Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Labor Party are still lauding the previous opposition leader. They are still talking dismissively about a surplus as if a surplus is no big deal, when, in reality, we know that an economic surplus is hard work. It's an economic surplus that helps achieve the rest of that funding for services that they would like to do.

Instead, the Labor Party are still focused on having a tax-and-spend agenda. They'll take your money. They'll take $387 billion worth of new taxes, and they'll try and spend your money better than you can. Well, that's not what we believe on this side of the chamber. It's not what the LNP believe. We believe in the strong economic management that this bill delivers so that we can then provide more funding. We spoke about this a lot in the Ryan electorate during the last election. For example, over the average of the next 10 years, education funding in Ryan will go up by 50 per cent per student. That's only achievable because of strong economic management.

My Labor opponent tried this at the last election. They tried to claim that education funding had gone down under this government. That's just another Labor lie that they like to trot out. What they couldn't do, though, was explain their high-taxing policies. What was their carbon policy and their climate change policy going to cost the people of Australia? My Labor opponent, himself, could not explain their capital gains tax policies at our local candidate forum, and I made the point then, and I make it now: if the Labor Party can't explain their own policies, then why would Australians trust them?

This bill is important for all residents of the Ryan electorate because it endorses the plan that we took to the last election and that the Australian people endorsed, and that is an economic plan to deliver strong growth for our economy to deliver jobs and to deliver the first surplus in a decade, and that is no small feat at all. The Labor Party like to dismiss it—we saw that from the member for Hotham—but they couldn't achieve it. They announced it, they announced it numerous times, but they couldn't achieve it. In fact, it will be the first time that we've paid down Labor's deficit and the first time we're back in the black in 12 long years.

The result of the recent election was a clear rejection of Labor's plan for more debt, more taxes and less in the pockets of the hardworking Australians, who work so hard to be rewarded. If the Labor Party had won the last election, they would have put—and they are still planning to—$387 billion in new taxes on retirees, on housing, on income, on investments, on family business, on electricity and on cars. Labor's plan to increase capital gains tax by 50 per cent would have hurt Australian investors and given Australia one of the highest capital gains tax rates in the world. They still support their militant union mates, who demand more power to strike, more control over industries and businesses, and more deals to entrench their power, which is restricting jobs and ruining small business.

This appropriations bill clearly enshrines the ethos of this government that if you have a go, you'll get a go. And let's go to the heart of what was the economic plan that we outlined before the last election, and that we're enshrining in these bills today. We are creating 1.25 million more jobs over the next five years, because the best form of welfare is a job. The opportunity to have a job, to contribute, to look after your family: that is what all Australians aspire to.

These bills will maintain budget surpluses and pay down Labor's debt. Thank goodness for that! They'll deliver tax relief for families and small businesses, and we have already done that for 10 million Australians in the first week of parliament. It was so great to be on site in Mitchelton, in my electorate, talking to a young family, Sam and Vanessa with their three young kids, about what this tax relief will mean to them. It means more money in their pockets so that they can spend it the way their family needs, for their family's priorities—not the Labor Party's priorities; not so they can give it to a Labor government to spend as a Labor government sees fit. It goes back in the pockets of families so that these families can look after their own priorities.

These bills will guarantee increased investment for schools, hospitals and roads. As I said before, this is something that the Labor Party don't like to acknowledge. They like to maintain this fallacy that somehow this funding is decreasing, when it's not. In Ryan, for example, funding for all public schools in the electorate will increase by around 50 per cent per student in the next 10 years. And we can do that, we can provide better and extra services in education for our kids to have strong and resilient families, without reaching into your pocket for $387 billion worth of new taxes. We've recently established the Local Schools Community Fund, which I know is going to help schools in my electorate as they nominate projects that they can put together, projects of up to $20,000, to help them support students and their families and improve their skills.

The other thing this appropriation bill is going to do is help us invest in infrastructure. It is so important for connected and strong communities to invest in infrastructure. The $100 billion investment that this government is making in infrastructure is going to be significant and a game changer for our nation, particularly the quadrupling of the Urban Congestion Fund from $1 billion to $4 billion. I've spoken previously in this place about how important these small projects can be to a local community. Recently, in the last couple of weeks, I was on site for the opening of a relatively small project, but an important one, in my electorate. Federal funding of $3 million has enabled us to upgrade a facility at Indooroopilly State School. Upgrading the drop-and-go facility means we have reduced the congestion around that school from approximately 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the day and how bad it was, down to just seven minutes, and that's because we've got the traffic moving and flowing. We've made it safer around the drop-and-go facility for students and for parents so that those parents worry less about their kids waiting for the pick-up, particularly if they're stuck in traffic.

Mr Wallace interjecting—

That's no small thing. I take the member for Fisher's interjection. It's no small thing. But, for Labor, education and supporting families are simply about taking money out of your pocket and spending it 'better'. Normally that's by giving it back to a Labor state government so that they can put it into their education department, when we know that there has to be a holistic approach to supporting families that includes not only increasing education funding per child—which we will do—but also investing to reduce congestion so that parents aren't stuck in congestion for the Saturday sport or when they're trying to pick their kids up from school and they aren't worried about their kids' safety.

As well as all those things that I've just spoken about that we can achieve with a strong economy, we can also invest in health. That's what you get when you're able to create a surplus, when you're able to pay down debt. As the son of two pharmacists, I know the difference that affordable and accessible health care makes to the lives of all Australians. It was one of the great privileges of the last election to move about in the Ryan electorate and talk to people, but particularly to talk to some people who have benefited from the new listings on the PBS. Since we have come into government over 2,000 medicines, worth $10.6 billion, have been listed on the PBS. That is extraordinary, particularly when you compare it to the fact that the Labor Party froze—

Ms Ryan interjecting—

I take the interjection from the Labor member who said that it was a bipartisan approach. Yes. They couldn't fund it. It's always been bipartisan, but Labor had to freeze it because they couldn't afford it. They simply couldn't afford it. They were too busy trying to find out how they could take taxes from people. They were too busy running up a deficit. They couldn't afford to list medicines that are saving people's lives. Let's face it: when it comes to the point of needing these drugs, it is truly life or death. These are drugs that are only used by a small number of people, because they are for unique or rare diseases. When it comes to people needing these drugs, it is a life-or-death decision. When the Labor Party were in charge of the finances of this nation, they could not find enough in the pockets of Australian, or the pockets of government, to save those people's lives, whereas this government is committed to listing more medicines on the PBS. We will do that as part of these bills. That is a great thing for Australians and the Ryan electorate.

More Australians are seeing the doctor without having to pay, thanks to the strong economic plan that is in this appropriation bill. More Australians are seeing the doctor, with 133 million free GP services delivered last year—27.3 million more than in Labor's last year. Let me just say that again: 27.3 million more than in Labor's last year. In my electorate alone, the bulk-billing rate is up 72 per cent. Last year over 613,868 GP visits were bulk-billed in the Ryan electorate—171,000 more than in Labor's last year in government. That is how you make a real difference to the healthcare system of our nation, when you deliver a strong economic plan that enables those kinds of outcomes, as opposed, again, to the Labor plan of simply ripping out $387 billion worth of new taxes and trying to spend it better than the taxpayers would.

I also want to speak a little bit about how we can support older Australians better because of this strong economic plan. A record $21.6 billion will go towards ensuring older Australians can access higher quality and safer aged care in 2019-20. It is an increase of more than 50 per cent since 2013-14. The government is also providing $282 million to support older Australians who wish to stay at home for longer through an additional 10,000 home care packages. This will bring the number of new packages announced by this government over the last 18 months alone to 40,000.

This is so important with an ageing population, and we have an ageing population in the Ryan electorate as well. I spent some time as a councillor talking about how we can improve aged care and provide new retirement opportunities in our suburbs. We want older Australians to be able to retire in the suburbs that they know, that they love, where their support networks are and where their families are. We don't want to see a situation where they have to go further afield in order to find affordable and appropriate care because of development in Brisbane or a lack of services.

So working with this funding that is provided in this appropriation bill is going to be an important part of what I do in the Ryan electorate to make sure that older Australians are able to age within our community and stay within our community. They are an enormous asset, and this is where their support networks are. In order to create these stronger communities, I want to particularly commend the Stronger Communities round 5 grants, which will be opening very soon. This will allow our local organisations who are supporting our older Australians and our community in general to apply for grants which will allow them to improve their facilities and bring our communities together better. I will be working with them specifically on the projects that have been allocated within the appropriation bill. At Bardon Latrobe Football Club there is $500,000 for new change facilities, and there is another $500,000 for new change facilities at the Toowong Football Club to promote female participation. This is the kind of great work that we can do in the Ryan electorate with a strong economy, and only the Morrison government can deliver that strong economy.

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