Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

It is typical of the Labor Party to complain about underfunding when they lost complete control of the budget during their period in office. The budget blew out enormously. We inherited a budget that was running at $10 billion a year in deficit, and they had racked up some $70 billion extra in debt over the last five years of their budget.

I gather Senator Sherry is referring to an article by George Megalogenis in the Australian referring to underspending in particular programs. I draw to Senator Sherry’s attention the fact that there have been no cuts whatsoever in any of these programs. The programs are fully costed and continue to be fully funded. With respect to the Australian Water Fund, the implementation of that program is heavily reliant on the states delivering well-developed proposals before funding can flow, and it would obviously be irresponsible of us to provide funding for any proposal brought forward unless we were convinced that the funding could be well spent. That is the difference between us and Labor. Mr Rudd has been running around the country and going into every premier’s office saying, ‘What would you like me to give you?’ and then rushing out and doing a doorstop saying, ‘I will give Western Australia this and I will give South Australia that.’ He would simply be a doormat for the state Labor premiers and all their promises. He would not apply the rigour that we apply to the states when they come running to us for money. We are applying rigour in relation to the Australian Water Fund to make sure that the states’ proposals can be properly funded and do meet the criteria.

The schools infrastructure program has been so successful that in the current year this program is overspending, with funding being brought forward from 2008. In light of the strong demand for the program, the government on 19 February announced an increase in funding of $181 million, bringing the total expenditure on that program to $1.181 billion by the end of 2008. So, where the states are failing again to invest in their own schools, the Commonwealth is required, as a result of our sound budget management and our capacity to produce surpluses, to fill the gap left by the states, which are so hopeless on the subject.

In relation to the 30 per cent child care tax rebate and the tax break for entrepreneurs, the child care tax rebate and that entrepreneurs tax offset are uncapped, demand driven programs which rely on taxpayers to access the programs. Families using a tax agent have until May 2007 to lodge their tax returns. For families that have already lodged a tax return without claiming that entitlement, the Australian Taxation Office is already amending their tax assessments to ensure they receive their CCTR.

The government’s record on this is admirable. We are the ones who have restored the health of the government’s finances. We are the ones who are now in a position to provide these sorts of programs, which were impossible under the maladministration of the Labor Party, but we will exercise rigour and scrutiny in the application of these funding programs. We will not just let money roll out the door. We will make sure that the bids, for example under the Australian Water Fund, properly meet the criteria and we will not simply let the money go, as Mr Rudd would to the state Labor premiers when they come knocking on his door.