Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last month I had the honour of hearing from Maori and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business sector leaders at the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum in Wellington. My visited coincided with the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chris Hipkins' announcement of the Trans-Tasman Roadmap to 2035. Under the Trans-Tasman Roadmap, both countries have agreed to strengthen the Australia and Aotearoa-New Zealand Indigenous Collaboration Arrangement. The ICA recognises the ancestral connections of Indigenous peoples to traditional lands and our unique contributions to our economies. It provides for economic, social and cultural advancement between New Zealand and Australia.

At the leadership forum I heard from Carol Vale, CEO of Murawin and a Dunghutti woman from Armidale New South Wales, who advocated for applying a gender lens to the ICA. As 54 per cent of Indigenous exporting businesses are led by Indigenous businesswomen, a gender lens is critical to the sector's success. She highlighted the importance of organisations like Supply Nation, Australia's leading database of verified Indigenous businesses turning theory into practice.

I heard from Jack Reis from Baidam Solutions, who spoke about cybersecurity as a lucrative industry for First Nations participation and, notably, one that does not often require traditional qualifications. This is particularly pertinent when considered against the Closing the Gap figure, which reports year 12 attainment for Indigenous Australians has been 25 per cent lower than that of non-Indigenous Australians.

I heard from Daniel Joinbee, a proud Gunggandji man from Yarrabah, Queensland whose business, Gunggandji Aerospace, connects remote Aboriginal communities and the Torres Strait Islands through heavy lift drone technology. These discussions in Wellington are the first in a series of conversations with Indigenous business communities, and conversations from these forums will inform the updating of the first ICA. (Time expired)