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Welcome to Winter 2009 E-News

Dear constituent/supporter

I know that it is a difficult time for so many families as we face tougher economic times. Many of my constituents have stated their concern over retrenchments, a rise in the cost of living and generally a much tighter economy that is affecting their families. In the many engagements and functions that I attend constituents are most concerned and certainly, although recognising some of these problems are global, they are also related to how the economy is being run in Australia. If you have concerns and believe that there is action that I may take by making representations on your behalf to the Rudd government please do not hesitate to contact me. As you are aware, the Federal government has responsibility for many important policy areas and in my capacity as your parliamentary representative can make representations on your behalf in areas such as: Agriculture, Centrelink, Child Support, Defence, Employment and Training, Export/Imports, Foreign Affairs, Health, Higher Education funding, Immigration, Medicare, Postal and Telephone Services, Passports, Television, Broadband and Broadcasting, Taxation, Trade; and Veterans’ Affairs.

In this issue:

• 2009-2010 RUDD BUDGET – A $188 BILLION DEBT BOMBSHELL!
• HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DEBATE-  Re-Engineering Australia Foundation
• LOCALS SNUBBED – FUNDING FOR THE F3 TO M2 LINK ROAD IGNORED
• CONCERNS ABOUT CHANGES TO YOUTH ALLOWANCE
• PRICES TO SOAR UNDER LABOR’S BROADBAND PLAN AND LOCAL AREAS MAY MISS OUT
• POLLIE PEDAL – MPS ON THEIR BIKES
• LABOR BACKFLIPS ON SENIORS HEALTH CARE CARD
• AGED CARE – A BIG ISSUE FOR THE ELECTORATE
• CONSTITUENTS DON'T WANT ANOTHER REVIEW THEY WANT ACTION WITH SUPERANNUATION FUNDS
• PRESENTATION TO MORE RECIPIENTS OF THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE MEDAL
• LOCAL SCHOOLS SUCCESSFUL UNDER ROUND TWO OF THE BUILDING THE EDUCATION REVOLUTION (BER) PROGRAM
• LOCAL SCHOOLS RECEIVE FUNDING UNDER THE SUPPLEMENTARY ROUND TWO PROCESS OF THE NATIONAL SECONDARY SCHOOL COMPUTER FUND
• JOB LOSSES ARE A CONCERN TO CONSTITUENTS
• REBATES FOR RAINWATER TANKS AND GREYWATER SYSTEM
• THE NATION BUILDING PROGRAM (NATIONAL LAND TRANSPORT) AMENDMENT BILL 2009

2009-2010 RUDD BUDGET – A $188 BILLION DEBT BOMBSHELL!

The May Budget reveals the high price all Australians will pay for Labor’s reckless spending spree over the past 18 months. However, I do support the increase in the single aged pension with constituents receiving $32.49 increase per week to $336.68 while couples will have their pension increased by $10.14 a week to $507.50. There are 8,967 pensioners in the electorate of Berowra. These changes also cover the disability support pension (1,834 constituents) and carer payments (214 constituents) and the veterans’ pension (1,609) including the war widows’ pension (546).

Whilst the Government has overhauled the pension system it comes at a cost with the Rudd Government removing the choice for people to retire at 65 from 2017 - over a six year phasing-in period to 2023, the retirement age will be 67.

I welcome the First Home Owners’ Scheme being extended by 6 months with applications of $14,000 for an established home or an apartment and $21,000 for a new home but next year the grants will fall back to $7,000 for all homes. This will help local constituents who want to purchase their own home in the short term.

However, the real hit to constituents starts with the reduction in the 30 percent private health care rebate which is a real blow for many local families.  For those singles earning more than $75,000 and families on $150,000 they will lose out.  There are 70,770 constituents who are covered by Private Health Insurance that relates to 77% covered affected by these changes. Changes to the Medicare Safety Net will have wide ranging effects on constituents trying to access essential services such as obstetrics, reproductive technology and cataract surgery. This is another clear breach of an election promise.

In another breach of an election commitment, the Rudd Government has also cut the superannuation co-contribution scheme by one third, thus reducing retirement savings of low and middle income earners who will now receive $1 instead of $1.50 for every $1 contributed – over 1,000 local constituents received a co-contribution in 2007-08.  By doing this, Labor has made superannuation less affordable and attractive for thousands of constituents, including many on modest incomes, yet it is also raising the pension age from 65 to 67.  In summary, the 2009-10 Budget is a classic tax-and-spend Labor exercise, but on a far more reckless scale than ever seen before.  Constituents will pay a high price, in terms of higher future taxes, higher future real interest rates, higher future foreign debt and higher unemployment.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DEBATE 26TH MAY 2009 -  Re-Engineering Australia Foundation

Mr RUDDOCK (Berowra) (8.40 pm)—Last November, members may recall being invited to attend the national final of the Schools Innovation Design Challenge, which was held here in the Great Hall of Parliament House. I saw on the evening that 25 members attended. The final result saw schools from the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia triumph. On the night, federal funding to help support their work for the next three years was announced, and that is something I welcome.

Tonight I would like to highlight the role of the Re- Engineering Australia Foundation, the headquarters of which is located at Pennant Hills in my electorate. In 1998, it was established as a non-profit organisation with aims to interest and inform students about engineering as a career. It provides technology, motivation and opportunities to students nationally through a series of structured experimental education programs, which aim at developing employability skills.

The design challenge commenced in 2003. It was aimed at students from years 7 to 10 and it was offered to high schools throughout Australia. It develops the creativity and innovation of high school students through design of projects based on the development of a Formula 1 racing car. The program is linked with the international F1 in Schools challenge, which now runs in 18 countries.

The foundation’s projects link schools, industry, TAFEs, universities and parents in stimulating interest and skills in students. In 2007 over 30,000 students from 280 secondary schools directly participated in the program.

The foundation has had significant corporate and government organisational support. Dassault Systemes contributed $450 million in engineering technology and software to schools. From 2008 until at least 2011 the Department of Defence, through the Defence Materiel Organisation, will be a major supporter. Telstra and Toyota have provided cash contributions and state and local governments have also made contributions.

The benefits are very significant for students. It sows the seeds of inspiration. They can respond to their heroes—there are positive role models and mentors. They gain benefits from participating in national programs and the skills make them eminently employable.

For the schools there is the benefit of having enhanced enthusiasm amongst teachers, there is a boost for participating schools’ reputations and the number of students interested in taking design and engineering subjects has seen an increase of some 400 per cent.

And of course there is increased involvement and collaboration with industry. For universities and TAFEs there is heightened morale and enthusiasm, there is mentoring, it creates a national funnel for students interested in undertaking engineering courses and it improves connectivity with industry. For industry, there are increased linkages and involvement with local schools and access to potential staff. I am particularly interested in this matter because schools in my own electorate have participated. Barker College—which I think has four ex-students in this parliament, including me—was third outright place winner in the Fl In Schools world championships. It is important to note that Australian schools have won places in the world championships each year from 2005 to 2008. And Re-Engineering Australia has won much recognition from Engineers Australia and has also won the Prime Minister’s Award for Skills Excellence, to name just a couple.

They have future plans. They continue to grow the program and members are encouraged to promote this project in schools in their electorates. This year will see the implementation of the first hub with direct defence industry links and collaboration in the ACT through the Navy and ADFA. The future is very exciting. A pilot program entitled Oz-Blobs Challenge is presently underway in a number of primary schools. Students are provided with 3D modelling software and make their own design, which is then sent to the ‘Blobs factory’, where it is prototyped.

With an extension activity of F1 in Schools, the proposed hybrid design competition students will be given a real opportunity to design components for cars in the future. This is a project that deserves members’ support and encouragement. It does a great deal for education and it will do a great deal for Australia and Australian productivity if we encourage students’ participation.

ENDS.

LOCALS SNUBBED FUNDING FOR THE F3 TO M2 LINK ROAD IGNORED

Again our own electorate has been continued to be snubbed by the Rudd Government in the May Budget. Major road schemes proposed by the New South Wales government have been abandoned by the Rudd Government however it is our own Pennant Hills Road that missed out again! Over the many years hundreds of constituents have expressed to me their concerns about not only the congestion on Pennant Hills Road but their safety in such heavy traffic.  Not only has the Rudd Government ignored thousands of commuters who travel on Pennant Hills Road, as well the hundreds of heavy trucks daily. Both the Federal and State Labor Governments have not prioritised a solution to Pennant Hills Road. An alternative M2/F3 link is what is urgently needed – a solution simply must be found.

CONCERNS ABOUT CHANGES TO YOUTH ALLOWANCE

I am deeply concerned about how the tightening of the criteria for establishing independence under the Youth Allowance will impact on local families. The Youth Allowance is a vital avenue of income support for students and this change, which takes effect from the start of next year, will mean that some people currently working towards meeting the criteria will have their plans for further study thrown into disarray. This is of particular concern to young people in the electorate of Berowra, many of whom have to relocate to other parts of the state or interstate to pursue further study.  I understand the expenses involved in pursuing further study, particularly if forced to move away from home. Many local parents understand that it is considerably more difficult for young people from remote areas of the northern part of my electorate who often do not have the option to stay with their parents or relatives while studying. 

I know that many families in the electorate are struggling; they work hard to offer their children post-secondary opportunities. The Youth Allowance provides some support to assist their children to go away to University or TAFE. It seems that despite the Prime Minister’s rhetoric about supporting working families, he and the Treasurer really have no idea what life is like for local working families. I am concerned that these changes will add further pressure to the already stretched budgets of my electorate or worse that the stricter Youth Allowance criteria may deter many young people in the region from pursuing further study, purely because they can not afford to do so. The Opposition will raise whether a Senate Inquiry should be conducted.

PRICES TO SOAR UNDER LABOR’S BROADBAND PLAN AND LOCAL AREAS MAY MISS OUT

Industry predictions that consumers will have to pay more than $200 a month to use Labor's proposed National Broadband Network have now been supported by analysis conducted by a highly-regarded economist will affect constituents. It is accepted that average retail prices of around $215 a month would need to be charged across the network if the project was to be viable. This is based on an eventual network take-up rate of 80 per cent of all broadband customers and constituents have a right to be concerned. The reality is, whatever way the Government tries to spin it, based on the available information, broadband users will have to pay considerably more to use Labor's network. Its conclusions reflect predictions by Paul Broad the CEO of Australia's third largest Telco AAPT that customers would need to pay at least $200 a month for the project to be viable. Prices of $200 or more per month are about four times what average broadband users pay today. This proposal is starting from a base of heavy debt and deficit and the Government has no idea what level of private investment it will attract or how many broadband users may choose to use the proposed network. It would fail any credible cost benefit analysis and is supposedly being subjected to a lengthy Government implementation study, which is probably just a tactic to get Labor through the next election. The onus is squarely on the Government to produce some further detail about this risky, grandiose, yet vague proposal.

However what concerns me is that suburbs in my electorate are specifically excluded from Labor’s fast broadband commitment. The following suburbs in my electorate could well suffer:   Brooklyn; Cowan; Dangar Island; parts of Glenorie; and Kenthurst particularly in the more remote area towards Wiseman’s Ferry. In Australia, over 1033 towns and locations have been neglected by Labor.  In the statement released by the Government, in the section titled Specifications, the Rudd Government reveals that the new $43 billion network will only be extending to towns with a population of around 1,000 or more people.  Given the Government plans to take eight years to build its network constituents again will have to wait. This is just not good enough. Labor has stripped away more than $3.3 billion that the Coalition committed to building and future-proofing a fast telecommunications and broadband network in regional Australia that would have covered the entire country.

POLLIE PEDAL – MPS ON THEIR BIKES

On Monday 4th May 2009 I hosted an afternoon tea to welcome Pollie Pedal 2009 at Brooklyn. There were over 30 cyclists including the Hon Tony Abbott MP, Pat Farmer MP and Senator Guy Barnett.  The history behind the Pollie Pedal is a ride for charity. This year it was from Brisbane to Sydney University. Pollie Pedal that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity over the past 11 years and over the past decade, Pollie Pedallers have ridden 11,000km to raise more than one million dollars for organisations such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Ronald McDonald House, Youth Insearch, and the Paralympic Games as well as medical research into childhood leukaemia and diabetes. In Warringah organisations such as Royal Far West, Bear Cottage, Surf Life Saving Clubs, Dalwood Spilstead Centre and Pioneer Clubhouse have been beneficiaries of Pollie Pedal and this year raising money for Aboriginal health scholarships at the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health within the University of Sydney Medical Faculty.

LABOR BACKFLIPS ON SENIORS HEALTH CARE CARD

The Member for Berowra, Philip Ruddock MP said it is a clear victory for Australian seniors, that Labor abandoned debate of the Social Security and Veterans’ Entitlements Amendment (Commonwealth Seniors Health Card) Bill after weeks of claiming that it was urgent. The Labor government has finally conceded that they have failed Australian seniors with their proposal to make significant changes to the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC), and deny its benefits to tens of thousands of Australian seniors.  Yet again the Labor government has been exposed for proposing rushed and ill conceived legislation.

The impact upon tens of thousands of Senior Australians’ benefits would have been stark such as :

• Under the PBS, CSHC holders pay $5.30 per script - but under this proposed legislation they will pay $32.90 which is 625% increase in costs.
• Under the PBS Safety Net prescriptions that were free after the Safety Net threshold of $318 was reached - would now blow out to $5 per script after $1,264.90 was reached.
• The Concession Allowance of $500 to assist with the payment for essential services would have gone!
• Seniors Bonus Payment of $500 in the 2008-09 year also gone. If people lose their CSHC because of eligibility changes they will not participate in any further bonus payments!
• The Telephone Allowance of $34.60 per quarter for a residential service, also gone!

Labor promised seniors during the last election to help them make ends meet. Instead they proposed to shamelessly grab over $84 million from some of our more vulnerable Australians through the denial of a health card. Australia’s seniors who in the main built our society should not now be forced to pay up again by going without. The Opposition made it clear in the debate that the Opposition was more than happy to discuss changes to the CSHC and all other pensioner and senior support programs in a holistic way but we would never stand by and allow Labor to systematically strip benefits from senior Australians.

AGED CARE A BIG ISSUE FOR THE ELECTORATE

The Federal Budget has done nothing to address the accommodation crisis in aged care. The indexationof the Conditional Adjustment Payment Subsidy (CAPS) has been cut.  The CAPs remains at 8.75% until 2011-12.   I have received numerous responses regarding aged care funding in my electorate and lack of bed funding.  The maximum basic daily fee that pensioners will pay in aged care will decrease from 85 per cent to 84 per cent of their total basic pension.   As a result of the $32.49 a week increase in the pension, contributions will rise from $233.87 per week to $256.27 per week equating to $22.40 per week for providers.  Some changes are:   discontinuation of assistive technology in community care programs that equates to $25.8m lost over four years; and Hearing Services will introduce a minimum hearing loss threshold of more than 23 decibels to determine eligibility for hearing devices equating to losing $33.9m over four years.

CONSTITUENTS DON'T WANT ANOTHER REVIEW THEY WANT ACTION WITH SUPERANNUATION FUNDS

I was yet again surprised that the Federal government has commissioned another review into superannuation.  Rather than working to establish certainty for constituents, the Government has yet again begun a process of destabilising super and reducing the incentive for Australians to contribute.  This review further adds to the current reviews into self managed super funds, simple advice in superannuation, a central clearing house, lost accounts, tax relief of merging funds and indexation of government superannuation schemes. The Coalition looks forward to viewing the Terms of Reference of another review and I trust these terms will not overlap the mandates of the many existing reviews, consultations and examination.  The Coalition would like to see a decision made. The industry badly needs certainty as do retirees and all working Australians. This additional ‘examination’ is further evidence that the Rudd government is totally bogged down in review processes and incapable of making a decision.

PRESENTATION TO MORE RECIPIENTS OF THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE MEDAL

In April I hosted a ceremony for recipients of the Australian Defence Medal. This medal was established on 30 March 2006 and over one million Australians are eligible for the medal. Again this was a happy occasion honouring medallist who had served in the Forces.  For further information please go to www.defence.gov.au.

LOCAL SCHOOLS SUCCESSFUL UNDER ROUND TWO OF THE BUILDING THE EDUCATION REVOLUTION (BER) PROGRAM

I am pleased with a large number of schools in my electorate being successful under Round Two of the BER program. This is a key component of the Australian Government’s $14.7 billion Nation Building – Economic Stimulus Plan.  These schools are:

BER continues with two elements still open for application namely: Primary Schools for the 21st Century Round Two and Three; and Science and Language Centres for the 21st Century and I urge schools to apply.

LOCAL SCHOOLS RECEIVE FUNDING UNDER THE SUPPLEMENTARY ROUND TWO PROCESS OF THE NATIONAL SECONDARY SCHOOL COMPUTER FUND

Under the National Secondary School Computer Fund (the Fund) which is a key component of the Australian Government’s $2 billion Digital Education Revolution initiative, five local schools have been successful receiving in total $903,000 in funding. These five schools namely: Mount St Benedict College Pennant Hills (97 computers costing $97,000); Normanhurst Boys’ High School (152 computers costing $155,000; Cheltenham Girls’ High School (325 computers costing $326,000); Pennant Hills High School (293 computers costing $313,000); and Clarke Road School Hornsby (2 computers costing $12,000) received funding for computers. The Australian Government is investing $1.9 billion through the Fund, to provide for new or upgraded information and communications technology (ICT) for secondary schools with students in Years 9 to 12.   In 2008 it was decided that secondary schools in greatest need of ICT investment should be the first to benefit from funding in the first two application rounds of the Fund.  Almost 2,700 secondary schools across Australia have been approved for funding to purchase almost 295,000 new computers through Rounds One and Two and 2.1. This will bring these schools to a computer to student ratio of 1:2.  All secondary schools in Australia have now been provided the opportunity to obtain funds to bring them to a 1:2 computer to student ratio, including funding to address on-costs associated with deployment of additional computers; and I urge schools that have not applied to do so.

JOB LOSSES ARE A CONCERN TO CONSTITUENTS

I am concerned for locals employed in retail or hospitality who have been warned by industry groups to brace for job losses under Labor’s proposed industrial relation reforms. The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) said small retailers cannot cope with the increased labour costs associated with Labor’s Fair Work Bill, indicating staff will be sacked.

I have a restaurant business in my electorate at Beecroft that employs over 40 staff serving 800 local people a week that has been in business for 11 years and they have written and spoken to me about their grave concerns. According to the ARA, more than one in two small retailers will shed staff under Labor’s new modern retail award as it will push small business costs up. We will see restaurants in the electorate of Berowra reducing their hours or at very worse shutting their doors under Labor’s industrial relations reforms, putting more people out of work. Other restaurants may cut their opening hours back, and restructure their rosters to reduce labour costs. Under Labor’s IR reforms, the restaurant, café and catering industry will come under the hotels award, which applies to pubs and casinos. This will push labour costs up for small businesses in my electorate. Retail and hospitality workers want a guarantee from the Federal Labor Government that they will still have a job in 12 months time.  Cash flow is the single biggest problem for small businesses in this economic crisis, and this Government is doing very little to help Australia’s 2.4 million small businesses which employ 3.8 million Australians. While I understand in these uncertain economic times that no small business is recession proof, the Federal government is making the problem worse with award modernisation.

REBATES FOR RAINWATER TANKS AND GREY WATER SYSTEMS

I welcome the Federal Government’s initiative offering households a rebate of up to $500 for the purchase of a rainwater tank or a grey water system. This rebate encourages constituents to use water wisely but demonstrates a commitment to helping households have drinking water. This program will support constituents who are prepared to take personal responsibility for conserving our water supples. Rebates are available for: The purchase and installation of a new rainwater tank which is connected for internal use of the water for toilet and/or laundry use; or the purchase and installation of a permanent grey water treatment system. A $400 rebate is available for a 2,000 – 3,999 lite tank and a $500 rebate is available for a tank greater than 4,000 litres.  A $500 rebate is available for a permanent grey water treatment system. For constituents requiring more information regarding this scheme please visit www.environment.gov.au/water or call 1800 808 571.

SPEECH

Date Monday, 1 June 2009 Source House of Representatives
Page 12 Proof Yes
Questioner Responder
Speaker Ruddock, Philip, MP Question No.
Mr RUDDOCK (Berowra) (11.14 am)—The Nation Building Program (National Land Transport)
Amendment Bill 2009 is not about substance; it is about the change of a name of a program which was in place. It does not provide extra funding. In that context it is appropriate that members of this House direct themselves to the title of the bill. The title of the bill is about nation building. I wish to speak about nation building because it is about providing infrastructure that will help to make Australia more internationally competitive and that will address major choke points in relation to the way in which goods can be moved and the extent to which people can be moved.

I have been very interested to note that speaking on this bill have been members such as the member for Paterson and, more recently, the member for Dobell, because I intend to speak about a major matter that impacts upon both of their electorates—the member for Paterson acknowledged it; the member for Dobell ignored it. The reality is that if you are about nation building you are about connecting our major cities: Melbourne to Sydney, Melbourne to Brisbane and Brisbane to Sydney.

If you look at the infrastructure that moves goods and enables people to move between those great cities of Melbourne and Brisbane, passing through Sydney, there is a variety of choices that you can make. As you come up the Hume Highway, you can use the Western Orbital, you can use the Cumberland Highway, you can use Villawood Road or perhaps you could even go on Silverwater Road through the member for Reid’s electorate. There are four major highways that all converge at one point in Sydney—that is, on Pennant Hills Road, which links the M2 and the F3 highways.

It is a choke point that mixes passenger travellers from the Central Coast, those travelling between Sydney and Brisbane and within the electorate of Berowra, with large trucks carrying goods between our great cities. It is extraordinarily dangerous and will occasion a major accident at some point in time, to which people will say, ‘Why wasn’t something done about this?’

It is not as if it is not an issue that has not been thought about. The choke point is recognised. You will not get the commercial traffic off Pennant Hill Road or the F3 through infrastructure spending on an additional freight rail line. I would like to think it would, but the only way you will get trucks carrying containers onto trains is when they can drive their trucks on and off. Nobody likes the double and triple handling when they leave one destination and arrive at another. And I have not counted the number of bridges that would have to be raised on that rail link to be able to get it to operate effectively. There is no way that the freight traffic is going to be taken off those highways by rail infrastructure without an extraordinarily large investment in rail.

If people were prepared to make it, I would encourage it. But even within my electorate you are dealing with something like more than a dozen major bridges that would have to be raised in order to be able to move freight effectively. As I have said, this is not a new issue. When the Labor government in New South Wales wanted support for the building of the Western Sydney Orbital, the M7, Minister Scully, who was the minister for transport in New South Wales, was anxious to have a development that was going to impact on reducing traffic in his electorate. He was keen to see a highway built relatively cheaply on flat lands across the western suburbs of Sydney, but nobody thought about where the traffic was going to be dumped in the end. And of course what it was dumped on was the M2 freeway, a toll road that runs from the north-western suburbs of Sydney to the City of Sydney, and the only point at which that traffic can then progress northwards is on Pennant Hills Road.

A study was undertaken at that time because it was recognised that this was an issue that was going to have to be dealt with. You were not going to be able to build cheaply a western orbital through the hills of Berowra with another Hawkesbury crossing, so they looked at what other solutions might be able to be undertaken. A study was launched at that time because it was believed that you could not progress with a road development like the Western Sydney Orbital without having a plan as to how you were going to deal with the end of that road. In January 2001 a decision was announced in relation to the funding of the Western Sydney Orbital, but it also recognised that high priority had to be given to establishing a new link from the M2 to the F3 to relieve pressure on Pennant Hills Road and to complete the national highway ring-road around Sydney. Here we have a national highway in which there is no effective link. If you were really about building national infrastructure you would seriously want to do something about it.

There was a study undertaken to identify various scenarios for dealing with that issue. SKM was contracted by the Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales to undertake that work. After very extensive consultation, it was announced by the former government that there would need to be a solution.

The preferred solution was a tunnel to link the M2 and the F3. Minister Anderson, in 2002, made an announcement that there would be no breaks in it, that it would have effective filtration and would recognise that the Pennant Hills Road ought not be degraded, if such a development were to proceed. There was considerable discussion about that. In my electorate, many people, concerned about the possibility of a tunnel, having seen what happened with the Lane Cove Tunnel and the Cross City Tunnel, looked at other alternatives. The former government set up a review under a very distinguished former chief judge of the Land and Environment Court to enable further consultation. Very extensive meetings took place in relation to that process. Importantly, the review confirmed that the tunnel option was the most appropriate to address the immediate needs but also it recognised that at some future point there needed to be a reservation of land for a genuine western orbital which could be constructed at a later time. These very important announcements were made at that time.

A further and most significant announcement was a decision of the former government, under the AusLink program, to recognise that this issue needed to be addressed and to provide funding for that link. I believe the amount committed in the forward estimates was of the order of $2 billion. And here we are discussing a program of nation building. We know there is a significant choke point, we know the issue needs to be addressed, we know that the Labor Party think, in ordering its priorities, that it is not projects of national interest that should be involved but, rather, projects in electorates which they hold or hope to hold. The north-western suburbs of Sydney have been ignored by the state Labor government over a long period and it appears those areas are being singularly ignored now.

As the member for Dobell leaves, let me say to him that the major impediment to his electorate and the access of his constituents to Sydney is in fact the choke point I have identified.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr AJ Schultz)—Order!
The member for Berowra should know that the member leaving the chamber is the member for Dawson.

Mr RUDDOCK—The member for Dobell has already gone! Let me make the point that the substance of these arguments impacts vary significantly on Labor electorates. I am surprised that in Dobell and Robertson, where people are faced with the dilemma of how to travel to the western suburbs of Sydney, to Sydney city or to Melbourne, people are not rioting on the steps of their members’ electorate offices to ensure that this issue is addressed.

I have continued, over a period of time, to raise this issue with my colleagues in the councils of ‘The Hills’ and Hornsby and with my local colleagues in the electorates of Kuringai, Hornsby and Epping in particular, as well as Castle Hill and Hawkesbury. All of us recognise that this matter has to be dealt with. There are various views about the way forward, but the decisions have been made by the professionals that the next step to be taken should be to look at the underlying geology of the area between the M2 and the F3 to see whether or not the proposals being advanced are feasible.

I understand that the government have, under AusLink arrangements, abandoned the commitment to forward funding of this proposal but have agreed to $150 million to be spent on undertaking the geological and other environmental studies associated with this development. That might be an effective holding operation as far as they are concerned, but I suspect, in the context of the way in which Labor governments operate, it is not even a realistic holding operation.

This funding was committed on condition that it was matched by $30 million from the New South Wales Labor government. I have not seen any announcements from the New South Wales Labor government; what I have seen is that, under any proposals that are likely to address transport needs of the north-western suburbs of Sydney, the state Labor government has been missing in action. I suspect we will find that money will be going back to Treasury because there will be no matching commitment from the New South Wales Labor government. This brings me to the point I have wanted to make in relation to this bill. Residents of the north-western suburbs of Sydney have been deliberately disadvantaged over a long period. Labor has had no commitment to addressing this issue. Labor thinks that its own constituents in electorates like Bennelong, Robertson, Dobell and even the electorates of Newcastle and its surrounds will not worry about the fact that when they reach Sydney they will be in a choke point of this dimension. I suspect that in time the constituents of those electorates will recognise that their members have been missing in action in relation to addressing this question, which does significantly disadvantage them. I will continue to campaign actively on this matter. I will draw it to the attention of not only the constituents of the electorate of Berowra but also the constituents of surrounding electorates, which are significantly disadvantaged as a result of this failure of policy.

This is the most significant nation-building project that could be pursued by any government in Australia.

I know that, when you get on this road and you are held up, as you inevitably are, with huge transport lorries on either side of you, a potential national tragedy is waiting to occur. I suspect that, if such an eventuality occurs, those who have been missing in action on this issue will be very severely judged. Not many issues that impact upon my electorate are of such extraordinary national significance. I would encourage the minister’s colleague at the table, the Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services, who is familiar with these issues, to draw them to the attention of his ministerial colleague. I encourage the minister’s advisers to be aware that this issue is not going to disappear, that we will not be put off by a sop of some research without a major commitment to addressing this issue. The former government made that commitment.

This government believes that it can save money by putting it to one side. Let me assure the parliamentary secretary at the table: I will not allow the government to forget what it is doing here. This has been, in my 16 years as the member for Berowra, the one issue which has united all of my constituents. They recognise that it is a matter that has to be addressed. We recognise that there are higher costs in doing so, but we also recognise that not addressing the issue would be a significant impediment to effective nation building.

I have listened in this debate to many of my colleagues advance those issues that impact upon their constituents, and I understand why they address the issues in that way. But this is a matter that does not just affect the constituents of Berowra; this is a matter that affects all Australians. It affects their standard of living and their safe travel, not only in the northwestern suburbs of Sydney but beyond. It impacts upon electorates Liberal and Labor. It is a matter that needs to be addressed effectively, and I would like to see the advice that comes forward on these matters.

I suspect the reason that New South Wales was disadvantaged in the level of funding committed to nation-building projects was the failure of the New South Wales government to do the work necessary to identify not only the projects that have to be pursued but also the steps that have to be taken to demonstrate that those projects are shovel ready—I think that is the terminology that is used. Labor federally, in my view, cannot absolve themselves from responsibility simply because of the failure of their colleagues at the state level in New South Wales.

As I said, this is an urgent matter. It requires addressing. It requires politics to be put to one side and it requires a genuine attempt at identifying the nation building projects that ought to be pursued. I commend that matter for the urgent consideration of the minister.

Footnote: Part of my e-news reports are taken from information provided by my parliamentary and shadow cabinet/ministry colleagues.

Visit Philip Ruddock's website at www.philipruddockmp.com