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- 27 June 2007
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Page: 1984
Financial Year 2007-08
Debate resumed from an earlier hour.
Mr PAUL GIBSON (Blacktown) [7.56 p.m.]: Last Tuesday Michael Costa brought down his second budget as Treasurer of New South Wales. The Premier described the budget as New South Wales being "back in black", and the figures support that comment. The budget forecasts that economic growth in New South Wales will rise to 2.5 per cent in 2007-08, which is an increase from 1.5 per cent this financial year and 1.4 per cent in 2005-06. Last year the Treasurer, Michael Costa, predicted that there would be a $696 million deficit in 2006-07. That did not happen. The Government has instead turned it into a $444 million surplus. The Treasurer allocated $960 million from this year's budget to pay off a debt accrued in the construction of the Chatswood to Epping rail line.
The Government expects total revenue of $45 billion in 2007-08, which is about $500 million more than last year. The Government will spend a record $44.6 billion this financial year. Health is the biggest expenditure category, totalling $12.5 billion. It is followed by Education and Training at $10.5 billion, Public Transport and Roads at $5.7 billion, Police and Justice at $4.3 billion, Community and Disability Services at a record $3.3 billion, and Environment and Natural Resources at $2.3 billion. As the Treasurer said, State Government capital expenditure will increase by 28 per cent to $12.5 billion next financial year, and total $50 billion between now and 2010-11. Total State sector debt will increase from 4.8 per cent of gross State product to 9.3 per cent by 2011, which of course will help to fund the record capital works program that has been announced. Everyone, from Standard and Poor's to small business, has accepted this budget as a very creditable budget that will maintain the momentum of the State and allow us to retain our position as the powerhouse of the Australian economy.
I note that Kevin McDonald, Chief Executive of the New South Wales Business Chamber, said the Government's approach is sound and well considered; the focus is on fast-tracking major infrastructure projects that will improve the economic capacity of New South Wales. This position is most unlike the seven budgets brought down by the Coalition Government, which had seven years of deficits. These so-called good managers of finance lost this State's triple-A credit rating. Labor, when it took over the Treasury benches in this State, found a $12 billion shortfall. In a very short time we have picked up that debt, paid it off, got back the State's triple-A credit rating, and kept it. Not only that, in the meantime we have built and paid for the greatest Olympic Games the world has witnessed. I say this in all sincerity. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Look around this great State today and see all the major undertakings, whether Darling Harbour, the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge. Who built them? Labor State governments. So too with the Cross City Tunnel. In years to come people will say what a great piece of infrastructure that is.
Unfortunately, recent figures show that my electorate of Blacktown is one of Sydney's highest bankruptcy areas. Insolvencies in Blacktown have nearly doubled, from 384 in 1999-2000 to 764 in 2005-06. There was an overall rise of 83 per cent in bankruptcies in Western Sydney. Outer Western Sydney was also a hot spot with 524 personal insolvencies recorded in 2005-06, up 75 per cent over five years. That has nothing to do with the State Government's performance, but everything to do with the performance of the Federal Government—the Government that told us that interest rates would never rise. We have had six rises since that statement was made.
Of course, that has meant struggling families in places such as Blacktown have been unable to retain their homes and have virtually been put back out on the street. That has been compounded by high petrol prices and another matter spoken about of late, the grasp that Woolworths and Coles have over prices of groceries and so on. What has the Federal Government decided? It will pass the matter over to the consumer watchdog. "We are going to have a look at that", the Prime Minister said. And so he should. But the alarm bells ring when he wants it looked at just a few months before a Federal election. I suppose it is better late then never. There are many records in this budget.
I am getting back to Blacktown now. The budget allocates a record $12.5 billion for Health. The Government, through this budget, is keeping the promise it made during the election. Some promises will be kept over the term of the Government—next year and the year after. Before the election the Government promised an almost $2 million upgrade of the Blacktown Hospital's psychiatric emergency care service—and that is what we have in the budget. The money is in the budget to cover that. The facility will be competed by September this year; work on it has already started.
Access to specialist, acute mental health assessment and care will be substantially improved through this upgrade. The Iemma Government's investment will expand the emergency department to include two new interview rooms and additional purpose-built beds at Bungarribee House—the hospital's acute mental health unit. These services are badly needed. The budget allocates an additional $555,000 this year for Blacktown Hospital MRI services. We have promised this for a long time. Some credit goes to the Federal Government, because before you can get an MRI machine you must get a licence. Who provides that? The Federal Government—not the money, not the $4.5 million to put the machine in the hospital, but the licence.
I had a look at the licences issued by the Federal Government for MRI machines. Do members know where 70 per cent of them have gone? Not to the public hospitals, but to private hospitals right across this nation. Blacktown was lucky enough to get one. The MRI machine, worth $4.5 million, was actually delivered to the hospital and early last Friday week it was put on a crane and taken up to level three, where part of the wall had been removed. The MRI is being installed at Blacktown Hospital as we speak. That is another promise made and kept by the Government.
Education has been allocated $10.5 billion in the budget, another record. From that, Blacktown has done very well. Marayong Public School has been waiting for many years—including the seven years that the Coalition were in government—for a school hall. In those seven years it was first on the list to get a school hall. That did not happen. I am pleased to say that good things come to those who wait. We in Western Sydney are fairly resilient. Eventually Marayong Public School has its hall. It is being constructed as we speak. It consists of a main hall space, canteen, general assistant's rooms, bulk store, a chair storeroom, boys and girls toilets, access toilets and a covered outdoor learning area. This will be a tremendous asset for that part of Western Sydney.
I have mentioned the record $10.5 billion budget for Education, but there is a downside. The contrast is not of a matter within the responsibility of the Government; it is again a matter for the Federal Government. I said a little bit about this in the House yesterday. The Federal Government's action is occurring on the watch of Louise Markus, the Federal member for Greenway. What are they doing in this working-class area of Blacktown, with one of the highest populations in this nation, with a population of 300,000 people? They are going to close the university campus at Nirimba. That is to the shame of Coalition members in this place.
The Federal Government has tried to close the campus from day one. Originally, this university was to be built at Doonside. But the powers that be at the time decided Doonside was not quite elite enough, so they decided to build it on six campuses. One of those was at Blacktown, at Nirimba. From day one the Federal Government set out to make it fail. Attendances are decreasing; there is no doubt about that. But the same courses are being offered at Blacktown, Penrith and Parramatta—which are quite new facilities. How much money has the Federal Government spent at Nirimba? Not a zack. The students who go to Nirimba will tell you they do not feel they are going to a university. The teachers will tell you it is not like teaching at a university, because not one zack has been spent on it.
Mr John Williams: What are you doing about it?
Mr PAUL GIBSON: It's a Federal Government responsibility. There has been no publicity about this. People living half a kilometre away did not even know that there was a university campus there; there is no publicity, no advertising, no push for the kids in Western Sydney to have an opportunity for a future provided by a working-class university. What will the elitist Federal Government do? It will close down this education facility. The people of Blacktown will never forgive them for that. Nor will they forgive Louise Markus, because it is to be closed down on her watch. She should hang her head in shame.
I note from the local paper last week that she is going to do something about it. Like all good Liberal members, she is going to do something about it—she is going to take up a petition! Does she think that will make the Federal Government change its mind overnight? Where was she when the decisions were being made to close the campus in 2009? When the Rudd Federal government is elected later this year, she will not have to worry about a petition, because that university will remain open. A new hall for Walters Road Public School is not in the budget this year, but it will be built during the term of this Government.
Mr John Williams: Four years!
Mr PAUL GIBSON: That is right. There will be upgrades of toilets at Evans High School and an upgrade of kitchens at Blacktown Boys High School. Doonside High School and Doonside Public School will join the Priority Action Skills [PAS] Program, which helps to keep students from disadvantaged backgrounds interested in engaging in school. We are helping disadvantaged kids in Western Sydney who live in low socio-economic areas. But those opposite and the Federal Government are closing down the university, which will mean that working-class people cannot afford to get an education. It is like the old days when the hierarchy used to argue that we should not have libraries because no-one wanted the working class to be educated. We wanted to keep them downtrodden. The Government will do all it can to make sure that does not happen.
Through the Priority Action Skills Program schools will receive $525,000 in the next two years as part of the $16 million program to give young people in the Blacktown electorate a greater chance of achieving their educational potential. Without education you have nothing. You cannot take education away from the poorer sector of the community. Politically it is absolute suicide and morally it is totally wrong. The budget will provide $250,000 to Family Development Services Incorporated to improve services for families with children with learning difficulties or disabilities. Again, we are helping the disadvantaged people of Western Sydney, which is something those opposite could learn from.
People would be shocked to see how many grandparents are bringing up little kids. They have brought up their own families successfully—three and four kids—but now, because mum and dad have died, shot through or whatever, grandparents are left with the kids. They are trying to bring up a second family, but they cannot cope. One grandmother who has a three-year-old and a two-year-old cannot cope. Without the funding, schemes and services the State Government is providing, these people would be on the rack. Family Development Services Incorporated will provide families with the skills they need to cope, and provide extra support for the brothers and sisters of these children through Sib Shops, which gives siblings the chance to share their experiences with other brothers and sisters who are facing the same issues. The Federal Government could learn from what we have done.
A new specialised rescue vehicle will be delivered to the New South Wales Fire Brigades Blacktown fire station at a cost of $487,000, which is an investment in the safety of local residents, visitors and our firefighters. This year a further $5 million will be invested in supplying new public housing and upgrading existing public housing in the Blacktown electorate, which is terribly important. The Iemma Government will fund key capital works programs worth $50 billion in the four years from 2007-08. The Federal budget has allocated a mammoth $5 billion to infrastructure right across Australia. It is credible, and I think members would acknowledge that. But over the 10-year State Infrastructure Strategy the New South Wales Government will spend a record $12.5 billion, which is $34 million a day compared to the lousy $5 billion the Federal Government has allocated right across Australia.
The budget allocation for roads in the Blacktown electorate is $12.9 million, which includes $6,000 for road safety, $1.7 million for road network maintenance, $5.2 million for road network development and $6 million for traffic and transport. Some $5.2 million has been allocated for the North West Transitway link from Blacktown to Parklea, $4.1 million for the Blacktown corridor bus priority treatment on Richmond Road, Quakers Hill Parkway and Knox Road, $1.5 million for the Blacktown to Parramatta corridor, $173,000 for infrastructure maintenance council grants, $152,000 for traffic facility council grants and $6,000 for local government road safety. Investigations are being conducted on the pinch point corridors identified in the Urban Transport Statement on roads including Blacktown Road, Main Street, Great Western Highway, Prospect Highway, Reservoir Road and Richmond Road. The Government has committed $4 million in 2007-08 on planning for 21 pinch point corridors in Sydney.
The Blacktown electorate will receive just under $20 million in the coming 12 months for capital works and maintenance in the Transport portfolio. Blacktown has probably the best-kept secret in Australia: Nurragingy reserve. Many thousands and thousands of people use it annually for picnics, sporting events, weddings and wedding receptions. Over the years Blacktown council has spent $13.4 million on operating expenditure and $7.6 million on capital works, which is more than $21 million. The State Government is considering what it should do with the reserve. Many years ago there was talk that it would be given to Blacktown Council for a peppercorn rent, probably $1, because the locals had done such a good job with it. The proposal fell by the wayside.
The Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, is again considering it and I am hopeful that the people of Blacktown, Blacktown City Council and the ratepayers will receive good news from the Minister fairly soon telling them that the reserve, on which the council has spent more than $21 million updating it and restoring it, will be given to the people of Blacktown and the ratepayers to look after. The budget highlights the great difference in philosophy between the Coalition Government and our Government. It could not be starker. I return to the proposed closure of a university in a working-class area—not snobsville—that is home to 300,000 people. The Federal Coalition did everything it could to force it to close. The Federal Coalition transferred courses to Parramatta and Penrith so that it would fail. Any student who had a look at the three campuses would naturally go to Parramatta or Penrith because the Nirimba campus was not like a university. It was never meant to be because the powers that be did not want a university in a working-class area like Blacktown. The people of Blacktown deserve a university. The people of Blacktown should have a university. The Federal Government should hang its head in shame if it tries to take it off them.
Mr John Williams: Point of order: I seek to move a motion that Gibbo should be a Minister, instead of those other boring—
The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order.
Mr CRAIG BAUMANN (Port Stephens) [8.16 p.m.]: After that last effort, I sometimes wonder whether the Government should not have that flag hanging in another spot so that its members can see what State they are in. A disaster was narrowly averted this morning. A commuter driving to work along Cormorant Drive, Kooragang Island, had the road beneath him collapse after a water main burst nearby. A telegraph poll fell onto his car, nearly trapping him. The water rose around him. I imagine that he would have been terrified but, luckily, he survived. This road is a death trap?an accident waiting to happen.
Upgrades have been continually stalled and, according to the 2007-08 budget papers, the Tourle Street Bridge upgrade was underfunded by $1.5 million last year, falling well short of projected spending to keep to the upgrade timetable. This is a crucial arterial road for Port Stephens. It takes workers to Kooragang Island, the heart of Hunter coal exports, and it is the main route for Port Stephens commuters travelling to Newcastle. As I speak the road is closed, the bridge is closed, Kooragang Island is isolated from Newcastle, and traffic is detouring 30 kilometres and using the already overloaded Hexham bridge.
The Hunter Water Corporation's 13-year timetable for water infrastructure enhancement blew out by $37 million in the last year. The Government is allocating $2 billion for a desalination plant because it has not kept up with water supply infrastructure. The member for Mount Druitt gave the figures earlier today. Sydney's need for water is growing at 2,709 connections per month, but this Government has done nothing. How does the Government plan to power this $2 billion white elephant? Where is its commitment to climate change? Is it a coincidence that former Premier Carr talked about nuclear power and desalination just before he retired to New Zealand? The Government has allocated $4.7 million to Port Stephens to pipe water from Grahamstown Dam to the Central Coast—35 million litres a day going from the Lower Hunter water supply to the Central Coast. Talk about a bandaid solution!
Mr Phillip Costa: We're sending it back at the moment.
Mr CRAIG BAUMANN: Not for long. These may seem like numbers on a page, but to the people of Port Stephens they translate to life-threatening failures of regional infrastructure and inconvenience when they travel to work. The people of Port Stephens are disillusioned, which is why they swung so sharply away from the Government in the last election, not just because of failing regional infrastructure but also because of health care and policing. This Government should be condemned for its arrogant assertion that the Hunter region has been adequately serviced with health care resources in this 2007-08 budget. In my electorate of Port Stephens, not only has the Government denied any funding, any planning, or any further resources for the embattled Tomaree Community Hospital, it has not even lived up to its centrepiece commitment to Port Stephens in the election campaign: the construction of a new Nelson Bay Ambulance Station.
This comes hot on the heels of the denial of much-needed renal services funding to not only Port Stephens but the entire Hunter region. The Tomaree Community Hospital, which once was the Nelson Bay Polyclinic, for years has lacked resources. In 2005 the then Minister for Health, Mr Hatzistergos, saw fit to the change its name, but little else. This is a hospital in name only. The Ambulance Service does not even class it as a hospital for the purposes of patient transfers, meaning local residents incur further costs when inevitably they need to be transported for more than 50 kilometres to obtain treatment for the more serious conditions. When pressed for his Government's position on this facility, which is run by the State and is a State responsibility, the Premier had the gall to blame this dire situation on the Federal Government.
The Government continues to pass the buck on health care in Port Stephens and seems unaware of its constitutional responsibility to provide appropriately funded health facilities. Nelson Bay is a growing area. Over the summer, its population swells with an influx of tourists. The Government is endangering their lives and the lives of the resident population by refusing to fund this vital piece of health infrastructure. Only this morning we were told that Port Stephens is a hot spot for type 2 diabetes. The Government has supposedly committed $300 million to after-hours general practice services, but has not mentioned if even one dollar of that will go to the Tomaree. Not only has the Government failed to fund any upgrade or provision of further service to this hospital, it has also gone back on its word with regard to the Nelson Bay Ambulance Station.
During the election campaign the Government promised $1.5 million to build a new ambulance station at Nelson Bay. Labor's candidate for Port Stephens—and it is a little-known fact that this gentleman is an ambulance officer who had tried hard, with bipartisan support, to obtain the Government's commitment—lobbied for a new facility. As a Port Stephens councillor and frequent visitor, I know that the current location of the Nelson Bay ambulance station is inappropriate. Yet with the handing down of this budget, only $170,000 has been committed to Nelson Bay ambulance services, and the money has to be shared with the Deniliquin station. There will be no new facility, and no word about whether any of the 11 new ambulance officers will be sent there. It is a resounding backflip and a sad reflection on that Labor candidate, who is still an ambulance officer and is now the preselected Labor candidate for the Federal electorate of Paterson. He is still a Labor candidate, yet still there is no ambulance station for Nelson Bay. It is an embarrassing result for him, but a shocking blow to the people of Nelson Bay.
Before the Treasurer came to this place to deliver his budget, the Government made quite a fuss regarding its commitment of $14 million for renal services in New South Wales, yet not one dollar was allocated to the Hunter. It took community condemnation for the Government to belatedly announce $500,000 for upgraded dialysis machines for three Hunter hospitals. Whilst metropolitan regions received $14 million, the Hunter received enough for only half a dozen new dialysis machines. A resident of Nelson Bay will still have to drive to Newcastle to undergo dialysis. I put it to the House that the Government's commitment to the Hunter's health care needs is farcical at best, and outright fraud at worst. The Government's suggestion that its commitment to the Hunter should be commended is a joke. A quick perusal of the budget infrastructure statement reveals that the Hunter region's health care is mentioned on three occasions. On one of those occasions, in relation to the Nelson Bay ambulance station, the funding is to be shared with another site.
Maitland and Newcastle, which are two large regional centres, have received funding for community health care. The Hunter Valley community is not just Maitland and Newcastle; it is Cessnock, Raymond Terrace and Wallsend, and it even comprises areas that are represented by Labor Party members, who have missed out as well. The Sydney-centric Government has failed the Hunter and Port Stephens. If the Labor Government is trying to punish the people of Port Stephens for daring not to vote for them in the recent State election, it would do well to remember that it is also failing the 19,301 people who put their faith in it. For those 68 extra voters who put their faith in me, the snub comes as no surprise. Labor's failure extends not only to health care, but to police as well. The Premier must surely know the provision of effective health care and appropriate resources for local police officers are the two most important issues in Port Stephens. Yet in those two crucial portfolios only $870,000 dollars has been earmarked for capital expenditure over the next four years. That is less money than is earned by one of his Ministers in the four-year period of budget roll-outs.
The Port Stephens police station has been allocated $700,000 for continued upgrades. That is an unimpressive figure, bearing in mind that the new station will need $12 million by 2010 and that in the last 12 months only $80,000 has been spent. To compound the community's confusion, the people of Port Stephens do not even know where this police station will be built. There is no Port Stephens police station. There is a Raymond Terrace police station in Raymond Terrace, and it was this station that I and other concerned community members have been vocal about. The Government has a reputation in Port Stephens for changing names and not much else. We have seen an example of this in relation to the Tomaree Community Hospital. In the meantime, people are left wondering where their new police station will be, when will it be finished, how much will it cost, and where the new officers will come from to staff it. No answers have been given. The Treasurer has been evasive during his rare Hunter radio interviews regarding the budget. During the election campaign I made a commitment to fight for this police station, and I will continue to do so. The Liberal-Nationals Coalition committed $25 million to this station in the campaign.
I have faith in our police, and I believe that if we give the police the resources and legislative powers they need, crime statistics will fall. I do not believe we are doing this at the moment. The police need more funds and more judicial support. The Government has been promising an upgrade for eight years, but the first $80,000 for this project was allocated only last year. I would like nothing more than to go to the 2011 election saying to the people of Port Stephens, "It's done, your police station is finished", but I am not optimistic—and who would be? Eight years and $780,000 later, for all intents and purposes, the Raymond Terrace police station is still a fibro shack. I call upon the Government in the strongest possible terms to make immediate provision for the upgrade of the station as a matter of urgency. To do otherwise is a gross neglect of the safety and wellbeing of not just Raymond Terrace and Port Stephens residents, but our many visitors as well.
The Pacific Highway is a significant piece of national infrastructure and forms the western boundary for much of the Port Stephens electorate. The upgrading of this important road is ongoing with freeway conditions from Hexham to just north of the Myall Way intersection, yet this intersection, which is the only trafficable entry point to the villages of Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest, Pindimar and Bungwahl, is a deathtrap. Despite a commitment of $10 million by the Prime Minister, the Government will not contribute the $6 million difference to make this intersection safe. When interstate B-doubles driving at 100 kilometres per hour on a freeway combine with grey Nomads at night and in the rain, everyone can foresee the disaster—everyone, that is, except successive New South Wales Labor Ministers for Roads. Is it any wonder that even residents in the Labor candidate's own community ignored him when he told them they did not need an overpass?
This budget should have been a unique opportunity for the Government to repair its damaged relations with the people of Port Stephens, the people who turned their backs on the Labor Party in the 2007 State election. Instead, this Government has failed. It has ignored the needs of this growing region. For that, it should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
Mr ALAN ASHTON (East Hills) [8.30 p.m.]: I am pleased to speak on the New South Wales budget for 2007-08. This is the ninth time I have had the privilege of addressing the House on a State Labor budget, which is, once again, a budget in surplus that delivers on our election commitments to the people of New South Wales and, most importantly, increases spending to record figures in key services and infrastructure works in New South Wales. Last year it was predicted that the budget would be in deficit. The Coalition had hoped the budget for 2007-08 would be in the red for the first time since Labor inherited massive State debts from the Coalition in 1995. The diligence of Treasurer Michael Costa, MLC, and the determination of the Government under the leadership of Premier Iemma to maintain the State's triple-A credit rating means that this State is indeed open for business, heading in the right direction, on the right track and delivering services not cuts. The Government is becoming, once again, the driving sector of the Australian national economy. That has been achieved without sacking 29,000—
[ Interruption]
The member for Murray-Darling should note that that figure was later revised down to 20,000, but at first it was 29,000. He was not here at that time, but the record shows that the figure was originally 29,000. That reduction would have been to essential front-line police, teachers, nurses, health and transport employees, Roads and Traffic Authority workers and the like, that the Coalition promised—
Mr John Williams: Point of order: The member is misleading the House. This is a story we hear from all members.
The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! That is not a point of order.
[Interruption]
The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! The member for Murray-Darling will have a chance to contribute to the debate later. He should not do so through interjections or by taking frivolous points of order.
Mr ALAN ASHTON: The member should read the standing orders. A point of order is a point of order. His chance to make a speech will come later and then we will interrupt him. He should not make a silly mistake. The Coalition originally planned to sack 29,000 workers, and then thought that that figure sounded a bit tough and could be rounded to 30,000, so it reduced it to 20,000. However, the electorate rejected that. This afternoon we found out that the Coalition is getting used to being in Opposition. Members on this side of the House and those watching intently in their offices will recall that last year the Government introduced a bill to provide that our promises would be totally assessed by Treasury. The member for Vaucluse said that the Coalition would release its costings for the election a week or two before the election.
What happened? The current Leader of the Opposition came out with the "my dog ate my homework" excuse, or "the computer did not work" excuse, or "the photocopier did not work" excuse. He could not produce the Coalition's figures before the election. However, last week the Leader of the Opposition spoke for 20 minutes, which is the time I will speak for today. He claimed it was not much of a budget and that he could have done a better one. The test was not whether he could deliver a great speech in reply to the budget speech. I notice the member for Terrigal having a bit of a laugh. All the Leader of the Opposition had to do was make a speech before the 24 March election and convince the electorate that he had a good economic strategy.
However, the Coalition did not have a strategy and the Leader of the Opposition did not have a program. The Coalition refused to have its economic plans tested, although earlier it said that it would. The Coalition broke its promise. Bad move! The New South Wales economy is soundly based over the whole range of business activities and investment opportunities. Unlike other States, New South Wales is not dependent on the vagaries of the present mining and resources boom, which, if it ends, will leave the budgets of those States in tatters. The New South Wales budget is in surplus in the amount of $376 million for 2007-08, with forward surpluses to average over $500 million for the next four years. The 2006-07 budget result was a surplus of $444 million, an improvement of $941 million since the December half-yearly budget review. This is the twelfth consecutive budget surplus delivered by the Labor Government since 1995. Imagine how much more could be done in this State if we were not continually ripped off by the robber barons, Peter Costello and John Howard, directing that tax revenue raised in New South Wales go to other States.
[ Interruption]
Mr Deputy-Speaker, in a moment I will call on you to eject the member for Murray-Darling. He should not be allowed to sit there and continually interrupt my speech. If he continues, I will have to seek an extension of time.
[ Interruption]
The member for Murray-Darling cannot just sit there and continue to chatter away during my speech. If he has a good interjection, he should make it. If he has not, he should shut up.
The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! I have already asked the member for Murray-Darling to comply with the standing orders. He will have a chance to contribute to the debate later. He should remain silent and allow the member for East Hills to continue.
Mr ALAN ASHTON: As everyone in this Chamber knows Peter Costello and John Howard redirected $3 billion of GST revenue raised in New South Wales. That goes to Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia. I do not suggest that we should not look after the poorer States, particularly Tasmania, and South Australia could do with some looking after. However, Queensland and Western Australia are doing nicely through the mining boom, thank you very much. Let us remember that the Coalition presently holds 21 or 22 of the 28 Federal seats in Queensland and needs to continue to pork-barrel those electorates for its political gain.
As I said, I genuinely believe that we need to look after the less populous and smaller States, but we are certainly being ripped off. Members on this side of the House continually say to members of the Opposition who complain that we are not doing enough that they should write to John Howard. They should acknowledge that they are not supporting New South Wales. All they are doing is propping up a government in Canberra that will not be in office in six months time. Even if New South Wales got $2 billion of the $3 billion in GST funding that is being ripped off by Canberra we would be going well. More schools and police stations could be built, police officers could have more equipment, we could have more nurses, hospital beds and mental health initiatives, and more Aboriginal health initiatives could be undertaken.
Despite all that, New South Wales is delivering the largest new infrastructure budget in the State's history. The New South Wales budget was positively received by the markets, business organisations and even the usual anti-Labor suspects who dominate the radio airwaves in New South Wales. What more proof do we need of its success? Ross Gittins wrote in a newspaper article that it was a top budget and it was a wonderful effort by Michael Costa to turn it around. When Gerard Henderson begrudgingly said something even vaguely positive about the Labor Party, one wondered whether he was speaking about the right party. Those guys must have been trying to regain some credibility after bashing us prior to an election. When the Daily Telegraph wrote that this was a massively, incredibly great budget, you knew that it had to be almost reasonable.
Mr Phillip Costa: That must have hurt.
Mr ALAN ASHTON: Yes, it must have hurt, as the member for Wollondilly said, because they do not like writing anything good about the Labor Government. After all the work put in by the shock jocks, the radio announcers, the bloke with the golden microphone and the guy with the parrot on his shoulder, they have so much egg on their faces it has become an omelette. They were pushing the Liberal Party, but come the election that went nowhere. The people have more sense. It is no good preaching to the converted, as they do in the newspapers and on the radio stations. We were doing better; we were delivering services to the electorate. The electorate knew that and that is why they re-endorsed us with such a great majority once again.
We were positively received, even by those who had been critical. There is no better reason for that than economic success. Standard and Poor's and every organisation that looks at the New South Wales economy has maintained our triple-A credit rating. New South Wales still leads the way in Australia. I will briefly highlight some of the telling figures in this year's budget. For example, in Health the total expenditure will increase by 7.1 per cent, or $831 million dollars, to $12.5 billion. Funding on mental health initiatives will exceed $1 billion. That is $105 million more, or an 11 per cent increase. I spoke on the Mental Health Bill that passed through this House a couple of weeks ago and pointed out that the New South Wales Government took its initiatives in mental health seriously.
The Federal Government has also undertaken to spend a lot more money on mental health services. The Federal Government will find out about that in three or four months when it attempts to fix up everything in the Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. People cannot be simply told to stop drinking or to stop doing the things it is alleged they have been doing. The Army and the police cannot just go in without nurses, doctors, mental health clinicians, mental health psychologists, and all the others who will be needed. The people need help; they do not need troops marching into their territory to take strong-arm action to deal with what is a very serious problem.
Education, which obviously has been one of my key interests for many years, will receive $11.2 billion in funding—$517 million more, or nearly 5 per cent in real terms, which is real money and real increases. Funding for Transport has been increased to $5.8 billion and funding for the Department of Community Services will increase by 11.6 per cent to a record $1.26 billion. It should be remembered that before the 2003 election the then shadow spokesman for community services decided not to bother to provide funding for Department of Community Services workers. Opposition members wanted to get rid of them. It was too trendy, too left wing and the sort of bleeding-heart stuff that they did not need.
Over the past few weeks Opposition members said it was terrible that we did not have more workers. They should not talk to the Government about it; it is allocating additional funding for community services. They should write to John Howard and Peter Costello and ask for a bit more of the goods and services tax pie. We could certainly do with more Department of Community Services workers in New South Wales, just as every other State in Australia could do with more of them. The Federal Government saved up the money to enable it to pork-barrel for a few seats around the electorate.
Mr Phillip Costa: And $10 billion on the Murray River.
Mr ALAN ASHTON: The Federal Government is spending $10 billion on the Murray River scheme. That scheme was worked out on a postage stamp. It did not go to Cabinet's economic review committee; the Federal Government worked it out and thought of a figure that sounded good. At first $9 billion did not sound very much so it changed the figure to $10 billion to fix up the river scheme. To its credit, the Victorian Government worked it all out and decided that it just would not work. New South Wales said, "We will work with the other States. Let us look at the plan", but no plan was available for it to look at. The Federal Government produced a map of New South Wales and said, "There is the Murray-Darling. We will fix it." The Howard Government has been in office for 11 or 12 years and that is the best that it can do.
The Coalition regards law enforcement as its area. Everyone has to be scared and terrified because all these terrible people are in the community doing all these terrible things. As the newly appointed Commissioner of Police, Andrew Scipione, said, crime has been driven down. We pay credit to Commissioner Ken Moroney for the great job that he did in driving down crime. No doubt people will always have a fear of crime or some sort of perception of it. We cannot help that. We must drive down reported crime, and crime that we can deal with. An amount of $2.27 billion, an increase of $90 million, will be spent on police. Our State Emergency Service, which did wonderful and outstanding work during recent flood events in the Hunter region and on the Central Coast, will receive record funding of $831 million, or a 9 per cent increase, with $51.5 million of that being set aside for volunteers in the State Emergency Service.
I live near the Georges River, fairly high up from the water. One Saturday night a couple of weeks ago a volunteer knocked on my door and said that the Georges River around Milperra and Picnic Point, which is where I live, could be declared a grade one flood event and that I might have to prepare to evacuate. Those people are volunteers and all members know just what a great job they do. Emergency service workers need to be funded. They give of their time for nothing so we must ensure that they have the proper equipment—boats, fire engines and protective gear—that they need. If they are out of pocket, they are paid an allowance, which is a big plus for the Government.
The New South Wales 10-year infrastructure program will receive more than $12.5 billion in funding. Reference was made today to the Federal Government's $5 billion infrastructure plan. This Government's plan will cost $12.5 billion, up 29 per cent on last year's figures, which were up 16 per cent on the figures for 2005-06, and that is a 45 per cent increase in two budget outlays. An amount of $34 million is being spent each day on infrastructure in New South Wales, which is great news. However, there is even more. There are no tax increases. Taxes have been reduced in the budget, which is good news for people in my electorate of East Hills. Four tax cuts worth $343 million in 2007-08 will be increased to $2.6 billion in the next four years, which will assist homebuyers, property investors and businesses.
Specifically in my electorate, other than sharing all the benefits of the budget I am pleased to acknowledge these items of expenditure: $250,000 will be spent on modifying group homes; $3.9 million will be spent on new public housing; $3.7 million will be spent on maintenance work that is already in progress, giving a total of $7.6 million for the East Hills electorate. An amount of $31 million will be spent on competitive government sector works in 2007-08 in my electorate. The $99 million Revesby turn-back facility, which is well on track—the lift wells have been built and are almost finished—will receive $28.5 million this financial year. More than $6 million will be spent on maintenance in the East Hills electorate, and $580,000 will be spent on Bankstown community transport to assist frail aged and younger people with disabilities and their carers.
This year the Kingsgrove to Revesby quadruplication program and associated stations works will receive $25 million, part of a $450 million program to separate express and local services, thus improving travel times. An amount of $30 million has been allocated for the Alfords Point Bridge duplication, which will help to unite the southern and northern parts of Bankstown right through to the Strathfield electorate. That will greatly ease traffic congestion and help Labor shire electorates and even the Liberal seat of Cronulla. We are thankful to the Government for that. The Government is spending $2 million for Liverpool to Bankstown bus priority treatments on Henry Lawson Drive and Milperra Road; $468,000 for infrastructure, maintenance and council grants; and $139,000 for traffic facility council grants.
An amount of $102,000 will be spent on the Henry Lawson Drive cycle path, Milperra, from Tower Road under Newbridge Road to Henry Lawson Drive, and $22,000 will be spent on rail safety. I ask the Minister for Education and Training, the Hon. John Della Bosca, to increase specific spending on the school security fencing program for local schools in the East Hills electorate. I am sure that all members are in the same position. The Government has continued to roll out school fencing programs based almost completely on prioritising the schools where the greatest damage has been done. When other schools see what is happening, in a few years' time they will be entitled to ask, "When will we be next? "
Over the past few weeks I visited Picnic Point, Condell Park and Revesby South primary schools and Padstow Heights Public School, which are all located in my electorate. They all have the same priorities for fencing. They are now starting to make their voices heard in the local media, which is their right, and they are sending letters to me. Like me, I am sure other members will be talking to the Minister for Education and Training to see whether any more money can be found in the budget to carry out work at those schools. Revesby Public School also needs a toilet upgrade to meet urgent occupational health and safety requirements.
I also ask the Minister for Education and Training to find extra funding for maintenance at all high schools and that full upgrades, as required, be expedited at East Hills Boys High School and East Hills Girls High School. Those schools are now over 50 years old. One of them, which was built in the 1950s and is a traditional wooden building, must be fully upgraded. I will not be happy with low-level maintenance; they need, and are entitled to, proper upgrades. I commend the 2007-08 budget to the House. I enjoyed the repartee tonight and look forward to taking it up with any members who are brave enough to repeat it on another occasion.
Mr ROB STOKES (Pittwater) [8.49 p.m.]: The 2007-08 New South Wales budget falls dramatically short of Labor's election commitments to the northern beaches and to my community of Pittwater. This is no better illustrated than in the area of transport services. During the past two election campaigns and for more than five years Labor has peddled a half-baked policy that involves adding two lanes to the drawbridge at The Spit, which is a major road link between Pittwater and the central business district. Labor promised $59 million—it was a line item in last year's budget—for The Spit Bridge widening project. Even though the project was widely panned by the northern beaches community—as evidenced in surveys conducted by the Manly Daily —a promise is still a promise, and Labor failed to deliver. It abandoned its formal promise to the people of the northern beaches—a promise that it clearly never intended to keep, despite losing hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in the process.
To add insult to injury, in this budget Labor fails to apply the money earmarked for The Spit Bridge to other projects that would alleviate the massive traffic congestion facing residents of the northern beaches and Pittwater. Almost a quarter of a million people are on the wrong side of the bridge. In fact, no more than a small fraction of the money earmarked for The Spit has been provided to support transport projects across the entire northern peninsula. That is not good enough. There is a desperate need to provide better roads and public transport to serve the burgeoning population of Pittwater—a need that this budget hopelessly fails to address. A recent report commissioned by the Department of Transport and Regional Services revealed that the number of commercial vehicle trips on Sydney's main roads will double to 2.4 million a day by 2026. Car trips will increase by a quarter, to 9.9 million a day, of which 1.7 million will be squeezed into the two-hour morning peak. According to the report:
? a significant proportion of the strategic network is either over capacity, at capacity or nearing capacity.
Although most congestion occurs on routes to and from the city, it will expand across the network and establish itself in all directions. By 2011 Mona Vale Road and most of Military Road will be highly congested, and greenhouse gases and other undesirable emissions will rise substantially. As to traffic, the report forecasts a 60 per cent "overall increase in almost all economic, environmental and safety aspects" across Sydney.
Labor recently, suddenly and unexpectedly imposed a massive $17,000 tax per lot in the Warriewood Valley, ostensibly to provide funding to pay for the upgrade of Mona Vale Road. I am not sure whether this tax is a legal impost as it was not imposed via a taxation statute and would appear to contravene the test imposed by the High Court in the Chicory Marketing Board case. The new tax cannot be a levy for services as the budget makes no provision for the upgrade of Mona Vale Road—a road on which there have been countless deaths and other tragic accidents in which my friends have been killed and injured.
Mona Vale Road was one of the strategic corridors nominated in the review of bus services undertaken by my constituent Mr Barrie Unsworth. Yet several years after this review was completed no funds have been allocated even to investigate the feasibility of running a viable bus service between Mona Vale and the employment and education centre of Macquarie Park. It is more than twice as quick for a Macquarie University student to drive to classes than to catch the bus. Money must be allocated to support a viable bus service on this route. The Wakehurst Parkway remains subject to flooding—it happened again just last week—and no money is being spent on upgrading it. This is despite the fact that a new hospital is planned—at least it has been in the planning stages for more than 40 years—at the junction of Wakehurst Parkway and Warringah Road. But no money is allocated to upgrade the parkway. What is the point of having a new hospital if people cannot get there in an emergency? If Lord Wakehurst were alive today he would be ashamed to have the road named after him.
This budget fails to acknowledge the fact that Pittwater is being forced to accommodate unsustainable increases in population and density growth. It is unsustainable because, with more and more people moving to the Pittwater electorate in places like the Warriewood Valley and the rash of State environmental planning policy seniors living developments springing up without warning all over the place, no new infrastructure is being provided to support them. Let me put this growth in context. Over the next 24 years Pittwater Council will be forced to accommodate 4,613 new dwellings and Warringah Council will be forced to accommodate more than 10,000 new dwellings. This fails to include the massive Broadacre subdivision, which the Minister for Planning has planned for bushland and farmland at Ingleside.
Another 30,000 people—many more than 1,000 per year over the next two decades—could move to the area at the same time as Labor is closing or downgrading our local infrastructure. It has already closed Avalon and Collaroy police stations, downgraded Mona Vale Hospital, failed to invest in local roads and transport, and now it seems hell-bent on destroying our local environment as well. For the past 25 years there has been a ministerial direction that land releases on the northern beaches cannot proceed without proof of supporting infrastructure. Why, then, has this direction been quietly dropped? Is it a recognition that this budget fails to provide Pittwater with the infrastructure it needs to sustain the development that it is expected to support? I wonder.
What of health services for the people of Pittwater? There is enough money to keep Mona Vale Hospital on life support but it is so little in the scheme of things that it is a slap in the face for all the community volunteers who have worked consistently over more than 40 years to keep our hospital working. The promised new northern beaches hospital at Frenchs Forest still appears to be many years away. The Government promised that a new $300 million hospital would be completed by 2010. The project's completion date has now blown out to 2012, and the Government has committed only $12 million so far. At this rate I will be lucky to live long enough to see my grandkids born there—and, given that my daughter only said "dada" for the first time yesterday, that is a very long way away.
Another real and present health need for my constituents is to expand the range of drug and alcohol education and counselling services available in Pittwater. Young people report to me that illegal drugs and alcohol are used regularly at parties on the northern beaches. Like many other parents, I dread the use of drugs by young people and want to see the expansion of drug education programs in Pittwater. At the Manly end of the peninsula parents are able to visit the Manly Drug Education and Counselling Centre to get support and advice, as well as take part in outreach programs. I fear that not having such a unit at the northern end of the peninsula may be deterring some parents from seeking support and advice. It is time for more drug education resources in Pittwater, which are simply not provided in this budget.
Labor has not addressed the very real needs of our schools in this budget. While hard work by the community has secured some much-needed funding for new classrooms at the magnificent Newport Public School, other needs are not addressed at all. For example, the school hall at Barrenjoey High School and other areas of the school have ongoing maintenance needs. The staff and students at Barrenjoey constitute an amazing school body but it is not good enough that their school buildings are deteriorating to such an extent that a school event I attended on Saturday night suffered from electrical interruptions due to maintenance issues that require urgent funding. My surf club patrol captain is the head of maintenance at Barrenjoey, and I know that his excellent service is undermined by a lack of funds.
Pittwater High School is doing amazing work trying to make the school carbon neutral but, with just $20 million in the Climate Change Fund to support such projects, there is simply not enough money to go around all schools in the State. The peninsula community of schools urgently needs funding to support just two new staff to meet the needs of more than 6,000 students across the community. That money is simply not provided in the budget.
Pittwater's environment has not been served by the budget either. One of the most serious omissions is the Government's failure to protect Currawong from private developers. In 1949 the union movement purchased the 23-hectare site to celebrate the enshrinement of workers' rights, such as the 40-hour week and paid annual leave. It developed a retreat that has allowed thousands and thousands of working families to enjoy this unique landscape. But Unions New South Wales, in a highly political move, has decided to sell the site. If reports are to be believed, nearly two years ago the Department of Lands under the previous Labor Government expressed interest in the site. The department offered $11.3 million in a bid to secure Currawong for the public—a rare example of a good idea on the part of the previous Government. But a week before the deadline for bids the Government mysteriously withdrew the offer.
A public explanation has been forthcoming only recently, with the director general of the Department of Lands quoted in the media as saying that there were insufficient funds. But in the 2007-08 budget the Government tells us that money is sloshing around. According to the Government, there is a huge surplus. Yet there is absolutely nothing in the budget about spending a tiny proportion of that surplus on stepping in now and saving Currawong from the private development company that subsequently bought the site and that could move the bulldozers in at any moment. This is what the budget does say. The budget tells us that it is a priority that the public "knows, values and cares for the State's heritage". So why has the Government failed to save Currawong? If this Government has a real vision for the future, it should immediately devote some of its budget surplus to acquire Currawong and protect it from destruction at the hands of private developers. Currawong is a jewel in the environmental crown and should be protected as part of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. A relatively small investment would protect this beautiful place for generations to come, and yet in another example of this Government's short-sightedness there is nothing in the budget.
Another urgent environmental concern in my electorate is the noxious seaweed caulerpa taxifolia, which is spreading with worrying speed and quite literally choking large areas of Pittwater. Much of the affected area contains extensive beds of posidinia seagrass. Caulerpa replaces the seagrasses that form a vital habitat for fish and crustaceans and supports nothing but itself. Labor's failure to eradicate caulerpa through a sustained program of salting or matting when it first appeared in Pittwater means that we are left with a far more serious problem today. A one-hectare infestation of caulerpa in Careel Bay in 2002 has grown to more than 100 hectares and has spread to four locations in Brisbane Water, being detected there in autumn last year. Despite this obvious and growing problem, since 2001 the Government has spent less than $150,000 on caulerpa in Pittwater. It spent nothing in 2005-06, nothing in 2006-07 and now nothing in the latest budget. We need to take decisive action because caulerpa has the potential to permanently alter the marine environment of Pittwater.
The Government needs to devote money to fund Pittwater Council's plans to use recycled water from Warriewood sewage treatment plant for local sports field irrigation. Sydney Water recycles just 3.5 per cent of drinking water consumed every year. The Auditor-General's Report recently said that "Sydney Water ranks amongst the lowest recyclers on a percentage basis when compared to other water retailers in Australia." Recycling wastewater from Warriewood is an important way to achieve more water savings. At the moment, effluent from the Warriewood plant is deposited at Turrimetta Headland, just south of Warriewood Beach. In wet weather, such as we have had over the past couple of weeks, we have bypasses of sewage direct from Warriewood to the ocean outfall at Turrimetta Head.
The problem is that the southerly swells often associated with low-pressure systems and high rainfall also produce the best swell conditions for Warriewood's surfing community. The southerly winds also push the effluent up the beach to Mona Vale. I have had enough throat infections from surfing at Warriewood to know that anyone who says it is safe to surf at Warriewood after heavy rain is crazy. Yet Warriewood is not even mentioned anywhere in the Sydney Metropolitan Water Plan, the State Infrastructure Strategic Plan, Sydney Water's 2006 Environmental Plan or even in the New South Wales State Plan. The Surfrider Foundation, ably led by Brendan Donohue, has been leading the charge to upgrade Warriewood for many years. It is time for action.
In other coastal issues, many parts of Pittwater are vulnerable to coastal erosion, as detailed in today's Manly Daily . Funds need to be provided to ensure that public and private assets on our beachfronts, as well as the beachfronts themselves and all the recreation opportunities that they provide, are made safe through sand nourishment projects. And volunteer marine rescue organisations, such as the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol and the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard, which have provided so much assistance in recent storm events, get no additional funding at all in this budget, despite the vital emergency work that these volunteers undertake in our community.
I now turn to land tax. In the budget the Treasurer announced that the land tax rate will be reduced by just 0.1 per cent. That is all—just one-tenth of 1 per cent. However, this misses the point that the State's flawed land valuation system remains unchanged. Many Pittwater landholders are shocked, confused and upset about massive increases in their valuations over the last couple of years. One commercial premise in Avalon had a valuation increase from $386,000 in 2006 to $720,000 in 2007. Another shop in Avalon increased in value from $354,000 to $705,000 in just one year. The system is broke!
For householders, the current system unfairly benefits owners of luxury units, as opposed to detached houses, because the land value is divided by the number of units in a block. It is unfair, because a modest, detached home of a working family in Mona Vale might be worth a fraction of a luxury home unit in Bayview, yet a higher land value means higher rates and taxes for the modest home in Mona Vale—but no additional services. People have a right to know what taxes and charges are likely to apply to their land, and how they might reasonably vary from year to year. Valuations should be equitable so that people without the capacity to pay are not required to pay.
The Valuation of Land Act is more than 90 years old, and uses an archaic formula to determine land value. When the Act was written in 1916, most land had not been developed, and zoning laws did not exist, so that market value and land value were basically the same. After more than 12 years Labor has failed to fix the land valuation system, and missed yet another opportunity to do so in this budget. Instead the Government just perpetually plays around with the land tax rate; it imposes the premium property tax, then withdraws it; introduces the vendor tax, then withdraws it. The people of Pittwater and of New South Wales deserve some certainty about the tax regime so that they can plan their investments. It is just not fair for the Government to keep moving the goalposts.
Another tax that this budget fails to fix is the expensive and convoluted licensing scheme applied to residents who can only access their homes over the water in places such as Scotland Island and the western foreshores of Pittwater. The Government seems to be under some delusion that these people are wealthy. Many of them are not; many struggle and live offshore simply because it is less expensive than living on the mainland. Residents whose properties can only be accessed by water should not be discriminated against. You and I do not have to pay to drive across our nature strip, so why should offshore residents have to pay for much the same privilege? No-one should be taxed for the right simply to access their property, their own home. A lease fee on a "cost recovery only" basis would be a much fairer option. The few New South Wales homeowners who can only access their homes via water must be recognised as being affected by an anomaly and not treated with equity under the Government's licensing scheme. But the Government has not used the opportunity presented by this budget to remedy the problem.
In fact, this was a budget full of missed opportunities—missed opportunities and broken promises, like the promise relating to The Spit Bridge. The people of Pittwater deserve more. They have a right to expect a better standard of government—a government that keeps its promises, and a government that provides the services that all residents should receive, regardless of whether they live in a Coalition electorate or a Labor electorate. The Government is obliged to serve all of New South Wales—just as I, as the member for Pittwater, am obliged to serve all the residents of Pittwater, regardless of where they cast their vote.
My job as a member of Parliament is to represent everyone in my electorate. The same duty applies to the Government. It cannot play favourites; it cannot favour one electorate and not favour another. The Government must serve all of New South Wales, and the budget should be based on need, not used as a reward or a payback. The people of Pittwater are crying out for a fair share of infrastructure spending, on simple matters of safety such as Mona Vale Road, Mona Vale Hospital, and ensuring any land release at Ingleside is preceded by the necessary infrastructure, not afterwards when it is all too late. I will work hard on behalf of the residents of Pittwater to keep this Government to account.
Mr PHILLIP COSTA (Wollondilly) [9.07 p.m.]: I am delighted to speak on the excellent budget that the Government has brought down. I can sympathise with the comments made by the member for Pittwater. I lived in Pittwater for some time and know well the issues he has raised. But I will draw a couple of comparisons that will require some explanation by me before I go into the detail of the budget. This budget is about fairness in the distribution of the limited funds that are available. The member for Pittwater commented on the growth that Pittwater will experience. Yes, that will bring certain pressures. But in my part of the world we are talking about 300,000 people and development that will make Canberra look like a little village. We need the Government—and I believe it is happening—to try to deliver resources and infrastructure where it is needed. That is where I believe this budget comes good. There is no panacea for Wollondilly. It is not one of the electorates that has received enormous amounts of money. What we have is important, and I look forward to the next few budgets, because growth in our region in particular will be even greater.
I congratulate the Treasurer on delivering a budget that is balanced and that will deliver services and resources to the families of New South Wales, particularly those in the Wollondilly electorate. During the election campaign my residents told me that we need to get the infrastructure right and we need to deliver quality services to the people, and that is exactly the focus of the budget with record spending of $50 billion— I congratulate the Treasurer on delivering a budget that is balanced and that will deliver services and resources to the families of New South Wales, particularly those in the Wollondilly electorate. During the election campaign my residents told me that we need to get the infrastructure right and we need to deliver quality services to the people, and that is exactly the focus of the budget with record spending of $50 billion—I cannot even imagine how much money that is—over the next four years. I understand that this year is the largest yearly infrastructure spending in the history of the State. I am a new member and I am learning rapidly about how all this works. Having listened to many members speak I can see the challenges the State had to overcome to deliver a budget that is not only balanced but also has a small surplus.
I will focus on a few elements of the budget that support families in the new electorate of Wollondilly. I am very pleased to see that local residents benefit from $3.7 million this year to resurface some of the iconic roads, such as the Hume Highway. An amount of $550,000 has been allocated for Picton Road drainage. That money will be extremely well received, as we have some issues on our major interconnecting road. These projects are all about helping Wollondilly residents travel safely and comfortably to and from work. The electorate is quite large—100 kilometres from one end to the other. However, it is nowhere near the size of the electorate of my friend out west, the member for Murray-Darling, where it takes him six weeks to go from one end to the other. We have an extremely extensive road network and we need the dollars to maintain it.
Some $1.7 million has been allocated to provide new public housing. We have a substantial amount of housing, and this money will go towards upgrading existing public housing in my electorate. An amount of $250,000—small numbers compared to the total budget, but we are very appreciative of the money we get—has been allocated for the Camden and Campbelltown bus corridor along the Narellan Road coming down to Gilchrist, which is a priority stream program. I note that $230,000 has been allocated for lighting delineation and skid-resistant pavement on some of the important roads, such as Menangle Road, where we have had some incidents. We are working to try to fix those hot spots. Some $175,000 has been allocated for reconstruction works on Silverdale Road, which joins the northern part of my electorate and goes down into the central part. Over many years this road has been transformed with dollars from a rural road to a road of a high standard.
An amount of $145,000 has been allocated for pavement reconstruction curve realignment on a road very close to where I live, Montpelier Drive, where we have had a number of accidents over the years. It is great to see that the road is getting the kind of attention it deserves. The budget contains $7.9 million to upgrade water utilities in the Wollondilly area. As I mentioned at the beginning of my speech, we are experiencing some growth in the Wollondilly part of the electorate, which comprises Wollondilly shire and Campbelltown City Council. Nearly 3,500 new homes have been constructed and we are looking at expansion of utilities to service those homes. This budget also includes $349,000 to provide six beds at Campbelltown Hospital, which will be open some time this year, to complete the Campbelltown Hospital's psychiatric emergency care centre. I acknowledge the fantastic allocation in the budget for mental health. The Premier has driven it and I commend him for it.
Planning has begun on the easy access upgrade at Picton railway station, which was an election promise. The team has been to the station, and it will be funded in due course. It is certainly important for us. At the moment Macarthur railway station is primarily a commuter car park, but it will become an important transport hub. We must consider a bus interchange because there will be literally thousands of bus movements a day. This commitment is one we made at the recent State election. We are upgrading Macarthur railway station by providing a fourth platform to cater for the growth we are anticipating. The Government is planning ahead. Other initiatives outside the boundaries of the electorate will benefit Wollondilly. I do not look only at things that are happening within the electorate. The Government has been looking at the region as well as the State.
Approximately 70 per cent of the people in my electorate travel outside the electorate to go to work. Therefore, regional services for Macarthur are most important to the families in Wollondilly. Other great initiatives include the upgrade of the Endeavour trains. We use the Endeavour service to take us from our outreach rural areas into the electrification service at Campbelltown. A total expenditure of $12.5 million has been allocated for the project. The budget also includes a mobile police station for Camden. I notice in the budget an announcement of a mobile police station in the Camden local area command, which services Wollondilly. We will benefit from such a facility.
The School Transport Scheme will benefit our particular part of the world because so many of our children have to travel quite a distance to go to school. Some of our children catch buses at half past seven in the morning. These subsidies will help. As I mentioned earlier, the Macarthur region is under extreme pressure to continue to roll out much-needed housing for the future growth of Sydney. Therefore, the implementation of the Metropolitan Strategy?in which I took part as mayor and president of Macarthur Regional Organisation of Councils [MACROC]?is vital to my community not only for housing stock but also to plan and create opportunities for employment for our local people. The ongoing work allowed for in this budget will continue to engage our communities as we plan for the future.
As members may know, I come from an education background. I am passionate about the services we deliver to our children. An amount of $14.2 million over four years has been allocated to establish the New South Wales Statewide Eyesight Preschooler Screening program. If we can get to children and assess their needs before they start school all of them will benefit. Some $1.6 million has been allocated to maintain and embellish the Healthy Schools Canteen strategy. I highly commend it and look forward to its impact on the schools throughout my electorate. As I mentioned earlier, the psychiatric emergency care centre at Campbelltown is welcomed in my electorate. I notice that $65.5 million has been allocated for improved mental health facilities in the budget. I commend the Premier and the Treasurer for giving that project such a high priority.
Some $50 million has been allocated for bus priority work. As I mentioned earlier, infrastructure is a problem. We are now looking at ways of bringing services to our community. My electorate has seven railway stations and there are opportunities to improve the mobility of the community. I look forward to working with Government on delivering to my community. A project that is outside my electorate, but is still important to us, is the Great Western Highway between Penrith and Orange. I notice that the budget allocated $56.5 million to continue the upgrade of that road, which our people use to access the west. Even though it is outside of Wollondilly it will have a direct benefit on those in my electorate. We also have $20 million to continue the widening of the north-bound carriageway of the F5. This freeway would have to be the most important piece of transport infrastructure in my region. We must stop pussy footing around and expand the road to four lanes in both directions all the way form Narellan Road to the M7.
The Government has put its money where its mouth is. We hope that the Federal Government will come forward and support our request, particularly for the communities in Macarthur. I note that $10 million has been allocated for the installation of underground distribution lines. There are plans to extend the 6,6000-volt line into the southern areas of Wollondilly. Only last month I discussed those needs with Integral Energy. I look forward to that expansion. We have a small community at Wilton. Integral Energy has told me that the cables will go underground and I thank Integral Energy for the work it is doing on the project. An amount of $25 million has been allocated towards a new substation at Macarthur. The Government has recognised the value of providing infrastructure before the residents arrive. We need a power supply. As I said, we are experiencing substantial growth and it is pleasing to see that we are putting in the power supply before people take up residence.
The State Plan commits the Iemma Government to promote and increase the number of people using our national parks and reserves. The Wollondilly electorate is surrounded by national parks on three sides or by water catchment areas. My electorate is the location for most of Sydney's water supply. In my inaugural speech I highlighted the tremendous value that the reserves have to people in my electorate. The expansion of parks, particularly the management of existing parks, is welcomed. It highlights that this Government is committed to intergenerational capital by leaving a positive legacy for our children. However, one request that was not picked up by the budget, but will be the subject of my future lobbying of Labor colleagues, is a part of the Burragorang area that has not received an allocation. Of course I understand that not all requests can be met in my first term, but I will work on it.
Also $5 million has been allocated for cutting-edge satellite imaging and it is a one-liner in the budget. Nevertheless, it is very important to be provided with the tools that will prevent illegal land clearing and waste dumping. Imaging has been used in the region on previous occasions to apprehend people who have been dumping dangerous substances such as asbestos in national parks. Satellite imaging is tremendously useful in identifying people who are doing things they ought not be doing while simultaneously destroying our pristine environment. Local councils work very closely with the Sydney Catchment Authority. They have identified hot spots and have embarked upon a proactive plan to protect the environment. The budget allocation for satellite imaging will enhance those protections and I look forward to the results of the work they do. I will give the House an example of some of the problems we have had. Some years ago some people entered onto 50 hectares of land with two D9s and a chain. In no time, they cleared the land. That type of problem should be prevented from occurring. The difficulty with that case was that the subsequent restrictions placed upon people living in my community were horrendous. We need the right tools to prevent cowboys from doing irreparable damage to our environment.
Operations to protect our parks from fire, pests and weeds will also be boosted by an additional $1 million a year. Capital funding is provided for improving infrastructure in such places as the Royal National Park. I realise the park is outside my electorate but I am a member of the National Parks Advisory Committee and it is good that we are looking after iconic national parks such as the Royal National Park. Grants to farmers worth $17.5 million will be provided as part of the implementation of reforms in native vegetation management. I appreciate that this is an issue for members representing western electorates of the State, but it is also an issue for the people of Wollondilly where there is a substantial farm land belt. Many times farmers have spoken to me about the vegetation management Act. The budget has allocated funds to provide support for them.
The Department of Environment and Climate Change [DECC] will also place a strong emphasis on waste reduction with $10.2 million available for councils who meet waste performance standards. I mention this because the Macarthur waste contract, which I signed as mayor of the council, will deliver world-class waste management services in the Macarthur region, which includes Wollondilly. State-of-the-art waste management will enable us to reduce our landfill substantially. This fund will be accessible to councils in the Macarthur region. This year almost $53.8 million will be invested in bushfire tankers, fire engines and State Emergency Service units through the State. I mention that because the Rural Fire Fighting Fund is very important to my electorate. An unprecedented $198.6 million has been allocated to that fund. Our volunteer firefighters will receive tankers, upgraded stations and completion of final stages of the fire control centres. The more funding that can be provided to our fire brigades and the State Emergency Service, the better.
The budget provides $8 million to expand the West Camden sewage treatment plant and recycled water plant. This plant services a large area of Wollondilly. This upgrade will deliver a resource that can be utilised by the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, which is a leading research institute and also is in my electorate. Even though the treatment plant may show up on Camden's list, it serves both Wollondilly and Camden. The budget allocates $10 million to progress planning and design work for sewerage services for Douglas Park, Wilton and Appin. My electorate has been waiting for this progress for some time, and very firm plans have been put in place as a result of this budget. This is a long-awaited allocation, and will be a major plank in the planning platform for the future.
Earlier today I mentioned the $38 million Western Sydney recycled water initiative replacement flows project which each year will replace 18 billion litres of dam water for environmental flows from our dams, such as Warragamba Dam. This is important not only because it helps to protect Sydney's supply of drinking water but also riverine environments are located in my electorate. By producing a recycling program that provides a better environmental flow, the natural environment in my community will benefit.
As members are no doubt aware, this budget has a wide range of allocations providing direct benefits not only to my electorate but also across wider areas such as Macarthur and other parts of the State. It is a fair budget and, importantly, it is the first budget in a four-year fiscal plan that will deliver services, infrastructure and performance of our promises over this term of government. I would like to share with the House the fact that it is not just this budget's projects that I am proud of but projects in my electorate that were funded by previous budgets and will have an impact upon my electorate. One is the redevelopment of the Thirlmere Rail Transport Museum that has received a commitment of $14.6 million. The museum will become an iconic tourist attraction. I am looking forward to the rollout of that project. Another project is one I mentioned during my inaugural speech, and that is the Warragamba Visitor Centre, at a cost of $7.5 million. That project is progressing. We are in the process of formalising the fitting out of the emergency fire control centre in Picton at a cost of $1.5 million, which will also serve the entire region.
Not all projects that I had been trying to procure during the election campaign have received funding in the budget. However I will persist with lobbying my colleagues because my electorate needs to have the community hospital at Thirlmere upgraded and I too have schools that do not have libraries. I will press the Government to ensure that those facilities are provided. My electorate also needs an additional site for a school. Earlier I mentioned the growth in population in my electorate, and it is possible that in 10 years I will need additional sites for high schools. However, in the meantime we have to upgrade the existing Picton High School, which is the only high school in the Wollondilly shire. There are other high schools in the northern part of the Wollondilly electorate, but in Wollondilly shire there is only one public high school.
Another big project that I will discuss with my good friend the Treasurer is infrastructure that we require but I have seen no sign of, and that is a multideck car park at Macarthur. There is no sense in having the best railway interchange in the State with tens of thousands of people using the facility if they are unable to park their cars. For the benefit of Opposition members, I point out that not all electorates received everything they wanted from the budget. Nevertheless, this budget is an attempt to offer resources, services and facilities in a balanced way. I have a job to do in the next 12 months to convince the Treasury and Cabinet that projects in my electorate are much needed and worthwhile, just as members opposite have a job to do in representing their electorates. I will do that my way, and they will do it their way, but at the end of the day the community of New South Wales will benefit.
Mr JOHN WILLIAMS (Murray-Darling) [9.27 p.m.]: I am mindful of the time constraints applying to my presentation and I will endeavour to be brief. I do not have 20 minutes. At the outset I state that as a person who reads newspapers and obtains some information from reading the Australian Financial Review , a couple of items mentioned in the Budget Speech alarmed me. The Treasurer during his Budget Speech mentioned pressure on interest rates. Pressure on interest rates has been created by the borrowings of Labor State governments. There is no doubt that those borrowings are putting huge pressure on interest rates. I state for the record that if interest rates increase, it is possibly for the reason I have stated and no other. The other matter that is very obvious is the current level of employment. Love it or hate it, I believe it is probably due to industrial relations laws put in place by the Federal Government that we are now experiencing the highest employment levels in 32 years.
I guess we have seen a lot benefits created by the Federal Government although it has copped a lot of criticism in this House. It really is serving the needs of this State Government pretty well. Another matter that needs to be addressed is the continual reference to the clawback of the GST. I read history, as do other members of this House. My reading informs me that since Federation there has been recognition that some of the wealthier States give to the less wealthy States and that there has always been an arrangement between the States that some of the money will go back to the poorer States. At a Council of Australian Governments meeting a decision was made to distribute a proportion of the GST to each State and Territory. Queensland and South Australia were definitely the recipients of the money tipped in by New South Wales. Bob Carr left that meeting cheering and punching his fist in the air, and saying what a great deal he had done to be caught out by only $2.5 billion.
However, $2.5 billion versus $45 billion is probably about 5 per cent. I come from another world that deals with the performance of managing directors. If a managing director said he could not make ends meet because of a 5 per cent reduction in revenue, he would probably be looking for another job by Monday. This is a joke, and it cannot continue. It is pretty monotonous to sit on this side of the House and listen to that kind of debate. Concerning the electorate of Murray-Darling, some comments have been made on radio during this week about the ineffectiveness of non-Labor representatives. I inherited what the previous Labor member lobbied for—and the results have been pretty disappointing.
The electorate of Murray-Darling received very little, and that was probably due to my predecessor, who was a member of the Labor Government. I believe he achieved little recognition, and maybe he did not do the required lobbying. Certainly the wash-up for Murray-Darling was pretty poor. But that is history, and I can accept it. However, I am the new representative and I will talk about the things that disappoint me in the budget and what I need to lobby for in future. The Menindee Lakes have been a particular concern for the residents of Broken Hill as well as for the residents of western New South Wales. The state of the Menindee Lakes has been a concern for a long time. Some major earthworks need to be done, and the budget for that is about $65 million.
Prior to the recent election, the State Government, in an attempt to make it look like it was doing something, engaged an organisation to put together a report, known as the Maunshell report. That report cost the Federal Government and the State Government $20 million, but the report told us nothing we did not already know. We had an opportunity to spend that $20 million, and it would have paid for a channel between two of the lakes— Prior to the recent election, the State Government, in an attempt to make it look like it was doing something, engaged an organisation to put together a report, known as the Maunshell report. That report cost the Federal Government and the State Government $20 million, but the report told us nothing we did not already know. We had an opportunity to spend that $20 million, and it would have paid for a channel between two of the lakes—which is part of the major works that is required. It is pretty frustrating for me and for the people in western New South Wales to know that that money was wasted. The budget allocates $4.1 million for the Silver City Highway between Broken Hill and Tibooburra, a distance of 320 kilometres. Currently, about two-thirds of that road is sealed. Most people would agree that we should get on with the business, get the job done. That is what the Coalition wanted.
When I was a candidate, I discussed one of the priorities and it was decided that the completion of the Silver City Highway within four years should take precedence. The money allocated for work on the Silver City Highway to get earthmoving and other equipment on the site, which is 160 kilometres from Broken Hill, and to set up a camp, would chew up the amount of money allocated for that roadwork. The variable expenses would chew up the allocated amount, which is very disappointing. The Menindee to Pooncarie road is a priority for western New South Wales. That road can provide a lot of tourism to Menindee and Pooncarie. It could also facilitate the trucking of produce from the Menindee area via Pooncarie. Currently that produce is trucked to Broken Hill and then to Melbourne, adding 120-odd kilometres to the round trip. That road did not get a mention in the budget. The Cobb Highway from Ivanhoe to Wilcannia has been talked about and some work has been done on it. No completion date has been announced and it was not mentioned in the budget. The Arumpo Road, which runs from Buronga to the major tourist attraction at Mungo National Park, is unsealed and dangerous.
Tourists arrive in Mildura wanting to visit the Mungo National Park. They rent a car but are prohibited from using a hire car along that unsealed road, so they miss out on that wonderful opportunity. There have been some major accidents on that dangerous road; fortunately, not a fatality as yet. That road is of real concern for the residents. For 12 years there has been talk about the link road from Balranald to Mungo as part of supporting tourism for Balranald. As with the Arumpo Road, that link road needs to be sealed to promote tourism to the area. The Haydays Hostel, which I mentioned during question time last week, is of real concern for the residents of Hay. The Government promised, through the then Minister for Health, Craig Knowles, that a 24-bed hostel unit would be attached to the multipurpose service facility. That promise was reinforced in writing by the former Minister for Health, now the Premier, Morris Iemma. To date that has not been provided for in the budget. This matter is a real concern for the people of Hay, because they are working with a hostel facility that is past its use-by date and needs to be replaced.
The Federal Government would like to assist in this matter. I am sure that the Federal member, Kay Hull, has pushed the Federal Government as far as she can, but it has not provided the money so it is up to the New South Wales Government to meet the promise it made to the people of Hay. It is a pretty poor show that that has not been provided. A multipurpose service facility was announced for Wentworth, but it was not provided for in this budget, and no provision has been made for it through the Greater Western Area Health Service. Those facilities are approaching 80 years of age and need replacement. My community should have an updated facility, something that other communities take for granted.
I wonder about the maintenance costs needed to keep that building up and running versus replacement. The Government should get on and replace that old facility at Wentworth and build the multipurpose service facility. Currently the first phase of the development for the Balranald multipurpose service is under discussion. That facility has been promised for some time, and I will watch closely the progress of that undertaking. In my electorate there are three police stations. The one at Finley is held together by paint. The white ants have had a pretty good go at it. The local residents would like to burn it down but they are concerned about where the white ants would then go. The station is just hanging together. It needs replacement but there is no provision for that in the budget. The Moama police station is an old building, probably pushing 100 years of age. One of its filing cabinets is wedged up to make it level and not fall over.
These facilities are totally inadequate for police to work in, they are not functional and they need to be replaced. It is crazy to let things like this linger. The police station at Deniliquin, which is an issue of major concern, probably served the needs of Deniliquin about 60 years ago. The station now has demountable building after demountable building, which is now unserviceable, but no funding has been allocated for it in this budget. The Government promised to provide a fish ladder at Stevens Weir. A fish ladder would not mean much to many members but for the past eight years fisherman have been promised that one would be provided. Local fishermen and the local community believe in conservation, in conserving fish stocks and in allowing fish to return to their breeding grounds. For eight years the fish ladder has been overlooked and there is no provision for it in the budget. It is a job that I will have to do in the next 12 months.
It was interesting to hear some members referring to the amount of money that had been allocated to high schools in their electorates. Before the election I attended a public meeting in Balranald at which the president of the parents and citizens association announced that Balranald High School needed $700,000 for maintenance. For more than 12 years no maintenance has been carried out at that school and it has reached the point where it is unsatisfactory. There is something wrong with this Government if it cannot provide amenities for its school students. Any government wanting to win an election knows that it needs the support of local schools. This Government is not prepared to allocate sufficient funding to maintain and support Balranald High School.
At present Wilcannia is experiencing a housing crisis. The State Government contracted a fly-by-night operator to build new homes in Wilcannia but those homes, which are inadequate, have been only semi-completed. I do not know whether the contractor has been paid or who is responsible for rectifying this problem, but Aboriginal families in Wilcannia are living in homes that have gaps in the walls, which is not good enough. Someone must take up this cause. The Government allocated money for this project and that money has been spent, but no-one is interested in rectifying this problem. For those who are living in rural communities little things count. Broken Hill Police and Community Youth Club, which provides services to young people in the Aboriginal community, requires the appointment of two constables at that location. For over two years no police officers have been appointed to those positions.
The operation of that club is vital to the Broken Hill community. The club provides a great service by giving Aboriginal youth direction, guidance and support and by organising sporting events for them. Sport plays a big part in the lives of young people in Broken Hill. The Government must appoint two police constables to do the job and to ensure the satisfactory operation of that club. One person has volunteered to take up the position and another person has been nominated. The Government has an opportunity to appoint two police constables to that club, to get the ball rolling and to resolve these problems in the Aboriginal community.
The member for East Hills criticised Opposition members for highlighting purely for political reasons the problems that are being experienced by Aboriginal communities. I assure members that I am committed to resolving those problems. When I made my inaugural speech in this House I referred to a number of concerns, which I still have. I believe that plenty of people can be blamed for these problems. Recently I spoke to the Federal Government and established that it was happy to act and do something about it. These problems, which have been around for more than 50 years, will not be fixed in five minutes. The cycle must be changed. Young Aboriginal children must be protected from all the things that are destroying their lives.
There has been plenty of criticism about the antisocial behaviour of Aboriginal children, but we need to look at their origins. They have had a pretty tough life and they are living in an environment in which no white child would want to live. These pure young people are being exposed to outside elements that are having a devastating effect on their lives. They are growing up with chips on their shoulders and they feel different and disoriented from the rest of the community. I would hate to carry the burdens that are being carried by those Aboriginal children. We are paying for it to some extent through the lawlessness and social problems that are occurring. We need a generational change to fix these problems. If we start working on these problems now I guarantee that they will be solved in 50 years.
The member for Barwon and I have been exposed to, and have looked closely at, these problems but at no time has the Government sought to consult us. Those who have witnessed these problems firsthand should be involved in resolving them. We have talked to key stakeholders and to those who are involved and we see no solution to these problems. There is no easy solution. Young children growing up in Aboriginal communities must be provided with a safe haven—a place that provides safety and sustenance when they are in danger. These children must be permitted to experience the same things that our children experienced when they were growing up. They need a perfectly balanced life. As I said earlier, we need a generational change. We are about three generations away from solving these problems and achieving the assimilation that we need.
Debate adjourned on motion by Mr Thomas George and set down as an order of the day for a future day.
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