Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Human Services (Senator Ludwig) and the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (Senator Carr) to questions without notice asked today relating to the 2008-09 Budget.

From the performance that we have seen over the last couple of question times from Senator Carr and Senator Ludwig, you cannot help but be left with the impression that Labor ministers are now being mugged by reality, and the reality is that Labor has delivered a very old-style, big-taxing, big-spending budget that will increase, not decrease, pressure on inflation and—this is the critical point—see up to 134,000 Australians lose their jobs in the current year. Labor’s first budget after 13 years is actually increasing unemployment at the same time as it is trying to deal with inflation. What is emerging from the way that Senators Carr and Ludwig are trying to approach their portfolios is that they really do not have their ducks lined up in a row and they cannot take steps to keep the economy growing, to keep jobs secure and to keep inflation in check. It is really quite extraordinary that the government’s foray into so-called fiscal management is bound to end in tears.

Labor was left with the strongest fiscal position in the history of this country. Labor promised to ease the pressure on working families but failed the very people they promised to help. They project fewer working families and, in fact, more welfare families. How can this possibly be consistent, with all of Labor’s ranting, raving and rhetoric about the importance of increased participation and productivity, when they have unemployment increasing following the budget, with Treasury forecasts showing 134,000 fewer people in jobs? I do not think that is the end of it and I will come to that in just a moment. There is an inherent contradiction. Despite all the rhetoric about an education revolution and lifting productivity, eventually you get mugged with the reality that the participation rate in the workforce has been forecast by Treasury to fall. I think that either Labor do not know what they are doing or they are in for a very rude surprise. You cannot have it both ways.

Leaving aside Treasury forecasts, following the budget announcement concern is growing for the welfare of jobs throughout the entire public service sector. I must say that my concerns have been fortified: slashes to Centrelink funding have already sparked a prediction of 2,000 job cuts. Apparently Mr Whalan is going. I hope he is going voluntarily and that he is not being punished by Labor for predicting a loss of 2,000 jobs, which he did earlier this year. The Community and Public Sector Union now holds fears for 3,300 Commonwealth Public Service jobs as a result of the budget. It is evident to me that the Rudd government is deliberately setting out to increase unemployment in the public sector with indiscriminate and poorly thought out application of an across-the-board two per cent efficiency dividend that is going to have a dreadful impact on the so-called working families that Labor professes to care about.

Labor is introducing new reviews and systems to Centrelink programs, such as means testing the baby bonus, launching a new welfare debit card and cutting staff to the organisation and other areas of the Public Service. After Senator Ludwig’s performance during question time, I do not think that anyone could have any confidence that he is actually across what this is going to do not only to Centrelink, which he tried to deal with today, but also to the Child Support Agency, which is going to lose a further 435 jobs, and to the Medicare office, which is going to lose 171 jobs. Senator Ludwig, who cannot even find the page in his brief to answer a question, is going to preside over a department that will lose 816 jobs from agencies that are tasked with delivering essential services for very needy Australians.

The Department of Human Services is tasked with the efficient delivery of payments to people who really need them. It needs to be efficient and accountable, yet what we have seen from Senator Ludwig is that he dodges responsibility. He did not even know that carers payments are not indexed. Whilst the Prime Minister might now talk about a modest rise in unemployment, it will be cold comfort to the 3,000 or so Australians who are going to lose their jobs. (Time expired)