Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Then, finally, 1.2 per cent fewer children are commencing school developmentally on track. Again, this is something critically important to consider for this parliament. Senate estimates is an important tool for us to be able to examine what governments are doing. You've got numbers like this—four indicators going backward on the KPIs for Closing the Gap—and this government, in partnership with their coalition bedfellows, the Greens, say: 'We are not going to allow you to examine these matters. We will not have a day of scrutiny on these important matters.' I think that's shameful. So I'm glad that today we've been able to shed some light on this appalling arrangement we have between Labor and the Greens, where they would shut down scrutiny of matters on Indigenous affairs in this country. You've got shameful numbers like this. You spend half-a-billion dollars on a referendum but refuse to allow senators who have an interest, like Senator Liddle and Senator Nampijinpa Price, to ask questions of this government and its ministers to ensure that we get some accountability. Anyone who says they stand up for Indigenous Australians and then supports what happened here should hang their heads in shame. How can you look at these numbers and say that what you've done today is good? It's not good for accountability. It's not good for democracy. It's not good for Indigenous Australians. But this is the brave new world under a Labor-Green government.