Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I simply cannot believe that the Labor Party has had the hide to bring forward a motion that attempts to shame the coalition over its record on regional Australia, when it is their debt in the first place. And if there is one record that regional and rural Australians are disgusted with, it is record of the past six years of Labor debt and Labor waste—the one we voted down at the last election.

The government, on the other hand, has already begun to breathe new life into regional Australia, with record investment in infrastructure and services—already more than $20 million has been committed in grants and infrastructure for Gilmore alone. More than $3 million has been made available to improve six local black spots, with the bulk of that funding put towards the Princes Highway and Turpentine Road. Programs like the $565 million Black Spot program, crucial to fixing dangerous and accident-prone sections of local roads and streets; or the $248 million Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity program, go directly to our commitment for rural and regional Australia. We have committed $100 million in this budget to fix up mobile phone black spots across the country, mainly for the benefit of rural and regional Australia. There is also $100 million extra for rural research, and more than $50 million to entice more doctors to work and train in rural and regional practices.

Gilmore is an electorate Labor abandoned, because they never understood our issues or how to address them, or even knew how to talk to us. Why is this? It is because they are fundamentally out of touch with regional Australia—predominantly small business people, families and farmers. The Labor Party has no link to these people, and does not understand the challenges that we in regional Australia face every day. Labor will never understand what it is like to be a single mother raising two kids in a regional or rural town, or how hard it really is to find employment when the only public transport into your town centre runs just once a day in each direction. This government cares about single parents, and that is why we are introducing a $750 payment to single mothers who receive the full rate of family tax benefit part A.

When they introduced the carbon tax, the Labor Party simply had no idea of the impact they had on the 39 dairy farms in Gilmore. At a time when milk was retailing for $1.00 a litre, the increases to electricity and refrigerant gases were crippling. The electricity bill for one dairy farmer in my electorate, Tracey Russell from Brundee, has increased from $1,400 a month to more than $2,400 since the introduction of the carbon tax. Tracey estimates that at least half of that—more than $500 a month—is solely due to the carbon tax. Another example is the cost of refrigerating milk on farms. Prices for refrigerant gases have increased from between 200 and 400 per cent for farmers in my electorate. This translates into an increase in costs of over $15,000 for some farmers in my electorate to re-gas their refrigeration systems.

Gilmore has a complexity of issues. Despite this, we work hard, always trying new solutions to give our community a hand-up, not just a handout. Programs like the revamped work for the dole, a program which is being piloted in the Shoalhaven from 1 July, help give regional communities like mine a sense of self-worth and opportunity, where before there was none. Labor does not understand work for the dole. Australians do not want to rely on welfare; they want to stand proud. Australians ,especially rural and regional Australians in Gilmore, are a very proud people. That is why work for the dole is so important in Gilmore. Fundamentally, I believe that most people want to work for what they have—to get ahead in life—and will always value the skills that community work can bring. It is a time to help our youths regain their sense of self, their can-do attitude and their desire to make their lives better.

This motion before the House talks about the government's budget priorities. I cannot help but think that budget criticisms are a bit rich, coming from Labor, especially as they have left all Australians a legacy of $667 billion of debt and $1 billion of monthly interest—for years to come—and more than 200,000 extra people unemployed. That is an enormous debt, and there is not a lot to show for it. What an amazing testimony to financial mismanagement. There is not a single Australian who could not make a suggestion of where this money could have been better spent—unless they be from the opposition.

Those on the other side indicate cuts to education—but if there is a net increase each year, that is not a cut. With an extra 80,000 places at university, that is not a cut. With a chance to study for an associate diploma or diploma—not just a degree—that is enhancing our tertiary opportunities for regional students, not cutting them. Labor does not get it. Our youths, our regional people, do not want their grandchildren to be burdened with debt. This budget provides a vision for a debt-free future. I have yet to hear a whisper of a plan from those on the other side.

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