UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE / AUSTRALIAN FABIAN SOCIETY

ADELAIDE

Id like to thank Raffaele from the Fabians Society and Clem from the University of Adelaide for the opportunity to speak here tonight.
At the start of an election year, and with the Budget only six weeks away, the topic for tonight is timely.
Indeed, the role of government particularly the role of a Labor Government is an important discussion to have.
It is a discussion that ultimately is about values and purpose; of policies and of principles.
And, depending on where you stand, the role of government is viewed very differently.
Tonight, I want to speak on what the role of government is for Labor, and what constitutes the Labor project in todays Australia.
Too often a discussion like this is ignored in the day-to-day political debate where slogans, sound bites and personal vitriol are all too dominant.
And the Fabians stated purpose of generating ideas that reflect a level of thinking that meets the challenges of the times does indeed seem a distant test from our contemporary political culture.
So, tonight, I want to speak about todays challenges and tomorrows opportunities, and what we must do to grasp them.
I want to outline why the decisions of this Government follows firmly in the tradition of modern Labor of the governments of Hawke and Keating in the pursuit of both opportunity and fairness.
First, lets start with tonights topic.
At the risk of sounding like the first speaker in a high school debating team, I actually think that asking about the size of government is the wrong question.
Its the question our opponents recite as they try to justify mass sackings and savage cuts to the essential services that Australians rely upon.
Yes, ensuring that government is efficient is important, as can be seen by the $13 billion in efficiencies we have realised since we came to office in 2007.
But there is a philosophical difference between seeking to provide the same services more efficiently, and indiscriminately cutting to adhere to a rigid ideological agenda to diminish the role of government.
Driving efficiencies, particularly for a Labor Finance Minister, is a core activity enabling more dollars to be used for better purposes.
And so the question of greater relevance to Australians is what is the role of government?
When we stepped in during the global financial crisis to protect jobs and ensure the economy was supported, it averted the devastating consequences of widespread unemployment and the economic hardship that we have seen in other nations.
It must be a bitter joke to those in countries still with unacceptably high employment to hear the remarks of the Shadow Finance Minister earlier this week that the GFC was a myth.
To construct these sorts of decisions as size of government questions as the Liberals do deliberately hides the real life consequences for workers and their families of the alternative.
It deliberately ignores the macroeconomic consequences of not pursuing a counter-cyclical response.
The question should always be what is the role of government?
What is the purpose we are trying to achieve? And what can government do or not do in order to achieve it?
Governments role must recognise that the nature of our community will change the experience and opportunity of the individual.
Personal aspiration may enable one child from a poor family to succeed, but alone it will not lift the many. Similarly, governments may enable opportunity, but only the individual can take them.
So I see the role of government is to get the settings right.
The right economic settings for job creation, economic growth and business innovation.
The right policy settings to deliver the best possible education to all our children, a healthcare system for all and a safety net to ensure we do not leave people behind.
The right partnerships both to support those in need and also to pursue economic opportunities. And always to look to the long-term as well as the near.
This Governments decisions are shaped by our perspectives and our values.
As a progressive party, the Labor Partys perspective is naturally different to conservative parties.
Where the conservatives find comfort and direction in the past; progressive parties look to the future.
We are a party that prepares the country for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
We understand that our future prosperity is not assured.
Because we know that change is a permanent feature of modern life.
This forward-looking perspective also brings with it responsibility.
A responsibility to prepare the country to not just meet the challenges ahead, but to prosper by making the most of the opportunities these challenges bring.
This requires an intergenerational conscience; an ear to the unspoken voices of the next generation of Australians.
Our responsibility to safeguard the prosperity of future generations informs our understanding of the importance of long-term reforms to our schools, and investment in national infrastructure such as the National Broadband Network.
And this Governments commitment to future generations is also reflected in the imperative of having a sustainable budget position.
So, what are the values that underpin our approach to governing?
They are Labor values.
Values of fairness and the equality of opportunity.
To ensure that all Australians get the start they deserve, and have the opportunity to make their own way.
To ensure that a parents background is not the main determinant of their childs choices.
Values of fairness to provide for those less well-off in our society.
To ensure that no Australian gets left behind.
And an intergenerational fairness that weighs the opportunities of the next generation on an equal basis to those of today.
Because our obligation is not only to ensure the next generation have the same benefits we have enjoyed, but to make sure their opportunities are even greater.
In a political climate shaped by the continual news cycle, the importance of longer-term reform cannot be underestimated.
Because it is only through continuing the reform momentum that we can meet the challenges and realise the opportunities which will shape the coming decades.
How we respond to these economic challenges will be a statement of our values.
And how we pursue the opportunities will be a reflection of the principles we bring to governing.
These values are central to how Labor governs.
These are the same values which shaped the policies and priorities of the Hawke and Keating Labor governments.
Crucially, and just as Prime Ministers Hawke and Keating understood, this Labor Government knows that opportunity requires a growing economy.
Indeed, for Labor Governments, economic growth is the starting point.
The Hawke and Keating governments understood that opening Australias economy to the global market place was important to growth.
A move opposed by some in business and the labour movement at the time, but one that positioned Australia for many years of growth.
By opening our eyes to the region and increasing competitiveness through tariff reductions, it was a Labor Government that took the first steps in the Asian Century.
Footsteps that this Labor Government is following in.
Because with the opportunities of the Asian Century, and the challenges of an ageing population before us, we cannot leave our economic growth to chance.
We will continue to invest in the drivers of a growing economy, consistent with Labors governing tradition.
This Governments policy agenda is focused on a smarter, fairer and stronger Australia.
We will ensure we get the policy settings right to meet the significant challenges and opportunities ahead.
And we will always endeavour to deliver on our values of fairness and equality of opportunity.
At the forefront of this agenda is reforming our schools.
Because we understand the central role that education plays as an enabler of opportunity.
This is both a principled approach to provide opportunity to all Australians and also a necessary reform to meet the economic challenges before us.
Indeed, I take the view that they are reinforcing ideals.
Because the greater the opportunity provided to all children specifically those from disadvantaged backgrounds the greater likelihood they have to achieve a higher level of education than otherwise may have been the case.
This leads to a greater contribution and a more vibrant economy.
Opportunity opens a door both to a more equal society, but also to a more productive society.
This is reflected in the higher education reforms made under this Government to increase the number of low socio-economic status students attending university.
Last year, over 40,000 students from disadvantaged backgrounds applied to go to university, up 19 per cent from 2009.
We are building on the reforms of past Labor governments, which began with Gough Whitlam who opened the doors of our universities to the many.
Investing in human capital is an enabler of opportunity and a economic priority as we look to be competitive within our region.
These reforms in higher education are coupled with significant investments in the enabling infrastructure required to boost our nations productivity.
As the number of working age Australians decline in comparison to those over the retirement age, the need to boost productivity growth will continue for the coming decades.
Investments in infrastructure like the NBN will spur innovation and drive productivity across our economy.
Investments in Australian innovation and industry hubs will see good ideas become great products, marketed to the world.
These investments demonstrate this Governments commitment to economic growth.
Labor understands that it is only through economic growth that we can deliver on fairness.
While it is through governments economic and social policy settings that we can give effect to our values and principles, they need to be on a sustainable footing.
This is a fundamental principle for progressive governments, and one that is necessary to our capacity to govern.
And underpinning it all is the belief that a fair and just society pulls together to look after those worse off.
A society where we lend a hand; not turn our backs.
We saw this in the great Labor reform of Medicare.
A reform bitterly opposed by the conservatives, built and rebuilt by Labor Governments.
And, today, under this Labor Government, we see DisabilityCare Australia.
Indeed, whether through our increased funding for public hospitals, which have seen 1,300 new sub-acute hospital beds, or through the establishment of DisabilityCare Australia, you see the progression of the Labor ideal that there must always be a genuine safety net.
Similarly, this Governments approach to superannuation continues to be guided by the same principles of sustainability and fairness.
Superannuation is a Labor reform that ensured a secure retirement was no longer the preserve of the wealthy, but is available to millions of Australians.
This historic reform is being built upon by this Government through the increase of the superannuation guarantee from 9 to 12 per cent, boosting the retirement savings of working Australians.
Each time you hear Tony Abbott profess to be superannuations best friend, you should recall the Coalitions opposition to its establishment.
In fact, Mr Abbott called compulsory superannuation one of the biggest con jobs ever foisted by government on the Australian people.
And, each time you hear a Coalition politician suggest she or he is defending workers superannuation, just look at their policy position.
Under an Abbott Government, 3.6 million low income Australians primarily women will face higher taxes on their superannuation.
By its very nature, superannuation demands a long-term perspective.
Realities such as an ageing population and greater longevity require sustainability and fairness.
Past Labor policies such as reasonable benefit limits exemplify this recognising the unsustainability of disproportionate concessions.
And this Governments approach to superannuation will continue to be guided by the same principles of sustainability and fairness.
Now, as Finance Minister, and with the Budget only six weeks away, it is important to talk about why these values continue to inform our fiscal decisions.
And why I see fiscal responsibility as central to the Labor project.
It may not seem intuitive to many in the political debate, but I see it as not only a policy fit, but a policy necessity.
Fiscal responsibility is not, and cannot be, the preserve of the conservatives.
The task of modern Labor is to marry a mandate to govern with progressive values and economic responsibility.
Conservatives often in their rhetoric about the size of government take the view that government does not have a role in increasing fairness in our society.
They elevate the individual and gloss over the existing power structures of society.
As a party founded, not on the benefits of collectivism but rather in opposition to it, the Liberals are comfortable reinforcing advantage and therefore continuing disadvantage.
As a progressive party, we see government as a mechanism to bring about a fairer society.
One that provides equality of opportunity and one that does not leave anyone behind.
These are ideals that require reform.
That is why we are not the party of the status quo.
And as the only progressive party of government in Australia, this comes with a responsibility to deliver reform on a sustainable basis.
Fiscal sustainability is ultimately a social responsibility.
It is a responsibility to not only provide social services today, but also to work to ensure the economy and the budget will sustain them into the future.
Simply expecting future generations to bear the costs is neither progressive, nor is it responsible.
Just as we look to the long-term when we make decisions around education or infrastructure or climate change, so too should we look to the long-term when it comes to the Budget.
Labors priority is to make savings that will make policies more sustainable, so we can keep delivering to those who need it most into the future.
Unlike some, we understand that a growing economy supports all Australians.
Labor understands that sound fiscal policy is central to enabling economic growth.
As the Prime Minister has said: We are in an era when new structural calls on the Budget need to be associated with new structural savings.
This means that choices have to made tough choices and priorities set.
Spending demands that might be persuasive on their own, in aggregate may be unsustainable.
This understanding has driven the many structural improvements to the budget that Labor has made over our past six Budgets.
Responsible reforms such as the means testing of the private health insurance rebate and the removal of tax offsets such as the dependent spouse tax offset.
The effect of these changes is an improvement to our net debt position by 2020-21 of $250 billion.
Many of these have been opposed by the Coalition, who would rather see millionaires given tax breaks on their health insurance than low paid workers get a tax cut.
Some have labelled these decisions as class warfare.
But I say they are about a fair distribution of benefit.
It is about priorities.
To those who say we are out of step with previous Labor Governments, Id say look at the facts.
The Hawke and Keating Governments reformed our social security system, making it more targeted and making space for higher priorities such as the introduction of an asset test which was applied to income-tested pensions.
Like this Government, they were focused on managing competing priorities.
Because a government that provides funding for services to those who can afford to pay themselves, squeezes out funding for those who cannot.
Governments budgets are finite, and always will be.
And in the end it is the most vulnerable those who need support to get ahead that often lose out if we disregard fiscal sustainability.
We only have to look to overseas to see the impact on social safety nets when budget positions are allowed to deteriorate.
Id like to finish tonight by coming back to what is the modern Labor project.
At its core it is delivering fairness and equality of opportunity; lifting all and ensuring that no one is left behind.
We know that this needs a growing economy.
Opportunity is best found when firms are hiring, and businesses are expanding.
That is why we are making the investments that boost productivity growth.
In the Asian Century we need to get the settings right to capture the advantages of our geography.
This requires prudent budgeting, and sustainable policies.
That is why the social responsibility at the heart of the Labor and progressive movement demands fiscal sustainability.
It is a responsibility that extends to the next generation, and continuing Labors governing tradition of putting their interests at the forefront of our decisions.
ENDS