Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday in this place I felt both proud and very ashamed. I felt proud of the way the parliament came together with so many first nations representatives to do important business. I also felt proud as a member of the Labor caucus of the way the Australian Labor Party recognised our own institutional failings in recognising the contribution, original and ongoing, of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. It was a great privilege to share in the enormous generosity of spirit of my friends the member for Barton, Senator McCarthy and Senator Dodson as they welcomed and challenged the rest of us to rise to the challenges that we have so often failed to meet. I was proud to be with my colleagues and I was proud to be in the parliament for speeches that were good speeches, the speech of the Prime Minister—I will come back to that a bit later—and a wonderful speech by the member for Maribyrnong, the leader of the Labor Party.

But I was also ashamed. I think we should all be ashamed that so little progress has been made nine years on and that the aspirations of closing the gap and the accountability to the parliament and to the Australian people—all Australian people but particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians—have not resulted in the progress that it should have done. That is a collective failing that we must redress. In part, it rests on failings of the present government. It rests on enormous cuts to vital programs. It rests on a programmatic approach to Indigenous affairs that has been shown to be a complete failure. The reports about the framework, its construction and its implementation, make devastating reading, and all of us should reflect on the lessons of that process as we seek to go forward and close the gap in those areas which are presently set out and in every aspect which separates Indigenous Australians from other Australians.

I talked about pride at the start. I am proud, as an Australian and a member of the Australian Labor Party, that Prime Minister Rudd nine years ago stood up in our parliament and said sorry and committed, in doing so, to closing the gap. I am also proud that we have made some progress. We should celebrate progress where it is made and, in particular, we should celebrate the achievements of so many amazing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

I think all of us in this place are very proud to serve in this parliament with five Australians of Indigenous background. We hope—and I certainly share the aspirations of my colleague the member for Lindsay—that five is the floor not the ceiling. There is more work for all parties to do in this regard in opening up more public space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

In looking at where there has been progress through the lens of closing the gap, I am proud that the target to halve the gap in year 12 attainment is on track and that the proportion of Indigenous 20- to 24-year-olds who have achieved year 12 or equivalent has increased from approximately 45 per cent in 2008, when we started this journey, to over 60 per cent. In the same period it is important to note that the rates of non-Indigenous year 12 or equivalent attainment did not change. This is a success that we should note and we should learn from. But, of course, most of the targets—six out of seven—are not being achieved. There is so much more to be done.

I think, in particular, the target to close to gap in life expectancy—surely the most profound of all of our failings—is not on track. The Indigenous mortality rate has declined, but the mortality rate from cancer is rising, and this gap is widening. The target to halve the gap in child mortality is also not on track. Indigenous lives are not starting on the same footing as non-Indigenous lives in Australia, and that is not good enough. More needs to be done, particularly in areas such as access to antenatal care.

The target to halve the gap in reading and numeracy for Indigenous students by 2018 is not on track, which is a failing. The target to halve the gap in employment by 2018 is also not on track. The Indigenous employment rate has increased since 1994, but it has declined since we started measuring this progress. It is shameful. The Prime Minister spoke affectingly and effectively about employment and put it in some context around educational attainment, and that is important. But this is a profound failing. There is more to be done.

Big questions remain unanswered. Why are Indigenous children nearly 10 times more likely to be removed by child protection authorities than non-Indigenous children? This is the case so many years from the apology and 20 years after the landmark report on the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families. The Prime Minister acknowledges the steps that he has taken, and there are positive steps that have been taken. But he and his government have failed to adequately acknowledge this reality and, more so, looking forward, to explain to parliament and to the Australian people how the government plans to address this shameful national failing.

In his speech the Prime Minister reiterated his commitment—and it clearly is a genuine personal commitment—to closing the gap and to meeting these targets. It was a good speech, but there were bits that were missing. In particular, we need more strategies to address the full extent of disadvantage facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. In this regard, Labor will continue to advocate for, as proposed by our opposition leader, Bill Shorten, a justice target to be incorporated into the framework. We cannot close the gap in education, health and employment disadvantage without meaningful strategies to address those factors causing incarceration.

The report acknowledges that rates of incarceration amongst Indigenous Australians are disproportionately high—unacceptably high. Only by addressing this, or the complex factors leading to it, can we build safer communities and empower families and people right across those communities.

I turn from an overall review of the closing the gap statement to a more local concern. The federal government has refused to support evidenced-based interventions supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. I think it is tragic that the national partnership that supported 38 Aboriginal children in family centres has not been continued. It has effectively fallen over. In this regard, in particular the Bubup Wilam for Early Learning centre in my electorate in Thomastown is incredibly important to the Aboriginal communities in Melbourne's northern suburbs. It is playing a clear role in closing the gap in early childhood education and in supporting young families. The work it does is incredible as a hub for community, as a community controlled safe space and as a place which is delivering incredible results. It is, in our community, closing the gap, particularly in school attendance. We know those early years with quality, therapeutic care and education makes a difference. We know it makes the most powerful difference in enabling progression into education, which, of course, is also the foundation in so many ways for a good life. The fact that this community controlled service, which is delivering on all of its targets, is under threat causes me great disquiet as the federal member. I say here, as I did last year, that I will do everything I can to make sure that Bubup Wilam and the Aboriginal communities of Melbourne's northern suburbs are supported. I will not waste a moment in standing up for the future of Bubup Wilam, because, in standing up for the future of Bubup Wilam, I will be standing up for the future of Aboriginal people and Aboriginal families in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

In closing, I touch on the words of my colleague Senator Dodson. They are something that cause me and, I am sure, all of my colleagues on this side of the House and the Senate incredible pride to be able to call the father of reconciliation a colleague. He talks about marrying the symbolic and the practical. When it comes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs in the federal government and when it comes to closing the gap, we must do both. We must complete our Constitution. We must look to treaties to do justice to Aboriginal people, but we must also combine that with listening to Aboriginal communities about the programs that make a difference.

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