Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation) Share this | Hansard source

I remind those members opposite that we focused from the beginning on Townsville and Launceston regional cities and on outer suburban areas in Western Sydney. They should take note of this because they are focused on the centre of Sydney, and it is time they got beyond the green, left focus of their agenda.

Under the Western Sydney city deal, which we are working on right now, the government will offer incentive payments to state and local governments to support planning and zoning reform—which is desperately needed, we all know that. This will also accelerate housing supply—and we need more houses in Sydney, with less than half the houses needed to support population growth actually having been built over the last 15 years. And it will deliver affordable housing outcomes in Western Sydney, something we are deeply committed to. The funding also supports the trial of incentive payments in Western Sydney, where we are facing above-average population growth and very serious housing affordability pressures. The deal will provide a shared growth plan for the region—and we know how much we need that—backed by funding and reform across all levels of government. These problems are only solved when we involve all levels of government. The housing package will be finalised in negotiation with our City Deal partners at the state and local level.

In 2017-18, $37.7 million will be provided for the hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Australia leaders summit in 2018. The government will also provide $20 million over four years to supplement the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to support the delivery of critical policy advice and assist the government in meeting its objectives.

One other important measure that it is worth drawing your attention to is the modernisation fund. The budget allocated funding for five initiatives and reforms, and through these we will aim to deliver quality government services at lower cost—and we know how much we need to do that—using leading technology and collaborative approaches.

Within the PM&C portfolio, the Digital Transformation Agency will receive $10.7 million over four years. We will also have a Cyber Security Advisory Office working with agencies to ensure they are appropriately managing the risks of cyber and other digital vulnerabilities on digital services. We know how crucial that is. We have seen illustrations of this in recent times.

I thank the Chamber for this opportunity to set out the portfolio's budget measures and give a brief insight into how they will benefit our community and our economy.

See this speech in context