Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

We canvassed the five 'souvenir shops', for the sake of a better word, in Cairns, and, of the 35 items for sale that could roughly be described as Indigenous, 32 had been made principally in China, Indonesia or India; only three had been manufactured in Australia. This bill, the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Exploitation of Indigenous Culture) Bill 2020, will create 200 to 300 jobs, if we proceed with it. It is a disgrace to this nation and it is a shame to every one of us, as Australians, that we will not give the First Australians a fair go. Every time that the issue is raised, we throw a stack of money at it, which all ends up in white pockets. Again and again in this House, I have heard people in positions of leadership saying that most of the money is going to black pockets, but it is estimated that, of the money that is allocated, for every dollar going to a black person, a First Australian, $3 is going into white pockets. Wilson Tuckey, in this place, who was chairman of the committee, said again and again that it should be bottoms up: the money should be put in a box, chained and locked up and sent to the community areas; if it goes astray there, at least it goes astray to black people, not white people. And I make no apologies for using those terms in this place. For the sake of the House, I come from a little town called Cloncurry, and we're very proudly always referred to as 'the Murri from the Curry'. 'Murri', where I come from, means blackfella. All of us are a bit dark; who knows where we all came from, nor does anyone worry about it.

The jobs—and pride and self-confidence—that would be created by this bill are estimated to be nearly 300 in number. If you doubt that for a moment, have a look at the paintings. The paintings are a huge industry in Australia. The industry was started off on the Lutheran mission at Hermannsburg by that very famous artist Albert Namatjira, but now there is a plethora of paintings. It's very seldom that you walk into a rich person's house in Australia and they won't have some of that art in their house. It's very expensive, as it should be. It's very, very fine artwork and it gives you a feeling that you're an Australian if you've got a bit of it on the walls.

It gives me no joy to tell the people of Australia, through this parliament, that the lowest life expectancy in the world is amongst our First Australians—identifiable First Australians, not people like me. We have the highest stolen children rate in the world, and the shame of this parliament is that we had the hypocrisy to stand up here—and I did not have the courage to walk out, which I should have done—and apologise for stealing the children back in the early 1900s, when in fact today we are stealing them at twice the rate that they were stolen then. This is not a secret—all the details were given on the front of The Sydney Morning Herald, one of the most prominent newspapers in this country. But I don't need The Sydney Morning Herald to tell me that. When you see the extent of the hypocrisy, how the people in this place are not hated by First Australians I do not know. I suspect that maybe we are, and we deserve to be for our towering hypocrisy.

Our incarceration rates are the highest in the world. That very great Australian Noelie Pearson debated this against three or four people on one of those shows, and they had him back again and again, and he absolutely proved that the incarceration rates for identifiable First Australians were the highest of any grouping anywhere in the world. As to the suicide rate, I wouldn't have to tell anyone that this group of people has the highest suicide rate.

Versus that, on the positive side, we blackfellas have battered our way, with absolutely no tools at our disposal, to have a paintings industry, one of the best indigenous paintings industries in the world. I would say it is the best—not that I've ever been overseas—in the world.

As I speak, the communications minister has refused to give people the right to online casino gambling. For those who say it promotes it: the government itself has said there's over $2,000 million being spent each year on overseas online gambling. But in America they looked after their Red Indians, their indigenous peoples. They gave them casino licences, and they have prospered under those casino licences. Is every person in this country that owns a casino a dirty low-life? Is it going to make gambling worse in these communities? Those of us who know what's going on know it couldn't possibly get any worse. And also First Australians are not the sort of people who go online gambling. So this House and this parliament continue to send 2,000 to sit on their hands while $2,000 million is going offshore every year instead of going into a group of people who have the lowest life expectancy in the world, the highest stolen children rate in the world, the highest incarceration rates in the world and the highest suicide rate in the world. If you have any doubts as to the people's ability to run this, they are in constant touch with the people running it in the United States, and there will be one or two of them who will be brought over here—and one of them has migrated already to Australia—and they will be very heavily involved.

As to the people controlling this, there's Freddie Pascoe, the only blackfella to ever get elected in a whitefella community in Australian history. He runs Delta Downs, which, arguably, is the biggest cattle station in Australia. He and Paulie Edwards have run it for nearly 50 years and very successfully. If you run a cattle station successfully for 50 years, you're pretty damn good. These blokes were ringers on the station when they were young blokes.

If you think we can't do it, look at the dreaming trail at Mossman Gorge. I gave enough money for a shed and one wage. They now employ 100 people. I counted over 100 cars in their huge, elaborate bitumen car park. And no whitefella had anything to do with it. Roy Gibson did the whole thing himself. He's the captain of the local Sharks Rugby League team, too, I might add.

Our timber rights have been taken off us. Our water rights have been taken off us. Our quarrying rights have been taken off us. Our cattle have gone from 36,000 to zero. The trusses industry, worth $7 million a year, has been taken off us. The block-making factory, worth $10 million a year, has been taken off us. Give us something back! I turn over to my very worthy colleague, God bless her.

Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. Is the motion seconded?

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. The Competition and Consumer Amendment (Exploitation of Indigenous Culture) Bill 2020 strives to prevent the exploitation of Indigenous culture and ensure fair compensation to Indigenous artists. Currently royalties are not always returned to the original artist, and the exploitation of Indigenous art and Indigenous style art is rife. In 2016 the Indigenous Art Centre Alliance estimated that up to 80 per cent of the products sold on the souvenir market were made overseas, with little or no benefit to Indigenous artists or communities. So I want to ensure that Indigenous artists and groups are appropriately compensated for their art, especially if it's mass-produced elsewhere.

Some may argue that the successful prosecution of Birubi Art in the Federal Court last year demonstrates that Indigenous artists are sufficiently protected under the current legislation. However, it has been found that the same company has since reformed, under a different banner, and continues to distribute Indigenous style products with a 'Made in Indonesia' tag. So, despite litigation, no royalties go to Indigenous artists for these products

Indigenous artists continue to face myriad issues beyond those covered by the bill. Indigenous artists are often inadequately compensated for original artworks. This is about protecting artists and culture. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and designs can be licensed and turned into merchandise because of the images and stories they present—an expression of the distinctive culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. There is huge pride in Australia in Indigenous culture and art, from all Australians, and it is the government's duty to ensure we do everything possible to protect Indigenous art.

Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.