Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Hansard source

I have heard a number of debates in this chamber that have disturbed me, but some of the rubbish that the last speakers have spouted has concerned me in a major way. Since the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, delivered the apology in this parliament in 2007, there has been a great deal of support and cooperation between both sides of the House and both sides of this chamber to close the gap on Indigenous inequality. Work has taken place in health, in housing and in education, and there is work taking place right now in economic development and employment.

I completely reject the comments from Senator Boswell and Senator Macdonald that somehow there is a division between parties or that the Labor Party is for welfare and is opposed to economic development. Nothing could be further from the truth. As the Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development, I am working day in, day out with our job providers, with businesses and corporations and, most importantly, with Indigenous communities across the country. So I totally reject the comments from those senators today, and I believe that the opposite is taking place.

We are now seeing Indigenous businesses sprouting up across the country. These are not just small businesses, but businesses of all sizes. These Indigenous people are taking responsibility for their own lives and their own economic development, and govern­ments are supporting that. The Gillard government is supporting it, state govern­ments are supporting it, and up until now it has been bipartisan and we have worked together. Senator Scullion, who started this debate, put his case, but he understands that both sides of this parliament have a commitment to ensuring Indigenous people chart their own course of economic development. What this debate is really about, though, is finding the right balance between economic development on the one hand and environmental protection on the other. We as a government and as a country support Indigenous people in the cape to develop businesses, grow their local economies, create jobs and lift their people out of poverty and social disadvantage. We support that. It is something that we are working on closely with Indigenous communities. But anyone who has spent time talking to the traditional owners and others involved in the debate in the cape understands that there is not one Indigenous voice; there are many Indigenous voices, and many differing opinions as to how this legislation is affecting economic develop­ment and what policies are best to stimulate economic development. It is a complex debate. At the same time, the traditional owners who talk to you about what they are doing to foster economic development also understand the importance of protecting the pristine heritage environment. They support that too.

For me, the most important thing in this debate is to look at the facts—that is, how this legislation has been used. We have had a huge amount of consultation at the state government level and there has been consultation through a Senate committee inquiry as well as a lower house, or House of Representatives, inquiry. There have been a number of submissions from the traditional owners—and I have met with a number of them—and the Queensland government has also provided a submission and answers to question on notice. One of the Queensland government submissions to the inquiry states that since 2007 there have been 140 developments approved under this legislation—