Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Much as I enjoyed listening to the member for Blair's contribution, I think if you were listening to the member for Blair's contribution you would think that all is well with the world, that nothing is wrong, that the budget has solved every problem that this country faces. Well, I'm sorry to say that that is very far from the reality, and we are seeing the Australian people pay the price for Labor's wrong priorities and bad decisions.

This government is proof positive of this. We've seen once again, through the government's homegrown inflation, that the cost of living is up, energy prices are up, mortgages are up and grocery bills are up. The latest inflation data shows that, under Labor, prices across the board have risen by close to 10 per cent, with increases even greater in essential items. Food is up 10 per cent. Housing is up 12 per cent. Gas is up 25 per cent. Electricity is up 18 per cent. But what do we see in this budget? Do we see any effort to address the issues that are at the root of this inflation? No, we don't. Labor have instead made budgetary decisions that only create a situation where inflation will worsen or the risk that inflation will worsen will increase.

We've seen additional spending in this budget of some $315 billion in addition to significant increases in spending in previous budgets. This is some $30,000 of additional spending for every Australian household. It's this extra spending that doesn't take pressure off inflation but risks compounding the problem. Prolonged inflation, as we all know, means that your money is worth less. It means that your real income is falling and that costs are continuing to increase.

Over the past two years of the Albanese Labor government, we've seen family budgets smashed by higher prices, higher mortgage repayments and higher taxes. The average Australian household with a mortgage—and there are many across the electorate of Forde—is now $35,000 worse off following three Labor budgets while they have been in government. This budget does nothing to restore what Labor has cost Australians, and we'll all be poorer as a result.

Across the electorate of Forde, Labor has failed to address the cost-of-living concerns for local residents. At the same time, they've failed to deliver support for important projects across the Forde electorate. For each of Labor's budgets so far in government, I've written to the Treasurer urging him to fund vital projects not just for the benefit of residents within the electorate of Forde but also for those living in his electorate, Rankin, which neighbours Forde. I'm incredibly disappointed to say that those budget submissions have gone unanswered in terms of funding being included in the budget.

It's interesting to note that the projects that are occurring in the electorate of Forde at the moment were all funded under a previous coalition government. Other than some additional funding from this government due to project cost blowouts, there have been no new additional projects across the electorate of Forde that have been funded by this government. That includes those that I wrote to the Treasurer about again this year. They have been left unfunded and completely ignored. There are a number of worthwhile projects across the electorate of Forde which need to be built, particularly the priority road projects—and particularly the M1. I note from the budget papers that additional funding is continuing for those. But, importantly, those projects need to be fast-tracked, given the level of growth that is occurring in South-East Queensland. Can I also say that this is where the state Labor government, under the Premier, Steven Miles, is also at fault for not planning and progressing those projects anywhere near quickly enough.

One of the major projects we asked for on the M1 was the upgrade of exit 38 at Yatala, which we took as a commitment to the 2022 election. This is a vital exit that is probably the last exit between the Albert River and the Coomera River that need to be upgraded. The coalition government successfully delivered upgrades to exit 54, an upgrade to exit 49—which is presently underway with a $55 million investment—and a $41 million investment to the upgrade of exit 41 at Yatala. We also provided some $10 million for a small upgrade to exit 45 at Ormeau. That exit will still require further significant upgrades as time progresses. Exit 38 provides access to the Yatala enterprise area, both on the eastern side of the M1 and on the western side. If you have a look at those two major business areas on the northern end of the Gold Coast and the sheer volume of traffic that goes through that interchange, it's extremely disappointing that the government hasn't seen fit to fund the $60 million that is required to upgrade that exit, in addition to an equivalent commitment from the state government. The state government has had the plan sitting on its desk since 2018 and done nothing—zero, zip. It's the same with the other exits I just mentioned. If it weren't for the funding that was provided by a coalition federal government, those exits would still not be getting upgraded, because the state government under Labor had no plans to upgrade those exits. It was only through the work by my former colleague Stuart Robert and I to get that federal funding that we got those exits upgraded. It just shows that Labor governments, both state and federal, don't care much for the electorate of Forde.

In addition to exit 38, we called for funding to commence the duplication of Beenleigh Redland Bay Road to the tune of $40 million, and another $40 million for additional lanes and upgrades on the Mount Lindesay Highway between Chambers Flat Road and Greenbank Road. Sadly, none of that funding was provided.

As you, Mr Deputy Speaker Young, and others would know, our sporting clubs play a valuable role across our community. We have a number of major projects that we'd sought funding for. The funding for Hammel Park upgrade, which would provide upgrades for Beenleigh netball, Beenleigh rugby league and Beenleigh baseball clubs, wasn't forthcoming. We also sought funding to assist the Ormeau Bulldogs AFL Club to install field and car park lighting as well as the implementation of the Beenleigh tennis centre's master plan. No funding was provided for those.

Additionally, for the arts, which can often be overlooked—and in this case, they were—the funding we sought to assist Phoenix Ensemble to upgrade some of the facilities within their theatre was not forthcoming. When we were in the middle of a youth crisis, it was disappointing to see that the Logan City Council's submission for funding to install 120 CCTV cameras around the City of Logan, which would have also benefited the electorate of Rankin and the electorate of Wright, was also not supported. Once again, we see that the current Labor government does not care for the upgrades of facilities that are required across the electorate of Forde.

That is in contrast to what we did as a coalition government. We provided funding for clubhouse upgrades at Chris Green Park. That project is now well underway and will be finished hopefully in the next few months. We provided funding for the clubhouse and change rooms for the Ormeau Shearers Junior Rugby League, change room upgrades for Logan Basketball, field lighting for the Mustangs Brothers Rugby League Football Club, upgrades to the Mt Warren Park golf club and also upgrades to the clubhouse facilities at Cornubia Park for Logan Lightning Football Club. It is once again a stark demonstration of the difference between what a coalition government delivered for the electorate of Forde and what the current federal Labor government is failing to deliver.

More broadly, in uncertain economic times such as these, we need a budget that gets back to basics, addresses the underlying issues and helps Australia get back on that. To do this, three key measures need to be met: the budget must restore our standard of living by addressing inflation and the pressures being felt by families at the check-out and from their energy bills; restore prosperity and create opportunity by supporting small businesses and helping young Australians into a home; and restore budget discipline and honesty by restraining spending, bringing back fiscal guardrails and a tax-to-GDP cap and delivering a structural surplus, not a windfall surplus. This is what a future coalition government will be focused on delivering.

We have already recommitted to allowing Australians to access up to $50,000 of their super to buy their first home and extended this policy to separated women to help restart their lives. Additionally, we would support Australian families and businesses by implementing policy which takes inflationary pressures off the economy and provides it with the right environment to foster growth through measures such as: implementing a two-year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents purchasing existing homes in Australia; reducing the permanent migration program by 25 per cent, from 185,000 to 140,000, for the first two years in recognition of the urgency of the housing crisis; reducing excess numbers of foreign students studying at metropolitan universities to relieve the stress on rental markets in our major cities; extending the value of the assets eligible for the instant asset write-off to $30,000 and making this ongoing for small business; removing red tape from business by restoring the pre-existing definitions of 'casual worker' and bringing back certainty for thousands of small businesses across the country; and doubling the existing work bonus from $300 per fortnight to $600 so older Australians and veterans can work more should they wish without reducing their pension payments. We also announced in the Leader of the Opposition's budget-in-reply speech the incentivisation for more junior doctors to become GPs.

I know that people living in Logan and the northern Gold Coast are doing it tough and, for the third budget in a row, they've looked to this Labor government to provide relief and support through the cost-of-living and inflationary crisis. Once again, sadly, I can report that they have been let down by the current Labor government.

Sitting suspended from 12:59 to 16:00

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