Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I present a copy of the Closing the gap annual report 2022.

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging.

And today I re-dedicate our government to the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, in full, including a constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament.

I welcome our Senate colleagues here: including the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians and Indigenous Health, Senator McCarthy.

And the Special Envoy for Reconciliation and the Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Senator Patrick Dodson.

In tabling this Closing the Gap report, we have set aside time today for contributions from myself and the Leader of Opposition, as well as the Minister for Indigenous Australians, and the shadow minister.

Additionally, when the parliament returns in February, the government will be presenting our Closing the Gap implementation plan and providing the opposition with the opportunity to contribute.

This will mean, once again, we will be examining Australia's efforts to close the gap alongside the anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, which we believe is appropriate.

This was the case for many years from 2009 onwards.

This was always an intentional connection, not a coincidence.

Because whenever we honour that shining moment of national unity, of healing and of hope—we are not merely marking a milestone.

We are acknowledging how much further there is for our nation to travel, reflecting on how much work there is for us to do.

And that unfinished business, those realities of disadvantage and inequality, stare up at us from every page of the Closing the Gap report.

Reconciliation relies on what I believe are innate qualities of our national character: optimism, decency, generosity of spirit.

It also demands truth-telling.

And this report details the hard truths.

It confirms that in far too many measurable ways, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples lead lives of lesser opportunity.

There are signs of hope and progress—and it's right that we acknowledge those.

More babies are being born at a healthy birth weight.

And more children are enrolling in preschool, giving us cause to be optimistic for better educational outcomes down the line.

But on far too many other indicators, there is no progress for us to speak of at all.

Or, worse, in some cases things are actually going backwards.

Indeed, in some areas the word 'gap' feels wholly inadequate, a softening of the truth that what we face is not a gap but a chasm.

Three decades after the world-leading Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the incarceration rate for First Nations people remains unforgivably high.

The number of children in out-of-home care speaks of a generational failure.

And the suicide rate is nothing less than a national tragedy.

Confronting as these realities may be, we cannot surrender to despair.

Just as we can never accept that this inequality is somehow inevitable.

Especially, when the answer lies within our grasp.

Because the unifying theme of this report is not helplessness, nor is it powerlessness.

It is practical, achievable, measurable change in the way we do things.

The compelling message—loud and clear—from the Coalition of Peaks down, is this:

So-called 'solutions' conceived in Canberra and imposed on communities without consultation are more likely than not to end in expensive, ineffective, even counterproductive failure.

But when First Nations peoples have a genuine say in policy design and an empowered role in service delivery, the results are remarkable.

When a government listens to people with experience, with earned knowledge of kinship and country and culture and community, when we trust in the value of self-determination and empowerment, then the results are always better.

The success stories stand as compelling proof.

Look at the more than 140 Aboriginal Controlled Community Health Organisations, working around the nation.

Vital providers of culturally sensitive primary health care—and among the largest employers of First Nations people in Australia.

And I am proud to say that our government is investing $54 million to train 500 additional new First Nations health workers.

Look at the pride with which Indigenous Rangers go about their vital work.

Inheritors of at least a 60,000-year-old tradition of caring for country, preserving the great natural treasures of this continent for future generations.

And our government will double the number of Indigenous Rangers by 2030.

Look at the lives justice reinvestment is saving: a community-driven system diverting young offenders from the downward spiral of incarceration.

By trusting in the community and empowering people on the ground, towns like Bourke in New South Wales have seen:

There are models that are working on the ground that are being supported across the board. In the case of New South Wales, obviously they're being supported by the New South Wales government with the support of the New South Wales opposition. All of these things that are working have a theme, which is the direct empowerment of First Nations people, listening to what they say will work on the ground, rather than it being imposed from Canberra or Macquarie Street or Spring Street. listening particularly to those people in our regions—it works, on any measure.

Our first budget invested $81 million to fund up to 30 new justice reinvestment programs.

And in the same spirit of respect and empowerment, we are providing a $100 million funding boost for housing and essential services on Northern Territory homelands.

Helping maintain connection to country and culture and providing the greater sense of stability that comes from a secure roof over your head.

At its core, this Closing the Gap report asks us if we are going to continue doing the same thing while expecting a different outcome.

More to the point, it asks us if we are prepared to accept a continuation of the same outcomes.

The same disparity in education and job opportunities.

The same inequality in access to health care.

The same appalling rates of family violence.

The same punishing discrimination in the justice system.

The same denial of a happy childhood and a safe home to far too many children.

The same gap, widened by the same failure to listen, learn and, yes, trust.

That's where I want to conclude, with a few words about the Uluru Statement from the Heart and a constitutionally enshrined voice to our parliament.

It's now been more than five years since over 250 delegates from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities from right across this vast land came together at Uluru to craft that gracious, patient, generous call for voice, for treaty and for truth. That process was itself the subject of five years of consultation. It was a hand outstretched in friendship, a show of faith in the innate decency and instinctive fairness of the Australian people, a belief that we would find it in ourselves to grasp that hand and a humble request. I urge people listening to actually read the statement.

People in the United States speak about how succinct the Gettysburg address is. This is the Australian equivalent, with so much said in so few words and a humble request at its heart: 'We seek to be heard.' That is all they ask: 'Hear us.'

In asking for a voice to parliament, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are seeking the right to be consulted about the decisions that affect their lives. They are asking for a say in the design of the specific programs which govern their communities. There is nothing in this request that usurps any of the role of our national parliament—in other words, the very same thing that this report recommends.

It's the No. 1 principle behind creating a better, more efficient, more effective framework for closing the gap, the common element in every policy and program success story around the nation and the strongest possible recommendation of the Coalition of Peaks, brought together by the extraordinary Pat Turner.

So let's dismiss the false choice put forward that somehow it's about constitutional recognition or practical progress. It's about constitutional recognition in order to achieve practical progress. This is not a gesture. It is not either/or. It never has been. Australia can do both, and we have to do both. We have a responsibility here. The Australian people certainly have room in their hearts to do both, and the government that I lead is proudly committed to delivering on both.

I acknowledge the fact that across the board—the Labor Party, the Liberal Party, the National Party, the Greens and the Independents who have sat in this place—we have all not done enough. There is an opportunity in the second half of next year to do better. Don't miss it.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Prime Minister for his contribution. I want to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, the Ngunnawal people, and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. I acknowledge the members of Indigenous heritage in this chamber and the other and the contribution that they make to this place.

It was in February 2009 that the first Closing the gap report was tabled in this parliament. The coalition are proud of our record, in government and in opposition, in contributing to the Closing the Gap objective. We worked with Australian governments at all levels and, indeed, the coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak organisations to reach, in 2020, a national agreement on closing the gap. That national agreement articulated four priority reforms centred on collaboration, empowerment, structural government reform and data management.

In 2021 we released the first Commonwealth implementation plan to support the national agreement. That plan committed more than $1 billion towards new measures to help close the gap and address those four priority reforms. That first Commonwealth implementation plan rightly established clear targets and actions to hold the government to the mark in closing the gap.

The coalition was provided with the 2022 Closing the gap annual report this morning, so of course we need more time to consider the findings in full, but I again thank the Prime Minister for his statement today. We welcome the progress that has been made in several areas, specifically that more Indigenous babies are being born with healthy birth weights, that the number of Indigenous children enrolled in preschool is increasing and that there has been a 30 per cent reduction in the rate of Indigenous young people aged 10 to 17 years in detention. In terms of the latter, the former coalition government's allocation of $2.4 million in April 2021 to bolster custody notification services has clearly helped to reduce Indigenous children incarceration rates. Of that, we're very proud. On behalf of the coalition, I thank and congratulate all those across the nation whose deeds and contributions have made a meaningful difference in these areas and many others.

Most concerning are the findings that four targets have gone backwards—those in the areas of Indigenous adult incarceration rates, Indigenous suicide rates and Indigenous child removal rates. The coalition stand with the government in wanting to see practical measures which can address these areas, and we welcome the measures that the Labor government has taken, which build on those that we took when in government. There is no question about the passionate intent of all in this place to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians; to see better standards of living and education outcomes, reduced mortality rates and the stamping out of domestic violence and crime; and to see, in particular, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have the same opportunities as any other Australian child. That passionate intent reflects the resolve of the Australian people. In addition to Closing the Gap initiatives, we must ask ourselves this question: are there opportunities to put a foot on the accelerator where we need to do it most?

On 27 October I advised those in this place that Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and I had visited the Northern Territory. Women and mothers despairingly told us about the rampant abuse that was happening in their community on that very day. I want to reiterate the comments that I made then. This is in our country, in the year 2022, and what's happening on the fringe of communities is a disgrace. Children are sleeping during the day and missing classes to avoid being at home during the hours of darkness, from fear of being sexually abused or assaulted. They were firsthand accounts of elders and Indigenous women within the communities, and their voices need to be heard.

We in this place know that child sexual abuse is widespread in those Indigenous communities and that it has been normalised, tragically, in some of those families. It's why I called on the Prime Minister in October to hold a royal commission to examine these allegations—these claims from community leaders and elders within those Indigenous communities. Today I call on the Prime Minister again to hold a royal commission as a matter of urgency, something the coalition would wholeheartedly support. It's something that we can do right now to put our foot on the accelerator to improve Indigenous lives. It is something we can do ahead of a referendum on the Voice and we shouldn't wait to do it.

Australians want to know, quite reasonably, that our country is able to have a reasonable debate in relation to the significant proposal being put forward by the Prime Minister in relation to a voice to parliament. As part of that civil discussion, there needs to be acknowledgement that there are strongly held views on both sides of the debate, both in favour and against, within Indigenous communities in our country and within every community across our country, that their views and their contributions should be made and heard with respect and that differing opinions don't amount to racism or some abrogation of responsibility or a lessening of the desire to see an improvement in the lives of Indigenous Australians.

Australians want to know whether a constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament will be able to deliver those outcomes that we all burn for and that we want now for Indigenous communities, but how are Australians supposed to make an informed decision at a referendum when they are deprived of the details? It's been more than four months since the Garma festival, when the Prime Minister announced the government's proposed textual changes to the Constitution in the form of three additional sentences, and it has now been more than three months since the Prime Minister's meeting and press conference with Shaquille O'Neal, but Australians are none the wiser about the Voice—the what, the who, the where, the when and the how.

These are reasonable questions, and the most elementary questions remain unanswered. Is the proposed constitutional amendment the only form of words that the government is willing to consider? Does it have an open mind to other suggestions? Who will be eligible to serve on the body? What are the prerequisites for nomination? Will the government clarify the definition of Aboriginality in order to determine who can serve on the body? How will members be elected, chosen or appointed? What's the tenure of members? How many people will make up the body? How will the body be funded? How much will it cost taxpayers annually? Who will oversee the body and ensure that it's accountable? Can the body be amended or, indeed, abolished if needed in extraordinary circumstances? What are the body's terms of reference, its responsibilities and its duties? How will the body interact with the closing the gap process? How will the government ensure that the body hears from voices who don't already have a platform in Australian public life? Will the government rule out using the Voice to negotiate any national treaty? Is the body purely advisory in nature, or will it have decision-making capabilities?

The Prime Minister has noted that it would be a very brave government that ignored the Voice. That remark alone raises questions about the extent of the Voice's powers beyond being an influential body that makes representations. These are some of the questions, but there are many more—there are too many to list today. In the absence of the basic details, it's no wonder that there has been great speculation surrounding how the Voice will operate. These are decent Australians asking these questions of their Prime Minister, and many concerns and questions that Australians have are reasonable and warranted. In matters as important as constitutional change, details must never be an afterthought. Australians will be charged with a matter of utmost national importance. If the referendum is successful, a constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament will be a body without precedent. It will be a major change in how our country is governed.

Australians do have a right to know what they will be voting for. Australians deserve to know whether a constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament will be able to deliver practical outcomes in Indigenous communities, how quickly that can take place and that it will not be, as some Indigenous leaders have expressed to me with concern, an elitist model which represents a capital-city view at the expense of remote communities.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Some of those opposite laugh. I was in Townsville only a few weeks ago with the member for Herbert, speaking with Indigenous women on Palm Island, which is only a couple of kilometres off Townsville. On that island, those women expressed concern to us about the need for a voice and, in fact, were in favour of a voice when it was explained to them. But they made it very clear to us that they didn't want the Voice to come from Townsville. They wanted their voice to come from Palm Island, from their small community, because they believed that their voice to date hadn't been properly heard from those even as close as Townsville, let alone Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane. So their views shouldn't be scoffed at. Their views shouldn't be dismissed. Their concerns should be heard, and their reasonable questions answered. That is not unreasonable.

Australians can't make a proper assessment simply based on three proposed sentences to change the text of our Constitution. The government has to disclose sufficient details, and we support it in doing that as soon as possible. It should not fear a public that is interested in understanding more about how we can get to the destination that we all yearn for and desire and wish to achieve as soon as possible—that is, better outcomes for Indigenous children; better outcomes for those who are incarcerated; and better outcomes for the mothers who are raising children in abject poverty in our country, in this year.

The coalition commits itself to working with the government in closing the gap on these important issues. There is no gripe about the amount of money that's required. I've had the great fortune of being in this parliament for over 21 years. I've sat on expenditure review committees and around cabinet tables and leadership groups during that period, and never once have I been party to a discussion or heard a discussion about why we should be pulling money out—only about why we need to put more money in. There's no doubt in my mind that the same conversations—of the same nature and intent—would have been held around every cabinet discussion, every Expenditure Review Committee discussion and every leadership discussion under Labor administrations as well.

There is a desire in this place to continue to spend what needs to be spent, but to do it in a way that provides practical outcomes for people who are living without housing and for children who are exposed to a childhood that robs them of the innocence of childhood. That's totally and absolutely unacceptable in our country in any year, let alone in this year. We will provide support to practical measures. We will work with the government to provide assistance to those Australians who are most in need. But we shouldn't be afraid of having a national conversation about the best way, the best path, to achieve that outcome which is in the best interests of Indigenous Australians and, ultimately, in the best interests of all Australians.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House take note of the document.

Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I recognise country and I congratulate the Prime Minister on his very, very, very fine words, and I acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition's contribution as well.

There is no shortage of goodwill in this place towards closing the gap. But our actions must match those fine words. I am frustrated by the lack of progress, frustrated that change has been too slow. I think about Cassius Turvey and the family and friends who miss him so much. I think about the missing and murdered women from so many of our communities and about the young boys at Banksia Hill and the justice system that has let them down. I think about how far we still have to go to close the gap.

The numbers in this report tell an important story—a story, as the Prime Minister has said, of mixed progress. It's a story of heartening advances. As has been mentioned, more babies—89 per cent—were born at a healthy birth weight. That is on track, and much needs to go right for that to happen. On track also: 96.7 per cent of children enrolled in preschool in 2021. There has been heartbreakingly slow progress in areas that have already been mentioned: children being developmentally on track when they start school; the out-of-home-care rates, which many people describe as another stolen generation; adult imprisonment; and deaths by suicide. It's worth noting that for the majority of socioeconomic targets there is so little new data available to reliably track trends, although important work has commenced to improve this data.

Of course, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are not numbers. We have names, families, cultures and languages. We belong to communities and to country, and we have hopes and dreams. Recently, I was in the APY Lands, and an old woman from Pukatja told a story that I think reflects the feeling of many First Nations communities at this time. It was a story about the black-footed rock-wallaby. It is looking for food one day, along a rocky outcrop in the red dirt, when suddenly the wallaby falls into a crack between two large rocks; it's body thrashing around. The wallaby tries to inch up closer to freedom, and, after one last thrust, the wallaby slides back down again into an even deeper hole than before. This, the old woman said, is what her situation feels like—progress then setback, hope then despair.

I say to First Nations peoples across Australia, like the amazing communities from across the APY Lands, we do hear you and we are determined to do better. We hear your frustration and your aspirations, and the Australian government is committed to doing something about it.

I will not repeat what the Prime Minister has talked about in terms of commitments, except to highlight one, and that's the $81 million into 30 communities through the justice reinvestment initiative. The Prime Minister spoke about the outcomes in Bourke and the fact that there are models out there if we only just look and work in partnership with First Nations people. He spoke about establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice, which has been well discussed over the last few days. In response to the questions around the Voice, one only needs to look at the detail out there and be part of a campaign that's coming, because giving Indigenous Australians a say in matters that affect us is essential to closing the gap.

We will close the gap by working with parties to the national agreement, including the Coalition of Peaks, led by Pat Turner and represented here today by Dawn Casey—hello, Dawn!—all state and territory governments and the Australian Local Government Association, as well as by forging, bathed in self-determination, new ways to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians and to help close the gap, including, importantly, the four priority reforms.

Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we gather today, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, and pay respect to their elders, past, present and emerging, and I acknowledge the fine words of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and my friend the Minister for Indigenous Australians. Others have said today that there are enormous reserves of goodwill on all sides of the House in relation to closing the gap. I think there's actually more than just goodwill. I think there is a burning ambition to close the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the rest of Australia.

First Australians have cared for this country since time immemorial.

Today we speak about their future and our shared desire to see a healthier future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This year's Closing the Gap is significant because it's the first time we report against new targets established not by the Commonwealth government alone but by the Commonwealth government in partnership with First Nations people and with the state and territory governments. This is a significant moment. I want to acknowledge the work of the Minister for Indigenous Australians and I also want to acknowledge the work of her predecessor, Ken Wyatt. This Closing the Gap process refresh is one of the greatest legacies of Ken Wyatt's time as minister, and I think this legacy will live long beyond his years in this place. I also want to acknowledge Pat Turner and Dawn Casey and everyone else involved with the Coalition of Peaks for their leadership, their courage and their hard work on the Closing the Gap process.

For too many years the delivery of Closing the Gap reports has been deeply depressing, not only because of findings reported but because of the sense that the pathways forward were limited. Closing the Gap has held the federal government to account for the things that the Commonwealth has been largely powerless to change. This year for the first time the report is set against the new priorities and this year for the first time the Commonwealth is not the only jurisdiction tabling a Closing the Gap report. Every state and territory and the Coalition of Peaks are all reporting on their shared goals. In parliaments across the country, people are looking at these metrics and asking the questions that need to be asked. This is a huge step forward. Beyond the parliaments, policymakers are asking the same questions, and I'm sure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in their communities are asking the same. There are more people at the table. The buy-in has grown. There are more people feeling the weight of responsibility, a weight of responsibility that must be felt if we're to close the gap.

On too many socioeconomic targets we're going backward, not forwards. We've learned through Closing the Gap over the years that meaningful change is only achieved when meaningful decisions are taken at local levels by people who understand the challenges faced by a community that is part of the solution. While the data needs to improve, what we can see at present reminds us yet again that closing the gap must remain a first-order priority for any government. The rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults in prison has gone up, not down, since 2019. We have a higher rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care in 2021 than we did in 2019. We have more children starting school already behind where they ought to be and, tragically, we have more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people dying by suicide.

What turns a life around is often not a decision made in this place, but much more often it's a relationship with someone that gives people hope. I know that the issue of the Voice to Parliament is a priority for many Australians, but there are already significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices out there that are talking to government, and governments need to listen to those voices. Listening to the experiences is what partnership in closing the gap is all about. As we push forward in coming years, I urge the government to listen to those who tell us the uncomfortable truth, not just those who say what we expect or what we want to hear. I want to see a situation where, when a community says, 'We want to keep the cashless debit card,' or 'We don't want grog in this place,' that governments listen, that when they see the gap widening instead of closing because of decisions taken in this place, the alarm is sounded, and we act—like the Indigenous children and families who feel that more access to alcohol in turn will lead to an increase in alcohol fuelled violence and antisocial behaviour in communities, like the terrible and tragic stories of child sexual abuse that the Leader of the Opposition mentioned that have come from too many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

I want to associate myself very strongly with the Leader of the Opposition's call for a royal commission to examine child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities so that survivors with the courage to come forward can be heard. This is such an important issue and such an important policy recommendation. There's goodwill and ambition in addressing these issues on both sides, but these are the difficulties we must confront if we're to close the gap. The government have put Indigenous Australians in the centre of their agenda for this term of parliament, but it's now up to them to keep the focus on what really matters and to do the necessary work to enable practical change to take place in communities. We can close the gap and we must close the gap for the sake of every young Australian, Indigenous or otherwise, who is relying on us to hand to them a better future.

Debate adjourned.

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the order of the day be referred to the Federation Chamber for debate.

Question agreed to.