Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As the member for Lyne leaves the House, I would like to note that I agree with him and say that the member for Rankin—as much as he is a good bloke—seems to forget that he was the actual architect of the four surpluses that the member for Lilley said he would deliver but never delivered. He was right on the money today when he was talking about the member for Rankin being the architect of the disastrous effort of those opposite in trying to reach a surplus.

I rise today to speak in support of Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and Appropriate Bill (No. 4) 2015-2016. These appropriation bills seek authority from the parliament to provide for expenditure on activities that require additional funding or new activities agreed to by the government since the last budget. Appropriation Bill (No. 3) provides for ordinary annual services of the government and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) provides for other than the ordinary annual services of the government, such as capital works and services and payments to or for states, territories and local government.

Mr Deputy Speaker, as you would know, I am from Western Australia. The GST is always a bit of a bone of contention for those of us who travel across the wide spaces of Australia to come to Canberra, and we always ply our constituents' and our state's ideals when it comes to the GST. As we hear in this place quite often, the mining boom is over, but we are still seeing most of the GST go east. At the current rate, about 30c in the dollar is estimated for 2015-16. If we look back to 2006, there was parity—it was dollar for dollar. So our take of the GST has fallen off the edge of a cliff. But I am sure members and senators from Western Australia will continue to advocate on behalf of the great state of Western Australia to get our fair share of what we actually raise for the GST. There are big implications for the WA budget and the ability to deliver services from GST revenue. We do recognise that a special payment was made by the coalition government in the 2015-16 federal budget to recognise this disparity in the distribution of the GST—but more must be done. Perhaps this can be considered as part of the tax reform process that the coalition is going through as we lead up to the budget.

The appropriations being sought from these bills is just over $2.2 billion. Appropriation Bill (No. 3) provides for an appropriation of just over $1.3 billion. Major elements include $447 million to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, $277 million to the social services portfolio and $186 million to the Department of Defence. The additional funding for border protection is aimed at enhancing the management of the onshore Immigration Detention Network, reflecting further support for refugee resettlement arrangements and additional support for the accommodation and processing of asylum seekers.

A few weeks ago the Christian group Love Makes a Way held a vigil outside my electorate office. The purpose of their vigil, as I understand it, was to end offshore detention arrangements. In addition, there were about 300 protestors gathered in Redcliffe to protest against offshore processing for asylum seekers. The Refugee Rights Action Network organised the protest outside the Perth Immigration Residential Housing facility following the High Court decision ruling offshore detention as being constitutional.

We have heard the Minister for Immigration say that any weakening of our border protection arrangements sends a message to the people smugglers and that we are determined to ensure that the people-smuggling trade does not flourish again. I completely agree with the immigration minister—as would, I believe, the vast majority of my electorate. I can say this based on the surveys of my electorate that have been done in the past and also from the locals who have come to talk to me about it, particularly during the period of the last government when we saw many drownings at sea. It is interesting that some of the people who were most vocal in their protests against the previous government's policy with regard to the boats were people who came here during the fifties, sixties and seventies as immigrants from Europe. They came here through the normal process and the correct way, and they were shocked that the previous government was allowing people to come here through the back door, on the boats.

The last time the people-smuggling trade was underway was under the Labor government, and 1,200 men, women and children died at sea. This has not and will not happen under our watch. There have been zero deaths at sea under the coalition government. This government will retain its commitment to border protection. We saw the member for Denison move a motion in here the other week to suspend standing orders to censure the Minister for Immigration, and then we saw the member for Melbourne actually second that motion. I want to quote some of the things that the member for Melbourne said:

What did the minister say? He said he would not preside over a situation where we have people self-harming to come to hospitals in this country because they believe that to be the route into the Australia community and to Australian citizenship.

I would suggest that most of the people in my electorate would agree with that. You cannot have people self-harming to find a way to come to Australia as a citizen. The member for Melbourne went on to say:

… as we always see with this government and the Liberal-Nationals, when the polls go down the vileness goes up, and it is happening yet again. As we head towards another election it is becoming another race to the bottom on refugees, another race to the bottom to see who can take the most vulnerable in our community, those who need the most help …

But what the member for Melbourne seems to forget—he seems to have amnesia, along with the opposition—is that it was the Greens who did a deal with the Labor Party to start the boats coming to Australia again, back in 2008-09. It was their deal with the Labor government that saw the boats coming in. The member for Melbourne conveniently seems to forget that the Greens were part of the whole program that saw those 1,200 people drown at sea, and now he wants to say that we are the ones who are vile. I just cannot believe that the member for Melbourne would lose his memory and try to abrogate all responsibility of the Greens for that disastrous period of time with the boat people. He went on to say:

But the suggestion from this government boils down to this: whatever we might be able to do in terms of a regional solution, whatever options there might be, the government is saying that somehow child abuse is a necessary component of an effective border protection and immigration policy. What rot. We do not agree with that.

We do not agree with that, either. We do not agree that child abuse is a necessary component of effective border protection. He says the Greens do not accept it. Well, nor does the coalition. The coalition does not accept that that is a way to citizenship in Australia. So, again, the member for Melbourne has totally forgotten that it was his party, along with those opposite, who opened the borders for all those disasters at sea.

Because of the success of the coalition's border protection policies, Australia is now able to devote its refugee intake places to those refugees in genuine need. These bills appropriate $102 million for the support services to resettle an additional 12,000 refugees who are fleeing conflicts in Syria and Iraq. I am sure that these refugees will be made to feel welcome by the Australian people.

On the domestic front, just over $108 million will go to the National Disability Insurance Agency for the transition to the full National Disability Insurance Scheme, and just over $11 million will go to the Department of Human Services for addressing welfare reliance in remote communities, to provide incentives for job seekers to work and to strengthen the mutual obligation framework in Community Development Program regions.

The NDIS trial commenced in the Perth Hills area of Western Australia, just outside my electorate, in July 2014 for people with disability, up to the age of 65. The latest quarterly report from the National Disability Insurance Agency shows that the scheme is providing assistance to more than 22,000 Australians with disability and that participation satisfaction levels with the NDIS is high. I must admit that it was a privilege to serve on the NDIS Joint Standing Committee for some period of time, and it was great to see the expectations and hopes for the NDIS system from the many people who will benefit from it when it is implemented.

Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2015-2016 provides appropriation of just over $905 million. It includes $385 million for the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, primarily for the Roads to Recovery program to help our local governments and councils to maintain our roads. The councils have used money from this program to repair and upgrade more than 45,000 road sites. The aim of the Roads to Recovery program is to contribute to the Infrastructure Investment Program through supporting maintenance of the nation's local road infrastructure assets, which facilitates greater access for Australians and improved safety, economic and social outcomes.

In Swan, there is a big mix of old and new roads. In November, the Prime Minister visited one of Swan's ongoing traffic and road issues: the intersection between Manning Road and the Kwinana Freeway. I started advocating for a southbound on-ramp in 2009, after consultation with residents in the area. Now that Fiona Stanley Hospital has opened, more and more people are travelling south on the freeway. An on-ramp would be a major piece of productive infrastructure that would act as a safety release valve, because the current route for people who need to go south on the freeway is quite treacherous and needs to be improved. With the increase in expected enrolments at Curtin University, much of which is on Manning Road, this is a vital piece of required infrastructure.

At the 2010 election the coalition committed $10 million towards this infrastructure project but, unfortunately, Labor made no similar commitment. It was interesting to hear recently that federal Labor had made some comments in the other place suggesting that they oppose the Manning Road on-ramp upgrade because it is not rail or public transport. I would suggest that the good senator who made that speech, and who lambasted the information that was sent out to all the locals in that area, go out and doorknock the houses in Manning and in the Karawara area along the Manning Road and actually find out that it is probably one of the hottest topics within that area. The Labor senator for the area has got it totally wrong. So, again, we see they are totally out of touch with the people in Swan. In stark contrast, the PM and the finance minister visited the site in person. PM Turnbull said that there was a definite need for an on-ramp. I suppose that is the difference between the coalition and Labor on roads.

Since the coalition came to government Swan has had several major black spots fixed, including three of the top 10 in WA for crashes and costs. These intersections were upgraded by the Gateway WA project, ahead of schedule and under budget and not reliant on the mining tax, as there wasn't one. Swan is the electorate all visitors to WA see first, and the federal government's Gateway WA project has helped make an impressive impact. We opened the Grand Gateway last year and I am looking forward to seeing the completion of the project in the very near future.

Seven black spots in Swan received funding in the 2015-16 black spot program. Two of these have already been completed while the others are underway for this year. Constituents of Swan will receive a mail piece soon that will ask them to nominate more black spots for this government to address. I look forward to receiving that feedback from my constituents.

We know black spots are often found at level crossings and this is certainly the case in the electorate of Swan. Two local level crossings in Swan are ranked in the top 100 in WA for crashes and costs. Just outside my electorate the federal government has led the way in making level crossings safer and improving traffic flow. My colleagues are working to eliminate the notorious level crossing at Nicholson Road, in Canning Vale, in a partnership with the state government. I hope the government can next turn its attention to level crossings in Swan.

I also want to touch quickly on the Safer Streets Program, a program that has had great success in my electorate. We secured $100,000 for four CCTV cameras for a shopping centre in Belmont, in conjunction with the City of Belmont, and we ended up with 27 cameras, which is a great bonus. The people of Belmont and those visiting the shopping area can feel secure knowing that those who are up to no good will be caught on camera and, if appropriate, will be passed onto local police for assistance in prosecution. We know that CCTV works, and the figures in Belmont back this up.

We have been able to deliver great things for the environment in the Swan electorate as well. I have been working closely with the environmental groups and want to thank the Green Army for all that they have achieved at Tomato Lake and Garvey Park. In Swan we also have the Swan-Canning River Recovery Program. This program is progressing well, with the hydrocotyle management plan to be launched very soon. I commend the bills to the House.

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