Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this MPI. I have to say, from the contribution of the member for Grayndler, he obviously has very serious memory loss. He is leaving the chamber, unfortunately, so he cannot be reminded that one of the most important infrastructure projects in Victoria, the upgrade of the Great Ocean Road, a project that I fought for for so long, is a project that was fought against by Labor. It is one of the most iconic roads in this country. It is the centrepiece of a $2.1 billion regional economy that is driving tourism, driving jobs and improving road safety. The Labor Party campaigned against it. It was an absolute disgrace. For the people of Corangamite in south-west Victoria, that was an example of Labor failing to stand up for infrastructure.

If you consider what Labor has done on the East West Link, it is an absolute disgrace. Members opposite have stood by as Daniel Andrews has broken that contract, destroyed 7,000 jobs and turned his back on a $3 billion investment. We need that East West Link. It is an absolute disgrace that members opposite, including the member for Ballarat, have not stood up to their constituents. The people of Ballarat need better connections. The people of Geelong need better connections. The Western Distributor proposal put forward by Daniel Andrews is inferior to a proper East West Link. If Labor had the fortitude and the moral courage to stand up to Daniel Andrews, they would say, 'We need that infrastructure investment in Victoria.' I know about moral courage, and I know about standing up for jobs. I know about standing up for what is right. Labor have failed monumentally to stand up for jobs. I can tell you right now that their stance on those two projects reflects very poorly on the Labor Party.

The opposition, when it was in government, delivered a debt and deficit disaster. We are working very hard to turn that around, and that was more or less confirmed by the Leader of the Opposition this morning. It is curious that he is not making a contribution to this debate, because he called this, on Sky news, an election budget. Implicitly, he has acknowledged that this is a positive budget for Australia. That is why they are not talking about families. That is why they are not talking about our childcare package. That is why they are not talking about small business. We are delivering for small business, for families and the young people.

I remind members on both sides of our very important contribution to help young people get back into work. This is an area where Labor failed monumentally. They failed to tackle youth unemployment. I am very proud that one of the very important contributions that we have made in our region is to provide $7.5 million for the Norlane community hub, a project which will deliver 100 permanent jobs to the people of North Geelong, an area that has been largely ignored by Labor. The last major investment in the north of Geelong, in the CBD, was made when my mother was the member for Geelong. When she was in government we transformed the waterfront. We are very proud of our contribution to the Norlane community hub. We are very proud of our $1.3 million for Geelong Employment Connections and our stronger communities program.

We are delivering $1.2 billion in a national wage subsidy pool to help employers provide incentives for young job seekers. As part of the strategy to help young people get a job we are delivering a youth employment strategy of $331 billion, which includes a very important transition-to-work program, a national work experience program, a $10 weekly Newstart bonus for those who volunteer for 25 hours or more a week, a four-week waiting period for Newstart and a new, simplified means test for youth allowance. We are tackling the hard question of youth unemployment. We are working very hard, as part of our budget measures, to get young people back into work.

Yes, a big part of our measures is to turbocharge small business. Small business is the engine room of our economy, and what we are delivering with the tax cuts to small business will drive investment in jobs growth. The immediate tax deductibility of $20,000 means they will go out and spend. That is great for jobs, great for families and great for our economy.

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