Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

The recent budget week here in Canberra proved that we as a coalition are up to the test that has been left to us as a result of our election at the last federal election. On that night, the Treasurer laid out a blueprint for our economy and the budget that we want passed by both houses of parliament so that we can get on with the job of fixing the budget mess that was left to us. We are not prepared to see the responsibility passed to another generation to pay back the debt that has accumulated with seven years of Labor administration. To put the debt in perspective, much of the forward estimates show that the debt will continue to rise. It is unsustainable. One of the worst aspects of this, apart from it being unsustainable, is that the very interest we are paying on that debt—$1 billion a year, which we borrow to pay the interest—is just dead money. Imagine just what we could do with that extra $1 billion, or $12 to $13 billion a year, if we were not spending it—borrowing it—to pay the interest on our debt, as we must.

We have a plan, and we want to make sure, as we go through this budget not only to the end of this parliament but also in this session, that we will see some initiatives passed in the lower house and sent up to the upper house, so that we can see the upper house pass them before 30 June. One of those I would like to see the Labor Party support us on, which has already passed the lower house, is the abolition of the carbon tax—that tax that cascades throughout the system. If we do not get it passed by 30 June, it will then start to apply to the fuel tax bills of the trucking industry around Australia. As part of an arrangement where they a pay a road user charge, and get a credit for part of the excise which the motorists pay—but which they do not have to because they have a road user charge, we will start to see the carbon tax apply to those in the trucking industry. For my constituents, as many in rural and regional Australia would appreciate, the tyranny of distance is a very big factor. If we are to do anything about reducing the impact of the cost of transport in this country, we have to start to bring down their costs and see greater productivity. The benefits to regional and rural communities and, of course, to our competitiveness as an exporting nation, should be clear for all to see.

One of the issues that is terribly important for my community in rural Australia—and I must say I represent and I am the voice of 42 per cent of the land mass of Queensland in this place; I say that I am the voice for the people who don't have the voice in this place—is this: based on research that has been done by Monash University and the Centre for Remote Health, if two babies were born today, one in a capital city and one in the west of my electorate, there could be a difference of up to seven years in life expectancy—merely because of the postcode of the place where they were born. That is up to seven years. That means that for those in rural and remote Australia, if they live their life at the postcode they are born at, as compared to those in the city, there could be a difference of seven years in their life expectancy. The other thing is that life expectancy is increasing 20 per cent faster for urban Australians than for their counterparts out in country areas. So that gap is going to widen, unless we are going to do something about it—and we do in this budget.

I am very happy to be working with my state colleague, the Minister for Health, Lawrence Springborg. His constituencies are all contained within the boundaries of Maranoa. The Queensland government are already are making a significant difference in relation to access and in the way they are running the hospitals in Queensland, which are their responsibilities. He has already announced there are going to be some trial sites set up for telemedicine, running as hubs in my electorate—in Roma and Charleville for instance—with hubbing to the smaller communities, and supporting those smaller communities from bigger hubs. It is a great initiative, and I am certainly looking forward to working with the state health minister on this issue. I want to say that the annual assistance to state public hospitals will increase by more than nine per cent every year for the next three years. So whilst we are dealing with the debt situation, trimming the budgets and making sure that we continue with our absolute responsibilities in very key areas, health being one of them, we will continue to see that funding rise for the next three years, and by more than that in the fourth year. It really means that there is something like a 36 per cent increase, over the next four years, in health funding to the states. States run hospitals, and the private sector runs hospitals; the Commonwealth does not run hospitals—we might run one in Tasmania, but we do not run hospitals. We do provide, importantly, health funding.

The co-payment for a visit to a GP is an important element of the budget, because as part of the savings that will come through that process we want to establish— and the Treasurer announced this as one of the key planks in his budget on budget night—a future fund for medical research. We want to see that medical research centre grow to the tune of some $20 billion, given that we have some wonderful research going on now. But it will need money.

A great example of medical research is Professor Ian Frazer, from Queensland. He invented the Gardasil vaccine, which is a vaccine against cervical cancer. What a wonderful breakthrough that was, but it required research money. With an ageing society in Australia, as well as people living longer, research will be a critical factor if we are to ensure that people have a better quality of life as they grow older and make the most of their time on this earth. So that medical research fund is critical. I think it will also attract brains to Australia in the area of medical research—a research community. We in this country should see ourselves as pre-eminent in research, as pre-eminent as some other countries in the world, with old sandstone universities that have great reputations. We also have that capacity in Australia. Professor Ian Frazer has given us an example of that capacity, as have other researchers over the past decades. So let us make sure we can do something about establishing that fund. This budget does that.

Education is, for anyone, one of the great tools in life. Without it, it is a tool that you will miss. I believe everyone in Australia, regardless of where they live, have the right to have access to good, affordable primary, secondary and post-secondary education opportunities. With respect to the Australian participation rate for students at universities, in 2010, 18 per cent went on to university. In 2006, it was 18.08 per cent. It is not rising. Yet in our capital cities, university participation rates for students from metropolitan families have increased over the same period, from 28 per cent to 35 per cent. That demonstrates that, if you live in a city or a big regional community, where you have access without necessarily having to leave home, you get that access to a post-secondary education opportunity.

One of the terrible results is that, in remote Australia, the participation rate in post-secondary education is as low as one per cent, compared to the rate in cities, where 35 per cent of students go on to university education. One in remote Australia! We have to fill this gap. In this budget we start to address that issue. It is not only about access; it is about affording the access to go to university. We are planning to extend the opportunities so that more people can attend university. We are planning to extend the access, particularly to disadvantaged students in rural, regional and remote Australia.

Whether it be through HECS-backed diplomas and the pathway courses or increased support for young people wanting to take up a trade, this government is making it easier for them to learn now. As the Minister for Education quite clearly said in question time today and since the budget was announced, our plan is to support more than 80,000 additional students each year through these new measures.

In many ways, diploma students will be the big winners out of this budget. Students from low socioeconomic groups in regional and rural areas will have more opportunity than they have had before. I have outlined the percentage of participation now. It is about affordability and access, because they all have to leave home to gain access to university or, in some cases, maybe TAFE. So often, it is not affordable for the family.

New Commonwealth scholarships will be available to support those students. This is the important plank: higher education institutions will be required to spend $1 in every $5 of additional revenue they get from fee deregulation on Commonwealth scholarships and other forms of support for those from low socioeconomic backgrounds in regional and rural areas of Australia.

The minister at question time today outlined the example in the United Kingdom of what happened there once they started to deregulate the fee structure for universities. I think we can draw on that example of what we could expect here in Australia, which I say will give these students from rural, remote Australia—disadvantaged families—the opportunity to gain access to university.

The trade support loans are also terribly important. My electorate of Maranoa has got the coal seam gas industry—one of the largest investments in Australia with all apologies to Western Australia; we have got a massive investment. This is a $60 billion coal seam gas investment that will be delivering great results to Queensland and Australia by this time next year.

Apprentices will have access to some $20,000 over the entire period of their training with more support provided during the initial years when it is needed most. If they complete their four years, it will come in four tranches—$8,000 in the first year of the apprenticeship; $6,000 in the second; $4,000 in the third; and $2,000 in the fourth. If they successfully complete their apprenticeship, they will then get 20 per cent written off their loan—that is $4000.

What does that mean for people in my electorate in the coal seam area—the tradies, who need those apprenticeships and the training? We need better skills for workers who are in these industries. Now they have an opportunity to be funded, albeit a loan, but there is an incentive to complete their apprenticeships. Far too many apprentices start the day and drop out with the lure of better money, and do not complete that apprenticeship.

Even under the trade support loans, I notice shearers will be able to access this money. One area that is missing at the moment—and I am going to be discussing this with the minister—is the agricultural sector. I want to see it included in the criteria to access these loans, because agriculture is going to be critically important as we look to the opportunities to our north and Asia to continue to grow food for not only our own but global food security.

I will quickly touch on infrastructure—the $508 million for the Warrego Highway. I have already written to the state minister for transport who has responsibility for planning. I want to see the first $49 million starting in July 1 this year go to the upgrade of the Chinchilla to Warra section of the Warrego; some more passing lanes urgently needed on the Warrego east of Chinchilla; and the safety issues in the township of Chinchilla at the railway crossing and a pedestrian crossing addressed.

At the Warwick end of the Eight Mile where the New England meets the Cunningham's Gap road, we desperately need a safety upgrade. There have been 10 fatalities there in the last five years. It is a black spot. I have also written to the state minister to get it on their agenda as they have the responsibility to make the application to the federal government for that money. The money is in the budget. It is now up to them and the minister. I hope that these areas that I have highlighted will meet their approval to get on with the job.

In conclusion, the money for drought support, pest management and also water as a result of the drought package is very much needed and certainly appreciated. I am hoping that the $10 million spent across three states and the money going to Queensland will be used for hard infrastructure such as permanent fencing rather than just ongoing programs which may work. I want to see some hard fencing, so we can start to rebuild our sheep and wool industry in western Queensland. The dingoes, the wild dogs, have almost decimated us. It has had an economic impact on the loss of shearers and the economic flow-on to our country towns. I thank the House.

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