Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I ask those opposite to afford me the same respect I showed them in listening to their contributions on this serious issue. The reason I am saddened about speaking in this debate is that Labor is clearly using our most vulnerable people—people for whom we really do need to close the gap—for yet another cheap political scare campaign. It saddens not only me but, I know, a great many other people on this side.

Senator Siewert, in her contribution, said that this country's debt was irrelevant to this debate. I almost did a double-take—how, possibly, can our nation's enormous debt be irrelevant to this debate? Labor's mismanagement of the country's finances and the legacy of debt and deficit they have left us mean that all programs have to be reviewed. The budget savings made in the Indigenous Affairs portfolio have been explained many times—and they were explained again very eloquently just then by the minister. They do not, as Labor keeps wrongly claiming, impact on the delivery of services. As the minister said, the savings made in this area amount to $60 million a year. That is against a total spend of $4.9 billion a year. That is less than five per cent. The minister has said time and time again very clearly and has provided the evidence that these savings go into efficiencies and behind-the-scene administration. They are not $500 million and they do not go against the delivery of the services that were being discussed by those opposite. So not $1 of these savings—which are far less than those opposite are claiming—impacts on the delivery of services to Indigenous services. However, the government did, as part of its pre-election promise to cut the burden of red tape, remove what can only be described as a bewildering array of bureaucratic processes in the Indigenous Advancements Strategy. This is now allowing public servants to spend their time where it is most needed in the regional networks working with Indigenous groups at the local level.

We are in the process of transforming Indigenous affairs to a very different and far more streamlined model to make more effective use of the resources available. As we have just heard from Senator Peris, what we have done in the past, over many governments and over many decades, is clearly not working. Just mindlessly continuing to fund resources and services that are not closing the gap enough is not good enough. Labor's budget blow-out and economic mismanagement at the Indigenous portfolio level has resulted in more unsafe neighbourhoods and the number of adults and children in education and the workplace actually declining. Again, that is not good enough. More of the same is simply not an option for this government.

We intend to turn it around and we intend to do it much better. This government, in fact, has signed off on over $860 million worth of investments in the Indigenous Advancement Strategy funding round to ensure that the government continues to deliver our key priorities: to get children to school and adults to work, and to make communities safer. This funding will assist 964 Indigenous organisations to deliver nearly 1,300 projects to Indigenous communities right across Australia. That is far from the story peddled by those opposite in this MPI. What they do not tell the Australian people is that not only is the amount of the cuts and where it is coming from not true but under competitive funding processes not everybody will be happy. They were not happy under your government when you had to make choices about funding arrangements, and they will not be happy under new competitive funding arrangements. Tough decisions have always to be made, and we need to ensure these decisions are followed through. But I will remind this place that over $860 million worth of new investments are being made by this government and funding will assist 964 organisations to deliver nearly 1,300 projects right across this country—a very different story from what we are hearing from those opposite.

This government truly does believe that Indigenous Australians deserve a much better future and that we have to do everything we can to close the gap. But more job opportunities are required. We need to empower individuals and communities. We need to promote and encourage, so as to result in higher standards of living. The initiatives we are taking in this area are a genuine attempt to ensure that we move closer to making these goals a reality. I believe that, rather than moving motions such as this MPI today, which is clearly designed for a political purpose and is untrue, it would be far more productive if those in this place worked together genuinely to close the gap—not for cheap political stunts of the day but to work together to get better outcomes for all Indigenous Australians. They need outcomes. They need a better life. We need to close the gap, and they do not need political stunts.