Mr WILKIE (8:45 PM) —The 2001 budget very clearly demonstrated the choices that the Australian people will have before them later this year when they vote to elect a national government. Never before have the differences between the present government and the Labor opposition, the government in waiting, been so stark. This budget demonstrated the government's total lack of vision and direction for taking this nation forward. It demonstrated that it is the big end of town that this government directs its policy initiatives towards and, most sadly, it demonstrated how totally unconcerned this government is with offering any assistance to those sections of the community that have been hit hardest by the GST.

It was a budget that saw no priority in building a robust public education and public health system and no priority in reducing unemployment. It was a budget from a government that is all out of ideas and is resorting to cynical, vote buying policies before it disappears into the political wilderness. In contrast, this side of the House is a government in waiting—a government in waiting with a vision about where it wishes to lead this country, a government in waiting that will ensure that the most vulnerable sections of society are not left behind, a government in waiting that sees education, health, jobs and a fairer tax system as its priorities. National governments cannot pick and choose whom they wish to govern. They cannot select certain sections of society and favour them at the expense of others, yet this is exactly what this government has chosen to do through this budget. National governments must govern for all of us, and those opposite might do well to remember that statement. `For all of us' might have been yet another throwaway line in an election campaign for the government, like so many others it has made, but for a Beazley Labor government it will not be.

We move on to education. When the Leader of the Opposition addressed the Sydney Institute last week, he outlined how this nation is investing less and less in its education system and he outlined what some of the consequences of this trend are. The Howard government's budget contains no measure that will address this situation. The only increased funding is to the wealthy category 1 schools. The Swan electorate has no category 1 schools. Therefore, not one student in the electorate will benefit from this budget. They will, however, benefit from the election of a Labor Beazley government. They will benefit from the $100 million more in capital funding to public schools and better teaching standards delivered by some of the 1,000 new teachers who will access scholarships to undergo training and the 10,000 existing teachers who will be able to access courses to build their skills.

A Labor government sees a reversal in the stagnation of the year 12 retention rates as a priority. Rebuilding the university education system that this government has plundered in its five years in office will be fundamental to this plan. Larger class sizes, increased fees and ballooning HECS debts are a disincentive to students making important decisions about their future. Labor wants to help them with regard to making those decisions. Like the primary and secondary schools in Swan, Curtin University of Technology did not benefit one iota from the recent budget. Like its counterparts around Australia, Curtin University must generate more of its income from fee paying students because of reductions in public funding. The result of this trend is a focus on more popular courses, particularly in the business stream, and a focus away from the teaching and learning subjects that are fundamental to a well-educated knowledge nation.

As class sizes grow, fewer books are available in libraries, less is invested in teacher training and the overall quality of tertiary education declines, all thanks to the Howard government's reduction in investment in education. Students graduating are then hit with the Howard government's double whammy: they have enormous HECS debts and, on 1 June 2001, their HECS debts went up another 5.3 per cent thanks to the inflationary effects of the GST. Fewer students are undertaking research degrees in science, engineering and technology, meaning fewer students are working on the development of new products and processes in these fields. Those who do make a start in these sectors find that the government's reduction in R&D investment means they must look overseas for opportunities to pursue their endeavours. The Howard government has no vision to address this brain drain. In fact, it does not even acknowledge its existence. In contrast, Labor sees it as a fundamental part of its education vision.

With all the advertising this government is presently targeting at Australia's seniors, one might be forgiven for thinking that the recent budget actually contains some benefits for them. But it does not. Unlike the Howard government, Labor is not about cynical vote-buying through hollow promises. Its measures for seniors have some substance. Unlike the $300 payment to age pensioners, when Labor's measures are put under scrutiny they will not suffer from analysis of the fine detail. Three hundred dollars sounded great for older Australians, except that it was $700 short of what they were promised last year. It also sounded great to other pension recipients until they found out that, if they were disability support pensioners, mature age allowees, Newstart allowees, carer payment recipients or wife pensioners, they were among the 350,000 people who the Howard-Costello double act had decided did not need GST compensation.

The broken promises on GST compensation join the list of kicks in the guts to older Australians by this government. For seniors in aged care, Labor prioritises fundamental reforms to raise the standards provided. But this cannot be done with a minister who has disappeared into thin air and is too afraid to show her face because she knows that her appalling failures in overseeing this industry will be shown up. It will be achieved through identifying aged care as a priority and implementing strategies which form a long-term vision. Labor will repair the damage through the establishment of a national benchmark of care and an aged care ombudsman.

As with aged care, Labor has prioritised repairing the damage done in health by this government, with a vision to implement innovative strategies aimed at improving public health. Labor would commit $90 million to a comprehensive strategy to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer through a new national approach. In relation to Medicare, under the Howard government, the residents in Swan have had to travel to Cannington to stand in ever-increasing queues at the Medicare office. Labor says, `This is not good enough.' More Medicare offices are a priority. I believe that areas such as Belmont and Victoria Park, where the shopping precincts have undergone significant expansion, should be supported by this important government infrastructure. Labor continues to believe fundamentally in the importance of Medicare and measures to ensure its continuing improvement. The Medicare after hours program would provide Australians with access to medical advice out of hours, reducing waiting times to consult a doctor at night and on weekends.

The Swan electorate is home to Perth airport, which is an important gateway for tourism and business for the whole of Western Australia. Unfortunately, the residents of nearby areas such as Queens Park bear a heavy burden from this important facility. They live under the flight paths of the present runways and the children suffer in their primary schools from intolerable noise. Unlike residents in similar situations in Sydney and, I believe, in Adelaide, the government is providing no funding to install double glazing and other noise amelioration programs in the houses and schools. It is not practical to relocate Perth airport, but I believe it is both practical and a priority to provide these residents with at least the same relief as is provided in other parts of Australia.

I also believe that we should not compromise the safety of all air travellers using Perth airport, and of residents living under the flight paths, by relocating air traffic control operations to Melbourne—a plan this government is proceeding with. For the high cost and minimal savings, there is no justification in placing the safety of so many people in jeopardy. It should be a priority to spend this money on noise amelioration measures.

Small businesses and microbusinesses are the backbone of Western Australia's economy and they are an integral part of the Swan electorate. Thanks to the Howard government, every one of these businesses has now been appointed a tax collector, without even being consulted. Every one of these businesses has had complex compliance procedures forced upon them. For Labor, the priority would be to reduce as much of this burden as possible so that the businesses are freed up to get on with what they do best—running and growing their businesses and generating employment opportunities for other Australians. Labor would allow businesses to submit an annual return instead of a quarterly one, and this is a measure that has been warmly received by small businesses in the electorate.

The measures outlined today reinforce two fundamental differences between the tired government sitting across the chamber and the government in waiting on this side. Firstly, Labor has a vision about what it wants to achieve in government. It is a vision based upon important priorities for creating the sort of society that Australians want and identify with. Secondly, it is based on priorities that will ensure that a Beazley Labor government governs for all of us, so that all of us in society and not just the privileged few benefit from the prosperity of this nation.