Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in response to the 2016 Closing the gap statement delivered recently by the Prime Minister. In doing so, may I acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, who are the traditional custodians of the Canberra area, and also the Darkinjung people, who are the traditional custodians of my electorate of Robertson and of the Central Coast. May I pay my respects to the elders, past and present, of all Australia's Indigenous peoples.

I would first like to echo the line that the Prime Minister ended with: closing the gap is more than another government Indigenous policy. It speaks to all of us, and it speaks about all of us. It is our best selves—our deep, just, fair values given practical form. When we close the gap, we make ourselves more whole, more complete and more Australian.

I venture to say that few places exemplify this spirit and this challenge better than the Central Coast—in particular, in my electorate. In the Robertson electorate, our Indigenous population is supported by hardworking local organisations, many of which are linked through the Barang partnership. Barang is an agreement that includes service organisations such as Bara Barang, Bungree, Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council, The Glen, Mingaletta and the National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Development Association, or NAISDA, dance academy. You can see NAISDA graduates right across the country, performing in all sorts of capacities. They are incredible, positive role models for Indigenous youth not just in my electorate, but right around our nation—indeed, around the world. In particular, I would like to commend NAISDA for their goal to develop opportunities, self-development and independence, and their commitment to encouraging students to maintain strong links to their cultural backgrounds. I also thank NAISDA chairperson, Dr Warren Mundine, and executive director, Kim Walker, for their inspiring leadership in this area and particularly with this dance college.

If the Closing the Gap initiative is more than just a policy statement, then how have we fared? As we have seen in the latest report, in the eight years since the Closing the Gap targets were set there has been mixed progress, and this year's report is no different. Importantly, the target to halve the gap in child mortality by 2018 is on track. Between 1998 and 2014, Indigenous child death rates declined by 33 per cent, and the gap narrowed by 34 per cent. Yet the life expectancy gap is still around 10 years. I join with the Prime Minister and much of the community's response in saying that this is an unacceptably wide gap. The target is not on track to be met by 2031.

The reading and numeracy target, which aims to see national minimum standards, was also mixed. Only half of the measurement points are on track. I am advised that the new target to close the gap in school attendance by the end of 2018 has also seen little change. However, on any given day, the vast majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are believed to be attending school. This has assisted in keeping on track the target to halve the gap in year 12 attainment by 2020. More Indigenous young people are finishing high school and more of those young people are enrolling in tertiary education. This has seen a 70 per cent increase in the past decade—the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in higher education. This promotes not only further education skills and outcomes but also the environments where our future Indigenous leaders are being fostered.

I am known for telling the stories of people on the Central Coast. We have so many success stories to celebrate on the Central Coast. I would like to refer briefly to one that I found from the Aspiration Initiative website. It is a story of Aunty Kerrie Doyle. Aunty Kerrie Doyle is a Winninninni woman, who grew up in Darkinjung country, became a general nurse and worked for the Gosford District Hospital on the Central Coast of New South Wales. At 33, Aunty Kerrie enrolled in the University of New South Wales and became their first Indigenous psychology graduate. Attaining her undergraduate degree solidified Aunty Kerrie's interest in academia, and she went on to receive a Roberta Sykes Scholarship in 2012 and became the first Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander woman to obtain a postgraduate degree from Oxford University—an accolade which now sits nestled amongst an impressive and lengthy list of academic qualifications. And there are now more and more of these types of stories coming through from Indigenous people in my electorate.

We also need jobs. Sadly, as in previous years, the target to halve the gap in employment by 2018 is not on track. The 2016 Closing the Gap update is optimistic that factors such as gains in Indigenous education, economic growth and strong Indigenous business will have a positive impact on these results in coming years. I join this optimism, but I am also aware that much of this growth and opportunity must come from our direct engagement with Indigenous communities. We must listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people when they tell us what is working and what needs to change. Empowered communities are an important part of this dialogue. We also want to be able to see more opportunities for Indigenous business and to encourage Indigenous innovation and entrepreneurialism, particularly on the Central Coast. I understand that Indigenous businesses are 100 times more likely to hire Indigenous people. Because of this, supporting Indigenous enterprise is a way to boost employment while promoting the right approaches so that we can celebrate and promote Indigenous businesses we can be proud of and that also support and embrace local outcomes and services.

Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council, which I mentioned earlier, and its CEO, Sean Gordon, has engaged in this work recently through projects like its community mural in Terrigal. This two-kilometre work of art is about being able to address issues and promote awareness. Darkinjung has also launched initiatives with Barker College in Sydney's north. Together they established the Darkinjung Barker campus at Yarramalong, supporting and encouraging Indigenous students from kindergarten to year 6. In Gosford, Sean advised me of plans to engage with the state government and Lend Lease in a partnership related to the development of Gosford Hospital. This aims to create 30 Indigenous jobs over three years, based in Gosford. Sean's focus, and that of other Indigenous leaders in my electorate, is to keep working hard to get important measures delivered, including measures around security, housing, jobs and secure income. Perhaps other opportunities can also be explored: for example, how we can more strongly support Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs on the Central Coast. We certainly have a great model further north, with the Mandurah Hunter Indigenous Business Chamber, which I understand already works closely with our stakeholders on the Central Coast. Its aim and mission, through CEO Debbie Barwick, is that it:

…strives to assist Aboriginal People to achieve control over their own destiny through the establishment and growth of viable enterprises which create wealth, employment and increased choices.

As we seek more innovation and more ideas across our country, let us also keep encouraging these businesses to explore their potential and collaborate.

When the Prime Minister hosted young Indigenous entrepreneurs from across the nation recently, there were many fantastic success stories. We heard about their imagination, their creativity and their resilience while embracing the opportunities of the future. Those young people will be making a contribution to their families, to our economy, to our society, to their nation, to their own people and to our future. They are also role models and will build on the strong partnerships that we need between government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. One of these, who has worked and invested time and energy on the Central Coast, is Mayrah Sonter from 33 Creative. Mayrah has shaped a company mantra of 'engage inspire empower'. So while we look to shape policy, let us also make sure we connect with these ideas and help to close the gap on the Central Coast and right around Australia along with the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, leaders and elders on the Central Coast and around our nation who are working together to help close the gap. I commend this motion to the House.

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