BUDGET 2008 - ALL SPIN, NO SUBSTANCE

It’s becoming less and less clear who exactly a 'working family' is. According to Prime Minister Rudd it’s everyone, but according to Treasurer Swan’s Budget it certainly doesn’t include pensioners, people with a disability, those interested in environmental matters, those who want a balanced health system or even some couples planning to have children.

‘Working families’ received a record 11 mentions in the Budget, but all the above groups were ignored or worse in the Budget. The Rudd Government’s first budget has for the first time in many years delivered a Budget with losers and very few winners.

The tax cuts were a steal from former Treasurer Peter Costello’s plans.

Incredibly the Treasurer has just plain lied to women about the Baby Bonus. Before the election, one woman planning a pregnancy actually checked and was told: “We have no plans to make any other changes to the way the Baby Bonus is structured, either in terms of eligibility or payment methods”. Now she is seven weeks pregnant and likely to miss the bonus because she and her husband have worked furiously to earn as much as possible before she leaves the workforce.

If the Government is going to blatantly break their promise on the Baby Bonus they could at least leave the cut-off date for the means test till March 2009.

For pensioners. the Treasurer announced that the Government would ‘enhance indexation of the age pension’. During the Senate Inquiry into Cost of Living Pressures on Older Australians (COLPOA) my committee heard that this would have led to a small increase only once in the past nine years.

That Inquiry heard from many pensioners who were struggling to make ends meet and an increase in, at least, the single pensioner rate is needed and justified. Pensioners who can’t pay their rent today are being told to wait for the outcome of a Tax review some time in 2009.

Recipients of the Disability Support Pension remain the only pensioner group not to receive lump sum bonuses, and the cut in the solar rebate will destroy many small businesses that were assisting Australians to meet the challenges of climate change.

BRENDAN NELSON'S BUDGET REPLY SUMMARY

In a strong Budget Reply response, Coalition Leader Dr Nelson pointed out that the spending cuts touted by Labor were a falsehood. The Rudd Government has cut $15.2 billion in Coalition programmes, but has added $30.1 billion of new Labor spending.

• Spending will increase by $14.9 billion over the estimates period;
• New taxes and revenues will raise $19.7 billion over five years;
• Total tax will increase 21.1 % over the next four years by $42.8 billion;
• Ready to Drink Alcohol tax will raise $3.1 billion over four years despite the National Household Drug Survey confirming that binge drinking by young women has declined since 2001. The Coalition will oppose this tax in the Senate.

Petrol Tax Relief

• The Coalition has proposed a 5 cents a litre tax cut to petrol;
• The Coalition when in Government abolished petrol excise indexation, petrol is now 17.7 cents cheaper as a result;
• The cut would have a downward effect on inflation;
• Keating and Labor increased this tax by 5 cents per litre in 1993.

Capital gains tax and Small Business

• The Coalition would reduce capital gains tax for small business;
• We will introduce a 5-year rule for CGT on the sale of the business for retirement;
• After owning and operating a small business for five years, we believe that you should be entitled to CGT relief should you sell that business for retirement.

Education

• The Coalition will reinstate the Investing in Our Schools Programme;
• We will also improve teacher standards.

Carers

• The Coalition commits to use the Government’s Inquiry to ensure equitable funding to carers reflecting the work they do on our behalf;
• We will not support Labor’s changes to income tests for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card which will leave thousands of seniors without a Health Card when they need it most.

We face five challenges

• Prosperity of the Nation – how will we ensure the next generation enjoys the standard of living in which we and they can have confidence;
• Reform of the Federation and how government works;
• Environmental Deadlines. Water Security is Food Security;
• Ensuring the security of our nation;
• Creating a more cohesive society.

REVISITING LIBERAL BELIEFS

During his Budget Reply speech, Dr Nelson revisited the bedrock beliefs of the Liberal Party and made the stark contrast between Liberalism, which supports all Australians to aspire to be whatever they want, and the Labor Party, which seeks to make everyone equal by punishing those with aspirations.

• Our beliefs are in the individual, in encouragement of, and rewards for, hard work in everyday life.
• We believe in family small business.
• We believe in families as the bedrock of the nation while respecting and reaching out to every Australian irrespective of his or her personal circumstances.
• We believe in choice – in health, education or membership of a union.
• We believe in lower taxes, sound economic management.
• We believe strongly in defence and security.
• We will be at our best as a nation if we strive to be outward looking, intensely competitive yet compassionate people, reconciled with our indigenous history and imbued with values of hard work, self sacrifice, tolerance and courage.

I’d urge all Queensland Liberals to keep this belief set in mind when they are reviewing and voting on current merger plans between the Liberal and National parties.

WHEN WILL SWAN GET IT?

Could someone please explain the meaning of ‘conflict of interest’ and ‘perceptions of conflict of interest’ to our new Treasurer! When appointing independent boards it’s usual to appoint recent retirees who have current industry knowledge but no direct ties to individual companies.

Among the Swan appointees to the new Infrastructure Australia body announced this week are several current players in infrastructure development. This body has been given $75 million to do a feasibility study of potential infrastructure projects and to produce a list by the end of 2008. If done properly this list will represent billions and billions of dollars of profit for companies in the infrastructure industry.

Yet one of the appointees works for a company that was involved in bidding for the Brisbane Airport Link and for numerous other projects around Australia. No matter how scrupulously appointees behave, it will be impossible to stop speculation about the shape of the final list.

The Treasurer is also continuing Labor’s antipathy to Australia’s biggest employer group, ACCI, by not appointing its representatives to Government bodies. The much smaller Australian Industry Group is seen as more biddable by Labor and the AIG CEO, Heather Ridout, could well become Heather 'Burnout' with appointments to Infrastructure Australia, the government tax review, the government business advisory group and to Skills Australia.

For more information about Wayne Swan’s problems, I'd also suggest that you visit the website www.swanfacts.com.

NORTHERN TERRITORY INTERVENTION

It's becoming obvious that the Federal Labor Government is attempting to undermine key aspects of the Northern Territory Intervention with proposed changes that would remove many safeguards introduced by Mal Brough last year in Parliament.

Labor's proposed changes to our legislation include reinstating the permit system and allowing access to pornography within Indigenous communities.

Recently the Senate Community Affairs Committee, of which I’m a member, heard evidence in Alice Springs and Darwin about fundamental changes the Rudd Government wants to make to the Northern Territory Intervention.

Senator Gary Humphries, Senator Judith Adams and I have tabled a dissenting report recommending that the new legislation be scrapped and it is available at http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/NT_emerg_response_08/report/d01.htm

The provisions of Labor's Bill represent a retreat from the principles which underpin the Northern Territory emergency response. Last year's Little Children are Sacred report found that sexual abuse among Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory was serious, widespread and often unreported. It also found links between alcohol abuse and sexual abuse of children, as well as between the use of pornography and sexual abuse of children.

We heard no evidence in the course of this inquiry to suggest that the magnitude or urgency of this problem had lessened in the past year. Doing so will potentially bring more harm to indigenous people in the Northern Territory, not less.

The key changes recommended by the Government include the broadcasting of Austar subscription TV services into prescribed areas and making available the supply of pornography, as well as restricting access to these communities. These are all areas that we believe are not in the best interests of those communities in the Northern Territory, and we believe that supporting these changes would cripple the intent of the original legislation.

Labor has so completely lost the confidence of indigenous people on this issue that the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) leaders in South Australia have appealed to former Coalition Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough to head an independent intervention into their communities. It represents an important shift in local sentiment, given that the APY leaders vehemently opposed last year's federal intervention in the Northern Territory.

The APY executive council has invited him on to the lands, adjoining the Northern Territory, to advise them on how to tackle entrenched problems with alcohol and drug abuse, violence, child sex assault and poverty. The Mullighan inquiry into child sexual abuse on the APY lands reported two weeks ago that one in seven children was a victim of sexual abuse.

BUSINESS PAYS FOR LABOR ELECTION

Inflation and many other economic indicators have a 'lag time' - in other words there are some results that can be attributed to past governments. However, surveys of business and consumer sentiment represent the feeling of people at the exact moment the survey is taken. That's why the latest surveys are disheartening for those of us who support a strong Australian economy.

The latest National Australia Bank quarterly business survey shows, in their words, that business conditions "deteriorated markedly and unexpectedly in the March quarter". The NAB monthly surveys show similar results. The Sensis business index showed that business perceptions of the economy fell from 50 in November to 14 in February, a massive fall of 36 points. The survey also found that business confidence in the performance of the Government fell by a massive 34 per cent, the largest fall in the history of the index.

Business Confidence by Industry

Business Confidence by State

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment fell from 111 in November to 87 in April, a fall of 23 points, again the largest fall in the history of the index. For the first time in many years more Australians are pessimistic about their future than optimistic.

The prospect of a wages breakout is also creating a drop in confidence, with Victorian teachers recently achieving pay increases of up to 15.2%. Of course the situation is not helped by unionists such as Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Brian Boyd.

"I am quite aware that a number of key private sector unions and groups of workers are arguing for 5% (a year) to get ahead of that 4.2%," he said. "There are agreements already being looked at around 15% over three years, and some will even go to 18-19%."

Mr Boyd said he did not accept that the wage push would exacerbate inflationary pressures. "Ordinary working people didn't cause the inflation situation," he said. "Other factors caused that. The oil price internationally is one of them, and grocery prices going up has nothing to do with what workers do."

ALP DISABILITY FUNDING CHANGES

Before the Budget the Rudd Government announced funding for disability services - in part to counteract the bad press they received from Carer organisations.

Looking closely at the trumpeted $1 billion spending, it's interesting to see what the actual spending is. The $1 billion includes $900 million announced by the Coalition government, and $100 million to provide capital funding for disability supported accommodation. This will construct up to 35 new facilities with up to six residents - or a maximum of 210 people.

With an ageing population and increased pressure placed on ageing parents of children with a disability, $100 million is a drop in the bucket - and the government acknowledges that it is a small step in meeting unmet needs.

What has changed dramatically is that the $900 million in funding will now be given directly to the State and Territory Governments, which will not be required to provide matching funds. The Coalition Government was prepared to provide funding directly to those who needed it - as the 'Roads to Recovery' program showed, the easiest way to make money go further was to keep it out of the hands of State Governments.

GAMING MACHINE COMMUNITY BENEFIT FUND

Changes have been made to the closing dates for funding applications from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund to assist small organisations avoid traditionally difficult times of the year, such as Christmas and the end of the financial year. The cut-off dates for funding applications will be

• February 28
• May 31
• August 31
• November 30

Due to the changes, there will be just three rounds of funding this year - the round originally scheduled for June 30 has been moved to August 31. The Fund provides one-off grants of up to $30,000 to Queensland based not-for-profit community groups. You can find out more about the grants at www.gcbf.qld.gov.au.

I am always available to assist community organisations with letters of support for worthwhile projects.