Gary Nairn (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

It is a pleasure to introduce Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2005-2006.

There are two additional estimates bills this year: Appropriation Bill (No. 3) and Appropriation Bill (No. 4). I shall introduce the latter bill shortly.

The additional estimates bills follow on from the appropriation bills that were introduced into the House on the occasion of the 2005-06 budget. They seek appropriation authority from parliament for the additional expenditure of money from the consolidated revenue fund, in order to meet requirements that have arisen since the last budget.

The total appropriation being sought through the additional estimates bills this year is almost $2.63 billion, which is partially offset by expected savings in appropriations of around $603.9 million. Taking savings into account, the expected net increase in expenditure arising from additional estimates bills is approximately $2 billion, or about 3.5 per cent of total annual appropriations. These savings are described in the document accompanying the bills, the ‘Statement of savings expected in annual appropriations’, which I will table shortly.

The total appropriation being sought in Appropriation Bill (No. 3) this year is around $1.26 billion. This proposed appropriation arises from changes in the estimates of program expenditure, due to variations in the timing of the payments and forecast increases in costs, reclassifications and policy decisions taken by the government since the last budget, most of which have been described in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook document published in December last year.

The major items of expenditure in the bill include:

• a net increase of $167.1 million to the Employment and Workplace Relations portfolio, the major components of which are:
• $110.7 million to fund the Workplace Relations Reform Package; and
• $52.4 million in additional funding to meet the increased demand for the highly disadvantaged stream of Job Network services; and
• $124 million to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to provide:
• $104 million in business exit assistance as part of the fishing structural adjustment package to support the sustainability of Australian government managed fisheries.

I note here the importance of this particular package for many parts of Australia, but particularly for my electorate, where fishing is a major industry. The fishermen of my electorate, particularly those out of Eden and Bermagui, have certainly been looking for this sort of assistance to restructure the industry and ensure that they have a sustainable industry for the future. There have really been too many fishermen chasing too few fish. Nobody is making any money, and certainly this package will make a huge difference to them, certainly to those who want to exit the industry with some assistance so that they can do other things, and therefore leave an industry restructured and able to continue into the future.

Also within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry area there is this additional funding:

• $20 million support for the hardwood timber industry as part of the Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement.

Further major items of expenditure in the bill include:

• an increase of $155.8 million to the Department of Defence. The Minister for Defence, sitting at the table here, will be pleased with that additional appropriation, which includes:
• $40.9 million to provide a Special Forces Task Group to Afghanistan;
• $16 million to fund the deployment of helicopters and support elements in Afghanistan;
• $25.1 million in indexation adjustments; and
• a net increase of $73.8 million, consisting substantially of a reclassification of appropriation to revise Defence’s depreciation and inventory related estimates;
• an additional $29.2 million to the Attorney-General’s Department, which includes:
• $18.1 million for security costs associated with the APEC Leaders Week 2007; and
• $10.5 million for enhancement of the national urban search and rescue capability;
• a total of $54.6 million to the Australian Federal Police for airport policing measures, in particular:
• $27.2 million for phase 1 of community policing at airports;
• $18.2 million to provide a first response counter-terrorism capability at relevant airports; and
• $9.2 million to establish joint airport investigation teams with the Australian Customs Service, who will also receive an additional $1 million for this initiative;
• an additional $16.5 million to increase the apprehension, detention and prosecution of illegal foreign fishers operating in Australia’s northern waters. As part of this measure the Australian Customs Service will receive $13.7 million;
• $28.5 million to the Department of the Environment and Heritage as additional supplementation for the Great Barrier Reef structural adjustment package;
• a net increase of $41.2 million to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, including:
• $16.2 million to implement the government’s response to the Palmer and Comrie reports;
• $9.3 million to implement more flexible and timely immigration detention arrangements arising from amendments to the migration legislation; and
• $8.3 million to introduce a visa requirement for all maritime crew arriving in Australia;
• $22.5 million to improve aviation security. Of this amount, $11.9 million has been provided to the Department of Transport and Regional Services to improve security of international passenger aircraft through increased inspection of air cargo, while $10.6 million has been allocated to the Australian Customs Service to increase air-side patrols at airports;
• a total of $22.1 million has been provided to the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Crime Commission, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Federal Police to conduct investigations and prosecutions arising from Operation Wickenby.
• a net increase of $42 million to the Department of Foreign Affairs, including:
• a $10 million contribution to the American Red Cross as part of Australia’s response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in the United States; and
• supplementation of $19.8 million for increased passport volumes.

The remaining amount in Appropriation Bill (No. 3)—around $577.8 million—relates to estimates variations and other measures.

I table the ‘Statement of Savings Expected in Annual Appropriations’, and I commend the bill to the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Crean) adjourned.