Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Community organisations in my electorate are being treated woefully by this government, which has slashed $270 million from the community grants program. Organisations that provide emergency relief, financial counselling, parenthood programs and housing for homeless people, as well as support for people with disabilities, have all been affected.

In my electorate the New South Wales Spanish and Latin American Association for Social Assistance runs their program that caters for aged care improvement and healthy ageing; their funding has been cut. The Fairfield and Liverpool Migrant Resource Centres have had their funding cut; this impacts grossly on their emergency relief programs, which have assisted hundreds of disadvantaged local people with food supplies and paying essential bills. The Vietnamese Community in Australia—New South Wales Chapter have advised me their funds are being targeted; this will impact on their money management program which has operated for the last two years, providing invaluable help to people with a gambling problem.

These organisations have operated for many years, providing essential services for the wellbeing of people in my community. However, they are now facing the decision as to which services they can provide. It will certainly impact on the quality and sustainability of their services. These cuts will hurt the homeless, impact on people with disability, hurt victims of abuse and result in job losses, particularly among those dedicated people who volunteer their time to community—(Time expired)