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

I rise to speak in support of the Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Emergency Response Consolidation) Bill 2008. This bill is part of the government’s commitment to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in areas including life expectancy, health levels, education standards and employment opportunities. The bill introduces amendments to the framework of the Northern Territory emergency response. These came about through two pieces of legislation: the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 and the Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Northern Territory National Emergency Response and Other Measures) Act 2007. The amendment bill before us today is aimed at strengthening protections in the communities affected. It makes good the government’s election pledge on the permit system for major Territory communities.

While the Howard government believed in getting rid of the need for permits for those visiting Aboriginal communities, this government believes such a move is not a positive one. The Rudd government believes that, like other Australians, Indigenous Australians should be able to decide who comes onto their land. So the bill brings into effect our election commitment to revoke the public access permit changes legislated by the former government. This bill will also clarify the power of the minister to authorise people to enter Aboriginal land. Once it is passed, the government will be able to ensure media access to communities for the purpose of reporting on local events, and this will be done through ministerial determination. Conditions for this access are being determined in consultation with the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance and land councils.

There are two further amendments regarding the permit scheme. The government has agreed to make clear in this legislation that the minister may not authorise entry to a sacred site through the power of ministerial determination. The other change fulfils a Northern Territory government request to extend permit exemptions to include local government candidates. This falls into line with existing exemptions for federal and Northern Territory legislative assembly candidates during election campaigns.

The other changes in this bill relate to access to and distribution of R-rated material and are designed to strengthen protections in the relevant communities. The 2007 legislation banned the supply, control and possession of certain pornographic material in prescribed areas. This bill before us today also covers R-rated content on pay TV. Subscription television pornography is an area of concern for Aboriginal people that was raised through the Little children are sacred report of 2007. This bill will address that concern by amending both Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 and the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.

It will establish a new class licence condition to prevent pay TV narrowcasting service licensees from providing subscribers in a community declared by the Indigenous affairs minister with access to a subscription TV narrowcasting service declared by the communications minister. Services cannot be declared unless they broadcast more than 35 per cent of R18+ program hours each week. Communities cannot have their pay TV service restricted unless they are in prescribed areas according to the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 and the Indigenous affairs minister is satisfied such a move is appropriate as the community concerned wants the service restricted.

This arrangement will have a five-year sunset provision, consistent with the pornography amendments already made to the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995. The government has included amendments in this bill to make minor workability improvements to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 and, in doing so, cut red tape. Suggested by the pay TV industry and raised by the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs, the amendments allow subscription TV narrowcasters to self-declare an R-rated service and streamline record-keeping requirements. To be more consistent with the alcohol bans, the bill also amends the classification act 1995 to allow the transportation of banned pornographic material to a destination outside a prescribed area, even if it travels through that prescribed area to get to its destination. The bill’s final measure will ensure that, if a roadhouse fulfils the role of a grocery store in a remote area, it should be able to be part of the scheme applying to community stores and be treated as such in having to meet new licensing standards.

As I have already said in this place, tackling Indigenous disadvantage is a priority for the government and we will take a consultative, evidence based approach in working to achieve our ambitious objectives in health, education and employment areas. The government has commissioned an independent review of the Northern Territory emergency response to assess what is and what is not working. That review is due at the end of this month. Apart from that review, there have been reports of positive outcomes from the emergency response in the past 12 months. These include an increased police presence and night patrols, which community members say have made their communities safer.

The School Nutrition Program, which provides a breakfast and lunch to school-age children in communities and associated stations and town camps, has been introduced and reportedly is improving child concentration and engagement in education. Newly licensed community stores are reporting increased sales of food, including fresh food, which should lead to better community health in the medium term. More than 1,300 jobs occupied by Aboriginal people have been formally recognised and remunerated as government service delivery jobs for the first time. Child health checks have identified children who require follow-up care. This is now being provided in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine. This government continued funding for the Northern Territory emergency response in the 2008-09 budget. More than $600 million in total has been committed to the emergency response since the change of government in November 2007. This represents a major commitment of government resources to address chronic problems faced by people living in the communities and the town camps of the Territory.

Given the government’s backing for the general direction of the emergency response until the completion of the review, the bill contains amendments to existing measures covered by the racial discrimination provisions in the Northern Territory emergency response legislation, but, importantly, the legislation before us today includes no new provisions which exclude the operation of the Racial Discrimination Act. Labor will give further consideration to the racial discrimination provisions of the former government’s legislation following the review into the emergency response.

In addition to the Northern Territory commitment, the government has set long-term national targets, including closing the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people within a generation; halving the gap in mortality rate for children under five within a decade; halving the gap in reading, writing and numeracy levels within a decade; halving the gap in employment outcomes and opportunities within a decade; and halving the gap in year 12 educational attainment by 2020. Within five years, we also want to see all Indigenous four-year-olds in remote communities participating in quality early childhood education programs. The government is working towards these targets with the states and territories through COAG. Promoting economic participation, reducing dependence on welfare and building up communities are all critical elements if we are to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. We also want Indigenous people to be involved and engaged in a partnership with governments to tackle child abuse and neglect in the Territory’s remote communities.

As I said previously in this place, it is clear that the required long-term strategies must be borne out of consultation and cooperation with leaders of the Aboriginal communities they will affect. The strong attachment Indigenous Australians have to 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. This bill is a further plank in our plan to improve the lives and opportunities of people in these communities.

In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the excellent work carried out by the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs, chaired by Senator Claire Moore, in the inquiry into this bill. I commend the bill to the Senate.