Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is being generous, I must say, after listening to that. He just wanted to completely politicise the whole issue and I think it does this issue a significant injustice.

Significant reforms to employment participation and community development will commence on 1 July 2013. These reforms will see flexible and integrated services being delivered to people living in remote areas of Australia, 85 per cent of whom are Indigenous. The reforms have been as a result of extensive community and industry feedback since 2011 and represent $1.5 billion of investment by this government over the next five years. By any measure, that is a significant investment. It goes to the point I was making earlier about the consultation with communities to ensure that we get this right. I agree with some of the comments that have been thrown around in these debates that simply throwing money at the problem, in itself, does not fix the problem. Fixing the problem takes money, but it also takes good plans with communities onside. It is a very significant investment, and we are very keen to get it right.

As has been discussed, announcements have been made in 56 of the 59 remote regions, and the remaining announcements will be made shortly. While there has been a slight delay—and the government acknowledges that—in the announcements, it was critical to the long-term success of the program that the RJCP recommendation review committee was able to have adequate time to best assess the detailed applications. The care taken by the government and the RJCP recommendation review committee in selecting providers underscores the importance this government places on providing people in remote Australia with the opportunities they need to get jobs and to participate fully in their communities. While the government congratulates the successful RJCP organisations, it is also conscious that unsuccessful applicants have made a significant investment into their applications. As part of the announcement process, the government has asked the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to contact these applicants to advise them of the outcome and offer debriefing processes on their applications.

The government is committed to Indigenous employment. (Time expired)