Glenn Lazarus (Queensland, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

As the only Independent senator for Queensland, my focus is, of course, on the people of Queensland. I have just returned from extensive tours around northern and western Queensland, much of which is on its knees. Communities are suffering due to the high levels of unemployment—particularly high youth unemployment—crippling drought and difficult business conditions. Since coming to office, the Abbott government has done nothing but cut, slash and burn. While the people of Australia are desperately trying to make ends meet, the Abbott government has quietly been cutting federally funded community support programs across the country and many of these cuts have occurred in my home state of Queensland. To make matters worse, many of the cuts are affecting the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our community, including First Australians.

I would like to give you an example. The Learn Earn Legend! program is a national Indigenous education program which was established in 2010. I will be seeking leave to table some documents regarding the Learn Earn Legend! initiative later on. It now sits under the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Tony Abbott's portfolio. It was moved to this portfolio in 2013. The program was established to support young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to stay at school, get a job and be a legend for themselves, their families and their communities. The program promotes the importance of education, training and employment to young First Australian peoples through the integration of sport and recreation. The Learn Earn Legend! program addresses three key closing the gap targets on Indigenous reform: to halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy initiatives for Indigenous children within a decade; to halve the gap for Indigenous students in year-12-equivalent attainment by 2020; and to halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade.

While I was in Townsville I visited several sporting organisations which are actively involved in the delivery of this program across North Queensland: the North Queensland Cowboys Rugby League Club and, of course, Townsville Fire, their women's basketball club. These clubs, with federal government funding through the Learn Earn Legend! program, worked with year 12 Indigenous students to assist and support them to complete their year 12 education and transition into further study or employment. As a result of the good work of the Cowboys and Fire across North Queensland, hundreds of Indigenous youth are mentored, supported and encouraged by some of our country's leading sports stars to succeed and build meaningful lives for themselves. Townsville Fire in particular focused on helping Indigenous girls to finish their high school education, build their self-esteem and plan for their future. They also encourage young girls to play sport and be healthy. The Learn Earn Legend! program is so successful it has become a model for other programs across the world. However, according to many sporting organisations and First Australian communities across the country, they are distressed because they have been advised by the Abbott government that funding has been cut and the program will cease at the end of June 2015.

To clarify and confirm this, my office rang the office of the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, the Hon. Nigel Scullion, to question the status of funding for this program only to be told that there was no such program. My office then rang the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet today to speak to someone regarding the status of the program, but was told by the operator and someone else who we were transferred to in the department that they have never heard of the Learn Earn Legend! program. It would be nice if the Prime Minister's own department and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs actually knew about some of the programs they apparently administer. Maybe that is why funding is being cut. It must be easy to cut funding to a program you deliver but do not know exists. I call on the Prime Minister's office to get your department sorted, find out what you deliver and, once you have done this, reinstate funding to the Learn Earn Legend! program—

Senator Scullion interjecting—

or whatever you call it now, to previous levels, because Indigenous youth across the country really need this.