Barry Wakelin (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek leave to make some further remarks without closing the debate.

Leave granted.

It has been a pleasure to be part of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs over a couple of parliaments now and to be its chairman. The report Indigenous Australians at work: successful initiatives in Indigenous employment endeavoured to find something positive that was happening in Indigenous affairs, to report on it and see whether the parliament could benefit from that experience in the community. I thought today that, in the time allocated, rather than go through all the recommendations which the government is considering, I would simply bring out some of the positives. I will start with my own foreword to the report, where I said:

The Aboriginal face on the Australian $50 note is David Unaipon, author, inventor and sometimes thought of as “Australia’s Leonardo”. As a remarkable example of the capacity of Indigenous people, I am sure that there are many David Unaipons across Australia and I dedicate this foreword to his memory and the future creativity of every Indigenous Australian.

In discussing our request to the Minister of the need for a positive approach to Indigenous matters, employment was an area where progress could be demonstrated. At a time of strong economic performance at the national level and with workforce shortages a growing reality, the opportunities for further development of Indigenous employment appeared to be significant.

Over the past two years we were fortunate to share the views and better understand the outcomes for many individuals, companies and the wider community in this vital human activity.

The central role of work and the workplace in most Australian’s lives is something that we perhaps take for granted – but the lessons of the past two years remind all of us that the variation in workforce participation by Indigenous people is very much a result of a complex set of factors which some achieve with significant success and others have a more limited result.

The above is very much a two way street with some employers leading the way and with many employees open to opportunities and both able to achieve great results.

The recurring theme of many people who presented before the Committee was the overwhelming impact of welfare policies as a deterrent to sustainable employment. The need for Government policies to strike a better balance between the incentives for work and the incentives to be distracted by welfare is vital.

I will just take some quotes from the report which say it much better than I can:

Welfare dependency is an enemy to Indigenous advancement.

That was from Mr Jack Pearson in his submission, No. 102, a very clear view, and it was a recurring theme: welfare dependency is an enemy to Indigenous advancement. I go to the minerals industry have a look at its contribution. I hope it will become clear why I have chosen this quote:

In the minerals industry—

this is from the text of the report—

60 per cent of their operations have neighbouring Indigenous communities. The mining industry has a vested interest in Indigenous land and communities; many resources are located on Indigenous land interests and companies need workers.

Not only does the mining industry have a very significant interest in accessing the land but it is the largest employer of Indigenous people in Australia. The minerals industry and its role, its memoranda of understanding and its general approach have been quite remarkable in its opportunities. I will just give one example from the report:

The Committee views Rio Tinto’s Argyle Diamond Mine’s Indigenous Employment Strategy as a ‘best practice model’. The company focuses on recruiting locally, and has set high targets for Indigenous employment and retention. Since 2000 Aboriginal employment has gone from less than five per cent to 23 per cent. Targets have been reset and it is hoped that by 2010, 40 per cent of the workforce will be Aboriginal. Argyle attributes its success to two strategies:

• A four day hiring and selection process which is culturally appropriate but still provides a robust assessment of candidates’ employability; and
• Training programs to skill-up Indigenous people, so that they can assist with the development of their communities. In 2003 Argyle entered into a contract with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations ... to employ 150 trainees, which has resulted in 73 apprentices and trainees. Additionally, the mine’s procurement contracts require contractors to employ local Indigenous people.

I go now to the Indigenous Land Corporation, another successful employer. The ILC’s primary land management initiative is the Indigenous Pastoral Program. The IPP, as it is called, was established in 2003 with the signing of a MOU through the Northern Territory government, the ILC and the Northern Land and Central Land councils. The ILC submitted that at this time the organisation was the 19th largest cattle producer in Australia, running approximately 38,000 head of cattle. The ILC had some interesting things to say about the CDEP and the impediments to sustainable work practices.

I will also just mention here Australia Post. Australia Post have considerable success in the Indigenous employment area. Of Australia Post’s workforce, 1.7 per cent are Indigenous across all business streams and—this next point is quite important—27 per cent of full-time employees are above base grade level. That is, there is a spread throughout their organisation.

Some may know of Tjapukai, a very large tourism project and company in Cairns. Ernest Brimm, one of their senior people there in Cairns, said:

… the new spirit of freedom that is hopefully growing in the Aboriginal community at large [is] freedom from dependence on government handouts; freedom from a century of oppression; freedom from the cycle of poverty. We are proud of what we have accomplished.

And so they should be. Daniel Tucker of Carey Mining in Western Australia makes an interesting comment about reconciliation, which was also to be considered as part of our report. Also, I quote Mr John Corboy, a businessman:

Personally, I am not enormously into reconciliation; I am enormously into affirmative action. I think, beyond any doubt, there is an undeniable case that the Aboriginal members of our community do need to have the playing field levelled.

Simply put, in terms of the mining percentages, just to remind us, at Comalco—another one of the Rio stable—17.5 per cent of the workforce is Indigenous, with a target of 35 per cent by 2010 to be Indigenous; Comalco in Gladstone, in Queensland, 6.5 per cent; Pilbara Iron, 3.8 per cent of the workforce, with a target of 15 per cent—and I could go on to many others. I mentioned Argyle, BHP Billiton, Groote Eylandt, the National Tertiary Education Union et cetera and Tangentyere in Alice Springs.

In the time available, I wish to acknowledge a great man. Dr Dennis Foley has run a 10-year study—I think it is in excess of 10 years—of Indigenous entrepreneurship and small business progress for the Indigenous community. He has such commitment to this. To me, it is quite remarkable that a man would regard it as so important to the progress of Indigenous people that he would just dedicate so much time to it. He simply makes this point about the relationship of entrepreneurship, small business, to Indigenous progress:

It enables a certain part of Aboriginal Australia to move forward and be in control of what they are doing. They become a part of a wider society. They still maintain their Indigenousness. They do not lose their Aboriginality—that is for sure. They can still control it, but it is far easier to control your cultural beliefs when you have control of your financial resources. When you do not have control of your financial resources, you do not really have control of your life.

I now want to move on to Warren Mundine, who is an inspiration to me. I will give you a quote from Warren’s perspective. He said:

Profit is not a bad word—it has been in Aboriginal communities for many years in regards to enterprises. We have to sell that as a good word.

He deliberately used the word ‘shareholders’. He also makes the point:

I am an optimist and we are living in exciting times. The leadership is changing: we have a younger, more articulate, more educated leadership coming forward.

It is with some pleasure that I acknowledge this report. It is a very brief snapshot of those who participated in it.

Debate (on motion by Ms Hall) adjourned.

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