Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

These bills seek to appropriate funding for the operation of government for the 2021-22 financial year. A total of $122 billion is sought in Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2021-2022, nearly $20 billion in Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2021-2022 and $287.5 million in the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2021-2022. They accompany the delivery of the 2021-22 budget, which was delivered just over a month ago. Labor, of course, will be supporting the bills. But it should be made patently clear that our support for the bills does not represent blanket support for what the government is doing. It's not often $100 billion of spending can be announced and disappear without a trace. Yet, here we are, six weeks after the Treasurer stood up in the other place—and it's almost the sound of crickets. I wonder why that is the case. It could be that they're embarrassed about the hypocrisy they've shown on debt and deficit.

Labor has been consistent when it has come to this. We understand when it is necessary for fiscal policy to step in when an economic shock occurs. It's what we did when the global financial crisis hit. We put money into the economy, into the hands of Australians, and we prevented the economy going into recession, saving over 200,000 jobs.

Let's look at those opposite. It's hard to forget the phrases 'budget emergency', 'debt and deficit disaster' and 'a challenging fiscal and economic mountain'. Fast-forward to what actually transpired. When those opposite were saying there was a budget emergency, and a debt and deficit disaster, debt and deficit was far lower than what they have got to under this government. Debt doubled under this government prior to the onset of the pandemic, before they needed to spend money to save jobs. It went from $280 billion in September 2013 to $568 billion in January 2020. Despite initially promising a budget surplus every year in office, they never delivered one. The budget was in a deficit position every year they occupied the Treasury benches. Debt is set to continue to increase on the government's own projections, smashing past the trillion-dollar mark.

The budget also remains in deficit for as far as the eye can see. We've seen, between last year's budget in October and this year's budget, nearly $200 billion worth of spending. That's an astonishing amount. Maybe those opposite are a little reticent about the budget because they know, as we do, that it is a budget weighed down with rorts and waste. With the budget in the state that it is, with debt increasing to $2 trillion, it's important that every dollar spent—which is borrowed—represents quality spending. It's extremely important that it is quality spending. Unfortunately, this government, over eight long years, in office hasn't got a great record. Take the Safer Communities Fund. Ninety-one per cent, or $30 million in round 3, week 2—you guessed it—is for government-held, Independent or marginal Labor seats. The government rejected advice from community safety experts. They reduced funding for 19 projects while directing money to 53 of their own picks, ahead of projects the experts said were more important. Then there is the Building Better Regions Fund: 112 out of the 330 projects in round 3 and 49 out of the 163 projects in round 4 were approved, against departmental recommendations, by a hand-picked ministerial panel. And how can we forget the Community Sport Infrastructure Grant Program, otherwise known as sports rorts? The ANAO found:

There was evidence of distribution bias in the award of grant funding.

And:

The award of funding reflected the approach documented by the Minister's Office of focusing on 'marginal' electorates held by the Coalition as well as those electorates held by other parties or independent members that were to be 'targeted' by the Coalition at the 2019 Election.

We can't forget the infamous colour coded spreadsheet as well.

Then there's the waste. When every dollar is borrowed, you would like to think that this government would be paying more attention to whether everything it's spending represents value for money. Unfortunately, you would be disappointed—but hardly surprised, given the track record of this government. There have been hundreds of millions of dollars, maybe even billions, wasted on consultants, contractors and costly labour hire, with millions paid out in JobKeeper payments to companies that made profits and paid out dividends or executive bonuses; it really isn't a good record.

Labor has a better alternative to all of this. We've outlined some of our policies and we will have more to say between now and the next election—key and targeted investments in areas that have economic benefit as well as good social dividend. We have policies such as the working families childcare boost, covering 87 per cent of families and increasing workforce participation; a future made in Australia—our secure Australian jobs plan ensuring workers benefit from increased job security, better pay and a fairer industrial relations system; the reconstruction fund; the electric car discount; the community battery plan; and new energy apprentices—harnessing the opportunities provided by new energy technologies to reduce emissions and create jobs; the housing Australia fund, providing a funding source for 20,000 social housing properties. We will present a clear choice: do you want the tired old policies of a government seeking to be in office longer than John Howard or do you want policies that have the Australian people at the centre of their thinking, implemented by a party that's on your side?