Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Parliamentary Secretary, I recall that when we came to government we were faced with the prospect that we would eventually have a debt burden of some $667 billion, and that we were faced in the short term with $123 billion in cumulative deficits—and the government has been able to address those issues in the past two budgets; in fact, the deficit that we inherited on coming to government was some $48 billion, and the deficit for the budget year is now estimated to be $35 billion. We have able to address the $123 billion in cumulative deficits that were in the forward estimates, and we have been able to reduce Labor's legacy by some $40 billion, and in the out years we have been able to address the issues that the Intergenerational report raised, which is the significant megatrend challenge that we have in Australia—that is, an ageing population. If you go to the Intergenerational report, back in 1975 there were 7.3 people of working age that were providing tax income for those who were aged over 65—that is, there were 7.3 people of working age for every person who was aged over 65. The projections are that that will fall to some 2.6 persons of working age for every person over the age of 65 by the year 2055. It is a significant issue and it means that we need to address the deficit problem that we inherited from the former government.

I have been conducting listening posts in my electorate of Eden-Monaro over the last few weeks. An issue that comes up all the time is the debt problem that needs to be addressed. Another is the problem of the Senate, which has been through the obstructionism of the Labor Party and the Greens. They have been blocking some tens of billions of dollars in proposals that will get the budget into a much better position.

With respect to the portfolio of Finance, which you look after, Parliamentary Secretary, I note that my electorate has a large number of public servants. Queanbeyan, which is just over the border from the ACT, has some 2,335 workers in what is classified by the ABS as 'central government'. That is some 11.1 per cent of the working population of Queanbeyan. That is a very large percentage when you consider that for New South Wales as a whole in that category the number is only 0.9 per cent and that for Australia as a whole the percentage is 1.3. In Queanbeyan it is 11.1. Across the whole of the electorate of Eden-Monaro some 2,000 people work in defence. I am very interested in how things occur in Canberra in your portfolio. So I ask you, Parliamentary Secretary, whether you can explain how the government is taking action to get better value from its leased office accommodation in Canberra. What are some of the expected financial and non-financial benefits of this approach? What steps will the government take to progress the divestment of properties in the parliamentary triangle and what are the potential benefits to the Commonwealth and the local community of this decision?

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