Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Ministers of State Amendment Bill 2022 is only before us because of the extraordinary steps that were taken by the former Prime Minister the member for Cook, who, between March 2020 and May 2021, was appointed by the Governor-General to administer not only his own Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet but an additional five portfolios of the executive. He made himself the secret Minister for Health, the secret Minister for Finance, the secret Treasurer, the secret Minister for Home Affairs and the secret Minister for Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. In almost all cases, the gazetted portfolio minister was completely unaware of their understudy. But, even as late as last week, details of this deception were still being discovered, with the GuardianAustralia reporting that the former member for Tangney Ben Morton and the member for Capricornia, Michelle Landry, were appointed to administer the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of Home Affairs. As the member for Swan has pointed out, the member for McPherson summed it up best in her interview with Sky News last Thursday. The member for McPherson said: 'It's not okay to behave in the way the former Prime Minister and others have in relation to keeping information secret.'

But this is only the most recent chapter in this tale of deception. On 22 August 2022 the Solicitor-General's advice was publicly released, noting that the principles of responsible government were fundamentally undermined by the actions of the member for Cook. This finding directly challenged the coalition's response to the news about the then Prime Minister's action. They argued it wasn't against the law—a desperately narrow observation and one which shows little respect for the Australian parliament and the Australian people. The Solicitor-General's finding was repeated by the Bell inquiry, which observed that the principles of responsible government were fundamentally undermined. As a brief aside, can you imagine watching an episode of Yes, Prime Minister where Jim Hacker secretly takes on five extra ministries? We would have laughed and laughed and probably thought that, even for this show, they were stretching it a bit too far. But, in reality, these actions were the quintessence of how the Morrison government operated, with a command-and-control structure which inevitably led to mess and mismanagement. So much for cabinet government!

The Liberals' mess and mismanagement is the culmination of a decade of inaction. No matter where you looked, you would find evidence of their mess and mismanagement. For example, when Labor was first elected in May 2022 there were one million backlogged visas; that's one million people who were awaiting a decision that they could come to or stay in this country, build a family here, visit their loved ones or bring much-needed skills to Australia. That's one million people the previous government was unable to help or was simply uninterested in helping. By the end of 2022 our Labor government had processed over four million visas since the election. That meant Australians were reconnected with loved ones before Christmas. And we were addressing the skills shortages the previous government left us and our economy. Despite hiring 400 staff to process applications, there is still work to be done in processing just under 600,000 visa applications.

The Albanese Labor government is also working to clear the backlog of NDIS cases that was left by the previous government, who were too preoccupied with their harsh, unfair and illegal robodebt scheme. The government has established alternate dispute resolution processes to address NDIS appeals, resulting in a drastic reduction in the number of cases before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The latest numbers regarding the AAT backlog show that 4,401 NDIS cases have been resolved at the AAT since 1 June 2022—a 27 per cent reduction in overall caseload since May 2022, and 70 per cent of the 4,501 legacy cases active in May 2022 have now been resolved. I have seen the impact of this in my own electorate of Cunningham, where, with the support of the minister, my office has been able to bring resolution to the logjam of cases left by the former government. These are more than just statistics; these are brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives who need support to live fulfilling and meaningful lives.

This Labor government has turned to Australia's leading disability advocates and policy experts to help turn the tide on NDIA culture—including former Australian of the Year and Paralympic legend Kurt Fearnley AO, who is now chairing the NDIA board. Only now, in 2023, because of this government's decisions, are there five people with disability on the NDIA board—the largest number in the NDIA's history. Having people with disability feeling as though they are forced to fight for a moderate support package makes no sense. I, like the minister, acknowledge there is still more work to be done.

The Liberals' mess and mismanagement also saw the Australian energy grid and energy users come under increasing pressures. Only the Albanese Labor government is making the investments that should have been made a long time ago—including in my community, where we have invested more than $1 million in a University of Wollongong study finding ways to keep Australia's grid secure through the renewable energy transformation. We are investing $10 million to establish the Energy Futures Skills Centre, located at the University of Wollongong, so we have the skilled workforce to build the grid of the future; $2.5 million for a renewable energy training centre at the Wollongong TAFE—I acknowledge my colleague the minister for skills and vocational education—which will include upgrades to equipment and teaching aids; $9 million to Hysata to develop and deliver new low-cost hydrogen in Port Kembla; and 400 community batteries to store excess energy from rooftop solar generation, like the one in Warrawong in my electorate, which is one of the lowest socio-economic areas. And we are listing the Illawarra as one of the first six proposed sites for offshore wind.

All this is in addition to the New Energy Apprenticeships Program, which will support Australians to train for the jobs of future and help power Australia's path to net zero emissions. Apprentices training in eligible occupations in the clean energy sector can now attract up to $10,000 in direct support, helping them to manage the cost of living while they train in sectors that are essential to Australia's transition to a clean energy economy.

Unlike the mess and mismanagement of the former government, this side of the chamber is getting on with the job of fixing the problems by investing in the skills that are needed for our future prosperity. The bill that is before us shows the government is delivering on its promises to the Australian people, promises that were made to restore trust and integrity to federal politics.

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