Patrick Dodson (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

The Commonwealth government's first annual report under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap shows we have a lot of work to do. While has been some progress, the previous government's efforts over the last decade in government have been very ineffectual. Progress across most socioeconomic outcomes has stalled. While the national agreement and the partnership with the Coalition of Peaks provides a helpful architecture, the previous government's implementation leaves much to be desired.

Since coming into government just six months ago, our government has demonstrated our commitment to improving outcomes for First Nations peoples. In the October 2022 budget, we locked in significant investments across portfolios, seeking to address these disproportionate outcomes. We are investing in First Nations health workers, vital health infrastructure and community led justice reinvestment initiatives. In all of these commitments, we are working with First Nations peoples. This concept of working with First Nations peoples to make decisions about policies and programs so that they are more effective is not new. I and many other leaders have been talking about this for decades. It is grounded in the evidence: outcomes for our people are simply better when we have a say, have a choice and make decisions about our lives.

The national agreement provides one piece of architecture to improve outcomes, and my colleagues will work with this framework to continue important progress across the socioeconomic areas. But to achieve better outcomes, after a decade of stagnation, we must fundamentally change how governments work with First Nations peoples. We cannot allow these outcomes to continue in this way. That is only a shame on governments for failing to listen to First Nations communities.

To make meaningful and lasting change and progress requires systemic and structural transformation of how we are going to go about it on all sides of government. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to the parliament and to the government will do exactly that. Our government is steadfast in the commitment to the full implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart because we know that it will lead to better outcomes for First Nations communities. That very statement calls for constitutional reform through a voice so that First Nations children can flourish. The Voice will give our people a real opportunity to advise the parliament and the government on how to do things for the better of our people. After 250 years, that's not such a bad idea.

The Voice to Parliament will be a significant shift for our nation, a structural change that will lead to better outcomes for our people and all Australians. To take the two concepts of closing the gap and the Voice to Parliament as mutually exclusive is flawed and misses the point.