Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Longman for his wonderful speech. I know that he, like all of us, not just on the coalition side but on the opposition and crossbenches as well, share the view that we need to do more to close the gap. I also commend the member for Shortland. Like the member for Longman, it is not too often that I agree with the member for Shortland, but I think she made a very pertinent point when she said that it is not just about remote Aboriginal Australians; it is also about regional Aboriginal Australians, as well as—and this is an important point she made—urban Aboriginal Australians. I am sure she was making very clear the fact that many Aboriginal Australians live in urban areas. Like those in regional areas—the ones I represent—and certainly like those in remote areas, there is a great disparity in health, education and certainly life expectancy. We need to do more. As a government we need to do more; as a parliament we need to do more; as a nation we need to certainly bridge the great divide. I am glad to say that we are making improvements. We are getting on with the job as a government, as a parliament and as a nation to do just that.

This today is an important and historic occasion. It is an important and historic day. It has been six years since the federal parliament's apology to the stolen generation—our First Australians. I stand here today as the representative—and the proud one too—of the Riverina in the federal parliament. It is the home of those wonderful Wiradjuri people, whose names, traditions and cultures run throughout my electorate. On this day six years ago, the parliament and the nation stopped. It stopped to listen to the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, acknowledge that the policies of successive governments, which resulted in the stolen generations, must never happen again. It stopped to listen to the Prime Minister apologise and say sorry. The word 'sorry' meant so much. It was a word for which Aboriginal people had waited generations to hear, ever since European colonisation of Australia. The word 'sorry' is a very powerful word.

The apology to Australia's stolen generations was an important step forward in our nation's history. As I said to the House upon the retirement of the former Prime Minister who delivered that historic apology, it is that apology which meant so much to Aboriginal people and, certainly, the Wiradjuri people. We must always remember this.

The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, paid tribute to former prime ministers Rudd and Gillard for the legacy which is before this place today: an annual report from the Prime Minister of the nation about closing the gap in disadvantage between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. I also commend the words and the bipartisanship of the opposition leader when he responded to the Prime Minister's statement. I certainly join the Prime Minister in commending the former member for Griffith for this initiative—for the annual Closing the Gap statement—and note that this issue is one on which there is no disagreement, none whatsoever. It is incumbent upon all of us to work towards closing the gap in disadvantage and ensuring that all Australians, wherever they live and from whatever background, can reach their full potential in this country—whether they are in remote, regional or urban Australia.

The Prime Minister's speech yesterday was an honest assessment of the government's target to halve the gap in child mortality within a decade, as well as the targets to increase enrolment in preschools and year 12 attainment within Aboriginal communities. I share the Prime Minister's sentiments in acknowledging that we are on track to meet our targets of 95 per cent of remote children enrolled in preschool and to halve the gap in year 12 attainment by 2020.

As well as praising the areas in which the Commonwealth is on track to keep its 2020 targets, the Prime Minister's speech this week was also a poignant reminder that there is still much work to be done. The little progress in closing the gap in life expectancy, as well as the levels of literacy and numeracy, is something that we all must focus on as we head towards 2020. So, too, the statistics on employment demonstrate that, whilst we are achieving some positive results in some areas, the work is far from finished.

In the other place yesterday, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Nigel Scullion, also highlighted that the challenge before us is great. The Council of Australian Governments report showed that school attendance is in fact getting worse over time in some areas. In fact, the minister said that it is a disgrace—and he is right. The government has three policy priorities in closing the gap, towards which we must all work. They are: getting children to school, getting adults into work and providing safe communities.

Following the election, the Prime Minister, for whom the area of Indigenous affairs is very close to his heart, declared that he would be 'a Prime Minister for Indigenous affairs', with a cabinet minister in Senator Scullion from the Northern Territory, who understands exactly the challenges our nation faces in many Aboriginal communities, and for whom the knowledge of these challenges is not new. The minister is a man with pragmatism, bipartisanship and determination to listen to and to understand the needs of Aboriginal people, regardless of their backgrounds and location. He is a good man, Senator Scullion, and he is getting on with the job. I know that he has visited the Riverina many times since I have been the member, and has spoken to the Wiradjuri people in a way that they feel is really heartfelt and genuine. Senator Scullion, in all his endeavours in the portfolio area, is very genuine and very heartfelt. He certainly has that capacity to do some very good things in helping to close the gap.

This is an area in which we must all work diligently, because this is a challenge for all of us. I commend the work of the previous government, particularly the member the Jagajaga, Jenny Macklin, for her work in this area. We are all on the same page in working towards closing the gap in disadvantage between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. It is an area in which we must work in every town, every bush community, every regional town and city—in every community and in every Aboriginal nation.

We are very fortunate in the Riverina electorate, within the Wiradjuri nation, to have many proud and proactive Aboriginal elders and leaders, including Aunty Isabel Reid of Wagga Wagga, whom I have spoken about in this place before. She is a leader and someone who readily acknowledges that closing the gap requires work from all of us. She is such a proud and diligent worker that she was aptly named Wagga Wagga's citizen of the year at this year's Australia Day awards. At 81 years of age nothing can temper Aunty Isabel's enthusiasm or determination. She is a remarkable woman. She is a passionate advocate in favour of constitutional recognition of our first Australians—something which I also firmly agree with. Upon accepting the 2014 Citizen of the Year award, Aunty Isabel told the reception at the Civic Theatre in Wagga Wagga, 'We are moving forward but we still have a long road in the country.' That is what she said, and she also added that she was pleased an Indigenous elder was being acknowledged through this year's Australia Day awards. I must admit that she received a rousing acclamation.

It was not the only award she won on that night. With each and every additional award, she almost needed a small truck to take home the placards and platitudes she deservedly received, but, certainly, each and every accolade that she received was warmly applauded by the large audience in attendance. I know that the Mayor of Wagga Wagga, Rod Kendall, and his council were very pleased to confer on Auntie Isabel and the Australia Day committee those very prestigious awards. Aunty Isabel said that night:

Looking at the statistics in the Northern Territory and several other parts of the country illustrates that we need to move forward in a more cohesive fashion, which includes being recognised in the Constitution.

It is people such as Aunty Isabel who personify the potential for reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians and the hope for a harmonious future.

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