Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Community Safety, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's a saying that youth are our future, but, sadly, not every young person has the brightest and best future. Those who go down the wrong path need support, and the previous coalition government put in place a program called the Safer Communities Fund for high-risk youth. It was to keep young people at school rather than leaving the education system; if they fell out, it was to get them training and support and to get them a job; and, if they were incarcerated, it was to get mentors and support so that, when they left, they would have a helping hand.

To me, the most disgraceful decision by the Albanese Labor government is to cut the funding this year, which will see 133 organisations have their funding cut. These are the people on the ground, grassroots organisations helping young people in their time of need to make sure they go down the right path. It is a heartless decision, and I have no idea why you would do that. Their friends and families are in great distress. In the electorate of Blair, the Queensland African Communities Council are losing their funding. There is Fusion in the Swan electorate. Then I come to the Treasurer's own electorate, where YFS is located. There is the Migrant Information Centre in the Chisholm electorate. There is Fearless Towards Success in the Blair electorate. This is a shameful decision. I say to the Labor members: stand up to the Treasurer and the Prime Minister and demand you get this funding back for your electorates.