Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As the Treasurer of Australia announced in his budget speech a fortnight ago, Australia is back. It has been a tough 2020 with COVID, but the Morrison government is creating jobs and increasing investment to ensure our recovery is locked in. As part of our plan, not only are we continuing with programs that work but we are also ushering in landmark reforms off the back of the Morrison government's ambition for Australia's future growth and prosperity. Across my electorate the Morrison government is delivering for the people of Higgins. With record investment and real reform in policy areas of aged care and mental health, coupled with lowering taxes, we are securing our future.

On the side of the House we understand that in securing our future, we must ensure low and competitive taxes to stimulate economic activity. In the 2020-21 budget, the Morrison government brought forward the second stage of our tax relief plan by two years. This has meant that in this budget the low-income tax offset will be increased from $445 to $700, the 19 per cent threshold will lift from $37,000 to $45,000, and the 32.5 per cent threshold will lift from $90,000 to $120,000. Again, this year, we are delivering this additional tax relief for over 10 million low- and middle-income earners by retaining the low- and middle-income tax offsets for a further year. Consequently, this will provide further tax relief of up to $1,080 for individuals and $2,160 for families. Tax relief puts money back into the pockets of Australians—tax relief that rewards, not represses, hard work and that supports local enterprise and creates jobs.

In my electorate of Higgins, I'm thrilled to know that approximately 65,700 taxpayers in Higgins will benefit from tax relief of up to $2,745 this year. This is a result of the continuation of the Morrison government's decision to extend the low- and middle-income tax offsets in 2021-22. Take the example of my constituents in Higgins, Amy, who is a kindergarten teacher, and Darren, who owns his own small business. Darren and Amy are expecting their first child. They know the extension of the tax offset for low- and middle-income taxpayers will support the increased costs that happen when you start a family. This is in addition to the 86,900 people in Higgins who have already benefited from the government's tax plan. When our stage 3 tax cuts are implemented, we will see 95 per cent of Australian taxpayers paying a marginal rate of no more than 30c in a dollar. That's real reform, and it's coming down the pipeline. We're also backing businesses in Higgins, with the continuation of tax incentives that will allow around 27,300 businesses in Higgins to write off the value of any eligible asset they purchase. Furthermore, approximately 9,499 businesses in Higgins will benefit from the extension of the loss carry-back measures, supporting cash flow and boosting business confidence.

With life returning to normal in Higgins as Victoria extricates itself from the COVID lockdowns of 2020—and I'm sad to say there have been nine reports of COVID cases, so we are not yet out of woods in Victoria—I am keen to see the further benefits flow, particularly for families and small to medium enterprises, as a result of the Morrison government's tax regime. We don't have to look any further than my home state to see the evidence that Labor governments are addicted to tax. The newly imposed $3 billion property and payroll taxes will unquestionably stifle business investment and employment growth, hamstringing employers as Victoria tries to emerge from the big lockdowns of last year which are being threatened again this year. All the while, infrastructure blowouts and spending inefficiencies from the Andrews Labor government have continued to mire our beautiful state of Victoria in debt. Indeed, this is the blueprint for the opposition were they to win the next federal election. This is Labor; tax increases are in their DNA. There is no doubt that, under the coalition government, your taxes will always be lower. Under Labor they will increase.

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety revealed some harrowing truths occurring within the sector—truths that alarmed us all and that we as a government must confront. That is why I welcome the final report from the royal commission and the Morrison government's response to ensure senior citizens of Australia are treated with the respect, care and dignity that they deserve. As announced in the budget a fortnight ago, the Morrison government is responding with an absolutely transformational landmark investment of $17.7 billion of funding for aged-care services. This signifies record investment which, most importantly, will be partnered—because we are a government that cares about this—with record reform to ensure that the spending is efficient and effective to guarantee the provision of high-quality support, to secure the future viability of the sector and to improve strict reporting and transparency measures. Australians, as we age, deserve this.

Fundamental in this response by the Morrison government is the five-year five-pillar aged-care reform plan. This is important because it will address the whole system: home care, with $7.5 billion towards supporting senior citizens who choose to remain in their home—and we know Australians are choosing to age at home and that that is their preference; residential aged-care services and sustainability, with $7.8 billion towards improving and simplifying residential aged-care services and to ensure senior Australians can access value-for-money services; residential aged-care quality and safety with $942 million to drive systemic improvements to residential aged-care quality and safety; and workforce. We know the workforce is changing and it needs to step up to deal with the ageing population, not just across the general population but the ever increasing ageing population within residential aged care where residents, unfortunately, are becoming more frail with more comorbidities because people are choosing to age at home. And we are getting a change to the population in the residential aged-care sector. There's $652 million to grow a skilled, professional and compassionated aged-care workforce. It is a good workforce. It just needs more support. This will be the powerhouse of the government's reform agenda.

Importantly, there will be $698 million for the fifth pillar of the five-year five pillar aged-care reform plan to look at the issue of governance. This will help across the aged-care system by embedding respect, care and dignity at the heart of the system; guaranteeing better choice, higher quality and safer care for senior Australians. The sector has undergone major change as our population ages and more senior Australians receive at-home support. Realising these trends, the Morrison government is working to secure a future that we all face.

Our senior Australians built this country. They've imparted so much to strengthen our great Australian project. We are indebted to senior Australians. It's our duty to ensure that all receive the care they require later in life. It's our duty to protect them later in life and that was made all the more clear through COVID in 2020. Unfortunately, we know that those over the age of 70 are most at risk from COVID. We saw how the outbreak in Victoria raced through our older generation last year. If that outbreak hadn't have happened, following quarantine breakdown and failed contact tracing in Victoria, Australia's death rate from COVID wouldn't have been over 900. It would've been far fewer, perhaps as few as 100. That is a remarkable statistic out of a population of 25 million Australians in this country. That is why the Morrison government is, as our first step of the COVID vaccination rollout, making sure that it's our senior citizens in aged care and their workers that are the first to receive the COVID vaccine.

Across the country we have 4,122 aged-care facilities and they have received their first or second dose of the COVID vaccine—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

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To continue, I'm very proud that the Morrison government has targeted the COVID vaccination rollout to our senior citizens. Across the country we have 4,122 aged-care facilities, and we now know that at 94 per cent of these facilities first doses have been administered. This is a great outcome for the protection of the vulnerable in our community, particularly our older citizens.

The other aspect of our recently announced budget which I'm very proud of is our groundbreaking $2.3 billion National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan. This is another key priority for the Morrison government, to spearhead much-needed reform and assistance for Australians in need. On the back of the longstanding recognition by the coalition that mental health is just as important as your physical health, the Morrison government remains steadfast in its commitment to guaranteeing all Australians access to world-leading mental health and suicide prevention services. Through the transformation of our mental health system, Australians can have access to top-quality care whenever, and wherever they might be.

Every year, we tragically lose more than 3,000 of our fellow Australians to suicide. Heartbreakingly, suicide continues to remain the leading cause of death amongst Australians aged 15 to 44. In my first speech I spoke of how I had lost my cousin to suicide. He was a young man who lived in the regions and had difficulty accessing services. He came from an extended family of doctors, but unfortunately there were no services that were age appropriate in the town of Beechworth, where he lived. That is why I'm proud that the Morrison government is ambitious in its unwavering commitment to the transformation of Australia's mental health system, and that is through a fivefold plan.

We heard from the previous speaker that they believed we didn't have a plan that looked at prevention and early intervention. That, indeed, is not the case. It's a misrepresentation of the facts. The facts are: our fivefold plan includes prevention and early intervention, with $248.6 million to go towards access to essential services, including the creation of a landmark digital platform that will provide online professional counselling, peer support, clinical support and referrals. We want there to be no wrong door. When people are in need, they need to be able to access mental health support, whichever portal they go through.

Secondly, we're investing record levels of funding in suicide prevention, with $298 million to work towards zero suicide. Most prominently, this will be through funding universal aftercare so that every Australian discharged from hospital following a suicide attempt will have services wrapped around them. We know this is a highly vulnerable subpopulation and we need to provide targeted services to support those who've attempted suicide.

Thirdly, there is an increased package of treatment, with $1.4 billion to improve and enhance accessibility to and effectiveness of mental health services through the creation of a national network of multidisciplinary mental health treatment centres.

Fourthly, we have further investment to support the vulnerable, with $107 million for marginalised community members, including $79 million for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, $16.9 million for migrants and multicultural communities, and $11 million for those with complex mental health needs.

Lastly in our five-point plan is workforce and governance, with $202 million for measures to grow the mental health labour force and provide additional staff resources and training.

Just last week I was fortunate to visit, with the Prime Minister, headspace Elsternwick, which in 2007 was the very first headspace centre to open in Australia. In meeting with counsellors and carers and the great Australian of the Year Professor Pat McGorry, it was wonderful to be reminded of the brilliant work that these facilities and the workers in them are providing to those who need mental health support. Recognising the brilliant work of headspace, we are also enhancing and expanding the network, with 10 new headspace centres and five satellite services, at a cost of $278.6 million, bringing the total number of headspace services throughout Australia to 164. This will include a headspace in Higgins. I'm delighted, because we really need one. I know this because, when I spoke to the headspace in Elsternwick, they told me that they receive many referrals from my electorate of Higgins.

As a paediatrician and mother, I appreciate just how important these services are to so many young Australians, but we need more than that. We need services for children and for adults, including the Head to Health initiatives that are also being rolled out as part of this budget. My community is benefiting from the real reform and record investments made by the Morrison government. I'm proud that we are backing our community and businesses as we secure Australia's future. I'm proud that we are taking care of Higgins.

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