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

I understand the point Senator Ludlam makes, but we fall on the side of stressing the long-term commitment required. This is as 10-year strategy. It is a key part of the approach. It is also a reflection of the financial commitment the government has made of $3.4 billion in extra services to support the legislation.

We are sending the signal this is a serious long-term commitment. We are very appreciative of the bipartisan support in this regard. This again sends the message that that commitment will continue, whoever forms government, and that that financial support will continue to be provided. It is also important, in the context of the Closing the Gap effort, that we constantly structure the effort around the commitment to a long-term strategy; we know things will not turn around in very short periods of time. We need constancy of effort, constancy of policy approach and constancy of investment in a long-term commitment. That is why the government supports maintaining a 10-year strategy and therefore will not be supporting the Greens amendments.