Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The appropriation bills being debated today, Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and Appropriations Bill (No. 4) 2015-16, are seeking parliamentary approval to appropriate $2.2 billion in 2015-16. These bills reflect the changes to the budget that were shown in the 2015-16 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook which was released by the Turnbull government just prior to Christmas on 15 December 2015.

Labor will, of course, not block supply. We are, however, very keen to take a close look at some of the priorities and decision making of this government to show up where they have been found to be sorely lacking. What has become very clear since the MYEFO in December is the extent of the economic mismanagement of this government has been really laid bare. We have seen a budget situation that is deteriorating and not being addressed. I do want to go to some of those issues to outline some of the impacts of decisions being made by this government that really undermine both our economic and our social circumstances here in Australia.

It was clearly exhibited in the 2015-16 MYEFO the continued deterioration of the state of the budget and the economy under the current Abbott-Turnbull government. We learnt from MYEFO that the deficit was higher, a blow out of some $26 billion over the forward estimates—$120 million per day between the 2015-16 budget and the 2015-16 MYEFO. We also discovered that the net debt for 2016-17 is nearly $100 billion higher than was forecast back in 2013. Gross debt is headed to $550 billion by the end of the forward estimates and economic growth has been slashed.

This is on the back of figures which show the deterioration of the economy under this government. We have seen living standards, as measured by net disposable income per capita, falling now for six consecutive quarters. We have seen capital expenditure falling, with a broad-based decline—not just in the mining sector, as some members opposite might have us believe. Consumer and business confidence is at levels far lower than they were when this government took office. The evidence is clear: we have a Prime Minister, Treasurer and government who are failing to provide the economic leadership that Australia needs to prosper.

What has led the budget into the position where we now find it, you might ask. The answer to that question is the priorities and decisions that this government has made; the responsibility for which lies fairly at the feet of the Abbott-Turnbull government to date. From the early days, with the multibillion dollar cash injection into the Reserve Bank—an injection that the Reserve Bank did not ask for, as we well remember—to more recently allocating millions to pay for the magical mystery infrastructure re-announcement tours, the coalition continues to make decisions that undermine our economy and our budget and, more significantly, decisions that undermine the social contract that this government and parliament has with the Australian people. This is a government whose priorities are twisted and the execution of whose policies are lived as a cruel consequence for the Australian people.

I will start very briefly with this government's appointments around human rights commissioners in Australia. There has been nothing more offensive, in my view, than this government's decision to not replace the role of a full-time disability discrimination commissioner. I just heard the member opposite, the member for Robertson, talking passionately about the support for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. That is, indeed, a Labor policy position that has enjoyed bipartisan support in this House, and for that I think the nation remains grateful. But you cannot come to this House and lend support for the National Disability Insurance Scheme with one hand whilst you cut the capacity of people with disability to have a legitimate avenue of complaint and to ensure that due process is being followed to have all of their complaints heard in a proper manner. That is exactly what this government did when the then Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Graeme Innes, retired. His term was up, and this government refused and continues to refuse to replace that position with a full-time commissioner.

That is no slur on the tremendous work being done by Commissioner Susan Ryan, who has to double up her efforts. She is now a joint commissioner for both ageing and disability. These are portfolios which require their own dedicated commissioners. We know full well in this House that 37 per cent of the discrimination complaints handled by the Human Rights Commission were related to disability. We know that that is a heavy workload. We know that it is an area of clear, demonstrated need, yet this government does not see fit to replace the retired Graeme Innes with an equivalent full-time disability discrimination commissioner. That is to this government's great shame, and we should never forget it. Not only did the government cut the roles of the disability and ageing commissioners in half—they subsequently took five months to replace the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, a pivotal role within the Human Rights Commission.

However, we also saw the government swing into very swift action when they wanted to appoint a somewhat different type of commissioner on the political landscape—our very first wind farm commissioner, whose role continues to be as opaque and unfathomable as ever. The wind farm commissioner was appointed back in October 2015 following the announcement of the role in June 2015. In Senate estimates earlier this month, neither the Wind Farm Commissioner, the department or the minister were able to answer questions around the overall cost of the office of the Wind Farm Commissioner and what that cost will be to taxpayers. There were no answers, nor could they provide a figure as to the commissioner's travel budget, despite admitting to undertaking significant travel to meet stakeholders and complainants. The only figure they could confirm during estimates was the commissioner's salary of $205,000 for a part-time role. Again, when asked questions in Senate estimates no-one had any idea how many days or hours we were actually paying the commissioner for. What a debacle! What an absolute disgrace!

I hope that with the very recent opening created in the Human Rights Commission following the resignation of the Liberal preselection candidate, Tim Wilson, from his role as the 'freedom commissioner', this government will take the opportunity to reset their priorities, and that we will get to see the reappointment of a dedicated disability discrimination commissioner, allowing also a dedicated commissioner for the aged again in the process. I would think these are some significant areas that are in need of redress. This government has an ideal opportunity to take that issue up now.

I also note in the area of the immigration portfolio, or Border Force, the absolutely appalling situation that Australia finds itself in where this government has no plan for resettlement of refugees and asylum seekers into a third country, instead wasting $55 million on an incredibly botched deal with Cambodia that has resettled first four and now three people in Cambodia, all the while leaving refugees and asylum seekers to just languish in detention facilities with absolutely no hope and no certainty as to their future. That is a situation that is intolerable and the people of Australia have every right to be questioning where this government's plan is, what its intentions are and who is now really looking out for those asylum seekers and refugees under Australia's care.

If I look at the disastrous Direct Action plan that this government has before us, half of the $2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund has been spent, and yet for the first time in 10 years greenhouse gas emissions are rising in Australia. At a time when nearly 200 countries around the world have acknowledged the need to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, the Liberal government here is taking Australia in the opposite direction.

We saw a report earlier this month where the modeller RepuTex confirmed that pollution levels have gone up 1.3 per cent over the 2014-2015 fiscal year, and that is the first time we have had an increase since the 2005-2006 period. That same report confirmed that emissions are projected to rise from six per cent by 2020, with no peak in emissions expected before 2030. The old Malcolm Turnbull would never have stood for this but, regrettably, the new Malcolm Turnbull appears to have turned a blind eye to appease the conservative elements within his own party. He has sold his beliefs and the Australian people up the creek, really, whilst wrestling for leadership in his own party.

When it comes to workers' rights, we have seen a government that would rather invest $80 million in a royal commission than give serious attention to looking at redressing situations where there is blatant worker exploitation going on. There are employers like Baiada and the 7-Eleven stores in my electorate and, indeed, in many others in this House, whose stories of blatant exploitation of workers go completely unaddressed in this parliament. These are high-profile cases; they are just the tip of the iceberg, but they indeed require some serious attention. Labor has delivered important policy announcements in this area that seek to strengthen and protect workers' rights at work. That announcement is out there before the Australian people, for their consideration.

This is a Liberal government that has also completely abandoned seafarers and shipbuilding in my electorate. I have two shipyards that are facing very grim futures. The workforce has gone from Forgacs. It has just recently been sold and the workforce has dropped from over 1,000 highly-skilled men and women to fewer than 100.

Of course, just recently we saw the shocking removal of Australian seafarers in my Port of Newcastle from the CSL Melbourne. They were marched off their ship, their place of work, by the New South Wales Police Force. What was their crime? It would appear that to be an Australian seafarer was their crime. That ship will be replaced by a foreign-flagged ship and the men will be replaced by a foreign crew. These are men who have sailed between Gladstone and the Port of Newcastle for decades, but this government has no interest in the retention of an Australian coastal shipping industry—much to their shame.

There are many other issues that are deserving of attention here, but time is extremely limited: this government's complete neglect of cities policy, and of regional cities policy in particular, is absolutely abysmal. They have dropped the ball by abolishing the High Speed Rail Planning Authority. These are issues that need attention, but this is a government with no vision for our future, no control over today and in denial of their decisions that are making matters worse.

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