Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased that the member for Oxley has referenced me in his speech, because, to the member for Oxley, I would like to say this: Fairness in this budget is about funding, not just promoting your commitments. Fairness in this budget is about delivering real money, not monopoly money, to the people of Australia. Fairness in this budget is about ensuring more opportunity and more choice for all Australians, so that they can secure a better future for themselves, for their children and for their grandchildren. To the member for Oxley, to members present and to those members of my community on the Central Coast, I say that this budget is about fairness, this budget is about opportunity and this budget is absolutely about security.

Our policies outlined in this budget will grow the economy and will generate jobs. It is the important issue that is raised daily with me in my community. Unlike Labor's approach, our policies in our budget that were outlined are paid for in full.

As a former school teacher and as a mother of two young schoolchildren, I would like to begin with the fact that this is a budget that delivers a vital needs based funding model for schools. Endorsed by David Gonski, this is about fairness. Schools in every sector, in every local community, in my electorate will be receiving a significant increase in funding. This is great news for the 48 primary and secondary schools in the electorate and their more than 23½ thousand students.

The total increase in federal government funding for schools in Robertson over the next 10 years is $311 million. These schools include Brisbane Water Secondary College Woy Woy Campus, which will benefit from a $14.9 million increase over the next 10 years; Kariong Mountains High School, which will get a boost of a $5.4 million increase over the next 10 years; and Gosford High School, which will receive $8.5 million extra over the next decade. There is also $9.2 million more for St John The Baptist Catholic Primary School, which is an extra $3,824 per student. But it is not just about the dollar figures. Importantly, our increased funding will be tied to reforms that evidence shows makes a real difference to improving student outcomes, and I am sure that is a goal shared by all of us in this place. This is a fair system. This is a system that is good for students, good for parents and good for teachers. I look forward to meeting with parents from many of these schools over the coming weeks to hear more from them about the benefits of this funding.

Another positive story from this year's budget is in health care. We have announced a further $12.5 million commitment towards the new Central Coast Medical School and medical research institute in Gosford to ensure that it can attract and retain world-leading health professionals. This takes the total commitment for this government to $45 million, with our partners the University of Newcastle and the New South Wales government, also contributing $20 million each to this major project. It is a game changer for Gosford and it is part of the already existing upgrade to Gosford Hospital being delivered by the New South Wales government. It is forecast to create more than 750 new jobs with an economic impact of more than $200 million. What is really exciting is that it is not simply a building but a hub that could one day develop into a precinct or a growth centre that elevates Gosford to the same level as some of the great university cities in the world, and that is, certainly, one of my dreams as the member for Robertson.

We have established a precinct taskforce whose scope is to work on building on the region's unique competitive strengths in the Australian health sector. Some of the world's best universities, including the University of Cambridge and the New York University, will join an international advisory board and become delivery partners in this project. The headline 'Cambridge, New York…Gosford', appeared for the first time in the Central Coast Express Advocate. I am determined to see more of these headlines again and again as this project and our collaboration grows.

To start the process, the university will allocate 30 existing medical Commonwealth support places annually to the new school building, to a total of 150 places, meaning no new medical placements are required. With $12½ million in transition funding over the next five years committed in this budget, we are also ensuring the best in world-class researchers are in Gosford to help ensure we can build a precinct that generates groundbreaking work in patient-centred, supported health care.

As I have been hearing from constituents in my electorate at business round tables, community listening posts and stakeholder meetings, there has been resounding endorsement. Tahir emailed me and told me that the medical school is a great initiative and certainly the type of industry we should be attracting to the Central Coast to make it an attractive high-tech hub for other businesses. Gordon, another local constituent, wrote to me and said that the Central Coast deserves and desperately needs more of this type of investment. Paul wrote that he hopes that this positive momentum will stimulate more economic development on the Central Coast. To Paul and to other members of my community I say that, as part of this government, it is my commitment to work every single day and night to make sure that we do deliver on this commitment.

We have also received the backing of local businesses. Members of the task force and associated members who have been absolutely critical in delivering the outcomes achieved so far include Professor Caroline McMillen, the outstanding Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Newcastle; her colleagues Laureate Professor John Aitken, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Health and Medicine, who is a true visionary, I must say, and whose foundational work has been absolutely essential to this important project; Professor Brett Niness, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment; Dr Brok Glenn, the outstanding Dean of Central Coast Campus; Professor Deborah Hodgson, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation; Professor Kevin Hall, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation); Kate Robinson and, before her, Chris Price, for their hard work in the Vice-Chancellor's office; the outstanding Dr Andrew Montague, the Chief Executive of the Central Coast Local Health District and his predecessor, Matt Hanrahan, who have both been a driving force in the hospital upgrade and have been a key part of this project as well, along with Kerry Stevenson, the Executive Director, Strategy and Innovation.

Others on the task force include Matt Kelly, the Healthe Care regional manager on the Central Coast; the state member for Terrigal, Adam Crouch; Alison Coutts, the executive chairman of Memphasys Limited; Regional Development Australia Central Coast CEO, John Mouland; the Central Coast Council administrator, Ian Reynolds; and Susan Wilson, who have also been intimately involved in this process.

We have also benefited from having the expertise and connections of MTPConnect, including Dr Alfredo Martinez-Coll and Sue MacLeman, the managing director and chief executive officer, as well Adrian White, the hardworking manager of health technologies policy at the industry growth division of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. Adrian and his team are working alongside me and MTPConnect to develop a plan, which I look forward to saying more about soon, including about our links with industry and commercial partners.

I would also like to mention that, while I have been knocking on plenty of doors down here in Canberra to secure the $45 million from this government to ensure this project gets off the ground, there is no doubt we have seen an equally strong willingness from this government to recognise the importance of this project to our region. The Prime Minister, the Treasurer, the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, the Minister for Health, and the Minister for Education And Training have all been instrumental in the work of the task force. I thank them for it.

On health, I would also like to commend the way the budget will continue to provide record funding and will guarantee Medicare's future with a dedicated fund to protect these services for this generation and for the next. We have already seen a record number of Australians on the Central Coast accessing these vital services, including a record bulk-billing rate of around 86 per cent in my electorate of Robertson. In fact, I am advised that last financial year more than 820,000 GP services in the electorate were bulk-billed, which means that the majority of patients paid nothing out of their own pockets when visiting a GP—and this is under a coalition government. Yet, frustratingly, in many areas like the peninsula there are still many families who cannot access a local GP when they are sick and they need to see a local doctor. So, in response to this crisis, we have developed the first real short- and long-term plan that will help people see a doctor when they are sick and they need it most in suburbs including Woy Woy, Umina Beach, Ettalong Beach, Blackwall, Booker Bay, Pearl Beach and Patonga. Around $100,000 will be made available to enhance a new regionwide health workforce that will address the issues faced in the region.

I would like to commend the Assistant Minister for Health, the member for Lyne, for his relentless assistance in helping us develop a unique solution that will put doctors and patients first. This working group, convened by the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network, will enact strategies to help retain and attract GPs to the peninsula. With a large number of local doctors approaching retirement age and with fewer younger GPs and GP registrars stepping up to take their place, this will be a significant step forward. But Labor's response, can I say, is pitiful. The Labor candidate for Robertson was not even able to explain on local radio recently what the problem is, let alone what a solution is to this important issue, despite it being a problem that Labor did nothing about in the six years that they represented my community. They were in government and they had a chance to solve this crisis in accessing GPs on the peninsula.

It is important to also note how this budget will secure access to vital and life-saving medicines. It provides $1.2 billion to provide cheaper access to vital medicines and lists more drugs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to ensure families have access to vital drugs. These medicines will assist people suffering from conditions such as heart disease and severe asthma. We are further strengthening our support for mental health and suicide prevention, with a package of over $170 million.

I will also be writing a letter shortly to every veteran association and pensioner association in my electorate to make sure that they know about the important developments in this year's budget. This will include details on how past and current service personnel who have undertaken at least one day full-time service will benefit with easier access to free mental health support and services. We are also delivering better access to counselling from the Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service. I understand that this will benefit 1,129 veterans and their families in my electorate. Almost 2,500 clients of the Department of Veterans' Affairs will benefit from easier access to DVA services and faster processing times for claims.

I am pleased to see that the government will reinstate access to the pensioner concession card for an additional 92,000 Australians. This will in many cases give back important access to discounts, such as the subsidised hearing services offered by the Commonwealth. From 1 July 2018, people aged 65 and older will also be able to make a non-concessional contribution of up to $300,000 to their superannuation after selling their home. This will be in addition to any other contributions that they are eligible to make. We are also improving the My Aged Care platform, with $3.1 million to increase efficiency and effectiveness for users.

As I spoke about in this place earlier, this budget secures the full funding for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Once fully rolled out the NDIS will directly help an estimated 2,900 people in my electorate, including through a local office based in Gosford.

Debate on this budget would not be complete without highlighting key details of how we are boosting what is often described as the engine room of our economy—small business. In this budget we are extending the incredibly popular instant asset write-off for small business. There are more than 14,100 small businesses in my electorate that can take advantage of this measure. We are delivering tax cuts to small and medium businesses—benefiting over 15,000 businesses in my electorate—with turnovers of up to $50 million if they are incorporated and up to $5 million if they are unincorporated, so that they can invest and employ more locals.

We are also creating a fund to help train Australian apprentices in key trades and skills to get more young people into work and to help the approximately 1,600 local young Australians aged 15 to 24 looking for a job or looking for more work in my electorate of Robertson. We will also put a levy on Australia's five largest banks, generating $6.2 billion over the forward estimates, to support the ongoing work in budget repair.

Finally, this budget includes a number of sensible measures to make sure more people on the Central Coast have access to affordable housing. It includes a crackdown on foreign investors who seek to exploit loopholes in our system and to help ease the costs for young people looking to buy their first home. We are also looking out for the 7,980 families in my electorate that use government supported child care, with reforms that are about making child care more accessible and more affordable and providing the greatest level of assistance for those who need it most.

We are delivering on our commitment to fix more local roads, including in Copacabana, Kariong, Umina Beach and Booker Bay. I have been working with the Central Coast Council, the New South Wales government and my federal colleagues to ensure that these works start and finish as soon as possible.

To conclude, in short, this is a budget that the Central Coast desperately needs and deserves. It is about generating more local jobs, growing the economy, including our local economy on the Central Coast, and helping out those who need it most. It is a fair budget and it is a budget that does make the right choices for people on the Central Coast. I commend these bills and the budget to the House.

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