Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. We will only achieve our full potential as a nation when all Australians, including our First Australians, share fully in the exciting opportunities our country has to offer and are able to have that genuine equality of opportunity which we all aspire for every Australian to have.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represent the oldest continuing cultures on earth. Their history, wisdom and experience is absolutely intrinsic to our identity. We are enriched by the enormous contributions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make across all fields of life—business, primary industry, arts, sport, community services and here in our parliament and in parliaments right across the country—caring for the environment and caring for the land.

Last night—in the lead-up to today's Closing the gap report, its tabling, my remarks and the Leader of the Opposition's remarks—I had the great privilege of hosting a function here for young Indigenous entrepreneurs. They were so inspiring. Those young Indigenous Australians are future business leaders, they are business leaders today and they are role models. They represented sectors as diverse as construction, digital communications, the fashion industry, the creative arts, government services, stationery—right across the board. You had big companies there employing more and more Indigenous Australians.

The entrepreneurship and the innovation of these young people are shining examples of the ideas boom. That is the boom that can go on forever. We know that mining booms come and go; we understand that. The mining industry will always be important. It will always be a massive part of our economy. You get big booms in construction and so forth, and that is terrific. But the ideas boom is inexhaustible because it is limited only by our imagination and enterprise. Can I say: last night those young Australians were so inspiring to me, and you could see the example they provide. The businesses that they run are 100 times more likely to employ Indigenous people. Just the other day I did a video interview with Ray Pratt, who has an electrical contracting business—a national business. He is right at the cutting edge of technology. An Arrernte man from Alice Springs, he is taking 21st century technology to the most remote communities in Australia. They inspire us, those leaders, and we applaud them.

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