Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

Dowra noona, dowra Ngoonawal Youngu, nula-mun-yin dooni-mun-yin Noonanawal-wari dowra-wari dindi wan-gara-lin-gin-yin. I give this speech on Ngunawal land about important work and challenging work for the nation. Out of the 17 Closing the Gap targets that have been set, only three are on track. Labor, of course, welcomes the government's announcements, but we have to do more—much more. To reduce Indigenous incarceration, we need a focused strategy on justice reinvestment. Over recent decades, crime rates have fallen while incarceration has risen, and Indigenous people have borne the brunt. To boost Indigenous employment we need more investment in the Indigenous Rangers program and large employers publicly reporting their Indigenous workforce. We need to abolish the failed CDP and fix education policy. The government's so-called Job-ready Graduates Package increased fees for Indigenous students by 15 per cent. We need an Indigenous voice to parliament and a makarrata commission with responsibility for truth-telling and treaty. That's what the Uluru Statement from the Heart called for—voice, truth, treaty.

But there are also amazing successes. The Indigenous Marathon Foundation, headed by Rob de Castella and coached by Damian Tuck, has seen over 100 graduates. This year's squad is just as remarkable as the ones that went ahead of it. I want to thank those, including some members of this House, who helped sponsor me for Ironman Cairns and helped to raise $19,606 for the extraordinary work of the Indigenous Marathon Foundation.

In my Indigenous community of the Jervis Bay Territory, I want to acknowledge Lana Read, the principal of Jervis Bay School; Luke Scott, the manager of Jervis Bay administration; and the Wreck Bay volunteer fire brigade, which boasts 35 volunteers out of a community of 150. Beat that, any other volunteer community fire brigade in Australia! I want to acknowledge Jackson Brown, Darren Brown, George Brown and Sherrie Tripp and recognise Anthony Roberts of the Booderee National Park. From the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council, I acknowledge the CEO, Anne-Marie Farrugia, and current and recent members of the board, Annette Brown, Beverley Ardler, Erica Ardler, Jeffrey McLeod, Leon Brown, Julie Freeman, Clive Freeman, Kaylene McLeod and Tom. I acknowledge Jeff Williams, the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council caring for country supervisor; and Sarah Ketelhohn, the director of the Gudjahgahmiamia early learning centre, an extraordinary early learning centre in the middle of the Wreck Bay community.

Closing the gap is hard work, but it is important work. The member for Jagajaga was spot on: there is no more important work for this House than the question of Indigenous reconciliation. It is vital that we commit ourselves to this cause and do all that we can to ensure that we close these gaps. I want to come back here next year knowing that more than three of the 17 targets are on track, able to rejoice in the work that we have done together and able to say to Indigenous Australians and to the Coalition of Peaks—led by the remarkable Pat Turner—that we are finally beginning to get that work on track.

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