Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

It is quite extraordinary that the opposition would want to gag this debate for the third or fourth time today. I have never seen that happen in the Senate before, and it says something about the opposition’s position in wanting to obstruct this stimulus package to assist the Australian economy.

No wonder the opposition wants to get out of here, because their position is clearly untenable. We Greens have, over quite a long period of time, been quite erroneously vilified over our economic nous and wherewithal, but we now have the new radical economic obstructionists on the opposition bench in the form of the opposition of Mr Turnbull. That is for the opposition to determine. The fact is that we are dealing with important amendments here. It is a lot of money. It is, with the last amendments, in the order of $400 million that, while it is not being newly raised, is being made available through adjustment in the package that the government has put forward to fund some very important amendments for creating local jobs and for getting a better social outcome, a better outcome for Australian regional and rural areas and a better environmental outcome. I expect to be able to give the Senate, within half an hour or so, the detail of where the expenditure might go as far as the Greens are concerned.

I just want to put on record at this stage the recognition of the fact that the government has been diverted by the bushfire tragedy this week, from the Prime Minister down. These have been very difficult circumstances for the government. It has delayed the process inevitably—and so it should, because the priority has been right there. But here we are, as far as we Greens are concerned, effectively able to come to an agreement with the government and to get some gains, which are modest if you compare them with the package as a whole but which are quite extraordinarily large if you look at them for their own sake.

As I have said, the amendments are aimed at creating jobs, helping people who are unemployed—and the reality we are facing is hundreds of thousands of Australians being in that position in the next year or two if the predictions are anywhere near right—helping people who are struggling to make ends meet and getting a better environmental outcome in areas such as housing. There is a commitment to schools infrastructure, a modest commitment as far as transport is concerned, and other measures are in the package that is now nearing finalisation. I want to draw attention to one matter: the commitment in the future to the Australian Bushfire CRC. Its mission is:

… to enhance the management of the bushfire risk to the community in an economically and ecologically sustainable manner.

It was set up under the Howard government. It is a world-leading research centre in Melbourne and its objectives are as follows:

• To develop an internationally renowned centre of excellence to lead bushfire research in Australia
• To provide a research framework that will improve the effectiveness of bushfire management agencies
• To increase the self-sufficiency of communities in managing the risks from bushfires.

The government has agreed to assure the next triennium of funding—that is, about $5 million—in the forthcoming budget. That was not assured before these negotiations took place.

The Senate yesterday, without demur as far as I am aware, passed a motion to see the bushfire research centre upgraded to a global wildfire research centre. It coordinates information about bushfires around the planet. It is in close communication with the best researchers in the world, and indeed I understand it has sought to have some of those researchers come to Australia at the moment. In an age when we are going to see more disastrous bushfires on a more populated planet at a time of changing climate, it would indeed be a great gain for Australia to have a research centre that is similar to, for example, the research centre in Atlanta, Georgia, for communicable diseases or the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s headquarters in Rome which cover, for global gain, research and management ideas and worthwhile and constructive innovation for people in the areas involved. This is a matter that the Greens and I have been pursuing for some time, so we are glad about that commitment. It is a minor part of the package but an important one at this stage.

The other point I would like to make is that we have had a further commitment from the government to ensure that pensions will be increased in the coming budget. That is a fairly big commitment because of the financial times we are in, but it has been reiterated and will give assurance to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people around Australia on their future prospects of being able to make ends meet in our community.

I will leave it at that. The Senate has had an extremely important role. Last week we agreed to allow a week to look at this package. It is minimal time. It is not even a minibudget; it is a quite substantial extra budgetary measure in quite extraordinary times. I do not know why the opposition has changed its mind on that and now, at the crucial moment, wants to end the debate. Maybe it is because it has brought forward no substantial ideas in the last week. However, it is to the Australian community’s gain that we took this week. Whatever the outcome today—whether the package goes down or whether it is passed by the Senate—it will be a more job-rich, a more environmentally sustaining and a more community oriented package as a result of the time we have taken.

I want to pay some tribute to the Treasurer, the Prime Minister, their staff and various ministers for engaging in this process while quite clearly and responsibly distracted by one of the greatest tragedies that has ever overtaken the Australian community. I do not know what the outcome will be here this afternoon. I can only speak for the Greens. I said at the outset that we would treat this matter responsibly; I said we would not take a sledgehammer to this package. We have carried out those commitments, but effectively we feel that the gains that were achieved have made the effort that we and the government have put into it over the last week very worth while indeed.