Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services) Share this | Hansard source

Last night's budget goes a long way to helping businesses and Australian workers. It does a number of things. It extends the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements scheme to a future workforce so that can be secured. It gives apprentices $5,000 to help them in their first and second years, when their wages are lower, and gives $15,000 to the employers who are putting them on. It extends the instant asset write-off, which is really important to help businesses with their cash flow as they hire more people. And it helps with the cost of living, with a reduction of 22 cents a litre in the fuel excise to kick in immediately. That will help people as they fill up their petrol tank each week. There's medicines relief for 2.4 million people. There's $1.3 billion for women's safety, which is really important in helping to stop domestic violence. Single parents will now be able to access up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave under the Paid Parental Leave scheme. There's record investment in defence. There's a $420 tax offset to help 10 million Australians and a $250 payment to help six million Australians. It's a good budget and I want to congratulate the Treasurer. I think it will help a lot of people in Petrie.

Over the last term we've been able to do a lot of things in Petrie. I always take it as an honour to be able to represent the people of Petrie. There are a few local things we've done: we've upgraded the Redcliffe Coast Guard and the Redcliffe Peninsula Surf Life Saving Club; we've got a new Medicare funded MRI machine at Redcliffe Hospital, and we've upgraded the intensive care unit; we've improved the lighting at the North Lakes Eels AFL; we've done the Gigum Hall at Mango Hill State School, which is Queensland's largest school in prep to year 6; we've done a brand-new community hall at Deception Bay; we've put in a new marquee at the Aspley bowls club; and we've improved the roads in Bracken Ridge at Hoyland Street and Norris Road at Barbour Road as well, which is brilliant. There's a lot to be done and there's more to do.

We've also got record road funding that we announced several years ago, with $800 million for the Gateway Motorway, $120 million for Linkfield Road, $120 million for the on and off ramps at Griffin and Murrumba Downs. But, unfortunately, all these funding commitments are reliant on the state Labor government to build them. I wrote to the Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Mark Bailey, last year, asking to bring forward Linkfield Road, but he refused to act. They're not starting that until early 2023, for a 2024 completion, just in time for the next state election. I'll continue to advocate for the state government to start that sooner for the local people.

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