Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Newcastle for her contribution but, as usual, there is nothing constructive from those opposite to help the future direction of this country. It is important in this debate to reflect on some of the reasons why we need a responsible budget. History is a wonderful teacher in this regard; listen to the wise words of Cicero some 2,600 years ago. He said:

The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.

For far too long politicians of all persuasions have failed to have an honest discussion with the Australian people about the limits of government and what governments are actually capable of providing and not providing. It is wise to reflect on a little story that illustrates the situation very well. I quote from an article titled 'The Tragedy of the Welfare State' by Tom Palmer. He uses this little analogy:

The welfare state has something in common with fishing. If no one owns and is responsible for the fish in the lake, but one does own all the fish he or she can catch and pull out of the lake, everyone tries to catch the most fish. Each reasons that “if I don’t catch the fish, someone else will.” Each of us may know that catching lots of fish now means that the lake will be fished out, but so long as others can catch whatever I don’t catch, none of us have an incentive to limit our fishing …

The consequence is that we do not:

let the fish population replenish itself. Fish are caught faster than they can breed; the waters are fished out; and in the end everyone is worse off.

Over the past six years we have seen exactly that scenario play out in this great country. The end result is that we are at a point where approximately 50 per cent of Australians pay little if any income tax once the various government benefits are taken into account; the top 10 income earners pay approximately 45 per cent of all income tax; and we have one of the higher corporate tax rates in the world—certainly well above OECD and Asian averages.

I acknowledge that this budget does make some difficult decisions, but as with the story we have just heard, if difficult decisions are not made what are going to have left the future generations? We need not only to look at the short-term impact but also to consider the longer term outcomes for this country. Far too often we focus on the here and now and, unfortunately, more often than not for political not national game, as we see from those opposite. We should also be considering the impact of today's decisions on future generations. That is exactly the purpose of many of the measures in this budget. They will create a system that is sustainable for the long-term future for not just current generations but the generations to come. If we do not start to manage our expenses and the long-term sustainability of government programs there will come a time when, just as in the fishing story, they will become unaffordable. This is of no benefit to current recipients or those who may seek to claim a benefit in the future.

We clearly stated during the election campaign that our four key areas of focus would be: stopping the boats, it is well over 150 days since a successful boat arrival; repealing the carbon and mining taxes, our legislation for both of these has passed the House of Representatives but is being blocked in the Senate; building the roads of the 21st century, we are spending some $50 billion on road and rail infrastructure in this budget alone; and, crucially, bringing the budget back into order. This budget is the beginning of that process. In my electorate of Forde during the election we announced that a coalition government would deliver some $3 million towards the upgrade of the Beenleigh town centre, as well as close to $1 million for CCTV cameras and some $20,000 for our local SES groups. I can happily say that all of these items are being delivered in this budget.

In this debate it is worthwhile to have a little bit of history and some perspective about how we got into this situation in the first place. When Labor came into office in 2007 the previous coalition government had left them with a surplus of some $20 billion, with no net debt and some $45 billion in the bank. The following six years of Labor government saw that situation deteriorate markedly with the result being that if nothing changed over the subsequent 10 years we would not see a budget surplus and we would finish up with gross debt of some $667 billion. During those six years the previous Labor government promised on some 500-odd occasions that we would have a budget surplus. It was like they had been wandering around in the desert for six years and every now and again saw a mirage of a surplus that, as they got closer, disappeared and turned out to be sand and more desert. That is the debt and deficit disaster that the previous Labor government left the Australian people. The Australian people elected a coalition government to clean up the mess. We have a choice to be a responsible government and repair that damage, not just for the here and now but for the longer term. If we do not make any changes in the way we are going, the budget will be in deficit for another 10 years, which would be longest stretch of deficits since World War 2.

It is important to note that the dollars we borrow today and spend today are a cost to future generations because we are spending their taxation income today. Unless these policies change, as I said earlier, we will be facing $667 billion of debt in 10 years time, equal to $24,500 for every man, woman and child in this country. We currently pay $1 billion a month in interest. If nothing changes it will be close to $3 billion a month. The current $1 billion a month is equivalent to the cost of building a world-class teaching hospital each month or, to bring it closer to home, of upgrading the M1 between Loganholme and Daisy Hill.

This budget seeks to begin the process of restoring long-term financial stability for future generations in this country. As a result of some of the difficult decisions we are making, debt is forecast to be about $275 billion lower in a decade. This is vitally important because we would then not be paying so much on that interest bill and we would not be paying it to overseas. When you strengthen the economy, small businesses succeed, families have less pressure on them and jobs are created.

As other speakers on this side have quite rightly pointed out, those opposite have been running a scare campaign to frighten the Australian people with their apocalyptic versions of this budget. We have taken the time in my office to sit down with many of my constituents and explain the realities of what we are actually doing and to inform them of the true facts about what this budget is seeking to achieve. So let's clear up a few of the misconceptions from those opposite.

Let's look firstly at health. We are not cutting health funding. Despite the rumours going around, the annual federal funding to the states for public hospitals will increase by more than nine per cent every year for the next three years and by more than six per cent in the fourth year. Labor says that that six per cent is a cut. Well, that is based on their blue-sky mining promises that were never sustainable in the long term. As I said earlier, it is our responsibility to demonstrate prudent fiscal management for the longer term. In total, there is an increase of 40 per cent over the next four years. In addition, we are looking to improve the long-term sustainability of the Medicare system with the introduction of the co-payment fee, of which $5 will go into the medical research fund to provide funding for cures for diseases such as cancer, diabetes and stroke, many of which Australians suffer regularly.

In education, again, we are not cutting funding. Students and schools will benefit from the government's record funding investment of some $64½ billion over the next four years. Schools in Forde will benefit not just from that funding because we plan to put other reforms in place to improve the quality of teaching. In the first part of this year schools in the Forde received some $3 million from the federal government, and that funding would never have been received if Labor had been re-elected. From 2013-14 to 2017-18, total Commonwealth funding to all schools in Australia will increase by some 34 per cent. From 2018 funding for schools will be based on the CPI plus growth in school enrolments. But, again, it is about putting the budget on a long-term, sustainable footing.

In higher education, for the first time ever, the government seeks to provide direct financial assistance to all students studying diplomas, advanced diplomas and associate degree courses in addition to bachelor's degrees. The coalition government's reforms expand opportunities for Australian students and will provide additional financial support to over 80,000 students each year by 2018.

In addition to tertiary education, we see increased support for people wishing to pursue an apprenticeship or trade vocation through the trade support loans, to help more apprentices finish their training and get straight out into the workforce by providing support across the entire period of their apprenticeship and providing an incentive to complete their course.

There has been much discussion about the impact or lack thereof on pensioners. As I mentioned earlier, there has been a lot of misinformation surrounding pensions, largely thanks to a great scare campaign by those opposite. I have been out in the community making myself available to constituents to discuss their concerns regarding this fear campaign. On Saturday I met with a number of seniors at a local coffee shop to discuss their concerns and to advise them that we are not—I repeat not—cutting their pensions. I explained that the government seeks to continue increasing the rate of the age pension and that pensioners will keep their Commonwealth concessions and benefits. Age pension payments are increasing and they will continue to increase twice each year to keep up with the cost of living.

In March this year the pension rate increased by a maximum of $15.70 a fortnight for single pensioners and $11.90 a fortnight for each member of a couple. There will be a further pension increase in September. I think in this debate it is relevant to note that the March increase for pensions was based on CPI, not on MTAWE, which is exactly where we are looking to go from 2017-18. Pensioners will also continue to receive the pension supplement, which will be indexed twice a year. This government is focused on creating a long-term, sustainable system for all Australians.

We are also supporting small business, which is the engine room of our economy and, in Forde, our largest employer. The budget contains a range of measures for small business, including establishing a Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. We have also spent significant time already reducing the huge amount of red tape.

In summary, this budget is focused on creating a long-term, stable financial situation for the long-term benefit of this country. (Time expired)

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