Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

They know that they have been taken for granted. With the amounts of money that I have just articulated disappearing from the councils—I will state again, $1.7 million from the federal assistance grants gone from the seat of Griffith at this time of vital transformation in their local community—they will not forget that this government is trying to ignore them, take them granted and take money out of their communities. They will not forget that this is the government that is trying to put $100,000 worth of debt around the necks of young people in the community who have hopes and aspirations for a great education. They will also not forget, because students like Alanah Jeffrey, who has established a social justice league, have gathered together young people to discuss what matters in a way that is quite different from what was exposed in Senator Canavan's false point of order. It was about what they could to help others, not to shut down conversation but to liberate conversation, to generate ideas, to create a vision for the future for the people of that town.

One of the things that those students expressed to me as a very significant concern—it was not just the students, it was a number of employees in the town—was the impact of drug and alcohol abuse in the community, particularly at the moment ice, which is a discussion that is current in our communities. One of the things that they were very concerned about was people who are trying to get access, particularly in regional areas such as Wagga Wagga and the Riverina, to the sort of treatment that is necessary when somebody finds that they have an addiction. This community could actually be persuaded, if they were not paying very close attention, that the Abbott government intends to do something about that practical problem that they face. But, no, what they are actually getting is a lot of sound and fury, a lot of sound bites and media grabs that are talking about the 'ice crisis', and all while they are taking money away from the services that are provided. There are 16 services in the flexible funding pool, and all of them have been impacted by miserly decision making from this government.

While the Labor Party welcomed the National Ice Taskforce and the $20 million campaign for the National Drugs Campaign, we believe that people actually need to get the health services that they need. Fighting the ice epidemic while pulling money out of the very programs that aim to prevent drug use is not a response that is satisfactory for the people of the Riverina. This is the height of hypocrisy, and the Abbott government talk about so many of these matters but continue to pull money out of regional communities

In the time that remains to me this afternoon, I want to reiterate that we, the Labor Party, recognise the government's wish to provide certainty to the basin communities by placing a cap of 1,500 gigalitres on water purchases. I sincerely hope for the people of Griffith that this does ameliorate some of the concerns that they raised with me. I also want to acknowledge that in further visits to the region I hope to meet more extensively with the local Indigenous owners of the land. I know that Aboriginal people everywhere across this country feel a deep connection to the land and the waters that flow through it and across it, and this needs to be considered and provided for. Not by imperial patronage, in the way that the Liberal Party and the National Party does so often, but by actually ensuring that Aboriginal people are empowered through water rights and that they continue to be consulted as this program of change for the entire Murray-Darling system continues to be implemented. The voice of the Indigenous people across all of the lands that that covers is a vital part of the way we need to move forward together.

I will leave my remarks there and I thank you for the opportunity to be a voice for the people of the Riverina who have for too long been taken for granted by the National Party.