Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to address this issue. Some years ago, at a bipartisan forum at which some members of the then Labor opposition were present, I made the point that, if you looked at Australia over the last 30 years, the greatest area of systemic failure by state, territory and federal governments, both Liberal and Labor, was the inability to close the gap between Indigenous people and the rest of Australia in life expectancy, education and employment. I maintain the view that the greatest area of systemic policy failure over the last 30 years has been the failure to close that gap. There have been good intentions on all sides but a welfare and poverty trap has been created. That trap has led in part to the failure to remedy an underlying problem. It did not cause the problem; it simply exacerbated and continued the trend. I compare that with my view, expressed in the House this week, that the single worst policy by government in terms of a systemic impact and result has been the home installation program, because nothing else has had an impact on 250,000 houses as this policy has.

I want to look at the last three decades and where we should go from here. When you look at the last three decades, there has been some progress in some areas, including employment, and the Closing the Gap report sets that out. I commend the former minister and also the Prime Minister for continuing this initiative. In particular I commend the former Minister for Families and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, for whom this is a passion, a focus and a concern—it has become his life’s work. Against that background, what we see is a systemic flaw, which is a culture of entitlement and dependency. That culture was built against a background of inherent disadvantage. The disadvantage is the product of the transition from Indigenous Australia to settled Australia and the unresolved tensions that have lasted and developed over a century and a half. There was the period of the stolen generation—some have questions about it, but I think it was a dark period in Australian history and I am deeply sorry that it ever occurred. No matter what the intentions, the effect was catastrophic.

Against that background, we are now going through a process of endeavouring to provide a sense of hope and opportunity for the future. The three main areas are these: education, employment and quality of life. I want to present just one suggestion for us as lawmakers in this House to consider. I do it through the experience I had as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Environment and Heritage in the previous government. One of the finest programs which I have seen and which I would wish to see advanced is the Indigenous rangers program.

The Indigenous ranger and junior ranger programs offer a very simple concept which can be refined and advanced: they provide land management training from a young age. I saw this in Kakadu National Park where the Jabiru school and other schools were focusing on this, and I saw it at Booderee National Park, where young Indigenous kids were working in that area. It gives a sense of traditional teachings within a formal educational framework. It has provided, by all accounts, an incentive and a sense of aspiration for those kids in primary school to have respect for their culture and land management, and to give them an option for where they would like to go in life.

Carried through secondary school, it leads to specific training. It is an inspiring program—whether it is in land management, ranger programs, support systems through vehicle maintenance, or other things which would contribute to the whole process of land management, ranger management and support. On a career basis you can see the long-term careers which the Indigenous ranger programs provide to people. I have seen the success it has had in the Dhimurru Indigenous Protected Area, in the Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area, which is south of Nhulunbuy, and also in the Anindilyakwa Indigenous Protected Area on Groote Eylandt.

These are three shining examples throughout Australia of how Indigenous communities which have had serious and systemic problems with alcohol, violence and listless drift have been able to draw together a sense of purpose. Not all of the problems are solved by any means, but real and significant progress has been made. Firstly, it has given people a sense of employment, task and duty. That could be in clearing away drift nets in turtle and dugong management and in dealing with invasive species. Secondly, in terms of practical land management and the outcomes, you can see the difference in the quality of land maintenance in Indigenous protected areas and in which there are strong supporting Indigenous ranger programs. And thirdly, above all else, the sense of hope, aspiration and possibility that exists in these communities.

Dhimurru is an extraordinarily high functioning Indigenous community with strong leadership models, coupled with the high level of culture and the strength of that culture. As many of the locals have told me, the capacity of the Indigenous ranger programs to provide practical options in an area where people want to work is the important thing. I have one contribution to this debate and that is all it is. I recognise and commend the work of people on both sides of this House but I think an untapped area which can be built upon significantly is the expansion, development and bipartisan commitment to the Indigenous ranger programs.

I have been fortunate to talk with Noel Pearson about extending these programs in a major way up and down the Cape York Peninsula. I have seen how they have worked in Arnhem Land and in the gulf, and I think that these programs can make a real difference.

I commend the report. The opposition have expressed their reservations in areas such as the liberalisation of pornography. I think that liberalisation is a mistake. But above all else, there is bipartisan commitment and I would like to see and I will continue to support the expansion and development of the Indigenous ranger programs as a critical means of closing the gap for Indigenous Australians.

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