Barry Haase (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. I rise this evening to support this private member's motion. I believe income management, either compulsory or voluntary, has a valid place within Australian society regardless of the recipients colour or creed. This private members motion moved by a member of the government is rather refreshing. So many members of the government, because of their apparent high regard for equal opportunity, believe that the intervention by government with a program of income management somehow takes away the more important basic rights of individuals. This lofty, worldly view of human rights may be fine in debating circles however to hold a view that income management and its potential removal of basic or equal rights is more important than the lives of small innocent children, has moved me to support this motion. The motion is outlined in detail by the member for Wakefield. He highlights a number of statistical benefits as a result of income management. The negative impact of welfare does not discriminate against race as our moral responsibility to ensure all children—children of any heritage—trapped within the walls of welfare are fed, clothed, educated, safe and in a warm bed at night. These expectations must be realised for all children, not just some.

A few months ago the ABC, in cohorts with Animals Australia, put to air a carefully compiled piece to denigrate the live cattle export industry in Australia. I find it alarming that a population so ready to stop an industry in its tracks in an effort to stop the cruelty recently shown to be inflicted on animals overseas cannot show the same passion in response to the very real problem of cruelty to our children. The only explanation is that the population is unaware of the truth. That they have to be shown by the same people who pushed the button on their computer or got out of bed on a Sunday to attend a rally to influence a decision on something they know nothing about is remarkable. To choose to be sympathetic to animals and ignore our abused children, often in remote communities—children who have no voice and no button to push for help—is truly remarkable.

A government member: Surely you can do both.

Not necessarily multi-skilled. The Little children are sacred report of the Northern Territory board of inquiry into the protection of Aboriginal children from sexual abuse published in 2007 seems to have been forgotten. The board of inquiry into the protection of Aboriginal children from sexual abuse submitted an interim report to the Chief Minister in October 2006 and it said:

Sexual abuse of children is not restricted to those of Aboriginal descent … nor to just the Northern Territory. The phenomenon knows no racial, age or gender borders. It is a national and international problem.

The classic indicia of children likely to suffer neglect, abuse and/or sexual abuse are unfortunately, particularly apparent in Aboriginal communities. Family dysfunctionality, as a catch-all phrase, reflects and encompasses problems of alcohol and drug abuse, poverty, housing shortages, unemployment and the like. All of these issues exist in many Aboriginal communities.

I can stand here and espouse all manner of doctrine, but the truth of the matter is I do not have the answers to all of the problems faced by not only those in our remote Aboriginal communities but also those in the wider community who are suffering from the same—dare I say—social malaise.

I do know, however, that income management appears to be working and should be extended. It is instinctive to protect our young and we are morally bound to protect not only the young but also the feeble, the infirm, the disadvantaged. What sort of country have we become that our moral compass is so out of whack we have forgotten the horror that was made public in 2007? Women, children and the elderly are being abused on a daily basis and too many are pretending it is not happening. Income management ensures priority items such as rent, utilities, food, clothes, health items and basic household products are paid for. What it does not allow for is the spending of money on alcohol, pornography, tobacco, gambling products, gambling services, home brew kits or home brew concentrate, very specific.

The Northern Territory Centre for Disease Control provides sexually transmitted infection data for children in the Territory for 2000 to 2005. The following is from the Little children are sacred report:

The per capita rate of sexually transmitted infection amongst all Aboriginal people is between seven and thirty times greater than for non-Aboriginal people. From 2001 to 2005 of all SDIs diagnosed in Aboriginal people, 8 per cent occurred in children under the age of 16 years, compared with 3.2 per cent for non-Aboriginal children. SDIs are statistically more likely to be found in Aboriginal children. From 2001 to 2005, an STD was identified in 64 children aged under 12 years. Some 54 of these children were identified as aboriginal, five were identified as non-aboriginal and the cultural identity of another five was not reported.

Sixty-four children under the age of 12 years were identified as having sexually transmitted diseases. Regardless of racial origin, these figures are abhorrent. I very much doubt that these children were having sex of their own free will. I dare say the majority of these innocent children were from homes where alcohol and drug abuse is the norm and where welfare money was spent on getting high. If even one child is saved from both the physical pain and the ongoing mental anguish because of welfare quarantining, it is worth it. I challenge anyone to disagree with me and I dare any civil libertarian to look me in the eye and tell me I am wrong. I have seen the damage done, I have heard the stories and I am disappointed that we did not initiate income management sooner.

  Our welfare system in some cases creates long-term intergenerational dependency too often including those able to participate in work. Yes, good old-fashioned work. Work promotes self discipline and self-esteem—the Australian idiom of a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. Inability to manage money or spending in a manner that ignores the basic necessities has been a major problem in my remote communities. It is sadly a problem that for too long has been overlooked. Why, you may ask. I suggest because some bureaucrat decided that equal rights and political correctness were more important than mutual obligation. Going further than this motion, I would suggest that those communities which are supported by taxpayers but which have no chance of jobs are unsustainable. Imagine a life where each day rolls into another, one where nothing punctuates those days—no challenge, no responsibility, nothing to look forward to except the day the welfare cheque comes in. It is a life of boredom and hopelessness.

We have no right to take away a person's dignity; no right whatsoever to keep giving handouts and expect nothing in return. We must educate our people. We must move them to work. We must give back a sense of self pride. We must demand mutual obligation. Tough love is required. No matter what our colour, we instinctively know the difference between right and wrong from a very early age. Drugs and alcohol blur the ages of reality, but they do not change right from wrong.

There are civil libertarians who argue against income management, but I wonder if they have ever looked into the eyes of a child who is no longer raped by a drunk or drugged father, uncle, brother, cousin or neighbour. Have they looked into the eyes of a wife who is no longer beaten and raped by a husband fuelled by alcohol and drugs? I do not think so. If they had, they would support income management. There cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach to reform, and income management may not be the best answer to a range of insidious social conditions; but it is the best answer we have at this point in time. To ignore the plight of children locked within the walls of generational welfare is to be complicit in the horrendous outcomes of that cycle. I seriously support this motion.

See this speech in context