Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Banking and Financial Services) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to incorporate a very fine speech by the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Kim Beazley.

Leave granted.

The incorporated speech read as follows—

This Budget fails middle Australia and mortgages our kids’ future. That’s why tonight I want to speak to the families of Australia about our shared hopes and aspirations for the future.

I want to speak directly to the millions of middle Australians at home with their families. In the suburbs, the country towns, the cities and the bush. This is for them. Probably they’re just finishing dinner, washing the dishes, helping the kids with their homework. All the time trying to keep half an eye on the television.

Managing the competing demands that crowd each waking moment. Sitting at tables in kitchens where the magnets chase the bills around the fridge door until pay day.

Figuring out if there’s enough in the bank to cover this month’s mortgage. Or if there’s enough petrol in the car to get to the childcare centre, then school, then to work and then home.

Doing the mental arithmetic of family life. Tired at the end of another working day. Knowing it starts all over again tomorrow.

They’re the ones I really want to speak to. Not the politicians. Not the journalists.

The people who are important to me and crucial to our nation’s future—the families of middle Australia. The ones who’ve built our prosperity. Because after 10 long years of the Howard Government they’re the ones who need a break. Not an easy ride or a hand out—just a fair go.

Reward for all the effort they’ve put in to build our national wealth. Recognition that our future prosperity rests squarely on them.

I have one critical message for them: millions of middle Australian families will build the next generation of prosperity. And I will reward them for it, when they do.

Middle Australians need a government that makes their lives simpler not more complicated; that lightens the load not weighs them down.

A government that gives parents the time and flexibility they need to do the most important job there is—raising the next generation.

A government that looks at those kids and sees the prosperous future of an entire nation. That understands that investment in the hopes and aspirations of Australian families brings the dividend of a modern dynamic economy.

Mr Speaker, through you, I say this to the families of middle Australia.

Tonight I seek a binding agreement between us: between you and the government I’ll lead. Tonight I announce my Pact with Middle Australia.

Because, quite simply, it’s your hard work, the hard slog of middle Australia that has generated our economic good fortune.

And looking ahead, Australia is counting on you to do the next round of heavy lifting that will deliver future prosperity. We’re relying on you to drive a new wave of economic prosperity and it’s about time you got something back.

So, Mr Speaker, my Pact with Middle Australia has, at its core, one promise. Through you, Mr Speaker, it is this. Under a Beazley Labor Government: when you put in, you get back.

Here’s the deal. When you work hard I’ll make sure you get a tax system that rewards you. When you put in those long hours at work and at home, I’ll give you more time with the kids.

When you do your job properly you’ll have the certainty that job security provides. When you work overtime and on public holidays I will protect your penalty rates.

When you want to learn and train, I’ll ensure you get all the support you need.

I will ensure that when you put in, you get back. And I will correct a great wrong imposed on middle Australia. The people who built the good times but who’ve long been dudded by the Government and again this week by the Treasurer.

Five budgets without a decent tax break. Then $10. $10—already gone. Gone on the triple whammy. Wages slashed. Rising interest rates. Soaring petrol prices.

Fair dinkum. This Treasurer’s like a poker machine. You put in. You pull the arm. Nothing. You put in again. Another pull. Nothing. Time after time. Nothing.

But then….At last…The lights flash….The bells ring….Crowds gather round. “Jackpot!” he crows… 10 bucks. That’s the drop. 10 bucks.

Surely middle Australia deserves better than this.

Day in day out, they’re putting in and getting too little back. Giving so much. Working so hard. For so little in return.

No wonder they’re thinking “if the economy is so good why am I under so much pressure?” And why paying the bills and filling the car and servicing the mortgage gets tougher, not easier.

Why they’re forced to endure all the pain of extreme industrial relations changes without any economic gain for the country.

How can this Government be so pleased with itself? They’ve dudded middle Australian families and mortgaged our kids’ future.

MY PACT WITH MIDDLE AUSTRALIA

Mr Speaker, the Treasurer has a Budget for today—we have a pact for tomorrow.

He smirks at the future—I embrace it. I look ahead to a deal with the millions of Australians he’s neglected. A deal that will guarantee our future prosperity.

My Pact with Middle Australia has that one core promise.

When you put in, you get back. And, tonight, five key commitments to begin.

Childcare

First, new childcare centres at schools.

When you want to go back to work after having a child, you shouldn’t have to face the dreaded “double drop off”.

My plan for childcare centres at schools ends the dreaded “double drop-off” of kids—for the mums and dads who’ve got kids at childcare and kids at school.

For a family in Lonsdale it means more time at home together; less time in the car. For the economy it means increased workforce participation.

I want to meet the Australian economy’s pressing need for more skilled workers. My government will do its bit by giving parents the incentive to work without killing family life.

That’s why I announce tonight that a Federal Labor Government will provide $200 million to establish 260 new childcare centres on primary school grounds and other community land.

And we will ensure that these places go to the areas in our suburbs and towns where childcare shortages mean they’re needed most. So that parents can work knowing their kids are getting an educational experience that will set them up for life.

I will have more to say about childcare in the lead up to the next election. But I make this commitment tonight: When Australian families put in by working hard, I’ll put in. I’ll get rid of the “double drop off”.

Skills

Second, when Australians want to learn a traditional trade to become one of the skilled workers the country desperately needs, they shouldn’t have to pay.

My Government will get rid of TAFE fees for the traditional trades. If you do a traditional apprenticeship, you won’t pay TAFE fees.

I want to get more of the skilled workers our economy needs. So we need to get rid of TAFE fees for the 60,000 traditional apprentices who start training each year.

Labor’s priority is clear: train Australians first and train Australians now.

That’s why I announce tonight that a Federal Labor Government will set up what I call Skills Accounts to help Australian families save for training and skills. And we will make an initial deposit of $800 per year, for up to four years, in an apprentice’s Skills Account to get rid of up-front TAFE fees.

Eight hundred dollars a year for the kid in Blacktown who wants to be a plumber. Eight hundred dollars a year for kids in Wynnum and Townsville who want to train to be electricians, welders, motor mechanics, chefs and hairdressers.

To help solve Australia’s massive shortage of childcare workers, I will extend my Skills Account plan to get rid of TAFE fees for the thousands of Australian trainee child carers who start courses each year.

So I announce tonight that a Federal Labor Government will get rid of TAFE fees for eligible childcare courses by making an initial deposit of $1200 per year, for up to two years, in a trainee’s Skills Account.

Young people training to teach and care for our kids can use this to pay upfront fees at a TAFE or eligible provider. Or they can use it for materials and resources charges.

Mr Speaker, this country made a mistake when we turned our back on trades education in schools. So tonight I make these commitments.

Labor will give every Australian student the opportunity to study at specialised trades schools.

We will give younger students the chance to try their hand at a trade with the Trade Taster Program. For older students there’ll be more school-based apprenticeships.

I’ll invest in real apprenticeship schemes not the Government’s fake apprenticeships that use our kids as cheap labour and give them no skills.

And I’ll deliver a $2,000 Trade Completion bonus to encourage kids to finish their courses and produce an extra 10,000 tradespeople. The plumbers, the builders, the childcare workers that we need now.

Mr Speaker, my commitment tonight is this. When Australian kids want to learn a new trade my government will be there to help them. And when mums and dads need childcare to go back to work, I’ll make sure they can find the childcare they need.

Unfair dismissal

Third, no unfair dismissals. When you do the right thing at work, you won’t be unfairly dismissed.

I will tear up this Government’s extreme industrial relations laws and establish genuine protection for anyone who’s unfairly dismissed.

The Howard Government’s law gives supervisors and bosses the green light to sack a worker for any reason or no reason at all.

What we need are balanced laws to protect both employers and employees from rogue behaviour—not one-sided rules that give employers all power over their staff. A system that gets Australian values back into the way we work.

That’s why I announce tonight that a Federal Labor Government will put in place a new system to protect working Australians from the threat of unfair dismissal.

A simple process for resolving claims which gets the balance right. Protecting both sides. Plus we’ll let employers and employees negotiate over family friendly conditions and safety training.

This is my commitment to working Australians. When you put in every day to build our future prosperity, I’ll give you the job security you deserve.

Foreign apprentices

Fourth, no foreign apprentices. If you’re prepared to learn a trade, you won’t have to compete with foreign apprentices.

I want young Australians to get the training opportunities they deserve and which the Australian economy so badly needs.

As long as young Australians in Launceston and Gosford are being turned away from apprenticeships and TAFE, I won’t allow foreign apprentices to take away their chances in life.

We’ve already had 270,000 extra skilled workers enter this country over the last 10 years but 300,000 Australians have been turned away from TAFE. And we’re seeing Australians laid off while foreign workers take their places on conditions no one should have to put up with.

Now, the Prime Minister’s allowing foreign apprentices to come to Australia and take apprenticeship places here. He’s even giving businesses incentives to take them on.

These foreign apprentices are headed to regional areas where youth unemployment is already too high and wages too low. And to get their visas, foreign apprentices must accept whatever wages and conditions are on offer. And young Aussies have to compete with them.

Over time, this will ruin the job prospects of young Australians.

That’s why I announce tonight that a Federal Labor Government will abolish foreign apprenticeship visas.

No government I lead will import foreign apprentices from overseas while Aussie kids are turned away from training. It’s just plain wrong.

So this is my commitment: train our kids first, before you train anyone else’s.

Broadband

Fifth, real broadband for your kids and your business.

If you invest in a computer for your kids’ education, they’ll have real broadband to equip them for the learning of the future.

Australia needs a “fibre-to-the-node” broadband network across the country. To you and me, that means a broadband system twenty five times faster than the sort of speeds available in Australia today.

That’s why I announce tonight that a Federal Labor Government will invest in a joint venture with telecommunications companies to build this super fast computer network.

Labor would draw on the $757 million Broadband Connect program as well as provide an equity injection from the $2 billion earmarked for the Communications Fund to deliver the public funding of this partnership with the private sector.

This will deliver broadband that can instantly download documentaries, educational software and digital books.

Broadband which can host virtual classrooms where children could video conference around Australia. A digital School of the Air—for all. Plus we’ll offer a ‘clean feed’ to parents who want to make sure their kids are learning on the internet, not exposed to pornography and violence.

Half a century ago, Labor imagined an Australia where every child had a desk with a lamp to study on at night.

Tonight this is my commitment.

When you put a computer on that desk, I’ll give you a connection that plugs you into the world and brings every book ever written into your home.

This is an investment in national infrastructure that equips our kids for the future. Part of my plan to rebuild Australia’s crumbling road, rail, ports, electricity and communications networks.

We’ll take the politics out of infrastructure spending, with an independent expert body—Infrastructure Australia. We’ll make it easier for super funds to invest in infrastructure, and we’ll set up a Building Australia Fund to invest in the productive infrastructure of the future.

When Australians want to compete in the world I’ll make sure they’ve got the 21st century infrastructure to take on the world’s best, and win.

A PACT FOR FUTURE PROSPERITY

Mr Speaker, why a Pact like this for middle Australia? Because it’s middle Australia that’s driven 14 years of prosperity.

With proper rewards and the right incentives, middle Australia will have the capacity and the will to lead the next generation of economic growth too.

Right now our country has great opportunities.

And I have great hopes for our future—an unshakeable faith in the Australian people.

I know their talent, ingenuity, hard work and good humour is unmatched. The Beaconsfield miracle is proof enough of that. If only I could say the same of this Government.

If only I saw at the Cabinet table the same values I see at the kitchen tables of middle Australia.

World economic conditions have given this Government the best luck and the best opportunities. And a real chance to do something for the nation, not just for themselves.

Australia is part of the fastest growing region in a world economy growing at its fastest rate in thirty years. This on top of:

• Mineral prices soaring to record levels.
• Export prices at their best in half a century.
• Globally, lower interest rates than anyone can remember.

The minerals boom is putting an extra $160 billion straight into this Government’s pockets. There’s never been anything like it. Yet where’s it gone?

What can we point to that lasts?

With the minerals boom, the Treasurer had a once-in-a-lifetime chance in this Budget to set Australia up for the 21st century and he blew it.

Just imagine what we could be achieving.

Just imagine if this Government was making real investments in our schools, TAFE colleges, universities and research labs, so that we led the world with the best trained workforce.

Instead Australia is the only advanced country that’s actually cut its public investment in training in professions and trades.

Imagine if they were building a communications network that gave all Australians access to world class internet infrastructure.

Instead we lag behind, with internet infrastructure that leaves us trailing the rest of the developed world and even Slovenia and the Slovak Republic.

Imagine if people could drive through cities like Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne without it taking half a day’s work to get to work.

Imagine if we had a Government with the foresight to deal with climate change now, so that great Australian icons like the Great Barrier Reef and Kakadu are still there for our grandkids.

Imagine if we had a Government which thought enough of pensioners to give them a decent break.

Imagine if infrastructure decisions were taken in the national interest not just the interests of the Nationals.

Imagine if we had a government that governed for middle Australian families, instead of governing for themselves and their mates.

If this Government thought that any of these things was important—it would be doing more. Much more. More to lift workforce participation and productivity. More to build a better future for our kids. To fireproof our economy from future risks. Nation building.

Instead our kids’ inheritance from this Government is foreign debt reaching half a trillion dollars, and growing faster than ever before. One of the world’s highest foreign debts.

For our kids—this Government leaves a massive burden—already $500 million of interest payments every single week.

While Australia racks up even more debt with the worst run of trade deficits in our history. Even the Treasurer’s own Department has warned this year that Australia’s foreign liabilities “cannot continue to rise forever”.

Things are good right now, because of the years of hard slog by middle Australia. But according to the Treasurer he’s the one who’s created the good times.

You only have to look at his smug capering on the day interest rates went up, like Wile E Coyote in momentary triumph before the anvil falls, to see what he really thinks of middle Australia.

For 10 years he’s ignored the long hours they’ve put in, the sacrifices they’ve made to achieve our nation’s economic success. And still he refuses to acknowledge that, if we’re serious about building our future prosperity, middle Australia must start getting something back.

Mr Speaker, what has this Budget done?

When the Budget party’s over, when the back slapping’s done, when the tuxedo’s been dry cleaned and the champagne’s run out—what’s left in the morning? Nothing to help middle Australia.

Nothing to help middle Australia build the nation’s future prosperity. Because to build that future prosperity, middle Australia needs a lot more than just tax relief.

Mr Speaker, I support the modest, overdue tax relief middle Australian families received in the Budget. They’ll need every cent of it. Especially when they’re facing the triple whammy of higher interest rates, higher petrol prices, and extreme industrial relations changes.

So of course I welcome this tax break for the families of middle Australia. But I make this point:

No tax cut can make up for losing your penalty rates.

No tax cut can make up for being unfairly dismissed.

No tax cut can find you extra time to spend with your family.

And no tax cut will give the Ballarat apprentice welders back the jobs they lost to Chinese workers.

My point is this. Sure, the Government is offering tax cuts. I support those tax cuts. But I’ll also deliver job security, education and training, childcare and nation building.

That’s my Pact with Middle Australia.

Because, like me, middle Australia is asking: what else?

Where’s the down payment on the future?

Where’s the investment in skills, in kids, in families?

Where is the vision Australia needs?

The vision we need to build prosperity.

This Budget fails middle Australia and mortgages our future. It has no plan to take pressure off interest rates. If interest rates go up again, middle Australia knows who to blame—the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister, if your failure to fix the skills crisis forces interest rates up again—the buck stops with you.

If your failure to show national leadership on infrastructure forces interest rates up again—the buck stops with you.

And if your failure to turn around Australia’s current account deficit forces interest rates up again—the buck stops with you.

Mr Speaker there are dangerous holes in this Budget.

There’s no plan to free us from being hostage to Middle Eastern oil prices—no plan to develop new Australian fuels.

No plan to fix our crumbling infrastructure—clogged roads, slow internet connection, near-empty dams and over-burdened ports.

No plan to stop kids being turned away from TAFE colleges, or if they get into uni—ending up with a debt the size of a home mortgage.

No plan to tackle the growing crisis in kids’ health.

No plan for childcare.

I have these plans. I have these ambitions. And I can do these things because there are some things I won’t be spending money on.

Unlike the Howard Government I won’t splurge a billion dollars on advertising. I won’t spend a billion dollars on their war in Iraq. The wrong war. A war where Australian money bought Saddam’s bullets.

And I will never spend half a billion dollars with lawyers and consultants to impose a nasty, American dog-eat-dog industrial relations system on hardworking, decent Australians.

Mr Speaker, this Government’s legacy is this: a nation not equipped for the future. An economy vulnerable when the sun stops shining. A Government that doesn’t reward middle Australia.

Under their watch, the boom times aren’t building future prosperity. They’re building foreign debt.

This Government isn’t laying the solid foundation our kids need for a prosperous future. That’s what middle Australia needs—a government that will build a future for our kids and the country. One that builds prosperity.

A government with new economic policies, based on Australian values. One that will protect the Australian way of life. A Government with my Blueprints to tackle skills and infrastructure; climate change and children’s health; Australian fuels and national security.

A Government with my Pact with Middle Australia.

• A Pact to end the “double drop-off”;
• To get rid of TAFE fees in trades and childcare;
• To end unfair dismissals;
• To train Australians first; and
• To give our kids a high tech future.

In short, a Pact with one crucial promise.

When you put in, you get back.

A promise at the heart of every policy I will take to the next election.

Mr Speaker, the Treasurer has always been arrogant. He hasn’t changed. But the Prime Minister has changed. Remember his annual family holidays at Hawks Nest? Not anymore. Now it’s Washington, Ottawa, Dublin.

When the Prime Minister leaves Australia tomorrow, I’ll stay and fight.

I’ll stay and fight for middle Australia. I won’t cut and run from a debate on our national future. Or from an election fought in middle Australia.

And when I’m Prime Minister expect three things.

Expect nation building.

Expect Australian values at work.

Most of all, expect me to reward the hard work of middle Australia.

Because under a Beazley Labor Government: when you put in, you get back.

My Pact with Middle Australia is the way forward.