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

I made very clear that this government remains committed to action on homelessness and had made an offer to the states. What is not clear is whether the opposition actually have developed an interest in this issue and are going to make any commitment at all to tackling these questions. Under the Howard government we know there was no minister responsible, there was no funding and there was no attempt to tackle this deep-seated social issue in our community. We know that this government is committed, has invested heavily and is seeing some positive results, but the problem remains a difficult and complex one.

We have put an offer to the states to say: 'We want to continue this work. Programs are seeing results. Will you commit to continuing the program?' I would be interested in Senator Payne explaining whether or not the opposition will commit to the program.