Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution on the 2023-24 appropriation bills. There is no doubt that this country needs a strong economy with lower taxes, business incentives and infrastructure investments all over Australia. Unfortunately the federal government's priorities are the exact opposite. This is clear in this year's budget. Labor's budget has put a review on the $120 billion infrastructure bills, putting all regional programs in doubt. Central Queensland is the economic engine room of Australia, yet it has not been supported by this year's budget. It appears that the federal Labor government is happy to strip critical funding from regional projects and pump the money into metropolitan areas. There also hasn't been a commitment that vital regional Queensland infrastructure projects will not be impacted by this review.

For instance, there is no commitment of funding for the Rockhampton Ring Road, which will unlock future economic growth and deliver significant benefits including improved flood resilience, greater efficiencies, road safety and reduced travel times. There is no commitment to seal more than 450 kilometres of Queensland beef corridors, which will upgrade and seal the Clermont-Alpha road, the Murray Downs road, the Kilcummin-Diamond Downs road, the Alpha-Tambo road, the Dawson Development Road, the Fitzroy Developmental Road, the Fitzroy Developmental Road Bauhinia to Taroom, the Duaringa-Apis Creek road and the Glenroy road corridor, as well as other projects. There are no commitments for upgrades of the inland freight route from Charters Towers to Mungindi, which is an important alternative north-south route to the Bruce Highway and North Coast rail line, particularly during extreme weather events. It also forms part of the nationally accredited key freight network servicing key supply chains and value-adding to great note.

There is no commitment to the Port of Gladstone Access Road Extension, which had a $100 million commitment on the table from the previous coalition government since 3 April 2019. The funding was to provide an alternative route for heavy vehicles accessing the Port of Gladstone to increase freight efficiencies and improve safety for local motorists. There is no commitment to Paradise Dam to restore the 170,000 megalitre structure back to its original 300,000 megalitre capacity by reinforcing its walls to their original height. Enough of delays and reviews. The federal government needs to commit to funding these critical projects.

I acknowledge the government's $2 billion for upscaling green hydrogen production in Australia, particularly in the Gladstone area this year. What this government does not understand is the fact that hydrogen industry plans for Gladstone will also need water. It takes approximately 10 litres of fresh water to make a kilo of hydrogen. If we are serious about making a world-class hydrogen industry in Gladstone that can create industrial quantities of hydrogen—I'm talking about millions of tons annually—then where is the water coming from? Where are the ideas and plans to supply water and more water infrastructure?

On a positive note, the government has done something to address the cost-of-living pressures felt by many Australian families by increasing rent assistance, JobSeeker allowance, single parenting payment cutoff and tripling the Medicare rebate. However, many people will not be eligible for these cost-of-living assistance measures. It remains to be seen what effect this will have on inflation and interest rate rises. Already the Reserve Bank is signalling more possible rate rises.

The Labor government has also announced a six per cent increase in the heavy vehicle road user charge per year over a three-year period, which equates to more than an 18 per cent increase over three years. Everything we make in this country and every good we buy that gets to a shop travel on a truck, whether it originates from a farm or a factory or enters this country by a port. I repeat: everything comes on the back of a truck, from a jar of vegemite to a wind turbine component. Our truckies keep this country running. They keep food on the table and goods to our shopping centres, with more than 197,000 people employed in the industry. Labor's reckless truckie tax puts drivers' jobs and livelihoods at risk. The minister for infrastructure argues that this increased truckie tax gives certainty to the transport industry, but the only certainty the transport industry will have is to increase their charges and pass their costs on to the consumer. How can this possibly be helping with the cost-of-living crisis that many Australians are experiencing? Everything comes on the back of a truck, as I've said. Industry passes on these costs, and ultimately the consumers will pay more. This is bad policy from the government and will only add to inflation and to the cost of living.

The 2023 budget does not provide any improvement in regional child care and has failed to invest in initiatives to deal with the challenges faced by regional families. In my electorate of Flynn in Central Queensland, many families cannot find childcare places for their children. This is preventing parents from returning to work sooner. Our communities need availability and accessibility as well as affordability. Labor's policies have failed to introduce one single new childcare place in Flynn. There are 36 childcare providers in my electorate of Flynn, offering a maximum of 2,419 places. Centres are capping their enrolments, closing rooms and asking children to stay home. I've spoken to families stuck on the waiting list, unable to work because there are no places or services for their children. Labor's plan states that Indigenous children will be able to access 36 hours of subsidised child care per fortnight from July 2023. Woorabinda and Eidsvold, which have large First Nations Indigenous populations, do not have any childcare facilities available at all. How can every Indigenous child receive 36 hours per fortnight when there are no places? Labor is willing to spend billions on early leaning, and not a single dollar will go towards creating new places for children who need it the most.

The Labor government has broken its headline election commitment to older Australians to have a registered nurse on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in every aged-care home in the Flynn electorate by 1 July 2023. Labor's expediated one-size-fits-all approach to aged-care regulation failed to consider the significant workforce challenges currently before the sector. The government has continued to cause serious distress and uncertainty for aged-care providers, and the older Australians they care for, by bringing forward the royal commission's time lines and imposing rigid constraints on the industry. In doing so, they were more focused on trying to tick and flick an election commitment than on genuinely responding to the needs of these older Australians. I support older Australians receiving the best possible care, and I condemn Labor's actions as reckless and damaging to the industry. Just recently it was reported that 23 aged-care homes have shut their doors since September last year. I think the government should provide a guarantee from the minister that no more facilities will close as a result of the government's actions.

Labor have also broken another election promise: to deliver 50 urgent care clinics within their first 12 months in government, including the clinics promised in Rockhampton and Bundaberg. On the eve of the election the Prime Minister's own finance minister, Katy Gallagher, promised that an elected Labor government would have 50 urgent care clinics up and running across Australia within the first year. This promise has been consistently reiterated on the floor of parliament during the last budget estimates, despite the government being unable to confirm even the locations of these clinics. I've now been advised that the time frame for opening a Medicare urgent care clinic in Queensland will be contingent on the outcomes of the EOI processes. They are now aiming at having clinics open before 1 July 2023 if possible and, if not, by the end of the calendar year, and the clock is ticking. No wonder people can't trust this government!

While Labor have implemented changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, allowing 60-day dispensing instead of 30, this will risk unintended consequences such as rural medical supply shortages. The government policy cuts $3.5 billion out of community pharmacies, cutting vital services for patients. The impacts of these cuts will affect small, rural and remote pharmacies, resulting in a significant reduction to services and opening hours and, in some cases, in closures. The Albanese government must provide a strong guarantee that this change will not harm the viability of community pharmacies and therefore will not be another broken promise.

Community pharmacies play an integral role in the provision of primary health care in Australia, particularly in rural and regional Australia, and we do not want to see any community pharmacies close as a result of the government's actions. Australian patients deserve affordable, accessible and safe access to their pharmacy services. This should be true whether they live in rural and remote Australia or metropolitan Australia.

In conclusion, it's clear the Labor budget has done a lot to appease metropolitan Australia and very little for regional and rural Australia, particularly for my electorate of Flynn in Central Queensland.

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