Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Blair, who has got it down to 40 questions per session, rather than 60, which means that I probably have about 7½ seconds per question rather than the five seconds I had in the previous session. Overall, the questions that he had concerned a few points, so let me touch on those few points. The most substantial points which the member for Blair asked about were the savings decisions made in the budget.

There is $4.8 billion worth of Indigenous-specific programs for which appropriations are made in this budget over four years. There was a 4.5 per cent savings being made there. That is on the public record and the member for Blair has outlined that. How has that come about and why is this occurring? In part, every portfolio has had to make savings. My friend the member for Kooyong outlined the rationale for that. The public finances were a mess. We are spending $1 billion a month just on the interest payments on the Labor government debt and that is forecast to grow to $3 billion per month, so decisions had to be made across the board to make savings.

In the Indigenous portfolio, what had been occurring over the years was a proliferation of programs, increasing and increasing.

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