Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Senator Marshall. This govern­ment is facing up to the reality of inequality in our society. Today I am announcing the opening up of a new $25 million fund to provide further help to prevent people falling through the cracks. The fund is called the Local Solutions Fund. I am calling on community organisations to put that fund to work in disadvantaged regions.

This is a country of incredible wealth and opportunity, but the fact remains there are appalling pockets of social distress in our community. If we look to the north of Melbourne or to the outer suburbs of many of our capital cities or to rural communities like those in the Goulburn Valley, right across this country, in every state and territory, there are people who are facing acute distress. Poverty and unemployment can be passed down from parent to child for generations. We know that there are workers who are facing redundancy. There are people who are unexpectedly falling upon hard times. There are retirees who have to face circumstances without resources. There are refugees who have come here with nothing. So today we are asking for practical, creative ideas that can make our support systems work better for people in these areas.

Our task is to make the best of what we can do in terms of our education and training systems, our social security systems, our healthcare systems. Where the market does not produce the goods necessary to produce a fair go in this country, the government can work with local communities to ensure that a fair go is provided. We want to use local knowledge and networks to respond to local needs and we want to ensure that people who have creative and innovative solutions can look to the government to assist them in producing good results for local organisations.