Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

These appropriation bills make provisions for the moneys required to be appropriated from the Consolidated Revenue Fund as part of the 2017-18 federal budget to fund the day-to-day operations of the Commonwealth. This budget forms part of the government's plan to build a strong, prosperous economy while funding the traditional functions of government, such as health, education, social services and national security. The total appropriation being sought by the bills is just under $105 billion.

One of the hallmarks of the budget is ensuring that the government lives within its means. Since the last election, the government has legislated more than $25 billion in budget repair measures, maintaining a credible path of reducing deficits each year, leading to a projected returned to balance in 2021. With continuing projected surpluses over the medium term to enable a reduction in national debt from 2018-19, borrowings will no longer be required to fund recurrent spending for the first time since the global financial crisis, so our government will not burden future generations with debt from today's recurrent spending. A fair and responsible path to budget surplus demonstrates the Turnbull government's commitment to maintaining our AAA credit rating.

The future outlook is positive, with growth within the Australian economy projected to rebound to 2.75 per cent in 2017-18 and three per cent in the following year as mining investment continues and growth in household consumption and non-mining business investment improves. Strong demand from Asia for Australia's tourism and education services will also drive further rapid expansion in our service exports. This budget seeks to promote growth in our economy through infrastructure investment, lower company taxes and a range of measures designed to increase workforce skills development and participation. We are positioning Australia to take advantage of emerging export markets, to diversify our economy and to harness the benefits of opportunities for economic growth.

Only with strong economic growth is the government best placed to sustain a high level of funding for essential social services. Health care is one of the most important services which the government provides. The budget provides $1 billion to strengthen Medicare by phasing in the re-introduction of indexation for certain items on the Medicare benefits schedule. Bulk-billing incentives will be indexed from 1 July 2017 in a bid to encourage general practitioners to bulk-bill children under the age of 16 and concession card holders. The following year, fees for GP and specialist consultation items will be indexed. From 1 July 2019 specialist procedures and allied health fees will be indexed and from 1 July 2020 targeted diagnostic imaging items, such as computer tomography, mammography, thoracoscopy and interventional radiology, will also be indexed. A further $1.2 billion will be provided for new and amended listings on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to provide patients with greater access to new services and affordable, often lifesaving, medicines. Since 2013, the government has listed more than 1,400 new or amended medicines on the PBS, averaging 32 new and amended listings per month. The new listings include breakthrough medicines to treat conditions such as breast cancer, hepatitis C, cystic fibrosis and severe asthma. In addition, $65.9 million of new funding for medical research will be provided from the Medical Research Future Fund to support preventive health research, clinical trials and breakthrough research investments. A further $5.8 million will be provided for research into childhood cancer.

The budget measures provide full and sustainable funding for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, giving Australians with a permanent and significant disability and their families and carers certainty that this vital service will be sustainable into the future. From 1 July 2019, the Medicare levy will increase by 0.5 per cent, from two per cent to 2.5 per cent of taxable income. The additional revenue raised will be directed towards the NDIS Savings Fund, along with NDIS underspends and previous contributions to the fund from across government, to ensure that the NDIS is fully funded and is on track to be fully implemented from 2020.

Major education reforms will result in fairer funding for student needs in the budget. An additional $18.6 billion has been allocated for states, territories and the non-government school sector over the next decade to achieve genuine, needs based support for all students, with 99 per cent of schools receiving increases in their Commonwealth per-student funding. The government is transitioning to a schools funding model which is needs based. The current funding arrangements contain 27 different agreements which are not necessarily based on the needs of the students. At present, students with the same needs within the sector can receive different levels of Commonwealth funding according to the state in which they live. Under the new model, a school will be funded for each student based on need, irrespective of location. From 2018 to 2027, funding is estimated to grow at an average annual per-student rate of 5.1 per cent for the government sector, 3.5 per cent for the Catholic sector and 4.1 per cent for the independent sector.

To increase workforce participation, $263 million has been invested over the four years from 2017-18 to expand the ParentsNext services nationally, providing tailored support for parents of young children to plan and prepare for return to employment. Similarly, the provision of affordable, accessible child care is important for parents returning to work, particularly in my electorate, with many young families in a new suburbs. The recently legislated Jobs for Families Child Care Package will encourage workforce participation and place downward pressure on childcare fees. The government will invest $37.3 billion over five years to deliver more affordable child care, including before- and after-school care for some one million families.

From 2 July 2018, a single, simplified, means-tested childcare subsidy will replace the childcare benefit, the childcare rebate and the Jobs, Education and Training Child Care Fee Assistance program. The childcare subsidy will ensure that families on low to middle incomes of $185,710 or less that need to use more child care will not face the annual cap. However, an annual cap of $10,000 will apply to families earning more than $185,710 in 2017-18 terms.

The government remains committed to ensuring that the welfare system is fair and supports those who are genuinely in need. A new targeted jobseeker compliance framework will commence on 1 July 2018 and will apply stronger penalties for those who deliberately and persistently fail to turn up for job interviews or take suitable work, while ensuring that genuinely disadvantaged and vulnerable jobseekers are supported. The Youth Jobs PaTH Program—the prepare, trial, hire program—is assisting 120,000 young Australians to obtain work by providing them with practical pre-employment training with real work experience through internships. Businesses are also being encouraged to hire young jobseekers through wage subsidies. An additional $375.3 million has been allocated in the budget for frontline services to help the homeless and those at risk of homelessness. A number of measures have also been instituted to strengthen the integrity of the welfare system by identifying and recovering overpayments. In total, these integrity measures are expected to return around $4 billion to the budget in cash terms by 2021.

The budget focuses on creating more Australian jobs, workforce skill development and supporting Australians into work. Businesses employing foreign workers on certain skilled visas will be subject to a new levy to fund training for Australian jobseekers. This new approach will introduce an annual foreign worker levy of $1,200 or $1,800 for temporary skilled visas and a $3,000 or $5,000 one-off levy for those on certain permanent skilled visas, depending on the size of the business. Over the next four years, more than $1.2 billion is projected to be raised from this new levy that will contribute directly to a new Commonwealth-state Skilling Australians Fund.

The budget delivers tax cuts for businesses with an annual turnover of less than $50 million. Some 3.2 million small businesses employing 6.7 million workers will benefit from a reduction in the new tax rate for companies of 27.5 per cent. I was pleased to host the Minister for Small Business, the member for Riverina, the Hon. Michael McCormack MP, at a business forum in my electorate of local businesses Logsys and Kitchen Craftsmen. Similarly, the Minister for Employment, the Hon. Michaelia Cash, visited the Hillarys Fish Market, MAX Employment and Sisters Supa IGA with me to speak to business proprietors about the budget.

The budget continues investment in the rollout of the National Broadband Network. By mid-2017 the network will be available to half of all Australian premises, further expanding to around nine million premises by mid-2018 and on track to be completed by 2020.

In terms of national economic development, the government has made a $70 billion infrastructure investment in the budget leading to 2021, including transport infrastructure across Australia, using a combination of grant funding, loans and equity investments of which $7.7 billion has been committed to WA over the forward estimates. In particular, $145.8 million will be spent locally on vital roadworks at three key sections along Wanneroo Road. Wanneroo Road will be widened to a dual carriageway between Joondalup Drive and Flynn Drive at an estimated cost of $31 million. That busy intersection at Joondalup Drive and Ocean Reef Road will be grade separated, with the traffic signals replaced by new bridges and flyovers to take traffic over Wanneroo Road at an estimated cost of $50 million and $64.8 million respectively. These roadworks will benefit residents through a boost in local economic development. Joondalup CBD will become an attractive centre of banking, professional services, retail and hospitality for businesses in Neerabup, with improved access to other local commercial and district centres for professional services, retail and hospitality. During the construction phase, it is estimated that 805 construction jobs will be created.

Regional areas are where Australia's economic wealth is created. In addition to infrastructure investment, the Regional Growth Fund will invest $472 million in regional infrastructure projects to support economic development and help regional businesses adapt to the changes taking place through globalisation and technological change.

The budget provides the Australian Taxation Office with $28.2 million in additional funding to continue to target serious organised crime, removing wealth generated by these organised criminal groups and returning an additional $408.5 million in revenue to the government.

A black economy task force has been established to target black economy transactions, which represent a significant complex economic and social problem which creates an uneven playing field for business plus the exploitation of workers and results in lost government revenue.

This budget forms part of the government's plan to get the national finances back on track and build a strong, prosperous economy while funding the traditional functions of government such as health, education, social services and national security. The total appropriation being sought by the bills is just under $105 billion, and I commend the bills to the House.

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