Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2021-2022, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2021-2022 and the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2021-2022. For all the rhetoric, which we've heard a lot of from this government, this is a budget full of lost opportunities and one which, yet again—it's not for the first time—leaves the people of my electorate worse off.

When you look behind the rhetoric, there really is no substantive policy framework to be found. In my electorate, unfortunately, we don't even get the cameras, the fanfare and the announcements that eventually end up without any delivery. We don't get any of that, which some of my other colleagues have spoken about. We actually get nothing. So, if there's one overwhelming thread in the Morrison government's budget, it's that it actually fails to offer anything substantive to the Australian people and fails to account for how it will meet their real aspirations and their long-term aspirations that reach into the future prosperity of their children and their grandchildren. It goes to the government's lack of accountability when it comes to using public money to feed private coffers, which is why we need policies that reflect the practical realities on the ground and actually serve to deliver for everyday Australians—policies that go beyond rhetoric and afford people real opportunities.

That's the fundamental point of difference between us on this side of the House and those on the opposite side. Labor offers the Australian people the opportunity of a fresh start after eight long years of economic mismanagement by the Morrison government, and that's because Labor seizes on opportunities and, in particular, Australia's job opportunities. An Albanese Labor government will invest $100 million to support 10,000 new energy apprenticeships in a renewable energy industry that is poised to be part of our economic prosperity into the future. We will encourage apprentices to train in the new energy jobs of the future, and we need to start to speak about and articulate exactly where those energy jobs are and what they will be. We will deliver to apprentices who choose to train in the new energy industries up to $10,000—$2,000 on commencement and $2,000 a year for up to four years afterwards, including on successful completion. Why would these details behind Labor's policy framework be particularly important? It's because it speaks to the needs of the many people in my electorate who find obstacle after obstacle thrown in their way, especially the young people who are at a disadvantage when seeking out their first-year apprenticeships or traineeships. One of the main things that leaves people disheartened is that it's hard to get picked up as a second- or third-year apprentice when you couldn't get a look in for your first year to begin with. Then there are those who lose their job going into the final year of their apprenticeship and are left scrambling for an offer from someone to allow them to complete their qualification so that they can go on and establish themselves and work for a living in the area they have been trained in.

The reality speaks for itself. We have 140,000 fewer Australian apprentices today than we had when the coalition came to office. It's no wonder when, on top of all of this, billions are ripped out of TAFE and vocational training, which actually offer pathways and opportunities for people in my electorate. At a time of high unemployment and skills shortage, we're apparently supposed to entrust our economic recovery to a government that presides over 140,000 fewer apprenticeships today than eight years ago—a government that compounds the problem by ripping away the pathways that could actually address this crisis. How does the Morrison government propose to address this skills crisis, since it has presided over eight years of cuts to TAFE? They have been eight damaging years that have attacked the people in my community on two fronts: by reducing the availability of relevant pathways for new skills for young people, and by destroying opportunities for experienced workers looking to reskill or even upskill in emerging industries.

Compare and contrast the Morrison government's cuts to TAFE with the Victorian Labor state government's recent budget announcement of $60 million in funding for redevelopment of the Kangan Institute's Broadmeadows campus, which is in my electorate. Labor governments demonstrate that we value and deliver on the fact that Australian jobs must be good, secure jobs, driven in part by clear employment pathways that are all about delivering on fairness and opportunity, because a national recovery must be precisely that: truly national and all encompassing, focusing on jobs—good, secure well-paid jobs. These are the sorts of opportunities that make a real impact on the lives of many in my electorate who, for far too long, have had to contend with a two-track economy that I sometimes refer to as the three Ps: postcode, policy and prosperity. It is often the reality of these policies that their impact—whether you have it pretty good or pretty hard—can be discriminatory, depending on where you live. I know we live in strange times, but some things are just so far removed from reality that they're hard to even comprehend. By that I mean this: how can this government claim to speak for true believers when it has spent eight years trashing the very thing that is most dear to them: job fairness and security—a fair day's pay for a fair day's work?

The party of those opposite, the party of Work Choices, is an antiworker party. On this side of the House, job fairness and job security are not just empty slogans; they are at the heart of Labor's policy and our commitment to standing up for the interests of working people. That is why I'm very proud that an Albanese Labor government will legislate to criminalise wage theft. The figures reflected in a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers show that the scope and scale of wage theft in Australia is rampant across the board. The figure for the underpayment of Australian workers entitlements is $1.35 million every year, and I'm particularly concerned about its impact on migrants, who are disproportionately affected. Rather than ignoring this problem and playing political games, the Morrison government needs to pass legislation establishing criminal penalties for employers who are deliberately involved in wage theft. A government that claims to govern for all Australians, a government that wants to claim it speaks for the true believers, cannot preside over and enable systematic wage theft.

This undercutting of everyday workers who make the systems we rely on function seems to prevail across every sector that the Morrison government presides over. One has to look no further than our aged-care system as a case in point. It is a system where aged-care workers are being paid at the bottom of their award and where it's more lucrative to be working at McDonald's than it is to be caring for older Australians. Rather than adopting the recommendations of the royal commission to address this, the government simply takes note, like some sort of bystander simply walking past, detached from the reality and experiences of most Australians. These are some of our most important workers. They are working within a system that is, quite frankly, a mark of shame on our national character. What's occurring right across our aged-care system is a national disgrace. The horror stories and the gross neglect that the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety found really ought to make this government hang its head in shame. When you look into the details of the government's response to the royal commission, it really goes to show that they either are incompetent, insofar as they don't understand the real issues behind the gross neglect, or don't even wish to begin to address the real issues. My fear is that the Morrison government's response is very much a mixture of both incompetence and a lack of caring.

The royal commission recommended that strict accountability measures be put in place for providers, including public reporting that includes:

i. details of the provider's expenditure to meet the basic needs of residents, especially their nutritional needs, and will include spending on raw food, pre-processed food, bought-in food, kitchen staff … and the average number of residents

That was the royal commission's recommendation in relation to appropriate feeding of our aged-care residents. What was the government's response to this? It was simply:

The supplement will be payable once the residential aged care provider has given an undertaking that they will report to Government on expenditure on food on a quarterly basis.

That's a blank cheque to providers, with absolutely no accountability. It is not tied to the number of residents, to the care of older Australians or to a resident's nutritional needs in an aged-care system where somewhere between 22 per cent and 50 per cent of aged-care residents are malnourished. Instead it's a $3.2 billion gift to providers. We've seen how providers relish funds from the government in relation to their own spending, and we saw that in Victoria last year. There are no strings attached. There is nothing to ensure that public funding doesn't go to management bonuses and isn't redirected to benefit the bottom line of the provider. It really goes to where I began. Rather than addressing the needs of a significant part of our population, the Morrison government's policy responses instead are driven by one thing and one thing only: the use of public money to fill private coffers. That is one of the fundamental problems in aged care.

Stemming from this, one area which is of particular concern to many people in my electorate is the government's failure to adopt the royal commission's recommendation to meet older Australians' preference to age in place. This goes right to the heart of the issue of home-care packages. For migrant communities in my electorate, home care as an option quite often takes precedence over residential care. Often families are not inclined to have elderly parents sent to nursing homes. They do that only when it's absolutely necessary. How could you even begin to instil confidence in a system where specialised multilingual services in aged care are not up to scratch and where culturally appropriate residential care is seriously lacking? In a system that is defined by gross neglect, it's no wonder that people have no faith in its integrity.

The royal commission recognises this and calls on the government to deliver a home-care system that is demand driven rather than rationed. It's very clear that the government must immediately increase the home-care packages available and keep the waiting lists clear by the end of the year and onwards. It's the only way we're going to address the demand for home care amongst our elderly as we move forward. The Morrison government simply ignores this critical area. The waiting lists will, unfortunately, remain; care will be rationed; and clearly the neglect will continue.

There's a lot to be said about the neglect in this government's budget in aged care as well as in other areas, but I want to close on this: a budget which does not place people at the heart of policy considerations is a failed budget. It's clear that the people in my electorate are not a factor in the Morrison government's budget. It fails them, and it fails to deliver on the opportunities that should be open to all Australians, regardless of where they live, regardless of what their postcode is. Frankly, it's a budget of abandonment for the people I represent in the federal seat of Calwell.

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