Danna Vale (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The coalition’s first budget, handed down on the evening of 20 August 1996, heralded the start of a significant change in Australia’s economic prosperity. It received headlines as the fair go budget, because measures were taken that were mindful of the tough choices that come with economic responsibility, and with experience that has brought a finely honed sense of social awareness.

Now, almost 11 years later, and notwithstanding a very severe drought—a drought which has caused production to fall by about 20 per cent in the rural sector—the Australian economy continues to grow. It continues to grow in a low inflationary environment and it produces jobs. The unemployment rate is at the lowest level we have seen in 31 years. There have been many other challenges to this economy over the last 11 years. We have seen the Asian financial crisis, the United States recession, September 11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and terrorist attacks in Bali, but the Australian economy has grown continuously right throughout that period.

One of the reasons it has grown continuously is that the Howard government attended to the key fundamentals of economic management in this country: balancing the budget, repaying $96 billion of Labor debt, funding our superannuation liabilities, broadening the indirect tax base, cutting the company tax rate, halving the capital gains tax rate, cutting income taxes in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007—with more tax cuts planned for 2008—and making sure that we had an independent central bank with an inflation target. All of that work is producing the results of the Australian economy today.

The Labor Party would have you believe that it is in favour of the results—it just opposed all the work that it took to get us there. Australians need to know this: you do not get the results without putting in the effort. The Australian Labor Party cannot come along after 11 years of opposing the effort and try to claim that it is all the result of the mining boom. The Treasurer’s 12th budget has received warm praise from many sectors because it is a budget that benefits all Australians. It is a plan that will further strengthen our economy and address the challenges that we face as a nation.

The Howard government’s plan includes initiatives in several policy areas. These include cutting tax for the fifth consecutive year. From 1 July, all Australians will benefit from $31.5 billion in tax cuts. The tax threshold of 30 per cent will move to $30,000 from 1 July. The tax threshold of 40 per cent will move to $80,000 and the tax threshold of 45 per cent will move to $180,000 from 1 July 2008. Improving literacy and numeracy standards and establishing the $5 billion Higher Education Endowment Fund for education and infrastructure and research facilities has been widely welcomed.

Eligible apprentices will be provided with a $500 voucher for course fees and a $1,000 tax-exempt payment to help them with their living costs. We have doubled the superannuation contribution for eligible low-income earners with a one-off payment for contributions made in 2005-06. There will be $200 million for additional community water grants, which have already saved 27,500 megalitres, and $201 million to install rainwater tanks in schools and community group facilities.

For older Australians, there will be no tax on incomes up to $25,867 for singles or up to $43,360 for couples who are eligible for the senior Australian tax offset and a one-off $500 bonus to senior concession cardholders or those receiving the utilities allowance. Both eligible members of a couple will receive this bonus. There will be a one-off $1,000 bonus for those receiving the carers payment and a one-off $600 bonus for those receiving the carers allowance to recognise their dedication in helping those who suffer from a disability.

We have provided better access to hearing services for 350,000 hearing impaired Australians through a $70.7 million investment, and we have provided additional community care packages to assist older Australians who want to continue living at home, as well as more community based respite care and $377.6 million to increase access to dental services for 200,000 patients. We are also building a new school of dentistry at Charles Sturt University.

Australia has a proud military history and we owe those who have served our nation an ongoing debt of gratitude. Initiatives for our veterans and their families include increasing payments to veterans with a disability on the special rate pension by $50 a fortnight and to those on the intermediate rate pension by $25 a fortnight from July 2007. We have increased access to support services for eligible veterans when they leave hospital. We have provided community pharmacies that will, after a referral from a GP, provide veterans with a written medication management plan and additional medication management strategies. We have provided extra assistance for ex-service organisations and their volunteers to further support veterans.

We have doubled the funeral benefit paid under the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 from $1,000 to $2,000 and an extra three months for war widows and widowers to claim a war widow/widowers pension. We have provided additional funds to help complete the redevelopment of the Australian War Memorial.

Small business—often called the engine room of our economy—will also benefit, with initiatives such as cutting taxes for small business and further reducing compliance costs. From 1 July 2007, businesses with a turnover of less than $75,000 will not need to register for the GST. We have provided three new Australian technical colleges, in addition to the 25 that are already being built, and we have assisted small business to utilise new technology in their workplaces.

It is the social concerns of our Australian communities that are very close to many members in this place, and it gives me great pride to note the continuing outstanding performance of the Australian economy. I say this because without a strong economy no government can do very much for those of its citizens who are in need of social welfare support and special assistance. When an economy is weak and in decline, it is those at the lowest levels of our society who suffer the most. They have no buffer against adversity and are the most vulnerable of our citizens. Good economic policy and good social policy go hand in hand, but good economic policy leads the way and dictates the kind and quality of social welfare we can provide for our most vulnerable Australians.

Speaking about our most vulnerable Australians, there are two issues that have been of concern to me for some time. One is the provision of supported accommodation for those with a disability and the other matter is the provision of services and support for Indigenous Australians. I would like to take the time available to me to bring to the attention of this House the plight of families with adult children with disabilities. As carers and their children age, these families are becoming more concerned that, while governments provide some respite accommodation from time to time, there is little planning on the horizon for long-term supported care accommodation for adult children—not just for the present time but especially for future years when the carers themselves will no longer be around to support them.

I recently met with a group of parents that are so concerned that they have started up the Sutherland Shire Disability Accommodation Action Group. This group was born out of a home and community care planning day back in 2005. One of the issues most raised on this day was the lack of supported accommodation for adult people with intellectual disabilities. The group continued to meet throughout 2006 and elected a committee. In December 2006 the Sutherland Shire Disability Accommodation Action Group became an incorporated association, with Mrs Judy Foord as president and Mrs Kate Tye as secretary. The association has three main objectives: to obtain supported accommodation for family members located in their own local area of Sutherland Shire, to obtain accommodation that offers a tiered layer of continuous care and to create a register of need.

Earlier this year, in March, the group held their first public meeting. The meeting of parents and carers was overwhelming. There was standing room only for the 100 people attending, with 71 people signing the register of need for supported accommodation. I am advised that this was just the tip of the iceberg, as those who were able to attend took away registration forms for friends and family who were unable to be there. At the meeting there were many stories from carers which continued to highlight the absolute need for supported adult accommodation. The speakers told of how caring is virtually a lifelong career and is a radical departure from the normal experience of their families and friends, where dependent children develop into independent adults.

The plight of these carers is best described with their real stories, of which I extract one, from a letter from a devoted mother in my electorate:

People sometimes think carer equals no full time job, equals what a life! Well imagine all you’d do for a very young child, dressing them, washing them and cleaning up after accidents. Then imagine doing that for a young adult, who can’t learn to do more than they do now. Imagine never being able to go anywhere alone—not even to see a friend for a chat and a cup of coffee without your “child”. Imagine having to leave hospital against medical advice after a minor operation because your “child” was terrified to spend the night without you. Imagine your weekends filled only by walking around shopping centres because that’s all she wants to do. Imagine lying awake every night and worrying about what will happen to her. Not quite a rosy picture.

We do have respite, but only one day a month because that’s all she can cope with, and she makes herself sick with worry two weeks before it. Although I must admit she usually says she has a good time.

And now, four years ago, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. My caring time is finite. It will be a most difficult task to settle my “child” into a group-home or similar accommodation. It must be done while I am here and able to help her cope. I have been told that the only way to get accommodation is to abandon her at a police station. I can’t do that. She would retreat from reality forever. She is my problem and I will not leave her unresolved.

What do we want? Peace of mind, I think, for both of us. For me, not having to abandon her or to be at death’s door and still not know if she will have somewhere to live. For her, relief from the terror of ‘if something happens to mum where will I go?’ She knows she can’t manage alone. Vague nebulous promises are not enough.

We as parliamentarians and our state colleagues need to take this issue up and ensure that planning is put in place for the future. I for one have given them my support and I have assured them that I will help them to take their message to the relevant ministers to help them realise their objectives. This year the government’s commitment to people with disabilities includes $394.3 million as a one-off lump sum payment to carers, $1,000 to be paid to those who currently receive the carers payment and $600 for those who are on a carers allowance.

But, for the 18,000 Australians who have a disability and are currently working in supported employment, the government will also commit $116 million over the next four years in support of the 220 disability business services which provide supported employment for adult people with more severe and profound disabilities. A further $12.2 million over four years has been provided for the National Disability Advocacy Program to allow families to have increased access to disability advocacy and support services.

As many families in my electorate will be aware, the current Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement, the CSTDA, will expire on 30 June this year and negotiations for the next agreement are in progress. However, families with people who have a disability should be aware that the Australian government are concerned that, despite the provisions in the current CSTDA for accountability, transparency and equality, we are unable to ascertain that the outcomes delivered by the states for people with disabilities have actually improved.

In February 2007, the Australian government made a multilateral offer to the states and territories that included the continuation of the base funding and unmet need funding as provided in the current agreement, plus continued funding for the older carers respite bilateral and an indexation at wage cost index 2—that is, $400 million for the next agreement. This offer amounts to $3.275 billion over the next five years of the new CSTD agreement and requires that the states and territories clearly demonstrate improvements in four priority areas. These are: (1) the measurement of unmet need by improving data collection and reporting on the level of demand for services; (2) implementing quality assurance measures by an accredited third party; (3) ensuring transparency and accountability through high-level outcomes and measures as part of a performance framework guided by the Australian National Audit Office’s report Administration of the CSTDA; and (4) by demonstrating improved access for Indigenous Australians to mainstream disability services.

It is appropriate that the Australian government is convinced that our fellow Australians with disabilities and their families are receiving the level and quality of services that meet their needs. However, I note that at a meeting of ministers on 3 April this year, the Australian government again put the multilateral offer previously made in February and invited the state and territory ministers to put forward a plan to provide extra supported accommodation and respite care services so that the Australian government could consider those plans on a dollar for dollar basis. This must also include new money committed by the states and territories. Additional funding from the Australian government is conditional upon the states and territories agreeing to hard targets for new supported disability accommodation places and respite services. These services clearly lie within the responsibility of the states and territories and it is appropriate that, before the Australian government commits further funding, there is a clear commitment in return. To date, no plans have been received from any state or territory minister, and I understand that the Australian government has again written to the state and territory ministers requesting their response by 8 June—which I note is next week.

People with disabilities have a right to be valued and to feel valued by others in the wider Australian community. It is only right that they are able to access safe and permanent accommodation in their own local areas. It is only right that they are able to participate in the life of their own community, and it is only right that they have dignity and respect and are able to live as their peers live—away from their own family but close by and very much connected to the fibre of family, friends and communities.

While the CSTDA ministers are addressing this issue of people with disabilities, I remind them that the long-term caring supported accommodation for adult people with disabilities is a driving, urgent need, not only in my electorate of Hughes but also for people across Australia. Governments can no longer ignore the weight that is placed on the families of people with disabilities, most especially the mothers. For many mothers, this is a burden that never ends, and it is up to governments to provide the appropriate safe, caring accommodation that their loved ones deserve. I commend and support the Minister for Family and Community Services on his efforts in this regard.

The Australian government is also committed to reducing Indigenous disadvantage and has increased funding on Indigenous specific programs every year since the Howard government was elected in 1996. Spending on Indigenous programs in 2007-08 will reach almost $3.5 billion, 42 per cent more in real terms than Labor spent in the last year of the Keating government. Most of this expenditure is directed towards key practical measures in health, education, housing and employment. The Howard government is spending two and a half times more in real terms than Labor did on Indigenous specific health programs. Access to the Medical Benefits Scheme and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme by Indigenous people has increased dramatically.

Last year, the government committed $130 million to law and order programs to protect the safety of Indigenous men, women and children and in this year’s budget we are providing over $800 million for education, housing and health initiatives. This includes almost $300 million over three years in additional funding to contribute to a $1.6 billion effort to tackle overcrowding in Indigenous communities. There are no easy solutions, but we are making progress. Some of these achievements include that death rates from respiratory illnesses have declined by half, death from infections and parasites have decreased by two-thirds and life expectancy is slowly improving. More Indigenous students are achieving the writing and reading benchmarks, secondary school attendance has increased and retention to year 12 has improved by 30 per cent since 1996. The number of Indigenous students undertaking bachelor degrees has increased by 14 per cent since 2001, the number undertaking vocational training has almost doubled since 1996 and Indigenous employment grew by 22 per cent between 1996 and 2001, compared to non-Indigenous employment growth of nine per cent.

These are very positive achievements, but the government realise there is a long way to go. This is why we are increasing our investment in this area. We are also introducing other reforms to encourage economic development by amending the Northern Territory land rights act. We are also making the Indigenous Work for the Dole program produce better job outcomes—and we abolished ATSIC, which for 10 years stood in the way of progress of Indigenous affairs.

Responsibility for health and education rests with the states, but we are not passing the buck and we are working with them through joint agreements and cooperation. It is going to take a long time to achieve true equity for our Indigenous Australians, but we are taking some real, practical measures towards that goal, all of which depend on the disciplined management of the Australian economy. Managing Australia’s $1.1 trillion economy does require discipline, experience and vision, which this government has consistently delivered. We will continue to take the necessary and often difficult decisions in Australia’s long-term interest so that we can lock in prosperity and build security and opportunity for all Australians, despite the continued opposition from those on the other side of the House. I commend these budget bills to the House.

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