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

In thinking about what I would say about this budget in the debate on the appropriation bills, I did not really know where to start because it is just all so bad. But I want to stand up for the people of my electorate of Franklin and for the people of Tasmania. This budget is a terrible list of broken promises and wrong priorities. In fact, it is built on broken promises. It is asking the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our communities to do the heavy lifting.

The budget emergency touted by those opposite is not real. They doubled the deficit in their first six months in office. And it is about wrong priorities, because they have also got their rolled-gold Paid Parental Leave Scheme—which, admittedly, they have watered down a bit, but which is still there and is $50,000 for wealthy people in our community.

Those opposite have manufactured their own budget crisis with this budget because people out there are frightened and scared, and they are not spending money and they are not going to the GP, and they are not doing these things because they have been frightened by this budget and the harsh cuts that will affect pensioners, families, young people, students—all of them on low incomes; many of them vulnerable and disadvantaged. Australia has a AAA credit rating, which we heard the Prime Minister actually admit to today, and we have low levels of debt compared to other countries. So there is no real budget emergency, other than the one that those opposite have confected.

The priorities are so wrong in this budget. The Prime Minister promised before the election that there would be: 'No cuts to education, no cuts to health, no changes to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS.' He also promised no new taxes and no tax increases. And of course all of those promises have been broken.

Particularly frightening for my home state of Tasmania are the cuts to health and education. In the budget papers, page 7 of the glossy says that $80 billion in savings will be made. They will be taken away from Australian schools and hospitals over the next 10 years. We have even heard that this money is not real. But it is actually in their budget papers, so I am assuming it was real if they are making it a saving. Tasmania's share of this is more than $1.6 billion. The Tasmanian state budget is around $5 billion per annum. I am not quite sure where the Prime Minister expects Tasmania to find $1.6 billion or more over the next decade. There is $676 million in cuts to education—the Gonski reforms that were going to happen in years 5 and 6. That is money ripped out of every school in Tasmania and many schools in regional parts of my state. There is over $1 billion in health being cut. This will impact on hospitals in Tasmania.

Some of these cuts of course start on 1 July this year and it will indeed hurt many Tasmanians. In fact, this budget is so bad for Tasmania that it has actually made many of the front pages. It has even made editorials. When you have newspapers in Tasmania saying things like 'The states face the ugly political prospect of savagely cutting health and education services or looking for more revenue, and the most obvious revenue stream for states and territories is to increase the GST or to broaden its base' you know the states are in trouble. Of course, we heard 'No changes to the GST' from the Prime Minister as well. Tasmania would be severely impacted if there was a change to the distribution of the GST to the tune of more than $700 million each and every year.

The Premier of Tasmania, Will Hodgman, has said in response that if there are increased demands placed on the state of Tasmania there will need to be commensurate support services provided. Of course there will not be any. The Treasurer and the Prime Minister have simply said: 'That's it. The states can deal with it on their own as they should.' But where exactly will the money come from? Are the states and territories going to have to make cuts to health and education right across the country? They have not only broken a promise that there would be no cuts to health and education; they have also left a real funding dilemma for the state. It is in fact a massive problem right across the country.

Then of course there is the GP tax—$7 to visit a GP, $7 to get a blood test, $7 if you need an X-ray, $7 to vaccinate each of your kids each time they need it and prescriptions for medicines are going up as well. This is after we heard, 'No cuts to health, no cuts to education and no changes to pensions'. They have broken their promise to Tasmanians and they have broken their promise to Australians. To say one thing before an election and do a different thing afterwards, of course we have heard it before, should not occur and now Tasmanians are paying the price for this. The budget will be way too much pain for Tasmanians and very little gain for the state. In fact, there is nothing new in this budget for Tasmania. All I can find is a $100 million cut to the funding of the Midland Highway. Under Labor there was $500 million over 10 years and now there is only $400 million. That is a cut of $100 million in infrastructure for Tasmania. There are no new announcements just reannouncements, as we saw from the Prime Minister when he was in the state last week.

Of course, we did hear something else from the Prime Minister when he was in Tasmania last week. We heard him say, 'It would not be the worst outcome in the world if young unemployed Tasmanians have to leave state.' Also from him, 'I don't think we should be necessarily heartbroken just because some people choose to leave.' So in Tasmania it has become learn, earn or leave. Apparently, it is okay that there are no jobs for Tasmanians in Tasmania and we really should not be heartbroken about it. Interestingly, the federal Department of Employment predicts there will be 11,400 new jobs in Tasmania by 2017. In that same period, 21,000 students are expected to leave school. That is 21,000 students for 11,400 new jobs. So the jobs are not there. We need places in training for them. Are there places available in TAFE? Are there places available in the university in regional Tasmania? We have heard the Minister for Employment, who happens to be a Tasmanian, Senator Abetz, say,' Of course, they could go and pick fruit.' Actually what he said was:

There are many examples of jobs in my home state of Tasmania, for example fruit picking …

Interestingly, the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association do not really like that idea and they are going to take it up with the minister. They have said:

If the Government wants us to be babysitters and to run these social welfare programs we will have a conversation about what's involved in that, but it won't be as a part of a commercial offering.

The youth unemployment rate in Tasmania is 17 per cent. Up on the north-west coast it is 22 per cent. There are no jobs for these people, and to expect them to live on fresh air for six months every year that they do not have a job is cruel and heartless and will increase poverty and homelessness in Tasmania. To have the Prime Minister simply come down and say, 'Well, you can leave,' is not okay. There is supposed to be a $100 million jobs and growth program with 31 projects for 2½ thousand jobs that was announced by Labor and that was supposed to be committed by the new government. Only five of those projects have received the funding. There was $100 million over four years. Where is the rest of the money? Where are the plans to create jobs in Tasmania? There are none. Instead, we are attacking the most vulnerable. We are taking $100 million out of infrastructure and we are not going to deliver jobs and growth plan, but that is all right: Tasmanians can just leave.

People are not going to leave Tasmania. People all over the country are not going to leave regional Australia and move to the cities. Labor supports the regions, even if the current government does not. We would invest in the regions and we did under the regional development fund. We have seen that program gutted as well. We have seen the indexation of financial assistance grants taken from councils. That is a $1 billion cut over four years. Councils will have to absorb these cuts. They had not budgeted for the loss of indexation over the four years. This will be an ongoing cut to councils in regional Australia. My home state of Tasmania will be hit hard by these.

There is so much in this budget that needs addressing that, as I said at the beginning, it is hard to know where to start. The coalition kept saying there would be no changes to pensions. We heard those opposite say today in the parliament: 'Pensions will continue to go up under us. There's nothing to worry about.' Why do the budget papers include a saving for pensions in the out years? There is a saving because they are changing the indexation, which is a cut in real terms to pensions.

We also see that from 1 July this year the concessions that are paid to the states to deliver concessions on water, electricity, local council rates and transport are being cut. In my home state of Tasmania that is $9 million from 1 July that the state government does not have and has not said whether it will make up. Councils are about to send out rates notices. Do they include a concession for ratepayers when those notices go out in two weeks? Who would know? It is not my problem, says the Treasurer; it is up to the states. It is a problem for the pensioners. He is the Treasurer of this country and he should be taking notice, because these pensioners are frightened. They have been frightened by this budget and by the actions of this government.

It is not fair. I think that is the overwhelming theme of this budget: it is not fair. It is not fair because the wealthy are doing less of the lifting and those people on low incomes are doing the majority of the lifting. When you have somebody on $200,000 a year actually committing $400 in an extra debt tax and you have people on $60,000 with two kids giving up over $6,000 a year in family payments, you know something is not right. We heard today that families will be affected by changes to family tax benefit. In fact, 1.5 million children will be affected by this government's changes.

It does not stop there. The changes to the pension include having to work until you are 70. I wonder whether they ever actually asked people what they thought of this—whether they asked the tradesmen or the nurses or the brickies labourer. I do not think they would have, because they cannot work until they are 70. They cannot work until they are 70 because they are in heavy labour jobs. Perhaps they should just retrain and do something else. I am sure that will be the answer that comes from those opposite.

We have also seen savage cuts to the public sector in this budget. Tasmania does have a number of public sector jobs, particularly in the science areas of CSIRO and the Australian Antarctic Division. CSIRO are particularly concerned about cuts that might be coming their way. Of course there is the ABC, who have the one per cent efficiency dividend coming off them. That will mean cuts in regional Australia and in my home state of Tasmania.

So all we in Tasmania hear with this budget is cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts. There is nothing new. There is no extra funding. In fact, if it gets bad enough you can do what the Prime Minister says: 'Just leave.' That is the only solution we have had from the new government. There is absolutely nothing in this budget for Tasmania.

Labor will be opposing these measures. We will be opposing changes to pensions, we will be opposing changes to family payments and, of course, we will be opposing the fuel excise increase as well. That was another nice surprise for people which they knew nothing about! No new taxes before the election; an increase in tax after the election. Who would have thought that that would occur? I want to read an email from one of my constituents. I will not name of that you will get the general gist from the email about how Tasmanians are feeling about this budget:

I am writing you to encourage you to stand up against the threats to the most vulnerable members of our community by the plans outlined in the Abbott government's budget. Why are we buying new .jet fighters and giving tax breaks to big business while making it more and more difficult for the poorest to have the basic necessities of life? Cutting bulk-billing for children and pensioners is not just a $7 impost. I am a pensioner.

Recently I went to the doctor, who sent me for blood tests and then called me back because of some abnormalities, which led to new blood tests and an ultrasound. Then I had to go back to the doctor to get the results. These changes would have meant an extra $42 for me within a two-week period. I would not have spent that $42 on a beer, a cigarette or a cigar. It probably would have gone towards my power bill or on food. I am however more concerned that children will not receive the medical care they need because some parents must decide between food or medical treatment.

In Tasmania there is great youth unemployment, but maybe some do not want to work. However, most cannot find work. With no Newstart until they reach 30 we are going to see a rise in the number of youth homelessness. Surely the lucky country can do better than this.

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