Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I concur by echoing: yes, we sadly have the Liberal and National parties as our government. It is their job to fix it, and they well and truly should have fixed it. In fact, they've been talking about doing good things for the charities sector for a very long time. Even before they came into government, I can remember attending a number of inquiries as a member of the other place, when I was the member for Robertson, about what was going on in the charities sector. That was in 2011 or 2012, but here we are in 2019, six ministers in six years into the third term of this government, and they still aren't doing the job that they need to do for ordinary Australians. People who want to help fellow Australians, who want to support charities, are sadly suffering under the misguided perception that this government will look after charities, that they will do their job and that they will do the correct thing and make sure that charities can get as many of those dollars that Australians are generous enough to donate to the causes that those charities are supporting. Sadly, what we've got is a government with not just this minister but the five ministers who preceded him who are missing in action.

The reason we're having this debate today is that Senator Bilyk, from Tasmania, who ably led the inquiry into what was going on around the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit's Commission and made a series of recommendations, shared it. She was supported ably in that job by Senator Rachel Siewert as the deputy chair. I note that another Tasmanian, Senator Abetz, was on that, as well as Senator Burston, who is no longer with us; Senator David Smith; and Senator Amanda Stoker. They were all on it. There were two recommendations. They were pretty clear. They said the government needs to get on with it:

… the Australian government urgently provide a public response to the recommendations made in the review panel's report, Strengthening for Purpose: Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Legislation Review.

I don't know what 'urgent' means to this government. Clearly not the same thing that it means to ordinary Australians who have been donating in the period of time since this report came out, with millions of Australians donating to support people struggling in the drought and millions of Australians putting funds in to support people who are being impacted by the fires in this country. Nine months was not enough time for this government to get on and do the job that needed to be done. Shame on this government and shame on the government's minister, their representative in this field, Senator Seselja, for failing to produce documents and a sufficient explanation of why this important and urgent matter has been so overlooked.

The cost of not doing this was documented by our colleague in the other place Mr Andrew Leigh. He has made it very clear that the evidence found by Senator Bilyk shows that fundraising charities face a paperwork burden every year of around $15 million. I don't know about you. Maybe some people have so much money that $15 million doesn't sound big to them but it sounds like a pretty big number to me. To those people across this country who are the beneficiaries of the investment that we make in their welfare, not just through our tax dollars but by personal commitment to supporting charities, this government owes so much more than it has given—so much more. All they had to do was show up and do their day job, respond to the good work of committees like this and bring in legislation that would mean that $15 million more donated by Australians would be in the pockets of those who need it or in the services provision for those who need it. But do you think we have seen that legislation? No, no, they're in here trying to bust unions. They are in here making sure to vote against Senator Hanson again today so she can't get a dairy inquiry up. The National Party voted against it. I suppose she is doing their job, so you might understand it. This is what is going on with this government: anything—anything—that might get them a headline, anything that will satisfy their ideological lust to hurt the most vulnerable is what they are advancing, not sensible legislation like that which has been recommended by the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee.

Let me tell you a little bit about some of the work that I have seen our charitable institutions doing. I really want to give a plug to the Salvation Army, one of the most trusted institutions in this country. For families who have somebody in their family they love who is facing addiction, I don't know any other organisation that has given so many people so much hope by the provision of drug rehabilitation services. That is money that should be going into those charities. Just in this period of time, $15 million has not been provided for service provision to those families facing Christmas who know that someone they love needs that service. Well, $15 million isn't there because this government didn't show up to do its work.

In addition to that, I am a product of Catholic education, very proudly. I remember fundraising in my own classrooms. I can remember back to year 3 and bringing in little 2c coins as donations to help charities, particularly St Vincent de Paul. And I want to give a shout out to the great leadership being offered to Catholic social services by former senator Ursula Stephens, who is now leading Catholic Care nationally. Right across this country in the closing weeks of term, there will be young kids, who will be bringing in pocket money, who will be going home and raiding their pantries and bringing in goods to put together baskets for St Vincent de Paul through the Mini Vinnies program to give food and presents to families who might not be looking down the barrel of a great Christmas. That's happening in our Catholic schools and, indeed, in lots and lots of schools. Most schools across the country will be doing their bit to support the charity that they believe in by giving of themselves, giving from their families to those in their community around them who need just a little bit of help right now. That $15 million of investment that could be going to people is just being soaked up in the sort of red tape that all my colleagues have spoken about.

I remember hearing in those original hearings 'report once, use often'. What we've got is charities reporting in every state and jurisdiction around the country multiple times, trying to keep up with all the different laws across the states. All this government has to do is read the report and make a national set of laws. There are a couple of ways they could do that. We don't really care which method they use, but take the problem away from the people who can't fix it. Only the government can fix this problem. They've got a recipe to do it but they don't care enough to act. This is not a priority for them. It is a priority for you and me, it is a priority for ordinary Australians but it is not a priority for this arrogant, out-of-touch and stubborn government that is more committed to an ideological battle in this place than to serving the Australian people who—I still find it difficult to understand—gave them the authority of governance again. The reality is there are great challenges facing Australians this Christmas.

Recently when I was out in Wagga Wagga, I went to an institution that is significantly supported by St Vincent de Paul in that community. I saw something I never thought I'd see in this country, and it's heartbreaking. I walked in and there was a basket filled with bread. That basket was emptied by people who came in off the street to get bread because they hadn't had any food at all over the weekend, for themselves or their children. In the time that I went behind the front desk and met with volunteers, who were giving their services to that charity to help look after people in their community, that bread basket had been completely emptied and refilled. That is happening in our country because of insecure wages, insecure work, a failure in managing the economy and a failure to support charities in doing the job that they have to do to catch the people who are falling off the edge of our society because this government is too arrogant to do its day job. It is a disgrace, and it shames me to think that that's what I saw this year in our country, in Wagga Wagga, where the Deputy Prime Minister is supposed to be helping that community. That is happening in every community across this country—people who've worked for 35 years losing their jobs, put on Newstart that they can't live on, unable to see the benefit of Christmas. This government is hard-hearted; it lacks care, it lacks due diligence and it lacks the capacity to do its job. It's a great disgrace to this nation. (Time expired)