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

I want to start by acknowledging Senator Thorpe for bringing the important issues impacting First Nations communities to this chamber today. It is indisputable that yes, children need culture, country and connection to family. It is indisputable that women, children and families need access to support services when and where they need them. And it is indisputable that families and community members need to have control over these programs and services. The evidence tells us that when Aboriginal people have a seat at the table our children are happier and our families are healthier. But this cannot be done by simply throwing money around. We must, above all else, empower First Nations communities.

On Gunditjmara country in south-west Victoria Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation is recognised as a progressive leader for positive change in the community. In 1990 a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members came together on Gunditjmara country in south-west Victoria to discuss the needs and aspirations of the mob at the time. From that initial meeting, the attendees determined to form an Aboriginal community controlled organisation in Heywood focusing on addressing the housing, health, employment, child removal and education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the region.

Winda-Mara has since celebrated its 30th birthday and continues to go from strength to strength. The organisation is now a well-respected Aboriginal community controlled organisation with over 85 staff, working from offices in Hamilton, Haywood and Portland in the south-west corner of Victoria. Winda-Mara manages medical centres and housing properties tenanted to Indigenous Victorians. Their work in the community services space includes supporting cultural strengthening, regional local justice, playgroup and youth mentoring programs. They also talk about having some of the lowest incarceration rates in the state because of what they do and how they do it. The team at Winda-Mara are passionate, kind and effective. They have high aspirations not just for First Nations people but for the entire region, and the determination to match it. Leaders like Uncle Mookeye, JB, Ben Church and Jason Walker are working to engage young people plus build opportunities for mob.

This year, construction will begin on Winda-Mara's new medical clinic in Heywood and a new integrated family services building. These developments not only will strengthen the quality of services provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members—and other community members are welcome to use the service—but also will contribute to the regional economy at large. More construction in the regions means more jobs for builders, plumbers, sparkies and site managers. We must continue to build on the strength and resilience of First Nations people to achieve better outcomes because, after all, what's good for mob is good for all Australians.

Through justice reinvestment, the Albanese Labor government has invested a historic $91.5 million to enable a community led approach to prevent First Nations people coming into contact with the criminal justice system in the first place. We are also implementing a wide range of other measures to support communities, including working in partnership with First Nations people to deliver a new remote jobs and economic development program and establishing a national commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people to help achieve progress under the Closing the Gap agreement. I note that a commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children is something that mob have been asking for for a very, very long time.

In any conversation around supporting First Nations people we must look to the success of the deadly organisations already operating in this space and work with them to identify and remove barriers to further success. That pathway requires a strong emphasis on self-determination, trust and power sharing with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It requires us to support and create pathways and remove barriers to economic participation and inclusion. It requires a long-term focus and commitment. It requires us to build mob up, not tear them down. I would say that most First Nations senators and members in this place have a shared commitment in wanting better for our communities, and referring to members and senators in this place in a derogatory way does nothing to advance that cause.