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

Despite the promises made by the now Prime Minister before the 2013 federal election that, if he won, his would be a 'no surprises, no excuses government' and that the election would be 'all about trust', the reality is that the Abbott government lied to the Australian people before the election, its treachery since the election has destroyed any trust that there might have been and there have been plenty of nasty surprises. Many of those surprises were included in the government's first budget, most of which has not passed this Senate because it is just too bad to be supported.

South Australians have had a good, long look at the Abbott government's first budget and they do not like it one bit—with good reason. Figures released last month from the Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre have revealed more than 265,000 South Australian families—that is close to 30 per cent of families living in SA—would be worse off by 2017-18 as a direct result of the coalition's 2014-15 federal budget. In comparison to other states and territories, South Australia will be disproportionately affected by the Abbott government's budget due to our socio-economic and demographic characteristics. We have a higher than national average population aged over 65, a higher than national average population aged over 85, a higher than national average percentage of healthcare cardholders, a higher than national average number of pensioner concession cardholders and a higher than national average number of Centrelink concession cardholders. Additionally, South Australia also has lower adult average weekly earnings in comparison to the national rate.

The Liberal's budget will impact most profoundly and severely in areas of South Australia that are already disadvantaged—areas that are already struggling as it is. Statistics from the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling—NATSEM—show that 37.2 per cent of families in the western part of Port Adelaide will be worse off under this government's budget, with a further 32.7 per cent of families from the eastern part of Port Adelaide affected. Together, 21,800 families from the Port Adelaide region alone will be worse off. For those of you not aware, Port Adelaide is also very close to both the Holden plant and the Australian Submarine Corporation, and we all know that, on top of the already confirmed Holden job losses, the future of jobs at the Submarine Corporation is tenuous because the government will not honour the promise it made before the federal election to build the future submarines in Australia.

Unfortunately, it is not only the disadvantaged areas of South Australia that will be hurt. As I mentioned earlier, 29.4 per cent of all South Australian families will face difficulties because of the budget. The worst hit of those will be South Australian single parents, who will experience the highest negative impact both in the proportion of their disposable income and in the dollar change in their income. By 2017-18, single parents in all but the highest income bracket will lose around $3,700 of their annual disposable income as a result of the government's actions. Ultimately, single parents in some of South Australia's most disadvantaged areas will suffer the most from the budget measures. The government's cuts will hit South Australia particularly hard. Directly ripping $898 million over the next four years alone from South Australia, the budget slashes critical funding for South Australian hospitals, schools, vocational training and industry. Rather than making life easier for people, the Abbott Liberal government is increasing the pressure and adding to the stresses on both families and individuals.

Some $655 million will be cut from South Australia's health system over the next four years. The impact of the indexing of hospital funding below cost growth is equivalent to closing 600 hospital beds—or roughly a hospital the size of the Flinders Medical Centre—and it will significantly increase waiting times in emergency departments. On top of that, the proposed $7 GP co-payment would hit vulnerable South Australians very hard. Indigenous South Australians, the elderly, those with chronic illness and people with young children will struggle. But perhaps the most affected will be those living in rural and remote areas of my state. As if the pressures of accessing decent health care in regional areas were not difficult enough already, now the government wants to make it even harder by charging an up-front fee to see a doctor and to access a range of medical services. Of course, there was no mention at all of that very nasty surprise before the last federal election.

The former Labor government worked very hard to alleviate the pressures faced by regional patients when it came to health care. Labor's Medicare Locals were a regional primary healthcare initiative designed to lessen the pressures on our health system by planning and coordinating improvements in primary health care within a region. Medicare Locals supported front-line healthcare services and providers—especially GPs—and helped them improve their services, fill the gaps, coordinate care and make it easier for patients to negotiate their service needs. Now, though, the government has decided to close all 61 Medicare Locals, replacing them instead with new health bureaucracies. Going from five Medicare Locals in South Australia, we will only have two new Primary Healthcare Networks—meaning many of my regional constituents will not have their health needs met. Medicare Locals were established to respond to the specific health needs of local communities. With fewer than half the number of their predecessor, PHNs already have twice the challenge ahead of them to achieve this. Having just two Primary Healthcare Networks in South Australia is grossly inadequate and is likely to only create more bureaucratic rigmarole, cause further delays and impose even greater costs on the health system.

South Australians are bearing the brunt of the Abbott government's cuts. It is almost as if every other day another blow is dealt to the people of my home state. The Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre's report highlighted that the proposed health and education spending reductions will result in a whopping $1.6 billion hit to South Australia's economy, as well as up to 7,000 fewer jobs being created in 2017-18. This, combined with the devastation that will result from the closure of Holden—exacerbated by the government's plan to cut funding to the Automotive Transformation Scheme and wind it up early—will make it harder for South Australia to survive the budget cuts.

Just when families thought things could not get worse, there was the particularly nasty surprise of the petrol tax increase. This announcement was sprung on all Australians—there was no forewarning or consultation. The Prime Minister completely bypassed parliament to implement a new tax, which is hurting families. Again, it is those who are most disadvantaged, those who are struggling the most, who feel the full impact of the increased petrol tax. While Mr Abbott might claim that the rise equates to only 40c a week for a family—and his Treasurer stupidly says that poor people do not drive cars—what is not widely known is that the tax will be increased again next February, and there will be a subsequent rise in August too. My regional constituents—who have little or no public transport options and far greater distances to drive—are again amongst those who feel the impact of this tax increase the most.

Today the NRMA released a statement that calculates the government's petrol tax will burden Australians by up to $255 extra per year by 2018. As at 28 August this year, there were 1.326 million registered cars in South Australia. That means that, on top of losing much of the Family Tax Benefit, the reduction in Newstart allowance, reduced indexation to pensions, removing the pensioner education and seniors supplement and the change in the Schoolkids Bonus, over one million South Australians will now be affected by the government's latest cash grab. At a time when families are doing it tough in South Australia, at a time when manufacturing is on the decline and at a time when everyday expenses are soaring, the Abbott government keeps adding to the pain.

Labor will continue to oppose the worst of the budget measures but it seems that Liberal senators in this place support the nasty surprises served up by their government. They are completely mute when it comes to supporting the 30 per cent of South Australian families who are going to bear the brunt of the broken promises and nasty surprises dished up by a Prime Minister who conned many of them into voting for him before the next election. You can be sure that South Australians will not trust anything this government says before the next federal election.