Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It appears that all the members on the other side of this House can talk about is state issues. I support the comments made by the Leader of the Opposition in his budget speech that we will cut all TAFE fees for the 60,000 traditional apprenticeships throughout Australia. Unlike the government, we would not cut funding to one of the highest performing voc. education providers in the country and give the contract to someone else who does not have the runs on the board. The government has a lot to answer for. I do welcome the question by the member opposite, and whilst we have quite different views on a number of issues I know that in his own misguided way he does have a commitment to training and employment.

Before the Committee suspended I was making the point that this is very much a budget for the here and now, when we needed a budget to build for the long-term prosperity of Australia. It is a budget that failed to invest in the much needed skills and the much needed infrastructure around Australia. It is a time when we have an opportunity, with all this wealth that has come from our mineral exports, to actually invest in the future and to put in place all that infrastructure that will see Australia’s economy grow and thrive and that will be able to deliver to Australia all those things that Australians deserve.

On a local level, I will put on the record that I was a little bit disappointed that there was no funding made available in the budget for the PET scanning machine at John Hunter Hospital, something that the state has been forced to support. Long term it means that it may become unviable for the people of the Hunter to gain access to that machine. There was no money for the Knights stadium, whilst there is plenty of money being thrown at stadiums in Penrith, Cronulla and St George, in areas that are Liberal held seats.

More importantly, one of the raging issues within Shortland electorate, and I think an issue throughout the whole of Australia, is the chronic doctor shortage. People in Shortland electorate have had their health put at risk because they cannot visit a doctor when they need to. It is a very complex situation; there are many reasons for this. I think in the early 2000s, the government put in place its outer metropolitan strategy. My area has lost between six and 10 doctors since then—maybe even more—and only three doctors have come to the area under that program. To my way of thinking, it is a failure. There is an increase in overseas doctors coming into Australia but, once again, an area like Shortland does not benefit from that in the same ways that Hinkler would, because of our RAMA classification. The government’s investment in more doctor places is far too little and far too late. Everywhere I go, every doctor and health provider I talk to raises the issue of the chronic shortages of doctors and nurses within Australia. The government needs to be a lot more inventive and make a greater investment in this area.

The Shortland electorate encompasses the Central Coast and Lake Macquarie. When considering aged care beds, part of the electorate is within the Central Coast collection area and part of it is in the Hunter. Within New South Wales, 25 per cent of all aged care bed shortages are on the Central Coast and 15 per cent are within the Hunter. That is a very significant shortage of aged care beds within the area that I represent. I have to put on the record that I do not think the government has done enough in that area. People are still being disadvantaged and hurt by the fact that the government is not putting enough money into that vital area.

Petrol prices have continued to rise and they are impacting enormously in many areas throughout Australia. The government has failed to be proactive in its approach to this issue. The students of Floraville Public School have been a little bit more proactive than the government. They rang me today and were asking questions about ethanol and alternatives to oil based fuels. They are thinking about it. One thing that is quite beneficial to Australia is that the young people of this nation are much more creative and have a lot more vision than the current government does.

The petrol price increase is having an enormous impact on many people. Mr Stan Gregory, a constituent of mine from Budgewoi, was talking to me and he brought along his latest invoice from his chemist. Because of the increasing cost of petrol, his chemist is now charging a $3 fee for every script that is delivered to this gentleman, who is confined to his home. These increases have unexpected consequences and, whilst the government has provided tax cuts to many people in Australia, it has not done anything to increase the income of pensioners like Mr Gregory. That also needs to be noted.

We have a budget that has thrown money at certain people but has not planned for the future. We have a budget that I believe will place long-term pressure on interest rates whilst not investing in skills, health infrastructure and other infrastructure that we have within Australia. We have a budget that in no way ameliorates the government’s workplace relations legislation. We have in place a budget that will do absolutely nothing to help the waste workers at Wyong Council, who now have to reapply for their jobs and have to take a pay cut if they are actually successful in getting their jobs. They are currently receiving $22 an hour and, under the new federal Work Choices legislation, that will go down to $12.75 an hour. I do not think that is good enough. I call on the other Central Coast members to join with me and fight for the waste workers on the Central Coast. I would like to see the member for Dobell and the member for Robertson join with me and fight for the rights of the workers on the Central Coast—fight for their rights to get the remuneration and the working conditions that they deserve.

Being mindful of the fact that I am getting close to the end of my time and that I need to allow other people to make a contribution to this debate, I would like to say that the government could have saved money by cutting its advertising of government programs. Six billion dollars over the life of this government is a very large amount of money. Maybe the Prime Minister could take fewer trips overseas and could try and save the Australian taxpayer money. Three hundred and ninety one days overseas since 1996 is not good enough. I would like to see the government invest in programs that will develop skills and infrastructure in Australia, give certainty to Australian families and provide proper child-care facilities and arrangements. This budget does not deliver those things. I think this is a budget of lost opportunity.

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