Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

The 2008 Budget is a responsible one that will help fight the high inflation inherited from the previous government and help working families.

We have the highest inflation figures for the past 16 years and high inflation puts upward pressure on interest rates. It was essential therefore in framing this budget that we fight inflation by bringing in a surplus, while at the same time investing in our future growth and productivity.

The global economy is going through what the International Monetary Fund describes as the greatest financial shock since the great depression. We are in no way free of the effects of this.

Record oil prices have added to an already very difficult situation.

Despite this we have framed a responsible Budget which honours our election commitments, helps working families, invests for the future and still produces a strong surplus.

The Working Families Support Package with $55 billion helps families meet increasing costs of living through tax cuts, help with childcare, education and housing costs.

We recognise the financial problems faced by these families, unlike the previous government which tried to persuade them that they had never been better off.

The Budget also delivers $5.9 billion towards meeting our Education Revolution, $2.3 billion to address climate change, and $3.2 billion to end the blame game on our hospitals.

We have invested in our future with a $20 billion Building Australia Fund for investment in infrastructure, $11 billion Education Investment Fund for improving university and TAFE education and a further $10 billion in the Health and Hospitals Fund.

These are all areas of spending investment sadly neglected by the previous government. The result has been a worsening infrastructure bottleneck slowing down our exports and productivity. A worsening position for our higher education sector with deteriorating infrastructure, increasing class sizes, falling morale and a rising skills shortage. Our hospitals have been struggling to meet demand for their services.

We achieved this budget by cutting out waste. Every new dollar in our budget came from savings elsewhere. This meant of course thoroughly analysing previous spending and making tough decisions on where to save money to invest for the future with new programs.

Federal Labor’s first Budget in 13 years won the backing of the Reserve Bank as one that fights inflation. The Reserve Bank is of course rightly an independent body that makes its own decisions, but to have them consider that this budget is one that fights inflation is a considerable plus sign.

I make no apology for now focusing on a few of the Budget areas of particular interest to me as a former teacher working in Indigenous Education, playing an early role at Charles Darwin University and representing the whole of the vast Northern Territory.

The Education Revolution includes $2.5 billion over 10 years for Trade Training Centres in schools. This will enable more of our young Australians to pursue technically oriented careers, contributing to reducing the skills shortage our nation inherited.

Applications for these funds have been open for some time and schools are already applying to use this program.

The Education Revolution includes $1.9 billion over 5 years for an additional 630,000 training places to boost workforce skills. Again this will greatly increase the number of skilled workers far more over time than the Australian Technical Colleges seem to be doing.

It includes $1.2 billion over 5 years to fund computers for those in years 9 to 12. Again, in this day and age our students cannot afford to be anything but computer literate and so much learning occurs using computers and associated programs.

School needs have been assessed and the first tranche of these funds is out there for those assessed as most needing computers to get them.

An additional $500 million will be provided in 2007-08 to help universities upgrade and maintain teaching and research facilities in advance of any decisions on funding made under the Education Investment Fund in future years.

This is for universities to start catching up on capital works projects that they have for years had to postpone due to under funding by the previous government. In later years when the Education Investment Fund starts more funds will be available to them.

We believe higher education is an investment in skills for the future, and quality education cannot take place in poor facilities.

In addition full fee university courses are abolished and there is a growth in the number of scholarships offered. These will increase from 44000 up to 88000 by 2012 — a doubling of the number. This measure will clearly help families who are doing it hard to get their children into tertiary education.

There will be a reduction in the maximum annual student contribution in subjects such as maths and science to encourage more students into these important areas.

Once again we have fallen behind many other developed nations in the number of science graduates entering the workforce — science teachers for example are becoming very hard to find or recruit.

At the same time as reducing costs for students there will be a Transitional Loading under the Commonwealth Grants Scheme to fully compensate Higher Education providers for the reduced revenue from lower contributions for maths and science.

Students and providers are all remembered in this Budget. It is responsible AND fair.

This budget delivers $1.2 billion over 5 years towards Closing the Gap between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians. The Gap is too well known for me to enter into details here, but exists in health, education, training and employment.

If I may focus on my electorate for a while. There are commitments totalling $666.1 million in the Northern Territory alone. These include: $3.4 million for early childhood development services; and $154.2 million to expand educational opportunity which includes building 3 new boarding facilities, increased professional development of teachers, a Nutrition Program to provide breakfast and lunch in many community schools and funding of 200 additional teachers by 2012.

Despite the efforts of the Territory Labor Government in establishing secondary education facilities and courses in many remote communities, there are still many Indigenous children whose only access to secondary education is by going away from home.

These proposed new boarding facilities will enable many more to do so at the same time as having safe, supported accommodation to stay in.

The School Nutrition Program is providing breakfast and lunch for many young kids who might otherwise well go without. I have heard reports from health clinic nurses in communities who say the rate of anaemia for example has dropped when kids have a good breakfast and lunch.

The NT commitment includes $78 million for community safety and policing for further assistance for safe houses and support workers; alcohol diversionary activities; more on ground police; more night patrols in remote communities.

Night patrols make communities safer and more secure for families and children and will continue in communities covered by the NTER.

More police on the ground in communities has been welcomed and while reports indicate that since the Intervention rates of alcohol abuse and violence have dropped, this is again a valuable program which will continue to help closing the gap and keep children safe.

$168 million for employment and pre employment services to increase Indigenous access to skills development and jobs.

This too is a key element in closing the gap in enabling Indigenous people to access more training to increase their employability.

While many remote communities in the NT have only limited real jobs, we want to ensure that Aboriginal people can take them

$113.3 million for health services to provide follow up health care, improved child and family health service delivery.

This government is committed to ensuring that the interests of children are foremost but equally that we Close the Gap.

The team to carry out the Intervention Review has recently been announced and they will report by September on how the Indigenous people see these interests best served.

The Indigenous population in the Northern Territory is fast growing so these tasks will not be easy and will require long ongoing budget commitments.

More generally this budget provides $8 million over 4 years for the establishment of the Office of Northern Australia. This will provide high level advice on infrastructure, transport, and sustainable regional development for the whole north of Australia. Information from this office will flow direct to Canberra to the Minister.

Defence Force families in Katherine will benefit from the roll out of the free basic health care trial — this enables families to select the doctor or dentist of their choice and receive basic general practice consultations free of charge or dental care up to $300 per dependent per annum.

Defence personnel get moved around frequently and are often away doing a great job for the nation so it seems only fair that we look after these families.

Defence bases across Australia, including those in the Territory will benefit from base maintenance both in facilities and base living-in accommodation including at the Darwin patrol boat base and Bradshaw Field Training Area.

This budget provides $78 million for infrastructure in the NT. Of this $8.8 million will deliver as a matter of urgency, funds for the Port Keats Road, Tanami Road, Plenty Highway and Buntine Highway.

While these roads may not be big in terms of comparison to a city freeway in size or traffic volume, for the NT they are very important.

They are important not only for connecting territory communities, but for tourism and the pastoral industry.

For example The Buntine Highway connects Katherine to communities such as Kalkaringi and Lajamanu and goes on to join the road to the Tanami which is used not only by a gold mining company but by "adventure" tourists. The Buntine itself is important for bringing out live cattle exports to Darwin.

Improving roads such as these, while fairly small in the big picture, reduces infrastructure bottlenecks for moving our products thereby improving our productivity.

A total of $11.7 million will funds Roads to Recovery projects. These projects enable local authorities to upgrade smaller roads through relatively minor works but this contributes to improved road conditions and safety.

So while only a very small part of the overall national budget, the Northern Territory gets funding for a range of programs that will help to close the gap for Indigenous people, help families, help our defence force facilities and personnel and develop our road network that bit more.

So despite the difficult circumstances under which this budget has been framed, it is both fair and responsible, meets election commitments, helps working families and Indigenous Australians, invests heavily in our future health, education and infrastructure, and yet still brings in a strong surplus.

It is a budget that shows this government as sound economic managers that can make tough economic decisions and find savings to fund necessary budget commitments.