Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker Wilkie, as you would be aware, around two-thirds of Tasmania's exports from mines, forests, farms and the sea come out of the electorate of Braddon. The Port of Burnie, Tasmania's largest port, transits five million tonnes of generalised containerised freight and more than 50 per cent of Tasmania's TCU containerised freight each year. Combine this with the Port of Devonport, home of the Spirits, the MV Mersey II and MV Liekut, run by SeaRoad, and the figure increases to 94.2 per cent of Tasmania's container freight transiting through the north-west coast of Tasmania and the electorate of Braddon.

It has always bewildered me that even though our region makes this significant contribution to our state and national economy, Braddon historically continually missed out on receiving the federal investment that the region deserved. When this investment did flow, it seemed to me that it was more out of pity, a result of a cap in hand from previous members in my position, focusing on our weaknesses. What that did to the confidence and self-esteem of the rising generation was not optimal.

Instead, when I was elected in 2019, I vowed to focus on our region's potential and the positive strength of our region of Braddon. Working with businesses, local governments, state governments, community groups and individuals, we identified the projects that would move us forward and set up our region for generations to come. Armed with this information, I set about talking up our region, showing by the north-west, the west coast and King Island were a sound investment for business that would return dividends many times over in future years.

That businesslike, outcome orientated approach worked. Over my first term, the electorate of Braddon received the second-highest federal investment of any electorate in the nation. More than 700 projects were shared equally across our eight local government areas, delivering $1.3 billion into local economies. No region in my electorate missed out. These investments have started to build infrastructure and have provided the services our region needs and deserves. These investments have employed thousands of Tasmanians, supported thousands of small businesses and kept money flowing in local communities and into the pockets of local families. These investments represented value for money and started the journey towards our region reaching its enormous untapped potential.

The 2023 budget was the Albanese government's opportunity to confirm that they have the same commitment that I speak of—the same commitment as the previous government—and that they were willing to continue the journey with those who live in the north-west, the west coast and King Island and continue to invest in our wealth-creating world's best industries and key infrastructure projects. Contrary to popular belief, governments don't create wealth; it's small business that creates wealth. That's where my head's at. Government's job is to provide the right business environment for those businesses to create wealth, and to get out of their way and let them get on with what they do best: turning a dollar, moving our economy forward and reinvesting in our region.

If you are government who can't think like a business, who don't have a business approach, then you only have one strategy, and that is to increase taxes. Increasing taxes on businesses, increasing taxes on hardworking families—even when Prime Minister Albanese promised that he wouldn't do this, it is, at the end of the day, the only move that Labor has in its playbook. Labor's decision to axe the low- and middle-income tax offset measure will impose the biggest tax increase in our country's history. This isn't targeted at the rich. Labor is squarely targeting hardworking, middle-income Australians, like those in my electorate—nurses, teachers, tradies, disability workers, waiters et cetera. Ninety per cent of all taxpayers across the north-west, west coast and King Island will be hit—the young, the old and everyone in between. If you earn less than $126,000, you will have up to $1,500 less in your pocket because of this government's measure. If you earn $50,000, you'll be around $20 a week worse off.

At a time when the cost of living is skyrocketing, families are really struggling. They're struggling with the mortgage, they're struggling with rent, they're struggling to pay the fuel bill and they're struggling to pay the grocery bill. This budget was an opportunity for this government to step up and begin to tackle rampant food price inflation. This is the No. 1 issue that I'm hearing right across our region. People are making really serious choices at the grocery store check-out.

Instead of implementing one single practical measure that would bring down the cost of living that all families are experiencing, the Albanese government is imposing a new $153 million biosecurity levy on our farmers. Not only will this new tax apply to three of Braddon's most important export sectors—farming, fishing and forestry—but also, to rub salt into the wound, this tax on our farmers will be used to pay for the biosecurity risk imposed by their international competitors as they import competitive products into the state. It is counterintuitive and defies logic. Farmers will have no choice but to pass this on through the supply chain. It's marvellous how gravity takes effect when it comes to the impost of cost. This will result in higher prices at the check-out and will hurt families.

Then there's a truckie tax. If trucks grind to a halt then our economy grinds to a halt. Yes, trucks carry loads, but they, more importantly, carry the country. Amid record high inflation and diesel costs, now is not the time to tax our trucking sector with an increased road user tax. Again this government is interested not in the bush but rather in the city. This charge will disproportionately affect regional Australians, who rely more heavily on trucking for the distribution of products throughout the supply chain.

The road user charge is designed to cover the cost of maintenance of roads due to heavy vehicle traffic. This applies to each litre of diesel consumed by heavy vehicles on public roads. From 1 June the current rate of 27.2c per litre of diesel will increase until it reaches 32.4c for the 2025-26 financial year. The trucking industry can't absorb this additional cost. They're already running on the smell of an oily rag. Like the biosecurity tax on our farmers, gravity will take effect and this cost will be passed down the supply chain to those families I talked about who are doing it tough. Everybody loses.

It was the coalition that began record investment in the aged-care sector. I genuinely welcome this government's continued investment in aged care. All Australians, no matter where they live, deserve to have a dignified and respectful life as they age. That's why in the lead-up to the 2022 election the federal Liberal government pledged to address the shortfall of aged-care services on the west coast of Tasmania. Our $3 million commitment meant that the west coast's requests for further aged-care beds in Queenstown would be fulfilled. The Liberal Party clearly understand that taking older residents away from those local communities and back up the coast is unviable. They need to age with dignity in the regions where they grew up.

Unfortunately, this important commitment to the communities on the west coast and, more importantly, the town of Queenstown has not been met by the Labor government. It continues to be ignored, despite several pieces of correspondence I have written. I've written to the Minister for Aged Care. The response from the Albanese government was that they will not be making any commitment to aged care on the west coast. Three million dollars is a moderate investment in budget terms in the big scheme of things. This region makes such an enormous contribution, such as the contribution I talked about earlier, and this is a priority for me, my region, my people and my communities. I ask the government to recommit to this $3 million of extra funding for west coast aged-care facilities.

I believe in small government. I believe the further away from Canberra and the more local we can make our decision-making, the better value for money taxpayers receive. Let's keep the bureaucrats out of it. Hardworking taxpayers right across the north-west, the west coast and King Island have every right to expect that a fair share of their taxes are invested right back into the region where they pay them.

This is something the former government had a proud history of delivering, with programs such as the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, which directly funded our eight local councils in my region so they could invest in these projects that were important to them. The Stronger Communities Program fund delivered equal funds to every electorate right across the nation so wonderful community organisations could find small capital projects and fund them. Under this Albanese government, both programs have been axed. Both programs have injected billions of dollars into the electorate of Braddon and have resulted in hundreds of projects being effectively and efficiently delivered, from painting the Currie Lighthouse on King Island to providing exercise equipment in South Burnie, redeveloping a skate park in Ulverstone, constructing a new dog park in Smithton, delivering a tip shop at Devonport—I tell you what, that's being heavily utilised as we speak—resealing the roads right across Latrobe, updating the Wynyard sports centre and delivering a series of road safety initiatives right across the west coast. The list goes on and on.

To further demonstrate that this government has an absolute lack of understanding of life within the bush, while axing these programs, they have announced the single biggest increase to the Public Service in 15 years so that they can implement competitive, Australia wide Canberra-controlled alternatives, which is exactly the antithesis of what I was just speaking about. It's shameful, and regional and rural Australia has missed out. The bush has been forsaken.

There were around 1,187 fatalities on our nation's roads in the 12 months to end of February, 45 more than in the same period last year. It's a travesty. In Tasmania, this represented a 36.8 per cent increase in lost lives. It's devastating. It's sad and confronting that that statistic means Tasmania has the highest per capita road death ratio of any state in the country. Armed with this evidence, the government should be recommitting to continue funding in our critical road and road safety programs within the great state of Tassie—programs such as the Black Spot Program, the Roads to Recovery program, the Bridges Renewal Program, the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program. These four programs support our state. They remedy exactly what I'm talking about right across our eight local councils as they undertake priority road safety upgrades.

Previous governments from both sides knew the value of these programs both in economic terms and in terms of lives saved. They knew that, without this federal investment, councils simply don't have the support and capital that they need to conduct those works themselves. The required maintenance simply would not get done. It wouldn't go on. Every previous government knew this, but not the Albanese government.

This government has turned its back on these regional and rural roads. These four vitally important programs have been included in what Labor is calling their 90-day infrastructure review. I know that the infrastructure minister visited our electorate on a number of occasions, but that was obviously just for the photo op, as far as I'm concerned. She should have worked out pretty quickly that if she is to be a loud and clear advocate then these programs must continue. Local councils and their communities require certainty that these programs are not at risk of being axed.

To the minister and to the government, I say: the bush is important. The bush is hurting, and it's hurting the people that can't afford it—that really suffer the most. I am pleading with the government to reconsider prioritising regional and rural communities like the electorate of Braddon, because those families need that surety at the moment. They live in communities right across the electorate of Braddon which have the potential to overcome the current hurdles that they're going through. So let's look after the bush.

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