Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

When I read this matter of public importance today around lunchtime, I was a bit surprised. In every way it relates far more to the last government than it does to this one. When the election took place on 24 November last year, on this side of politics there was of course considerable elation towards the end of the night. I am sure for many of us, as we looked at forming government and the work that needed to be done, there was also a rather deep sigh and a slight depression that so much of the previous 12 years—and 16 years of unprecedented growth—had been wasted in such an appalling way due to a lack of leadership to address the challenges that faced our nation.

Remember back to that time. The world did change very quickly overnight: a sense of optimism emerged and we moved very quickly on various issues. But remember back to the preceding weeks and where we were as a nation, thanks to the lack of leadership or any vision from the previous government. Climate change still largely did not exist as far as the government was concerned. There was no action on that. The relationship between white and Indigenous Australia was in a very sad state. Australia’s government spending on public education was the second lowest among developed nations. Innovation as a share of the economy over the past 15 years had dropped and was falling below developed and emerging nations. The Reserve Bank had warned over and over again that the capacity constraints around infrastructure were causing bottlenecks. Our trade performance was abysmal. There was growing pressure on families. It was hard to see any community infrastructure—either tangible or intangible—that had been left behind. There was very little to see after 16 years of unprecedented economic growth and 12 years of the Howard government—except, of course, Work Choices. However briefly, Work Choices was there.

Perhaps there is a cultural difference between what we on this side of the House expect and what the previous government expected. There are great cultural differences in what we value. People sometimes think we are the same, but really we are not. We have quite different value systems. But I do not think it is that. I think that, over the last years of the Howard government, they just did not notice that so many circumstances had turned for the worse. They certainly did not notice—or, if they did notice, they denied—the effect of 10 back-to-back interest rate rises on working families. We certainly noticed it. We raised it and we talked about it. We certainly noticed the skill shortages that were growing over those 12 years. We noticed the 20 warnings from the Reserve Bank. We noticed them but those opposite did not. And now, they are not noticing the action that is being taken. They are just discovering that maybe they left some problems behind, but they are not noticing that anything is actually being done.

But, in fact, things are being done. Unlike the members opposite, we believe that interest rates have been a problem for quite some time. I remember the former Treasurer, the member for Higgins, saying just last year, when the coalition were in government, that inflation was exactly where they wanted it. I remember the member for Wentworth, the current Leader of the Opposition, also saying last year, after one of the later interest rate rises, that a quarter of a per cent rise would not cause much of a problem because it was very small. I also remember the denial that there was any problem at all with inflation. I remember the Treasurer, in the last year of the government, saying that inflation was a good problem to have. We on this side of the House knew it was a problem. But what did they do? They spent like drunken sailors. They did nothing about the capacity constraints. While the screws tightened on working families, they spent like drunken sailors, putting upward pressure on inflation. We noticed; they did not.

We are doing the work now—unlike the previous government. Just to put into perspective the claims from the other side, this is what we have done. We have brought immediate relief to working families through our $55 billion Working Families Support Package, which includes tax cuts for those most in need—unlike the two previous tax cuts, which were aimed at higher income earners. Those of us in this House did very well from the previous two tax cuts, but many working families will do well from the cuts we delivered in the recent budget. The budget also included an investment of $4.4 billion for a new education tax refund, which has benefited 1.3 million families, and lifted the childcare tax rebate for working families from 30 per cent to 50 per cent for out-of-pocket expenses of up to $7,500. And of course we are still working on raising the threshold for the Medicare rebate, which will also benefit working families. But those opposite, with their new-found concern for working families, are doing their best to block that.

We have also built a strong surplus to keep downward pressure on inflation. We have reined in expenditure—unlike the previous government, who spent like drunken sailors. We worked incredibly hard in those first months to rein in expenditure and build a strong surplus. We made room in the budget to support working families and we built a strong surplus. We laid down the foundations for $40 billion worth of responsible investment to build our nation’s growth for the future. It is an extraordinary contribution to the future of this nation. We have already acted on this.

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