Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

No budget in the past decade has done more to reduce inequality than the 2023 budget. In that budget we brought down initiatives that make medicines cheaper for Australians with long-term health conditions. We funded a pay rise for aged-care workers. We are delivering nearly 500,000 fee-free TAFE places and 20,000 new university places directed primarily at those who are the first in their family to attend university. We have established 10 days family and domestic violence leave. And we have extended eligibility for the parenting payment single to a single principal carer with a youngest child aged under 14.

In the last budget we increased the rates of JobSeeker, youth allowance, parenting payment partnered, Austudy, Abstudy, the youth disability support pension and special benefit. We've extended eligibility for JobSeeker to single recipients aged 55 and over. And we've increased Commonwealth rental assistance by the largest amount in the last 30 years. These changes to payments will help around 580,000 women, 318,000 young people, 150,000 First Nations Australians and 245,000 mature-age Australians. The budget will also provide additional support for people currently in supported employment with greater employment stability. It includes funding for pilots to develop evidence based approaches for early intervention for infants with early signs of autism and includes an exciting new initiative, partnering with philanthropy on an investment dialogue for Australia's children, a whole-of-government framework to address community disadvantage. One of the main reasons why I got into politics was to make a difference on issues of inequality, and the Albanese government and our latest budget are delivering on that.

I'd like to acknowledge too the Swaminarayan Sanstha organisation, BAPS, the Hindu sociospiritual organisation affiliated in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. BAPS strives to care for the world by caring for societies, families and individuals. BAPS has millions of followers around the world. During his visit to Australia in 2018, the current spiritual leader of BAPS, Mahant Swami Maharaj, shared his vision that, as he put it, 'The capital of Australia will put up a temple to match the capital.'

BAPS is now in the process of building a Hindu mandir, a temple, and community centre in the ACT, in Taylor, in my electorate. Construction for the temple began in April 2022 and is set to be completed in August this year. I was pleased to visit the construction of the temple last week and to see the important work that is being done. The aspiration of the community is to create not just a place of worship but also a place for Canberrans to come together and celebrate Canberra's diversity. Ours is a city where the National Multicultural Festival is our largest festival and where Canberrans acknowledge the benefits of ethnic and religious diversity.

The former spiritual leader of BAPS, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, lived by the ethos 'In the joy of others lies our own'. Taking his inspiration, BAPS volunteers engage in regular blood donation drives, raising funds for charitable organisations like the Canberra Hospital Foundation, providing hot meals and food packs through the COVID-19 crisis, especially to international students, and participating in clean-up days and tree plantation drives. They've also been involved in promoting peace and harmony through an interfaith forum for the Royal Canberra Show and Gungahlin community event, holding weekly assemblies and celebrating Hindu festivals at various locations. They're now in the Ngunnawal Primary School, for when their new temple opens they will be moving there.

The principle of volunteering is important to BAPS volunteers and, indeed, the kids who attend the temple have been given a goal to raise $26,000, including by selling cookies, making handmade craft items and through tin collections. I want to thank, in particular, those who showed me around the temple site: Vivek Brahmbhatt, Kunai Patel, Harshita Kakkad, Drashti Patel and Parag Shah. I really appreciated their generosity and the time that they took to tell me about the temple and the role that they hope it will play.

The Community Council for Australia provides an important platform for Australia's charities and not-for-profits. It aims to promote the values of the sector, to improve the way people invest in the sector, to build collaboration in sector efficiency and to educate organisations. As its chair, Tim Costello, puts it:

Imagine an Australia where your postcode or cultural identity does not define your chance of getting an education or a job or living a long life? Imagine an Australia where creativity drives real innovation and achievement, not just in our arts, but in the schools and local communities? Imagine a humane and sustainable Australia, where people are more connected and engaged in the communities they live and work in, and where this involvement is reflected in the ways we form policies and laws? Imagine a generous and kind Australia where we take pride in supporting the less fortunate in their own communities, in our region and beyond? … Imagine the Australia we want.

I want to thank the important role the Community Council for Australia has played, particularly under the leadership of Tim Costello and David Crosbie. They met, to hold their annual general meeting, here in Parliament House last week.

I was pleased to welcome to the building Carol Bennett and Kate Seselja from the Alliance for Gambling Reform; Nicola Stokes from the AMP Foundation; Marc Purcell from the Australian Council for International Development; Susan Pascoe from ACFID; Chris Kwong from the Australian Red Cross; Deirdre Cheers from Barnardos Australia; Alison Brook from Carers Australia; Jon Bisset from the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia; David Crosbie, Deborah Smith and Nick Nguyen from the Community Council for Australia; Caterina Georgio from FARE; Claire Robbs from Life Without Barriers; Ben Gathercole from Menslink; Anne-Marie Baker from Mission Australia; Anna Draffin from the Public Interest Journalism Initiative; Richard Mussell from RSPCA Australia; Paul Porteous from the Social Leadership Foundation; Suzie Riddell from Social Ventures Australia; Dane Moores from Settlement Services International; Amanda Power from St John Ambulance Australia; and Louise Baxter from the Starlight Foundation. I've held the charities portfolio for my party since 2013 and have benefited greatly from the wisdom and insights of the Community Council for Australia.

I want to acknowledge Rob Eakin, an extraordinary Australian who passed away earlier this month. Rob died the day after the budget, which is significant because he was an extraordinary Labor stalwart. Rob and his wife Robin were two of the people who were among my earliest supporters when I first got into politics. I always felt that whatever I did, they would have my back. They were the best of volunteers: hardworking, altruistic, generous and funny. They were a real delight to be around, and every conversation with Rob and Robin left me feeling better about the world.

Rob was kind towards others, but always willing to show others how to do things a little better. His techniques of ensuring that our roadside signs stayed on their stakes are second to none! We knew that if Rob put a roadside sign up, then the only way it was going to come down was if some naughty conservative was to drive over the top of it. Sadly, that happened to not a small number of Rob's signs. They hit the ground not because of any deficit in Rob's hard work, but because of shenanigans.

But Rob taught us so much more. He was there at volunteer barbecues; he was there at budget reply drinks. As his daughter Jane wrote to me:

dad … was a man who had a generous spirit. He would share the bounty from his garden with anyone.

He was happy to support people and let them achieve greatness, without ego.

He turned his skills to repairing musical instruments, and did it with love—for the joy it brought others, not for profit.

And he knew the value of listening. Hearing people out and adding his view with quiet humour.

Jane reminded me and the other elected members who were at Rob's memorial service—Tara Cheyne, Alicia Payne, former MLA Gordon Ramsay—that to be a part of the Labor Party is to be a part of a movement—a movement that is enriched by our extraordinary volunteers. We are a party that has been inspired and bettered by Rob Eakin. My condolences to his widow, Robin, and to his children. May he rest in peace.

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