Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution on the 2023-24 appropriation bills. There is no doubt that this country needs a strong economy with lower taxes, business incentives and infrastructure investments all over Australia. Unfortunately the federal government's priorities are the exact opposite. This is clear in this year's budget. Labor's budget has put a review on the $120 billion infrastructure bills, putting all regional programs in doubt. Central Queensland is the economic engine room of Australia, yet it has not been supported by this year's budget. It appears that the federal Labor government is happy to strip critical funding from regional projects and pump the money into metropolitan areas. There also hasn't been a commitment that vital regional Queensland infrastructure projects will not be impacted by this review.

For instance, there is no commitment of funding for the Rockhampton Ring Road, which will unlock future economic growth and deliver significant benefits including improved flood resilience, greater efficiencies, road safety and reduced travel times. There is no commitment to seal more than 450 kilometres of Queensland beef corridors, which will upgrade and seal the Clermont-Alpha road, the Murray Downs road, the Kilcummin-Diamond Downs road, the Alpha-Tambo road, the Dawson Development Road, the Fitzroy Developmental Road, the Fitzroy Developmental Road Bauhinia to Taroom, the Duaringa-Apis Creek road and the Glenroy road corridor, as well as other projects. There are no commitments for upgrades of the inland freight route from Charters Towers to Mungindi, which is an important alternative north-south route to the Bruce Highway and North Coast rail line, particularly during extreme weather events. It also forms part of the nationally accredited key freight network servicing key supply chains and value-adding to great note.

There is no commitment to the Port of Gladstone Access Road Extension, which had a $100 million commitment on the table from the previous coalition government since 3 April 2019. The funding was to provide an alternative route for heavy vehicles accessing the Port of Gladstone to increase freight efficiencies and improve safety for local motorists. There is no commitment to Paradise Dam to restore the 170,000 megalitre structure back to its original 300,000 megalitre capacity by reinforcing its walls to their original height. Enough of delays and reviews. The federal government needs to commit to funding these critical projects.

I acknowledge the government's $2 billion for upscaling green hydrogen production in Australia, particularly in the Gladstone area this year. What this government does not understand is the fact that hydrogen industry plans for Gladstone will also need water. It takes approximately 10 litres of fresh water to make a kilo of hydrogen. If we are serious about making a world-class hydrogen industry in Gladstone that can create industrial quantities of hydrogen—I'm talking about millions of tons annually—then where is the water coming from? Where are the ideas and plans to supply water and more water infrastructure?

On a positive note, the government has done something to address the cost-of-living pressures felt by many Australian families by increasing rent assistance, JobSeeker allowance, single parenting payment cutoff and tripling the Medicare rebate. However, many people will not be eligible for these cost-of-living assistance measures. It remains to be seen what effect this will have on inflation and interest rate rises. Already the Reserve Bank is signalling more possible rate rises.

The Labor government has also announced a six per cent increase in the heavy vehicle road user charge per year over a three-year period, which equates to more than an 18 per cent increase over three years. Everything we make in this country and every good we buy that gets to a shop travel on a truck, whether it originates from a farm or a factory or enters this country by a port. I repeat: everything comes on the back of a truck, from a jar of vegemite to a wind turbine component. Our truckies keep this country running. They keep food on the table and goods to our shopping centres, with more than 197,000 people employed in the industry. Labor's reckless truckie tax puts drivers' jobs and livelihoods at risk. The minister for infrastructure argues that this increased truckie tax gives certainty to the transport industry, but the only certainty the transport industry will have is to increase their charges and pass their costs on to the consumer. How can this possibly be helping with the cost-of-living crisis that many Australians are experiencing? Everything comes on the back of a truck, as I've said. Industry passes on these costs, and ultimately the consumers will pay more. This is bad policy from the government and will only add to inflation and to the cost of living.

The 2023 budget does not provide any improvement in regional child care and has failed to invest in initiatives to deal with the challenges faced by regional families. In my electorate of Flynn in Central Queensland, many families cannot find childcare places for their children. This is preventing parents from returning to work sooner. Our communities need availability and accessibility as well as affordability. Labor's policies have failed to introduce one single new childcare place in Flynn. There are 36 childcare providers in my electorate of Flynn, offering a maximum of 2,419 places. Centres are capping their enrolments, closing rooms and asking children to stay home. I've spoken to families stuck on the waiting list, unable to work because there are no places or services for their children. Labor's plan states that Indigenous children will be able to access 36 hours of subsidised child care per fortnight from July 2023. Woorabinda and Eidsvold, which have large First Nations Indigenous populations, do not have any childcare facilities available at all. How can every Indigenous child receive 36 hours per fortnight when there are no places? Labor is willing to spend billions on early leaning, and not a single dollar will go towards creating new places for children who need it the most.

The Labor government has broken its headline election commitment to older Australians to have a registered nurse on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in every aged-care home in the Flynn electorate by 1 July 2023. Labor's expediated one-size-fits-all approach to aged-care regulation failed to consider the significant workforce challenges currently before the sector. The government has continued to cause serious distress and uncertainty for aged-care providers, and the older Australians they care for, by bringing forward the royal commission's time lines and imposing rigid constraints on the industry. In doing so, they were more focused on trying to tick and flick an election commitment than on genuinely responding to the needs of these older Australians. I support older Australians receiving the best possible care, and I condemn Labor's actions as reckless and damaging to the industry. Just recently it was reported that 23 aged-care homes have shut their doors since September last year. I think the government should provide a guarantee from the minister that no more facilities will close as a result of the government's actions.

Labor have also broken another election promise: to deliver 50 urgent care clinics within their first 12 months in government, including the clinics promised in Rockhampton and Bundaberg. On the eve of the election the Prime Minister's own finance minister, Katy Gallagher, promised that an elected Labor government would have 50 urgent care clinics up and running across Australia within the first year. This promise has been consistently reiterated on the floor of parliament during the last budget estimates, despite the government being unable to confirm even the locations of these clinics. I've now been advised that the time frame for opening a Medicare urgent care clinic in Queensland will be contingent on the outcomes of the EOI processes. They are now aiming at having clinics open before 1 July 2023 if possible and, if not, by the end of the calendar year, and the clock is ticking. No wonder people can't trust this government!

While Labor have implemented changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, allowing 60-day dispensing instead of 30, this will risk unintended consequences such as rural medical supply shortages. The government policy cuts $3.5 billion out of community pharmacies, cutting vital services for patients. The impacts of these cuts will affect small, rural and remote pharmacies, resulting in a significant reduction to services and opening hours and, in some cases, in closures. The Albanese government must provide a strong guarantee that this change will not harm the viability of community pharmacies and therefore will not be another broken promise.

Community pharmacies play an integral role in the provision of primary health care in Australia, particularly in rural and regional Australia, and we do not want to see any community pharmacies close as a result of the government's actions. Australian patients deserve affordable, accessible and safe access to their pharmacy services. This should be true whether they live in rural and remote Australia or metropolitan Australia.

In conclusion, it's clear the Labor budget has done a lot to appease metropolitan Australia and very little for regional and rural Australia, particularly for my electorate of Flynn in Central Queensland.

Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to talk about this budget, in the parliament, because, in many ways, it reflects the priorities not just of the government, of Labor, but of the priorities of the country, both now and into the future. One of the things that has always made me want to be a member of the Labor Party and part of a Labor government is a deep-seated and immovable conviction that the way to attack inequality, the way to make sure that people have opportunity, the way to a better and a fairer society, is education. It's why I've spoken so many times in this parliament about public school education and access to what should be gold standard education in the public school system, no matter where a student lives or what their background is.

Education is what gave me and my sisters—we grew up in a country town in New South Wales—the opportunities to do further study, tertiary education, have professional careers and, for me, to ultimately be here. That's public school education. It was also due to the fact that there was a system which gave us an opportunity to pursue the careers we wanted. For me and my sisters, that was university. But that's not the only thing available to students after school, and, perhaps for too long, we've forgotten to talk about options other than university, particularly the options available at TAFE.

When we look at the skills shortages that exist in many of the sectors of our economy today, we can reflect on the fact that for the last 10 years government—and perhaps governments before that—did not put enough emphasis on getting students through a school system and into a post-school skills, training and education system that meant they were equipped for the jobs that we need in Australia. We're talking predominantly about jobs in the care economy, aged care, early childhood education and, amazingly, health. If the pandemic showed us one thing about the healthcare system it showed the absolute lack of workforce planning that had gone on in this country. How a country like Australia cannot have enough nurses or GPs is extraordinary.

It's exciting to see the Albanese government and the Minister for Skills and Training and be part of a government that says, 'Let's do two things. Let's make sure that young people and not so young people in this country have the opportunity to get the education and the skills and the training that they need for their lives to be secure, healthy and happy because they have employment and a steady income. Let's also make sure that the skills and the training and the education they're getting fits the skills shortages and the needs of this country, particularly in the areas where we care for people at the start of their lives and at the end of their lives so that those people can be secure and healthy and happy.' There are a number of ways that this government is doing it, but this budget makes it clear that there's a commitment to TAFE, including public TAFE. That's why I start by saying it's very much a budget that is not just a Labor priority but a priority for the community.

We know that the Jobs and Skills Summit, convened very early in the term of this government, brought together people from all over the country and from different industries and backgrounds and led to a billion-dollar one-year national skills agreement to provide additional funding for fee-free TAFE in 2023 and, of course, to a longer-term agreement to drive sector reform and to support women's workforce participation. With that, we have a government determined to accelerate the delivery of over 465,000 additional fee-free TAFE places.

In Victoria, we're kind of used to fee-free TAFE because we have a progressive state government that introduced it a while ago, but, nonetheless, now having a federal government that is part of that means that it has been possible for the focus of fee-free TAFE to be expanded. More than $250 million going into the Victorian skills and training sector to support more than 55,000 fee-free TAFE and vocational education and training places in 2023 is what is in this budget.

In my electorate alone, Dunkley, we have 2,115 apprentices. There are a lot of tradies in Dunkley. One can't walk down the street without tripping over a tradie. There are also a lot of hairdressers and beauticians who are also doing apprenticeships. So TAFE and apprenticeships are really important to my community, so a $54.3 million investment in critical Australian apprenticeship supports in this budget means a lot to my community. Many of the 55,000 additional fee-free places across Victoria will be delivered through the wonderful Chisholm Institute of TAFE, which is getting better and better in Victoria, predominantly through state government investment in its infrastructure. It has pride of place in Frankston and is going to deliver many of them.

We know that fee-free TAFE helps young people to find secure, better paid and more meaningful work, and, as I said, we know it will help to fill skills shortages. It doesn't seem like rocket science, but it hasn't been done for the last decade, and it's so important. The Chisholm Institute of TAFE campus in Frankston delivers aged-care courses and enrolled nursing courses and is already delivering fee-free places there. I've spoken to a number of the students there, who are so excited at the opportunity to get that education and to get out into a nursing career. Some of them had already planned to become registered nurses and do further study afterwards, but many, particularly the young women, said to me that, if it weren't for fee-free TAFE, they wouldn't have been able to take up that opportunity because they just don't have the money or the family and other supports that other sectors of the community have. The fee-free TAFE courses have made the world of difference to them and are going to make the world of difference to people in aged care facilities who are going to be cared for 24/7, because of the Labor government, by nurses who have chosen this profession because that's what they want to do.

There are sections of my community where the socioeconomic barriers to employment are really high and have been so for generations—so high that for some people they seem to be insurmountable. Again, fee-free TAFE brings those barriers down and means that people who are struggling to afford rent, food and often child care don't have to sacrifice their own education and training to pay for those things, because they don't have to pay for their TAFE course. It also means that a generation of young people in some of the most disadvantaged areas of my community can go to TAFE as the first people in their families to ever do so. They can be part of the change that they want to see for their families, their communities and themselves. That is worth more to the broader community but also to those young people than can be described.

One of the really exciting things that have come out recently about the uptake of fee-free TAFE places is that, in the courses that have already been delivered, 60 per cent of enrolments were women. That is so empowering. It goes to closing the gender pay gap. We know women are working predominantly in the care economy, although I suspect that when those wages go up we will see some men start to work in the care economy, which will be good for the men and, hopefully, help women to keep their wages going up.

It closes the gender pay gap and it helps to change the traditional gender stereotypes of the roles of men and women. In some pockets of my community these are quite hard to shift. They have held women back and in many cases they have held men back, because they don't get the opportunity to do some of the things with family and children that will enrich their lives.

And it gives many women some financial independence and some security within themselves that they wouldn't have had otherwise. Again this is something that is almost hard to quantify and explain but is so important for any adult, but particularly for a woman in a community or a family where women haven't had employment or economic security and independence from men before. So it will make a huge difference.

It builds on a number of the other measures that are in this budget and that the government has introduced that go towards helping women in the workplace and women's economic independence. The 15 per cent increase in wages for aged-care workers is just extraordinary in terms of the difference it will make. I was in the high-dependency unit at Baxter retirement village with Minister Kearney two weeks ago and the residents were telling us how wonderful they thought it was that their carers were getting pay rises. One of the women, who had recently turned 90, said to me: 'I couldn't look after myself. They deserve a pay rise for looking after me.' I thought that was a pretty great way of explaining it.

Obviously the workers were delighted because it makes such a difference to their lives. The people who run Baxter village were really happy that their staff were getting a pay rise, because they understand what it means to the quality of care and the quality of workers. It will encourage more people to get into that workforce, which is struggling with shortages.

We know that many single parents are women. We have a young parents program in Dunkley. It is federally funded. At the moment it is run out of Chisholm TAFE. It helps young mums who are teenagers to finish school, to finish their VCE. They are young women aged between about 16 and 22 with one or more children. They have made the decision to go back and get their education for their own good and for their children's good. They are doing all they can to get that education in really difficult circumstances.

The increase to the single parent pension is also going to make a world of difference to young women like that and to older women who have had to leave a relationship for a variety of reasons. Often for reasons of coercive control or domestic violence they have had to flee a relationship. If a relationship has broken down, they can find themselves on their own having to look after a young child and get through. That increase in the single parent pension is really important.

The increase to the Commonwealth rent assistance, which we often talk about in the context of young people and young people who are studying, is going to be really important to a significant number of women, single parents and older women over the age of 55, who we know are the fastest-growing cohort of people who are homeless. They find it very hard to buy a new home once a relationship has broken down or to stay in rental housing, so an increase in rent assistance—the highest in many decades—is going to make a big difference to their lives.

The Australian Skills Guarantee, to go back to where I started, about skills and training—the national targets for women in apprenticeships, traineeships and cadetships are major government projects. They are great for women's employment. It is great to change that gendered stereotype of the type of work that women can and should be doing, and to give women opportunities. And, of course, there is $72.4 million for the building and retaining of the early childhood education care workforce, of whom 92 per cent are women.

These are the types of investments in education, skills, training and the workforce that set people up now and into the future, and set our country and our economy up now and into the future. That is what Labor governments are all about.

Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If I could summarise the tone of conversations I had with residents across North Sydney in the lead-up to the 2023-24 federal budget, I would say that people are struggling. In truth, they've been struggling for the last three years and there isn't any relief in sight. As people have told me, they are unable to find a place to live or they are having to make choices between groceries and bills. The reality is that challenges arising in this post-COVID world have compounded long unaddressed issues in our economy, environment, workforce and health systems.

At first glance, this budget would indicate the government recognises these challenges and has tried to respond appropriately. I am grateful that, where my community and I advocated for reform, we were successful, with single parents and families with children under 16 now able to access additional support, and others benefiting from cheaper energy bills as we push to electrification. But, on deeper reflection, unfortunately there is little in this budget to take either heart or inspiration from. As a country, we need long-term structural reform which focuses on driving activity, productivity and managing cost inputs. And we need a clear vision. Neither of these were evident in the last budget.

When I asked the people of North Sydney what they would have delivered in the federal budget if they were the Treasurer, priorities became clear: increased support for the most vulnerable Australians; adequately resourced climate action; driving tax and revenue reform; and addressing intergenerational inequity. At the centre of this budget, however, was the government's investment in our healthcare system—a system that is overburdened, underfunded and underresourced. I welcome the boost this budget provides to Medicare, offering the opportunity for more children under 16, pensioners and concession cardholders to see a doctor. But, at the same time, I call on the Minister for Health and Aged Care to ensure these measures actually deliver an increase in the number of GP clinics that bulk-bill. In North Sydney we currently have just 14 of 44 doing so.

The greater investment in health protection and prevention measures, including the $91.1 million investment in the Australian Centre for Disease Control, is also welcomed. Ultimately, our national preventive and infectious disease management programs, along with tracking adverse events and variants, rely on clear national coordination. In this context, I look forward to seeing the Australian Centre for Disease Control develop.

Much was also made of the six million Australians who need regular medicines for chronic conditions being able to access their medication at a lower cost, under the 60-day dispensing changes. I have heard from several chronically ill North Sydney residents who believe this change will improve their livelihoods. But, whilst the reform has been welcomed by some, it is a policy change that cuts two ways, and it would be remiss of me to highlight its upside without also talking about the potential negative impact this reform may have on community pharmacists nationally. Indeed, a recent round table with pharmacists in North Sydney left me in no doubt that many have very real concerns that are shared both at the community pharmacy level and at the general practice level. Ultimately, the key message I hear is clear: 'The impacts are far more complex than the government is acknowledging, and they just don't understand.' While the government has indicated the money saved will be reinvested back into community pharmacy programs, pharmacists in North Sydney are concerned the reinvestment will not compensate for the direct financial loss they face as small businesses. I ask the government to listen closely to community pharmacists, to consult and to get more than the headline right when delivering substantive policy change.

Whilst there was much to celebrate in the health reform, the lack of investment in mental health support or services was extremely disappointing. At a time when three out of five young Australians report experiencing mental health distress in the last 12 months, the lack of specific funding to address what many are describing as a shadow pandemic was frustrating. An increase focused on elevating lived experience, funding digital tools—

Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It being 6.30 pm, the debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 192B. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.