Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[by video link] My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. Will the Deputy Prime Minister update the House on how the Morrison-Joyce government is delivering critical infrastructure projects, creating jobs for Indigenous Australians and driving growth in rural and remote communities as part of the government's commitment to closing the gap outcomes?

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Mallee for her question on this auspicious occasion of closing the gap. I say to the people in the Gamilaraay areas at home: '[Indigenous language not transcribed]', which basically means 'Good afternoon, how are you all?' I note that what the member for Mallee has been in her time in this building is an incredible champion for infrastructure in regional areas, especially in her electorate of Mallee. In her electorate of Mallee, she has been a champion of especially the Murray Basin railway line, as well as such things as the South-West Loddon pipeline. She is always pestering me about making sure we get further infrastructure into our area, be that roads or rail. That is absolutely pertinent to how we make sure we also include Indigenous Australians—in my area, they call themselves 'Aboriginal', and I respect that—in getting more economic opportunities from the investment by the Commonwealth.

We see Aboriginal families, Indigenous families, such as that of Heath Christison, who, in the northern part in the Gulf area, with work around Mapoon, the Torres Strait and Batavia districts, has created a business as an Indigenous person with 67 employees, 38 of whom are Indigenous, with eight apprentices. This is the sort of success that you see. We have got to make sure that we do further to inspire those businesses and we do that by such things as making sure that any government contract in excess of $7½ million that the taxpayer has put in has to have an Indigenous component. This is incredibly important. In the forward plan of infrastructure, which I know is a vital part of it, as does the member for Riverina, there's $400 million of benefit that goes towards Indigenous people.

We will look at major pieces of infrastructure such as the Inland Rail and the benefit will be to places like Dubbo, Narromine, Narrabri, Moree, Goondiwindi and Toowoomba. Note that all of those are Indigenous names. It's infrastructure in Indigenous areas helping Indigenous people. And that's what I think all of us have to do. Economic advancement through participation in infrastructure, giving people the opportunity of trades, showing them that they can run their own businesses—like Mr Christison does and like I saw when I was in St George, where there are so many Indigenous businesses—is vital. This is a vital component of closing the gap in a real and deliverable way that will sustain itself through generations as family members come into family businesses.

We have come a long way since Eric Deeral was the first Indigenous state member of parliament in the Bjelke-Petersen government, but we've still got further to go, In closing and looking back to the Gamilaraay people: '[Indigenous language not transcribed]'.