Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, given the seniority of the cabinet minister at the table—and I appreciate him being here—I might ask the questions I have in relation to the Social Inclusion Unit and get the minister to respond before asking some questions of the parliamentary secretary in relation to the Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio.

The coalition thinks that all Australians deserve the best opportunity at the life they wish to pursue. That is why we have announced a series of policies as part of our real solutions plan, to ensure people have those opportunities over the coming months. Where we find a little inconsistency is when the government has this so-called Social Inclusion Unit but seeks publicly to denigrate Australians it does not agree with. I refer in this respect to the terrific and remarkable contribution last week by the member for Batman in his speech to the parliament announcing his retirement, in which he made the point: 'We should be about creating opportunities for all Australians, not pursuing our pointless class rhetoric.'

How does a minister justify having a Social Inclusion Unit at the same time as the Treasurer of the country seeks to pursue, it would seem daily, this class warfare rhetoric in the parliament and outside by targeting Australians because of their success? How is that consistent with establishing this so-called Social Inclusion Unit and, in so doing, spending millions of dollars? Equally, Minister, can you outline to the parliament how much funding has been allocated to the Social Inclusion Unit over the forward estimates? How much of that funding has been allocated to the board as well as to the unit itself? How many people are currently employed within the Social Inclusion Unit? And what is the total expenditure so far in 2012-13 for this unit?

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