Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak in support of the Tax Laws Amendment (2009 Measures No. 6) Bill 2009 and commend the member for Blair for his contribution and the member for Farrer, who preceded the member for Blair. This might be a bit of a newsflash to the chamber, but this is not the most exciting piece of legislation we have had in the House since we were elected back in November 2007. It is a bit of a sure sign that something is not particularly exciting when those in the advisers boxes outnumber the members of the public seven to one. That is a bit of an indication that it is probably not the most exciting piece of legislation; nevertheless, it is an important piece of legislation.

The member for Blair went through some of the schedules in great detail. I am going to focus on one schedule, but for the benefit of the people of Moreton who might receive this speech I want to touch on a couple of parts in the schedule. Schedule 2 basically removes the potential barrier to superannuation fund consolidation. We all know how important it is that we get the superannuation balance right and give superannuation funds every opportunity to decrease their expenses. That is a commendable part of the legislation. Schedule 4 lists two new organisations as deductible gift recipients. I have a couple of concerns about the Green Institute Ltd. Nevertheless, I am sure it will contribute to Australian democracy and to the environmental cause, particularly the Greens political party. The United States Study Centre Ltd does great work. I see a change of name from the Dymocks Literacy Foundation Ltd to the Dymocks Children’s Charities Ltd. I have had my problems with some of the board members from Dymocks when it comes to books, but overall I am sure that the Dymocks Children’s Charities Ltd does great work. I think Dymocks still stocks my books in certain areas, which is a good thing.

I particularly want to focus on the measure to exempt from income tax the income recovery subsidy paid in response to the north-western Queensland floods. My electorate of Moreton is nearly 2,000 kilometres from the bits of Queensland that were most affected by the floods. Those bits are part of the electorate of Kennedy. However, I have a particular interest in this area, as my wife is from Mount Isa and as I went to Mount Isa many times in my role working in the mining industry. Betty Kiernan, the member for Mount Isa, who is a very hardworking member, said that she would like me to take an interest in Mount Isa when I am down here and complement the great work done by the member for Kennedy, Bob Katter. I am from country Queensland, nowhere near the gulf and the bits of the north that were swamped by the rains.

I mention particularly when we are talking about tax that I am from St George, because obviously this side of the House takes the economy and tax very, very seriously. In fact, I loved studying economics at St George State High School and after that. But we have somebody else in Parliament House involved with economics who also comes from St George, so I just want to make sure that this speech restores some of the town’s credibility when it comes to economics. I have written fiction about the town, but Senator Barnaby Joyce speaks fiction about the nation and he speaks fiction about the economy. Unfortunately, I think Barnaby Joyce is doing to economic responsibility what Ivan Milat did to backpacker holidays. He is not making a great contribution.

Anyway, I will return to the Tax Laws Amendment (2009 Measures No. 6) Bill 2009. Early last year rain soaked much of Queensland. For many in South-East Queensland it was an incredible relief as our dams filled and our gardens became greener. But in the north-west of the state it was a very different story—unfortunately, a tragic story. Early in January 2009 ex-Tropical Cyclone Charlotte dumped rain on the far north. Floodwaters rose through the gulf region and by the end of the month the area was completely cut off. Early in February, ex-Cyclone Ellie dumped even more rain on the low-lying gulf region, and it stayed that way until March, when the floodwaters finally started to recede.

The floods affected 62 per cent of the state, or one million square kilometres. I will just try to put in context for people what one million square kilometres is. Imagine if you jumped in your car in Sydney, drove north up the Pacific Highway to Brisbane, drove past Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast on the Bruce Highway, turned west and drove on the D’Aguilar Highway, the Moonie Highway and the Balonne Highway way out west past Cunnamulla to Thargomindah, turned south and drove down the Silver City Highway all the way to Mildura, and then drove from Mildura east along the Sturt Highway, the Hume Highway and the freeways until you got back to Sydney. That is a million square kilometres—1,000 kilometres by 1,000 kilometres. It is a massive area. I just wanted to put that in context. That is the area that was affected by these floods—a gigantic area, a gigantic piece of Queensland.

During that phenomenal rain, places like Normanton and Karumba were isolated for two months. We tend to think that with rain like that the farmers must have been saying: ‘Send her down, Hughie! Thank you for the water.’ Unfortunately, because the gulf producers had pastures under water for more than eight weeks, it caused significant medium-term damage to the pastures and their land. In fact, we heard in question time today, in an exchange between the member for Kennedy and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, that the pasture was dead and the seed was washed away. It went to the gulf. The seed washed into the water, so instead of having lush grass come back after the rain it was like a desert landscape, like there had been a drought. Obviously, when you have that sort of water you also need to rebuild the physical farming infrastructure like fences. Unfortunately, because the grass had been washed away, there was also then a threat from weeds. So the results of all of the good farm management techniques that had taken place over the last 20, 30 or 40 years were wiped out because the pasture was wiped out.

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