Sunday Mail Column - Budget 2008

Discusses the impact of the Rudd government's first federal budget.

“Budget night 2008 was as flat as day old beer.

For weeks Treasurer Wayne Swan had been saying the budget was going to be the toughest in years He said that the Government would pull out all the stops to tackle what he referred to as an inflation crisis.

On Tuesday night we saw the Government pursue an odd series of spending cuts to fund Labor’s election promises, and the introduction of a series of new inflationary taxes straight out of the old-school Labor class war playbook.

Some of Labor’s cuts were big mistakes in particular. One example was the previous Government’s Community Water Grants, which provided funding to schools and community groups to help them save water (delivering $1.8 million for groups and schools in my electorate of Sturt alone and contributing to the saving of millions of litres of water).

One result of Tuesday’s Budget that I expect is an end to the myth that Labor claims to be an environmentally friendly Party. Applying a means test to rebates on solar panels is another example of this. We have already heard evidence that this one policy could force solar panel manufacturers to the wall as many Australian families now find the shift to solar power to be too expensive without Government assistance.

The previous Government took the view that moving to renewable energy was a public environmental good and therefore supported all Australian families in converting to solar energy.

At a broader economic level, we were promised an inflation-fighting budget, but we now have higher overall Government spending, and a heap of new taxes.

Budget 2008 is high-taxing and high-spending.

As the Shadow Minister for Justice and Border Protection it is my job to pore over the budget papers on Tuesday night investigating issues within my portfolio area, which includes the Australia’s national security agencies.

What I found was that despite the $21.7 billion surplus, delivered thanks to the previous Coalition Government’s careful economic management, the Rudd Government has ignored Australia’s national security. This is what we came to expect from old Labor Party. Nothing has changed.

For starters Labor squibbed on its election promise to put 500 extra Australian Federal Police on the streets. Out of $191.9 million budgeted for this measure, only $36.7 million will be spent before the next election is due in 2010.

On the Opposition’s calculations, this means that at least 401 of Labor’s 500 extra federal police officers will be delivered only after the next election. (We have had to do our own calculations as the Minister has been too embarrassed to release the Department’s analysis of Labor’s Budget measure.)

90% of Labor’s police officers won’t be on the beat until at least 2011, with some due to come in 2013!

Australian Customs has seen its Budget cut in real terms by $51.5 million – or 3.4%. While this doesn’t sound like a lot in terms of the total budget, this is an area that should have been immune from cuts given the enormous workload and demands placed upon our customs services.

Their hard work safeguards our borders from dangerous illicit drugs, disease and terrorist threats, amongst other things.

People are travelling more, not less. Imports are coming in greater quantities than ever before. Just last week Labor proudly announced that Australia’s continental shelf (for which the Border Protection Command within Customs has the responsibility of patrolling and surveying) has been increased by an area ten times the size of New Zealand.

Labor’s response to all this has been to cut the Customs budget at a time of overwhelming prosperity. It beggars belief!

Meanwhile, Australian working families and overseas tourists alike have been slugged by a 24% increase in the Passenger Movement Charge. This tax hike is designed to raise $459.3 million over four years – $106.3 million in 2008-09 alone. Labor’s budget material claims that the increase is to offset the increased cost of aviation security. Given that Customs has had its budget slashed by $51.5 million, this is clearly just another tax grab.

Threats to our security are increasingly complex and unpredictable.

The Government’s first responsibility must always be to protect our freedom and the way of life that we treasure.

In its eleven years, the Coalition Government recognised the importance of border protection and national security. Between its election in March 1996 and its last budget in 2007 the Coalition increased funding to all of our security agencies.

Customs funding was increased from $357 million to $1,000 million. AFP funding was increased from $205 million to $976 million, and staff numbers increased from 2,722 to 6,011.

Over eleven years, the previous Government gave teeth to our border protection and national security agencies, increasing regional and global co-operation in law enforcement, activities and legal assistance to boost the fight against terrorism and trans-national crime. We delivered substantial enhancements of aviation and maritime security, delivered a Tough on Drugs approach that has increased seizures and reduced drug use, and tackled illegal immigration, both on our borders and at the source.

By comparison Labor has shown itself to be weak and disinterested on border protection. It is as if Labor considers our national security as an optional luxury, rather than the first necessity of Government.

This new Labor Government isn’t interested in bringing people together and moving forward, they’re interested in re-establishing the old class divide, they are interested in cutting effective Coalition programmes that delivered real results, and they are interested in big government taking choices out of the hands of individuals.

John Howard famously said that when you change the government you change the country. It will be interesting to see how many recognise this country by the next Labor Government Budget.”