David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the appropriation bills. I'd like to record, for people listening in my electorate, what we do down here in managing the nation's finances and talk about the wonderful support that the Morrison-McCormack government is giving to all people in aged care and people who rely on income support. It all comes down to balancing the books. We are not spending government money; we are spending taxpayers' money.

Through Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2019-2020 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2019-2020, and as part of the MYEFO—or Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook statement—more appropriations are made. These bills appropriate over $3 billion, and the MYEFO has highlighted what needs ongoing support. First of all, with these bills we support Home Affairs with almost a billion dollars—$948 million to be exact—to implement our border protection policies and also support people who have been impacted by the recent bushfires. Also, the Department of Social Services required another $592 million for higher than expected disability employment services payments and for additional emergency relief and financial counselling for communities affected by the recent bushfire emergency. Thirdly, the Department of Defence has additional funding of $488.8 million, including $87.9 million for the Australian Defence Force contribution to the bushfire response through Operation Bushfire Assist.

I would like to thank all those people from the Reserve forces who turned up in the Lyne electorate, building fences with BlazeAid. We had a wonderful get-together with people from company D as well as the Lions Club, the Rotary club, and the fauna group, which was rescuing all the burnt and damaged wildlife. It was all done at the Wauchope Showground. The Wauchope Showground ended up being an emergency Noah's ark in the middle of the bushfire. All these domestic animals, including horses, from small- and large-acre properties had to go somewhere, and, like all good country towns, the showground was opened up. Volunteers poured in. Donations of food and bedding were assembled with the help of other people who came over from Lake Cathie. It was just an amazing response that we saw in the face of the bushfires.

The Army Reserve turned up for weeks. They had to leave their regular jobs, and many of them had to learn all about fencing, which is really critical when you're running a grazing enterprise. Unfortunately, many grazing enterprises in Upper Hastings, around Birdwood and Yarras, were severely damaged. Houses were lost. In fact, over 152 houses were lost in the mid-coast area alone and about 25—I'll have to check the exact figures—in the area of the Lyne electorate that goes into the Port Macquarie-Hastings council area. The Reserves turned up in 35, 40 degree heat, clearing debris and rebuilding fences so that the stock could be grazed safely and not lost. We're eternally grateful to them.

There is also $287 million for Services Australia to support individuals, families and communities to achieve greater self-sufficiency. Another appropriation goes to support our health budget. There's $170.6 million extra, including $53.2 million to support access to medicines and medical treatments. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is one of the most shining examples of our wonderful health system. Australia has a health system that is second to none. I've had experience in Canada. Whilst I haven't worked in America, I've seen how the American system works, and it's different in every state. Then there's the NHS, which is another similarly iconic health system. Out of all the places I've worked, I think the Australian health system is the best. We cover all avenues.

We don't rely just on the public health system. We have Medicare in the community, we have the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and we help make health insurance affordable so people can take control of their own hospital requirements and make it sustainable to stay in private hospitals. That takes the pressure off the public hospitals. If our private hospital system were to fade away, and not be as prominent as it is in delivering health care, the public hospital system run by the state governments wouldn't be able to cope. So these provisions are really important. All those wonderful biological drugs and cutting edge treatments—like Keytruda for lung cancer and all the biologicals and the CAR T-cell therapy—are available at minimal cost to average, everyday Australians. In other nations around the world, you have to be incredibly well insured, way above what we can deliver in our health insurance system, or have huge capital behind you to access these wonderful new lifesaving, targeted treatments: biologicals, immunological drugs and the other general cardiovascular, neurological and dementia drugs. You name it—cutting edge medicines are available in Australia.

There are also appropriations for the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment for wildlife and habitat recovery. As you recall, no doubt, Mr Deputy Speaker Andrews, there was $66 million appropriated for that cause to help our wildlife recover.

As I said, we are not spending our money; we're spending taxpayers' money. Just so that it's on the record, and a lot of people who don't have to rely on income support may not appreciate this, but people who do receive it are very grateful for the support that we give them to get their life back on track—including in aged care, with the huge support that we give that industry. We have some of the biggest aged-care facilities in the country in the Lyne electorate. We have the second oldest demographic and the second highest incidence of dementia. In the recent funding rounds there were specialised sections of the funding to expand dementia care in residential and non-residential. Our budget is funding the royal commission into aged care. We've got a new aged-care commissioner with exceptional new powers of surveillance for the maintenance of standards. All these things come from taxpayer dollars.

I should mention that our income support, our welfare, has a very highly targeted and comprehensive net, so that people don't fall through the cracks. One in three dollars goes into that budget—one in three taxpayer dollars goes into the welfare support budget. That is a huge amount, so we have to be very targeted, and we want to support people when they need it most. Recently there have been comments about Newstart. We all support a fair go for people who have to rely on Newstart. Because we've got record participation in the economy and growth, the number of people depending on Newstart is the smallest it's been for decades, and the number of people in part-time or full-time employment has grown to the highest rate, similarly, for decades. Newstart is not a wage replacement or a supplement; it's taxpayer funded income support to assist people while they look for a job. In the press people have recently been questioning the Newstart amount, and I want to put on the record that it has increased over the last 20 years. It's been indexed. There were comments in the press that Newstart hasn't been raised for 25 years. It is raised twice a year every year in line with the CPI, which is a widely accepted measure of the changes to cost of living. In 1994, the payment rate for a single person on Newstart was $294 a fortnight and today it is $559 a fortnight, plus there's the energy supplement and there are also other additional payments and allowances.

For those who rely on income support via Newstart, there is also Commonwealth rent assistance if they are in community housing or in the private housing market. The most that can be is up to $185 a fortnight for a couple with children. There is also family tax benefit A and B, depending on the number of children and the age of the children, which can be quite considerable. There is also a pharmaceutical supplement. That is why one shouldn't be dismayed when people in the press or other people arguing the case say that things aren't enough on Newstart. It is not meant to be a replacement wage; it's meant to support people while they get back into employment—and that's what we are doing. The maximum under family tax benefit A for a couple with children is $242 a fortnight and, under family tax benefit B, the maximum is up to $158 a fortnight. It's not the same for everyone, because every family is different. Some have many more children and others have fewer children who are dependent. So it's very hard to be blanket about what any one person would receive to support them whilst they are getting back into full-time employment.

The other thing I should mention is that we are supporting a huge number of industries that have been through the major floods in the north of the country and now we are supporting people in the southern part, in Queensland, New South Wales, down the South Coast, into Victoria and over into South Australia. There's billions of dollars there in support. I might add that some people are getting frustrated because some of the support payments which are administered by the state governments aren't getting through quickly enough. I exhort my state colleagues to get the bureaucracy fired up, shorten the delivery phrase and get the funds in the pockets of the people cleaning up after the fires. Get those contracts up and get the money out to support bushfire affected businesses and farms. The clean-up is critical and needs to be started as soon as possible.

In my state of New South Wales they have appointed a lead contractor. In my council area that was the worst affected, which was the MidCoast Council, they have special areas declared and developed to take all the debris from burnt houses—whether they are asbestos tainted or untainted. There are special provisions, and they are keen to roll. People with insurance won't have their insurance payout consumed in the clean-up of the burnt property, because that is now covered in a fifty-fifty arrangement between the Commonwealth and the state governments.

But the delivery of those funds and the management of that scheme—and also the Rural Assistance Authority—for people whose property or businesses have been damaged by the bushfires, are administered by the states. That's what a lot of people don't understand. They say, 'Well, the federal government said that they were giving this money out,' but we rely on the states. That's how it works in our Federation. The states are the delivery organisations of services and schemes like this. So it is a partnership with the state governments, but sometimes the paper work takes way too long. Time is ticking. People are itching to get their lives back on track. So I implore my state colleagues to make it simple. If there are more negotiations needed about the guidelines, our ministers are ready, willing and able to stump up and negotiate.

I commend these appropriation bills to the House. As I said, it's all about the dollars and managing the economy to get ourselves back into the black as well as to cope with all these emergencies and extra demands on taxpayer dollars.

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