Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today, I want to raise the many difficulties faced by young people and the lack of attention to the plight of young people in this government's policies. For far too long, the scales have been tipped against young people in our society, and my generation is the one taking, often without thinking, all the benefits. For too long, it's been easy to ignore our youth. But I strongly believe we cannot do this any longer. It appears that our young people are going to be worse off than their parents, and this is something we should be ashamed of and try to change, not ignore.

These days, when a young person finishes high school and has to make a decision about future training and career paths, there are many very complex scenarios that have to be faced. For example, do they choose a university with high HECS fees, no job security and very competitive placements? Do they choose vocational education, again, often with high fees, poor apprenticeship wages and unscrupulous providers, who have in the past really damaged the system almost irreparably? There is very poor post-school support for those who struggle with learning and other disabilities. For those who may take time to enter the jobs market, social security payments, for example, Newstart, are at all-time lows and below what I would see as being subsistence level. In this day and age, it is virtually impossible in any of the major cities for a young person to live off Newstart, without extensive support from friends and family, even just to cover their housing costs.

Australia's population increased by almost two million people between 2011 and 2016—that's a rate of almost 10 per cent—and about half of those are under 40. The median age of the Australian population is now 37, so we have a lot of young people. We hear a lot about our ageing population, but, in fact, over half of our population are under 40 and need us to be cognizant of their difficulties. There are many, many difficulties faced by young people with things like housing. For example, 20 years ago, over 60 per cent of people under 35 were buying their own home. That has now been reduced to 41 per cent. I have been to auction after auction with my children to see them outbid many, many times by investors, who have enormous tax advantages in buying housing. How can this be fair? Do we want our younger generation to be renters for the rest of their lives? That's what we're looking at. With housing, it's important to remember that it is one of the most important social determinants of progress. For children to have a stable home, without having to change school all the time, is the most important factor in their education. For people in work, having a stable home is very important in maintaining their job prospects and improving their job mobility.

In education, work, health and housing and social welfare, young people are discriminated against all the time. We have a system that's weighted against them, and there is very little impetus on behalf of this government to make things better. With private health insurance, the premiums are now at a level that young people just can't afford them, yet very little has been done to make private health insurance more affordable. We're seeing young people, in particular, dropping out of private health insurance every week that goes by. Our children, our young people, are our future. Unless we do something to help them, our future looks very bleak. It is important that we make changes, and those changes need to happen very quickly.

My belief is that we should have a minister for young people, specifically tasked with improving the situation for our youth. We should also be trying to look at ways that make housing more affordable, such as the negative gearing policies developed by the shadow Treasurer. In every talk we have about the dividend imputation removal of cash refunds promoted by our financial team, we need to be cognisant of the fact that our young people are the ones that are being damaged. (Time expired)

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

I'm pleased to stand in this House in this adjournment debate and talk about the budget that was delivered by this government earlier this month. I'm very pleased to share with the House that it's been very well received by the constituents and businesses in my electorate of Forde. Interestingly, the only ones that are actually complaining are those ones wearing red shirts and campaigning for the Labor candidate, but that's fine—they can complain all they like, because that's actually all they do. As far as the residents are concerned, the budget delivers. This government is delivering on its commitment to live within its means, to create a stronger economy for more jobs, to keep our borders safe, to guarantee essential services and to encourage and reward hardworking Australians.

When Australians live in a stronger economy, it provides them with choices and the opportunities for the future that they not only want but deserve through their hard work and effort. I have assured my constituents that this budget includes tax relief measures for so many working Australians so that they can keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets. At the end of the day, the money we receive as governments through taxes is not our money; it is the money of hardworking Australians who go out every single day to earn a living, build wealth and build this country for the future, not only for current generations but for generations to come. That is why it's so important that this government is seeking to move the budget back towards balance and surplus.

In my electorate of Forde, in South-East Queensland, we have a diverse range of small businesses, service industries and hardworking families. Some 74,000 taxpayers in my electorate of Forde will stand to benefit from the low- and middle-income tax relief announced in the budget. This means that a high school teacher on $75,000 in the electorate of Forde will have an extra $530 in their pocket as a result of this year's budget and an extra $3,740 in their pocket over the first seven years of this tax plan. A workshop manager on $88,000 will have an extra $575 in their pocket, an accountant on $87,000 will have an extra $530 and a fast-food operator on $42,000 will be $350 better off.

But, importantly, whilst we're ensuring that Australians pay lower taxes and fairer taxes, this budget also guarantees the essential services that the families in my electorate of Forde rely on. We are doing this by increasing total health and hospital funding by some 30 per cent. With schools we are delivering 50 per cent on average increase per student in school funding. Every school in my electorate of Forde will be better off, with more fair, needs based funding for every student and school. Interestingly, those opposite have got nothing positive to add and continue to tell a litany of mistruths in this space of health and education funding.

In the past year, residents and businesses alike across my electorate have noticed that our economic plan is working. In 2017 we saw a record 415,000 jobs created across the country. As part of that we have seen 140,000 people transition from welfare to work. It's been said many times in this House that the best form of welfare is a job. The reason for that is that it gives people self-confidence, it builds their skills, and it gives them the opportunity to create wealth and stability for their families. That is why a strong economy that creates opportunities for people to work is so very important. One of the big drivers of that is the small to medium businesses in our economy. They benefit in this budget and previous budgets through tax cuts for small to medium businesses up to $50 million and also the extension of the instant asset write-off, which benefits some 15,500 local businesses.