Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to make a contribution to the debate on the government's Closing the Gap implementation plan. I acknowledge that we are meeting here today on stolen Ngunawal country and that sovereignty over this land was never ceded and continues to need to be addressed.

The latest plan to close the gap simply can't accomplish its targets until we address issues around past injustice, colonisation of this land, sovereignty and treaty. The continued legacy of colonisation in this country, its ongoing impacts, have to be addressed if we are going to truly close the gap, because they are what has led to this huge gap developing in the first place. First Nations peoples continue to experience dispossession and oppression. Deaths in custody serve to remind us that the period of violence and injustice has in fact not yet finished. Until the first injustice, the massive injustice of the fact that we stole this land, is resolved, none of the other injustices can be properly addressed. We cannot claim that we have closed the gap and we will not close the gap. Resolving this means negotiating and enacting treaty and treaties in this land. We need to address the issue of sovereignty. We must ensure that sovereignty is recognised through a treaty- and treaties-first approach. First Nations peoples have been traumatised over generations by the actions and policies of successive governments denying them their rights. We must not forget that.

Every year, when we talk about Closing the Gap, I make sure that I also raise the issue of the Close the Gap campaign's report. It used to be called the shadow report. They have again done a report. This is their 12th annual report. This year it's titled Leadership and legacy through crises: Keeping our mobsafe. This year's report was produced by the Lowitja Institute, Australia's national community controlled institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. They make 15 recommendations, with a lot of subrecommendations. They remind us:

In our annual reports we often repeat our recommendations—

that comes as no surprise, I'm afraid to say—

and we remain steadfast and persistent in the expectation that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing will be respected and understood. The time for governments to deliver has long passed.

They also say:

Self-determination is critical and to ensure that change occurs, our voices must be heard by governments at every level of society. We perpetually recommend the same approach: to involve us, to listen, to reform and invest. Be it in systemic reform, policy design, service delivery, evaluation or agreeing upon funding, "nothing about us, without us" will be the only successful approach.

That remains true in this report as well, because we are still not delivering on some of the key areas that need to be addressed. There are countless examples of government policies that continue to deny First Nations peoples their rights and undermine Closing the Gap.

Across the federal government and the state and territory governments, governments continue to turn away from raising the age of criminal responsibility. I'm absolutely ashamed and embarrassed by the fact that they are still dragging their feet. The new Closing the Gap plan includes targets to reduce the number of First Nations people in prisons by at least 15 per cent. It is just unconscionable that you could limit yourselves to this. How are we still locking up children? How can we meaningfully achieve any targets for getting children out of prisons, even when the government has this measly target, while we are locking up children of 10 years of age?

It is unconscionable, and I totally support the comments and acknowledge the massive contribution Senator Thorpe made in this chamber this morning where she clearly highlighted this issue. Incarcerating children doesn't help them; it brutalises them. Children do not belong in jail. We need more investment in prevention through justice and social reinvestment. We also need ongoing secure funding for Aboriginal legal organisations.

It is shameful that the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments have shown disregard for the Royal Commission into the Detention and Protection of Children in the Northern Territory and that most of its recommendations in fact remain unimplemented. It is no surprise that the Don Dale royal commission recommendations have been so thoroughly ignored, unfortunately. It's 30 years since the deaths in custody royal commission, and more First Nations peoples are dying in custody than when the commission was called.

The language used in the new Closing the Gap plan is clear: this is a plan that was developed by ministers, departments and governments with First Nations peoples; it wasn't developed by First Nations peoples. First Nations peoples need to be in the driving seat. We cannot close the gap until First Nations peoples have control over policies and genuine community-led decision-making. I do congratulate the people and the organisations that have been driving this agenda and have been taking it up to government continually to address this issue of closing the gap. My comments are not meant to cast a slight on them at all. They have been driving this agenda and, if it weren't for their commitment, we wouldn't be where we are now. But we still have a long way to go.

The government say they are listening to First Nations peoples, but when it comes to social policy that impacts on First Nations peoples what they're actually doing is listening to the billionaires. The cashless debit card dreamed up by a millionaire harks back to the old ration days. There is no consent to this card in First Nations communities. It is making peoples' lives harder. Their fundamental right to choice and control and to make their own decisions has been taken away from them. What did I just comment on earlier? We need to ensure that First Nations peoples are supported and ensure that they are the ones making the decisions. The government knows that the cashless debit card doesn't work, because evaluation after evaluation has shown that, but it continues to pour millions into it. How about putting the millions into addressing treaty, addressing injustices and addressing the criminal justice system to make sure that it's not locking up 10-year-olds?

First Nations women are also disproportionately impacted by punitive programs, such as the punitive ParentsNext program. ParentsNext is not culturally safe for First Nations parents and results in a disproportionate number of First Nations parents losing their payments. Programs like these directly contradict the Closing the Gap objectives. We need supportive approaches that are led and delivered by First Nations peoples. The cashless debit card and the ParentsNext program entrench and exacerbate poverty in First Nations communities. It is plain hypocrisy to claim that the government are committed to closing the gap, to make promises about community decision-making and to make promises about working with First Nations peoples when they are not listening to First Nations peoples when they say that these programs are punitive and that they don't work. The evidence shows that they don't work, but this government continues to pursue these programs. So, on the one hand, they are here with their implementation plan, saying they're committed to closing the gap, while, on the other hand, their very programs and actions undermine those commitments. It's so clearly contrary to what First Nations peoples are saying to them. At the same time they claim they are listening to First Nations peoples, they are delivering programs that undermine the very implementation plan that we are talking about today.

There needs to be significant change in this country. We need to start it by acknowledging that we stole this land, that sovereignty was never ceded and that we need to have treaty and treaties in this country. Then we need to make sure, as part of that process, that the truth is told. Then we need to make sure that we have policies and programs in place that are led and delivered by First Nations peoples if we are going to close the gap.