This speech was delievered on 28th May in the NSW Upper House. You can read the original contribution here.
Mr DAVID SHOEBRIDGE [10.28 p.m.]: Tony Abbott’s budget is the most brutal and regressive in memory. It is only his first. Assuming he serves his whole term, that means another two budgets just like it. It is hard to imagine what our country would look like after three of them. The media has been covering the budget nonstop for the past two weeks, with billions of dollars cut from Health, Education and the Environment. Yet there are still appalling stories coming out each day about more programs that have been cut, more jobs that will be lost, and more promises that have been broken. Yesterday there were reports that the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency had been cut. Today there were reports that money was slashed from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Childhood Sexual Abuse to fund Abbott’s politically motivated pink batts inquiry. Tomorrow we may hear about ABC journalists losing their jobs, and the day after that we will see more cuts and job losses confirmed.
Anyone who has had even a cursory flick through the budget papers knows that every page has cuts like these that together will affect millions of people and tear apart the fabric of what is a fair society. I will take the limited time available to describe some of the less publicised but equally mean-spirited cuts in this budget. Tony Abbott has axed the national partnership agreement on preventative health to pull $368 million out of programs that reduce lifestyle-related chronic disease despite the fact that these diseases place the largest burden on our healthcare system and that investing in prevention will substantially lower the risk to public health in the future.
The Abbott Government is cutting the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy to save $3.3 million over three years. That is in addition to the $2.3 million cut from the live animal exports improved animal welfare program. In addition, $87.1 million in direct funding to the arts will be cut despite the fact that the arts contribute around $86 billion per year to gross domestic product and directly employ more than 500,000 people. Compared to industries like mining, which receives far greater subsidies, the arts punch well above their weight.
Tony Abbott has cut $1 billion from local councils. That means cuts to Meals on Wheels, roads and pedestrian access in local neighbourhoods. Tony Abbott has cut the Commonwealth Human Rights Education Program to save $1.8 million. Human rights are not high on Tony’s agenda. He has ripped $9.5 million from the Indigenous Languages Support program. Not funding this program will mean that we may well lose some Aboriginal languages forever. Tony Abbott has cut $239 million from the general Indigenous Affairs budget. Abbott thinks our First People have it too good in this country. Tony Abbott has cut legal aid funding by $15 million next year alone. That will cripple Legal Aid NSW, which currently receives 73 per cent of its funding from the Federal Government. He has cut $2.8 million from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority despite the Government’s own approvals to dump mine tailings on the reef, which mean it is under greater pressure than ever.
Tony Abbott has slashed the National Landcare Program, ripping $483.8 million from a program that repairs and protects our beautiful country. Tony Abbott has cut $4 million from the Tasmanian Forest Reserve Tourism component of the Tasmanian Forests Agreement Implementation Package on the grounds that he does not believe more forests should be protected. He has cut $7.6 billion from international development assistance. One of the richest countries on the planet is cutting programs that feed starving children and give the desperately poor access to clean water. He has ended the National Partnership Agreement on Improving Public Hospital Services for a saving of $201 million. He attacks public hospitals because he simply does not believe in them.
Funding to the Partners in Recovery program is cut by $53.8 million, further reducing support for people with a severe and persistent mental illness. Abbott has axed the anti-smoking National Tobacco Campaign to save $2.9 million after taking thousands from big tobacco to get elected. “What a guy”, they say. The Abbott Government has pull $914.6 million out of the Tools for Your Trade program, leaving apprentices across the country struggling on very modest wages to buy the tools they need for training. He has cut $1.3 billion from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, effectively robbing our future. The Australian Research Council has been cut by $74.9 million, meaning thousands of university research programs will be unviable and a further $146 million taken from research by the CSIRO. Science is an obstacle to Tony’s political plans.
These cuts are all in addition to cuts to family benefit payments, the unemployment safety net, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the Medicare co-payment and the estimated $80 billion being ripped out of health and education. The Greens NSW join with those across the country in saying we need to stop this budget. Tony Abbott wants to change the country but right now most Australians want to change the Government. It is time to bust his budget and make him an historic half-term Tony.