Alan Cadman (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

When the House adjourned debate on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2007-2008 I was dealing with some of the issues that relate to various family groups. The first group I was dealing with was families—in particular, families with children. The current budget proposes that the childcare rebate—which has been brought forward, and the current year’s payment will be made at the same time—will mean a reimbursement to families of $4,200 per child for each year the child uses child care. It is possible for families with two children under the age of five to be reimbursed up to $16,000 for childcare costs over two years. In addition, the childcare benefit for low-income families with one child will increase by 10 per cent, which is about $20.50 per week.

In addition, I draw the attention of the House to the general tax cuts that apply in 2007-08. Taxpayers with an income of $30,000 will receive a tax cut of $21.15 per week. It will stay at that level in 2008-09. This year, taxpayers with an income of $80,000 a year will receive a tax cut of $14.42 per week, but next year they will receive a tax cut of $24 per week. In addition, there will be a low-income tax offset of $7,500 per year for families with an income of only $30,000. That is a return to families on lower, modest incomes in support of their families.

In addition to support for families, there will be a boost in educational skills and standards, with an extra $843 million over four years. This will go to standards of education for our children. There is also funding to develop core standards in English, maths, science and Australian history. That is another family measure in this budget. As I remarked when speaking previously on this measure, there are so many matters relating to families and other sections of the community, and the only way to look at them is to look at people groups and see how each group is affected. There is an extra $549 million over four years to help address skills shortages by boosting Australian apprenticeships. On top of that, there is $1,000, tax free, for each apprentice under the age of 30, to assist them and support them in training in an apprenticeship.

There is a training voucher of $500 per annum for first- and second-year apprentices. And for mature apprentices—those over the age of 30—there is a subsidy of up to $13,000 a year to help them into the apprenticeship. They are mostly mature age apprentices. They are men or women who have probably taken up another career but have realised there are benefits in trades and, late in their career, have taken on an apprenticeship. I know a number of people who have taken up this option. However, they often have children. They are committed, with families and mortgages. Sometimes, it is really hard for them to meet the cost of attending TAFE on a regular basis at the same time as working for a boss as an apprentice on only a modest wage. This is a subsidy to assist those mature age students over the age of 30 to gain their apprenticeship skills and to go on to be much valued trades men and women.

I must mention health in regard to families, because most mothers and fathers worry about health programs and the security of them for their children. The government is providing, more as a preventive measure, $124 million for an after-school community program. This is the Active After-school Communities Program, and it is an excellent program. I have a number of them operating in my electorate. It is a delight to see children involved in active sports and also to watch them try new sports and different activities. This will help keep children healthy, and maintaining their involvement in such activities will be conducive to their continuing health.

There is $32 million over four years for Medicare rebates for extended out-of-surgery hours for GP care. It is a sensible thing to support doctors to visit households to provide after-hours care. It is something that we have lacked in our community, and this budget delivers it.

Another group that we need to look at as part of the budget is small business. The small business community will receive tax cuts worth about $540 million over four years. We will be cutting down compliance costs, because if anything makes small business really annoyed it is trying to handle the paperwork. As I have said on a number of occasions, an Australian business which is spending more time on paperwork than its competitors do in Japan, the United States or any else is disadvantaged. The role of government—in my view it is above all others—in regard to small business is to reduce the amount of paperwork for tax and other compliance measures so as to allow people to spend more time on the job, doing what they are best at: running a business, and supporting their families and their employees. From 1 July 2007, businesses with a turnover below $75,000 a year will not need to register for the GST. Of course, they can register and, if they do, they can pay their GST annually. They can make their pay-as-you-go instalments annually. That is a change from $50,000 to $75,000 for small businesses reporting for the GST.

The new Commercial Ready program is fascinating. It is an excellent program which encourages innovation. It takes an innovation from the point where the prototype is finished and carries it into commercial production. The new Commercial Ready Plus program will provide $90 million in small grants to small businesses. Small businesses are usually the innovative ones but often they are not structured to carry their innovation to the next stage. The $90.3 million in the program will greatly assist small business in that process.

This year there will be three new Australian technical colleges, adding to the 25 we have already established. These colleges are brilliant; they are absolutely terrific. They are run by a committee, which is headed by an industry representative. Their programs are practical and are related to industry, TAFE and other continuing education institutions. So, at the end of two years at senior high school, when students graduate at the end of year 12 with their HSC, their first year’s apprenticeship will be fully completed. They will be ready for work, with an understanding of the workplace, and have their qualifications. Employers and students whom I have spoken to think this is a great program because it is so practical and so relevant to the workplace. For some time we have had the successful Tools for Your Trade program. This provides $800 towards tool kits for first year apprentices in areas of skill shortages, and that will continue.

All of these policies are built on reforms that have already been introduced and have produced increased productivity. Despite what the Australian Labor Party and the union movement say, Work Choices is for business. I have seen both employers and employees committed to this program. We could not have gained all of those extra workers if the program was a failure.

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