Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This motion speaks to how completely out of touch this LNP government is. They try and brag that things are going well, that the economy is going well, that jobs are on the increase, but what is actually happening is the numbers are being skewed. The only things to rise under this out-of-touch LNP government besides degrees in climate and the tempers of every day Australians are the unemployment figures. Does this LNP government even know how regional Queenslanders are struggling under this government? Does our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, know the detrimental impact he caused by making cuts to various sectors across regional Queensland when he was Treasurer?

Those opposite try and skew the numbers. They have put a new face on their leader, thinking that everyday Australians will just forget what those opposite have done. But we won't forget when the architect for the job losses and cuts is now the Prime Minister. The LNP's economic plan is for Sydney and Melbourne, not for regional Queensland. The LNP's planned tax cuts for banks and big business weren't for Townsville, but they were for their banking mates. The majority of Townsville businesses are not big businesses. While the Sydney and Melbourne economies are growing, Townsville's local economy has been demolished under consecutive LNP governments.

This government likes to recite numbers, so allow me to recite a few. These are factual numbers. 5.6 per cent—that was Townsville's unemployment rate when Labor left office. 9.7 per cent—that's Townsville's current unemployment rate. Unemployment in Townsville has almost doubled under this government. Three thousand—that's how many manufacturing jobs have been lost in Townsville since the LNP were elected. One hundred and forty-nine—that's the number of Australian tax office jobs that have been lost under this government. Fifty—that's the number of Defence jobs cut. Nineteen—that's the number of CSIRO jobs cut in Townsville under the LNP.

Forty-six per cent is the percentage of trainees and apprentices we have lost in Townsville, which equates to 1,557 people, all because consecutive LNP governments have cut $3 billion from the TAFE sector; 2,484—that's how many families also be worse off under the LNP's changes to child care; $2,000—that's how much extra an average family will have to pay under early childhood learning changes; seven per cent—that's the percentage of North Queenslanders who, due to the LNP government's Medicare freeze and the high cost of excessive medical services, have stopped accessing care when needed in the last year; $142 is the median out-of-pocket cost for a North Queenslander to access medical support; 26 per cent, 6,475 people or 55 people a day is the number of people who over the last six months have presented to the Townsville general hospital with ailments like coughs and colds because they couldn't afford their GP because of the Medicare freeze.

Twelve doctors and 24 nurses—that's how many jobs will be lost at the Townsville Hospital because of the LNP government's $9 million cut; $36 million—that's the amount this government has cut from Central Queensland University. The number of jobs lost because James Cook University has been forced to cut its arts degree because of the LNP's $34 million cuts to JCU is 14; 442 is how many fewer construction businesses there are in Townsville than when Labor left office—that's a drop of 15.7 per cent; 153—that's the number of retail businesses that have closed in Townsville under the LNP, a fall of 17 per cent; seven is the number of jobs lost on Palm Island because of this government's cut to the national partnership and remote housing program. Zero is the amount of money the LNP has committed to stage 2 of the Haughton pipeline, which will give us long-term water security for Townsville. Zero is how much money the LNP have delivered for energy infrastructure for Townsville. These are the numbers the Morrison government needs to be working on because it is the government that has caused these disturbing numbers.

But here are a few more numbers: $100 million is Labor's commitment to deliver long-term water security for Townsville; $200 million is Labor's commitment to deliver energy infrastructure for Townsville; $14.1 billion—that's Labor's commitment to public schools; $1.7 billion—that's Labor's commitment to early learning. Those numbers will make a huge difference to the people of Townsville. Only Labor will deliver for the people of Townsville. I have one last number—18 May. That's the last day an election can be held and regional Queensland can vote out a government that forgets us and vote for a Labor government that will deliver for us.

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We saw on the weekend an extraordinary advertisement for just how out of touch the Morrison government is with the Australian public. The biggest by-election swing against a government on record in the seat of a former Liberal Prime Minister no less shows how disconnected the coalition MPs in this building are from voters out in the community. Indeed, we see how out of touch they are in the motion of the member for Forde before the House today. Only an out-of-touch government can pat itself on the back for effective economic management when we all know that Australians feel the economy simply isn't working for them. We see it, how out of touch the government is, when the government congratulates itself while everything is going up, except for wages, and it sits back and does nothing. We see it when the Prime Minister tells Australians in a media puff piece that he has an average size mortgage that he's dealing with like any other family, while earning over $500,000 per year—10 times the average Australian salary.

We see how out of touch the government are when they cut penalty rates for hundreds of thousands of hospitality workers. We see it when young working and middle-class families cannot afford to purchase their own homes, and the former Treasurer tells them to 'get a better job' and the former PM tells them to get richer parents to shell out for them. We see how out of touch they are when they spend years fighting for billions of dollars of tax cuts for the big banks, while cutting funding for schools and hospitals. We see it when the former minister for jobs and innovation says that she can empathise with the less fortunate Australians because 'when I backpacked for three years, I had practically nothing'. We see how out of touch the coalition government are when they refused to initiate a royal commission into the banks for over 600 days while everyday Australians continued to be ripped off and exploited. We really see how out of touch they are when Prime Minister Morrison described Labor's call for a banking royal commission as 'nothing more than a populist whinge' and then voted against it 26 times. We see how out of touch they are when the member for Chisholm told Australians that she could live on the Newstart rate of 40 bucks a day when even the Business Council of Australia agrees that the rate is too low. The Liberal Party leads an out-of-touch government working for the top end of town. The Liberal Party has failed to solve the problems middle and working class Australians face every day: housing affordability, stagnant wages and rising inequality.

In contrast, for the last five years Labor has been listening to the Australian community and working hard to develop the kinds of policies needed to respond to Australians' real concerns about how the Australian economy operates. Only Labor has a plan for a fair go for all Australians, for a fairer economy and for a more prosperous nation. Labor will improve housing affordability by reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax policies. Labor will reduce intergenerational inequality by investing in universal early childhood education for three- and four-year-olds. Labor will restore funding to schools, reversing the damaging cuts made by the successive Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Liberal governments. Labor will reverse cuts to penalty rates and fight for Australian workers' pay and conditions.

It is no wonder that the Liberal Party's former Treasurer, Peter Costello, describes that out-of-touch rabble opposite as 'operating in a parallel universe'. This isn't the time for an out-of-touch government to be engaging in self-congratulatory backslapping on the economy; this is a time for this out-of-touch government to listen to the Australian people, to listen to the message from the public in Wentworth—real Australians, unlike what the Menzies Research Centre and some of those opposite would like to tell you—and the Australian community and finally call an election. Put an end to the nonsense, the division and the Itchy & Scratchy fighting that we have been seeing from this government for the past five years. It is time for this out-of-touch government to let Australians decide to elect a party that can deliver a fair go for all Australia.

Bill Shorten's Labor opposition is ready. We've been doing the hard yards in opposition. We've been listening to the Australian public. We've been doing the policy work, getting ready to offer the Australian public a choice, a proposition for a fairer Australia, for a fair go for all Australians, for a fairer economy, for a more prosperous country, for an economy that's not just managed for the interests of the top end of town and the big banks but for the interests of working- and middle-class Australians, an economy that works for all of us, not just the mates of the Liberal Party members. It's time to call an election and let the Australian public choose.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion put forward by the member for Forde who, strangely, is not in the chamber and couldn't get anyone from his own side to support his motion. His motion makes three points, and I'll speak on each of them in turn. The first is on growth in the economy. Like all sensible Australians I'm pleased that the global economy has strengthened, but the International Monetary Fund has recently downgraded economic growth expectations for Australia. The IMF, hardly a left-wing organisation, has raised risks about our future outlook. This downgrade, occurring on Prime Minister Morrison's watch, indicates that heightened global challenges are on the horizon. The IMF is urging countries to build up fiscal buffers and to urgently adopt policies promoting strong and inclusive growth. Under the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government, the ATM government, growth has been less than inclusive.

Treasurer Frydenberg has abandoned the Liberals' own rules for budget repair. Despite favourable conditions and billions of extra dollars of revenue flowing into government coffers, this hapless ATM government has managed to worsen the budget position. The deficit for 2017-18 has blown out to almost four times worse than the Liberals forecast in their first budget. Gross debt has crashed through half a trillion dollars for the first time in Australia's history and now sits at a record $540.1 billion. Net debt has doubled since they came to office. In the 43rd parliament I remember a truck being driven around Parliament House that talked about a debt-and-deficit disaster, but this government has shown itself to be hopelessly ill-disciplined when it comes to budget repair.

In contrast, if elected, a Shorten Labor government will take budget repair seriously. We'll have a better plan to pay down debt. We have a plan to deliver bigger cumulative surpluses over the forward estimates. We'll put the budget on a more structurally sound footing with reforms to negative gearing—prospective only—capital gains tax, dividend imputation and trusts. These are difficult policies, tough policies, but they're appropriate in light of the Liberal deficit and the IMF warnings.

The second point raised in the member for Forde's motion refers to employment. While there has been an improvement in the unemployment rate, the underlying structural problems, like stubbornly high underemployment and stagnant wages growth, continue. The number of jobs created may have slightly increased, but the participation rate dropped by 0.24 per cent, so the number of people looking for work fell sharply. Particularly concerning is the youth unemployment rate, which is more than double the national average, at 11.4 per cent. Underemployment remains high, at more than one million Australians. So together there are 1.7 million Australians who want work or more work, but can't find it. For example, a report by Anglicare Australia reported that there are 111,000 entry level jobseekers, but only 26,000 jobs.

The motion from the member for Forde makes a leap of faith when it states that, 'wages can be expected to rise if economic growth remains strong'. 'How?' I ask the member for Forde, through the chair. Relying on rich corporations to share their wealth is nothing but delusional. Trickle-down economics has been comprehensively discredited by eminent economists across the world, yet the ATM government has continued to run their economic agenda with blind faith in this fiction of trickle-down economics. Giving tax cuts to the wealthy and large corporations and suppressing wages for everyone is A-OK by the Liberals, but not by sensible Australians. This is an agenda that will look after the top one per cent but not most people.

The motion also talks about the participation of the women in the workforce, but what it doesn't mention is the gender pay gap. Australian women effectively work for the first two months of every year for free, compared to their male counterparts. The gender pay gap is one of the most persistent forms of inequality in our economy, and the lifelong effects for women are felt long after they've left the workforce. Pay inequality drives a huge gap in women's superannuation. The fastest-growing group of people falling into homelessness are older single women. Yet this Morrison government won't do anything to address the gender pay gap or Australians suffering from insecure work, stagnant wages and skyrocketing cost-of-living pressures. Everything's going up except wages.

The third point the motion makes is calling on the government to remain 'resolute in its effective economic management to ensure funding for the essential services we need'. That's where they put it—right at the end. They talk about essential services. They give tax cuts to the big banks and tax cuts to the top end of town, but trickle-down economics is supposed to actually help most people. Those opposite are tone deaf when it comes to the egalitarian Australia we need.

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.