Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The honourable member for Wakefield is a new member and he might not be aware of the forms and traditions of the House that, if an honourable member intends to attack a colleague, he should give that colleague the opportunity of knowing that that attack is about to be made so that he or she is able to come into the chamber and respond at the appropriate time. Maybe the honourable member was not aware of that tradition in the chamber, but if he has indeed advised the honourable member for McPherson that that was what he was going to do then it would obviously not be appropriate for me to criticise him.

In this debate on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2008-2009 and its cognate bills, I would like to mention a number of matters. Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, you would be aware that this is one of the few debates in the chamber where honourable members are able to traverse a whole range of topics of relevance to their electorate, sometimes referring to the budget and on other occasions just referring to matters that are of importance to local constituents. I just want to emphasise that, since the budget has been delivered, my office on the Sunshine Coast has been inundated with complaints from pensioners and independent retirees that they have been completely ignored in this budget. The government sought to give certain benefits to certain sectors of the community, but they seem to have forgotten that just because someone is a senior Australian it does not mean that person is not of worth and of value to the Australian community.

We have had numerous tear-jerking stories of people who are quite genuinely in a desperate situation financially. They had their hopes that this government—given the surplus it inherited from its predecessor, the Howard government—would take into account the needs of that important sector of the Australian community. But sadly those hopes were dashed. People who are pensioners and independent retirees worked hard during their working lives to give Australia the freedom, stability and way of life that does make us the envy of people throughout the world. Just because someone is an older Australian, it is important that the government recognises that that person still has worth and value and makes an important contribution to our community.

In a media release I called for the Prime Minister and the Treasurer to act quickly to examine the predicament of pensioners and independent retirees and to rectify the situation as soon as possible. People who are retired Australians have lived through wars, struggled through difficult times and worked hard for this country. Many of them have found themselves retiring prior to the introduction of widespread superannuation. As they looked towards retirement, many of them knew that they would be dependent on the pension, but there was an acceptable and widely held belief that this was something that they had contributed towards during their working life. These pensioners have found, however, that the government has treated them with contempt because the government has calculated that our ageing population would place an ever-increasing pressure on the welfare system and has therefore decided to cut senior Australians adrift.

I have to say that many people who rang my office said that they voted Labor at the last election. They now regret that decision because they believe that the Rudd government has not demonstrated what it said it would do before the election—that is, to be a government for all Australians. There are admittedly some initiatives in the budget for seniors, but most of them owe their existence to the former Howard-Costello-Vaile government, such as: the utilities payment, which is being increased from $107.20 to $500; the seniors concession allowance, which will increase from $218 to $500; and one-off payments of $1,000 to those receiving care and $600 to carers.

We are all aware though that the government was forced to reverse its intention in relation to carers and the opposition is responsible for the fact that the payments will indeed go through to those people who carry out such an important role in our society by caring for loved ones. If carers did not do what they do out of a sense of compassion and love for family members or other loved ones then the burden on the community which would result from the community having to look after those people needing care would be absolutely quite incredible. I would like to implore the Prime Minister and the Treasurer to look seriously at the needs of pensioners. I just believe that it is important that the government looks at the fact that it inherited a robust economy with the previous government having done the hard yards, having repaid some $96 billion in Labor debt. The Rudd Labor government inherited an economy that was the envy of people throughout the world, but unfortunately the Labor government has not chosen to look after those people to whom we as a nation owe so much.

The Treasurer has said that the government will review age pensions. I hope that it is done promptly and that the necessary changes are made to assist pensioners as soon as possible. While he is at it, he should also look at independent retirees—people who have worked and made provision for their retirement so that they would not be a cost to the Australian community. Independent retirees—and we have many of them on the Sunshine Coast—deserve incentives that recognise their value and encourage other Australians to follow suit. I can see you are smiling, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott. On the Sunshine Coast we even have many of your former constituents, retired wheat farmers, moving to the Sunshine Coast, where they continue to carry out a very valuable role in our society.

Independent retirees are also in the firing line of the budget due to changes of the eligibility criteria for the Commonwealth seniors health card. The Commonwealth seniors health card was a very important initiative of the former Treasurer, the honourable member for Higgins, because it gave independent retirees access to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme at the same rate as pensioners, provided their incomes did not exceed certain limits. The card was brought in at a certain rate. Shortly afterwards, the government substantially increased the eligibility levels but, regrettably, for, I think, some 10 years or so, the income levels for eligibility have not increased, so many independent retirees who previously enjoyed access to the Commonwealth seniors health card and the PBS at the concessional rate have now been ejected from the card scheme. At a stage in their lives when they have increasing medical needs they are finding it more and more difficult simply to make ends meet.

This government went further. Instead of upgrading or indexing the eligibility criteria for the Commonwealth seniors health card, they have made changes which mean that the income, which is the eligibility criteria for the card, will also include income from superannuation income streams, tax sources and salary sacrificed superannuation. This means that more people will be thrown off the card scheme. It means that Mr Swan will come and take eligibility for the Commonwealth seniors health card away from more retirees. So, instead of redressing the inequity and indexing the income eligibility levels to 2008 levels, the government has made it even more difficult for independent retirees to hold on to their cards. I think that is eminently regrettable. In fact it is despicable.

Prior to the election, I pushed, without success, the former government to index the income eligibility levels. This would have been a golden opportunity, given the budget surplus, to reward those people who have made provisions for their own retirement. Unfortunately this has not happened. The eligibility for the Commonwealth seniors health card remains at $50,000 for singles and $80,000 for couples. That has been frozen for a period of more than a decade—and $80,000 today clearly does not buy what $80,000 bought 10 or 12 years ago. The loss of the card for so many senior Australians will bring about elevated financial pressure at a time when grocery prices, petrol prices and home mortgage interest rates have already climbed to disturbing levels. The changes will also reduce the incentive for others to contribute to superannuation funds. It really is important as part of a review of the pensions process that the government rethink the eligibility criteria and reconsider the needs of these senior Australians to continue to have access to the Commonwealth seniors health card. Personally, I believe that it is really important for those people who have lost their access to the Commonwealth seniors health card to have that access restored as soon as possible.

I do want to applaud the fact that the government has, in the budget, agreed to fund a number of its election promises made prior to the November 24 poll last year. On the Sunshine Coast, this includes projects announced in the electorates of both Fisher and Fairfax, including $5 million for the upgrade of the renamed Stockland Park at Kawana, $1 million for the upgrades of two parks at the Mooloolaba spit, $5 million for a new Sunshine Coast exhibition centre, $3 million for a visitor centre at the Maroochy botanical gardens, $1.3 million for the Nambour CBD refurbishments and $4.6 million for a water recycling project at Coolum ridges. Some of those projects are in the electorate of Fairfax, represented by my colleague the Chief Opposition Whip, but we think of ourselves as a community. The Sunshine Coast received those promises from the government and I am pleased that these projects have been confirmed as being in line to receive government funding—apart from $1 million for parks at Mooloolaba which remains in limbo. I think the government is trying to find this promise and trying to find what it actually said. I hope that those parks at Mooloolaba will be upgraded as promised by the Labor Party prior to the election.

I would like to congratulate the team which conducted the successful search for the HMAS Sydney. Another ship that was attacked and sunk during World War II lies undiscovered in waters off the Sunshine Coast. I refer to the Australian hospital ship Centaur. This ship was lost in 1943, resulting in the loss of 268 lives. The torpedoing of this ship was a war crime. It was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine when it was displaying the red cross and was therefore legally immune from attack. A memorial to the tragedy is located on the shoreline at Kings Beach, Caloundra. Many of the survivors, and some of their families and the relatives of those who died, live on the Sunshine Coast and elsewhere, and they are trying to find answers to the remaining mysteries of this wartime tragedy.

We now have the technology and we now have the skill and experienced people to do the job. And we have a fairly good idea where the Centaur went down. All we need now is the funding. We know where the ship was 10 minutes before she was sunk off Stradbroke Island. The search team had incredible success in locating the HMAS Sydney, which was in an undefined location, a long way from land and in very deep waters. That was quite impressive and amazing. We are told that the calculated location of the Centaur is relatively close to land and it is believed to be in much shallower waters. We have spoken to the man who led the search for the Sydney. It cost $3.9 million to find the Sydney, but the cost of finding the Centaur would be substantially less. I have written to the government to consider funding a search for the Centaur, which I am told is the last remaining ship that was sunk during World War II in Australian waters yet to be discovered.

Once found, the location of the ship should be recorded and then the vessel left as it is, undisturbed—I suppose, in a sense, a war grave, although I think the marine term is a protection site, to prevent unauthorised visits. I have spoken to the honourable member for Lingiari, the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, and he is certainly sympathetic. I want to commend him upon his attitude. I gather that it is not certain whether the Minister for the Environment and Heritage or the assistant minister for defence is responsible for this, but the government have looked at my proposal quite seriously and I am hopeful that they will look at it favourably, because there are a lot of people out there who would like to know what actually happened and it is important that we are able to respect the memory of those 268 people who were lost and also to recognise the service of those people who survived.

I would also like to refer to railway upgrades on the Sunshine Coast, particularly in the area of Mooloolah. Mooloolah is an iconic village in the Sunshine Coast hinterland about 20-odd kilometres from Caloundra. The Queensland government is currently undertaking the mammoth task of upgrading the north coast rail line, which stretches between Brisbane and Cairns, and it is a laudable effort. The apparent need for the rail upgrade was detailed in the South East Queensland Regional Plan and also in the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program 2007-2026.

I would like to raise concerns in particular about upgrades to the line between Landsborough and Nambour. This is defined in Queensland Transport documentation as the Landsborough to Nambour Rail Project. This rail line has been in operation since 1891. Suggestions include not only duplication of the line but quadrupling of the line in the longer term, which the Queensland government claims would require a corridor of some 60 metres wide. This would require significant resumptions. For Sunshine Coast railway towns like Mooloolah, Landsborough, Eudlo, Palmwoods, and Woombye, which were developed and built up over many generations around the local railway line, it will mean massive changes in the amenity and the user-friendliness of the business districts.

Concerns are that cutting a swathe through the towns, as appears to be the selected option, will destroy these towns completely. These are wonderful hinterland villages with a delightful ambience and a caring community. If you quadruple the size of the rail line and have massive overpasses, it will be like having little bits of Sydney in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. I believe that it will result in a lot of ugliness. The attractiveness of these towns, including the historic nature of the architecture, will be spoilt and this will seriously adversely affect the local economy because the area will not be as attractive for tourists and so on.

I have been contacted by residents of Mooloolah who, with others, make up the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Railway Towns Preservation Society. They are concerned that a combination of the railway upgrades plus plans in the South East Queensland Regional Plan to urbanise the town of Mooloolah by introducing significant areas of high-density housing and industrial business to the area will impact adversely on the town. A document prepared on this matter by a retired civil engineer suggests that doubling of the rail line would suffice ‘to the extent that further construction is unlikely to be required within the lifespan of existing technology’.

The community at Mooloolah has been dealt further blows with the announcement on 5 May by Premier Anna Bligh that the deadline has been brought forward by one year for a review of the South East Queensland Plan. As a consequence, the deadline for public submissions to the review has been brought forward to 6 June, just one month after the new deadline was announced. This gives residents of Mooloolah, who have these genuine concerns about their town, just four weeks to prepare and submit their concerns and suggestions for a plan that will dictate development in their region until 2031. This is clearly an unworkable and unfair deadline and time frame for local residents. The community is concerned that they are unable to raise their very real concerns with the state government and that correspondence has gone unanswered. They understand this is a state project, but unfortunately the state government, which does represent the area at state level, is not taking into account what needs to be done—that is, listen to the concerns of local residents. I raise this matter here in the Australian parliament because Mooloolah residents and residents of other railway towns deserve to be properly heard. I call on the Queensland state government to genuinely listen to the concerns of these people and to seriously consider changing the rail plans to ensure their livelihoods are not destroyed.

I am also very sorry that the new government has put an end to the extremely successful Investing in Our Schools Program. This was a practical and cutting-edge initiative in that it helped fund projects that school communities identified as priorities. The good thing about the Investing in Our Schools Program was that it recognised that one size did not fit all and that individual school communities had individual needs. Unfortunately, with the scrapping of this program, there will be many unmet needs—needs that will be unmet by the Queensland state government—in state government schools. Independent schools on the Sunshine Coast, some of which are not at all wealthy, will also not be able to fund the improvements they need.

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