Mr BROADBENT (McMillan) (12:25):  I want to talk today about representation. I raised an issue about aged care in this chamber only a few weeks ago. The first tweet that came through was: 'Broadbent just wants to pork barrel his electorate.' I want to say to that tweeter, what I actually want to do is represent my electorate. I want the opportunity to be able to represent my electorate.

I will give you two examples. They may be historic, but they are two examples. Yesterday I was shown a letter by one of my staff, an old letter from Centrelink, which admitted they had made a $66,000 mistake in regard to one of my constituents. It took weeks and weeks of arduous work by my staff to go back and find where the original mistake was made and how that mistake had been compounded to the tune of $66,000 that Centrelink was trying to pull back from my constituent. There was no apology in the letter. The letter just said 'we were wrong' and 'we have negated this $66,000 debt'. Without my staff, that would not have happened. Without representation that would not have happened.

I go back to a Probus meeting I was addressing just a few months ago. I was telling the story of how we got drought relief from my farmers and telling it in a humorous way because, at that stage, the only person who could sign off on the relief was the Prime Minister. We needed the Prime Minister to address the issue. It was a combination of my staff members, Sally Cray and Jim Middleton—the journalist—who cooked up a proposition to put to the Prime Minister in public, which we did. I do not think we were invited to the Prime Minister's Christmas party that year, but, thanks to Sally Cray and Jim Middleton, those people received their benefit.

But at that Probes meeting, a woman came up to me and said, 'Yes, Mr Broadbent, because of that decision, you put food on the table.' I had no idea that there were people in my electorate—farmers—that did not have food on the table at that time. I did not know. They are too proud to tell me but all these years later that lady came up to me at that Probes meeting with a tear in her eye and said, 'Mr Broadbent, that decision put food on the table.' If it were not for the idea of Sally Cray at that time, who is now the Prime Minister's chief executive, and Jim Middleton, who is now working for Sky, if they had not cooked up a proposition, that would not have happened and it did happen. That is called representation.

I also represent today the thousands perhaps hundreds of thousands of people who have had their power or gas or utilities turned off in South Australia and Victoria and New South Wales and Queensland. Are they telling their elected members that they have their power turned off? No they are not. We do not even know who they are. But they have had their power cut off because of policies that we have implemented over a long period of time that are affecting those people directly. Is it affecting me and my household personally? No, we just have a higher power bill, which I have the ability to pay and I have been blessed all of my life. But what about people who are out there today who have had their power turned off in South Australia or Victoria? What about them? I represent those people too.

I also represent my farmers, who have had a tough time because of Murray-Goulburn being unable to manage their affairs properly and inflicting great hardship on those farmers. Those farmers are thinking now, 'If we're going to have blackouts in Victoria next year or over this summer, my cattle still have to be milked.' They are thinking, 'Now, do I invest $40,000 that I haven't got in a backup generator so I am not affected, at a time when I am already pushed financially and I have already probably borrowed to the hilt of what I can borrow.' Do I now have to say, because of our policies, that we are now faced with this situation where they need a backup generator for their farm? It is $40,000 or $50,000; it is not cheap. Elected representation carries responsibility: not only does it carry responsibility to our party, to our faction or to these people but it carries a responsibility to the people who elected us. Never forget who brought you to the party.

McMillan’s 18,000 small businesses can continue to purchase equipment up to $20,000 and write it off immediately thanks to legislation passed by the Senate, Member for McMillan Russell Broadbent said.

“Around the electorate I have heard from countless small businesses about how helpful the $20,000 instant asset write-off is to purchase the equipment they need to grow and create opportunity,” Mr Broadbent said.

“The Government listened to feedback of small business owners and operators and extended the program in the Budget.

“I have seen firsthand how small businesses across the electorate use it to grow, invest in themselves and get more customers through the door.”

Mr Broadbent said recent tax cuts for small business – which delivered a 27.5 per cent tax rate – also redefined ‘small business’, meaning more local businesses are now eligible for the instant asset write-off.

“In cutting the small business tax rate to its lowest level in many, many decades we also redefined ‘small business’ to a $10 million annual turnover, up from $2 million,” Mr Broadbent said.

“This means thousands more small businesses are now eligible for the write-off, as well as paying less tax.

“Small businesses always back their regions and I urge them to use the instant asset write-off extension to keep that money flowing around local communities to build the economy and create jobs.”

For more information on support for small business, please visit www.business.gov.au/smallbusiness.

Mr BROADBENT (McMillan) (10:18):  Aged care is the most difficult area of our life. It goes from wonderful care to incontinence pads. I ask the question then: when the small community aged-care provider Hillview, who asked for 14 beds worth approximately $917,000, were given nil in the last aged-care round, why is it that Lendlease were given 756 beds at $65,500 each, worth $41,958,000, when they actually do not deliver aged care? They are an ASX-listed construction company. Signature Care or Innovative Care, that may be called ICL Operations or ICL Operations Two, since 2013 have been given $137,026,000 towards aged-care beds.

They do not deliver aged care, to my knowledge—I could be enlightened on that—whereas Hillview at Bunyip, which needs 14 beds, had nil allocation.

I asked Hillview to work closely with the department for 12 months to make sure that their application was correct and appropriate. I found out, after asking them yesterday to give me the names they are working with, that, 'Oh, no, we only get to talk to an 1800 number.' An 1800 number—that is all they are allowed to talk to in our department. Do you think that Lendlease, Signature Care or Innovative Care, or ICL Operations or ICL Operations Two, who were given $137 million of public money—our money, delivered from the public sector to the private sector for aged-care beds, which are messy, to say the least, yet have wonderful care—would not have a name in the department they are dealing with? Lendlease, who sold out of their aged-care beds some years ago because it was not their core product and who have now drifted back into the market because they may need beds, get 756 beds, and Hillview aged care at Bunyip, who need 14 beds, get nil.

This is a very short address—we have three minutes—but I have just started. Who is it that is deciding on these beds? Who is it that leaves people like Hillview—the tiny people in Australia, the little people who deliver the service and get into the messy part of aged care—on the starting blocks with nowhere to go compared to Lendlease? Do Lendlease deal with incontinence pads? Do Signature Care deal with incontinence pads? It is messy when we come into this world; it is messy when we go out of this world. It is appropriate that this government spends its time looking at how it has allocated this money and if it is appropriate.

Mr BROADBENT (McMillan) (13:56): The Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Primary School in Newborough has been completely rebuilt, taking it from a 1950s Catholic primary school to a 21st century learning space. It is absolutely fantastic. There to open the new building were my favourite bishop for Gippsland, Patrick O'Regan; Ms Maria Kirkwood, director at the Catholic Education Office; and Father Harry Dyer, a favourite priest in the area. The deputy principal, Ms Kerry Wadey, led the choir, which sang so beautifully.

It is fantastic to see the way in which the Catholic Education Office has revamped the old Newborough school. What is the greatest gift we can give our children? It is an education. The Catholic Education Office said to the community, 'Our kids are so important that we are prepared to invest in this new resource—this beautifully revamped, rejuvenated building.' The entranceway to the brand-new building at the front is a sight to behold. Of course, we had a magnificent afternoon tea, which only the ladies of St Mary's could provide.

A competition that gives students in the electorate of McMillan the chance to win a trip to Antarctica has been extended until Friday July 7.

The ‘Name our Icebreaker’ competition will see up to 12 students fly to Antarctica for a day and become the first children to set foot on the continent under the Australian Antarctic Division program.

Member for McMillan Russell Broadbent said that the competition deadline has been extended by four weeks to allow more students the opportunity to enter.

“The Australian Antarctic Division decided to extend the competition to engage with as many school children from all around Australia as possible and give teachers the time to work through the curriculum-aligned modules about the icebreaker.”

“I encourage all teachers living in McMillan to use this competition as an opportunity to educate students about Australia’s long involvement with Antarctica,” Mr Broadbent said.

The ‘Name our Icebreaker’ competition has two categories: primary (years 5 and 6) and secondary (years 7 and 8), with classes able to enter their suggested name in a written or video format.

More information on the competition can be found on the Australian Antarctic Division’s website, ‘Classroom Antarctica’. Construction of Australia’s new icebreaker started last week with the first pieces of steel cut for the 160 metre vessel.
For more information, visit: http://classroom.antarctica.gov.au/icebreaker

The second round of applications are now open for local organisations to join the Turnbull Government’s Local Drug Action Team program.

Community groups across Australia are joining forces to deliver targeted local action to help tackle drug use and addiction.

“We need to work together to fight the scourge of ice and other drugs which cause so much harm to individuals, families and our communities,” said Member for McMillan Russell Broadbent.

The program is an initiative under the Turnbull Government’s four year, $298 million investment to reduce the harms of ice, drugs and alcohol.

Local Drug Action Teams is a community driven program, that supports local organisations to work together to develop and deliver local solutions to tackle drug and alcohol issues..

The Alcohol and Drug Foundation will support the program to develop and deliver evidence-based community level planning and action.

Mr Broadbent said each successful Local Drug Action Team will receive minimum initial funding of $10,000 to support the further development of their local plan for on the ground prevention activities.

“Community teams can apply for funding of up to $40,000 per annum to support the prevention activities and priorities they have identified in response to local issues.”

“I’m calling on concerned community groups in McMillan to join together and take advantage of this program.

“Membership of each team might include representatives from local councils, schools, police, youth services, primary health services and treatment services, community groups, non-government organisations and interested community members,” said Mr Broadbent.

Examples of the sorts of activities Local Drug Action Teams might undertake could include:
• Fighting the scourge of ice in communities by promoting and disseminating evidence-based information and encouraging people to access available support.
• Working with vulnerable people to improve engagement with education/employment services.
• Providing support and information for parents and carers to talk to each other and their children about alcohol and other drug issues.
• Developing local solutions for reducing alcohol-related violence and other drug harms in community spaces.

Applications are now open. They close on 14 July 2017.

Details about the program, community support material and application documentation is available on the Alcohol and Drug Foundation website at www.adf.org.au

Russell Broadbent MP
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