Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I start by acknowledging the contribution of the member for Murray. We are on the Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs together and so share similar concerns. We are also on the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, where we are also looking at matters that touch on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I read those comments in the paper the other day, and the implications in Australia in 2011 are certainly worth considering.

The Indigenous Affairs Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2011 makes minor governance and business changes for portfolio bodies in the Indigenous affairs portfolio, including Indigenous Business Australia. It is important that organisations that support our efforts to close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage be able to operate efficiently. Why is this important? I found that out in my very first day at work in this building, 13 February 2008. The first item of business, before we started, was a welcome to country, which had never happened in Canberra, and the second item of business was an apology to Australia's Indigenous people read by Prime Minister Rudd, the member for Griffith. It was certainly a great way to start in this job. It focused the mind of an Anglo-Saxon Australian on some unfinished business that has existed in Australia for a long time—since 1770 or 1788 or even back beyond that. I quote a couple of sections from that apology which focused my mind when researching my speech for this rather minor piece of legislation before the House. Prime Minister Rudd, as he then was, said:

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

He then went on to say:

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

The reason I quote extensively from that apology is not just that it was my first day in this building but also that I think it touches on that hollow or void, as I think I have referred to it before, at the heart of what Australia is about. We know what we are about economically—we have a very healthy economy. We know where we are with some of our historical links—our links with Asia, South America, North America, Europe, Africa et cetera. We know many of those things, but I think that, as Kevin Rudd touched on, the reality is that we had never really worked out what is the spirit of Australia—and I am not just talking about ads and the like. The reality is this nation was founded by people who came here in boats. Maybe that is why we have had such paranoia about boats ever since. The French arrived here three days later in boats. I think people were obsessed about the Russians, the Germans, the Japanese and then the Vietnamese and the like arriving by boat. We have always have had a paranoia about boats. Among the unfinished business that the apology to Australia's Indigenous people touched on was that we have to take the next steps to close the gap. This legislation before the House is one small part of doing that.

Indigenous Business Australia, a statutory authority established under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act, creates opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities to build assets and wealth. As we know, assets and wealth are a very important part of closing the gap. Home ownership is an important step in economic independence, and the IBA provides access to affordable home loans for eligible Indigenous Australians. In fact, since 1975, IBA has assisted over 14,000 families into home ownership. This is estimated to have generated a massive $1.43 billion in Indigenous wealth. If you look at institutionalised poverty of any groups within communities, often the big problem is that they do not have intergenerational wealth. One of the ways to pass on wealth is in our homes. You see this phenomenon in shows like The Wire,which is about crime in Baltimore in the US. The communities that do not pass on housing value are often trapped in a poverty cycle. It is communities that can pass on an increase in wealth that are able to break through, whether they are first-generation migrants or 10th-generation migrants.

The IBA approved 363 new housing loans with a total value of $82.2 million in 2009-10. Ninety-two per cent of these loans were to first home buyers. IBA also helps eligible Indigenous Australians to establish, acquire and then grow businesses by providing business support services and business finance. In 2009-10, IBA approved 81 business loans to the value of $13.6 million. IBA does not just provide the funds and leave businesses to battle on their own and see what happens; the loan recipients are given tailored support to give their businesses every chance of success. Some recent analysis by IBA shows that more than 90 per cent of businesses that it supported are still operating after one year. I think that is much better than the success rate of mainstream businesses which, as a rule of thumb, have a failure rate of about one in three in their first year. That 90 per cent survive after one year shows that the practical help they receive, coupled with a good plan and a bit of market luck, is supporting people to get jobs and opportunities.

There are many other initiatives out there to support Indigenous economic development to help close the gap. Job Services Australia was responsible from July 2009 to June 2011 for over 80,000 placements in employment for Indigenous Australians. From July 2009 to July 2011, the Learn and Earn Legends spoken about in question time when recognising the students in the gallery—and I have one of those students, Peter Spanner from Rockhampton State high school, getting experience in Parliament House—provided support services for 2,300 Indigenous students across Queensland and monitored their progress in school and post school. These students are given individually case-managed plans and provided with a tailored destination plan. As a result the first 1,500 students have completed their first year, and the rate of students moving into further education or employment has doubled from 40 per cent to 80 per cent—a fantastic effort.

There is also a memorandum of understanding between the Australian and Queensland governments and my old employer, the Queensland Resources Council. The Australian and Queensland governments and QRC have entered into this tripartite MOU to increase employment and business opportunities for Indigenous people in the mining industry. The Queensland Resources Council looks after gas, coal and lots of mining companies in Queensland. The Australian government, through the Indigenous Employment Program, has committed $200,000 to the initiative. The Queensland government has also committed $200,000 and QRC has committed $140,000 plus $60,000 to provide research support through the Centre for Social Responsibility and Mining at the University of Queensland. There are significant labour and skills shortages in the mining regions of Queensland and this MOU is an invaluable opportunity to provide Indigenous job seekers with the skills they need to pursue employment in the booming mining industry. I commend the federal and state governments, and I particularly commend Michael Roche, CEO of the Queensland Resources Council, and his staff and the board for this initiative. I look forward to hearing from Michael Roche about the results.

We are also increasing Indigenous employment across the Commonwealth Public Sector, so we are putting our money where our mouth is. All states and territories in the Commonwealth have agreed to the national target of 2.6 per cent by 2015. The Commonwealth has set a target of 2.7 per cent for itself. Unfortunately Indigenous employment in the Commonwealth Public Sector is only 2.2 per cent, so I look forward to the 2.7 per cent target being met by 2015.

There is also the Indigenous Youth Career Pathways program, where we are providing $50 million over four years for 6,400 school based traineeships. The program will commence from the start of 2012 and focus on school based traineeships and support activities for years 11 and 12—and in some circumstances year 10—Indigenous students in targeted high schools across the country. I think back to my high school in rural Queensland where too many of my Indigenous friends who were incredibly talented and smart did not have the support and the role models to find a job that might have taken them out of that country town. This program will provide young people with personal mentoring and case management to help them deal with the issues that face young people and to make the transition from school to work. It will also be available to support other Indigenous students, including students from year 7 onwards, to stay at school and then transition into a school based traineeship or further education or a job. Another example is Woolworths in South Australia partnering with the Australian government and the South Australian government to deliver 300 new employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. There are lots of opportunities around Australia to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in finding work; this legislation is one small part of it. As part of the apology, Mr Rudd said:

… there comes a time in the history of nations when their peoples must become fully reconciled to their past if they are to go forward with confidence to embrace their future. Our nation, Australia, has reached such a time. That is why the parliament is today here assembled: to deal with this unfinished business of the nation, to remove a great stain from the nation’s soul and, in a true spirit of reconciliation, to open a new chapter in the history of this great land, Australia.

So here we are in the 43rd Parliament continuing that work. I am sure that this legislation before the chamber is a part of that new chapter and I commend it to the House.

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