David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It is a privilege to contribute to the debate on the Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Flood Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 and the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Temporary Flood Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011. It is a key debate that is at the centre of the discussion about the future of this country. Obviously, we have been through a summer of extraordinary natural disasters. I want to take this opportunity, as I have done in the House previously, to convey my condolences to those who have been impacted by the natural disasters in this country. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that, just across the Tasman, our neighbours—our brothers and sisters in New Zealand—have been so deeply affected by the earthquake in Christchurch. They have already, of course, suffered the devastation of the earlier quakes, but with what has occurred over the last 24 hours or so, having gone through what we have been through as a nation, our hearts certainly go out to those across the Tasman. Indeed, the Australian government has already made various announcements around how it intends to provide assistance to the New Zealand government.

As I indicated, I have spoken at length in the House previously about the devastating natural disasters that we have faced in this country. In that respect, I wish to contain my comments principally to the debate around how we as a nation intend to fund the recovery effort. That is what these bills are about. They go to how we as a government and how the Australian people intend to ensure that we do not leave those affected by these natural disasters behind but that we step up to the plate and do what is required to rebuild these communities. There are clear and obvious reasons as to why that is important. It is important not just to those communities, though clearly it is; equally it is important to communities all around Australia. There are and will continue to be flow-on effects that will be felt in supermarkets and across lounge rooms and dinner tables around this country. There are very pressing and urgent needs of Australians in the areas that have been affected by those disasters, but there are equally important but more wide-ranging impacts to be felt right across the country.

The scale of what is required has been set out by many speakers in this debate. The early estimates are that the cost of rebuilding will be somewhere in the order of $5.6 billion—that is what will be required from the federal government. That does not include the effects of Cyclone Yasi, so, obviously, the task that lies ahead is significant and it requires us as a nation to work out how we intend to fund that. There are a range of options around how we may seek to fund that. The government has embarked upon the course of determining that some of those funds could be raised in the form of a flood levy. Also, we are deferring some infrastructure projects and embarking upon some expenditure cuts. We believe that this is an appropriate, fair and balanced mix of measures to address the need for us to raise this $5.6 billion to rebuild communities in the areas affected by the natural disasters.

There has, of course, been a lot of debate around whether or not this is an appropriate means through which the government should be funding the recovery effort, and that is a debate that we very much welcome. We think it is entirely reasonable for Australians to ask the question: is this the most appropriate way for us as a nation to make our contribution towards the rebuilding effort? It has been said by many in this debate that the Australian people have been very generous in their private donations. That needs to be acknowledged. We should not be surprised by it, because the Australian people have always shown a preparedness to step forward to help out—

See this speech in context