Address to the 2015 NSW Nationals State Conference
12th June, 2015
Thank you very much Nathan for the introduction.President Bede Burke, Deputy Premier Troy Grant and his New South Wales team, Barnaby Joyce and our federal team, Christine Ferguson our Federal President whom I understand is actually not here this morning, many other distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It's always a pleasure to be in New South Wales for your conference, and it's especially appropriate and a pleasure to be here this year. It's a year when the party has every right to celebrate its achievements during the past year. Returned to Government, part of a strong Coalition, with an agenda for the future that will help drive New South Wales into much more positive territory in the years ahead.
Can I particularly congratulate, Troy and his team, particularly congratulate Bede and the party membership on the effort that went into securing that victory. It takes a lot of people in a lot of places, and The Nationals have always been good - at our best - in putting people on the ground where it matters during election campaigns. And the last two results in New South Wales in particular, and our Federal result have been a triumph for our organisation, our party depth, our people who work so well together to ensure that these victories have been achieved.
In Christine's absence I'd like to acknowledge her receiving life membership, the greatest honour that your party can bestow upon one of its members, an award that recognises very long and very faithful service to the party of New South Wales. But can I also acknowledge her term as president of the Federal Party, and the work that she's done in that regard. Christine has announced that she won't be seeking re-election at the Federal Conference in a couple of months' time, and so it's appropriate that we recognise in her home territory her contribution to the Federal Party as well as what she's done locally. She's one of those champions. One of those people who has kept our party working strongly, working together, and making sure that even in the bad times, even when we've had some set-backs that we're resilient and able to come back and to do our job representing regional Australia.
So Christine's been a great friend and champion of the party, someone we've all admired and we wish her well in her retirement. I know that she's still going to be a National upfront doing her bit, even though she's not holding a senior office. So thank you very much to Christine.
To be re-elected for a second term in the past was not always considered that hard. It was often considered to be an election that was a bit easier to win than to get into Government in the first place. But after the results in Victoria, and especially Queensland, I think everybody had a few nerves about what might be going to happen in New South Wales.
The result in Victoria was bad and unwelcome, but maybe not altogether unexpected. The result in Queensland a shock, a historic defeat. A Government that had won office with the biggest majority ever then loses Government at the very next election. So there were a few jitters no doubt that maybe this momentum might flow through also into New South Wales. It was indeed a great credit to your organisation and the performance of The Nationals during its term in Government that you were able to succeed and be given this further opportunity to build on that record. And it was a very good result. A very good result. Yes it was disappointing to lose a seat where the popular sitting member had retired, and even worse to lose it to the Greens.
But at least Thomas George was able to beat off the Greens in a nasty campaign next door. So we know that we can do it.
But by any measure, by any assessment of the circumstances, this was a great result for the Nationals; your share of the Coalition has improved, members have been returned, members who won their seats had the opportunity to consolidate now and help build on the achievements of the first term.
A good government was returned for another term, a good government was returned, and that I think is the important thing to remember, that's the key lesson about elections; good governments get returned. Those who work well and achieve, they get re-elected. This was a Government that had transformed New South Wales from an embarrassing ragbag of scandal and incompetence and corruption and lost opportunities - maybe the worst the state has ever seen. Yours was a Government that demonstrated competence. It was systematic. It was achieving results, and therefore deserved to be returned.
So now the Nationals are in a strong position in New South Wales. You have the opportunity with a strong leadership team led by Mike Baird and Troy Grant to work in concert with a strong Federal Government in what is I think an absolutely historic opportunity for us. New South Wales has a unique opportunity to move this state ahead of the rest of the nation.
The governments in Queensland and Victoria have clearly taken a backwards step. A Government elected in Victoria with its first and most prominent and really only action that anybody can remember is to cancel the biggest road project in the state wasting $1 billion. Imagine spending $1 billion of your precious construction budget to stop a project from proceeding. And there's nothing to take its place. There might be in three or four years when they get around to designing something new, but there's nothing now to take its place.
And what about in Queensland? The Government that's been elected quickly stumbling from scandal to scandal - one local member gone already, and another almost certain to go. The trade union movement have been given seats around every table. The Government has instructed that officers be made available for the trade union representatives in every department. Departments are required to actively canvas the trade union membership. The unions have taken control of the state.
Indeed the Labor Party these days is a wholly owned subsidiary of the trade union movement. The party organisation has drifted away and so the union backed by compulsory levies on their members have put together hit squads to run around the various states during election campaigns in their red shirts muscling aside any party faithful there might happen to be left in the local community and taking over local campaigns in marginal seats.
It worked a treat in Queensland where there was simply no local Labor Party organisation but these people turned up in their numbers, with their slogans and their campaign well organised. In many cases it was the same people - or at least the same shirts, the same slogans and the same banners that came down to New South Wales. The anti-privatisation campaign may have worked in Queensland but it didn't in New South Wales. What happened however in Queensland was that as a result of the success of the Labor Government, $30 billion worth of infrastructure spending which the Newman Government had committed to based on the sale of some of the state's assets will now not proceed. $30 billion which was destined to transform Queensland's road and rail network. Destined to build new hospitals and schools that will not proceed. And Labor has no money to do anything in its place because they've said they won't take part in the Federal Government's asset recycling scheme.
So you now have Victoria and Queensland going backwards. New South Wales with every prospect to go forward and strengthen its position as the premier state - the dominant state in our Commonwealth. In fact as a nation, we're going to need New South Wales to do well. Victoria has decided to hovel its own progress and Queensland doesn't even know where it wants to go. There is this opportunity now, for New South Wales to seize the new initiatives which have been outlined and bring them to fruition, you certainly will have the support of the Federal Government that now happens to have a fair bit of money in an asset recycling program that others seem not to want.
We have a range of initiatives in the whole area of infrastructure expenditure where we are making progress in this state but where there seem to be endless delays in other parts of the country.
So this is a government in New South Wales at the beginning of its term, a government that has enormous opportunities and we stand ready at the Federal level to back you in achieving those objectives. And a number of those big projects in the infrastructure field are already of course underway and are examples of this cooperation between the Federal and the State Government.
Some $3.6 billion is committed to Western Sydney infrastructure to build the roads and the railway lines that will be necessary to support the growing population in the west and of course also to support and provide the basic infrastructure for the new Western Sydney airport - a major piece of infrastructure of substantial importance to Sydney and to New South Wales. Then of course we have the funding that's going to the WestConnex project; $1.5 billion in cash and a concessional loan of up to $2 billion to accelerate the work on the new M5 section. Another $690 million for the Northern Sydney freight corridor and, under the Asset Recycling Program, we've got the Sydney rapid transit scheme, the Western Sydney rail upgrade, the Parramatta Light Rail project.
We've announced just in the last few days the signing of an agreement with the private sector to build the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal. A $1.5 billion project which will transform freight movements in Sydney with rail connections to the Port of Botany and to the interstate network. This will be the only multi-user intermodal facility in Sydney and will take freight off the roads and give the central city traffic network the opportunity to be able to more adequately cope with the traffic that flows that way. These are all very substantial developments in our country's biggest city and will make a real difference.
But we haven't forgotten about regional New South Wales. The Federal Budget last month provided all of the money that will be necessary to complete the four-laning of the Pacific Highway all the way to Brisbane.
This is a fantastic project and with Duncan Gay we were able to announce a multi-billion dollar contract to essentially build the last remaining sections from Woolgoolga to Ballina - most of which will go to be spent in the electorate of Page for Kevin Hogan. Not too many members can say they've got a multi-billion dollar project going on in their electorate, but Kevin Hogan will be able to say that again and again.
We're determined to meet our deadline of ensuring that the four laning is completed this decade. By 2019. The 80-20 funding formula - which Labor had abandoned - will make it possible for this project to proceed and I welcome the strong cooperation we've had from New South Wales to get this project moving. It's ahead of schedule, under budget and I believe will deliver this quality road network within the timeframe we've outlined.
But there's a lot more as well in regional New South Wales. We've increased the Roads to Recovery funding for local roads - last mile roads. Councils will get a double payment this year - an extra $350 million across the country. There's $300 million for the Bridges Renewal Program, the first round of which we announced just before the Budget. 40 per cent of those first round projects have come to New South Wales. The National Stronger Regions Fund is providing $1 billion over five years and the first 51 projects were announced in the Federal Budget. Ten of those are from New South Wales, including $9.6 million for the inland dune aquifers supply system to the MidCoast County Council in David Gillespie's electorate of Lyne. So there are a number of other significant projects in country communities right across the state. We're getting on with the job of providing the roads both in the cities and in country community.
Our budget was obviously prepared in difficult circumstances. The news that iron ore and other commodity prices continue to fall has made it especially difficult for us to prepare a federal budget. The iron ore price falls alone took about $50 billion off the Federal Government's bottom line and as you know, we're struggling to deal with a legacy of Labor's debt.
This Budget will not reduce that debt. It has a deficit as well. But at last we have a surplus in sight. Budget by Budget we expect to be able to reduce that deficit, and come to a balanced budget about the end of the time of our forward estimates. Now that's a long task, it's slower getting to surplus than we would like. But governments have to be responsible in the way in which they deal with a crises. You don't always achieve a stronger Budget just by cutting expenditure. You must manage it. So this Budget provides support for business to build the economy, make it stronger; and when business is stronger, so is government revenue. And that helps us also then to balance the budget.
So our massive expenditure on infrastructure will make a difference to help boost the economy, creating jobs at a time when many jobs are being lost in the construction sector especially people who have been working on the mining boom. The opportunity will be provided therefore for those people to work, and contribute to the economy while building the infrastructure our country will need for the century ahead. So that's all about achieving progress and growth in the economy.
We also know that small business is the engine room of the economy. So the Budget is very much also about giving small business a better opportunity to participate in a recovery in our nation. This Budget helps small business keep more of the money that it earned. There's a 1.5 per cent company tax cut for small incorporated companies. And for those businesses that are not incorporated, they'll receive a 5 per cent tax discount on their operation. There'll be immediate write-off for small purchases up to $20,000 - not one $20,000, but every purchase of a piece of capital equipment under $20,000 be deducted in the year in which that purchase is made. And that started from Budget night.
So this is an opportunity for people, farmers, small businesses, to go out and buy that extra piece of equipment, that piece of small equipment which may previously have been unaffordable, but now will be taken directly off their taxable income. And, what's more, that will extend to full deductibility for fencing, water facilities, dams, tanks, bores, irrigation, channels, pumps, water towers, windmills, et cetera. And there'll be depreciation over three years for capital expenditure on farm storage assets, silos, tanks, and other such facilities. I don't know whether any farmer will have to pay too much tax over the next few years.
So these will make a real difference in helping people to keep more of the money that they actually earn. And, there is more. When Barnaby's Agriculture White Paper comes out in a few weeks' time, there'll be more measures, there'll be more initiatives to help the farm sector to become more profitable, to take advantage of the improving market conditions around the world, and also to boost productivity for the future. The job is not yet done, but we're working on it and we're determined to make a real difference.
In the social infrastructure field, let me also refer to some of the commitments, the strong commitments in the Budget for increased expenditure on health and education, and in other areas. Health spending for instance in New South Wales is up 7.5 per cent this year to $5.1 billion - it was $4.2 billion in Labor's last budget. And the expenditure on health in New South Wales will rise by 22 per cent over the forward estimates period. Rise by 22 per cent. You may hear about cuts all the time; but the expenditure for health in New South Wales will increase by 22 per cent.
Now, that's not as much as Labor may have said that it intended to increase expenditure, but Labor never budgeted one cent for the increases that it spoke about and boasted about at election time. They were all beyond the forward estimates. However, those forward estimates times have now arrived, and so we have to include them in our Budget; we have actually got to budget for and pay for the increases that we've announced. These are real increases, not phony promises that Labor talked about but never had any plans to actually deliver.
And the story is similar in education. New South Wales expenditure will go up by 25 per cent over the forward estimates.
Again, not quite as much as what Labor was talking about, not quite as much as Gonski wished they might get, but in reality this is real money that's budgeted and will be provided. Not fantasy money way beyond forward estimates. So this is an opportunity then for there to be improved expenditure, improved services in health and education right across the state.
And another big item that Labor and ourselves have been promising now for quite a few years, the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The start-up date for the NDIS was beyond Labor's forward estimates period. So while they would have talked about what was going to be allocated to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, they never actually had it in their budget, because it was beyond their forward estimates. We have to bring the NDIS to account, and we are therefore including it, and the substantial increase in expenditure that is expected on disabilities, is in fact being provided for in this and future budgets.
Let me say, it's going to be a challenge, because I have no doubt that this scheme - and the early trials have supported this perspective - that the expenditure is likely to be bigger than what was anticipated. It's certain to provide real benefits to people with disabilities, and most Australians support that objective. But it's going to be expensive, and that will mean that we'll have to find that money through reductions in some other programs, or increases in our revenue raising capabilities. There will be a levy to help fund the NDIS, but the reality is that is not going to be enough to provide all of what is wanted to provide the services.
Now of special interest also to those of us in regional communities has been our response to the drought. Much of Australia is actually enjoying good seasonal conditions, and Barnaby's often boasting in Parliament about how fantastic some of the prices are at the present time. The reality is there are some parts of Australia, particularly Western Queensland and North West New South Wales, where the season has been poor. In some cases, two or three years have been poor. We have now provided $250 million to extend access to concessional loans, and to help farmers through these difficult times. But we have now also announced a broader drought package, including money for the local authorities in the drought-affected areas to undertake some capital works to provide some jobs for the people who can no longer be gainfully employed on the farm, or for that matter in the urban community, to keep the towns alive, so that when the rain returns there is still an infrastructure there to support the farmers who have been the traditional source of income in that area.
So we have a real commitment to standing beside drought-stricken farmers in these difficult times, to help them through. We pray that it will rain soon, but in the interim we have a commitment to make sure that they have the support and assistance they need to be able to remain viable, and to be there when the good times return.
I have already mentioned that part of our program in the weeks ahead includes announcements about significant new policy initiatives, many of which will benefit the rural sector. The new agriculture White Paper that Barnaby's been working on since before the federal election is now coming to the final stages where it can be released. And there's significant financial commitments involved. Our Northern Australia paper is likely to be released within the next week or two. The last frontier of Australia. The opportunities for us to build a strong North. You know, two-thirds of the global population lives in the tropical zone, and Australia is the only developed country that has significant land areas in that tropical zone. So we have a real opportunity to be leaders in tropical science, and in agriculture, in medicine, to provide the leadership that half of the global population living in similar climatic conditions are not able to offer.
So this package is about developing the North, it's about working on our achievements today, building our capacity, providing for ourselves the best opportunity to open up the North and enable it to achieve its potential. We have no doubt that this will be the biggest and most comprehensive effort by any government to make a real difference for Northern Australia. And in the Budget there was a $5b loan facility announced to support major infrastructure projects in the north - rather like WestConnex in Sydney. The same sort of formula that is working in the city to deliver big projects will now be offered to Northern Australia, and we think this can make a real difference. It's been a great pleasure to work with Tony Abbott and the Premiers of the North to bring this project to fruition, and it is certainly a genuine, comprehensive effort to make a real difference in the north.
And, in another significant area for regional Australia, the dams white paper is also getting close to conclusion. And there will be real money to be able to support the development of dam projects and actually to get some of those shovel-ready projects actually under construction. So we're serious about fulfilling many of these lifelong objectives of the Nationals. Our partners in Coalition will be joining us in a real effort to deal with some of the issues that have been on the National Party Conference agendas in almost every state. We will actually be delivering, and that gives us all in our federal team a great deal of pride.
So, my submission to this conference is that we have a lot of work underway. Can I mention also the particular role that Luke Hartsuyker is playing in rolling out the new jobs network, Work for the Dole, subsidies and work experience now available for young people seeking their first job, subsidies also for older workers to get them repositioned in the workforce, support for people who need to move to work and to find jobs, a new jobs network that will concentrate on getting people into the work and with the skills that they need to be able to contribute to our economy. A big part of our federal Budget is Luke's responsibility to administer.
And can I mention also Fiona's work, and her reforms in regional health, the changes to the doctors subsidies, which mean that the doctors in the little towns will now get the support, rather than those who are living in quite comfortable cities on the coast, and hopefully therefore guarantee that there will be good services available in regional communities.
And can I particularly also mention the work that she's doing in the national effort to respond to the ice epidemic. This is a real scourge in regional communities. Ice is worse than heroin, it's worse than heroin, and it's taking the lives of far too many young people in our communities. The Premiers and Prime Minister through COAG have made it clear that they want there to be a national response, and Fiona in her role as Assistant Minister for Health has been leading and involved in discussions right across the nation about how we might be able to develop a meaningful response to this really appalling drug problem.
So I'm very proud of the team, and the work that they're doing, and the contribution that they're making to help build a better country. We've had the privilege of being entrusted with the government of our nation, both now in NSW and the federal level. We take that responsibility very seriously.
Last month with John Cobb and Paul O'Toole, I was in Bathurst to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the proclamation of Bathurst by Governor Macquarie - essentially, the 200th anniversary of the birth of regional Australia. For almost a hundred of those years, regional areas have been served also by The Nationals.
People in regional Australia have had a party to represent them. That has been a significant and important responsibility for us. We work hard as a team. We have, I think, delivered a great deal for our constituency, but there is much more work to do. But, in cooperation with state and federal governments, with effective representatives who stand up for their regions, I'm sure that the Nationals will be up to the task of ensuring that the next 100 years will be strong and progressive and positive also for regional Australians.
So thank you for your help and your assistance during election campaigns, and during the year. Thank you for defending us when tough decisions have to be made. Thank you for the advice and the help and assistance that you provide, and thank you for being spokespeople, for being those who are prepared to go out and sing the praises of what we're doing, so that the good opportunities, the things that we do, are not lost in a hostile urban media, but are recognised by people for making a real difference to our country.
Thank you very much, and we look forward to working with you again in the year ahead.
[ENDS]
