Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying earlier, the government is allowing 11 million Australians to keep more of what they earn through new tax cuts brought forward into this year. This is going to support consumer spending for 89,600 people in the electorate of Fisher, keeping money flowing in the economy, keeping the region's businesses open and keeping locals employed. In 2021 these low- and middle-income earners in Fisher will receive tax relief of up to $2,745 for singles and up to $5,490 for dual-income families, compared with the 2017-18 settings. The majority of the benefit for 2020-21 will go to those on the Sunshine Coast with incomes below $90,000. Treasury estimates that letting working Australians keep more of their own money through this measure will boost GDP by around $3½ billion this financial year and $9 billion next year. This measure alone will help to create an additional 50,000 jobs by the end of 2021-22.

However, alongside consumer spending we need to see strong businesses on the Sunshine Coast which are incentivised to invest and grow their workforce. There are of course already many businesses on the Sunshine Coast whose fundamentals are sound and who would in normal circumstances be ready and able to drive our economic recovery. However, many of them are currently struggling with losses which, through no fault of their own, could restrict their ability to take advantage of improving circumstances to drive new job creation on the coast. The 2020 federal budget allows companies with a turnover of up to $5 billion to offset tax losses against previous profits, on which they've already paid tax, to generate a refund. Losses incurred last financial year, this year and next year can be carried back against profits made in or after 2018-19. Eligible companies can get a tax refund when they lodge their tax returns for this year. By allowing them to get a cash refund against their losses earlier, this measure will provide hardworking business owners on the Sunshine Coast to reset, keep their businesses running, retain their workers and invest with confidence in the future.

The budget also provides record incentives to make it easier for Sunshine Coast businesses to make investments and offer new or improved products and services. Growing businesses with new products and services to offer, of course, need more employees. Under the Morrison government's budget, from 6 October 2020 until 30 June 2022 as many as 30,000 businesses with a turnover of up to $5 billion in Fisher will be able to deduct the full cost of eligible assets of any value in the year they are first used or installed. Businesses are telling me right across my electorate that this is absolutely fantastic news. It includes improvements to existing assets made during this period. This will significantly reduce the cost of new equipment and new software, and businesses will be able to grow. Critically, it will encourage them to buy that equipment now, before the measure expires, at the time when the Sunshine Coast economy needs it most.

Members opposite have claimed this budget leaves the responsibility for economy-boosting investment like this solely with the private sector, but this could not be further from the truth. The budget includes a record $110 billion over the next 10 years to build new transport infrastructure, as well as a further $3.5 billion to build new water infrastructure. The 2020 federal budget's funding for new projects will support over 30,000 direct and indirect jobs, while in total our infrastructure package will support over 100,000 jobs across 10 years.

In my own electorate of Fisher, this package included funding for $95.2 million, committed for variations to the Bruce Highway upgrades currently underway between Caloundra Road and the Sunshine Motorway. This will ensure these upgrades are completed on time and in full. This project is already supporting 680 jobs on the Sunshine Coast. It's going to see locals able to move more quickly around our region and improve the experience for tourists, which will boost our local economy.

The budget invested an extra $1 billion for the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, including more than $11 million in Fisher. This is in addition to the existing $3.6 million allocated to our council in the last round. This will deliver money to the Sunshine Coast Council to spend on smaller civil construction projects for local infrastructure at a community level. I've already been in touch with the Sunshine Coast mayor to highlight some of the projects which I believe should be local priorities for this funding in our community. I'm hoping to meet with the mayor soon to discuss with him the possibility of investing this money in upgrades to the Mooloolaba Foreshore and pathways at Bokarina Beach, as well as the opportunities provided by new rounds funded in this budget of the Building Better Regions Fund, the Stronger Communities Program, the volunteers grants program and the Safer Communities Fund. Before I move on, let us not forget that all of this is on top of the more than $3 billion the coalition government is already investing in upgrades to the Bruce Highway between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, and the $390 million we're contributing to the duplication of the North Coast Line railway.

Despite the government's extensive support, we know that this COVID recession has been particularly hard on young people in my electorate. We need to get young people back to work as soon as possible. One of the budget's most important measures will make it much easier over the coming 12 months to give young Australians a start in the workplace. The government's $4½ billion JobMaker Hiring Credit will help to create 450,000 new jobs, including in the critical Sunshine Coast tourism and construction sectors. Almost all Sunshine Coast employers will be able to claim $200 a week for each additional eligible employee they hire aged 16- to 29-years-old and $100 a week for each additional eligible employee aged 30- to 35-years-old for 12 months. As long as the job is in addition to a business's existing payroll and the individual employed was previously on JobSeeker, then it is very likely that the role will be supported with up to $10,400 from the government. I expect this measure to make a huge difference to the rate of youth unemployment in my electorate, and to give Sunshine Coast locals the start in a fulfilling career that they need very soon.

For those young people on the coast still needing extra training to enter the world of work, the budget is delivering for them too. As part of our COVID response, the government invested $1½ billion in expanding our supporting apprenticeships and trainees wage subsidy, paying 50 per cent of the wages of around 180,000 apprentices nationwide in small and medium-size businesses. Last week's federal budget allocated a further $1.2 billion for an expanded scheme called the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy. This grows coverage of our 50 per cent wage subsidies to include 100,000 new apprentices taken on between now and the end of September 2021. There is no maximum cap for the size of the company. The only requirement is that the apprentice is not already receiving any other type of government support.

For those who want to go to university instead, the budget provided an extra $550.3 million for an additional 12,000 university places and 50,000 short course places to deal with the demand created by this recession. That is on top of the budget's record base funding of $19.8 billion for universities.

To make sure that the jobs of the future are available in Fisher, the government is creating the $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy. This is going to help grow our manufacturing industry in six key areas where Australia is already strong: food and beverages, resources technology, medical products, recycling and clean energy, defence and the space industry. I believe the Sunshine Coast has a terrific opportunity to take advantage of this investment to help grow our industry base in defence, medical products and high-tech manufacturing.

Last week's budget was a sensational budget for all Australians and great news for people on the Sunshine Coast. So many people on the Sunshine Coast have said to me that this was the best budget they have ever seen, and who could argue with that?

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