Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We will be opposing the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee Bill 2023. The Australian people watching at this late hour were not promised before the election by the then opposition leader, now Prime Minister, Mr Albanese, an economic inclusion advisory committee. Why, then, are we here, using precious time in a threadbare legislative agenda from a government who has spent most of the year focused on the Voice referendum? We're here because of a dirty deal done with Senator David Pocock, a deal done to try and get the government's very troubled industrial relations agenda through the parliament. The first tranche of destructive industrial relations changes from this government were able to get over the line partly because of a dirty deal done with Senator Pocock to establish this economic inclusion advisory committee.

I remind those members opposite that, at a time when Australians are increasingly struggling to buy their groceries at the supermarket, struggling to pay for their fuel and struggling to pay their mortgages and rent, Australians would be very disappointed that as part of a dirty deal done with Senator Pocock we as a nation are going to be spending $8.7 million on this absolute charade of a committee, a committee made up of fellow travellers from the Labor Party and chaired by a former Labor minister, shadow minister and member in this place: Jenny Macklin, who was just administering the Labor Party in Victoria, I think, from memory. She has gone from administering the Labor Party to now being the proposed chair of an economic inclusion advisory committee that's going to cost Australians $8.7 million. Just like the $400 million spent on the Voice referendum, Australians would much prefer that that money be spent on things that would make their lives a little bit easier, particularly when you're talking about an advisory committee who, quite frankly, the government has ignored anyway.

The first round of requests made by this committee before being legislated have been completely ignored by this government. What on earth is the government saying—that they need a legislated committee that's going to cost taxpayers nearly $10 million in order to understand social policy in this country? Are you serious? Are the members opposite joking? Do any of them actually spend any time in their electorates if they need somebody else, another body that is going to cost taxpayers even more money, taking more money out of Australian taxpayers' pockets, to fund a group of fellow travellers—former Labor MPs, union leaders and others—to give them recommendations that they will then ignore? What an utter embarrassment for this government. And at a time when we should be debating other more important things—

Debate interrupted.