Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand and acknowledge their leaders, emerging, past and present. This week's NAIDOC Week theme is 'Always Was, Always Will Be'. This theme recognises that Indigenous Australians have occupied and cared for this continent for 65,000 years. Indigenous culture is as important today as it was 65,000 years ago. Indigenous Australians remain spiritually and culturally connected to this country.

NAIDOC Week provides an opportunity for all Australians to reflect on and understand our nation's shared history and the remarkable and ongoing contribution of our Indigenous people—that it always was and it always will be. Indeed, a greater understanding of the role Indigenous Australians have played in building and shaping the nation we all call home is critical for all Australians. This year we celebrated NAIDOC Week to recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The challenge of COVID-19 meant that this year we came together differently to celebrate our community and history. This was often done virtually or in smaller numbers, but this in no way reduced the significance of this year's celebration.

As a medical student, I successfully won an AMA travel scholarship. I used this scholarship to travel to the Northern Territory to investigate the high mortality rates for newborns in our Indigenous population in Arnhem Land. What I saw there shocked me. It mirrored what I had seen on an elective in Kenya just the year before. It was hard to grapple with the stark difference between the remote Indigenous communities I was working in and inner-city Melbourne, where I lived. At the time, child and infant mortality rates were off the scale.

Children born in 1986 had a life expectancy that was dramatically different from non-Indigenous Australians. Fast forward 30 years and there has been marked improvement in outcomes for Indigenous women and their children. This is because of the concerted efforts of consecutive governments from both sides of the aisle. But it is still not good enough, and the rates of mortality remain twice that of non-Indigenous children. More Indigenous mothers are attending antenatal care earlier and more frequently, and education about risks such as smoking remains lower in women now than it was before. These are important measures that, hopefully, will lead to improved outcomes. You can't just wish for outcomes; you need to take action. It is important that the Closing the cap report has been refreshed this year by the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and has more ambitions for better outcomes. But the target to close the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation, by 2031, is still not on track. Indigenous mortality rates have improved at a similar rate to that for non-Indigenous Australians, but unfortunately the gap has not yet narrowed.

I firmly believe that education is the key to self-determination, not just for non-Indigenous Australians but, definitely, for Indigenous people too. Education leads to better health and social outcomes for all communities around the world, and the one take-out from the Closing the gap report that we can celebrate is that, for Indigenous communities, there are better entries of children into prep and there is better retention at year 12. This means that, with more Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders achieving year 12 or equivalent qualifications, there'll be more of them attending higher education and more of them entering better jobs and better professions. This will lead to better outcomes for the Indigenous population and the wider general community.

As I said in my first speech, a strong country is one that is at peace with its past. NAIDOC Week is one small, regular but critical annual event in this journey of healing and understanding. I believe that constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians is a critical next step on that road to a stronger future for all Australians. I thank Minister Ken Wyatt, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, for inviting me to be a member of the parliamentary working group on constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians. NAIDOC Week has evolved into a proud tradition which recognises the remarkable and ongoing contribution of our Indigenous people. Modern Australia must recognise its Indigenous people. This may not be an 'always was', but it most certainly must be an 'always will be'. By reflecting on our past, we can understand the present and look to a better future.

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