Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

You know the coalition is in trouble when on a resolution that discusses how the federal budget will impact on their local communities they have to talk about live exports and carbon tax. They know better than most—particularly if they have represented councils and are now in this chamber—the world of grief they are going to hit when those councils are squeezed and squeezed hard by this unprovoked decision of the Abbott government.

In modern financial terms, $900 million rolls off the tongue too quickly; but, when you talk to councils around the nation and say to them that you are going to rip $925 million from them, you find out in real terms what this means. Many local government bodies are already operating under heavy pressure. There is little or no fat in their operation, so you could imagine their surprise when they discovered in council chambers across the country when they were briefed that they would have their funds cut by the Abbott government—a cut inflicted when the Abbott government cruelly decided to freeze indexation on financial assistance grants.

What is disappointing yet not surprising is the way the Abbott government steamrolls its way through these decisions. You only have to ask the AMA if they were consulted about the GP tax. Of course they were not. Ask pensioners whether or not they were consulted about the brutal impacts of the budget. Of course not. In fact, they were told by the Prime Minister that there would be no changes to pensions. Ask motorists if they were given any warning that fuel tax indexation would return. There was none. What is ironic is the Abbott government has halted indexation for the funding of councils but has reintroduced indexation to help itself to the pockets and purses of Australian motorists. Under the guise of trying to respond to a self-manufactured 'budget emergency', the Prime Minister and the Treasurer—I cannot actually remember him anymore, because you never see him these days—have both been caught breaking promises, triggering protest across the country.

One of the farthest reaching yet not heavily advertised impacts of these broken promises was to freeze this grant indexation. The grants are not there for giggles; they are there for a reason. Rate payers look to their local council for the basics: libraries, parks, waste management, recreation facilities and roads—the vital bones of every thriving community—and the councils cannot always attend to these responsibilities on their own. They need the backing of state and federal government, which is why the financial assistance grants are provided. They are provided from a federal level to help councils undertake those things they could not undertake on their own. The Abbott government has told councils after they have done their sums and their budgets that they can no longer expect help in the form of that indexation. It is disgraceful from a government that said it would be a no-surprises government.

We have already seen the howling of state governments resulting from an $80 billion cut to hospitals and schools. New South Wales Premier Mike Baird has described it as 'a kick in the guts'. Now local governments are objecting. That is obviously because councils were not consulted at all about the indexation freeze and they had already put together their budgets for 2014-15, and then had this land in their laps.

The fallout for councils is that they have little choice other than to increase rates, cut services, increase borrowings or do a combination of all three—which is a horrifying prospect. It is a classic example of the Abbott government's twisted priorities that—as the member for Franklin pointed out—they can introduce a paid parental leave scheme which will see $50,000 handed out to the well-off but that people in remote parts of the country who depend on their council to provide services will be affected.

My local council in Blacktown—one of the biggest in New South Wales—estimates that it will lose $4.7 million over three years. This is a council that has already shut pools, is looking to privatise child care, is looking to cut back on its infrastructure spend and, importantly, has just announced an increase to council rates. In fact, last week it ratified a 5.3 per cent council rate increase. The Liberal-Independent council in Blacktown was so torn by this that the Independent, who is part of that coalition, voted against the rate increases. Imagine what it is going to be like when this $4.7 million hits this council on top of what they are already doing. I am genuinely concerned about the impact that will have on people in our area who have already seen one lot of rate rises, who are going to see more and who are potentially going to see an even harsher cutting of services at a time when they need it most. It is a disgraceful display of arrogance by this government to cut funds to councils that need this money to do the work required in local communities across the country.

See this speech in context