Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Acting Deputy President, thank you very much for warning me. I do appreciate that. I think I have got a lot more to be worried about than Senator Heffernan standing at the door, but anyway I will not go any further.

As I was saying, the additional funding requests in these bills include the funding required to meet changes in the estimates of program expenditure due to variations in the timing of payments and to meet forecast increases in program take-up. They include an additional $157 million for Australia’s overseas aid program; and an additional $600 million in relation to Australia’s military presence in Iraq and exchange rate movements and as a result of the Graded Other Ranks Pay Structure review. There are additional funds to meet the expected extra take-up of the rebates for household solar panels and the expected increased access to the LPG Vehicle Scheme. The bills also meet requests for the provision of additional funding to agencies for expenses in relation to grants to the states under section 96 of the Constitution and for payments to the territories. In addition, the proposed appropriations will complement the Nation Building and Jobs Plan as well as give effect to important elements of the December 2008 nation-building package and will fund enhancements to employment and apprenticeship programs and other urgent measures and variations.

Included in the bills is the proposal of funding for additional equity for the Australian Rail Track Corporation. The Australian Rail Track Corporation is a wholly owned Commonwealth company and is undertaking a significant infrastructure investment program. This includes 17 projects to improve the reliability and competitiveness of the nation’s rail freight network, including the expansion of capacity along the rail corridors connecting the Hunter Valley coalmines to the port of Newcastle. This expansion of capacity will more than double the amount of coal capable of being transported to port from 97 million tonnes a year to 200 million tonnes a year. As well, the appropriation bills include a proposal to bring forward no less than $711 million to invest in building better roads. Also, consistent with the agreement reached with the minor parties during the passage of the Nation Building and Jobs Plan, the government proposes to bring forward expenditure totalling $500 million over four years, beginning in 2008-09, to assist in expediting the return of water to the environment and delivering long-term benefits to the Murray-Darling Basin. The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts will be provided with $250 million in 2008-09 for this purpose. The government considers that this is the maximum pace of water recovery that can be pursued without causing unnecessary disruption to the water market and without compromising the amount of water that can be returned to the rivers over time. Almost as importantly, included in the bills is a proposed—and this is very important, you lot, so listen—