Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Brown for bringing this very important issue to this place. Culture is an absolutely central part of this debate and a central part of Indigenous communities. I do not have to acknowledge that; I think all of Australia realises that. Senator, you are right: the culture in these communities is at threat. Many people in the communities I visit tell me that their culture is dying, that their culture is collapsing. But, Senator, unfortunately, I cannot follow the process that it is collapsing and dying because of anything this government has done. It is collapsing and dying because of the drunkenness, the violence and the sexual abuse in those communities. That is why it is dying. And I am not the only one saying that. Anyone who has been to those communities and has sat down with the people in those communities—as I have done over many years—know that those are the things that are killing the culture that you quite honourably say that we should look after.

Senator Brown, I have to say that the culture is not dying everywhere. Daly River in the Northern Territory is a wonderful community, mate. You drive into there and it is absolutely clean. It has very low levels of crime. It is fantastic stuff. There is great leadership. It has no permit system, Senator Brown. That is what makes it a stand-out: it is just an ordinary place with the rule of law and order. Do you know what the strongest thing in that place is, Senator? It is culture. They have maintained the strongest culture. With respect, do not come in here lecturing me or other Australians in this place about what has either damaged culture or is going to fix culture. At best, it is misleading. It is probably misinformed, and I like to be respectful about those things. Then there is Tjirrkarli. For $1,000 a night, people go there to spend time with Indigenous people and to get an understanding of the wonderful spirituality and diversity of their culture. That is a great thing for jobs. There is employment and prosperity. To become part of the economy is the future. They need opportunities—the same opportunities that you and I take for granted, Senator Brown.

When you say that we are out here with the bulldozers and that the government is going to push ahead because, after all, we have the numbers, although I have probably only been here a blink next to you, I have to say that my observation is that we represent Australians. Each one of these seats here represents a group of Australians. Let me tell you, if you want a vote on this, it will not be in this place. If you go outside the doors and talk to people out there, the vast majority of informed Australians think that this is the best thing that has ever happened. We can look back on a horrific past, which was a train crash of cultures in which the older culture lost out. They have gone through a great deal of change; we all acknowledge that. But I do not think it is reasonable, in the context of this debate, to come in and paint our intervention as anything other than stopping a further deterioration of culture and providing those individuals who live in Indigenous communities with the same opportunities in life for law, order, protection and anything else you want to name as the rest of us.