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

I thank Senator Smith for that question. It is a very important question, because all of us in this place recognise the challenge in front of us to deliver better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

This government has placed Indigenous affairs at the heart of government, and that is the focus that it needs. As the Prime Minister said in his Closing the Gap speech earlier this year, it is important that we listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people when they tell us what is working and what needs to change. It is time for governments to do things with Aboriginal people, not to them. That is why we are working in partnership with Indigenous business to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have access to the opportunities they need to drive jobs and growth. Our procurement policies have seen Commonwealth contracts with Indigenous owned companies increase from around $6 million in 2012-13 to over $200 million in the 2015-16 year. Let me repeat: $6 million to $200 million, and growing. For the benefit of those opposite, that is 33 times more in one year than what was achieved in your entire term.

So why is this important? Indigenous owned companies are 100 times more likely to employ first-nations people. We are supporting the creation of jobs across the country for Indigenous jobseekers through national employment programs in my portfolio, along with jobactive. Having supported Indigenous Australians into around 47,000 jobs, the lives of these people have been turned around by the ability to get off welfare and to start building a future for themselves, their families and their communities. Our Community Development Program is now getting people into positive activities, making remote communities a better place to live. Over the last 12 months, the Turnbull government has made tremendous progress. Eighty per cent of participants in CDP are now engaged in meaningful activities, and there has been a sevenfold increase in attendance since the end of Labor's failed Remote Jobs and Community Program. (Time expired)