Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to acknowledge the speakers who went before me and associate myself with the remarks of Senator Dodson and Senator Stewart. It's an absolute privilege to serve with you both in this place. And I want to acknowledge the remarks of all the speakers who went before me and, in doing so, note that I am standing here not as an Aboriginal person, but as someone who wanted to make a contribution to this debate as a representative of the state of South Australia. I think it's important that we all seek to be part of this debate not just in this chamber, but in our communities as well.

2023 marks 15 years since the first Closing the Gap report was delivered to our parliament. The past 15 years have been marked with plenty of good intentions but, on far too many indicators, these good intentions haven't been enough. The latest data update for this year shows us that the gap remains unacceptably wide. It's not closing fast enough. Indeed, in too many places we're going backwards. Of the new data we received this month, nine targets are not on track and just two are on track. Combined with the existing data, it shows there are 11 targets that are now not on track and four that are on track.

It was Nelson Mandela who said:

There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.

We should all be sitting pretty uncomfortably in this truth when we look at the data as it affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The target for healthy birth weights for babies has gone from being on track to being not on track. That means we have gone backwards. And we've seen that the target to increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth who are in employment, education and training is also not on track. The AEDI data remains unacceptable as is the proportion of people attaining year 12 or equivalent qualification. It's not okay.

All children in this country deserve to grow up safe, healthy, happy, nourished and valued. Those are their fundamental rights as little people among us. But this isn't happening. Their rights aren't being met. I know there is no shortage of goodwill to close the gap, but what we have been doing in Australia just has not been working as fast or as effectively as it should have been, and it is our children who are paying the price.

I note today that the new Closing the Gap implementation plan, which was launched last month, sets a clear path forward for achieving the targets and priority reforms. The Albanese government is also making significant changes in the delivery of First Nations policy and providing additional support for communities to get ahead, and I acknowledge in particular the support provided for communities in my electorate, including the significant commitment to Aboriginal health infrastructure right across my state, including in places like Ceduna and Murray Bridge. Our policy work also includes over $400 million in additional funding to provide safe and reliable water for remote and regional Indigenous communities, to accelerate building of new remote housing in the Northern Territory and to bolster the national strategy for food security.

But, as Senator Dodson said in his remarks earlier today, we also need structural change. This year we have a chance to forge a different path. In the referendum that will be held towards the end of this year, I hope Australians join me—join us!—in voting yes because a voice enshrined in the Constitution will mean more consultation and new partnerships. It will mean Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people get a more genuine say in the matters that affect them, and a real hand in shaping the solutions. And that's important because we know that when they do policy works better.

Of course, the Voice is just one part of what is needed. That generous offer, given to us, was about more than voice. It's about treaty and it's about truth too. I want to reaffirm as a senator for my state my commitment to all three and my government's commitment to all three. We must continue to remain devoted to this challenge and double-down on our efforts, always, to make our country a fairer place for children, but especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, where there is no doubt in the statistics before us, in everything we know, that we are currently failing them.