Mr TICEHURST (6:06 PM) —The 2006 budget handed down by the Treasurer represents the greatest investment in Australia’s future, a huge investment in our transport and water infrastructure, our families and our health services, along with major improvements to our taxation and retirement income systems. These practical benefits can only be delivered because of the Howard government’s responsible economic management. The budget is in surplus for the ninth time in 10 years. We have now eliminated the $96 billion of debt that Labor left the Australian government when it left office. This means the Australian government is debt free in net terms. It is able to save over $8 billion each year in interest payments which can now be invested to meet the challenges of the future. Unlike the member for O’Connor’s problems with foreign debt, I can still recall house mortgage rates at 18 per cent and business overdrafts at 23 per cent. Those things are not evident today. These days we do not have interest rates of that level because the foreign debt is not the government debt.

Improvements to tax and family payments in this budget will help middle-income earners in Dobell, particularly those with families, and put more money back into their pockets. From 1 July 2006, all Australian taxpayers will benefit from new personal tax cuts worth $36.7 million. The 30 per cent threshold will rise to $25,001; the 42 per cent tax rate will be cut to 40 per cent, with a $75,001 threshold; and the 47 per cent tax rate will be cut to 45 per cent, with a $150,001 threshold. Central Coast families who rely on the government’s generous family tax payments will be substantially better off as a result of the changes announced in this budget.

The government will move the threshold of the base family tax benefit up to $40,000 from its current $33,361. This means that the maximum payment per child under part A has increased from around $2,400 to $4,200 a year. Families will get to keep more of their earnings before their family assistance payments are affected. This is a very welcome and generous boost. In fact, since 1996 the coalition government has doubled assistance to families through the family tax benefit system. For some Dobell families, the government will also remove the limit on subsidised outside school hours care and family day care places. This will enable an increase of some 25,000 places over the next four years. Also, from 1 July 2006, parents will receive the government’s new child-care rebate which will entail a 30 per cent rebate on out-of-pocket child-care costs of up to $4,000 each year.

Originally, the government offered an extra payment to assist families with four or more children. This payment is now extended to families with three children. This extra payment is paid on top of the family tax benefit. It means an extra $250 per year for families with three children and would be welcomed by those families on the coast who fall into this category.

The budget also provides security for older Australians. The government introduced a $100 utilities allowance in 2005. This allowance has been extended. Pensioners and eligible self-funded retirees in Dobell will receive the important utilities allowance bonus of $102.80. Recipients of the mature age allowance, partner allowance or widow allowance will also be beneficiaries of this allowance bonus. Senior Australians in Dobell will also benefit from improvements in the senior Australian tax offset. They will now pay no tax on their annual income up to $24,867 for a single person and $41,360 for couples. There are many self-funded retirees in Dobell who will benefit from these improved measures. The low-income tax offset will also be increased to $600 per year and will phase out from $25,000—up from the current $21,500.

On the education front, this budget provides $9.3 billion in schools funding, an increase of nine per cent since last year and 158 per cent since 1996. Importantly, this funding provided to the state government has, since 2004, been conditional on the states addressing priorities for higher standards and values, including plain English report cards, publicly available information about the school performance and explicit teaching of values in schools. The New South Wales Iemma Labor government has really let down schools in my electorate of Dobell. Thankfully, the Howard government is countering Labor’s economic mismanagement with record funding and innovative programs, like the $1 billion Investing in Our Schools Program which provides money directly to school communities for important projects identified by the school. Many schools in my electorate have benefited from this program, using the funding for projects including new and improved computer facilities, shade structures and classroom improvements, such as airconditioning. I am delighted that the second round of this program will shortly open for applications.

This budget reflects the government’s unwavering commitment to bettering educational skills and standards in this country. It also reflects our efforts to strengthen vocational training. Australia’s national training system is providing real choice for the 70 per cent of young Australians who do not go directly from school to university as well as for the mature age students. This government has put in place a system of training and apprenticeships which is better than anything Australia has had for a decade.

The budget includes $1.4 billion in innovations to provide vocational education and training, including $537 million to extend the youth allowance to apprenticeships; $350 million for 25 Australian technical colleges; $143 million to improve careers advice; $120 million for tool kits; and $106 million for Commonwealth Trade Learning Scholarships. The total funding for VET has more than doubled since the Australian Labor Party were thrown out of office. This support is delivering results. The total number of new apprenticeships has doubled from 156,700 in 1996 to 397,800 in September 2005. The number of new apprenticeships in traditional trades increased from 120,000 in 1996 to 168,000 in September 2005. Sadly, the Labor Party continue to thwart our efforts for an agile VET system. They have taken every step possible to hinder our plans for Australian technical colleges to be established locally.

Mr Randall —It’s the same in Western Australia.

Mr TICEHURST —But for the ALP shenanigans, the colleges would have been up and running, ready for operation in 2007. Because Labor held up the granting of a licence, it will now not happen until 2008. I understand Western Australia is exactly the same.

Their shenanigans are of course not restricted to vocational education. The New South Wales Premier recently visited the Central Coast and was too occupied with announcements on recycling water—which really were announced weeks before by Malcolm Turnbull—to inspect our schools, our hospitals or our roads. I understand he would not even take five minutes out of his schedule to meet the Central Coast Joint Water Authority, which was actually meeting at the time. If the New South Wales Premier were really interested in solving the water problems on the Central Coast, he would have gone to that meeting. But all he wanted to do was go down for a photoshoot at Mardi Dam. That is all he did.

Unlike the New South Wales Labor government, the Howard government takes the water concerns of the Central Coast and our country very seriously. You can see this in this budget and you can see it in the previous budget. The Australian government has already contributed over $6½ million toward the construction of a pipeline from the Hunter to the Central Coast. This will provide around 20 megalitres of water per day to our area. I am working with council and lobbying my government to secure additional funding for other water projects to further alleviate the coast’s water shortage.

Our local councils and residents are also winners, with the announcement that the Wyong Shire Council and Gosford City Council will receive additional funding of almost $2 million from the Australian government’s successful Roads to Recovery program. Wyong Shire Council will receive an additional $903,000 and Gosford City Council will receive an additional $968,000. The new funding will be paid in advance to the councils in this current financial year, which means that both councils can start work immediately on projects they nominate to meet the demands of our growing population.

Another road announcement that will hugely benefit the Central Coast’s large commuter population is the accelerated widening of the F3 to three lanes in each direction from Cowan to Mount Colah at a total cost of $132 million, with the Australian government contributing $105.8 million towards that project. This section of the F3 operates at or near capacity for up to five hours each day and is stretched further on weekends and holidays. It was originally proposed that this section of the widening would be undertaken in two stages but, thanks to this additional funding, the project completion date will be brought forward by three years to mid-2008. I am now pushing for a tunnel under Pennant Hills Road to link the F3 with the M2 to further assist Central Coast commuters to Sydney.

The government has also been very generous in its budget in relation to health initiatives and it will commit an extra $1.9 million over the next five years to improve mental health services in Australia. Most importantly, the Howard government is providing $538 million to enable people to access GP services, psychiatrists and psychologists under Medicare to allow for improved detection, treatment and, most importantly, management of mental illness.

Another important measure is the $241 million to train more doctors and nurses in our system. With the Central Coast rapidly growing in population, this sort of commitment is vital. It will create 400 new places for medical students and 1,000 extra higher education places for nurses each year. Essentially, this means that more students will have the opportunity to get into medicine if they spend part of their training period in regional areas and it may encourage them to continue in a regional practice.

Hundreds of patients visiting GPs will benefit from the federal budget announcement of higher bulk-billing incentives. This will continue in Dobell. The Australian government’s Medicare initiatives are attracting more and more doctors to the Central Coast. In fact, in the last year, the bulk-billing rate in Dobell has increased by a whopping 7.7 percentage points to just under 80 per cent. One of the medical centres that recently opened on the coast is providing primary health care services to the people of Warnervale. It is also working towards attracting more GPs to the area, especially those with a strong interest in research. The federal government contributed over $523,000 in seed funding for the project in recognition of the innovative model of health care that the new centre is trialling and the urgent need of the Wyong community for primary health care services. I officially opened the centre and have toured the facilities, and it is truly a fantastic initiative.

The budget provides funding to continue higher rebates for GPs in eligible metropolitan areas who bulk-bill Commonwealth concession card holders and children under 16 years. The higher incentives in eligible areas have risen to 7.85. The government has provided funding of $41.6 million to extend the measures over the next two years. This announcement will be very welcome news to families with children under 16 and most older people on the Central Coast. This decision once again demonstrates the Howard government’s commitment to improving and strengthening Medicare and the medical workforce to ensure that all Australians have access to quality, affordable medical care.

The new National Health Call Centre Network is another way this government is relieving pressure on general practice in areas of doctor shortage. Being able to speak with a nurse about your symptoms and finding out what you should do, including seeking medical attention over the phone at any time, will provide peace of mind to people living in isolated areas, especially those with young children and also older people.

There are a few final elements of the budget that I would like to mention. The government’s extension of the carers bonus to recipients of the carers payment and carers allowance has been welcomed in my electorate. This payment is made to our carers who receive carer payment and carer allowance. It offers them $1,000 and $600 respectively at a cost to the budget of $385 million. These bonus payments to carers do not affect their entitlements nor is the bonus payment taxed. We owe a great debt of gratitude to our carers, and the 1,200 carers in Dobell that received this bonus clearly deserve this important extra recognition.

The government’s plan effectively abolishes the tax currently paid on superannuation benefits to people aged 60 and over from 1 July 2007 and has been welcomed by retirees in the area of Dobell. This is a serious plan to simplify and streamline our complex superannuation system and will significantly improve the retirement incomes of Central Coast residents. Under the new system, self-employed people will be able to claim a full deduction for their super contributions and will be eligible for the government’s co-contribution. The budget also delivered some big benefits to small business in terms of tax cuts. Small businesses contribute to around 90 per cent of employment opportunities in my area and it is vital that we support them. A huge cut in business tax of $3.7 billion over the next four years by moving to a 200 per cent diminishing value write-down on eligible business assets will encourage businesses to undertake investment in new plant equipment, to keep pace with new technology and to remain ultracompetitive.

The government has also introduced a range of reforms to simplify the tax system for small business, reducing taxes on small business by $435 million over four years and delivering $40 million worth of changes to simplify fringe benefits tax. Of course, creating an environment in which small business can best operate is one of the best things this government has done for small business. For the first time ever, the Australian economy will grow to $1 trillion in the 2006-07 year. To conclude, this is a great budget for all Central Coast residents. It builds on the 10 years of strong economic management of the Howard government that has seen the elimination of net government debt, a huge fall in unemployment and low inflation. As a result, we have a budget that is providing huge scope for investing in our future. I commend the legislation to the House.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Lindsay)—I call the honourable member for Kingsford Smith, who I understand is coming to Herbert for the festival of chamber music.