Tax Laws Amendment (2009 Measures No. 6) Bill 2009: Second Reading
The member for Blair went through some of the schedules in great detail. I am going to focus on one schedule, but for the benefit of the people of Moreton who might receive this speech I want to touch on a couple of parts in the schedule. Schedule 2 basically removes the potential barrier to superannuation fund consolidation. We all know how important it is that we get the superannuation balance right and give superannuation funds every opportunity to decrease their expenses. That is a commendable part of the legislation. Schedule 4 lists two new organisations as deductible gift recipients. I have a couple of concerns about the Green Institute Ltd. Nevertheless, I am sure it will contribute to Australian democracy and to the environmental cause, particularly the Greens political party. The United States Study Centre Ltd does great work. I see a change of name from the Dymocks Literacy Foundation Ltd to the Dymocks Children’s Charities Ltd. I have had my problems with some of the board members from Dymocks when it comes to books, but overall I am sure that the Dymocks Children’s Charities Ltd does great work. I think Dymocks still stocks my books in certain areas, which is a good thing.
I particularly want to focus on the measure to exempt from income tax the income recovery subsidy paid in response to the north-western Queensland floods. My electorate of Moreton is nearly 2,000 kilometres from the bits of Queensland that were most affected by the floods. Those bits are part of the electorate of Kennedy. However, I have a particular interest in this area, as my wife is from Mount Isa and as I went to Mount Isa many times in my role working in the mining industry. Betty Kiernan, the member for Mount Isa, who is a very hardworking member, said that she would like me to take an interest in Mount Isa when I am down here and complement the great work done by the member for Kennedy, Bob Katter. I am from country Queensland, nowhere near the gulf and the bits of the north that were swamped by the rains.
I mention particularly when we are talking about tax that I am from St George, because obviously this side of the House takes the economy and tax very, very seriously. In fact, I loved studying economics at St George State High School and after that. But we have somebody else in Parliament House involved with economics who also comes from St George, so I just want to make sure that this speech restores some of the town’s credibility when it comes to economics.
Anyway, I will return to the Tax Laws Amendment (2009 Measures No. 6) Bill 2009. Early last year rain soaked much of Queensland. For many in South-East Queensland it was an incredible relief as our dams filled and our gardens became greener. But in the north-west of the state it was a very different story—unfortunately, a tragic story. Early in January 2009 ex-Tropical Cyclone Charlotte dumped rain on the far north. Floodwaters rose through the gulf region and by the end of the month the area was completely cut off. Early in February, ex-Cyclone Ellie dumped even more rain on the low-lying gulf region, and it stayed that way until March, when the floodwaters finally started to recede.
The floods affected 62 per cent of the state, or one million square kilometres. I will just try to put in context for people what one million square kilometres is. Imagine if you jumped in your car in Sydney, drove north up the Pacific Highway to Brisbane, drove past Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast on the Bruce Highway, turned west and drove on the D’Aguilar Highway, the Moonie Highway and the Balonne Highway way out west past Cunnamulla to Thargomindah, turned south and drove down the Silver City Highway all the way to Mildura, and then drove from Mildura east along the Sturt Highway, the Hume Highway and the freeways until you got back to Sydney. That is a million square kilometres—1,000 kilometres by 1,000 kilometres. It is a massive area. I just wanted to put that in context. That is the area that was affected by these floods—a gigantic area, a gigantic piece of Queensland.
During that phenomenal rain, places like Normanton and Karumba were isolated for two months. We tend to think that with rain like that the farmers must have been saying: ‘Send her down, Hughie! Thank you for the water.’ Unfortunately, because the gulf producers had pastures under water for more than eight weeks, it caused significant medium-term damage to the pastures and their land. In fact, we heard in question time today, in an exchange between the member for Kennedy and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, that the pasture was dead and the seed was washed away. It went to the gulf. The seed washed into the water, so instead of having lush grass come back after the rain it was like a desert landscape, like there had been a drought. Obviously, when you have that sort of water you also need to rebuild the physical farming infrastructure like fences. Unfortunately, because the grass had been washed away, there was also then a threat from weeds. So the results of all of the good farm management techniques that had taken place over the last 20, 30 or 40 years were wiped out because the pasture was wiped out.
Just returning to the matter, in response to the flooding the Australian and Queensland governments and the Australian public all worked together. They made $3 million available for fodder drops to prevent further stock losses, and I think more than 400 bales of fodder were delivered. So even though the first priority was to feed the townsfolk, the people who were on the properties, they tried to get as much fodder through as possible so that the herds were not decimated too much. There were also other initiatives. As at 4 December 2009, 10 concessional loans and 93 clean-up grants of $15,000 for the gulf region had been approved under the National Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, worth a total of $1.626 million and $1.34 million respectively. The Australian and Queensland governments also funded $610,000 in fodder drops, as I said. The income recovery subsidy, equivalent to the Newstart allowance, was available from 29 January 2009 to 12 April 2009.
It was obviously devastating for those communities. Around 6,000 Queensland families lost their homes, their cars, their possessions and infrastructure associated with agriculture. It is estimated that up to 100,000 livestock perished. In all, the damage bill was more than $200 million. The Queensland and Australian governments responded, escalating disaster responses, as I said.
I would also like to point out, since we have just commemorated the Victorian bushfires, that Australians gave generously to the Queensland Premier’s disaster relief appeal, raising more than $8 million for Queenslanders in the north and north-west to help them get back on their feet. Through our Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, the Queensland government received funding to provide grants for food, clothing, accommodation, emergency housing repairs and also for expenditure on public infrastructure restoration. The Australian Defence Force helped deliver ration packs to isolated families. The Rudd government also provided $1,000 for each adult and $400 for each child to help support the recovery of those affected by the floods.
It was interesting that the floods received media attention around the world. Even the Times of London reported it:
It’s the Australian nightmare. Never mind the floods and the poisonous snakes and crocodiles swimming through the town centres. Pubs in some of Queensland’s inundated towns are down to their last few kegs of beer.
So it really is dire straits when you have pubs with no beer in North Queensland.
In addition to the payments I have mentioned, the Rudd government also made an income subsidy payment for residents over the age of 16 years who lost income as a direct result of the floods. The payments were made to employees, small business owners and farmers. This bill will ensure that those payments are not subject to income tax. Obviously, the last thing we need is for those who are just starting to get back on their feet a year after the floods to be slugged with a tax bill for the payments that they needed at a time of crisis. This schedule is the last one that I particularly wanted to cover in detail. I commend the legislation to the House.
