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Thursday, 10 May 2012
Page: 3142

Senator POLLEY (Tasmania—Deputy Government Whip in the Senate) (15:22): I am a little disappointed but I am not surprised. Normally Senator Payne makes a reasonable contribution to this chamber, but to come in here and try to lecture this government about homelessness and housing and the cost of living is a bit rich. We cannot let those opposite get away with that without mentioning that they had 12 years in government and did nothing.

Homelessness was put on the agenda by the Labor government. If you are really concerned about the cost of living and the cost of housing, why did you, only this morning, vote against a measure which was going to support families in educating their kids? By voting against the schoolkids bonus not only yesterday in that other place but here in this chamber today, you again demonstrated your inconsistency and your lack of appreciation of how difficult it is for families out there to educate their kids and of how well received this bonus is going to be in the community. It is becoming part of everyday debate in this place—those from the other side coming in to lecture us about what we have not done. But they fail to acknowledge that for 12 years they were in government.

They lecture us about the disability sector. But throughout all the time I spent on the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs, throughout all the committee inquiries we had while those on the other side were in government—inquiries in which they participated—they were not prepared to make the tough decisions. We have made those decisions. We have embarked on a scheme which is going to address the needs of those in our community who have disabilities and the needs of their families. But we are not even sure, when push comes to shove, that Joe Hockey and those opposite are actually going to support this scheme.

We have already, in this budget, allocated $1 billion over the next four years to introduce this scheme. We are not going to rush in without consulting—we are going to make sure that the reform is going to address the areas of critical need. People with disabilities, their carers and their families have waited a long time, but at least we have taken the action. We have actually put it in our budget.

In talking about the budget, it is interesting to note the misinformation about what is or is not in the budget which is constantly circulated. I will just touch on one example because I think it is important to correct the record. Yesterday, the media were running with a story put out by those on the opposite side that we had failed to allocate money in the budget for the Freight Equalisation Scheme—totally untrue.

Senator Fifield: What has the Freight Equalisation Scheme got to do with the answers Senator Evans gave on the Disability Insurance Scheme and housing?

Senator POLLEY: It is important because we are talking about the budget, Senator Fifield. The budget is not just about the NDIS and it is not just about housing. It is interesting because you do not want to mention the credit that has been given to the budget from organisations like the Tasma­nian Farmers and Graziers Association. Their chief executive, Jan Davis, said:

Additional funds for biosecurity and natural resource management activities were particularly welcome.

I know the Deputy President, coming from Tasmania, would appreciate that we do not always get the support of the TFGA. But, once again, that is not something that has been mentioned in this debate about the budget.

Another thing that Senator Parry, who now resides in Launceston, will appreciate is the money which has been allocated from this budget to the Launceston City Council to develop their strategy in all-encompassing transport and infrastructure planning for the future—

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Polley, I will draw your attention to the question before the chamber at the moment.

Senator POLLEY: I think, Mr Deputy President, that when we are talking about the budget, there are a broad range of related issues—and, from listening to other contributions this afternoon, I think I am being consistent with other speakers in traversing some of those issues.

But I am very happy to get back to the NDIS because it is, after all, something which is close to my heart, as it is for many in the Tasmanian community. As I said earlier, it is essential that we get the scheme right for people with disabilities, their families and their carers. The full scheme should be rolled out based on a properly tested design. The lessons we learn as we deliver this first stage will inform our conversations with the states and territories on the national rollout of a national disability insurance scheme.

We are actually putting the money in. We are proud, as a Labor government, that we have actioned this very crucial and important piece of reform. I am hoping that those opposite will stop playing politics with this, get behind the scheme and support it. (Time expired)