Dennis Jensen (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Five per cent is low compared with the return that the Future Fund presently enjoys of approximately 13 per cent for the previous financial year. The static wage growth one sees today is because Labor never encouraged or supported these bold but better investments. Investing in science and technology will be the rock star performer for our economy.

It is true to say today that I am concerned. I am concerned today that business and consumers are losing confidence. I am concerned that they are becoming less optimistic. But I am not concerned in any way with the knowledge the coalition has a better plan for Australia. This government is listening to small business, families, and first home buyers. It is not only listening but also delivering real solutions: a childcare package, a small business package and a policy to assist first home buyers. This is on top of delivering three free trade agreements with our biggest trading partners and biggest world markets.

The surest sign of confidence is the ability to recognise that there are better approaches and ideas elsewhere. Ours is a confident, mature nation. We should embed this notion of benchmarking in all our policy discussions. This coalition government has created the first one-stop shop for environmental approvals. In the coming times, I hope that the same accessibility and simplicity is applied to enterprise supports and job creation. Australia, and Western Australia, would stand to benefit from a one-stop shop on job creation. In the UK and Ireland there are websites where those seeking to employ workers or start a business can access from one place all the government support and regulation applicable to them. This is what the public expects of a modern government. This is what the business community are asking of us.

Innovation and invention need to be the watchwords of government. When people are asked on the street what the Liberals stand for and what the Abbott government stands for, let it be innovation and invention—because there is nothing so wrong with Australia that it cannot be fixed by what is right with Australia. We have the cream of the crop here in Australia and vast resources of every kind to turn idea into reality.

Confidence can be an ephemeral thing. It builds slowly. Confidence, like trust, takes time—it goes up the stairs. Hopelessness happens in an instant—it jumps out the window. One starts to get a sense of the confidence of the nation and the hopefulness of the nation when looking at the savings rates. The current trend we observe of an uptick in the savings rate, each time testing a new relative high, is indicative of a nation with money but unsure and uneasy of what lies ahead. It is the job of government to assuage those fears and to point the way ahead. After all, is that not at the heart of leadership? A leader sees what lies ahead and presents this vision to his or her people, and we all get in the same boat.

I believe the pivot of this debate is where we are going as a nation. The question is the bread and butter of any politician. However, to answer it we need to know where we have come from and have a debate about priorities and importance. In getting the budget to surplus, there are two models of growth for Australia to pursue: the high-immigration, relatively low productivity pathway, or a lower immigration and higher productivity, higher value path. High-migration models put huge pressures on central government to provide services and infrastructure. This low-hanging fruit approach to growth is not ideal if the objective is to get back to a no-debt position as soon as possible. Indeed, this is why the Labor years were so criminal and so terrible. Labor, then as now, lacked a border protection plan. Its approach is more ham-fisted than iron-fisted. It cost us then and costs us now in debt and interest repayments.

The coalition plan is clear and consistent—one message; one story; one plan. Our government is taking tough decisions to protect our nation and secure a prosperous future. This includes asking questions of foreign investment. Everyone on the coalition side knows that foreign investment is absolutely essential to Australia. It has been in the past and will be in the future. There are questions, though, about why we allow speculative investment by foreigners in residential housing markets. Australia's foreign investment policy for residential real estate is designed to increase Australia's housing stock. More efficacious would be to address the issue of land supply and release. Foreign capital would be better spent investing in wealth-creating infrastructure or research, or even industrial real estate. Our government will ask the hard questions because it is the right thing to do by the Australian people.

Innovative low-cost solutions are all around, and one such road is our national R&D spend. Again, using benchmarking we should acknowledge efforts elsewhere in the R&D space, such as the EU Lisbon agenda—a treaty to become the world's most innovative and dynamic area by committing governments to spending at minimum three per cent of GDP on R&D—and try to better that. Setting aspirational national goals is the low-hanging fruit of leadership. It costs nothing and should be done more often. Paint the picture. Point the way.

Another low-hanging fruit is getting more women back into the workforce. Increasing the overall participation rate, especially increasing the female participation rates, will help grow the economy. However, only this government is serious about taking real action on child care. Labor offered a 50 per cent rebate with no average fee guidance. Lo and behold, today we observe that average fees for child care have increased by 50 per cent. This sort of half-hearted, careless policymaking is over. The coalition government understands that accessibility and affordability of child care is one of the biggest issues facing families across Australia. Supporting families to stay in work and get back to work when they have children enables them to create more economic opportunities for their own families and for the nation. This is why one of the first actions taken by the coalition government was to ask the Productivity Commission to inquire into future options for child care and early childhood learning.

It is not in child care alone that the Abbott government is being brave. The government is carefully considering every recommendation of Professor Ian Chubb's 2014 landmark report, STEM: Australia's future, which called for a national strategy to align research, education, international engagement and innovation to boost the country's competitiveness. I welcome this and look forward to concrete announcements in this space soon. Productivity improves through innovation, and the country needs engineers, scientists and technologists to innovate. We need to have an improved level of STEM to ensure we are competing at the knowledge end of the economy. Currently, we are the 19th largest economy in the world; a PwC report, The world in 2050, has predicted that, without investment in skills and a move away from resources, Australia could slip to 29th position by 2050. Only this coalition government has a plan to secure our long-term competiveness and standard of living. The challenge ahead is the question of how to become more competitive without becoming more unequal, and STEM has a part to play in this equation.

I see that my time is short, so I would say that the way that government makes a profit to square off this equation has not been rapidly increasing. In the final analysis, our place in the world and our quality of life need to be earned every day.

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

The bills before us today total some $1.7 billion in additional funding proposed to be appropriated. This is $1.7 billion that has already been incorporated into the budget bottom line and was presented at the last MYEFO. What did the last MYEFO show? It pointed to a $44 billion blow-out in the budget deficit over the forward estimates compared to the 2014-15 budget—$44 billion from the self-professed party of adults. Really, so much for a government of no surprises. The $44 billion was a surprise to me and it would certainly be a surprise to those struggling to make ends meet in my community.

Let us just pause for a moment and reflect on some of the public statements of this Treasurer. The member for North Sydney, the now flailing Treasurer, told the National Press Club in 2012:

… we will achieve a surplus in our first year in office and we will achieve a surplus for every year of our first term.

In 2013, the same member said he had not retreated from that pledge:

Our commitment is emphatic—

he told the ABC's AM program—

… we will deliver a surplus in our first year and every year after that.

Instead of that, the government of no surprises and no changes, the so-called adults, have doubled the debt.

We need to look at this $44 billion figure in the context of the overall economic environment. Debt is higher in the MYEFO than it was in the budget. Gross debt, over the forward estimates, is increasing by $100 billion, and net debt is increasing by $146.3 billion over the same period. Unemployment is currently the highest that it has been since August 2002. In 2002, who was the minister for employment?—Tony Abbott. Consumer confidence is still low—nine per cent lower now than it was at the 2013 federal election. Business confidence is still below long-run averages.

The additional $1.7 billion in appropriations does not tell the full story. What we do not see are the cuts that are being made. A wise man said to me last week, 'Mr Abbott is like a little dog chasing a bus. Now that the dog has caught the bus, he doesn't know what to do with it.' That pretty much sums up how this government has been since it has been in government. They do not understand how cruel these deliberate, savage cuts are to people out there, who are working just to make ends meet. Their actions give you a true insight into the minds and ideology behind this right-wing, out-of-touch, arrogant government.

The papers show that this budget is not one which cuts debt or curtails spending; it is one that systematically attacks and tries to breakdown the Australian way of life. It has attacked the sick, the poor, the young and the elderly. It savages universal health care. It robs young people of educational opportunities and causes great anxiety to the elderly about their future. It is a budget which has rewarded the rich at the expense of the poor. It delivers for the millionaires at the cost of the disadvantaged. Never before has a government concentrated so hard on destroying the Australian way of life. Of course, it must be remembered that the budget bottom line, as stated in the last MYEFO, still incorporates the harsh and unfair measures that were introduced in this government's cruel budget. Even with all these savings, the deficit still blew out by $44 billion.

The effects of this budget are very clear in my community. These systematic attacks on universal healthcare in Australia are a direct attack on the most vulnerable people in McEwen. The on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again GP tax means that the electorate of McEwen will be taxed almost $8 million a year just for being sick. Families in our community should not have to decide whether they take their sick child to the doctor or put food on the table. That is not to mention the $270 million cut from the current provisions Medicare offers. Prime Minister Abbott, instead, wants to throw that burden onto the backs of struggling, hardworking families. The budget is about forcing our sick and vulnerable out of the health system entirely.

On the night before the election, Tony Abbott promised there would be no changes to pensions. The budget has confirmed that this promise has been broken. Pensioners are quite rightly now saying that they have been Abbotted. These vicious cuts to pensions will have a severe effect on the lives of 24,600 pensioners in McEwen. The government is slashing the current system that makes sure the pension keeps pace with the cost of living, and is instead going to index the pensions by CPI. The CPI does not even come close to reflecting the cost of living, which shows just how out of touch the Prime Minister and this chaotic Liberal-National government is.

This has been confirmed by the government's Intergenerational report. The savage cuts are ensuring that our pensioners will not be able to make ends meet, especially when they are living off $20,000 a year—$384 a week. And this government is also hurting those who have worked hard for their retirement. The Abbott government has targeted low paid workers and their families by cutting the low-income superannuation contribution. Working mums, and those living in rural and regional areas, are the hardest hit amongst the 3.6 million Australians who have been affected by this cruel cut. The changes mean that low-paid workers lose a yearly tax refund of up to $500. These cuts particularly affect workers in the retail and hospitality sectors who now have to pay an additional $500 tax per year. At the same time as this was being done, the government gave 16,000 of Australia's wealthiest people a tax break on their superannuation earnings.

This budget is slashing millions of dollars from local councils, which hits regional areas of Victoria particularly hard. Over four years from the 2014-15 to the 2017-18 financial years, the estimated loss to local councils in McEwen is very clear: Nillumbik Shire will lose $1.3 million; Macedon Ranges Shire will lose $2.7 million; Hume Shire will lose $5.2 million; Mitchell Shire will lose $2.6 million; and Whittlesea Shire will lose $5 million. That is almost $17 million dollars lost in these areas alone—$17 million of services and assistance that the people of our communities will have to go without, thanks to a heartless government. This is going to wreak havoc on the community in flow-on effects, especially since it means that councils will be forced to put up rates or cut services because of this government's cruel and heartless attacks.

McEwen has the largest population of children aged between zero and five years. We are one of the biggest users of child care in this country. We have 16,139 families receiving family tax benefit A, and we have 13,856 families receiving the important assistance of family tax benefit B, so 30,000 families in my electorate are going to be worse-off because of the money-grabbing antics of this government. The Abbott government has cut millions of dollars in preschool funding, childcare services, accessibility programs, outside-school-hour care, along with freezing the childcare rebate. This is a government that is punishing you for wanting to bring up your child and raise your family the best way you can.

I would like to discuss how cruel this budget is in ruining the futures of young people in McEwen. Over $1 billion of assistance and support to apprentices and trade training centres in my electorate has been cut. Labor's program of trade training centres has been integral to building the skills and expertise of young people. Following Mr Abbott's $950 million cut, eight schools in the electorate will not have an opportunity to apply for a trade training centre, and they need it—places like    Sunbury College, Gisborne Secondary College, Salesian College, Sunbury Downs Secondary College, Candlebark, Hume Anglican Grammar, Plenty Valley Christian College and The Kilmore International School.

Before the election, Mr Abbott promised Australia's 400,000 apprentices more financial assistance to help them learn a trade and find a good job. He has cut the assistance through the Tools For Your Trade program. Hundreds of apprentices are now out of pocket since these cuts came into effect on 1 July 2014. He now has his eyes firmly set on workplace relations—and you know what that means!

With regard to penalty rates, the Prime Minister himself said, 'If you don't want to work weekends, don't.' It came as a great surprise to the thousands of people who work in industries and jobs that are needed around the clock—people such as nurses, ambos, police and defence personnel, just to name a few.

When it comes to workplace relations, as a matter of common intelligence, you have to ask yourself: how can anyone believe these dogmatists opposite who, at every opportunity, have fought to cut the wages and conditions of working Australians? Of course they will, because it is in their DNA.

I would like to highlight the significance of the heartless cuts to youth programs. We have several community organisations who work hard to ensure our youth remain either in school and complete year 12 or, at least, engage in some form of training, such as in the trade training centres that I mentioned earlier.

The Abbott government has stripped away funding for these essential programs, where only $130 million was needed to keep them going until 2015. Cobaw Community Health and Kildonan UnitingCare are two organisations involved in delivering the Youth Connections program in the McEwen electorate, which may now have to close their doors.

In some parts of McEwen, we have a 20 per cent youth unemployment rate, which is among the highest in Australia. These young adults will be completely at a loose end, with Newstart payments not kicking in for six months. So they have no job, no money and, to add insult to injury, the government wants them to now completely upend and move away from their families and support networks to find jobs—that are probably in a certain person's mind! Heaven forbid if they want to study in order to forge out a better life and career for themselves!

Prime Minister Abbott's deregulation of university fees is another matter that has caused great angst to many families in rural and regional areas. He wants to deregulate the system so that universities can 'name their price'. Experts all agree that, if universities get the chance to increase fees, of course they will.

I want to remind the House of Mr Stuart Edwards, from Riddells Creek in my electorate. He is a single dad of four kids, who works full time, while studying part time. Stuart says, and I quote:

I don't want to live in a nation where uni places are given to the rich. I don't know how I could afford to send my four kids to uni if these changes happen. Certainly nobody is offering my kids a free education, Mr Abbott!

When I asked the failing Treasurer a question in question time, I brought this specific example to his attention: what is he supposed to do now that he is losing $6,000 worth of support from the government? The Treasurer's response was breathtaking. He said, 'Maybe he needs to get a job.' Mr Edwards is working full time, he is studying and bringing up his kids. What more do you want him to do? He works full time but, because the Treasurer is so out of touch, he just says, 'Tell him to go get a job.' It is just so easy—just go out and get a job anywhere you want! It just shows how out of touch the government are, when they sit there and say: 'If you don't want to work weekends, don't. If you want to get a job, go get a job.'

Across my electorate of McEwen the local government areas of Macedon, Mitchell, Whittlesea and Hume have about 40 to 48 per cent people attending universities. These students are now weighing up that option, whether they can afford to, because they will be dealt a lifetime debt sentence.

At least nine schools in my electorate are losing funding because they hired student welfare officers instead of religious chaplains: Beveridge Primary School;    Broadford Primary School; Broadford Secondary College; Mount Ridley P-12 College; Panton Hill Primary School;    Seymour College; Seymour College—Special Campus; The Lakes South Morgan P-9 School; and Wandong Primary School. These are all schools that have employed welfare officers. But they lose them because they are not religious based, which means that the networks and the effort that has gone in over the years to build them and to get the trust of the kids now goes away. Unless they complete a religious doctrine, they will not be able to work in our schools. It is absolutely appalling.

In a recent study, Canberra's National Centre for Social And Economic Modelling reported that McEwen townships are going to be some of the hardest hit across Australia because of this budget. Families in suburbs such as Craigieburn will be out of pocket by $800 a year; Sunbury, $614; Wallan, $600; Whittlesea, $525; South Morang, $508; Kilmore and Broadford, $481; and Romsey, $410. Compare that to the figures of the Prime Minister's electorate of Warringah, one of the wealthiest areas in Australia, where they will be worse off by only $125.

This budget is a disaster for the nation and a disaster for the people of McEwen. Never before has a government failed this nation so quickly and put so many people at risk. I will continue to fight this government to ensure that our communities are looked after and I look forward to seeing the back of the worst government this country has ever had.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2014-2015 and cognate bills. In the time available to me today, I want to argue three propositions. Firstly, that Australia's economy is facing some significant challenges both structural and cyclical, which we need to respond to.

Secondly, the coalition has an economic plan for Australia, which will let us rise to the challenge and seize on the opportunities in front of us.

Thirdly, the Labor Party needs to stop denying reality and begin engaging on these issues, as a serious political party should.

We do face a combination of cyclical and structural challenges. As resources investment falls and key commodity prices drop that, in turn, feeds through to tax revenues growing much more slowly which, in turn, creates severe budgetary pressures.

We have inherited a huge budgetary mess from the previous Labor government, which delivered almost $240 billion worth of deficits between 2008-09 and 2013-14. This year we are paying around $14.2 billion in gross interest costs, which works out to be an average of $40 million every single day. So even if Australia's economic conditions meant that we could continue to expect very strong growth in tax revenues, we would face a big budgetary challenge. However, because of the end of the investment phase of the resources boom we cannot expect such continued strong growth in our tax revenues.

What we saw between the fiscal year 2003 and fiscal year 2008 was that, every year, revenue significantly exceeded what was budgeted—so-called parameter changes, in the jargon of Treasury, which, in some years, were as high as $30 billion, approaching two per cent of GDP. But with the resources investment boom having ended, there is no longer a huge boost to investment as resources companies rush to build new mines and plants and the prices of key commodities like coal and iron ore are down 50 per cent or more from their peak. All of this means that the budget repair task must be faced when revenues keep undershooting expectations rather than giving us pleasing and unexpected windfalls.

Then, our economy faces a number of significant structural issues. The first is our ageing population, which, as the recently issued 2015 Intergenerational report shows, involves a growing proportion of the population being aged 65 or over. Indeed, the number of Australians in this age group is projected to double in the next 40 years. The ratio of people of traditional working age to the very young and to the very elderly is falling. For every person aged 65 and over, today there are currently around four people aged between 15 and 64, which, incidentally, is down from around seven, I think, in the 1970s. In 40 years' time, that number will nearly halve.

Australians are living longer, and we have one of the longest life expectancies in the world. It is worth making the point that for all of us, as individuals, that is great news. Not only are we living longer but our so-called quality adjusted life years are also increasing. That is to say, we can expect a higher proportion of our life span to be years of quality living in which we can very much enjoy the opportunities of being alive. But this does have fiscal consequences, with important implications in growing demand for services like health and aged care, which fall very heavily on the Commonwealth budget, and, indeed, for the provision of retirement incomes—the aged pension.

Another important structural issue we are facing as a nation is the rise of Asia. This presents many opportunities, but it also presents some competitive challenges, and some of these were highlighted in the Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda issued by the government last year, which made the point that economies like China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines have grown dramatically over the past 30 years, and this is projected to continue. It is expected that by 2025 China will be the largest economy in the world. In 1985, so-called emerging Asia represented around nine per cent of the global economy. By 2025 it will be around 40 per cent. Emerging Asia has also seen its share of global manufacturing output increase from around six per cent in 1982 to 29 per cent in 2012. At the same time, its share of services exports has also grown from six per cent in 2003 to 11 per cent last year, and the important point is this in terms of the competitive pressures that face the Australian economy. As the economies of Asia invest in education, increase the skill levels of their population and move up the value chain, they are producing ever more advanced goods and services. I saw this myself over a number of years as an executive in the telecommunications sector, where the percentage of telecommunications equipment coming, particularly from Chinese vendors, started to grow and grow, and the statistics bear this out. In 2000, China produced around six per cent of the world's communication equipment. By 2010 this had increased to 26 per cent, and that is coming from brands which have rapidly become very well known globally like Huawei and ZTE.

That brings me to another structural issue that our economy is facing, which is the relentless march of technology, which is intensifying competition and fundamentally transforming the global economy. According to a 2011 report from well-known consultancy McKinsey, around a fifth of GDP growth in advanced economies over the previous five years had come from the internet and associated technologies, and, interestingly, 75 per cent of that was in sectors not traditionally seen as technology industries. Indeed, the disruption of industry after industry by a better, internet based offering is one of the great constants of modern economics. Ask Kodak about digital photography, Fairfax about SEEK or Drive.com.au, the free-to-air TV networks about Apple TV or YouTube, Angus & Robertson about Amazon, Blockbuster about Netflix, or Taxis Combined about Uber.

This transformation is having a profound industry-by-industry effect. It is also, increasingly, having a profound national impact. Some nations are doing well out of this massive economic transformation; some are facing grave threats. Certainly, we can expect a continued growth in the internet economy in Australia. In fact, according to Deloitte Access Economics, it will grow twice as fast as GDP and reach $70 billion by 2016. But, clearly, in the face of digital disruption, the first question we need to ask as policy makers is: where does a nation like Australia have a competitive advantage? We need to recognise that competition is affecting sector after sector, including in the domestic economy, in sectors which used to be protected by barriers to entry such as high costs of transport to get goods into the Australian market.

If those are some of the challenges and opportunities facing the Australian economy, it is very important that the government has an economic plan, and the coalition certainly does. It is our duty, as a government, to develop and implement a plan to respond as the global economy is changing so quickly. We have a number of strands to that economic plan. Firstly, we need to get debt and deficit under control. We cannot continue to finance spending through increased debt. Clearly, as your debt grows you become more vulnerable as a nation. With Australia, in particular, having relatively high levels of private indebtedness, it is particularly important to have a strong public sector balance sheet. To protect yourself as a nation and to avoid that vulnerability, what you want to see is a government contributing to national savings and reducing debt through budget surpluses, not adding to debt through budget deficits. We also need to address the underlying issue of rising Commonwealth spending, which, in real terms, since 2007-08, has grown by an annual average of more than four per cent, compared to three per cent during the 1980s and 1990s. Here is a little legacy of Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan, who still is the member for Lilley. In just six years to 2013-14, government spending as a percentage of GDP has risen by around 2.5 percentage points. That is an extraordinary leap in a short period of time.

So, if our first priority is getting debt and deficit under control, the next priority is to really get our university system firing because we face, as a nation, the imperative of capturing technology driven economic growth for the reasons I spoke about earlier. It is, therefore, vital that our university system is able to perform to its full potential. In the 21st century our universities must be engine rooms of innovation and discovery, and it this reality which underpins the government's plan to give universities the freedom to set their own fees, student numbers and strategic direction. And it is fascinating to see a growing number of Labor luminaries, no longer constrained by caucus discipline, coming out in support of the sorts of changes that we are advocating to the university system.

Another priority for the coalition government in responding to economic challenges is to capture as a nation the trade opportunities in Asia in both services and products. We have a set of policies that look to the future and capture the opportunities available to Australia thanks to our geography, our endowments of natural and economic resources and the talent and creativity of our people. In just one year Trade Minister Andrew Robb has secured new free trade agreements with Korea, Japan and China which not only offer significant opportunities for our agricultural and resources exporters but also reduce barriers that until now have held back Australian services exports in these markets.

Another priority is supporting Australian business in this new, intensely competitive world. Industry Minister Macfarlane has recently updated industry policy to recognise the new imperatives of competition. He has reprioritised funding, putting money towards building better linkages between industry on the one hand and researchers in universities and institutes on the other, with the aim of leveraging Australia's considerable research strengths into new business opportunities.

Another part of the coalition's economic plan to respond to the challenges and opportunities we face is to enhance our national infrastructure to increase our productivity. From Infrastructure Minister Truss and Communications Minister Turnbull, we are seeing billions of dollars going into enabling infrastructure to make our economy more competitive and productive: a second Sydney airport; expressways to move people and freight more quickly around our major cities; and the National Broadband Network to make high-speed connections available to all Australians.

Let me turn to the third proposition that I wish to put to the House this afternoon. At a time of challenge for the Australian economy, it is incumbent upon the Labor Party to stop denying reality and begin engaging seriously on these issues—just as happened 30 years ago when Australia faced serious challenges as our heavily protected and regulated economic model left us increasingly uncompetitive. The Labor Party of today seems miles away from the Labor Party of that day, which engaged seriously with those issues. There is a challenge to our political system in 2015 to come together to address these strategic issues that we face as a nation. I quote from what respected economist Warwick McKibbin had to say in the Financial Review today:

Labor appears to cling to the fallacy that adroit fiscal policy explains Australia's success .... The continued belief in Labor's fiscal miracle appears to underlie the reluctance of current Labor leaders to acknowledge the extent of the multiple problems Australia faces. Australia can't continue to attempt to keep the economic structures of the previous century when resources—human and physical—need to be channelled into new industries.

Those are some comments by a very respected economist about the challenges our nation faces and the importance of the Labor Party engaging seriously with policy responses. Instead, I am disappointed to say, so far we have only seen some fairly silly political game playing. According to the Leader of the Opposition we do not have a serious budget problem, we simply have 'a budget task'—those were his words in the budget in reply speech last year. The shadow Treasurer dismisses Australia's federal debt challenges as mere rhetoric. He is quoted as saying: 'Debt is expected to peak at 17 per cent of GDP. Compare that to Canada—a well-run, resource-based economy, conservatively administered with debt more than double that ... or Germany at 52 per cent. We're not talking about Greece or Portugal or Ireland here.' So the shadow Treasurer seeks to dismiss the issue of government debt. He mentions Ireland, and it is instructive to look at what actually happened in Ireland. In 2007 Ireland had a debt to GDP ratio of only 11.1 per cent. But the Irish economy then fell into deep recession. Banks needed to be recapitalised with public money. The net debt to GDP ratio exploded. Six years later in Ireland, net debt as a percentage of GDP is well over 90 per cent. And here is the social consequence of that: unemployment in Ireland today, at 10.5 per cent, is more than double the rate it stood at prior to the GFC.

So despite these claims from the Labor Party that we do not need to worry about the debt to GDP ratio, if we look at Ireland and other examples around the world, ongoing budgetary mismanagement of a sort the Labor Party continues to advocate has serious social consequences, including savagely high unemployment rates—and that is an outcome the coalition is working very hard to make sure we do not face in Australia. Australia faces both cyclical and structural challenges, but our fast-changing economic circumstances also offer rich opportunities. The coalition has an economic plan for Australia which will let us rise to the challenge and seize on the opportunities. I would like to see the Labor Party join in a serious engagement with these issues in the national interest.

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Payments) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to be speaking today on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2014-2015, Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2014-2015 and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2014-2015. A few weeks ago I was at a street stall in the suburb of Greensborough in the heart of my electorate. Extraordinarily, some 10 months after the government's flawed budget was handed down, people are still talking about it. Many people stopped me to raise their concerns over the GP tax and the government's plan to deregulate the higher education system, which is currently being debated in the parliament. The level of outrage in the community over this government's budget is unprecedented in my time in politics. In a little over an hour, around 200 people signed a petition against this government's plans for universities. It did not matter whether they were young or old, everybody I spoke to that day was very concerned about the affordability of higher education. People who had never set foot on a university campus in their lives were adamant that young Australians should have the chance to go to university if that is what they want to do.

So the message I received very clearly that day was that Australians should not be priced out of a university education. Make no mistake: that is exactly what this Liberal government wants to do to Australia's higher education system. It will see a reduction in participation by young Australians in higher education. How on earth does that serve the national interest? How does making it harder for young people to go to university improve the employment prospects of our young people? How is it good for generating economic growth and innovation in our economy? These are the questions which the previous speaker, and in fact the whole of the Abbott government, simply have been unable to answer. It is why we on this side of the parliament, and so many Australians, oppose the government's higher education changes. We will continue to fight for a fair higher education system no matter how hard the government tries to destroy it.

The other big issue that people in my electorate raised with me is jobs, particularly for young people. Of course, many local people are worried about their own jobs. They are worried that if they lose their job there will not be enough new jobs created to help them find employment. Unemployment is still at 6.3 per cent, and, significantly, youth unemployment remains at a stubbornly high 13.9 per cent. The proportion of young people, 15 to 19 years of age, who are looking for work and cannot find it is now almost 4½ times the general unemployment rate—only just off record highs. The Brotherhood of St Laurence recently released its analysis of unemployment data, revealing the scale of the problem. The impact of the global financial crisis on employment has lasted far longer than the impact of the last recession in the early 1990s. It has been more than six years since the global financial crisis, and unemployment remains high.

What is this Liberal government's response to the problem of unemployment rising on their watch? The response is not a jobs plan, as we might have hoped for. In fact, in the budget that was brought down 10 months ago, the government wants to cut young people off from Newstart for six months at a time. I have argued that this is the harshest measure of all in the government's budget. Young people looking for a job will be forced to wait six months before receiving any income support, and in some cases they might cycle through this six months of no income support for many months longer. The government is saying to these young people who lose their jobs or cannot find a job, 'You're on your own.' If, after six months without income support, that young person has not yet found work this measure will require them to take part in Work for the Dole. After the period on Work for the Dole, if they still cannot find work they will lose their unemployment benefit for another six months.

I have been at many pensioner forums around the country recently, and older Australians have expressed to me the concern they have for young people who will find themselves with absolutely nothing to live on—no income support at all. These older Australians really understand that young unemployed people need help to find work, not the sort of punishment that this government wants to deliver. I have never, ever seen a government in Australia abandon its young people in the manner of this Liberal government. Leaving young job seekers with nothing to live on for six months is simply cruel. The government's policy risks confining young Australians to an endless cycle of poverty and despair. It will see young job seekers pushed into crisis and homelessness. In fact, the Department of Social Services last year admitted that they anticipate around 500,000 new claims for emergency assistance as a result of this measure alone.

People are very worried about work, and especially the government's response to rising unemployment. They are worried about the kind of Australia that this government wants to leave for our children: a harder, colder Australia, where it is much more difficult to get ahead; an Australia where it is harder to get an education and harder to find a job, and where the government abandons you when things turn bad. It is not the kind of country that most people want to live in.

Rising unemployment is also, of course, a threat to families—particularly to single-income families already being targeted by this government's cuts to family payments. The government is cutting family payments by $5.5 billion. Of course, that $5.5 billion that the government wants to cut out of family payments will all come out of the pockets of Australian families. The government plans to throw families off family tax benefit part B when their youngest child turns six. As a result of this government's budget, some single-income families on an income of around $65,000 a year will be around $6,000 a year worse off. The Prime Minister has said that he wants to make the government's families package front and centre of the political agenda in 2015. These huge cuts to family payments are front and centre right now, and the government should get rid of them. This is a serious attack on the living standards of Australian families.

On top of all of this, we have seen the government axe $270 million from the Department of Social Services discretionary grants program. This is the money that goes to community organisations that help so many vulnerable Australians, such as people who get help battling homelessness and mental illness, and those recovering from the devastation of bushfires. These organisations were informed via email on the eve of Christmas that they would be losing funding. In my electorate alone, community organisations like Diamond Valley Community Support, Banyule Housing, Banyule Support and Information Centre and Volunteers of Banyule face an uncertain future as result of this government's funding cuts. These organisations provide front-line services to some of the most vulnerable people in my local community. It is just impossible to understand the government's logic behind the callous cuts to these community organisations. It is also impossible to understand why the government decided it would cut funding to disability advocacy groups—groups like the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations, Autism Asperger's Advocacy Australia, Blind Citizens Australia, Deaf Australia, Down Syndrome Australia, and the National Council on Intellectual Disability.

There has been some good news—that the government has decided to grant some transition funding to eight disability organisations. This is a victory for the disability sector, but this funding needs to be made permanent. You only have to look at the government's plan for Australia's retirement system to see this government's appalling policy making. The proposed changes to pension indexation are of course a blatant broken promise. The pension has been benchmarked to wages for 40 years—and for a reason: so that pensioners' standard of living keeps pace with the standard of living of the working population more broadly. John Howard, when he was Prime Minister, knew that. That is why he said:

… enshrining of pension entitlements at 25 per cent of male total average weekly earnings is an important safeguard.

Well, this safeguard is about to be broken by this government, if they get their way.

Pensions should be indexed by whichever is the higher—the consumer price index, male total average weekly earnings or the pensioner index that Labor introduced to provide additional protection to Australian pensioners. The new minister now has had plenty of time to come and explain to pensioners why they deserve to have their pension indexation cut. We have seen the new minister, Minister Morrison, spending a lot of time parading himself around as a contender for the Liberal leadership. I would have thought he should be getting out there to explain to pensioners why he thinks it is okay to take $23 billion out of the pockets of pensioners by 2023-24—$23 billion less will be spent by this government if they get their way in cutting pension indexation. Labor of course will vehemently oppose these cuts.

The former minister, Minister Andrews, despite all his flaws, did explain to the House in 2011 how the wages benchmark 'enabled pensioners to keep ahead of cost of living increases'. So, I call on the new Minister for Social Services to explain why he thinks the current indexation arrangements linking pensions to wage increases are too generous. Why does he think Australian pensioners deserve to have their pensions cut by $80 a week within the next decade? These are figures from the Australian Council of Social Service, who have made clear what will happen to pensions: an $80-a-week cut for pensioners over the next decade if this government gets its way. So many pensioners feel absolutely betrayed by this government. Of course, Labor delivered the biggest increase to the base rate of the pension in the pension's 100-year history.

And that is not all this government wants to do to older Australians. The government wants to increase the pension age to 70, and they have also decided to delay the increase in superannuation that Labor had proposed to see the superannuation guarantee go from nine per cent to 12 per cent. So, this is really what the Liberal Party is saying to Australians: they want you to work longer, and when you finally do get to retire the pension will be worth less, and along the way they are going to deny you the opportunity to save for your retirement during your working life by slowing down the increase in the superannuation guarantee. This is the sort of poor public policy that this Liberal government has become renowned for. Of course, poor public policy is not the only reason the Australian people have lost faith in this government. This Prime Minister promised he would not do so many of these things that are prominent in the budget. The Prime Minister said before the election: 'No cuts to pensions, no cuts to health or education, no cuts to the ABC or SBS, no adverse changes to superannuation and no new taxes'. On every single one of these he has broken his promise to the Australian people, and he will never be believed again.

Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the most recent appropriation bills. It gives me an opportunity to speak more widely about my electorate and the government's policies. I note that a large part of my electorate, and half of its name, is titled 'the Monaro'. The great Australian historian Keith Hancock wrote the history of the region in his 1972 book, Discovering Monaro. Apart from the history of the most beautiful region in the nation, Hancock also wrote one of the most influential accounts of Australia written in the 20th century. This book was appropriately entitled Australia. In this book he challenged the three core pillars of what would later be referred to as the Australian settlement: the policies of industry protection, state socialism and the white Australia policy. These three pillars, argued Hancock, worked together towards stagnation.

Much of the Australian settlement has been dismantled in the decades subsequent—and rightly so. However, not all parts of the settlement were bad. Another element of the Australian settlement was what I have labelled the country-city compact. It has now mainly disappeared. This compact supported a legitimate call on the nation on behalf of country people. From the time of Federation, our nation's founders recognised that the country needed to have a fair share of attention and resources. The country-city compact formed an integral part of the nation's economic and social fabric. It recognised the interdependence of the country and the city that was so crucial to the tremendous success of modern Australia. It recognised the mutual obligation to share the burden of the costs of living in the country. It also recognised that the country formed a critical part of our nation's character, producing much of our national narrative, collective memory and many of our heroes.

For many decades, Australia, so the saying went, 'rode on the sheep's back.' Indeed, my electorate covers a region with one of the highest concentrations of sheep in the entire country. However, Australia no longer rides on the sheep's back—this much is true—but country regions like ours remain vital to Australia. Around 93 per cent of the food consumed in Australia is grown in Australia. Almost a third of Australians live outside of our major cities. Sadly; however, there is significant social and economic inequality between country and city. This is unacceptable, and we need to do better. We need to focus our efforts on nation building, we need to focus on building capacity and we need to ensure the infrastructure and services that have been neglected in the country are rebuilt.

When I came into parliament, I dedicated myself to making the argument for a reinvigoration of the country-city compact. It is at the forefront of my mind when I talk to people about their lives all throughout Eden-Monaro. It is at the forefront of my mind when I bring those concerns here to Canberra. It is at the forefront of my mind when I make the case for this project or that. It is why I used to think differently about securing projects for Eden-Monaro. Four weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending and representing the federal government at the community open day of the South East Regional Hospital in Bega. I was joined by the Governor of New South Wales, General David Hurley, and the New South Wales Treasurer and state member for Bega, Andrew Constance. This is a project that I am very happy to say was made possible by the federal government contributing $160.1 million. The New South Wales government contributed a further $27 million. But the project should not be thought of as something necessarily special given to the Bega Valley by benevolent politicians in state and federal capitals. It is a project that should be obvious under a country-city compact.

But why should the Commonwealth spend $160 million in an area like Bega? Let us look at rural and regional health outcomes. Life expectancy can be significantly lower in remote areas, but this inequality is reflected across a range of data. Our friends and neighbours living in rural, regional and remote areas have 20 per cent higher reported rates of 'only fair' or 'poor' health. They have 10 per cent higher mortality rates. They have 24 per cent higher rates of smoking. They have 32 per cent higher rates of risky alcohol consumption. They have 20 per cent higher rates of injury and disability. The incidents of reported injury is 33 per cent higher outside major cities. Studies reported in the Medical Journal of Australia show that people diagnosed with cancer in regional areas were 35 per cent more likely to die within five years of diagnosis than patients in cities. Tragically, the further a cancer patient lives from a metropolitan centre the more likely that patient is to die within five years.

Living in the country is different. Most of us living in rural and regional areas do so for a reason. We not only understand the critical part country Australia plays in our national economy but we also enjoy the way of life. But that contribution and that freedom to live a good and productive life—or, as Thomas Jefferson famously said, 'the pursuit of happiness'—should not come at the excessive cost that it does. People in rural and regional Australia deserve the quality of life and the opportunity to pursue their goals just the same as urban Australians do. They do not just deserve that chance, they are owed it under a country-city compact.

This compact is not just the heavy hand of government bestowing bounty from above. It should be about communities and all levels of government working collaboratively to achieve optimal outcomes. It is about communities and government working collaboratively to achieve an equality of opportunity, because it is an equality of opportunity rather than an equality of outcome that country people desire. Country people do not sit back and demand the same outcomes in their lives as city people achieve. This is not the country way. What they deserve and are owed are the same opportunities to achieve. They deserve the opportunities to convert their resources, their capital and their enterprise into a meaningful and secure life for themselves and their families.

Of course, the federal government is already working collaboratively with local communities, and across all levels of government, to provide better outcomes. In Queanbeyan, the council compiled and assessed a number of road project priorities. These were large projects that would require significant support of both the federal and New South Wales governments. As a result, the $50 million Queanbeyan bypass project is now a reality. The community articulated their priorities through council and the federal and state governments allocated funding in accordance with those priorities. This is the collaboration required under a country-city compact.

Similarly, the federal government provides funding to local governments through the Financial Assistance Grants program. In Eden-Monaro, local governments will receive a total of over of $32 million in untied funding to support communities to deliver the services and facilities they need. The grants are untied, so councils can spend the money according to local priorities. This is the collaboration required under a country-city compact. Likewise, the Roads to Recovery program allows councils across Eden-Monaro to direct local road funding to where it is needed most—$23 million of which is allocated to Eden-Monaro. For instance, the Cooma-Monaro Shire Council will receive $3 million over the next four years, the Eurobodalla Shire Council will be allocated $4.4 million and so on for the seven shires. Again, these payments allow councils to direct local road funding to where it is needed most. This is the collaboration required under a country-city compact.

We can point to bridges in our local community. These critical pieces of infrastructure provide the linkages for our community and the commerce and transport required, allowing areas to grow. But they cost money—a lot of money, not only to build but also to upgrade and maintain. The federal government's $300 million Bridges Renewal project does just that. In Bombala, an injection of nearly $250,000 allows for the upgrade of the Parsonage Creek bridge. This project will help in access for trucks to the Dongwha timber mill, which is a major economic development project. In Broulee, nearly $1.1 million in federal funding will make the Candlagan Creek bridge at Mossy Point safer and more reliable—again, a project with obvious economic development benefits for this important tourist destination. These projects are made possible by close and effective consultation between local and federal government. This is the collaboration required under a country-city compact.

Further, the $15 million Port of Eden redevelopment will proceed because of $10 million in federal funding. In Queanbeyan, $500,000 of federal funding to the council made the upgrade of Seiffert Oval possible, and I enjoyed seeing the Raiders rugby league team return home to Seiffert Oval a few weeks ago. In Moruya, the new Eurobodalla Sub-Acute Rehabilitation Unit at the District Hospital was opened a couple of weeks ago. This $11.8 million facility was funded by the federal government's COAG subacute beds program.

These projects are all made possible by cooperation and collaboration between the community and government. But there is more to be done. We will provide funding to address mobile black spots in Eden-Monaro. Further, The federal government has made a high priority of transforming Labor's fantastical promises of the NBN into a commercially viable reality.

Three weeks ago I was joined in Queanbeyan by the communications minister, the member for Wentworth, when we welcomed the era of super-fast broadband to our town. We visited one of the first businesses to switch onto the NBN in Queanbeyan, Codarra Advanced Systems. The NBN will bring multiple efficiency and productivity benefits to Codarra's operations, including providing flexibility for their workforce, allowing them to work from home, on the road or from clients' offices.

Somewhere in the order of $90 to $100 million in NBN spending is in the process of being rolled out in Eden-Monaro. Further, there are major infrastructure projects that I will continue to pursue. The Moruya and Merimbula airports have been identified by local councils as a priority to allow for increased tourism and economic growth. I strongly support these projects and will fight to secure finding.

Another project I will champion is high-speed rail or very fast train, particularly between Canberra and Sydney. I am strongly behind the high-speed rail project, because of its major implications for developing regional Australia. With respect to that project, an objective reading of the research shows that even with private-sector involvement there would be a heavy reliance on the public purse. But how is that different from the tens of billions of dollars being spent on urban infrastructure, right now, for which rural taxpayers see little commercial return to help them meet their cost-of-living pressures?

Regional Australians do not begrudge taxpayer spending on urban infrastructure but seem to cop it when it is used as an excuse for why they do not receive it in return. The high-speed rail project has genuine win-win potential. Allowing us to grow regional Australia and attract population away from the choking megacities, this is where we can see the full potential of the country-city compact realized—economic development and growth in the country, coupled with a reduction in urban stress in our cities. The country-city compact has not been fully revived. It should be something that every school child in the nation knows, as part of their understanding of how this great nation should go forward in the 21st century. Whatever makes country Australia stronger will also make Australia as a whole stronger.

The Liberal national government, through its actions, acknowledging the needs of country Australians, is doing its bit. However, more needs to be done. Deputy Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak.

Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to talk about the government's historic investment in infrastructure in my electorate of Macarthur and the benefits and opportunities this will provide for people in the region for generations to come. For too long the people of Macarthur were overlooked by previous state and federal governments. Labor's neglect led to a lack of local public-transport connections, road congestion, limited local job opportunities, and health and community services to service our rapidly-growing population.

I am proud to say that the Abbott government has a clear plan of action to end Labor's investment vacuum and is delivering a record $3.5 billion roads package, over 10 years, in the area. That will create 4,000 jobs in addition to other economic spin-offs, not to mention slashing the drive time for local residents. In addition to the $3.5 million Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan, the government is providing $1.5 billion for WestConnex, linking Western Sydney and South-West Sydney with the city, Kingsford Smith Airport and port precincts. In conjunction with our state liberal counterparts, this government has ensured the redevelopment of Campbelltown Hospital. We have invested in new schools in Oran Park and Wilton and preserved a rail corridor for extension of the south-west rail line.

The Abbott government has also invested $350,000 in Campbelltown, through the Safer Streets program, to tackle the increasing incidence of crime, in places like Queen Street, that is concerning local residents. I again acknowledge and thank Campbelltown City Council and Campbelltown Police for supporting this initiative. Visible cameras will make many potential criminals think twice before committing a crime. While reducing assaults and petty theft in and around the national precincts, we can restore the confidence of local shoppers and shop owners and make these areas vibrant, safe and enjoyable places to be.

Not only is the Abbott government tackling crime in making the Macarthur community a safer place to be but also it is providing funding to make our roads safer. This is through the roads' national black spot program, which saw Camden Council receive $295,000 from the federal government. This investment in the black spot project in Cut Hill Road will result in a safer road for residents through targeted upgrades that will help save lives and reduce road trauma, making it safer for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Our government has also invested $2.9 million in the Roads to Recovery Program to assist with local road infrastructure and maintenance. A major benefit of this program is that councils are free to spend this funding according to their unique local priorities, ensuring that local knowledge delivers the best local roads.

Through the Western Sydney infrastructure plan, and thanks to our government, work has already begun on the $500 million upgrade of Bringelly Road that will see it widened from a two-lane road to a minimum four-lane divided road from Camden Valley Way to the Northern Road. Bringelly Road is one of the principal road links within the south-west growth centre, and its increased capacity will make sure that it can handle future traffic growth in the area. It will also improve access to the new Leppington Railway Station, M5 and M7. The upgrade will improve safety for motorists by providing traffic lights at major intersections and a central median to separate opposing traffic flows.

The infrastructure plan will also see the construction of a $1.25 billion motorway alongside Elizabeth Drive, which marks the Northern Road boundary of the Badgerys Creek airport site. This will provide direct access to the airport from the M7 Motorway, while maintaining access to Elizabeth Drive for local traffic. The Northern Road, which is a key north-south arterial link between the major centre of Narellan and the M4 motorway, is also being upgraded to the tune of $1.6 billion—thanks to this government. It will open up our region to the commercial precincts of Liverpool and Hoxton Park, as well Penrith and the North West Growth Centre. The upgrade will take the Northern Road from two lanes to a four-lane divided road along its 31-kilometre length. Provision of a wide median will also allow for a six-lane road to be provided into the future. In addition, the Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan will see more than $200 million of funding to enable the government to invest in a range of minor works in local government areas and to improve local transport connections in Western Sydney. Minor upgrades such as traffic lights, roundabouts or additional turning lanes will have the greatest benefits for local communities by increasing safety and improving traffic flows.

The main street of Camden, which is a common topic of conversation for many locals, will benefit from the government's local roads package, with $2.6 million in funding to upgrade the street, providing a solution to a number of traffic congestion points and hazards. This investment will reinvigorate the town centre and allow better pedestrian access to shops and businesses. Ultimately, the Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan is a $3.5 billion project, which will see a once-in-a-lifetime investment in the Macarthur region to upgrade our arterial roads and create an economic powerhouse for job creation and commercial opportunity. Our government is investing in the infrastructure blueprint for Greater Western Sydney, which will see our region in Macarthur thrive. I am proud of our Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan. It is a real win for my community of Macarthur. It also happens to be the single, biggest infrastructure investment in any electorate in recent history. This is forward thinking and forward planning by the Abbott government.

As a father, I am always conscious of the need to ensure that we create jobs and opportunities for future generations. I am very lucky that I have two bright and beautiful daughters, born and raised in Macarthur. I want to ensure that my grandchildren have the same opportunities of study, work and recreation in our area that I have had and that my daughters have been blessed to have as well. I want so see skilled jobs creation in Macarthur. I want to see more jobs where our tertiary-educated children can apply their skills locally and receive a good wage. I want to see young families and entrepreneurs being supported and having the confidence to venture out and start their own businesses, which will create more jobs and opportunities for the rest of the community.

For too long, I have seen the frustration in the Macarthur community as they face congestion on Narellan Road, Camden Valley Way and the Hume Highway as they set off to work outside of their electorate. This has cost businesses in Macarthur billions of dollars in lost productivity as they have to contend with congestion throughout the day because our main arterial roads are clogged with traffic—thanks to years of Labor's neglect. Before the last election, the Hon. Joe Hockey and I announced an investment of $53 million, with the New South Wales state government contributing the same amount, for the upgrade of Narellan Road. Part of the upgrade has already been completed and the second stage is currently underway. This is over $100 million to upgrade Narellan Road and will see residents across Macarthur being able to access the Hume Highway more quickly and easily than ever before. The New South Wales government recently completed stages 1 and 2 of the $280 million Camden Valley Way upgrade between Oran Park Drive and Bringelly Road in Leppington, which was completed months ahead of schedule. Both these two major upgrades provide vital east-west links within the Greater Western Sydney region and are yet more examples of infrastructure investments that will drive productivity and job creation in Macarthur. Once complete, they will enable local residents to have shorter commutes. Small businesses will be able to operate in the Macarthur region, without having to worry about delays and costs that arise with congestion. Most importantly, these projects are creating literally thousands of local jobs and opportunities for small business.

This government also knows how important it is that communities receive fast internet speeds as soon as possible. Over 54,000 premises are set to receive super-fast broadband through the National Broadband Network, with the build to commence on the network by June 2016—thanks to this government's NBN strategy. This important milestone for the area offers great certainty for homes and businesses in Macarthur as they prepare for super-fast broadband services. This is a remarkable investment in the Macarthur region. It goes to the heart of what this government is trying to achieve, which is to deliver the means by which the community can enjoy future growth and prosperity.

Under the previous Labor government, investment in infrastructure was virtually non-existent in Macarthur. Photo opportunities were more important than creating real solutions for growing communities. That is what the previous government delivered—a string of flashy photo ops, unworkable school halls, pink batts and projects such as the Dharawal Aboriginal health clinic in my electorate, which provided a building but not the funds to fit it out and run the service. The difference with our government is that we are committed to making legitimate and long-term improvements in Indigenous health by working with communities to improve access for Indigenous families to primary or preventative health care. Last week, I was proud to announce that Indigenous communities across Macarthur will benefit from $7.75 million in funding in primary and preventable health care as part of the Abbott government's ongoing commitment to closing the gap.

I am proud to say that those dark days of Labor's incompetency are over, but we are still dealing with the very serious repercussions of six years of total and utter fiscal incompetency and contempt for the Australian people. The previous Labor government ran up the national credit card and now it is up to the coalition to clean up the mess. The people of Macarthur and, indeed, the people of Australia were very clear at the last election that they wanted a genuine and committed government—one that could make decisions for the good of the nation, like living within our means but also having a clear vision for the future by investing in the infrastructure that our communities need in the long term; but it does not stop at roads and rails.

Our government is investing in our environment, with Green Army projects already on the ground in Macarthur. The teams of participants are cleaning up Kennedy Creek in Appin, preserving the critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodlands, the Western Sydney Dry Rainforest and ecological communities at the Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan. Last month, I was pleased to announce yet another Green Army project that will be rolled out in Macarthur, where participants will establish habitat for the vulnerable species of eucalyptus Camden white gum by removing 2.4 hectares of its main threat, privet. The Green Army team will also remove 8.84 hectares of African Olive and African boxthorn from a number of reserves on the Cumberland Plain Woodlands.

The Abbott government has also partnered with local councils to provide state-of-the-art recreational facilities, such as providing Campbelltown City Council with a $500,000 investment for a synthetic turf surface at Lynwood Park oval, the home of the Macarthur Rams. This project will reduce maintenance costs by tens of thousands of dollars each year, as well as allowing the fields to be used in all weather conditions throughout the year. This government has also given the Narellan Jets Rugby League Football Club and the Campbelltown Rugby League Club $200,000 each for field upgrades that will offer improved sporting facilities and sporting opportunities for our growing communities.

I am also incredibly proud to have had the Prime Minister in Macarthur to deliver $335,000 of funding for the Mater Dei special needs school to purchase solar panels, which will provide a sustainable heating solution for their swimming pool. As a school that caters for children with mild to moderate intellectual and physical disabilities, the swimming pool facilities are an incredibly important part of their education program. I am delighted that children will have an even better environment to enjoy swimming.

The government also provided over $110,000 in grants for local organisations in Macarthur through the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program. In November last year, I was delighted to announce that six local organisations will be given more than $73,000 of funding through this program. The Veterans Recreation Centre, Campbelltown RSL Sub-Branch, Campbelltown City Show Society, Camden Community Connections, Anglican Parish of Cobbitty and City of Campbelltown RSL Sub-Branch all successfully applied for funding.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour when the member will have leave to continue their remarks.