Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We went into the coronavirus pandemic from a position of strength, swiftly implementing policies to save lives and save livelihoods. Now we're building a more resilient and secure Australia. The federal budget outlined by the Treasurer guarantees the essential services Australians rely on and is creating the jobs of the future to lead our economic recovery. We are making record investments in mental health, fully funding the NDIS, enhancing women's safety and economic security, reforming aged care and making child care more affordable and accessible for families in our communities.

For people in Lindsay, this is a budget that delivers from a government that delivers. We are putting more of people's hard-earned money back into their pockets by delivering tax relief to families and businesses to spend across our economy and to support local jobs. The government's tax plan has already benefited over 82,000 people in my electorate of Lindsay, and now around 76,000 taxpayers in Lindsay will benefit from tax relief of up to $2745 this year. The Morrison government will always help hardworking, aspirational Australians like those in my electorate of Lindsay keep more of what they earn, and it will support them as they create and work in our local employment industries.

It's Australian Made Week this week. What a great time to be talking about the support the Morrison government is delivering for Aussie manufacturers in Western Sydney—something I am very passionate about driving. I recently brought the minister for employment to visit Baker & Provan in St Marys, founded by two diggers who said that, if they survived the Second World War, they would return home and start their own business. Well, they did, and in 1946 Baker & Provan was born. Seventy-five years later, this is still a family business, which is in some ways quite extraordinary in these times. It is an Aussie-made business, contributing to some of our nation's most important sovereign capability projects, particularly for our Navy. This budget means we're supporting two new apprentices at Baker & Provan—two young female apprentices breaking into the manufacturing industry and learning the trade from the best in the business. Chris has been at Baker & Provan for 30 years, and I know that he, Mal and the whole team are welcoming their new apprentices into their business, because they know it's the future of our economy.

An extended and expanded JobTrainer Fund will support 500,000 new places to upskill jobseekers and young people. We already have 2,285 apprentices in Lindsay, and these new measures will lead to more opportunities for apprentices and trainees, with expanded wage subsidies. The $2.7 billion investment is supporting the employment of newly commencing apprentices and trainees, assisting school leavers and jobseekers during the peak hiring period for key industries. To date, over 141,000 apprentices have been supported through this program.

We're also extending the instant asset write-off, enabling businesses to buy the equipment they need to grow and expand, become more efficient, scale up and ultimately support more local jobs. Around 15,000 businesses in Lindsay will be able to write off the full value of any eligible asset. This is because we believe in enabling local businesses to do what they do best. We want them to succeed and to drive our jobs-led recovery. The tax-free cash flow boost has helped more than 5,000 small and medium-sized businesses in Lindsay and provided much-needed financial support to keep them going through the coronavirus pandemic.

The minister for employment and I also met with a number of local small business owners to talk about what the budget means for them. It is a priority of mine to make sure our national policies are delivering for local families and local businesses on the ground, and it was great to hear how our policies are unlocking new opportunities for businesses in Western Sydney. It is a pillar of the Morrison government's plan to unlock the potential of Australian businesses, not to hold them back.

I said earlier that we entered the pandemic from a position of strength, and that has allowed us to deliver unprecedented support to families and businesses throughout the pandemic and has now put us back on track to emerge with a stronger, more secure and more resilient economy. The recent labour force figures show our plan is working. With over 13 million Australians in work in April this year, the level of employment is now above its pre-COVID level in March 2020, and we added over 33,000 full-time jobs in April, taking full-time employment to a record high. This is a promising sign, but there is still more work to be done. We have seen around the world the continued risk and impact the coronavirus can have. Our budget continues the Morrison government's plan to secure Australia's economic recovery and guarantee the essential services that all Australians rely on.

Since the start of the pandemic, in Lindsay there have been over 360,000 telehealth consultations. That incredible figure shows just how important this service has been for our community, and that's why we are investing to continue this service until the end of 2021. In this budget, we're providing record funding for hospitals, Medicare, mental health, aged care and disability support. We have committed $2.3 billion for mental health care and suicide prevention, including more headspace centres, a National Suicide Prevention Office and a new Head to Health national network of 40 centres. We're making life-changing treatments accessible for our community by funding new medicines to treat breast cancer, lung cancer, severe osteoporosis, severe asthma and chronic migraines. We have also announced new funding for endometriosis, research into preterm birth, and genetic testing for pregnant women. In the last year, there have been over two million free or subsidised medicines delivered in Lindsay through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

From supporting our local jobs and our local manufacturing industry and getting new apprentices into work to our sovereign capability, backing Australian made and providing the important health and mental health services that our country relies on, all of these things make a tremendous difference in the lives of people in my electorate of Lindsay, in Western Sydney and across Australia.

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