Jackie Kelly (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

My esteemed colleague Bruce Baird should be on my list, along with everyone else in this parliament. To my colleagues on both sides of the parliament—more particularly, I suppose, on our side: I will miss you. You have been a great part of my life. I will leave it at that.

I would also like to acknowledge my children, who, for their total lives, have only known a mother in parliament. I like to think I have been doing great things down here, and I think this budget demonstrates that it was worth while. The debt is finally paid; we are able to save for our future. I would like to thank John Howard for the opportunities afforded me in my various roles in this government, but in the end it was the 20 weeks a year, or 100 nights a year, away from home which led to my decision.

We have a challenge ahead of us. I think the community thinks that a good economy is something that is a fluke, that it is uninfluenced by the government’s ability, that it is just something that happens and that any political leader can achieve it. I would like to reassure those who have only started voting in the last 10 years that this is not necessarily the case. Look at your political history; look at your economic history. Although people are looking with interest at the leadership team of Rudd and Gillard, I say they should look behind them to the number of Keating members who are still there, such as Swan, Smith, Tanner, McMullan and the rest.

As for the future, we saw on Friday another instalment in infrastructure for our area, with the M2 extension to Dubbo. That is a vital piece of infrastructure which the local Labor representatives in the area oppose. The Iemma government oppose it. If they continue with that course, it will end up being a gaping hole like the Pennant Hills Road, to the north in Sydney, which is an absolute state disgrace. Get on board with the M2 extension to Dubbo now, build the infrastructure that our state needs now and do not leave future generations with the enormous cost of fixing that Pennant Hills logjam with a tunnel when you could have acquired the land at much less cost by resumption over the top many years ago.

I will still be around the Liberal Party in Western Sydney. I will be always reminding the voters of Western Sydney that responsible economic policy, low unemployment and a secure nation just do not happen by luck. They happen by good governance and the ability to make tough decisions, such as introducing the GST. That was opposed by the ALP, but when the ALP were in government they had six deficits and, by stealth, increased various taxes, such as the wholesale sales tax, by over 40 per cent. So, although people were getting the odd tax break—one in particular was never paid out—their taxes were continually increasing, reducing their real wages. Under this government we have seen a 20 per cent increase in average real wages, compared to one per cent under the previous government.

I think Badgerys Creek was the first huge issue that I ever had to deal with in politics. It was something where I had to turn around the internal party policy for the interests of my local area, and I did that very successfully. The Liberal-National government now has no plans for a second airport. The only party with a plan for a second airport is the ALP. I have maintained my interest in fast rail, and I am sure a fast rail link between Sydney and Canberra will solve any infrastructure or crowding at Mascot into the future. The logical second airports for Sydney are obviously Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra.

Child care has tripled under this government, and there is yet another instalment in this budget. I always want more in child care, but that is just a reflection of where I am in my life. I would like to see employers taking a greater role in child care and being more involved in their employees’ decisions regarding this. I do not think Labor’s policy of a childcare centre in every school is very viable. It would see the annihilation of the very healthy and profitable private sector, and for what—for a very uncompetitive, unresponsive government-run system. The opposition have a childcare policy of degree-trained teachers for four-year-olds. Coming from Queensland, their leadership would say that, because pretty much every other state has it. It is called ‘kindy’, and, to really make a difference, you do not need a degree. If you started putting in degreed childcare workers, the costs would just escalate enormously and we would be faced with even more challenges to keep child care affordable. I would caution the voters of Lindsay about what may sound like great a childcare policy from the Labor Party. This government have a track record of tripling expenditure on child care in the last 10 years. There has been an instalment on child care in every budget. So it is not something that will ever go away. It is something that we are continually making affordable down payments on.

Our investment in education: I have air-conditioned over 70 per cent of the schools in Lindsay, and the other 25 per cent have not actually applied for air conditioning. It is my goal in public life to see that all of the schools in Lindsay are air-conditioned. Our modern buildings are designed for air conditioning. Very little thought is put into the planning of them to keep them cool, and they are far hotter than the schools that we attended. It is something that is quite a modern necessity.

The black spot funding in my local area has seen an enormous improvement in the roads in my area, which have been neglected completely by the state governments. The trade school which I fought so hard for in the last round of the Australian technical colleges has been successful. I kept that alive. I kept pushing for that, and this budget delivered that trade school for the people of Penrith. We are an area that has a tremendous number of tradespeople. We have their offspring, who are very interested to be in their uncle’s business, their father’s business, or some other trade. It is an opportunity that will be taken up with alacrity by the young people of Western Sydney.

It has been a very great honour and privilege for me to represent the people of Lindsay in this place. This budget is further evidence of the great work that has been done by this government over the last 10 years. I am very, very proud to have had a role in it, and I endorse this package of legislation.

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