It’s two weeks since I Punched in for the first time. Since then I’ve been thinking about jobs, jobs, jobs. Your jobs, my new job and the disgraceful job the Opposition is doing.
Last week’s ABS job figures showed 27,200 more people registered as unemployed in May. I don’t mean to sound like a Jeremiah but we know worse is to come. If unemployment rises to 8.5 per cent in line with Budget estimates around 330,000 more Australians will be out of work by the end of next year. Those who’ve lived through earlier slowdowns can testify to the brutish effect unemployment can have on families and on communities.
I know from speaking to business owners in Bennelong that many are doing their best to retain staff through the downturn, cutting back hours or negotiating with employees to drop back from full-time to part-time. The prospect of continuing tough times should make everyone in politics more determined to cushion the blow.
Which brings me to my new job as Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.
The Friday my first Punch piece was published I got a call from Kevin’s office. By Tuesday I was at Government House being sworn in. In a ministerial sense I am the chief sub-contractor to Albo, otherwise known as the Minister for Infrastructure etc., and Leader of the House the Hon Anthony Albanese MP. So I’m hitting the road with a hard hat and a Hi Vis vest on a mission to stimulate.
The most important job in my part of the portfolio is the roll-out of more than 3300 projects right across the country as part of the Government’s Community Infrastructure Program or CIP.
The CIP is the $800 million double espresso-shot direct into local economies as part of the overall $42 billion Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan. The first $250 million has gone to every local government in Australia to pay for 3200 community projects that are either “shovel-ready” or already underway. We want the stimulus to percolate through these local economies to keep people working until the big picture gets a bit brighter.
The remaining $550 million is being spread around 137 bigger projects worth more than $2 million each. These projects have been nominated by local Councils themselves. They range from community and sports facilities in suburbs and small towns to commuter car parks in transport hubs like Penrith to environmental upgrades on ovals in my own home base of Epping. You can check all the projects out here.
Cynics out there can see for themselves that this is a truly national stimulus program, spread across Labor, Coalition and Independent electorates.
Speaking of cynics I’ve been both bewildered and incensed at attempts by the Opposition and others to whip up a level of righteous indignation about the Government’s Nation Building programs. For years anyone who’s switched on a NSW TV news bulletin has been confronted with an endless parade of Liberal and National MPs – usually backed up by their Federal colleagues - complaining about the state of schools, hospitals, railway stations and any manner of public infrastructure.
Given the Rudd Government’s huge investment in exactly these things, you’d think the Libs and Nats might swing in behind us.
Sadly not. In fact I’m taking bets with my colleagues as to how long the other side can continue to ignore the reality of the global economic recession and attack much-needed stimulus spending. So while the Government is helping re-build stadiums like Carrara on the Gold Coast, the Opposition is just fiddling around trying to move goalposts. It’s a breathtakingly cynical political tactic, in stark contrast to the overwhelming response from businesses, parents, principals, and others I speak to in Bennelong. The best Joe Hockey and co can do is flash around “Debt” headlines in the House and try to needle Julia Gillard.
Memo to the Opposition on what really matters out there in the real world: “It’s jobs and the stimulus, stupid.”
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
Greece makes the final and Ireland gets in on a golden ticket. How awkward and embarrassing. Love it. #sbseurovision
The weird thing about #eurovision is you've got this massive collection of dorks in a room and no one is wearing Spock ears #sbseurovision
Europe has the large hadron collider which is light years ahead of its time and #eurovision, where the eighties never die
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
Weekend Punch: Tea or coffee?
This is the week that Craig Thomson defended himself in Parliament, Schapelle Corby got clemency and…
Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses
Last year, thousands of Azerbaijanis spontaneously took to the streets of Baku shouting and chanting.…
Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this
Last month, Katy McCaffrey boarded the Disney Wonder cruiseliner. At some point during the trip, a sneaky…
Nosebleed Section
choice ringside rantings
From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
Michael S says:
"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone
Change Up! says:
I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more
Most commented