FEDERAL BUDGET FAILS THE FUTURE TEST
May 9, 2007

Bob Debus, the Federal Labor candidate for Macquarie, has welcomed tax cuts for working families and carers, but warned that this year’s Federal Budget failed to address the long-term challenges of the nation.

“All Bathurst families deserve to share in the profits from the mining boom —
a boom which added $55 billion to the Australian economy last year,” Mr Debus said.

“But put simply, this is a cynical election-year budget, not a budget that is serious about the future.

“The 2007 Federal Budget fails the future test.

“It fails to address the challenges that will face Australian families beyond the prosperity of the mining boom:

• Improving our third-world broadband network
• Investing in an education revolution
• Reviving our flagging productivity
• Implementing measures to address climate change

Mr Debus welcomed the funding for a new regional dentistry school at Charles Sturt University but said training would not help the 650,000 Australians who were stranded on public dental waiting lists.

“The Government has failed to act on behalf of the one in five Australians who are going without recommended dental treatment because of cost.

This is not good enough,” he said.

Mr Debus said a Federal Rudd Labor Government was committed to:

• Investing $4.7 billion in a National Broadband Network, providing 98 per cent of families and small business
with high-speed internet access up to 40 times faster than is currently available
• An education revolution that will include:

1 $450 million to provide four-year-olds with 15 hours a week of high-quality early childhood education
2 $111 million to encourage students to study maths and science at university and use their degrees within the maths and sciences professions, particularly teaching
3 Investment of $62.5 million on a pilot program to fund the construction of shared facilities between government and non-government schools
• 11 practical measures to tackle climate change including:
4 A $500 million National Clean Coal Fund
5 A $500 million Green Car Innovation Fund
6 Cutting Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent by 2050
7 Ratifying the Kyoto Protocol