Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Words used to describe this government to keep coming up over and over again are: cruel and incompetent. There can be no greater example of how cruel and incompetent this government is than how they have handled community grants—$270 million has been cruelly cut from organisations that deliver food relief and help out those most vulnerable in our community. They are incompetent because of the way in which they have handled things since they announced these cuts. They are cruel—they told them on Christmas Eve. They told organisations like Bendigo Family and Financial Services that they would not have funding next year to help people try to pick themselves back up by helping with counselling and food relief. They are incompetent, because this government then rang Bendigo Family and Financial Services to say, 'You can have this funding for an extra 30 days. You can keep helping people for 30 days.' Then they rang them again—incompetent!—and said, 'You can have it for another 30 days.' Is Bendigo Family and Financial Services going to get another phone call today so they can continue to do their good work for another 30 days?

This is no way to deliver emergency support in our community. This government should reverse these cuts to community grants and help out organisations that help people pick themselves up. This government needs to stop being cruel, stop being incompetent and start to deliver for their communities. They must start to support the organisations that are doing this very important work. I call on them to reverse these cuts. (Time expired)