House debates

Wednesday, 21 October 2020

Bills

Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2020-2021, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2020-2021, Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2020-2021; Second Reading

11:55 am

Photo of Julian LeeserJulian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the hurly-burly of debate, discussion, disagreement and argument in this place we can often forget what a momentous, challenging, different, extraordinary year 2020 has been. The nature of the year and the circumstances in which our country and, indeed, the world find themselves as a result of COVID-19 is the backdrop for this budget, for which the appropriation bills we're debating today form the basis.

I think it is worth taking a few moments to remind the House of some of the things that have happened this year, because it does feel like it has been such a long year, because so much has happened this year that has put in place the questions to which this budget is an answer. This year, in one month alone more than one million Australians lost their jobs or saw their work hours reduced to zero. We've had over eight million people tested for COVID. Over 27,000 Australians have been diagnosed with coronavirus, and, sadly, over 900 people have died. Hundreds of thousands of Australians have had their international travel plans cancelled. As a result of that, business opportunities stalled. Family reunions were put on hold. People pressed the pause button on their opportunity to go and see and explore the world. Internally in Australia families have been separated due to some of the internal border closures which have caused such disruption to our country. People who ran successful businesses, who risked everything, turned up to work one day to find a business that was going gangbusters completely flattened. Major companies in industries as diverse as travel, like Virgin Australia, or clothing, like Tigerlily, have gone into administration. Families have had to juggle working from home, teaching their children from home and the pressures that that has placed on daily life. People have dealt with fear and uncertainty alongside isolation, and those challenges have been particularly acute in Victoria, where people have been locked down for so long.

Australia is remarkable in its ability to persevere and adapt to change. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott was fond of saying, 'To be born in Australia is to win the lottery of life.' I think coronavirus has demonstrated we are so lucky to be here—it's something my constituents say to me all the time—because of the good leadership of the Prime Minister, the Treasurer, the health minister and the officials who have put together the extraordinary response to COVID-19, and the fact that our systems in this country have worked. When you look around the world, when you look at the economic results and the health results, there is no other country that you'd want to be in at this time than Australia.

We went into this economic crisis caused by COVID-19 not with an economy on its knees but with an economy that was in a strong position. We were on track for a budget surplus. Confidence was high and businesses were strong. The strength of Australia's economy was highlighted this week when Standard & Poor's reaffirmed its AAA credit rating for Australia. We are now one of only nine countries around the world to hold a AAA credit rating from all three major credit rating agencies. To put this in perspective, although we know that growth in Australia dipped seven per cent in July, compare that to New Zealand where it was 12 per cent or the United Kingdom where it was 20 per cent. It's into these settings that the budget has been delivered.

The focus of the budget is about restoring confidence. It's about restoring the productive capacity of our economy. It's about ensuring that we can grow and that we can have a secure economic future. I, like so many on this side of the House, did not come into this place to increase the size of the Commonwealth or to see more Australians in Centrelink queues, but this unprecedented event has caused us to take unprecedented and extraordinary measures. This is a budget that no-one would have planned to deliver. It's a heavy burden but a necessary one. And, in order to improve and restore the productivity capacity of the economy, the focus of the budget has been on job creation, on training and on supporting manufacturing and businesses, because it is manufacturing businesses and it is employment that are the wealth creators of our future.

For people in Berowra, the budget will have a direct impact: 72,500 taxpayers in my electorate will benefit from the tax relief that has been provided by this budget, and 19,900 businesses will be able to write off the full value of any eligible asset they purchase. JobKeeper, in my community, has supported 6,400 businesses, supporting them through the pandemic and keeping them connected to their employees. The phone calls and the emails I love most are the ones where somebody calls me up and says: 'Thank you for JobKeeper. It has been a lifeline.' But I am so proud to tell you that we are now coming off JobKeeper because our business is coming back. These are calls and emails that I get every single week, and I salute the people who have acknowledged the support of JobKeeper and who are looking to get off it as quickly as possible.

They are big numbers of people, and the budget contains big numbers, but each of these numbers represents businesses, families and real people, people like Sonja Cameron of Cameron's Nursery in my electorate, who's used the budget's measures in relation to apprenticeships to take on two new apprentices. And the instant asset write-off has enabled her to purchase equipment and to make changes in her nursery business that she wouldn't have done otherwise. George Kerrison and Jason Jamerfrom Absolute Automotive in Dural: these are great automotive electricians in my constituency who were so keen to take advantage of the apprenticeship programs that they are bringing on new apprentices, which is a great opportunity not only for their business but for a young person to have the chance to have a go at a trade that they've always wanted. Providing the support that we're providing through the wage subsidy for apprentices has given the business more stability and more security and ensured that a young person stays on a training path rather than a welfare path. As one of my constituents, Gemma, said to me last week, the economy is not just about money; it's about people. It's about how we live, how we work and how we provide for the people we love. It's about peoples' creativity and industry. It shapes what sort of life it's possible to live and what sorts of opportunities exist for our children.

I want to talk about a couple of measures in particular that I think are so important. The first is, as I mentioned, the wage subsidies that we're providing for apprentices and young people. When you look at the facts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, those statistics show that young people aged 35 are four times more likely to have lost their job or had their hours cut as a result of COVID-19. We also know, if you're unable to get work early in your career, it can be very difficult to establish the habits of work in the future, because you don't get into the habit and because employers use the period of unemployment as an excuse for not hiring you in the future. That's why the JobMaker Hiring Credit is so important, supporting around 450,000 positions, giving employers incentives from 7 October for each new job they create over the next 12 months that employs someone who's been on JobSeeker, on the parenting payment or on youth allowance. It's a great boon to get those young people into work as soon as possible.

The evidence from every previous recession indicates that the sooner you get young people into work, the sooner you get those habits of work going, the more successful their working life will be. That's why we're also committing to the wage subsidies for apprentices to support any employer who hires an Australian apprentice from 5 October up to 30 September next year. We've had a skills shortage in Australia for as long as I can remember. This is a great opportunity for young people to get the skills that we need, not just for this period but for the future of our country. Skilled jobs in the trades are part of a lifeline for Australia. They are indeed among the most secure jobs in Australia. There are many professional jobs that could be taken offshore in the future, but we still need the physical trades in this country, working on our building sites, working in technical services and working in places as simple as restaurants and hairdressers. It's very important that we take the opportunity to give young people a go.

The tax relief for working Australians, particularly for low- and middle-income earners, has been so important, giving people a boost to their pay cheque to ease the stress and burden that so many Australians are facing at this time, giving people more money that is theirs in their pocket to decide how to spend. Some will retire debt, but we hope that many people will use the extra money in their pocket to go and spend money in their local community, on local services and on local businesses that will help us create local jobs. The Treasury estimates that reducing the personal income tax burden on hardworking Australians will boost GDP by something in the order of $3.5 billion in 2020-21 and $9 billion in 2021-22, and create an extra 50,000 jobs by the end of 2021-22. It is not only the tax cuts for working Australians that are important but also the measures that we've put in place to extend the instant asset write-off and to allow people to carry their losses back against previous years' profits to improve cash flow for businesses so that businesses can invest and employ people and give people a chance.

I'm the chair in this parliament of the Parliamentary Friends of Suicide Prevention, and I note the presence in the chamber at the moment of my friend the member for Fisher, who is the chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Mental Health. He and I are both passionate advocates, as are many others in this place, for improved mental health and suicide prevention funding. COVID-19 has put an extraordinary burden on our mental health services, and it is has put an extraordinary burden on peoples' lives and created a mental health situation the likes of which we have never seen in our country before. In response, the government has invested an extra $5.7 billion—a record $5.7 billion—in mental health and suicide prevention. One of the game-changer measures that I have been calling for, for a long time, is the doubling of the Medicare funded psychosocial and psychological supports from 10 sessions to 20 sessions. That will make an enormous difference to people who are in a time of crisis.

The government is also proving an extra $500 million in funding to rapidly scale up other vital mental health services to help Australians deal with lockdowns and the challenge of isolation, fear for loved ones and concerns about employment. I think about the money provided to those frontline services, whether it be Beyond Blue, Lifeline, SANE, headspace, Kids Helpline or the many other services that in a time of crisis are there for Australians in need. Nationally, since 16 March there has been a 15 per cent increase in the number of Medicare subsidised mental health services delivered, with 7.4 million services provided and $819 million paid in benefits. That gives us a sense of the scale of the mental health response that is required in this budget. We're entering into an environment where the mental health situation in Australia, although better than many other places in the world, is something that needs constant attention, so I applaud the measures in this budget. I look forward to the government's response to and releasing of the Productivity Commission's final report, which I hope will chart a path forward for both after care and for early intervention, which I believe are so important in addressing mental health issues and the suicide rate in Australia.

Australians should feel confident that the government is committed to providing the best platform possible for our country to emerge stronger from COVID-19. I say thank you to the people across our country who are taking a risk to support a young worker and give them a chance as a result of this budget. I say thank you to the doctors, nurses, hospital orderlies, GP receptionists and people engaged in the health response at every level. I said thank you to the workers, the students and the carers who've adjusted to a new normal.

Under our government's plan the economy is forecast to grow by 4½ per cent next calendar year and unemployment is expected to fall to 6½ per cent by the June quarter 2022. This means more opportunities for everyone. COVID-19 has reminded Australians that there's no other place on this earth we'd want to be. This budget sets us up for a strong, stable and secure future.

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