Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am a very, very busy member for Fisher this morning! I rise today to speak in relation to Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2017-2018 and related bills. Before I start on my 15-minute journey on this bill: this morning, my Facebook feed came up telling me that it was Mr Leeser's birthday. We tried to send him a message, but it would not allow us to send him a message. For some reason, he has got it blocked. More embarrassment for you, Mr Leeser: happy birthday from everybody here at Parliament House. You are doing a sterling job as the new member for Berowra. I am pleased to say that and to count you as one of my friends—but back to the job at hand.

This is a great budget for the Sunshine Coast because it delivers for all Australians. It is based on fairness, opportunity and security, and it provides and sets out the right choices for Australia's future. I want to highlight some of the best features of the budget not just for my electorate but for the nation as a whole. I will start off with my own patch. One of the best things that the budget has set out is expenditure for the expansion and the upgrades of the Bruce Highway. Everybody on the Sunshine Coast and almost everybody who lives in Brisbane—even my colleague across the chamber there—would know that the Bruce Highway has been a car park for many years. It is a drag. It is an anchor on our productivity on the Sunshine Coast. I am very pleased to see that the federal government has committed in the federal budget $530 million for the additional lanes between Caboolture and Caloundra and another $120 million for the upgrade of the Deception Bay interchange. Just in the budget alone, that is $650 million for Bruce Highway upgrades south of Caloundra to Caboolture. That is an absolutely outstanding boost for the Sunshine Coast economy.

Now we wait to see the results of the planning study that is currently being done by the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. I had an opportunity to speak with Minister Bailey, the Queensland Minister for Main Roads, Road Safety and Ports, last Thursday. He assures me that they are fast-tracking the planning study and that that planning study will be completed by the end of this year. I have been calling upon the minister to fast-track that planning study. I am very pleased to say that he has informed me that it will be done by the end of this year. That is a great news story. Now we will be able to get cracking on that road.

That $650 million investment into the Bruce Highway is on top of the $743 million that this federal government has already invested on the upgrades to the Bruce Highway between Caloundra Road and the Sunshine Motorway. When you put the state's contribution in, their 20 per cent contribution—as we all know, the Bruce Highway is funded with 80 per cent federal and 20 per cent state contributions—it is a $929 million project just on that eight-kilometre stretch of road.

When you add to that other improvements to the Nambour interchange, this federal government is spending $1.6 billion on upgrading the Bruce Highway between Nambour and Caboolture. That is a fantastic outcome for the Sunshine Coast. Many of my Sunshine Coast local constituents would say it is not before time, and I would have to agree with them. It is very exciting. It will mean quite a lot of disruption for perhaps four years whilst all of that road is being done, but you cannot make an omelette without cracking an egg. I would just call upon local people of the Sunshine Coast to be patient. Please slow down during roadworks. They started last Thursday. Yes, it will take a long time, but, at the end of the day, keep your eye on the prize and we will have a great outcome for the Sunshine Coast.

That brings me to our next infrastructure project. We cannot resolve our travel woes on the Sunshine Coast without addressing our rail situation. The North Coast rail has been a single track north of Beerburrum to Nambour for over 100 years. It is the same piece of track that was laid in the 1890s. I am very proud to announce that, as the chamber well knows, in the budget released two weeks ago the Treasurer created $10 million for the national rail project. That will provide a great sum of money and areas such as, for example, the Sunshine Coast will be able to bid for the upgrade of the North Coast rail line between Beerburrum to Nambour. They will be able to bid for that project. I wrote to the Deputy Premier of Queensland yesterday, Jackie Trad, who is also the Queensland Minister for Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning. I have called upon her to meet with me and also to meet with the federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Darren Chester, to work out a way we can get this rail project done.

The Sunshine Coast is being loved to death. We are expecting another 200,000 people to call the Sunshine Coast home over the next 20 years, so we have to improve our public transport. What better way to do that for our commuters and people travelling to the coast than by upgrading and duplicating our rail line. Just as I poured all of my energy into ensuring we got that upgrade to the Bruce Highway, I will now turn my attention to the duplication of the railway line because it is so important to us.

The next issue I want to talk about is mental health. Mental health is an issue that is very important to me and to my constituents. It costs our economy $60 billion a year. Today, five men and two women will commit suicide—today and every day. We have a significant problem with suicide in this country and in particular on the Sunshine Coast.

The budget contains $5 million in funding for the Thompson Institute. I was very fortunate to have had lengthy discussions with the Minister for Health and Treasurer about funding the Thompson Institute, which is attached to the University of the Sunshine Coast. The Thompson Institute will be a groundbreaking research and clinical treatment facility for people suffering from mental illness. On Tuesday of last week the Treasurer announced $5 million to go into three packages. The first package is in relation to dementia research and treatment. The second package is in relation to youth mental health. The third package is in relation to suicide prevention.

I would like to see in the short term—perhaps over the next 12 to 18 months—further money contributed by private sector groups such as the RSL and perhaps from state governments and the federal government to add to those projects, specifically in relation to research and treatment of PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder impacts many, many Australians, particularly ex-Defence service personnel. Unfortunately, in this country we seem to forget that many of our emergency services workers—our police, our fireys, our ambos—who attend accidents see things that are beyond your and my comprehension. Every day, multiple times day, they see horrors that are not worth repeating here in this place. We must remember that the men and women who give to our communities as emergency services workers should be treated with the same care that is afforded our veterans. So I am striving to establish within the Thompson Institute funding for research and clinical treatment of Defence personnel and emergency services workers to assist them with post-traumatic stress disorder.

I should also give a big shout-out to the Thompson Institute. Roy and Nola Thompson are salt of the earth people from the Sunshine Coast. They have contributed over $10 million out of their own pockets to the Thompson Institute to assist people on the Sunshine Coast suffering from mental health disorders. They have put their money where their mouth is, and I am very proud that the federal government has done likewise. I want also to give a huge shout-out to the Minister for Health. He saw the benefit of the Thompson Institute and what it can do in its groundbreaking research, not just for people on the Sunshine Coast but for people around this great country.

I would also like to talk about the NDIS. I have a disabled daughter, and I was the president of the Sunshine Coast Children's Therapy Centre for a number of years before I entered this place. The issue of people living with disability is one that is close to my heart, and I am very proud that this federal government has moved to increase the Medicare levy by 0.5 per cent from July 2019 to fully fund the NDIS. I know that members opposite in this chamber and in the House almost to a person support the increase in the Medicare levy to properly fund the NDIS.

Australians are all about mateship. We are different from many other countries. We see countries, like America, squabble over providing appropriate healthcare cover for their citizens, but in this country we look after our own. We have one of the best healthcare systems in the world, and I have not met an Australian who begrudges two per cent of their income being levied. I have not met an Australian, apart from the Leader of the Opposition, who thinks that we should not pay an additional 0.5 per cent to properly fund those who are most disadvantaged in our community. From my perspective, the world in which I live, we are talking about kids who will never go on to lead lives like our other children. Parents live with the fear of what is going to happen to their child after they pass off this mortal coil.

In Australia, we look after our own. We believe in the bond of mateship. And we on this side of the chamber are adamant and strident in our support for the NDIS and for properly funding it. I call upon the Leader of the Opposition, and I call upon those fair-minded people opposite to speak to their leader and encourage him in the strongest possible terms, to stump up and support Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2017-2018. A $55 billion black hole was left for this government in the NDIS funding—$55 billion. We are determined to ensure that the NDIS is properly funded.

Very quickly: another great initiative out of the budget is $80 million being spent on community mental health services for those suffering from a permanent psychosocial disability that otherwise would not be dealt with or assisted by the NDIS. (Time expired)

See this speech in context