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

by leave—Mr Speaker, as you know, this week is Youth Voice in Parliament Week. Raise Our Voice is an Australian organisation which aims to amplify the voices of young women and gender-diverse people to actively lead conversations in politics and domestic and foreign policy. I have joined other members in giving young people a voice by reading out a speech they've prepared on what change they would make for Australia to be a better place for future generations. Today it's my honour to read a speech written by Nambi Henderson, age 14, a Warumungu and Mudburra-Jingili girl from north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. Nambi currently lives in Darwin, my home, in the Solomon electorate. She writes:

Another day. Another family member dies. Another funeral. I feel as though I attend more funerals than birthday celebrations. And I'd like that to change for the sake of future generations.

My family are the Warumungu, Mudburra and Jingili people, who have a rich history on this land. Unfortunately, our future doesn't look so bright.

I don't know any of my relatives who have died of old age. They have all died from alcoholism or chronic diseases like renal disease, diabetes and rheumatic heart disease.

Just this month we buried one of my grandmothers.

My cousin-brother Troy is 17. He's about six feet tall, fit and strong.

He has dreams for the future but he might not live for long because he has rheumatic heart disease.

This means he has spent months and months in hospital because his heart valves are damaged.

There's no cure.

But it is totally preventable.

I wish my people didn't have to suffer through these diseases.

It's hard to watch.

And it's even harder to say goodbye.

I know Aboriginal people have so much to contribute to this country, and that's why every day I hope that we can turn the tables on this situation.

We really need to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal people.

It would make Australia a better place and the future would be brighter for us all.

It would be amazing if all Australians could work together to see this through, and my greatest hope is to see it happen.

I really thank and congratulate Nambi on such a moving speech, highlighting the health disparity that First Nations people face in the NT and around Australia. The disproportionate prevalence of rheumatic heart disease among Aboriginal people is a national disgrace that we must change. The NT has one of the highest rates of cardiovascular disease mortality in Australia, as well, taking almost one Territorian's life a day. When it comes to rheumatic heart disease, the rates for Aboriginal Territorians are 120 times greater than the national average. We very clearly must do better.

So thank you again, Nambi. You are one of the very many things that makes Darwin, our home, the jewel that it is—a diverse multicultural place, with people from all around the world who've come together to live in peace, with the traditional owners; a place full of strong, passionate people, who are, as so many of us are, feeling horror and pain and even anger at the conflict in Gaza.

So I want to acknowledge the situation in Gaza and the fact that it is really affecting people in my electorate and throughout the Territory. I've spoken with many Territorians, and they are experiencing trauma and grief, particularly due to the deaths of so many innocent people.

Tomorrow evening, many will gather and stand shoulder to shoulder and draw support from one another, and raise their voices together, or remain silent together, respectfully, in a chorus for peace. I want to assure all Territorians that our government is listening. We are listening. We hear you.

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