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

Before the minister gets the call, I would like to make a statement to the Federation Chamber, noting that, before the Federation Chamber considers the first portfolio, I'd like to remind all members of the purpose of the consideration in detail stage and outline the way it is expected to proceed.

On Tuesday 28 May, the House agreed to a resolution setting the order and timing for the consideration of portfolios. Any variation to this order and timing can only be made on a motion moved by a minister. Consideration in detail is a debate, and the call will be alternated between government and non-government members as always. Even though this debate sometimes takes the format of questions and answers, this is not question time.

Ministers and government backbench members will both be considered as speakers for the government's turn and should bear this in mind when they seek the call. Members are required to be relevant to the portfolio being examined, but there is no requirement for direct relevance to any questions asked. Given the time limits applying to each portfolio, it might be practical for ministers to respond to more than one question when they seek the call. Each minister and member will have up to five minutes to speak each time they are called, but they may wish to speak for a shorter time. Ministers may wish to speak first and make an introductory statement when debate on their portfolio begins, but that is a matter for them to decide.

Members will be aware of the terms of the resolution providing dates and times after which the questions to agree to expenditure on each portfolio will be put. To avoid confusion, when these times are reached, a member who is speaking will be allowed to continue their remarks, but chairs—whoever is sitting in this chair—are obligated to put the question immediately at the conclusion of that member's speech, and no further debate will be permitted.

Employment and Workplace Relations Portfolio

Proposed expenditure: $5,176,374,000

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make some comments in relation to the decision by the government to continue to invest in skills and training and invest in our future. The budget handed down three weeks ago by the Treasurer is one for every Australian. We're delivering a tax cut to every taxpayer and a $300 energy rebate to every household. Helping Australians with the cost of living is our government's No. 1 priority, so we're making medicines cheaper, increasing Commonwealth rental assistance and waiving $3 billion of student debt. At the same time, the budget will ensure that we continue to strengthen the VET sector, close national skills gaps and train the skilled workforce we need right across the economy, including to achieve our ambitious goals of building 1.2 million more homes, net zero and a Future Made in Australia. While the opposition budget reply did not contain a single skills policy, our budget included measures to bolster skills growth and development in the clean energy sector, the construction and housing sector, and the manufacturing sector, as well as to support apprentices and break down barriers for women in male-dominated industries.

These investments continue our work to remove cost barriers to education and training and incentivise people to train in areas where our economy needs them most. That's why we've made announcements to continue investing in fee-free TAFE, with 20,000 additional places to teach skills in the housing and construction workforce. By removing financial barriers to study, fee-free TAFE is giving Australians a great opportunity to get secure and stable employment. Our commitment to deliver 20,000 additional fee-free places in construction and housing comes on the back of 355,000 Australians having already enrolled in fee-free TAFE last year, and we are delivering a further 300,000 fee-free TAFE places from this year.

I visited many TAFEs in Sydney and Melbourne recently with federal colleagues, including Randwick TAFE, Ultimo TAFE, Chisolm and Dandenong TAFEs, and Swinburne. During these visits we spoke with students who right now are training in areas of high skill needs, thanks to fee-free TAFE—students like Chelsea, from Victoria, who is completing her pre-apprenticeship in plumbing. Chelsea chose the course because she likes the hands-on work and likes that it gets the mind thinking as well. She said a fee-free TAFE course makes it easier for her. Students like Chelsea are on track to get secure and well-paid jobs and help build more homes for Australians. As we help train the future workforce we're investing $265 million to provide additional targeted support to priority apprentices.

Importantly, we're reversing some of the baked-in cuts left by the previous coalition government. Apprentices who are training in priority areas will receive an additional $2,000 while their employers will receive an additional $1,000 in the first year to subsidise costs—$5,000 each in total, which is an improvement upon the previous government's last budget, where we saw the cutting of support for both employers and apprentices. When we came to government we were left without a national skills agreement. In fact, for the entire time of the previous government, almost a decade, they did not strike a national skills agreement.

The skills shortage and tight labour market has indeed compelled industry to challenge the outdated notion that only half the population is suitable for jobs. I speak of those occupations that have been, in this case, predominantly male and have really locked out opportunities for women in very high-paid skilled work. For that reason, we want to do more. The budget provides $55 million to increase the proportion of women in male dominated trades. It's not only socially good; it's an economic imperative that we provide the supply of needed skills to the construction sector. This is another way that we can provide opportunities for women while also supplying skills to this important sector.

There are also great opportunities in our rapidly evolving renewables sector. A study by Jobs and Skills Australia shows that the sector will need an additional 240,000 workers. We're investing over $90 million to help skill the clean energy workforce, including $50 million for training facility upgrades and $30 million to accelerate the clean energy teacher and trainer workforce. We've also expanded the New Energy Apprenticeships Program so more apprentices can benefit from the $10,000 cost-of-living cash boost to complete their training in a clean energy related occupation.

These are investments that will help workers who need skills and help businesses that are crying out for skills that they have up to this point not been able to find and that our economy needs to ensure that we have a future made in Australia.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to take stock of Australia's skills sector after two years of the Albanese government and ask a very—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16:59 to 17:05

I want to take stock of Australia's skills sector after two years of the Albanese government and ask a very simple question: are the skills of Aussies better today than when Labor took over? On almost every single metric and with every update, we can only conclude that the skills of Aussies are not better today but are actually getting worse under Anthony Albanese. Each day under Labor means the gap between promise and delivery widens further. Fewer Australians are taking up new skills, not more.

Labor's approach to skills at the last election was to make commitments to win votes, as if that were an end in itself. Labor sold us its dream that fee-free TAFE would be the silver bullet for Australia's skills and training needs. They told us fee-free TAFE was going to solve it all, promising almost 500,000 courses. What they didn't tell us was that on skills they would back bureaucrats instead of industry and that fee-free TAFE would amount to little more than a funding top-up scheme for state governments. We've seem them rebrand the National Skills Commission to Jobs and Skills Australia, we've seen them rebrand industry clusters to the Jobs and Skills Councils, and we've seen them sign up to a National Skills Agreement that provides the same amount of funding that was on the table under the coalition with less going to students and more going to state governments. And let's not forget the Jobs and Skills Summit—remember that? It was the summit that was going to solve all of our workforce shortages. Here we are, just over two years since Anthony Albanese got the keys to the Lodge and 18 months on from the Jobs and Skills Summit, after yet another budget which will fail to skill Australians.

So it is time to take stock. At the most basic level, the test Anthony Albanese set for himself was that Labor would fix skills shortages and skill more Australians. The data is in, and the trendlines show that Labor's going in the wrong direction. According to Jobs and Skills Australia, 36 per cent of occupations were assessed as 'in shortage' in 2023. That's up from 31 per cent in 2022. Sixty-six occupations were added to the 'in shortage' list in 2023, meaning that, on Labor's watch, over 330 occupations are in shortage across Australia. Shortly after the election, Labor described worsening skills shortages as something that 'reinforces the urgent need to tackle skills shortages', and they said:

After a decade of inaction, we have taken immediate steps … to plan for the future, address skills gaps and strengthen our VET sector.

Clearly, Labor's policies are not working. Skills shortages have got worse, not better.

The failures do not end with worsening skills shortages either. We know there are fewer Australians in training, not more. When the coalition left office, there were nearly 430,000 apprentices and trainees in training, and 280,000 Aussies commenced their courses over that year. In September 2023, the latest numbers we have, the number of apprentices and trainees in training has fallen to 370,000 and commencements have fallen to 170,000. This means that, after 18 months of Labor policies, the number of apprentices and trainees in training has dropped by 60,000. That's close to 15 per cent. New training starts have dropped by over 100,000, or 38 per cent. So skills shortages are worse, we have fewer Australian apprentices and trainees on the tools, and we have over 100,000 fewer Australians taking up a trade or a skill.

But it gets even worse. Even the much vaunted fee-free TAFE has not materially increased the number of students studying courses at TAFEs. We know that the number of government funded students at TAFE was over 400,000 between January and March 2023 under fee-free TAFE. This was the first quarter since the commencement of fee-free TAFE, a period in which the government saw fee-free TAFE enrolments hit over 100 per cent of the allocation. But the number of government funded students at TAFE institutes was lower in 2023, during fee-free TAFE, than over the same period in 2021, when the coalition's Job Trainer was in effect. So we have worsening skills shortages, fewer apprentices, fewer trainees, fewer new training starts and a lower number of students taking up government funded courses at TAFE. No matter which way you look at it, Labor's skills agenda is falling flat.

With the cost-of-living crisis getting worse not better, with prices staying higher for longer, and with a tripling of manufacturing and construction insolvencies, things will only get worse for young apprentices. Instead of stepping up, Labor is stepping back, with a refusal to extend the coalition's wage supports while they wait for yet another review to conclude.

While Anthony Albanese and Labor sit on their hands, the skills of Australians just continue to get worse. All we want to see is the skilling of young Australians back on track.

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

Unlike those opposite, I'm optimistic about the future of this country and I back the ambition of Australians who want to go to TAFE and to university and secure a well-paying job. I'm really delighted to be able to speak about our track record here and what our vision is for skills and jobs in the future.

We know that already we've delivered 355,000 fee-free TAFE places, and there are an additional 320,000 places to come. This week we saw the Fair Work Commission announce that the lowest paid workers in the country would receive a 3.75 per cent wage increase. This is an incredibly important development for those workers. It's more money in their pockets. In listening to the Fair Work Commission discuss their decision, there will be special attention being paid to feminised work and workforces by the commission in the future, and I welcome that.

Our government said we were going to deliver for workers, and we're doing that. We have backed and funded a 15 per cent pay rise for aged-care workers. We've introduced paid family and domestic violence leave, and it's really important to note here that this is for every worker, including casual workers. I remember the day that this was introduced into the parliament and the day it was passed in the parliament. They were emotional days. While we sat in the chamber, we had advocates sitting in the galleries who could attest to how life-saving this measure would be.

We've introduced the secure jobs, better pay bill; we've ended zombie agreements; and we are unapologetic about our support for ensuring that Australia's lowest paid workers get a pay rise. In fact, I stood with the Prime Minister—before he was the Prime Minister, prior to the last election—when he was asked if he supported a $1 pay rise for Australia's lowest paid workers. We all know the answer to that question. It was 'Absolutely'. Unfortunately those opposite and commentators found that response contemptible. He was mocked. It was outrageous. On this of the House we don't apologise for supporting Australia's lowest paid workers having a pay increase in line with their cost-of-living expenses. Presumably, seeing the 3.75 per cent pay increase would have made those opposite apoplectic if they could not handle a $1 an hour pay increase back then. We would not apologise for this. I really do urge those opposite to join with us and back the lowest paid workers in the country, who work so hard to provide care and services that we and our families and the communities that we represent rely on.

Under our government, since the election, nominal wages have been growing at an annualised average of 3.9 per cent compared to 2.2 per cent under our predecessors, and, of course, we've delivered IR reforms through the closing loopholes legislation. This is really important. We have criminalised wage theft. We've stopped the underpayment of workers with labour hire through same job, same pay, which is part of the closing loopholes legislation. We've introduced a new criminal offence of industrial manslaughter. I would have thought everybody in this place could agree that workers should be able to go to work and come home safely.

We have also introduced world-leading minimum standards for gig economy workers. We've ended the forced permanent casual loophole and we're offering a proper pathway to casual conversion. In my first speech I spoke about the importance of ensuring that people in our community have secure work so that they could plan their lives. I'm really glad that we have taken the step to assist people navigate a pathway to secure work that allows them and their families to plan and build their lives in all of our electorates—to spend time at the local footy club, to commit to volunteer work on weekends—because there is certainty of hours and wages. I'm proud that the measures we've introduced as a government will set up the VET and university sectors to address future skills shortages and cost-of-living pressures for students, including by investing in the Commonwealth prac payments, where we will provide $369.2 million for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students to do placements in higher education and ensuring, too, that we are doing what we can to reduce the burden of student debt.

I know this is really important to my electorate of Chisholm. I've had hundreds of people speak to me about this issue. We are getting on with building a better future and not leaving everyone behind. I'm really proud about the measures that we've introduced in this portfolio area.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives

Sitting suspended from 17:15 to 17:24

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts Portfolio

Proposed expenditure, $5,783,392,000

Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's been just under a month since the Treasurer handed down the Albanese Labor government's third budget. It is a budget which builds upon the solid foundations that we have laid in our first two years of government and cements our commitment to a future made in Australia. It is responsible, suitably balanced and allows for the delivery of nationally significant nation-shaping projects. From infrastructure, strategic transport, connectivity, net zero and local road upgrades, our investments will forge a better future. They will drive productivity, boost economic growth, create jobs and ensure we continue to manage inflationary pressures.

Our sensible reforms to the $120 billion Infrastructure Investment Program have made it more sustainable while allowing us to invest $16.5 billion into new and existing projects. There is $4.6 billion for new projects, including upgrades to Western Sydney infrastructure, improving the capacity of METRONET in Western Australia and delivering bridge and intersection upgrades along the Warrego Highway in Queensland. Our $10 billion investment in existing projects ensures they won't just be in media releases; they'll actually be delivered. Projects like the Mount Ousley interchange, which I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of weeks ago, will receive an additional $72 million. Our responsible investment ensures that we target projects that communities want us to deliver and that we complete projects that already have shovels in the ground.

Everywhere I go, businesses, councils and organisations tell me that it's hard to keep workers in their communities because there has been nowhere to house them. It's a direct consequence of nearly 10 years of sitting on your hands, which is what the opposition were doing in government, but now we are doing something about it. We're making significant investments to build more homes across this country. We're building our $500 million commitment to the Housing Support Program with an additional $1 billion to support states and territories to deliver enabling infrastructure that will help us to get more homes built sooner.

We're focused on a future that delivers fibre upgrades so more Australian families and small businesses are connected to high-speed broadband, because connectivity is no longer a nice to have; it's an absolute necessity. The $1.3 billion delivered in the 2024-25 budget forms part of our $2.4 billion equity investment to support the NBN's ongoing fibre upgrade program. We're making it easier to operate a business and to study and work from home, with 10,000 households and businesses across my electorate of Eden-Monaro alone now able to order a faster NBN service.

Unlike those opposite, we're building for the future, which also includes our transition to net zero. The transport sector will play a key role in this, which is why this budget includes funding for the implementation of the new vehicle efficiency standard, sustainable aviation fuels and renewable diesel. The biggest commitments to the Australian flagged and crewed maritime strategic fleet ever, something totally neglected by those opposite over the last decade, will build our capacity and allow more movement of cargo in times of crisis by minimising the impacts of international supply chain disruptions.

We're committed to keeping Australians safe and secure. A key focus of the budget has been on tackling the scourge of scams, improving safeguards for children online and narrowing the digital gap for First Nations communities. It's not just online safety that we are focused on. We're also committed to making safer local roads that we use each and every day. It's why we're strengthening our partnership with local councils and delivering more funding to get targeted road improvements off the ground. We're progressively increasing Roads to Recovery from $500 million a year to a billion dollars per year. We're increasing the road Black Spot Program from $110 million a year to $150 million per year, and we're introducing a new $200 million Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program.

The budget also allocates $100 million towards a new National Active Transport Fund. This will support states and territories to improve bicycle and walking paths across the country. We also know how important airports are for connectivity right through our regional and remote communities. That's why this budget includes additional funding for the Remote Airstrip Upgrade Program, the Regional Airports Program and the Remote Aerodrome Inspection Program.

From local footpaths to local roads to major infrastructure projects, our investments through the 2024-25 budget build on everything that we've achieved for this country in our first two years and will ensure we continue to build a better future for generations to come.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's often said in the finance sector that past performance is no guarantee of future results, but, in the case of the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, I'm afraid it's probably a pretty good indicator. I'm not optimistic that we're going to get any answers here today.

Why do I say this? Because this minister and her department avoid scrutiny at all opportunities and refuse to answer basic questions, and the cabinet minister hasn't even bothered to turn up to consideration in detail. They are incompetent. I have repeatedly written to this minister on behalf of my constituents and respectfully sought information on road projects in my electorate, and my community has been treated with complete contempt—the same contempt that allows a cabinet minister to not even bother to turn up tonight. So I ask the minister: given that her ministerial colleagues are able to reply to correspondence from MPs within a few weeks, why does it take this minister and her department up to 10 months to reply to letters?

I refer specifically to the Princes Highway corridor program in Victoria and the confirmation in Senate estimates that there is $156 million of unallocated funding in that program. Not a single new project has actually started in this program on this minister's watch. The scale of bureaucratic bungling is unfathomable to motorists driving on this road. There's no sense of urgency and there's a complete disregard for the safety of the travelling public on the Princes Highway. My question is: given the deteriorating state of the highway and the increases in road trauma during this term of government, what steps is the cabinet minister taking to ensure this funding is spent in a timely manner to address road safety and productivity concerns in Victoria?

I also want to refer to the minister's comments in relation to the Stronger Communities Program:

Every single community in Australia is unique, and the Albanese Government recognises that local governments, community organisations and that people who live in their region best understand their local priorities.

The minister's department website says that all rounds of the Stronger Communities Program have been 'very successful'. Minister, if this program is so important, why did the government cut the funding in the budget and place additional pressure on families to fundraise for their local community and sporting organisations, adding to the cost-of-living pressures on these small communities?

In that same vein, I would like to refer to the absent cabinet minister's repeated claims that Australian motorists will experience reduced running costs as a result of the government's vehicle efficiency standards. I ask the cabinet minister, again in her absence, because she couldn't be bothered turning up to consideration in detail: in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, do you acknowledge that the purchase price of some of Australia's most popular vehicles will increase under your legislation? Minister, why won't you release modelling on the impact the vehicle efficiency standards will have on the purchase price of vehicles? If it's true that the drive-away prices will increase under your vehicle efficiency standards, has the government done any other modelling on whether Australians are likely to keep their current cars for longer and thus delay any of the claimed environmental benefits under this program?

Finally, I want to refer to the Albanese government's broken promise to provide fair increases to local government funding, and I refer to this statement from the Australian Local Government Association after the release of the budget. The ALGA said:

This year's Budget will be incredibly disappointing to many councils and communities that have been waiting for the Government to deliver on its fair funding promise …

I do note that the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories is at the table, and, on behalf of ALGA and other local government associations, I encourage her to respond to this question. Your government, the Albanese government, promised to make fair funding increases prior to the last election and hasn't done it. Minister, isn't the inquiry into the financial sustainability of local government just another cynical attempt to kick the can down the potholed road until after the next election?

If we compare funding commitments over a five-year period, the coalition invested $3 billion in additional road funding specifically for local government. The local roads and community infrastructure program was extremely successful and well received by the local government sector—another program cut by this government.

The member for McEwen has woken up! The member for Eden-Monaro has woken up as well! It was another program cut by the Albanese government. So, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, the burden will fall on family budgets as ratepayers will be forced to add to the widening gaps. Why do Australians always pay more under a Labor government?

Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Labor budget is delivering significant investments in the infrastructure that links our communities, powers our economy and builds the foundations for a future made in Australia. By funding key infrastructure projects, this budget lays the foundation for better cities and better regions to live in. In my electorate of Bennelong our community is directly benefiting from this well-thought-out and well-funded infrastructure budget. Our community is very excited about the $115 million allocation for an all-electric bus depot in Macquarie Park. The Macquarie Park electric bus depot will be the first purpose-built zero emissions bus depot in the whole of New South Wales. It'll house 165 electric buses and deliver 160 jobs. Electric buses will service our local routes, meaning lower emissions in Bennelong and, importantly, quieter buses in residential areas.

In addition, the government is providing an additional $10 million for the Macquarie Park bus interchange and precinct—something those opposite promised way back in 2017. This was announced by Prime Minister Turnbull. Remember him?

A division having been called in the House of Representatives

Sitting suspended from 17:37 to 17:45

You can't deliver a bus interchange with just a press release; you need funds and hard work. Since coming to government, I've been pushing to get the Macquarie Park bus interchange out of the ground. The additional $10 million provision on top of the $80 million already secured will improve the efficiency and connectivity of our public transport network and create a much-needed public plaza precinct in the centre of Macquarie Park. It does not end there. Over the next five years, the Roads to Recovery funding for councils in Bennelong will total an impressive $24 million. This funding will ensure that our local roads will remain maintained and improved.

But it is not just in Bennelong that our government is deeply committed to delivering infrastructure funding. As a former mayor, I know how much communities rely on programs like Roads to Recovery to help fund local projects. In good news for councils and communities, the Roads to Recovery program will progressively rise from $500 million to $1 billion per year. This means more local road upgrades delivered through local governments right into local communities nationwide. This extra funding will help make our roads safer, fix potholes, build crossings and roundabouts where they are needed.

Speaking of safety, we know how important it is for the federal government to contribute to our Vision Zero goal. We are providing $10.8 million for a one-year national road safety awareness campaign and $21.1 million over four years to improve national road safety data reporting by the National Road Safety Data Hub. These are important investments to help our nation reach its Vision Zero goal of zero road deaths by 2050.

I've got a confession to make: I am a middle-aged man in lycra and I am not ashamed of it; I embrace it. As a proud MAMIL, anything the government can do to make cycling safer should be applauded. I've got news, Deputy Speaker Scymgour. You'll be pleased to know that this budget delivers to MAMILs as well. Labor has established a $100 million new active transport fund, which will help state governments develop and construct new bicycle and shared paths across the country. A safer space to ride will help more people switch to cycling to get around, reduce the pressure on our local roads and promote zero-emissions transport, all while people get a bit of exercise while they get around. The active transport program also includes funding for footpaths and other active transport. Guidelines will be developed in consultation with states and territories and are expected to be made public by 1 July 2025.

While Labor gets on with delivering strong, sustainable and well-planned infrastructure projects for Australia, let's take a second to think anything about what the Liberals and Nationals did during their 10 years of negligence. While those opposite were in government, they inflated the number of projects from 150 to over 800 but they didn't do any work to deliver them. It was mismanagement galore. Many of these projects were plagued by poor planning, inadequate costings and lack of readiness for Commonwealth investment. This was not just incompetence; it was a deliberate strategy. They went to their colour-coded spreadsheet seats, made these announcements, got in the local paper then did not do the work to get them started. They were all announcement, no delivery; all press release, no pavement. But unlike the Liberals, Labor is committed to getting projects out of the ground. (Time expired)

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 about the arts aspects of the budget and begin by expressing my disappointment that the Minister for the Arts has not bothered to grace us with his presence, which is further evidence of the contempt shown by the Albanese Labor government and its senior figures for important mechanisms of parliamentary accountability, including consideration in detail in relation to the appropriations bill. We hear a lot of rhetoric from this government about its support for the arts and its enthusiasm for the arts, but the simple fact is that we've not seen action that matches the rhetoric. In the last budget, we were told that Labor would establish a First Nations led body dedicated to First Nations work and that they would establish Writing Australia. Twelve months later, these entities have not been established.

In the last budget, the Labor government claimed that it would increase international investment in the Australian screen industry to provide domestic employment and training opportunities by increasing the location offset rebate to 30 per cent. Here they were seeking to build on the very successful track record of the Location Incentive program introduced by the last government, which attracted more than 30 global screen productions, created thousands of jobs and built considerable momentum, rather than the boom-bust mentality and reality which we had had for many years in the Australian screen production sector when it came to attracting global screen productions to be produced here. Twelve months on, we've still not seen the legislation take effect to increase the location offset to 30 per cent. Industry stakeholders are complaining that this government is keeping them in a state of uncertainty, and of course investors are holding back on making investments in film projects as they wait to see whether Labor is actually going to deliver on its rhetoric.

We of course at the start of this government's term had the much-hyped national cultural policy, with sweeping claims that it would transform the arts sector in Australia, but many in the arts sector, understandably, feel that the rhetoric got well ahead of the reality. Of course Labor's home-grown inflation and cost-of-living crisis is having a dramatic effect on music festivals, with festival after festival being cancelled around the country—the 2023 edition of the Falls Festival, Valley Ways, Coastal Jam and Vintage Vibes. We have seen the pausing of Hobart's iconic Dark Mofo for 2024. Venues like Brisbane's The Zoo are closing their doors. This sector is crying out for help, and those cries are falling on deaf ears. The live music sector contributes an estimated $5.7 billion to the Australian economy, so the announced $8.6 million is a drop in the ocean. It's no wonder that publications like The Conversation have expressed the opinion that the Australian live music industry is in crisis.

In contrast to the hopeless approach of the current government, the previous government had a strong commitment to funding the arts. We delivered record Commonwealth arts funding in 2021-22, with more than $1 billion for the arts. No government since then has matched that funding. We allocated $200 million to our RISE fund to support 541 shows, performances, festivals and events around the country because what we believe in is getting more shows put on. What Labor believe in is employing more bureaucrats in Canberra; that's what gets them excited. It's not production; it is more bureaucrats.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17:52 to 18:01

Let me ask the following questions: When will the First Nations led board be established? When will Writers Australia be established? When will the government deliver on its promise to increase the location offset to 30 per cent? How many musical festivals have been cancelled under the Labor government? How many more bureaucrats in the arts area have been hired since this government took office, and how many extra bureaucrats will be hired as a result of decisions under this budget? What effect has the hiring of additional bureaucrats in Music Australia had in stimulating and restoring a vibrant Australian music sector? What tangible outcomes has the National Cultural Policy delivered to artists? Why has money been shifted to establishing more bureaucratic roles in Canberra? Why did Minister Burke in one of his first acts fail to spend the remaining $20 million that was left in the RISE fund which could have allowed additional shows, festivals, events and productions to occur? All of these are mysteries of Burkean arts administration, which all Australians of goodwill wonder about, and we would be well served if these mysteries were solved.

Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm excited to have the opportunity to speak about what is in this budget, the Albanese government's third budget, and what it delivers for Australians. For the past decade we had become accustomed to announcements without substance and press releases in place of projects. This is what defined infrastructure for almost a decade, so much so that the infrastructure investment pipeline worth $120 billion had become clogged and bogged down with projects that were announced but never delivered. That's why the Albanese government announced an independent and comprehensive review of the pipeline and responded to its recommendations late last year, cleaning up the mess that was left behind.

Because of the Albanese government's management, and because this government is focused on projects that can actually be delivered, the most recent budget committed additional funding for my part of Australia, Western Sydney. Announced early in May, the Albanese government is investing an additional $1.9 billion for infrastructure projects across Western Sydney—projects that can actually be delivered and will benefit the communities that surround them, projects that will significantly benefit some of the most congested and traffic-prone roads in Western Sydney, helping our locals get to and from work faster so that they can spend more time with their families. Funded in this year's budget is a new infrastructure package for Western Sydney that delivers 14 new projects and provides additional funding for two existing projects. Those projects include upgrades to Mamre Road, Elizabeth Drive, Appin Road, Mulgoa Road, Memorial Avenue and Garfield Road, to name a few.

But this investment is also about the future, with additional funding allocated to planning projects such as the Cambridge Avenue upgrade, the Western Sydney Freight Line Stage 1 final business case, Western Sydney roads future planning, and a business case for the south-west Sydney rail link. This government understands the importance of real and tangible infrastructure upgrades as well as laying the foundations for future development. That is why the budget delivers for all our communities in Western Sydney. The Albanese government's investment in Western Sydney infrastructure now totals $17.3 billion—more than the previous coalition government's and in projects that we are genuinely committed to delivering.

But this budget's investment in infrastructure doesn't end here. The government is delivering on nation building infrastructure projects across Australia, with the budget providing $16.5 billion in funding for new and existing projects that focus on improving productivity, liveability and sustainability. The investment will drive economic growth and productivity while also creating jobs and ensuring that our cities, suburbs and regions are liveable. That is the purpose of infrastructure investments—a purpose that seemed to have been forgotten under previous governments. The budget also delivers an additional $1 billion to support state and territories to build enabling infrastructure, which will help deliver greater housing supply across the country, building on the Albanese government's Housing Support Program, which delivers $500 million for enabling infrastructure.

The Albanese government also acknowledges the importance of local roads in our community. After all, these are the roads that are used most often by Australians; they are the very roads they live on. The government is also committed to making our roads safer. Over the past few years my community has seen the effects of several flooding and extreme weather events that have left roads in a miserable state and less safe for drivers. That's why this budget has committed $4.4 billion under the Roads to Recovery program over the next five years, with funding to progressively double the $1 billion annually, providing funding certainty. Under the Roads to Recovery program, funding will be provided to local councils to ensure long-term maintenance of local road networks and critical road safety measures. That funding is to fill potholes, improve drainage and repair pavement. They're things that make a huge difference to the safety of our roads. New South Wales councils will receive $1.2 billion over five years, an increase of $461 million under the Albanese government.

I look forward to seeing local councils in Werriwa finally use this funding to improve the state of our local roads. After a decade of neglect, this Albanese Labor government is delivering the proper infrastructure investment that I've been fighting for since 2016, and it's what our local communities deserve.

David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to talk about the government's response on the totemic issue of online safety and particularly age verification as it relates to social media and pornography and some other things online. There are two big problems here. The first is what has happened in the past, and the second is what we are told is going to happen in the future.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 18:08 to 18:28

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind honourable members that the schedule for tonight's debate is fixed, so the member for Banks won't be allowed to continue. I'll go straight to the end of the Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts portfolio debate in accordance with resolution agreed to by the House on 28 May 2024. The question is that the proposed expenditure for the Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts portfolio be agreed to.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Prime Minister and Cabinet Portfolio

Proposed expenditure: $3,070,423,000

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

After the Prime Minister set high expectations for women's safety, I have to say that this year's budget is a disappointment for victims of family and domestic violence. There have been at least 26 women allegedly killed as a result of domestic and family violence this year and many others killed at the hands of violent male perpetrators. We know that at least 39 children have lost a mother. These are sobering and shocking statistics as we only enter June, and the government's big budget announcement was to continue a support payment the coalition established in 2021.

Frankly, this is just not good enough. It's not good enough given that the Albanese Labor government promised to end domestic violence in a generation. A generation is 20 years. Two years in, we are not on track to meet this promise, and data shows that we're going in the wrong direction. This is not a personal political attack on the government. This is a benchmark the government set itself and a benchmark it is not meeting. Here we are, two years into this term, and the violence is getting worse. We must hold this government to account for the safety of women and children across Australia. No-one forced them to promise the women of Australia that they would end domestic violence, but it is a promise they made. It's a promise they were only too willing to highlight in the media. So I'm calling on them to do more to deliver what they promised.

Just as we endorsed some sensible measures in Labor's first two budgets, we do the same in its third budget. We support the extension of emergency payments to support women and children fleeing domestic violence—a policy the coalition established in 2021 as the escaping violence payment. The coalition has also given its immediate and full support to funding for crisis and transitional accommodation. We support the rapid review into best-practice domestic violence prevention approaches that was reannounced last week. The coalition supports a prevention approach to family and domestic violence and for that to be the focus of this review. But I once again call on the government to demonstrate proper accountability and confirm the date when this review will be reporting. How can they call it a rapid review and not even provide a reporting date?

We're also calling on the government to be upfront about funding frontline services. Dozens of women have been violently killed in Australia since the start of the year, and women's organisations have widely criticised the government for failing to properly fund frontline services in their budget. Overnight it was revealed that not two, not 44 but now only 67 of the 500 frontline and community workers promised back in October 2022 are on the ground providing vital support. The minister revised her promise to say that 352 would be on the ground this financial year, but even this is not on track. It's well off track. In the Prime Minister's own state of New South Wales, only six workers are on the ground—six of 148. They should be tracking for 118 workers next financial year, but we aren't even into double digits. These are not just figures. These are workers that should be out there supporting women and children experiencing family and domestic violence, supporting the LGBTIQA+ community, supporting women with disability, supporting culturally and linguistically diverse women and children and supporting First Nations people.

Budgets are about choices. Domestic violence is raging. It's a national crisis. It demands greater action. Australians were promised that women's safety would be a priority, and I'm not sure that we're seeing that backed up today. The government's answer, when asked about more funding, is, 'We have done what we have done,' but that excuse is hard for women to stomach when we see waste in political spending hand over fist. Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers have allocated $45 million for an advertising campaign to promote a Future Made in Australia, and $300 million of energy relief payments will go to owners of unoccupied homes. Minister Bill Shorten is paying over $600,000 for his own personal speechwriter while domestic violence payment processing times, administered by his own Services Australia, have blown out from two days to as high as 11 days under this government. So I ask: is women's safety really a priority of this government?

The budget was criticised for not properly funding frontline services. It has all the wrong priorities. This is unconscionable when frontline domestic violence services are crying out for support. The Prime Minister said he would prioritise women's safety, and frontline services are turning away women because they didn't get any money from this budget. I am incensed that women in need continue to miss out because Anthony Albanese's priorities are all wrong.

Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the landmark investments from the Albanese Labor government in Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2024-2025 that will significantly improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I'll particularly highlight the many practical benefits these investments will deliver for First Nations people and communities in my electorate of Lingiari. Successfully managing issues of importance to Aboriginal Australians takes courage and involves a long-term vision. With the measures included in this appropriation bill, Prime Minister Albanese and Minister Burney will make a real difference to the lives of Aboriginal people in communities across Australia. The federal government understands the challenge facing Indigenous workforce development, particularly in remote communities of my electorate of Lingiari. I applaud the Albanese Labor government's Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program that will replace the failed Community Development Program. This new program is on track to commence in the second half of this year. This new program will be delivered in partnership with First Nations people and commit $777.4 million in this year's budget to create jobs that communities want. It will provide a steady pipeline of local workers to meet the growing labour force demands across remote Australia over the next decade. Every Australian has a right to a job and a future. Employment brings economic success. It is critical to closing the gap and improving the life circumstances of our First Nations people.

An issue of great concern to me is the number of people in my electorate who are experiencing homelessness and living in overcrowded housing. One in 20 people in the Northern Territory are experiencing homelessness, and experts say that this situation is worsening, with waitlists up to 10 years for public housing. For those families in my electorate who have a home, recurring problems of overcrowding and poor quality houses often result in adverse health, education and employment outcomes, and increased family violence. The situation is bleak, with the highest levels of overcrowding in Australia occurring in remote communities of my electorate in the Northern Territory.

The importance of the Albanese Labor governments commitment in this year's budget to tackling overcrowding in the Northern Territory remote communities cannot be overstated. This historic $4 billion joint investment with the Northern Territory government provides a 10-year commitment to build 270 houses each year in remote Territory communities, halving overcrowding within a decade. Included in the measure is continued support for repairs to existing houses and an additional $120 million over three years from 2024-25 to construct, repair and upgrade houses and essential infrastructure, which I know has gone down really well in Northern Territory homelands.

Our federal Labor government is meeting complex and multilayered health challenges facing Aboriginal people across Australia, in particular in my electorate where they make up approximately 70 per cent of consumers in the Northern Territory public health system. I congratulate the Albanese Labor government and Minister Burney for the measures they have taken in this year's budget to increase affordable and culturally appropriate health services.

I am pleased that one of the passions I share with the Minister for Indigenous Australians is stemming the devastating effects of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder—FASD—on children, families and in the community. Important work continues under the Central Australia plan to invest in Congress's children and youth assessment and treatment services by providing more early detection and intervention services for neurodevelopmental conditions such as FASD, ADHD and autism. This investment is allowing 200 First Nations children and people each year to receive the needed assessments and doubling Congress's current capacity in increasing community access to these much-needed services.

I am proud of the commitment that we have made in this year's budget to create a better and fairer education system for all Australians. I congratulate Minister Burney on the $18 million additional to the $250 million in the Central Australia plan being invested in this year's budget to build new and improved boarding facilities in Central Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from remote Northern Territory communities. I have attended many meetings— (Time expired)

Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2024-2025, particularly on the way that the Labor government had lauded this budget as delivering for Australian women. I want to turn specifically to some areas where we say the government could have done better and needs to. Women's safety: improving the safety of women and girls must be a priority of this government, of all governments. As I stand here today, a woman has been killed in Australia every four days this year—shocking, appalling, crisis point, frightful. We need more descriptors. We not only need stronger descriptors but we need stronger action and collaboration, stronger policies and real solutions. We need stronger delivery on the Prime Minister's promise to eradicate domestic violence in a decade.

I do commend the government for extending the Escaping Violence Payment. This is where emergency payments of $5,000—$1,500 in cash and $3,500 in goods—can be provided to support women and children fleeing domestic violence and trying to start their new lives in safety. The coalition established this payment in 2021, and the government is to be commended for extending this payment. Unfortunately though, with the housing crisis we're currently facing this payment means that many women will still not be able to find adequate housing, particularly in social housing. Median wait times for social housing across some parts of New South Wales are now up to five years.

The government's proposed solution was through its failed Housing Australia Future Fund. We've heard today that so far that fund has paid out $30 million in 12 months in external consultancies and executive salaries without delivering a single house, social housing or otherwise. It's built nothing to house women fleeing domestic violence. It is therefore incumbent upon the Prime Minister to do more to address this housing crisis, and that includes finding solutions for single women.

The coalition has committed to allowing separated women the opportunity to use part of their superannuation to put towards a home to help them restart their lives. This is said in circumstances where a 2023 Victorian parliamentary inquiry found that only 34 per cent of women who separated managed to own a home within five years and only 44 per cent within 10 years. Divorced women are also three times more likely to rent at the age of 65 than married women. The best way to empower women, to enable them to secure long-term safety and financial security, is through home ownership. The coalition understands this.

Women fleeing domestic violence situations need far more frontline workers. We have appalling statistics around our country. Solutions to family and domestic violence to provide women with emergency support is through increased frontline services. The Albanese Labor government did commit to funding 500 frontline service and community workers; however, that commitment was made back in October 2022, and we've already heard that there is still a massive shortfall in the delivery of that policy. To date, in the Prime Minister's own state of New South Wales, my home state, only six workers are on the ground. That's six of 148 that were promised by the Prime Minister. Women are being turned away from services because of the failure of the government to deliver the policies and the promises that it has made.

I turn now to women's health. Labor heralded its federal budget as putting women's health as a central component. That is to be commended. Many Australian women suffer from chronic pelvic pain—conditions such as endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome—that is debilitating, distressing and impairing their ability to live their lives to the fullest. It is welcome that the government, in this budget, is continuing to build on the significant work commenced by the coalition in this critical area. The coalition has demonstrated its commitment to women's health. It has committed to undertake a review of women's health items on the MBS and the PBS. It's supporting measures and developing policies around menopause and perimenopause, and has committed to grant $4 million to Ovarian Cancer Australia.

I conclude by observing that the budget provided some responses to address significant contemporary issues facing Australian women in areas of safety, health and financial security. However, this budget could have been and should have been so much more rigorous, more generous and more understanding of the needs of Australian women. Australian women and girls deserve better.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Education Portfolio

Proposed expenditure, $2,811,335,000

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I start, I might just add that the Minister for Education is currently chairing a meeting but will be here at the end of this to do the sum up. In the meantime, I'm really proud to stand up here and talk about the achievements of the Albanese government—a government that understands the value of education.

Labor knows that education has the ability to transform lives, to break poverty cycles and to open up those doors of opportunity. I have said this before because I know this—because education changed my life. In our first two budgets, the Albanese government delivered significant investments in education, and I'd like to start particularly with early childhood education. We've made early childhood education more affordable for more than one million families across Australia. We've made investments to help retain our quality, highly skilled early childhood education workforce whilst also attracting new people into the profession, and we've made early childhood education more accessible for First Nations children.

The budget builds on this investment as we chart a course to a world-class, universal early childhood education and care system. In this budget, in early childhood education and care, we've provisioned funding towards a wage increase for the early childhood education and care workforce. This is an important step, a fairly significant step, to properly valuing and recognising this profession and building a stable and sustainable workforce. The Productivity Commission and the ACCC have both told us that building that workforce is vital to realising our vision of a world-class, universal early childhood education system that is accessible, affordable and inclusive. We cannot achieve this without a quality early learning workforce, and we know that the key to this is wages. That's why we're taking action now to make a wage increase a reality, with $30 million to build the IT and payment systems that will be needed to deliver on this important commitment.

In this year's budget, we're also continuing to ensure more children are able to access the transformational benefits of early childhood education, with a further $98.4 million for the Inclusion Support Program. This budget is also making significant investments in schools and higher education—for all education from birth right through life. We're delivering on the Albanese Labor commitment and our plan to build a better and fairer education system from early childhood education to school education and tertiary education.

In schools, the Albanese government is offering the biggest increase in federal funding to public schools that has ever been delivered. This includes more than $785 million for my home state of Western Australia to fully fund all public schools in WA by 2026. In higher education, we're responding to the Australian Universities Accord, including by providing cost-of-living relief for students and making tertiary education more accessible. These investments include wiping $3 billion in student debt, fixing the indexation of HELP loans, helping students overcome placement poverty with prac payments and preparing students for university with fee-free uni-ready courses.

All of these commitments are just the start of how our Labor government is also continuing to deliver for young people—for youth. Of course, my other portfolio is in youth. This budget helps young people with immediate challenges while also setting them up for the future. Investments in this budget directly address what young people have told us were the top priorities for them through our national youth consultations that we undertook last year. This includes not only measures in the Education portfolio that provide greater access to affordable and free education and training but also measures in other portfolios that provide cost-of-living relief and mental health support, address climate change and improve housing affordability and rent costs. We're also implementing initiatives outlined in Engage!—a strategy to include young people in the decisions we make.

So we remain committed to empowering young people to play a role in shaping the government policy and programs that matter to them. Through the Education portfolio, we remain committed to a fairer, more equitable and inclusive education system for all, from early childhood right through to school and right through to university, because we know that that's what sets up Australians for opportunity and success. (Time expired)

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

I begin by expressing my dismay that the Minister for Education could not be bothered to attend this important consideration-in-detail process. We heard all kinds of rhetoric from Labor before they came to government about their commitment to parliamentary accountability and scrutiny, but, yet again, the minister is treating this process with contempt, as we have seen done by a number of other ministers during this consideration-in-detail process.

Perhaps the Minister for Education is embarrassed about attending—to speak, for example, about the challenge of rising student debt levels. The fact is that Australian students are facing a HECS debt crisis under the Albanese Labor government. For three million Australians with a student debt, HELP loans have escalated by almost 16 per cent since the Albanese government was elected. Under the former coalition government, the average indexation rate was just 1.7 per cent, compared to that 16 per cent increase we've seen under the Albanese Labor government.

Now, the minister announced on 5 May that, in response to the Australian Universities Accord, the government will cap the HELP indexation rate. Labor said it would 'cut the student debt of more than three million Australians' in this month's budget. However, just two days later, on 7 May, the Australian Taxation Office confirmed that student loans would be indexed at the higher rate of 4.7 per cent from 1 June 2024, making a mockery of Labor's announcement.

Labor has treated the university research sector with disdain. The government has cut $102 million from university research programs delivered by the coalition, and, with research currently sitting at 1.7.9 per cent of GDP, this government is on track to break its pre-election promise that it would increase research funding to three per cent of GDP. Labor's budget also confirmed that the proposed Australian Tertiary Education Commission, due to start on 1 January 2025, has not been funded, which makes any rational observer really doubt the depth of Labor's commitment and the commitment that it's made to overturn the Job-ready Graduates program. In breach of its election commitment, Labor has simply delivered a school funding war by failing to provide on its commitment to so-called full and fair funding for public schools in the budget.

With one in three students failing NAPLAN, it's critical that the government delivers the reforms required to raise academic standards so that every child can reach his or her potential. This requires an unwavering commitment to evidence based teaching methods.

Of course, one other issue which is of significant concern under this government is the issue of student safety on university campuses. There's been an alarming rise in antisemitism since the appalling Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on 7 October 2023, and yet what we have seen is a distinct failure of leadership from the government and from some vice-chancellors, including the tacit acceptance of encampments and other protest activity, which is fuelling incitement and hate. There must be zero tolerance of antisemitism, which is why the coalition is calling on the Prime Minister to back a judicial inquiry into antisemitism on university campuses. I urge the government to support the private member's bill introduced by the member for Berowra which aims to establish just such a judicial inquiry.

I turn to questions for the minister. My first question is: given the right of everybody to be safe on a university campus, why has the minister failed to adopt a zero tolerance approach to antisemitism, including not speaking out in relation to encampments which are fuelling incitement and hate on a number of university campuses? On 5 May, why did the minister promise to lower HELP indexation on 1 June, when he knew this could not be delivered? Where is the legislation to enact these changes? And why did the minister not act earlier? In the face of Labor's 'big Australia' policy, what does the minister say to regional and smaller universities and private higher education providers, which have been hit hard by this government's discriminatory international student visa policies and now face a very uncertain future? Can the minister explain how payments for mandatory student prac placements will be delivered and why so many students are missing out, including those who are studying speech pathology, veterinary science, medicine, engineering and clinical psychology? With the next National School Reform Agreement in limbo, where are the school reforms that the member for Blaxland promised? I hope he answers these questions. (Time expired)

Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bradfield for his sudden interest in the universities sector, because it was wanting for the time they were in government. Let us take a trip down memory lane to when we had COVID and those opposite introduced JobKeeper to help keep the economy afloat. Which was the sector they ignored during that entire period? It was the universities sector. They changed the rules for JobKeeper not once, not twice but three times to deny JobKeeper to the universities sector. What did that mean? It meant that that sector suffered the biggest job loss it had ever seen—estimates of about 12,000 jobs lost in that sector because those opposite refused to provide support. They provided support to Harvey Norman, yes, but not to the universities sector. And now they have truly just discovered the importance of the universities sector. I do welcome this new discovery, because the only way they ever discover the universities sector is when they want to interfere with research grants. That's the only time they show any interest. So, I welcome the fact that they are showing interest today.

The universities sector is something that all of us on this side of the House are very interested in. I know that the Minister for Education is very interested in it, and I got to visit the Australian Catholic University's Strathfield campus in my electorate with the Minister for Education and the Assistant Minister for Health, Ged Kearney. We got to meet with some fantastic students who are studying teaching, nursing, midwifery, and social work. When I got to sit around the table and have chats with them, so many of them had incredible stories about why there were studying these degrees.

One student who was studying social work told me the reason she wanted to study social work was that she and her mother had experienced really difficult forms of domestic violence and there was a social worker who came into their lives and helped make it better, and she wanted to do that for others. I met a mother of three kids who was retraining to become a nurse because she had had such great care when she had a really awful miscarriage. She wanted to be able to go on and give other people that type of care. I spoke to a young man who had an affinity with Indigenous Australians, and he wanted to work with young Indigenous Australians so that they could reach their full potential. They all had amazing stories about why they had chosen these career paths.

One thing none of these students spoke about was money. None of them spoke about having high-flying, high-paying jobs. They did it for the love of it. What they did talk to me about was how challenging it was trying to complete their mandatory prac placements. Many of them were having to complete 1,000 hours, sometimes up to 1,600 hours, of mandatory prac placement, along with their part-time work and their study. Some of them were at breaking point. One young student who was studying teaching told me about how he worked on the weekends in his local butcher and when he was doing his mandatory prac placement at a school there was a period when he had to work seven days a week for seven weeks, and he was exhausted. By the end of it he almost thought of just giving it all up. He told me some of his friends did just give up their teaching degrees. We don't want them to do this. We want these people who are committed, who want to make a difference, who want to help future generations to continue with these degrees.

So I'm so proud of this government's commitment to helping provide income support to these students during their mandatory prac placements so that they can concentrate on learning those valuable skills when they're out in the classroom or in the hospital and that they can complete their degrees and go on to become the great nurses, teachers, midwives and social workers that we desperately need in this country. This is a change that is going to make a difference to those people's lives and to the lives of so many in this country.

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's disappointing that the minister for this portfolio, an important portfolio, has not turned up for this consideration in detail and has instead sent his junior minister to speak on his behalf. It is very disappointing for Australians and certainly this side of the chamber. I was reading through my consideration-in-detail speech from last year and my opening line then was, 'It has been 12 months since the Albanese government came to power and, unlike the Prime Minister's repeated promises, I haven't met an Australian who is better off under Labor.' That still seems to be the case, because two years later, three budgets later, I can say that that statement still stands. In fact, I'm yet to meet any Australian who is better off now than they were two years ago when the government came to power, or an Australian who felt safer or more secure than they did two years ago, because the reality is that Australians always suffer under Labor. They can see through the thinly-veiled lies and carefully crafted messages from Labor's best—and expensive—spin doctors.

Australians know their housing and rental costs are higher now than they were two years ago. They can see that gas and electricity bills have skyrocketed since 2021-22. In fact, a typical Australian household with a mortgage is $35,000 a year worse off under this Labor government than they were under the coalition. Like many Australians, I was pretty disappointed with this year's budget. As I flicked through the pages of the budget paper 2, I thought, 'Wow, we are a little light on early childhood education.' You might say, 'Surely, there was a measure to help bring down the increasing cost of early childhood education,' which has already risen back up—I say to the minister—again by 7.1 per cent in less than 12 months. Sadly, there was nothing, no relief from Labor for those families who are struggling to make ends meet and who pay for the cost of their early childhood education.

If there is no support for families to cover their rising out-of-pocket costs, maybe there is some funding for families who have no access at all to early childhood education. I'm talking about families who live in regional, rural and remote areas across our country, families who don't work a standard nine-to-five, and families who are stuck languishing on those very long waiting lists or who can only get a day or two when they really need more than that. If you're one of those families holding out for help, you will also be very disappointed because there's nothing to increase access to early childhood education in this budget.

The government and the minister like to talk about no Australian being worse off under them and no child being left behind. What they conveniently forget to tell you is those statements don't apply to anyone who lives in a regional, rural or remote area. We know that, in many cases, children living in regional areas are more likely to start developmentally behind when compared to children living in our capital cities, yet this government has no plans to support children and their families in regional areas, just no plans. Do you know what they do have plans for? They have plans for 36,000 new public servants in Canberra. That's right. The government loves to talk about how important access to early learning is for children and their parents but, when it comes down to it, they would rather spend money on more Commonwealth employees than the future of this country.

I ask: with fees already skyrocketing, Minister, how do you plan to deliver cost-of-living relief to families accessing early childhood education? Minister, what plans do you have to increase access for the many families across Australia who are stuck on waiting lists and struggling to pay their bills because many of them have no access?

The Prime Minister said that this budget was for all Australians. What a great line, but it was probably crafted by his media unit because that is all it was—a line—because this is not a budget for all Australians and it most certainly is not a budget for families with young children who need access to early learning. It's a budget full of despair and broken promises—a budget from a Labor government that lied to get into power, divided us and then broke the spirit of so many through reckless policies and spending. They have killed the great Australian dream of homeownership, have crushed small businesses and are draining our regions dry. Australians deserve better than another three years of hard Labor.

Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians certainly deserve better than another 10 years of those opposite, let me tell you. It is great to be here with the Minister for Education. I have had some fabulous feedback in my electorate when talking to young people about the changes to student debt, which are wiping $3 billion of student debt. The young people of my electorate are very grateful. It's also great to be here with the Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth. The Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth was an absolute rock star in my electorate. We visited the Kids' Uni and we went to Early Start. We got to play out in the playground and talk to early childhood educators, and we also had a great forum with young people where we talked about fashion and the minister's great ability to crochet a dress. We also spoke about music festivals, education and mental health. So I really thank both ministers for their contribution to my electorate. I know the people of Cunningham are very grateful for the work that they do.

I am very proud to be a part of an Albanese Labor government which is focusing on increasing access, equity and quality in education. Labor governments through the decades have been responsible for introducing some of the world's most envied institutions and initiatives, and education is no different. We introduced Medicare, superannuation, the NDIS and HECS. Not only do we implement these life-changing systems but we are also the only government that continues to strengthen and improve them and make sure that they are sustainable into the future.

We're fixing the HECS system and cutting the student debt of more than three million Australians. This is providing $3 billion in direct support to our students and graduates who had been struggling with the rising cost of living. In response to the Australian Universities Accord, we will cap the HELP indexation rate to be the lower of either the CPI or the WPI, with effect from 1 June. This will benefit every student across the country, including, most importantly, every student at the University of Wollongong with a HELP debt and every tradie at Wollongong TAFE with a VET student loan. We have listened to our community and their concerns, and we are legislating to make the system simpler and fairer.

This reform directly addresses last year's 7.1 per cent spike in CPI, and we're making sure that student debt will never rise faster than your wage. We know that last year's indexation made it impossible for students to get ahead, and that's why we're backdating this to June last year. This also means that any graduate who paid off their HELP loan during the year will receive an indexation credit once the legislation has passed and the ATO has processed the indexation credit. For those out there wondering what this means in real terms for their loan, an individual with an average HELP debt of $45,000 will see over $2,000 wiped from their outstanding debt, and this measure will help students now and also help students into the future.

The Universities Accord was also clear that we need a lot more students at university and TAFE to deliver the large and skilled workforce that Australian needs for the future. We are providing $350 million in additional Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding over four years to fully fund fee-free Uni Ready courses to provide more students with the pathway into higher education, with a focus on students from underrepresented backgrounds. This will result in 30,000 students studying in fee-free Uni Ready courses like those offered at UOW College each year by 2030, an increase of 40 per cent in student numbers and doubling the number of students by 2040.

We are also establishing the Commonwealth prac payment that I spoke about earlier to support students undertaking mandatory work placements as part of their qualifications. I know how stressful it can be juggling work and study commitments, and I am proud to be part of a Labor government that is supporting students in real and tangible ways. The new payment will be for eligible students studying teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work. It will provide around 68,000 eligible higher education students and over 5,000 VET students each year with $319.50 per week during their placement. We are investing in our students and investing in our future workforce.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think I can say without any fear of contradiction that every member in this place values education, whether it's early childhood education, or primary, secondary or tertiary education. I think there's a shared passion across the chamber that we want to see the best possible outcome for our young Australians. I note the presence of the minister here today, and I'd suggest that he and I are on a unity ticket when we say that we got elected to try and make sure kids in our electorates could achieve their full potential through the education system. I remember the member opposite—the minister—when he had jet black hair. I think he has found, since taking on the ministerial role, that nothing is easy in a ministerial office and that achieving good public policy is not a question of 'set and forget'. So I do commend the minister for his aspirations on behalf of young people in Australia, but I particularly want to draw his attention to the plight of rural and regional students in pursuit of their tertiary goals.

I know the minister understands that there are barriers to young people in rural and regional Australia achieving their full potential. Part of the barrier, without any question at all, is a barrier of aspiration. It's a barrier for us in our own communities and as leaders in our communities in terms of making sure that young people realise that they can be something they've never seen before—that they can be the first person in their family to attend university and become a doctor, a nurse or an engineer. But there are also economic barriers. The previous government recognised this as well. The coalition government, in our time in office, worked to try and reduce the economic barriers for young people forced to move away from home to attend university. But this is not an area of public policy where you can 'set and forget'. There's no question that there are some specific issues right now facing regional students that this minister will have to overcome.

We had a system in Australia—the HECS or HELP system of deferred payments—which meant that it was easier for more people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to go on to university, and that's a good system. I understand the minister is about to make some changes in relation to reducing the rate at which those debts increase, but what we're seeing now for our regional students seeking to relocate is that the cost-of-living impacts are so enormous and the accommodation shortage is almost insurmountable for a lot of young people, so much so that we're now seeing students from regional communities who get the marks and get the ATAR score and who are well and truly capable of going on to tertiary studies but for whom those barriers of accommodation and the cost of living to move to a metropolitan area are getting to the point where many are simply saying: 'I'll go into the workforce'—and it's a workforce that is screaming out for skills right now—and they won't actually go on and achieve their full potential by undertaking university studies.

I am not one who thinks for a second that every kid needs to go to university. Getting a trade or doing some vocational training is equally a good choice. But, for those students who want to go on to tertiary studies and want to go to university, we have to do more to reduce the economic barriers. So I do ask the minister: what else is he going to do to ensure that students from regional, rural and remote Australia, including our Indigenous young students, have the funds and the appropriate housing to participate in higher education in the future? This is a barrier that impacts not just the young people themselves; it also becomes a problem for our communities. The mums and dads are making decisions, when their kids reach 12, 13 or 14, and are saying: 'I can't live in a regional community. I need to move closer to the city so I can accommodate my child when they go to university.' It becomes a brain drain from regional communities where we see doctors, teachers, nurses and paramedics say, 'I can't live three or four hours from the city anymore. I need to move closer to the city and closer to a university campus so I can afford to give my children the opportunity to go on to university if they choose to do that.' I do encourage the minister with the work he is doing in relation to reducing those costs, and I single out the issue around supporting the practical placements. I recognise that that it is a new decision. It is a bold decision in terms of being an issue that a lot of students have grappled with, but I do question the minister and urge him to go back to his department and say, 'Why is the scope so limited?' There are other areas of skilled workforce shortages in our communities where students—in allied health, in particular, or veterinary science—would benefit from access to the paid practical placements.

The other question I have for the minister is in relation to the regional university centres. I recognise there have been some expanded opportunities in that regard. I don't think we have fully realised the opportunities and the importance of those centres. I don't think we've fully understood what they could be in the future, so I do urge the minister to keep working with the Regional Commissioner Fiona Nash and with regional MPs who have a lived experience in this area to make sure that we recognise there are local solutions here. People living in those committees are best placed to make those decisions and influence the outcomes to help build aspirations and reduce those economic barriers for regional students.

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this portfolio as education is a part of my job that I'm very keen to contribute towards. Australian education helps form the backbone of our society as a foundation for both family and community and as platform for our people to live, adapt and thrive regardless of their current environment. It provides Australians with the tools to better themselves and those around them, no matter their social or economic conditions.

Quality education is something that lifts people out of disadvantage and into opportunities previously thought distant. It's rightly a priority for a Labor government, and it is essential for the people of Spence. Essentially, because Spence often lacks the advantages of other metropolitan areas in Australia, it is often much harder for people in Spence to access education pathways, particularly at a tertiary level. As it stands, change is needed to ensure that my community is ready to meet our transforming economic landscape as we move into the future. It's for the good of the individual, their communities and Australia at large.

I'm proud to say that under this government, change is coming with a suite of budget measures that place students and all Australians aspiring to learn at a tertiary institution front and centre to rise to that challenge. These include measures to help mitigate placement poverty often felt by students in certain fields like nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work when they undertake unpaid placement programs in order to complete their qualification. Given current cost-of-living pressures especially, it can be hard to make ends meet when studying at university or undertaking vocational programs. This is a known significant barrier for my constituents in achieving higher qualifications after school. These pressures can become even more difficult during required placements often taking four weeks at a time, well away from a student's residence, which then proves highly disruptive and expensive.

Fortunately, this Labor government is one that listens to my community and to students across the country. It is a Labor government with an education minister that is addressing placement poverty through the Commonwealth prac payment introduced in the budget. Every year, from 1 July 2025, an estimated 68,000 eligible higher education students and another 5,000 in VET programs will be provided $319.50 per week during either clinical or professional placements. This means that an aspiring nurse or midwife placed at the Lyell McEwin Hospital in Elizabeth Vale learning valuable skills and assisting where it is needed most can do so with financial pressure lifted. It means that a budding teaching student supporting our future leaders at Kaurna Plains School in Elizabeth will be less likely to consider deferral or withdrawal due to affordability concerns, and it means that a social worker on their way to helping thousands of Australians throughout their career can complete their placement with greater certainty over their circumstances.

There is still a significant challenge for Australia in encouraging greater enrolments and supporting students to complete their programs in order to meet future demand for higher education qualifications. Firstly, in regard to the Commonwealth prac payment, I would like to ask the minister: how will this measure attract greater interest in higher education programs and encourage students to see them through?

Directly relating to this challenge of increasing higher education participation, I would also like to touch upon another significant investment towards our communities by the budget—that of the suburban university study hubs, or SUSHs, to be created in outer metropolitan areas. Their creation is a game changer for outer metropolitan areas. Our community in Spence is one of the most educationally underrepresented metropolitan areas in Australia. There are many in the north who find themselves fundamentally isolated from tertiary education due to factors like cost, distance and visibility in our community. This simply won't do.

The Universities Accord makes this clear: 55 per cent of all jobs by 2050 will need higher education qualifications in order to work in them. To ensure that we are ready for this, the government has set a target of 80 per cent of Australians having a tertiary qualification by the same year. This is where the SUSHs will come in. As introduced under this Labor government, they will smash the barriers to university education in outer metropolitan areas. It is an approach that prioritises student capability, creating safe, accessible and visible learning environments open to all higher education students. This is an investment into local communities that need it most—an investment into our aspiring Australians, regardless of background, to better themselves and their livelihoods. My second question to the minister on the SUSHs is this: how will the SUSH program help achieve the education target set by the government? (Time expired)

Dai Le (Fowler, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, as you know, when my mother resettled in Australia she was told that we had the best education system in the world. She knew, as we all do, that the best way to move upwards in terms of economic and personal development is through the education system. It's the best driver of social mobility. For residents of Fowler, the ladder provided by a university education is extremely important, as you know, Deputy Speaker Andrews.

Our people come from amongst the most culturally diverse backgrounds in Australia and from an area of high socioeconomic need. Assistance provided by HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP loans are invaluable. Having harangued the government for two years about the spiking index rate on student loans I was pleased to hear the Treasurer announce that indexing would be changed to reflect the lower of the consumer price index or the wage price index. This current reduction to the WPI will see three million students' loans reduced, and I welcome that. But I have to say that this change is little more than a sticking plaster where surgery is needed. Many may not realise that the WPI has only been lower than the CPI on four occasions this century. Whatever the immediate benefits this policy change will provide, it cannot be described as a permanent solution.

Neither does the budget of 2024 do anything to address the Job-ready Graduates Package of the Morrison government. This package saw a huge increase in the fee costs of arts degrees to shoehorn students into STEM subjects. Whilst we all understand the need for STEM graduates and appreciate the higher wages on offer for such people, this is utilitarian and has discriminatory effects. Women are more likely to study arts degrees, and men are much more likely to study STEM subjects. Women and those with arts degrees are likely to have lower earnings over the course of their lifetime for a variety of logical reasons, so this package discriminates in a way that disadvantages women.

Relying on price signalling in an effort to funnel students into courses that the government minister things are 'good for the country' is patently ridiculous. Students choose areas of study that they are good at and are interested in. That's why arts students have continued to enrol, at increasing personal financial cost, despite this discriminatory policy.

Economist Bruce Chapman, who devised the HECS system, doesn't think that the indexing shift is a sufficient answer, and neither do I. Under the current system, those with student loans must make a payment for their debt once they cross the threshold of annual income currently set at $51,550. Once this threshold is crossed there is a one per cent payment on loans required from the whole amount. This provides a perverse incentive to keep earnings below that amount once a person's earnings approach the threshold. It is also regressive because one per cent is applied regardless of how far above the threshold a person is.

Graduates from Fowler are likely to begin their post-university careers in lower wage brackets. This means that, while they may remain below the repayment threshold for longer, they also face a ballooning HECS loan, as the indexing continues to hike it up. None of this will help them save a deposit for a home loan. They want to pay back these loans, but why aren't repayment thresholds treated more like income tax? Minister, could we look into this? There should be a minimum threshold under which no repayments are necessary and a percentage repayment of earnings above that level. This way the threshold could be reduced below $51,550, with perhaps a higher than one per cent payment on earnings above the minimum amount. This would encourage wage growth and avoid debt ballooning.

The cost of living is going up, and the government is continuing to preside over an inflationary economy. I find there was little in this budget that I could take back to aspiring young people in Fowler to encourage them that their lives would be improved.

Australians demand a lot from our education system because we pay a lot for it. We also expect that our tertiary institutions will have a strong desire to offer education to as many of us as possible, regardless of our social, cultural and financial circumstances.

Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank all members who participated in this debate on education. The member for Fowler told the story of her mother saying that we have the best education system in the world. I'd say we have the best education system in the world but not for everyone. We are a country where your chances in life still depend upon how wealthy your parents are, where you live or the colour of your skin, and you can see that in the education data that hits my desk every day.

In this job, as I have done every day for two years and continue to do as long as I've got the privilege of being the education minister, I work to try to make sure that we build a better and fairer education system, particularly for people who live in the member for Fowler's electorate and mine—we're next-door neighbours—and in electorates like Spence. I work on how we can make our early education system better and fairer, and we have a Productivity Commission report that's about to arrive here to help inform that discussion. I work on how we can make our school education system better and fairer, properly fund our schools and make sure funding goes to the kids who need it the most. Those negotiations are happening with the states at the moment as well. And I work on how we build a better and fairer higher education system too.

That was very much the focus of the education portion of this year's budget, the first stage of our response to the Universities Accord. In that response we said that we are going to set ourselves a target that, as a nation, by 2050 we'll have 80 per cent of our workforce with a tertiary qualification. That's 80 per cent of the workforce—everyone from 15 to 65—who have either a TAFE qualification or a university degree. To put that in perspective, it's about 60 per cent now, so we are moving from a workforce 60 per cent of whom have post-school qualifications to a workforce where that figure is 80 per cent. To do that, the advice from the accord team is that we really have to make sure that more young people from our outer suburbs and our regions and from disadvantaged backgrounds like those in the electorates that we represent get a crack at going to TAFE or university and succeed when they get there. That, at its core, is what the accord is about and what our response in the budget this year is about.

HECS is a big part of it—reducing the cost of HECS. It reduces the total HECS debt by about $3 billion for more than three million Australians. For the average Aussie with a HECS debt of about 26 grand, it will reduce their HECS debt by about $1,200. I think the member for Bradfield asked: why hasn't this taken place already? Legislation will be introduced in the next few months. It will be backdated to take effect from the middle of last year, so it will wipe out those debts when that legislation is passed, as I'm sure it will be.

A number of members asked me questions about paid prac—about providing financial support, for the first time, for nursing students, teaching students and social work students. Why them? That's where the accord said that we should focus first. Will it help attract more people to the courses? I hope so, because that financial support is a real incentive. Will it help more people to finish the course? That's what the accord team tells us should happen, because at the moment some people are delaying finishing their courses because they can't afford to do the prac because they would have to give up their part-time job.

There are other things in the budget, around fee free courses and uncapping places for them to give people a springboard from school to university. We think that that will potentially double the number of people doing those free university preparation courses over the next 15 years. Again, that'll help a lot more people that currently don't get a crack at university to get a crack.

There will be outer suburban university hubs. We have them in the regions now. For the first time, we're going to put them in the suburbs. The member for Spence asked me about those. Applications for those 14 hubs are open now. They close at the end of July. I'd encourage all members listening or staff looking at the transcripts to talk to their universities, TAFEs and councils and encourage them to put applications in for those, because I think they play a key role in helping people who otherwise would think that uni's not for them—that it's for someone else somewhere else—to do university closer to home.

Finally, the member for Bradfield asked about antisemitism in our universities. I'm not sure whether it's possible to get a small extension of time here to make some important points. There is a place for peaceful protest in this country, but there is no place for hate, there is no place for intolerance, there is no place for intimidation and there is certainly no place for the poison of antisemitism or any type of racism, whether it exists in our universities or anywhere else in this country. In the lifetime of our grandparents, we have all seen the evil that antisemitism leads to. At the moment, a lot of Jewish students feel unwelcome at university. More than that, they are being made to feel unwelcome at university. That's what they have told me. That's what they have made clear to me. In turn, I have made it clear to universities that there is nothing more important than the safety of their students or the safety of their staff at campus.

Universities have codes of conduct, and it is important that they are enforced. That includes the power to cancel an academic award conferred by the university or suspend or expel students who breach these codes. Universities are taking disciplinary action, and we're also now seeing universities take action to wind up encampments on their grounds. There is also a role here for the federal regulator of universities. That is TEQSA. They have written to all universities outlining their responsibilities and have stood up a regulatory response team to proactively monitor the actions that universities take.

Finally, on the issue of hate speech and how it relates to universities, the Attorney-General has indicated his intention to bring forward legislation to create new criminal offences and strengthen existing laws against hate speech. The Universities Accord, which recommended changes to HECS, to paid prac, to fee-free courses and to outer-suburban university study hubs, also recommended a review or a study of racism in our universities and its impact on staff and students. So in the budget we've agreed to do that. We've announced a study into antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism and the experience of Indigenous people at our universities. That work will be led by the Race Discrimination Commissioner. Just like the work that Kate Jenkins, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, did, the work that exposed the sexual violence occurring in our universities and led to the decision of government to establish a national student ombudsman, I'm confident that this work will help to make our universities safer places for all students and staff.

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 19:37