Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to rise to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2008-2009 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009 that show just how well-prepared the government is for handling the global financial crisis. This legislation is preparing Australia to cope with the crisis and many of the issues that will become apparent over the next few months—and, probably, 18 months.

The Rudd government, in contrast to the opposition, have shown that they are prepared to act now to put in place measures that will put Australia in a strong position in these very difficult and troubled times. This is opposed to the opposition’s approach of doing nothing, being obstructionist and being critical without offering any viable alternatives. It is a real contrast between taking action to prepare Australia for the difficult times ahead and sitting back, folding hands and indicating that you do not have to do anything—all you have to do is knock. If members of this House and the Australian public want to look in detail at what is happening, they will see an opposition more concerned about their own jobs and about fighting with each other than they are about preparing Australia for the future and protecting the jobs of all Australians.

We listen in question time each day to the opposition rolling out examples of workers who lose their jobs. These are people who have families and financial commitments, and it seems the opposition are excited about the prospect of their fellow Australians experiencing such hardship, losing their jobs and being in dire straits over the next few months or longer.

That is in stark contrast to what we have done on this side of the parliament. We recognise that it is going to be very difficult for Australia and for workers, and the Rudd government has decided to invest in Australia’s future, invest in infrastructure and put in place the right sort of protection for those workers who do lose their jobs. Under one of those schemes, newly redundant workers will become eligible immediately for intensive employment services and they will be able to access those services from 1 April this year. This is in stark contrast to the approach of those on the other side. Their approach has always been to make it difficult for people who are unemployed; there is an element of blaming the victims. So when people became unemployed, through no cause of their own, in the past those on the other side blamed—and I am sure if they were in power now they would continue to blame—those people. They are the slaves of Work Choices. They would still like to see Work Choices legislation in place. They care about only one side of the equation. They do not care about the other side of the equation—that is, the workers, the people who support the businesses.

We care about businesses. We are very mindful of the fact that businesses are finding it hard at the moment and we know we have to support businesses, but those on the other side of this parliament, with their commitment to Work Choices, believe that it should be easier for employers to just sack workers and, when they are sacked, not have in place programs like those announced by the Minister for Employment Participation. This program will give workers access to job seeker accounts. They will also have an employment pathway plan with a $550 credit to pay for specific, personalised assistance. They are the kinds of things that workers who are made redundant need and the kinds of things that those on the other side of this parliament have continually ignored.

Once again, I would like to refer to some of the measures in this legislation. Part of it refers to the infrastructure program. Under the previous government, there was a lack of investment in Australia’s future. We had a chronic skills shortage because the government of the day was not prepared to invest in training Australian workers. Under these appropriation bills a considerable amount of money has been put in place for doing just that. There is $43 million for apprenticeships and apprenticeship centres—$38.9 million to help trade apprentices find employers. In times such as these, that is a very important action. If an apprentice loses their job and remains unemployed and is unable to complete their apprenticeship, in the future Australia will lose the services of a tradesperson. The Rudd government has recognised the value of completing apprenticeships and is investing a significant amount of money to assist apprentices in finding new employers. As I have already mentioned, $36.8 million will be used by redundant workers to give them early access to programs.

Those two particular elements focus on the needs of Australia into the future by providing skills training now and linking apprenticeships with employers now, and recognising that employment and skills are vital for Australia’s future. Given the current economic climate, I think it is also worth mentioning that the government is investing more money in GEERS—some $70 million to ensure that workers receive the protection that they need. Also, there is $68.7 million for the implementation of the Nation Building and Jobs Plan advertising campaign. It is all about jobs, all about training and all about the future, and all about providing support and protection for workers now. I cannot help but make the contrast between what the Rudd government is offering workers and what the previous government offered workers. That is evident in the legislation before the parliament, in the policies and the programs that have been released, and it is acknowledged by the people within my electorate—you can see it on a daily basis. My area has a higher level of unemployment than the national average. People are embracing these programs and they really appreciate the fact that the government recognises their needs.

There is another aspect of this legislation that I want to refer to—that is, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government’s equity injection of $580 million will lead to a program of upgrades valued at over $1 billion by the Australian Rail Track Corporation in the Hunter Valley. This injection of funds to the ARTC for 17 projects is really appreciated. I want to refer to a July 2007 report of the House Standing Committee on Transport and Regional Services. I was a member of that committee, and at that time we were looking at the blockages between ports and the fact that to maximise the potential of ports we needed to ensure that the rail connections to those ports were at the standard that they needed to be. The committee recommended that urgent consideration by the minister of that time be given to an upgrade of those facilities. I have to say that we would still be waiting for that if it had been left to the previous government. Some of the issues raised in that inquiry included the rapid increase in demand for coal exports and how the capacity of ports was being impeded by poor linkages. In the current legislation before the House, one project that will be funded is the upgrading of the track in that area. The current minister recognises just how important and vital the port of Newcastle is to the economic future of Australia. Because he recognises that fact, a large proportion of that money for ARTC is being delivered to the Hunter. I must say, it is welcomed by all in the Hunter.

Another aspect of investment in infrastructure has been the investment at the local government level. In my area, we are very fortunate that the two local government areas received a considerable amount of money. Lake Macquarie City Council received $2,117,000, and Wyong Shire Council received $1,529,000. Lake Macquarie council chose two projects—and they are excellent projects: the upgrading of the Regatta Walk Foreshore Reserve at Toronto, which is in the electorate of Charlton, and a $1.167 million extension of the Red Bluff shared pathway at Eleebana. This is an outstanding walkway on the foreshore of Lake Macquarie. If you are in that area on any day of the week, you will find people walking around the foreshore. This will be a state-of-the-art walkway. It is something that, like the Fernleigh Track that I spoke about in my three-minute statement, will benefit not only the Shortland electorate and the Hunter area but also anyone who visits the area. There is nothing more beautiful than walking around the foreshore of Lake Macquarie, which is the largest saltwater lake in the Southern Hemisphere.

You can see how beneficial the investment of funds in infrastructure in Lake Macquarie has been. There is also an extension to the cycleway at Buff Point on the Central Coast and to the Mannering Park pathway, which are also in the electorate of Shortland. Both councils are investing in infrastructure that will be used by the people in the area. There is also additional funding for special projects. Lake Macquarie has, in particular, a state-of-the-art children’s play area. It is designed for children both with and without disabilities. This park is very special; it has been replicated in other areas. The proposal that Lake Macquarie has put in is an extension of that project, and I wholeheartedly support it. I think it will benefit not only the people of Lake Macquarie but also, because of its innovation, other Australians as it is replicated throughout the country.

I cannot finish my contribution to this debate without referring to Building the Education Revolution. I must say that, over the last few weeks, I have been contacting all of the schools in my electorate. I can tell members on the other side of parliament that those schools are ecstatic. They have never had such an investment in education and they are embracing it. Every school will become a mini construction site; every school will have the ability to have capital works programs that have been needed for a very long period of time carried out.

I will just share with the House some of the programs that will be put in place. Some of the projects that the schools in Shortland are looking at are: halls—I think numerous schools have identified halls—admin blocks, as I believe currently some staff are working out of demountables and temporary buildings; libraries; COLAs; and the upgrading of classrooms, walkways and toilet blocks. The one thing that the schools were saying to me time and time again was that they were ready to go, that they could not wait until their projects were approved. They are all putting in their wish lists at the moment and they are all very mindful of fitting within the indicative cap that is being placed on them. Some schools are looking at a combined projects, which I think is very special. One school is even looking at providing a building that will be utilised by a number of organisations in the community as well as by the school itself. The schools are mindful of the fact that their projects will be used from both a school perspective and a community perspective as well.

The Rudd government recognises that we are in hard times. The Rudd government knows that we have to invest in training and infrastructure for the future. By doing that, we are protecting Australia, unlike the opposition that believes that the best approach to handling the global financial crisis is to sit on their hands and do nothing. (Time expired)

Arch Bevis (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to be able to support these two bills, Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2008-2009 and Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009, which add to an impressive list of measures by the Rudd Labor government to provide economic stimulus at a time of global economic woes. These two bills are part of a broad package that has already seen substantial amounts of funds flow to Australians and that has provided much-needed support across the various parts of the country geographically and the different industry sectors. I am reflecting on the comments that I know some members opposite have made in attacking and criticising the previous payments and, indeed, even the core payments like Building the Education Revolution, to which the member for Shortland just referred.

I want to first make comment about the payments that the Commonwealth made prior to Christmas last year, the $10 billion or so that was provided to Australians in the lead-up to Christmas. At the time we announced it, the Leader of the Opposition said he supported it, but since then he has gone around criticising it. That seems to be the standard operating procedure of those opposite when it comes to these matters. They criticise the measures and support them, depending on who their audience is. The people of Australia are actually smarter than that, and I think one of the reasons those opposite have had a poor showing in the polls is because those antics do not cut it with the Australian population.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has now published the figures for the retail sector over the Christmas period. The most recent figures showed that in January of this year the seasonally adjusted estimate increased by 0.2 per cent. That is an increase in retail activity at a time when the global economic crisis was sending virtually every modern economy into recession, or at least into a period of decline if not formal technical recession. In Australia, principally because of the stimulus package the government put in place before the end of last year, the retail sector saw a very buoyant December-January period. Not only were January’s figures up but December last year saw a very substantial increase of 3.8 per cent. That 3.8 per cent is the largest monthly seasonally adjusted percentage increase since August 2000.

Against the trend, we have seen a very substantial increase in consumer confidence, in consumer spending and in the purchases that Australians made over that Christmas period. We all know that many people in the retail sector rely on that Christmas period for their annual cash flow. Many organisations in those two or three months survive through the year on that turnover during the holiday period. Had the government not taken the action it did last year with that stimulus package, there is absolutely no doubt that we would have recorded similar outcomes to those of other nations with whom we compare ourselves. That we did not record those bad figures, but rather recorded the best December since 2000, is an indication of just how timely the government’s initiative was and how effective it has been. I am amazed to hear Liberal and National Party members of the parliament even now arguing that that was somehow a mistake. The Liberal and National Party approach would have condemned thousands of workers in the retail sector to unemployment queues. That is what it would have done, and it would have ensured that many small and medium-sized enterprises would have shut their doors over Christmas rather than benefit from one of the most substantial monthly increases in the last decade.

The general community and the various industry groups understand the importance of the government acting quickly and in a very decisive manner. The government’s nation building plan has been warmly welcomed by virtually every industry group across the country. I want to refer quickly to some of the comments that leaders in our community have made. The Australian Industry Group said this on 3 February:

The nation building and jobs plan announced by the Federal Government today is simple and substantial, and will provide a big stimulus to help keep the economy moving.

Wal King, a well-known Australian businessman, on behalf of the Australian Constructors Association said:

The Rudd government’s $42 billion nation building and jobs plan announced today will play an important role in stimulating the Australian economy.

Of course these people, whose daily jobs involve them keeping their finger on the pulse of economic activity, understand that, and those opposite would have been given the same advice and would have been subjected to the same lobbying from these organisations that we all are. Yet, in spite of that, they choose to adopt a purely negative approach to these issues.

It is not just the business community who comprehend how important these measures are that the government has taken to support our economy. Importantly, the Labor government has not forgotten those who are hardest hit by the economic downturn. We have put measures in place to provide the biggest boost in public housing in well over a decade. It is a matter of criminal neglect that the former Howard government virtually stripped funds from the Commonwealth-state agreements for public housing, resulting in the stock of housing for low-income and homeless people being at desperately low levels. In a joint press release, Anglicare, UnitingCare, the Salvation Army and Catholic Social Services said:

We welcome the stimulus to jobs across Australia and the targeting of infrastructure dollars to homes and local community facilities through improving the energy efficiency of Australia’s houses.

We also welcome the targeting of community resources to schools, which will create jobs and supply facilities that can be used by the whole community.

The payments package is well targeted and will help Australians already struggling to make ends meet.

So said the combined voices of Anglicare, UnitingCare, the Salvation Army and Catholic Social Services. That is a very genuine endorsement by a broad cross-section of organisations who know what it is like for people most severely affected by an economic downturn. I think that their endorsement fails to be recognised by those opposite, but it is important in these times that we not only provide support to those in work to try to keep them in jobs, and to businesses to try to enable them to keep their doors open; we need to understand that many people are on hard times and they require particular assistance.

The Property Council of Australia joined the chorus of community groups supporting the federal government’s initiatives when they said:

Every dollar that goes into the construction sector has a multiplier effect—it is spent three times over in the economy. This makes for an ideal measure of a well-thought-out stimulus package.

So the Property Council referred to it as a well-thought-out stimulus package. Ron Silberberg—not usually known for his endorsement of Labor politics, I have to say, over the years—had this to say:

The Government’s recovery plan appropriately spends for jobs in the short term and invests for future prosperity.

And it does those two things very well indeed. I will give just two more quotes, Mr Deputy Speaker. The Clean Energy Council noted:

The government is to be congratulated for taking a big …step towards delivering energy saving across Australian households. Insulation saves energy, money, jobs and the environment—so it’s a win-win-win-win.

That last comment refers to the initiatives for insulation and other energy-saving measures, something that those opposite have ridiculed. It is one of the areas that has been mentioned in speeches in this debate and in others by those opposite who find it somehow misplaced or amusing that the government should invest in energy-saving measures such as insulation of houses and the like. I can tell you from the reaction in my electorate that the people of Brisbane welcome it and are looking forward to the opportunity to access the support to enable them to make their homes more energy efficient. People want their homes to be energy efficient, but not everybody can afford to do it. I think the commitment of this government to those measures is very well received.

The final quote I want to give, and there are many more that I could include but time will not allow it today, is from the National Farmers Federation. It said:

The Government’s $950 tax-free bonus for all drought-affected farmers—reaching some 21,500 farmers in need—will be a much-needed fillip to families and regional economies.

It went on to say:

Likewise, the regional infrastructure package … will see a major revamp of country services and shore-up jobs in local communities.

Against that background of universal endorsement and support from community groups, business groups and social welfare providers, how is it that the Liberal and National parties can stand in this place and, on bills like this, say they will vote for it but actually oppose parts of it, and on the major parts of the economic package actually vote against it? And they voted against it not once but twice in each chamber. It is a matter of fact that the Liberal and National parties voted four times in this parliament against those major initiatives, one of which was the Building the Education Revolution initiative.

I want to turn for a moment to Building the Education Revolution because as a former teacher, as a parent and now as a member of parliament I am a very firm supporter of increased resourcing of our schools. This is the greatest commitment of any government to primary education in our country in living memory. You have to go back to the early days of universal education to find a commitment of this magnitude to primary school education that would compare with what the current government is doing as part of this economic stimulus package. Like a number of members on the government side, I spent last week visiting many schools in my electorate. Like members on the government side, I have written to all the schools in my electorate. Last week I visited schools at Ferny Grove, Grovely, Mitchelton, Ashgrove, New Farm, Kelvin Grove, Ithaca Creek, Bardon, Red Hill and Newmarket, and let me tell you that they are absolutely excited about the opportunities this presents. They have never seen a government take their needs as seriously as this government has.

This package provides a wonderful opportunity for students in all schools—big and small, rural, regional and metropolitan—to gain access to quality facilities. There are schools like Newmarket State School in my electorate, which has a P&C that has been working hard with the school community to raise money for a community hall that they have wanted to build for some years now. They have the plans and are nearly ready to go. They now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Because of this initiative, the government is going to provide them the funds to enable that to go forward.

That is the story at other places. When I visited Mitchelton State School, they had just built the bare bones of an indoor assembly hall. It is the bare bones because that is all the school community could afford to put up. They thought they would get that constructed and, over time, try to put some walls on, put some amenities in, put a canteen in—put in all the other things that would go in a properly resourced hall. Having just completed that recently, they now know that the funds that are there from this government do not just enable them to finalise that project and bring forward activity that would have been years in the making had this government not taken the initiative that it has in this stimulus package; they will have sufficient funds left over to upgrade their resource centre and establish a first-class library resource centre for the pupils in that school.

That is one of the most enduring things we can do. Investing in schools is an investment in our nation’s greatest resource. Our greatest resource is our people; our greatest future resource is our children. Money invested in those people can never be wasted. It is not possible to have a population that is too well educated or too well trained. This money goes to schools across the country and guarantees that investment will bring returns in the school base of our nation for decades to come. Importantly, it will create jobs. It will provide work for people in every suburb and community of our nation as those building programs roll out.

I think of the small schools in regional and rural Queensland that I used to visit as an official in the Queensland Teachers Union. They were one- and two-teacher schools that under this program are going to get between a quarter of a million and half a million dollars. In those small communities, having the workers doing the work in their town, whether they are doing maintenance or repair or constructing a multipurpose hall that the school and the community will have access to, will pour money into every shop and every store in that location, providing support for the jobs in the small towns I used to visit in regional and rural Queensland around the Burnett region and up the Queensland coast just north of Bundaberg.

This is a great nation-building program. It is a great jobs-generation program. Why is it that every member of the Liberal and National parties voted against it? Why is it that when they were given a second opportunity when it was returned to the House of Representatives they voted against it a second time? I do not intend to have the people of Brisbane miss out on that knowledge. Next week I will be sending a letter to every constituent in my electorate, telling them about the funds that are going to the schools in our electorate, telling them about the commitment of this government and pointing out to them that every member of the Liberal and National parties voted against this program on no fewer than four occasions in this parliament.

Members opposite can say, ‘We supported the schools funding; we just didn’t like the rest of the package.’ The trouble is that when you go through the package they turn around and say, ‘We support tax cuts,’ but they voted against the package that had the tax cuts in it. They say they support increased funding for public housing and helping people who do not have a roof over their heads, but they voted against the legislation for that, as well. They tell us that they supported the money for primary schools, but they voted against that piece of legislation. They tell us they supported the money going to the rural sector, the money for low-income farmers, but they voted against that, as well. I am left wondering about this legislation that they all voted against; which part of it was it that they supported? Individually, when they are confronted out there by people in the electorate, they say, ‘Of course we supported that bit; it was just the tricky government that made us vote against the whole package.’ When you take it piece by piece, depending on who you talk to, they supported every little bit of it; they just happened to vote against the whole lot of it. No-one in Australia is going to fall for that.

If the people on the other side of the House, in opposition, think that they can get away with that pea and thimble trick then they underrate the intelligence of the Australian public and they certainly underrate the determination of members on the government side to make sure that the people of Australia know about their deception and know about what they actually did. Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2008-2009 and Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009 also include some important measures that go to support for trades training, and that is vitally important not only to provide the opportunity for people now seeking jobs but also, most importantly, for the future. As inevitably recessions come and go and we get back into a recovery phase, the worst thing we can confront in that recovery phase is a shortage of materials and a shortage of skilled workers. So we are investing now to provide those skills to those workers so that when economic activity does pick up—and hopefully it is sooner rather than later, but none of us anywhere in the world have the perfect crystal ball for that—we will have invested in the training of those people whose services will be so keenly sought after at that time.

We are also providing in these bills $38 million to help out trade apprentices with new employers. Recognising that in spite of our best efforts there will be some additional people unemployed, there is $36 million in these bills to assist redundant workers to gain early access to employment programs. This is, as a whole, a package of materials designed to minimise the impact of the global economic downturn on Australians, to invest in key economic infrastructure in our nation for the long term and to put money into the hands of people today so that we can stimulate economic activity before the long-term projects come on line. I am very happy to be part of a Labor government doing these things and I am very happy to support the bills before the House today.

James Bidgood (Dawson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2008-2009 and Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009. I endorse entirely the comments of the member for Brisbane, Arch Bevis. I think they were very well put indeed. I would like to point out that in yesterday’s Daily Mercury from the seat of Dawson it said on the front page ‘Six million boost for kids’ jobs hopes’. This is good news for the people of Dawson. This good news is only made possible by the decisions of the Rudd Labor government on trade training centres. Each secondary school had the opportunity to get up to $1.5 million.

What happened in our region? Five schools got together and pooled their resources and now that centre is going to work with the Central Queensland University Mackay campus. We are going to have a $6 million trade training centre working in conjunction with the university and enabling our kids in our region. Mackay is a major service city to the Bowen Basin mines. Some of the things that were said yesterday about this complex indicated the widespread support at all levels. The principal, the head of campus, Trevor Davison, said, ‘The new Mackay trade centre will allow university students to do their full four-year engineering degree without leaving Mackay.’ That is looking after students in regional and rural communities. That is what this government is about: empowering kids through education all across Australia regardless of political representation. Every single school across the nation is going to benefit from these packages.

Trevor Davison went on to say: ‘We could offer third- and fourth-year engineering in Mackay. That is what I am aiming for.’ He said it would also offer opportunities for students to attend the centre through years 11 and 12 and then complete their apprenticeships or go on to degrees and be picked up by employers without needing to study elsewhere. This is keeping local kids in local regions and skilling them up to grow the economy not only locally but also nationally—and adding to the bottom line for this nation when those kids then take on full-time work within the mining service sector and the greater region of the seat of Dawson, which stretches from Mackay up into Proserpine, the Whitsundays, Bowen and Townsville. This is indeed very good news.

How could anybody vote against training up the kids in rural and regional Australia? But the other side of politics did and that is shameful. This government is determined to equip our kids with the skills they need for their futures and for the future of this nation. It will add to the bottom line of this nation and the future prosperity of this nation.

I would also like to pass on some comments from the schools that have pooled their funding together, as part of the Kevin Rudd education revolution, to build a multimillion dollar complex. Some of the comments are from Matt O’Hanlon of Mackay State High School. The principal there said that the centre would improve the level of skills being delivered in our region and kids would get a greater opportunity to take away higher skills—

David Hawker (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek to intervene.

Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the member for Dawson willing to give way?

James Bidgood (Dawson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am talking about the benefits of packages like this. These bills enable these things to happen. We have a political determination to improve the skills base of every student across this nation because the investment we make now is like planting a seed which, in 10, 15, 20 or 25 years time, will build the foundations of this nation. It will make us a great, prosperous nation exporting skills and products across the world and engaging competitively on the global stage.

The global economy is going through the most difficult period in living memory, and this requires extraordinary actions for extraordinary times. When governments fail to take early action confidence falls. That is why this is indeed so important. Not only would failure to act early and decisively be an economic failure; it would be a failure of leadership and a failure to learn the lessons of the past.

The Rudd government will continue to do whatever is necessary to help protect Australian households and businesses from the worst effects of the global crisis. The nation-building package complements measures taken by the government over the past several months to help support growth and protect Australian jobs. The total appropriation being sought this year through Appropriation Bill (No. 5) is $384 million. This proposed appropriation will meet the funding requirements of a number of measures announced in the December 2008 nation-building package, including implementation costs; recently announced changes to employment and apprenticeship programs; and changes in the estimated program expenditures due to variations in the timing of payments, forecast increases in program take-up and other policy decisions taken by the government since additional estimates. It also includes funding for initiatives agreed with the minor parties during the debate on the National Building and Jobs Plan.

There will be $34 million of additional funding for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to support 241 childcare centres until 31 March 2009. That will once again look after the kids of our nation, who are our future. We are investing in our people.

The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations will receive $70 million for the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme, which covers capped unpaid wages, annual and long service leave, capped payments in lieu of notice and capped redundancy pay. This is an estimates variation, as GEERS is a demand-driven program and the current economic climate has seen an increase in demand for this program. The department will also receive $46.5 million for infrastructure and training places.

The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations has $43 million for new apprenticeships and apprenticeship centres. This is a parameter update, as the program is demand driven and funds allocated for this program are expected to be exhausted prior to the end of the year.

The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations also needs $38.9 million to help trade apprentices find new employers. The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations has $36.8 million to provide redundant workers with earlier access to employment programs. The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs has $11.1 million to expand emergency relief, and Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009 provides additional funding to agencies for expenses in relation to grants to the states under section 96 of the Constitution, for payments to the territories and local government authorities and for non-operating purposes such as equity injections and loans.

The total additional appropriation being sought in Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009 is $1.83 billion. The amounts proposed are required to implement elements of the December nation-building package and the nation-building and jobs agreements with minor parties. The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government has, for an equity injection to the Australian Rail Track Corporation, $1,189 million. This injection will fund 17 projects to improve the reliability and competitiveness of the nation’s rail freight network. This was announced on 12 December 2008 as part of the $4.7 billion nation-building package. Although the full amount of appropriation required is in 2008-09, amounts will be paid to the ARTC on an agreed schedule and over 2008-09 through to 2010-11.

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government has $392 million for AusLink. This is part of the 12 December announcement to bring forward $711 million in spending to build better roads and to increase investment in the highly successful Black Spot Program. I recently had the honour of having the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in Mackay. Along with the minister, the Mayor of the Mackay Regional Council, Col Meng, and the state minister Warren Pitt, I was able to turn the first sod on stage 1 of the $50 million project for the duplication of the Bruce Highway south of Mackay from a two-lane to a four-lane highway, which is a crucial junction of four kilometres which links with the major mining industrial complex that services the Bowen Basin. This investment is critical to the supply of goods, services and facilities from the area known as Paget in South Mackay out to the Bowen Basin mines—a major service route. And this money will deliver for the industries and the people in Dawson. This is a crucial investment which is going to add once again to the bottom line of this nation in efficiency and transport infrastructure. I am pleased to report that this project will create 96 jobs locally, invest in key infrastructure, which will last for decades, and boost the local economy for the common good of the nation’s productivity.

The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, through nation-building and jobs agreements with minor parties, will receive $250 million to accelerate additional water purchases and associated structural adjustment. The stimulus packages that we are bringing through in the Rudd Labor government are historic, truly nation building and truly employ the people and the human resources in our nation.

It is good and pleasing to know that we are going to provide 21st century libraries in our schools to give students the best education in the world. We will be able to compete on a level playing field with Europe, the United States of America and Asia. There will be multipurpose halls, which can be opened to the community, adding value to every community across this nation and employing local tradespeople to build those facilities. There will be classroom upgrades for primary schools. We are looking at 500 new science labs or language centres for secondary schools. Principals cannot believe that this government has finally said ‘yes’ to education, where previous governments have only given it lip-service and not delivered. We are the party who are delivering on our promises. We are making real investments in our children and in our future, not for short-term political gain but for long-term investment in our human capital and human resource.

There will be funding of between $50,000 and $200,000 for every school for minor maintenance and school building upgrades—for things like painting, plumbing, electrics, pathways, shadecloth and basic seating in playgrounds. These are the sorts of things P&Fs would have held many barbeques and many raffles for to raise money. This government has said there is value in this. We have stepped up to the mark and we have made an investment and given these schools a hand up, not a handout. We are investing for the long term not the short term. It will last for decades. This is good news for our people and good news for the future of our students.

We are bringing forward up to $110 million to fund the Trade Training Centres in Schools Program. I showed the Committee yesterday’s Daily Mercury earlier—this paper loves good news stories. The editor said: ‘This is great. This is fantastic. What good news it is for our people.’ The heading is ‘$6 million for kids’ jobs hopes’. Mr Deputy Speaker Secker, I seek leave to table this newspaper article.

Leave granted.

This is evidence of positive stimulus not only in financial terms and in infrastructure terms but also in the psychology of people—of lifting people up in hard times. We do not want to see unemployment. We are the Labor Party. We believe in helping the labourers. We believe in helping the workers because workers have families, workers have homes, workers have communities. We are here for those people who are doing it tough at the bottom end of society, those who need a hand up. And that is what we are doing with these packages. We are stimulating every local community through the Investing in Our Schools Program and through Building the Education Revolution.

I am so pleased that 2.2 million homes across this nation will receive insulation. We are going to reduce the amount of carbon between now and 2020—49 million tonnes of carbon will not go into the atmosphere once this program is implemented. That is the equivalent of one million cars being taken off the road. This fulfils our Kyoto agreement obligations. This is good news for the environment and good news for every home across the nation, and it helps working families reduce their energy bills. That is good news! Everyday working people like these policies because they directly touch every home across the nation. This initiative will not only insulate homes but also protect the environment and save families money in energy bills. These are good investments that provide good stimulation. I think it is incredible that the other side of politics cannot see the benefits. All we hear from them is criticism and carping—so sad when there are so many benefits in these measures. It truly is a nation-building program and a jobs building program.

There is business. The Labor Party believes in supporting small business. I myself spent something like 14 years in small business, so I understand how hard it can be to run a small business. My accountant, Wayne James, said to me: ‘James, when you get down to Canberra, you tell Kevin from me that that incentive’—the 30 per cent tax deduction for eligible assets costing $1,000 or more and acquired between 13 December 2008 and 30 June 2009—‘is one of the best initiatives ever implemented by a government to help small business.’ He said, ‘I have only one request of the Prime Minister: can he extend it beyond 30 June?’ I said, ‘I’ll let him know.’ So there you are, Mr Prime Minister, I am sure you will hear this or someone will report it to you; that is what my accountant in Mackay is saying.

This is fantastic for small business, and people are picking it up and using it. It really is good news for small business, not just for big business. Having worked in small business myself and having grown a couple of businesses I can say that we need government to give a helping hand, because it truly is dynamic economy at the grassroots level. There is the 20 per cent discount on pay-as-you-go tax investment, payable by 2 March 2009. There is also the $4 billion Australian Business Investment Partnership to support the commercial property sector, and thousands of small businesses, independent contractors and tradespeople will be looked after by this bill. This bill is fantastic. How could anybody vote against it? Look at the benefits. I commend this bill to the House.

Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to follow the member for Dawson in speaking to the Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2008-2009 and related bill. He is quite right to point out the stark contrast between the approach of the government benches to the global economic crisis and the approach of the opposition. The opposition’s approach is: ‘Let’s sit and wait. Let’s wait until the situation gets worse and then we’ll think about whether we act or not.’ Whereas the government’s position on the global economic crisis is to act swiftly and decisively to make sure that jobs are front and centre in our response to this crisis.

I suppose the opposition can be excused to some extent, because I think on the opposition benches more time and energy is being spent arguing about whose turn it is to be leader next rather than looking at what is good for the community and what is good for Australia. I can assure you, Mr Deputy Speaker, on this side of the House we are firmly in the camp of every Australian, making sure that we cushion our communities from the global economic crisis as best we possibly can, whether that is looking after pensioners, building infrastructure that is needed, making sure that local government is supported or working through COAG to make sure that we cooperate with the states. That is in stark contrast to what we see from the opposition. What a fundamental shift in philosophy we have seen from the Rudd government, when compared with the previous Howard government, in the way in which we approach the states and territories. The government approach to the issues that confront our communities is to sit down with the state and territory governments and cooperate so that we are working together to try to come up with collective solutions and are not working against each other.

Compare that approach and the outcomes that will be delivered from it with the approach of the previous government. The previous government’s position was, firstly, not to talk to the states at all, let alone to seek to reach an agreement. It was take it or leave it; you do it our way or you do not do it at all. Clearly that cannot be in the national interest, and in such difficult economic times and in a time of global financial crisis it is absolutely essential that we have all levels of governments working together. This government has been able to achieve not only reaching agreements with state governments through COAG but also working with local councils and local governments.

I am reminded of my local mayor, the Mayor of the Wyong Shire, who was quoted as being ‘absolutely ecstatic with the federal government’s approach to local councils’ and the money that we have released to stimulate local jobs. He said that this is something that is long overdue and most welcome in the Wyong Shire and that he looked forward to working with me as the federal member and with the Rudd government to deliver these projects to local governments so that local jobs can be retained.

You may think the Mayor of the Wyong Shire is a Labor hack, someone who has been put there by the party. In fact he is not. This mayor actually stood for the Liberal Party. He was a Liberal Party candidate; he was, in fact, a Liberal Party member in the seat of The Entrance in the New South Wales parliament for some period of time. People of goodwill, people who are concerned about our communities, are not playing politics in this global financial crisis. It does not matter what their background is; if they see a positive contribution being made, if they see that there are projects that are going to help local communities, then they will support them. That is what this man, Mr Bob Graham, has done, and he should be congratulated for embracing the Rudd government’s approach to this particular issue.

Only last week I had the pleasure of being with Mr Graham as we inspected the netball courts at Wyong, where some $400,000 of federal money is going to expand those netball courts so that they are up to state level and Wyong will be able to bid for the state championships. This was one of five local projects that the Wyong Council was able to do directly because it took a positive approach to cooperating and working with the Rudd government to create jobs locally. The Wyong Shire Council got over $1½ million in the local council stimulus, and that is something that I know all residents in the Wyong Shire are very happy about. Some of these projects, like the netball project, have been spoken about for over 10 years and have not been able to be done, but this is a project that is ready to go. While we were there announcing that the money for this project had been agreed to, a truck rolled up and the surveyors were already starting to look at doing the work—local people, local businesses, local jobs.

These appropriation bills go to important infrastructure areas such as rail, vital programs for helping people keep their jobs and retrain for new jobs, and water. I have said in this place before that, if you look at the government’s approach to the global financial crisis and the stimulus packages that have been introduced, if you were to design stimulus packages to assist the Central Coast then you would do exactly what the Rudd government has done—they fit perfectly with the issues that we need to address in Dobell and on the Central Coast. We have problems with rail; we have problems with unemployment—we have higher unemployment than the national average—and we have also had some very serious problems with water.

We are very familiar on the Central Coast with the consequences of a lack of water. It was only a year or so ago that our water supply was close to only 10 per cent and we were piping in water from the Hunter to make sure that the Central Coast, with over 300,000 people living there, did not go dry. But the Rudd government and a campaign that was run by me, the member for Shortland and the member for Robertson ensured that at the last election the Rudd government made a commitment of $80 million to build a pipeline that had been on the drawing board but not acted on for the last 10 years, which will drought-proof the Central Coast. We now have up to 30 per cent of our water capacity because of the recent rain that has fallen, but we cannot be complacent. Until this vital piece of infrastructure is built, we will always be in some danger of drought. These appropriation bills, which go to rail, to helping people keep their jobs and retrain for new jobs, and to water are very much at the forefront of issues that affect the seat of Dobell and the Central Coast.

The total appropriation being sought this year through Appropriation Bill (No. 5) is $384 million. The proposed appropriation will meet funding requirements for a number of measures announced in December 2008 for the national building project and is one that we need to support. It also covers recently announced changes to employment and apprenticeship programs and changes to the estimates of program expenditure due to variations in the timing of payments, forecast increases in the program take-up and other policy decisions taken by the government since additional estimates. Employment in apprenticeship programs is an absolutely vital part of making sure that we continue to have the right skills for the right jobs as the economy turns around in the future. In my electorate we have a high proportion of tradespeople, and these people employ the majority of the apprentices. It is vital that we have programs that encourage that to continue. As I have already mentioned, Dobell has almost twice the national average of unemployment. We have close to eight per cent unemployment at the moment, and youth unemployment on the Central Coast is close to 20 per cent. These are issues that particularly affect my electorate and it is very important that they are addressed.

Looking at the main items included under Appropriation Bill (No. 5) for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, there is $70 million for the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme, GEERS, which covers capped unpaid wages, annual leave and long-service leave, capped payment in lieu of notice and capped redundancy pay. This is an estimates variation as GEERS is a demand-driven program, and the current economic climate will obviously see an increase in the demand for this particular program. It is interesting that the key words of GEERS, such as ‘entitlements’ and ‘redundancy’, are quite a concept for those on the other side, after all their failed Work Choices laws, which many on that side of politics are still flirting with and trying to cling to and which goes completely against such rights as entitlements and redundancies that most Australians expect. Most Australians made their views very clear in November 2007. We can only hope that, down the hall in the Senate, some sanity will be seen there and that the opposition, who once declared that Work Choices was dead, will put their short-term political infighting to one side and do the right thing by working Australians by assisting in making sure that we can once and for all say that Work Choices is gone, dead and buried. But, as we know, there are many on the other side who not only want to see it continue but would like to see it strengthened. I fear that the tensions within the Liberal Party will make it too big a hurdle for them to accept that their failed policy was repudiated at the ballot box and should finally be put to bed forever.

Another of the main items under this bill is the $46.5 million for infrastructure and training places for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Investments are being made in public skills and training infrastructure—it is a secure economic activity—to address the sharpest impacts of the economic downtown and increase the capacity of the training sector over the long term to meet the 21st century skills needs. The next item for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations is $43 million for new apprenticeships and apprenticeship centres. This is a parameter update as the program, again, is demand driven, and funds allocated for this program are expected to be exhausted prior to the year’s end.

Again under the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, there is a further $38.9 million to help trade apprentices find new employers, which is an absolutely vital role. These elements of the bills, focusing on new apprenticeships, apprenticeship centres and finding new employers for existing trade apprentices, are all vital for an area like my electorate of Dobell, which is on the New South Wales Central Coast. As I have said, unemployment, and especially youth unemployment, is well above the national average. Because we are a region outside of the country’s largest city, Sydney, and also outside of one of the largest regional cities in Australia, Newcastle, the majority of jobs for apprentices and young people exist in those centres. This makes it more difficult for a young person trying to make a start in a trade and maintain a job, as he or she has to spend many hours of the day commuting to and from work. As well, they often have to attend TAFE for several hours a week—probably in another location, far removed from where they work. It is vital that we support these young people in order to ensure that they can continue their chosen apprenticeships and help them skill and reskill in areas of greatest need. They are finding it tougher than apprentices and trainees who are based in the capital cities because of this extra travel time and distance that they face each day. We cannot let young apprentices lose their current employment because of a lack of work and be put off from their chosen trade. We have to quickly help them find a new employer in the same or similar field. These measures go some way towards addressing that particular need.

One of the main issues addressed in Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009 is the $1.189 billion injected into the Australian Rail Track Corporation. This injection will fund 17 projects to improve the reliability and competitiveness of the nation’s rail freight network. One of the major projects includes expanding capacity in rail corridors to service the Hunter Valley coalmines and the connection to the port of Newcastle. This project is expected to more than double the export capacity at Newcastle from 97 million to 200 million tonnes per year. The Hunter region is just north of my seat, and there are many people in my seat who find employment in Newcastle and in these areas. Again, this is vital infrastructure that is going to help stimulate the economic development of the region and the country both in the short term and, just as importantly, in the long term.

In speaking about rail, I have to mention, of course, that the government is committed to developing a separate rail freight line between Sydney and Brisbane. Such a project will be a major infrastructure boost for regions such as mine on the Central Coast, which lies between Sydney and Newcastle, and will benefit many thousands of people. Not only would a separate rail freight line add major carrying capacity for land cargoes between two major centres; it would also free up the existing rail line for enhanced passenger train services. Thirty per cent of people in my electorate commute to either Sydney or Newcastle on the train every day of the week. Freeing up the existing line just for passenger train services is something that commuters on the Central Coast have been calling for for a long time. Too frequently there are breakdowns on our rail line that mean major delays for people trying to get to work. Almost always, the breakdowns occur with the heavier freight rail. Having a separate line will not only increase the capacity to transport more cargo between the various centres but also mean that the commuter line is there for commuters and enable people to travel faster and more securely to Sydney and Newcastle.

With the major increase in freight by rail, there should also be a marked decrease in road freight, particularly road freight on the major road link between Sydney and Newcastle, the F3 freeway. It has been estimated that, when a dedicated freight line is up and running, up to 1,900 truck movements per day would be cut. That is 1,900 truck movements per day that the F3 would be free of, allowing a dramatic improvement in the traffic flow and safety conditions for motorists on this major road link. It would also be a blessing for those who commute by road, because it suddenly gives the F3 a whole new capacity for some time. It also, quite importantly, means that there is a dramatic effect in terms of the greenhouse gases that will be removed by reducing by 1,900 the truck trips per day in this particular area. It is a very important infrastructure promise that this government is making about the rail network.

The difference between the parties is stark. We on the government benches are acting decisively and swiftly to make sure that money is going locally to short-term stimulus as well as to nation-building infrastructure, the lack of which has constrained the Australian economy for far too long. What we have been faced with from those on the opposition benches is dithering, inaction and confusion. One finds it very difficult to understand what the opposition’s position is in relation to many of the measures that the Rudd government has announced.

The classic example was the October stimulus package. We were told first of all that it was something that was supported by the opposition. Then came the doubt about it. Now we seem to be having outright opposition in relation to that particular package. We certainly had outright opposition to the $42 billion stimulus package, which is helping infrastructure and jobs throughout Australia. What the Australian public see is a government prepared to do something and an opposition that is only going to sit on its hands, carp and try and make cheap political points. I commend these bills to the House.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2008-2009 and Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009. The total appropriation sought by these particular bills adds up to $2.14 billion, about 2.6 per cent of the total annual appropriation. These bills are in line with and support our Nation Building and Jobs Plan, which has had such a great impact in my electorate of Blair in South-East Queensland and will continue to do so in the future. It is important to note how these things announced at a national level impact locally, because all politics is local, as former House of Representative Speaker Tip O’Neil said. He was a very famous Democratic politician who knew a lot about local people, local campaigning and delivering locally for his seat in Massachusetts.

I want to talk about the impact of this type of legislation and the kind of funding that we are bringing to my electorate. These bills, which will deliver a lot of money nationally and which will have a great impact locally, will be warmly received by the constituents of Blair in South-East Queensland. Both bills put money aside for roads, rail, employment, redundancy packages, schemes to assist those workers who have lost their jobs, literacy and numeracy programs, language programs, apprenticeships and the like. These bills are in the great Labor tradition of nation building and assisting those who are disadvantaged and those who are struggling.

In my electorate of Blair, where manufacturing and agriculture are so important, these appropriation bills will help enormously. My electorate is a large electorate—5,300 square kilometres—in South-East Queensland. Commuting from one part of the electorate to another is a challenge for my constituents, particularly as many work in rural areas and commute to Ipswich or on to Brisbane to gain employment. Rail infrastructure is important and roads are critical.

We are talking about money being delivered into the local area. Underpinning this sort of legislation is money. This is about what impact this will have on people’s lives. We are talking about delivering money to assist local roads in my constituency. I am pleased to say that, through the AusLink process and through money delivered by the Rudd Labor government, we are fixing important intersections which remained in states of dilapidation under the previous Howard government, posing safety risks to constituents in Blair. For example, the Haigslea-Amberley intersection, which connects the Warrego Highway to the RAAF base at Amberley, was for too long left unattended. I am pleased to say that the people of Ipswich and areas west can see the construction underway at the moment. We are talking about delivering money in terms of roads and that is the perfect example of how the Rudd Labor government is fixing up an intersection in my area to help local people.

In addition, we can see the construction taking place on the road between Ipswich and Brisbane as part of the AusLink process. There is the upgrade to the Ipswich Motorway, which was for so long inexplicably and inexcusably opposed by the Liberal National Party. It is extraordinary that it has taken so long and a change of government for that road to be worked on. I am pleased to say that by the middle of this year the Dinmore to Goodna section will be under construction. We will see by the middle of this year the Goodna to Wacol section completed, and by the end of 2010 the Wacol to Darra section will be finally completed. You can see it taking place. It is one of the biggest road projects in South-East Queensland. It is a massive construction and it makes a big difference to the lives of the tens of thousands of people who commute every day from Ipswich and the rural areas to Brisbane for the purpose of employment. This sort of funding makes a big impact. It will also make a big impact in respect of national highways like the Warrego Highway and the Cunningham Highway. They are important links for the rural areas outside of Ipswich and west of Ipswich through to Brisbane. This sort of funding makes a big impact.

I also think it will make a big impact in terms of employment. The Queensland Times, which is the only daily newspaper in my electorate, has reported recently and accurately that more than 3,000 people in Ipswich are receiving unemployment benefits, 400 more than in February 2009. Certainly, important employment agencies in Ipswich, such as Top Office, Apprenticeships Queensland and others, as well as organisations like the Salvation Army’s Employment Plus, have reported the effects of the global financial crisis on local workers. I was recently in Ipswich and met people in the meat industry. They are of course seeing the results of the global financial crisis on the meat industry. We are seeing that also in manufacturing. We have a number of big manufacturing plants locally in Ipswich. Employees in those plants are also reporting that they are concerned about their job security as a result of what is going on.

Providing assistance in practical ways, and that is what these bills do, is important for local people. I am pleased to see that we have provided easier access for redundant workers to gain the kind of assistance they need to retrain or receive a $550 jobseeker account credit, which will allow workers who lose their jobs in my electorate to gain access to new employment services and assistance in finding alternative employment. They also gain a degree of respect and understanding of their future. The Rudd Labor government are putting $3.9 billion into a new employment service scheme from 1 July 2009. We are providing 701,000 productivity places, which will be delivered over five years. This is extremely important in electorates like Blair. The assistance in terms of trade training centres is also an important part of the Nation Building and Jobs Plan that the Rudd Labor government are undertaking. For example, in Ipswich we are delivering the Ipswich Trade Training Centre. Nearly $3 million has been set aside for St Edmund’s College and also the two grammar schools, Ipswich Girls Grammar and Ipswich Boys Grammar, so that young people can get training in the areas of the wet trades, carpentry and the like. There was the recent announcement of a trade training centre in the Lockyer district—$1.5 million to Lockyer District High. That will also make a big impact in the area of engineering, automotive and mechanical trades. These are important and practical measures the Rudd Labor government are undertaking to help local people in the Lockyer Valley as well as in Ipswich.

I am pleased to say that the people of my electorate have warmly welcomed the nation building and jobs package, which is supported by these two pieces of legislation that are before the House today. Certainly in the mobile offices that I run—last Saturday in Gatton, the Saturday before in Boonah and before that, for four Saturday mornings, in various shopping centres in Ipswich—people have constantly been coming up to me and saying how pleased they are to see a government that cares and a government that is investing in infrastructure, in schools and in the economy. I will illustrate just how important this package is to my electorate. There are 12,553 families who will receive the back-to-school bonus to help their kids return to school; 119 farmers who are struggling in my electorate will receive a hardship payment, so 119 families will benefit accordingly; and 3,870 students and people looking for work will receive a training and learning bonus to support their study costs. What a practical way to help people in the electorate of Blair.

In addition, as part of this package and through these appropriation bills, we see money set aside for housing. The Rudd Labor government is making a big impact locally in my constituency. There will be 133 new defence homes built in Ipswich. All bar seven of them will be built in the suburbs around where I live on the south side of Ipswich. This is a $36.3 million investment in local construction. The flow-on effects in increased employment and the local economy will be immense. Members of the Royal Australian Air Force based at Amberley will benefit enormously from this construction. We are seeing high-quality and appropriate housing in good suburbs in Ipswich being provided for local defence families. The Rudd government has demonstrated its commitment to the long-term future of the Australian economy by providing $252 million over the next two years for the construction of 802 new homes for ADF members and their families. This is important as part of our Nation Building and Jobs Plan. It is specifically mentioned that the appropriations under this legislation provide money for housing.

One of the things that is really puzzling to me is how those opposite cannot see that the allocations for community infrastructure are so important for local communities. In my area there are three mayors. Two of them are not from my side of politics. They are good men who work hard for the local community. Steve Jones is the Mayor of the Lockyer Valley Regional Council and John Brent is Mayor of the Scenic Rim Regional Council. Paul Pisasale, the Mayor of Ipswich City Council, is a member of the Labor Party. I have spoken to all three of them and to many councillors in the various councils. The vast majority of the councillors in my electorate are not paid-up members of the Australian Labor Party, but from the discussions I have had with them—and I have spoken to many of them—they are very much in favour of the appropriations that we are seeing locally in Ipswich and the rural areas of my electorate. Mayor John Brent, who I am sure would be known to you, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, is a very prominent member of the National Party in Queensland and has, I think, been a member of the inner sanctum of the party in Queensland. So I think it is interesting that he was saying how fantastic this package is for community infrastructure in the area of the Scenic Rim. I know that the Lockyer Valley Regional Council has applied for funding under our package, and I warmly support their applications. They have applied for funding for the Lake Apex redevelopment and the walking and cycling track at Lake Dyer. So we are seeing a lot of interest from local councils for the money we are allocating in our nation building and jobs package. Ipswich City Council has made an application for funding as well.

I think the issue that has attracted the interest in my local area—what has been most warmly received—is the assistance given to schools, and that allies with the funding arrangements we are talking about here. There will be funding for computers in schools. We are talking about important money which will help local infrastructure. There will be funding for trade training centres, which will help local employment. The funding for science laboratories and language-learning centres will help local employment. There will be funding for multipurpose halls and libraries. There will be school pride funding that will help in the refurbishment of local school communities. I attended the Kentville P&C meeting the other night. It is in a rural part of my electorate, and there were about 16 people there. They were very much in favour of the package that we have handed down and of the kind of funding that supports the package in these two bills, because our schools really do need renewing and we really do need schools which will be cathedrals of learning for the 21st century. So many schools, particularly state schools, are old and dilapidated and need assistance. We believe it is important that we give our children every chance in life in the circumstances. I have been speaking to all the school principals in my area. They are concerned about their students—their children. They are worried about what the future holds for their students and their students’ job prospects. They have said how much they favour funding for employment services, redundancy and assistance.

I think that in the electorate of Blair we will see a lot more local employment driven by this package than elsewhere. Sadly, in Ipswich and the rural areas outside, when there has been recession in the past those areas have been hit hardest. Working people, working families, working-class battlers—meatworkers, cleaners, shop assistants, process workers and factory hands—are the people who make up and have built Ipswich and the rural areas outside. They are the people who labour on farms, who work in horticulture. They are the ones who have built the wealth and have provided so much for the economic viability and prosperity that South-East Queensland has enjoyed for so long. Providing assistance to them in times of need through appropriations like these bills will make a big difference.

I recently spoke to one of the principals in my electorate. I will not mention his name, because he might find himself in a bit of trouble. He was saying how much he has been convinced by the Rudd Labor government. He has not always been a Labor voter. He told me quite clearly that in the past he voted for ‘the other side of politics’, but he said that the Prime Minister had won him over because of the investments in infrastructure, schooling and roads. I think that has been the impression of the Australian public in general in relation to this.

At this time of great international anxiety, when we are facing a tremendous international challenge, when so many of our trading partners are in recession, when we have seen America lose 651,000 people to unemployment in the last month, when we have seen unemployment rising in our country and we expect more unemployment, when we expect more people to suffer the kinds of social problems that arise with unemployment, it is so important to provide help with entitlements and redundancy and get rid of pernicious, evil legislation like Work Choices which will impact on people’s lives locally by making it easier to sack workers and strip away entitlements.

I agree with the member for Dobell: it is time that the coalition finally, at this time of crisis, adopted a more national approach—an approach that looks at how we can together bring forward Australia’s prosperity; how we can together ride through the global storm that is hitting us at the moment. Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, you are a Queenslander and I know that you have seen in the agricultural industry the travails of the farmers. I know the farmers in my electorate are really doing it tough. I think it is important that we provide for them in this time of need. I think we should do what we can to help them because they do not enjoy the benefits of those who live in the cities. They have all kinds of problems with the tyranny of distance. The schools that their kids go to are small and lack the kinds of facilities that big schools have. We need to do everything we can to help them in that regard.

I have small country schools in my electorate where there are eight children attending the school—or 10 children or 30 children. I have 63 local primary schools, many of them in the rural parts of my area, particularly in the Lockyer Valley. Helping those little country schools is important because it gives those kids a chance. I want to commend the government for this package. Not only is it economically responsible and prudent but also it helps in terms of social equity and nation building. It helps those kids to have a chance in life in transport, education and community infrastructure. I commend these bills to the House.

Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure to be following my parliamentary colleague the member for Blair in this debate. I certainly support his comments about the importance of our rural and regional schools. Although the electorate of Petrie covers outer metropolitan Brisbane, the initiatives that the Rudd Labor government has announced in relation to schools apply to all schools across the country, and that is what makes Building the Education Revolution such an exciting initiative—it does not pick pockets of schools in certain electorates in certain regions across this country; it is there to benefit all students, all children and all households across this country and all of our schools. Certainly those schools are deserving of that support. I rise to speak in support of the Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2008-2009 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009. These are very important bills to ensure adequate funding flows to the government stimulus packages—both the first one announced in October 2008 and our most recent Nation Building and Jobs Plan package. They will also fund other important initiatives and schemes that are ongoing to ensure that we are delivering for all of our communities and looking after those in most need.

These bills touch on some very important measures—for example, the $34 million of additional funding to ensure that the 241 ABC Learning childcare centres remain operational until 31 March 2009. This provides the certainty that is so desperately needed for families who rely on such childcare places. If parents are unable to have that certainty, they are at risk of being unable to continue in their existing employment or continue with their existing working hours. With the current economic climate this type of uncertainty with regard to employment adds to the pressures already on households. We should not underestimate how important it is for parents to be able to have quality child care and guaranteed childcare places for their children. If we want to have more women in the workforce and if we want to have those skills in the workforce then we have to ensure that adequate child care is provided. Irrespective of your views about ABC Learning itself and how it came to be in such an appalling situation with its finances, you have to put that aside and look at this. This is not just another private-sector business, and the question is not just whether it should have any government support or not. You cannot ignore the fact that there are whole communities and families that are completely reliant on having that child care there for their children so that they can go to work, earn their living and pay their bills.

As a parent who has had two children in child care, I know that one is always torn in two over having quality child care and being in the workforce and that those concerns are eased somewhat when you know you have the certainty of good carers for your children. What happened with ABC was appalling and certainly put a lot of families at risk of losing that certainty. I am pleased that the government could step in to provide some certainty for those families in that troubling time.

This bill also provides additional funding for GEERS, the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme, which covers capped unpaid wages, annual and long-service leave, capped payment in lieu of notice and capped redundancy pay. Again, in the current economic climate this scheme has seen, unfortunately, an increase in demand, and it is the role of a responsible government to ensure that adequate funds are contributed to this scheme at these difficult times.

Importantly, these bills ensure adequate funding for infrastructure and training places, new apprenticeships and apprenticeship centres. It is extremely important that governments, industry—both small and large enterprises—and the general community stay focused on the need to build infrastructure and skills. Although unemployment will rise as a consequence of the global recession, Australia still faces a skills shortage. This is why the Rudd Labor government is delivering on its commitment to build trade training centres in secondary schools across the country. I can advise the House that my local community is seeing the benefit of that commitment, with announcements of two successful trade training applications last week. The Redcliffe State High School, as the lead school in conjunction with Clontarf Beach State High School, Deception Bay State High School and North Lakes State College—those last two schools being in the federal seat of Longman—were successful in their application to build an industry-compliant analytical chemical and physical microbiology laboratory with industry-standard equipment. Northside Christian College were also successful in a joint application with Everton Park State High School, The Gap State High School, Mount Maria Senior College, Northside Christian College and Mitchelton State High School, which is the lead school in that application. Mitchelton State High School will be building a state-of-the-art facility delivering skills in electrotechnology.

I congratulate all of these schools for their tremendous work in preparing their applications and their willingness to work collectively with local schools and the community. This is another benefit of the Rudd Labor government’s education revolution. Not only are we delivering these state-of-the-art facilities so that we have services that underpin a quality education for our children but we are seeing schools that have never before worked together coming together to share in knowledge, ideas and facilities so that the children in their schools can benefit from them. The different facilities will complement each other, and the schools will share that experience. To have not just government schools sharing with other government schools but non-government schools joining in with government schools—whether that be through trade training centres or through funding programs the Rudd Labor government has announced for new facilities, for performing arts centres, for a whole range of things—is a fantastic initiative. With regard to the most recent announcement about building multipurpose halls: again, this is a hall not just for the school but for the community. We are once again ensuring that our schools are building a relationship with the communities in which they operate, which is so fundamentally important. So I congratulate all of those schools for getting involved in these initiatives and putting their applications forward.

On the issue of jobs and their importance, the Rudd Labor government has announced as part of the apprenticeships announcements the Securing Apprenticeships and Traineeships Program. This is extremely important with the current downturn in work. Unfortunately, in my electorate I have too many apprentices who are on stand-down right now because the businesses they were placed with are short of work. I appreciate the efforts those businesses are going to in trying to retain the training contracts for those individuals by not cancelling them and by merely standing their apprentices down for what they hope is a temporary period. The Rudd Labor government has announced this important initiative to try to ensure that, where an employer has no choice but to let the apprentice go because of the downturn in work, we are assisting those who are out of work and out of their trade to get back into an apprenticeship contract so that they can continue and finish their trade qualification.

We cannot have the efforts that businesses have put in over two or three years to train up these apprentices being lost overnight by the apprentices becoming unemployed and having to go back into the general workforce and having their training fall away. We need to pick up those individuals with those skills and help them get back into their apprenticeship so that they can continue. Certainly the Securing Apprenticeships and Traineeships Program will provide a pathway for out-of-trade apprentices and trainees to remain connected to the workforce and to maintain their training. Employers will also be encouraged to retain apprentices and trainees through the provision of an additional completion payment. Not only are we assisting those who are in the extremely unfortunate position of having had their apprenticeship contract cancelled; with this completion payment we are also assisting those employers who are struggling now to hold on to their apprentices.

In tenders for new Australian government funded infrastructure projects preference will be given to businesses that demonstrate a commitment to retain and employ new trainees and apprentices. We should not underestimate the value of that. We as a government have a responsibility when we are putting out for tenders for infrastructure projects to ensure that there is a strong commitment to retaining and employing new trainees and apprentices. I have already spoken about the out-of-trade apprentices and former apprentices and trainees who have not successfully completed their apprenticeships because they were laid off by their employer. During an economic downturn, such that we are seeing globally, employers may find it more challenging to maintain their support for apprentices and trainees. The Securing Apprenticeships and Traineeships Program will assist them to hold on to their employees and assist employers in taking on apprentices, and it will assist our country to continue to build our national skills, which is so important and will be more even more important to grow the economy as we start to recover.

On the important issue of infrastructure, this government is committed to going forward with a national building plan. This plan has become even more important because of the global recession, because it not only serves to build long-term infrastructure so desperately needed across this country but also supports businesses locally, nationally and globally. This program supports jobs in the current slowing economic growth and the pressures that that creates on employment. This House has heard a number of members from the opposition speaking on these bills over the last couple of days take the opportunity to criticise the Queensland government. I believe it is important to set the record straight: the commitment to nation building is reflected in both the Rudd Labor government’s actions and the Bligh Labor government’s actions. The Queensland Labor government is working with the federal government in ensuring that the infrastructure needs of tomorrow are being built today throughout Queensland. With the global recession worsening, what Queensland needs now more than ever is strong leadership and certainty about the future. Anna Bligh is about securing jobs; Lawrence Springborg is about slashing them. As the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government informed the House on Tuesday of this week, every state and territory government has signed up to the $26.4 billion nation-building plan. Queensland, because of the caretaker period, are not able to sign up at this stage but the Queensland government have said that they will sign.

The opposition leader in Queensland is, however, as confused as ever. Last Tuesday Lawrence Springborg said that he would sign up to the Rudd government’s offer of a $6.5 billion road and rail package for Queensland, and the minister thought that here was an opposition leader who actually understood nation building. But the commitment lasted only two days. Two days later, on the Thursday—whether at the suggestion of the federal Leader of the Opposition or the Queensland Liberals or Nationals or Liberal Nationals, whatever they are now—he decided that they wanted the same deal that they were offered by the Howard government under AusLink over the same period of time. If you compare the nation-building program with AusLink, we have doubled the funding. It does say something quite extraordinary that an opposition leader campaigning in a Queensland election is actually asking for less money from the Commonwealth.

Compare this to Anna Bligh’s Labor government, which has committed $17 billion this financial year to Queensland’s building program. It is the biggest building program of any state and will protect local jobs, building better hospitals, schools and roads. The building program will support 119,000 jobs and, in the 17 months since Anna Bligh became Premier, 168,000 jobs have been created. Anna Bligh will protect jobs in the Public Service, like those in health, policing and education—not cut them like the opposition is planning to do. Anna Bligh will fully cooperate with Kevin Rudd and the Rudd Labor government to make sure Queenslanders get the very best from the government’s stimulus package. This includes implementing our Building the Education Revolution by ensuring that every primary school receives a multipurpose hall, state-of-the-art library or other permanent building. I have been working closely with all of the state members across my electorate in conjunction with our schools in delivering on this commitment. I have state electorates that cross over my federal electorate, with the member for Murrumba, Dean Wells; the member for Redcliffe, Lillian van Litsenburg; the member for Sandgate, Vicky Darling; the member for Aspley, Bonny Barry; the member for Stafford, Stirling Hinchliffe; and our new Labor candidate for Everton, Murray Watt, all working closely with me to ensure that there is an ongoing cooperative working relationship locally between the state and federal governments.

Mr Springborg has said he will cut 12,000 jobs from the Public Service. This is the opposition leader who, of course, also said that he would ‘front-end’ Public Service jobs and make some ‘de-necessary’. This is not a person we want to put in charge of the Queensland government and the Queensland economy at a time when this nation is feeling the effects of the worst economic times since the Great Depression. This is the opposition leader who does not believe that we are actually having an economic crisis. His view is that things have never been better. He actually came out on 27 January 2009 and said:

It didn’t have to be this serious. It’s not like the Great Depression. It’s not like the hysteria … it’s not like a war footing. That is absolute nonsense. It is not even a recession.

Only weeks ago Mr Springborg’s economic spokesman, Tim Nicholls, said that they would rather scrap projects—which, I suspect, is also the federal opposition’s position—than have a budget deficit. This would destroy jobs. Mr Nicholls, the member for Clayfield, has come out and said, ‘I have indicated that some projects will be scrapped.’ This is their solution in dealing with global recession. Their solution in supporting jobs is to propose scrapping infrastructure projects and nation building.

Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Briggs interjecting

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I remind the member for Mayo that if he wants to interject, there is an intervention process whereby he can seek to ask a question. I would ask him to seek that, if that is what he wants to do, rather than interject.

Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the last couple of minutes that I have left to speak on these important appropriation bills I would like to emphasise other important initiatives, such as the employment services funding to support retrenched workers. This is so important. There will be workers made redundant. We need to give these people the best assistance we can by giving them intensive assistance with the equivalent of stream 2 services, such as career advice, a comprehensive skills assessment, skills development training, IT support and stationary support to help with job applications, targeted referral to appropriate education and training and $550 credit to the employment pathway fund to pay for items such as computer courses, heavy vehicle licences, safety boots and work uniforms. This targeted investment will help to support jobs and get people back in the workplace as quickly as possible. Rather than having to wait at least three months to receive intensive personalised assistance, this will become available immediately. These are some of the very important initiatives that form part of these appropriation bills. These are important bills that will support the economy and our local communities. I commend the bills to the House.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

These are certainly strange times that we are living in, strange times indeed. We have an African-American President in the White House who won the candidacy of the Democratic Party from a women who would have also made a great President. The British Prime Minister is Scottish. The Governor-General of Australia is female and a Queenslander. We have a Prime Minister who is a Queenslander; we have a Treasurer who is a Queenslander. We have a female Governor in Queensland. Next Saturday, we will even have the first elected female Premier of Queensland. These are very strange times. We even have the Liberals and Nationals staying together in Queensland. These are very strange times in which I rise to support the Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2008-2009 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009, which will appropriate $2.1 billion.

This is all part of the Rudd government’s response to the global financial crisis. Yes, it is global and it is a crisis. These are difficult times indeed around the world. Corporate greed, extreme capitalism and neoliberalism have combined to create a perfect storm of financial ruin. The crisis has thrown major economies like those of the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany into recession. Thirty banks around the world have collapsed or been bailed out. We say that, but people do not understand the sorts of banks that we are talking about. Some of these are so substantial that it would be like our four major banks going over. Every country in the world faces a dramatic rise in unemployment, as we have seen today.

No country is immune from the fallout of the crisis, but the Rudd government is doing whatever it can to shelter Australia from the storm. Early on, the government guaranteed deposits held in Australian owned banks to stimulate confidence in the banking sector and to ensure that our banks remain competitive in the difficult international market. We are also providing relief to pensioners, support for low- and middle-income families and support for students. We are building confidence in the housing market and boosting training opportunities. Through the Nation Building and Jobs Plan, we are supporting drought affected farmers and small businesses and investing in infrastructure and skills for the future.

We have the largest school modernisation program in Australia’s history. I am sure that all members in the House, even those who voted against the Rudd government initiative, welcome this injection of money into their school communities. It is a fantastic opportunity to bring money into communities quickly while investing in something that will pay off in the long run—education. This program will deliver a new school library, multipurpose hall or classroom upgrade for all primary schools. The principals in my electorate tell me that this is exactly what their schools need. They simply cannot believe that a government is finally doing it. I am sure, Deputy Speaker Scott, that, as a longstanding member of parliament, when you have gone to schools over the last 10 or so years they always had a list of wishes and what the community would like to achieve. It is great that we are going to be able to achieve some of those dreams in so many schools. We are also putting pink batts as insulation into the roofs of many Australian homes. This will decrease people’s carbon footprints and improve their living conditions in winter and summer.

Unfortunately, the opposition opposed all of these measures. Every single one of them opposed every single measure. Unfortunately, they have no plan to respond to the global recession and no plan to support struggling Australian families. While we have the ESS and that NBJP, they have the WAS strategy, which is of course the ‘wait-and-see’ strategy—wait and see what happens.

I turn now to the details in the bills before the House. The amount of $384 million will be appropriated through Appropriation Bill (No. 5). It includes $34 million to support 241 childcare centres until 31 March 2009 and $70 million for wages and entitlements under the General Employment Entitlements Redundancy Scheme. As a former union official, I commend John Howard for the Stan Howard initiative. I always give credit to John Howard for three things, and that is one of them. Having being a union official and having worked with GEERS, I know how difficult it is when you do have to access the GEERS. It is a great initiative. Also, there is $46.5 million for infrastructure and training places at DEEWR, $43 million for new apprenticeships and apprenticeship centres, $38.9 million to help trade apprentices find new employers, $36.8 million to help redundant workers access employment programs, $16.4 million for developments in the East Kimberley, $11.1 million to expand emergency relief, and $68.7 million for the Nation Building and Jobs Plan, including informing citizens about the opportunities they can access to build confidence and to build jobs.

The Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009 will also appropriate $1.83 billion for significant nation-building programs; $1.2 billion will go to the Australian Rail Track Corporation to fund 17 rail freight projects around the country. Railways were a significant issue at the time of Federation and it is good to see that, 100 years on, we still have a commitment to supporting our rail networks. A further $392 million will go to AusLink to bring forward spending on roads, and $250 million will also go to bring forward the purchase of water to return flows to the Murray-Darling Basin, which is something I am sure the member for Mayo would be very supportive of. I am proud to support these initiatives because I know they will secure thousands of Australian jobs, they will provide support to those who find themselves without a job as a result of the global economic crisis and they will help finance our nation-building agenda.

As a former schoolteacher, I return again to schools because I really think that is the masterstroke in this plan in terms of ensuring that we have a plan for the future so that we are ready, when the economic situation stabilises, to go forward and take advantage of the good economic times that will come rather than just lay back in a hammock and do nothing in terms of economic restructuring which, unfortunately, is what happened on 2 March 1996 for 10, 11 or 12 years.

In between jockeying for the leadership position that takes place on the other side of the chamber, the opposition has also cried foul over the size of the deficit that will come about as a result of this stimulus package. This is typical of the Liberal and National parties. I would like to call it ‘dole queue schadenfreude’, for those familiar with that psychological term. They are rubbing their hands—not in public, of course—hoping that there will be dole queues, that there will be misery, that lives will suffer so that they can then magically go to the polls and say, ‘I told you so.’ That is the Peter Costello plan if he ever finds the backbone to come forward and execute it. But it is all based on this dole queue schadenfreude. They would rather Australian businesses close their doors; they would rather Australians moved to the unemployment queues. Unfortunately, that means that lives are damaged and that families will suffer. Thankfully, we do have a clear choice in front of us.

The government could ignore the global economic crisis. We could take economic advice from Lawrence Springborg, the leader of the Liberal National Party in Queensland, and just say, ‘It’s a peripheral thing; don’t worry about it.’ We could ignore the global—I repeat, global—recession and let the free market rip, as per Liberal Party policy, without regard for the impact it will have on Australian families. Or, through targeted and responsible spending initiatives we could stimulate our economy, support jobs, support families, strengthen small businesses and stand shoulder to shoulder with Australian working families and farmers, who are doing it tough.

The Rudd government believes there are no responsible alternatives. The Treasurer delivered a surplus of almost $22 billion last budget, which gave us room to move in terms of our response to this crisis. But let us be clear about the size of the deficit we are talking about. I will make it very simple for the audience. It is the equivalent of a situation in which you are earning $100,000 a year—if you are lucky enough to be—and you take out a loan for $5,000. It is not irresponsible; it is very manageable and very serviceable. It is a small price to pay to help Australian small businesses and to secure Australian jobs. And, obviously, we have the commitment to return the budget to surplus after the global recession is through. Through responsible economic management we will get through the global recession and return to a budget surplus.

Don’t listen to the henny penny collective opposite saying that the sky is going to fall in. Instead of taking advice from the other side of the House before coming to parliament I was playing around with a couple of my local businesses and business contacts and they all say the same thing: they hear that tough times are coming but at the moment they are holding steady. They are not listening to Malcolm Turnbull saying that the sky is going to fall in. They say: ‘No, we are holding up, we are doing okay and the government is doing a great job. We are holding steady.’ So the dole queue schadenfreude that is found opposite is bad for the soul and it is bad at the polls. So my advice to Malcolm and the rest of the people opposite is to give it up. I commend the bills to the House.

Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Science and Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Given the nature of this debate on the Appropriation Bill (No. 5) 2008-2009 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 6) 2008-2009 it is my intention, in the first part of what I have to say, to refer to the memory of two good friends of mine who have passed away recently. Both of these people were great fighters for social justice in the Territory and both died from that dreadful disease, cancer.

The first of these friends was Tony Fitzgerald—someone who was known to my friend the member for Banks—who was the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner in the Northern Territory. The second person was Ms Ursula Balfour, a school teacher. She was a highly respected and prominent figure in Northern Territory education circles. Recently both of these people lost their lives after long battles with cancer. I was fortunate enough to have attended commemorative services for both of them—in Darwin for my good friend Tony Fitzgerald and in Alice Springs for Ursula Balfour.

Tony arrived in the Northern Territory in May 1977 as a lawyer. He graduated from the University of Melbourne in commerce and law and his first job as a legal practitioner was with the Fitzroy Legal Service, which again will be known to my mate the member for Banks. Under the auspices of the Fitzroy Legal Service he was an advocate for the Tenants Union of Victoria. He left Victoria in May and arrived in the Northern Territory to work for Aboriginal legal aid at a time when there were some very impressive people there. His confreres at the time included Dave Parsons, who is now a judge of the Victorian courts, and a former Victorian appeal court judge, Jeff Eames, both of whom were solicitors at the Northern Australian Legal Aid Service, NALAS, as it was at that time.

In October of that year, Tony was joined by his best mate, Greg Borchers. Greg was also a lawyer. Over his life, Tony was not known for punctuality. He was due to, as you do, pick up his mate at the airport and look after him. Unfortunately, on that October day, when Greg arrived in Darwin to take up his new position at the North Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, Tony was nowhere to be seen. They later came together and they have had a long and fruitful relationship ever since.

Tony worked for the North Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, and I knew him not only because I had a lot of mates in the legal circles in Darwin at the time but also through rugby union. Tony was a very, very good rugby player and had played state level rugby at junior and senior levels in Victoria. Tony then had a varied career, not only playing rugby, at which he excelled, but also in legal circles, though for a time he left the Northern Territory and took up practising in Melbourne with Greg Borchers on Punt Road. That did not last that long and they were soon back in the Territory. He was at the bar for a while, worked for the Wagait association, went back to the law and then was offered the position of Anti-Discrimination Commissioner in the Northern Territory.

In the late eighties and early nineties, Tony had a partner, Ursula Raymond, with whom he lived and they had two children, Nina and Gus. Unfortunately, their relationship did not last, and Tony was left as a single parent with two young children. I think at the time that Nina would have been about three and Gus about five or six. Gus, as it happens, is around the same age as my eldest son. It was about this time that Tony was diagnosed with cancer and had an operation. Around the same time that he first received the diagnosis and had this operation, he said to my partner, Elizabeth, ‘All I want is 10 years’—10 years so he could see his children grow up. As it happens, he had this terrible disease for almost 13 years, and he did see his children grow up into fine young people. I know that, in the sacrifice he made for them, his life was driven by them; his reason was to be with his children. Despite the personal affliction and the suffering which saw his body become, by the end, an emaciated representation of his true self, he was a fine man. He had his foibles—more than one. He was a very pugnacious, opinionated and argumentative person, and we had a great friendship. We had many lively discussions about a range of issues.

When Tony thought something was right, there was no question, no brooking any criticism; he was going to be right. Whilst it did not come as a surprise to me that he was appointed Anti-Discrimination Commissioner of the Northern Territory, what became very clear was that Tony was not going to bow to anyone. In that position, he stood up ever so strongly not only to governments at a national level and in the Northern Territory but also to sections in the community who perhaps were not as rounded as they should have been in terms of appreciating such things as racism and minority rights. He was a great advocate. He will be missed by all those who knew him. He made a significant contribution to the life of the Northern Territory. He is survived by Gus and Nina, and they are now living with their lovely mother, Ursula, in Darwin.

The second person I want to refer to is Ursula Balfour. Ursula was a long-time resident of the Northern Territory. She arrived in Alice Springs in the late seventies and on 6 March, last week, was farewelled at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station after she passed away at noon on 1 March after losing her battle with cancer. There were around 600 people at her memorial service—friends and relatives from Alice Springs and across the nation who came to honour the memory of a very distinguished woman. She was a very brave woman, a distinguished teacher and an advocate for Central Australian education. I knew Ursula because she worked as the deputy principal in the school which my children attended and at which my partner worked.

Ursula was a very professional person, extremely highly valued as a teacher, having worked as I say as an assistant principal at the School of the Air and principal of both Bradshaw and Ross Park primary schools in Alice Springs. She was a very active member of the Northern Territory teachers union and was also in the principals association. Over recent years she undertook a great challenge. At Bradshaw Primary School, where she was principal, she set up a unit to address the needs of town camp kids around Alice Springs. She was extremely successful in this endeavour, and great tributes were paid to her as a result of that fine work. I know that she has impacted upon the lives of so many: all the students she has had contact with and their families. She is survived by her loving husband, Scotty, and two beautiful children, Sally and Jamie. I know that, whilst it is difficult when we are talking about people whom most of us in this place do not know, when I talk about Tony and Ursula I can say without fear of contradiction that were Tony and Ursula known to everyone else in this parliament they would come away with the same impression I arrived at after many years of association with them. They were fine individuals who will be sadly missed. I guess it points out in a way that, no matter how fine you are, how courageous you are or how brilliant you are, you can be susceptible to the dreadful attack of cancer. Given that last week we had the Shade for Cancer exercise, I encourage people when they are thinking about what they might do with their excess dollars, to think about contributing to cancer research.

I want to conclude my remarks here by talking about the legislation. I refer the chamber to the enormous benefit for the Northern Territory of the federal government’s $800 million community infrastructure program. More than $3 million has been invested in the Territory. In mid-December town and shire councils the length and breadth of the Territory received letters advising them of their allocation through the new Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program. In these three short months not only have projects been announced from the Tiwi islands to Tennant Creek, covering everything from rubbish tip upgrades to cultural tourism signage, but already contracts have been sent to councils, signed and sent back and funds have been released. So in three short months we have gone from nothing—no investment in these projects, no improvements in the lives of our remote Territory communities and no construction to keep our regional economies ticking over in these difficult times—to having these funds flowing in.

Wagait, on the Cox Peninsula, has received $100,000 for a bicycle path. It is much more than a bicycle path—the bike path means people can catch the ferry from Darwin over to Wagait and go for a ride. They can stay longer and look around. This generates tourism. This is a very important part of the community and economic infrastructure for the region. Katherine Town Council has signed a contract which means that work can get under way on a large, centrally located children’s playground. MacDonnell Shire Council has signed a contract that gives $250,000 for cultural tourism signage around Alice Springs.

I am so amazed by the way the opposition opposed these funding measures. I am amazed for a number of reasons. Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, you will be aware, as I have said many times in this place, that my electorate of Lingiari covers 1.34 million square kilometres—it is somewhat bigger than your tiny patch. I have a very diverse community with hundreds of small Aboriginal communities. We know about addressing the needs of Aboriginal communities, and closing the gap is very much at the centre of what the government is about. An essential ingredient of that is investment in education. The government has previously announced funding for 200 extra teachers to work in the Northern Territory in these bush schools. I know personally that these schools are very undercapitalised and have lacked significant resources. To see the contribution which this government is now making to those schools and the school environments and to understand that that has been opposed by the opposition leaves me wondering: what is it that will attract the interest of the opposition to support the rights of people who need an education? Of course those interests in education extend far beyond those bush communities—to every primary school in the Northern Territory and a number of high schools which will benefit.

So how is it that the opposition can turn their noses up and oppose funding of over $14 billion for education in the stimulus package? What does it say about them? Are they saying that this is not essential infrastructure? I beg your pardon. Anyone who knows anything about the bush—as I know you do, Mr Deputy Speaker—would know of the absolute importance of having infrastructure investment of the type which has been made by the government both in the regional programs and in the infrastructure programs generally; and most importantly in education. If we are to improve the lot of Indigenous Australians so that they are healthy and have work then what we are required to do is to invest in their educational opportunities.

Debate (on motion by Mr Melham) adjourned.