Fri, 6th June 2008

Definitely not "Australia's Next Top Model" - Week Two - Senate Estimates

Senator the Hon Eric Abetz
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research

Definitely not "Australia's Next Top Model" - Labor's anti-modelling approach to Government - Week Two - Senate Estimates

Click here for Week 1 Wrap-up

This week in Senate Estimates saw confirmation that the Rudd Labor Government is all about spin over susbstance and pressing forward with bad policy often not only in the absence of, but in spite of, proper modelling and evidence from their own departments.

And bizarrely, they continue to refuse to provide a full list of their election promises and which Minister is charged with their implementation.

Labor clearly does not want to hear criticism of its bad policy and has taken to shutting out its Departments.

It has been confirmed this week that:

• The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has never been asked, nor has it given, any advice to the Rudd government on the inflationary impact of its workplace relations laws.

  Further, they haven't even seen the leaked modelling done by Treasury;

• Treasury confirmed it did not consult with the Department of Health and Ageing about the RTD tax – confirming it is purely a revenue raising measure implemented with no consideration of the health implications;
• The Government has also confirmed it has done little work on the prospect of drink substitution.
• The Rudd Government did not ask either Treasury or the Department of Health and Ageing to model, cost, or in any way assess the impact of the Medicare Levy Surcharge change on public hospitals; and the Government did not consult with the states and territories about the changes and the burden on the public health system;

  Further, it was confirmed that what analysis was done was inaccurate; and the Treasurer's estimate of the number of Australians who would withdraw from Private Health Insurance was massively understated;

• The decision to end a 30 year old tax exemption on extracting light crude oil from natural gas, $2.5 billion tax windfall, occurred without any consultation with either the industry or the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism.
• The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research did no modelling on the impact of increasing the Luxury Car Tax upon Australia’s car industry; nor was the industry consulted;
• And of course we have the expose of the Government's incompetence in relation to Fuelwatch.
  • There was no urgency for this measure or the legislation to bring it into force until the Rudd Government hit turbulence with rising petrol prices.
  • The Government then declared the drafting of the Bill urgent, told officials they wanted the Bill ready for immediate introduction; and had three Treasury officials drafting the Bill working without a break to comply with a political deadline. This bill was rushed into Parliament and standard guidelines for legislation preparation were breached, yet the Government attacked the Coalition for suggesting the Bill be examined by a Senate Committee.
  Indeed, despite the fact that many of Labor's Budget Measures were implemented without consultation or any analysis of their ramifications, Labor has hypocritically attacked the Coalition for suggesting such measures should be examined by a Senate Committee.

• That 44 staff "separations" had occurred from DFAT in the first three months of the year – higher than normal;
• The Rudd Government has refused to guarantee it will keep an election promised to spend $800 million on dental health;
• Labor is rorting the Regional Tourism Development Grants programme – with eleven of twelve grants going to Labor electorates and that the Department's advice would not be considered in the Government's decision on this funding;
• Horrifically, FaHCSIA had conducted research on means testing early intervention autism programs. The representative from FaHCSIA stated ‘we have examined the option of means testing. It appears, on research we have done, that means testing wouldn’t exclude that many families...’;
• The Defence Air Combat Capability Review has been buried so as not to contradict the Minister's ill-informed public comments in February about the Super Hornet and JSF;
• There was confirmation of the ALP's broken election promise on Defence Health Clinics;
• “Computers in schools” is a sham with Departmental officials unsure of the delivery of the computers or the costs to schools with their budget for the programme significantly under-funded;
• Commercial Ready was secretly closed 16 days before the closure was announced on budget night

For a Government less than six months old, Senate Estimates has revealed an alarming incidence of maladministration, refusal to seek advice; and, in short, a Government in disarray.