Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his question. Unfortunately the senator has done nothing more than read what has been put forward in the media. The facts of the case—and this has been clearly put on the record by me previously through the estimates process—are these: I did indeed approve funding of up to $750,000 for the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia. I can inform the senator that that was to cover costs already incurred by ADCA. It was not $1 million incurred because of the ceasing of funding for future ADCA provision; it was to cover the costs already incurred.

Let us just have a look at why those costs were incurred. It was because the previous Labor government had left ADCA unfunded. It was because the previous Labor government had not completed a funding agreement, which ran for several months. The previous Labor government had months to complete their funding agreement with ADCA. They had committed funding, but it was the previous government—the previous Labor government—that left ADCA unfunded. So indeed, Senator, there was funding provided by me to ensure that the costs already incurred by the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia were met.