Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

The annual Closing the gap reportshowed only four of 19 Closing the Gap targets were on track and four have been getting worse. The Productivity Commission's report on the Closing the Gap agreement was damned. It called for a complete overhaul of the way First Nations policies are developed and implemented. This is not new or surprising to First Peoples in this country. 'Closing the gap' has long been a dirty word in our communities because this approach has been a failure from the start.

Closing the Gap was Howard's initiative—the same man responsible for the intervention and who sent the Army into our communities. It focuses on our deficits rather than the strength, power and beauty that is our birthright. The government need to start thinking about and addressing their own deficits, their own gaps in understanding and appreciation of the knowledge and cultural authority of the oldest living culture on the planet.

Governments will continue to fail on justice for our people until we have self-determination. The systems aren't broken; they are designed to take away the power of First Peoples and harm us. It is by design that power sharing doesn't happen. The partnership agreement with the Coalition of Peaks is a step towards this, but it is still not self-determination. Self-determination means giving grassroots First Peoples and sovereign nations real decision-making power for what is best for our families, children and country. We don't need more overpaid commissioners, ignored reports, token advisory bodies or so-called partnerships that governments continue to ignore. Governments have no clue what is best for First Peoples in this country. They need to admit they do not have the answers—we do. That is why self-determination through treaty is the only viable pathway forward.

Treaties from the grassroots up will give each language group the ability to negotiate an agreement that works for them. That is how this country can move forward and find unity and heal. It is the pathway to peace. Treaty will help us come together as a country, recognise the sovereignty of First Peoples and begin to fix the ongoing injustices our people face from your system.

It is beyond disappointing to see Minister Burney and the Prime Minister dodge questions in recent weeks about their commitment to truth and treaty. This government needs to come clean with First Peoples and everyone in this country and begin telling the truth. Albanese's and Burney's statements have shown that Labor—