Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the suite of bills covered by Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2013-2014: Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2013-2014 and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2013-2014. You might ask the question: why are these bills necessary? Well, as with much we are doing in this place at the moment, these are necessary because of the profligate spending ways of the previous Labor government. These appropriations are being sought for a total of nearly $15 billion, which includes some $8.8 billion to the Treasury for a one-off grant to the Reserve Bank to meet its request to strengthen its financial position. After being depleted by the former Labor government in recent years, the Reserve Bank's buffer sat at just 3.8 per cent of the bank's assets at risk in one year alone. In 2009-10, Labor took some $5.23 billion from the Reserve Bank and, as with many things in this House at present, it is now falling to the coalition to undo the damage. Some $2.5 billion is for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in re-appropriating amounts previously provided to the former agency AusAID that are required for this financial year for expenditures by DFAT. Some $1.1 million for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection is particularly for amounts including offshore asylum seeker processing—again a legacy of the previous Labor government. And just over $540 million is for the Department of Defence for overseas operations to supplement the foreign exchange movements and for the reappropriation of amounts between appropriation acts, aligning with Defence's current work programs.

These bills will ensure that we are able to continue to deliver government services generally, including re-appropriating the amounts to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the activities formerly provided by AusAID before the machinery-of-government changes. These bills will allow us to continue the job of building a stronger economy so that everybody can get ahead.

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some important issues in the electorate of Forde. Earlier this year, on 19 January, it was reported in The Courier Mail that the top four most disadvantaged streets in Queensland were in the electorate of Forde. According to an analysis by The Courier Mail, the most disadvantaged populations in Queensland identified by the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011 census were in Melrose Place, Olympic Court, Parkland Court and Pearce Court, all in the suburb of Eagleby.

But it is heartening to share with the House that in this area of my electorate, despite the difficult circumstances of many of the families in that area, our local community groups work tirelessly to support the people who live there. These groups do such a tremendous job, and I would like to praise their efforts in this House. They are organisations such as the Eagleby Community Association Inc., the Twin Rivers Centre, the Twin Rivers co-op, the Eagleby Queensland Country Women's Association, St John Ambulance, the Salvation Army and Lighthouse Care—and these are but a few. I thank them for their continued and valuable support of those in our community who need it most.

I know a number of the constituents living in Eagleby who have tremendous pride in their local community. Eagleby is also home to the Australian Navy Cadets training ship TS Walrus, which had the distinction in 2012 of winning the award of the best naval cadet unit in Australia. Other community organisations include the Brigalow Country Music Club and the Eagleby Garden Club, to name a few. I had the opportunity on the weekend to attend the first ever charity shield match between the Eagleby Giants and the Beenleigh Bulls rugby league clubs. The Beenleigh Bulls won, but it was a tremendous testament to the Eagleby Giants in their third year of existence to have a senior team competing at that level. There is a great sense of community spirit in Eagleby, despite the reports of disadvantage.

I believe that we can all continue to work together to improve the outcomes for the people living in these communities. The unemployment rate of 12 per cent in Eagleby is much higher than the national unemployment rate. But, as many of us on this side of the House certainly know, the best solution to welfare is for people to have a job. On this side of the House, we are continually working to create those opportunities by fixing the legacy of the past Labor government. Our aim is still to assist business to create one million new jobs within five years and two million jobs within a decade. We have recently introduced legislation into this parliament to help deliver on this election commitment.

New financial initiatives will boost workforce participation and get more young job seekers off welfare as part of our job commitment bonus. The new scheme will encourage long-term unemployed job seekers aged 18 to 30 to get a job and hold it for at least 12 months. For their efforts, eligible job seekers will be entitled to claim $2½ thousand, and, if they remain in continuous work without income support for two years, they will be rewarded with an additional $4,000. There is also a package of relocation assistance to take up a job, which provides up to $6,000 for eligible job seekers who relocate to a regional area or $3,000 if they relocate within metropolitan areas, and families with dependent children can be provided with an extra $3,000 in recognition of any additional costs. We have the opportunity here to prevent young job seekers from sliding into long-term welfare dependency. We seek the support of those opposite in order to try to achieve this.

In Forde, I have been speaking with members of our local business community about how we can best support local job creation. Businesses know that governments do not create jobs, but they know that we can create the environment they need for business to flourish. The environment created by the former Labor government did little to support jobs. I think the best epitaph for the former government is to paraphrase the words of Ronald Reagan, in that the previous government's view of the economy could be best summed up this way: 'If it moves, tax it; if it keeps moving, regulate it; and, if it stops moving, subsidise it.'

The coalition's plan for a stronger economy, which was endorsed by the Australian people, starts with abolishing the former Labor government's carbon tax. In addition, the plan includes getting rid of the mining tax, cutting $1 billion worth of red tape from the economy and restoring the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Those opposite on the Labor benches should work alongside us to scrap these unnecessary burdens and support a growing, stronger economy for the benefit of all in this country.

During the election we outlined a number of initiatives to strengthen the small business sector in Australia. But, for business to thrive, customers also need to feel safe in their local shopping precinct. The coalition's $50 million Plan for Safer Streets will help reinvigorate precincts such as the Beenleigh Town Centre. During the last election, out of this initiative the coalition committed close to $1 million for additional CCTV in Forde. Around half of the funding will be allocated to the installation of additional CCTV cameras in Beenleigh. This will complement the additional $3 million in funding commitment from the coalition during the election to assist in the revitalisation of the Beenleigh Town Centre.

Beenleigh is a regional town conveniently located between the Gold Coast and Brisbane. Beenleigh, I believe, has the future to be a thriving regional hub supporting a number of new model cities. In the years ahead, there will be a new town square with first-class public spaces in addition to other developments to encourage more investment and opportunity in the region.

Debate interrupted.

See this speech in context