TRANSCRIPT: ABC Bendigo interview
May 18, 2011
Interview between Dr. Sharman Stone and Fiona Parker of the ABC Bendigo.
Date: 10 May 2011
SHARMAN STONE:
Taken out of regional funding and you know twice in the budget speech by Wayne Swan last night he talked about the problems of our patchwork economy. So he does acknowledge that we have more than a two speed economy in Australia right now. With rural regional Australia really doing it tough. Not just because of things like the flood and drought and so on. But because of course the incredible value of the dollar right now which means our exports, our dairy and fruit exports are in strife and then the carbon tax worries which are going to put up prices of everything we use to make our food and fibre. And of course the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s plans to take another half of the irrigation water out of our system. So things are really tough.
FIONA PARKER:
That's still being considered though.
SHARMAN STONE:
Absolutely and I'm on the committee as is Steve Gibbons to try and set that to rights but all of that underscores the need for ongoing regional economy security. And that is not what we have got out of this budget.
FIONA PARKER:
You mentioned money being taken from regional Australia but what about this over $4 billion, $4.3 billion going towards regional infrastructure?
SHARMAN STONE:
None of that’s new money. You see that's the problem. One of the things that was announced is the Nagambie bypass, millions of dollars. We are about to start driving on that. That was money delivered by the Liberal Coalition years ago and has already been spent. So it is not new money. In the budget if you're going to sell a break for any sector you look to see if there is new funds above those committed previously or already spent and in this case there is not a cent extra of new money for infrastructure, that's rail or road or ports there is no new money, no additional money for serious things like education.
FIONA PARKER:
Not one cent?
SHARMAN STONE:
No you've got it already having been identified and committed before and this is what is so difficult for us in that...
FIONA PARKER:
What in previous budgets do you mean?
SHARMAN STONE:
Absolutely. The Nagambie bypass for example in the Goulburn Valley is almost completed but we’re seeing it in the budget as a spend on infrastructure. Well it is yes but it's not new money and it’s almost all finished up right now. So in terms of saying this is a new fabulous opportunity for regional Australia no it's not, it was committed a long time ago in fact under the Coalition. It just now being put into the final stages. You know if you drive through Nagambie anytime now you will be met with the sight of all the work being done.
FIONA PARKER:
So that's fair enough then to put money in there for the final stages of that bypass?
SHARMAN STONE:
The money was already committed, built into budgets before so it's not showing that there is an additional commitment to rural and regional Australia. It's not showing that there is any additional money for research and development, for quarantine services and in Steve Gibbons own electorate of Bendigo and mine in the electorate of Murray we are both big apple growers as you know. We've got this apple/pear fire blight coming down the tubes to us with fresh imports are now being allowed from New Zealand with no extra quarantine requirements for those growers in New Zealand, so our quarantine services are going to be struggling with no additional funds. Biosecurity Australia has not got a cent extra. But instead were seeing things like an extra $1.75 billion blown out of extra costs to deal with the people smuggling. The extra border control measures.
FIONA PARKER:
Wouldn’t you be happy with that?
SHARMAN STONE:
Well no I'm not. I think they should have to change their policies and stop with the lure for people smugglers to bring people to Australia and we the Coalition have the policy to do that.
FIONA PARKER:
Haven’t they just announced a new policy?
SHARMAN STONE:
They've announced about three or four new policies. There was going to be Manus Island back in business. Oops! That’s not happening. There was going to be Malaysia swapping five refugees for one. That's looking a bit wobbly. What is their most recent policy? We don't know in terms of people smuggling.
FIONA PARKER:
I thought the Malaysia policy was announced just a few days ago?
SHARMAN STONE:
It was that's right and it was the deal that for every one new, we call it refugee that Malaysia hangs onto, they give us five back and into Australia. So that's a deal of 1 for 5 now that's going to cost Australia a heck of a lot more and an extra $1.75 billion has been put into the budget to deal with that. There's an extra $111 million to help mop up the pink bats disaster, you know more inspections of roofs which might burn down and so on. That's money that should not have been needed if we had had a government with decent policies.
FIONA PARKER:
What about mental health? Depending on where you read it either $2.2 billion or $1.5 billion for mental health. Whatever the figure that is a lot for suicide prevention and youth mental health services as well. Are you least happy with that?
SHARMAN STONE:
Well it's a very important sector the mental health needs for rural as well as city Australia we don't still have sufficient funds for detox centres. We have still waits of six and eight weeks for teenagers to get to an adolescent psychiatrist for psychological appointments. It's a help. It's a step in the right direction but if this budget had been managed better we would have had many more dollars to deal with the fact that our young people are in great distress and also anxiety, depression that goes with the terrible stresses of our small business and farm communities right now. Too many of them are not able to afford to pay for the counselling services and psychiatric and psychological services they need. We have of course the exceptional circumstances which was the drought support finished at the end of March this year. We hoped for some alternative program to support our farmers who have been wiped out by the flooding in the last couple of months. Instead all we've got was an extra year's extension of a pilot in Western Australia for climate change initiative in farming and we are told that will go for another year and then it'll be evaluated. So no help back in northern Victoria for our farmers who just got through seven years of drought and were then hit by the worst floods on record and are sitting there saying how can we get ourselves together with you livestock, new fences, re-seed, get our lucerne growing again so we can take advantage of some good years. We've been hit so hard but not a cent coming through in the way of the exceptional circumstances support.
FIONA PARKER:
Alright we must leave it there, good to talk to you as always, thank you
SHARMAN STONE:
Very good to talk to you.
FIONA PARKER:
Sharman Stone member for Murray.
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