Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bruce for his question. I congratulate you, Mr Speaker, on your elevation to the Speaker's chair. I want to start by acknowledging that in the Speaker's gallery today are representatives of the Save Sorry Business Coalition. They've travelled from the Kimberley, Moree, Ballarat, New England and other places around the country so that their voices can be heard by members of this place. They have a sorry story to tell.

The collapse of the Youpla Group has affected thousands of First Nations families around Australia who are relying on this funeral benefit insurance to allow them to mourn their loved ones and to conduct sorry business. The Albanese Labor government recognises the sorrow, grief and anguish that the collapse of this business has caused these communities. I thank the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the First Nations members of the Labor caucus and other members of this House who have made representations to me and the Minister for Indigenous Australians on this matter.

The government recognises the significant distress. Investigations are underway into the behaviour of the directors and the company, but our first and immediate priority is the bodies that are today sitting in morgues because families cannot afford to bury them and conduct the important cultural business of sorry business. We will allow that to go ahead. As a short-term measure, the program the government has put in place will ensure that claims received between 1 April last year and 30 November next year will be honoured. We will stand in the shoes of the insurer. We estimate that this will benefit up to 500 First Nations families around Australia who would otherwise be left without funeral benefits.

More work needs to be done to ensure that we can resolve all the other issues associated with this collapse, but we must ask ourselves: if there had been a voice to parliament prior to 2020, would it have told us that we needed to change the law to ensure that these dodgy insurance products are not sold to vulnerable communities?

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