Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Consequential, Transitional and Other Measures Bill 2006 and cognate billsreplace the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act of 1976. They align with modern corporate governance standards and Corporations Law, but, at the same time, maintain a special statute of incorporation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. There are about 2,800 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations registered under the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act. Many deliver essential services—for example, they deliver medical care and infrastructure to remote communities—or they might hold land for Indigenous groups. Most native title corporations are registered under the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act, as are most remote Indigenous art centres. So it is clear that there are many corporations governing the activities of Indigenous communities in our country.

The bills introduce a legislative framework that achieves alignment with the Corporations Act wherever practicable, but, at the same time, provide sufficient flexibility for corporations to accommodate specific cultural practices and they are tailored to reflect the particular needs and circumstances of individual groups. So it is pragmatic legislation that improves corporate governance, as is very desirable in this and other areas, but, at the same time, it retains flexibility so that it is adaptable to the circumstances of particular communities in particular locations and with particular characteristics. So there is a lot to commend in principle about this legislation.

The legislation went to a Senate inquiry, but, as is so often the case, the Senate inquiry lasted for just a couple of days. I think that is a very clear demonstration of the way that the government is conducting itself these days, where inquiries that often merit a much greater level of detailed consideration of legislation are truncated because the government controls not only the House of Representatives but the Senate. Nevertheless, in principle, it is an improvement and on that basis it has real merit. In fact, anything that moves towards improving the life prospects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities should be welcomed by this parliament.

The life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is a staggering 17 years lower than that of non-Indigenous communities. So, while there have been very big increases in life expectancy in non-Indigenous communities over the last century, including in the last few years, the lag for Indigenous people in Australia is just appalling—17 fewer years. Infant mortality is a scourge on those communities and health problems through the lives of many Indigenous people are just a terrible indictment on our claim to be a civilised and fair society. Many Indigenous people, especially in remote communities, live in Third World conditions. But those sorts of realities are not confined exclusively to remote communities; urban based Indigenous people often face very severe hardship and disadvantage as well. What do we do about this as a very wealthy country that has enjoyed 15 years of sustained economic growth, very high living standards and great prosperity—but not prosperity shared fairly around our nation and not prosperity that is then translated through to better health and quality of life experiences for so many of the less fortunate in our country?

I have had several conversations with an Indigenous leader, one of the members of Logan elders in my own community of Logan City: Mr Patrick Jerome. He has long argued, as a chaplain who visits and supports Indigenous people in our prisons, that respect for Indigenous culture would go a considerable distance in improving the standing of Indigenous communities in our country. When you stop and think about that, it does have a lot of force. Indigenous people are reminded so frequently, at school and in the adult community, that the white community does not consider their culture to be important, valuable and rich, and yet it is. The Dreaming and all the stories that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people tell to educate their young ones are wonderful, and yet very often Indigenous people in school settings feel that there is no respect for them or their culture—that in some way they are second-class citizens. The sorts of bullying and cruel remarks that are made amongst very young people can scar Indigenous people for life.

We in the non-Indigenous community should not be surprised that anger and resentment well up in Indigenous people in Australia. It is all very well for the Prime Minister to condemn what he sees as the black armband view of history in Australia in the so-called culture wars, but the truth is that great injustices have been wreaked upon Indigenous people in this country and seeking to revise history will not obliterate that very dark stain on our history. That stain can be seen today in the disadvantage and suffering of many Indigenous Australians—suffering in the form of alcohol and other drug abuse; suffering in the form of domestic violence, which is a huge problem in some Indigenous communities; and suffering in the form of child abuse. I do not mind the fact that a light is shone on these terrible cruelties. I do not care that these practices are being put in the spotlight. I do care that when we shine the light it is on one community. The point I am making is that we should be saying that we condemn these practices and that we will do everything we possibly can to address problems of sexual abuse, child abuse, violence, alcoholism and drug dependency in any community, wherever we see it. I am arguing that if that seems painful at times and if it seems controversial that we shine a light on these practices, whether they are in Indigenous or non-Indigenous communities, it is only for the common good. Unless and until the community appreciates the depth and dimensions of the problem, the community will not support the sorts of measures that are needed to remedy this awful disadvantage and suffering.

I want to acknowledge the thinking and contribution of Patrick Jerome for instilling in me, over many conversations, the importance of respect for Indigenous culture. I think that is a very important threshold issue. I also want to acknowledge the wonderful role being played by the broader group—that is, the Logan elders—in Logan City. Logan City has quite a large Indigenous community—certainly more than 3,000 members, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. The Logan elders grouping was formed on their own initiative. They take a lot of responsibility wherever they can for the health and welfare of their own community. They work constructively with the state government. They are happy and keen to work constructively with the Commonwealth government wherever they possibly can but, importantly, they do not sit around just blaming everyone and complaining. They want to get on with getting actual results and I think they are a wonderful group of people.

The Logan elders are a model for other Indigenous communities around Australia. Indeed, the member for Kingsford Smith came to our local area and spent many hours talking with the Logan elders grouping. He is looking at that as a possible model for La Perouse in his own electorate. If we can spread the word and the wisdom of the Logan elders, and the structure that they have created, that would be a very good result.

In addition to learning more about Indigenous culture and respecting Indigenous people for their deep cultural heritage, it is important that an economic base is established wherever we can for Indigenous people. To that effect, this legislation will make some contribution because it modernises the measures in relation to corporations that deliver a lot of those services. But we do need to ask whether different Indigenous communities have an economic base. We all know of the stolen generation and the practices, however well or poorly intentioned, of bringing different Indigenous groupings together in one location and placing them in a mission or creating a township—for example, Doomadgee. It is reasonable to question whether townships like Doomadgee have an inherently productive economic base. I cannot assert an answer to that question, but it is a question that is well worth asking.

If we do want to support Indigenous communities in establishing an economic base, there needs to be some inherent viability in what we are trying to achieve or what they are trying to achieve with the support of the Commonwealth. Therefore, the question of economic viability becomes a very important one. It is heartbreaking for anyone, including Indigenous communities, to establish business enterprises that are doomed to fail. So let us ensure that where we can support the establishment of business enterprises in Indigenous communities, they do have a viable economic prospect.

An industry in the north of Australia, north of the Tropic of Capricorn, which is proving to be very viable in these times, is mining. I think the projections over the next 20 years in relation to the proportion of the population north of the Tropic of Capricorn that will have Indigenous blood are quite astonishing. The fertility rates amongst Indigenous communities are very high. The previous speaker mentioned that 40 per cent of Indigenous Australians are under the age of 15. Yet fertility rates in the non-Indigenous community have dropped dramatically. Despite a little kick up in the last year, the rates are still much lower than they were during the baby boom of the early 1960s. The fertility rates are about half of what they were in the 1960s, but the fertility rates in Indigenous communities are very high indeed.

One way of thinking about future economic prospects for Indigenous communities is for mining companies to look upon them as potentially a very valuable human resource. If, with the support of the Commonwealth, state and territory governments, there could be a really productive engagement between Indigenous communities and the mining sector, that could be a sustainable economic base over a very long period of time. Indeed, while large amounts of money are offered to attract non-Indigenous Australians to remote communities, the irony is that Indigenous Australians very often prefer to live in remote communities, where the mines are. We can take advantage of that. I know that some of Australia’s major mining companies now have genuinely active engagement programs for Indigenous people working on the mines, and not for low pay. If they are able to gain vocational education qualifications, whether it be in the driving and repairing of vehicles or any of the other more technical operations that are associated with large-scale modern mining, then the pay is pretty good. I see that there is a real prospect for creating and strengthening an economic base for Indigenous Australians in remote locations.

More generally there is the issue of empowerment and responsibility. If we can achieve economic empowerment for Indigenous communities, that can only be to their advantage and to the national good. As part of that, there is the question of responsibility, as there is in non-Indigenous communities. There is the question of passive welfare. Perhaps we need to be looking to mutual obligation, as is the case in non-Indigenous communities. The Halls Creek trial in Western Australia produced some encouraging results. I am not absolutely aware of the current status of that. I understand that legal advice found that it breached the Social Security Act. The trial involved, among other things, school attendance as a condition of receiving particular income support payments. The results of that, as I am advised, were quite encouraging.

That raises the broader issue of participation in education by Indigenous children. Just by way of example, I have been looking at high school completion rates in this country. They are quite low by international standards. Australia’s high school completion rate is around 70 per cent, so that means that 30 per cent of young Australians do not finish high school. That is around 80,000 young Australians a year. That is 30 per cent of young Australians overall not finishing high school, but for Australians from low-socioeconomic backgrounds the most recently available figure is 41 per cent. For Indigenous young people it is much higher than that. I do not assert that high school completion is the be-all and end-all, but we do know that if we can improve the education experience and attainment of Indigenous communities then a lot of the other difficulties will be resolved.

I believe that we have not been very successful. In fact, that would be an understatement. We have been spectacularly unsuccessful as a country in lifting the education attainment and experience of Indigenous Australians. One of the key considerations in all of this is the development of school experiences that reflect and are sensitive to the cultural background and practices of Indigenous Australians. I am not talking about making excuses or saying in any way that it is okay for young Indigenous Australians not to attend primary school, but at the same time we need to ensure that school experiences are engaging for Indigenous Australians, as is the case for non-Indigenous Australians. If they are not engaging, no amount of mutual obligation, no amount of effort on the part of parents, is going to result in young Indigenous Australians staying at school and becoming enriched by a good education.

In this day and age, with the enormous wealth of this country, it is surely not beyond our wit to develop schools with quality teachers, hardworking teachers—and teachers are hardworking—who are able to deliver an engaging education experience to young people in Indigenous communities. If we can break into that, if we can turn that key, it will open the door to a much fairer Australia, a much more prosperous Australia and much better life chances for our Indigenous people, to whom we owe a great debt.

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