Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, this being the first occasion for me to do so, I congratulate you on your appointment to the office of Deputy President.

I think we heard in question time today some thoughtful responses from Senator Brandis in relation to some important issues that Senator Peris raised in her question and in her contribution to the debate just then. These are absolutely important matters. As Senator Brandis acknowledged in response to Senator Peris's questions, it is absolutely a tragic fact in Australia that Indigenous incarceration rates are far, far too high. They are far too high particularly when considered relative to the levels of incarceration for the overall Australian population. This is a terrible problem that our country faces. It is a problem that is but one element of many different elements of Indigenous disadvantage that Australia has, and it is a problem that our government is completely up-front about acknowledging. We acknowledge that it is a policy priority of Prime Minister Abbott and of this entire government to make sure that we do whatever we possibly can to address the overall mix of issues in relation to Indigenous disadvantage.

We are seeing in this government—from the Prime Minister, Minister Scullion, Parliamentary Secretary Tudge and across the entire government—a commitment to address, at its basic level, any area we can to assist and further the cause of Indigenous development in this country, starting, most importantly, with getting children to school. We have heard some great and positive stories from Minister Scullion in this chamber previously, where he has identified that some of the measures with very active and intensive intervention programs are making a meaningful difference in getting more young Indigenous children to school, getting higher rates of school attendance. We know that, from that, we can ultimately, hopefully, get better economic outcomes for those young people and for those Indigenous communities. But there are no magic bullets. Previous governments have tried. Previous governments of all political persuasions have tried different policies, and sadly we still face levels of Indigenous disadvantage and Indigenous incarceration today that are unacceptably high. We have to work through what will be long-term policies and long-term strategies to effect change. Although our government has an absolutely rock-solid policy commitment to try to tackle these issues, it does not mean that this policy area is completely exempt from opportunities to seek efficiencies, opportunities for us to try to find ways to drive the budget further.

What was telling when Senator Brandis gave his answers to Senator Peris's questions was the reactions from some of those opposite, who mock the notion that there is any debt problem in Australia, who seem to think—it is a complete furphy—that we can live with limitless expenditure and limitless debt and that it will have absolutely no consequence into the future. Well, it does have consequences into the future. Already as a nation and a government we are paying around $1 billion a month just to service existing levels of government debt. If that government debt continues to grow, then of course the level of interest that future governments will pay will continue to grow.

As Senator Cormann rightly highlighted during question time today, we will ultimately reach a point where the types of budget decisions that a future government may have to take will be far harsher, far more severe and have far greater consequences for Australians if we do not take action now. We have a choice as a country and we have a choice as a parliament. We can take action now to rein in the level of deficits to bring debt under control—and that action is relatively careful and relatively modest and has limited consequences—or we can do nothing, as the Labor Party seem to propose, and a future generation will have to pick up the problem, with a greater level of debt, enormous interest payments and huge consequences that they will face in the future. Taking action now means that there are sometimes difficult decisions that have to be taken, across every portfolio, but, be under no illusion, Mr Deputy President, Senator Peris and others; this government wants to address the issues of Indigenous disadvantage, and we will do so as effectively as the resources allow. (Time expired)