BUDGET LOOMS AMIDST DEBT CRISIS
Dear Editor,
Over the next six weeks, Victorians need to brace for a horror show that will be the Andrews Labor Government’s State Budget.
The Premier and Treasurer have been tempering our expectations, finally acknowledging the presence of Victoria’s record state debt.
Despite Premier Andrews promising no new taxes on live TV in 2014, Labor has since slapped Victorians with 44 new taxes. It is very likely more taxes are set to be introduced in the May State Budget.
Victorians are paying a staggering $10M every day to simply service Labor’s debt. That’s enough to resurface 10 kilometres of road every day, or to resurface the entire Calder Freeway between Melbourne and Bendigo every six months.
The reported axing of 10 percent of the public service shows that Labor is desperate to cut costs. Treasurer Tim Pallas himself has said this will have a massive impact on key services, but they’ll charge ahead with 5,000 job cuts anyway. That could mean fewer nurses in a health system already in crisis, and fewer teachers in our classrooms.
The carnage won’t end there.
Labor is already struggling to pay invoices to businesses that helped with the flood response, road maintenance funding is likely to be cut further and community support grants are set to be scrapped entirely.
Only time will tell how Daniel Andrews will try dig himself out of this Labor-made crisis, but make no mistake, it will be Victorians who will pay for it.
Peter Walsh MP
Leader of The Nationals
NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION FUND KNOCKED BACK
On 28 March the Senate passed the National Reconstruction Fund, a key election commitment of the Albanese Labor Government.
This $15B fund is all about revitalising Australian industry so we can be a country that makes things again. It represents one of Australia’s biggest investments in manufacturing in living memory.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we all saw how our over-reliance on international supply chains left us exposed to disruptions outside of our control.
But the Australian workers and businesses who stepped up to provide us with the goods and services we all rely on show that there is great potential to improve our domestic capability.
The National Reconstruction Fund is all about realising this potential.
The fund will direct significant investment into regional Australia, creating jobs in agriculture, forestry, resources and other important industries.
As the Government has previously announced, $500M of targeted investment will be directed towards value-adding in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and fibre.
I was disappointed that my Liberal and Nationals colleagues voted against establishing the fund.
It is exactly the sort of policy that regional politicians should support: the Government stepping in to ensure Australians in rural and remote areas benefit from the nation-building activities and industry development that too often favours big cities.
But the Nationals voted with the Liberals against the bill. With each passing week it becomes clearer that the Coalition opposes policies not because they think they are bad ideas, but because Labor came up with them.
There are seven priority investment areas for the National Reconstruction Fund, ensuring that we are improving our sovereign capability in essential supply chains. The areas have been selected to strategically drive economic development in our regions and outer suburbs, diversify the nation’s economy and create secure jobs.
One of these areas is defence capability. By maximising sourcing requirements from Australian suppliers employing Australian workers, we can ensure our own country plays more of a role in our defence supply chain.
The National Reconstruction Fund recognises that the forestry industry will be key to our low emissions future. By providing investment for value-add in forestry, we can ensure that demand for timber products – which we know must necessarily rise if we are going to meet our climate goals – can be met with Australian goods.
Value-adding activities in agriculture will also be eligible for investment through the National Reconstruction Fund, ensuring that Australian workers and businesses play a significant role in more steps in the agriculture supply chain.
I am proud that Federal Labor is delivering on its election commitments and delivering for regional Australia.
Senator Raff Ciccone
Federal Labor Senator for Victoria, Deputy Government Whip in the Senate and Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee.
Want to have your say?
Email your letters to the editor to
editorial@sheppartonadviser.com.au
Please keep letters to under 200 words.
