John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to contribute to this debate. I, like Senator Sterle, spent some time in Aboriginal communities back in my days of driving trucks in the 1970s. It was interesting. We would go up to Yunta, out on the road to Wertaloona Station—Bob Wilson owned the property. Four or five trucks might pull up at two or three o'clock in the afternoon and settle down for the day, to load at daylight next morning. When we arrived at the station, there were two or three Aboriginal stockmen in the yards drafting cattle. It was hot and dusty and there they were with their horses tied up under the trees—great workers, great Australians and very proud of what they were doing.

Money does not solve problems. I will tell you what we did: we threw money at the problem. I doubt whether there are many Aboriginal Australians employed in the Flinders Ranges now on those stations. In fact, I took previous minister Mark Arbib out to Wilcannia, where I learnt of this disgusting situation: the average lifespan of an Aboriginal man in Wilcannia is 33 years. That is disgraceful. I ask this question of people: find me somewhere in the world that has an average lifespan of 33 years or worse. I do not think you could find one. This is what we have done.

I am saying this to Senator Sterle and others here: when it comes to passion about our First Australians, no-one in this chamber has a greater passion for our First Australians than Senator Scullion, the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate. It is his passion and he is determined to do whatever he can to get best value for the taxpayer's dollar in assisting these people who need so much assistance. Education is the first thing, and I am very proud of what our minister is doing in relation to getting kids to school. Where are they going to go in this world without an education? What future do they have? Sure, there are traditional jobs out there, and a great history and culture, but we have to help these people get jobs and the first part of that is education. Mr Deputy President Marshall, you know full well we inherited a budget mess. We inherited $320 billion of gross debt when we were won government on 7 September last year. A billion rolls off the tongue pretty easily, doesn't it? One million and one billion—let us just focus on those amounts. Put that figure into seconds: one million seconds in time is 11½ days. In 11½ days we go through a million seconds. One billion seconds in time is 31.7 years. There is a big difference between one million and one billion, and we are talking billions.

The IAS, the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, is a major refocusing of Indigenous funding, streamlining over 150 programs and services from eight government departments—I repeat: eight government departments—into just five streams. These are: (1) jobs, land and economy; (2) children and schooling; (3) safety and wellbeing; (4) culture and capability; and (5) remote Australian strategies. Together they constitute the $4.8 billion Indigenous Advancement Strategy or IAS—a most important scheme.

To say that that is being cut—well, for Senator McLucas, I will put it into context. Those front-line services are not being cut. We do have a budget problem. Every Australian realises we have a budget problem. We inherited that budget problem from you, the financial messes on that side of the chamber, who have a history, a legacy, of sending the place broke, whether it be the state of Queensland, Victoria in the late eighties, South Australia, Western Australia or Tasmania—you name it, that is your legacy of spending money and borrowing up to the hilt.

We have to make every dollar count. That is what our Indigenous affairs minister, Senator Scullion, and the Prime Minister, Mr Abbott, are making their utmost and best effort to do: to make sure that the dollars get to the forefront so that we get the education, the health and the exercise, and so that we especially look after those in very remote areas who need so much assistance.

The claim that the Family Violence Prevention Legal Services are not eligible for funding under the government's Indigenous Advancement Strategy is incorrect; they can apply, and I encourage them to do so. I will repeat that: the claim that the Family Violence Prevention Legal Services are not eligible for funding under the government's Indigenous Advancement Strategy is incorrect; they can apply, and I encourage them to do so.

The Indigenous Advancement Strategy funding round opened on 8 September and will close on 17 October. Time restricts me from going on, but I will say that to make this a political issue, a partisan issue, is simply wrong, and it is those opposite trying to get political points.