Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There has been a lot of criticism levelled recently in this chamber at the government’s Close the Gap initiatives, including its national partnership agreements on remote Indigenous housing and remote service delivery. Tonight I would like to share some good-news stories to show that good things are happening as a result of these initiatives. Perhaps it is appropriate I follow Senator Faulkner, with his comments about the media. It is a shame that we have to stand up in this chamber to promote the good things that are happening in remote Indigenous communities rather than reading about them in our national newspapers or hearing about them elsewhere.

Under COAG’s National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery, 29 Indigenous communities across the country have been identified and prioritised for additional investment. This will improve access to government services for Aboriginal Australians living in remote communities. Under the Remote Service Delivery Strategy, all Australian governments have signed up to a concentrated and accelerated approach to tackling deep-seated disadvantage. Local communities are working with governments to develop implementation plans that are tailored to their specific priority needs.

Fifteen of these 29 communities are in the Northern Territory, and one of these is Gunbalanya, in Arnhem Land. Gunbalanya is about a 50-minute drive north of Jabiru, heading towards the coast. To get there you have to cross the famous Cahills Crossing, over the East Alligator River. On Wednesday 10 November I was pleased to visit Gunbalanya with Minister Macklin, the Northern Territory Minister for Indigenous Development, Malarndirri McCarthy, and the member for Lingiari, Minister Warren Snowdon. The community of Gunbalanya is in west Arnhem Land, about 330 kilometres east of Darwin. It has a population of about 1,300 people, of which 93 per cent are Indigenous. The Indigenous population of Gunbalanya and its surrounding areas is projected to grow by nearly 40 per cent, to nearly 1,600, in 2026. The number of Indigenous people of workforce age, 15 to 64, will increase from 700 in 2006 to over 1,000 in 2026. The number of Indigenous people aged over 50 is expected to more than double, to 260, in this period. For people who might be listening on broadcast, if I stand in the middle of the Gunbalanya township, I can look one way and see the coast of Northern Australia and look another way and see the fantastic escarpment of Kakadu National Park. It is iconic country. These statistics present unique challenges in an area with no traditional labour market or economic base. Of course, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures notoriously undercount Indigenous populations, so we suspect the actual numbers are larger than the estimates.

A significant milestone in ensuring a secure and strong future for Gunbalanya was achieved during our visit in November, and it was the reason we went there. Gunbalanya became the first community in the Northern Territory to sign off on a work plan known as a local implementation plan, or LIP. I really want to highlight this tonight, and I hope I get to stand up and give 14 other speeches as each of the other implementation plans across the Territory are signed. This is a watershed moment for Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. This is about all levels of government—Commonwealth, territory and local—signing implementation plans with communities to close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage. The implementation plans are developed as part of the national partnership. Each plan is worked out at the grassroots level, with the community itself at its core.

On the day, Malarndirri McCarthy captured the sentiment of the intent of the plan. This is a plan that is driven by the community. It is a plan of priorities in their community. They have identified the priorities and then listed in the order that they want them dealt with. Local, state and Commonwealth governments have signed on the dotted line to achieve it. They set out, for each community, agreed priorities, actions, responsibilities and commitments. They detail what services are required and how they will be delivered. Government agencies will commit to resources and timeframes to implement actions identified in the plan, with a particular focus on harnessing potential investment from other COAG national partnerships and agreements.

The plan is extremely comprehensive. It is 51 pages long, and I know that if interested people go to the Northern Territory government website they will find it. It says:

Transforming Gunbalanya will require a two-way commitment to change. This means:

• community members agree to take more personal responsibility and fully participate in the commitments of the Gunbalanya Local Implementation Plan, and
• governments agree to listen to the community and provide resources and planning to improve infrastructure, services and access service.

In the case of Gunbalanya, the community established the Arrguluk Reference Group to represent them in the local implementation planning process. Seven men and seven women were chosen, including several young people, from the three camps comprising Gunbalanya. I want to take the time to attempt to read their names tonight. My competency is in Gumatj rather than in the language at Gunbalanya, so I will provide Hansard with these names. With all due respect, I hope I pronounce their names correctly. I do want to name them because I am incredibly proud of this community and the work that it has achieved. I am incredibly proud that we now have tangible evidence that the Close the Gap initiatives are becoming a reality for communities in the Northern Territory. It is a reality that they own, that they have developed and that they are going to drive. The Arrguluk Reference Group members were Andy Garrnarradj, Wilfred Nawirridj, Isaiah Nagurrgurrba, Kevin Buliwana, Otto Dann, Dallas Thompson, Joey Nganjmirra, Lois Nadjamerrek, June Nadjamerrek, Linda Codgen, Lorraine White, Donna Nadjamerrek, Gunbaladj Nabegeyo and Julie Narndal. I think they are worthy of having their names listed in the transcript of our federal parliament because they are true leaders—iconic leaders—in the Indigenous community in the Northern Territory and I think the whole country should recognise their leadership and the pathway they have taken in developing and signing the first local implementation plan in the Northern Territory. As I said, the plan was developed with the Indigenous engagement officer, the government business manager and the whole community working hand in hand with the Australian and Northern Territory governments.

Education, including early childhood education, is a key priority for the community. I think that in the plan the very first thing they want done is the building of a new family and early childcare centre. And we have committed to that. We are actually going to do that. The community’s first priority is for all children to have access to early childhood education in the year immediately preceding primary school. They want to see a new families’ and children’s centre. They have identified very specific outcomes and allocated responsibilities for achieving them. For example, one outcome is that ‘babies are strong and healthy, have a good start in life and are prepared for school’. Actions to achieve this include actions where government has a lead role—for example, developing an education program—but, significantly, there are other actions for which the community itself has responsibility.

This is a very comprehensive, very wide-ranging and, most importantly, very pragmatic document. It works out what is good for the community, how to achieve it and who is responsible. It sets clear time lines for achieving results. It is a gusty plan and the people of Gunbalanya are to be commended on having the foresight to be first community in the Northern Territory to achieve such a plan, which will hold governments to account as much as the community itself.