: $30 million for regional infrastructure and another $60 million for advanced manufacturing, so important for jobs and for opportunity. We are a great city, we are a great region and we have so much opportunity. Frankly the efforts of Mr Gooden and Geelong Trades Hall to talk down our potential, to not convey this important information to members, does his membership no service and they certainly drag down the reputation of our entire region.

We are very proud of our commitment to the jobs growth and investment that we have demonstrated in the budget. Certainly I ask the people of my electorate to look closely at what we are doing, because it is very positive for jobs growth.

House adjourned at 20:00

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