Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let us remember that closing the gap is not simply a report. It is not words on a document. They are not words we simply speak in this parliament. It is not a moment to get a political hit. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, it is heartbreak. It is lived experience. It is watching families suffer. It is the continuous reminder that we are not equal in this country. Let us remember that the very existence of a Closing the gap report speaks to the torment of inequality. Aboriginal people do not get to walk on the same road as others in this country, and that is a deep injustice. It is the role of this parliament—all of us—to work to close the gap.

When enlightened people talk about closing the gap, they're not contemplating the recreation of Indigenous communities as carbon copies of some kind of notional perfectly functional mainstream Australian social entity, nor are they contemplating a process whereby Aboriginal communities are nudged along a government-ordained pathway towards a socially engineered destination of that kind. Instead, what closing the gap is about is supporting Aboriginal communities in maintaining and harnessing their many distinct identities while at the same time improving quality of life and the capacity for aspirational achievements by reference to a number of key metrics. These key metrics are applicable to any scenario where human beings settle permanently at a particular location and make a life for themselves.

As you travel throughout the Northern Territory, in any such location you will be on the traditional country of a particular traditional owner or native title holding group where the community is on Aboriginal land—in other words, land granted under land rights legislation enacted by the government for the Northern Territory, or ALRA, as it is known in the Northern Territory. And then the other group of people are native title holders. As I've mentioned previously, in my first speech and at other times, work by governments to facilitate the success and longevity of Indigenous communities and, in particular, remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory—not just by reference to Closing the Gap metrics, but generally—is a vitally important task for this nation. The benefits go way beyond just helping Aboriginal people themselves, and perhaps, most significantly, translate into existential security within our geographic region for non-Aboriginal people in this country. In terms of issues which challenge Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, there are two things I want to touch on which go to the heart of where people say the gap isn't getting closed but is widening.

The first one is alcohol, and I did touch on the scourge of alcohol in our remote Aboriginal communities, or in our towns, which is causing a number of issues. By the mid-1970s, before self-government, alcohol became widely available for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. The Commonwealth was running the show at the time—self-government came into the picture in 1978—and it's ironic that, by this afternoon, we're going to be debating the territory rights bill. Throughout the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, our communities experimented with the sort of social club liquor licence which some misguided commentators are trying to urge our communities to adopt again. The experiment was largely a disaster, with the same kind of outcomes as were seen in other jurisdictions and in communities such as Aurukun in Queensland. This ushered in an important phenomenon of Aboriginal community consensus about alcohol, led by our elders and, in particular, our women. This was to the effect that alcohol should play no part in the life of those remote communities.

The consensus remained strong until 2007, when it was tragically and completely unnecessarily smashed by the policy vandalism of the Commonwealth Intervention in the Northern Territory. Although the Intervention did not change much in terms of the substantive effects of alcohol restrictions in place out in the bush, the whole branding and associated messaging of the Intervention gave younger Aboriginal people the impression that alcohol restrictions were something being imposed on them from the outside, and inculcated something of a culture of resistance.

The right to drink is a spurious and culturally loaded right, but, given that it was the Commonwealth government which trashed the social norms which were previously in place, we need to try and do some work to assist our elders on the ground to restore it. The situation in town camps—and I'm talking about Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine—was different. The restrictions imposed there at the time of the Intervention were new. However, having put restrictions in place which lasted for 15 years, as I said in my first speech, there is an urgent need for a proper transition plan which prioritises harm minimisation. Without addressing the harm caused by alcohol, our prospect of making advances in respect of all of the other Closing the Gap metrics will be gravely undermined.

The community consensus in relation to alcohol wasn't the only thing smashed by the Intervention. The second thing was the community consensus in relation to employment, in particular, with regard to what was called the CDEP, or the Community Development Employment Program. I listened very carefully, yesterday, to the words of the opposition leader, on a moment that was meant to be a commitment to end injustice: they were, frustratingly, all too familiar. I saw them during the Intervention, and I've seen them come from the opposition for years since. Whatever your thoughts are on the Voice to Parliament, it was an invitation. I was part of that group that gave the invitation to the rest of Australia—an invitation from over 250 senior Aboriginal leaders and elders from across our country. I want to say to the opposition leader, the Leader of the Nationals and Senator Price: none of you were at Uluru in 2017. You did not see and hear the power in the room that day. Aboriginal people want to change the way the future is in this country. It is time to allow us to take that control and change and close that gap. Before we speak, we must listen, deeply listen and deeply experience. Do not talk to those who agree with you. Do not spend two days in our community and think you can speak on our behalf.

I know the opposition leader was in Mparntwe, Alice Springs, for 48 hours. He did speak to some of the groups, but he thinks he can speak for our women and our children on what they need. Our women and children need many things: safe spaces to live, income security, a life free from abuse, culturally sensitive education and strong families and communities behind them. A royal commission is not one of the things we need. The critique of the voice to parliament is that it does not lead to tangible outcomes while the hypocrisy is absurd. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have called for a voice to parliament, and yet people still move to undermine it. A royal commission has not been called for by the communities, and yet we can come into this place demanding one. It speaks to the inability of those opposite to understand the predicament of our First Peoples.

We are losing a generation; let that sink in. We are losing a generation. It is on all of us in this place to work with conviction to safeguard the futures of our young people. Part of this sending a clear, unambiguous message to our First Peoples is that their voice matters. They occupy a special place in their country. Their culture and our ancestors are important. They deserve truth. It is time that we deserve a treaty. If what we are doing is not working, let's do what will work. Let's listen to what the solutions are that are coming from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. There are solutions. It is important for all of us in this place to work together to make sure that we can close the gap. I've been involved in many of these reports, working with ministers from the other side to try and fix and put solutions on the ground. Aboriginal people have been saying for a long time, 'Listen to us, work with us; we can turn this around.' It's time that we all in this parliament listen to what those voices are saying.

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