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17 December 2008 IN PARLIAMENT This first six months of the new Senate configuration under the Rudd Labor Government has seen every possible permutation on voting in divisions, although there has been a remarkably light legislative program from this ‘all talk, no action’ Government. The Government needs the support of the Greens and the two independents, Senators Fielding and Xenophon, to outvote the Coalition in the Senate. I was on leave from Federal Parliament attending a disability conference in Newcastle for the last day of sitting (on December 4) and hence missed the confused vote on the Rudd Labor Government’s rejig of Infrastructure Funds. Briefly, a late decision was made to support the Government legislation when the ALP in the House of Representatives rejected the amendments passed by the Senate. The Nationals in the Senate and some backbench Liberals voted against Labor’s move to fold our $2.4 billion fund for regional telecommunications into the grab-bag of the Building Australia Fund. Some Shadow Cabinet members abstained from the vote. There’s been plenty written since about the fallout from this, but there were concerns within the Opposition that Labor would paint us as responsible for blocking the entire $26 billion package indefinitely and therefore contributing further to the downturn in the economy. There was a similar outcome earlier in the last sitting week on the legislation providing the funding for independent schools next year and establishing a national school curriculum—as yet unseen. The bloodless Minister Gillard refused to decouple the funding from the curriculum requirement despite the concerns of the Opposition, Senator Fielding and many independent schools. In the end, the Liberal senators voted in what we perceived to be the best interests of Australia - certainly not the first concern of the ideologically driven Minister Gillard - to put the 2009 funding through. One could question why Labor legislation such as this with attached funding due to be spent within months was not put to the Parliament earlier but that would be ingenuous. It was done deliberately to attempt to wedge the Opposition. Following the “success” of this tactic of coupling funding and potentially unpalatable regulation, Minister Gillard is likely to accelerate this ploy relying on superficial media analysis to aid and abet her. Given the spectacular failure of her poorly costed Computers in Schools program (see below), it’s hard to understand her continued media darling status. The battle looming next year will be to ameliorate the worst excesses of Ms Gillard’s so-called Fair Work Australia legislation. It’s more like Fat Chance of Work, Australia - there is no doubt that Labor’s attempts to remove fair dismissal provisions and to preference unions in all industrial negotiations will cost jobs. Federal Parliament resumes on February 3 and the Parliamentary calendar for next year is available at http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/work/sitting/2009/sitting.htm. GOVERNMENT HANDLING OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS - UNBELIEVABLE As the Rudd-Swan Labor Government continues to rebadge the Howard-Costello surplus as its own infrastructure spending initiatives, their handling of the bank deposit guarantee and resultant freeze on redemptions of non-bank savings becomes more and more ridiculous. More than 100 Australians have already had to beg ASIC to give them their own money under the hardship provisions. There’s more than $30 billion in these non-bank accounts, much of which would have been spent on job-creating discretionary purchases - new cars, boats, caravans, home renovations - by retirees if the Government’s crazy unlimited guarantee on bank deposits hadn’t been adopted. In addition, I’ve met a number of people in their late 50s and early 60s who are staying on at work or seeking to return to work because of the freeze. These are people who have saved all their working lives so they could have a comfortable retirement and now they have no idea when they will be able to access their money, so they’re continuing to take the cautious approach and stay at work. Of course, this means there are even fewer jobs being freed up for those younger Australians facing retrenchment in the coming months - yet another brilliant unintended consequence of Labor’s ineptness. TREAD CAREFULLY ON CARBON On Monday, Kevin Rudd Government released a White Paper on Climate Change entitled Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme: Australia’s Low Pollution Future. The report calls for a plan to cut emissions by 2020 by between 5 and 15 per cent, based on 2000 levels. Like many of Labor’s plans, it involves doing as little as possible between now and the next election, a bit more between then and 2020, and then a bout of unbridled optimism between 2020 and 2050. The five per cent is a minimum target, with a goal to reduce emissions by 15 per cent if the world can come to a global agreement. In the long-term, the Rudd Government aims to reduce emissions to 60 per cent of 2000 levels by 2050. Labor in government have a habit of making commitments that fail to consider the knock-on effects – in this case there is an assumption that Australian companies will bear the brunt of the costs without complaint. It is inexcusable that the White Paper fails to model the effects the scheme will have on Australian business performance and jobs. To provide a balanced view of the effects of the proposal, the Coalition have engaged the Centre for International Economics to model various aspects overlooked by the Government’s white paper, reporting back in February. We regard the following as fundamental building blocks of any scheme.
A poorly designed plan will damage the fundamentals of our economy, and could make the global emission impact worse. Prohibitive costs that force Australian companies to move offshore to environmentally weaker countries is an example of a lose-lose solution. The Coalition will stand up for our environment and our economic security. I will have more to say on this issue throughout the debate and encourage anyone to contact my office with their concerns. GP SUPER CLINICS AND SCHOOL COMPUTER FUNDING Along with the Emissions Trading Scheme, two of the other centrepieces of the Rudd election campaign - the proposed $275 million GP Super Clinics and the “Computers in Schools” program - are in complete disarray. They demonstrate the Government’s ability to announce “big” and inability to implement - or, for that matter, to undertake proper costing. The Labor Party promised 31 Super Clinics, but one year later - apart from mountains of media releases - there is nothing to show. In Parliament, Health Minister Nicola Roxon was unable to answer a very simple question – when will the first patient be treated in one of these Super Clinics? During Senate Estimates I asked the Department of Health and Ageing about the timeline for construction. I was told that there would be a long lead time on construction because the clinics were a capital works program. The Rudd Labor Government has committed to opening 20 Super Clinics by June 2009, and the Department of Health and Ageing has only approved four applications. It seems as though every marginal seat in Queensland will be getting a GP Super Clinic, but as discussions last week in Mount Isa proved most people would be far happier with the basics. Without doctors and other staff, the Super Clinics are just large, empty buildings. It’s estimated that a $2.5 million Super Clinic will require $1 million a year in recurrent funding to operate – money that is not provided or budgeted for. The school computer project has a similarly incompetent heritage – originally it was going to provide a computer for every child in years 9 to 12, then one computer for every two children, then ‘access’ to a computer. By the time the project comes to fruition I suspect that showing a student a picture of a computer may well satisfy the requirements. The original estimate of $1.2 billion has blown out significantly with the addition of $807 million to cover the ‘optional extras’ the Government forgot about – including installation and software. The additional funding had to be found quickly, or the Government faced the prospect of State Governments refusing the offer. Even the inept New South Wales Government accused Minister Gillard of insufficient planning and bad financial management! MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY LEADS THE COLLAPSE The manufacturing sector in Australia is suffering a sharper downturn than any other major developed nation except Spain. Identical surveys of manufacturing performance conducted in 20 nations in November show that companies in Australia are facing a greater loss of production, new orders and employment than in the US or in Britain, both of which are already in deep recession. The
Australian Industry Group contributes to the
International Manufacturing index, with measures below 50 points indicating that
a majority of businesses are suffering falling sales, orders, jobs and output. Australia was around the 50 mark at the beginning of the year, but it collapsed to 40.4 points in October and then 32.7 points in November. Manufacturing weakened in all countries last month, but the fall was worse in Australia, dropping from the fifth-weakest at the end of October to the second-weakest. AI Group chief economist Tony Pensabene said Australian manufacturing was strongly influenced by the housing construction and motor industries. Both industries have been hit hard by falling demand. Australian business confidence held at a record low in November with economists speculating on our first recession since 1991. The National Australia Bank survey business sentiment index fell 1 point to minus 30 from October, the lowest level since the series began in 1989.
The sentiment index posted an 11th straight reading of less than zero in November, which indicates companies expecting their industry will deteriorate outnumber those seeing an improvement. The NAB's Chief Economist, Alan Oster commented: “The falls in business confidence are extremely broad based, led by declines in wholesaling, manufacturing, construction and retailing. “What is particularly concerning is the speed of the deterioration in recent times. Nor does it appear that the deterioration has bottomed.” The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union will be negotiating about 1,300 wage deals over the next six months amid a rapidly slowing economy, and AMWU secretary Dave Oliver said workers would not accept offers that cut real wages. Mr Oliver said manufacturing workers had averaged wage rises of 4 per cent, or about 1 per cent over inflation, over the past 15 years. Australia has lost about 38,000 manufacturing jobs over the past 12 months. PENNY WISE AND POUND FOOLISH The Rudd Labor Government’s penny-pinching approach to important Commonwealth agencies has been criticised by their own backbenchers. As a member of the Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audits, I was surprised by the frankness of the majority Government members in the Committee’s report, The Efficiency Dividend : Size Does Matter. The Report stated that the increased efficiency dividend of 2 per cent (i.e. funding cuts) imposed by the Rudd government was preventing smaller government agencies such as the Australian National Audit Office, the Australian Electoral Commission, the National Library of Australia and CSIRO from functioning adequately. Funding cuts to the CSIRO were singled out for particular criticism by the Labor majority. Previously 70 per cent of CSIRO funding has been exempted from any efficiency dividend. This has meant that the CSIRO has been forced to close regional research facilities, including:
The Committee has made numerous recommendations to alter the funding arrangements of smaller agencies, particularly an exemption from the dividend on the first $50 million of all government entities having expenses of less than $150 million. Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Senator Carr has separately proposed a charter for the CSIRO that will identify its responsibilities and ‘liberate the voice of science’. But when it comes to actually providing sustainable funding, even his own Party members consider the government’s approach to the CSIRO ‘arbitrary and unfair’. IMMIGRATION AND DISABILITY The Minister for Immigration, Senator Evans, has announced that criteria for assessing immigrating families which include a person with a disability will be reviewed. This follows the recent granting of permanent residency to Victorian intensivist, Dr Moeller, and his family. Dr Moeller has a son with Down syndrome. The Minister has announced that the immigration treatment of people with disabilities would be referred to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration. This should lead to the end of outdated attitudes towards disability as “illness” and “burden” that have prevailed in immigration matters in the past. I have advocated since 2002 for changes to immigration medical requirements for children with a disability, especially Down syndrome, and this announcement should help dozens of families with real contributions to make to Australia. For many organisations and advocates in the disability community this is a welcome decision. If you would like to make a submission, the Committee page at www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/mig/ will be updated when the details of the Inquiry are available. The Committee Secretary can also be contacted at jscm@aph.gov.au if you would like to be notified when the Inquiry opens. DECEMBER SHOPSMART
The ShopSmart survey showed that on average, prices went up by $1.65 on the basket of goods, with the biggest increase almost $4.00. This month, Coles at Upper Mt Gravatt had the cheapest basket with $63.77 and the highest was at Warana on the Sunshine Coast. The average basket price for December was $65.93. The Torres Strait communities paid $24 more for their equivalent basket of goods. I hope the Senate enquiry that I requested into cost of living pressures, and the promise of a House of Representatives enquiry into IBIS stores in the Torres Strait, will go some way toward helping the people in the Torres Strait with spiralling costs and prices. GROCERYCHOICE ADDED TO THE ‘TOO HARD’ BASKET Earlier this month Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, announced that the only way to fix the Government’s failed $13 million “Grocery Choice” project was to hand it over to someone else. The consumer organisation Choice will take on the task. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MOREY SCHOLARSHIP I believe a strong focus on education is the single most important long-term answer to many of the problems encountered by Australia’s Aboriginal population. I’ve been looking for some time at the feasibility of establishing a tertiary scholarship for an indigenous woman, so I’m delighted that the Torres Strait Regional Authority has accepted my offer to add a fourth annual scholarship, to be known as The Morey Scholarship, to the three they already offer annually. The TSRA Scholarships are available to Torres Strait islanders to assist with tertiary studies provided the recipients undertake to return to the Strait to work and live at the end of their degree. The Morey Scholarship will be open to any Torres Strait islander woman on the same criteria and conditions. The name acknowledges my late paternal great-grandfather, Frederick E Morey, who owned and operated pearling luggers based at Thursday Island before World War II. The closing date for applications for all the scholarships is January 15, 2009 and further details are available by contacting the TSRA office on Thursday Island. THE SENATE ELECTORAL OFFICE IS MOVING
Our new contact details will be
There may be some glitches on December 19 and on December 22 as the computer and phone systems are installed, so if you have problems contacting us, please persevere. The new office is street-front with easy access to public parking and public transport. Over the Christmas break my office will be closed from December 24 until January 5. A FINAL WORD ON CHRISTMAS With Christmas coming up, we are all looking forward to some time off and celebrating with family and friends. However with all the joy and festivities, Christmas can also be a lonely time for some. There are many studies and anecdotal evidence that suggests Christmas time increases anxiety, isolation and depression in people. I have listed below some telephone counselling services that can be used. They offer an anonymous service that may just help save a life.
I wish you all a joyous and fulfilling Christmas, and I look forward to speaking with you again in the New Year.
Sue Boyce Liberal Senator for Queensland |
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