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

I don't know about other First Nations senators in this place, but if I was to be mentioned in the same sentence as Senator Hanson I'm not sure I'd be bragging about that. But somehow it's a sense of pride on that side. Shame on them!

There is already ample opportunity to scrutinise the governance and administration of key Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representative organisations. If those opposite have specific concerns they want to raise about the things they've been told are happening in these organisations, then they should immediately raise it with the appropriate authority instead of going on this witch-hunt and using the parliament to hunt down our Aboriginal organisations. It is an absolutely shameful use of this place. We just heard Senator Thorpe say, 'We need less government interference,' but she is supporting a motion which will draw Aboriginal organisations to an inquiry. What a contradiction!

As my colleague Senator Pratt has already outlined, there has been an exhaustive process through estimates already. Since we came into government there have been six budget estimates hearings into Indigenous affairs. Let me set out what they are; some people might have missed it. On 11 November last year there was six hours. There was a spillover meeting on 24 November last year for three hours. There was a second spillover hearing on 12 December for 2½ hours. On Friday 17 February 2023 there was a hearing for eight hours. There was a spillover hearing on 21 March this year for almost three hours. There was a hearing on 24 May for 12½ hours. That's over 35 hours of budget estimates hearings in just 12 months—sounds like scrutiny and accountability to me. It's generated 1,080 questions on notice—sounds like scrutiny and accountability to me. And members will have the opportunity again in October, at the next estimates hearing, to ask questions—another opportunity for scrutiny and accountability. Absolutely, you should take that up.

In addition to this parliament, these organisations are subject to scrutiny from other oversight bodies including: the Australian National Audit Office, with their regular review schedule; the Australian National Anti-Corruption Commission, a key election commitment by the Albanese Labor government that we have delivered on because we believe in transparency and accountability; and the Commonwealth Ombudsman. These portfolio organisations are also subject to the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. Across Australia, many of our orgs are governed by state legislation too. They are oversighted by their own parliaments and similar bodies such as state ombudsmen and state anticorruption bodies. Organisations registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006, the C(ATSI) Act, are also regulated by ORIC.

I would like to see senators explain what they'd like to see with another layer of bureaucracy. Please explain what more you would like to see with another layer of bureaucracy that doesn't already exist for Aboriginal organisations. This is entirely a political stunt, an absolutely shameful one. If we want Aboriginal land councils, governing bodies and organisations to be the strongest they can be, we need to support them to strengthen their service delivery models in a way that best suits and serve their communities—not this stunt. If we want our nation to move forward, we will need to stand up together. We will need to stand strong together, not go on a hunt after our orgs.

As the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations and I have discussed, traditional owner corporations are already some of the most oversighted organisations in Australia. In my home state of Victoria, there are 11 formally recognised groups under various legislations—whether it be the Native Title Act, the Traditional Owner settlement act, the Aboriginal Heritage Act—covering around 75 per cent of the lands now known as Victoria. These 11 organisations are held accountable by their members, primarily, but they are also scrutinised through their annual reporting to ORIC, through elders councils and youth councils, through government funding bodies and through government funding acquittals reporting, often to multiple agencies. And that is not to mention the high level of scrutiny and questioning at native title full group meetings, at annual general meetings and the ongoing community consultation and project meetings. There are so many opportunities for accountability and transparency in their own communities—and to whatever body you want to point to. The corporations are community led. The governance boards come from the community.

But these mobs want to go after them. I will say it again: this is entirely political. Why don't those opposite trust Indigenous Australians to manage our own affairs? It's a great question. I've heard, time and time again, accusations towards our organisations and towards our people that tell me that you don't trust First Nations people to manage our own affairs, including the fact that you don't want us to have a voice. We are part of cultures that are more than 65,000 years old. We've been doing it for a while; we've been governing our own communities for a while now. We are strong and we are resilient. But, whilst we are the First Peoples of this land, we are not recognised as such. You're trying to get in the way of it. And it is time that changed.

We have an opportunity to do this together this year. We have an opportunity, through the referendum on a voice to parliament. I'm proud to be part of an Albanese Labor government that is committed to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full. The first part of that asks for a voice. It's a generous invitation from First Nations people, directly to the Australian people, asking you to see us and asking you to hear us. It's an invitation those opposite can't even take up.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is the product of one of the most historically significant consultation processes in this country's history. The referendum later this year is asking for a voice to be enshrined in our Constitution, followed by a makarrata commission to oversee processes for agreement-making and truth-telling. First Nations communities across Australia have been working towards the establishment of a voice for decades. Whether it be through marching on the streets, rallies or meeting at Uluru and penning the Uluru Statement from the Heart and issuing that invitation to the Australian people, we have been calling for this for decades. It is an indictment on those opposite that they can't even accept that invitation.

It's about giving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a say on matters that affect us, across health, education, housing, jobs. I think it's pretty reasonable to expect that we might want to have a say on those things. It's about creating practical and lasting change so that our next generation doesn't inherit what I have inherited and what Senator Cox and her kids have inherited. But you don't want to do that. You don't want to accept that invitation. You are very happy for us to run on the spot and do the same thing over and over again, because you think that is acceptable. That's what First Nations people here every time you say no to the Voice—every time.

A successful referendum will see us take our rightful place in our country's Constitution. It will start the process for progress in our country. That's something that should have happened a long time ago, but for multiple reasons it has not. This is the best opportunity that we have got, and you are saying no. The Voice is about recognition. It's about listening and about better results. Our communities are strong and resilient. They will withstand the political attacks of those opposite, including the one that is before the Senate today, just as they have withstood other political stunts from those opposite. Our communities are being used in wedge politics—shameful, shameful. This is another example of how they don't care about the lives of Aboriginal people, even though they pretend to by saying otherwise.

In stating the obvious, this is absolutely unnecessary. I have stepped out the reasons why to the Senate today. We need to be lifting our people up, instead of tearing them down. Shame on these senators for going after our organisations who have been on the front line for our communities for decades. We on this side are on a unity ticket for progress, actually, progress for First Nations people. That is what Senator Cox and I are standing up for, and it is a shame that those opposite can't do the same. Our communities deserve better.