Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Indigenous Australians. Will the minister outline to the House how the Morrison government is working to protect Indigenous communities during the COVID-19 pandemic—and I draw attention to the many remote Indigenous communities in Grey—and will the minister update the House on the government's ongoing work to close the gap?

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Grey for his continued passion and commitment to the Aboriginal communities within his electorate. Our government's priority during the COVID period was to reduce COVID-19 and, in fact, prevent it occurring within Aboriginal communities. The APY Lands were the first, of their own volition, to seek a biosecurity closure around their community to protect them from any exposure at all. That land falls within your electorate, and I know that you were heavily involved.

From this situation, I then worked very closely and strongly with the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, and with all of the ministers for Aboriginal affairs across the nation to have them identify communities that they deemed were vulnerable. Once they had agreed, we then implemented the Biosecurity Act, which has led to the results that we've achieved. But the measure was supported by the strong leadership of Indigenous people—Indigenous leaders, elders and traditional owners—and key people in the health sector. They understood the problems, they knew the risk and they took the measures, and those measures had a tremendous outcome in that there were only 60 people reported as having COVID-19 after being tested. That's an incredible outcome when you consider the vulnerability of the health of Indigenous Australians.

Each day, I would work with the National Indigenous Australians Agency, gathering intel from regions and communities about where there were challenges, and food supply was a significant one. So we established a food supply committee. We worked with other key people across government and we ensured, in working with Minister Dutton, that we gave access to the outlets that provided the food and other products necessary to Indigenous communities.

Then the process that I continued was that I would ring members and would organise for them, as I did with the member for Grey, to talk to Indigenous leaders at the community level and to hear what the challenges and issues were so that the Morrison government, through the various agencies, could deal with and assist communities in that period. That ensured continuity of services. It ensured that we kept COVID out of those regions. But we also took on the model that we have. In the partnership, we've identified key areas that are gaps, and, with the Morrison government and ministers around the cabinet table, we are working with Indigenous leadership to achieve the outcomes that we need in this nation to close the gap. I want to thank everybody in every tier of government for that work that they did. It was a tremendous outcome.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.