Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Siewert for her contribution. I know she feels very strongly about this and has a very strong commitment to Indigenous people and their welfare and opportunities in our community. But, obviously, the government will be opposing the amendment and insisting on the schedule as proposed. I think we are all aware that reform is needed in the CDEP area. I think the tension that came to exist between the community development objectives and the employment objectives for Indigenous people resulted in a scheme that was not delivering as much as it should and can. This reform is designed to ensure that we continue support for communities, their developments and the services that they need but it is also designed to make a real effort to ensure Indigenous people have opportunities for—I do not want to use the word ‘mainstream’—employment that is fully paid and properly recognised in the mainstream economy, if you like. I think this reform is important in trying to balance those tensions that existed in the CDEP scheme to get the best result for Indigenous people.

There were certainly barriers to people moving into employment opportunities under the way the previous scheme was operating. We all recognise that. Good people and good work were not being recognised, were not being awarded appropriately and were being denied opportunities to move into other employment opportunities. So this is an attempt to get a better balance in the community development objectives but also to make sure that Indigenous people get the proper training, education and employment opportunities that they deserve and to make sure that there are not barriers or disincentives or false signals in the system that prevent them getting those opportunities. We think this will make a difference. I note Senator Siewert’s contribution and I am sure there will be a lot of effort put into monitoring and assessing the experience in this area. We will obviously be open to feedback, but we think this is an important change and we would appreciate the support of the Senate.