Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me great pride to rise today as a member of this coalition government to speak on the appropriation bills for budget 2015. I want to begin by congratulating the team that put this groundbreaking budget together: Treasurer Joe Hockey, Minister for Finance Senator Cormann and Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. All have done a fantastic job in putting together a budget that will stimulate economic growth, make life easier for families, increase consumer confidence and of course help small businesses grow, hopefully, into big businesses. This achievement is even more incredible when you see what they had to work with.

The previous Labor government inherited some $70 billion in the bank, $70 billion in cash. The budget of the Howard government had delivered a $20 billion surplus. Using the sort of economic management that only a Labor Party can, they used every single dollar that they could and they quickly turned the surplus into a $27 billion deficit in just 12 months. And the hits kept coming. They overspent $27 billion in 2008-09, $54 billion in 2009-10, $47 billion in 2010-11 and $43 billion in the 2012-13 financial year. They also slapped another $19 billion on the national credit card in the 2012-13 financial year. In the 2013-14 financial year that blew out to $48 billion. What was Labor's Treasurer doing? He was announcing that they were delivering surpluses. He said: 'Ignore what happened last year when I announced a surplus and instead we overspent by a few tens of billions of dollars. This year there will be a surplus.' That is what the honourable member for Lilley said.

If we had a dollar for every time Labor let Australia down with a promise of a surplus, we would not have a deficit. Unfortunately though, it is the numbers on the balance sheet that actually matter. We cannot build roads and rail lines with Labor's empty promises. We cannot pay nurses with the member for Lilley's rhetoric. This is the situation the coalition has been left with. Despite all Labor's chaos, their debt, falling commodity prices and lower tax revenues, the coalition government has faced up to the challenge and delivered a budget that will stimulate economic growth beyond the mining boom and that will build the infrastructure we need. It is a budget that invests in our economy and in education and health for our people. It is a budget that is good for business.

As the member for Solomon, this is a budget that is also fantastic for north Australia.

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about some of the initiatives that the government and this budget will deliver in my electorate of Solomon, which includes all of Darwin and Palmerston and more broadly in north Australia. I have spoken with some of my fellow MPs from above the Tropic of Capricorn and we are all ecstatic; I think even some of the members from the other side would share in our enthusiasm. There is $5 billion being made available to major infrastructure projects in north Australia—that is $5 billion. For the businesses of my electorate, both large and small, this is going to be a huge boost. Construction of major projects will be a huge employment opportunity. Supplying those major projects with equipment, with materials and with expertise will be a huge business opportunity for people in my electorate.

The dividends those projects will deliver will be good for the Top End in the long term by providing better access to markets and better infrastructure for our local businesses. Of course this investment is on top of some of the major works already going on in Solomon with the $110 million on the upgrade of the duplication of the Tiger Brennan Drive and $2 million in road black spot funding that Minister Briggs and I announced a few months ago. With this budget we have taken the talk out of developing the north—talk which has been going on since Federation and that we are now turning into real action. This fund could be the capital which allows us to join the Northern Territory gas network to the national grid; this could be the investment which allows a rail line from Mount Isa to Tennant Creek to become viable, linking the eastern seaboard to Darwin without a train going via Adelaide.

I am absolutely honoured to represent one small part of Northern Australia—the electorate of Solomon—in this place. The people of Solomon are genuinely excited about this budget, and why wouldn't they be? The coalition government's Stronger Regions Fund will contribute nearly $4.5 million towards the upgrading of Parap Pool, which will see the much-loved but very ageing facility upgraded to a FINA approved facility with a FINA approved standard 50-metre pool and a 25-metre pool. There are also going to be some other upgrades to the facility, including a shadecloth. I have spoken many times in this place about my good friend, Tahnee Afuhaamango, who at last count held 21 world records in terms of the Down Syndrome International Swimming Organisation. Unfortunately for Tahnee, none of these world records could be set in Darwin, her home town, because there was no FINA standard pool there; the closest FINA-approved pool is 1,500 kilometres away down in Alice Springs. Graeme Stephenson from Swimming Australia said that in terms of the Parat pool development, this grant will be the catalyst to delivering on what is a very exciting project for the Darwin community, and he went on to say that this would create opportunity for young athletes. I have spoken to my good friend, the Lord Mayor of Darwin, Katrina Fong Lim, about this project many times. When I phoned her with the news that we had got the funding she was as excited as I was, and I am so looking forward to working with her and her colleagues and with the City of Darwin to ensure that Darwin finally gets its FINA approved pool and upgraded facilities in the Parap area.

While talking about athletes and infrastructure, I have great pleasure in reporting that several young athletes in my electorate are showing incredible potential. My latest round of Solomon Sporting Champions include Liam Mulvahil, who does athletics and was recently at a fun run we had in Palmerston; netballer Sally King, who is madly fundraising for her next trip and is keeping her mum very poor; boxer Reed Halicek; basketballer Henry Callander and of course the little squash legend, Chad Blenkinship.

I would like to take a moment here to congratulate all of these up-and-coming athletes and, on their behalf, thank their families who do such great work in support and in making sure that they get to all of their sporting commitments.

My electorate is actually full of people doing amazing things. I have mentioned some of the sporting prowess; I would now like to give a nod to the 7,800 entrepreneurs who operate small businesses in and around the Top End. I have had conversations with a lot of small business owners—tradesmen, consultants, professionals. The recurring question is around the budget. They keep asking: 'What's the catch?' It is good news to be able to say to them that there is no catch. Ryan and Lara Fowler, constituents of mine, who own and operate Champagne Plumbing, will benefit from the lowest company tax since the 1960s. Brandit, a company in the Darwin CBD which creates printing and promotional items, will have access to instant tax write-offs on plant and equipment. At Q Framing in Darwin's northern suburbs, they will find they spend less time on paperwork and more time on artwork, with cuts to red tape.

As you know, Madam Deputy Speaker Prentice, small business is the cornerstone of the economy, just as families are the cornerstone of society. This government, the Abbott government, is helping families right across Australia, but particularly in Solomon. This budget is investing $3½ billion in the Jobs for Families childcare package. This has come as a welcome relief to the people of Darwin and Palmerston. Families with incomes below $65,000 will receive ongoing financial support through the childcare safety net. Families with income between $65,000 and $170,000 a year will be better off on average as they will have an extra $30 a week in their pockets. Families with incomes above those figures will continue to receive the same level of support that they do now. This is a comprehensive suite of measures which is a good for all families.

As I said, there are no losers here. For parents who are struggling, there will be increased access to child support and additional support with child care for a parent who wants to re-enter the workforce. For most families on typical incomes, it will mean an additional $30 a week in their pockets—a bit of extra help with the cost of child care. For people in our community who we rely on when things get tough, like doctors, nurses, police, they can now rely on us to help them. There will be $246 million over two years to trial flexible and affordable arrangements such as nannies, where standard child care will not cover the gap. It is another win-win. As you know, this is the recurring theme of the budget: have a go. It is a win-win for everyone.

Anyone needing medical treatment in the Northern Territory will also be better off. Some of those in this place have been involved in a whispering campaign trying to spread a bit of mischief about hospital funding in the Northern Territory. It was particularly telling that a lot of the whispering was going on before the budget was released. Perhaps they were trying to get a story out there before the facts got in the way. After reading some of the press releases from those opposite and listening to some of the doorstops, I was very keen to see the relevant parts of the budget on health and hospital funding in the Northern Territory. This is where it gets interesting.

Anyone can download the PDF of the budget and look at Budget Paper No. 3: Federal Financial Relations. If you turn to page 11, there is a table titled, 'National Health Reform and public hospitals funding'. I scanned that table pretty closely looking for the doom and gloom that the Labor Party had been talking about. I searched for the cuts and cancellations they had predicted. This is what I found: a 28.8 per cent increase in hospital funding in the Northern Territory over the forward estimates—an increase of nearly a third. That is an increase of $44,500,000 a year.

So I get cynical and start thinking like a Labor member and looking for the bad news. Perhaps funding is being restored after a dip. No: funding went up by 17.3 per cent in 2014-15 alone—17 per cent in one year. Then we have the $110 million in federal funding locked in for the Palmerston hospital construction—no change there, despite what they say. Headworks and infrastructure upgrades are already well underway on this site. As I have said, this is a budget that is good for families and good for small businesses and a budget that is fantastic for north Australia. Roads are getting fixed, community facilities are getting upgraded, families are getting access to better and more flexible and affordable child care, fuel prices are dropping, small business tax rates are dropping and small business confidence is soaring. It is an honour as a coalition member from north Australia to commend this bill to the house.

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