Appropriations Bills, 12 February 2013

There are several old chestnuts the Liberals can be relied on to trot  out every election year, and one of those that we hear so often in the  ACT is the line, ‘Labor ignores Canberra’—the suggestion that somehow  Labor governments take Canberra for granted. But, unfortunately for the  Liberals, the people of Fraser are a clever bunch. They are able to see  through this line easily, because it is so demonstrably false. The  investments that this Labor government has made in Fraser are visible  everywhere, from the Majura Parkway to the National Broadband Network  rolling out and the many schools enjoying new facilities thanks to the  Building the Education Revolution program.

In fact, if you were  to take the time to visit all of the sites where Labor has invested in  my electorate of Fraser, you would be taking a pretty comprehensive tour  of Canberra’s north. I can even provide you with a loose itinerary. You  can set off from the flourishing suburb of Braddon, where my electorate  office is located and where Minister for Human Services Kim Carr and I  opened a one-stop shop for Medicare and Centrelink in October last year.  The co-location of these facilities is a core part of Labor’s service  delivery reforms. It is making access to housing, health, crisis  support, education and training, and family and financial support easier  for Canberrans.

If you were to then drive north, you would pass  North Ainslie Primary School, one of the 804 schools around Australia to  have been awarded grants of up to $50,000 to install renewable solar  energy systems, rainwater tanks and other energy efficiency measures to  cut pollution and save money on their electricity bills. You would also  be seeing schools that have benefited from those grants if you drove  through the suburbs of Campbell, Charnwood, Dunlop, Florey, Fraser,  Hawker, Kaleen, Latham, Lyneham, Macgregor, Macquarie, Majura district,  Ngunnawal, Palmerston or Turner.

If you visited any primary  school in my electorate, you would be proudly shown their new facilities  and you would hear firsthand how that community worked with the design  firms, the department of education and the architects to construct a new  building that improved the learning experience. In Florey Primary  School, you would be shown new science labs where children can follow in  the footsteps of the great Howard Florey, who discovered penicillin. At  Amaroo School, teachers can teach in their traditional classrooms or  they can remove the dividing walls between classrooms and teach in  teams. At the Forde campus of Burgmann Anglican School, the new  multipurpose hall has sharply raked seating so all children can see the  stage. At Black Mountain School you would be shown a school hall that  allows all children to come in and enjoy the school community together  and a stage that allows children in wheelchairs to go up and speak and  receive awards just like children who are not in wheelchairs. If you  were to go up the road to Jervis Bay, you would see a purpose-built  learning centre with Smart Boards designed in close consultation with  the local Indigenous community. The Building the Education Revolution  program has seen an unprecedented level of investment in our community’s  schools, improving the facilities Canberra’s schools need. At the same  time, we have also provided transparent information to parents about  their child’s school. While you are up at Jervis Bay, you would probably  also see the new $18 million training facility at HMAS Creswell.

You  could follow Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s footsteps and stop for  morning tea in Amaroo, where she met with pensioners to discuss carbon  pricing assistance in May of last year. Thousands of Canberra pensioners also benefited from Labor’s historic 2009 increase in the pension—the biggest increase since the pension’s inception, worth $1,600 a year for someone on the single full rate age pension.

Moving a little further south you might see the revamped Belconnen Skate and BMX Park, funded in part by the government’s stimulus package. It is a great resource for Canberra teens to show off their ollies and kickflips, and a chance to get together and build community spirit on the shores of Lake Ginninderra. It provides a space for Canberra’s youth to not only stay fit but also create lasting friendships. If you were not a particularly skilled skateboarder and you took a tumble in the park, you would be glad to know that the nearby West Belconnen Health Co-op in Charnwood provides a bulk-billing GP medical service. It currently has over 5,400 people with co-op memberships. That centre began thanks to $220,000 seed funding from the Commonwealth government in 2009, and now has another outlet in Belconnen, bringing more GPs to the electorate of Fraser.

Speaking of Labor’s investing in health facilities in Fraser, you could drop into the University of Canberra, my equal favourite university in my electorate, and see how the new GP super clinic is coming along. The federal government has provided $15 million for the clinic, which will soon have another hub site in Casey. These investments provide training opportunities for young doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, not only bringing new doctors to the ACT but also improving the training of young doctors, making Canberra’s health services even stronger, and providing important regional services to Canberra’s surrounds, such as the mobile health clinic that I was pleased to open at the University of Canberra last year.

Before you leave the University of Canberra campus I am sure you would want to have a chat to some of the staff or students about the $26 million of investment the government is making in bringing new courses, new entry pathways and ensuring the latest learning technologies are available. You would find that since Labor came to government the University of Canberra’s funding has increased by 59 per cent. Enrolments are up by 45 per cent. That is thousands more students, many the first in their family. They are able to pursue careers in health, journalism, law and finance.

You could then take a drive through the post code area of 2615, in which ACT Labor MLA Chris Bourke and I ran a campaign to help residents find their lost superannuation. We saw from government statistics that people in that post code had a particularly high rate of lost super. Residents in suburbs like Dunlop, Flynn, Holt, Melba and Spence are among the many who will benefit from our decision to remove the tax on superannuation earnings for the lowest paid one-third of Australians. Many other Canberrans will benefit from federal Labor’s raising universal superannuation contributions from nine to 12 per cent.

If you are passing through Bonner, Bruce, Crace, Harrison, Nichols or Watson you will note that those suburbs are seeing over 17,000 new homes built for low to moderate income households to rent below the market rate. That is on top of an exciting NRAS investment on the ANU campus. It is all part of the Gillard government’s National Rental Affordability Scheme and complements other initiatives to improve the community’s access to affordable housing, including the $450 million Better Housing Affordability Fund and the $100 million Building Better Regional Cities Program. Housing affordability is a particular challenge here in the ACT, and the ACT is to receive a disproportionate share of federal funding to address housing affordability.

Heading out to Gungahlin, you might want to take stock of the NBN rollout. It is already becoming available for residents in Gungahlin, Harrison, Watson and Macgregor, with Acton, Braddon and Canberra City soon to follow. I recently joined ministers Conroy and Lundy at the switch-on of the Gungahlin connection. There we saw students at Harrison school speak by video link with Japanese students who were practising their English while the Harrison school students practised their Japanese. Anyone can use the Gungahlin digital hub, ACT’s first public connection to the National Broadband Network. Canberrans can learn more about how to access the exciting features of the National Broadband Network through free training sessions covering a range of computer basics, everyday online activities, online safety and security and connection options.

Working your way back down south, you might go through Mitchell, where the Gillard government put in $90,000 from the billion dollar Clean Technology Investment Program to help the Elvin Group, a local manufacturer, reduce energy costs, improve efficiency and lower carbon pollution. As you continue to tour, if you are travelling at peak times, you might notice that traffic in the inner north gets a bit congested. You might therefore be pleased to learn that the Majura Parkway, 50-50 funded by the Gillard and Gallagher Labor governments, will help reduce the amount of time that Canberrans spend sitting in their cars, making us a more productive city and freeing up time for us to spend with family and friends. Construction on the Majura Parkway is underway. It will be the biggest road-building project in the ACT’s history, reducing commuting times, taking trucks off our local streets and making us a happier and more productive city.

You would also notice how Labor’s record $22 billion investment in early childhood education has helped the many talented early childhood educators throughout the ACT, including the terrific staff at the Acton Early Childhood Centre, which my children attend. Labor has increased the childcare rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent, which has seen a massive injection of desperately needed funds into the sector and has improved access to child care for Canberrans.

While you are on the campus of the Australian National University you will see where the new Lena Karmel Lodge will be housing 550 new students. Take a moment to remember that, since Labor has been in office, enrolments at the ANU have risen from 6,350 to 7,086, and these new students are among the additional 150,000 Australians studying at university nationally. At the ANU, $5 million has gone to refurbishing student learning and living areas, and total funding for the ANU has been boosted by over $130 million.

You might meet some of the many extra students who are able to receive youth allowance, thanks to the Labor government’s lowering of the age of independence from 25 to 21, a reform that benefits not just students at the University of Canberra and the Australian National University but also students studying at UNSW@ADFA and at the Australian Catholic University. These students are able to earn more money while they study before it cuts into their Centrelink payments, thanks to Labor, and that has ensured more students from disadvantaged backgrounds are able to study at university.

Now you are near the city, and you might want to head over to Civic, where you can visit the community dental surgery. The Gillard government is investing $5½ million in the ACT’s public dental system over the next 2½ years to reduce public dental waiting lists. That funding will enable almost 4,000 more ACT residents to get low-cost dental care. I was pleased on Monday of last week to visit the dental surgery with Chief Minister Gallagher and Minister Plibersek to see the great work that has been done in that state-of-the art dental surgery.

After seeing all those Labor investments in the electorate of Fraser firsthand, you might find yourself a bit exhausted, but the tour has not finished yet. Labor in the ACT has also invested $6½ million in carbon pricing assistance; $6.4 million for energy efficient upgrades to community facilities; around $300,000 for the launch site for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which was kick-started with a launch at Black Mountain School; and over $1 million each year to the black spots program to improve our roads. I am very proud to be the chair of the ACT black spots consultative panel, using federal funding to make our roads safer with a program that requires that public benefit be at least twice the expenditure. The million dollars of spending that go into the ACT annually translates into at least $2 million of community benefits.

ACT households have also seen millions of extra dollars in their pockets through the schoolkids bonus, worth $410 for every child in primary school and $820 for every child in high school for eligible families; and thousands of dollars through Labor’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme to assist new parents in welcoming home their babies and easing the transition back into the workforce for new mums. As a city with high female labour force participation, the ACT particularly benefits from Labor’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme.

We have also seen additional expenditure to make it easier for dads to spend time with their newborns through Dad and Partner Pay, not to mention the benefits of Labor’s economic management, which is bringing down interest rates for Canberra’s mortgage holders. I mentioned housing affordability before: a Canberra family with a $300,000 mortgage is now saving around $5,000 a year on its mortgage compared to when the Liberals were last in government. You might even schedule time to meet with the thousands of Canberra workers who, thanks to Labor, were not subject to the unfair workplace relations scheme that the then Liberal government had in place. You could talk to the many Canberra public servants who value a government that values them—a government that is not committed to getting rid of 20,000 public servants.

Ours is a great city. It is the bush capital; it is Australia’s social capital. We are a leafy, walkable and friendly city with a vibrant multicultural life, and I am proud of the investments the Gillard government has made in Canberra.

National Gambling Reform, 27 November 2012

May I start with a story from an email sent to me by one of my constituents, Gary Hatcliffe. He wrote to me as follows:

‘My name is Gary Hatcliffe. The pokies have taken away the past 25 years of living for me. Some would say I had a choice; unfortunately, the addiction overpowered my logical thought processes. As a result, I have just completed 7 months of live-in rehabilitation and I now reside in a half-way house in Canberra. Eight months ago I was destitute in Melbourne (having hit rock bottom once again) and I was going to kill myself.

‘I have, only just this weekend, opened up the third meeting of Gamblers Anonymous in Canberra.’

He finishes up his email:

‘PLEASE KEEP UP YOUR GOOD WORK FOR POKIE REFORM. MY LIFE WILL FOREVER BE AT RISK UNTIL MY ACCESS IS TAKEN AWAY FROM ME. I envisage, down the track with the mandatory pre-commitment and a nationally regulated card system, to be able to ban myself from using any machine in Australia. This will allow me to still be social and go into a club with friends, have a meal and a couple of drinks, and know that I cannot use the pokies because I will not have access to a ‘pokie’ card.

‘Warm regards,

‘Gary Hatcliffe.’

Mr Hatcliffe’s story is sadly all too common across Australia. An article in the Sydney Morning Herald last year noted the phenomenon in St Johns Park Bowling Club where at 2.30 on a Sunday morning the club starts handing out $100 notes. In order to win those $100 notes gamblers need to swipe their membership cards at a reward centre and wait. The article went on to talk about other incidents and other factors that ensure that gamblers are unable to take themselves out of the zone, unable to stop, reflect on how much they have spent and decide whether they want to stop playing. It pointed out that the machines in St Johns have an attendant button—a sort of room service so pokie players do not have to leave their machines to get a drink. The practice is banned in Victoria but popular in New South Wales.

The article tells the story of a tense Fijian woman, aged about 70, who tells the journalist:

“I’ve lost $400 tonight,” she says, snorting involuntarily each time she smacks the machine and chases her losses. ”I lost $3000,” she adds, snorting again, before locking eyes back on the spinning reels, too distracted to explain.

A counsellor by the name of Wendy who works with problem gamblers in that part of Australia says:

‘Once they are on that machine, the world could blow up around them, and they really wouldn’t notice.’

She goes on to say:

‘Often people will say to me: ‘I looked up and, oh my God, I’ve been there for five hours. I didn’t eat anything, I didn’t drink anything, I didn’t go to the toilet.”

And then I will ask them how much money did they put into the machine and they’ll go: ‘I don’t know, I was just feeding it money.’

A player named Yvonne from Wentworthville says:

‘Your mind stops, you don’t think.’

The article finishes up with the story of Toai Thi Nguyen, an illiterate 55-year-old Vietnamese mother of four who racked up debts of $28,000 to loan sharks through her gambling and found herself eventually succumbing to the threats of the loan sharks. She flew to Vietnam, where a gun was held to her head. She returned with 10 kilograms of pseudoephedrine, used for making ice, and was intercepted by Customs. She is now serving five years in jail for this.

A Parliamentary Library FlagPost article by Amanda Biggs noted that the prevalence of problem gambling is highest in low socioeconomic areas of Australia. It noted, for example, that in Greater Dandenong the average weekly income is $426 and pokie losses are $1,110 per adult. By contrast, Boroondara has an average income of $836 a week and average losses of $153 an adult. So this is very much a social justice issue. This is an issue where those of us who care about the most disadvantaged in Australia are compelled to act.

I found it surprising that the member for Menzies was saying that it is not appropriate for the federal government to step in here, that this is an area where we ought to respect states rights—whatever that means. As a representative of the ACT, I could not help thinking: is this the same member for Menzies who introduced a private member’s bill to override the rights of the territories on the issue of euthanasia? I think it might be. I think it might be the very same member for Menzies. So, when it suits him, he is happy to come into this place and use federal authority to override other jurisdictions, but, on an issue that he does not think is appropriate, he will not do that.

I think in this case it is appropriate to have a national approach. It is a national approach that is grounded in behavioural economics. The great thing about precommitment is that no-one is forced to do anything. You are simply asked to set your limit. That limit that you set can be as high or as low as you want it to be. All we are doing with mandatory precommitment is allowing people to keep the promises that they make to themselves. We are allowing people to set a limit and to have the club assist them in sticking to that limit. We know—as the stories I read out this evening illustrated so powerfully—that people get in the zone. They walk into a club or pub intending to spend no more than $200, and they walk out scratching their head wondering where the $500 went. They chase their losses. They lose track of time. They lose perspective on how much they are willing to gamble. All mandatory precommitment does is that it ensures that people set that number and that the clubs help them stick to it.

Here in the ACT, a trial of mandatory precommitment will be taking place. The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, has set up a Trial Oversight Committee that includes representatives from ClubsACT, the Tradies, the ACT Council of Social Service, the ACT Club Managers Association, United Voice, the Australian Institute of Family Studies and the ACT and Australian governments. That committee has been welcomed by participants in this debate. The CEO of ClubsACT, Jeff House, has said:

‘Whilst there is a large body of work that needs to be completed before the trial can commence, the establishment of this Oversight Committee is a key step in the timeline which will allow us to make some initial progress on completing that body of work. I look forward to continuing to work with Minister Macklin and her department.’

I commend Mr House for the constructive way in which he and his members have worked with this government. I know the same is true of ACT clubs that are outside ClubsACT. I welcome the constructive way in which the ACT Minister for Gaming and Racing, Joy Burch, has worked. She has said, for example:

‘A trial of mandatory pre-committment in the ACT will build on the substantial reforms already underway in the ACT.’

That commitment to evidence based policymaking is a hallmark of this government. I am very pleased that the Australian Institute of Family Studies and their head, Alan Hayes, have been actively involved in thinking through the way in which the ACT trial will operate and thinking through the best way of evaluating this.

I want to go to something that you often hear from those opposite—that, because Queanbeyan clubs are not affected by mandatory precommitment, such a trial would automatically fail. The thing about this criticism is that it fundamentally misunderstands what mandatory precommitment does. With mandatory precommitment, the government does not set a cap on what you can bet; it asks you to set your own cap. Those opposite suggest that people will flee to Queanbeyan in order to avoid the cap. You do not need to do that. If you think at the outset that you want a higher limit, you set that higher limit yourself. That is the thing about mandatory precommitment. We are helping you to keep the promise that you make to yourself. If you say that you want to stop when you spend $200, we help you to stop when you hit $200. So people are not going to flee to Queanbeyan as a result of this.

What is going to happen is that we are going to help them break out of that zone in which people end up spending more than they intended to, they go beyond their discretionary income and they start spending money that was intended for food, groceries and the kids. You hear some of the most horrendous stories around the impact of problem gambling. One that sticks in my mind is of a little boy who says: ‘Dad, could we get a pokie machine at home so Mum can stay at home with us and gamble here?’ Those sorts of stories about families that are torn apart by the impact of problem gambling are stories that ought to impel us in this House to act.

The bill that is before the House will ensure that all gaming machines are part of a state-wide precommitment system, and that they display electronic warnings, by 2016—recognising that small venues will need longer implementation time lines. New machines, manufactured or imported, from the end of 2013 will be capable of supporting precommitment. We are placing a limit on ATM withdrawal of $250. And we are making sure that these changes are implemented in conjunction with stakeholders. There will be a Productivity Commission review in 2014 that will assess the progress of the measures.

I am often surprised when those opposite say that we need more evidence on this, because we have a substantial body of evidence, the most important of which is the Productivity Commission’s report on problem gambling. What we need to do now is to take the steps to implement that report.

I am pleased too that we are going to see an Australian Gambling Research Centre that will be run as part of the Australian Institute of Family Studies. Under the leadership of Alan Hayes, the Australian Institute of Family Studies has become a premier policymaking body across social and economic policy. It will be an important part of making sure that we assess the ACT trial and that we continue to evaluate what we are doing in this area.

The government’s reforms are grounded in the notion of what Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler have called libertarian paternalism—that is, we ought not to impose on people any more regulation than is necessary. The thing about libertarian paternalism is that those opposite ought to like this because it is libertarian, because you set the limit yourself. If you want that limit to be $10,000 a month, that is the limit you can set. If you want it to be $200 a month, that is what you set. The paternalism comes from something that you impose on yourself. The paternalism is your ability to say: ‘I’ve got a self-control problem. Don’t let me go past what the family’s discretionary budget allows. Don’t let me spend more than I want to, when I get into the zone at three o’clock in the morning with drinks coming to me and without the perspective of where gambling ought to be in my life.’

The story of Gary Hatcliffe that I told at the outset is one that all of us in this place should bear in mind. Mr Hatcliffe is aware of his challenges. He is aware of his own self-control problem. He is aware that it is only through mandatory precommitment that he will be able to go into a club and enjoy a drink with his mates without again getting caught in the zone.

Menslink, 6 February 2013

Last week I was part of a local team that helped to raise funds and awareness for Menslink at the Prime Minister’s XI cricket match at Manuka Oval. Menslink is a Canberra charity that provides counselling and mentoring services to young men. It recognises that while both young men and women suffer from anxiety and depression, the rates of young men who reach out for help are far too low. Only about half of all young men who need assistance reach out for it. There was an overwhelming response from the public to Menslink and a recognition of the important work that Menslink does. The crowd was asked to wear blue in support of Menslink and many did. As a result of more than 100 volunteers who worked the crowd at Manuka oval, six new volunteer mentors have become involved. Four young men and their families have made contact with Menslink and the charity raised almost $5,000. The main purpose of Menslink’s involvement on the day was to raise awareness, but it was pleasing that a number of corporate sponsors and individuals pledged further support for Menslink in the future.

Menslink was founded by Richard Shanahan in 2002. It takes a strengths-based approach rather than focusing on what is wrong with young men. It identifies and works with positive resources and abilities so young men can move their life in a more positive direction. Silence is Deadly is one program coordinated by Menslink in partnership with the Canberra Raiders where players go to local high schools and share their stories with young men to send the message that not reaching out or speaking to someone can be deadly. There is also a mentoring program. People like my friend Tony Shields work in partnership with young men to talk to them about their life choices. As Menslink CEO Martin Fisk says, ‘For young men who go through Menslink, the only statistic I want them to have is as a taxpayer.’

I want to give special mention to some of those who helped on the day: Michael Aicholzer, Scott Cassidy, Elias Hallaj, Glenn Cullen, Graham Hannaford, Shane Horsburgh, David Mathews, Sandra Marie, James Milligan, Fergus Nelson, Rob Regent, and Margaret and Ian Watt. I also thank Martin Fisk and Scott MacFarlane for inviting me to be part of the Prime Minister’s XI Menslink team. Menslink fulfils a vital role in supporting the young men of Canberra. If anyone would like to offer assistance to Menslink or reach out for the help they provide, please contact them or my office.

Social Entrepreneurs, 27 November 2012

On 16 October this year I held a breakfast meeting with a small but passionate group of local social entrepreneurs: Bradley Carron-Arthur, Courtney Slone, Katrina Marson, Melanie Poole, Tony Shields and Ben Moody. The aim of the breakfast was to bring together these social entrepreneurs to share their stories, experiences and their ideas for solving some of the challenges they face. I hope in the future they can act as a brains trust for one another and for other budding social entrepreneurs. Their projects range from coordinating volunteers and boosting mental health awareness to improving Australia’s international development efforts. I would like to thank them for their ideas and their efforts to assist those in need and for helping to build social capital. Social entrepreneurs are people who take an idea and with passion and persistence bring to fruition enterprises that assist those in need.

 Last year Forbes magazine celebrated the work of social entrepreneurs by having the first top 30 social entrepreneurs list. Helen Costar of Forbes magazine wrote that social entrepreneurs ‘unlike millions of us who recognise some kind of a problem, feel a pang of hopelessness and move on’ set about fixing the problems they see in the world.

One great example of social entrepreneurship in my electorate is the Ben Donohue Run and Walk for Fun. Now in its eighth year, the Ben Donohue Run and Walk for Fun is one of the largest fun runs in the region. On 4 November ‘team Leigh’ joined a record 2,400 people for the six kilometre circuit around Lake Ginninderra. This year we were pleased to help the run and walk raise over $55,000.

Since its inception, the Ben Donohue Run and Walk for Fun has donated over $350,000 to its nominated charities: the Council Support Council, Ronald McDonald House Canberra and Make a Wish Australia. It has greatly helped families affected by cancer through the most difficult time and brought hope and joy to the lives of seriously ill children. I pay tribute to Ben’s extraordinary parents Peter and Robin Donohue who organised the first event just months after Ben’s passing. They really are social entrepreneurs that exemplify what can be achieved by those who set about fixing the problems they see.

Finally, I recognise the members of team Leigh who joined me on the Ben Donohue fun run: Kate Reid, Liesel Hickman, Shane Drumgold, Nathan Lambert, Gus Little, Emily Murray, Michael and Paul Hiscox, Alice Wade, Michael Petterson, Kurt Steel, Alice Crawford, Ethan Moody, Shobaz Kandola, David Mathews, Victor Violante, Megan Ponder, Brenton Sloane and the indefatigable Claire Daly from my office, who recruited and organised this year’s splendid team.