Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday I attended a special service at the Dinmore Murri Baptist Church in Ipswich to commemorate the anniversary of the national apology to the stolen generations. Something special happened in this parliament six years ago. Then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to Australia's first peoples and, in particular, the stolen generations. That apology was on behalf of the nation and on behalf of the parliament. I had the privilege of reading the apology aloud to the congregation at Sunday's service at the Dinmore Murri Baptist Church and giving out beautiful Indigenous rosary beads to the appropriate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I must say, giving out rosary beads in a Baptist church was quite novel.

Reading the statement aloud reinforced for me the objective behind the apology—closing the gap. We have seen improvements and positive outcomes, including access to early childhood education, improvements in literacy, increased rates of young people completing year 12 or equivalent qualifications, and improvements in child mortality rates. But there is no time for complacency and no time to try and cut your way to closing the gap.

Today I would like to talk about a member of the Dinmore Murri Baptist congregation and share with you the story of one of the elders, Aunty Narella Simpson. I see Narella nearly everywhere. She was born in Cunnamulla. Her mother is a Ugarapul woman from Ipswich and her father is from Bundaberg. Although Narella grew up in south-west communities, her heart is with Ipswich and certainly the eastern suburbs in and around Dinmore and Riverview.

Narella says: 'I had a good upbringing. We respected our parents and appreciated what our parents gave us.' Narella has four children, 14 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She has volunteered in the Ipswich community for 31 years and is a longstanding member of the Dinmore Murri Baptist Church. I could not tell you how many local events Narella has been involved in or organised for the church community and for the Ipswich community. A strong advocate for social justice issues, Narella almost praised me and praised the nation for closing the gap. Narella works passionately and tirelessly helping people in the Ipswich community. This advocacy requires her to work closely with government agencies and with local members of parliament, and I am proud to be her federal MP.

It is always a pleasure to run into Narella and to chat with her. She always gives me local knowledge of Indigenous background—where you get the best local tucker and all the things around the Ipswich area. It is simply amazing. She says she is not frightened to reach out and ask for help and not frightened to identify herself with her own culture and people. She tells the story about the time she met former Prime Minister Julia Gillard and accosted her at the Ipswich flood evacuation centre. What was Narella doing during the flood? She was looking after young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mums and their who were flood affected. It is typical of Narella and the work she does for her local community, and she brought a smile to Julia Gillard's face that day.