Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to add some observations on a few different aspects of this budget that have great relevance and are also of great concern to the communities of central western New South Wales and Calare. Firstly, I was bitterly disappointed that there was nothing in the budget to help our businesses being smashed to pieces by the indefinite closure of the Great Western Highway. In question time, the Prime Minister has already conceded that the failure of the convict bridge at Victoria Pass was the fault of successive governments—that all governments have to share in the blame for this debacle. So, that being the case, it's the responsibility of his government to put down some serious money to help our businesses going broke because of government negligence.

About a week ago we had the announcement of a NSW government support package, which amounted to a one-off $10,000 payment for businesses only in the reasonably small Hartley area. Quite frankly, that announcement has been met with extreme disappointment right across the region, particularly in the areas most affected by this unbelievably negligent closure that is the fault of governments who have kicked this can down the road for many, many years.

When I spoke to business owners about it last week, they said $10,000 wouldn't even cover the wages bill for a week—or, in one case, a fuel bill. I was at one local business and, while I was waiting for the business owner to come, the employee said: 'You know what? I'm just very worried that I'm not even going to have a job in a week.' We've got business owners selling homes because of this closure. I think that if this were happening in a city seat, they'd be moving heaven and earth to help. But because it's out in the country, just 65 kays over the other side of the sandstone curtain, we're being ignored.

The business support package that the NSW government has put on offer does not even cover Lithgow. Lithgow businesses are going broke as well. Local residents aren't able to patronise their own businesses because they're too hard to get to; it's just gridlock. There are over 12,000 extra vehicle movements a day in Lithgow at the moment. It's hell.

I don't think the state and federal governments are doing enough. It's plain and simple: they're not doing enough. This was a glaring oversight in the federal budget. And it's very galling for our communities to think that, just over the eastern side of the sandstone curtain, they can open gleaming new expressways to the new Sydney airport. We can open multibillion dollar expressways up the North Coast and down the South Coast. But, when it comes to the western side of the Great Dividing Range or the sandstone curtain, they expect us to make do with a patch-up job of a bridge built by a convict chain gang in 1832. It is completely and utterly unacceptable. We are being treated as second-class citizens. No wonder there is such anger and resentment in regional communities at the moment, when we are being treated like this.

There was no plan or funding in the budget for further high-speed access in and out of the Central West. There's no plan. The New South Wales white paper on the Great Western Highway was a joke. There was nothing in there; it was empty. There are no ideas, no funding commitments—nothing. They knew that this convict bridge was going to fail, but they kicked the can down the road, chose to spend the money elsewhere and just thought, 'We'll monitor it until it fails.' Well, it's failed. They knew it was going to happen—total and utter negligence.

I was also very disappointed that the budget didn't deliver funding for any new veterans and families wellbeing centres. Working with our local veterans, we have submitted a proposal for stage 1 of a Central West veterans and families centre at Bathurst. There was no funding in the budget for it at all. Has our country not learned the tragic lessons from the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide?

I have a lot of respect for the Minister for Veterans' Affairs. He's been out to Bathurst and met with members of the Bathurst RSL sub-branch, so he knows the issues. He knows how much this means to our local veterans. The Bathurst RSL sub-branch is also willing to co-fund part of this veterans and families wellbeing centre—they're going to pay for some of it—but we just don't seem to be able to shake any money out of the federal government. I would like to meet with the Minister for Veterans' Affairs about it, and I would like him to meet with our local veterans, again, to explain to them what's going on with the funding here, because there can be no argument that our local veterans need this funding to support the growing cohort of veterans in our region. There's hardly any support for them west of the Great Dividing Range. Our veterans have put their lives and their welfare on the line for us, and that has been ignored and overlooked. It has to be the highest priority for our country and also our region. I ask the Minister for Veterans' Affairs to have a look at what's happened with the funding for the veterans' and families' wellbeing hubs and to get some more funding going. They're not asking for much, but it needs to start.

In the federal budget, $6 million was allocated towards the construction of the Orange Planetarium and Conservatorium, including teaching spaces. While this is a positive outcome, it also comes with a warning: it is my hope that council uses this funding in a productive, open and transparent manner. In 2019, I secured $10 million to kickstart the new conservatorium, and there is nothing worse than seeing hard-won funding frittered away through mismanagement and defective work. We cannot have a repeat of the debacle that is the Orange Regional Sporting Precinct. I believe an independent inquiry is needed to get to the bottom of what's gone on there. I won't go into detail in this contribution, but I may well do so in a further contribution to this House. What is happening at the Orange Regional Sporting Precinct is not acceptable, and there needs to be some transparency and accountability with what's going on out at this Bloomfield project.

When it comes to changes to private health premiums, this budget hits older Australians and regional families. Coming right after the steep 4.41 per cent average premium hike on 1 April, the government has now quietly axed the extra age based rebate for seniors. Starting from April 2027, the enhanced rebate for over 65 will be slashed to a flat 24 per cent, treating retirees on fixed pensions the same as younger earners and directly hitting over three million older Australians. It will be a real kick for our fixed income seniors. While the government hides behind averages, a 4.41 per cent premium rise adds roughly $167 a year for individuals and $330 a year for families on gold cover, with some major funds hiking prices by up to six per cent. For our regional seniors who need comprehensive care, the data shows that gold policies often jump by 11 per cent to 12 per cent when insurers restructure. These are vulnerable people in our community who are now going to have to choose between buying groceries and keeping their health cover. If seniors are forced to drop their private health cover, it will have a massive impact on our hospital system, which is already overstretched.

Let's talk about the capital gains tax and changes to trusts and negative gearing. If government wanted to bring in changes to the tax system, it should have had the courage of its convictions and put it to the Australian people at a general election. It chose not to do that, and it's why people lose faith and trust in politics and government institutions and political parties—because governments aren't upfront and honest with them. There are changes also affecting the way that a lot of young people invest through crypto and exchange traded funds and microinvesting apps. All of these hit young people in significant measure, and these are the very people the government says that it is trying to help through its tax changes. Well, put them to the people. What could be more simple than that? Don't try to hide it as you run into an election and then hit everyone with it afterwards. This is a huge issue for people of all ages—not just young people, not just older people but all Australians.

There is real anger out there, including amongst the business community. They're very worried they're going to be hit with this new capital gains tax. They're asking, 'Well, what is the point in taking risks, what is the point in fostering enterprise, what is the point in employing people and what is the point in following your dreams and building something if the government is going to take almost half of it at the end of the day?' It's a great point. If we want businesses to drive the economy, and everyone says, 'Yes, small business is the engine room of the economy,' well, let's support them and give them some tax measures that actually support what they're doing rather than penalise what they're doing. It's a huge issue out there, and I don't think it's going to go away for the government. So I would urge the government to rethink what it's doing with its tax changes. There is widespread concern out there, and there will be a price to pay for this at the next election.

Another glaring omission from the budget was the failure to impose a 25 per cent tax on gas exports. Since 2022, this equates to $70 billion in lost revenue. Imagine how many great western highways we could have built with $70 million, how many convict bridges we could have replaced, how many business support packages we could have put out there for our struggling businesses being smashed to pieces by that closure? That's $17 billion a year, $2 million an hour and $577 per second. Why hasn't it happened so far? The answer is: follow the money. It's these big gas companies that are major donors to the major political parties. They're just buying influence. That's the cold, hard truth of the matter. That's why the major parties don't want to go here, because they're basically in league with these gas companies. This is not an issue of left versus right. This is an issue of national interest versus vested interests. It's the vested interests of the big gas companies, which are winning out at the moment, and we're forgoing revenue. We've got overseas countries making more out of our gas than we are. It's an outrage!

I would urge the government to bring in a gas export tax. I would also urge the government to be upfront and transparent about its dealings with the public. Regardless of what you think about these tax changes, if the government had wanted to bring them in, it should have had the integrity to go to the Australian people and ask for a mandate for them. It's very simple. I'm a crossbencher, but I have seen this happen before. When coalition governments broke promises, they were rightly condemned for it, including by those on the opposite side of the chamber. So you shouldn't expect anything different to happen to you. There is no mandate for this. For us, this budget was a budget of broken highways and broken promises—and you can't build public trust on broken promises, and you can't run a regional economy on broken highways.

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