Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Sorry, Mr Acting Deputy President. I will put my remarks through you.

But this is why we are in this particular parlous situation. It jus beggars belief. We have had Senator McLucas come up and say, 'I've only had people coming into my office and complaining.' I guess that is the nature of those people who missed out, but let me tell you I commend the people who missed out for having a go. But, unlike Senator McLucas, I am not giving money out depending on how many hours you spent with the preparation. It will all be new money and new ideas, and I have those in a repository. There are some fantastic ideas but, because we do not have the funds to fund them all, we have to prioritise. So we have prioritised it, but we are still keeping many of those ideas aside. Perhaps when we do have the funds, when you, hopefully, have the funds in government or when whoever does, we can invest in those ideas.

But through this ground that she knocks she did not say that 964 organisations are going to deliver nearly 1,300 programs. Most importantly, instead of just saying we are helping Aboriginal organisations or non-Aboriginal organisations, whilst I care deeply about them all, the people I actually care about are the people on the ground receiving services. That should be the focus of parliament. That should be your focus.

Part of the challenge in this particular portfolio is we cannot close the gap if we have services that are being delivered substandard with low expectations. The same people have been doing it year after year after year. That is going to change on 30 June because those who are dong the services are going to be in a contract that basically focuses on outcomes. They will be paid to provide an outcome. It is quite a reasonable thing to do. In the past that has not been the case. For those Indigenous organisations that say are they doing it or aren't they doing it I have said, 'We want to work with you the first year; we want to intensively work with you to ensure that the services to our shared constituency are delivered in the very best possible way.'

So, as I have said, it is completely disingenuous to stand up in this place as a matter of public importance and suggest that somehow we have slashed $500 million off the budget, end of story, leaving people with the perception, of course, that that is what happened. That is not what happened; and, if you care about this portfolio, you will start thinking about stopping the politicisation of it. If you are fair dinkum about closing the gap and you are all fair dinkum about engaging with our first Australians properly, you will start taking your hat off. I in this place try day after day to depoliticise this, and those who know me on the other side will acknowledge that, so I do not think it is helpful. I know this was jointly sponsored by Senator Siewert, and I have a great deal of time for the joint sponsors. I do not think this is helpful, because this sends a signal to Indigenous Australians. It might be mischievous and it might be politically the right thing to do in this place, but I really wish you would start to switch on. If we can work together on this, it is going to be far better than the normal adversarial rubbish that we carry on with in this place. That is why I am a bit nauseated for those on the other side to lecture me.

Perhaps I should touch on a couple of things in the record of those on the other side. We are going to get kids into school, we are going to get people employed and we are going to provide for safer communities. During your period of office, 87 per cent of people did not get an education. I have arrived and am trying to fix that in a way that really makes a difference. Unemployment during your watch increased by 4.3 per cent, more than five times what is happening in mainstream Australia. Intoxication rates went from 5.7 to 12.1 times the mainstream level. This all happened on your watch. I am not saying there is any mischief or any particular incompetence; it is a tough area.

So, once again, this is a matter of public importance, and the importance of this matter is to come into this place and tell the whole truth. Don't just pick up what you like and say, 'Isn't this going to impress people on the front page,' because I can tell you they are not impressed. Our first Australians of this parliament—not this government, this parliament—deserve the whole truth about exactly what is going on, and this so-called matter of public importance serves no justice whatsoever.