Dana Wortley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to participate in the debate on the package of bills that relate to the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007. The welfare of all children, whether Indigenous or non-Indigenous, is indeed sacred. The innocence of childhood should be an unquestioned right that is defended vigorously and rigorously by any civilised, humane society. Children are vulnerable, they are precious, they are the future and they deserve to have a childhood where they are nurtured and where their trust in adults and the adult world provides a sound basis for them to grow into adulthood. In all communities, not only Indigenous communities, this should be the way it is, but sadly this is not the case. It is not the reality.

Serious child abuse is limited neither to Aboriginal rural communities nor to Aboriginal people but is present within the Australian community as a whole, and it is an issue that must be addressed. For too long it has not received the attention required to address the problem and its consequences. Neglect in Aboriginal communities is rightly designated as an issue of urgent national significance. The situation in the Northern Territory is urgent and the goal of safer communities for Indigenous children paramount. But this has not just become apparent. The Anderson-Wild report Little children are sacred follows numerous reports which have looked at issues facing Australia’s Indigenous people. Some of these have dealt with the issue of child abuse, but to date not a lot has been done.

We have had only the three main bills—bills that comprise 480 pages—since Monday of last week and the appropriation bills since Tuesday. The Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007 includes issues to do with township and town camp leases, government purchased computers, pornography management, alcohol, business managers, licensing for community stores, customary laws and exclusion of the Racial Discrimination Act. The Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Northern Territory National Emergency Response and Other Measures) Bill 2007 deals with permits, pornography, infrastructure management and Australian Crime Commission powers. The Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Payment Reform) Bill 2007 contains changes to the national welfare payment, quarantining measures for parents, the Northern Territory welfare payment, quarantining measures for all income support recipients, the welfare payment quarantining measures for parents in Cape York and the CDEP changes.

While it is far from ideal to have such little time to consider such complex legislation, we acknowledge that with the passing of time young lives are being devastated. We owe these children a better future. It should not just be a quick fix, timetabled late in an election cycle. Solutions must be lasting. They must be altruistic, not conceived to soothe the chafed consciences of their architects. This is simply too important. We must ensure the measures undertaken are not racist, patronising or paternalistic. Our aim should be to achieve a brighter tomorrow both for and with Australia’s Indigenous people. We also must do our best to make sure any action taken does not heighten the apprehension and suspicion already rife in Indigenous communities regarding the government’s proposals, methods and motives.

The government’s emergency plan does not detail long-term strategies required to lift Indigenous communities out of their current situation. Authors of the report Little children are sacred, Pat Anderson and Rex Wild, put forward 97 recommendations and have placed the protection of children at the centre of government responsibilities. But many of their recommendations go unacknowledged. In their report, their first recommendation states:

... we have specifically referred to the critical importance of governments committing genuine consultation with Aboriginal communities whether these be in remote, regional or urban settings. We have been conscious throughout our enquiries of the need for that consultation and for Aboriginal people to be involved.

It is clear that the long-term strategies needed must be born out of consultation and cooperation with the leaders of the Aboriginal communities they will affect. The strong attachment Indigenous Australians hold with their land must be genuinely considered. And the integrity of the Racial Discrimination Act must be upheld. To be effective and beneficial, long-term strategies must be forged out of a climate of trust and mutual respect, not one of fear and mistrust.

There is ample room for improvement in these bills and there are elements of the bills before us that we do not fully agree with. The acceptance by the government of the second reading amendment moved by the Leader of the Australian Labor Party in the Senate, Senator Evans, would go some way towards this, as would the adoption of the recommendations detailed in the report of the one-day Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs inquiry into the legislation, including: that the operation of the measures implemented by the bills be continuously monitored and publicly reported on annually through the overcoming Indigenous disadvantage reporting framework; that the operation of the measures implemented by the bills be the subject of a review two years after their commencement, particularly to ascertain the impact of the measures on the welfare of Indigenous children in the Northern Territory and that a report on this review be tabled in the parliament; and that the Australian government examine the need for additional drug and alcohol rehabilitation services in the Northern Territory, and provide, if necessary, additional funding.

Also worthy of a hearing are the additional comments to the report by Labor senators, which include the following:

These aims cannot be achieved unless the Commonwealth, after dialogue and genuine consultation with affected Aboriginal communities, sets out a comprehensive long term plan.

…            …            …

Any longer term plan should establish a framework for the achievement, in partnership with the Northern Territory Government and Indigenous communities, of the recommendations set out in the Little Children are Sacred report.

Adopting additional recommendations from Labor senators would also be an improvement to the legislation. These recommendations included: opposing the blanket removal of the permit system on roads, community common areas and other places as specified in schedule 4 of the Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Northern Territory National Emergency Response and Other Measures) Bill 2007; supporting access without a permit for agents of the Commonwealth or Northern Territory government, such as doctors and other health workers, to facilitate service delivery; facilitating greater public scrutiny of Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory by allowing access to roads and common town areas, without a permit, by journalists acting in their professional capacity, subject to the restrictions relating to the protection of the privacy of cultural events—such as sorry business—as proposed in schedule 4 of the Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Northern Territory National Emergency Response and Other Measures) Bill 2007; conducting an independent review of the effectiveness of the measures taken under part 4 of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007 after 12 months; conducting a review after 12 months of the operation of the welfare reform and income management system specific to the Northern Territory; opposing the provisions in the bills suspending the operation of the Racial Discrimination Act; and making two additional amendments, one to ensure that just terms compensation is paid in instances of land acquisition and one to enable access for traditional purposes to land acquired through the five-year township leasing plans.

There are obligations on government—federal, state and territory—to act on the findings of the report generated by this inquiry and on the Little children are sacred report and to take action, both immediate and sustained, to help improve the lives of children in these Indigenous communities.

A short-term reactive response to a particular crisis is not a substitute for long-term policies aimed at resolving the underlying cause of the crisis. The measures taken to secure the long-term safety and wellbeing of the children who have been abused and those at risk, from childhood through to adulthood, needs to be immediate. But it must not end there. We also need long-term, ongoing measures—measures that include real consultation with community leaders; measures to address health issues, alcohol and drug abuse; measures that address the life expectancy and infant mortality rates of the Indigenous population; measures to address education and access to education; and measures to address housing and infrastructure. And the list goes on.

Labor’s future-minded initiatives will address many and varied issues, including: the life expectancy and infant mortality rate gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians; the 17-year difference between the life expectancy of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians; and the fact that, in their first year, Indigenous babies are more than three times more likely to die than non-Indigenous infants. These figures are simply unacceptable. Labor recognises the relationship in Aboriginal communities between education, health, employment, economic development, policing and housing and such problems as violence and alcohol and substance abuse. These areas are significant and require our attention.

We must not just pass legislation, implement it and then wipe our hands of the matter. Open dialogue with Indigenous community leaders and the Northern Territory government is crucial, and stringent reviews of the reforms are essential to ensure that they are achieving their aims. The work of strong and effective Indigenous community members and organisations must be encouraged and supported. Government must deliver teachers, classrooms, teacher housing and support services, including Indigenous teacher assistants. Every effort must be made to ensure schools are accessible to children in all communities. Temporary measures must be reviewed and, where they are not delivering the desired outcome, be replaced with reforms which have the confidence and support of those on whom they impact. Short-term measures aimed at ensuring the safety of children must grow into long-term responses which create stronger communities that are free of violence and abuse. Labor will work with states, territories and Indigenous Australia towards achieving a better, safer and healthier future for our nation’s children. That is sacrosanct to us.