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

As I indicated to the senator, she might think changing the administrative arrangements will make a huge difference and that the Commonwealth government, the Western Australian state Liberal government and all the other state governments have made a mistake in terms of how they have agreed now to organise affairs. I am not sure that her view is necessarily the right one and that they are all wrong. But the point I was making to her is that she ought to concentrate on the section of her question that is relevant. Are we achieving our objectives? Are we having success in closing the gaps? I think we are all aware that progress on some is good; progress on others is not. But that is the focus. Quite frankly, Senator, if you are focusing on committees rather than outcomes, I think you are not focusing on the right thing.