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

I am not asking you; I am just making the point. You are a Liberal senator now; you have deserted the National Party. We all know why. Your interjection indicates why you had to leave the National Party—because they are totally useless. They are just the doormats; they are a convenience for the Liberal Party, and you have got with the strength in that regard at least!

I want to turn to climate change and water. A third core reason this budget fails the future test is that it does not fund any new large-scale practical measures to effectively deal with the economic cost of climate change and the national water crisis. In addition to the Liberal government’s failure to act on a national emissions trading scheme, the 2007 budget does nothing to boost the mandatory renewable energy target or to introduce a comprehensive national strategy to reduce electricity demand. Furthermore, despite dam levels being at record lows across Australia, the 2007 federal budget fails to establish any significant new initiatives on urban, town and city water security in partnership with state, territory and local governments. There can be nothing more fundamental to the security of Australia than our water supply. Our very survival as the human species is threatened without the existence of regular, reliable, safe, clean water. So the budget represents, unfortunately, another squandered opportunity to use this once in a generation $300 billion mining boom to secure Australia’s long-term economic prosperity.

Let me go into some detail on the tax cuts and the childcare benefits, which Labor welcomes. But they do give back less than many in the community might think and certainly less than is claimed by the Treasurer and the Prime Minister. We welcome the tax cuts and the childcare increases in Tuesday’s budget. The tax cuts introduce some welcome reforms—that Labor has previous called for—by starting to tackle the worst disincentives for workforce participation. That is welcome, as I have said, especially since, as the budget papers show, participation rates in Australia are well below those in Canada, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and the United States.

Labor welcomes the fact that the tax cuts are in two tranches. This is needed to minimise the risk of inflationary pressures. These tax cuts will help working families cope with the pressures on the family budget, particularly after those four interest rate rises we have had since the last election that we were promised in the run-up to the last election would never happen. Senator McGauran is nodding. He well remembers the promise made by the Prime Minister and the Treasurer that interest rates would always remain lower under a Liberal government, and we have had four increases.