Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today on my wife's birthday, so happy birthday, Lisa. She's at home, and no doubt I've got to make sure the flowers get there on time. Today I proudly rise to support the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2023-2024. I'm proud to be part of a government that can balance fiscal responsibility with providing cost-of-living relief to Australians most affected by the cost-of-living crisis. I'm especially proud of this responsible budget for our communities in McEwen, who were left behind for nearly a decade and now are finally being listened to. With this, on top of the boost for investment in local infrastructure that the government put through the October budget, like the Wallan ramps and the Macedon Ranges Regional Sports Precinct, the people of McEwen can be assured that this Albanese government stands with us and supports us. This is in stark contrast to how we were treated for nine years under those opposite, where time and time again we were totally ignored. The coalition legacy in McEwen is one of neglect and loss for our areas, with broken promises, empty rhetoric and no investment. This is why I stand proudly with a government that invests with our communities and shows up for our people.

I had the honour of accompanying our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, in our beautiful electorate back a couple of weeks ago, the first time a prime minister had shown up in our communities outside of an election period since Julia Gillard—and that's telling. We welcomed the PM to Occasional Child Care Centre Diamond Creek, a local Nillumbik shire run centre. There the Prime Minister met with local educators and children at the centre. On arrival we met with Vicki Ward, our wonderful state member for Eltham, and with local councils and, of course, the centre staff before heading to the centre and to a welcoming reception and a lovely sign as we walked in.

Between entertaining the kids, we were able to talk about the investment we are making in early childhood education in the electorate. That means a staggering 6,500 families in McEwen will be better off because of the Albanese government's childcare package. Something we were really pleased to talk to the staff about was the $72 million to be invested to build and retain early childhood education workforce nationally. This will increase the quality of care that our wonderful childhood educators will be able to provide to students across Australia, including, in fact, the kids of Occasional Childcare Centre Diamond Creek. Emma Mobbs, a parent who uses the centre, advised that the reforms to childcare rebate coming on 1 July will have a significant impact on the family budget. She has two children in the care centre, and the rebates will see costs go down by at least $20 a day for her first and more for her second child.

But this trip wasn't just about conversations about policy in the budget; there were also big conversations about what the children at the centre's favourite animals were, where the Prime Minister proudly got out photos of his dog, Toto, and showed the kids, who were just in awe. They had a great time looking at the different pictures that he had, and I think it gave us an insight to a prime minister that actually cares and can take the time to listen and interact with people. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Diamond Creek, and the PM and I left having made wonderful connections with the children and staff. The Prime Minister especially noted the wonderful care the centre provides, and I couldn't be more proud of the way the whole show turned up that day.

All these stories just reinforce the importance of adequate funding in the childhood education space and why our government has had to act swiftly to support and build the industry that is responsible for the building blocks of our kids' futures—actually, our country's future. Quickly, I would like to especially thank the director, Anne Luttick, for having us there, talking with us and showing us around this wonderful place. We have met a few times now, as I presented her husband with a saluting certificate for his time in the Middle East, and she is very, very inspiring with the pride and passion in the way she talks about the work she does.

Early childhood education isn't the only education sector the government has increased funding to. In primary and secondary education, we have invested $4 million in Victoria through the Teacher Workload Reduction Fund to take the pressure off and maximise the value of teachers' time. For our recent and future school leavers, or those who are interested in upskilling and changing careers, I'm pleased to highlight this budget's investment in postsecondary education: $127 million to fund 4,000 additional university places over the next four years to boost the number of STEM graduates. It also provides 20,000 additional university places for disadvantaged Australians, including 4,000 additional places in Victoria. Further, in the jobs and skills sector, specifically to McEwen, over 3,000 apprentices will benefit from a $54 million investment into Australian apprenticeship supports to improve completion rates.

The Prime Minister's visit wasn't the only one we had in McEwen; we also had the wonderful Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care visit Riddells Creek. We welcomed my very good friend Ged Kearney to discuss the government's record $3.5 billion investment to GPs to bulk bill, tripling the current incentive and acting as an immediate injection to support patients in general practice. This is the largest ever bulk billing incentive increase in the history of Medicare, and it will provide benefit to some 70,000 people right across our communities. We were especially thrilled to take in the Riddell Country Practice in Riddells Creek. We spoke to the management consultant, John Cross; the practice manager, Angela Williams, and GP Greg Rowles. John Cross spoke of the difficulties faced by rural and regional practices attracting and retaining GPs—something that is not unique to our area; it's a problem right across the nation. We listened to the concerns within the professional community. We spoke of the extended healthcare concerns GPs are being presented with, especially with the need for mental health services following the pandemic.

We were able to speak to how the government is working to strengthen Medicare and assist GPs to provide the best primary care they can, because after nine long years of cuts and neglect, the Albanese government is making Medicare stronger for all Australians. Our historic investment in Medicare delivers the largest ever increase to bulk billing incentives, making it easier for Australians to visit a doctor and be bulk billed. The government is also delivering on its promise for cheaper medicines. Over 35,000 people in McEwen will be able to buy two months worth of medicine for the price of a single prescription for more than 300 common PBS medicines. Overall, it will save people around $200 a year on every single medicine they take, which is about $1.6 billion across the nation.

While we were at the practice, we also took the opportunity to talk to a local pharmacist, who raised his concerns about changes the system. We spent time listening to his concerns, and I have taken them back to the health minister. It was a great visit that showed that the government is not only listening to health care professionals but acting.

We're also working very hard to improve the quality of aged care and support for Australians by investing in aged care. In this budget, we are unlocking funding that will mean 69 more recommendations from the aged-care royal commission be implemented. We are doing this by helping older people live independently at home. We've capped administration fees and banned exit fees, and we're delivering 9,500 more aged-care packages while we develop the Support at Home Program. This budget allocates $11.3 billion over four years to fund the 15 per cent pay increase in the award for many aged-care workers. This will support approximately 56,000 aged-care workers in Victoria. We are doing this because Labor understands that looking after workers will mean that our parents, grandparents and, eventually, we will receive better care and support. Overall, the changes made to the health and care sectors in this budget will start to ease the burden on the workforce, the patients and the system overall. This budget provides that responsible relief that was missing for nearly a decade.

Importantly, this budget reinforces the safety net for Australians, and I'm proud to be part of a government that is doing all it can to ease the burden for those most in need. We are doing this through Commonwealth rent assistance as part of our $14.6 billion budget package. Ultimately, this means that payments will increase $40 a fortnight. This will help some 13,500 people in our communities who will receive an increase; almost 500 jobseekers aged between 55 and 59 in McEwen who will have their payments increase by $92 a fortnight; 425 single parents on JobKeeper in McEwen with children aged between eight and 14 who will move to parenting payment single, giving them an extra $176 a fortnight; and 11,870 households in McEwen who will benefit from a 15 per cent boost to the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance. This boost to payments will help ease some of the pressures that people are facing every day due to the tumultuous global situation, while making sure our country stays in a strong position.

On top of the social support that this budget gives to Australians, the government is looking to continue to protect and improve the National Disability Insurance Scheme. We are making sure that the people who are receiving NDIS payments are at the centre of the NDIS. We're committed to delivering on its important promise to rebuild trust with NDIS participants, their families and their carers, but also, importantly, to making sure that it is sustainable into the future. A $732 million investment over four years will improve its effectiveness and delivery, including over $73 million to better support participants to manage their plan and access supports to achieve their goals. This will assist over 3,500 NDIS participants in McEwen.

We have also prioritised support for our returned service personnel. As the late President of the United States John F. Kennedy said, 'As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them'. We know that, and that's why this government is increasing support for veterans and implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. This budget is putting our words into action. More than 340,000 veterans and dependants across the country, including almost 3,000 veterans in McEwen, will benefit from the $328 million in the budget to support assessing services through the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Of that, $64 million will retain almost 500 DVA staff to deliver frontline services to veterans and families and clear the claims backlog. These are some of the public servants that the Leader of the Opposition said he wanted to cut in his budget in reply speech, when he said we have too many public servants. Under the former government, veterans were waiting over 1,000 days to have claims heard because of the shortage of staff. We've put humans back in control and working with veterans and their families to actually bring outcomes. Over 100 veterans in McEwen will benefit from the delivery of our commitment to increase the annual rate of the totally and permanently incapacitated veteran pension by $1,000 a year. Actions speak louder than words, which is why we as a government are acting swiftly on implementing these reforms and boosting funding in this area.

The government is continuing investment in Victoria. This House will know—members will have listened to me and to my colleagues from Victoria—how we missed out for a decade under the previous government. Labor is investing in genuine nation-building infrastructure. Creating economic productivity connects communities and works towards a lower carbon economy. We are doing this by investing in infrastructure projects like the $150 million for Camerons Lane into the northern freight terminal, $1.75 billion for North East Link and, of course, crucial projects in our community, like the Watson Street ramps.

For the electorate of McEwen, we are seeing huge upgrades in infrastructure. We are now getting our fair share, with $2.4 billion for the NBN in last year's budget seeing over 20,000 premises in our communities have access to higher internet speeds. On top of that, there is a $10.1 million investment in public safety mobile broadband to support connectivity for our first responders. We know the investment in this infrastructure is critical to our peri-urban and regional communities, and I fully support the work being done here.

With all these investments in the state of Victoria and in our beautiful electorate of McEwen, I am proud to support this responsible budget—a budget that gives relief where it is needed most to the most vulnerable members of our society; a budget that invests in health, our kids' future and our grandparents; and a budget that supports workers, creates jobs and redresses our infrastructure deficit. This budget is a budget that embodies the great Australian value of making sure everyone gets a fair go.

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