Gary's Speeches

Employment - Brumby Government Neglect

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I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to this matter of public importance today. I cannot believe the Brumby government can so arrogantly support the Minister for Regional and Rural Development -- the member for Bendigo East -- in this matter of public importance. I guess I should not be surprised because this is yet another example of the spin and rhetoric this deceptive Brumby government continues to use on all Victorians. The government continues to treat all Victorians with total disrespect and contempt by persistently misrepresenting the facts as it attempts to hide its massive waste and mismanagement.

In my view the Treasurer and the Premier have missed a golden opportunity to show some genuine support for regional communities. This Brumby government has no solutions for declining basic services and crumbling infrastructure in regional Victoria. If the Brumby government had had the foresight to address these issues, not only would it have restored confidence in our rural communities but it would have added enormously to the economic prosperity of country areas through genuine job creation.

The Brumby government's Better Roads program will deliver only $9 million for regional road projects over the next year. This falls well short of what is required to provide regional road upgrades to fix damage caused by 11 years of Labor government neglect. This is another opportunity lost for job creation and the boosting of the rural economy as this arrogant Brumby government continues to ignore country Victorian families.

The government continues to ignore the recommendations of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission regarding fuel reduction burning. Very little effort has been made to help Victoria catch up after years of Labor's failure to meet even its own inadequate targets for prescribed burning. As we get further away from the catastrophic events of Black Saturday, the Brumby government's resolve to take the necessary steps to prepare rural communities for wildfire events is rapidly diminishing.

By raising this matter of public importance the member for Bendigo East has the audacity to suggest that the Brumby government has continued to invest in job security. The single biggest threat to future job security
is state debt. Total public sector net debt is estimated to increase to $31.7 billion by 2014 due to the waste and mismanagement of the Brumby government. The Brumby government has benefited from an unprecedented flow of record revenues of more than $340 billion over the period of this government, yet state debt is on track to hit almost $32 billion -- a level not seen since the disastrous days of the Cain and Kirner governments.
Last year's state budget showed that forecast net debt for the total non-financial public sector would rise from an actual $10.7 billion in 2009 to an estimated $31.7 billion in 2014 -- an increase of 196 per cent. The interest bill on this debt alone is now forecast to rise to $3.2 billion per annum for 2014, a billion dollar increase from the estimated interest cost of $2.2 billion by 2013 in last year's state budget papers.

This massive increase in debt servicing interest costs is of great concern to the coalition. An extra billion dollars in annual interest costs alone is enough to build another children's hospital each year or employ an additional 10 000 police or nurses. These will be real jobs that will provide a real boost to the economy and address the health needs and law and order concerns of Victorian families. The total annual interest cost of $3.2 billion is the equivalent of the entire budget of the Department of Health.

Labor has been caught out continuing to rely on big increases in public sector debt in an attempt to catch up with the massive underinvestment in infrastructure for basic services that are so desperately needed by Victorian families. Victorians will still be faced with failing basic services: hospital waiting lists will continue to climb, trains will remain congested and late, schools will keep falling apart, and violent crime will remain out of control.

Victoria's enormous $31.7 billion future debt will place a heavy burden on future generations of Victorians, pose an enormous risk to job security and stall any chance of job creation. In my electorate of Narracan I can list a range of projects that, if funded, would make a significant contribution to the local economy and job prospects. The Lardners Track level crossing -- a very dangerous level crossing on the fast train line and adjacent to a very busy road intersection -- does not have boom gates. This crossing and intersection are used extensively by mums and dads delivering and picking up children from nearby schools. It is used by many heavy vehicles -- milk tankers and cattle trucks -- and large volumes of traffic visiting the Lardner Park facility during major events held throughout the year. The Brumby government continues to allow the safety of our community to be compromised by failing to fix the problem and create a boost to the local economy through job creation.

The Warragul railway station precinct master plan has been completed and cost estimates have also been completed. This is a major project, including the new rail underpass which will give the town a much needed third rail crossing point. Preliminary costings are around the $17 million mark and this would be a project of enormous significance to the community in terms of economic benefit, commuter safety, townscape enhancement and future town expansion.

A major concern is the need for funding an upgrade at the emergency department (ED) at the West Gippsland Hospital, and I have mentioned this in several dispatches in this house over the past 12 months. The board of management has made an application to the Department of Health for a desperately needed $2 million redevelopment of the ED some months ago. The ED is faced with unprecedented demand and will have 18 000 patients to deal with this year with only eight cubicles when the facility should have 14 cubicles to handle the workload associated with that number of presentations.

The pressure and stress the staff are experiencing in this unacceptable situation is enormous. West Gippsland Hospital continues to be underfunded in a number of areas given its subregional status. As a subregional hospital it should have a level 2 nursery given the number of births were about 800 this year. It also needs a designated palliative care unit with the availability of a specialist palliative care practitioner and options for inpatient and outpatient palliative care. West Gippsland Healthcare Group is the biggest employer in the area. If the capital project for the ED and subregional status of the hospital were fully funded, it would provide a significant boost for job opportunities.

The Moe activity centre project to develop the railway precinct at a cost of $15 million is in need of further state government funding. The City of Latrobe received $2 million in the 2007-08 budget, which has assisted with the planning and land acquisition for this project. If the project is to proceed, a further state government contribution is required.

The project has special significance for Moe and, despite some community concern over the siting of the skate park and the proposed relocation of the library, will significantly enhance the amenity and community use of the CBD.

The federal government's small area labour markets figures for 2009 indicated that unemployment in Moe was significantly above the average at 7.2 per cent. If
the Brumby government was serious about investing in the creation and security of jobs then this project would certainly have got a guernsey.

There are three projects that were pre-election promises of the Labor government and they are yet to be delivered in Narracan. They are the new ambulance station for Neerim South, the upgrade of the Warragul ambulance station and a new Country Fire Authority fire station for Erica. How can the Brumby government claim that it has continued to invest in job creation and security when it has not even delivered on promises made almost four years ago -- promises that, if kept, would certainly have delivered an economic boost to the communities of Erica, Warragul and Neerim South.

It is very premature for this government to be patting itself on the back before commitments it has made have been delivered. When the Labor government took office in 1999 the state budget was $19 billion; in 2009-10 it was $43 billion.

The government has enjoyed almost 11 years of unprecedented income. It has had the political numbers to make a huge difference to the state of Victoria. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Victoria spends less per capita on infrastructure than any other state. It has spent the second-lowest amount per capita on water infrastructure of any Australian state, and instead Victoria has much more debt and has lost opportunities, despite its rhetoric about investment in job security and creation. But what is of major concern is just where the money has gone? You do not really have to look very far to see myki and HealthSMART, which are just two examples of massive blow-outs in budget and failure to manage major projects by this incompetent Brumby government.

In closing, I refer to the comments by the member for Bendigo East with regard to Gippsland. She stated that when it comes to Gippsland there will be many projects funded in the future.

It was a typical, non-specific statement that is completely hollow with no substance, and I remind her that the people of Gippsland will not be taken for granted; they will judge the Brumby government and the member for Bendigo East on the facts and the government's appalling record of non-investment in Gippsland.