Senator O'SULLIVAN (Queensland—Nationals Whip in the Senate) (17:02): I have listened to this debate carefully during the course of the afternoon. I want to attach myself to one of the remarks made by the minister in his contribution: this issue is simply far too important to be politicised by the Senate, when having regard to the facts. If you had listened to the contributions made by the Greens and those opposite you would wonder where their research has taken them. Statements made by them cannot be supported by the empirical evidence that is available in relation to this important subject. I have been in this chamber for months now, listening to any number of answers provided, not just by the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, but by other ministers who have exposure in this portfolio area; and, clearly, those who have made a contribution today from the other side have not listened once to the explanations provided over that time. The minister articulated quite clearly today the adjustments with respect to the funding; and the previous speaker, on two occasions, made comments about funding cuts of one billion dollars, only to correct that in the last part of her presentation. I ask: how can you get that figure so wrong? We know that the impact of the reduction in funding, spread over a period of time, is less than 0.01 per cent of the money that this government is spending in the area of Indigenous affairs. Mind you, when it comes to a contribution from the Greens, I expect nothing less. They have devoted 90 per cent of their time to talking about kangaroos, possums, coral and closing down the resource sector; there are hours and hours of contributions about the merits of the introduction of wind turbines. The only time—and I spend a lot of time in this chamber in the whip's position, a lot more than anybody else— Senator Bilyk: Oh, I do not know about that! Senator O'SULLIVAN: I will defer only to you, Senator. I have never heard them raise these subjects or these concerns before. But we do not expect them to support anything the government does. In the 387 divisions that have occurred in this Senate during the term of this government, the Greens have voted with the government on 13 occasions. Let me say that one more time: out of almost 400 divisions, they have voted with the government on 13 occasions. I was present on one of those occasions, when it was accidental—they simply were not quick enough to get up and get across the chamber. So when their contribution attacks the government it is expected, because everything—every contribution they make to every single debate in this place—is antigovernment. They should go home and crawl into bed with Senator Lambie because, between them, they are determined never to support an initiative of the government. They do not allow any of the facts—facts on the public record—to intimidate them with respect to their presentations. It is a shame—an absolute shame. When we come to those opposite, who have been critical of some of the outcomes in this space, it is a matter of public record that when they are referring to Closing the Gap outcomes that have been published, they refer to those from their term of government. They refer back to their own failures. This government is determined, and this has been expressed many, many times, to produce outcomes in the areas of getting people to work in our Indigenous communities; producing a safer environment, where acts of violence are not multiples of 10 times more likely to occur, particularly to women and children in those communities, than they are in mainstream Australia; providing access to education; and providing a safe environment where people have access to meaningful work. Senator Wright interjecting— Senator O'SULLIVAN: You may disagree with it, Senator, but you should— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Williams ): Order! Senator O'SULLIVAN: Through you, Mr Acting Deputy President Williams— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: That is better. Senator O'SULLIVAN: the good senator should sit and listen until I finish the statement before she starts to resist it. It is through providing people the opportunity to have meaningful work, providing them with access to education—where 87 per cent of them did not have proper access to education under a government that you supported—and producing safer environments and safer communities. It is through that pathway that we will get the success in Indigenous affairs that it deserves. I have to tell you your weakness. Your weakness in your attack is Senator Nigel Scullion. That is where your weakness is to the core. For the first time in generations, we have a minister in this space— Opposition senators interjecting— Senator O'SULLIVAN: I know it is inconvenient. For the first time in generations, we have a minister in this space who not only understands the task; this man did not stand in a conga line waiting to get whatever the next portfolio was. He was handpicked by a Prime Minister who is determined to close the gap and provide the very best circumstances for Indigenous Australia. Governments of all persuasions have failed, decade after decade. The weakness in your argument is the man. The man who is determined to provide these outcomes is not going to stand by and allow impractical programs to go ahead. He will see that every dollar of this Commonwealth is invested in a way that will produce outcomes and he will do something you did not do: he will measure them. I tell you what: you taught the minister a lesson. Senator Siewert: Mr Acting Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. Senator O'Sullivan made a statement about the Greens earlier that we have never raised this issue. He is either deliberately misleading the chamber or he is mistaken. Either way, could he please use his last 30 seconds to correct the record. I have been in here for nearly 10 years repeatedly raising these issues, so he should apologise. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Do you have a point of order, Senator Siewert? This is a debating point of order. Senator O'SULLIVAN: I will take the interjection. What I said was that in the time that I have been in the chamber, I heard you talk about possums, kangaroos, coral reefs and all sorts of other things but never on these important matters of Indigenous affairs. Through you, Mr Acting Deputy President— Senator Siewert: Mr Acting Deputy President, a further point of order. He has repeated his mistake or he is deliberately misleading this chamber. He should withdraw and correct the record. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Siewert, this is a debating point not a point of order. Senator O'SULLIVAN: Let me close by saying that I invite those opposite, particularly the Greens, to not politicise what is a significantly important issue to this nation. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! The time for the discussion has expired.