Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

He's a good man. This is part of the process. It was an election commitment that we will honour, and it will also bring benefits. What are we going to replace it with? I am a bit of an advocate and a bit of a keen follower of horse racing. One of the things that you say when you look at these types of policies is that what the Rudd-Gillard and Rudd governments were all about was just saddling weight on every part of the community so that you are carrying 61, 62, 63 kilos. What do we want to do? We want to make sure that we reduce that burden. We want everyone to have just a jockey on their back, steering them in the right direction but not weighing them down with 60 kilos. We want everyone to carry about 49 or 50 kilos. Weight-for-age is what we are looking for, and that is what we will do with this piece of legislation. We are going to take the heavy burden off this sector and apply a light touch. We are going to establish a commission, which we hope in time that the sector will take responsibility for and take charge of. We will leave it up to the not-for-profit sector to chart their own destination. We will not say to the sector: 'We as government know best. We as government will lay down the rules for you. We as government will dictate what file you will place in what drawer.' We are the ones who will say to the sector: 'No. You do it yourself.'

Mr Ewen Jones interjecting—

As a my good friend the member for Herbert just said, give them the whip, give them the jockey's helmet, let them ride their horse and let them go in the direction in which they want to go. We understand that these sectors in Australia are mature, are adult and do not need someone else with the whip, whipping them and telling them what they should do and where they should go. We understand that this sector in particular, which does so much good for our society, should be in control of its own destination.

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