Mr FARMER (7:38 PM) —I rise in the House tonight to speak on the 2004-05 budget which was released on 11 May. The Howard government have delivered seven surplus budgets since coming to government in 1996. As many Australians are aware, the government inherited a $96 billion debt from the Labor government's mismanagement of the economy. As of the 2004-05 budget, the federal coalition government has paid back $70 billion of this debt and maintained a surplus through good economic management. This saves the Australian government between $6 billion and $7 billion in interest each year. That is $6 billion to $7 billion that we can now afford to spend on initiating new programs to support the many families of Australia.

My electorate of Macarthur is made up of many mixes of people—from the elderly in Camden and the young families in Campbelltown, to the first home owners in Narellan, as well as the many people who aspire to personal wealth through property investment and employment. As the Treasurer stated when he announced the budget, `This budget is designed to keep our economy strong' and to put tax cuts back into the hands of Australian workers. For home owners in my electorate of Macarthur it means that they can manage their mortgage, due to a period of low interest rates—some of the lowest for the past 30 years.

We now have the lowest unemployment rate this country has seen in 23 years. There is a strong contrast between the way the Howard coalition government and a Labor government would run the economy. A clear example of this is in New South Wales, where the state Labor government recently had to organise a mini-budget so they could impose more taxes on the hard workers of our community to stave off sending the state broke through their mismanagement. They have run the health system into the ground in New South Wales. We are forever hearing in the media about the mismanagement in our hospitals due to staff shortages. The transport system is in chaos—you only have to travel on any of the state roads to appreciate this mess. It is also difficult for many people in Campbelltown to find a train that is in service. When they do run, they are often late or cancelled at the last moment. The shortage of teachers in the public sector, the state's inability to pay them what they are worth and the difficulty supporting the New South Wales police pay rises, again highlight the stark contrast between Labor and Liberal governments and how they run their finances. I take this opportunity to mention that the state Labor government in New South Wales receives more money than it ever has before and I ask what on earth it does with the money, especially the dollars received through the GST revenue.

The 2004-05 federal budget supports families. It does this by creating a change in the income test for single income family benefits. This will allow more mothers to access this payment while they are working part time. A new maternity payment of $3,000 per child will support families and their need to care for newborn infants. In addition to the announcements made last December, the government will add 30,000 outside school hours places to bring the total new places to 40,000 as of 1 July. Low- and middle-income earners in Australia now have a voluntary co-contribution scheme which provides $1.50 from the Howard government for every $1 that they contribute, up to $1,500 a year, to assist with their superannuation savings and later retirement.

This budget commits $2.2 billion over the next five years to expanding the number of aged care places, as well as improving the quality of the care and the facilities for our ageing population. The federal government has increased its health funding from $17 billion in 1996 to $35 billion in 2004. The Labor Party has said that this budget does not consider low-income earners. Obviously, they have not read the budget papers. Like all budgets, including a family budget, you cannot have everything at once. Last year low-income earners received a tax break; this year the federal government have focused their tax breaks on other parts of the community. There are benefits in one way or another for most families in Australia.

Many people in my electorate of Macarthur have said to me that they need incentives to take on a second job or to do overtime. This will help employers and employees to continue to be more productive. In this budget the Howard government has shown that it listens to what the people are saying by increasing the higher income tax thresholds. It means that people can earn more without moving into a higher income tax bracket. The greatest thing this government has done for many people throughout Australia is deliver a budget which will help keep interest rates low, support company productivity and allow our economy to excel.

The people of Australia need good economic management. But this does not happen by chance; it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to achieve it. It takes the 30 years of parliamentary experience that the Prime Minister has to offer as well as the skills, the diligence and the vision of the Treasurer, Peter Costello, to predict the world economic situation and adjust our economy accordingly. The federal budget delivers that and, in doing so, provides more jobs, lower interest rates and a better quality of life for all Australians. The 200405 federal budget shows there is a stark contrast between the economic management of a Liberal government and a Labor government. For this reason I am proud to say that I am part of the Liberal government that through this budget once again has ensured that it is protecting, securing and building Australia's future.