Bill Shorten’s Budget reply speech in full
Labor leader Bill Shorten has delivered his Budget reply speech. Read it in full here, and see the pictures of the House of Representatives.
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A Budget should sketch the big picture.
Build for the long term, write Australia large.
Be ambitious. Be bold.
That’s what a Labor Government will do, strive for the best.
Because Australians deserve the best.
But instead, on Tuesday night, we got an exercise in numerology.
A recitation of numbers, no vision laid out to divine where the country is and where we are going – and no reform.
The same promises made and broken six years running.
Yes, a third Prime Minister.
A third Treasurer.
But where it mattered, the same Liberal Budget.
The same void where an energy policy should be.
The same failure on stagnant wages and rising cost-of-living.
The same denial on climate change.
The same $14 billion cut to schools.
And the same $2.8 billion cut to hospitals.
Here’s the first commitment I can give Australians – and one of the most important.
If we win the next election, we will put back every single dollar the Liberals have cut from public schools and public hospitals.
MORE ON SHORTEN’S BUDGET REPLY:
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NDIS
Mr Speaker.
There was one disturbing new feature in this Budget.
Short-changing the NDIS by $1.6 billion, to prop up a flimsy surplus forecast.
That looks a lot more like dodgy accounting than good economic management.
I freely acknowledge government members sincerely care about people with disability.
But the truth is, the Liberals have a record of poor decisions on the NDIS.
Sacking the board.
Delaying the signing of funding agreements with the states.
Capping staff numbers for the National Disability Insurance Agency - leading to an outbreak of contractors and consultants undermining the system.
And then – after all these policies that hamstring delivery – the Liberals shrug and say the $1.6 billion isn’t needed, because of a lack of demand.
Mr Speaker.
There are thousands of Australians who embraced the promise of the NDIS but whose legitimate demands have simply not been met.
The young man in Ballarat who has waited more than two years for a wheelchair, so long that he ended up in hospital with pressure sores.
The family whose daughter has an intellectual disability, who have waited ten months for funding for the speech therapy she needed to learn and make friends at school.
Or the family of a profoundly deaf young man who was denied interpreters and training in Auslan and has spent the last two and a half years appealing that decision.
All these people… the carers seeking modest respite… the parents, the loved ones, filling out forms, waiting on the phones...
They’re not telling me there is a lack of demand, they’re talking about a desperate need.
Mr Speaker.
Working with the Member for Jagajaga, with people with disability, their carers and an army of advocates to help create the National Disability Insurance Scheme is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever been part of.
And tonight I can give every Australian living with disability and the people who love them this personal commitment: that if we are elected as the next government.
We will lift the NDIA cap on staff numbers, so we can get the support out the door.
We will put people with disability back at the centre of decision-making.
And we will get the NDIS back on track.
TAX CUTS
Mr Speaker.
I acknowledge our opponents have finally seen the light on supporting the bigger, better and fairer tax cuts for 10 million Australians that Labor put forward last year.
And tonight I can confirm that, from 1 July, if you earn between $48,000 and $126,000 - no matter who you vote for in May - you will get the same tax refund.
But the Liberal tax plan doesn’t do enough for the 2.9 million Australians who earn less than
$40,000.
About 57 per cent of whom are women.
Child care workers and classroom assistants.
Hairdressers and office managers.
And they are parents returning to work, part-time.
In a lot of cases, these are the very same workers in retail, hospitality, pharmacy and fast food who have already had their penalty rates cut.
Tonight, I am pleased to say that in Chris Bowen’s first Budget, Labor will provide a bigger tax refund than the Liberals for 3.6 million Australians.
All told, an extra billion dollars, for low-income earners.
There’s always a lot of talk about tax from those opposite – but here is the simple truth: 6.4 million working people will pay the same amount of income tax under Labor as the Liberals.
And another 3.6 million will pay less tax under Labor.
But we will not be signing-up to the Liberals’ radical, right-wing, flat-tax experiment, way off in the future, a scheme which would force a nurse on $50,000 to pay the same tax rate as a surgeon on $200,000.
We won’t back a plan that gives a retail worker on $35,000 less than 5 bucks a week while an investment banker pockets more than $11,000 a year.
This isn’t a tax plan, it’s a ticking debt bomb.
And it is neither fair nor responsible to lock-in these billions of dollars of tax giveaways disproportionately flowing to a relative few – and so far into the future.
Especially when you consider the foreboding we see in the global environment:
-Brexit
-Trade wars
-The writedowns in global growth
-The massive increase in global debt
-The drop in bond yields.
This is a time when Australia should be building a strong surplus, a fiscal buffer.
The Liberals talk about being back in the black - but the Budget papers reveal a much paler shade of grey.
What we need is a fighting fund for the country, a strong surplus to protect us from international shocks.
Surpluses built on real reform – not cutting schools and hospitals, short-changing the NDIS and banking on the price of ore.
And tonight I recommit that’s what Labor will take to the next election – stronger surpluses, paying down debt faster.
Guaranteeing everything from our commitment to defence spending at 2 per cent of GDP, drought relief for farmers and keeping our borders secure.
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INTERGENERATIONAL FAIRNESS
Mr Speaker.
Nearly six years ago, my team and I made a choice.
We decided not to be the kind of Opposition who just stay quiet, cross our fingers and hope the government tears itself apart.
We decided to lead the reform debate, with a bold agenda.
We believe people are hungry for a united, stable government with a real vision for the future, who can make the hard decisions.
And we believe government has a responsibility to leave the place better than we found it.
That’s why we’re going to stop the intergenerational unfairness in our tax system.
NEGATIVE GEARING
If you’re currently negatively gearing the rules won’t change.
If you want to use it on new homes, you still can.
But we cannot have property investors playing with loaded dice against our young people, Generation Y and the Millennials.
And instead of patronising millions of young Australians with lectures about cutting back on smashed avo.
Let’s tell the truth:
Getting together a 20 per cent deposit - plus stamp duty - is still much, much harder than it was 10 or 20 years ago.
And it’s even more difficult, when your government uses your taxpayer money to subsidise the property investors bidding against you.
The intergenerational bias that the tax system has against young people must be called out.
A government has to be brave enough and decent enough to stop the bias against first home buyers and young people.
And we will be that government.
The same goes for dividend imputation.
If the tax office pays a tax credit to someone who pays no tax, that is a gift.
It’s a gift that is costing the taxpayers of Australia nearly $6 billion every year – and growing so fast that it will soon be more than we spend on public schools.
It’s not illegal, it’s not immoral – it’s just not sustainable any more.
CLIMATE CHANGE
And - Mr Speaker – reform which delivers intergenerational fairness has to include real action on climate change.
This debate has poisoned this parliament for ten years – and paralysed this government.
So tonight let’s deal in simple facts:
Climate change is real.
It’s doing real damage to our economy - and our environment.
And we can measure cost of inaction: in bushfires, in droughts, in floods, in extreme weather and damage to our farmland and our Reef.
For the sake of the Australia we hand on to our children, a Labor Government will take real action on climate change.
FAIR GO ACTION PLAN
Tonight – and at this election - Labor is offering the Australian people a fully-funded Fair Go Action Plan.
-Building an economy that works for everyone.
-Investing in an education system that creates opportunity for everyone.
-Fixing the wages system so it delivers for everyone.
-Reforming the tax system so it is fair for everyone.
-And funding a health system that is there for everyone.
We believe Australia does best when working class and middle class people get a fair go.
When the people who create our national wealth, get their fair share of the national wealth.
And when everyone has an equal chance to fulfil their potential.
EDUCATION
This is why investing in the future, always begins with education.
Nine out of ten new jobs created in the next four years will require either a university degree or a TAFE qualification.
Only a Labor Government will properly fund both.
We’ll uncap university places, opening the doors of higher education to an additional 200,000
Australians.
TAFE
And when it comes to vocational education, Labor’s backing public TAFE all the way.
I’ve visited 30 TAFEs around Australia since the last election.
The teachers and students are inspirational.
And tonight I’m pleased to announce that we are going to double the size of our Rebuilding TAFE fund – up to $200 million – to renovate campuses
This will mean:
-New facilities for training nurses in Caboolture and Devonport.
-New workshops in Midland and Bellevue, for METRONET train carriages.
-A new construction centre for tradies in Chadstone and Frankston.
And so much more.
Labor will also pay the upfront fees for 100,000 TAFE places to get more Australians training in high-priority courses.
And tonight I am proud to announce that 20,000 of these places will be allocated to a new
generation of aged care workers and paid carers for the NDIS.
SCHOOLS
My Mum was a great teacher.
She taught me that you can measure a nation’s values by how much it values education.
I want every child in Australia to get the one-on-one attention they need to thrive.
Aboriginal kids getting equal opportunity, kids with disability or learning difficulties getting the support they need.
And every child participating in sport, trying drama, learning music, going on camps, getting access to new technology.
Not as optional extras, not as luxuries that rely on parents or teachers raising the money themselves – guaranteed.
Guaranteed because every school in Australia, offers every child the same world of opportunity.
And there’s another thing we will do to make Australian schools the best in the world – we’ll make Tanya Plibersek the Minister for Education.
PRE-SCHOOL
Mr Speaker.
Experts tell us ninety per cent of a child’s brain develops before the age of 5.
And two years of preschool or kindergarten is the rule in countries at the top of the global education ladder:
-South Korea
-Norway
-New Zealand
-France
-and the UK
Last year China enrolled 46 million three year olds in pre-school programs.
Australia is falling behind in the early years – and that affects our kids right through primary school.
If you vote Labor, we will guarantee universal access to pre-school or kinder for every three year old and every four year old in Australia.
15 hours a week, 40 weeks a year.
Two years of pre-school is global best practice.
And when it comes to our children’s education, we should never settle for less than the best.
JOBS
Our vision for education and training is all about putting Australia on the high road to the future:
High skill workers. High quality products.
High value services. And higher-wage jobs.
This means backing local businesses and industries.
We backed a tax cut for small and medium businesses.
And we will provide an extra 20 per cent tax break for every business that invests in productivity-boosting equipment $20,000 – whether that’s a big manufacturer buying new technology, or a tradie getting a new ute.
And we will invest in industries where Australia can be best in the world:
-Agriculture and Tourism
-Hydrogen Energy
-Science and research
-Advanced Manufacturing
-Mineral exploration, to unearth new wealth
Defence industry - and commercial shipbuilding, to revive our Merchant Marine and see more Australian ships, flying the Australian flag.
RENEWABLES
Embracing renewables will create thousands of new jobs for Australia.
Labor will provide a $2000 payment to families who want to join the fight against climate change and cut their power bills by installing a battery storage system.
And here’s the thing - we already have every single resource to make a lithium battery, here in Australia.
So instead of shipping the minerals overseas and buying back the finished product at vastly inflated prices, let’s make the batteries here.
And let’s do this with electric vehicles and charging equipment and stations too.
Supported by Australia’s first Electric Vehicle Policy.
And rather than relying on China and India to accept our plastic and waste, or leave it choking our waterways and killing our wildlife, let’s recycle it here at home.
When it comes to clean technology, I believe we can make three words famous right around the world: Made in Australia.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Building an economy that works for everyone means a massive building program, right across our nation.
We will reinvigorate jobs in the construction sector:
-With our Build-to-Rent plan
-Targeting Negative Gearing to new housing.
-Renovating the national energy grid with new pipelines, interconnectors, hydro and storage.
-Launching the biggest affordable housing program since the Second World War – building a quarter of a million new homes.
And investing in safe accommodation for women fleeing violent relationships.
Because too often, when the worst happens, people still say: “Why didn’t she leave?”
What we should ask is: “Where would she go?”
Mr Speaker.
Labor has transport plans and projects ready to go in every state and territory:
-Cross River Rail in Brisbane
-Western Sydney Metro
-Suburban Rail Loop in Melbourne
-The Bridgewater Bridge in Tassie
-South Road in SA
-METRONET in Perth
-Upgrading the roads around Kakadu
-and Phase 2 of the ACT light rail.
And, thanks to Albo’s hard work, this is just the beginning.
Labor will develop Northern Australia: including overdue upgrades for the beef roads and the Rocky ring road.
And tonight I can announce we will deliver $1.5 billion to upgrade the Gateway Motorway from Bracken Ridge to the Pine River - and the next stage of the Bruce Highway from the Northern Suburbs to Caboolture.
There’s another big difference between Liberal and Labor on infrastructure.
In their budget you have to vote for the current Prime Minister at this election, then you have to vote for whoever is their leader at the next election, before anyone even digs a hole.
Our projects aren’t out on the never-never, they are locked in to our first budget.
And every time we invest Commonwealth dollars in infrastructure projects.
We’ll make the rule that 1 in 10 people employed must be an Australian apprentice.
Mr Speaker
The bad news is that over the last six years, the Liberals have cut 150,000 apprenticeships.
The good news is because of our plans:
-In infrastructure
-Housing construction
-the NDIS
-TAFE and training
-Early childhood education
-Energy
-and the digital economy
a Labor Government can repair the damage done.
We will help train 150,000 apprentices for the jobs of the future.
We will provide additional support for businesses which take them on – both young people and mature age workers looking to re-train and learn new skills.
And we’ll create an Apprentice Advocate – because the tragic death of an 18 year old apprentice on the Macquarie Park site last week, reminds us that apprentices have the same right to come home safe as everybody else.
WAGES
Mr Speaker
The next election will be a referendum on wages.
We need to get wages growth going again – for workers, for the economy, for confidence and
consumption.
Because when we boost the spending power of working people, that money flows back into the till of small businesses.
In the last six years, three Liberal Prime Ministers and three Liberal Treasurers have signed-off on official forecasts for wages growth, which have been wrong 27 times.
27 times.
On Tuesday night, the Treasurer boldly said he would “like” to see wages higher.
After six years of stagnation: liking and wishing and hoping is not a plan for working people.
We’ve tried it their way, the invisible hand, leave it to the market - we know how that ends.
Since the last election, wages have risen by around five per cent – while company profits have increased nearly forty per cent.
Only Labor has a concrete, practical plan to get wages moving again.
1. If we win the election we will legislate to restore Sunday and public holiday penalty rates in our first 100 days.
2. We will stop companies using sham contracts and dodgy labour hire arrangements to cut
people’s pay.
3. Our Tradie Pay Guarantee, will mean subbies working on Commonwealth projects get paid on time, every time.
And we will help the 1.2 million lowest-paid Australians, by creating a living wage.
Of course, we will consult with employers, in line with the capacity of the economy to pay.
But I don’t want any Australian who works full time, to be trapped in poverty.
A plan to achieve moderate but meaningful improvement in wages.
And whenever we talk about fair pay, this includes equal pay and fairer conditions for the women of Australia.
-A new push for better pay in women-dominated industries like early education.
-New measures to help boost the superannuation of working women.
-And 10 days of paid leave for people dealing with family violence.
This is what you get from a political party that walks the walk on equality for women – in our policies and here in the parliament.
THE REGIONS
Mr Speaker
At this election, we are offering a genuine alternative for regional Australia:
- Better support for our dairy farmers to get a fair deal.
- Working to restore the Murray Darling to health
- New investments in eliminating mobile black spots – and a more reliable NBN for small business.
And not only will we put back the $83 million the Liberals have cut from the ABC…
We’ll provide another $10 million to support regional news and emergency broadcasting, particularly in areas affected by natural disasters such as Townsville, Tasmania and regional Victoria.
We can also give regional communities this simple, important pledge: no more privatising and outsourcing human services in the bush.
If you’re a pensioner or a veteran living in the regions, you shouldn’t be stuck on hold for hours waiting for help.
You should be able to speak to a human being, face-to-face.
LABOR’S MEDICARE CANCER PLAN
My fellow Australians.
Tonight I want to conclude by talking to you about our vision for the most significant investment in Medicare in a generation.
Cancer is one of the biggest killers in our country.
Not for nothing is it called the Emperor of all Maladies.
One in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some stage in our life.
145,000 of our fellow Australians are diagnosed with cancer every year.
And 50,000 die.
And one way or another, we all witness the ordeal.
I saw it with my Mum and her battle with breast cancer.
Chloe and I have seen it with dear friends of ours – some old, some far too young.
Cancer is frightening, it’s isolating, it’s exhausting.
And – all too often – it is impoverishing.
For so many people, cancer makes you sick and then paying for the treatment makes you poor.
And I think a lot of Australians would be surprised to learn that all those vital scans and tests and consultations with specialists aren’t fully covered by Medicare.
Instead, they cost hundreds of dollars, adding up to thousands, out of your own pocket.
Australia has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world – and most people pay over $5000 for the first two years of their treatment.
One in four women diagnosed with breast cancer pay over $10,000 for two years of scans and tests.
Some men with prostate cancer are paying more than $18,000.
And if you’re in Stage 4 cancer, you have to quit work, so your finances are already under massive strain.
If you live in the regions, there are all the added costs of travel and accommodation.
Every year 300,000 Australians who need radiology don’t get it – because they can’t afford it.
Three hundred thousand of us.
We are a smart country, we’ve got the best health care staff, we are a rich country, we are a
generous country – and we are better than this.
If someone you love has cancer, you’d sell the roof over your head if it would help, you’d sell the shirt off your back - but you shouldn’t have to.
You pay your taxes to Canberra. You pay your Medicare levy.
And if I am elected Prime Minister, I’m going to make sure the health care system is there for you when you need it most.
Tonight, I am announcing the most important investment in Medicare since Bob Hawke created it.
Labor’s $2.3 billion Medicare Cancer Plan.
First, if we win the election, we will invest $600 million towards eliminating all the out-of-pocket
costs for diagnostic imaging.
Over four years, this will mean six million free cancer scans, funded by Medicare.
-CT scans
-PET scans
-Mammograms
-X Rays
-Ultrasounds
Reducing out-of-pocket costs for cancer patients from hundreds of dollars, to zero.
And this applies to MRIs too.
Today, only half the MRI machines in the country are covered by Medicare.
People in the bush and the regions often either have to drive hours, or pay thousands.
If we win the election, not only will we provide new MRI machines to communities where they are needed most.
We will guarantee every single MRI machine in Australia is covered by Medicare for cancer scans.
Second: the cost of seeing a specialist.
Treating cancer relies on a team of experts.
-Medical oncologists in charge of your diagnosis and ongoing chemotherapy and immunotherapy
-Surgeons performing your operations and monitoring your recovery.
-Radiation oncologists designing targeted radiation therapy plans to destroy cancer cells.
These appointments are part of your weekly routine, often for years.
The trips, the waiting, the treatment, the recovery.
Thousands of dollars.
A new Labor Government will invest $433 million to immediately cover specialist consultations for cancer patients.
Over the next four years, this will mean an additional 3 million appointments are bulk-billed – with no out-of-pocket costs.
Once again, reducing what you pay from hundreds of dollars – to zero.
And thirdly: our Affordable Medicine Guarantee.
Every drug recommended by the independent experts, will be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Not just cutting the cost of your treatment – cutting the cost of your cancer medication too.
Cancer is a curse.
I wish I could stand here tonight and tell you that we will find a cure.
But no politician can give that promise.
We will continue to support our scientists in their work, we will invest in the research and the
clinical trials.
And until the day we find a cure, I can promise you this:
Under Labor - if you are battling cancer, you can focus on getting well, without worrying about going broke.
I can promise that if you are in the fight of your life - a Labor Government will back you up.
Mr Speaker.
This is what the first four years of Labor’s Medicare Cancer Plan means for Australians:
-Up to 6 million free cancer scans
-3 million free appointments with specialists
-And an affordable medicine guarantee
This is our vision for the future.
And we can pay for it – and deliver it - because of our reform decisions.
CONCLUSION
My fellow Australians.
Our opponents spend a lot of time telling you to be afraid.
Afraid of change. Afraid of new ideas.
Afraid of the future. Afraid of each other.
I expect we’ll see more of that, in the campaign ahead.
I have a different view.
I’m optimistic future about our nation’s future, because we have so much going for us.
A continent to call our own, next to the fastest-growing economies in the world.
The resources to be an energy superpower.
The skills and the science and the get-up and go to create new industries.
And best of all, we have our people: hardworking, caring, brave, smart and generous.
We will never be the biggest country in the world – but I believe we can aim to be the best.
The best in education and skills.
The best in health and aged care and looking after people with dementia.
The best in fair wages and fair reward for your work.
And that’s the real choice our country faces at this election, that’s the decision every Australian has to make.
Do you want the best health care system in the world?
Or the biggest tax loopholes?
Do you want your children to get a world-class education?
Or the world’s most generous tax subsidies?
Do you want a fairer, more equal country where the economy works in the interests of everyone?
Or do you want another three years of the top end of town profiting at the expense of everybody else.
My team and I have made the reform decisions to put forward a Fair Go Action plan for Australia to be the
best we can be.
We offer stability and unity and a vision for the nation.
We choose hope over fear.
We choose the future over the past.
We choose the best support for people with cancer.
We choose fair wages and good jobs.
We choose TAFE and apprenticeships.
We choose a Voice for the First Australians.
We choose renewables and real action on climate change.
We choose the ABC.
We choose equality for the women of Australia - equality for everyone.
And if these things matter to you, if you believe in sharing opportunity across the country.
If you believe in handing-on a better deal to the next generation.
Then – when you cast your vote in May - choose a Labor Government, for all Australians.
Originally published as Bill Shorten’s Budget reply speech in full
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