Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2019-2020 seeks approval for appropriations from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of just over $3.310 billion. These bills ensure that there is sufficient appropriation to cover estimates variations related to existing programs—for instance, changes in costs for demand-driven programs. These bills also pay for the first-year costs for measures announced in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook and subsequently announced new measures. This year these bills feature several bushfire-related initiatives that were announced after MYEFO.

I now outline the more significant amounts provided for in this bill.

Firstly, the bill will provide the Department of Home Affairs with $948.4 million to continue implementing the government's border protection policies and support people impacted by the recent bushfires.

Secondly, the bill will provide the Department of Social Services a further $592.6 million for higher-than-expected participation in the Disability Employment Services program and additional emergency relief and financial counselling for communities affected by the recent bushfire emergency.

Thirdly, the bill will provide the Department of Defence with additional funding of $488.8 million, including $87.9 million for the Australian Defence Force's contribution to the bushfire response through Operation Bushfire Assist. Additional funding is also being provided foreign exchange supplementation due to movement in exchange rates, under 'no win/no loss' funding arrangements.

The bill also provides $287.5 million to Services Australia to support individuals, families and communities achieve greater self-sufficiency.

Further, the bill proposes an additional $170.6 million for the Department of Health, including $53.2 million to support access to medicines and medical treatments, $68.2 million in departmental funding to support the delivery of government programs and $30.2 million towards mental, Indigenous and preventative health activities.

The bill also provides $287.5 million to Services Australia to support individuals, families and communities achieve greater self-sufficiency.

Further, the bill also proposes an additional $170.6 million for the Department of Health including $53.2 million to support access to medicines and medical treatments, $68.2 million in departmental funding to support the delivery of government programs and $30.2 million towards mental, Indigenous and preventative health activities.

The bill provides an additional $66.2 million for the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, including for wildlife and habitat recovery in response to the recent bushfire emergency, busting congestion in the environmental assessment process, responding to African swine fever and strengthening the Australian Antarctic program.

Details of the proposed expenditure are set out in the schedule to the bill and the Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements tabled in the parliament.

I commend this bill to the chamber.

Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2019-2020, along with Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2019-2020, which was introduced earlier, are the additional estimates appropriation bills for this financial year.

This bill seeks approval for appropriations from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of approximately $2.171 billion. These bills also ensure there is sufficient appropriation to cover estimates variations related to existing programs.

I now outline the most significant items provided for in this bill.

Importantly, the bill provides $1.567 billion to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications primarily for drawdowns for the Commonwealth's loan to NBN Co Limited of $1.2 billion; equity injections of $176.9 million for the Australian Rail Track Corporation and the Western Sydney Airport and $166.9 million for the Drought Response, Resilience and Preparedness Plan.

The bill also provides $247.9 million to the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, including $235.0 million for loans through the Regional Investment Corporation to farmers and small businesses affected by drought conditions.

Details of the proposed expenditure are set out in the Schedule 1 to the bill and the Portfolio Additional Estimate Statements tabled in the parliament.

I commend this bill.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor will support Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2019-2020 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2019-2020 before us in the Senate today. These bills provide additional funding for the 2019-20 financial year. Appropriation Bill (No. 3) will appropriate an additional $3.3 billion while Appropriation Bill (No. 4) will appropriate an additional $2.2 billion. The bills incorporate additional funding for measures as listed in the 1920 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook released in December last year, as well as measures relating to the government's response to the bushfires that dominated the Australian summer.

The 2019-20 MYEFO was delivered only three months ago, but it may seem to many that it's like a lifetime ago. We've seen the devastating impact of COVID-19 and it has some way to play out yet. There was an initial economic stimulus package of $17.6 billion followed up by yesterday's announcement of $66 billion, a health package of $2.4 billion and $444 million for the aged-care sector. The stimulus packages will be delivered by the states and territories across the country. I'll have more to say about the response to COVID-19 when that package of legislation arrives in this place later this afternoon.

The impact of COVID-19 has certainly been unprecedented and unexpected and comes on the heels of the devastating bushfires experienced across the country over the summer. We've already seen concerning signs, both in the economy and in the budget. There was weakness in the economy prior to the bushfires and COVID-19. Prior to them, we saw economic growth and wages downgraded, almost two million Australians either looking for work or looking for more work, and wages growth stuck at record lows. In fact, real wages growth in the December quarter went backwards. And now we're faced with significant economic shocks—first from the bushfires and now from COVID-19. In terms of the budget, we saw a deteriorating budget position, with surpluses over the forward estimates decreasing by $20 billion in the MYEFO. Revenue decreased by over $30 billion over the forward estimates. Net debt has more than doubled since September 2013, and, with net debt and gross debt both at record highs based on the latest figure—net debt being over $430 billion and gross debt being over $577 billion—the government that promised to get debt under control and end the debt crisis is now facing an even higher debt situation, having to lift the debt ceiling to $850 billion.

I mentioned earlier that these bills appropriate funding for a number of bushfire response measures that the government announced this year. The appropriation bills contain funding for bushfire related measures, such as funding for the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, funding for measures to support the mental health of Australians affected by the bushfires, $60 million to local government areas for bushfire assistance, $100 million for primary industries, funding for additional emergency relief and financial counselling in bushfire affected communities, and funding for Operation Bushfire Assist—the Defence operation which saw the ADF do amazing work assisting bushfire affected communities.

It's quite pertinent that we're debating these bills in the Senate on the same day the government's responses to COVID-19 are also being debated in the parliament. We'll have more to say about that during the debate, but I do hope that those measures are implemented in a much more effective and timely manner than some of the bushfire response measures. We've heard countless stories of business and communities hit by the bushfires not getting the support they're entitled to in a timely manner. We've also heard stories of businesses that, while not in the areas directly affected, have fallen on hard times because of the indirect impacts. There's also the question of when a fund isn't a fund. Announced with great fanfare, in early January, there was supposed to be a $2 billion national bushfire recovery fund, yet we find out later that it's a notional fund. With the budget being delayed until October this year, let's hope that any further measures to help deal with the aftermath of the bushfires aren't also on a delayed time frame.

Labor will support these bills, but they're not a blank cheque for the economic and fiscal management that we saw prior to the onset of COVID-19, nor are they a tick of approval for how they've dealt with some of the challenges through the response measures to date.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Gallagher for her contribution and commend the appropriation bills to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bills read a second time.