Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. A review by the Close the Gap Campaign Steering Committee has found that this government has effectively abandoned the Closing the Gap strategy. Given this damning indictment, how can the Prime Minister continue to justify half a billion dollars of cuts to Indigenous affairs?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. The government is making substantial progress in Indigenous advancement and there is much more to be done. I will set out, on Monday, in the Closing the Gap report, where we are doing satisfactorily and where there is a lot more work to do.

I want to advise the House about the very real advances that have been made. We're making a $5 billion investment over four years to 2021 in the Indigenous Advancement Strategy—front line service funding that'll improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We're providing an estimated loading of $4.4 billion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, with students with greater needs attracting a higher level of funding due to the implementation of the model that David Gonski designed and that we are delivering. In 2018, this additional funding will benefit over 200,000 Indigenous students.

Last year I announced a $138 million education package to further enable the economic and social inclusion for which the 1967 referendum campaigners fought, and that will include more opportunities for our First Australians to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We're empowering communities through our Indigenous Procurement Policy, with over half a billion dollars in Commonwealth spending going to 956 Indigenous businesses. This is a spectacular increase from just $6.2 million being won by Indigenous businesses in 2012-13 under former policies. We're investing $14 million in empowered communities to provide critical capability for Indigenous leaders as they work with their communities and partner organisations to identify local priorities, needs and aspirations.

Our Prison to work report commissioned in my 2016 Closing the Gap speech has since been delivered and released by COAG. From early this year a voluntary program will provide sentenced Indigenous people in prison with employment assistance to access the support they need on their release. That will prepare them better to find employment and transition back into the community. And of course last year we appointed June Oscar AO as the first female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. We've got a lot more to do, but we are getting on with it. We are working with our First Australians. We are doing things with them, not doing things to them.