Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'll start with Senator Colbeck and the comments just passed. Because our stories are closely intertwined across this country, no matter what our heritage is we are the lucky country, because we have a 65,000-year history that we've inherited by coming into this country. We need to be looking at policies that build a cohesive and coherent community. When those opposite come in here and start saying there are things that aren't working or that nothing has been done, I find it absolutely appalling. You see list after list of the important initiatives in 2024, and I'll go through just some of them in a moment. It really galls me when those opposite say nothing has been done—I will correct that record in a moment—and nothing is planned. I will correct that record as well, because there's more to be done; we all know that.

When they come in here and say there's $350 billion to come out of the budget, we know that the first people who'll get it in the neck will be First Nations communities. It will affect Medicare, health systems, service workers—the people who provide the services that support those communities.

We start talking about policy areas into the future and we start looking at the Future Made in Australia, which has community aspects along with incentives for business to turn around and invest downstream on critical minerals. But what do they do? They ridicule and oppose every initiative that helps First Nations peoples. Whether it's by announcing $350 billion to come out of the budget without the guts to tell us where it is actually coming from—but we know their history; we don't have to guess it. They deny the initiatives that have been done by this parliament.

Quite rightly, comments have been made about the fact that this has normally, traditionally and hopefully been a bipartisan approach to improving what is one of the most disadvantaged—the most disadvantaged in many parts of the country—communities: people that have been on this country for 65,000 years. And yet they don't come with one suggestion, one proposal. They're even opposed to fee-free TAFE when there are tens of thousands of First Nations people who have taken advantage of fee-free TAFE because they couldn't afford to do it before. They didn't have the opportunity. The wraparound services that TAFE provides unleash economic opportunity not only for those individuals but also for the community itself. It means employers have an opportunity to employ more people. It means the skill levels within our community are improved. Along with First Nations peoples, others in the rest of the community have had that opportunity. But those opposite, time and time again, oppose every initiative that helps the community advance in this country, whether it be fee-free TAFE or Future Made in Australia. We say we interconnect. We make it a possibility for everybody in the country to benefit from those investments.

I will go through some of the ones that those opposite fail to name. These are only a few; there are so many. We commenced the new Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program, which will create up to 3,000 jobs in remote communities over three years. We have expanded the Indigenous Rangers Program to create 1,000 new jobs, including 770 positions for First Nations women. We've opened the first of up to 30 dialysis units in regional and remote locations so First Nations people can receive treatment closer to home and on country. We've welcomed over 300 enrolments in the First Nations Health Worker Traineeship Program. We've invested in 27 community justice investment program initiatives in First Nations communities across Australia. We have expanded the Connected Beginnings program to 50 communities, supporting more First Nations children to thrive in the crucial early years. And of course we've announced the Future Made in Australia and fee-free TAFE, which those opposite are opposed to, a community compact that provides benefit for the economy, for business and for those in community, including First Nations people. We have also said we will reduce the cost of 30 essential products in more than 76 remote stores to help ease cost-of-living pressures and improve food security in remote communities.

With all that, we still have those opposite saying they're going to take money out of community, out of services that provide and rebuild the community. There is one very clear thing: every Australian will be worse off under a Dutton government.