Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Whilst we have good news on the economy with our national accounts coming out today, our government has been diligently making sure that we're doing what we can to help Australians who have been doing it tough whilst also putting that downward pressure on inflation. It's a privilege to speak on these appropriation bills—the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2025-2026, the Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2025-2026 and the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2025-2026.

One of the things that we've been doing to help with the cost of living for Australians and Tasmanians, particularly in my electorate, has been cheaper medicines, which has been extremely well received. When we came to office in 2022 some people were paying $42 a script. That's now down to $25 on the PBS. It's an extraordinary cost-of-living measure for those people who require regular, or irregular, medications that are really expensive. I know that I get lots of thankyous from people in my electorate when I go out and have a chat to them about how much impact cheaper medicines is having. It's particularly terrific when you have a chat to a pharmacist about how many more people are able to fill those scripts and are not making some of those really tough decisions about whether or not they can afford to fill their script or do some other things that are essential and necessary. The cheaper medicines policy, I think, has gone down incredibly well in my local electorate and around Tasmania.

Of course, many people are looking forward to their tax cuts on 1 July this year and next year. That builds on the tax cuts and the reshaping of the tax cuts that we've provided. I am also speaking to students about the HECS debt cut. Even today, I met with some cattle leaders in my office, who came to talk to me about the cattle industry. They were talking about how we get people involved in the agriculture industry in the future. We had a bit of a chat about education and the additional funds we're putting into school education with our additional funding being provided to the states for free TAFE, where agriculture is going incredibly well, and how many people are taking up agriculture. The discussion, though, was also about how grateful they were to receive their HECS cuts and how much of a difference that is making to them. Whether it be the cattle farmers from across the country, people in my electorate or students who have just recently left school and are in the jobs market, that HECS debt cut has really made a difference to so many people.

Home batteries is another area where we're helping people out with the cost of living. There's been particularly strong uptake in my electorate in Tassie. Certainly I know that many Tasmanians are getting a combination of solar panels and batteries to reduce their energy bills in the future.

There are also a lot of low-paid workers in my electorate in both aged care and child care who are very appreciative of the work that our government has done in relation to providing additional wages, including making sure that people on the minimum wage don't go backwards and that they are able to keep up with inflation. That has resulted in people who rely on the minimum wage now being $9,000 a year better off than they were when we came to office. We know that people on the minimum wage are still doing it tough, but this is certainly making a big difference for them.

The $10,000 for apprentices was also really warmly received, particularly with the shortage of tradies that we have and on making sure that our apprentices complete and the difference that that can make. When you talk about free TAFE and when you talk about the 10K for apprentices—there are certainly a lot of skills that we need in that area to build the homes that we need for Australians. Given the fact that we haven't built enough homes over the last 20 to 30 years and we need to build more homes more quickly, these tradies are going to be critical. They're also critical in terms of the transition, when it comes, to cleaner energy and in our economy and making sure that we have that clean energy.

I've also been chatting to some people who have been taking advantage of the five per cent home deposit scheme and the expansion of that—young people who are getting into the housing market for the first time. But even some people that I know quite well, family members, are saying that, for the first time, they'll be able to get into the housing market because of our decision to expand that program. So I know that that's also been well received.

On paid parental leave—we heard from our Minister for Social Services today—we're also getting that expanded. It's currently 24 weeks. We're expanding it to 26, and we're going to pay superannuation on it. What a difference that makes to young families. It will encourage young people to have children, and they'll be able to pay their bills at the same time. We know how important that has been.

I also want to talk a little bit about the paid prac and how important that is to, in particular, get people into the health services areas where we need those professionals. Paid prac is making a big difference, from talking to some of the students who are completing university and need to go into a placement. Some of them are telling me that, without the paid prac, they wouldn't have been able to transfer their qualification into working in the health system, so that is terrific news indeed.

In terms of my own electorate, the great people of Franklin gave me the privilege of returning me to this place at the last election. Since that time I've talked in here about some the investments that we have made in my electorate. I'm pleased to say the Kingston urgent care clinic has now been open for a week—actually two weeks, I think, now. I'm already getting some lovely emails from local residents who have utilised the clinic and the clinic's services. Of course, we'd rather people didn't need an urgent care clinic, but it's been desperately needed in my electorate, and it's terrific to hear that people are able to utilise that.

I also had the privilege of opening up a headspace in my electorate late last year, before Christmas, for the young people in my community. I had long been advocating for a headspace, and it's terrific to see the service up and running. It has taken quite a long time to find the right premises. It's been very difficult because the area is growing, and space on the ground has been really difficult to get. So I'm appreciative that that is up and running and now providing a terrific service to young people in my electorate.

A Medicare mental health centre is also going to be up and running soon, and for the first time Tasmania is going to get an early psychosis centre for young people with severe mental ill-health. We haven't got one of those. We're the only state or territory in the country that doesn't. This will be really well received in my home state of Tasmania, to help some of our young people who are just surviving and living with the challenges of severe mental ill-health. It's terrific that we've been able to do that.

We have also been investing in local infrastructure. The Mornington roundabout has to be one of the worst roundabouts in southern Tasmania. I have been talking to the state minister, a Liberal minister, who fully understands how difficult this is. Sadly, we have seen lives lost at this intersection of two very significant highways, with a roundabout in the middle and a whole range of other arterial roads. It's terrific that that funding is there, but I am concerned about the Tasmanian state government and the minister—how long this is taking to get progress. I have spoken to the minister repeatedly. I've also spoken to the local mayor and the council about how we can all work together to get this going and get the upgrades that are required. The roundabout will be removed and there will be signals put in place, but there is also a whole heap of other work—on and off ramps on the Tasman Highway to take pressure off that intersection as well, to give people more options. It is really important that this work gets done and gets done quickly. It will save lives, it will improve productivity and it will also remove a lot of headaches, particularly for young families—for parents picking up kids from schools in that area—and for tradies going to Bunnings on their way home. It's a very busy area in my electorate, so this work does need to be done with some haste.

It was also terrific to open the Hobart airport upgrades. Our government invested $60 million, and that means that Hobart airport in Tassie can now take wide-body aircraft for the first time. This will mean that we can work with airlines and we can actually get direct flights out of Tasmania—hopefully, into Asia. We currently now have seasonal flights direct into New Zealand. To have some international options direct from my hometown is huge for Tasmanians, but it's also really important, particularly for our primary producers, to get out some of our great Tasmanian produce direct to some of those Asian markets. I know that, if and when that happens, it will be because of the investments that we have made strategically into the Hobart Airport upgrade.

There have also been some very serious accidents on the Huon Highway in the south of my electorate, and our government is providing $40 million to the Tasmanian state government to do some work for some upgrades on that highway. This is also a really critical part of my electorate because it does take, again, a lot of produce. It takes a lot of aquaculture—so salmon—and a lot of forestry, and it is really important that this road receive these important upgrades. We've also been waiting for a really significant upgrade to the Tasman Bridge. The Tasman Bridge links Hobart's eastern and western shores. The eastern shore is the sunnier side, I say. It's where I live. Two degrees warmer—that's what I tell everybody. And it's true. If you're ever down in Hobart, the eastern shore is the place to go.

And there is the Tasman Bridge upgrade. These are significant safety upgrades. These are safety upgrades to make sure that we can protect people. This bridge, unfortunately, has been a suicide hot spot. I have in my entire time in this parliament been calling for significant safety upgrades to be done to this bridge, and I'm really pleased that $65 million has been provided by the federal government and, indeed, that the Tasmanian state government now have done some further design work. Some of this preparatory work has been underway over the summer. I obviously would like to see this work completed, but I understand it's a busy bridge and it needs to be done in a way that deals with the issue of it also being the busiest piece of infrastructure in Tasmania each and every day with traffic movements. I know that this is a complicated project, but these safety upgrades are really critical, and I don't think there's anybody in Hobart that doesn't want to see them done and done as quickly as they can be achieved.

Then, of course, there's $60 million for the upgrade to the Channel Highway in my electorate and also south of my electorate. This is the duplication of the Kingston bypass, which was actually the first piece of major infrastructure that I opened as the federal member quite some time ago. I think it must have been way back in around 2010, so quite a long time ago now. To see us now providing the money for the duplication shows just how much this area in my electorate has grown. It's still one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Tasmania, and I know that people along the Channel Highway from Algona Road in Kingston certainly want to see this highway upgraded as well.

Again, the Tasmanian state government has to get on with that job. They've got a lot of work to do in my electorate—hundreds of millions of dollars worth of infrastructure that needs to be provided and hurried along in my electorate.

At the last election, I was also really pleased with Red and Yellow Day. I note my colleague here who has been heavily involved in lifesaving. We have been able to secure upgrades to two surf lifesaving clubs in my electorate. These are very significant and growing clubs in my electorate, and I have been working with them for some time. I know that they're very excited to be able to get these surf club upgrades. The Clifton Beach Surf Life Saving Club will be getting $980,000, and the Kingston Beach Surf Life Saving Club is getting $910,000. It is really fantastic that they were able to get that. I know that this will have a great impact in those local communities.

We're also, of course, investing in new childcare centres in Tasmania. Tasmania has some of the worst waiting lists in the country for childcare access, and certainly something that I get everywhere I go is the lack of childcare places. We have been working with the Tasmanian state government—again, a Liberal state government who also understand how important it is that we actually get these childcare centres up. There will be $5 million towards a new childcare centre in Huonville. There will also be some funding from the Tasmanian state government, and obviously they are also looking at whether or not they can provide some land. There is $3½ million towards a new childcare centre on Bruny Island in my electorate. This has been needed for some time. Working with the Tasmanian state government, who are also providing in-kind support, we're hoping to get this childcare centre close to the local district school on the island. That will encourage locals to stay, letting them live and work on the island. At the moment it's a bit difficult for them; there are no childcare places on the island at all. This will be very significant for them, and we continue to do that work with the Tasmanian state government.

We also have been investing in Tasmania to get us ready for the possibility of the H5 bird flu, and I'm really pleased to be able to do this as the agriculture minister. It's been terrific to go around to some of the places that have some of our protected species—particularly Raptor Refuge, which has Australia's largest bird of prey, the wedgetail eagle—and to see it upgrade its facilities. It'll be able to do additional biosecurity to protect some of these really precious native species and make sure that, if we do get bird flu, we're able to have that protection.

What my speech here today shows is that we're investing in Tasmania and its local infrastructure. We're investing in my electorate, where it's greatly needed, because it had been abandoned by those opposite when they were in government. It's terrific to be able to do that and to also provide that cost-of-living support that I know is so important to so many Tasmanians.

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