Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. This is another broken promise from the failed Morrison government. Evidence provided to the Senate says that the lost $350 million per year is nearly $1.2 billion in lost health and productivity gains per year across the medical sector. This is the cost of a Prime Minister who cannot tell the truth—$1.2 billion in lost health and productivity gains per year across the medical sector. They may try and defend their bloke who cannot tell the truth, but this is the cost to Australians—$1.2 billion in lost health and productivity gains per year across the medical sector. So whether it's Neil Mitchell asking him if he's ever told a lie or if it's the Australian people asking, 'What is the cost of you not telling us the truth?' we have it here in black and white in this bill; it's $1.2 billion a year and Australian lives at risk. We've seen this story before.

The fourth schedule of the bill amends the Emergency Response Fund Act 2019 to transfer responsibility for expenditure from the Emergency Response Fund to the newly established National Recovery and Resilience Agency. Labor wants to see more funding going out to the communities affected by bushfires and floods. We are very keen to ensure that those communities receive the support that the Prime Minister promised to deliver but about which he has once again misled them. He did not tell the truth. We all remember that forced handshake: in the midst of community firefighters and volunteers who'd put their bodies and communities on the line, who didn't know if they would return home, all the Prime Minister was interested in was a photoshoot of him shaking hands with someone in orange overalls. Against that background, the very least that they are entitled to is some funding from these funds before the House today.

The government has failed repeatedly to support bushfire affected communities across Australia, including in the Southern Highlands and the South Coast of New South Wales, all the way down to the Victorian border. These are devastated communities, but the Prime Minister only turns up when it's election time for a photo-op. He'll probably try to shovel some money out the door on the eve of the election, but local communities won't buy it. They want a government that's on their side for the long term, and they're certainly not getting it with this mob. They're waiting for their houses to be rebuilt. They're waiting for their community centres to be rebuilt. They're waiting for their services to be re-engineered so they'll be more resilient in the future.

We've got a lot to oppose with the Morrison-Joyce government. Australians are sick and tired of being told one thing only to find out that it's not true. We won't be opposing this bill. It does more good than bad. But we will be moving a second reading amendment.

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