Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to also note the Prime Minister's Closing the Gap report and the Leader of the Opposition's excellent response, in particular the commitment, as we've heard here from other speakers, to have a system of reparations for those members of the Stolen Generation from both the Northern Territory and the ACT, who were the responsibility of the Commonwealth during that period, so that that part of our history is addressed. It is excellent that we've had some progress on some of the targets, as we have already heard. However, I must, by way of representing the Northern Territory, say that we are not on track to close the gap in early childhood education, school attendance, reading and numeracy, employment or life expectancy.

Indigenous children make up close to 80 per cent of the child mortalities in the Northern Territory, making it the worst rate in the country. That sets a bit of a benchmark for priorities in our society. If we have infants dying at such a high rate in those communities, it does speak to the widening gap. It is a real issue in the Northern Territory. In regard to Indigenous school attendance, the rate of Indigenous kids going to school in the Northern Territory fell. In 2014 it was 70 per cent of Indigenous kids going to school, and last year, in 2017, it was down to 66 per cent, so that's fewer Indigenous kids going to school.

Initially, it was encouraging that the Minister for Indigenous Affairs and senator for the NT, Nigel Scullion, said that he would match the NT government's record commitment to funding remote housing. However, after the Prime Minister's intervention, he's had to backflip on that. That is disappointing because housing is such an important enabler of healthy communities, families and lives. Education will improve if housing improves. So in terms of the Commonwealth's commitment, instead of backing away from the Northern Territory, we want to see the federal government step up and do more. Housing and land servicing is important, and I call on the Prime Minister to make a serious commitment in that area.

I also want to mention that the Turnbull government's response to the NT royal commission has, unfortunately, been totally inadequate. The protection and detention of Australia's young people is a national issue and a national responsibility. These are young kids we're talking about. They need and deserve better, especially from the federal government that called the royal commission in the first place.

I'll say this in a spirit of bipartisanship, but the Prime Minister must understand that national leadership includes looking beyond the harbour side view to the broad horizons of our country, and that includes, obviously, the Northern Territory—one-sixth of the Australian landmass. I encourage him to listen to the experts in the field and to show some real commitment so we can see some real progress on the ground in the Northern Territory in relation to these targets.

Debate adjourned.

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