Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

We understand that the real change going on in this economy is the transition from the mining boom to the non-mining boom. We also understand that we are fortunate to live in the neighbourhood of the fastest-growing region of the world. The world's centre of economic gravity is moving east at 140 kilometres each year. In the next 15 years, the world's middle class will more than double in size. Forty per cent of the consumption of the world will be in Asia. These are the issues of the future. The issues of the future that the government should be addressing are the rise of Asia and the impact of the digital age upon jobs, economic business and society in general. We have an ageing of the workforce and an ageing of the population, and that is a most important trend. We understand on this side of the House that the other big trend in the world at the moment is sustainability. That is climate change, for those on the other side who do not know what 'sustainability' means. These are the big changes. We also recognise that we need a more diverse economy and we must rely more and more on services in our towns and our cities.

These are the big questions. But, when we look at this pathetic imitation of a budget not designed to last 12 months, a budget held together with sticky tape and lacky bands, a budget which repudiates any attempt at economic reform—when spending is higher than at any time since John Howard—and a budget doubling the deficit, we see the problems that this budget has. This is a budget designed to save two jobs but not the jobs of the future for Australians.

Labor have an alternative and positive vision. We fundamentally believe that, if we improve our infrastructure, that is a lever that the Commonwealth can exert which helps improve and grow the Australian economy. We understand that public transport demand will double over the next 20 years. Public transport, for those opposite, includes buses, trains and trams. We understand that traffic congestion by 2031 will cost the economy $53 billion. We understand that we need to unlock the productivity of our cities through generational decisions on infrastructure, free of the tawdry politics of the government.

But we also recognise that another lever that the government of the day has is not just infrastructure; it is all to do with people. I am talking about half of the population when I say 'people'. I am talking about the equal treatment of women in our society. There is no doubt that reducing the gender gap in participation by 25 per cent would mean an extra 300,000 women in work by 2025—probably not on the front bench of the cabinet but in all other jobs! We believe that we have to do more to help the work-life-family balance for women.

That is why I was very disappointed that the minister for women—and, in case you do not know who that is, that is Tony Abbott—turned his back on his Paid Parental Leave scheme, and the government now have in their budget legislation propositions which say that working women who have negotiated conditions for their employment are double dippers. They have been called rorters; it has been called fraud. What the government have done by changing paid parental leave the way they have—you can no longer top up your scheme if you receive the national minimum—is make the national minimum the national maximum. They have lowered the glass ceiling in every workplace, and that takes considerable skill!

Of course, the government love a scapegoat. They get up in the morning and they say, 'Where's my scapegoat? I need a scapegoat before breakfast.' Then it is, 'I can't have lunch without a scapegoat.' And then, before dinner, it is, 'I want some more scapegoats—people to blame.' I tell you who they have attacked when they bagged public servants for having paid parental leave. They include the Federal Police. They love having a photo taken with the Federal Police; they just do not like paying them very well. The include Customs officers. They are the front line, as we keep hearing from these people opposite—just as long as they do not have babies. Then we have nurses. Heaven help a coalition minister if they ever get sick! There are CSIRO researchers: 'What would they know? What do they do?' And there are the people behind the counter at Medicare or on the phone at Centrelink. Do you know what is really interesting about them saying they are going after fat-cat public servants—you know, that dreadful rhetoric this government loves to use about the scapegoats? It has emerged today that 62 per cent of the people who are eligible for paid parental leave, the extra scheme, are in the private sector. What they have done is because they hate public servants so much. That is why they have done it.

That is why Labor fundamentally believe in the jobs of the future. Of course, it is not just about encouraging women to participate in the workforce, it is not just about building infrastructure; Labor's plan for the future is to educate our kids. That is why, unlike Tony Abbott, who does not have a clue what 'coding' is, we want every child in every primary school to learn coding. We want 100,000 kids to be able to do science, technology, engineering and mathematics at university. We want a smart innovation fund. We have a plan for the future: it is about skills, it is about infrastructure, it is about treating women equally. All this government is doing is working out who is leaking— (Time expired)

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