Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to this motion. I thank the honourable members who will also speak on it. It is a little bit after the event, but not too far after it. When it was listed it was appropriate to have it on the record. This motion is in recognition of the fourth anniversary of the apology to stolen generations on 13 February 2012. The apology was a milestone in reconciliation and healing in Australia. The apology to stolen generations was the right thing to do and it was long overdue.

I remember the debate in the community and how, after it was done, people felt good. That was true right across Australia and even beyond our shores. The notice taken of it internationally and regionally took a lot of people by surprise. That feedback came to all of us and it reflected well on Australia. The impact of the apology to stolen generations has been significant. It is significant symbolically. People often have a debate about symbolism and what is practical. Symbolism is important. It is a key feature of our society and of communities. We recognise, celebrate and commemorate through symbolism in every walk of life. It is no different for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I sometimes get a bit annoyed about the debate, because we have to recognise there is a place for all. Symbolism and putting things right are important, as is healing. Recognition of a wrong done is a way to help the healing. Goodness knows there needed to be healing.

Symbolism is something the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists raised in talking about constitutional change, as my colleague the member for Hasluck would know because we were on the expert panel. The college talked about constitutional change in relation to the impact that it would have on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The college said:

It would have a positive effect on self esteem and improve mental health. We all know that if our self esteem and our mental health improve, there are good practical, individual and societal outcomes as well.

I am linking doing something that is symbolic to the impact that it can have on people and communities, and the flow-through of that is practical. It is important that we remember that.

On the fourth anniversary, on 13 February 2012, a few initiatives were undertaken. It was the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Minister for Disability Reform, Jenny Macklin, who launched on that day the documents that will be kept as a repository. She talked about how those documents will reflect our history and the ongoing journey we are taking to continue the process of healing. Yes, there is healing, but I would rather talk about reconciliation, because reconciliation is important. What the minister said on the day was that these documents represent a story of courage and determination—a determination to provoke the public consciousness of our nation and get recognition— (Time expired)

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak on the motion moved by the member for Page concerning the fourth anniversary of the apology to the stolen generation. The apology to the stolen generation was a very important landmark in our nation's history—for our history records that, since early last century, an estimated 50,000 children, most of them children of mixed Aboriginal and European relationships, were forcibly removed from their mothers and put in orphanages or given to European families. Although those engaged in this policy thought that they were doing the right thing and were acting in the best interests of child welfare at the time, we now understand that this was a great wrong that caused untold harm to those forcibly taken from their families and to the mothers who were left with no knowledge of their children's whereabouts.

Although an apology of behalf of the government and this parliament will never ever take away the pain and heartache suffered by those families, this was an important step in addressing the appalling gap between the living standards of Indigenous Australians and the rest of our nation. Although we must learn from these mistakes of the past, we must also recognise that there will always be times when a government is required to intervene to protect children, as we have seen with the bipartisan intervention in the Northern Territory. However, removing a child from their mother must be the very last resort, only undertaken in the most extreme circumstances.

Although we must confront the past, we must deal with the issues that we face today—namely, that on average Indigenous Australians remain socially and economically disadvantaged compared to the Australian community as a whole. In seeking to close that gap, our goal must be to lift Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders' life expectancy, educational achievement, health and social wellbeing. But most of all we must lift their economic opportunities.

Therefore, while motions like this are well intended, we must be very careful not to perpetuate a culture of 'sorry'. If we are going to close the gap, we are not going to do it with welfare handouts and ongoing 'sorry' motions but by providing economic opportunity and celebrating the success of our Indigenous community when and wherever it occurs. Therefore, to lift Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders' economic opportunity, we should be using our time in this place to highlight areas where the Aboriginal community is succeeding on the international stage, such as in the art and fashion worlds, as they are today, for today Aboriginal art is internationally renowned. It helps promote Australia to international audiences and it provides an invaluable addition to our tourist sector. It is estimated that Aboriginal art contributes $500 million per year to the Australian economy and is one of our leading export industries. Aboriginal art not only creates real wealth; it brings economic prosperity, provides meaningful employment opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and reinforces their identity and traditions, and has aided the maintenance of social cohesion.

The creativity of Aboriginal art adds economic value. The evidence is that, prior to 2007, the record at auction for an Indigenous art work was $778,000, paid in 2003 for a Rover Thomas painting, All that Big Rain Coming from Top Side. In 2007 we had the first single Aboriginal artwork break the magic million-dollar mark, when a work by Emily Kngwarreye, measuring three metres tall and six metres wide and bursting with colour, called Earth's Creation, sold for $1.056 million. That record was eclipsed only a few months later when, in 2007, Clifford Possum's epic work, Warlugulong, was purchased for $2.4 million by the National Gallery.

It is not just Aboriginal paintings that are setting the trend; it is also Aboriginal fabric design. Today I am wearing a tie designed by Maureen Nampijinpa Hudson, a well-respected and accomplished Indigenous artist, titled Crow Women Dreaming. Hudson began her artistic career in 1981 and her works are now highly sought after by collectors around the world. I encourage all members to show their support for the masterful creativity of our Aboriginal art by wearing ties and scarves designed by Indigenous artists when making speeches in this parliament. The commercial success of our Aboriginal art is one avenue that brings respect and dignity to Aboriginal communities, and it assists in providing economic development and opportunity, thereby assisting to build new relationships between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. (Time expired)

Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Page for putting this stolen generations motion before the parliament and I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this debate. I hope it does say something that there are two members speaking from the North Coast of New South Wales, an area quite often forgotten in debate around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples when looking at demographics and where people live. More than 50 per cent of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders live in a corridor on the coast between Sydney and roughly Rockhampton. The very large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of the East Coast are an important part of the story of Australia. I am very pleased to once again make that point to the House. I hope to see more work done in public policy on the east coast of Australia.

I was not in the parliament when the sorry speech took place. I was travelling through Sydney airport the day after. It was really noticeable that there were many people travelling home from that speech. People were 10 feet tall. Walking through the airport, I saw some very proud individuals on the back of the sorry speech and the sorry day and the significance of that to their lives. That really drove home to me the message about how important that moment was, not just for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders but for all Australians as a step on the journey of reconciliation and building the best possible Australia for all of us.

I have heard simple words. I have heard it called symbolism. We just heard some reflections that we do not want to build a culture of sorry. I do not think that is what this was about at all. It was something that should have been done a long time ago and it was long overdue and I am glad it was done. But, on the fourth anniversary, it should not be the only bit of work on the journey of reconciliation. Whilst it was one important step, it is one part of a myriad of work that community and government are doing, and trying to do, in partnership with community.

I often hear people in politics talk about the government doing this, we do that and they—as in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders—should do something else. I hope we all in public policy recognise that some of the best work in recent times has been done not in Canberra and not in public policy but in the hearts and minds of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, who understand their history better than any of us and are determined through a whole number of ways to build a generation of change. I think that is some of the most exciting work being done within all our communities. It really does not involve us much at all. It is a determination by a community that for a long time has been marginalised for a whole number of reasons by the Crown but, despite that, shows incredible resilience as individuals and as a community and as a culture. So whilst sorry and the sorry message were incredibly important I would hope the resilience of the world's longest-standing culture is remembered above all, and I am very confident that we live in a generation where it is going to shine and, hopefully, we in public policy can keep up with community delivering a standard that Australians should celebrate, not feel in any way guilty about at all.

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to acknowledge the words of my three parliamentary colleagues in speaking on this motion. I think one of the most important things that should always be remembered is that when the Hon. Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister delivered the apology it served as a catalyst for the change that occurred within the immediacy of that apology—and that was the healing process. It was a bringing together of so many Australians who have walked together for some time, building relationships and forging change. But I think the more important element to this was the reform work that commenced after that, and that reform work was the COAG reform agenda, because out of that came a number of initiatives. There were seven agreements under financial relationships with the states and territories, but more importantly there were 26 national partnership agreements. All of them have measures that are both tangible, that have reality to them and that go to the core of the delivery of government services.

I also believe that Sorry Day now should be a celebration of the jewels in the crown of achievement that is occurring across this nation. I think, importantly, there are many things that are now working, driven in partnership or driven exclusively by people whose passion to make a difference is transforming the mindset that prevailed for a long time.

The other important thing in all of this is that the long-term thinking and beneficial gain that will be made through the initiatives implemented by the government will have a long-term consequence in that they are enabling young Aboriginal Australians to walk a pathway that many of us of my age fought for. In that journey what they will achieve in closing the gap will be much more significant because they have helped shape it as well.

One of the greatest things we can do is to look at all of the agreements and at the national partnership agreements and then measure the success of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders against all of those measures, not just the Indigenous ones. When we measure against the societal measures for each of the NPAs and each of the agreements and we have gap-closure in those fields then I believe we can truly say that we are closing the gap.

As one of my colleagues referred to, 75 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live within urban populations. In many senses when you look at the NPAs they are targeted and focused on rural and remote regions. I have no problem nor challenge with that, but if we are to address the urban context then the application of the seven agreements and the national partnership agreements will certainly see us close those gaps. But we have to change our thinking in respect to it. We should not talk about mainstream services, because mainstream services really are government services; it is how we access Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people into that whole gamut and that whole range of services that states and territories and Commonwealth governments provide through the agencies.

I would rather see at the end of 10 years that we can tick that off in the national partnership agreements and we can honestly say as a nation, 'We have made substantial gain and progress.' Because when we say that and we can tick off on that it means we have achieved the closing of the gap based on merit and not based on the fact that we have had to pour more money into targeted national Indigenous agreement arrangements. They should complement the work we do for broader society. Certainly the discussions we had at different times when the expert panel was meeting was on one of the other elements that I think is absolutely critical, and I made some comments this morning in the chamber—that is, we have to have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as equal partners at any table at which we negotiate new arrangements, the delivery of services, policy development and the things that will make a difference to their lives. I hope that in 20 years time we have Australians looking for an Indigenous family heritage linkage and they can proudly say, 'We have Aboriginal heritage within our family.' (Time expired)

Debate adjourned.