Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Again, I thank Senator Molan for the question. I have to say that Indigenous businesses were all but locked out of Commonwealth contracts when we came to government in 2013. Under the former policies, there were 30 Indigenous businesses—that's right, 30—winning a grand total of $6.2 million in contracts in 2012-13. The former Indigenous Opportunities Policy was hopelessly designed. It was all about red tape. It was unenforced and, unsurprisingly, achieved absolutely nothing. We took a different approach, reflecting on this side of the chamber's background of actually creating jobs and running small businesses. So we set a KPI for each departmental secretary, just like you would do in the private sector, with a quite simple, easily understood target. It would be published at the end of every year. It has worked: over a billion dollars in contracts compared with $6.2 million. We have shaken government procurement officers out of the business-as-usual process and require them to take a look at contracting with an Indigenous business.