Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

They have no plans. Senator Cash is right; they have no plan at all. There is not one skerrick of a business plan or an approach to say that this is the wrong way to go.

Some of these points were made very strongly and forcefully at a federal budget breakfast which I hosted with KPMG in Launceston on the Wednesday morning after the federal budget. We had a packed audience of 275 people. In fact, 50-odd guests were turned away. Martin Rees, the managing partner at KPMG, was the chairman. Michael Hine, a partner at KPMG, spoke on the tax aspects of the budget. We had Dr Graeme Wells, who is an associate professor from the University of Tasmania and an economist and independent commentator, as well as Michelle Grattan, the senior political columnist with the Age newspaper. We had as a special guest Michael Keenan, a very good shadow minister for employment and workforce participation from Western Australia. It was an excellent breakfast. The key theme was debt, the second key theme was debt and the third key theme was debt. Those attending were very concerned about the consequences that flow through from that debt. Interestingly, the local federal member for Bass, Jodie Campbell, who joined and participated in the federal budget breakfast last year, declined to participate this year. I was very surprised and disappointed. Fortunately Senator Nick Sherry accepted the invitation. The invitations went out to all and sundry in and around Northern Tasmania, and a few weeks ago Ms Campbell unfortunately declined to participate for different reasons. As I say, Michelle Grattan was kind enough to participate in that budget breakfast. We learnt quite a bit about some of the concerns and consequences for Tasmania, including the fact that, with respect to infrastructure, Tasmania received not one dollar. I want to thank KPMG on the record for their efforts, particularly Michael Hine and Martin Rees, together with their offices. They did a great job in pulling it all together with the support of my office and those who attended, and I thank them for it. It was very worthwhile, informative and educational.

On Tasmania, I would like to say a few more things. I still have hope that there will be funding support for the upgrade of Bell Bay. But the government have gone on a reckless spending spree, so the question is: how much money is left at the bottom of the barrel? I suspect there is very little, if any at all. They have to justify their plans into the future.

With respect to the private health insurance premium—goodness me!—it is a very sad indictment of Labor and a broken promise from the last federal election. We on this side support having a balance between the private and public sectors. On the evening of the federal budget I met with Colleen McGann, who is the deputy president of the Australian Health Insurance Association, and she was not a happy pumpkin. She advised that there are some 600,000 policyholders and 1.3 million Australians who will be adversely impacted by this tragic decision by Labor. Obviously there will be consequences to their decision. The possible consequences include increases in private health insurance premiums, and the flow-on effects of people moving into the public hospital sector will be increased waiting times and an increased number of people on waiting lists.

What else has happened for Tasmania? We saw nothing in the way of funding for combating the problem of silt in the Tamar River in Tasmania. The Tamar River is very important for the future health and welfare of Northern Tasmania. The local member has decided not to fight for, support or advocate funding for combating silt.

On cancer support services at the Launceston General Hospital, there was a report in the Examiner noting that the linear accelerator for the LGH had been announced and would be set up in Launceston. This was an election promise in 2007, but it has not happened yet. It should now be up and running. In fact, the money was promised by the Howard government but unfortunately was taken back. The promise was made and, according to the report in the Examiner, the promise will be kept. It was even in the editorial of the local newspaper. But the budget papers say something different. They say it will be set up between Northern Tasmania and north-west Tasmania. So the question is: who is right? Are the budget papers right or is the information set out in the local paper correct? Further inquiries for further information will be made on this particular matter, and I hope that we can get to the bottom of it as soon as possible.

We know that, prior to the last election, Sid Sidebottom, the federal member for Braddon, with his hand over his heart and standing next to Kevin Rudd, promised that there would be an MRI machine for the north-west coast. In a full-page ad in the Advocate newspaper they said, ‘You will have an MRI machine the north-west coast if we are elected.’ Well, the federal budget has put paid to that promise; it will not happen. I commend the Advocate newspaper today for its commentary, observations and report. I commend it for including some of the comments made by Senator Richard Colbeck, who has highlighted these concerns for and on behalf of the people of the north-west coast. This is another broken promise.

In terms of the GST in Tasmania, yes, there will be about a $1 billion drop over the next four years and that will have serious consequences for the state government and for the way Tasmania is being run. Already under the Labor government in Tasmania the mismanagement and maladministration is a shame. Indeed, it is a great shame. So we have many concerns in Tasmania and we have to stand up.

One of the big issues that has questions hanging over it is the future of broadband for Tasmania. We know that promises have been made, but we also know that the Prime Minister must clarify which Tasmanian towns will benefit from the National Broadband Network rollout and which towns will miss out. The Prime Minister has said that it would be ‘feasible to link up a whole bunch of quite small communities’ in Tasmania to the National Broadband Network because of the concentration of smaller towns and transport arteries. He was quoted in the Examiner on 1 May, thanks to a story from Peter Wells. But which communities will benefit from this promise and which ones will miss out? He has the ‘1,000 people in a town promise’ for the rest of the country, but different rules apply in Tasmania. The Premier has said that different rules will apply and these towns will not miss out. But we do not know which ones will miss out and which ones will benefit. We need to know.

We would like an ironclad guarantee that no Tasmanian will pay more for broadband services under the government’s new broadband plan for Tasmania. Why can’t the Prime Minister give us that guarantee? He has all this money to splash around, so why can’t he give that ironclad guarantee? The average family currently pays under $50 a month for home internet access. Industry experts put the cost to families at approximately $100 per month as a minimum, with some estimates putting the cost at above $200 per month, under the new arrangements. But what will the cost be per household? Exactly who will receive these improved services, and when and where will they be available? We know that the Tasmanian rollout is set to start in July. These questions need answering, and they need answering fast, because we are already in mid-May.

We also want to know the division of responsibilities between the federal and Tasmanian governments on the National Broadband Network. These should be clarified. The government must come clean on the details. We want to see the business plan behind not only the federal government’s broadband plan but also the state government’s plan. The cost for the project in Tasmania has been estimated at as high as $700 million. Is this correct? And who is actually paying for it? Is it the federal government alone or, because of these new rules and criteria on who can and cannot access this service, is the state government chipping in? If so, how much? We need to know this information, so please release the plan for Tasmania. Come clean and release the business plan for the National Broadband Network across the board.

We are very concerned about the federal budget because of the record debt, the $58 billion deficit and the $220 billion deficit over the next five years. It is a great shame. It is the next generation, not just us, who are going to be paying through the nose for these reckless decisions by federal Labor. For those on the unemployment scrap heap, federal Labor have a lot to answer for. We know that the number of people in unemployment queues will be going up and going up fast. There are further concerns. We know that small business have missed out. Superannuation and the co-contribution scheme have been changed. I stand in support of the motion.