Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The bills before us today total some $1.7 billion in additional funding proposed to be appropriated. This is $1.7 billion that has already been incorporated into the budget bottom line and was presented at the last MYEFO. What did the last MYEFO show? It pointed to a $44 billion blow-out in the budget deficit over the forward estimates compared to the 2014-15 budget—$44 billion from the self-professed party of adults. Really, so much for a government of no surprises. The $44 billion was a surprise to me and it would certainly be a surprise to those struggling to make ends meet in my community.

Let us just pause for a moment and reflect on some of the public statements of this Treasurer. The member for North Sydney, the now flailing Treasurer, told the National Press Club in 2012:

… we will achieve a surplus in our first year in office and we will achieve a surplus for every year of our first term.

In 2013, the same member said he had not retreated from that pledge:

Our commitment is emphatic—

he told the ABC's AM program—

… we will deliver a surplus in our first year and every year after that.

Instead of that, the government of no surprises and no changes, the so-called adults, have doubled the debt.

We need to look at this $44 billion figure in the context of the overall economic environment. Debt is higher in the MYEFO than it was in the budget. Gross debt, over the forward estimates, is increasing by $100 billion, and net debt is increasing by $146.3 billion over the same period. Unemployment is currently the highest that it has been since August 2002. In 2002, who was the minister for employment?—Tony Abbott. Consumer confidence is still low—nine per cent lower now than it was at the 2013 federal election. Business confidence is still below long-run averages.

The additional $1.7 billion in appropriations does not tell the full story. What we do not see are the cuts that are being made. A wise man said to me last week, 'Mr Abbott is like a little dog chasing a bus. Now that the dog has caught the bus, he doesn't know what to do with it.' That pretty much sums up how this government has been since it has been in government. They do not understand how cruel these deliberate, savage cuts are to people out there, who are working just to make ends meet. Their actions give you a true insight into the minds and ideology behind this right-wing, out-of-touch, arrogant government.

The papers show that this budget is not one which cuts debt or curtails spending; it is one that systematically attacks and tries to breakdown the Australian way of life. It has attacked the sick, the poor, the young and the elderly. It savages universal health care. It robs young people of educational opportunities and causes great anxiety to the elderly about their future. It is a budget which has rewarded the rich at the expense of the poor. It delivers for the millionaires at the cost of the disadvantaged. Never before has a government concentrated so hard on destroying the Australian way of life. Of course, it must be remembered that the budget bottom line, as stated in the last MYEFO, still incorporates the harsh and unfair measures that were introduced in this government's cruel budget. Even with all these savings, the deficit still blew out by $44 billion.

The effects of this budget are very clear in my community. These systematic attacks on universal healthcare in Australia are a direct attack on the most vulnerable people in McEwen. The on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again GP tax means that the electorate of McEwen will be taxed almost $8 million a year just for being sick. Families in our community should not have to decide whether they take their sick child to the doctor or put food on the table. That is not to mention the $270 million cut from the current provisions Medicare offers. Prime Minister Abbott, instead, wants to throw that burden onto the backs of struggling, hardworking families. The budget is about forcing our sick and vulnerable out of the health system entirely.

On the night before the election, Tony Abbott promised there would be no changes to pensions. The budget has confirmed that this promise has been broken. Pensioners are quite rightly now saying that they have been Abbotted. These vicious cuts to pensions will have a severe effect on the lives of 24,600 pensioners in McEwen. The government is slashing the current system that makes sure the pension keeps pace with the cost of living, and is instead going to index the pensions by CPI. The CPI does not even come close to reflecting the cost of living, which shows just how out of touch the Prime Minister and this chaotic Liberal-National government is.

This has been confirmed by the government's Intergenerational report. The savage cuts are ensuring that our pensioners will not be able to make ends meet, especially when they are living off $20,000 a year—$384 a week. And this government is also hurting those who have worked hard for their retirement. The Abbott government has targeted low paid workers and their families by cutting the low-income superannuation contribution. Working mums, and those living in rural and regional areas, are the hardest hit amongst the 3.6 million Australians who have been affected by this cruel cut. The changes mean that low-paid workers lose a yearly tax refund of up to $500. These cuts particularly affect workers in the retail and hospitality sectors who now have to pay an additional $500 tax per year. At the same time as this was being done, the government gave 16,000 of Australia's wealthiest people a tax break on their superannuation earnings.

This budget is slashing millions of dollars from local councils, which hits regional areas of Victoria particularly hard. Over four years from the 2014-15 to the 2017-18 financial years, the estimated loss to local councils in McEwen is very clear: Nillumbik Shire will lose $1.3 million; Macedon Ranges Shire will lose $2.7 million; Hume Shire will lose $5.2 million; Mitchell Shire will lose $2.6 million; and Whittlesea Shire will lose $5 million. That is almost $17 million dollars lost in these areas alone—$17 million of services and assistance that the people of our communities will have to go without, thanks to a heartless government. This is going to wreak havoc on the community in flow-on effects, especially since it means that councils will be forced to put up rates or cut services because of this government's cruel and heartless attacks.

McEwen has the largest population of children aged between zero and five years. We are one of the biggest users of child care in this country. We have 16,139 families receiving family tax benefit A, and we have 13,856 families receiving the important assistance of family tax benefit B, so 30,000 families in my electorate are going to be worse-off because of the money-grabbing antics of this government. The Abbott government has cut millions of dollars in preschool funding, childcare services, accessibility programs, outside-school-hour care, along with freezing the childcare rebate. This is a government that is punishing you for wanting to bring up your child and raise your family the best way you can.

I would like to discuss how cruel this budget is in ruining the futures of young people in McEwen. Over $1 billion of assistance and support to apprentices and trade training centres in my electorate has been cut. Labor's program of trade training centres has been integral to building the skills and expertise of young people. Following Mr Abbott's $950 million cut, eight schools in the electorate will not have an opportunity to apply for a trade training centre, and they need it—places like    Sunbury College, Gisborne Secondary College, Salesian College, Sunbury Downs Secondary College, Candlebark, Hume Anglican Grammar, Plenty Valley Christian College and The Kilmore International School.

Before the election, Mr Abbott promised Australia's 400,000 apprentices more financial assistance to help them learn a trade and find a good job. He has cut the assistance through the Tools For Your Trade program. Hundreds of apprentices are now out of pocket since these cuts came into effect on 1 July 2014. He now has his eyes firmly set on workplace relations—and you know what that means!

With regard to penalty rates, the Prime Minister himself said, 'If you don't want to work weekends, don't.' It came as a great surprise to the thousands of people who work in industries and jobs that are needed around the clock—people such as nurses, ambos, police and defence personnel, just to name a few.

When it comes to workplace relations, as a matter of common intelligence, you have to ask yourself: how can anyone believe these dogmatists opposite who, at every opportunity, have fought to cut the wages and conditions of working Australians? Of course they will, because it is in their DNA.

I would like to highlight the significance of the heartless cuts to youth programs. We have several community organisations who work hard to ensure our youth remain either in school and complete year 12 or, at least, engage in some form of training, such as in the trade training centres that I mentioned earlier.

The Abbott government has stripped away funding for these essential programs, where only $130 million was needed to keep them going until 2015. Cobaw Community Health and Kildonan UnitingCare are two organisations involved in delivering the Youth Connections program in the McEwen electorate, which may now have to close their doors.

In some parts of McEwen, we have a 20 per cent youth unemployment rate, which is among the highest in Australia. These young adults will be completely at a loose end, with Newstart payments not kicking in for six months. So they have no job, no money and, to add insult to injury, the government wants them to now completely upend and move away from their families and support networks to find jobs—that are probably in a certain person's mind! Heaven forbid if they want to study in order to forge out a better life and career for themselves!

Prime Minister Abbott's deregulation of university fees is another matter that has caused great angst to many families in rural and regional areas. He wants to deregulate the system so that universities can 'name their price'. Experts all agree that, if universities get the chance to increase fees, of course they will.

I want to remind the House of Mr Stuart Edwards, from Riddells Creek in my electorate. He is a single dad of four kids, who works full time, while studying part time. Stuart says, and I quote:

I don't want to live in a nation where uni places are given to the rich. I don't know how I could afford to send my four kids to uni if these changes happen. Certainly nobody is offering my kids a free education, Mr Abbott!

When I asked the failing Treasurer a question in question time, I brought this specific example to his attention: what is he supposed to do now that he is losing $6,000 worth of support from the government? The Treasurer's response was breathtaking. He said, 'Maybe he needs to get a job.' Mr Edwards is working full time, he is studying and bringing up his kids. What more do you want him to do? He works full time but, because the Treasurer is so out of touch, he just says, 'Tell him to go get a job.' It is just so easy—just go out and get a job anywhere you want! It just shows how out of touch the government are, when they sit there and say: 'If you don't want to work weekends, don't. If you want to get a job, go get a job.'

Across my electorate of McEwen the local government areas of Macedon, Mitchell, Whittlesea and Hume have about 40 to 48 per cent people attending universities. These students are now weighing up that option, whether they can afford to, because they will be dealt a lifetime debt sentence.

At least nine schools in my electorate are losing funding because they hired student welfare officers instead of religious chaplains: Beveridge Primary School;    Broadford Primary School; Broadford Secondary College; Mount Ridley P-12 College; Panton Hill Primary School;    Seymour College; Seymour College—Special Campus; The Lakes South Morgan P-9 School; and Wandong Primary School. These are all schools that have employed welfare officers. But they lose them because they are not religious based, which means that the networks and the effort that has gone in over the years to build them and to get the trust of the kids now goes away. Unless they complete a religious doctrine, they will not be able to work in our schools. It is absolutely appalling.

In a recent study, Canberra's National Centre for Social And Economic Modelling reported that McEwen townships are going to be some of the hardest hit across Australia because of this budget. Families in suburbs such as Craigieburn will be out of pocket by $800 a year; Sunbury, $614; Wallan, $600; Whittlesea, $525; South Morang, $508; Kilmore and Broadford, $481; and Romsey, $410. Compare that to the figures of the Prime Minister's electorate of Warringah, one of the wealthiest areas in Australia, where they will be worse off by only $125.

This budget is a disaster for the nation and a disaster for the people of McEwen. Never before has a government failed this nation so quickly and put so many people at risk. I will continue to fight this government to ensure that our communities are looked after and I look forward to seeing the back of the worst government this country has ever had.

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