Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to begin this morning by saying to Senator Xenophon: I know how you feel and felt; I have been there before. It is not easy. I do understand the fight for the Murray, and yesterday, as you know, the division was called by me to make sure that that support was there. We are pleased that Senator Xenophon has come to this decision, for all Australians.

As I said yesterday, this package is imperfect; it has flaws. But it will save some jobs. It will give hope to many Australians. As you know, I was not able to get all that I felt was needed for the 300,000 Australians that will lose their jobs or be added to the queue of unemployed over the next two years, and I wish the government had agreed to do more. Our fellow Australians do need our help, and I think today they will get the hope and help that they need from federal parliament. My fellow Victorians, particularly those reeling from the bushfires, are also going to need a lot of ongoing support.

I have secured some measure of support. I was negotiating with the government on a new program called Get Communities Working and I was trying to make sure that $4 billion would be set aside within the package to deal with those 300,000 Australians. I have secured a $200 million pilot of Get Communities Working. I hope that over time it will prove its worthiness and secure more money. It is a pilot of Family First’s $4 billion Get Communities Working plan, as it will offer grants of up to $2 million to grassroots projects in struggling communities. It is a start. The fight for those 300,000 unemployed Australians will continue. This is not the end; this is the start.

I take this opportunity to say I believe the crossbench has this week displayed its important role in the Senate. I acknowledge the efforts of Senator Bob Brown in working to improve the package for Australians and of Senator Xenophon in working to address the Murray-Darling. The inquiry we called for exposed some flaws in the package, and we have all negotiated with the government to repair some of those flaws.

This has been a challenging week, but the outcome for Australia has made it worthwhile. I think it shows the importance of the Senate. There is no way that we should treat the Senate as a rubber stamp. It may be frustrating for the government of the day, as it was for the previous government from time to time, but it is tried and tested and it does actually work. I still believe that, if the previous government had listened to some of Family First’s proposed changes to the Work Choices legislation, they might be here on the other side of the benches today. I went to the then government for changes and got zero—and look what happened to them. Today we went to the government as a crossbench and we got some changes, and I think Australians can be thankful for those changes.

I will reinforce what the issue here is. Family First still believes that more needs to be done for the 300,000 Australians who will be the innocent casualties in this war on recession. At least the government have said they think there is some merit in the Get Communities Working scheme and are willing to dedicate some significant funds to that program—$200 million. I think that shows how the government are prepared to work with the crossbenchers.

Let us make it clear that the decision yesterday was between two clear choices. One choice was to have a $42 billion plan to fight the war on recession and save/create up to 90,000 jobs. I also wanted to do something for the forgotten 300,000 Australians who will be added to the unemployment queues over the next two years even with the $42 billion plan. The other choice was, frankly, a bit of a dog’s breakfast. You cannot vote for a dog’s breakfast. So my decision today will be the same as it was yesterday: I will vote for this package because it is a package that will at least save some of our fellow Australians. I think today is a testimony of how the Senate can work. I also thank my crossbench colleagues.