Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have to say that that was one of the most interesting and strange contributions to any debate I have ever heard. The previous speaker, the member for Fadden, mentioned intellectual capability. It really has me worrying about the future of the opposition, of the Liberal Party, if what he portrayed to this House tonight was some form of intellectual capability. I think the other side of politics in this parliament is in real trouble. I note that he was highly critical of President Obama, attributing the budgetary problems in the US to his leadership, which only demonstrated to me that not only does he have a very limited understanding of economic matters but he really is not up to date with what has been happening in the US. The enormous budget deficit that exists there can fall squarely on the shoulders of President Bush, whom I think the previous speaker may consider to have been an outstanding president and somebody whose policies, plans and legislative program he would have followed—but enough about the previous speaker. Let us talk about the legislation that is before us tonight, Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2008-2009 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2008-2009, which are for about $3.1 billion.

There are a number of important items in this legislation. It looks at climate change. It makes provisions for health. It makes provisions for the Human Services portfolio and AusAID. I must say I am extremely proud of the contributions that this government has made in the area of overseas aid assistance to developing countries. It is something that has been long overdue and something that I know all of us on this side of the House are very proud of—and I know that there are members on the other side of this House who are also very pleased with the action that this government has taken in relation to overseas aid.

I would also like to spend a little bit of time on the stimulus package that was presented to parliament last year, the Economic Security Strategy package. It gave the $1,000 bonus to families receiving family tax benefit part A; the $1,400 one-off payment to single pensioners; the $2,100 one-off payment to pensioner couples; the $1,000 payment to those who receive carer allowance; the first home owner grants of $21,000 to buyers of newly constructed homes and $14,000 to people purchasing established homes; and of course the 56,000 new training places.

There has been much comment in the House by the opposition on the effectiveness or noneffectiveness of these measures. I have to report to the House that not only do the figures that the Prime Minister and the Treasurer presented support the fact that they have been very successful measures but so does the news I bring to this parliament from the electorate that I represent. There has been no end to the number of pensioners contacting my office saying how welcome that bonus they received before Christmas was, how they have put it to really good use, how they were able to do things that they were unable to do before—pay for things, buy things—and just what it meant to them at Christmas. I have even had letters that constituents have asked me to hand-deliver to the Prime Minister because they were so grateful for the help that they received. They utilised that help and they wanted the Prime Minister to know what they used that money for.

I have a friend who has a business that is called Walk on Wheels, which supplies motorised scooters to elderly people, and services those scooters. My friend reported to me that they had an enormous increase in sales of their scooters prior to Christmas, and she attributed it very much to the bonus that pensioners received. The other interesting aspect of this is that, in January, as part of her business protocol, she rings around and talks to those pensioners who have purchased scooters, and she reported to me that this year every pensioner she rang to ascertain whether or not they needed their scooter serviced actually undertook to have that servicing done. She said that was very different to what usually happens. It is obviously good for her business, but it is also good for the safety of those pensioners who rely on motor scooters to get around. So for pensioners the bonus was very welcome.

Families have also found it very useful. Some of the families in my electorate have been able to purchase things for their children or organise their sporting equipment—things that they would not otherwise have been able to do. I had one mother come to see me. Her children all played representative sport. She reported to me that that bonus had enabled her to buy the equipment that her children needed. So those people who are being very negative about the last bonus should talk to people in their electorates, because I know that that money was put to very good use.

Then we need to look at first home buyers. I have been going out and looking at homes with a first home buyer. I know it is very difficult to actually find established homes around the price that first home owners who are entering the market can afford, because there has been such a take-up of the first home owners grant. There have been a number of people who would not otherwise have been looking for houses who have decided that, given the fact that this grant is there, they are going to buy their first home. That is very good for those people, and it is also very good for our economy. Madam Deputy Speaker, you can see that the first package was well and truly utilised for the benefit of people within the electorate of Shortland. They truly appreciated what the government did.

The other aspect of Appropriation Bill (No. 4) that I would like to concentrate on is in relation to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. There was $300 million allocated to councils. In the Shortland electorate there are two councils: Wyong Shire Council and Lake Macquarie City Council. Wyong Shire Council was allocated $1.529 million and Lake Macquarie City Council was allocated $2.117 million. I must say that both councils have chosen projects that are worth while. Both councils have chosen projects that will provide much-needed infrastructure for their local government areas.

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