Anika Wells (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In my first speech to parliament, I made a commitment to be a good ancestor and to leave the world a better place for future generations. Three years and five months later, I am so proud to be out of a government putting those values to action. I am proud to be part of a government that is easing our cost of living with responsible spending while delivering community benefits in a wide range of portfolios.

This is the first Labor budget in almost a decade. This is a budget that delivers on the promises that we took to the election.

When I think about how our budget ushered in a new era for Australians, I think back to the conversations I had while doorknocking in my electorate of Lilley, pre election. It was clear to me, whilst visiting the residential aged-care facilities, whilst knocking on doors and whilst speaking to voters at pre poll, that a decade of denial had left aged care in real crisis. As constituent after constituent passionately shared their shocking stories of neglect, I grew increasingly appalled. At the time, I had no idea that I would even be a minister, let alone, now, the Minister for Aged Care. So I listened, and the list was long and confronting. Those conversations will always stay with me. I stand here now, proud that this budget improves the quality of aged care and takes steps to address the concerns of some of the people that I spoke with at those booths.

I also stand here knowing that this is only the beginning and that reforming this sector will take time—a lot of time. I want to move aged care from a culture of compliance to a culture of excellence, and this budget is a positive step towards that goal.

This budget represents meaningful progression in restoring dignity to older Australians in care. It includes $3.9 billion in funding and responds to 23 of the aged-care royal commission's recommendations. It increases care minutes for residents, starting with 200 from 1 October next year, and 215 care minutes from 1 October 2024, while, from 1 July next year, all aged-care homes must have a registered nurse on site 24/7. These measures combined received $2.5 billion in funding from the budget.

There is $23.1 million spent on progressing in-home aged-care reforms, including additional consultation, a large-scale trial of a new assessment tool, and the establishment of a service-list advisory body. There's $26.1 million that will fund individual homes to provide better support to older First Nations people, those from diverse communities and those living in regional areas. The Strengthening Regional Stewardship of Aged Care measure, funded at $68.5 million, will expand the department's local presence, to help improve regional aged-care services, including in eight new regional locations, while $312.6 million will be provided to modernise aged-care ICT, to enable reform and reduce administrative burden.

One of our greatest priorities in aged care is supporting staff, after nine years of neglect left workers underpaid and undervalued. In August, the Albanese government made a submission to the Fair Work Commission for a much-needed pay rise for our valued aged-care workers. Last week the commission made an interim decision for a 15 per cent increase, with further considerations to be had. This is another positive step forward in reforming aged care, because, if we don't start paying workers properly, we will not be able to attract and retain enough staff to care for our loved ones as our population ages. This decision also helps us to close the gender pay gap. More than 85 per cent of aged-care workers are female and, until now, they could've earned more by stocking shelves in supermarkets.

Our commitment to boosting the workforce does not end with aged care. Childcare costs have soared 41 per cent in the past eight years. We will cut the cost of early childhood education for more than 1.2 million families in Australia. The impact will be particularly felt in my electorate of Lilley—not just at my house—where 8,900 families will have access to cheaper child care, thanks to this commitment. Ninety-six per cent of families with children in early childhood education and care will benefit from the new subsidies, and no Australian family will be worse off. This is among several initiatives that will help to take cost-of-living pressures off young families on the north side of Brisbane.

It is estimated that participation rates for women in the paid workforce remain almost 10 percentage points below those of men. This must change. I am a working mum with three young kids, but I am one of the fortunate ones with an amazingly supportive husband and a supportive network of family and friends who are able to support us as I juggle this work. Not everyone is this fortunate. Too often, young parents and families are faced with the pressures of a choice between working to put food on the table or spending time with their newborn baby. This is why I am proud that the Albanese government is increasing Australia's paid parental leave scheme to six months. The six months of leave will also become more flexible, so the leave can be shared more equitably between both parents, while a single parent can claim all of it.

Having a child shouldn't be an economic barrier for families, and I know mothers and fathers in Lilley are relieved to have greater choice about how they balance work and family whilst giving their children the best start in life—a life we are helping to protect through measures to reduce the cost of medicines. For the first time in its 75-year history, the maximum cost of general scripts under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will fall. Getting sick or needing medical treatment should not be a burden on the shoulders of Australians. People should be able to seek treatment and afford medication. We are taking action to make medicines cheaper so people can afford them when they need them. The maximum co-payment of $42.50 will drop to $30 from 1 January 2023. This is yet another example of how the Albanese government is investing in people, and it is investing in the environment's future. It is this government that enshrined in law an emissions reduction target of 43 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050. Earlier this month, I visited a thriving medical hub, Sanofi, in my electorate of Lilley and helped unveil its commitment to renewable energy through 1,500 solar panels. Sanofi gets it, and it is planning an expansion to 3,000 solar panels. The project is expected to generate two gigawatt hours of clean electricity annually.

In my electorate, I have seen firsthand the devastating impacts of climate change, in the February floods that swept through the north side with little regard for treasured items and household structures. Dream homes were lost, memories floated away, families were left shattered but, as always in Lilley, the community rallied. These extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, and isn't it a nice change to have a government that recognises climate change's impact?

Finally, as the Minister for Sport, I am thrilled that we are committing to boosting inclusive pathways as we prepare for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic games. Last month in New Zealand I helped launch the FIFA women's World Cup draw ahead of next year's tournament. It is the biggest women's sporting event in the world. This government has committed $44.8 million to co-host the World Cup because this festival will encourage more girls and more women to participate, volunteer and work in sport. This budget is also providing better access to sport for First Nations communities and people living with a disability, through funding and expansion of the successful Sport4All program, which will train an additional 80 inclusion coaches. We want to make sport accessible for all Australians no matter their age and no matter their background.

This budget is about delivering cost-of-living relief and genuine reform to help make medicines cheaper, to increase paid parental leave, to reduce child education costs, to reduce our impact on the environment and to encourage women and girls to enjoy sport in a safe environment at last.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023 and cognate bills and note that the opposition supports the passage of these bills. It has been a bipartisan approach for many decades to offer support to these bills. I would note, however, that supporting the bills doesn't mean that we support all the measures contained within them.

The context for the budget and this bill is at a macro level a very strong economy, a fundamentally resilient one. In fact, it's hard to see a country in the world whose economy has performed as well as Australia's has over recent months and years. Just two years ago we were staring down the prospect of permanent business closures, tens of thousands of deaths and an unemployment rate of 15 per cent. We know that a million businesses and four million jobs were saved during the course of the work that was done through the pandemic. Today we have more businesses than we had, strong terms of trade, record commodity prices, economic growth of over three per cent, and almost four per cent, in the last financial year and record low unemployment. That's a remarkable position to be in, in the circumstances.

We accept that not every decision made during COVID was perfect. They had to be made with a sense of urgency and in the face of great challenges, but the economic recovery we are seeing right now is a testament to the economic management through COVID. The Reserve Bank governor has made the point, as he sits and talks to other central bank governors around the world, such as when he was in Wyoming recently, that there was no other governor that felt they were in a stronger position than Australia's.

We also had a rapidly improving budget position. It is enormously important to understand that. We saw a $103 billion turnaround in the budget back in March, and from March there was a $43.3 billion improvement through to the end of the financial year. That was in the matter of just a few months. To put this in perspective, it's a remarkable outcome, because last financial year, from the moment that Victoria and New South Wales—the two biggest states—opened up back in October, from the beginning of November through to the end of June, the budget was actually in a cumulative surplus. That is an absolutely remarkable situation to have been in, to have a surplus running as soon as the pandemic—or the lockdowns, at least—came to an end. We were still facing the back end of the pandemic.

This was the snapback which was absolutely central to the previous government's strategy. We wanted to make sure there was a snapback, and there sure was—there's no doubt about that—with a remarkable turnaround in the budget. That trajectory continued in last week's budget, in the updated forecast for 2022-23. But the truth is that people aren't feeling that in their everyday lives. Across the board, there's no doubt about that. The pressures of inflation on household budgets are eating away at these national gains. That's very clear.

When I get around my electorate and around Australia I see some of those challenges people are facing, both on the household side with inflationary pressures and on the business side, particularly, with labour shortages. So it is right and proper that the top of the list right now has to be about dealing with those shorter-term inflationary pressures, and that needs a clear and comprehensive plan. A sound budget needs to be at the core of that plan, but it does need a clear and comprehensive plan.

We absolutely accept that no government can control the context within which their budget is brought down. Their plan has to recognise the context that it faces and those challenges, and we felt this during the course of the pandemic. Those challenges are what they are. You can't change them, but you can change how you respond to them. That's why we felt that the budget was an opportunity for the Treasurer to start outlining a plan to deal with the challenges in the economy that I've just talked about.

The test for the federal budget was simple: first of all, deliver that clear and comprehensive plan to consolidate the strengths of the economic and budget position that Labor inherited. Second, put downward pressure on inflation and interest rates and deal with those short-term supply pressures that businesses are feeling. In the longer term, make sure that we're set up for growth, for strong productivity and participation in the economy beyond the next couple of years. Finally, deliver on election commitments. This really matters. They were very strong election commitments made in the lead-up to, and in, May, and it's right and proper that we hold the government to account on meeting those election commitments.

The government had the opportunity to deliver a budget that met those tests, the shorter-term tests on dealing with those cost-of-living pressures and labour shortages and the longer-term tests to empower aspiration in enterprise, reasserting the role of productivity and lower taxes in driving strong economic growth. We said, and we'll continue to say, that we will back in any Labor policies and initiatives that are consistent with those tests that I've just laid out on the economic side. There's no doubt about that. There are a number of measures in the budget that we will back in because we think they are consistent with those tests, but, overall, there's no question that this budget was a missed opportunity.

I think the real question all Australians could reasonably ask is: why did we have a budget? It's ultimately a traditional high-spending, high-taxing budget. What we needed was a budget that recognised the importance of those issues that I raised, and that had, at the heart of it, a strategy that would deal with those shorter-term pressures that I'm talking about—in particular, a fiscal strategy that was going to take pressure off interest rates and inflation.

Economists will tell you that the most important thing you can do when you have an inflationary and higher-interest-rate environment is make sure that you have a balanced budget, that you've moved to a balanced budget, and that you have a fiscal strategy that's tightening, not loosening. In fact, what we saw in this budget was the exact opposite.

The budget deficit, as I said a moment ago, was all accrued in the first four months of the last financial year. That $31 billion was all in those first four months when we were still in lockdowns. The whole lot. There was an opportunity to take that and strengthen it. In fact, a number of economists said that this could be a pathway; with the right strategy, Labor could be moving us back into budget balance, if not this financial year then certainly next. But no. In fact what they did was expand the budget deficit out to over $50 billion over the next couple of years. It's very unusual for a Treasurer to come into the role and instead of saying, 'I'm going to improve the budget,' say, 'No, I'm going to make it worse.' That is what he did—he said, 'I'm going to make it worse.' That is going to have exactly the opposite effect of what we need on interest rates and inflation.

A number of economists—some of whom are not on our side of politics—have made the point that this is a fiscal strategy that is all wrong for the circumstances. Stephen Koukoulas, economic adviser to Julia Gillard—certainly not on our side of politics—said, 'This is a budget that leaves the Reserve Bank carrying the can on interest rates and inflation.' What does that mean? It means the Reserve Bank is going to have to keep raising interest rates, because the government is not doing its piece. That's the situation we have.

If you have a mortgage—and the average new mortgage we see in New South Wales now is upwards of $750,000—you are going to feel real pain from those rising interest rates. The market now expects the cash rate to go over four per cent and that leaves mortgages of six or seven per cent. That is where we're going. That is what the market is expecting right now. There is nothing in this budget that is taking that pressure off, and that is a huge missed opportunity.

The Treasurer doesn't like admitting this, but when compared with the March budget there is an extra $115 billion of spending. If you take the four years of the March budget and take the first four years of this budget and compare the two totals, there is $115 billion of extra spending. Labor does not like to admit it is a big-spending government, but it is—$115 billion. They like to say that they're banking the savings. There was an extra $145 billion on the revenue side and they're spending the vast majority of that. That is exactly what we don't need. Australians will pay the price with higher inflation and higher interest rates.

The budget had buried within it a lot more than that in terms of the pain it is imposing on Australians. There is a 56 per cent increase in electricity prices. Labor likes to give lots of excuses for this, but it promised a $275 reduction and now in its own budget there is a 56 per cent increase in electricity prices and a 44 per cent increase in gas prices. This isn't going to hit just households—and it will hit households very hard. It's also going to hit our energy intensive businesses. Businesses have worked hard over recent years—and I have worked with them closely—to keep in this country our aluminium smelters in places like Portland and Tomago and our alumina refineries in Gladstone and in the south-west of Western Australia. They are absolutely sensitive to those prices. If those prices go the wrong way, as Labor is predicting, the prospects for those businesses are very poor.

The budget also had embedded within it rising inflation—inflation rising to nearly eight per cent; rising unemployment—over 100,000 jobs will be lost; slowing economic growth; and, tragically for Australians—and this was a very clear election promise from Labor—no improvement in real wages in this term of government. So after all that talk during the election campaign about real wages going to improve, their own budget says that there will be no improvement in real wages in this term of government.

They have put up the white flag; they've given up. The Treasurer comes in and in that grim tone he puts on—it's doom and gloom—he tells Australians it is all terrible and he has no plan. That's not what they expect from the Treasurer. They expect the Treasurer to recognise the circumstances—the great strengths and the challenges of the circumstances that I laid out—and lay out a clear plan, but that is, sadly, not what we saw in the budget.

Steven Hamilton from the ANU's Tax and Transfer Policy Institute said that this budget delivers 'the weakest economic and fiscal strategy of any government since the Charter of Budget Honesty was established, and the exact opposite of the approach of a responsible economic manager'. Steven Hamilton from the ANU, which is just down the road here, is a highly respected economist. He also notes that the government is 'actively driving the budget deeper into structural deficit'.

The Treasurer acts as though deficits are something he can't control—they have nothing to do with him. It's true. The Labor Party demands of treasurers big spending—$115 billion. There's a long queue of ministers out there asking for more money. Stakeholders—there are a lot of people to pay off after that election. It's the $115 billion in the budget, as Steven Hamilton notes, that's actively driving the budget deeper into deficit. By failing to adopt a responsible fiscal policy, we will see higher interest rates and higher inflation than would have otherwise been the case.

On top of that, in the very budget week where they were talking about the challenges Australians are facing, they brought forward toxic industrial relations legislation that's going to take us back to the strikes and job losses of the seventies and eighties. I lived through those. I saw them. I saw the devastation that happened in industries. Small businesses were hit. Farmers were hit. Shearing sheds were burnt down not far from here, including in my electorate, back in those days. That kind of toxic industrial relations with multi-enterprise bargaining brought through in the very week of the budget is a hallmark of how badly this government is misjudging what Australia needs right now in terms of sound economic policy.

But there's another placeholder in this budget, we know. There's a big gap sitting there, waiting to be filled, and the Treasurer is looking for any opportunity to do this, and that's a gap for more taxes. There's no Labor Treasurer that didn't want to tax more. We know that the current Treasurer was an adviser to the previous Labor Treasurer Wayne Swan. He wanted to tax more. There's no doubt about that. Every Labor Treasurer that can tax more is a hero, and this one wants to do the same.

What the Treasurer wants to do is to get rid of the stage 3 tax cuts. These are tax cuts that are going to ensure that the vast majority of Australians are in a position where they know they can keep 70 cents in the dollar, or more if they work more. It's a simple rule of thumb. If you know you're going to get 70 cents in the dollar, you're going to put in, you're going to take risks, you're going to work hard, you're going to have a crack, and that's exactly what we want to see. We will take that fight to the Labor Party as they continue to fly these kites about more taxes, whether it's superannuation or this—or all sorts of other areas where they're talking now. There's nothing Labor doesn't want to tax. We are the party of lower taxes, and we will remain that way.

So this is a budget that was a missed opportunity. We hope the Labor Party will see the error of its ways. And we will back the sensible measures that were included within the budget.

Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on the three appropriation bills relating to our first budget—Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2022-2023 and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023. Our budget delivers on our election commitments and begins the process of repairing the near-decade of neglect under the previous government. Since the election we've gotten straight to work, delivering on our commitments across Australia and in my community on the Central Coast of New South Wales.

Looking back to when I was first elected in 2016 and to all the budgets handed down since under the former government, communities like mine, on the northern end of the Central Coast of New South Wales, were consistently overlooked. In May, Australians voted for change and elected an Albanese Labor government. I'm proud to be part of this government, working with Minister Butler, with responsibility for mental health and suicide prevention, and rural and regional health. I'm determined, in these roles, to work with others to try to improve the health and wellbeing of all Australians, wherever they grow up, wherever they live and wherever they age.

I'm also finally relieved to be able to deliver much needed support for my community on the Central Coast. The northern end of the Central Coast is one of the fastest growing regions in New South Wales, with a population set to grow by another 75,000 people by 2036. But, under the previous government, this growth was not matched by investment, not matched by investment in transport infrastructure, investment in health care or investment in local jobs.

As a pharmacist who worked our local hospital at Wyong for almost 10 years, I understand, like so many people do, the importance of quality and affordable health care close to home. I also know that in Australia today the further you live outside of a big city, the worse your health care is likely to be. I want to help change that. I want to make sure that every Australian, no matter where they live or where they grow up, has access to the health care they need. In the lead up to the 2022 election, our government made several key commitments to improve health care right across Australia. One of those was addressing the GP crisis that's impacting rural and regional communities and people from the outer metros, including my own electorate on the Central Coast of New South Wales.

During the election, we committed to recognise affected regions around Australia as distribution priority areas so local practices could recruit GPs from a wider pool of doctors. Locally, we committed to recognising the entire Central Coast as a DPA given the acute shortages. Less than three months into government, the member for Robertson, Dr Gordon Reid, an emergency doctor; the member for Shortland; and I visited a local GP practice in East Gosford to confirm that the entire Central Coast is now a distribution priority area. This change will help take the pressure off local GPs in health, primary health care and our emergency departments, but it's only part of the solution.

Another key commitment was our plan for 50 Medicare urgent care clinics across Australia, including two on the Central Coast. In the government's first budget, funding to build two of these urgent care clinics on the coast was confirmed. These clinics will help take the pressure off hospital emergency departments by giving people another option to receive care.

As I said, I'm a pharmacist of over 20 years, and I spent nearly 10 of those working at my local hospital in Wyong on the Central Coast. I understand the difficulty that many people have in accessing health care in my local community, including MRIs. That's why one of our key election commitments was providing Wyong Public Hospital, our community hospital, with a Medicare funded MRI licence. I'm pleased that this commitment has been met and that an MRI machine is now being installed at Wyong hospital. I'm told the machine should be up and running before the end of the year. This means that locals who were previously wheeled out of the hospital will be able to get affordable, life-saving scans in our own hospital rather than having to go elsewhere.

I committed to this licence in 2019 after joining community efforts to save our hospital from privatisation under the state Liberal government, alongside my state colleagues the members for Wyong and The Entrance, David Harris and David Mehan. The former government tried to sell off our hospital and, at a federal level, refused to grant this license. Together, our community saved our hospital from privatisation, and now we're delivering an MRI licence for our community. The Central Coast and the people in communities like mine are a priority for the Albanese government.

One of the key priorities of this budget is manufacturing, building Australian capability. We saw the vulnerabilities through the COVID pandemic, and we're determined to shift this. I'm pleased to confirm in this budget a food manufacturing hub for the coast, which will receive $17.14 million from the government backed up by $37.5 million from industry. This is a project that industry has been pushing for years. It will create more than 280 local jobs, including 85 during construction and 200 ongoing jobs in food manufacturing. It will also drive economic growth in the region and help the Central Coast expand its unique food and beverage market. The hub will be based at Lisarow and will further develop Australia's onshore manufacturing capabilities. It will also support the local economy by increasing opportunities for training, education, skills, research and development. Funding for the hub will be provided over three years from 2022-23. It's part of the government's broader 'future made in Australia' plan to develop local manufacturing capabilities and upskill the manufacturing sector workforce.

This project, as I mentioned, has the full support of local industry, including Central Coast Industry Connect and their partners Trendpac, the RDA and the University of Newcastle. I recently heard from the Executive Director of Central Coast Industry Connect, Frank Sammut, who is partnering with us on this project. He told me:

The food and beverage industry contributes $1.4 billion in output to the region. This project will boost the local food and beverage manufacturing ecosystem and will make the Central Coast a competitive food manufacturing and innovation destination.

This is a significant investment in our food manufacturing industry, and it could help local food manufacturers grow their ideas nationally and even globally.

Our budget also confirms $40 million in roads funding for the Central Coast. One of the No. 1 issues people raise with me is the condition of our local roads. The Central Coast has some of the worst road in New South Wales, and, after recent weather events, there are more potholes and hazards on our roads than there have been before. A $40 million injection into local roads will make a difference. It will improve safety, ease congestion and reduce the wear and tear on people's cars.

Our government is also delivering $4 million towards Tuggerah Lake, with the funds to go towards programs including flood mitigation and stormwater management. After the recent flooding events our community has faced over the past years, we need to make sure locals are safe when disasters hit but also that we're better prepared ahead of future disasters. Our $4 million commitment will help address these concerns, while improving water quality in the catchment—something that locals so welcome.

We're also delivering much-needed upgrades to community infrastructure. Our budget includes $1.5 million to help fund stage 5 of Tuggerawong Pathway. I've worked closely with the state member for Wyong, David Harris, and the Tuggerawong Pathway Community Group over many years to make this happen. I'd like to recognise Jodie Davis from the Tuggerawong Pathway Community Group and the others who have been working tirelessly to support this project. Jodie said to me, 'We're thrilled to see this financial support to complete stage 5 of the project.' Our community made their wishes clear when council asked us to vote on which option we wanted, and 87 per cent of people voted for option A, which was to continue the pathway around the foreshore all the way to Don Small Oval. This project is a community-led project, in partnership with local council, which will mean so much to our local community and boost tourism.

We're also delivering a much-needed $1.2 million in the budget to bring life back to The Entrance. This includes funding for Vera's Water Garden, making the waterfront plaza play space more accessible, and renovating The Entrance ocean baths, which is an iconic heritage listed site which has been popular with visitors and locals on the coast for generations. We're delivering $250,000 for the Baker Park master plan and another $100,000 to help Wyong Tennis Club renovate their clubhouse.

These are much needed upgrades in a community which, unfortunately, was overlooked by the previous government for almost a decade. Our community is growing rapidly, and yet that growth wasn't matched by investment in infrastructure, wasn't matched by an investment in health care and wasn't matched by investment in our local economy.

I am so pleased to be part of a Labor government which is finally delivering for the northern end of the Central Coast. These community upgrades will breathe life back into the Central Coast, help our community recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and make sure that our community is ready now and into the future.

As a pharmacist—and still the only pharmacist in this place—I've spoken many times about affordability of medicines, about people who have come to me and said, 'Which medicine can I skip?' 'Which one can I take every second day?' or 'Which one can I do without?' I've had patients, particularly mums with children, walk into the pharmacy after a medical appointment and hand me a bundle of prescriptions and ask which medications they could skip or avoid. I've had a mum ask me could her children share a bottle of antibiotic mixture because she couldn't pay for both. This is a common problem. For the first time in the 75-year history of the PBS, our government has now passed legislation to reduce the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme general co-payment from $42.50 to $30 from 1 January 2023. This will make a significant impact, particularly with the rising cost of living for many families in my community.

We've also committed to cheaper child care, and I am so pleased that this will benefit more than one million Australian families, including around just under 7,000 families in my community in Dobell. It will cut out-of-pocket costs for families with children in early education and care and help them save more than $1,700 in that first year. It will help local parents—if they want to—to go back to the workforce or to work more hours. I've heard from families, particularly women, about this. One young woman I spoke to had got back into the workforce. She had a four-year-old and a soon-to-be six-year-old. She'd worked really hard for a promotion and when she secured that promotion most of it disappeared in the cost of child care. This has to change, and under our government it will, for families like hers and families like that all across Australia. It will help more parents return to the workforce and work more hours if they want to.

We're also doing the same for age and veteran pensioners, helping them to work more if they want to, while keeping their age pension. Following the government's Jobs and Skills Summit in September, we introduced legislation to credit $4,000 to age pensioners from 1 December this year. In a community like mine, where one in five people are aged over 65, a popular place for retirees, and with workforce shortages, this could be a real boost to the local economy, as Paula Martin, the regional director of the New South Wales Business Chamber Central Coast has told me. It'll increase the amount pensioners can earn before their pension is reduced, which will increase incentives for those receiving a pension who want to work more and help us address those acute labour shortages we're seeing, particularly in regional Australia.

As I mentioned, my community on the Central Coast is a popular place for older people to live. One in five people are aged over 65, and many people in my community live in residential aged care, receive at-home care or have a family or loved one receiving aged care. Before I was elected in 2016, this was very close to my heart and I know it is something that touches so many people across Australia. No individual or family is not touched by the crisis that we have experienced in aged care in Australia. I have heard from countless local people about their experiences and from older people who are fearful about being forced to end up in aged care. Many of them voted for Labor at the last election on the issue of aged care. They have asked me, as their local MP, for urgent action on recommendations handed down by the Royal Commission into Aged-Care Quality and Safety.

I was so pleased when Minister Wells introduced this legislation to parliament. This is now the first legislation to go through the House and, as recommended by the royal commission, it will address the urgent funding, quality and safety issues. It will also provide additional protection for older Australians living in residential aged care with a series of measures to increase transparency and accountability for providers. I know this will give so many people and families peace of mind at this time, for themselves and for the older people they love and care for. This legislation has now passed through the Senate and it implements three more of the government's urgent election commitments that put security, dignity, quality and humanity back into aged care.

As I conclude, I want to thank our aged-care workers, who, as has often been said, deserve more than thanks. I did some work in aged-care homes as a pharmacist and I have so much respect and admiration for those capable, dedicated and hardworking yet undervalued workers. I am so pleased about the decision of the commission last week to lift their wages to give them a living wage so that they can afford to do the work that they love that so many of our families and loved ones benefit from.

I am so proud to be able to speak as the first Labor government and I look forward to being part of shaping the direction of Australia.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023, the Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2022-2023 and the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023. I want to focus on the digital economy and the approach that this government is taking. First, I want to touch first on why the digital economy is so important and on the lack of a clear policy framework from this government. Second, I want to touch on the particular challenge of skilled migration and the role it can play in bringing people with needed high-tech skills into Australia, and the government's mismanagement of that issue. Third, I want to talk about digital government services and, again, the lack of a plan from this government.

I want to start with the proposition that key to our prosperity is technological innovation. The rise of the digital economy over the last 20 years or so has been associated with and a driver of significant increases in prosperity, increases in productivity and increases in efficiency. It is no wonder that governments around the world have a very strong focus on this. We can look at a country like Singapore, which has enacted measures to attract and boost start-up companies. We can look at Israel as a leader in defence, water and communications technology. We could look at Estonia, noted around the world for digital delivery of government services.

It is very important that we recognise there is intense global competition and, when it comes to our digital economy strategy, it is important that Australia plays to its strengths. The former coalition government quite explicitly laid out a digital economy strategy. Our goal was for Australia to be a world-leading digital economy and society by 2030, and elements of that strategy included helping to support small businesses to go digital, to grow the digital workforce, to create homegrown tech start-ups and to build our digital infrastructure. And I am very pleased to say there were quite a number of initiatives being driven pretty hard by the previous government. I would certainly hope, in Australia's national interest, that the present government would show a similar commitment to the digital economy. But, unfortunately, that is not the case.

We know that one of the key success factors in the digital economy is vigorous competition. Technology businesses are disrupting older businesses, be it Wikipedia disrupting Encyclopaedia Britannica, be it digital photography disrupting Kodak, be it streaming video-on-demand services disrupting traditional television. All of that delivers great benefits to consumers, and consumers are voting with their feet. But, if we look at the approach this government wants to take, we've seen efforts by minister for industry to increase union involvement in the technology sector and in start-up businesses. We've seen the minister for industrial relations waging a war against the gig economy, calling it a 'cancer' through the economy. This government has not appointed a minister for the digital economy, unlike the previous government. We can also look at some specific measures. like the budget measure cutting a $3.9 million program established by the coalition to assist more mid-career women to transition into the technology sector workforce. All of these are approaches that are going in the wrong direction. That is particularly troubling because of the importance of the digital economy to increase productivity.

We know Australia's economy has a productivity challenge. In this budget we've seen the government reduce the long-term-productivity growth assumption to 1.2%. A government that was serious about lifting productivity would be driving reforms to grow Australia's digital economy. What did the Productivity Commission find in its recent interim report? The report, titled 5-year productivity inquiry: Australia’s data and digital dividend: interim report, found:

Digital technology and data will continue to shape global economic growth and social change over the coming years.

But, the Productivity Commission warned:

Whether Australia fully realises the productivity dividend arising from these opportunities depends on how effectively governments, businesses and individuals can recognise and safely harness these changes for our own benefit.

Well, unless we see more focus from this government, the opportunity to capture the productivity dividend from the digital economy is at risk of being lost.

Let me turn then, secondly, to a specific issue where we've seen a pretty disappointing approach from this government, which is the question of the role of skilled migration in bringing in key people with critical skills that are needed in the tech sector. It can often be the case that one or two people with key skills, brought in from overseas markets, can then be the linchpin of a team of 50 or 100 people—employed locally, developing software, taking new software to market and project managing all of that. We know that there is a forecast employment shortfall of over 650,000 workers in the tech sector. Much of this, indeed most of it, should be met with workers trained and developed in Australia. But there is a key role for people with those technical skills and experience, and by bringing them in from overseas, we catalyse jobs growth for Australians.

Unfortunately, Australia's visa processing times under this government are lagging behind those of our key competitors. That is a disincentive in attracting talent into Australia. The Tech Council of Australia makes the point that currently there is no clear time frame given by this government for the processing of talent visas. If we compare that to France—which is not normally a country that is cited for efficient government operations—the French, to their credit, have a special tech start-up visa for skilled workers that includes processing within two to five days. In Canada, a visa through the global talent program in tech takes ten days. So we need to do better.

Astoundingly, the government has gone in the wrong direction: it's making things worse. A new ministerial direction, signed by the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Cyber Security, came into effect just a few days ago, effectively de-prioritising visa processing for cybersecurity and critical tech occupations. That direction removed 27 job roles from the priority migration skilled occupation list, including ICT security specialists and tech workers. The CEO of the Tech Council, Kate Pounder, met with me, and she's met with many other stakeholders and parliamentarians on this issue. The Tech Council had this to say:

It is a surprise … the government has decided it was the opportune time to de-prioritise these skills in our migration system.

The relevant ministers should meet with key business stakeholders like the Tech Council and they should agree to a plan to support Australian companies, including small businesses and start-ups, in accessing critical cyber and software engineering skills in a timely way so that they can access the skills they need—often it can be that one or two people with key skills that you want to bring in from overseas.

By contrast, we have in effect a go-slow on skilled tech visas. That is really not all that surprising when you look at the underlying hostility of the union movement to skilled immigration. We saw that on full display in the lead up to the Jobs and Skills Summit. The Australian Workers Union said that it wanted all new migrants to be automatically signed up to a union on arrival. It also wanted employers to pay a fee of at least $10,000 to hire a migrant. The peak union body, the ACTU, wanted to get rid of employer-sponsored visas. Instead, it wanted sponsorship to be done by an industry-wide body with, of course, union involvement. Inevitably, this would be slower, more bureaucratic and less responsive to business needs. All of these ideas would be a disaster when it comes to meeting the huge need in Australia's rapidly growing tech sector for people with key skills. Bringing in from overseas people with key skills—likely in relatively small numbers—could catalyse the employment of very large numbers of people locally, because when you can get one or two key people with critical skills—in a major project to implement a new software system, for example—it can allow the rest of the team to be built around that key person or those key people. So this government's approach to immigration to support the needs of the technology sector is very, very disappointing.

The third area I will touch on is the use of digital technology to deliver better services to citizens. It is clear that citizens want to interact with the government digitally, just as people are used to dealing with their bank, their insurance company and their airline digitally. Many people prefer that, finding it a smoother and more efficient way to operate.

In the last financial year 1.2 billion online transactions occurred between Australians and the government. That is powerful evidence that Australians find this an efficient and appealing way to deal with government. When the coalition was in government we had a clear focus on improving digital service delivery to citizens. Unfortunately, we see no such clear focus from the present government. One of the first actions of the incoming government was to take the Digital Transformation Agency out of the centre of government, out of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and plunge it into the bowels of the Department of Finance. The government also has an approach of closing the eyes of Services Australia to the latest service trends in digital service delivery from the private sector. Instead, we're going to have a more inward looking and bloated public service that is not up to speed with the best practice of the private sector in the delivery of digital services.

Recently, for example, the Minister for the Public Service spoke to the Institute of Public Administration, but there was no vision for the use of digital channels to serve citizens better. Instead, she talked simply about the need to have more public servants. Of course, that so-called reform is occurring in lockstep with the union movement. Minister Gallagher said the government was talking openly with the Community and Public Sector Union, and no doubt it is, because more public servants means more union delegates. What really stood out was what was missing from Minister Gallagher's speech. There was nothing about digital service delivery. There was no enthusiasm for how technology could be used to give Australians interacting with their government a more efficient, reliable and seamless service experience.

By contrast, when the coalition was in government, we worked hard on these issues. We upgraded the myGov app, we oversaw an expansion of the digital identity system, and we rolled out digital assistants to cut the time that staff had to take to deal with simple customer inquiries. We worked on a fundamental mind-shift within government, focusing on Australians as customers. When governments do this, they can, in turn, help citizens have a much better experience in dealing with government and using digital tools to facilitate that engagement.

Certainly the New South Wales government, also a coalition government, has done an extraordinary job in this regard, and Service NSW is really a benchmark around Australia, and, indeed, globally, for having a customer-service focus within government and using technology to support citizens and the way they interact with government. The New South Wales government has led the way on so many things, such as a digital drivers licence.

The contrast between that kind of thinking and what we saw recently from Minister Gallagher was really quite striking. The words 'customer' and 'digital' appeared just once in the entire speech.

Now, of course, Australians are rightly concerned about the recent severe data breaches involving Optus, Medibank Private and other companies. But, again, there is a tool available to the government, should they choose to use it. An enormous amount of work, done by the previous government, is ready for this government to take up. The development of a digital identity system, which the coalition government commenced in 2015, has stalled significantly under Labor. This is a huge missed opportunity, because this system would enable a customer to use a trusted identity provider, with verification achieved through electronic checks against secure government records, such as those of the Australian Passport Office or the Australian Taxation Office. This in turn would mean that, when you, as a customer, sought to establish your identity, to establish an account with a bank or a telco or another organisation, that organisation would not need to store your data. Instead, your data would be stored with the trusted identity provider, and the computer systems of the two organisations would interact so that a certification would be provided digitally to the organisation you were establishing the account with, to confirm that you were the person you said you were. That would mean that we would not have large numbers of identity documents being stored by a whole range of private sector businesses. So there's huge potential here.

I certainly call on the Albanese Labor government to show much more enthusiasm in this area. Unfortunately, the Minister for Government Services is much more interested in political payback exercises than in using technology to deliver citizens better services. But that is just one of the many ways in which a greater focus on the digital economy would deliver much better outcomes.

Brian Mitchell (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What an extraordinary contribution from the member for Bradfield, who, for nine months, was the minister for robodebt in the former government. Is that his idea of digital expansion? Is that his idea of a 'fundamental mind-shift' in digital delivery of services—to send robodebt notices to people who didn't owe the money? It was an illegal scheme, the details of which are now being uncovered by the robodebt royal commission.

I stand today to talk about the budget—Labor's first budget in almost a decade, which delivers the plan that Australians voted for six months ago. This responsible budget is right for the times and ready for the future. Broadly speaking, the budget does three things: it provides responsible cost-of-living relief that does not add to inflation, it invests in the capability of our people and the capacity of our economy, and it begins the hard task of long-term budget repair. This budget delivers for Australians, helping them to manage cost-of-living pressures and to plan for the future.

Our $7.5 billion five-point cost-of-living package provides responsible and targeted relief to households, without putting additional pressure on inflation. The package provides cheaper child care, with higher subsidies for around 1.26 million Australian families and no family in Australia worse off; expanded paid parental leave, with six months paid leave by 2026; cheaper medicines, slashing the PBS maximum general co-payment to $30 a script; and more affordable housing, delivering our Housing Australia Future Fund and the new National Housing Accord; and it's getting wages moving again, by supporting a wage increase for minimum- and award-wage workers, fixing the broken bargaining system and investing in the capacity of the economy. As I'm on my feet in this chamber, those in the main chamber are talking about the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill, a bill that will strengthen the ability of workers to get higher wages. What's more, this is a responsible budget, providing the economic stability and security that Australians need. It repays hard work and it rewards aspiration.

We know there are difficult times ahead, and we are being up-front about the challenges we face. We are experiencing a time of extreme uncertainty overseas and devastating natural disasters at home, with rising inflation and higher interest rates having an impact on the economy. The best defence in these difficult times is a responsible budget, and that's what was delivered by the Treasurer two weeks ago. This budget marks an end to a wasted decade under the former government. They gave us an energy chaos, they gave us stagnant wages—deliberately. It was a deliberate feature of their economic architecture. I find it hard to believe even now that any Australian government would boast that their plan was to keep Australian workers' wages low. They gave us a skills crisis and a trillion dollars of debt without an economic dividend to show for it. We can't clean up the whole mess overnight, but we've hit the ground running, and we are working every day to build a better future for Australia.

As the member for Lyons, I am delighted that this budget really delivers for Tasmania and for my electorate. Tasmania is well and truly on the map under the Albanese government. It won't be off the map under us. We stay true to our election commitments. We have $685 million earmarked for infrastructure across Tasmania, including $540 million to upgrade Tasmania's road and highway networks, including the Bass Highway, the Tasman Highway and the East Tamar and West Tamar Highways—and I note the member for Bass is in the chamber, and I'm sure she welcomes this investment by the Labor government. We have $15 million going to the Royal Flying Doctor Service at Launceston Airport to upgrade and modernise their facilities. They do such vital work for Tasmania's health sector, particularly across the regions. And we have $35 million to upgrade the TransLink transport hub out at Launceston Airport as well, to drive efficiencies and productivity.

A further $71 million is earmarked for targeted industry grants in Tasmania to modernise facilities and support manufacturing in my state. The Albanese government is providing more than $71 million to support the Norske Skog Boyer paper mill, the Waverley Mills wool mill, the Costa Berries distribution centre in East Devonport, the Inghams poultry facility in Sorell and the Nyrstar zinc works in Hobart. In Lyons, this means Norske, Australia's last remaining newsprint mill, can further explore options to reduce emissions and improve long-term financial stability and sustainability, through a feasibility study for the replacement of its coal fired boiler. Similarly, we are supporting upgrades to the Inghams poultry facility in Sorell to help it transition towards a carbon-zero certified business model. These two companies are major employers in Lyons, each of them supporting hundreds of jobs across regional Southern Tasmania.

It is clear that the Albanese government is committed to investment in Tasmania and in regional Australia more broadly. Our regional investments add economic value, and they improve regional liveability. We are much more interested in delivering a dividend for the community rather than a dividend for electoral margins. My electorate is already directly benefiting from the Albanese Labor government's commitment to improve regional liveability. I advocated for several important community projects, all of which were included in the budget and all of which will improve a range of services and facilities through my electorate. In the Brighton municipality, for example, the Seymour Street Master Plan will improve local community infrastructure including parking and bus stop areas, the extension and refurbishment of existing playground and picnic facilities, multipurpose outdoor courts, event space and a dog park. I was also particularly pleased to announce the Treasurer had confirmed $1.5 million towards a new Brighton GP clinic, and that was included in the budget. When the former government announced support for GPs in Tasmania I was very disappointed to see that their support was restricted to the north of the state—the electorates of Bass and Braddon, where the two Liberal MPs were based—and there was no extra support for southern Tasmania, which also includes areas and regions of GP shortage. We're righting that wrong.

I congratulate Dr Mary Lumsden and the Brighton Council for their hard work and commitment in getting this important project for Brighton up and running. We know that there is a shortage of GPs across regional areas, not just in the north, Member for Bass. This investment is a great start to relieving this pressure, alongside key health measures in the federal Labor budget, including three Medicare bulk-billing urgent care clinics for Tasmania; regional mental health telehealth services for Tasmanians; a 30 per cent cut to the price of medicines on the PBS; a strengthening Medicare fund for more affordable health care, including after-hours access; and a boost in workforce incentives to attract GPs and other healthcare professionals to rural and regional areas across Tasmania.

This budget also delivers for the Derwent Valley, with $5 million towards community sportsgrounds upgrades and $2 million to help Norske Skog modernise at Boyer. I promised that $5 million at every election since my election in 2016. Of course, we've had Liberal governments in two elections and the Liberals never came through with this $5 million for the Derwent Valley. It has taken the election of a Labor government to deliver this $5 million promise to the Derwent Valley. I'm so proud we're finally getting it done. Mayor Michelle Dracoulis described the supporting infrastructure announcement as a real win for the Derwent Valley. Her council is working closely with user groups and stakeholders to get construction started at both Boyer Oval and Tynwald Park as soon as possible.

Another big win for Lyons in the budget is confirmation of funding for the South East Regional Development Association jobs and skills hub at Sorell. Mayor Kerry Vincent has long advocated for this project and the benefits it will bring to the community by making the south-east region more sustainable and responsive to local requirements for training, job creation and employer support. The people in the corridor are delighted by this announcement. I can hear them cheering.

The budget also provided confirmation of the reopening of a Centrelink service centre in Sorell—a fully staffed centre—and more funding for the Sorell Memorial Hall extension and upgrade. Both projects are hugely important for the community in this fast-growing municipality.

I am very pleased in the budget there is about $500,000 for upgrades at Prospect Park in the Meander Valley, bringing that busy community sporting precinct into the 21st century. Sport plays such an important role in our communities and our connections with each other and in our physical and mental health. Prospect Park is the home of the Launceston City Football Club. Prospect Park currently hosts more than 3,500 players a year. It's right on the border between my electorate and the electorate of the member for Bass. She would know it well. I'm sure she also welcomes this investment in that park. With another 1,000 homes to be built in the area over the next 10 years it's clear that this facility needs futureproofing. The Meander Valley is a growing area. Football Tasmania President Bob Gordon, CEO Matt Bulkeley and Club President Danny Linger have been working tirelessly on this project. It's fantastic for the quickly growing Meander Valley region that that can now get underway.

Further to the north-west in Kentish is one of the most important funding commitments in this budget. It is more modest in terms of finances, but it's one of the most important. There is $200,000 to improve and provide training for suicide prevention and advocacy in Tasmania. We know that fewer than half of Tasmanians in distress engage with support services before seeking to take their own life. This funding will assist the Kentish Regional Clinic based in the north-west town of Sheffield to cover direct service delivery and administration costs of their CORES program, a community network of suicide prevention training and awareness across Tasmania, which I'm pleased to see is also being implemented interstate. They're doing really good work. I'm very pleased we're able to support them. Sharon, Natalie, Paige and the entire team at the Kentish Regional Clinic and across the CORES program are to be commended for their dedication to their work and to their local community.

There is much more, but I'll run out of time before I get there. That's just a snapshot of how the Albanese Labor government's first budget is delivering for Tasmania and for Lyons. There is much more, and I do look forward to sharing with my constituents the news about what this budget is delivering for Lyons in the weeks and months ahead.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the mayors, community groups, service organisations, clubs and others who have helped me secure these commitments. None of us are in here doing it by ourselves. We've got teams behind us. We've got staff, volunteers and all these clubs and people in the community who come to us seeking support. I know all of us try and support as many as we possibly can. Unfortunately, the budget's a finite pot of money, and so some things miss out, but we're always, all of us, across all the parties, in there plugging away for our groups and our communities. This budget delivers for Lyons, it delivers for Tasmania and it delivers for Australia. It's responsible, it's right for the times and it sets Australia up for the future. I commend this bill to the House.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I was driving across the electorate last week, I saw service stations across the region advertising fuel ranging from $2.20 a litre up to almost $2.50 a litre. Across Northern Tasmania there is concern over increasing costs from the petrol station to the supermarket. Mortgage rates, health insurance premiums and the threat of significant power prices have almost everyone I know redoing their budget to meet the increased cost-of-living demands. Next year will be a particularly difficult one for many, with electricity bills expected to soar 20 per cent and a further 30 per cent next financial year. While some can absorb the cost by making adjustments here and there, many have legitimate concerns over how they will meet increased costs when there is already very little wriggle room. Christmas is just around the corner, and by then Treasury is tipping annual inflation at 7.75 per cent.

Over the past few years in this job I've pushed for reasonable support as the economic conditions continued to evolve, particularly as the pandemic took hold. In a time of economic turmoil, I know that many feel let down by the lack of immediate cost-of-living measures in Labor's recent budget. Additional childcare support is welcomed, although I still think the measures miss the mark when it comes to supporting families with young children, particularly in the Northern Tasmanian region I represent, where accessibility is still an issue. Cheap child care doesn't make a difference when the system doesn't work. It is, in my opinion, a missed opportunity for genuine reform of the sector.

Additionally, necessary support for pensioners, families with school-aged children or your average working Australians is sorely missing from this budget. I was, however, extremely pleased to see support for a number of health commitments I made during the 2022 federal election, that were then matched by Labor, appear in the recent budget. At the end of the day, bipartisan support for local projects ensures that the community comes out as a winner. As an elected representative, I'm constantly delivering for my Northern Tasmanian region. So I'm pleased to see that Labor's budget supports the $20 million I pledged during the election towards the establishment of a standalone palliative care centre in Launceston. Through my work with the state government and other key stakeholders, it was clear that $20 million dollars would be necessary for the project to get off the ground and that Labor's initial pledge of $5 million was seemingly plucked out of nowhere, with no-one having done their due diligence, whereas I'd also secured a written commitment from the state government to deliver the clinical planning.

Cancer survivors will also benefit from $580,000 to fund a post-cancer survivorship trial program at the WP Holman Clinic. I'm particularly passionate about this program, having met regularly with the clinicians who have driven the creation of the program over the past few years. Again, Labor matched this commitment during the election, though I suspect without actually having any idea of what it was. Still, it's in the budget, and I'm looking forward to seeing this program roll out in my electorate.

The establishment of a leading medical research innovation centre, spearheaded by the Clifford Craig Foundation, is also one step closer after receiving funding through the recent budget. In April this year, I announced $4 million to relocate the foundation to the Northern Integrated Care Service building at the Launceston General Hospital. I've been working with the Clifford Craig team on this vision for medical research for several years and agree with CEO Peter Milne's sentiment that this funding will be a game changer for our region. This investment will expand the capacity to translate health research into improved practice and patient outcomes in rural and regional Australia. Importantly, it will also assist in recruiting, retaining and training medical specialists and high-calibre health professionals for our region. Once again, Labor matched the commitment within a few days of the announcement, and the funding in the budget brings it one step closer to fruition, but, once again, this was after I'd undertaken the necessary work to secure the cooperation of the state government.

While speaking on health, I'm curious to know the status of Launceston's urgent care clinic, which was a key announcement during Labor's campaign in the electorate of Bass. I've heard a number of Labor members spruik the commitment to urgent care clinics in their electorates, and I'd love to know if they have more information than I do as to when the clinics will open, where they will specifically be located and what the model will look like.

Other key commitments which I secured prior to the election through the March budget—the Flinders Island Safe Harbour Project and an Exeter show and recreation hub—have received funding assurances through this budget. I'm extremely disappointed, though, that it's taken the federal government six months to uphold the funding commitment, causing unnecessary stress and uncertainty for these communities and likely resulting in increased project costs. But I welcome the news nonetheless.

Closer to where I live, the George Town Aquatic, Health and Wellbeing Centre was a matched election commitment and one that featured as the cornerstone of the Bass campaign. As a local and former mayor of George Town, I know how much the community is looking forward to seeing this project get off the ground. The aquatic centre was supported by both major parties during the election, ensuring that the project would come to fruition regardless of the government of the day.

The commitment, much like the Ravenswood Skate Park, seemingly falls under the Investing in Our Communities Program to deliver small-scale community, sport and infrastructure projects across Australia, with funds spread out over five years, though further details are lacking. There's little to no forthcoming information on when the money will be made available for the project, with George Town Council still waiting for confirmation. Meeting with Ravenswood locals prior to the budget, they expressed concerns that they had not heard from the government at all since the election about their project, one that will require the involvement of the council, who were not even consulted prior to the announcement. Labor may well say that the project is in the budget somewhere, but the lack of interaction with the community is very telling.

I also have questions over the federal government's commitment to the future of the Launceston City Deal, an innovative plan involving all three levels of government. Originally a five-year investment to position Launceston as one of Australia's most liveable and innovative regional cities, the deal was extended to 10 years, through to 2027, with over $560 million of total investment earmarked to deliver jobs and skills, drive infrastructure and investment growth and improve the liveability and sustainability of the city.

Under the coalition government a commitment of over $254 million was made towards supporting infrastructure projects. This year's budget has indicated funds for the next few years before it disappears completely off the books a full two years before the city deal is due to wrap up. For an initiative that's delivered so much for the city so far, and with significant plans still in the works, I would like the government to be forthcoming on the future of the deal, which is critical to the future of our city.

Key projects under the city deal include a commitment of $130 million to the redevelopment of the University of Tasmania's Inveresk campus, the largest infrastructure project undertaken in the city and the centrepiece of the deal. The North Esk River pedestrian cycling bridge opened last year, and earlier this year I officially opened the new library and student services building. Two more buildings are under development and expected to open next year, with the new campus expected to create 225 new academic and supporting full-time equivalent jobs.

The deal also includes significant funding to improve the health of the Tamar Estuary through infrastructure upgrades and catchment management actions. Key projects within this funding include the Tamar Estuary urban water infrastructure upgrade project, which, while it may not sound terribly exciting, has had a demonstrable impact, with upgrades stopping around the equivalent of five Olympic swimming pools of sewage heading into the river each year.

Then there's the $30 million to develop the Defence and Maritime Innovation and Design Precinct at the Australian Maritime College. Launceston has long been considered a hub of—

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! A quorum is no longer present in the chamber. The chamber will suspend until a quorum is regained.

Sitting suspended from 17 : 19 to 17 : 22

(Quorum formed)

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before the suspension I was saying there's also $30 million to develop the Defence and Maritime Innovation and Design Precinct at the Australian Maritime College. Launceston has long been considered a hub of excellence in maritime engineering and innovation. This new precinct will foster maritime-specific solutions as well as a broad range of science and technology capabilities, drawing academics from across the country to support defence science and technology.

On a much smaller scale, but vitally important to local schools, has been the Greater Launceston Transformation Project, providing 600 Internet of Things kits to 40 schools across the region, inspiring our children to engage in the ever-growing technology fields. I visited Invermay Primary School late last year to see the kits in action, and what these children can come up with is incredible.

It's important to point out that Labor made a lot of noise about the progress of the $15 million northern suburbs hub during the last term, notwithstanding the fact that they had only committed half the funding to the project. The handover of ownership from the council to the state government plus key environmental testing at the site did cause some delays. Now, six months after the federal election, I'm curious to know what gains Labor has made in progressing this important infrastructure project that also sits under the Launceston City Deal.

Northern Tasmania is flourishing, and initiatives like the Launceston City Deal are cementing the region as a desirable place for people to live and work, and for families to establish themselves in the region long-term. It has proven to me to be a collaborative model that works between all levels of government, and I want to see Labor back it in and demonstrate their continued support for a better Bass.

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to speak in support of this bill, Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023, because this bill shows that Labor were really serious in the election about working with communities to build a better future for all Australians. I know that my community of Chisholm in Melbourne will benefit from the changes and commitments an Albanese Labor government is making in the budget in so many different ways. Whether you're a student, a young person, a parent, someone who relies on medicines, someone involved in a local sporting club or a resident who values community safety and infrastructure, our budget is delivering for you, your family and your neighbours in Chisholm.

I'm really thrilled that the commitments I made during the campaign election are funded in this budget. I said on many occasions when speaking in the community that one of the big tests of performance was delivering on the promises that I was making during my pitch, and I am so pleased that that's exactly what we've done, that every single project that I committed to during the election is in this budget. Not only do this bill and the budget mean there is vital funding for critical projects and programs but, more than that, and more fundamentally, they begin the work of restoring trust in politicians, in politics, in our institutions and in our democracy by our being accountable doing what we said we were going to do. I was horrified, as I am sure so many other people were, that trust and faith in democracy and the parliament were at rock bottom just before the election.

There is a lot of work to do. Every single day, when I would speak to people in my community, they were so disappointed and distrustful of government and institutions. I can't really blame them for feeling that way, because there had been a decade of inaction in my community. I am really delighted that I was given the opportunity to try and restore some of that trust and make sure that our democracy remains as robust as it always has been in Australia.

Beyond restoring accountability, faith and integrity in politics, what does this budget mean for the people Chisholm? It means that almost 7½ thousand families will now be able to access cheaper child care. During the election campaign—I remember this really well—I met little Hannah at a Goodstart centre in Box Hill, in our local area and spoke to Nicola Forrest and Jay Weatherill about their important work with the Thrive by Five campaign. This campaign emphasises just how critical the first five years of a child's life are in developing our youngest people and giving them the best start in life so they are set up for really great outcomes. Our commitment means cheaper child care, which means that more of our youngest community members will be able to get high-quality early years education.

I really want to acknowledge the extraordinary work that educators do across my electorate and, indeed, across every electorate in this country each day to teach and nurture children. This announcement means not just more money in the pockets of families to spend in our local community but also greater workforce participation by parents, and particularly women, who still tend to be the primary caregivers. This is good for our economy and fantastic for our community. Danielle Wood of the Grattan Institute was very clear at the Jobs and Skills Summit earlier this year when she made the astute comment:

I can't help reflect that if untapped women's workforce participation was a massive iron ore deposit, we would have governments falling over themselves to give subsidies to get it out of the ground.

Making child care cheaper is part of making progress on women's workforce participation.

I note that elsewhere in this place at this moment there is a debate underway on our Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill. That bill addresses the pervasive and awful fact that there is a 14.1 per cent pay gap between women and men, which means women are less likely to be the primary breadwinner in the family when families have to make those kinds of decisions. That bill also means that people working in early childhood education—those wonderful people who, as I acknowledged earlier, do so much to teach and nurture the youngest people in our community—will finally be able to get the pay that they deserve and that their work will be truly valued.

Doing what we said we were going to do is already a hallmark of the Albanese Labor government. On Friday I spent a sunny afternoon in the company of the Blackburn South Cricket Club and the Blackburn NewHope Football Club at Mirrabooka pavilion in Blackburn South, where we confirmed our commitment to giving the club $2 million towards a new pavilion. The precinct is sorely in need of upgrades. It was fantastic to have local councillors and the local Labor state member for Box Hill, Paul Hamer, there, with Paul announcing funding towards this project too. Our partnership will deliver an asset the community really needs, and I want to commend the efforts of both sporting clubs in the work that they have done in putting together plans and making the very strong case for this project at all levels of government.

We've also announced in the budget upgrades for the Mount Waverley Reserve. This is a terrific pavilion area. The Waverley Blues and Mount Waverley Cricket Club have worked so hard. They had a vision. They've taken me around their pavilion and the ground many times. Indeed, I had the great pleasure of introducing the now Deputy Prime Minister to the club during the election campaign when we made an announcement to fund upgrades. There's $4 million in this budget for facility and pavilion upgrades, and I'm so excited to get to work with the clubs, with council and with the community, especially ahead of the centenary celebrations of the clubs in a couple of years time.

We've also announced funds for upgrades to the Box Hill City Oval, which is a really important ground in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It is a wonderful ground with wonderful people in the Box Hill Hawks and at the cricket club. Part of what our funding will provide for is women's change rooms. This is really important. We have some of the most elite female cricketers playing at this club. We have Meg Lanning calling this ground her home. I want to make sure, as do the clubs, that the facilities are fit for purpose for all the future Meg Lannings that I hope we'll see very soon.

People in this place are probably no strangers to the fact that I am very passionate about higher education. So I was so delighted to see in this budget a commitment to higher education through the funding of more university places. What does this mean for me and my community? It means that Monash University will have an additional 934 places, that the University of Divinity will have an additional 128 places and that Deakin University will have an additional 652 places. Education is really important to my community. People move into the area to give their kids the best start in life through accessing some of the excellent schools in the area. A lot of the students at the universities live not so far from where they grew up, so this is a really wonderful investment for families and young people in my community.

Labor went into this election saying that we would deliver a responsible budget that would rebuild the nation's capability for manufacturing at home with the National Reconstruction Fund. That is really important to my electorate, who want us to invest in advanced manufacturing in our community. This was clear to me every single day in the community during the campaign. It's an issue I care personally very strongly about and stand with my community to advocate for it.

But to truly unlock the economic opportunity and potential in the south-east and eastern suburbs of Melbourne, where my electorate is situated, we need to have better transport infrastructure. So I was delighted that I was able to announce during the election campaign and now confirm through this budget that we will be funding a business case for the trackless rapid transit system, which will connect parts of Melbourne that have never been connected easily by public transport. This means that the brand-new Heart Hospital that has just opened on Monash University's Clayton campus will now be connected, should this business case prove viable, to a an excellent, fast and efficient form of transport.

We've also invested $2.2 billion in the Suburban Rail Loop. This runs north to south in my electorate, and it means that the Monash and Deakin universities will be connected. It means that the nurses who live in Glen Waverley or Burwood and who work in Box Hill or Clayton at the two hospitals at either end of my electorate will more easily be able to get to work. We have a lot of healthcare workers in my electorate, and this infrastructure is going to go a long way to making their lives easier. Connecting Chisholm, connecting local jobs and making sure that our workforce can get around easily are really important.

We've also funded a headspace in Box Hill. I'm sure many people in this place know that there is huge demand for mental health services for young people, and, certainly, that's the case in my community. So I'm really pleased that we're getting to work providing this vital facility in the local area. It has been really well supported and advocated for by the Whitehorse City Council as well as by young people in my community who've written to me directly.

From 1 January next year the maximum copayment for scripts on the PBS, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, will drop to $30 per script. This is quite remarkable. It marks the first time in 75 years that the maximum cost of prescriptions will fall. This will be a huge help to Australians in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis inherited from the former Liberal government. This means that the around 20 per cent of residents in Chisholm with chronic long-term health conditions who are dependant on medications will have that pressure to find the money to pay for the medicine they need relieved. That is really important. At the heart of our campaign and at the heart of this budget is a desire to see politics mean something beyond the cynical spin we had unfortunately become used to seeing and hearing over the last few years.

One of the wonderful things that I get to do now as a member of this government is introduce the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer, my caucus colleagues, to my wonderful community. I was really delighted that last week, on 2 November, I had the great privilege of introducing the Treasurer of Australia to the hardworking and amazing Ashwood Chadstone Partnership Group to facilitate an important discussion around the housing accord, the $350 million investment in additional funding for housing. We discussed how we can build strong committees together and how important it is to invest in more housing for those in need.

The Ashwood Chadstone Partnership Group comprises a number of different organisations, including the Ashburton Ashwood Chadstone public tenants group. They work together with neighbourhood houses, with service providers and with representatives from all levels of government to make sure that we build strong neighbourhoods and resilient communities. I want to thank Natalie Rabey, who is the chair of that public tenants group for her instrumental role, not just on the day organising the event but also for her advocacy, which really stuck with the Treasurer.

For me, this is really what politics is about, what budgets are about. They are about investing in our communities, in the people who need that investment. They are about using the opportunity of government, of being a representative, to truly listen, to connect people and to work collaboratively to build a better future for everyone in Australia. This was a budget that respects our community. That is what this is really about—to not to take for granted the trust and faith that was placed on us, not just to spend money on services we need but to be responsible with taxpayers' money. That is exactly what our budget delivered, and I am so proud to be a member of a government that delivered such a strong budget.

Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to start by acknowledging that the government's first budget has been presented in a challenging economic environment. At a macro level, the outlook is pretty grim, with inflation peaking soon and growth slowing. Presenting a budget in these circumstances is difficult, balancing the need to provide relief with the need to not make things worse, the short-term concerns with the long-term imperatives. Overall, the October mini budget seems to be a pretty responsible budget. It still contains a $36.9 billion deficit but this is halved due to higher employment and commodity prices. This upside has been largely reinvested in budget repair. The budget contains some foundational work for incorporating climate change into our view of the world in adaptation and in litigation. It seems to be doing the right thing in resourcing the bodies we need to hold government accountable.

But there is further work to be done on longer term tax reform to ensure that we can actually pay for the things that we value in the decades to come. We still have a structural deficit. The hard work of getting onto a more sustainable path is not yet done. The budget contains minimal real tax reform apart from closing loopholes on multinational tax dodgers, which is expected to raise about $4.7 billion. I am hopeful that the May budget will start the longer term reform needed.

We need a tax system that's efficient, equitable, transparent and effective. We need to position Australia to deal with the demographic, social, economic and environmental challenges of the 21st century. We need adequate resources to provide quality education, health, aged care, child care and a decent income support system with dignity. There are a number of current problems with how our tax system is structured which will need to be addressed in the near future, ideally in the next budget. We are no longer a high-growth or high-productivity country. We have nearly $1 trillion in debt. Our tax system is complex, with duplication between states and the federal system and a lot of different types of taxes.

We have an ageing population with too much reliance on taxing workers. Income tax makes up half of all of our tax, which is one of the highest proportions in the world. We have an increasing burden on a declining proportion of the population. Australia's millennial generation is widely forecast to be the first generation since Federation to have worse economic outcomes than the generation before. The gap between the wealth of the old and the wealth of the young has almost doubled over the last few decades. People across the whole political spectrum are calling for tax reform, from Ken Henry, who conducted the last serious review of our tax system more than a decade ago, to Jeff Kennett, to the left-leaning McKell Institute—

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! There being no quorum, the sitting is suspended.

Sitting suspended from 17:41 to 17:44

(Quorum formed)

Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

So what needs to be done about our tax system? We could do worse than to start with the recommendations made by Ken Henry 12 years ago. The issues identified then are generally still the same or worse than they were. For example, our tax system could be simplified to five key types of tax: personal income tax; business income tax; consumption tax; economic rents from natural resources and land; and taxes to address social, environmental or economic costs, such as tobacco, gambling and carbon emissions. We could get rid of many complexities, such as payroll tax, insurance tax and stamp duty.

We need to revisit the rate and breadth of GST and ensure that any changes are not disproportionately borne by lower-income earners. We need to look at how much taxpayers are earning from the development of our natural resources, especially in relation to fossil fuels that damage the planet. We need to revisit the tax treatment of housing to ensure that the main purpose of housing is to provide homes for people. We need to think about the balance between old and young Australians and make good on the intergenerational bargain to support people at the vulnerable beginning and end of life in exchange for the promise that we'll keep making things better.

Doing this will require the cooperation of federal and state governments. It will need to be community led, not just negotiated between government and business. It needs to be holistic. We can't look at one change to the tax system in isolation; we need a long-term, broad perspective so the whole system works better. For example, changes to GST can't be discussed without also discussing transfer payments to ensure the change is not regressive.

Over the last two decades, economic reform has slowed significantly. The Grattan Institute's Gridlock report published last year showed that both quantitatively and qualitatively we've lost our ability to reform. Reform has dried up for a few reasons: it can be politically unpopular; winning elections has become more important than doing what's best for the country; the focus tends to be on the immediate economic consequences, not the long term; public opposition gets louder faster with social media; and ministerial advisers tend to be more focused on minimising political damage than the public interest. Change has been driven more by ideology than by evidence. Vested interests have the potential to skew reform agendas, with climate change responses being the prime example. We've seen a worrying trend. Instead of deciding what's in the long-term public interest and then working out how to sell it, governments have begun by working out what people want to hear, irrespective of the long-term consequences. But I'm optimistic that, in this new government, we'll see some changes to this trend.

The stage 3 tax cuts may be the first serious test of which matters more: good policy or good politics. Institutional reforms can help kickstart economic reform. Increasing trust in politicians will help, through an effective and efficient National Anti-Corruption Commission and a reclaiming of politics by communities. We need to rebuild the public sector as frank and fearless advisers. I look forward to working with government in this term to start the community conversations we need to reform our tax system.

A brief discussion of the positive aspects of this budget: I welcome the inclusion of Statement 4 of Budget Paper No. 1, Measuring What Matters, an initial discussion of introducing an overarching wellbeing framework with a centralised set of indicators. This is a good start. We need different ways to measure progress that better reflect what we actually value. We need to think of progress as equitable, sustainable wellbeing, not just GDP. Countries around the world have started thinking differently about this, including Wales, Scotland and New Zealand.

The missing piece in the discussion outlined in the budget is that this needs to be an open, collaborative process, not something produced by Treasury with input only from the experts. Governments must engage with communities across the country to find out what Australia we want, what matters to us. This collaborative process is important not only to ensure that our framework reflects the domains we value but also to rebuild trust and engagement in our democracy. If we are involved in deciding what we value, we're much more likely to understand the trade-offs and consequent decisions.

On housing, the Housing Accord announced sounds good, with an aspirational target of a million new homes by 2029, but there's little indication of how we might reach this number. It depends a lot on the private sector. In terms of what government is actually committing, there seems to be the 30,000 social and affordable houses committed under the Housing Australia Future Fund and an 10,000 additional homes under the Housing Accord. With 27 per cent of renters and 13 per cent of mortgage holders in Curtin spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, I'd like to see more long-term planning on how we address affordability.

One of my campaign platforms was to increase government accountability. I'm glad to see more resources allocated to institutions designed to keep government accountable, including the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Climate Change Authority, the Royal Commission into the Robodebt and the Australian National Audit Office. It's good to see some attempt to address the growing culture of outsourcing the strategic work from the Public Service. The intended saving of 3.6 billion on consultants, contractors and lawyers sounds good, but it will need to be accompanied by adequate resourcing of the public sector at the senior level. There's not much detail on whether this will happen.

Reform of the discretionary grants program has started, with the Community Development Grants Programme and round 6 of the Building Better Regions Fund being scrapped. Decisions made by the previous government at the discretion of the minister are also being reviewed. There's further work to be done to improve transparency on grant allocation, and I'll be seeking further clarity on this.

My community cares deeply about climate action. Setting the emissions reduction target was the first step, and now in this budget we see some of the work beginning to drive decarbonisation, build resilience and transparency, and ensure we have the governance structures needed to plan for the future. It's refreshing to see a level-headed, non-ideological discussion about the risks and opportunities presented by climate change. In relation to the opportunities presented by decarbonisation, the Reconstruction Fund will drive investments in new sustainable industries and add value to what we pull out of the ground. This is an important part of reshaping our economy. Critical minerals will be a key economic opportunity for WA and for Australia. It's good to see investments of $1 billion for the Value-Adding in Resources Fund, $50 million for a Critical Minerals Research and Development Hub, and $100 million to assist critical minerals producers to progress projects. With lithium exports expected to increase by a factor of more than 10 over the next two years, this is a good space to watch.

On transparency, the budget refers to commitments to improve climate transparency in both the private and public sectors. For the private sector, this will be done by internationally aligned and standardised climate disclosure requirements. For government, fiscal risks associated with climate change will be included in future budgets and intergenerational reports and in the annual climate reporting to parliament. There's obviously a huge amount more to be done to support the transition of our economy to a net-zero economy. The first thing we need to do is remove some of the mixed messages we're sending in the current budget. Fuel tax credits continue to be in the top 20 program expenses and growing by 30 per cent over the next four years. While this has some complexity, we will need to start phasing these fossil fuel subsidies out, rather than growing them, to drive a transition to renewables. Repurposing these credits to support smaller businesses to transition to renewables would be a better way to spend this money over time. Additional investments in gas exploration and infrastructure still appear in the budget and will need to be reduced.

The budget contains some good news for diverse parts of our communities, with some disappointments as well. The 32,000 Curtin residents who are over 65 will be glad to see the $2.5 billion investment in and regulation of aged care, as previously announced. The minor change to the number of hours pensioners can work without affecting their pension may benefit some too. I'm very pleased to see that $1.2 billion has been allocated for practical measures to close the gap and begin preparation for the Voice to Parliament referendum. I look forward to working with my community to build understanding of and support for a First Nations Voice to Parliament, to reset our relationship with First Nations peoples, and to close the gap on intergenerational disadvantage. There remains a significant sum allocated for maintaining detention centres in Nauru as a deterrent. I would prefer to see this go and for Australia to comply with its international legal obligations in relation to asylum seekers. In addition, numerous constituents contact me every week to find out when the government will provide hope for the legacy caseload of more than 30,000 people living in limbo on temporary visas. For students, there are 180,000 fee-free TAFE places in the care sector and digital economy and 20,000 new university places for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. These initiatives start the work needed to rebuild education levels.

At a local level, I'm glad to see the Western Australian Comprehensive Cancer Centre funded. This will add to our medical centre of excellence in Curtin and will increase access to top-quality cancer care. No other specific infrastructure projects in Curtin are identified in the budget. There are a number of local infrastructure projects within Curtin that are worthy of federal funding, and I will continue advocating for them and for greater clarity on future community infrastructure funding processes and criteria, to ensure that funds are allocated fairly. I understand some work is being done on this, so hopefully there will be greater transparency in time for the May budget.

In summary, the budget was generally sensible in the context of challenging economic times. Many of the economic challenges currently being experienced are outside the control of the government. There will be pressure to provide cost-of-living relief, and some short-term financial relief may be justified, but the big challenge ahead will be to maintain a focus on long-term reform, especially on tax and decarbonisation and to resist the pull of populist short-term fixes.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am incredibly proud to be part of an Albanese federal Labor government that not only understands the massive contribution that the Northern Territory makes to our nation but also understands its incredible potential. More than that, it is a government that is putting its money where its mouth is, which the recent budget clearly showed. We are investing in order to bring that potential to life for the good of the Northern Territory, Territorians and our nation.

The Territory has long been referred to as the gateway to Asia or the food bowl of Asia, and it's true. Given our geographic proximity to the Indo-Pacific, it makes sense that our growing capacity, funded by targeted investment in enabling infrastructure in the Northern Territory, is going to assist us. We are an hour's flight from Dili; 2½ hours from Bali; four hours from Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, with more than 270 million people; and also close to Singapore with all its capital. It is closer, in fact, than Darwin is to here, to Sydney, to Melbourne, to Adelaide or to Perth. So it isn't surprising that the Northern Territory, particularly Darwin and my electorate of Solomon, have always looked north.

Every year—and we will again next year—we have an event here at Parliament House called Facing North. That is an invitation for our nation to face north towards the Northern Territory, Darwin and all the potential opportunities to do well there in terms of investing in industry. Those industries are important industries of our future.

Perhaps more than other places in Australia, because we see it every day on the street, we are a global community, a multicultural community. Thirty per cent of Territorians speak a language other than English. We have a large and very vibrant migrant community, which is great because there are so many opportunities in northern Australia.

I was at the Australia Indonesia Business Council national conference in Darwin recently. We heard that Indonesia is Australia's 10th-largest trading partner and the Northern Territory is sixth. That's not just our cattle either. There's so much more we can do to grow this relationship with this massive Asian nation, especially as we look towards the possibilities that a cleaner, greener economy will bring.

As some honourable members may have heard, Sun Cable, which is based in the Northern Territory, is going to be the world's largest solar powered project. It will transmit solar energy via an undersea cable. It will go through the Indonesian archipelago to Singapore, as well as Darwin on the way through, powering the Top End.

Both the Northern Territory and Indonesia are very rich in critical minerals, so there are also opportunities for us to consider merging our supply chains. Indonesia might help refine Australian lithium, for example, and manufacture it into batteries for the global market. However, the Northern Territory is also looking at options where it can value-add with those critical minerals here on Australian soil.

Having strong, powerful relationships with our near neighbours is very important. It breeds enhanced cooperation and mutual understanding. There are many ways that we can help each other.

The Albanese Labor government is working hard to shrink the former government's backlog of more than a million visa applications, employing hundreds and hundreds more staff to get this vital processing of those visas done. We all know we are facing a post-COVID labour and skills shortage and we need to do more to attract skilled migrants to Australia. We need to streamline those visa processes and that is why have announced a review into migration. We know in the Northern Territory that we won't be able to tap the full potential of the Northern Territory unless we have a trained and willing labour force on hand to help us do that vital work. It is important for our regional partners. We are working with them for seasonal workers to come the Northern Territory but we would also very much like to see more permanent migration into the Northern Territory.

There was so much in our government's first budget for the Northern Territory and so much that underlines the understanding that, by investing in infrastructure, skills and our local communities, we will build not only a better Northern Territory but a better Australia, and the regions of the Northern Territory are so important in that aim. Building better regions is exactly what our government is committed to doing. In the budget we saw a whopping $2.5 billion—that's billion with a 'b'—investment in infrastructure in the Territory. That includes not only the much-discussed $1.5 billion for the Middle Arm sustainable development precinct, which will house not only Sun Cable, as I have previously mentioned, but also clean green hydrogen production, ammonia production, which are essential to our pivot towards renewables. I would also like to see the manufacture of solar panels and a data storage centre located in that precinct. We have committed the funding for that enabling infrastructure.

We also know that water security is essential and we are investing $300 million to shore up the Darwin region's water supply. Obviously, water is one of our most precious resources. We need to future-proof our water supply. A lot of people might be thinking, 'Well, the Top End gets a lot of rain during the wet season,' and we do but we also need to capture some of that so that we can fuel our industry with water and make sure that we have secure water supplies to grow the Territory population sustainably. Obviously, future-proofing our water supply as we face a warming planet is going to be important; it's going to make us more resilient for the future.

The Albanese Labor government, our government, will work with the Northern Territory government to return the Manten Dam to service and critical water supply upgrades to the Strauss water treatment plant, the transfer pumps and pipelines. The project will also fund preconstruction activities to further develop the Adelaide River Off-Stream Water Storage project, which is known as AROWS. I took a fly over the AROWS project recently with the infrastructure minister, Catherine King, to show her this incredible natural basin that will greatly increase our water storage capacity by taking a small percentage of the peak flows in the Adelaide River into a basin adjacent to the Adelaide River—so not damming the Adelaide River—and that will greatly increase our water security into the future. These projects will help to unlock opportunities for agricultural, industrial and urban water users, including those at Middle Arm. Green hydrogen needs water, H2O, to produce hydrogen, gas and the other forms, with by-product oxygen when you are producing that hydrogen. When you have a process providing distilled water and oxygen as well as the important gas for the future, that is all good.

The budget also focused on delivering over a billion dollars in roads funding to the Territory, because our government understands that a country with good roads has more secure and resilient supply chains and a safer community. In my electorate of Solomon, that means almost $30 million for the overpass at Tiger Brennan Drive and Berrimah Road, a very dangerous intersection where we've lost many lives. As well as saving lives—I'm sure—this overpass of Berrimah Road over Tiger Brennan Drive will be great for productivity. Productivity advances will come from there no longer being that bottleneck at that intersection so that we can get product straight down to the East Arm Wharf and straight off. About 20,000 Territorians take that commute on Tiger Brennan Drive each day, so, as well as making it easier for trucks to get in and out of the port and making it safer—as I mentioned—it's going to be great for productivity. It's a significant investment, but it will pay real dividends.

We've also committed almost $30 million to new Commonwealth supported university places at Charles Darwin University, which is the Territory's university. That was the largest commitment to any single university in the country. It goes to my point that this federal Labor government under Anthony Albanese, the member for Grayndler, understands that, for our nation to fulfil its potential, we need the Northern Territory to fulfil its potential, and part of that is educating our people, getting a trained, skilled workforce and having that tide lift all boats in the Northern Territory. Honourable members would understand that we have some of the lower socio-economic areas in our country. So we're getting more uni places, but we're also investing in skills and training for Territorians, with over $5 million committed for fee-free TAFE positions, vocational education and training positions, and that's going to be great for our expanding workforce and our expanding industry that needs that skilled workforce.

We're also investing in the Solomon community to make it a safer and happier place for all Territorians and for all our residents. There are a number of measures for our senior Territorians in the budget, and I'm proud of those. We've also got health infrastructure—$11.6 million for a new First Nations health clinic in Palmerston, as it has greatly outgrown its current site. It's a place where culturally appropriate health care will be provided. Not only will that take some of the pressure off the Palmerston Regional Hospital's emergency department but it will keep people well and be pre-emptive in making sure that First Nations Territorians are healthier. That's one of the practical ways in which we can start to close the gap and combat chronic disease.

We've also committed $11 million for a second helicopter for CareFlight for medical evacuations, and that will give the Top End better coverage. We all know that helicopters need maintenance. One can be out on a job, and it will be called to another job because a tourist has gotten into trouble somewhere or someone working out on their pastoral property needs assistance or medical evacuation back to Royal Darwin Hospital or further south, depending on the level of treatment needed. That helicopter will make sure that everyone who either lives in the Top End or is visiting the Top End will have better medical evacuation coverage. It will literally be a lifeline for remote Territorians, and that is an important point. We will also get an urgent care clinic for the Darwin and Palmerston region. That is another measure that will take some of the pressure off the Royal Darwin Hospital's emergency department and make sure that, when people need urgent care, they can get it quickly.

I was proud to secure—in fact, it was one of my highest priorities—$5 million for a youth engagement hub for the northern suburbs. We used to have a youth shack; it has closed now, unfortunately. The owner of the building that the youth shack was housed in sold it to McDonald's so we could have an extra McDonald's. But the silver lining is that I've secured a commitment to make sure that we've got a state-of-the-art youth engagement hub that is co-designed with young people so that we can make sure that more of our young people stay on the right track. Territorians know how important that is. It will support them and wrap around them. It will provide guidance, mentors, a feed and a safe place. I'm really proud of that youth engagement hub commitment. We're not forgetting about older folk either, with $1 million for a Darwin men's shed.

In closing, the thing I'm probably proudest of, which I've committed to for a long time, is a supported hub for veterans in my electorate. I'm proud of the budget.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023. It's a slightly strange time to be addressing our 2022-23 budget in November, but, obviously, it relates to the timing of the federal election. Though it was way back in May, the new government announced that they would update the appropriation bills, effectively, or introduce new ones to the budget that was handed down by the previous government in March. And here we are debating the new government's update to the budget.

In many ways, this budget—as government speakers, more than any others, have pointed out—is effectively just implementing election commitments that the government took to the election. We would absolutely expect them to do that. It's not overly impressive to have a budget that keeps promises that you made when you went to the people and asked for their support, although it doesn't keep all the promises that the government made. There is one related to electricity prices that it spectacularly confirms it will not keep, but I'll come to that in a moment.

This budget was handed down in very dire economic circumstances. None of us in this place want to see the Australian economic environment deteriorate, but, regrettably, inflation in particular is at a very dangerous point. It is at the highest level since the early 1990s. The ABS's most recent figure is 7.3 per cent. Each quarter it is steadily ratcheting up. The other really concerning thing is that, each time the government or the Reserve Bank update their forecasts, they're updating with increases. Each time new forecasts are given, as these things are updated, we're not seeing anything other than a revision up on inflation. That's really frightening because in my adult life we've never had inflation like this. People around my age or younger have never really experienced what inflation does.

It is the most insidious thing in an economy. It's the great destroyer of wealth. It destroys savings. It destroys plans that people have made for their futures, particularly when they're on a fixed income. They might be retired and have provisioned an amount of money that they expected could look after their financial needs into the future. Inflation really takes all that away. I certainly remember that my grandparents retired in the early 1970s just before Gough Whitlam came to power, and the destruction of their savings over the next few years under that government was a story that stayed in our family for decades. It was a story that I heard in the mid to late 1990s about the early 1970s.

One thing that really worries me is whether we're not taking inflation as seriously as we should be. I certainly think that in this budget we're not taking inflation seriously at all. We know what a budget can do to help an inflation challenge. We know what the Reserve Bank is doing from a monetary policy point of view. As we speak, they are increasing interest rates. They're increasing the cost of capital, by which they are attempting to dampen economic activity, make it more expensive to borrow money and therefore create a higher consequence for the decision and the outcome of doing so, in an attempt to take some of the heat out of inflationary pressures.

What the federal government could do is assist from a fiscal point of view. When inflation is running high, what you don't want is the government contributing to it by spending a lot more money than they take in—that is, running significant government deficits—because that is pumping money into the economy by its very nature. If you're taking in a certain amount of money in tax and other revenues, but you're putting more out in expenditure, then you are pushing more money into an economy that's already overheating to the tune of 7.3 per cent, as per the most recent forecasts.

We didn't see the government respond to inflation in this budget, in these appropriation bills, whatsoever. In fact, heartbreakingly, what we also saw is that, despite going to an election in May saying that they would put in place policies that would reduce the average household energy bill by $275 a year, the budget that was handed down by the government two weeks ago confirmed that over the next two years electricity prices will increase by 56 per cent. The next two years are the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years. If the government are saying they will still achieve that $275 reduction, then I suppose that means in the year 2024-25 they will be cutting electricity prices by something like 60 per cent or more. That would be absolutely remarkable—all strength to their arm—but they're not making that commitment. However, I make the point that, to achieve the solemn promise they made, that's the magnitude of what would have to be achieved against their own forecasts. So it's very frightening to see the confirmation of that. That gas prices, equally, are rising 20 per cent this year and another 20 per cent next year is really frightening. But what is devastating is that in their budget the government confirmed these price increases, and also confirmed they would do absolutely nothing whatsoever about this dramatic increase in burdens on the average family and the average business in our economy.

The budget was an opportunity to say: 'Look, we've got to come clean. We said at the election that we were going to cut electricity prices. Far from it, they're going up by 56 per cent. Because of that, these are all the things we're going to do to support households and businesses to meet this dramatic increase in the burden on them of their electricity prices.' That was a very simple opportunity, and it didn't happen.

Yes, the government implemented a number of their election commitments, except the electricity price one, which I would venture to say was a pretty significant one for the average voter. I think they would feel pretty cheated, pretty dudded. If you were undecided going into that ballot box, you might have said, 'The one thing the Labor Party have said they'll do is cut my power bill by $275.' For a lot of people, their electricity bill is a very significant burden on the household budget. For many businesspeople it is the most significant cost pressure in their expenditure. So I've got no doubt that a lot of people might have been swayed by that commitment, but it turns out that that will not be honoured; that will not be happening.

The people of Australia will mete out there commensurate punishment on this government for that at the next election, but in the meantime we really are here not to delight in the political misfortune of that; we're here to plead with the government to actually do something to help people address this devastating blow that was confirmed in these appropriations bills regarding the burdens that will come onto the household budget. While the Reserve Bank is fighting inflation, they're increasing interest rates, so, as your power bill's going up, your mortgage and the interest rate on your business loan is as well.

We've got no idea what the end in sight is or if the end is in sight on interest rates going up. They've gone up at every meeting of the Reserve Bank since May, including a very unorthodox 50 basis points for a couple of meetings in a row, which dropped back recently to 25 basis points. There's one more meeting before Christmas and one early next year. We don't know what 2023 has in store for the cost of capital in our economy, but, at the same time as the Reserve Bank is increasing interest rates, they're also saying that they expect inflation to be higher than the figure it is at the moment, which is provoking the current increases.

Regrettably, if their predictions come true, there will be more rate rises in the future. Power bills are going up. Mortgages are going up. Of course, as we know, the impact of mortgage increases will be felt by people on fixed-term loans when those loans reach the maturity and they go to refinance. In our economy, the typical average of a fixed loan is about three years, so every week, every month, people are refinancing. Their refinancing is probably not going up by 25 basis points but by three per cent and climbing. That will have a huge impact on the family budget. The people of Australia need this government to recognise just how hard it is to make ends meet and what these challenges are, and the government need to be focused on making decisions and supporting the families and businesses of this country to meet these challenges.

In my own electorate, regrettably, there seems to have been precious little committed insofar as infrastructure and other things are concerned. I am hoping that, with all the reprofiling of infrastructure et cetera that a commitment that was made and confirmed in the pre-election fiscal outlook, a decision of government to fund the Kensington Gardens Reserve clubroom upgrade of $3.6 million is going to be honoured. There is ambiguity around that commitment as it stands, because that program has been ceased, but there is some waffley language about the potential to reprofile projects committed to prior to PFO through other funds. Nonetheless, I will continue to hold the government to account for that one single commitment that was actually something that we delivered. All they need to do is not remove the funding for that and it will see the good people of Sturt get one solitary investment out of this budget. If they take that away, it will be truly low and disgraceful, because these are deserving sports clubs in our community and they deserve that money. It is a merit based decision, and I expect the government to honour that commitment.

In my last few moments, I will conclude by saying whilst we commend and will be supporting—

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! As there is no quorum present, the Federation Chamber is suspended.

Sitting suspended from 18:22 to 18:25

(Quorum formed)

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

Alan Kohler is a very respected economist. He pointed out that the last time a new government brought down its first budget was in 2014 and it was a disaster for all concerned. He pointed out that spending was cut by $14.2 billion over four years and receipts were increased by $3.2 billion—an extraction of $17.4 billion. As a result of that disastrous budget the then Treasurer, Joe Hockey, the member for North Sydney, was diminished. He never recovered. His reputation was in tatters. Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the member for Warringah, was gone within a year or two as well. He was rolled by the then member for Wentworth, Malcolm Turnbull. It goes to show that, if you get the budget wrong, things can go very wrong, and it did with that government at that time. In 2013 they got elected. They had no mandate to do anything much—except, of course, saying that there would be no cuts to the ABC, no cuts to the SBS, no cuts to the pension and no cuts generally. But they had a commission of audit and then inflicted a massive amount of cuts on the Australian public. It was a shocking betrayal.

This Albanese government's budget is focused on a better future for Australia and delivering our election promises. There's responsible cost-of-living relief—and I will point that out in my speech. There are some targeted investments to build a stronger and more resilient economy. There are some efforts being put in in terms of budget repair. This responsible fiscal budget provides some economic stability and I think some of the security that we need. It's critical that we hand out a budget that is responsible in really uncertain times. We've a war in Ukraine and energy chaos in this country caused, I might add, by 22 failed policies by those opposite. The NEG didn't even last 12 hours. That's a classic example of the failure of energy policy by those opposite. Those political parties denied in large part climate change and then celebrated when the price on carbon was taken away. We have natural disasters, with climate change on display for all to see.

Rising inflation and rising interest rates have had a big impact on our economy. There's a really strong emphasis in this budget on the cost-of-living package. We're delivering childcare reform to 1.26 million families. Some 8,900 families in my electorate of Blair will benefit. There's an expansion of the Paid Parental Leave scheme to 26 weeks for working parents. We're cutting the costs of medicines in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and slashing the PBS maximum general co-payment to $30 a script. What a difference that will make to average Australian families. We're making housing more affordable by helping more people to buy their home. There's the Housing Australia Future Fund of $10 billion.

There is extra assistance to First Nations women fleeing domestic and family violence. It's part of a $1.7 billion package to assist women and children in particular fleeing domestic and family violence. That's very dear to my heart because I was an accredited specialist in family law and practised in family law and child protection for such a long time before I came to this place in 2007.

The 20,000 affordable homes that we're going to construct under the National Housing Accord are really important. It's critical to get wages moving after nearly a decade when wages flatlined. We heard speeches in the House of Representatives in the last 24 hours by those opposite. They believe in some sort of New Jerusalem or Valhalla and that all of a sudden you can operate as a government and wages will go up magically without any initiative or effort; somehow people will roll over and provide the wage growth that didn't happen in the last 10 years. They deliberately kept wages down. It was a deliberate design feature. That is exactly what former senator Mathias Cormann said. Those were his words. He said it was a 'deliberate design feature' to keep wages low. So, down there in the chamber, in the other place, they are talking about this legislation that will provide assistance to representatives of workers and workers generally—the lowest paid workers in the country and the heroes of the pandemic—and those opposite can't even bring themselves to support that legislation.

Here we are with two great decisions being handed down in the period of time since this government came to power: the decision to give the lowest paid workers—millions of people—a 5.2 per cent increase in the minimum wage and the 15 per cent increase for aged-care workers announced in the last week or so in response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. This is a government that supports those increases for low-paid workers, who are mainly in feminised workplaces like child care, aged care and a whole range of areas like that. Those opposite did nothing about that in nearly a decade in office, and they can't even bring themselves to support legislation that will help women and low-paid workers in those areas who really need help. It's critical that we get wages moving. There wasn't a budget paper in the last nine years under the coalition where the wage outcome wasn't lower than the budget papers stated. The level of wage wealth—if I can put it like that—compared to profit wealth in the share of GDP has never been lower in this country. So we've got to get wages moving. It's critical, particularly in circumstances where inflation is close to eight per cent.

As part of this budget, we're investing in a whole range of things that will help my electorate. In particular, TAFE Queensland South West will benefit enormously from the hundreds of thousands of extra fee-free places. That will help working-class kids and battling communities in suburbs like Ripley Valley, Springfield, Bundamba, Ebbw Vale, East Ipswich, Basin Pocket and Booval in my electorate get access to TAFE places. There are 20,000 additional university places for disadvantaged Australians. That will help USQ, Springfield USQ and Ipswich USQ. That will be really critical. They do great work, and they're much-loved institutions in my electorate.

There is also the Powering Australia plan to invest in cleaner and cheaper energy and transmission networks. I am really strongly of the view that we need community batteries in my electorate in Ipswich, and I'm looking forward to lobbying and have already started lobbying the responsible minister for that. It's absolutely critical. There is also a $120 billion investment in nation-building infrastructure, and there are a number of road projects in my electorate, including the final stage of the Ipswich Motorway. The Queensland government wanted the money, so we gave them $12.5 million in the budget for planning works for the final stage from the Oxley roundabout towards the Centenary interchange. It's absolutely crucial. Each day, 100,000 vehicles go through that part of the Ipswich Motorway between Ipswich and Brisbane, and that money is absolutely vital.

There are some responsible budget improvements. There's some stopping of Liberal Party waste, there's some delivering of infrastructure projects in a more responsible timeline, there's some restraining of government expenditure, there's some improvement in terms of the quality of spend in the budget and there's some improvement in the integrity and fairness of the tax system, clamping down on multinational tax evasion. It's what the Australian public wanted going forward.

There is also an expansion of the NBN, particularly mobile coverage, which has been the bane of my existence in my time in parliament here. I struggled with the former government to get better connectivity and mobile phone coverage in country towns in the Brisbane Valley and places like Linville, Moore, Esk, Coominya and Toogoolawah and also in rural Ipswich. So I really appreciate the fact that we put hundreds of millions of dollars in this area to support the expansion of mobile phone coverage, and also farm connectivity. It's so important for the primary producers in my electorate.

There is some support also for veterans, which is so critical. I'm looking forward to the veterans hub in the Ipswich and Springfield area. I've been working on that project with the member for Oxley, and I think that's absolutely vital. I thank the RSLs for what they do—the Ipswich Railway sub-branch and the Ipswich sub-branch of the RSL. I will be at the Ipswich sub-branch on Friday for Remembrance Day, and my staff and volunteers will be at other places like Springfield and Pine Mountain. I want to honour and thank the veterans for what they do. I want to thank all the people who work at the RAAF base at Amberley. They really make our community a much stronger and better place in which to live. I'm really pleased that we've got bipartisan support for the expansion of the RAAF base at Amberley and what we've done. This is so important.

There are a number of important projects in my electorate that I'm looking forward to, which are in the budget. There's the $12.5 million for Cytiva for the Springfield BioPark project. That will advance medical manufacturing. When that biopark is up and running and Cytiva is up there we're looking at about a thousand jobs in that region. That's really important.

In Springfield we've provided the funding that Ipswich City Council wants for the next stage of the business case for the Ipswich to Springfield rail line, $3.4 million, as part of the city deal. We're honouring that. There's funding in the budget for a Medicare urgent care clinic. There's one in Ipswich to take the pressure off the Ipswich Hospital emergency department by providing care from a doctor or nurse for things like strains, sprains, broken bones, stitches, wound care and minor conditions.

I'm also deeply appreciative of Simone Jackson, the CEO of Kambu Health. They do a great job in my electorate helping First Nations people. There's $2.5 million to support our local Indigenous community to relocate the family and children's centre, which I got $1 million for some years ago. They're going to relocate that out to Silkstone and expand the Kambu clinic in Ipswich with more treatment rooms and better administration. That will expand 10,000 to 12,000 patients' options in Kambu in Ipswich.

There's more money for flood recovery and resilience projects. There's $4 million to upgrade the showgrounds in Ipswich. Of that $4 million, $1.5 million is to improve amenities for the local emergency relief centre. I'm looking forward to working—and I am working—towards a better outcome for the people in that little part of Brisbane in my electorate around Karana Downs and Mount Crosby, who, I think, get cut off all the time and get forgotten by the Brisbane City Council. They're cut off from Ipswich, Colleges Crossing and Kholo. If the road goes under, they're cut off with Ugly Gully as they go towards Brisbane. They call themselves the Crosby island. We're looking at some funding there under the Disaster Ready Fund, the $200 million we're putting aside every year. I'm looking forward to working with the local community to get money towards that.

There's some money that I think is really critical for our local area. There are small grants like the money we got for the toy library in multicultural Ipswich. Redbank Plains is the fastest-growing suburb in Ipswich. It really is growing. There are more people living in Redbank Plains than in the city of Maryborough in Queensland. There's a huge number of people. It's really growing quickly. New schools are going in there, and that money is important.

The Indian community do a fantastic job. In the eastern suburbs of Ipswich, we're seeing a very large Indigenous community grow and an Indian community grow. We have a very strong presence of both Indigenous and Indian communities across Ipswich, particularly in the eastern suburbs, where the Indian community is so large. We've got $3.5 million for India House, which is a project that I want to thank Jim Varghese and a lot of people for. Maha Sinnathamby has been behind it as well. We have organisations in the Ipswich community and across South-East Queensland who do a fantastic job in helping the Indian community.

We have nearly 60,000 people in the Indian community living in South-East Queensland. I want to praise and thank the Federation of Indian Communities of Queensland, the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin, or GOPIO, the Australia India Business Council and, particularly, the Australia India Community Charitable Trust, who have lobbied me very hard.

We recognise the active participation of the Indian community, and I've been to a number of Diwali events, such as one at the BAPS temple in Logan. There are about 150 families from my area worshipping at that temple in Logan, and I go there regularly. I've been to a number of Diwali events in Brisbane, and I was very pleased to launch a new charitable trust in Indooroopilly last Saturday evening. I thank them for the work they do.

India House will be a place to meet and a place for the business community to get together, but there will also be some social and community assistance. One thing they're very keen on doing is supporting women and children and those fleeing domestic and family violence. I've had some very extensive discussions with the Indian communities and some of those organisations I referred to earlier. I want to thank them for the work they do. So whether it's the Indigenous community in Ipswich, in Springfield, or the Indian community, I'll be there for them. This budget provides assistance, across a range of projects, that fulfils Labor's commitment to those various communities, but to other communities as well.

So I'm very pleased to support this appropriations legislation. It fulfils just so many of the commitments I made during the course of this campaign. And I thank the Treasurer, my friend the member for Rankin, for the work he does.

Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Budgets represent difficult decisions for governments. They're hard decisions. There are so many worthy projects brought to the Treasurer from all members of parliament and across society. It's that balance of: 'What are the projects to fund, and what are the projects not to do?' Those are some of the difficult challenges of a budget.

But it's not just about the individual projects. It's also about setting this country up for the future. I want to talk about how this budget does that, in some ways, extremely well, but then how it leaves on the table a number of opportunities where we need to take action right now.

Let me firstly talk to the positive aspects of the budget, because, as I said, there are many positive things. I come from Wentworth in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. I remember, very vividly, standing in Paddington at Five Ways one day, talking to different people about what was important to them, and a woman came up to me and said: 'Child care is my most important issue.' Actually, she walked past me and said, 'I'm not sure I want to talk,' and then she came back and said, 'No, I do want to tell you something,' and she told me: 'Child care is the most important issue for me. It was difficult to get child care. It was really expensive. I decided not to. I took more time off than I would have. And now, on reflection, I wish I hadn't. I didn't have the choices that I wish I'd had.' And that is why, as I've said previously, the investment in child care that this government has made is absolutely essential—and particularly to communities like Wentworth, where we have incredibly well-educated women who want to contribute to the world. But we need to give them a chance to do that, and child care is absolutely crucial.

As we're speaking about women, I also want to talk about parental leave. This is one of the areas that wasn't necessarily expected in the budget but was incredibly welcome. I'm so excited that we've increased paid parental leave and, most crucially, that we're going to advocate for part of that to be 'use it or lose it' for the second parent, who is, typically, a man. Again, I stood in Wentworth partly because I wanted to see a shift in the gender equity in this country and in this parliament, and I wanted to enable women to succeed. I think that paid parental leave, where there's an emphasis on parents sharing the caring, could have an enormous positive cultural impact on our country, in terms of economic opportunities for women. But it's also for men—to build greater bonds with their children, and improve mental health, as has been shown, and be good for child development. So I was very excited to see that in the budget.

Again, we're still speaking about women, so let me talk about domestic violence. One of the issues that many people have come to talk to me about is domestic violence. I was shocked, when I met the local commander for the police and asked: 'What do you spend your time on?' and he said: 'Fifty per cent of our time is spent on domestic violence.' In an area like Wentworth—which people assume is wealthy and so perhaps doesn't have the scourge of domestic violence—50 per cent of the time of the police is spent on domestic violence. That is why it's absolutely crucial that there was that investment in those services, and I hope very much that wonderful services like Bondi Cottage get support through that increased investment in services and in domestic violence support.

There are other communities of mine that I think are really important. Let me talk about the young and the old. One of the hardest things, I think—being someone probably in the middle of age—is to look at the generations coming behind you and wonder: 'Are they going to actually have a worse time than we are?' And, when I look at something like housing, I think: 'You know what? They absolutely are,' because the tables have turned on housing. In Wentworth, so many parents and grandparents came to me and said: 'Our children will never be able to buy near us. Our children are working hard. They're educated. They're young couples with two jobs, and they will never be able to buy a house.' And that's borne out by the statistics: it takes twice as long to save up for a house in this country than it did 20 or so years ago. The amount of time and the percentage of income it takes to pay for a house is even more. It is absolutely vital that the government said it's going to look at housing supply, because this is an issue of housing supply. Fundamentally, Australia has 400 dwellings per thousand people. If we had the same as the OECD, we'd have another two million houses. Two million dwellings is possibly what this country needs to grow. The government haven't stood up for that, but they did put a line in the sand and say, 'We're going to try to get a million dwellings built in this country.' I applaud them for that effort and I applaud them for working with the states and local governments on this, because this is a national problem. So these are some of the areas that I think have been really positively addressed in the budget.

I'll speak briefly also to aged care, which is an investment that so many my community really value, and, finally, I'll speak to renewable energy. Wentworth has stood up and said: 'We care about the climate. We care about the environment.' That's why people live in Wentworth—for its beautiful environment, for its beautiful beaches. They care about the natural world and they want to preserve that for their children. My community is incredibly excited that there's such investment in the clean energy transformation that this country needs to go through, and I congratulate the government on those investments.

However, there are areas within the budget which are concerning to me, and one of those is absolutely energy. For a long time we have been denying that we need to have a transformation of our energy system. I think the government has acknowledged that we do need to transform our energy systems, but you still see in the budget investment in fossil fuels and fossil fuel subsidies that fly in the face of the clean energy revolution that we all know we need to go through. I'd like to highlight the $7 billion of fuel tax credits that were in the budget—$7 billion. It's among the top 20 budget expenditure items, and that was spent on subsidising fossil fuels and the fuel tax credits. There was also a $1.5 billion investment in the Middle Arm precinct, which is effectively investment in gas. My community appreciates the difficulties and challenges of having a responsible budget, but that sort of money—$7 billion in fuel tax credits and $1.5 billion in the Middle Arm precinct—flies in the face of what my community expects in terms of the clean energy revolution.

Another key issue: my community expect a government that governs well. They're really supportive of the investment in the budget for the National Anti-Corruption Commission. However, they do not like to see money spent where there is not a strong economic case for its justification. I think the $2.2 billion of investment in Victoria's Suburban Rail Loop, without it being signed off by the independent assessor, Infrastructure Australia, or approved under the National Land Transport Act, disappoints my community. We want money that stacks up in the business cases. We want infrastructure that is top priority for the country and that isn't about doing favours for other members or other parts of the country. It has to be an investment that stacks up for every person in this country, because, frankly, it's paid for by every person in this country. That is what my community expects. We do expect money to be spent on the top priority projects that build this country. We don't like to see cash splashed around irresponsibly.

I'd like to move on to the two major missed opportunities of this budget. The first is energy prices. The budget acknowledges that household and business energy prices will be going up by around 50 per cent. That is a huge burden on the community and on business. At the same time we are seeing gas and coal companies make superprofits because of the war in Ukraine and the consequential tightening of energy supply around the world. As I keep on saying, this is a fossil fuel crisis. This is not a clean energy crisis, as some people would paint it. The sun hasn't got more expensive. The wind isn't more expensive. This is about coal and gas being more expensive because of a foreign war and then Australians being exposed to that rather than being the beneficiaries of our enormous natural resources.

I come from business. I am actually very loath to try and change investments or change circumstances for businesses who are making investments and expect to get their money back and make profit. I support that a hundred per cent. But, when the profit is coming out of a war, I don't think that argument passes the pub test. That's really what I've been saying for the last four months. So I am pleased that the government seems to be taking this issue seriously, but I wish that they had taken that issue seriously enough to make it something that actually went into the budget rather than something that we're still waiting for.

The last piece that I think is important to address in the budget is structural deficits. We have, at this stage, structural deficits as far as the eye can see. For the next 10 years, we're looking at a two per cent structural deficit broadly across the economy. When we come back to intergenerational fairness, that is not fair on our future generations. We are building up debt for them. I think of a young person today saying: 'I can't afford to buy a house. I'm concerned about climate change and the impact that it is going to have on me and my children and our quality of life. And the country is building up a debt that I'm going to have to pay off later on.' I don't think that we are being fair to the generation underneath us by not addressing this. So what I wanted to see in this budget was an acknowledgement that we need to deal with the structural deficit and we need to work out how to truly drive productivity in this economy, and also how to manage to live within our means and make sure that we actually can pay for the things that we are demanding.

I would have liked to see the government make some hard choices in spending. I think the government could have looked at some of the investments that we have made which are not making us any better and not getting the outcomes we need and said: 'Did we need to spend that money? Could we spend that money better and get different outcomes?' I have been urging the government and will continue to urge the government to look at the tax system, because the tax system, in the words of many economists and businesspeople, is broken. It is not serving our productivity. It can be, in many cases, a drag on the economy and a drag on innovation. It is a drag on things like housing. It actually stops fluid housing movement. Consider things like stamp duty; while it is a state tax, it is something that really needs federal government support to be able to be addressed. I would have loved to see the government acknowledge this and say, 'We're going to have a tax review,' but they didn't, so I'm going to continue to drive this in the parliament. We need to see money better spent, and we also need to make sure that we know how to live within our means and we have a tax system that drives productivity and growth across the country and literally grows the pie.

I commend the government for what is really good in this budget, but I want to acknowledge that there are areas where my community expects more. That is in terms of not subsidising fossil fuels; making the hard decisions to not support projects that are politically expedient but don't stack up under infrastructure cost-benefit analysis; dealing with the hard choices in terms of energy prices; and, finally, recognising that a structural deficit as far as the eye can see is not tenable for future generations. We must deal with it, and we must deal with it in a way that drives productivity and grows the pie for other generations.

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

I proudly rise to support Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023, with Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2022-2023 and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023, representing a sensible and realistic path for Australia's economic future. The bill delivers on the key promises that Labor took to the election—important commitments like cheaper child care, cheaper medications and investment in infrastructure.

We are moving quickly; we have done more in office over the last five months than the other mob could have ever dreamed of. Maybe that's why the Australian people turned to us in May. They wanted change, and they wanted the Albanese Labor government to do that. While delivering some of the key election promises that provide large social impact, this budget puts the health of the economy at the centre of, at the heart of, what we're doing. After years of cuts and pork barrelling from those on the other side of the chamber, it fixes many of their failings and responds to the global and national challenges that we face today.

I also proudly rise to support the appropriations bill as it gives the electorate of McEwen much-needed funding after being neglected for nearly a decade, a fact that was noted by the Liberal candidate at the last election, who openly said that they hadn't been delivering in the area for nine years. The Albanese government has shown its commitment to regional infrastructure and development in this budget, which is going to make a huge impact for our communities. We are delivering on all of the promises that I made to the people of McEwen throughout the campaign. We have listened and are responding to the conversations that we had throughout the electorate during the campaign, and we are delivering on those promises.

Overall, nearly $200 million will be invested in the electorate of McEwen. This includes investments like $15 million to build the much-needed stage 2 of the Macedon Ranges Regional Sports Precinct, something that was sorely overlooked for so long, making way for the coalition's pet projects in their own seats. This funding will invest in our local sporting community and have a huge impact on opportunities for members of our community. For nine years the coalition neglected to do that. In fact, they made an announcement literally only 10 minutes before the Prime Minister called the election. It makes you wonder about their genuineness, doesn't it?

There is $11 million allocated to fixing our roads, making our region safer and more accessible. Most people in the region will tell you the importance of this investment as we see the potholes and road degradation every day, particularly from the weather events that have started. People should recognise that the potholes we face on our roads are caused a lot by weather. The shortage of infrastructure spending in Victoria has meant that the Victorian government has had to stretch its dollars further. Our government is committed to getting regional roads in better condition for us to have safer travel. The Camerons Lane Interchange will get $150 million to ease pressure on the roads, particularly in and around Beveridge, and allow people to get to and from work more quickly every day. It also opens up huge opportunities for our suburbs in terms of business and jobs.

Furthermore, the investment in other infrastructure projects, including the over $2 billion in the suburban rail loop will be a huge economic investment and productivity booster for the economy, including for the people of McEwen. This massive project will provide job opportunities for our tradies during the building of the loop and easier access to services and institutions, including hospitals, when it's complete. After years of neglect from the previous government, we are finally getting the investment that our community deserves. The Albanese government is providing what matters to the people of McEwen.

The appropriation bill provides for regional Australia. It includes 760 initiatives to boost regional communities and industries across our nation. That is $9.6 billion committed to delivering the infrastructure promises we made, with local government and communities being at the forefront of the investments. We are focusing on sustainable growth in the regions and ensuring that essential services are up to scratch to provide for a growing regional population. These essential services include investing in providing $22.6 million for 29,000 additional in-training support places for apprentices in regional, rural and remote areas on top of our already promised fee-free TAFE places. We are looking at huge programs that will upskill our regions and allow us to have more capacity for infrastructure projects that will develop regional Australia in the future and support our communities.

The Albanese government is investing in regional infrastructure because we know the hard work of the people in our regions translates directly to the health of the Australian economy. With regional industries such as agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining making up an extraordinary 72 per cent of Australia's merchandise exports, we must invest in the regions. You can see our commitment to the regions in the passing of legislation to establish the High Speed Rail Authority. Our government is looking past politics and, instead, making sure all regional communities are accounted for and getting the support that they need.

I commend the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government for her commitment to investing in jobs and projects that can help Australia transition to net zero through the $1.9 billion to the Powering the Regions Fund. The fund will create jobs and cut emissions and, through the National Reconstruction Fund, will provide the support to ensure that regional Australia can harness the economic opportunities from clean energy manufacturing. But we won't stop there. We are investing in huge manufacturing projects to boost regional economies. Unlike those on that side of the chamber, we are making sure regional Australia is not getting left behind. In fact, the National Reconstruction Fund will help support regional committees to expand and transform Australia's industries.

This budget shows we are here for regional Australians. Not only that, but Labor is delivering on our promises to improve the connectivity and communications infrastructure across our great nation. Communications are critical in McEwen. Through this budget we are fixing the holes that the last mob left in the national coverage where people need it—in areas affected by floods, fires and storms. We are fixing the connectivity issues we had Gisborne south and Woodend in our $1.5 million Mobile Black Spot Program. This has been a huge concern for our communities. It was brought up multiple times during our campaign, which is why I am delighted to stand and speak on what we are doing in this budget. We are delivering and fixing the holes left by the previous government.

We know that the Black Spot Program had three major concerns—major transport, rural and regional, and areas of high possibility for natural disasters. We ticked all those boxes but, for political reasons, we could not get support from the previous government. In our first budget, this government has delivered more than the previous government delivered in nine years. We are committed to increasing connectivity, bridging the digital divide and improving mobile coverage.

The Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia will see $1.1 billion dollars delivered to rural and regional communications infrastructure. I am very happy to acknowledge the hard work of the Minister for Communications in making sure regional Australians are looked after in this allocation of funding. Another $400 million will go to expanding regional mobile coverage. Improving the resilience of communications systems will help not only the average Australian but also the businesses in rural Australia, and will help communications infrastructure to work in times of high pressure such as in emergencies.

This budget is future proofing and making sure communications programs are disaster resilient. Some 660,000 premises in regional Australia will receive additional fibre-to-the-node, allowing more workers and more businesses, small and large, to base themselves in the regions. We are committed to making sure every Australian, like our constituents in McEwen, is on an equal footing and has the services they need to go about their daily lives.

But funding in regional Australia doesn't stop there. I am pleased to see the passing of the emergency response bill. With the support for the appropriations bill, the Albanese Labor government is not only committing to responding to recent flooding events across Australia but—importantly—is also looking at ways to mitigate damage in the future. We will be distributing from our resilience fund billions of dollars over the course of the next 10 years to ensure that we are improving infrastructure to be more natural disaster resilient. This means $200 million a year in infrastructure funding going to natural disaster resilience alone. It will make our community of McEwen safer. This is not a bandaid fix but rather a plan to ensure the future of all of our communities.

Once again, it is our government showing up for Australians. As I have said many times in this place, the positive effects will be felt through our electorate. Whether it is the immediate effects of this work being felt in places like Darraweit Guim, where they have gone through the recent floods, or programs like the one in Nillumbik shire that is future proofing our communities, we are acting quickly and responding to the increasing needs of emergency disaster management that the other lot failed to deliver in almost a decade. Despite witnessing the rising frequency and intensity of these disasters, the former government did nothing apart from have a big fund that did nothing but accrue interest. Sure, they made promises and allocated funding but, like everything else, there was a vast difference between announcement and delivery. They were too busy grandstanding and trying to get handshakes from doing the bare minimum. This Labor government will change that and will invest in local communities to make them more disaster resilient and safer to be in. This government is doing more than just delivering for regional Australians. A big part of our budget is implementing the cost-of-living measures in a time of economic hardship. Good examples are that through our legislation that's passed there will be cheaper child care and a reduction in the cost of medicines. Through cheaper child care we are supporting 1.26 million more families by making it cheaper for them to access early childhood education services. For our community that translates to over 6,000 families getting the relief they need. Our other cost-of-living measures include our work reducing the cost of essential medicines on the PBS. After years of neglect to our health system, our government is working hard to fill the gaps left behind by the Liberal and National parties, with over $104 billion being spent on health. The maximum co-payment for medicines will drop from $42.50 to $30 from 1 January 2023, as we promised at the last election. This is just another way that Labor is responsibly cutting in order to support the cost of living.

The last thing I want to talk about regarding these appropriation bills is the support to veterans they provide. I'm proud to be supporting a budget that finally looks after the servicewomen and men who have given so much to our country. I'm passionate about the support for veterans. It is something that is incredibly close and important to me and our community. This budget measure and upcoming legislation are built from the recommendations of the royal commission.

The appropriation bills provide the funding for additional staff to go through the backlog of over 40,000 compensation claims that the last government left hanging. It's not a good act to have this neglect and to have left so many veterans and families without the support they needed, which is why our government is moving quickly to amend this. We are providing the funding for 500 additional staff to go through these claims and support DVA, after years of the last government saying they care about ex-servicemen but actually doing nothing to support them.

I spoke earlier today in this place of one simple case where Len had his claim in for a thousand days—not to actually be processed but just to get assessed. Through talking to Minister Keogh and making that change that we have with the new minister, not only was his claim assessed but it was delivered in 24 hours using the same information that he'd provided three years ago.

So this is a budget that is actually providing relief that is needed, not only to those who work in the sector but also to the very people who have honourably served our country. With that said, I'm proud to support the appropriation bills. It is delivering on our election commitments and is finally, after nine long years, a budget that serves the people of McEwen.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As members know, I have done a lot in the online safety space and the cybersafety space for children in schools and for the community more broadly. So I am quite concerned that in the budget I saw Labor commit just $6 million to online safety in schools when, prior to the election, we committed $23 million to an esafety schools program. That was a wonderful package, a trusted esafety program for schools and a grants program for third-party providers, giving every school in Australia materials to raise awareness of the services provided by the fantastic eSafety Commissioner—the first in the world—that we set up while we were in government so that parents, teachers and students know where to turn for help.

We were going to put additional resources into: training for schoolchildren on emerging online safety and mental health issues, particularly the body language concerns that I hear so much about in the sessions that I do; in-person teacher training to help educators support students and become esafety teacher champions in schools; delivery of the safety animal series, building on the long-term success of the Healthy Harold model for five- to eight-year-olds; and providing every school in Australia access to a free expanded version of the eSafety Commissioner's successful online eSafety Toolkit. We also committed to parental control software; an additional $10 million for the eSafety Commissioner to deliver improved services and supports for victims; $2 million for the Online Safety Grants program for women and girls in CALD communities; legislated the social media antitrolling laws to hold social media companies to account; and legislated the Online Privacy Bill. They were all part of what we were planning. That was a $23 million package.

We do know how important the role and the work of the eSafety Commissioner is. For the first time, on the back of our legislation, the commissioner has been able to issue legal notices against big technology firms requiring them to disclose what they are doing to find and report child sex material being shared on their platforms. This was made possible by our Online Safety Act 2021, a signature reform of the former coalition federal government. This is so important. The eSafety Commissioner has noted that some of the most harmful material online today involves the sexual exploitation of children and, frighteningly, this activity is no longer confined to hidden corners of the dark web but is prevalent on the mainstream platforms that we and our children use every day. That is absolutely true. The eSafety Commissioner reported that the commission in Australia had handled over 61,000 complaints since 2015, the majority comprising child sexual exploitation material. The budget needs to respond to that and to provide what is needed for our young people online. I was significantly concerned after the group of young people recently told me about the videos that are being shared and available for very young children through Omegle. I thank them for their frankness with me.

I was also concerned to see in the budget the cuts for rural and regional infrastructure. For those of us who don't live in cities, they were nation-building projects and vital to production in rural and regional Australia. The regions produce the wealth in this country. Mining and agricultural exports have underpinned and supported Australians, whether it was through the Global Financial Crisis, through COVID or through what we are currently facing. These major rural and regional projects for roads, rail, bridges and ports are critical.

We will see further impacts with the $24 billion in the budget to be spent through on renewables and on the 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 target. We do know that under a particular scenario there will be 28,000 kilometres of transmission lines and 22,500 solar panels needed to 2030. That is 60 million solar panels and 47 megawatt wind turbines needed to be built every month. That really is going to be a critical issue in rural and regional Australia. The social licence is going to be such an issue in our part of the world.

I read an article that said for solar and wind to deliver the global demand for green hydrogen by 2050, 25 per cent of Australia's total land mass will be covered. When you add to that Labor's 30 per cent of land mass to be locked up for threatened species, together, that would be 50 per cent of Australia's land mass. Department officials confirmed that fulfilling that by 2030 will involve locking up millions of additional hectares. So what does this mean for rural and regional areas, for our farmers and graziers? We are yet to hear any of that from Labor. When we add to that the 30 per cent cut to methane by 2030, I suspect very strongly this will become a tax either directly or indirectly. The government is signing up for this and has no idea how it is going to be done. Labor stood by the coalition to not signing up previously. Well, this will have a major impact on rural and regional areas.

We have heard talk about seaweed and other additives. We are a long way from that. We have 1.5 million dairy cattle in Australia, one million cattle in feedlot, and the cost of wild harvest for that would be huge. You are talking about 365,000 tonnes of dried seaweed a year for that, according to Trevor Whittington in the article in Western Australia. Perhaps, if it is produced in-ocean, it will require 18,250 hectares of ocean water.

This policy decision also ignores the feral animals that we see so many of in Australia—pigs, goats, horses, deer, kangaroos and so on. I am really concerned about that approach and the impact on rural, regional and remote parts of Australia.

Again, rural and regional regions are the wealth producers in this country and enable us to meet our obligations. They are the regions that provide the funding for health, the NDIS, pensions and growth projects. I've seen some wonderful projects through the BBRF, despite what those opposite say. I saw an aged-care facility in my part of the world funded through the BBRF. What a great use of taxpayers' money that was. We saw the Ngilgi Cave upgrade. The South West was in line for support under our Regional Accelerator Program, given it's one of the fastest growing and most vibrant electorates in Australia. That was to support businesses and universities. It was for specific infrastructure that is needed to grow the region further.

We also introduced the very popular local roads and community infrastructure grants program. That has been enormously successful and very welcome by local governments. We saw some cuts from the mobile blackspot program, which concerns me. I look at some of the spending that has been really attacked by those on the opposite side. There is the Bunbury outer ring road, which we funded, and the Bussell Highway—that desperately needed a dual carriageway and which it got under our government. I've spoken about local roads and the Roads to Recovery Program. That is so important. There is the blackspot program for roads as well as communications. We introduced the fabulous mobile blackspot tower program, the Bridges Renewal Program, the Stronger Communities Program, and the financial assistance grants programs. They were all there.

I was very proud, in our time in government, to be part of the first ever national action plan for endometriosis. We had committed $58 million more to this in the last budget to roll out pelvic pain clinics. And then there is what we've done with the new university departments of rural health—there is one in ECU in Bunbury—to will help train the wonderful people we're going to need in the health and aged-care sector.

We were funding adult Head to Health centres, and there was one for my part of the world. We were expanding headspace. We had put so many resources into headspace. They are so important in rural and regional areas.

Then there are the cost-of-living issues that affect all Australians at the moment. That's backed up with changes to the ag visas. We need action on the labour shortages that we see in rural and regional areas. The ag visa was part of that. I'm concerned particularly, as I have articulated in other speeches, about the changes to industrial relations and what it will do to our ports in particular. There is the potential of industrial action on construction sites or our ports. This will seriously affect food and perishables getting in and out of our ports, and these are a lot of our exports and imports, which are critical to what we do in rural and regional areas.

I'm also supportive of the Collie to the Coast irrigation scheme and the critical desalination pumping and piping project in our south-west. This is irrigation and fit-for-purpose water.

I understand there is a speaker to follow me. I understand there are some remarks that the speaker after me wants to make, so I will complete my remarks at this point.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you for that courtesy. I give the call to the member for Paterson.

Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Forrest for her consideration. Thank you for that. I rise to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023.

The last 10 years have been a particularly challenging time for many Australians. It has become harder to rent, certainly harder to buy a house, and the cost of living has skyrocketed, with food and fuel at all time highs. The current CPI sits at 10.1 per cent for the 12 months to July 2022. That puts the cost of living at a crisis level. What does that mean in real terms? The current CPI sits at 10.1 per cent. What makes that a crisis? I'll tell you what I think makes it a crisis. It is a crisis when it is virtually impossible to find somewhere to call home, you can't find a place to rent, the dream of owning your own home truly has become a nightmare, let alone trying to live remotely near where you might work, particularly if you're in some of those very congested areas around our big cities.

But if you live in a regional centre, like the one I represent in the seat of Paterson, one of the things that have made it extraordinarily difficult for people is that we have had such a change in the population of our regions. We've warmly embraced that change. We've welcomed people to our regions. In fact, parts of my seat have recently become referred to as the 'nappy belt' because people who left Sydney, particularly during COVID, have come to the Hunter. We're one of the fastest growing regions in New South Wales. That means that the price of housing has skyrocketed and the price of rents has skyrocketed. To give you some idea of what that means in real terms, I went to visit Carrie's Place, which is a service for victims of domestic violence and for people who are experiencing real stress in trying to find a home. It's for women. It has now resorted to handing out tents and sleeping bags. Can you think of anything worse in Australia in 2022 than that a women's crisis centre has lost all hope of trying to assist women? The thought of trying to get them into emergency accommodation, of having affordable homes for them to rent, is so far down the track that it has resorted to having tents that people can pitch in parks, or sometimes in the backyards of family or friends, or to having sleeping bags for couch surfing. Seriously, where are we as a sophisticated First World nation when that is the answer for people? It is clearly not good enough.

We've all made comments about paying $11 or $12 for an iceberg lettuce, especially during floods and when droughts were crippling Australian agriculture, but the price of groceries has become so high that it is incredibly difficult. In fact, we've become the eighth most expensive place on the planet to buy groceries. It's just not acceptable. Food security is something that we don't often think about in Australia. It's not like in some nations around the world where you really do have to wonder where that next meal will come from. But for many Australians that is the case.

My thinking on this is that we have to do better. So I couldn't be prouder to support the most recent budget—the financial road map, if you like—that was presented by the Treasurer, because it gives Australians a sense of having a government that has not only an eye to their future but a very real eye to the present. We are actually working on increasing real wages. We know that wages have gone nowhere in the last 10 years, juxtaposed by the facts I've just given about rentals and housing going through the roof. We know that housing is the primary impost on a family budget. So we have to be able to help Australians get somewhere to live and have shelter. It's a primary need for all human beings to have a safe and secure place to lay their head at night and to raise a family. Even those people who are able to afford a family home and have a mortgage—and good on you for that—need us to make it less stressful for them. They are going to work every day. They should be able to earn a decent wage.

At this pivotal time in Australia's history, I'm actually so pleased that the last decade has passed us by and we can really embrace the change that will come under the Albanese government, where people who work hard will receive better wages for it. They will have a hope of being able to have a home to call their own, whether they rent it or are able to buy it. They will have hope for their children in the future to have a good education, whether that's through properly funded public education or the choice of being able to afford private education. They will have a good and positive outlook for having those children educated in tertiary education, whether that means getting an apprenticeship, going to TAFE or going on to university. These are the things that people think about every day. They're the hopes and dreams. Sometimes that word 'aspiration' is cast about.

In talking to people across my seat for the last six years, people really do want that Australian belief of a fair go. They want a good job. They want to be able to go to work. They want to afford to pay their way. They're more than happy to pay their way, but they want to know that they're being rewarded or at least acknowledged for having a go. That's why I am so proud that we've been able to put forward a budget that gives people that road map for the future. It says that there is hope that you will earn a decent day's wage for a decent day's work. There is a hope that you can afford to have a home. There is a hope that, if you have children, they can be well educated, and, if you don't, that those children who are being well educated might care for you in your dotage.

With a little bit of good health management, some amazing health care, perhaps some good luck and, if you believe it, divine intervention, we all hope to live to a ripe old age. But we've seen aged care in Australia go so far back in the last 10 years that I'm sure many people are fearful of what would happen to them if they needed to be in aged care. When you have a royal commission titled Neglect, I think it's so important that we put more resources into aged care. I'm particularly proud of what the Prime Minister has said in this regard. We are going to see increased investment in aged care. Better food is a basic tenet of having someone in aged care. We're going to have better nutrition for our nursing homes. We're going to have nurses in nursing homes. We're really working hard to build a better framework for people as they age, whether they do it in their own homes or in an aged-care facility.

I know that we're rapidly running out of time in this debate tonight, but the other point I wanted to touch on is the economy. There's been a lot made of cheaper child care. I know that that's the phrase that has been coined on this, and we all talk about it as 'child care', but, really, it's early education. We're wanting to make it more affordable. I couldn't be a teacher or a preschool educator for love nor money; I just don't have the patience, though I love children. Those people do an extraordinary job and they're setting up our young people for the future. I personally want to thank all of those people who work in early education in my home town and the seat of Paterson because they do such an extraordinary job. We're relying on those people. They need to be paid better. They need better resources.

Most importantly, it is extraordinarily important that the parents who entrust their children to those places are able to go to work and contribute to our economy. I want to thank those parents for doing that. It is a big deal to put your little one into a place like that and think: 'Right, now I'm going to go to work. I want to be able to trust that they're going to, firstly, be well cared for and, secondly, learn something.' They're going to learn to get on with other kids and other people and have a terrific start to their life so that those parents can go off to work and make a contribution to our economy. That is just such a vital part of this. This is not just cheap child care; this is a really important economic platform for our country.

My great hope and my great aspiration in supporting this appropriation bill is that we are paving the way for the next 10 years in Australia so that we can look back in another 10 years time and say that we've done a better job, we didn't waste those 10 years and we set our country up not only to be more prosperous but also to be more considerate and to be a happier place and a healthier place that rewards all Australians. I'm particularly proud to be part of a Labor government that is doing that. I know that my colleagues join me in congratulating the Treasurer and his team on delivering a budget that casts the net wider and that really creates a better environment for all Australians in the coming decades.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 19:32