Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to take the opportunity as we debate these cognate appropriation bills to highlight how the government's economic approach is crucial to building a stronger Australia and, indeed, how it is benefitting my constituents on the southern Gold Coast. The government's focus is firmly on creating jobs and growing the economy through innovation, investment in vital infrastructure, tax breaks for small businesses, education and training to meet crucial areas of demand, and helping foster an entrepreneurial spirit.

This focus builds on the exceptional work the coalition has done since it was elected in 2013. And that is a point I want to make very clearly today. The coalition has a proud track record over the past two years. It is one that has set the groundwork for economic recovery. It is a track record that has enabled our economy to transition well out of the mining boom, generating 301,300 additional jobs last year—90 per cent of which were in the private sector and over 60 per cent were full-time jobs.

When I spoke on the budget bills in June last year, I spoke about our have-a-go budget—rewarding enterprise, boosting small business and creating new jobs. I spoke about how our approach was reflective of the dynamic spirit that has always been part of the Gold Coast. And I am pleased to report that there are very positive signs on the Gold Coast. In fact, last year the number of people employed in the Gold Coast region grew by eight per cent—which is over 23,000 new jobs. As I said last June, local small businesses on the Gold Coast have embraced the budget and regulatory reforms we have introduced, and that is very positive news for our local economy. Over the past 6 months, I have continued to speak with local residents and especially local business owners and there is a real optimism and excitement that the Turnbull government is committed to further building on the economic reforms we have introduced so far.

This is not about an announcement-a-day schedule that consists of schemes drafted on the back of an envelope to meet a media cycle. We will consult widely, we will take the time to make sure our policies are carefully considered and we will get them right. Importantly, we will balance the twin imperatives of cutting government spending and reforming the tax system as we craft both the May budget and the policies we will take to the election later this year. This is about the economic future of this country, and we take our responsibility very seriously. I know that the business community appreciates that approach. Certainly that is the feedback I have from businesses in my electorate.

Just the other week I had the pleasure of visiting local business and training organisation, The French Beauty Academy at Robina, to discuss how our VET reforms are providing even more opportunities for local people to gain valuable skills. A few weeks earlier, I visited a growing local business, First Class Financial Group, which had secured a federal Industry Skills Fund grant to undertake training that will help them expand their business and product offering even further. Late last year, another successful local business, Global Tour Specialists, secured Industry Skills funding to help their company grow. And I was thrilled when late last year local Palm Beach business Boardcave was offered $466,000 commercialisation funding to take its innovative idea from the drawing board into the global marketplace, under the Australian government's Entrepreneurs' Program.

These are just a few of the very recent success stories in my own electorate. It is through practical programs such as these that the government can support the drive and enterprise of businesses that are the backbone of our economy. I am particularly excited, as Assistant Minister for Science, about our National Innovation and Science Agenda. It is the foundation of our plan to grow the economy of the future. As part of the agenda, we have announced 24 different measures, worth $1.1 billion, to create high-paid jobs and help Australia compete globally.

I can also report to the House that over the last two years of the coalition government more than $35 million has flowed directly to the local community in McPherson, and I have been pleased to support and lobby for a wide variety of local community projects. This funding includes a number of extremely successful Green Army projects to revitalise and repair the local environment and employ and train young people; beach safety equipment grants to support the fantastic work of local surf lifesavers; positive drug and alcohol treatment programs for youth outreach and rehabilitation; veterans and community grants to help local veterans overcome isolation; local sporting champions grants and the Sporting Schools program to encourage healthy participation and excellence in sports; a new base station for Currumbin Creek Road under the Mobile Black Spot program; a range of Saluting their Service and Centenary of Anzac grants to support local commemorations and memorials; funding for the Gold Coast Dyslexia Support Group for a documentary to educate and raise awareness; several Office for Learning and Teaching grants to support research at Bond University, in the heart of my electorate; funding for remedial maths classes for disadvantaged students at Southern Cross University; Australian Vocational Student Prizes to support and encourage our VET students; New Colombo Plan scholarships to help local university students study overseas and to gain valuable insight and skills. There is a long list, and I could go on at length, but that is just a sample of what the McPherson community has achieved with the backing of the coalition government. It does not include our soon-to-be-released Stronger Communities grants that we have been working hard on to prioritise.

I also want to point out the key infrastructure funding that has additionally flowed to the electorate, including over $38 million dollars from 2014-15 to 2018-19 for the Gold Coast City Council under an increased Roads to Recovery program. We also provided an extra $1.2 million in black spot funding to fix dangerous local roads. The federal government also provides close to $4 million each year in additional road funding as part of over $9 million it provides in Financial Assistance Grants to the Gold Coast City Council. The coalition recognises that investment in infrastructure is a key part of ensuring continued growth. I note that the Australian Infrastructure Plan, released earlier, has been welcomed by the government as it provides a positive reform and investment road map for Australia. The plan sets out the infrastructure challenges and opportunities Australia faces over the next 15 years and the solutions required to drive productivity growth, maintain and enhance our standard of living and ensure our cities remain world class. The government will respond to the 98 recommendations in the plan in due course.

Representing an ever-growing region like the Gold Coast, I am acutely aware of how vital long-term infrastructure planning is to meet the future needs of the community. Transport infrastructure is a particular passion of mine, and I have spoken many times in this place on the challenges of prioritising transport planning on the Gold Coast. Today, I would like to speak again on the urgent upgrading that is needed for the M1, from Varsity through to Tugun. This part of our national highway system has become an unsafe bottleneck for thousands of local residents, interstate tourists and those who rely on this major route for their businesses. It has been an issue that we, on the southern Gold Coast, have fought for collectively since 2007, when there was a commitment by both the then federal government and the then opposition to widen the Ml—the priority area being Tugun to Nerang. Logan and parts north of that were, however, the beneficiaries. Whilst that is certainly good news for motorists in that area, it meant that my electorate and the whole of the southern Gold Coast have been left waiting for significant upgrades.

In November last year, in this House, I expressed my disappointment at the silence I had received from the state government, despite my repeated representations on this issue. I am pleased to say that I did, in fact, finally get the opportunity to meet with the Queensland Minister for Main Roads, Road Safety and Ports, Mark Bailey, just the other week. I was hopeful that the door had been opened and that there would be engagement by the state government to look at ways for the upgrade to occur as soon as possible. I hope that I am not going to be disappointed and that there will be opportunities to work together to deliver this much-needed transport infrastructure to the southern Gold Coast.

I have certainly taken the opportunity to meet with the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, the member for Gippsland, and I do congratulate him on his recent appointment to that role. I have spoken to the federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister just the other week to bring him up to date on progress or, in fact, lack of progress in that area. I have also spoken to the Prime Minister. I will leave no stone unturned in my endeavours to make sure that we have the M1 upgraded. The people of McPherson can be assured that I will continue to fight for funding for upgrading of the M1, as I will for a range of other transport options in my electorate. On that point, I can report that I also met recently with the Gold Coast Mayor, Tom Tate, to specifically discuss transport infrastructure, including stage 2 of Light Rail, for which the federal government has provided $95 million. This will enable completion of the second stage in time for the Commonwealth Games, in 2018, which will be a huge boost for our city.

I did want to conclude by pointing out that the Turnbull government's focus on liveable cities is a policy that will provide long-term benefits for growing cities like the Gold Coast, which is, after all, the second-largest local government area in the nation. I certainly look forward to further policy development and announcements in that regard and working with the Gold Coast City Council to ensure our region is able to capitalise on the opportunities provided.

I do want to make the point that these are budget bills that we are debating and getting the budget setting right is absolutely crucial. All of the positive programs and infrastructure planning I have outlined today are dependent on it and will contribute to a growing economy. We will not take the approach of racking up deficit after deficit with no plan to get back into surplus. We will not further mortgage our children's future with unfunded spending promises. We will not burden the Australian people and shackle the Australian economy with tax hikes, because we recognise that only responsible financial management and economic growth can offer the social dividend of support and funding for community-based projects that make a real difference. Ours will be a responsible and realistic approach with a focus on harnessing and encouraging the tremendous drive and enterprise of the Australian people—a spirit, which, I am pleased to report, is very much alive and well in my electorate on the southern Gold Coast. I commend the bills to the House.

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