Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday Australia’s longest-serving Treasurer, the Hon. Peter Costello, delivered another impressive budget. Responsible and disciplined economic management has enabled the Howard government to deliver its 10th budget surplus. As the Treasurer delivered his 12th budget last night, the message was clear: the budget is focused on ensuring that we lock in the progress this government has made in the past 10 years and that we are prepared for future challenges.

In 1996, the Howard government inherited a net debt of $96 billion. It has only been through the responsible management of the Howard government that we have eliminated this debt. This is a fantastic achievement in itself; however, while simultaneously paying off Labor’s enormous debt, the Howard government’s economic management has seen real wages increase by around 20 per cent since 1996.

The budget has been designed at a time of great economic prosperity, and it has been designed to do two important things—on the one hand, to return to present-day Australians, the current generation, some human dividend from the great prosperity that we are now enjoying. That has come about through tax cuts, pensioner bonuses and other benefits, and increases in child care which will flow immediately on to Australians across the wide spectrum of our daily lives. But, on the other hand, it is a budget that was designed to look to the future, to ensure that some of today’s wealth is preserved for the future. A few years ago, we set up the Future Fund, and now, with the same objective of putting something aside for the future, we have set up the Higher Education Endowment Fund.

As I said, it is responsible and disciplined economic management which has enabled the coalition government to deliver its 10th budget surplus. In net terms, Australia remains debt free. We have an underlying cash surplus of $10.6 billion. Ten years ago, as I mentioned, we owed $96 billion. We were paying an interest bill of $8.5 billion a year, money that was being wasted. Having eliminated this net debt in 2005-06, we no longer have to pay such net interest payments, meaning that we can invest in better services to benefit all Australians.

This year’s budget is framed to lock in the progress that we have made over the past 10 years, keeping people in jobs and improving living standards so that all Australians can plan for the future with confidence. The budget surplus will allow Australia to prepare for its future challenges by investing in the future. These challenges include an ageing population, increased demand on the healthcare and aged-care systems, climate change, regional instability and other global shocks which may threaten our economy. The Future Fund remains a government priority and a crucial part of locking in future prosperity. Since March 1996, I repeat, real wages have increased by around 20 per cent. At the same time, Australians are enjoying low and stable inflation rates—averaging around 2.5 per cent—which have in turn allowed interest rates to remain low by historical standards.

I would like to take this opportunity to briefly draw attention to some specific aspects of this budget that will benefit my constituents of New South Wales and, in particular, highlight a few that will especially benefit regional areas. One of these is the very successful AusLink program. The Howard government has in this budget reaffirmed its commitment to regional Australia by announcing additional funding for the highly successful AusLink program. The Australian government will invest $22.3 billion in Australia’s land transport system as part of AusLink 2. This amounts to the greatest investment in land transport infrastructure ever made by an Australian government. Under the existing AusLink program, the government will contribute an additional $2.8 billion of funding in 2007-08, and this includes an additional $781.1 million for works on highways in New South Wales. Under the AusLink Strategic Regional Program, the Howard government is already contributing $78.8 million to projects in New South Wales. Part of this program, I am pleased to say, includes $30 million for key projects on the Princess Highway south of Wollongong. Another very successful program is Regional Partnerships.