Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Scullion. For years the minister has been opposing calls from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and expert bodies to implement justice targets under the Closing the Gap framework. Only last September, the minister said:

The Commonwealth can't have a justice target ...

Does the minister stand by this statement?

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McCarthy for the question. Absolutely, we stand by that statement. That statement actually has the support of many Indigenous groups who now understand that having a target affects nothing, because we have none of the levers. Having a Bex and a good lie down might be politically correct. It might be the easy thing to do, but it is not the right thing to do. The Commonwealth are determined to do the right thing: through COAG, have an agreement across the states and territories. They have the levers. They own the criminal justice system, they own the court system and they own the correctional system, so they can do things and they can have targets to set those matters to rest.

What we have done is say, 'We can do some other things, though. Yes, that's a matter for the states and they can set their targets.' So we looked carefully at the data and we realised that 82 per cent of Aboriginals who are currently incarcerated have, in fact, been there before. They are recidivist offenders. We have looked very carefully at that demographic. The first day that you are incarcerated, all our energy is on ensuring that everything that happens to you during that incarceration period ensures that you do not come back again. This is a strategy that is a thoughtful strategy. It has the support of very many justice groups around Australia, which I speak to very frequently. The advice on that area has certainly been provided to me by many Indigenous organisations. It is a more sophisticated approach than in the past. The state and territory jurisdictions are the ones who control the levers, so they should have the targets with respect to those levers. It is my responsibility as well to ensure that we hold them to account for those targets, so in a separate area the Commonwealth is dealing with the states to ensure that the 82 per cent recidivism is reduced. That is the particular area that we are working on.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McCarthy, a supplementary question.

Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Reports reveal the Prime Minister has included justice targets in a review of Closing the Gap targets, so what exactly is the government's position—the minister's or the Prime Minister's?

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Both. The report was actually referring to state targets. They were not Commonwealth targets. Our recommendation, through COAG, is to ensure that the justice targets are consistent targets that are adopted by all the jurisdictions. It has to be a consistent target based on best practice. We have said that there will be a suite of activities in this area and that justice targets should be a part of Australia's approach to it. The justice targets are a part of the responsibilities of states and territories, and we will be taking our responsibilities in another way.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McCarthy, a final supplementary question.

Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Given the minister's policy failures now include the failed implementation of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, overseeing half a billion dollars in cuts to services for Indigenous Australians, failing to protect the Territory—his Territory—from $2 billion in cuts to GST distributions, and opposing justice targets, will the Country Liberal Party move to see a fresh face in Canberra?

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Where do you start? It has been interesting. I know Senator McCarthy will have been following the six-day campaign from my local newspaper—a fine newspaper. It brings crocodiles to the lounge rooms of every Australian. They have been running an online poll that asks, 'Should Scullion resign?'—because I am such a bonehead. Right at the moment, Territorians on that poll have voted 60 per cent in favour of myself and condone my view. That is almost two Senate quotas, Senator.