David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to also speak in support of the appropriations bills. As other members in this chamber have noted, since 1975, Labor has taken a principled position in terms of supply. Governments are entitled to supply and to function effectively with distribution of revenue. Within that frame I note that these bills do include some expenditure that is supported by the opposition. In an era where constituents in my electorate of Bean are looking for some level of consensus, I'm happy to acknowledge that the Department of Agriculture receiving $295 million for concessional loans to farm businesses, including those affected by drought or the North Queensland flood, is a good thing. I'm happy to acknowledge that, despite the proliferation of contracting arrangements that undermine the department's capacity, it is good that Defence will receive funding to protect and advance Australia's strategic interests, to support ongoing major defence operations and to support our veterans. It is good that we're investing in programs to prevent violence against women and their children and to establish the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. And, although late to the table, I welcome seeing the bills containing funding for the continuation of the Corporate Tax Avoidance Taskforce. That said, let's call this third government out for what it is: a government without a plan—not even 'a cunning plan' as Baldrick would have.

It's a government without compassion and a government without a vision for Canberra and its residents who live in the Bean electorate. These bills highlight again how out of touch this third-term government is. We see cuts to the Public Service and the impact of these cuts on local communities, let alone public sector capability. We see the ongoing impact of the debacle that is the forced relocation of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority. We see the continued flawed rollout of the NBN into the Bean electorate—a matter regularly raised with my office. We see underinvestment in health services and mental health services. We see a lack of investment in transport infrastructure. We see a lack of investment and vision for the National Capital Authority. We see a lack of action in terms of a response to the inquiry into our national cultural institutions—institutions that are still struggling under an uncompromising and misinformed efficiency dividend. Finally, we see the inadequate level of the Newstart support payment.

In the third term of this Liberal and National government, it is clear, as clear as a Canberra winter's day, that when it comes to the economy this government only has slogans. And it's difficult to get beyond slogans if you're not prepared to invest in the capability and capacity of your own workforce. Nowhere is this more apparent than in two contrasting speeches on the public service over the last couple of weeks. Andrew Podger, the former Australian public service commissioner started from first principles, restating the statutory object of having 'an apolitical public service that is efficient and effective in serving the government, the Parliament and the Australian public'. This purpose was reinforced by the High Court decision in the recent Banerji case.

Podger goes on to comment that issues identified in the 2010 Moran review have not only not been resolved but have got considerably worse. Capability deficits have grown and the 'Reliance on contractors and consultants has increased with highly doubtful … gains in value for money … and continued negative impacts on APS capabilities.' Repeated expert advice on the inappropriateness of crude efficiency dividends has been ignored and a remuneration policy across the sector is a mess.

This contrasts sharply with a speech made by the Prime Minister to the Institute of Public Administration. The Prime Minister talked about providing guideposts for the public service so that the APS can have a better understanding of how the APS can support the government and the nation. These guideposts are little more than inane catchphrases from a reserve-grade locker room: respect and expect; it's about the implementation; look at the scorecard; look beyond the bubble—a particular Canberra favourite; read the game and stay ahead of the play; and honour the code. They read and sound like the outtakes from a meeting run by David Brent at Wernham Hogg. Probably enough has been said about the Canberra bubble—suffice to say that it is farcical for resident No. 1 of the bubble to lecture working Australians to look beyond the bubble. A little self-reflection wouldn't hurt.

The Prime Minister then went on to attempt to narrow the scope of the public service by suggesting that the public service should have a 'laser-like focus on serving the quiet Australians' rather than all Australians. Anyone like me, a child of the seventies, would know that the quiet Australian, of course, is BHP. Perhaps this is the government's way of saying we should be servicing multinationals better.

Of course this is not only a convenient way of justifying doing little as, by their nature, quiet Australians won't necessarily tell you what they want or don't want, but it's also a way of shutting down dissent and directing the work of the public service away from those Australians that are the most vulnerable and in need.

Telling public servants that they need to honour the code is laughable when not only are public servants already bound by codes of conduct—codes of conduct that don't apply to the armies of contractors and consultants that outnumber them—but former ministers may have actually complied with codes of conduct but it would be difficult to argue that they have honoured them. It's even more difficult to argue that the member for Hume—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 12:23 to 12:36

As I was saying, it is even more difficult to argue that the member for Hume has honoured such a code. 'Leading by example' is a catchphrase missing in his speech.

One of the elephants in the room at the institute speech, not that it appeared to be seen, was the absence of consideration of the cost and consequences of spending billions of dollars on consultants, contractors and labour hire to provide public service policy and delivery in order to effectively assist the government of the day in meeting the challenges faced by the nation. A workforce driven by commercial interests, rather than public good, conflicts directly with the objects of the Public Service Act. It erodes expertise and capability within government, putting the interests of multinationals before the Australian people.

The challenges we face are clear and they impact the lives of all who live in Bean. The economy is floundering, many families are struggling, and the Morrison government doesn't have a plan to turn things around. The Australian economy is growing at its slowest pace since the GFC, with annual growth deteriorating further, to be half what it was one year ago. Annual GDP growth is weaker than the forecast of both the RBA and the government itself.

Let's look at the economic record of those opposite. Under the watch of the Liberals and Nationals we have debt of more than half a trillion dollars. This government has doubled our national debt. Remember, this from the people who gave us the catchphrase 'debt and deficit disaster'. Growth is just half a per cent for the June quarter and has slowed further to 1.4 per cent for the year. For the first time since the GFC, GDP per capita has gone backwards over the year and annual GDP growth is lower than population growth. The national economy has gone from the 8th fastest growing economy in the OECD, when Labor was in government, to a sickly 20th. Wages are growing at only one-sixth the pace of the profits. Productivity, or GDP per hour worked, has gone backwards over the year. Household spending remains weak. The news is all good. Total private business investment went backwards in the quarter and over the year. As a percentage of nominal GDP, it is around its lowest level since the early 1990s recession.

Long-term unemployment remains high and has continued to grow since the Liberal-National government was elected. Underemployment remains at a high rate—estimated now to be around nine per cent. Retail sales are trending down. This government's record locally is further highlighted by the data in the HILDA report released in July. It showed that living standards have gone backwards under the Liberal-National government, and, as has been pointed out before, it shows that people are actually earning less now in real terms than they were in 2013, when this government was elected.

The HILDA report showed significant falls right here in the ACT in median household incomes, adjusting for household size. In fact, the drop of 11 per cent was the largest of any region in Australia. This was a direct consequence of the decimation of the Public Service and the cuts in real wages for many hardworking Canberra public servants and their families. This current economic situation is an indictment of this third-term government and the Liberal representation of the ACT in this government. After six years of this government, the Prime Minister shouldn't just dismiss these longstanding homegrown weaknesses. We know that his home affairs minister is distracted, off making rather odd and, some would say, laughable music videos, but the Prime Minister shouldn't be. The RBA is already doing the heavy lifting, having cut the cash rate to one-third of the emergency lows seen during the GFC.

After two postelection rate cuts, the third-term Liberal-National government has no plan for growth. This nation and my electorate need a plan for investing in skills, a plan for investing in high-quality education, a plan for investing in science and research and a plan for investing in Australian jobs. The people in my electorate of Bean need a government that's prepared to invest in local infrastructure, a government that's prepared to invest in education and skills to make sure that the young people in the electorate of Bean have the opportunity of a world-class education, a government that is prepared to invest in a strong, apolitical public service, not one continually undermined and compromised by the unfettered growth in contracting, consulting and outsourcing.

This government likes to pretend that it's doing a good job of managing the economy, but, as I've outlined, the facts tell a much different story. Our labour spokesperson, Jim Chalmers, has said that Labor supports these appropriation bills, but we don't support the approach of the Prime Minister and his Treasurer. I agree, and he is right in calling on the third-term Liberal-National government to bring forward a budget update so their forecast can be adjusted and they can responsibly fund a proper and broad economic plan to get the economy moving again. We're not the only ones calling for a plan, or at least some further action. The Reserve Bank governor, no less, has called for more infrastructure investment sooner. Menzies would be proud of this government's inertia on the economy. They are asleep at the wheel with no plan. Without insulting every C-grade golfer—and I am one—those opposite are the Sunday hackers of economic stewardship. They are deep in the rough and they have no plan to get back on the fairway—a fairway, I might add, that was laid down by Labor governments past.

The government's lack of plan also extends to many other areas, from education and skills to the NDIS. I'm on the record in calling on this third-term government to also invest in increasing the Newstart payment—not purely because of the toll it takes on people living on such a low payment; it makes sense economically. We need to get consumer spending moving, and this would help drive that forward. Rather than undermining the dignity of Australians by suggesting we should drug test them, I suggest the government invest instead in giving them a fair go to get back on their feet.

When it comes to vocational education, the Liberals have presided over a crisis in the sector. Vocational education has been attacked day after day by privatisation, poor regulation and unhealthy competition among dodgy providers gouging the system. Since coming to office, this government has cut $3.6 billion from our vocational education and training sector. A consequence of this has been that traineeships and apprenticeships have more than halved at a time when we should be skilling our nation. We need a world-class schools and education sector where no child is left behind and where we are educating the next generation for the jobs and skills of the future. Not only do the students and teachers in these schools need this investment; we need it for the economic growth it will bring.

Whilst, no doubt, the NDIS has been a landmark Labor initiative, it has been neglected by three Liberal governments. It's not an exaggeration to say that the ideology that has driven the decision to place a staffing cap on the NDIA has been catastrophic and creates systemic problems so significant that we now have a delivery model unable to provide for all people in need of support in Bean and other electorates around the country.

In short, we are still waiting for a government reply into a report on the opportunities presented to our regional economy here by our magnificent cultural institutions. We also have a National Capital Authority that is doing what it can with what it has but can't keep the ponds out the front of Old Parliament House operational. We've individuals across the electorate being wrongly hassled through robo-debt letters. We have members of the coalition trying to undermine superannuation increases and to even have superannuation not apply to low-income Australians. We have the ever-expanding use of contractors, driven by the departmentwide staff cap. This is a third-term government without any decent level of planning. It does not even have a cunning plan like Baldrick so often had.

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