Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I was interrupted by the business of the House last night, I was reflecting on the clear link of one of the Safe Schools program's authors to her clear, self-proclaimed interest in a Marxist future. With regard to Marxism, communism and socialism, obviously these are failed political and economic systems, which stifle innovation and entrepreneurship. They fail because they try to lock in no rewards for hard work or better ideas. They denigrate free thought and alternative ideas. As I have shown, activities taking place within this program attack alternative viewpoints without tolerance.

The opposition and Senator Wong in recent days have tried to censure debate with their moral catchwords or by calling critics 'right wing'. But the real concerns that Australians have cannot be dismissed with a trump word; more substance is required than that. It may have been okay when Stalin made a decision just to dismiss alternative views; it may have been okay during the days of the Soviet Union just to decide what was best for everyone and follow the party line, but over here we do have our own views. We are not thrown out of the party for having an alternative view; whilst free speech may be stomped on in caucus and everyone follows orders if they do not want to lose their pre-selection, that is not the way we operate over here. Nor is it the way this country should operate either.

Those opposite are reduced to name calling, and the moral trump words of which I speak are terms such as 'homophobia'. To take that case in point, it is defined to mean an extreme or irrational fear of homosexuality. This is therefore a much-used word to stomp on any form of commentary on issues such as this, but it is also used wrongly. I have never met anyone that displays an extreme or irrational fear of homosexuality. I have an Army background and a sporting background and never have I met anyone who has such 'fears'. It is not properly used to reflect reality, it is merely used to stop people from talking or commenting on any issue to do with same-sex matters.

Clearly, this is exactly the way that term is being used in the current public debate. Furthermore, stories in recent days in the media have also brought back one of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard's favourites—again, from the trump word school of censorship. Just call anyone you disagree with 'extreme'. This example is from The Sydney Morning Herald recently:

But the move was slammed by the Australian Education Union, which said Mr Turnbull's decision was a "disappointing capitulation to extreme conservatives within the Coalition".

Then they also had this quote:

Labor education spokeswoman Kate Ellis said the Prime Minister had bowed to a "misinformed scare campaign" and "put the views of extremists in his party ahead of the interests of vulnerable young Australians".

It is my view, as I have said before, that this program is fundamentally flawed and should be axed. But if that does not occur, every parent in this country must have their permission sought before this program or any one of its documents are used in any school.

I say this not because of any lie about me having an 'extreme or irrational fear', as I have no phobias of any kind, but surely because there is evidence of the legitimately held views of young Australians being intolerantly maligned based upon the influence of the Safe Schools program. I do raise these concerns, not under the shadow of an 'extreme' viewpoint but because there is evidence of standover tactics to belittle and isolate young Australians. As the evidence in recent days clearly shows, those opposite do not care about such tactics, and they clearly stand by them with their comments.

Safe Schools is apparently about stopping bullying. Interestingly, I note from the Bullying. No Way! federal website, the suggestions do not mirror what Safe Schools is about. With regard to schools helping students, Bullying. No Way! talks about teaching and learning programs to develop students' communication, social, assertiveness and coping skills. It includes increased teacher supervision, support from school counsellors, mediation, technology access changes, class changes and disciplinary action. This is what is required, rather than the enforced doctrine of Safe Schools. No wonder this program is questioned so strongly. It needs to end now.

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and related bill before the House propose financial appropriations from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the activities of the government. It is the money that keeps the government running, and that begs the question: what is this government doing? Where is the government's agenda? In particular, where is the economic agenda of this Prime Minister?

When Malcolm Turnbull announced his challenge for the leadership of the Liberal Party and the prime ministership, his critique of the member for Warringah was that he had failed to articulate a coherent economic plan for the nation. The member for Wentworth told his colleagues and the nation:

… the Prime Minister has not been capable of providing the economic leadership our nation needs.

I had some sympathy for this argument. The Abbott government's economic agenda was a mass of contradictions, accentuated by daily displays of incompetence.

After telling voters throughout the 2013 election campaign that we faced a 'debt-and-deficit disaster' the Abbott government proceeded to double the deficit once it came to government. The former Prime Minister promised Australians at the 2013 election that there would be 'no changes to the pension' and then proceeded to increase the pension age to 70 and made a series of changes to pension indexation, the assets test and pensioner concessions. The former Prime Minister promised no cuts to health and education during the 2013 election campaign, then cut $80 billion from health and education in the 2014 budget. The former Prime Minister promised not to increase fees for university students or to change the funding structure for our universities during the 2013 election campaign, then sprung the biggest change in higher education policy in this country for 30 years on the Australian people in two lines in the 2014 budget speech—introducing full university fee deregulation without a skerrick of consultation with anyone.

For a Prime Minister who had promised, as opposition leader, to run a 'no surprises' government, I can understand the member for Wentworth's critique of his predecessor. I can understand the member for Wentworth's desire to 'restore responsible cabinet government' after the chaos of the member for Warringah's 'government by captain's call'. I can understand the member for Wentworth's argument that Australia needed 'advocacy, not slogans' in the face of the patently unsustainable three-word slogans proffered by the member for Warringah and former member for North Sydney in the place of economic leadership and advocacy.

But five months later, what has changed? What is different about Australia as a result of the ascent of the member for Wentworth to the prime ministership? How has the economic agenda of the government changed? We all know the sticker price for the member for Wentworth's ascent to the prime ministership; we know the deal he had to do with the extreme right wing of the coalition in order to be accepted into the role.

We know that he had to sell out his long-term beliefs on issues like marriage equality and climate change. So we know that as a result of that deal the $160 million plebiscite into whether we should allow same-sex marriage in Australia—Tony Abbott's marriage equality policy—remains Malcolm Turnbull's marriage equality policy. We know that in climate change Malcolm Turnbull, despite his long-held principled support for an emissions trading scheme and a price on carbon, was forced to sacrifice this and commit to continuing to implement Tony Abbott's Direct Action policy—Greg Hunt's magic-bean acquisition fund—

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

I would just remind the member to use members' correct titles, please.

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The assistant resources minister's magic-bean acquisition fund.

The same story is true in economic policy. While the government's schools policy certainly has not changed since the member for Wentworth ascended to the prime ministership, on this side of the House we know that education policy is a crucial plank in any government's economic agenda. The investments that we make in human capital, skills and ingenuity today are essential to realising economic growth dividends in the future. You cannot have an ideas boom without investing in the minds of young Australians, yet in the 2014 budget the then Prime Minister defunded years 5 and 6 of the needs based education funding Gonski model.

Since becoming Prime Minister the current Prime Minister has done nothing to reverse those changes. Under the current government an average of $3.2 million has been cut from each and every school in Australia. It is the equivalent of sacking one in seven teachers. It is around $160 million from schools in my electorate alone. It is money these schools desperately need.

We see the same story in higher education. Before the last election Tony Abbott said:

We will ensure the continuation of current arrangements of university funding.

His Minister for Education, now the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science said after the election:

… we're not going to raise fees …

…   …   …

I am not even considering it because we promised that we wouldn't …

However, in the government's first budget they announced a massive cut in university funding and a proposal to deregulate undergraduate university fees.

The Abbott-Turnbull government has continued with the policy of its predecessor and continues to hold universities hostage. The government still plans to deregulate university fees but has simply postponed the changes. We know what they want to do; they just cannot work out how to get it through the parliament. Indeed, in a statement on 28 October 2015, the Minister for Education and Training, Senator Simon Birmingham, made it clear that these changes had only been delayed. Deregulation remains the official policy of the government; they just cannot work out how to get away with it.

Health policy too remains unchanged. Tony Abbott cut $60 billion from health in the 2014 budget. The current Prime Minister has done nothing to reverse these cuts. He has ignored calls from the industry to reverse the freeze on the Medicare rebate. As of March, Victorian hospitals will be another $73 million worse off after government changes earlier this month. That is on top of the government's $17.7 billion cut to Victorian public hospitals over the next 10 years.

Yesterday the Prime Minister said the federal government would provide extra funding to the states for hospitals and health care, but that is in direct opposition to what the Treasurer said last week when he said:

I don't think states are branch offices of the Commonwealth. I think they are sovereign governments.

…   …   …

… in no business in this country would anyone just accept someone walking into their office and saying the increase in cost is 8 per cent, give me the cheque. We all have to manage our Budgets. The States almost without an exception … are in surplus at the present.

It might strike someone as odd that the Prime Minister and the Treasurer are at direct odds on this issue, but in this parliament we are becoming familiar with this state of affairs.

Who should we believe? We can form a judgement about the Prime Minister's future intentions in health funding by looking at his past behaviour. We should ignore what he says and look to what he does. In his first economic statement the current Prime Minister cut $650 million from Medicare by cutting bulk-billing for diagnostic imaging and pathology, cut health workforce training by $595 million, cut $146 million from health prevention and e-health programs, continued with the Abbott government's $1.3 billion hike in the price of medicines, continued with the Abbott government's freeze on Medicare rebates for GP visits and refused to reverse the Abbott government's $267 million cut to the Medicare safety net. The $650 million that the government cut from diagnostic imaging and pathology by scrapping bulk-billing will mean that patients pay more for CT scans, CAT scans, MRI scans, X-rays, mammograms, Pap smears and other pathology tests.

It is clear what this means. Patients will have to pay the entire cost—often hundreds or even thousands of dollars—up-front. Patients will only be able to claim a portion back through the Medicare rebate. People will be less likely to take preventive healthcare options. It is a short-sighted savings that will end up costing the health budget much more in the long term. Many of these scans are invasive. They are a hassle. People do not need more of a disincentive to have them. We know that prevention is better than cure. It is a far cry from the advocacy and economic leadership promised by the Prime Minister. These are short-term cuts with a long-term cost.

In contrast to the government, Labor has articulated a progressive and comprehensive economic agenda. We have done the hard yards in opposition. We have shown the economic leadership that the current Prime Minister promised but has failed to deliver. In education policy we have announced 'Your Child. Our Future'. It is a plan that will build the education system our children and our nation need for the future prosperity of our economy.

A Labor government will fully implement and fund the Gonski reforms on time and in full, meaning that every student in the country will benefit from increased needs based funding. It will see an additional investment in Australia's education system of $4.5 billion over school years 2018 and 2019 and a total provision of $37.3 billion for the package over the decade. Under Labor's plan every child will benefit.

We have also made the tough calls about how to fund this important investment in our nation's future economic prosperity. Labor has outlined budget savings measures to the tune of over $100 billion over the next 10 years. These include changes to superannuation taxation, combating multinational tax avoidance, increasing the tobacco excise, abolishing the Emissions Reduction Fund, and changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. It is an unprecedented move from an opposition party. Labor will reform negative gearing and the capital gains discount to ensure that our tax system is fair, sustainable and targets jobs and growth. We have announced that we will limit negative gearing to new housing stock from 1 July 2017. We have also made it clear that all investments made before this date will not be affected by this change and will be fully grandfathered. There will be no retrospective application of these changes. This will mean that taxpayers will continue to be able to deduct net rental losses from their wage income, providing the losses come from newly constructed housing stock.

From 1 July 2017 losses from new investments in shares and existing properties can still be used to offset investment income tax liabilities. These losses will also continue to be carried forward to offset the final capital gain on the investment. Labor will also halve the capital gains discount for all assets purchased after 1 July 2017. This will reduce the capital gains tax discount from the current 50 per cent to 25 per cent for assets that are held longer than 12 months. All investments made before this date will not be affected by this change and will be fully grandfathered. Unlike the government, we are not looking at retrospectivity in these changes.

This policy change will not affect investments made by superannuation funds—another distinct difference between Labor and the government—and the CGT discount will not change for small business assets. This will ensure that no small businesses are worse off under these changes. Labor will consult with industry, relevant stakeholders and state governments on further design and implementation details ahead of the start date for both of these proposals. This is the way you provide economic leadership, this is the way you provide a comprehensive tax reform policy and this is the way you offer an economic agenda to the Australian public. It shows that Labor is the only party with a clear vision for tax reform and Australia's future.

What has been the government's response to the kind of economic leadership that the member for Wentworth himself promised Australians? Unfortunately, it has been a reversion to Abbot-style scare campaigns. Instead of articulating a policy alternative, instead of having the debate of ideas and instead of having a contest of policy alternatives, the Prime Minister reached for the vacuous sloganeering of his predecessor. The Prime Minister told the House, in the crudest terms, 'Vote Labor and see your house price go down,' and, 'Vote Labor and get poorer.' Never mind the modelling done by the Australian National University of this question; never mind the views of eminent economists like Saul Eslake, one of the most preeminent experts on the Australian property market. They both expect Australian property prices to continue to rise sustainably under Labor's negative-gearing policy.

You would expect this kind of scare campaign and argument from the vested interests. You would expect this kind of self-interested argument from groups like the Property Council of Australia, who have a direct financial interest in the status quo. However, I must say that, if I was a member of an industry association like this that chose to use the image of a house of cards to represent the industry that I worked in, I would be a little perturbed. If my industry association was funding an advertising campaign telling the nation and potential investors that my industry was so fragile it would collapse if a government policy providing favourable tax treatment to a class of investors was changed, I would object strongly. This kind of imagery is particularly difficult to understand given that a report the Property Council commissioned from ACIL Allen Consulting said:

… it is not sound analysis to simply consider the effects of taxation arrangements on house prices. The cost of housing is shaped by a range of factors influencing demand and supply and hence it is hard to analyse the housing market in isolation from other markets and without considering the local, national and international interconnections.

That is a reasonable perspective. There are many factors at play here.

But the Prime Minister, the member for Wentworth, has eschewed this kind of rational engagement with the facts. He has ignored the nuance and reached straight for the sloganeering that he promised would leave with his predecessor. Worse, the member for Wentworth does not have the excuse of vested financial interest to explain or justify his misleading scare campaign. The only explanation for the Prime Minister's behaviour is political self-interest. He has found, in his five months on the job, that providing economic leadership is easier to promise than to deliver. It is easier to say than to do. It is easier to talk about tax reform than it is to steer it through his cabinet and his party room. It is easier to hold a national soliloquy and a Hamlet-esque 'to be or not to be' discussion about tax reform than it is to actually roll the sleeves up, make a commitment, articulate a policy and fight for it. It is easier for him to say one thing and do another—and that is the story of this prime ministership.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If you ask any constituent of mine for the No. 1 issue that affects them in the electorate, 90 per cent will say, 'Roads.' So it is very important when the government spends money that that money is targeted and targeted well. The benefits to my community of targeted spending are numerous, but I would like to focus on two key areas today. Both, in their own way, concern the health, safety, prosperity and wellbeing of the people of McMillan.

I represent a party that, among its ranks, counts the greatest number of rural representatives—the Liberal Party. Federal political parties can often be accused of neglecting the needs of their rural constituents. Fortunately, the coalition government is reversing the damaging trend set by previous governments by reinvesting in rural and country Victoria and Australia. While the previous government's spending in the bush all but dried to a trickle, this government has been responsible for helping to pump life back into rural electorates through targeted spending. Through those targeted spending initiatives in my electorate of McMillan, some $62.5 million has been committed to targeted programs, particularly on roads and infrastructure. The Roads to Recovery Program is a prime example of a spending measure that meets these goals. Three hundred and eighty-five million dollars to the budget of the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, primarily to extend the reach of this program, is money well spent. In saying that, I record my appreciation of the former minister, Warren Truss, for his diligence in this area, his work to build regional Australia and his commitment and outstanding contribution to this parliament.

As just about any McMillan resident will tell you, at the top of their priority list is: 'Roads, roads, roads.' In an electorate like McMillan, where the distances from home to work, home to school, home to weekend sport and home to family—where we will all be going tonight, with a bit of luck—can be vast. The importance of roads is paramount. Mr Deputy Speaker Mitchell, as you know, the Roads to Recovery Program targets those roads maintained by our local councils. Believe me, as you would know in your electorate of McEwen, as a local federal member I know only too well how desperate local governments have been for extra funding to channel into road maintenance and difficult areas. In McMillan, the condition of narrow dirt roads, which are often battered by extreme weather and, nowadays, large, heavy vehicles, has become of particular concern in recent years. As one example of the benefit to local government and the local community, the coalition's record $3.2 billion investment will deliver the Baw Baw Shire Council $11.5 million over five years. That is a $4.9 million increase to that provided under previous programs. In 2015-16, the Baw Baw Shire Council will receive $3.6 million to repair and improve local roads. That is a 286 per cent increase in 2015-16. In 2016-17, the Baw Baw Shire Council's Roads to Recovery allocation will go up again to $4.1 million, a 330 per cent increase.

There are similar stories in McMillan. The Bass Coast Shire Council is set to receive more than $6 million; the Cardinia Shire Council more than $10.7 million; the Latrobe City Council $10.9 million; and the South Gippsland Shire Council a whopping $15.3 million under this impressive program. Under the government's expanded black spot program the Baw Baw Shire Council will also benefit from almost $2.5 million in 2015-16, up from $103,000 in 2013-14, to fix dangerous and accident-prone sections of local roads. That is an amazing increase. Across the electorate the total cut in black spot funding for local councils has risen from $1.8 million in 2013-14 to $5.3 million in 2015-16. That is not just money to help the flow of traffic or to move somebody more quickly down a country road; it is money to save lives. The black spot program is specifically designed to address the safety issues surrounding our most dangerous roads. That is a direct investment by this government to ensure that mum, dad and the kids, not to mention the bus drivers, delivery drivers and milk truck drivers, all get home safely and are able to do their jobs. The black spot program will fix accident hot spots at 33 separate locations.

Elsewhere, this government has made major investments in the region's main thoroughfares: $22.5 million on the Princes Freeway East, particularly the Sand Road interchange; $157,500 on the planning for the South Gippsland Highway Koonwarra realignment; and $3.8 million on the South Gippsland Highway Leongatha heavy vehicle alternate route. Again, these three projects are all about keeping motorists and pedestrians safe and making sure that the wheels of commerce and community keep turning.

Elsewhere in these appropriation bills $108 million has been allocated to the National Disability Insurance Agency for the transition to the full National Disability Insurance Scheme, something that will be welcomed across the electorate of McMillan and across the nation. As a life governor of Minibah, now called Outlook Disability Services, it has been extremely important to my life's activity. I have said that the NDIS is very close to my heart, my efforts and my inspiration, and I have always said that while this program is important it must be monitored to the point where we are able to pay for the words that come out of our mouths.

I have long been an advocate for people with disability and I know well the difficulties families face when deciding what will happen with loved ones when mum and dad are no longer around. According to the most recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 7,389 people in my electorate of McMillan have been declared as having a disability. Given the amazing population growth in the electorate since the census was taken and knowing that 19 per cent of the general population has some sort of disability, I believe this figure would be much higher now.

I support this government's and the previous government's practical commitment to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Speaking recently to Outlook's CEO, Tony Fitzgerald—a man I have known since 1989—I have been buoyed by the prospect of the NDIS's full implementation. Recently Outlook held a major event for people with a disability and their families, with 105 people attending. Discussions were centred around what the NDIS would offer those who had waited so long for help. Much of the discussion at the event was about what was happening with the Barwon NDIS trial. Tony was happy to tell the people that the Barwon trial was a resounding success. It moved a lot of people who had been waiting for disability services off the current waiting list and, almost as importantly, gave them hope for the future. He told me:

It's the greatest social reform since Medicare. The trials have been absolutely life changing. The trials have been fulfilling the outcomes promised and meeting all targets. It has had a significant impact for people with disabilities and their families.

What Tony also told me about suicide, marriage breakdowns and the despair of people who need more care than they can afford tells me that not a lot has changed in recent years for people with disabilities. There will always be more that we can do.

But I am hopeful that when the NDIS comes to McMillan in 2018 a lot of these problems that we have today will be rectified. I have said in the past that the NDIS will not solve all problems in the disability area, but I certainly hope it will bring the kinds of changes Tony has spoken about. As Tony also said, lack of transport and lack of employment options remain major stumbling blocks for people with a disability in Outlook's service area. Again, these issues are ones that have stubbornly hung around for years. It is worth noting that the relative income of people with disabilities is approximately 70 per cent that of those without a disability, and 45 per cent of people with a disability live in poverty or near poverty, a situation that has worsened since the mid-1990s.

Tony said he had spoken to people with severe disabilities in the Barwon trial area who had lived through the most dire situations, in some cases unable to clean themselves after going to the toilet but unable to do anything because their care package had run out. He said:

People have told me their lives have changed because now they have a care package that is meeting their needs. People who had all but given up hope are now looking towards employment. For many people with a disability there are no employment prospects because they simply can't afford the clothes that would be suitable for a job interview or working. They lose confidence.

Tony said carers in the Barwon trial region are now going to work, because families are finally getting the right level of support to enable that to happen.

In McMillan there are many groups and individuals like Outlook, like Tony, like the clients of Outlook and their families, who have fought long and hard to see the NDIS come to fruition. They will soon have their day. In the end, if we can improve the lives of people with a disability, bring them out of poverty, see them attend essential doctor appointments, see them enjoying life without loneliness and see their families living without the stress of wondering where the money will come from to look after them, we will have achieved something that this nation can be very proud of. To this end, I commend the $108 million that has been allocated to the National Disability Insurance Agency as another important step forward in this process. A government must be judged on its achievements—those things implemented, those projects launched, those pieces of infrastructure built or repaired. On that score, this government has many things to be proud of. However, other achievements, like inspiring hope and giving people control of their lives and a sense of belonging, are harder to measure.

I know that this government, whether investing in people or projects, is on the right track. We are spending money well and achieving results. My electorate is perfect proof of that.

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

I rise to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2015-2016. These appropriation bills basically set out the spending priorities of the Turnbull-Joyce government—what they consider to be most important. In my response, I would like to focus particularly on education funding. I had a couple of different careers before ending up in parliament, but my 11 years as a teacher are what have informed me in choosing the topic for this response to the Turnbull-Joyce government priorities as set out in the appropriations bills.

As a teacher, I taught in public schools and in private schools. I taught in regional areas, including up near Cairns, and in the inner city, in Brisbane. From my time as a teacher and then as a parent and as a member of parliament, I have always had a passion for education and the importance of education for every child—the gifted, those in the middle and those that need extra assistance. The Labor Party is my natural party because I believe passionately in the right of every Australian child to have access to a quality education, irrespective of their background, their economic circumstances or their geographic location. In 2016 education should be the cornerstone of our social and democratic traditions. It is central to our economic success and future prosperity. Productivity gains will come through investing in education.

The Gonski reforms, known by so many in the education sector, were based on a simple core principle—that every child should get a great education, providing opportunity for all. I thank, on the record, former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard for the great legacy that came from their investment in the Gonski reforms. Remember, the Gonski reforms came from that focus on productivity. That is why we had a banker doing the analysis—not a teacher, not a social worker but a banker. The question was: how can Australia do better in the future?

Under Gonski, a nationwide funding standard was determined based on the cost of delivering a high-quality education for all children. Additional resources were to be distributed on the basis of need, and future funding for schools was to be evidence based. We lost a bit of bark as a government when we brought in that evidence based funding. I know NAPLAN is not perfect, but it is part of gathering that evidence. Irrespective of the sign above the school gate, in my electorate and the 149 other electorates, children would receive funding based on need. Irrespective of the sign over the school gate, all would be treated the same when it came to evidence based future funding. The aim was to reverse sliding student performances and to close the gap between the educational haves and the educational have-nots.

It is unacceptable that assessment results indicate currently a two-year difference in mathematical performance dependent on how well-off a student's parents are. Socioeconomic status should not be an albatross around the necks of our brightest children. Improving productivity, which is the only indicator of an economic engine running well, demands that we bring on our brightest students. We should not condemn them because of their being Indigenous, or rural and remote, or from a culturally and linguistically diverse background or because of their economic status. This is just one of the reasons that the Turnbull-Joyce government's decision to withdraw from the Gonski reforms is so disappointing. It is more than disappointing. It is actually gutless and deceitful to see such a backflip after the commitment that was given on the corflutes in my electorate of Moreton—and in the member for Kingston's electorate, I am sure. There were commitments at the election, saying 'We will fund Gonski in years 5 and 6.'

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Dollar for dollar.

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

Dollar for dollar, on the same page. You have heard it all before. That gutless backflip cannot be forgiven, and nor will it be forgotten. If we do not get the fundamentals right at our schools, how can we aspire to a future that is innovative and agile? All this talk about being innovative and agile and letting the ideas boom, while you are underfunding, defunding and breaking your commitments, is deceitful, as far as I am concerned. It is clear that the Turnbull-Joyce government do not really care about our education system. We all heard their hollow promise before the 2013 election: 'No cuts to health, no cuts to education'. We saw it on billboards. We saw it on corflutes. We heard the then shadow education minister, Mr Pyne, say it. They talked about improving teacher training, then ripped $80 billion out of the education system. Sorry—

Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's not right.

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

The $80 billion is out of health and education. I should get that right. But still the budget papers from 2014 show an $80 billion cut to health and education and about $30 billion being ripped out of the education system. My home state of Queensland will be more than $6 billion worse off. In my electorate of Moreton, schools will be over $179 million worse off. Each school will be, on average, $3.2 million worse off. These cuts are the equivalent of sacking one in seven teachers and, if reversed, would be enough to employ an extra 179 teachers for the next 10 years in Moreton electorate alone. Imagine what could happen with those extra teachers and educational workers in our schools. In Moreton, we saw about $1,000 per student, per year, in educational support cut, directly affecting over 32,000 students. This is just one electorate. Every student in every school will be worse off from these cuts—government schools, Catholic schools and independent schools. And the students who need the most help will be the ones hardest hit—in schools that are rural and remote, schools with significant numbers of Indigenous Australians, schools with significant numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse students and, obviously, those in the poorest quintile as well.

The Gonski funding model implemented by Labor also included loadings for students with disabilities, and $100 million was put forward by Labor as an interim measure to provide support for children with disabilities in schools as a consistent method of funding was determined. That figure has unfortunately been stripped by the Turnbull-Joyce government. Making sure that students with disabilities are supported is the unfinished business of the Gonski reforms. Schools throughout my electorate are concerned about the reduced funding for children with disabilities, a funding differential that only becomes greater when higher levels of support are required. Students with disabilities need resources to level the learning playing field. They should have every opportunity, like all children, to reach their full potential. I know not every student is going to excel in education, but we can always lift their standards.

Schools in Moreton are doing a remarkable job despite the best efforts of this government to undermine their educational outcomes. Their spirit may be bruised by the disappointment of this reduced funding after that election commitment, but the children's education is not yet broken. The resilience of these hardworking parents and teachers never ceases to surprise and amaze me as I wander around my schools.

The president of the Coopers Plains State School P&C, Katrina Marschke, said that their school 'hosts events every term to assist with family participation.' The program, aptly named the 'Family Connection Program', offers both morning and night events so that they are accessible to all families. I am seeing the results flow in Coopers Plains State School.

For the past 40 years the P&F—the parents and friends group—at St Sebastian's school at Yeronga has hosted an art show. They raised $40,000 to $50,000 at this event and then put it back into wonderful events. The P&F president, Nathan Groenhout, said that last year they raised $50,000 for the school and that money has been spent on things like a softball play area in the playground, bus transport for sporting events and an annual trip to Canberra. I am sure every MP would recognise it is crucial for every student to understand our democracy. They also spent the money on before- and after-school sporting programs and school technology equipment.

Mike Ennis, the hardworking principal of MacGregor State School, praised the exemplary leadership of the former P&C president, Waikay Lau, and Leanne Hill the vice-president. Mr Ennis said that the P&C have a close and respectful relationship with the school and the school council, and they are all about maximising learning opportunities for the student. They have businesses such as out-of-school-hours care, the tuckshop and the uniform shop. The money they generate from things such as the Mayfest is ploughed back into the school. I wish the new president, Ken Howard, well. He has very big shoes to fill, but because he is such a big man I am sure that he has big feet as well. The P&C are blessed with many volunteers. I look forward to catching up with them at Mayfest.

The Wellers Hill State School P&C also have some wonderful projects in train. Their before- and after-school care provides funding for many of these projects, such as the recently completed air conditioning at the school and the swim club. They have also recently received a grant to renovate their school hall.

The P&F at St Elizabeth's—also in my electorate but right on the border with Griffith—has a huge agenda for the year, including their annual fete. The theme this year is 'Celebrating Heroes'. They have had a successful welcome function with 350 families attending. They are soon holding a disco and later in the year a trivia night. They are working on some projects to get some drinking taps for the children and a building program to get some more covered areas.

The Watson Road State School P&C in Acacia Ridge is currently preparing for their AGM. They are focused on gaining a broader community cross-section as part of the executive. There is never great competition for leadership roles in these P&Cs and P&Fs, unfortunately. Some of their initiatives include revitalising the healthy tuckshop, which is all about educating kids about foods, a refit of the facility and restarting their community garden after the very hot summer we have had in Brisbane.

The Oxley State School P&C have also done some amazing work in the past year. They had their community festival in March. They installed some new sun shades, as well as some additional air conditioning in the administration block. This year the P&C will fund some writing workshops for students to complement the school's particular focus on writing and literacy. They are also planning to install a fan in the big school hall. This a very important part of the community, as we saw with the floods in 2011 where it was on the high ground and a lot of people flocked to receive support—not that I am hoping there will be any floods, but that is the reality of climate change, I guess.

The hardworking parents from all of these schools know the importance of education for their children. I would also particularly like to mention two other schools that I have had some contact with: St Brendan's at Moorooka and Yeronga State School. I know they are doing fantastic work.

Of the more than 32,000 school students in my electorate all will suffer because of the Abbott-Turnbull government's, or the Turnbull-Joyce government's, cuts to education. There is a community cost when these cuts are rolled out. The economic cost of failing to lift achievement for all students is significant. The OECD calculated that Australia will forego a GDP boost of 2.8 per cent unless our students graduate high school with the foundational skills required for the global economy by 2030. That is roughly equivalent to $44 billion in today's terms. It is the kind of figure that should make a Prime Minister, who supposedly prides himself on economic leadership, sit up and get out from under the table he is cowering under—curled up in a ball and sucking his thumb—and actually show some economic leadership.

The government's $30 billion school cuts mean that any student who falls behind is less likely to receive the support they desperately need to catch up. The educational impact of this can be carried forward through not only any remaining education but also, potentially, the workforce. Failing to properly invest in education funding lacks foresight. It is not about courage; it actually shows that you are not thinking of the economy.

There has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian if you are not in the school system. Under Prime Minister Turnbull and Minister Birmingham, things are only set to go downhill from here. This educational leadership team is locking in mediocrity, systemic inequality and an uncertain future for our children. Labor has been, and will continue to be, the party of educational reform and investment.

Labor's Your Child, Our Future policy will ensure the full implementation and funding of the Gonski reforms. It will see an additional investment in our education system of $37.3 billion over the decade. A world-leading and visionary education system is required to create our future teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers and leaders. Labor's Your Child, Our Future is a sound policy, not a political tactic or an election ploy. It has a strong focus on every child's needs, more individual attention for students, better trained teachers, more targeted resources, better equipped classrooms and more support for students with special learning needs. With Labor's policy every Australian child will benefit. Labor's Your Child, Our Future policy is a significant investment in the future of Australia. So, rather than put a $1,000 cut on the head of all 32,000 students in the electorate of Moreton, I ask the Turnbull-Joyce government to reconsider and invest in education— (Time expired)

Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This debate on the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and a related bill gives me an opportunity to reflect. Often when it comes to government expenditure we are prone to say: 'Thank you very much. What have you got for me today?' But I thought it would be a good exercise for me to go back and look at what we have achieved and what is in the pipeline.

There has been a strong flow of capital works programs across the Grey electorate across a wide range of assets. In fact, in the last round of funding under National Stronger Regions Fund we were able to announce $5 million for the Ceduna fish unloader at Thevenard. Thevenard is the second-busiest port in South Australia; not many people even know about it. It is in the far west of the state. Its main tonnage comes from gypsum—which provides around 85 per cent of the gyprock that is used in the Australian building industry—grain, salt, mineral sands and the fishing industry. Increasingly the port is becoming overcrowded, which has led to the downsizing of the fishing effort in the area. There is also exploration occurring in the Great Australian Bight at the moment, with a number of major investments in the area led by BP, who are planning to dig four exploration wells. Another seven are planned by other companies for a total expenditure of about $1 billion. There is a supply line for these drilling rigs and that also will need space at the Thevenard port. The separate wharf that will now be provided for the fishing industry will allow for extra activity and, we hope, some of the fishing effort that has left the Ceduna area will relocate there, and we are hopeful of picking up some processing activity to go with it. That is a very good investment.

In Whyalla, $150,000 was allocated to the Whyalla Leisure Centre as part of a $1.2 million refurbishment. As I have said on a number of occasions in this House, Whyalla is under great stress at the moment, with issues in the steel industry, but this is an injection of funds into that community. The only public pool in Whyalla is at the leisure centre, which also includes squash courts and a gym. It already had something of a revamp and it is an excellent centre but, like many 30-year-old pieces of infrastructure, it needs some extra maintenance. The refurbishment program will go a long way towards transforming it into a 21st century service.

There is $990,000 to extend the Barunga nursing home facility in Port Broughton. It is a not-for-profit facility and community owned, and the associated Barunga Village received $3 million in 2014 for extra units. Port Broughton, a beautiful little seaside town, has made an industry out of providing services to our ageing population. It has become one of the great economic drivers of that community. This extension of the nursing home facility will be greatly appreciated.

At Kadina there is an investment of $4.8 million in the revitalisation, expansion and rejuvenation of the Kadina sports centre. When the centre was built 40 years ago it was a trendsetter but, like many other things that were built 40 years ago, it has become tired and it needs serious upgrading; then it will be good for another 40 years. Kadina is central to the Copper Coast council. There are three major communities there in Moonta, Kadina and Wallaroo, and all of those will be able to access this centre at some stage.

Very importantly, an investment of $5 million we announced under the Stronger Regions Fund will contribute to a $15 million project in Port Pirie, which the council and the state government will partner on. That will be the building of a new sports centre. A fantastic new centre has been built with Commonwealth support in Port Augusta, and this one will be not the same but certainly of a similar standard and will provide a central point for sports in Port Pirie. In fact, it will enable the council to make some efficiencies around the number of ovals they run—saving water and resources—so it is a good outcome. It will bring a string of new sporting events to Port Pirie, which has a long history of providing a venue for the senior sports activities.

This funding is not only about stronger regions. Grey scored a major win in the last round of the Bridges Renewal Program as well, with $2.2 million invested in replacing the London Street bridge in Port Lincoln—not the London Bridge but the London Street bridge. Some people are a little bit timid about driving in Adelaide and I often say to them, 'If you can drive in Port Lincoln you can drive in Adelaide.' It is a very tight city centre. In fact, around 30 to 40 per cent of the two or three million tonnes of grain produced on the Eyre Peninsula goes through the main street of Port Lincoln on road trains. At the moment they cannot cross the shortest route to get to the silos, because the London Street bridge—which is a piece of ageing infrastructure that goes over the railway line—has a 10-tonne limit on it, which is not very handy for road trains. So this investment will allow for decongestion. It will allow the traffic to move better in Port Lincoln and it is an excellent project.

Last year, the member for Barker and I had the opportunity to pitch for a special road funding allocation on the back of some unspent funds allocated to South Australia that were in danger of returning to the Treasury. There is nothing particularly wrong with that, but we could not see why that money should go out of South Australia. South Australian councils had lost a line of funding called the supplementary road funding package, which was attached to the financial assistance grants, or FAGs. Previous governments had addressed a flaw in the FAGs funding formula for councils in South Australia. We received something like five per cent of the national funding in the road package, and we have eight per cent of the population and 11 per cent of the roads. So there had been this extra road funding, called the supplementary road funding package; unfortunately, the Labor government did not extend that past 2013, so there was no future funding left for it at that stage. So it was retired. That has caused a fair bit of anxiety around local councils in South Australia. The member for Barker, Tony Pasin, and I approached Jamie Briggs, who was the minister at the time, and a little over $20 million was redirected from the funds that were to return to Treasury to go back to roads in the electorates of Grey and Barker. All this requires is a 20 per cent top-up from the state government. They are going to get $20 million and all they have to do is put in $4 million.

Mr Champion interjecting—

It is very important infrastructure, member for Wakefield, stuff that you would be very pleased with because people have to drive down the National Highway to get to Wakefield. Part of it will go on passing lanes south of Port Augusta. There is over $3.3 million to sort out a bridge crossing and provide extra passing lanes. There has been a lot of anxiety in the Whyalla community in particular after a spate of road accidents a little over 12 months ago, and $4 million is designated to go to passing lanes between Port Augusta and Whyalla.

Another $800,000 is allocated to shoulder widening of the Tod Highway. The Tod Highway is on the Eyre Peninsula. It runs from Wudinna down to Cummins and then on to Port Lincoln, and in fact is another of the major grain routes into Port Lincoln. It has become narrower and narrower, which is one of the things that happens to bitumen roads from wide transport. When truck wheels go off the edge—and you can see the little gutter at the edge of the bitumen that gets blown out by the wind from vehicles that go past—pieces of bitumen get chipped off. So these roads which were once much wider get narrower and narrower, and, as the trucks get drawn towards the middle, eventually they get to the point where sometimes they lose a rear vision mirror as they pass each other going down the middle of the road. This is obviously an unsafe situation for these highways to be in. It is a state highway, but $800,000 has been allocated for the shoulder widening. That particular stretch of road has also benefitted from some funding from the national road Black Spot Program. There is also $400,000 allocated for shoulder widening and upgrades on the Copper Coast Highway between Kulpara and Kadina, one of the busiest roads in the electorate.

All this is still waiting for a 20 per cent contribution from the SA government. I have been working very hard with the Minister for Regional Development, Geoff Brock, who has approached the minister on a number of occasions. I keep getting the message, 'The state government is on board, don't worry about this,' as I have been working with the member for Giles, Eddie Hughes. I have recently written to the minister as well. I remain confident they will come on board. My community, particularly in Whyalla, is becoming increasingly agitated over the fact that it has not yet been nailed down in the budget cycle.

In the nicest possible way, I say to the South Australian government: 'There is $20 million on the table. It requires $4 million from you. Don't let that opportunity pass by. These are important projects. They are lifesaving projects. We need your cooperation.' I urge the minister to put this at the top of his pile and get it happening because we are approaching a parliamentary break and the end of the financial year. These things may or may not be retrievable afterwards, so it is important that we get that work done.

The coalition government continue to invest in a range of projects across Grey, include including the $85 million upgrade of the main road into the APY Lands. Talk about rough roads, the cost of living in remote areas, smashing your car or smashing your truck to bits and adding to the cost of food, perishables and everything else that goes to supplying these remote Indigenous communities. This investment will make a significant contribution to the way of life there. There is $50 million to be invested in installing advanced train management systems on the main north-south and east-west lines. This will allow freight trains to run closer to each other, which will improve the productivity of the railway lines and reduce freight rates. These are good investments in productive infrastructure.

There is investment for rest areas on the National Highway. Traffic increases as the national freight task increases, so we need to look after our truckies and the people who share the road with them. There is the doubling of the Roads to Recovery program over two years for local councils. There is $1½ million for the remote aerodrome program and $800,000 for the Elliston walking trail. This will all be provided through $7 million from the road Black Spot Program.

There is also terrific support for a number of veterans' organisations, the most prominent of which would probably be $138,000 for the Crystal Brook RSL. The Crystal Brook RSL was in danger of disappearing a few years ago; it now has over 100 members. There has been a complete renewal of interest in this area that is a result of successive governments—and I mean this in a nonpartisan manner—recognising the importance of our Anzac history and our armed forces. We have focused on contributing to Remembrance and Anzac Day commemorations each year, coming on the back of the 100-year commemorations.

There has been a complete renewal of interest around Australia. The marches get bigger every year. It is so important that we honour that service so future generations know exactly what those who have gone before them did for their country. This is all part of that program; making sure the RSLs and the Vietnam veterans' organisations survive, prosper and provide good services to their members. That investment will continue and in the distant future, if there is a change of government in Australia, I hope it will continue even then.

Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am sure that we will have bipartisanship support for RSLs. The member for Grey and I share a common border and probably some of the same veterans. So I would certainly like to add to that sentiment.

Today, in rising to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and related bill, I want to talk a bit about jobs. I want to talk about the importance of them and the importance of consistency in public policymaking on jobs. Labor is the only party in this parliament or outside of it that gives consistent policymaking on jobs and wages. Mr Turnbull's government, the coalition government, has had two Prime Ministers; two Treasurers; I do not know how many industry ministers—probably just two—three defence ministers; and 14 other ministerial changes. It is a government that is divided from top to bottom. It is a government that is driven by its backbench.

I was reminiscing the other day about some of the rhetoric we hear. Nowadays we hear rhetoric about the tech sector, about the ideas boom and about the Prime Minister's wonderful new economy. We used to hear about Tony's tradies. That was the slogan of the previous Prime Minister—he was out there 'backing in the tradies'. You never hear about the tradies anymore from those opposite. You do not hear about working men, carpenters or electricians. You do not hear about them nearly as much as you once did. That is because this government is both inconsistent and incoherent in its policymaking.

You can see that in the tax debate. First of all we had the inconsistency on capital gains tax, with the Prime Minister ruling out any changes and then we found that they were considering changes on capital gains tax on superannuation. Then we saw Phil Coorey writing in the Australian Financial Review a day ago, 'Cabinet digs in as PM backflips on CGT'. What is the business community and the tradies and subcontractors out there in the community supposed to make of that? Then we saw the strange attack on Labor's negative gearing policy. We have a tax policy, unlike the government, which does not have a tax policy. It is an extraordinary position for a government to be in after a couple of years. They do not have a tax policy at all. On the one hand, the Prime Minister was in here saying that prices were going to go down and then the member for Higgins, who is a minister of some sort—I cannot remember her title, because they change so often—was on Sunrise saying that prices were going to go up. So you had two completely contradictory scare campaigns. You can have one side of the argument but you cannot have both sides of the argument, and if you try to have both sides of the argument—guess what?—it absolutely destroys your credibility. The government are incoherent, divided and inconsistent. What does that do for jobs and wages? It does not do them any good at all.

Labor has been providing leadership on these issues. It is Labor who has been providing leadership. One of the things that we have not been talking about in this parliament is how our negative gearing policy will back in those tradies in the expanding suburbs—the people who build new homes, who rely on construction for their living. That is where this investment will be channelled—into new homes. People will still be able to negatively gear. Those who are already in negative gearing will be able to retain that tax deduction and those who want to grow their wealth through negative gearing will still be able to do so, but they will do so by adding to the housing stock, by building new houses, which will back in the people who we do not hear about from this government anymore—Tony's tradies. That is because we do not hear much about Tony, the member for Warringah, anymore. He is hidden away, though he does his best to make it into the headlines on defence matters—and I might go into that at another time.

We have seen this inconsistency and incoherency most of all in my own home state of South Australia. We saw it in the automotive sector. It was not so long ago that we had a Liberal Treasurer in this House—who is now the Ambassador to the United States, and I am sure he is doing a good job in the national interest—about whom there was an article in the Australian Financial Review of 11 December 2013 under the headline 'Hockey dares GM to leave'. With that sensational attack on the car industry, this government waved goodbye to a billion dollars in investment in the automotive area and waved goodbye to 10,000 jobs in South Australia, 30,000 in Victoria and thousands more elsewhere. What does that do for economic confidence? I can tell you that it absolutely smashes it. People who have a blue collar or who wear a fluoro vest to work in South Australia are looking down the barrel at a very difficult labour market.

Talking about consistency, I noticed on Chris Pyne's website the other day 'Statement—Meeting with Holden'. It is a press release of 24 February, talking about how the industry minister met with Holden on 24 February and how he 'reiterated' his 'strong support for the Punch proposal and urged General Motors to carefully consider it as a viable option for continuing the auto industry in South Australia once the company leaves next year.' We are all supporters of the Punch proposal in South Australia. But, if you were an alien who had jetted down into South Australia or into Australia, you would question the consistency of this government's decision making, because on the one hand we have the former Treasurer, Mr Hockey, callously and in a cavalier way waving goodbye to GM and then you have the industry minister, the member for Sturt, now backing in this new proposal. So you can understand how people might be confused and how confusing that inconsistency around jobs in the automotive industry might be.

It is interesting to note that the Liberals are not the only ones who are confused about investment in the automotive industry; we also have the Nick Xenophon Team. We know that Mr Xenophon is very supportive of automotive manufacturing in South Australia, and I welcome his support, but his running mate, Stirling Griff, was quoted in an InDaily article in the Adelaide media, under the heading 'Xenophon sidekick says he wouldn't support Holden handouts', as saying:

I would not be supporting giving automotive companies further subsidies.

I do not find that the ideal way to go (but) I think Nick has a different view on that.

So there is an inconsistency. In fairness, I might say, they are now, apparently, in furious agreement about it, but there is an inconsistency in public policy toward the automotive industry. And that costs jobs; it costs jobs whether it is the Liberal Party or Nick Xenophon's Team party.

We need consistency, and Labor is the only party out there providing consistency on jobs. It does not matter whether it is the automotive industry, the submarine and shipbuilding industry or the steel industry, Labor is the consistent voice for working Australians and for those who want an economy that is diversified, makes things and employs people. We have a steel policy out there. We have a comprehensive policy about building submarines in this country in our national interest and for our national defence which has a comprehensive and sensible way of procuring those submarines into the future and making sure that our shipbuilding has a continuous build.

For all of this government's rhetoric, and I know that its defence white paper is coming out, one of the things that has not been put into a press release is that, for the two supply ships which have been sent off to Korea with, apparently, a Spanish company building them—I would not want to be writing the instruction manuals for that build; Spanish into Korean—we still have not had that announced by this government. One wonders if it is leaving it until after the next election. So Labor is the only party with consistent policies and consistent leadership, led by Bill Shorten, on jobs.

That brings us to the other important thing: if you have a job, it is important for it to be well paid, it is important for you to have some respect and it is important for you to be renumerated for the work you do and when you do it. It is so important for working Australians in retail and hospitality, in factories, in transport and in emergency services to have their penalty rates. I cannot tell you how important it is. We know what the Liberal Party's attitude is on penalty rates. It has been the same for 100 years. But, just to remind people: this was the headline in The Australian on 30 September 2015: 'Penalty rates outdated, deter weekend work: Michaelia Cash'. Also, there was this in InDailyin the Adelaide media—on 7 October 2015: 'Briggs'—that is, the member for Mayo—'steps up Turnbull attack on penalty rates'. Working Australians should be in no doubt about what the plan for penalty rates is of those opposite. It is to remove them. It is the same policy they have had for 100 years. At least on this they have been consistent. They have never had an original idea in workplace reform in the Liberal Party. It has always been 'feed the donkey less and whip them harder', for want of a better word.

When you look at other parties, it is disappointing that Family First and Bob Day want to cut penalty rates. He wants to get rid of the minimum wage for young workers. With the Nick Xenophon Team party, I noticed that at a Senate doors press conference yesterday Senator Xenophon said: 'I made a mistake about calling for a change in penalty rates in the way I did. My motivations were all about the level of youth unemployment. I think a much more sensible approach would be if we were to have a system of penalty rates where the independent umpire, the Fair Work Commission, determines what penalty rates are. But I also think there is a case for small businesses employing less than 20 full-income employees.'

This is not the first time that Senator Xenophon has said that he made a mistake. He said it on 27 January 2016 in a reply to a question that I posed to him about penalty rates and the bill he had presented to the Senate. He said, 'I made a mistake.' Just to remind people what he said when he introduced his bill:

I think that there is a special case, only for small businesses with 20 full-time equivalent employees or fewer and only in the hospitality and retail sectors, to look at a more flexible working arrangement where you do not have penalty rates of 175 or 200 per cent, which has been a job killer.

When voters in South Australia hear Nick Xenophon, the leader of the Nick Xenophon Team party—or maybe he is the convener; I am not sure what role he really plays in that party, but it seems to bear his name—it would seem that there is some inconsistency there. On one level, he says that he has made a mistake, or that he wants to clarify his position. But, then, in substance, his position has not changed. When he says to voters, 'Don't worry, the Fair Work Commission will be deciding your penalty rates,' that should be no reassurance at all. His lead Senate candidate, Mr Stirling Griff, formerly of the Australian Retailers Association, in 2003 went down to the South Australian Industrial Relations Commission to vary the retail industry award to reduce the penalty rates payable on Sundays. He was successful in reducing penalty rates on that occasion through an application to the Industrial Relations Commission.

What we have here is a false assurance about penalty rates given by the Nick Xenophon Team. On one hand, it is a seemingly sensible policy to refer it to the Industrial Relations Commission as some sort of guarantee for workers; but, in reality, there is an unrelenting drive to cut penalty rates for retail and hospitality workers—thousands of people in my electorate. Those people need their penalty rates and they do not deserve to have confusion. They want clarity. The clarity should be: only Labor has a consistent policy on wages and conditions and on jobs and industry. That is the position we will be taking to the election.

Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2015-2016. In my electorate of Hinkler, there are many things underway, things which will help improve our local economy and provide jobs. One of those is the Fraser Coast Military Trail, which is being proposed by the Fraser Coast Regional Council. The Fraser Coast Military Trail will be a huge positive to the region and has the potential to draw in large number of tourists to my electorate of Hinkler. The trail, which will link existing military sites around the region, is progressing well, with the RSL recently receiving $900,000 under the Stronger Regions Fund for stage 2 of the Duncan Chapman Military History project.

I must note that grant was secured by the member for Wide Bay, our former Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss. Maryborough of course is in his electorate, but the member for Wide Bay and I share many other things: we share boundaries, we share a local council in the Fraser Coast Regional Council and of course we both work for the common good for the people of both Wide Bay and Hinkler. While I have the opportunity, I would like to congratulate the former Deputy Prime Minister on the announcement of his retirement. Warren has been a great colleague of mine and a friend of the people of Hinkler for a very long time. He has served not only the people of Wide Bay but also the people of Queensland, the people of regional Australia, the people of Australia in total and the Nationals for almost 26 years. The member for Wide Bay is one of those people—and I have known many of them over my working career—who, when they get to the point of retirement, you want to be able to tip upside down, give them a quick shake and have all of their knowledge fall into a bucket as something that you can store on the shelf and reach into in times of need. Unfortunately that cannot be done, but I must thank the former Deputy Prime Minister for all the advice and assistance that he has given me in the time I have been in this place. He has been an absolute servant for the people of Australia, and I congratulate he and Mrs Truss on their future retirement and I wish them well.

Stage 2 of the Duncan Chapman Military History project will feature an eight-metre high representation of the cliffs of Gallipoli ahead of the statue in Maryborough's Queens Park. It will also include information bays between three panels of cliffs, which will convey the Gallipoli story, and sculptures will depict the landing scene at Anzac Cove. A trench walk depicting the Western Front and a memorial commemorating the battle of Pozieres, where Major Duncan Chapman was killed, will complete this unique, interactive, memorial. The tourists that are attracted to this site will also be attracted to the areas inside my electorate.

Beginning at the Maryborough military museum, which is home to over 7,000 items of military memorabilia, the history trail will include a Vietnam War museum in Toogoom, the Duncan Chapman statue and the training ground on Fraser Island of the famous former Z force from World War II. I must congratulate the sub-branch of the RSL at Toogoom, which has just secured an APC from the Vietnam War era. It is an armoured personnel carrier, which they will have on display, which I believe will arrive in future weeks.

I would also like to throw out my congratulations to those surviving members of Delta Company from the battle of Long Tan, who celebrate a very significant memorial date this year in August. There are a number of Delta Company vets in Toogoom and in Hervey Bay. Lt Col. Harry Smith, retired, a former Hervey Bay resident who has just recently moved back to the Sunshine Coast, is a very well-known advocate for the members of Delta Company from the battle of Long Tan.

A military dive wreck, which I have been advocating for my electorate since I was elected in 2013, would be a fantastic addition to the military trail. While the fate of the HMAS Tobruk has yet to be decided, I acknowledge there is strong competition for it with both Tasmania and the Gold Coast expressing interest in having it scuttled in their waters. A Wide Bay Burnett regional dive wreck advisory group has said that while the HMAS Tobruk is the ideal vessel—as it is possible to swim through it from one end to the other—there could be another vessel that would be just as suitable. If the Department of Defence do have another vessel they think is suitable, the advisory group would consider it as an option. There is a strong need for a new tourist attraction in my electorate of Hinkler to stimulate the local economy and create jobs. The dive wreck advisory group estimates that a military dive wreck would contribute between $1 million and $4 million each year to the local economy—that is a great boost. Another flow-on would be an increase in domestic and international visitations to the Wide Bay Burnett region. In New South Wales, for example, about 5,000 divers explore HMAS Adelaide with at least 90 per cent of divers coming from outside the region, including 20 per cent who come from overseas.

For tourism, it is no secret to my constituents that Hinkler is a fantastic place to visit and live; we have everything right here on our doorstep. Just last month, Flight Centre announced its top 10 Australian holiday destinations for 2015 and Bundaberg, at the northern end of my electorate, was ranked No. 6. Rising in popularity by nine per cent in 2015, more Aussies are taking advantage of Bundaberg's laid-back appeal and easy access to the country's largest concentration of nesting marine turtles. Each year, from November to March, around 30,000 visitors witness the majestic marine turtles laying their clutches on the shores of Mon Repos beach, which has the most significant loggerhead turtle nesting population in the South Pacific region. And the Fraser Coast recorded Queensland's strongest domestic overnight visitor growth, with a 21.4 per cent increase—nearly triple the overall state increase of 7.9 per cent—for the period ending September 2015. Fraser Coast Opportunities reported a major 35.9 per cent boost in intrastate visitors to the area. 'Holiday makers' and 'visiting friends and relatives' were the primary purposes for those trips, with raw figures of 294,000 and 264,000 visitors respectively.

The Hinkler electorate is a wonderful, community minded place to live with many groups and organisations providing support and friendship to our residents. The coalition government is providing funding opportunities to these groups, through the Stronger Communities Program. Eligible community groups can apply for grants of between $5,000 and $20,000 for small capital projects. Each federal electorate is allocated $150,000 a year over two years. In my electorate, we have already presented three community organisations with their grants and there are more announcements to come.

Rum City Rods and Customs was awarded $5,775 to replace the roof on their hall in Bundaberg. The club was formed around 1994 and was originally named the Rum City Rodders. The club's main objective is to promote and encourage community interest in the sport of constructing, showing and driving street legal rods. I must say, having seen some of the members' cars, they are just incredible pieces of workmanship. The long-awaited upgrade will provide the club's 70 members with a central meeting point that is safe and dry, and the hall can now also be utilised by other community groups.

The Bundaberg Steam Tramway Preservation Society received a grant of $18,182 which will go towards replacing the existing timber sleepers with concrete sleepers along the two-kilometre line. Since it was built in November 1988, the Australian Sugar Cane Railway has carried more than 500,000 locals and tourists. It is a sight to behold—a true coal-driven steam engine towing around the botanic gardens. The society is committed to keeping ticket prices low so that children of all ages can enjoy the botanic gardens and learn about locomotive and sugar cane history. These upgrades will reduce the number of track maintenance closures, which will enable the railway society to entertain and educate more families.

We Care 2, an organisation which provides meals and assistance to about 1,000 disadvantaged Fraser Coast residents each week, was awarded $10,000 to purchase new freezers. These freezers will enable the team at We Care 2 to continue providing vital assistance across the Fraser Coast, whether it is through Extra Choices, the Community Connect Food Van, school breakfasts, emergency relief or to support the Comfort Kitchen weekly dinner for the disadvantaged.

I will have several more projects to announce through round 1 over the next few weeks, which will benefit community groups right across the electorate. The second round of Stronger Communities funding opened last week, so I encourage any community groups in my electorate to consider whether they might be eligible and submit an expression of interest.

In Queensland we have local government elections underway right now. The upcoming elections, which take place on 19 March, have attracted a lot of interest. We have six candidates vying to be mayor of Fraser Coast Regional Council and 35 candidates standing for council. In Bundaberg Regional Council we have five running for mayor, with 33 candidates running for council. I take this brief opportunity to wish all candidates well for their campaigns.

In relation to aged care in my electorate, construction has begun on a number of aged-care facilities. Builders Woollam Constructions have just turned the first sod of a $40 million aged-care home at Kawungan, which will bring not just 150 beds but also more than 100 jobs. A $30 million Premier Health Care facility in Urraween's Medical Place will offer 145 new beds, with construction due to start next month. In Bargara, a $25 million, 160-bed aged-care facility is being built beside the existing Palm Lake Resort. It is expected to open in April. Attracting investment to our region to deliver more aged-care facilities is something I have been particularly vocal about since my election in 2013. It requires a team effort from all three levels of government and the private sector. Our senior residents deserve to live out their remaining days with dignity, and Hinkler is an idyllic place to do just that. While the federal government provides the recurrent funding for the daily operation of aged-care facilities, development and planning is controlled by councils and the state government.

There are many things that all levels of government can do to make our region an attractive investment option. This includes providing land, reducing red tape and speeding up approval processes. I am very pleased to see so many new facilities being built across the region, which will reduce wait times and stimulate our local construction industry.

We should be celebrating the fact that Australians are living healthier, longer lives, rather than focusing on the economic challenges presented by having an aging population. As the baby-boomer generation ages and demand for quality aged care and retirement villages continues to grow, there will be enormous opportunities for employment in the construction industry, mobility retail sector, medical technology and innovation, pharmacy, nursing and allied health care.

While I am on my feet, I would also like to congratulate Knauf. Knauf is another significant project which has started in my electorate. It is the construction of a plasterboard manufacturing plant at the Port of Bundaberg. Civil works began on 1 February on the $70 million plant, which is expected to create around 200 jobs during construction and around 70 permanent jobs once completed. Knauf are importing more than 200 containers from Europe for local companies to install. The Bundaberg facility, which is expected to be operational by the beginning of 2017, will be the company's third facility in Australia, with manufacturing plants also in Sydney and Melbourne.

The project will include gypsum handling and processing facilities to support plasterboard production and for the sale of gypsum to our very important local agricultural sector. For those who know the Bundaberg region, it is one of the largest horticultural producing areas of Australia. We are the biggest producer of heavy vegetables, so to have a company that can import lime directly and make it into a pelletised product at a much reduced cost will be a big benefit for our local farmers. I commend the bill to the House.

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When it comes to Parramatta, there is something seriously wrong with the planning processes in New South Wales. It is not that nothing is going on—in fact, if I look out of my window I see cranes everywhere over the skies of Parramatta. That is a good thing. There is lots and lots of construction activity, and Parramatta depends on the construction industry for around seven per cent of its employment. When I talk to people who do not come from Parramatta, they tell me how great the development is in Parramatta and how Parramatta is really coming ahead. But when I talk to people who actually live there I get a different, quite concerning story.

There are literally tens of thousands of new residences coming online in Parramatta. There are huge increases. When you add them all up it is between a 50 and 100 per cent increase in the number of residences in Parramatta over the next 10 to 20 years. It is a substantial increase. In fact, when you look at the council's promotional video on why you should come to Parramatta, it looks a bit like a Game of Thrones opening title—everywhere there is open land, up goes a building. That is pretty much what is happening in Parramatta. There are lots and lots of new buildings, but unfortunately there has been very little attention to infrastructure that supports existing residents, let alone the tens of thousands of new ones, corralled as they are into really quite small spaces in our suburbs.

Where there is new infrastructure, it is off in the never-never and it is not what was wanted by local councils and residents. It is very much infrastructure that suits the developers, not the people who actually live in our cities. We in Parramatta, Westmead, Carlingford and Toongabbie know how overstretched our infrastructure is now, and we look for the work in the area that will support the growth of our population. It is just not there. We know how many of us get into cars or trains in the morning and head off somewhere else for work, spending two to three hours in transit every day, and we wonder where the jobs will come from for all these new residents. We look for the business centres and we see current business and light and heavy industrial areas being bulldozed for high-rise residential. We look for amenities and we see public land being sold off for medium- or high-density residential. We look for facilities and we see our local pool being closed for development of the stadium. For those who moved to Northmead because the M2 made an easy bus ride into the city, they have just closed the bus lane while they upgrade the M2, so a half-hour trip in the morning is now an hour and a half. One hour a day becomes three hours. We have people living in Northmead who are now pulling out of their local gyms and going to the gym in the city because that is the only way they can delay their trip one way or the other. We lose locally and someone else gains from these really quite appalling decisions that our state government is making.

We see our suburb being turned into a dormitory, a place to sleep but not a place to work or live in our waking hours, a place where you get into the car in the morning and leave and return too late to spend time in your suburb with your neighbours, friends and family to build community or spend money locally in the morning, at lunch or in the afternoon and evening in support of our local economy.

I am not against development. In fact, I believe that there are areas in and around our suburbs where the council should have bitten the bullet on zoning years ago. There are areas where we went to 2½ storeys which are close to stations, public parks and large employers like hospitals, and where the surrounding facilities and jobs would have supported a much higher density, but we did not go there. But we are now going very high density in areas that do not have the facilities to support the growth in population, and those facilities are not even on the planning schedule.

Residential planning seems different from everything else, and the systems and community structures that we need to make a community livable are being ignored at the expense of high-rise residential. I understand the state government's need for revenue and I understand that residential creates an enormous immediate benefit to state governments, but for long-term community development we really have to think of the broader infrastructure that we need.

Planning is not about where a person lives; it is about how a person moves through their city—the extent to which they can recognise their neighbours. It is about being able to drop your kids at school and get to work on time; or having a coffee with or meeting a friend at the local gym in the morning or at a park for a run; or about getting home in time to meet friends for dinner within walking distance from your home. It is about how we live. It is about building livable cities, not just places where we live.

Planning needs to leave space for small businesses to set up and grow. We want our communities to be supported by our own. We are bulldozing older business areas and moving small and emerging businesses out from those low-rental areas and replacing them with glass residential towers. There will not be room for smaller businesses to innovate and incubate if this plan continues to go the way it is going. Big companies like Deloitte are moving in, and that is great, but they do not come in in order to crowd out the small. They come in to support the growth of the small and to grow with them.

Being a city means finding space for new ideas and it means finding lower-rental areas. They are sometimes a little shabbier but are affordable for people to start out in new, innovative businesses. That is as true for business as it is for people trying to buy their first house.

And we need our history. In the north of Parramatta we have a heritage precinct that contains around 70 heritage buildings—more heritage buildings than the Rocks. It dates back to convict times. We have the female convict factory, designed by Greenway; we have the Roman Catholic orphanage; the Gipps Yard, which is the sandstone yard where the convict women were taken straight off the boats and put to work, and is where they lived; and we have Bethel, the first children's hospital in Australia. We have an area which demonstrates the history of incarceration of women for over 220 years. It is estimated that one in five of us are descended from women who were incarcerated there.

And because it was a mental asylum for many of those years it has some of the greatest civic architecture examples in Australia, all within one or two blocks. Virtually every major civic architect is actually represented in that small area. There is less standing of the Cascades Female Convict Factory in Tasmania, it is later than ours and it is on the World Heritage List. Ours is better, still intact, and the state government has even resisted it being on the national register, although it is on the list for consideration now—and I thank the minister for that.

The state government's original plans were to put four- and eight-story residential buildings inside the Gipps Yard—inside the existing sandstone courtyard where the convict women lived, right up against a flying fox colony which is supposed to have a 300-metre exclusion zone. There is very little consideration for the value of this heritage in UrbanGrowth's plans for this site. They have no plans for the heritage. My view has always been that when you have something that valuable you decide what to do with the heritage assets first and all other development comes after that. The heritage cannot be replaced and it is not acceptable to my community that we have one of the great convict heritage assets of Australia totally surrounded and overshadowed by buildings as high as 24 storeys without consideration of the heritage assets. It really is an extraordinary plan that the state government has for this particular area.

It also does not provide the amenities in that area that people need. The original area for development included the swimming pool. The original plans had the swimming pool rezoned as residential. The state member at the time, Geoff Lee, said, 'Oh no, that's just a typo.' It was a typo on three places in the plan, but let's believe it was actually a typo! So we all breathed a sigh of relief and thought, 'Okay'. Then I was told a month ago, when UrbanGrowth came to my office, that they had delayed all plans about the swimming pool because they were reconsidering that whole precinct. Then we found out four weeks later—just last week—that there are plans to close the pool completely. The council was told the pool would close because the larger Parramatta Stadium would be on its footprint.

I am a great fan of building a larger stadium, by the way. The Wanderers and the Eels use that stadium and we should have a larger stadium. But it seems nonsense to me that we would close the 50-year-old Parramatta War Memorial Pool. It is the best pool in Western Sydney for training and for diving. It has a high-diving tower—there are only two in Sydney—and it has a water polo pool, a kids pool and a water slide. Five hundred kids come there every day from the schools to learn to swim. We have an active learn-to-swim program there. Why would we close a place where people actually exercise in the middle of their work day in the CBD, or learn to swim, in favour of a place where people go to watch people exercise? Now, I understand that watching people exercise is also a way to encourage people to exercise. But you do not close a place where people do exercise in order to build a bigger place to encourage people to exercise when there will be nowhere then to exercise. It is just nonsense. The community is incredibly concerned about this.

Meanwhile, the state member is saying, 'No, no, no—there is no plan.' Well, the Wanderers are tweeting about the demolition date. The original announcement said that the stadium was going to be over the pool. Now the member is saying that there is no plan. He is also saying that the state government should move the pool, but there is no plan to do that either. There is no plan. We are talking about losing one of the fundamental exercise and recreational spaces within Parramatta at the moment and it is not necessary: we can have both! We can have a place to exercise and a place to watch it. We can have both a community facility for recreation and a commercial facility for recreation. We can have both, and we should.

Then, of course, we get to the areas where they are improving infrastructure. WestConnex is supposed to be a great improvement in connectivity for the west. When the original announcement was made, it looked pretty good. There was a $30-million plan to ease congestion around the WestConnex motorway and Parramatta that would reduce travel times for Parramatta workers and residents. We all know you cannot get onto WestConnex at the moment. You cannot get onto the M4; it is a car park. It always seems to go past Parramatta. To get into Parramatta you have to do a bit of a detour and go down some suburban roads, so you cannot really get in or out of Parramatta onto the M4. It is not particularly effective.

The state government announced when they announced WestConnex that they were going to build two new roads linking Parramatta to the M4 to encourage growth and would remove five sets of traffic lights for people getting out of Parramatta and onto the main freeway that passes us by. Then a couple of weeks later they said: 'Oops, made a mistake. That's not true. Sorry. Didn't mean it.' The announcement was huge and major. The withdrawal was much softer. They have basically left Parramatta off the WestConnex plan completely. We are the second CBD, have a huge economy—the capital of Western Sydney—and we are off the plan. Everybody in Parramatta knows that, no matter what they do to WestConnex, if you cannot actually get onto it, it is not much use.

Along the M4, of course, they have the Granville proposal, which is, I think, an additional 7,000 residences. I am not actually going to bet on that number. It was originally 20,000 residences in Granville between the train line and the freeway. I think it is down now to about 7,000. They have been pushed down by the community. But this is a traffic island. If you want to get out of that area between Granville station and the freeway—particularly Granville station and Parramatta road—you have to cross either the Bolt Street bridge, which is already a car park, or Parramatta Road. Anybody who has tried to cross Parramatta Road at two o'clock on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon knows that you do not try to do it at peak hour.

It means we will have thousands of primary school children living in this area without a primary school. They will have to cross Parramatta Road or Bold Street bridge to get to school in the morning in an area that is already so overcongested that the government has put Parramatta Road on its strategic plan. The traffic is so bad that they need to fix it, and the fix is to put an extra 200,000 residences on it, including 7,000 in Granville. It is just extraordinary. You will have more people trying to get onto WestConnex when there is no link to WestConnex. To get out of Granville you cross the Bold Street bridge or you cross Parramatta Road, and both of them are a disaster and will only get worse because of these plans.

And then, of course, we have the light rail project. It is a good project as far as it goes. It duplicates the heavy rail line into Strathfield. Some people criticised that. It goes from Westmead to Strathfield. It is not what councils wanted—councils wanted north-south lines and lines up to Castle Hill—but it does, according to the government, open up the area along that line, including for 10,000 more homes to be built at Camellia, which is currently a heavy industrial site. Let's close down the place where we have jobs and build a place where people live!

These are net job losers. Granville is a net job loser. Camellia is a net job loser. The North Parramatta heritage precinct is currently a hospital site where government departments have their offices. They are all closing, and we will end up with a little bit of extra retail. They are net job losers. The full-time, skilled jobs disappear and the part-time, casual jobs in hospitality and retail partially replace them. This is a folly.

Just to make things better, the state government is going to put a levy of around $20,000 a unit on any new apartment or residence that is built along that train line. In which other part of Sydney do individuals put their hand in their pocket and shell out that kind of money because the state government is building light rail? And the light rail network rips up the heavy rail to Carlingford for which the Labor government put money on the table to extend it to Epping. The state government gave it back. Now they are going to rip up the heavy line and put in light rail. It is quite extraordinary. On that light rail they are going to put thousands of new residences at Telopea as well. Those people will need to get on the light rail and go into Parramatta rather than going over Pennant Hills Road to the huge employment areas at Macquarie Park and Ryde.

Every plan the state government has is retrospective for the community of Parramatta, and I really think they should rethink on the whole and not in part. (Time expired)

Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the appropriation bills for 2015-16. I am pleased to speak on these bills today, as they help provide a road map to aid us in achieving our budgetary measures. When considering these bills, I think about the concerns and funding needs of my own constituents. We are working to produce real outcomes as we continue to build a strong and more prosperous economy for the safety and security of Australia. Our future very much depends on what we do as a nation today. After a disastrous Labor government for six years it is our turn to rebuild this nation. It is our turn to contribute so that generations to come may enjoy a prosperous quality of life.

I want to take this opportunity to update the House and my constituents of Paterson on what action has been recently taken to advance their cause, as we have recently seen some great outcomes in both Paterson and in the wider Hunter region.

I welcome today's release of the defence white paper and what it will mean for national security and, importantly, for the much-needed jobs in our region. This will occur through increased air, naval and land warfare superiority. Whilst RAAF Base Williamtown will continue with its nearly $1 billion upgrade program, in particular for the Joint Strike Fighter, there are issues emanating from the base that are affecting my community. In particular, the issue of firefighting foam contamination of perfluorooctane sulfonate, otherwise known as PFOS, originating from RAAF Base Williamtown has severely impacted on my community and will no doubt have budgetary ramifications in the future. The contamination of PFOS has leached across all the way from the RAAF base through to Fullerton Cove and Tilligerry Creek.

There are PFOS levels reported as 100 times higher the acceptable health risk. The PFOS contaminant originates from the RAAF base. Therefore, the Department of Defence and the Commonwealth are 100 per cent responsible and bear 100 per cent of the responsibility to remedy the situation. The impacts on local industries are not insignificant. There are now reports that the banks are black-listing for bank loans in the red zone investigation area.

I have been meeting with defence ministers and Defence, and my message is simple and clear: tell me what you can do, not what you cannot. Defence's evidence to the Senate committee hearing in October was that it was monitoring rather than containing contaminated surface water leaving the base. The first thing that has to be done is to contain the discharges from RAAF Base Williamtown. If you have a hole in a boat and it is leaking water, you do not just bail the water; you stop the leak—simple logic. The contamination levels need to be contained, not monitored, because in the next storm even more PFOS will be flushed from the base into my local community.

There are a number of issues that need to be addressed and addressed urgently. What need to be addressed are the health issues, water-bore sampling and, importantly, the mental health issues, which are exacerbated for those whose incomes have stopped. Whether they are commercial fishermen or those who produce eggs, chickens or beef, all have been stopped from earning their income by this contamination. I say to the Department of Defence, to the minister and to the government as a whole: listen to what is being said by all sides of politics, because all sides of politics at one time or another have been responsible for this issue. More work needs to be done and there needs to be better coordination, but, more importantly, relieving the stress for those who have lost their income must be a matter of priority for this government, because it is not the fault of those people that they have lost their income due to this contamination. The community needs and deserves a solid plan of action, not just words and intent on this issue.

I am also pleased today to report that around 6,700 more premises on the Tomaree peninsula and 5,500 residences in the Maitland area are a step closer to getting access to the National Broadband Network, with construction on the fixed-line network well underway. This is an important milestone in the area, with greater certainty for homes and businesses as they prepare for super-fast broadband. The message for local residents is clear: super-fast broadband is on its way. Final network designs are now complete, meaning that, in the coming weeks, nbn co contractors will be seen in the streets of Telarah, Shoal Bay, Fingal Bay and Nelson Bay. The work includes laying out optical fibre and building cabinets to house the electronics needed to supply the super-fast broadband. This is a part of the government's ongoing reform of the NBN project, to ensure that super-fast broadband can be rolled out quickly, more cost-effectively and with minimal inconvenience to households. Speeds on the new network will easily support high-definition streaming on multiple devices all at once. The NBN project will provide much needed relief for the region, which in some areas has very poor broadband infrastructure. We have taken steps to get this project on track after so many years of misinformation, frustration and, in particular, poor planning. The NBN will truly revolutionise the way people connect in their homes and their businesses. It is vitally important that our community do not waste another decade or longer waiting for a gold-plated broadband upgrade. What they want is effective, efficient and fast broadband, today and now. Total connections to the NBN's various networks, including the fixed-line and wireless networks and the interim satellite service, now stand at over 700,000. Earlier this year, nbn co released an updated national rollout plan indicating that, by September 2018, three-quarters of all homes and businesses across Australia will be able to connect to the NBN or have construction underway in their neighbourhoods. nbn co will continue to update its online information for residents about when the network will be ready for their service, and people can also register their details to be provided with future updates.

The Australian government recently announced that the application deadline for round 2 of the Safer Streets Program has been extended by two weeks to 2 pm, Wednesday, 2 March 2016. The closing date has been extended to ensure all local government organisations and eligible incorporated not-for-profit organisations have the opportunity to support their local communities by implementing new safety and crime prevention initiatives. Under round 2 of the program, the government will invest $29.4 million in individual grants to help reduce the fear of crime and contribute to greater community safety and resilience. This investment will build on the more than $19 million in funding the government has already awarded under round 1 for projects across 150 locations to deliver security enhancements such as better lighting and CCTV in retail, entertainment and commercial precincts. I have encouraged all potential applicants to submit their project applications as soon as possible, to ensure the area has the best chance of receiving funding from this vital community safety initiative. The program is already working to improve community safety across Australia by preventing, deterring and detecting crime and antisocial behaviour. Round 2 funding will help boost these efforts in my electorate in particular. Importantly, the Safer Streets Program uses the proceeds of crime, confiscated from criminals, to fund these local crime prevention programs. It means that the crimes of yesterday can help prevent the crimes of tomorrow.

In last year's budget, the coalition government announced the Stronger Communities Program to fund small capital projects in local communities across the country. The aim of the Stronger Communities Program is to fund small projects which will deliver social benefit for local communities and help contribute to more vibrant and viable communities. Local government and incorporated not-for-profit organisations are eligible to apply for a grant of $5,000 up to a maximum of $20,000, matched, of course, on an in-kind or contributory, dollar-for-dollar basis. Each electorate has $150,000 of funding allocated to it. The independent community consultation group that I formed for round 1 will again shortly consider the expressions of interest and determine priority projects of the most merit to proceed to the formal grant application.

In this House, people have heard me talk endlessly about digital television reception. Since the switch to full digital television services in 2012, many of my communities have been struggling to get decent television reception. The co-channel interference from out-of-area signals affects viewers who receive their broadcast from the Mount Sugarloaf site. This interference can range from annoying minor signal video and audio break-up to complete signal loss. Always worse in hot weather, it has made for three years of very long, hot summers for those who have been affected. Regional Broadcasters Australia has been working to upgrade the problem following my continued and consistent lobbying to secure federal government funding. I am beyond delighted that the upgrade to Gan Gan tower and the new Wallaroo digital television towers are now up and running. This will help residents on the Tomaree and Tilligerry peninsulas as well as in Medowie and Salt Ash to gain improved television reception.

Green Army projects continue to thrive in my electorate. New projects include the one to be undertaken on the Worimi Conservation Lands, located at Stockton Bight, Port Stephens, and will build on a previous stage. The lands form an important coastal link within a network of protected areas. Human induced impacts are causing fragmentation of native vegetation in the foredune system, wetland swales and hind-dune vegetation, limiting pathways for dispersion of flora and fauna, including threatened species. The project will improve the condition, extent and connectivity of native vegetation through on-ground works, including dune stabilisation, management of four-wheel drive access, weed control and revegetation. Recruitment strategies will target Worimi youth and other Indigenous Australians to build the team. These participants have not only generated real environment and conservation benefits for our community but also gained valuable practical training and experience to help them prepare for the workforce, pursue further training or improve their career opportunities.

As the Green Army grows so do the opportunities for young people around Australia to be involved in these worthwhile projects. The Green Army is a key government commitment with more than $700 million budgeted over four years. The program encourages practical, hands-on action to support local environment and conservation projects across Australia and will have provided training to 15,000 young Australians by 2018.

Road infrastructure is critical. It is the pathway to success. I am excited that the New South Wales government is finally providing $3 million in 2015-16 to continue the planning for the future extensions of the M1 Pacific Motorway to the Pacific Highway at Raymond Terrace, eliminating the bottleneck that occurs at John Renshaw Drive. I remember back to around 2000 when the then roads minister in the New South Wales government, Michael Costa, put forward this proposal. It has always required the state government to prioritise this project so that the Commonwealth can contribute and we can finalise this Pacific link road.

The community has had a chance to comment once again on the design and the new report is expected to be published soon. The M1 Pacific Motorway and the Pacific Highway are critical links in the National Land Transport Network and are amongst the busiest transport corridors in Australia. Planning for the M1 Pacific Motorway extension to the Pacific Highway at Raymond Terrace began in October 2004 and has involved an extensive community consultation program to identify preferred routes and to develop a concept design. A design was displayed for community comment in 2008 with feedback considered to develop a refined design which was finally announced in 2010. The route was reserved in the Newcastle and Port Stephens local environmental plans. Roads and Maritime Services has since reviewed the 2010 design to ensure the proposal provides the best outcome for road users, for the environment and for our community as a whole. The revised concept design includes major improvements for connectivity to surrounding road networks and minimises the environmental impacts.

The New South Wales government has committed $200 million under Rebuilding NSW to get the project ready for construction. Timing for construction is not yet confirmed and would depend on planning approval, future traffic needs and funding availability. I urge the New South Wales government to move forward as quickly as possible with this link project. Federal funding will be a matter of course as there is an agreement between the state and federal governments to fund these projects, but make no bones about it: this project is critical in stopping the bottleneck that occurs when you leave Sydney on your way to Brisbane on the Pacific Highway. I urge people to move forward with speed to deliver this project so we get real, beneficial outcomes not only to my constituents but also to all Australians, and in particular the heavy transport industry, as they use this vital road infrastructure. I commend these appropriation bills to the House.

Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to make a contribution to the debate on the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2015-2016 and, in supporting supply and the appropriation of around $2.2 billion, to consider in this context the economic record of the government led by Mr Turnbull. All of us here remember the now Prime Minister's commitment to changing—or perhaps 'finding' might be a fairer way of expressing it—an economic narrative for this government. Well, how is this going? The member for Wentworth was right, of course, to identify this as a key failing of his predecessor, but instead of addressing it he and his hapless Treasurer have compounded the problem. They are telling the same story absent any conviction.

Having promised sophisticated policy debate, the Prime Minister has already walked away from the serious conversation about economic reform that Labor has been leading through the work of the opposition leader and the shadow Treasurer, and instead has resorted to a scare campaign—old politics, not innovation. It is rich in irony too; the man who spoke at some length in this place last year—who Malsplained about a not very scary scare campaign in terms of the government's clear agenda to foist on the Australian people a regressive increase in the GST—he now is playing Hanrahan. We are 'rooned' he says, over and over again, leading, or perhaps trying to lead—trying to corral—a confused reaction to Labor's positive plans. When he spoke of evidence based policy making as another one of his commitments how were we to know that the only evidence he seems to be interested in are the certainties that are in his head?

We do know one thing now, though, when it comes to managing the economy, this government are not in the business of helping Australians maintain their standard of living and they are not interested in investing in the foundations of a fairer future. And so, as we consider the bills before us, we must recognise that inequality is rising in Australia and that this has been happening not simply by reason of some force of nature; it has been accelerated by political choices made by this government, under this Prime Minister and under Prime Minister Abbott. The Prime Minister and his Treasurer both are unconcerned by inequality and its consequences for individuals and the wider economy, and they should stand condemned for this. They should also be concerned. They should be undoing those decisions which are exacerbating inequality and failing us not only when it comes to equity but equally when it comes to economic growth. This is beyond a callous ideological indifference to those who deserve a government fighting in their corner; it is a rejection of evidence from around the world, from bodies like the IMF, to the effect that inequality harms growth.

When we look at the Prime Minister's contribution to economic debate since coming to the high office he holds we see that he pointed at two areas of distinction between the government he proposed to lead and that led by the member for Warringah. Firstly, he talked about innovation. In this regard, I think he gets plenty of marks for his salesmanship. A reheated bundle of policies late last year, heavy in rhetoric, allowed him to attract some temporary support, but the lack of substance in this agenda has shown through, and this is even more so when it comes to the other policy area he sought to emphasise, in terms of his avowed appreciation of the need for the Commonwealth to take seriously urban Australia, to take seriously a cities policy. Again, how has this worked out under Prime Minister Turnbull? We had one cities minister appointed and then very quickly unappointed, and now the role has been degraded to half the responsibilities of an assistant minister. We now have a part-time parliamentary secretary dealing with one of the Prime Minister's two priority areas. This is deeply concerning in a country like Australia which is an urban and indeed a suburban nation, where the infrastructure challenge we face is huge and the role for the national government critical if we are to maintain productive, livable and sustainable cities, the places where eight in 10 Australians live and a similar proportion of GDP is generated.

These bills before us go to many of the changes from last year's Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook. Obviously that is where the appropriations are located. This statement is a pretty troubling and telling indictment of the government's record, where we see a deficit that has blown out and debt that has increased. Projections of economic growth have been slashed. Living standards are falling. Capital expenditure is falling. And consumer confidence is falling, roughly in line with the confidence of backbench members in the performance of the Prime Minister's leadership.

Many of the changes in MYEFO are reflected in these bills, and they go to deep standard-of-living concerns for people in the Scullin electorate. This is especially so at a time of such high unemployment, with worse to come in Melbourne's northern suburbs as the automotive shutdown takes effect, and especially in the context of the news today of record low wages growth. In this regard, it is more than a little ironic that the Treasurer has become interested in bracket creep. Of course bracket creep is a concern, of course it is a regressive impost, but to be concerned about bracket creep now, with wage growth at a record low level, is confusing to say the least.

Last year's Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook contained serious cuts, including cuts to diagnostic imaging and pathology services, another attempt to undermine Medicare and universal health care in Australia, this time through the back door rather than the direct approach the former Prime Minister took. MYEFO also confirmed that this government, under this Prime Minister, continues to endorse some of the most regressive, most unfair and indeed most unpopular policies of the former Prime Minister, including $100,000 university degrees, the increase in the pension age, $80 billion worth of cuts to schools and hospitals and an increase in the cost of pharmaceuticals.

In this regard, I have been spending the summer listening to people right across my electorate, in suburbs as diverse as Epping, Thomastown, Bundoora, Diamond Creek, Wattle Glen and Yarrambat, and they are giving me very similar messages, wherever they come from: 'Why is the Turnbull administration, despite the sense of hope the Prime Minister sought to engender in the community, continuing the harmful policies of the Abbott government? Why is he continuing to attack vital services, the foundation of the Australian social compact, in universal health care and quality education?' Fundamentally they say to me this: 'What is the point of Malcolm Turnbull and not Tony Abbott being our Prime Minister?' There is no sense of excitement today in Melbourne's north when it comes to this government.

The people in the communities that make up the Scullin electorate all know that governments now should not be cutting vital services, making health care and medicines more expensive and making education—the key to sustainable and secure employment—unreachable for many. They know there is no justification for forcing hardworking people to work longer before they can access their pension and retire in dignity. In the Scullin electorate we are a vibrant multicultural community. This government's recent but deeply cruel and unfair changes to portability rules mean that pensioners who wish to go and visit family and friends overseas—often elderly and unwell family and friends—will lose their pension after only six weeks. This has infuriated not only the pensioners themselves but also their children and grandchildren.

It is important, as we consider these bills and providing supply—and of course Labor supports the continuation of government—to reflect on the massive human impact of the policies referred to in these bills. Australia is facing some significant challenges. That is not in doubt. That is why Labor has proposed some significant changes—significant changes to capital gains tax and to negative gearing, targeting multinational tax avoidance practices, reducing superannuation concessions for those earning very high incomes, increasing the tobacco excise, abolishing the ridiculous and wasteful Emissions Reduction Fund and scrapping the baby bonus that has recently been introduced by this government. These policies together represent a very significant budget overhaul. They are positive reforms, reflecting a positive, indeed exciting, vision for Australia and for Australians. A Labor government will use this approach to economic management to invest, to make sure that every child has the best resources available to them at school, to make sure teachers have the support they need to teach. We will ensure that our hospitals are properly funded and likewise other health services such as IVF and diagnostic imaging, which are presently under extreme threat.

Labor does stand for growth and opportunity. Members opposite talk about this a lot. Our approach to growth and opportunity is that they are for all, not just the top one per cent. If Australia is to prosper in the coming years, we need to make sure that no Australian falls through the cracks. This is the lesson of inequality's harm at a wider level as well as at an individual level. We need to ensure that every child gets their fair chance at education and everyone can afford a first home, not a seventh. We need to invest in protecting our natural environment and to secure the great opportunities that are presented in renewable energy.

The coalition, whether under Prime Minister Abbott or Prime Minister Turnbull, are all scare campaigns and no substance. It is clear that the Australian people, having had an opportunity to take a good look at the new Prime Minister, can see through him. The Australian people are concerned to see economic leadership, this being the very thing that Mr Turnbull said he would bring to the table. But again, as in so many other areas, his words do not match his actions. This is just another addition to a long list.

We have a Prime Minister who says he supports same-sex marriage, yet he supports a damaging plebiscite when many members of his government have said they will not heed its result. The Prime Minister stepped down, of course, as opposition leader, saying that he would not lead a party that does not act on climate change, and a few years later he discarded that principle as well. The Prime Minister committed to serious evidence-driven policy debate and economic leadership, so perhaps we should be unsurprised that he has walked away from those commitments as well.

Greg Jericho in The Guardian summed this up when he wrote a couple of days ago:

Turnbull should leave the dopey fear campaigns to his predecessor, and Morrison should either learn the basics of economics or tell his boss to trade in his treasurer for a newer model.

That is bluntly put but a fair reflection of where this government's economic leadership is at. In the short life span of this government—under two prime ministers—we have seen several clumsy and unfair attempts to punish everyday families in the supposed goal of budget repair. Cuts to Medicare, cuts to schools, cuts to disability services, cuts to the age pension and threats of an increase to the GST. It seems that this government, whoever leads it, has never met a low- or middle-income family that it did not want to take money from. It has also compounded these by failing to support our families through a meaningful infrastructure agenda—the sort of national building that Labor governments, from Whitlam, Hawke, Keating, Rudd and Gillard, made a priority.

In Victoria this is particularly acute. With Melbourne growing at an extraordinary rate, it is simply unacceptable that Victoria could be receiving eight per cent of the Commonwealth infrastructure spend when we have such vital projects like the Melbourne Metro and, indeed, the Aherns Road interchange in my electorate that need to be progressed if we are to maintain our productivity, as well as addressing bus congestion and maintaining the liveability of our suburbs. These are critical questions that require proper engagement with infrastructure and action, not simply words, when it comes to national urban policy.

It seems the Treasurer is discovering that government is hard work. You cannot pass by in that job with four-word slogans, and, as has been observed in the papers today, you cannot pass by without being able to have a conversation with the Prime Minister. You also need ideas and a shared vision. The Prime Minister and his Treasurer have wasted 5½ months dealing with infighting and indecision. This policy paralysis has crippled confidence, not just on the government benches but it is holding Australia back. If we are to meet the challenges of the future head on, the Prime Minister and his Treasurer need to look to Labor's example and articulate a cohesive and comprehensive policy direction and stop treating the Australian people like mugs.

Thousands of people in the Scullin electorate stand to be worse off because of the policy agenda of this government. I stand here representing and defending their interests. This government's continued support for unfair attacks on working people should not be tolerated simply because we have a different salesperson.

The bills before us now reflect MYEFO—a document which is symbolic of the contempt this government has shown for the Australian people, particularly low- and middle-income people, particularly for Victorians and particularly for Melbourne's north. I am very proud to stand here as a member of the Labor opposition that is offering a very clear alternative: a pathway to a sustainable budgetary position that will fund the investments we need for a fair future, a pathway for ordinary Australians to buy a first home, a pathway to jobs and secure jobs for our children and our grandchildren, and a pathway to a society in which everyone has a fair say and a stake.

Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the passage of Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and cognate bill. I will talk about how this $2.2 billion is a great investment in this country and particularly in my seat of Canning. Before I do that, I want to note in the House that my thoughts are with the 390 workers from South32 who have lost their jobs today at the alumina facility at Worsley in my electorate. I will be doing everything I can to ensure that we help them transition from South32 into jobs elsewhere.

As you know, Canning takes in the Peel region, which is about an hour south of Perth. The Peel region was established in 1829 by Thomas Peel with just a few hundred settlers. Of course, the Noongar people have long been the custodians of the Peel region. When we consider it today, we now have 129,000 people living in the Peel region. To give you a bit of context on how fast our growth has been in the last 10 years, we had 45,000 people move to the Peel region between 2004 and 2014, with a projected population growth predicted to reach 440,000 by 2050.

The Peel region is made up of five local government authorities. We have the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale is one of the fastest growing local governments in the country. It is full of young families who are aspirational and seek to make the most of educational opportunities in the region. We have the Shire of Murray, which has a population expected to grow 4.7 per cent annually over the next two decades. The Shire of Boddington is home to the two major resource operations of South32 and Newmont, which is Australia's largest goldmine. We have the Shire of Waroona, which is facing the challenging of meeting increased demand for rural lifestyle properties while maintaining a sense of community. I should add that Waroona was devastated by the fires in January last month. To give you sense of the damage: 3,000 kilometres of fencing was destroyed in those fires; 2½ thousand kilometres reside in Waroona. Thinking about fencing the distance from Sydney to Melbourne, that is how much fencing was destroyed. So there are a lot of farmers who are trying to recover. They have done a great job so far, but they need our continued support. Finally, the City of Mandurah sits in the heart of the Peel region and is one of Australia's largest and fastest-growing regional cities. It is full of young families and a lot of talent, and it is an exciting place to be. My wife and I live there with our son, and it is a pleasure to represent the people of Canning.

Juggling the competing demands of rapid growth, jobs, infrastructure, education and community service requires a clear vision, and I am pleased to note that the coalition government continues to deliver this for Canning.

Employment is arguably the greatest challenge in the Peel region, with overall unemployment in Mandurah at 8.6 per cent in December last year and youth unemployment currently as high as 20 per cent. To combat rising youth unemployment the federal government has implemented a number of successful Green Army programs across my electorate, including the Harvey River Restoration Taskforce, the Len Howard Conservation Park and Peel Inlet reserves, and the Birriga Brook and Darling Downs Equestrian Estate. Having attended the Len Howard team's graduation ceremony, I have witnessed firsthand the skills, knowledge and self-belief that the participants gain from their Green Army experience. It facilitates their transition from uncertain youth to asset-rich employees in a highly competitive labour market. Importantly, it teaches participants about the role of individuals in the stewardship and preserving of our environment. I am all about people self-governing and I believe that nowhere is this more important than in the area of the environment. The environment is a shared asset that cannot be sold on or squandered, so we need to preserve it for future generations. The Green Army project encourages employment for youth but also encourages individual stewardship of that precious resource.

Equipping our youth with tools for the future means we need to provide them with options, and there are a number of schools in the Canning electorate facilitating this. In November last year I had the pleasure of visiting the Dale Christian School to see their new state-of-the-art learning facility which was made possible with a $1 million contribution by the federal government under the Capital Grants Program. It was great to see the excitement among staff and students about the pathways the school can now provide thanks to its new facilities, which include a home economics kitchen, industrial arts room, soundproofed music rooms and well-equipped science labs. I was given a personal tour and it was great to see young people learning how to cook, preparing them with the skills that they will need once they finish high school.

Other schools in Canning have also received funding under this program, and I look forward to seeing the four science labs, science preparation area, general learning area, practical skills rooms, staff rooms and other amenities being built at Austin Cove Baptist College this year. That school sits in South Yunderup, which is another aspirational suburb which has seen a lot of development over the last few years.

I am also a very strong believer in vocational education, especially in an electorate where access to university education requires either a long commute or relocation for many students. Canning has the second-highest number of male tradesmen in the country and the third-highest number of Certificate III and IV holders in the nation. With over 3,000 students partaking of technical education courses this year in Canning, the future looks bright, especially when you note that construction makes up 25 per cent of business in Canning. We need every highly-skilled tradesman we can get.

Much of Canning is reliant upon primary industry such as agriculture and farming, manufacturing, construction, mining and resources and forestry. In the face of unprecedented growth, it is vitally important that we continue to boost Canning's key industries to encourage economic prosperity and sustainability whilst creating local jobs. The signing of the free trade agreements with China and Korea, the economic partnership agreement with Japan, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership with our closest regional neighbours will cement Canning businesses as key suppliers of quality produce to local and international markets. One such business example that I have already mentioned in this House is Mundella Foods in Mundijong, owned by the Hectors. This business was borne out of necessity and has since become the state's premier dairy company.

Another prime example of a local business adapting to a competitive international market is Capogreco Farm in Hamel. This is a family-owned business that was started in 1988 and exports broccoli, melons and other fruit to the Middle East and Asia on a daily basis.    Last week I visited Charlie, Dane and Bruno Capogreco to learn more about how they employ 60 staff. I saw 60 backpackers at work and we spoke about the potential impact of the backpacker tax. I stated my opposition and I state it now in the House publicly. Every year Capogreco Farm employ up to 60 backpackers. They house them in facilities that were purpose-built to make the most of this international labour, and I have also spoken to the Hills Orchard Improvement Group and they have expressed their concern. Capogreco Farm and all the orchardists in Canning stand to suffer if we hurt the backpacker labour market that comes each year.

Increased economic expansion, market base and international competitiveness of the region's agribusiness sector through innovation in production methods and renewable water and energy supplies is the key to moving forward. No-one knows this better than K8 Wealth Creations in the Shire of Boddington. This small business, specialising in the domestic and international distribution of home-grown gourmet olive oil products, has just been granted a payment of $1,387 for the owner to undertake permaculture design study. This course, funded by the federal government through the Industry Skills Fund, will allow the owner to establish sustainable, water-wise and integrated growing systems to improve the overall business model. Upskilling employees is just one way the government is contributing to sustainable growth in the Peel region.

The coalition government has also invested heavily in local infrastructure. Through the government's Community Development Grants Program, the City of Mandurah received $10 million to complete the redevelopment of its aquatic and recreation centre. I had the pleasure of attending the official opening of the Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, alongside Australian legends Dawn Fraser and Betty Cuthbert, and saw for myself the importance of this facility to the local community and how it provides a world-class space for school children and community groups to make the most of sport and staying fit. These grants have also been put to good use for the redevelopment of the Port Bouvard Surf Life Saving and Recreation Centre and the repairs on the Darminning Room at the Boddington Community Resource Centre.

Given the region's increasing popularity and proximity to Perth, investment in roads is vital for maintaining the arterial trucking and tourist routes to, from and within Canning. It is arguable that no-one knows the importance of safe, reliable local roads better than John Mitchell, owner of Mitchell's Transport in Waroona. John's team transports more than 550,000 cattle to over 1,500 delivery pick-up and delivery locations in any given year. Thankfully for John, the coalition government also recognises the importance of safe and reliable roads.

Through the Community Development Grants Program, the federal government has provided $380,000 for the Coronation Road bridge project in the Shire of Waroona. In addition, we have committed over $15 million worth of funding under the Roads to Recovery Program to the Canning electorate to link Coolup to the Perth Bunbury highway, upgrade pedestrian and vehicle pathways in Mandurah and upgrade local roads in Boddington and Waroona.

Funding has also been received under the Bridges Renewal Program to replace the decks of two bridges in Byford, a town with a rapidly expanding population.    And let us not forget the Mandurah pedestrian bridge, a project which the federal government committed $5.4 million to under the Building Better Regional Cities Program. This bridge will form a vital link between Mandurah's transport hub and the new residential and commercial developments already underway opposite in the greenfields site where a new Woolworths will be put in.

This brings me to my final point.    There is no point in the coalition government investing in jobs, education and infrastructure in the Peel region if it does not also invest in helping to create a safe and vibrant community for local residents. I am proud to say that, through a number of remarkable grassroots initiatives, this government is making a positive impact in local Canning communities.    Thanks to the government's Safer Streets Program, the City of Mandurah has been able to implement its family friendly foreshore project, which involves the installation of five CCTV cameras and 16 light poles in the western foreshore precinct to improve community safety and security, and deter criminal and antisocial behaviour.    I recently went down to the foreshore to launch another part of this project, the urban art mural, designed by local Peel artist Steve Browne. I am glad to report back to the House that the project is money well spent. He has done a beautiful mural on the wall, which incorporates the history of Peel with both European and Indigenous intersecting over a number of very colourful paintings. It looks great.

Another initiative vital to Canning is the National Stronger Regions Fund. I cannot stress enough the importance of this funding program to my electorate. Given the rapid growth across the vast majority of Canning, local governments can find themselves struggling to keep up with the demand for better services. Under round 1 of this program, the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale was recently awarded over $5 million for the Byford town centre access and safety improvement project, designed to improve road user safety and accessibility to the new town centre by way of upgrading Abernethy Road. This is a significant part of the shire's Byford town centre redevelopment project and I know they are thrilled to be able to deliver better services for their local community.

I will be advocating strongly for the other great projects being submitted under round 2 of this program and hope to deliver more great news for Canning after those decisions have been made.

Finally, I applaud the government for the Stronger Communities Program, aimed at helping not-for-profit community groups and local governments deliver small capital works projects that benefit the wider community. In Canning, we have already had one of our round 1 projects approved: $20,000 to the shire of Murray for the Don Sparks Reserve play space project. This project will enable the creation of a social meeting place and safe playground for parents and families in Coolup, as well as providing currently nonexistent services for locals and tourists alike such as shelters, barbeques, tables and benches. This is a great outcome for the Shire of Murray. Without the Stronger Communities Program, the shire would have faced considerable difficulty in allocating money to this project, given the pressure it is under to provide for a rising population.

With that, I reiterate that the coalition government has a proven record of delivering for the people and communities in Canning, and I look forward to continuing this legacy in 2016 and beyond.

Alannah Mactiernan (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today, I want to talk about two issues that impact on the health and welfare of children: one overseas and one within Australia. I first of all want to raise the issue of orphanage tourism. I note that in schools in my electorate, across Perth and, no doubt, across Western Australia, we are seeing a rise in the phenomena of orphanage projects being embraced by schools, usually private schools, who are taking their senior students to volunteer in orphanages in Asia. I speak here mainly about Cambodia because it is the area to which I have had some exposure. On a recent parliamentary delegation to Cambodia, I was quite shocked and horrified to learn what was, indeed, developing in Cambodia as a result of this orphanage tourism.

I want to acknowledge that I absolutely understand that the schools, the parents and the students are acting with the very best of intentions. The students, usually in middle high school years, go over, in this case, to Cambodia, and they undertake some maintenance and building work, and spend time playing with the children in the orphanages. Schools, understandably, see these visits as an opportunity for their students to engage in philanthropic activity to help others but also, importantly, to gain perspective on their privilege. I think these are very worthwhile aims. We want our young people to be good global citizens and to have a very strong sense of the need to help others who are less fortunate than themselves.

After having several briefings now from Friends-International and from Save the Children fund, I am deeply concerned that what we are doing, unwittingly, with this exercise is creating this business model of orphanage tourism. There are around 300 registered orphanages in Cambodia and hundreds more that are not registered. The really frightening fact is that an estimated 75 per cent of the children inside those orphanages were not orphans at all or had one or more living parents. It is not the case that these are situations where parents are simply incapable of providing for their children, although we do recognise that, particularly in rural Cambodia, there is massive poverty. Save the Children and Friends-International tell us that parents are actually being pressured to put their children into care, to ensure orphanages have their population—that they have their basic product—and that the operators of these facilities then rake in the money from well-intentioned volunteers both from schools and from the general population.

The majority of these orphanages in Cambodia are owned and operated by foreigners. The concept in Cambodia was an introduced one. There is certainly a misconception that people do not care about their children because they give them up to orphanages. This is not true, and a great deal of misrepresentation is made to the parents about the type of life that will be offered to their child in that orphanage. The orphanages regularly use children to raise money by handing out flyers and putting on shows and, in some, they try to encourage the kids to look malnourished to encourage donations, and there are many, many other tricks involved in the whole process.

There is also another problem. As you have this constant stream of well-meaning people coming to these orphanages, these kids, without the support of a family, obviously gain attachments to those people who come through. The psychological damage experienced by children having this constant stream of people coming to the orphanage—they form a bond and then they leave and are replaced with someone else—is really quite horrific. I really do think that we have to ask our school community and the broader community to think very deeply about what the unintended consequences of your well-motivated actions are here. We do not want to discourage schools from visiting foreign countries, from visiting Third World countries or, indeed, from being involved in assisting those countries in raising money.

By way of a contrast, I would just talk about a project which I think is very worthwhile. I want to commend those schools in Perth that are involved in the Angkor Project. This is a project where schools, and often quite working-class schools like Morley Senior High School, adopt a sister-school relationship with a Cambodian school in a particular province and the kids then raise money and that money goes over to the sister school and the school community determines what they are going to spend that money on. I was very, very proud to visit a school just outside Phnom Penh, where I arrived to see, in great big letters, 'Morley Senior High School Toilet Block'. This had been a very important development, because young women, once they reach puberty, are very reluctant to go to school if they do not have access to toilets. So the introduction of a toilet block, funded by the fundraising activities of the kids at Morley Senior High School, has had a very real impact on the ability of girls to maintain their education in that area.

The kids at Morley have raised around $30,000 for the sister school, for the toilet block, for the Morley Senior High School computer room, where kids have computers, and for a variety of other science equipment that has enabled the school to offer programs that they would otherwise be unable to provide. This is all being done in the context of the traditional family structures. Children from poor environments are being helped to get their education without those children being used as a business model for some pretty unethical behaviour.

So I do think it is important that we reflect on our actions and what our well-intentioned actions can sometimes result in. I urge schools to look at alternative processes, like the Angkor Project, where you can in fact provide that assistance and get an enormous amount of satisfaction from helping a school in Cambodia without having this destructive impact on the fabric of society and on so many young people. My friend and colleague the member for Canberra is equally concerned about this, as is, I understand, Senator Linda Reynolds, and I hope that we can get together and work with the schools here to perhaps get them to understand that there is a less destructive model that exists where their students can get the benefit of understanding more deeply another culture and providing financial assistance without being a destructive force.

The second issue of the welfare of children that I want to raise relates to the unintended consequences of a change in the childcare package and policy. The government has been very proud of its new childcare policy and the packages that it is putting forward in its Jobs for Families package. This, unfortunately, is going to have very, very substantial consequences for Aboriginal communities across Australia. I particularly want to focus on Fitzroy Crossing, where Emily Carter and June Oscar have led the development of an amazing early learning centre and a child-parent centre through the Baya Gawiy centre, which is an absolute standout in providing a deeply engaging environment for young children to ensure that young Aboriginal children from some of the most disadvantaged communities in this country are able to get their developmental needs met.

We all understand—and Fiona Stanley put this very profoundly yesterday in a video to members of this place—that those early years, those first three years of life when a child has its greatest neuroplasticity, is the time when we must ensure that children are being exposed to a stimulating and nurturing environment. Through that, they develop their neural architecture that enables them to have a chance to succeed at school. It is without doubt the time when you need the clearest intervention. It is the time when you get the best cost-benefit return, because you are laying down that fundamental architecture of the brain that will last with the child for the rest of their life. If we do not get that right, then the ability for us to intervene through the time of formal education becomes highly compromised. We all know that. The science is beyond doubt.

By introducing increased standards for the activity test, it means that, for the average child in Fitzroy Crossing who currently has access to 20 to 24 hours a week of this stimulating, nurturing environment, that will now be reduced to around 10 to 12 hours a week. This is a massive backward step. The activity test is just not going to work in these Aboriginal communities. What we are trying to do is to break that cycle of intergenerational poverty. To say you can only put your child into these childcare centres if you are out there looking for jobs, working or doing something like that is to totally miss the point—that is, we have to have a strategic intervention in these communities.

I know that the government is saying, 'We have this other packet of money. We have this other magic pudding, the Community Child Care Fund, which can be utilised.' But that can only be accessed if you have a plan that shows, after three years, you will not need access to those funds. We are not going to turn around the situation in Fitzroy Crossing or in any other remote Aboriginal community in three years. This is something that we have to stick at for the next 10, 15, 20 years to break that cycle to ensure that the kids coming through are able to get a good-quality education and that they are developed to the point where they are able to seize the opportunities that we can offer them at school and post school. So this fund, the magic pudding at the side, is not going to be the answer to this problem.

I urge the government to look at this again to ensure that these changes to the activity test do not apply to these Aboriginal communities because they will undermine the very positive work being done by people like Emily Carter and June Oscar in Fitzroy Crossing. They are people who are actually showing leadership, going out there and really wanting to build social sustainability and social resilience within their communities.

Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to be able to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2015-2016. It gives us all an opportunity to talk about a number of things. We can talk about the overall economic standing of this great nation of which we are all so proud. Also, we can talk about the economic conditions in our states and, in particular, as House of Representative members, in our seats.

I will just make a couple of overarching comments in relation to these bills. Obviously, when we talk about appropriation, we talk about money. It is great opportunity just to remind the people of Braddon—thankfully, many of whom follow me on Facebook and YouTube—that this government is in the business of repairing the budget. We are in the business of moving the budget back into a more positive position where we actually spend less than we earn. It would be a very good start if we could get back to that point. It is going to be a long way back, given what we inherited, but we are committed to it.

I feel nauseous every morning, but not for the obvious reasons, when I wake and I realise that, ka-ching, today we are spending another $100 million more than we are earning. I will wake up again tomorrow, and there it will be again. It is a bit like Groundhog Day—every morning that we wake up we are spending $100 million more of taxpayers' money than we are earning. Any idiot or any clown in any circus could tell you that that is unsustainable and that it must come to an end. With that as the backdrop to this bill, this government remains committed—absolutely committed—to reducing expenditure and getting the budget back into a repaired state where we are at least balancing the budget and, obviously, moving to a surplus so that we can pay off much of the mountain of debt that was left to us in 2013.

I must take the opportunity to say that when we left office under the direction of Prime Minister Howard and Treasurer Costello there were billions of dollars in the bank and the budget was $20 billion annually in surplus. That was the condition we left the books in in that year of 2007. The people spoke—democracy is a great thing—and they decided to elect a new government full of great ideas and, apparently, fiscal conservatives, according to the Prime Minister elected, Mr Rudd. We were only to find that, after six to seven very short but very long years, we had come back to a position where the budget was in absolute disrepair, we had ratcheted up borrowings over $300 billion and we were paying over $12 billion a year just in interest—no capital. Just imagine if that was your mortgage: no capital, just the interest. One billion dollars—that is one thousand million dollars every month just for the interest. As I said, while we are doing that, we are waking up today and spending $100 million more than we are going to earn. So that is the backdrop to this bill.

I would now much prefer to talk about some of the positive things that this government is doing and the impact of those decisions on my electorate of Braddon in North West Tasmania—of course, complete with King Island. They always get a little touchy over there, my good friends on King Island, when I say, 'North West Tasmania, plus King Island.' It is a great place. I had the privilege just recently to visit. I will be going over to be a part of an official launch of two new golf courses on King Island that are going to be ranked on the top 15 best-links golf courses in the world. If you add those golf courses to the best beef in the world and the best cheese, you are in for a pretty good couple of days on King Island if you want to take your clubs.

I do want to report to the people of Braddon some of those things that I have had the honour and privilege of leading in the last 2½ years. The people of Braddon elected me to be an advocate in this place and to be a part of the government at a macro level to get the budget back into repair, but at a micro level they want a member who is prepared to stand up and fight for them on the issues that are important and they also want a member who is not prepared to always promise the world for the sake of popularity, only to disappoint. They want a member they can not necessarily like all the time but a member they least respect for consistency, telling the truth and being honest with people. When someone says, 'Can you do this?' it is far better to say, 'Well, I doubt that I can.'

Having said that, I was thrilled—as one of the first duties as the newly elected member of Braddon—to be able to be a part of the Centenary of Anzac, the government local program of grants for the Centenary of Anzac. We had 12 projects in Braddon, totalling well over $120,000. It was a thrill in the early stages of my being the member to guide particularly RSL clubs through that process: the Devonport RSL; the Latrobe RSL; the Tullah Progress Association; the Wynyard RSL; the Gunns Plains Community Centre Association, a very small community; and the Ulverstone RSL.

We were able to buy uniforms for a group called Historical Military Reenactments, who are now making the very ridgy-didge uniforms of 1915 available at each of the local communities in my electorate for people to march in and be seen in. The younger people can identify what those men and women—but particularly the men, of course—looked like in 1915 in those uniforms. The grant program went right down to the west coast mining town of Queenstown; the Burnie Regional Museum, who put on a magnificent display; the Smithton RSL; Spreyton Primary School, where the kids came up with a tremendous mural in their school to commemorate the great sacrifice of the great war; and—not to forget—the little town of Penguin, who were also recipients.

Or on top of that, we have been able to have a tremendous program of addressing black spots on our roads. We have funded nine or 10 in my electorate since I was elected. Nearly $2 million worth of funding has been contributed by the federal government to improve the safety of our roads. Those are just little improvements in small areas with black spots that have become dangerous for travelling motorists.

I look back now over three years, and I am sure all of us in this House will remember that, about this time three years ago, we were always treading the boards, out on the doors, hustling for votes, listening to communities about what was important to them and making sure that we were advocating for them. It was a thrill to be able to have a number of projects—some of which I will go through now—that were a part of my election campaign, if I can call it that. As the successful candidate, I have been able to deliver on each and every one of those projects.

The people of the city of Burnie, which is the second biggest city in my electorate, were absolutely thrilled when we as a government promised $3 million to help build a new 25-metre indoor pool. I am pleased to report to the parliament that that is probably 70 or 75 per cent complete. I had a visit there a week or so ago. There will be a tremendous new facility linked in to the PCYC, giving much more access to the community and giving all-round weather access. That is pretty important in Tasmania, where we have a significant amount of the nation's rainfall.

We need to capture more of that rainfall, I must say, as I talk about that. We are going through a very dry spell. We need to be seeing more water infrastructure—dam and storage infrastructure—around the country, but particularly in Tasmania. I want to take the opportunity to thank the now Deputy Prime Minister, who has responsibility in that area, for his support and for his office's support with the cooperative partnership with the state government, Tasmanian Irrigation and the farmers. We are entering into a fund of well over $100 million for at least five new irrigation and dam water storage projects.

I will get back to the point: the aquatic centre is about to be opened soon. It was tremendous to be able to see the Devonport soccer club, who every week have about 600 young people playing on that in mud because of the weather—again, I come back to the weather in Tasmania—provided with some funding for synthetic surfaces for both of those fields. There were new turf replacements for the Meercroft Park hockey club. The list just goes on and on.

At election time obviously sporting facilities and community facilities do get a lot of attention, because during the term of a natural government the federal government in particular does not have any specific funding for sports infrastructure generally. It is not something that federal government's normally, through the course of their term, get involved with. That is normally left to local and state governments. Obviously federal election time gives the one and only opportunity through that three-year cycle to work with local governments and state governments to provide the sort of community infrastructure that our communities are desperate for.

We provided, through the first round of the National Stronger Regions Fund, $10 million to the city of Devonport for their quarter of a billion dollar vision to rebuild a living city. This is the city where the two big ships come in from Victoria, bringing hordes of tourists and an ever-increasing number of people visiting the great state of Tasmania. The Devonport City Council have a grand vision for the rebirthing of that city as the gateway to Tasmania. I was pleased to be able to lobby very hard last year to have them among the successful applicants of the National Stronger Regions Fund's grant. I will be turning the sod—in fact, a sod will be turning the sod!—next week for this $10 million grant.

We also had the Regional Development Australia Fund funding three projects in Braddon, including an upgrade to the King Island Airport. As I said before about the golf courses and charter flights that are now going into that island, it was important to make sure we got that airport upgraded. There was in fact over $8 million in that area. We have a whole heap of money for Roads to Recovery. We have mobile tower black spot funding, and the list, as I said, goes on and on.

I would also like to refer to a number of the other projects that we have been involved with. We are working with a number of industry groups with co-investment, which is really important—backing those people who want to back themselves, at least dollar for dollar if not two for one. One is Costa, growing an enormous new industry in horticulture and berry growth. It is not just Costa but other companies around the region that are now providing a huge number of jobs for locals, and I think that is amazing work that they are doing there. There was $9 million invested in a major irrigation scheme, the Dial Blythe Irrigation Scheme, which still has some water in it, and that shows how good it is. We have been working with the Haulmax, an advanced manufacturing business in the north-west, and they have $3 million to help them work on prototypes for a new mining truck. I talked about Hydrowood in this chamber before. They are taking cranes and backhoes out into the middle of old hydro dams to float out there on the water and pull up the older timber. They are pulling up the rich timbers of Huon pine, myrtle and blackwood. They are reaching into the depths of the dams and pulling them out and harvesting this timber for fine furniture projects and so on and so forth. We have been working with the dairy industry, investing in that major growth industry. I will be opening officially in the next few weeks a new pickled onion production facility in Ulverstone. You would be amazed at where the bottles of those pickled onions are going around the country and around the world. We have been working with the Ta Ann Tasmania plywood mill. Having another 50 or 60 jobs in a regional community like Smithton is so important.

Braddon is a very special part of the nation. It has had its challenges and continues to have its challenges. We have recently had to cop on the chin that Caterpillar, a major multinational company, has made a decision to move its manufacturing production to Thailand, leaving only its research and development. That has cost 300 to 400 jobs, which is a huge blow for a small community. But I can report today that there is still hope in the eyes of everyone in Braddon, including me, as the federal member for this great electorate. I am working really hard with the local business, the Elphinstone group. They are part of a significant bid that will hopefully be announced for down-selection in the next few weeks. We are putting in a bid for the new LAND 400 defence contract. I believe we have the competency and I believe we have the capacity and facilities to deliver on this as a part of the Team Sentinel bid. I wish them well, because this is the hope we have in our eyes, of the advanced manufacturing area and the advanced food production area. This is our hope; this is our future. I am pleased to be the federal representative for our place, Braddon, and I am pleased to dedicate myself to our future.

Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In standing to speak in respect of Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and the related bill. I think it is important to remember that there are big challenges ahead for our nation. The coming election of course will be an opportunity for the government and the alternative government to make our pitches to the people. The pitches will obviously be about individual policy measures. Those are very important, but overall the pitch is really about vision and values. It is about what sort of country Australia should be.

For my part, I believe that Australia should be a country where we recognise that everyone deserves a great education, everyone deserves to get the health care they need for their own personal circumstances and people deserve dignity in old age. Old age is getting longer nowadays as life expectancy increases, and of course there are challenges for our nation as population ages. But let us all agree that if you have worked hard your whole life part of the reward for that should be dignity in retirement and old age.

I think everyone would agree that most of all what we want for our country is for it to be the country of the fair go. A fair go means that in a strong and thriving economy, where there is great growth through great productivity and innovation, everyone gets the maximum opportunity to participate in the benefits of that growth and that strong economy. That means having a big and strong and thriving middle-class and making sure that working and middle-class households get to share in the economic benefits—that we do not just see a situation, as is unfortunately happening in some states in the US, where the benefits are largely accruing to the top one per cent of income earners. There was an article earlier this year that indicated that, in 10 states in the US, while the incomes of the top 10 per cent had been increasing there had actually been a decline in incomes in the middle classes.

That is not the sort of thing we want to happen here, and of course I do not mean any disrespect to our American friends, of whom I am a great supporter. And I think it is important to recognise that economies are complex. But when you boil it down there is a question of fairness and of what is a fair go. Whatever your background, whether you were born here or came here as an adult or a child or whether you are a first nations person or a more recent arrival or whatever your postcode is and whatever your cultural background is and whatever your income is, it is about making sure that you get that fair go and those opportunities to benefit and share in all that this nation has to offer. It is about having that sort of country.

To have that sort of country where everyone gets a go, we have to have a strong economy to pay for the services that governments should deliver, like health and education. We have to have a strong economy so that people can get those sustained and increased living standards that Australians have come to expect. That takes not just the right tax settings, although those are obviously important; it takes a lot of other things too. It takes confidence, and we have seen under this Turnbull government unfortunately the battering of consumer and business confidence in the 2½ years that the current government has been in power. We saw that battering of confidence almost immediately after the 2014 budget and in the months since then. But also that growth and strong economy that I was talking about requires the right skills, knowledge and experience for Australians. That in turn depends on the strength of our education system from infancy and right through life. Having a stronger economy really turns on the capacity and culture of Australian firms and managers of Australian firms. It depends on investment in business from both domestic and foreign sources. And to have a strong economy we need a society in which we really take seriously the challenges of disadvantage and poverty and the need to pay attention to living standards for people across the income distribution and across the wealth distribution.

Government alone cannot fix all these things, of course, but it does fall to government to take a leadership role to contribute to a stronger and growing economy and to provide the services that the private sector cannot or will not. For that to happen, we need a strong government. We need a stable government. We need a government that the Australian people can trust and a government that engenders confidence amongst the Australian people. Unfortunately, what we have is the Turnbull government.

The Turnbull government is an utter mess. Between the almost fortnightly frontbench reshuffles, the unicorn protection policies of the Treasurer, ministers contradicting the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister contradicting himself from day to day and the aimless flopping around on tax reform, the Liberals and Nationals have been exposed as a government that is incapable of government—and, if so, what is the point? What is the point of the Turnbull government? What is the point of a government that is incapable of governing?

In sharp and clear contrast, Labor in opposition has been listening, consulting and engaging. We have been developing policies aimed at increasing the prosperity of this nation and making sure that everyone gets an opportunity to fairly share in the benefits of that prosperity. Take education. Before the election, the Liberals promised 'no cuts to health' and 'no cuts to education' in a now infamous commitment that was made. They said that they would be 'on a unity ticket' with us when it came to education funding for schools—the Gonski model. In fact, there were corflute signs put up around the election saying, 'We'll match Labor's funding dollar for dollar.' But it was not true.

After the election, the Liberals decided to just dump the Gonski reforms and rip over $30 billion from Australian schools. Over 10 years, Prime Minister Turnbull's cuts mean over $6.2 billion ripped out from classrooms in my state of Queensland alone. It is over $2.1 billion in schools funding in the Greater Brisbane region. And it is over $236 million in classrooms in my electorate of Griffith, on the south side, alone. These cuts are equivalent to sacking one in seven teachers, and they affect all schools. They affect public schools, they affect independent schools, and they affect Catholic schools—and I have each of those types of schools in my electorate.

In contrast to the reckless gutting of our education system that this government has undertaken, we have announced that we will deliver the most significant improvement in school education in Australia for two generations. A Shorten Labor government will fully implement and fund the Gonski reforms. Labor's 'Your Child. Our Future' plan will see an additional investment in our education system of $4½ billion over the 2018 and 2019 school years and a total provision of $37.3 billion for the package over the decade. That is a massive reformist package. Our policy means a strong focus on every single child's needs. It means more individual attention for students, better training for teachers, more targeted resources, better equipped classrooms and more support for students with learning difficulties. Every Australian school and every Australian child will benefit. Every Australian school and every Australian child will benefit from Labor's education policy.

That schools policy stands alongside our plans for a stronger vocational education sector through our TAFE funding guarantee, and a quality university system without Prime Minister Turnbull's $100,000 degrees. Quality education is so important to our nation's future economic prosperity. The government's work on innovation and entrepreneurialism—a lot of which I very happily support, not just because it owes a debt of gratitude to Labor's earlier detailed and comprehensive policy—is, sadly, completely undermined by the government's failures, in their cuts and the effect that their cuts will have on the education system, to equip Australians with the skills, knowledge and experience they need, through the education system in this country.

In speaking about education as an economic benefit, of course I do not want to ignore its inherent value as an end in itself, not just as a means to other ends. But in this debate it is appropriate for me to talk about the wider ramifications for the economy of individual policy measures.

More broadly, I want to make some observations about Labor as the best party to ensure that the actions of government contribute to a strong national economy with benefits in which people across our nation can share. Labor has a strong economic record. We constantly hear claims from the Liberals and the Nationals that they are the superior economic managers, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is Labor that has had the courage and foresight to embark on the important economic reforms that have driven a quarter century of economic growth, that have ensured quality access to education and health care and that have helped to maintain and secure the jobs and living standards of Australians.

Prime Minister Whitlam's university reforms provided access to higher education to a much broader range of Australians, setting this country up to be the high-wage, high-skills nation we are today. It was Prime Minister Whitlam, for example, who had the fortitude to establish diplomatic relations with China, of course now one of our most important trading partners. And it was him who established Medicare—again something that those opposite opposed, and it is still at risk from them.

If you want to talk about the clear difference between what the conservatives, the Liberal and National parties, think and stand for and what we on the Labor side believe in and seek for the Australian people, take Medicare as an example. Over there you have a government that want to cut Medicare. It is not just the $80 billion worth of cuts in health and education funding to the states over the decade from their first budget papers, which are still going ahead, but the cuts to Medicare.

During my by-election, they sort of floated the idea of a GP tax. The candidate who was running against me thought it was a good idea. The Prime Minister came to town and suggested that I was running a scare campaign about the GP tax and said that there would not be one. Of course, five minutes later there was going to be a GP tax. It was our advocacy that stopped that from being made a reality in Australia, and I am very proud of that. It is also Labor that is standing up against the cuts to Medicare, the attacks on Medicare and the attempts to privatise Medicare that are the stock-in-trade of the Liberal and National parties.

I have spoken a bit about our historical legacy, and I have spoken about Prime Minister Whitlam. Of course, I would also add that Prime Minister Hawke and Prime Minister Keating really modernised this country's economy by reducing tariffs and by opening us up for international trade and investment. They were a couple of guys who knew good international trade and investment when they saw it. They really opened up opportunities for trade in our nation. I would also add to those people our most recent Labor Prime Ministers—Rudd and Gillard. They are two people who oversaw the sort of economic management we really needed in a time of crisis. Think back to the global financial crisis and what Prime Minister Rudd did not just with the stimulus but with the bank guarantee. Imagine if there had been a run on our banks in that crisis.

Frankly, it was the bold, strong and resolute response of the Labor government during that period that was so important for allowing Australia to come out of it. We were the 12th largest economy in the world and had a AAA credit rating. Unemployment was lower in the GFC than it is under this government. It was that management that was so important to Australia weathering that serious storm. But you will not hear the Liberals and the Nationals speak of it of course. You will not hear them paying the tribute I have just paid.

The government have had an opportunity in the past 2½ years to really show some stewardship and leadership on the Australian economy, but what have they done? What have they actually delivered for the Australian economy? They have doubled the deficit and have increased the debt. Unemployment is at six per cent, which, as I said, is higher than it was during the global financial crisis. They have been unable to articulate a coherent tax reform plan let alone execute one. They have flopped around on reform and on tax reform. The question for the Australian people at the election has to be: they have had this period of time in which to act and they have been unable to show anything for it, so why on earth would you continue with this government? Why on earth would you let them wreak more damage?

In strong contrast, we are a party that stands ready to govern. We have a strong and clear policy package. I spoke about education. We have strong policies on, for example, the revenue issues in this country. We want to close the tax loopholes for multinational corporations. The mob over there talk about it. They wanted us to agree to a bill that was going to reduce transparency for private firms with $100 million in turnover. As if we would vote for that. We want meaningful action on multinational tax evasion. We want to close superannuation loopholes that accrue to people at the top of the income distribution and not to people in the middle.

Negative gearing and capital gains tax actually make it very difficult for our country to manage housing affordability, and they do so at great cost to the budget. That is why we have announced a bold negative gearing and CGT policy. Listen to the reaction from the Australian people. We are hearing grave disappointment—the puncturing of the expectations that the Liberals built under new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his rhetoric—and at the same time an overwhelmingly positive response to not just our policy package on improvements to schools, health and dignity in retirement but also our general economic policies that will stand this country in good stead for the future.

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to speak to the appropriation bills as a strong voice for North Queensland, a region that is strong and resilient. It was built with grit and determination by people who never gave up and who will see it through the tough economic times that it currently faces. The member for Griffith, who spoke before me, used the words 'bold, strong and resolute'. Those were the attitudes that got us through the GFC. I have to say that it was not from the Rudd or Gillard governments; it was from the hardworking men and women in my electorate and electorates like mine doing mining and agricultural work to keep the economy afloat. It certainly was not $100 cheques in the mail, overpriced school halls and pink batts that burnt houses down.

Although this phrase has been attributed to JFK's father, Joseph Kennedy, it is probably better remembered when best sung by the great Billy Ocean in his 1985 hit When the Going gets Tough, the Tough get Going. The going in North Queensland is tough indeed. The much publicised 237 job losses at the Yabulu nickel refinery came after a string of bad news over the past 2½ years. Peabody mining cut 450 jobs in the Bowen Basin. Glencore Xstrata cut another 450 jobs. BMA cut 700 jobs in the Bowen Basin. There were 481 jobs lost at the Callide mine and 727 jobs lost at the Dawson mine. These are just a handful of announcements. In July last year Anglo American announced thousands of jobs will be cut from its operations, including four mines serviced from Mackay.

The regional town of Mackay is the epicentre of the resources downturn. Thousands of homes are for sale and the rental vacancy rate has gone from zero to 10 per cent. The pain is acutely felt in the small town of Bowen, where dozens of businesses have closed down. They desperately hung on for as long as they could—for three years or more—waiting for the expansion of the nearby port at Abbot Point. But when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

This government is rolling out the largest infrastructure investment program in Australia's history. The most important element for North Queensland is the $6.7 billion investment to fix the Bruce Highway. Major highway projects generate immediate jobs in construction and also result in future economic growth through increased efficiency and productivity. Construction projects under this government have included: pavement widening; safety upgrades; overtaking lanes, such as those constructed at Coningsby near Mackay; the Burdekin Bridge upgrade; fixing black spots in a range of areas; and new rest areas on the highway.

Some of the big projects this government has already completed are the $137 million Vantassel Street to Cluden duplication in Townsville; the $50 million upgrading of the highway from Sandy Corner to Collinsons Lagoon, with the overpass they have there just north of Brandon and the Burdekin; and the $13.8 million upgrade and extra lane at the pivotal showgrounds intersection in Mackay. Other major works currently under construction or due to start any day include the $45 million flood proofing of the highway at Yellow Gin Creek in the Burdekin and the $57 million flood proofing at Sandy Gully near Bowen. Other investments in productivity and road network efficiency under this government include black spot funding, Roads to Recovery funding, and the financial assistance grants program to local councils, which have delivered such projects as a major upgrade to Malcomson Street at Mount Pleasant in Mackay; an upgrade to Milton Street in Mackay; the Melton Black intersection in Townsville, where Lavarack Barracks is; the Old Clare Road upgrade from Giddy Road near Ayr; and the construction of a new roundabout as you drive into the township of Bowen.

Reliable road networks are essential for productivity in regional areas, but the government also believes in building community infrastructure, which creates immediate jobs once again and leaves the community with a lasting legacy. In Dawson, we have delivered on the $17 million public realm improvement in Mackay's city heart; the $17 million development of CQUniversity's engineering precinct, and also extra money that has gone into creating the new city campus of CQUniversity in Mackay; the $750,000 construction of the extension to Mackay Gymnastics' new facility; and the $2.3 million relocation of the Mackay Junior Soccer Grounds.

Since being elected, the Liberal-National government has focused on growing existing industries and creating new ones. That is where major job benefits come from. One of the most exciting success stories for the North is in the development of aquaculture. Pacific Reef Fisheries, which operates a prawn farm in the Burdekin, has been trying to establish a new prawn farm at Guthalungra north of Bowen The process began, I am sad to say, back in 2001, but I have worked very closely with the project proponents to get this farm up and running and through all of the bureaucratic nightmare in this term of government. The final approval, I am happy to say, came from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. It was issued late last year, and Pacific Reef Fisheries are soon to be employing more than 100 full-time staff for their operations and a further 70 to 100 workers during peak harvest times once that new form is constructed.

The largest job creation project there could be in North and Central Queensland right now is the Carmichael coal project. It will create 10,000 jobs, direct and indirect, over the life of the entire mine, including in the construction not just of the mine but of the railway line that leads to the port and the expansion of the port at Abbot Point. All of that, directly and indirectly, will create thousands of jobs. The figure that has been put out by Adani is 10,000 jobs. While the green movement have tried to claim that it is not, it actually is. The figure that they are spouting about is for stage 1 of the mine only, not including the railway line, the port expansion or the indirect jobs that flow on from it.

The federal government has issued all the required approvals. I have to say it is now up to the state Labor government to stop sitting on its hands and issue the mining lease and the final approvals for the port expansion. I believe there are three approvals that are yet to be issued. It is disappointing to see the Labor Party refusing to back this project. I understand that even in the Senate just recently the Labor Party joined with the Greens to vote against a motion calling on the state government to get on with issuing the mining lease.

It is also disappointing to see the state Labor government sitting on its hands with two of the largest Bruce Highway projects in my electorate: the Mackay Ring Road, valued at $540 million, and the Haughton River Bridge replacement, which is also around half a billion dollars. The contract for planning and design of the Mackay Ring Road was awarded in March last year, almost a year ago, and we have the state Labor government telling us that it will not get to construction for another year. The federal government is stumping up 80 per cent of the funding for this project. We have offered to get that money to the state government sooner rather than later, as soon as they can get to construction, but they are telling us they cannot do it. They need to pull their finger out and get going with this project. I have spoken to senior engineers in New South Wales Transport, who tell me a project of this magnitude should not take more than nine months to be designed. Yet we are having to wait until next year through the dillydallying of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and her ragtag bunch in that minority government there to get going with this most important project, which will create 600 jobs that are needed in our region right now. They demonstrate no sense of urgency with that project or the Haughton River Bridge upgrade, which is also an important project for safety and also jobs in the northern part of my electorate.

In fact, the only road project between Mackay and Townsville that Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk nominated as one that she would be willing to fast-track turned out to be one that was actually fully funded—100 per cent funded—by the federal government, and she said that she was going to fast-track it and bring it on for construction early this year. In fact, on 11 November last year I announced that we were fast-tracking the project by bringing the money forward and it was going to go ahead in early 2016. So they did not do anything there at all. Not surprisingly, a local company, Vassallo Constructions, has already started constructing those overtaking lanes at Thomsetts Road, near Bloomsbury, and that is a great outcome for local jobs—having a local tenderer out there doing the job and keeping infrastructure investment dollars in our region.

Overtaking lanes are also under construction at Alligator Creek near Townsville, and there are some projects outside my electorate that have an impact on local jobs and productivity in my electorate. I include in that the Hay Point turnoff intersection, which is being upgraded, and the Peak Downs Highway upgrades, which include a new pathway through Eton Range and the replacement of bridges under the Liberal-National government's Bridges Renewal Program on the Peak Downs Highway.

Along with all that good work that is being done in infrastructure, we need to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow and get all that preparation work done. An alternative line in that Billy Ocean classic is, 'When the going gets tough, the tough get ready.' Much has been said over the years about the potential of the North, but in this government's first budget we backed a commitment with money on the table for developing the North. It came in different packages and it came in the form of billions of dollars: $6.7 billion package to fix the Bruce Highway to facilitate growth, prosperity and jobs; $5 billion for the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, or NAIF, to provide concessional loans for building the infrastructure needed to create jobs, new industry, and a stronger economy throughout the North; and $500 million for the National Water Infrastructure Fund, with money specifically earmarked for dams in Northern Australia.

The concessional loans from NAIF will develop new ventures and industries and will overcome one of their major hurdles to getting ahead: affordable finance. The NAIF scheme is an incentive for projects such as the proposed ethanol plant in the Burdekin, which will create a new avenue for income for the many sugarcane farmers who are at the mercy of world sugar prices and foreign owned mills which they have to sell to. The NAIF scheme is an incentive for a new bio-energy plant in Mackay. That will expand the region's production of energy from biofuels, which currently includes an ethanol plant in Sarina and the Racecourse Mill power generator. The NAIF scheme is also an incentive for a new freight and logistics centre at Mackay Airport, which will open the door for greater exports, including agricultural produce sourced from the wider region and boosted by the government's commitment to water infrastructure.

Last week, I drove up to the Eungella range, to the west of Mackay, with the member for Capricornia. We spoke to a local sawmill owner while we looked out over the massive water catchment that will become Urannah Dam. That dam will be very deep with a small footprint, limiting losses to evaporation. It is high enough to enable the gravity feed of water to dry agricultural land on the coast and in inland areas, opening up massive new agricultural opportunities. For the sawmiller, there will be an opportunity to mill the timber before it is cleared and burnt prior to flooding. That dam has been talked about for 40 years, but two new developments mean that talk is now very serious. First, private investors are on board, with the support of the local traditional owners, who are also the leasehold owners of the site. Secondly, this government has the will and determination to build new dams and money on the table to support them.

Once Urannah Dam is under way, I will be fighting to get the Elliot Main Channel project resurrected. The channel, linking the Burdekin River to good but dry agricultural land between Bowen and the Burdekin, needs to go ahead. It was partly built many years ago, but, with our real commitment to water infrastructure, the time has come to deliver on the Elliot Main Channel. There is also an opportunity to raise the Burdekin Falls Dam, which was an expansion option included in the dam's original design. Water is the key to agriculture, and investing in dams enables huge growth in agricultural production.

In just two years of government, we have secured free trade agreements with Korea, Japan and China. Together with the TPP, these agreements open the doors to more agricultural exports. Some markets will require faster freight services, particularly for perishable products. There are two airports in my electorate seeking to expand to accommodate international flights. That will create more jobs, not just for exporting products but also with the tourists it will bring in, particularly into Mackay and the Whitsundays. I have sought and received a commitment from the government to waive the costs associated with customs and border protection services for an indefinite period, should the airports at Mackay or Whitsunday secure an international carrier.

I am also working on a brand-new industry for the Whitsundays, where the reef, island and world-class Whitehaven Beach are major international drawcards. It is the perfect base for a superyacht industry. We are close to overcoming obstacles in order to introduce this major creator of new jobs and a source of income for the local economy. A single superyacht reaps $50,000 per day while based in a port such as the Whitsundays.

Another brand-new industry that the government is in the process of creating right now is the cultivation of medicinal marijuana. Now that legislation has been passed in this place, there is an opportunity for growers in North Queensland. I am going to be speaking to people tomorrow about that.

I have more ideas that we can use to build the North. I will be speaking on them in coming weeks.

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The 2013 election might seem to be in the distant past to many people, but I am sure that few Australians have forgotten that on the eve of that election this government, the Turnbull government, promised 'no cuts to education, no cuts to health, no changes to the pension, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS'. Australians were also promised a better government.

What Australians got after the election was the most shambolic government that I can recall. Key election promises were broken, and, whilst voters will say that they always expect promises to be broken, they nevertheless hold out hope that the government that they vote for will, on this occasion, be different. They hope that it will honour key election pledges, particularly when those pledges were made by a party that, when in opposition, made election promises central to its campaign.

But this government has not done so. This government has not only betrayed the Australian people's trust, but, in its first budget, cold-heartedly cut support to Australia's lowest-income households. The government also cut $80 billion of forward spending from health and education. Since then, it has cut about another $10 billion in health spending. It decimated national science and research institutions, cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from them. Climate change responsibilities were off the agenda. Only recently, Australia agreed in Paris to strengthen climate science, yet, after the Paris talks, the government came back, reneged on that and cut further into CSIRO's climate science division, with hundreds of Australia's most experienced climate scientists likely to lose their jobs. The effects of that will be that we cannot have the information that we need in order to put together a constructive climate change policy into the future.

We then saw the ABC gutted. Industry assistance was slashed across the nation, which ended with Australia's auto industry closing shop. The naval shipbuilding industry is not far behind. Not only have several of the shipyards already closed but places like the ASC in Adelaide are projected to lose another 1,300 employees within a couple of years. The government now talks about the fact that it is having discussions with the Punch Group about re-energising auto construction in South Australia. Yet when it really mattered, when we had an industry there, they turned their back and walked away from the industry, the hundreds of small businesses that relied on it and the thousands of people whose employment was dependent on car making in this country.

We then saw the coalition effectively bring back its failed Work Choices legislation by stealth. It did that by opening the doors to Australian jobs for low-paid foreign labour and by simultaneously allowing imported products, which are often substandard, to come into the country, all of which directly affect jobs for Australians. We saw a classic case of that with the MV Portland and CSL Melbourne ships in recent weeks. The CSL Melbourne, previously a ship that was crewed by Australian seafarers, was replaced by a Liberian flagged ship operated by Greek company with a Filipino crew. It has been given a licence to operate in Australian waters to do Australian work. Which other country would have allowed that other than this one? And for no better reason than to try and push down the conditions and pay of Australian workers.

This is a government that has pursued its ideological policies—tearing down the Public Service, cruelly cutting welfare programs, pushing up university degrees to perhaps $100,000, and bringing down wages and working conditions. We now have the government also trying to attack the penalty rates system in this country—again, a system that supports the lowest income workers the most. Whilst the government says that is not its policy, the reality is, when you listen to the rhetoric and look at what it is doing, that is very much a part of the government's agenda. Simultaneously, we have a government that has presided over the rorting of tens of millions of dollars by bogus registered training organisations that have been ripping off not only the government funding but also the trainees that enrolled in many of their courses.

Whichever way the Australian people turn, they are being hurt by the coalition government's warped ideology or its incompetence. This is an arrogant government that keeps treating Australian people with contempt, a government that has miscalculated the backlash of the Australian people. Not surprisingly, within a year of being elected as Prime Minister, Tony Abbott was under siege from his own party and, within another year of that, he was replaced only to see the chaos worsening and the cruel cuts continuing—more cuts to health, more cuts to industry and science, more cuts to welfare—and more chaos in the coalition with ministers being sacked, replaced or resigning from parliament. Indeed a quick count that I made would suggest that there have been 56 ministers or assistant ministers in the time of this government. Ministerial turnover has been unprecedented.

Above all, and perhaps worst of all, the government has failed and continues to fail on two critical matters. It has failed miserably to articulate a national economic vision for Australia or to get the nation's finances in order. Budget deficits are out of control, now up to $37.4 billion according to the latest forecast. Gross debt is headed towards $550 billion by the end of the forward estimates. Trade deficits keep growing and, for 2015, the trade deficit was $32.7 billion. This is despite all the government's rhetoric about free trade agreements.

What we have seen and what we have now is a reactionary, knee-jerk policy announcing government that is prepared to do grubby deals with the crossbench senators in order to get its legislation through parliament. We see the continuing infighting and leaks coming from the government. In desperation to hold onto government, the government now resorts to the old tricks of pork-barrelling, scaremongering and electoral manipulation. Voters simply have to read the adjournment speech of the member for Bass from only two days ago to understand pork-barrelling. They can also look at the Regional Development Australia funding distribution—$231 million going to coalition seats compared with $62 million for non-government seats. Even if you allow for the difference in the number of seats that both sides of politics hold, the difference is stark; it is clearly a case of pork-barrelling.

Then we see the electoral manipulation. Only this week we saw the Senate voting on legislation rushed into this place to change the Senate election system. It has been done for no other reason than to ensure that the government gets the most votes it can out of the Senate voting system. And it has done that after putting together a deceitful deal with the Greens and with Senator Xenophon. It is a deal that will shut minor parties out of the next election. We then saw a pretentious half-day hearing, which supposedly ticks the boxes of public consultation, when we all know that the deal between the Greens, Senator Xenophon and the government has already been signed and sealed.

The Prime Minister worked out that Australians are angry about multinational tax avoidance. Probably his focus groups told him that and so what we have now is the government jumping on the bandwagon of doing something about multinational tax avoidance. It is all rhetoric and lots of threats but there is very little substance to those threats or to that rhetoric. Labor in fact only recently put forward a policy to do with fixing up the budget. I am referring to the negative gearing policy that Labor put forward, a sensible policy on negative gearing where no existing investor will be affected, where future negative gearing will be allowed to continue for new construction, that in turn will create thousands of jobs as a result of the new homes that will be built. It is a policy that has widespread support across reputable economists and business commentators.

This government, the Turnbull government, is trying to dismiss Labor's policy and criticise it. In fact, the Prime Minister, in absolute desperation, jumped onto the fear campaign of warning that the sky is going to fall in, housing values across Australia are going to fall and people's assets will be lost. Of course the Prime Minister has no independent analysis to support his fear campaign, only his self-proclaimed superior intelligence. This is the kind of fear campaign put forward by a Prime Minister who is rattled, and the coalition government has a track record of doing that. When governments are faced with an election, they usually play the fear card and this is a campaign of fear that everyone's assets—that is, their personal homes—are going to lose value somehow as a result of Labor's well thought through negative gearing policy.

This is a Prime Minister who is incapable of making a decision of his own and who does not have the united support of his MPs; a Prime Minister who not only has turned his back on every value he purported to stand for in the past, but is finally showing his true self—showing that all that matters to him was becoming Prime Minister and that he would do or say whatever it took for him to become the Australian Prime Minister.

Anyone who had pinned their hopes on Malcolm Turnbull would by now be bitterly disappointed. But they should not be surprised. This is the person who, prior to being Prime Minister, as communications minister was the architect of the coalition's worst failure—the NBN rollout. The current Prime Minister was personally responsible for a revised NBN rollout that has left Australia with an outdated, second-rate system dependent on copper wire, with a rollout timetable that has blown out to 2020 and a cost blow-out of $26.5 billion—$26.5 billion is the cost blow-out, not the cost. The cost has gone out from $29 billion to almost $56 billion—nearly doubled. I cannot think of any other government program that cost $26.5 billion, let alone that has blown out by $26.5 billion.

For the government to have the audacity to criticise the Australian Submarine Corporation over the cost overrun of the Air Warfare Destroyer project, which was only a fraction of the cost overrun of the project led by this Prime Minister, is an absolute joke. It could be even worse, but the government is refusing to be transparent about the rollout, and we do not have all of the details. When the Prime Minister said this week that he had turned the NBN around, he was absolutely right—he turned it backwards.

Contrast that with Labor's position. We have focused on presenting and preparing policies in the lead-up to the next election—policies which are sensible and reasonable and which will go a long way to getting the budget back into order. Labor has announced superannuation savings of about $14 billion over the next 10 years by targeting very high income earners with respect to the current concessions they get on their superannuation savings. That is not mainstream Australians—it is the very high income earners. Labor has absolutely committed to building, maintaining and sustaining Australia's next submarine fleet of 12 submarines. We have committed to a 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030 and we are consulting on an emissions reduction target of 45 per cent on 2005 figures by 2030. We have also made absolute commitments to TAFE to ensure that TAFE remains the central provider of vocational education and training in this country.

Importantly, we have reinstated much of the funding that the government cut from the Gonski funding package, and there will be an additional $37.3 billion put back into education by Labor if we are elected. We have targeted the multinationals with a plan that will add $7.2 billion to the budget bottom line.

The contrast between the government and the opposition is clear. The government is in chaos. It does not have a plan, it does not have a vision and it is jumping from one issue to another trying to put out bushfires. By contrast, Labor has put together a very carefully structured set of policies—and there will be more to come—which show that we are not only capable of getting the budget back into order, we are also capable of getting the economy of this country back into order, securing people's jobs and ensuring that they have jobs with fair wages and conditions. Just as importantly, we are not about to decimate the welfare system of this country.

Debate adjourned.