Julian Simmonds (Ryan, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the substantive bill in front of us, the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Student Assistance and Other Measures) Bill 2021. It's a pleasure to follow on from the previous Labor speaker. I know her passion for closing the gap. It is a passion of ours on this side of the chamber as well. But a lot of what the previous Labor speaker spoke about is not contained in this bill. In fact, the basic premise of the theme running through her speech—to make it easier for children, in particular from remote, isolated and rural communities, to access education—is contained in this bill. This bill will do exactly that. It will make it easier and streamline the process. If that is her central theme, if that is what she would like to achieve, she need only join us and vote for the substantive bill, unamended.

It is a passion of this side of the chamber to support Australian families. We saw that theme running through the budget last night, when the Treasurer announced the measures he did. Our efforts, like this bill, although it may be technical in nature, to streamline processes so that children have the very best access to education that is possible, are incredibly important. This bill performs that task by making the Student Assistance Act consistent with the social security law. This will lead to improving the effectiveness of the administration of vital schemes such as Abstudy, which provides assistance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and the Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme. I will speak a little more on that later. It is a very important program.

Although this bill is mechanical in nature, it is important as it continues to improve the way we do things. Before I talk about the specifics of the bill, I want to talk about the importance of this type of bill that is reducing red tape and reducing unnecessary burdens. This is a focus for us on this side of the chamber. It has been a firm goal of the government to streamline processes and reduce regulatory burden, and it is one that we are achieving. I want to compliment the work that my friend the member for Tangney, the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, is doing in this space. He is a passionate advocate for cutting red tape and his deregulation task force is making some real and continuing improvements. I look forward to seeing other bills before this place that continue to achieve that outcome. It is in our DNA to create jobs. It is in our fundamental DNA to reduce regulation and reduce burden to make things easier, and to create smaller government with less red tape and more opportunities.

I move to speak on the AIC, Assistance for Isolated Children, Scheme. The scheme helps parents and carers with the extra costs of educating their kids when they can't go to an appropriate government school, which could be for many reasons. They may live in an isolated area, they may have a disability or they may have special needs. The AIC allows them to get financial assistance to help with the additional costs. There are allowances for boarding or for a second home. It gives families options and choices, and that is what this government is all about. We are about empowering our nation's families to make the best choices for their families.

Those on the other side of the chamber believe they are best placed to spend your money for you and to make your choices for you. This government believe in empowering families to not only earn more dollars but also make the best decisions for their families. Programs like the AIC help to level the playing field and ensure that families have choices, even if they are in an isolated or remote community. Without it, they would not have the ability to choose their own outcomes and achieve the best education for their kids. The streamlining of the process contained in this bill means these families don't face further unnecessary burdens. It means they will have more help and fewer challenges, something I think even Labor members opposite could support.

Throughout the pandemic, we may have felt isolated from our friends, our work and our schools. This has given us all a greater understanding of isolation and what it might be like to live in isolated and remote communities. While we don't face those challenges ourselves, it has given us a better appreciation of the many challenges that they face every day. In the midst of the pandemic our worlds became smaller as restrictions saw us isolated and not able to travel, but our outlook became broader. I got many calls to my electorate office from people who were not concerned for themselves but concerned for others. Our community wants to make sure that the most vulnerable among us are looked after—the elderly, those in aged care, our veteran community and, importantly with this bill, our kids. It was a central theme running through last night's budget speech from the Treasurer, the member for Kooyong, for the path to recovery. We have the opportunity with this legislation and the last night's budget to take the challenges of the pandemic and to parlay them into opportunities to put more funding into some of our most vulnerable communities, as we have with massive funding injections for aged care, veterans and mental health. Those kinds of investments dovetail with bills like this one before the chamber, which is also providing opportunities for some of our isolated and vulnerable kids. With that, I certainly commend this bill to the House as part of the government's ongoing commitment to effective and efficient government, to reducing red tape and, importantly, in our efforts to help all Australian families.

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