Transcript – Melbourne Talk Radio – 5 January 2011

Melbourne Talk Radio – Breakfast Show

with Luke Grant

5 January 2012

8:05am

E & OE

LUKE GRANT:

On the line we have Victorian Senator Mitch Fifield. He’s the Shadow Minister for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector, and Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate. Senator, Happy New Year.

MITCH FIFIELD:

Happy New Year, Luke.

GRANT:

Nice to talk to you. Can you tell us what social inclusion is, and what the minister for social inclusion actually does?

FIFIELD:

I can’t tell you what social inclusion is, Luke, and the Minister certainly can’t either. When he was appointed to the portfolio late last year, the press gallery in Canberra asked him the not unreasonable question: what is social inclusion? What is your portfolio? And his enlightening response was, ‘well it means different things to different people.’ And then he didn’t fare much better when he wrote a piece in The Australian newspaper the other week to try and explain it. He said it’s a “relatively new and perhaps unfamiliar term,” which is very surprising given Labor have had a social inclusion minister for four years, and in fact Julia Gillard was the first social inclusion minister. She didn’t do a crash hot job in defining the role.

GRANT:

No. I’ve looked at Butler when he made that explanation; he looked completely lost for words. I couldn’t believe it. Mind you, they all seem to do very well with it, because as you rightly point out, Julia Gillard went on to become Prime Minister, and Tanya Plibersek is now Minister for Health. So once you get the old social inclusion portfolio, if you do a good job, the sky’s the limit! But on the serious side of this debate is what it costs. And what does it cost?

FIFIELD:

It costs about $3.3 million at the moment, and what that gets you is an office of 19 staff, who support the social inclusion unit and the social inclusion board, and it has also paid for eight reports. I’ll just give you a couple of examples of what one of these reports found.

GRANT:

Thank you. 

FIFIELD:

Earth-shattering conclusions that Australians are satisfied with their lives, they’re pretty happy, that 96% have contact with family and friends at least once a week, that 16% of people find it difficult to have a say in the household sometimes, and that 7% are afraid after dark at home sometimes. So you had tens of thousands of dollars spent on a report to tell you that people are pretty happy, they enjoy their family and friends, their families sometimes give them the irrits, and that they’re afraid after dark. Brilliant stuff!

What would you do with the department if you were elected any time soon? Got any ideas?

FIFIELD:

I’ve got a pretty good idea, I think. Get rid of it. I think real social inclusion, if I can use that term for a second, is seeking to help people who face additional challenges for reasons beyond their control. So, people who have disabilities, for example. The Productivity Commission produced a really good report last year that found that the unmet need for Australians with disabilities is about $6.5 billion. That’s waiting lists for supported accommodation, waiting lists for respite, waiting lists for aids and equipment. And it would be a really good idea to redirect this money to where it’s really needed.  

GRANT:

Yes, I reckon that’s a great idea. And isn’t there, with the existence of this portfolio, a kind of admission that the mainstream departments that have duty for health, and education and housing etc, if people are falling through the cracks, they’re not doing their jobs, surely?

FIFIELD:

That’s right, and I think this goes to the point that you made before – that this is all about being seen to be doing something.

GRANT:

Yes, absolutely.

FIFIELD:

It doesn’t matter if you’re helping anyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re improving anyone’s quality of life. It’s all about being seen to be doing something, and this provides a cover for those other ministers in housing and health and other portfolios who perhaps aren’t doing their jobs.

GRANT:

Yes, fair enough. Now before I let you go, I’ve copped a couple of people disagreeing with a view that I put earlier. Look, I am supportive of the work Tony Abbott has done. I think he has been probably the country’s best Opposition Leader, in that he’s brought down a Prime Minister and he got a first term government to minority government. And he’s had the Coalition in front in the polls since soon after he took the leadership and after the last election. That having been said, I do think that there is a risk, and I’m sure there is conversation in the Coalition that this continual bleating by Albanese and Swan and others about the ‘Noalition’ and ‘Dr No’, it is going to enter the minds of some voters who are then going to look for a bit more. I think, and Mitch I’m sure you hear it from your constituents, that this Government is, if not the worst, close to the worst in our history. We already know that. We know they get things wrong more often that not. But we do need at some point some idea about the good things that might eventuate should the Coalition be elected. Is it wrong for voters to expect a bit more than the obvious, that this Government doesn’t get it?

I think voters want an opposition that can walk and chew gum at the same time, and I think we’re doing that. We’ve got a duty to point out where this Government gets it wrong.

Absolutely you have.

They’ve certainly given us plenty of material.

They do!

But there’s also an expectation that we present our positive alternative, which I think we’re doing. I think one good example is the idea of a national disability insurance scheme. We want to make sure that people who have disability in Australia get the support they need. That’s a good and a positive policy, and you’ll be seeing more of them.

Hasn’t the Government got the same idea though? What separates you from them, is I guess what I’m asking?

They do, and it’s actually a great thing that there are areas where both the Government and the Opposition can work together. That’s what we hear often, ‘why can’t you get together and work with the Government?’ Well, we do in many areas, including this. But there are plenty of areas where the Government get it really wrong. They waste money, and they need to be called on it.

Alright, good to talk to you. Have a good day. Thanks Senator.
 
FIFIELD:

Thanks Luke.

All the best. That was Senator Mitch Fifield, the Shadow Minister for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector, and also Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate.

ENDS