Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

I am pleased to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. I) 2008-2009 and Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2008-2009 which together are two of the principal pieces of legislation underpinning the Government’s first budget.

Appropriation Bill (No. I) 2008-2009 seeks authority for meeting the expenses of the ordinary annual services of Government, and Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2008-2009 seeks approval for appropriations from the Consolidated Revenue Fund totalling almost $12.7 billion. This funding is part of the Rudd Labor Government’s first Budget - a budget which will—if the Opposition don’t abuse their Senate majority to vote against it—put downward pressure on interest rates and inflation as well as providing for Australia’s working families.

The rising cost of living has made life difficult for families during the last decade. There have been 8 interest rate rises in the last 3 years and in the last 2 years rent has increased by over 10 per cent and the price of fruit and vegetables has increased by 14 per cent. While these financial pressures on families increased, the Howard Government looked on and contributed to inflation by spending nearly $285 million in the 2006/2007 financial year on Government advertising.

Instead of helping families, the former Government worked hard on its reviled WorkChoices legislation which would have made it even harder for working families to make ends meet. The Howard Government lost touch with Australian families and in doing so, failed to recognise what they needed was fiscal support, not glossy publications and WorkChoices mouse pads.

Labor will not make the same mistake. We believe in giving everyone a fair go. Last month, the Rudd Labor Government delivered its first budget. We delivered a budget that will deliver to Australians who missed out in the 12 budgets of the Howard Government. We will do this through the $55 billion Working Families Support Package.

Being a parent is a fantastic experience but the cost of raising children is expensive. The Government is determined to ease that pressure, lifting the Child Care Tax Rebate is a clear example of this determination. Labor proposes to increase child care assistance by lifting the rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of out-of-pocket costs and increasing the annual cap from $4354 to $7500 per child. We understand that the cost of childcare isn’t the only obstacle faced by parents, availability is a big problem. For this reason, the Government, over the long term, has committed to ensuring 260 child care centres are built in priority areas.

An important part of the Working Families Support Package in respect to raising children, is the $4.4 billion education tax refund. This refund will mean that parents who are entitled to family tax benefit A or whose children receive the youth allowance, can claim a 50 per cent tax refund of up to $750 in education expenses for each child in primary school. That’s a refund of up to $375 per year, and up to $1500 in expenses for every child in secondary schools, a refund of up to $750 per year.

Another great initiative to ensure that all families, including those who are struggling financially, are still able to provide their children with a good education, is the roll out of universal access to early learning for all four-year-olds by 2013. The Government will fund 15 hours per week for 40 weeks per year of play-based learning and development programs, allowing every child to start their schooling on equal footing, regardless of their families’ financial circumstances.

Education is a focus of the Government and it shows in our first budget. One hundred million dollars will be provided to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, as part of a $1.2 billion funding package over five years, to implement the digital education revolution in partnership with state and territory governments. This initiative delivers on an election commitment and includes:

• the establishment of a National Secondary School Computer Fund to provide grants of up to $1 million to eligible secondary schools to assist them in providing new or upgraded information and communications technology to students in years 9 to 12;
• contributions towards the provision of high-speed fibre-to-the-premises broadband connections to schools and to provide support to ensure the effective deployment and installation of computers and ICT equipment purchased under the fund; and
• funding for collaborative work between the Commonwealth, state and territory governments and non-government school system and industry to develop a unified technical framework and to fund administration costs of block grant authorities which will manage funding for non-government schools.

The schools receiving computers in the first round were announced earlier this month and I was happy to see that 63 schools in South Australia will be benefiting from the first roll out.

The tax cuts in this budget total around $46.7 billion. The benefits of these tax cuts are two fold as they will encourage people to enter the workforce, increasing workforce participation and will alleviate the financial pressures facing many people. Under the new system, Australians will be able to earn up to $14000 for the next financial year, without having to pay any tax, this is effectively $3000 higher than the current threshold. This change will be of particular benefit to part time workers, who according to the Productivity Commission make up 29 per cent of the workforce. It’s important that part time workers who are concentrated in low-paying jobs with high turnover, are provided with as much assistance as possible.

Labor made a number of significant election promises in the area of health and this budget delivers on those promises. It is essential that all Australians are able to access high quality, affordable healthcare. That is why we will immediately inject $1 billion to relieve the pressure on public hospitals as part of a $3.2 billion health and hospital reform plan. Also included is $275 million over five years to establish 31GP Super Clinics in local communities. These super clinics will improve health services in rural, regional and outer metropolitan areas by bringing together general practitioners, nurses, allied health professionals, some specialists and other health care providers to deliver a range of health services that are tailored to meet local health needs and priorities.

Dental health has been given great consideration when writing this Budget as a dental care waiting list of 650,00 is not acceptable. The previous Government did not deliver adequate health and dental services to Australians. The Liberal Government’s dental scheme was a failure, it had low uptake and didn’t provide to those patients who needed it the most.

Over the next three years, the Government intends to provide $290 million to State and Territory governments to help fund up to one million additional consultations and treatments for Australians needing dental treatment.

Over the next five years, the Government also plans to invest up to $490.7 million to help more than one million Australian teenagers look after their teeth. The Government will provide $150 (through the newly established Dental Benefits Schedule) per eligible teenager towards an annual preventative dental check, including an oral examination, scale and clean and x-rays where required.

Around 1.1 million teenagers aged 12-17 in families receiving Family Tax Benefit Part A, and teenagers in the same age group receiving Youth Allowance or Abstudy, will be eligible for the program each year. By funding preventative check-ups, the Government wants to prevent more expensive procedures in the future as cavities and other dental diseases will be caught early or avoided all together.

Despite all of these positive proposals, the Opposition moved last week that the Health Insurance (Dental Services) Amendment and Repeal Determination 2008 made under section 3C(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 be disallowed. The Opposition want us to continue with their failed dental plan because they are not willing to own up to their mistakes. The arrogance of the Coalition is truly breathtaking.

Working families as well as singles will benefit from the changes to the Medicare levy surcharge thresholds. While the cost of living and incomes have changed over the last 11 years, the income thresholds haven’t. This has resulted in people on average wages by today’s standards, becoming liable for the surcharge. The Government are increasing the thresholds to bring them in line with today’s wages so that the Medicare levy surcharge is only placed on higher income earners. From I July 2008, singles with incomes up to $100 000 and families with incomes up to $150 000 will no longer have to pay the surcharge. These are both increases of $50 000 from the current thresholds.

Older Australians are also battling with the rising cost of living. To assist seniors in making ends meet, the Government has:

• increased the Utilities Allowance from $107.20 to $500 per year;
• increased the Seniors Concession Allowance from $218 to $500 per year;
• increased the Telephone Allowance from $88 to $132 per year for those with an internet connection; and
• committed to paying the $500 Seniors Bonus again this year.

I have been in contact with my older constituents and they have been concerned by the fact that their pension has not increased at the same pace as the cost of living. To alleviate this, the Government will ensure that the Age Pension will increase in line with the higher of the consumer price index, increases in male total average weekly earnings or the living cost index for age pensioner households. Older Australians have contributed, and continue to contribute, a great deal to Australia, Labor has not and will not leave them behind as we move towards a fairer, better future.

The Government also appreciates the contribution that carers make in our community. This appreciation is reflected in this budget with $293.6 million being allocated for 19,000 carers of children with profound disability and a $500 Utility Allowance for seniors which is now extended to 130,000 carers for the first time.

Labor honoured another election promise in its first budget, and that was to address the issue of climate change. Unlike the opposition who when in Government denied the existence of climate change, we have listened to researchers and taken action. One of the first acts of this Government was the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and this budget ensures that we continue work in this area. This Budget allocates $2.3 billion over five years to reduce Australia’s greenhouse emissions, adapt to climate change and ensure that Australia takes the lead in the transition to a low emissions economy.

The Rudd Government knows that everyone can make a difference in the battle against climate change, which is why the government will invest almost $1 billion to help Australians make their homes more environmentally sustainable. This includes $300.0 million over five years for low interest green loans of up to $10,000 to assist families to install solar, water, and energy efficient products.

Climate change along with extended drought and over allocation has had a significant impact on the Murray-Darling, this is an area of particular concern to my South Australian constituents. The Government is acting quickly to restore the river’s health. With this Budget, an additional $112.3 million will be provided to the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts to fund a variety of water initiatives. This includes an additional $81.0 million in 2007-08 as part of a bring-forward of $400 million of funding from 2011-12 under the Water for the Future package, to accelerate investment in water-saving infrastructure and to purchase water entitlements from willing sellers. Water for the Future focuses on four key priorities: taking action on climate change, using water wisely, securing water supplies and supporting healthy rivers.

Another area of Government spending which is of much interest to South Australians is defence. South Australia has a proud history of defence innovation.

Labor’s Budget has made a significant investment of $1.036 billion for 2008-09, into the Australian Defence Forces to assist the ADF in their vital role of supporting domestic, regional and international security. The funding consists of:

• $618.9 million for Operation Slipper, Australia’s contribution to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. This demonstrates Australia’s commitment to working with the international community to help combat terrorism;
• $174.3 million for Operation Astute, Australia’s assistance to Timor-Leste to restore peace and stability;
• $215.7 million for the continuation of Operation Catalyst, Australia’s contribution to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Iraq; and
• $27.1 million for Operation Anode, Australia’s contribution to the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands.

This funding is evidence of the Rudd Labor Government’s commitment to supporting the defence forces and their role in providing the defence and security of our nation.

The budget also gives back to those in the veteran community and their families who need and deserve the support of their country. During the election campaign, Labor was clear that if elected, we would work closely with the veteran community to address the issues that concern them. We owe much to our defence personnel and must reflect this in the way we treat veterans when they complete service. The Rudd Labor Government budget amends veteran’s entitlements through the extension of the income support supplement to war widows and war widowers who are under qualifying age. No longer will those under qualifying ago have to be permanently incapacitated or have a dependant child or partner receiving an income support before they can receive the income support supplement that they so rightly deserve. Once in place, this amendment will immediately benefit approximately 1400 war widows or widowers, assisting them in meeting the rising cost of living.

The budget extends the automatic grant of war widow, widower or orphan pension to the widows, widowers and eligible children of veterans and members who, immediately before their death, were in receipt of the temporary special rate or intermediate rate disability pension.

Veterans will also see the disability pension bereavement payment extended in certain cases. As it stands, this payment is only payable in respect of partnered disability pension recipients. Labor wants to make these payments more equitable. That is why this Budget extends the bereavement payment to cover single recipients of the special rate and extreme disablement adjustment disability pension who die in poor circumstances.

Appropriation Bills 1and 2 are part of Labor’s budget that delivers to working families, addresses the issue of inflation and will take Australia into the future with confidence and strength. Despite this, those opposite continue to play games, stopping these benefits from being rolled out to Australians. The opposition’s referral to committees of several key budget measures has the effect of stripping away nearly $300 million worth of real money from the budget surplus.

The Labor Government has come up with a budget that includes much needed initiatives many of which the Opposition is frustrating by its belligerent attitude in the Senate. By blocking and delaying Budget bills, the Opposition is eroding the $22 billion surplus of our Budget and taking away from those who need assistance. We have developed a Budget that provides for Australians, is economically responsible and will put downward pressure on inflation and interest rates. To not allow this Budget to come into effect shows just how economically irresponsible the Opposition are but we already knew that, as did the people of Australia who chose to elect a Rudd Labor Government last year.