Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, as I answered yesterday, it is the case—and I think Senator Gallagher answered the day before on a similar question—that the National Audit Office did find previous compliance systems were clearly deficient in the area of Indigenous affairs, and we agree that strong governance and accountability are vital to delivering high-quality services and better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, which is what we all want.

As Senator Gallagher told the chamber on Monday, I believe, and as I repeated again yesterday, the NIAA has agreed to all recommendations from the Auditor-General and is in the process of implementing them. I also can advise that the minister has asked the agency to establish an integrity branch to protect and detect fraud and compliance systems. We may disagree on the how, but all of us want the gap closed. All of us want better outcomes. What I would say—and I would invite Senator Liddle—is that we would prefer this were done in a non-partisan— (Time expired)