David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to start by acknowledging that over the last three years Labor has made some major investments in areas that people in the ACT care deeply about: education, housing, the cost of living and of course health, which was definitely the hero in this budget. The focus on women's health care is particularly welcome, given the massive gender bias that currently exists in medicine. At the last election the people of the ACT voted for an Independent senator for the first time in our history because, as they told me, they wanted someone who would stand up for Canberra and the things we care about most. At the last election I heard that integrity, climate and the environment topped that list. So, while I acknowledge the progress, I also need to emphasise how far we still have to go.

Despite Labor promising at the last election to do better than a decade of coalition neglect, the ACT has missed out again, in Labor's fourth budget. I know the four Labor representatives for Canberra and the ACT Labor government are at pains to disagree with me on this, but the facts speak for themselves. The PM's promise of nine out of 10 visits to the doctor being bulk-billed will not work in the ACT. I have surveyed every GP practice in the ACT, and that's what they've told me. Gap fees will continue to be among the highest in the country. So where's the strategy for the ACT? Yes, there's extra funding for public hospitals, but the Commonwealth isn't funding anywhere near its 45 per cent share here in the ACT. There's $50 million for the Monaro Highway while some of our other massively congested and dangerous roads get overlooked. At the same time, other jurisdictions get tens of billions of dollars.

Yes, you're building a national security precinct in Barton, and, whilst that's great for the top security-clearance holders who will use it, it's not the convention centre, stadium or multipurpose arena that the community has been crying out for for decades—projects that would not just create welcome construction jobs but also be vital to ongoing economic activity and community benefit.

'Light rail', I hear you say. We still don't know how much stage 2B will cost and what the Commonwealth will contribute. As it is with the national security precinct, the public doesn't know. In terms of the AIS, I think everyone in Canberra believes that if the ACT hadn't voted Independent then the AIS would have been moved to Queensland by now—just like the Centre for Disease Control that was on its way to Melbourne but will now be based in Canberra and will hopefully help fill some of our critical medical workforce shortages.

What about housing? Yes, thanks to negotiations with the Senate crossbench, the ACT will get a fair share of the Housing Australia Future Fund. But what about the old CSIRO Ginninderra site that was promised for desperately needed new social and affordable housing in the town that has the highest rate of persistent homelessness in the country? Why hasn't the government waived the historic housing debt as Senator Gallagher promised when Labor was in opposition? Most critically of all, where is the funding for nature? We've gone backwards on environmental laws this term despite all the promises that things would be different.

My message is simple. Being less bad than the coalition isn't good enough. That can't be the message that we hear. Canberrans deserve better. We need specific investments in Canberra, a growing city. Yes, we've seen investments in the national capital—leaking roofs fixed at the gallery. But you can't just count things that you're doing for everyone else as special investments in Canberra. Things like urgent care clinics are very welcome, but they don't cut it as saying, 'This is how we're investing in the ACT.' We've been dudded for decades, and it's past time that Canberra caught up. We can't continue to be taken for granted.

We heard the government announce the National Capital Investment Framework at the ACT Labor Conference. It's a great start, but at the moment it just sounds like a bunch of pieces of paper; nothing has been delivered. So, whilst there's rhetoric, I urge the government: let's see some action; let's see some investment in our nation's capital.

David Fawcett (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the time is approaching 1.30, we will move to two-minute statements.