Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

in developing solutions for a sustainable and effective model of economic development and one that allows Indigenous people in Cape York to work towards and build the 'radical hope' of the future—a radical hope in which education provides the skills, economic opportunities and the ability to create and innovate new ideas and industries. As part of the government's commitment to economic development for Indigenous Australians we have agreed with the Queensland government to establish a new service for people in Cape York and the Gulf of Carpentaria, which will guide Indigenous applicants to develop new business and economic development proposals and assist them to effectively utilise the processes under the Wild Rivers legislation.

The importance of education, economic development and the future for the Cape was best put to me by Phyllis Yunkaporta, a witness appearing before the committee. She told the committee:

The education system, as I knew it before, has been of low standard. The curriculum in the past, as it is in all cape Aboriginal communities, has been of very low standard. By the time our children go out to mainstream schools they are hardly there—a child in grade 8 still has the understanding of a child in grade 1. Speaking for Aurukun, I was one of the persons who were invited to the States last October; I went to New York and Los Angeles visiting African-American schools. What we have brought back to Aurukun is a new kind of teaching method and we are having that implemented in the school. Of course it took time. At the beginning it pretty much had been, in my words, chaos before that. Since having this new program come in, if you come to the classrooms in Aurukun the kids are fully focused. This new method of teaching has got them going. The teacher is full-on with the tasks given and you cannot believe it when you enter those classrooms—it is as if some of those kids are play-acting. They are not; they are just full-on, focused. I guess in time we have to have expectations for our children to be educated in a way where they have to balance both worlds—the Western world and the traditional way. Of course we want them to hang onto the traditional way because that is where they are going to be identifying themselves for the future. And with them having to venture out into mainstream, we want them to compete. It is a competitive world out there. We want our black little kids to start taking on the world. That is the aim of all this.

Ms Yunkaporta's views highlighted to me—and to many of us on the committee—the importance of a holistic picture with Indigenous economic development. It is absolutely critical that we recognise there is not a single industry that is going to be part of the cape's success. Cape York Indigenous communities need the building blocks of education and the sustainability of strong jobs. And they need effective leadership that is willing to argue strongly for the interests of people on the cape.

If anybody went on this inquiry believing that there were simple solutions to economic development in Cape York, they should have come away disabused of that notion; they should have come away recognising that Indigenous development on the cape has many futures ahead of it.

I will return to the point I made at the start of this speech, where I referred to some statements that the member for Leichhardt made. The member for Leichhardt referred to clause 6 of the legislation. Clause 6 remains unchanged from the previous version of this bill. It details a process for obtaining agreement for native title holders. The heading of that clause refers to 'native title holders', which is not defined in the bill. It is unclear whether the details for obtaining agreement of native title holders could also include owners as defined in the bill or just the native title holder of the land. As a result, this is potentially a cause of uncertainty as to how agreements, which are a central component of the bill, would be practically achieved. This uncertainty is one of many uncertainties in the bill.

As we saw in the committee's inquiry, there are many Indigenous stakeholders in Cape York, and Indigenous stakeholders operate on different levels. Some groups will claim to speak for larger populations, but, as our inquiries went on, it would sometimes turn out that people were not comfortable with others speaking on their behalf. So the absence of a definition of 'native title holders' is one of the concerns that I have about the bill before the House.

I think it is critical that this debate focus on the big picture, on Indigenous economic development and not pretend—because it would be wrong to do so—that the only factor affecting Indigenous economic development in Cape York is the Queensland wild rivers legislation. It is not. It is a small part of a much larger picture. I would like to close by paying tribute once more to the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Mr Noel Pearson for the work they have done together in improving Indigenous education in Cape York. If anything is to be the key foundation stone for Indigenous economic development it is getting school education right. I pay tribute to both of those people for the careful thought they have put into securing that outcome.

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