Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I stand here today to say to the Turnbull government that enough is enough. The Prime Minister stands in this place every day talking about how the Turnbull government is a government of aspiration. I say to the Prime Minister that the people of Herbert have had enough of your empty words because all that my community has to aspire to is this government's endless job cuts. And they've had enough. Unemployment in Townsville has almost doubled under the Abbott-Turnbull governments. Nationally, Townsville has achieved two things under LNP governments: we were the jobless capital; and now we are the insolvency capital. I ask: where is the aspiration in those statistics?

Let me share some facts that will shed light on the situation. Around 3,000 manufacturing jobs in Townsville have been lost since Labor left office in 2013, and 120 jobs were lost at the Australian tax office in Townsville. Also from Townsville: 50 Defence jobs lost, 40 Royal Australian Air Force jobs lost from 38 Squadron, 19 CSIRO jobs slashed, 30 regional Queensland Customs jobs chopped and an estimated 400 Telstra jobs to go. It's very hard to find any aspiration in those statistics. But this government's slashing, cutting, slicing and dicing of jobs does not stop there.

Herbert is a community that is already doing it extremely tough thanks to this top-hat, out-of-touch Turnbull government. The list goes on—$9 million cut from Townsville Hospital and Health Service—more job cuts; $14.8 million cut from Townsville schools—more teaching and admin jobs cut from our schools; $38 million from Central Queensland University—more job cuts; and $36 million from James Cook University—more job cuts.

James Cook University is also a victim of the LNP government's history of cuts, and, consequently, jobs are being cut right now. James Cook University is axing a number of creative arts courses, and that will include 17 staff jobs at the Townsville campus, 14 at the Cairns campus, and there is an additional job cut that could be at either campus. What do Townsville students think about this? Third-year Bachelor of Creative Arts and Media student Jason Hill is angry as his degree is likely to be on the chopping block. This is what Jason had to say:

Creative industries is only growing, especially with everything going digital there's a demand in the field and it's constantly evolving.

For one of the primary universities in North Queensland to cut their support for something like that could potentially be the death of creative arts in North Queensland

It's sad to hear that the lecturers jobs are at risk, especially in Townsville where the job market is hard enough already

To Jason, I say, 'You are spot on, 100 per cent.' The job market in Townsville is tough, so why is the Turnbull government making it even tougher?

And then there are the cuts to kindergarten and early learning, which will negatively impact on 2,484 families in Herbert. That's even more job cuts. The Riverview Play Centre in Townsville has also been impacted by the Turnbull government. The Turnbull government is cutting $80,000 to Riverview Play Centre, which means that the centre will be forced to close by December this year. This early learning centre has been running in my community for 26 years and now, under the Turnbull government, it is at serious risk of closing. That will affect 78 families, 110 children and nine staff, whose jobs will be cut, purely because the Turnbull government would rather fund an $80 billion tax cut to big business and the banks than fund access to early learning education for 110 children in Townsville—and that supports jobs in my community as well.

Then there are the cuts to the ABC. Townsville has already lost our local afternoon drive show content, and now this government is planning to make even further cuts to the ABC. That is not to mention the $40.7 million cut to dental and allied health, which means more cuts to health. We have already witnessed significant cuts to health that have affected veterans' access to health services. The question is: what do these cuts to dental and allied health services mean for our veterans? The short answer is: we don't know, and neither does the Turnbull government. That is why I am calling on the Turnbull government to guarantee that this cut will not reduce access for veterans, particularly in light of the repatriation medical fee schedule indexation freeze, which is already impacting on veterans in my community. This government is also responsible for the shocking state of the country's aged-care system. Every single LNP budget has included cuts to aged care. What do these cuts mean? They mean massive job cuts for people in Townsville.

The Turnbull government is like the Freddy Krueger of jobs for Townsville. Townsville's citizens would be forgiven for thinking that we are the cast in a horror film. If you are a worker, a pensioner or a veteran you'd better watch out, because the Turnbull government is coming to slash your job. The only way out for this 'Nightmare on Elm Street'—or Nathan Street in the Townsville context—is to vote this top-end-of-town, out-of-touch government out of office at the next election. When workers in Townsville are doing it tough, does the Turnbull government offer a helping hand? No. This out-of-touch government gives Mr Turnbull and people in high-income-earning brackets a $7,000 tax handout. The Turnbull government is focusing on filling the pockets of the top end of town whilst ripping money out of workers' back pockets. Prime Minister Turnbull would rather give himself $7,000 than pass legislation to protect the penalty rates of more than 3,000 workers in my electorate of Herbert. Yet, he still waxes lyrical about being a government of aspiration. The people in my community think that is a joke. There is nothing in the budget for Townsville. Ripping money out of the pockets of 3,000 workers, on top of the last 13,000 workers that he robbed of penalty rates, is not going down very well in my community. To add insult to injury, the Prime Minister is giving another $80 billion to big business and the banks.

But Labor does have a fairer budget and a fairer future plan for Townsville. Labor understands Townsville, and only Labor will deliver for Townsville. Labor will help workers, families, pensioners and veterans. We won't be giving big business and the banks an $80 billion tax handout, because we have our priorities straight. We understand that workers actually need something to aspire to. Labor has committed to funding $100 million for Townsville's long-term water security, alleviating the pumping costs for the local council. Labor has committed to funding $200 million towards hydro power on the Burdekin Falls Dam, which will alleviate Townsville's energy costs. Labor has committed to funding $75 million to the port expansion project. That will ensure that our fuel does not sail by to Brisbane, only to be trucked back to Townsville. Labor will fund our universities, we will fund TAFE and we will fund schools, ensuring that education and training are a priority and not a second thought. We will fund the Townsville Hospital and Health Service, ensuring that residents get the best possible local healthcare services. This is critical for the Townsville Hospital and Health Service as it is the only tertiary health service in Queensland outside of the south-east corner. Labor will protect penalty rates because we believe that workers deserve to get a monetary reward when working on weekends and public holidays and missing out on time with their families. We will back small businesses, families, pensioners and veterans, because Labor is the party of a fair go for all citizens, not just the few.

See this speech in context