Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

No, not 1 April yet! I actually got one of my staff to make sure that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. I did actually check, Member for Fremantle, that it wasn't April Fools' Day. Again, I have to be honest, I think those opposite are pretty delusional moving a motion that pats themselves on the back for what they've done over the last few years instead of, from my point of view—that of the Northern Territory—listening to the challenges we face in the Northern Territory.

They spent their time pandering to the bankers—with a B—on the east coast. Instead of having a real plan to grow the Northern Territory, their central economic platform was to give a handout to the big four of $17 billion. That could do a lot of good in the Northern Territory and around Australia if there were a federal government with different priorities. But in this protection racket for the banks, where they voted 26 times against a banking royal commission whilst trying to give the banks a $17 billion hand out and cosy up to the big four banks, they were ripping millions of dollars out of the territory at the same time. It is shameful.

Just for the record, they ripped $41 million of funds that were supposed to be going into public schools in the Northern Territory. That was ripped. They ripped $15 million out of Charles Darwin University, CDU, our university in the northern capital of Australia that also provides education services by outreach into other areas of the Northern Territory. And they ripped $16 million out of hospitals in the Northern Territory, with some of the poorest health outcomes in our country. This is what they call 'good economic management': try to give money to the banks at the top end of town and rip money out of the Territory, with communities with the lowest socioeconomic factors, the worst health outcomes and the worst education outcomes in the country due to all of those challenges we face. They weren't prioritised. The banks were prioritised. This is their genius economic plan.

But then, when they did come to Darwin, when they came to the northern capital of Australia pledging funds, it took over 500 days for the promise of the city deal to be realised. Not because the Prime Minister—the third Prime Minister in this term—wanted to, but because the Japanese Prime Minister came to Darwin to see off the first gas shipment in the INPEX project. They thought, 'Well, we better go up there and announce something.' But have we seen one dollar of those city deal funds, with $100 million that's supposed to help Charles Darwin University establish in the city like has happened in other jurisdictions? No, not one dollar. And we've barely seen any of the $20 billion pledged for defence expenditure. That was promised at the last election, so that's coming up, what, 2½ years? Very little spent on defence infrastructure. The funds haven't even been given to us for the city deal.

What else is on the list of the government's economic brilliance? Giving working people less money in their pay packet. Cutting penalty rates to 700,000 hardworking Australians. That's not helpful. Mind you, they wanted to give $17 billion to the banks, hoping that that would trickle down. That's not good for the economy. Those opposite have cut $300 million from dental health funding and frozen the Medicare rebate, forcing Australians to pay more to see the doctor. Young people struggle to enter the housing market. Instead of taking real action there, those opposite essentially just flipped the bird to young Australians and told them to go and get rich parents! You can see a pattern here. (Time expired)

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