Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Morrison government's response to the health and economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic has been world-leading. When we look at the challenges other countries have experienced, the impact that COVID-19 and the associated issues continue to have is sobering. Millions of lives have been lost, health systems have collapsed and many national economies are in freefall. Australia's position is the envy of the world, and this hasn't happened by accident. It's because of the strong, decisive leadership that Australia's health and economic outcomes have been amongst the best in the world. Nothing is more important than keeping Australians safe, and our government will continue to prioritise our health and our safety, whether you live in the city or the bush.

I'm proud to be the representative for the electorate of Braddon in the great state of Tasmania, and I've often said that I represent the best people in the best region in the best state in the best country of the world. Strong management at both federal and Tasmanian government levels means that Tasmania is currently one of the safest places to live in the world. The Tasmanian economy is also continuing to rebound strongly.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, $291 billion in direct economic support has been provided across our nation by the Morrison government. Across the electorate of Braddon, which covers the north-west, the west coast and King Island, JobKeeper alone provided an economic lifeline to around 2,800 businesses and 12,100 employees. This payment helped to keep Braddon's great businesses afloat through the pandemic and kept workers connected to jobs and employers. I have no doubt that JobKeeper was the single most important economic support mechanism in the first phase of the management of the pandemic. It has provided the framework for our region's ongoing recovery. The tax incentives provided by the federal government have also helped keep local businesses afloat. The tax-free cash flow boost helped around 2,900 small businesses in my region, providing around $127 million in payments.

Recent figures show that the Morrison government's economic support measures have worked well for Tasmanians. Recent ABS data shows that retail trade is now 2.7 per cent higher than in March last year, which is higher than the national average of 2.2 per cent. Tasmania has also recently recorded the highest number of building approvals in a 12-month period in more than 25 years. Preliminary job vacancy data for April, released by the National Skills Commission, shows that job vacancies in Tasmania are 71 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic level, which is the biggest rise in our country. Tasmania has a strong local economy. Our buoyant retail trade and historic building approvals, with the government backing our jobs on the ground, is rebounding our state and proving that the Morrison government plan for the region is working.

Although Australia is in a much better position than the rest of the world, there is still a lot of work to do. Our government is committed to continuing to guide and support Australians through the COVID-19 pandemic and to respond to ongoing challenges as and when they arise. The federal government's 2021-22 budget focuses on that commitment. It builds on the success to date to secure our recovery and leverage off the opportunities that are ahead of us. It is a plan that creates jobs, guarantees essential services, and builds more resilience and security into Australia.

Keeping Australians safe is the Morrison government's No. 1 priority, and that's why we are allocating $1.5 billion to this budget to extend our range of health responses to protect Australians, alongside the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. Protecting Australians, especially our most vulnerable communities, from exposure to COVID-19 is critical. I am pleased to report to the House that more than 23 per cent of Tasmanians have now received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccines are effective, they're free and they're voluntary. Having your vaccine will help you to prevent death and serious illness within our local communities. I encourage all eligible unvaccinated people across the north-west, the west coast and King Island to please consider booking in for their vaccine today.

Over the past 12 months, telehealth services have also helped and been life-changing for those living in rural, regional and remote areas. Since the introduction of telehealth in March 2020, nearly 230,000 telehealth consultations have been conducted across the electorate of Braddon. As part of the 2021-22 budget, the Australian government is investing more than $114 million to extend this critical service until the end of 2021. This extension will ensure that everyone across our region can continue to see their general practitioner, to renew their scripts and seek mental health support from the safety of their own home, if they wish to do so. This ensures that our vulnerable continue to be protected and supported during these unprecedented circumstances. The extension of telehealth includes services for regional practitioners, medical practitioners, specialists, consultant physicians, nurse practitioners, participating midwives, allied health providers and dental practitioners. Importantly, I also welcome the Morrison government's commitment to continue to work with peak bodies to co-design permanent post-pandemic telehealth as part of the broader primary care system.

Tasmania has Australia's fastest-growing ageing population. That's why I welcome the Morrison government's record funding in aged care. Nearly 21½ thousand seniors living across the electorate of Braddon are now set to benefit from this important, once-in-a-generation reform. Our government is committed to ensuring that those who have contributed so much during a lifetime—our nation-builders, our parents and grandparents, our founders and protectors—receive the respect, the care and the dignity that they rightly deserve. In response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the government's unprecedented investment will deliver more home-care places and more funding residential for aged care. Importantly, this funding also increases the amount of time residents are cared for, as well as strengthening regulators to monitor and enforce the standards of care. The funding will include $630.2 million to make the aged-care system more accessible for seniors with special needs, including people in regional, rural and remote areas, including in Braddon. This new support will include $397 million for aged-care providers to undertake capital works to build new facilities and improve existing facilities to make them more accessible, providing local jobs as well.

Accessibility and affordability in child care is important as we strive to increase the number of people getting into jobs. As part of this support, our government is increasing the childcare subsidy for families with more than one child under six years of age in child care. It is estimated that this measure will benefit around 710 families living across the electorate of Braddon alone. The government will further support families with children in care by removing the $10,560 cap on the childcare subsidy.

Investing in education and investing in our children is investing in our future. I have said many times in this place that everyone has the right to quality education, no matter whether you are five or 55, or whether you are looking for your first job or looking for a change of direction in your life. The Morrison government is continuing to demonstrate that commitment. As part of our 2020-21 budget our investment in our region's schools is continuing at record levels. Whether you go to school in Smithton, Shorewell, Moriarty, Miandetta, Currie or Cooee, the federal government is increasing funding at your school. Over the decade from 2009-10 to 2018-19, the Commonwealth funding for our schools grew in real terms by 47.8 per cent. The Australian government share in total public funding has increased from 10.8 per cent in 2009-10 to 15.6 per cent in 2018-19 for government schools and from 73.1 per cent in 2009-10 to 76.2 per cent in 2018-19 for non-government schools. For example, in my electorate is the East Devonport Primary School. It is estimated that the total Commonwealth recurrent funding for that school will increase from around $950,000 this year to over $1.2 million by 2029. If you look at the individual school level, the students at Wynyard High School will receive an increase per student from around $4,900 this year to $6,400 by 2029.

The Morrison government knows the importance of local government, and that is why our economic recovery partnership between the Morrison government and our local councils has been further boosted in the federal budget. An additional $1 billion investment for phase 3 of the Local Road and Community Infrastructure Program has been allocated. The LRCI program is targeted to support the resilience of our local economies by delivering jobs directly into each of Braddon's eight great local government areas. It is important to remember that when government spends money, it's not the government's money that we are spending; it's taxpayers' money, and we are cognisant of that. That that is why the Local Road and Community Infrastructure Program is so powerful. It guarantees that everyone living across the electorate has a portion of their hard-earned taxes spent back in their local communities. This is crucial. It will continue to support our local businesses and create local jobs in our regional communities.

What this program means is that councils can deliver more funding to upgrade roads; build bike paths; heat community halls; revamp playgrounds, parks and sports grounds; as well as improve access to public facilities. Across all three phases, over $18 million will have been distributed across Braddon's eight councils, in Burnie, Central Coast, Circular Head, Devonport, King Island, Latrobe, Waratah-Wynyard and West Coast. Across Tasmania, in total it is a figure of almost $74 million. This funding isn't a commitment that will appear one or two years down the track; it's there now. The money has already been delivered and, to their credit, councils are currently rolling out dozens of projects right across their municipalities. They are doing a great job.

Our most important part coming out of this pandemic is to get people back into jobs or into their first job. I welcome the budget's key initiatives that are focused on achieving this goal, including personal income cuts, business tax incentives, encouraging businesses to invest in new apprenticeships and training initiatives, and more infrastructure investment. This means that our part in delivering this package will secure our region's recovery and drive our unemployment rates down.

Putting money back into the pockets of hardworking taxpayers is important to our Morrison government. It means that individuals have an even greater incentive to get a job or pursue a better job or higher skills. It also means that individuals and families have more to spend at the local shops. Again, this helps our circular economy. It is estimated that the tax cuts announced in our budget will benefit around 37,900 taxpayers across the electorate. Further data also predicts that Australia-wide this measure will create an additional 20,000 jobs by the end of 2022-23. This announcement is on top of the $25.1 billion of announced tax cuts flowing into households from 2021-22 under the Morrison government's legislated personal income tax plan. With the additional year of the low- and middle-income tax offset, our personal tax plan will provide tax cuts of up to $7,020 for singles and $14,040 for dual-income households in total over the period 2018-19 to 2021-22. When stage 3 is implemented in 2024, around 95 per cent of taxpayers will have a marginal tax rate of 30c or less.

The Morrison government is continuing to invest in our people and our communities right across my electorate. Everywhere you turn, local governments are spending that money wisely on projects that they are delivering—from roads to bridge maintenance and infrastructure projects, small and large, and from small capital grants to supporting volunteers in local junior sports. It's all important to our government.

Thank you to everyone living in the electorate of Braddon on how you have responded to these challenges and how you are wisely spending this money. Our region have always had a glass-half-full approach to any problem that they have had. I look forward to working with everyone in the years to come as we continue to support you as we exit this terrible pandemic.

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