The PRESIDENT (Senator the Hon. John Hog g) took the chair at 09:30, read prayers and made an acknowledgement of country.
National Integrity Commission Bill 2013
Any investigation of NSW state finances inevitably involves some scrutiny of federal fund-raising. It's done by the same people, the same structures, there are constant crossovers.
If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters.
That the question be now put.
The Senate divided. [11:11]
(The President—Senator Hogg)
The Royal Commission is a non-judicial body authorised to conduct some sort of investigation and to find persons guilty of serious offences without the protection afforded them in the regular exercise of judicial power. The persons are deprived of trial by jury. Their reputations may be destroyed, their chances of acquittal in any subsequent judicial proceedings hopelessly prejudiced by an adverse finding
… … …
… Experience in many countries shows that persons may be effectively destroyed by this process. The fact that punishment by fine or imprisonment does not automatically follow may be of no importance; indeed a government can demonstrate its magnanimity by not proceeding to prosecute in the ordinary way. If a government chooses not to prosecute, the fact that the finding is not binding on any court is of little comfort to the person found guilty; there is no legal proceeding which he—
can institute to establish his—
innocence.
SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE
REPORT NO. 5 OF 2014
1. The committee met in private session on Wednesday, 14 May 2014 at 7.20 pm.
2. The committee resolved to recommend—That—
(a) contingent upon its introduction in the House of Representatives, the provisions of the Australian National Preventive Health Agency (Abolition) Bill 2014 bereferred immediately to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 14 July 2014 (see appendix 1 for a statement of reasons for referral);
(b) contingent upon its introduction in the House of Representatives, the provisions of the Energy Efficiency Opportunities (Repeal) Bill 2014 bereferred immediately to the Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 14 July 2014 (see appendix 2 for a statement of reasons for referral);
(c) the provisions of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Bilateral Agreement Implementation) Bill 2014 and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Cost Recovery) Bill 2014 bereferred immediately to the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 23 June 2014 (see appendices 3, 4 and 5 for statements of reasons for referral);
(d) contingent upon its introduction in the House of Representatives, the provisions of the Health Workforce Australia (Abolition) Bill 2014 bereferred immediately to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 14 July 2014 (see appendix 6 for a statement of reasons for referral);
(e) contingent upon its introduction in the Senate, the Recognition of Foreign Marriages Bill 2014 be referred immediately to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 3 September 2014 (see appendix 7 for a statement of reasons for referral);
(f) the provisions of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 bereferred immediately to the Education and Employment Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 8 July 2014 (see appendix 8 for a statement of reasons for referral); and
(g) the provisions of the Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Income Tax Rates Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Family Trust Distribution Tax (Primary Liability) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Fringe Benefits Tax Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Income Tax (Bearer Debentures) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Income Tax (First Home Saver Accounts Misuse Tax) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Income Tax (TFN Withholding Tax (ESS)) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Superannuation (Departing Australia Superannuation Payments Tax) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Superannuation (Excess Non-concessional Contributions Tax) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Superannuation (Excess Untaxed Roll-over Amounts Tax) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Taxation (Trustee Beneficiary Non-disclosure Tax) (No. 1) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Taxation (Trustee Beneficiary Non-disclosure Tax) (No. 2) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Tax Laws Amendment (Interest on Non-Resident Trust Distributions) (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014, Tax Laws Amendment (Untainting Tax) (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014 and the Trust Recoupment Tax Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014 bereferred immediately to the Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 16 June 2014 (see appendix 9 for a statement of reasons for referral).
3. The committee resolved to recommend—That the following bills not be referred to committees:
Export Legislation Amendment Bill 2014
Export Inspection (Quantity Charge) Amendment Bill 2014
Export Inspection (Service Charge) Amendment Bill 2014
Export Inspection (Establishment Registration Charges) Amendment Bill 2014
Railway Agreement (Western Australia) Amendment Bill 2014
Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Seniors Health Card and Other Measures) Bill 2014
Student Identifiers Bill 2014
Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Mental Health and Other Measures) Bill 2014.
The committee recommends accordingly.
4. The committee deferred consideration of the following bills to its next meeting:
Corporations Amendment (Simple Corporate Bonds and Other Measures) Bill 2014
Private Health Insurance Amendment (GP Services) Bill 2014
Save Our Sharks Bill 2014.
Helen Kroger
Chair
15 May 2014.
APPENDIX 1
SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE
Proposal to refer a bill to a committee:
Name of bill:
Australian National Preventive Health Agency (Abolition) Bill 2014
Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:
To allow for full investigation of the impact on preventive health activity and health outcomes due to the abolition of the Australian National Preventive Health Agency.
Possible submissions or evidence from:
Public Health Association of Australia, National Heart Foundation of Australia, Professor Rob Moodie, Cancer Council of Australia, National Alliance for Action on Alcohol, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Professor Paul Zimmet, Consumers Health Forum of Australia, Obesity Policy Coalition.
Committee to which bill is to be referred:
Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee
Possible hearing date(s):
To be determined by the Committee
Possible reporting date:
14 July 2014
(signed)
Senator McEwen
Whip/Selection of Bills Committee Member
APPENDIX 2
SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE
Proposal to refer a bill to a committee:
Name of bill:
Energy Efficiency Opportunities (Repeal) Bill 2014
Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:
To scrutinise the impact of the abolition of the Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) Program on stakeholders including representatives of the industries with obligations under the program; with particular reference to the educative function the EEO has played in helping them reduce energy consumption.
To provide the Department of Industry the opportunity to present evidence of the success of the EEO program in driving down both the energy costs of Australian Industry and carbon emissions that are harmful to the environment.
To scrutinise the impact of the abolition of the Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) Program on the Government's commitment to a 5 per cent emission reduction target by 2020.
Possible submissions or evidence from:
The Department of Industry, Representatives of the industries with obligations under the program, Non-Government organisations involved in the campaign to reduce carbon emissions.
Committee to which bill is to be referred:
Senate Economics Legislation Committee
Possible hearing date(s):
Possible reporting date:
14 July 2014
(signed)
Senator McEwen
APPENDIX 3
SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE
Proposal to refer a bill to a committee:
Name of bill:
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Bilateral Agreement Implementation) Bill 2014
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Cost Recovery) Bill 2014
Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:
The Coalition Government is committed to establishing a One-Stop Shop for environmental approvals. It will for the first time, streamline environmental assessments and approvals by removing duplication between the Australian Government and States and Territories.
The Committee will review the Bills and report to the Senate on:
Possible submissions or evidence from:
The Department of Industry, Representatives of the industries with obligations under the program, Non-Government organisations involved in the campaign to reduce carbon emissions.
Committee to which bill is to be referred:
Minerals Council of Australia
Business Council of Australia
Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association
Association of Mining and Exploration Companies
Planning Institute of Australia
Indigenous Advisory Council Department of the Environment
Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand
Possible hearing date(s):
To be determined by the Committee
Possible reporting date:
23 June 2014
(signed)
Senator Fifield
APPENDIX 4
SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE
Proposal to refer a bill to a committee:
Name of bill:
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Bilateral Agreement Implementation) Bill 2014
Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:
To gather evidence on the likely or potential impacts of delegating environmental approval powers to state and territory governments.
Possible submissions or evidence from:
Environmental NGOs
CSIRO
Geoscience Australia
Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development
Department of the Environment
Committee to which bill is to be referred:
Environment and Communications Legislation Committee
Possible hearing date(s):
To be determined by the Committee
Possible reporting date:
23 June 2014
(signed)
Senator McEwen
Whip/Selection of Bills Committee Member
APPENDIX 5
SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE
Proposal to refer a bill to a committee:
Name of bill:
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Cost Recovery) Bill 2014
Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:
To gather evidence on the potential impacts of a cost-recovery model on environmental assessment and approval processes, including: budgetary impact; cost impacts for proponents; and impacts on process timing.
Possible submissions or evidence from:
Environmental NGOs
Business Groups
Department of the Environment
Committee to which bill is to be referred:
Environment and Communications Legislation Committee
Possible hearing date(s):
To be determined by the Committee
Possible reporting date:
23 June 2014
(signed)
Senator McEwen
Whip/Selection of Bills Committee Member
APPENDIX 6
SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE
Proposal to refer a bill to a committee:
Name of bill:
Health Workforce Australia (Abolition) Bill 2014
Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:
• To ensure adequate assessment of the impact of the bill and the abolition of Health Workforce Australia.
• To gather evidence and provide scrutiny of the impacts of the bill and the abolition of Health Workforce Australia.
Possible submissions or evidence from:
Health Workforce Australia
Department of Health
Australian Medical Association Australian Medical Council
National Rural Health Alliance Inc Australian Medicare Local Alliance
Committee to which bill is to be referred:
Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee
Possible reporting date:
14 July 2014
(signed)
Senator McEwen
Whip/Selection of Bills Committee Member
APPENDIX 7
SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE
Proposal to refer a bill to a committee:
Name of bill:
Recognition of Foreign Marriages Bill 2014
Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:
The benefits of recognising the legal foreign marriages of same-sex couples and the impact of marriage equality in other countries, with particular reference to:
(a) the social and economic benefits of recognising foreign same-sex marriages,
(b) the social, cultural and economic impact of marriage equality in foreign countries,
(c) the impact on religious communities and religious freedoms of marriage equality in foreign countries.
Possible submissions or evidence from:
Australian Human Rights Commission
Australian Marriage Equality
Williams Institute
Committee to which bill is to be referred:
Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee
Possible hearing date(s):
To be determined by the Committee
Possible reporting date:
03 September 2014
(signed)
Senator Hanson-Young
APPENDIX 8
SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE
Proposal to refer a bill to a committee:
Name of bill:
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2014
Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:
To ensure a thorough and complete assessment of its potential impact on occupational health and safety coverage for workers.
Possible submissions or evidence from:
Employers and employees covered by the Comcare scheme, employee representative organisations and other bodies associated with the operation of the Comcare scheme.
Committee to which bill is to be referred:
Education and Employment Legislation Committee
Possible reporting date:
08 July 2014
(signed)
Senator McEwen
Whip/Selection of Bills Committee Member
APPENDIX 9
SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE
Proposal to refer a bill to a committee:
Name of bill:
Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Income Tax Rates Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Family Trust Distribution Tax (Primary Liability) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Fringe Benefits Tax Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Income Tax (Bearer Debentures) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014 Income Tax (First Home Saver Accounts Misuse Tax) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Income Tax (TFN Withholding Tax (ESS)) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Superannuation (Departing Australia Superannuation Payments Tax) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Superannuation (Excess Non-concessional Contributions Tax) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Superannuation (Excess Untaxed Roll-over Amounts Tax) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Taxation (Trustee Beneficiary Non-disclosure Tax) (No. 1) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Taxation (Trustee Beneficiary Non-disclosure Tax) (No. 2) Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Tax Laws Amendment (Interest on Non-Resident Trust Distributions) (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Tax Laws Amendment (Untainting Tax) (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Trust Recoupment Tax Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014
Reasons for referral/principal issues for consideration:
• Scrutiny of tax design and integrity issues
Possible submissions or evidence from:
• Tax practitioner bodies (e.g. Tax Institute, KPMG)
• Academics
• Other stakeholders
Committee to which bill is to be referred:
Senate Economics Legislation Committee
Possible reporting date:
16 June 2014
(signed)
Senator McEwen
Whip/Selection of Bills Committee Member
(a) the following government business orders of the day be considered from 12:45 pm today:
No. 3 Governor-General's opening speech—Address-in-reply
No. 4 Amending Acts 1901 to 1969 Repeal Bill 2014
No. 5 Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 1) 2014
No. 6 Tax Bonus for Working Australians Repeal Bill 2013
No. 7 Tax Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No. 1) Bill 2014
No. 8 Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Submarine Cable Protection) Bill 2013
No. 9 Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Bill 2014; and
(b) government business be called on after consideration of the orders of the day listed in paragraph (a) and considered not later than 2 pm today.
That the order of general business for consideration today be as follows:
(a) general business notice of motion No. 241 standing in the name of Senator Moore relating to the 2014-15 Budget; and
(b) orders of the day relating to government documents.
That—
(1) To ensure appropriate consideration of time critical bills by Senate committees, the provisions of all bills introduced into the House of Representatives after 15 May 2014 and up to and including 5 June 2014 that contain substantive provisions commencing on or before 1 July 2014 (together with the provisions of any related bill) are referred to committees for inquiry and report by 16 June 2014.
(2) The committee to which each bill is referred shall be determined in accordance with the order of 13 November 2013, allocating departments and agencies to standing committees.
(3) A committee to which a bill has been referred may determine, by unanimous decision, that there are no substantive matters that require examination and report that fact to the Senate.
(4) This order does not apply in relation to bills which contain:
(a) no provisions other than provisions appropriating revenue or moneys (appropriation bills); and
(b) commencement clauses providing only for the legislation to commence on Royal Assent.
That—
(a) the address-in-reply be presented to His Excellency the Governor-General by the President and such senators as may desire to accompany him; and
(b) on Monday, 16 June 2014, the Senate suspend at 3.30 pm till 5.30 pm, for the purpose of presenting the address-in-reply to the Governor-General.
That—
(1) On Tuesday, 17 June 2014:
(a) the routine of business from 5 pm shall be valedictory statements; and
(b) the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 7.20 pm.
(2) On Tuesday, 24 June 2014:
(a) the routine of business from 4.30 pm shall be valedictory statements; and
(b) the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 7.20 pm.
(3) On Wednesday, 18 June and 25 June 2014:
(a) the routine of business from 5 pm shall be valedictory statements; and
(b) the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 7.20 pm.
(4) On Tuesday, 24 June 2014, any proposal pursuant to standing order 75 shall not be proceeded with.
(5) In making valedictory statements, a senator shall not speak for more than 20 minutes.
(6) If on any of these days the valedictory statements conclude before the time for the adjournment is proposed the Senate shall return to its routine of business.
Recognition of Foreign Marriages Bill 2014
That the following bill be introduced:
A Bill for an Act to amend the Marriage Act 1961 and for related purposes.
That this bill may proceed without formalities and be now read a first time.
That this bill be now read a second time.
RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN MARRIAGES BILL 2014
This Bill amends the Marriage Act 1961 so that same-sex marriages that were validly entered into in foreign countries can be recognised in Australia.
Currently international marriages that are entered into by different-sex couples are legally recognised under Australian law. However marriages entered into by same-sex couples are barred from recognition through an explicit prohibition in the Marriage Act. This Bill removes this prohibition and affords full recognition of overseas marriage to couples when they return to Australia, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.
The introduction of this Bill comes at a time when likeminded countries around the world are embracing equality. Britain recently celebrated their first same-sex marriages with couples from all corners of the world travelling great lengths to be the first to marry on British soil. Rainbow flags were hung all over the country to celebrate the occasion and people rejoiced when the first couples said "I do".
On the other side of the world the rainbow of equality has stretched across the Tasman Sea to join two neighbouring countries, Australia and New Zealand. Since New Zealand legislated for marriage equality last year, over 300 Australians have made the journey to have their love and commitment for one another legally recognised.
Those couples will now join the many Australians who have been travelling the world over the past decade to get married, only to come back home to the country that they love to find that their marriage is not recognised. Despite being legally married in the foreign country, in their homeland they step off the plane and have to leave their marriage at the customs gate.
This is not in the Australian spirit, particularly when public support for marriage equality is at an all-time high. Over 65 per cent of Australians want to see marriage equality happen. However, as we wait for others to accept the inevitable, we should at least recognise the marriages of all couples – lesbian, gay and straight – who have legally married overseas.
This Bill offers a modest and practical step forward to marriage equality and it is consistent with the foundational Australian ideal of equality before the law.
The marriages that are the subject of this Bill have been entered into by the parties with sincerity and commitment and are valid marriages under the law of the country where they were solemnised. The couples have gone to the effort and emotional investment of organising a wedding in a foreign country, often at great expense and involving family and friends from Australia, and they have made vows that would be life-long if they were to remain in the country where the wedding was held. The solemnity of the vows that these couples made overseas should be recognised by Australia's Parliament and people.
By recognising same-sex marriages from overseas, as we do with all other marriages, this Bill will help gay and lesbian Australians who are in loving relationships get the recognition that they deserve.
Australia will not be alone in recognising international same-sex marriages. Israel, Slovenia and Japan are just some of the countries which recognise the marriages entered into in foreign countries by same-sex couples without having domestic laws to perform same-sex marriage. Couples from those countries can marry in one of the fourteen countries which have marriage equality, such as Argentina, Britain, France or New Zealand, and then return to have their marriage recognised under the laws of their homeland.
This Bill is the first step for Australia along the road to marriage equality and an important one at that. Most Australians understand that the time for marriage equality came long ago and it's the Australian Parliament's duty to catch up.
I commend this Bill to the Senate.
That the time for the presentation of the report of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee on its inquiry into grass-fed cattle levies be extended to 16 July 2014.
That the Senate—
(a) supports the 20th anniversary of the International Day of the Family, today 15 May 2014;
(b) recognises families as the foundation of our society through which our society thrives and flourishes;
(c) acknowledges families are entitled to receive tax benefits to compensate for the cost of raising children including the recognition of the need for horizontal tax equity for all families; and
(d) calls on the Government to:
(i) ensure that families with dependent children receive adequate financial recognition for the cost of raising children, and
(ii) provide equal childcare funding for all children whether they are cared for by a parent in their home or through childcare places for parents who choose to return to work.
Omit subparagraph (d)(ii).
The Senate divided. [12:08]
(The President—Senator Hogg)
That the Senate—
(a) notes:
(i) the huge community opposition to Metgasco's plans to drill for tight gas near Bentley in New South Wales,
(ii) that tight gas extraction involves hydraulic fracking which risks precious water resources, and
(iii) that 84.5 per cent of Bentley locals want their lands and road gas-field free;
(b) congratulates the Bentley blockaders for their commitment to protecting their land, water, the climate and regional communities from big gas; and
(c) calls on:
(i) the New South Wales Government to respect the rights of protesters to peacefully protest, and to respond to the community's valid concerns by revoking Metgasco's gas exploration permit, and
(ii) the Australian Government to extend the current protections for water resources under our national environment laws to all unconventional gas, to give landholders the right to say no to gas mining on their land, and to not hand responsibility for protecting land and water from big gas to state governments.
The Senate divided. [12:14]
(The President—Senator Hogg)
That the Senate—
G20 (Safety and Security) Complementary Bill 2014
That this bill may proceed without formalities and be now read a first time.
That this bill be now read a second time.
G20 (SAFETY AND SECURITY) COMPLEMENTARY BILL 2014
The G20 (Safety and Security) Complementary Bill 2014 will contribute to the success of the G20 later this year.
It will do this by ensuring the powers that can be exercised by police and other authorised persons are clear and unambiguous. These powers are designed to provide for the safety and security of people and property at the Brisbane Airport during the Leaders' Summit in November are clear and unambiguous.
The G20 is an important global forum.
It brings together the leaders of the world's biggest economies to play a leadership role in addressing economic issues that matter to all countries, members and non-members alike.
Collectively, G20 member countries represent around 85 per cent of global GDP, over 75 per cent of global trade and two thirds of the world's population. Australia assumed the G20 Presidency in December last year. To be able to host the next round of G20 events this year is a great privilege.
These events will bring national leaders and a range of other influential international figures to our shores.
This presents an opportunity for Australia to demonstrate its leadership both regionally and globally on economic issues in a tough economic climate.
As Chair, the Prime Minister has structured this year's events around the key themes of:
Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors had a successful meeting in February and will meet again in September.
Trade Ministers will meet in July and Employment Ministers will meet in September.
These meetings will culminate in the Leaders' Summit in Brisbane in November which will build on the work of earlier meetings.
The Prime Minister has labelled the Leaders' Summit the most important meeting of world leaders Australia has ever hosted.
It is easy to see why.
But along with this important opportunity comes great responsibility.
Appropriate security arrangements and effective collaboration between law enforcement and other agencies will be paramount to ensuring these G20 events proceed smoothly.
I am confident our nation's first-rate law enforcement and security agencies possess the personnel, organisational capacity, skills and experience to meet this challenge.
It is our responsibility to ensure that the appropriate settings are in place for our agencies to do their job.
Queensland has enacted legislation to give police and other authorised persons the powers they will need to ensure the safety of our high profile guests and the public during the G20.
Specifically, the Queensland G20 (Safety and Security) Act will ensure police have the powers they need to:
The Queensland legislation also provides for 'security areas' in which closer security arrangements can be implemented.
This Bill is necessary to ensure the powers conferred by the Queensland legislation can be exercised within the Brisbane Airport during the Leaders' Summit.
It will do this by clarifying the relationship between the Queensland legislation and existing Commonwealth aviation and airports legislation at the Brisbane Airport for the purposes of the G20 Summit.
Importantly, it will address any unintended overlap between Commonwealth aviation and airports legislation and Queensland legislation to ensure the safety of this event is not affected by any ambiguity.
The Bill will sunset the day after the Leaders' Summit ends. This will avoid the need to repeal the legislation after it has ceased to be necessary.
That the Senate take note of the report.
… there is nothing more certain to scare customers away from Tasmanian forest products than the delisting of areas that are currently in the Tasmanian wilderness World Heritage area and the starting up of logging there. That is going to send an appalling message internationally to the markets who are looking for … controversy-free timber.
… a proposal as threadbare and lacking in factual information and as oblivious to World Heritage values as the proposal before it this time will bring Australia into disrepute at that international level.
Amending Acts 1901 to 1969 Repeal Bill 2014
… the repeal of the Acts will not substantially alter existing arrangements or make any change to the substance of the law.
This Bill will have no financial impact.
That this bill be now read a third time.
Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 1) 2014
That this bill be now read a third time.
Tax Bonus for Working Australians Repeal Bill 2013
That this bill be now read a third time.
Tax Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No. 1) Bill 2014
That this bill be now read a third time.
Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Submarine Cable Protection) Bill 2013
That this bill be now read a third time.
Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Bill 2014
That this bill be now read a third time.
Social Security Legislation Amendment (Increased Employment Participation) Bill 2014
You can't just throw the health and education issues on the states and not give them the money to deal with the problem.
This whole thing seems like a wedge to get the states to ask for the GST to be raised.
Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment Bill 2013
I am a trade union official; it runs through my blood. I am now a senator, but 'once a trade union official, always a trade union official'.
… we propose that Australian universities be free to set … fees according to the market value of their degrees. A deregulated or market-based—
… we propose that Australian universities be free to set … fees according to the market value of their degrees. A deregulated or market-based HECS will make the student contribution system fairer, because the fees students pay will more closely approximate the value they receive through future earnings.
… drive the price down because competition always drives the price down.
A very good budget for defence.
I was on the record saying that the budget Labor gave [in 2012] left things in an unsustainable mess. What we're seeing here is the first stage of the repair job.
If you look carefully, the $409 million had a contribution of $355 million, of which $239 million was a save but the other $115 million came back into the budget in terms of our savings.
The staff should have no involvement in outside employment or in the daily work of any business or retain a directorship of a company without the written agreement of their minister and the Special Minister of State.
That the Senate take note of the explanation.
In relation to Australia Network, presumably the provision of Australia Network's service is intertwined with Radio Australia and other parts of the ABC, that there are resources, including staff, which are shared.
What would the impact be on jobs and resources at the ABC if Australia Network was taken off the ABC or shut down?
How many jobs only involved in Australia Network would be cut?
What would be the impact on Radio Australia, and what would be the impact on all other parts of the ABC?
What would be the impact of this on each state?
That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today.
Australians want to see local content on our screens, everyone loves it. But where's the future?
Older Australians are relying on the age pension because they are blowing their super on cruises and luxury items, Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss has declared.
"Increasingly, the lifestyle and the savings for superannuation are being seen as an opportunity to enjoy a few cruises and the luxuries of life for a few years until it runs out and then people wish to fall back on the age pension," the Nationals leader told the Conservative Breakfast Club in Brisbane.
"Retirees generally do not squander their money and it is nonsense to suggest they do," National Seniors Australia chief executive Michael O'Neill said. "People who save and accumulate money for their retirement do not then go out and throw it up against the wall just to get a pension."
Without policy change, the budget is projected to be in an underlying cash deficit for the next 10 years.
If this situation came to pass, it would mean that the budget would be in deficit for 16 consecutive years, substantially longer than the 7 years of deficits in the early 1990s.
That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Human Services (Senator Payne) to a question without notice asked by Senator Rhiannon today relating to funding for public education.
Australian Government response to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee report:
Annual reports (No.2 of 2012)
May 2014
Response to the second Community Affairs Legislation Committee report on Annual Reports for 2012
On 12 September 2012 the Community Affairs Legislation Committee tabled report titled Annual reports (No. 2 of 2012). The Committee made the following statement and recommendation:
" Bodies not presenting annual reports to the Senate
1.43 In accordance with Standing Order 25(21)(h), the committee is required to report to the Senate on whether there are any bodies which do not present annual reports to the Senate and which should present such reports.
1.44 The committee notes that the National E-Health Transition Authority
(NEHTA) has been invited to several estimates hearings and has received a significant
number of questions on notice arising from those hearings, including questions around
the issues of funding, expenditure and governance. The committee notes that NEHTA
is not required to present an annual report to Parliament.
1.45 Given NEHTA's significant public funding and responsibilities that go to
Commonwealth policy and funding, the committee asks the government to consider
whether, as a principal shareholder in NEHTA, it should make arrangements for the
report to be presented to Parliament.
Recommendation 1
1.46 The committee recommends that the Commonwealth government review
whether an annual report of NEHTA shou ld be presented to Parliament. "
Government Response
The Commonwealth has reviewed the Senate's recommendation and has concluded that NEHTA is not bound by the provisions of the Public Service Act 1999 to provide an annual report to the Parliament.
NEHTA, jointly funded by all states and territories and the Commonwealth Government, is registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) as an Australian Public Company, Limited by Guarantee (not for profit) and is required to prepare and have audited an annual report in accordance with the Corporations Act 2001.
Since commencement of funding in 2005, NEHTA has provided an annual report to the Department of Health at the end of each financial year. A copy of the report is forwarded to the Minister for Health and is publicly available on the NEHTA website.
The review took the following factors into consideration:
Policy and Legislation
• The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) Guidelines for the presentation of documents to Parliament (including Annual Reports) dated June 2012 states that the requirement to provide an Annual Report to Parliament refers to an Executive Agency.
• Section 65(2) of the Public Service Act 1999 states that for the purposes of this Act, an Executive Agency consists of the Head of the Agency, together with the Australian Public Service (APS) employees assisting the Head.
• Under the Public Service Act 1999, NEHTA is not considered an Executive Agency and is therefore not bound to provide an Annual Report under these provisions.
That the Senate take note of the report.
The committee recommends that the Commonwealth government investigates options for introducing enforceable undertakings powers as an option available to law enforcement agencies during literary proceeds investigations.
That Senator Gallacher replace Senator Pratt on the Senate Economics Legislation Committee for the week beginning 2 June 2014.
Social Security Legislation Amendment (Green Army Programme) Bill 2014
That this bill may proceed without formalities and be now read a first time.
That this bill be now read a second time.
SOCIAL SECURITY LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (GREEN ARMYPROGRAMME) BILL 2014
Today is an important milestone in the delivery of the Coalition Government's Green Army Programme.
The Social Security Legislation (Green Army Programme) Amendment Bill 2014 amends the Social Security Act 1991 and the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to clarify social security arrangements for participants receiving the green army allowance.
The Green Army Programme
The Green Army is a key Coalition election commitment and will commence from July 2014.
The Green Army will become Australia's largest-ever environmental workforce, building to 15,000 participants by 2018 - capable of delivering 1,500 on-ground environmental projects in communities across Australia.
The Green Army will make a real difference to the environment and local communities through projects such as:
Fostering teamwork, local ownership and community spirit, the Green Army will deliver tangible benefits for the environment and skills development for thousands of young Australians.
The Green Army will have significant benefits for young Australians.
This voluntary initiative will recruit young people aged 17–24 years who are interested in protecting their local environment while gaining hands-on, practical skills and experience.
The Green Army is both an environment and training programme. It will help young people to increase their skills base, gain practical experience and enhance their job readiness.
The Programme will be delivered by a national Service Provider (or multiple Providers) that will be responsible for recruiting, establishing and managing Green Army Teams across Australia to engage in approved projects, in partnership with and driven by local communities.
Projects will be assessed on a merit basis against their environmental benefits, their contribution to the local community and their potential to enhance skills training for participants.
Project proposals will be submitted to the Australian Government by individuals and organisations, such as local community groups, councils and Natural Resource Management bodies for consideration.
The Green Army Programme will commence from July 2014 with the roll-out of 250 Projects in Round 1 and the participation of 2,500 young people in 2014-15.
A priority for investment through initial rounds of the Programme will be Green Army election commitments.
More than 150 projects were announced by the Government during the 2013 election. Some of these include:
Green Army Projects will run for between 20 and 26 weeks. During this period Green Army Participants will have the opportunity to develop job-ready skills and undertake Training. The Service Provider will be responsible for developing Training plans for each of the Green Army participants.
The Bill
Up to nine eligible Participants and at least one Team Supervisor will constitute a Green Army Team.
Participants will receive a green army allowance while participating in the Programme and the Service Provider will be responsible for the disbursement of the allowance. Team Supervisors will be employed and paid a wage by the Service Provider.
The Bill ensures that people receiving a green army allowance under the Green Army Programme will not also receive a social security benefit or social security pension simultaneously.
The Green Army Programme will involve six monthly placements in Green Army Teams providing an alternative to income support for many young Australians interested in engaging in work-like experience and activities.
Similar to other programmes, such as Work for the Dole and previous Green Corps and Green Jobs Corps programmes, participants who are receiving a green army allowance, or a part-time participant who is not receiving green army allowance but meeting their mutual obligations, will not be considered workers or employees for the purposes of various Commonwealth laws.
However, a determination provision within the Bill will ensure that Green Army Team Supervisors will be considered workers or employees for the purposes of various Commonwealth laws.
The Bill also specifies income test arrangements for a person's social security pension if the green army allowance is payable to the person's partner.
Cleaner Environment Plan
The Green Army is a central component of the government's Cleaner Environment Plan focussed on Clean Air, Clean Land, Clean Water and Heritage.
The Coalition believes in encouraging hands-on, practical, grassroots environmental action as a means of fixing environmental problems, as well as tapping into the knowledge of local communities, encouraging them to identify and fix their own local problems.
Clean Land is essential for a cleaner environment. Our plan is focused on cleaning up and revegetating urban and regional environments and other complementary reforms to strengthen natural resource management and Landcare delivery across Australia.
The Green Army also complements the government's 'Direct Action' approach to climate change.
Direct Action provides Australians with the opportunity for individuals, communities, organisations and companies to help address our environmental challenges.
Conclusion
The Green Army builds on the Howard Government's successful Green Corps programme established in 1996 to employ young people in environmental projects to preserve and restore our natural and cultural environment.
Our Green Army will deliver tangible benefits for the environment, skills development for thousands of young Australians and will strengthen local community involvement.
I commend the Bill.
That the Senate condemns the Abbott Government's budget of twisted priorities and broken promises.
Processes developed by the Commonwealth and Queensland governments have resulted in $1.7 billion of ineligible costs or withdrawn claims being excluded from reconstruction projects to date.
… a government that says what it means and means what it says, a government of no surprises, and no excuses, a government that understands the limits of power as well as its potential. And a government that accepts that it will be judged more by its deeds than by its mere words.
There will be no changes to pensions …
We are about reducing taxes, not increasing taxes. We are about getting rid of taxes, not imposing new taxes.
A dumb way to cut spending would be to threaten family benefits or means test them further.
The economy is still fairly soft. Growth is below trend … I don't see any particular urgency about 2014-15 or 2015-16.
On the most recent figures the Australian government's debt is $191.5 billion, forecast to rise to more than $600 billion—
The forecast deficit is $47 billion, but all economists said these figures were tiny—compared with other OECD countries—as a percentage of the overall economy.
Tonight Mr Shorten spoke on behalf of millions of Australians who feel shocked and angry.
Shocked by the brutality of this Government's attack on their way of life.
Angry at a Prime Minister who pretended to be on their side.
This Budget divides our Parliament.
More importantly, it will divide our nation.
The Government says this Budget is just the beginning.
And it is.
The beginning of extreme policies with an extreme impact on the Australian people.
This is just the beginning, turning Australia into a place most of us won't recognise - a colder, meaner, narrower place.
Losing our sense of fairness and our sense of community.
Labor believes in a different Australia.
An Australia where your destiny is not pre-determined by your parents' wealth or your postcode.
A fair and prosperous nation populated by a creative and productive people.
But this is not the Australia we saw reflected in the Budget on Tuesday night.
On Tuesday night we saw the outlines of Tony Abbott's Australia – an Australia divided into two societies.
This was a 'tax it or cut it' Budget.
Millions of Australians now know what Abbott's Australia will look like:
If you need to see a doctor, you will pay more.
If you need to buy medicine, you will pay more.
If you go to work and earn a good wage, you will pay more.
If you have a family, your support will be cut.
If you lose your job, your support will be cut.
If you are a young person, you will be left behind.
If you rely on a pension, you will be punished.
And if you drive a car, even for that, you will have to pay more.
And if you relied on the Prime Minister's promises– then you were betrayed.
This is a Budget of broken promises built on lies.
And not just lies; systemic and wilful ones.
A Budget that goes out of its way to create an underclass.
A Budget with the wrong priorities for Australia.
A Budget that confirms the worst fears Australians always had about this Prime Minister.
This is a Budget based on a myth.
And now on the basis of this myth, a manufactured crisis, the Australian people have been ambushed with unconscionable changes.
Where is the decency? Where is the honesty? Where is the humanity in this Government?
For a Prime Minister who campaigned to restore trust in our public life, he has let the country down and badly.
The Budget papers reveal the economic truth.
Australia is fundamentally strong, and so is the legacy Labor left behind.
Low inflation
Low interest rates
Net debt peaking at just one seventh of the level of the major advanced economies.
A triple-A credit rating with a stable outlook from all three international ratings agencies – one of only eight countries in the world.
Superannuation savings larger than the size of our whole economy
And around a million new jobs created
That's what we left.
Let's call the Liberal Budget 'emergency' what it is:
An attempt to justify the Abbott Government's blueprint for a radically different, less fair Australia.
From a Government that see the Australian people not as workers, parents, carers, patients or commuters but as economic units unentitled to respect.
BROKEN PROMISES
The Australian people have now witnessed this Prime Minister repeatedly promising one thing before an election while doing something completely different after.
Say what you like Prime Minister.
Spin as hard as you can.
Australians know a lie when they hear one.
They can spot a phony when they see one.
And they know when they've been deceived.
This Budget underestimates the Australian people.
Australians are up for hard decisions.
But pay them respect, sit down, talk to them, and listen.
No dancing past the hard questions.
No lectures.
No surprises.
No excuses.
What the Australian public expect are consistent structural changes aimed at the medium and long term.
A Budget that invests in the future.
That is, a Budget which points the way to an achievable destination but by a process, anchored in reasonableness.
COST OF LIVING
A nation's economic confidence begins with the family Budget.
And this is a budget that shows no understanding or respect for around 9 million family budgets.
This is a Budget that will push up the cost of living for every Australian family.
A Budget drawn up by people who have never lived from paycheque to paycheque.
Never sat at the kitchen table with a stack of bills to work out which ones they can put off and which ones have to be paid to avoid being cut off.
People who don't understand that increasing petrol tax will make the school run, the commute and driving the kids to weekend sport more expensive.
So Labor says to the Prime Minister, don't lecture Australian families about hard choices.
Do something to help them make ends meet.
This morning Mr Shorten met with a young family from Queanbeyan.
Karim and Radmilla have two daughters, Isabella aged 4 and Mary Therese aged 8 – and another baby due next week.
Karim is a high school teacher.
Like most Australians, Radmilla and Karim aren't wealthy – they work hard to make ends meet.
They balance their family budget, but some fortnights are harder than others.
They worry about their washing machine breaking down out of warranty – or paying for new tyres on the family car.
No matter how hard they try, the weekly shop never seems to cost less.
It always seems like less than a month has passed since the last bill landed in the letter box.
And if the Prime Minister gets his way – Radmilla, Karim and hundreds of thousands of Australians like them will be worse off every year.
The Government's GP tax, the Hospital tax and the increased cost of medicines will cost this family more than $450 per year.
Whenever they fill up their car – they will be slugged at the bowser.
And when Term 3 starts, there will be no more SchoolKids Bonus to help with the costs of new books and new uniforms and shoes for their growing kids.
This Prime Minister's Budget will smash family budgets across the nation.
NATSEM modelling shows that a couple with a single income of $65,000 and two kids in school will have over $1700 cut from their family budget.
Add in health costs, and the Prime Minister is cutting nearly $40 from their weekly budget, every week.
And under this Budget, the cuts will get deeper and deeper.
More than tripling to almost $120 a week by the time of the next election.
In 2016 this family will suffer cuts of over $6,000 per year.
That's around one in every ten dollars of the family budget gone.
This is not a Budget shaped by the everyday life of real people.
MEDICARE
Medicare –universal access to healthcare - is fundamental to our Australian way of life.
Labor created Medicare because we believe that the health of any one of us is important to all of us.
We are all members of the Australian family and Medicare is, at its core, a family measure.
And with it, we created a new community standard one that is now 40 years old.
We reject a US-style, two-tiered system where your wealth determines your health.
The Prime Minister once claimed he was the best friend that Medicare ever had but this Budget proves he is ideologically opposed to Medicare and its central principle of universality.
The government proposes to establish a $7 GP Tax for visits to a general practitioner.
The justification is that the Medicare system is too expensive and requires greater patient contribution.
Yet the Budget reveals that not one dollar of the GP Tax will be returned to recurrent health spending.
Not one dollar.
The GP tax is being applied simply to break the universality of Medicare.
The kind of thing you would expect from American Tea Party Republicans - not from a Liberal Party formerly committed to Medicare.
And no hypothecation to a future fund – whether medical or otherwise – justifies the measure or the wilful breach of promise it entails.
Taxing the sick won't heal them.
Making medicine more expensive won't make us healthier.
Yes, investing in medical research is crucial. All research is crucial.
But you don't fund the search for the cures of tomorrow by imposing a tax on the patients of today.
Australians are smarter and more generous than this.
But the GP tax does another thing.
It seeks to turn Australian GPs into tax collectors.
To dragoon them into the service of a completely ideological quest - to distract their time and attention from the immediate task of diagnosing and treating their patients.
The Government has forgotten that general practitioners are the front line troops in our constant battle to keep Australians healthy.
Only the government's general contempt and disregard of them could lead it to impose such a burden on them.
This Parliament has a choice – it is either for or against Medicare.
Labor gives you this commitment .
Labor will never, never give up on Medicare.
We will fight this wicked and punitive measure to its ultimate end.
$80 BILLION
In some ways, the worst thing the Treasurer said on Tuesday night didn't actually come from his speech.
It was concealed in the Budget papers.
Hidden in the papers was a capricious, unconscionable attack upon health and education services.
The Budget papers reveal an $80 billion cut to schools and hospitals – a cut for which there had been no discussion, no forewarning, not a shred of consultation.
And let me repeat, the sum, - in case people might have missed the scale of it.
Eighty thousand million, or in today's parlance $80 billion.
$50 billion dollars from hospitals.
$30 billion dollars from schools.
An attack on this scale is unprecedented.
The Treasurer promised to bring forth massive savings, fairly applied.
Instead, in an incompetent and cowardly way, he has outsourced the main burden of his savings task to the States.
How could a collection of States with limited revenue possibly cope with these cuts?
The Treasurer and the Prime Minister have hinted at the answer: a broader and heavier GST.
The Prime Minister and the Treasurer are blackmailing the States with unconscionable cuts to turn them into the Commonwealth's cat's paw –
A Trojan Horse to a bigger GST but absolving the Abbott Government of fingerprints or blame.
This is how low this Budget's formulations have taken us.
Even John Howard was prepared to take his GST to the people and proselytise on it.
But not Tony Abbott or big brave Joe Hockey.
Never before has the scale of such an attack ever been mounted upon the States and never before so underhandedly.
Labor makes it clear, that we on this side of the Chamber will have no truck with these brutal and cruel cuts to hospitals and schools.
EDUCATION
Labor is the party of education.
We are the party that brought the dream of a university degree within reach of all Australians.
We are the party that implemented the Gonski reforms for schools funding based on need.
A $14.7 billion additional investment in Australian schools.
But after this Budget, the Gonski reforms are dead, buried and cremated.
But Labor is committed to making every Australian school a great school.
It was Mr Shorten's mother who taught him the power of education.
The pathway that it can provide.
Mr Shorten's mum was a teacher, winning a teaching scholarship in the early 1950s.
She taught in city and country government schools. She travelled the world, she raised a family.
And then studied again later in life.
His Mum never stopped being a teacher.
She taught his twin brother and him everything.
She taught him the value of education.
Like all parents, what we want for our children is a quality education.
What separates Labor from the Liberals is: we want a quality education for all Australians.
Because it is Australia's productivity that will determine how we fare in the 21st Century.
When Mr Shorten was at school there were 7.5 taxpayers to support each Australian aged 65 years or older.
When his daughter was born in 2009, that ratio was five to one.
By 2050 it will be only 2.7 to one.
Labor knows the only answer to this challenge is to make the right investments in skills and productivity.
Only through education will Australia fully develop our economic potential, our scientific potential, our artistic potential – our people's potential.
That is why the Prime Minister's $5 billion cuts to Higher education are so destructive.
Cuts that mark the end of Australia's fair and equitable higher education system.
Cuts that bring down the curtain on the Whitlam university legacy.
The legacy that gave Australians like Dr Cathy Foley, Astronomer Bryan Gaensler and author Tim Winton the chance to go to University.
The legacy that gave Tony Abbott – and at least 12 members of his Cabinet the same opportunity.
An opportunity that they now seek to deny the next generation of young Australians.
This Prime Minister's cuts to higher education sell-out Australian genius and reject Australian potential.
Labor will vote against these cuts to university funding and student support.
Labor will not support a system of higher fees, bigger student debt, reduced access and greater inequality.
We will never tell Australians that the quality of their education depends on their capacity to pay.
PENSIONS AND SUPERANNUATION
Just as we will never tell pensioners to tighten their belts, again and again.
This Prime Minister sees pensioners as a burden to the Budget.
Labor rejects this.
Labor believes that Australians who have worked hard all their lives, who have paid taxes all their lives – and if lucky, have a humble family home – have earned a dignified and secure retirement.
Pensioners should not have to worry about whether or not they can afford to put on their heating, visit their doctor or buy a treat for their grandkids.
Let's be clear: the aged pension is not a king's ransom.
It is a modest sum.
$20,000 a year.
The reforms introduced by Labor guarantee the pension keeps pace with the cost of living.
If the Prime Minister's pension cuts had been in place for the last four years - today pensioners would be at least $1700 worse off.
The Prime Minister's breach of trust with pensioners isn't just breaking a promise he made before the last election.
He is breaking a promise Australia made with our fellow citizens forty and fifty years ago.
At the start of their working life.
A promise that if they worked hard and made a contribution, the nation would look after them in their old age.
This Prime Minister's cuts trespass against the nation's covenant with pensioners.
This Prime Minister's lies and broken promises hurt every generation of Australians.
Pensioners, and their sons and daughters, who are worried about the quality of life for their ageing parents.
Labor makes this solemn pledge to Australia's pensioners.
Labor will not surrender the security of your retirement.
We will fight for a fair pension.
And Labor will prevail.
This Government's failure to plan for the needs of older Australians is not just a problem for those currently on the aged pension.
The Prime Minister and the Treasurer should not harangue Australians about working til they're 70.
If their only plan is for Australians to work longer and harder and retire later, with less.
Mr Shorten has spent his adult life representing the people who do the real heavy lifting: tradespeople, labourers, cleaners, nurses and other Australians who make a living with skilled hands and strong backs.
Many of them started work at 15 – don't force them to work til they're 70.
Rather, empower Australian workers to save for retirement is so important.
Labor wants Australia to have the world's best retirement savings system.
This Prime Minister wants Australia to have the world's oldest retirement age.
And in this Budget the Government continues to target the retirement savings of all Australians.
The Abbott Government has cut superannuation– another broken promise.
It means more Australians will be reliant on a pension in the future.
As Minister, Mr Shorten moved legislation in this parliament to raise super from 9 to 12 per cent.
And reduced taxation on the modest superannuation contributions of Australians who earn $37,000 or less in a year.
Yet one of the first acts of this Government was to abolish Labor's Low Income Super Contribution.
This was a cowardly raid on the retirement savings of 3.6 million low-income earners.
Two thirds of those hurt by this change were women - who had moved in and out of the workforce to start and raise a family.
How can this Prime Minister think it's OK to pay multi-millionaires $50,000 that they don't need.
And yet rob the retirement savings of over two million women who earn less than that in a whole year?
Prime Minister –how can you not see how unfair this is?
JOBS
Labor believes every Australian should be able to find good and fulfilling jobs with decent pay and conditions in productive and profitable enterprises.
But for Australians under 30 who are looking for work, this Budget offers no hope.
It offers despair.
It offers poverty.
It offers no plan for jobs.
Prime Minister – where is your plan for jobs?
The changes to Newstart are perhaps the single most heartless measure in this brutal Budget.
Sentencing young people to a potentially endless cycle of poverty when they should be getting a hand to find a job.
Is just a blame-shifting, cost-shifting measure that will put the price of unemployment on to Australian families.
Prime Minister, how are people under 30 looking for work supposed to survive for six months on nothing?
These are purely ideological changes that go to the very core of the Prime Minister's character.
They contradict every piece of expert advice.
This Prime Minister's vicious, victim-blaming policy will create a forgotten generation of Australians – shut out of the workforce.
Labor will have no part of this.
LABOR BELIEVES
Australia does not have a budget emergency, as the Government claims, but it has a budget task.
And that task, in the face of declining terms of trade and lower nominal income, is to change and reconfigure the Budget's trajectory.
To, over time, make certain that the combination and influences of Commonwealth spending and Commonwealth revenue come together to reduce the Government's call on national savings.
In short, to make our national budget sustainable.
But make it sustainable in a fair and reasonable way.
And why is this so important?
Because the Budget supports and needs to support large numbers of dependent people, as it does families on modest incomes, and as it must, on schools and health.
The Budget always needs a balance in its imposition on incomes, the contribution of companies, the incidence of its excises and those expenditures which underpin us as a civil society.
Indeed, we believe, as a great social democracy.
Labor has always held to these precepts.
This is the kind of thoughtful responsibility we in Labor subscribe to.
Recognising what needs to be done and going about the job of doing it.
But this is not the framework this government has adopted.
It is walking away from this kind of balance.
This Budget is designed to change the essential compact of Australian society.
It is conservatism taking it up to consensus – tugging away at the very struts that have held us together as a good and prosperous nation.
This Opposition will support reasonable and balanced remedial budgetary measures but it will not support the conscious development of an underclass.
This is a Budget that would seek to demolish the pillars of Australian society: universal Medicare, education for all, a fair pension, full employment.
The very things this Prime Minister promised not to touch, are the first casualties of his fabrications.
Including new and higher taxes.
This is the Budget of a Prime Minister and a Government who want to tear down everything Australians have built together.
By contrast, Labor invests in our people to make our country stronger.
Labor educates.
Labor cares for all.
Labor believes in an Australia writ large.
We believe that economic growth comes from extending opportunity.
We believe in a prosperous Australia: prosperity for everyone who works and prosperity which works for everyone.
An Australia where your Medicare card - not your credit card - guarantees you access to quality healthcare.
An Australia where the National Disability Insurance Scheme is a reality for people with disability, their carers and the people who love them – not a scapegoat for complaints about spending.
Labor believes that a teenager in a regional town should be studying in a great school – and have the choice of a university education, learning a trade or taking up a rewarding job.
We believe that science and innovation should be at the heart of national policy – because they are central to our prosperity.
We believe in an Australia where small business can grow and thrive.
An Australia that still makes things.
An Australia with quality infrastructure – including digital infrastructure.
An Australia where women are equal – and pays them equally.
An Australia that is closing the gap and extending opportunities for the first Australians.
Labor believes in an Australia that cares for its environment – and takes the science of climate change seriously.
An Australia where multiculturalism is celebrated as a social and economic asset – not treated as sport for bigots and ideologues.
An Australia that is a good global citizen, confident and engaged with the opportunities of the Asian Century.
An Australia ready for the future, optimistic about the future and investing in the future.
This Prime Minister and this Treasurer, talk a lot about the freedom of the market, deregulating and liberating.
Of course, you can get rid of fairness and leave people to fend for themselves.
That is a kind of freedom.
Tonight Labor says to Australians there is another freedom.
There is the freedom of integrity and the freedom of respect.
The freedom that gives every person dignity and the right to be treated equally.
There is a freedom of compassion and respect that gives individuals the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
That is the freedom Labor believes in.
This Budget undermines that freedom.
This Budget weakens it.
This Budget tears at the living standards of our people.
And in doing so, this Budget tears at the fabric of our country.
On Tuesday, the Treasurer quoted from Robert Menzies' 'Forgotten People'.
But the Government forgot a lot of people on Budget night.
They are the Australians Labor speaks on behalf of tonight, the Australians I am speaking to.
The Government forgot you in its Budget – and it forgot what makes our country great.
It forgot opportunity.
It forgot reward for effort.
It forgot the fair go.
Well, Labor hasn't forgotten.
We still believe in fairness.
We still believe in an Australia that includes everyone, that helps everyone, that lets everyone be their best, that leaves no-one behind.
This is the Australia that the Prime Minister has forgotten.
And it is the Australia that Labor will always fight for.
If you want an election, try us.
If you think we are too weak – bring it on.
But remember – it is not about us Prime Minister.
It is about the future of our nation and the wellbeing of our people.
History tells us that a great approach to lifting growth comes from investing in infrastructure, as this has the double effect of creating jobs and the new platform from which future growth can take off. Of all the large infrastructure projects one could imagine, nothing comes close to the scale of opportunity represented by a rapid de-carbonisation of the global energy system.
I'm on a 12-month traineeship and I'm terrified of not having a job to go to once my contract is up. I go to the doctors often for check-ups on my anti-depressants, so not only will I have to pay that but for my prescription, which will be going up too. I'm 22 and I feel helpless.
I live rurally and already I was planning to take a gap year in 2015, not out of want but out of necessity to save up for university and earn enough to be considered 'independent' in the government's eyes. Now I'm not so sure that uni will ever be a possibility. The fee deregulation scares me how high will they rise? Already many can't afford them and now? Living rurally is a challenge when it comes to uni, as rarely can rural kids stay at home whilst attending uni. Instead, they face an expensive move to the city or campus they are studying at. This puts them (us) at a significant disadvantage already compared to city-living uni students. Getting a job now in order to begin saving for university is out of the question. Well, I'm out of ideas as to how I'm supposed to go about things now. How do you move to the city for university when you have no money?
Tony Abbott is jeopardising Australia's actual investment in Antarctica at a global level in strategic terms, he's risking jobs in Tasmania and he is undermining Tasmania as one of those key global hotspots for Antarctic research …