Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let me be very clear: the 'no' vote in Western Australia, and in fact in the entire nation, was not a vote for continued Indigenous disadvantage. It was a vote to find a different way, a way that delivers real life outcomes for disadvantaged Indigenous Australians.

The tragedy for our nation and for our Indigenous population is that the Prime Minister and the Labor government have wasted the first half of this term of government—which increasingly looks like, fortunately, a one-term government—pursuing their ideological Voice, and now they have no plan whatsoever. In fact, an editorial in the West Australian last week really summed it up very nicely. The editorial said this:

There was one question Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was desperate to avoid answering during the doomed Voice referendum campaign. What if it fails? … And in the aftermath of that disastrous campaign, the Albanese Government has busied itself with moving onto other things to distract—

them and the Australian people—

from that monumental loss.

It also went on to note:

Mr Albanese hopped on a plane almost immediately after the referendum, and has spent much of the five weeks since at various overseas engagements—state dinners at the White House, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, busting some moves in the Cook Islands. Meanwhile, the same problems of Aboriginal disadvantage have remained—

and are getting worse.

Since that went down so decisively, what have the government done? Absolutely nothing. As I said, they have no plan. It is very clear, in relation to this motion from Senator Thorpe, who we welcome back, that Australians don't want a Voice and don't want the concept of truth and treaty. They want real outcomes. On this side of the chamber, we have put forward multiple practical and sensible initiatives which those opposite and the Greens have failed to support, somewhat unbelievably.

After the failed referendum, Peter Dutton, the Leader of the Opposition; and the shadow Indigenous minister, Senator Nampijinpa Price, called on the government to establish a royal commission into child sex abuse in Indigenous communities, a call strongly supported on this side of the chamber. But guess what? On a royal commission into the absolutely scandalous rates of child sex abuse in Indigenous communities, those opposite said no. Not only that; we also suggested that we do an audit on spending across the entire federal government. Tens of billions of dollars a year are spent on Indigenous programs intended to close the gaps, but they don't work. We need to understand where this money is going, why it is not working and how we can, as a start, redirect those tens of billions of dollars annually to programs that work. But, again, those opposite have simply refused to do this.

Now, coming to Western Australia and all state and territory governments, clearly the responsibility for delivering the services and ensuring the Closing the Gap outcomes are met rests with state and territory governments. The health systems, the education systems, the juvenile justice systems, the job programs, the training programs and community housing, for example, are all state government responsibilities. Again, it's not like they're not getting the money from the federal taxpayers—they are—but they are not being held accountable. That is particularly so in Western Australia, where we have such entrenched Indigenous disadvantage not just in our remote communities but in Perth and in other metropolitan areas. So we have to start finding out where this money is going and what is working—and there are programs that are working—so that we can force state and territory governments to start making a difference. And it has to be done across the aisles in this place and in the other place. (Time expired)