Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians continue to ask why the vast riches allocated to closing the gap over many years are not producing the intended outcomes. I have been speaking about this, and I've got the report that I put out on 14 June 1996. This is what I was referring to all those years ago—the inequalities in the system. Until we actually acknowledge and question this, nothing will change. Repeated failure to close the gap puts this good will at risk. I have always called for equality among all Australians. Assistance should be based on individual need. A person's cultural background or skin colour should never entitle them to more assistance than any other Australian. I will keep repeating that.

I'm pleased to see here in this chamber my colleague Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and hear her comments that are now starting to draw attention in the coalition—they are actually backing her up—but I didn't get backed up on that years ago, because it was the Howard government that threw me out on making comments on equality for all Australians. I was thrown out of the Liberal Party for saying it. It's quite interesting to see today that Senator Cash has made some comments with regard to this, and it's quite interesting to hear her comments. The Liberals are only now saying it should not be based on race but need. That sounds familiar, and I got thrown out of the Liberal Party for it. So it's good to see that they've finally woken up to themselves, because closing the gap is clearly not working.

I keep calling for equality for all Australians. In part of my comments that I've made here—I've got to go back to this as well. I got involved in politics because of Robert Tickner, who was a minister in the Keating government. This is Robert Tickner's comment: 'On this basis, the ABS 1991 national census included people of Aboriginal descent and people who were accepted as Aborigines by Aboriginal communities.' This means whites who married Aborigines or had adopted Aboriginal life and been initiated qualified not only for the census but also for welfare payments under the more generous Indigenous range of benefits. The then Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Robert Tickner, conceded that the growth in census figures for Indigenous Australians in 1991 reflected an increased willingness of people to identify as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin. This uncertainty as to what constitutes an Aboriginal lends itself to welfare abuse, false native title claims and other such injustices.

When government handouts are considerably more generous for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders than non-Aboriginal Australians, it is little wonder that more people are willing to hitch their welfare wagons to the Aboriginal gravy train. He said that, and I said it in 1996. Isn't it amazing. Hasn't the Labor Party done a turnaround in their attitude towards this? How many times have I asked for the identity of Aboriginals? But you won't even do that. As I said, forget about race. It's not about race, culture or your background. It should be based on an individual needs basis. We are all Australians together. Forget about whether you're Aboriginal. It should not come down to that.

Even in this report that I put out, which I've got here, for everything that you go through—whether it's health, education, legal aid or masters degrees—there is a clear difference in what you get if you're an Aboriginal, compared to a non-Aboriginal. Nothing has really changed today at all. If you look at some of these things here, referring back to health, things have to change. Till we acknowledge this, it's only going to get worse.

In what I have pulled up here, I also made comments about the corruption and misappropriation of moneys that is happening, but it falls on deaf ears in this place. What we need is to have a good look at these corporations. A good example of the different treatment is the standards of governance to which Indigenous corporations are held compared to the standards required of non-Indigenous corporations. Non-Indigenous corporations are required to meet the governance standards of the Corporations Act 2001. Indigenous corporations are only required to meet the standards of an act written specifically for them, the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006. Many Indigenous corporations can't even meet these softer standards, and the agencies which are supposed to enforce these standards are either disinterested or poorly resourced.

There have been many examples of poor governance in recent years, allowing corruption and nepotism to reign freely while entrenching disadvantage among those who need the most support. Boards of directors at some of these Indigenous corporations are passing illegal resolutions without required quorums or even outside of board meetings without required written agreements from every board member. Many directors are not even aware of their individual obligations, and training in these basic obligations is not mandatory. Many directors are simply appointed to support family members dominating boards, and required declarations of these connections are not adequately enforced.

Even worse is the paternalism which drives these much lower standards. It assumes a much lower level of competence and diminished capacity for Indigenous people, and that makes no sense at all. I've been told about the corruption that's happened, even on councils: a CEO councillor actually signed off on work to be done by his own company, and the work wasn't carried out. Do you want to do an audit? No-one in the wide world does.

Where is the accountability for the billions of dollars that are going into this Aboriginal industry? Under One Nation, we intend to abolish it. There won't be any Aboriginal department. There won't be 3,000 Aboriginal corporations. There won't be all these handouts any more. There will be accountability for taxpayers' dollars. The Aboriginal people will come under the same department as any other people.

As I said, too, you talk about health issues. We hear people in this place talk about the health issues.

Brochure material reads:—

this is going back to when I put this out in 1997—

"An organisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, controlled By Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People".

It says 'controlled by' them.

In the main, these clinics—which included medical, dental, along with specialist clinics like diabetic, child health, women's health, nutrition, mental health, ante-natal care, and welfare and community development—are exclusively for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Expenditure for 1994-95 was $69.669m.

That's nearly $70 million. Off the top of my head, in the census at that time—1996—there were approximately 356,000 Aboriginals. Now we've got over 800,000 people claiming. Robert Tickner was right: everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. Between the 2016 census and the 2021 census, people claiming to be Aboriginal increased by 25 per cent. It's really working, isn't it?

And then you talk about the land.

In 1994 (most up to date figures were available) land was acquired for Aboriginal communities under land acquisition and maintenance and the Regional Land Fund. During that year, 45 properties were bought for $17.3m, of which approximately 30% was spent on pastoral properties.

Aboriginal organisations own (up to 1994) the staggering total of 77 cattle stations (prolific through the Northern Territory and Kimberley region), making those organisations the largest holders of pastoral property in Australia. This figure does not include land owned by individual Aboriginals.

The most disturbing thing about this vast land acquisition is that there is repeatedly no accountability or record of it !

What are we going to do about it? These are things that happened 30 years ago, and nothing's changed.

You keep talking about this. You sit in this place, and the only way it will change is if you start treating people equally on an individual needs basis. You talk about there being no water in the communities. If you are in remote communities and you're supposed to be connected to land and that's your culture, why are you relying on the white man's way of life to provide the services when you clearly don't want this? You can't have it both ways. Yes, look after those who are in need, but you also have to look after taxpayers' moneys, which have to be accountable to every taxpayer.

Stop screaming, because all it is is you're playing the victim card, and Australians have had a gutful of it. Start doing something. You've been given the opportunity to run these organisations yourselves, and nothing has happened. They're in worse conditions now as the years go by.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today's formalities have historically occurred on the anniversary of the apology to the stolen generations. I acknowledge that that day is significant for those who may already be here in Canberra or who will be coming to Canberra in the coming days to mark the anniversary. I also acknowledge the new neglected generation of children, who are being left to languish in dysfunctional circumstances simply because of their race. It is an absolute crime, and make no mistake: there will be a day when those children demand an explanation as to why they were allowed to be overlooked in the way that they are.

Today's report contains a lot of information, but it's also important to highlight what is missing. In July 2024, the Productivity Commission highlighted two crucial areas of reform. First, there is the need for an agreed approach to measure the implementation of the four priority reforms. Second, there is the lack of a reliable data source to assess whether Indigenous communities have access to clean drinking water, sewage treatment, and electricity. The recommendations are emblematic of the failings of the current approach, with ineffective governance, poor information and practical necessities not a priority. It was disappointing that neither of these reforms were properly addressed in the list of essential action in the 2024-25 implementation plan.

I turn to the data, the Closing the gap: annual data compilation report July 2024 showed only five of the 19 targets are on track to being met. It was a grim report, and the data relating to the Northern Territory was especially concerning, as the Territory is home to many of the most marginalised Indigenous Australians. The data was released the same week I attended a funeral for a much-loved young Indigenous man in the Territory who had committed suicide. This report is not just about statistics; every number is a precious life. That's why we must do more to protect them.

Clearly, the current approach is not working. We are now half way through this national agreement, and it is overdue for review because, despite how much closing-the-gap data is used to inform policy and conversation, it is incomplete. The data is lacking, firstly, because it isn't broken down by geographic area, age or sex, so it doesn't accurately tell us, beyond a state or territory level, locations with the highest need.

The data is also lacking on increasing box-tickers—that is, self-identifying Indigenous Australians whose ties to Indigeneity are tenuous at best or non-existent at worse. Wiradjuri woman Suzanne Ingram noted that, in the 2016 census, 40,000 people ticked the Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander box for the first time, the majority of them from eastern states or urban locations. The growth of box-tickers is skewing the data, but this government are too cowardly to call it out for fear of being called racist. Aside from causing data deficiencies, the box-tickers are skewing our policy conversations as opinions of box-ticking elites are often favoured over true Indigenous knowledge holders. This is a serious problem. It's contaminating the data and the policies we create, and marginalised Indigenous Australians ultimately suffer.

I hear from those opposite that they want to end Indigenous disadvantage, but, in reality, Anthony Albanese would prefer to distract everyone with cash splash announcements instead of real solutions.

If they truly want to end Indigenous disadvantage, they must redirect their priorities to things that really matter, like economic independence. The private sector holds a wealth of opportunities for marginalised Indigenous Australians and can be a pathway out of a life of disadvantage. I've seen it in Alice Springs. The Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, has taken time to see it also. I encourage the Prime Minister to do the same. The coalition knows economic independence and private enterprise are vital to enabling marginalised Indigenous Australians to stand on their own two feet. We also know that land councils, especially in the Northern Territory, can be a barrier to economic independence. That is why we will support traditional owners who want to form breakaway, language based land councils. We must encourage those who want to develop their land for things like tourism, cattle stations or mining instead of keeping them dependent on government welfare.

In addition to encouraging economic development, the government must address the bureaucracy that is suffocating meaningful change. Last week I attended a briefing with the Minister for Indigenous Australians. It was disappointing, to say the least, because every question about accountability was met with what can only be described as babushka doll responses. The national framework for Closing the Gap has no single person in charge. On paper, the co-chairs are in charge. Further, government funding is disbursed to myriad departments, despite one agency supposedly being in charge. But ultimately, according to the minister, the cabinet is responsible. It is a system without accountability, which is unacceptable in a system where the buck should stop with the minister.

Another problem is that there are too many bodies in this space for it to be effective. The Coalition of Peaks are somehow meant to represent 80 peak organisations, and then each of those peak organisations can represent hundreds of further organisations. At the briefing, we were told in all sincerity that this was an effective way for grassroots opinions to have a seat at the table. That proposition is absurd. It's no wonder our marginalised are remaining and becoming further entrenched in disadvantage. To tackle the bureaucracy and lack of accountability, the coalition, if elected, will undertake an audit of Indigenous expenditure. The national expenditure on Indigenous Australians has not been accounted for since 2015-16 let alone properly assessed for duplication and effectiveness. Along with a parliamentary inquiry into land councils and statutory authorities, we will finally have a full, honest picture of Closing the Gap policies. We will know what is failing and what has been succeeding, what is being wasted and what is needed and who is being listened to and who is being silenced.

Aside from the bloated and unaccountable bureaucracy, the refusal by the government and Indigenous leaders to confront difficult issues is also hindering progress. One of the biggest areas of concern relates to the sexual abuse of Indigenous children in Indigenous communities. It's worth noting that, in his address today, the Prime Minister has failed to even mention the rates of sexual abuse suffered by Indigenous children. In contrast, the coalition has committed to holding a royal commission into sexual abuse in Indigenous communities. We know that SNAICC is opposed to this, shamefully. That doesn't mean it isn't needed. If we refuse to confront this, we have no hope of tackling the rising rates of youth incarceration and domestic and other forms of violence. Nationally, the rate of Indigenous children subjected to a substantiated child protection notification was 40.5 per 1,000. For non-Indigenous, it was 5.6 per 1,000. The contrast becomes starker when we look at the NT. In the context of 30 June 2023, Indigenous children were subject to child protection notification at a rate of 385.5 per 1,000, compared to 73.7 per 1,000 non-Indigenous children. Further, Indigenous children made up 89.1 per cent of substantiated investigations. The data relating to notifications of sexual abuse specifically is just as confronting. Nationally, the rate of sexual abuse for Indigenous children was 2.8 per 1,000 while, for non-Indigenous children, it was 0.5 per 1,000. In the Northern Territory, the rate of sexual abuse notifications for Indigenous children was 2.2 per 1,000, but for non-Indigenous children it was 0.2 per 1,000.

These numbers are appalling, and this is the only reported data. There is good reason to believe that much sexual abuse in communities goes unreported. So let me be clear: I will not mince my words, and I'm not afraid of being offensive when it is a matter of truth. I say to Indigenous leaders who refuse to acknowledge or believe any further investigation is warranted: you are failing those children; you are the ones causing them harm. If this was occurring elsewhere in our society, a royal commission would be demanded.

There's no question that things need to change. Our data collection must be improved. Box tickers must be stopped. The priorities must be directed to need not race. An audit must be undertaken, and accountability must be taken. (Time expired)

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

Today's Closing the Gap announcement tops off a year of betrayal. Once again, Labor is refusing to address the urgent issues facing First Peoples and confront their own role in harming our communities. They're refusing to address the suicide epidemic, the child removals and the incarceration rates, particularly of children. While there are welcome measures like increased access to affordable food in remote communities, the simultaneous funding for more police in these same communities is appalling, feeding with one hand and imprisoning with the other.

This time last year the Productivity Commission delivered a damning assessment of Closing the Gap, calling for a complete overhaul. A year later, things have only gotten worse. State and federal governments have repeatedly shown they lack any real commitment to justice for First Peoples. Worse still, governments are actively driving harm against us. State governments have doubled down on criminalisation, jailing and removing children, ripping more of our families apart. The latest data shows nearly one in 15 First Nations children are removed from their families. That is 24,000 children, and this number is growing each year.

Victoria is among the worst, with nearly one in eight of our children forcibly removed from their families. Even more troubling, the Northern Territory is moving to dismantle the child placement principle, a key recommendation from the Bringing them home report, pushing to rip apart our children and family culture and kin. This is not just an assimilationist attack; it's part of a continued genocidal effort to cut First Peoples from our cultures, communities and country. In September, Queensland again suspended its Human Rights Act, allowing more children to be locked up in brutal adult police watch houses. Victoria abandoned plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14. The Northern Territory lowered the age back to 10, reintroduced the use of spit hoods on children and relocated all children from Central Australia to Darwin, 1,500 kilometres away from their families, community and country.

Across the country, governments are increasingly locking our children in prisons where their bodies and human rights are routinely abused, yet the federal government remains silent. It looks away. It refuses to raise the age of criminal responsibility beyond 10 for federal crimes or do anything to push states to raise the age. The government is directing money for First Peoples to organisations such as police—$205 million of the announced $840 million Closing the Gap funding package goes to the cops. This doesn't benefit our people. It only means more of our people will be locked up, more of our children will be jailed and more lives will be destroyed. It is money for widening the gap.

The federal government must recognise that much of what our communities face results directly from the violence governments are perpetrating against First Peoples. It is now increasingly clear that the federal, state and territory governments have no real commitment to the Closing the Gap partnership. As an example, in November, Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator McCarthy, met the state and territory ministers to discuss the crisis of First Nations children being jailed unsentenced. They're not even sentenced. The kids are in jail without even being sentenced. They're often in adult police watch houses.

The latest data shows that 83 per cent of First Nations children in prison have not been sentenced and the majority are never found guilty of an offence. The minister told them to take it up with their Attorney-General. What happened next made it clear that the partnership is broken and that no-one actually cares or listens to the federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs because Victoria's Labor Premier, Jacinta Allan, announced a review of bail laws designed to lock up more children. New South Wales Labor Premier, Chris Minns, extended harsh bail laws for children and boasted about jailing more of them. The WA and SA Labor governments passed more punitive laws, and in Queensland it's harder to get bail as a child than as an adult.

This system is killing our kids. In just the past 18 months, two children died in youth detention. Their deaths are directly attributable to a system that criminalises and brutalises instead of offering care and support. We know that children in the Ashley Youth Detention Centre in Tasmania have been strip searched—children being strip searched! They are subjected to isolation. Children are being isolated, beaten and sexually abused in the prison system while a systematic cover-up hid these abuses for decades and continues to hide them. All of your governments are hiding along with them. Similar abuses are documented across the country. It's telling that the National Children's Commissioner has been denied access to children's prisons in Victoria and WA, where conditions are known to be horrific.

Australia spends over $1 billion a year jailing children, yet there is no real commitment to transparency or accountability. The Senate supported my motion to report on prison conditions, addressing issues like self-harm, miscarriages, and stillbirths in custody, yet Labor refused to comply with its democratic duty. Governments continue to cover up the violence and abuse routinely perpetrated within the prison system, and then they turn around and blame us, like you just heard.

When it comes to legal assistance, a fundamental protection against injustice, Labor is failing again. An independent review revealed that the legal assistance sector was underfunded by $1 billion annually and recommended an additional $459 million per year from 2025 onwards. Labor responded with inadequate funding of just $500 million over five years, less than a quarter of what is needed. Aboriginal Legal Services called this a betrayal that does not reflect a government that believes in First Nations justice. Well, obviously, you're not about that at all. And remember, cops just got given $205 million which only increases the demand. Last year, I led a group of 28 crossbenchers in calling for stopgap funding to keep legal services afloat. Labor, again, ignored this.

Many of the problems we see reflected in the Closingthegap report point to breaches of Australia's international human rights obligations. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has repeatedly called out Australian governments for violating the convention. Legal experts presenting to the youth justice inquiry last week made it clear the federal government has the power to intervene, to enforce minimum standards on the states and to prevent these human rights abuses, aligning this country with our international human rights obligations. But they pick and choose when they want to follow UN obligations, and the federal government denies it has jurisdiction over these abuses. This is a lie.

The government is responsible for upholding international human rights obligations, and it has the constitutional power to do so. It is choosing not to act, hiding behind the fake excuse that this is all just a matter for the states and territories. The external affairs power under section 51 of the Constitution allows the government to implement international treaty obligations across all jurisdictions. This means the government could legislate to ensure compliance with the United Nations conventions that Australia has ratified. These powers have been used to enforce uniform sex discrimination laws across states and territories, under the Sex Discrimination Act. The government could do the same to prevent human rights abuses against children and First Peoples. It simply just won't act.

Self-determination is the only way forward. We don't need more overpaid commissioners for everything. You put up a commissioner for everything. We don't need any more reports being ignored, token advisory bodies that you keep setting up or sham partnerships that governments continue to breach. What we need is for governments to stop perpetrating violence against First Peoples, which drives more intergenerational trauma and dysfunction. We need them to respect our basic human rights.

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

The story of our nation is often told through our sporting accolades and our great pride in our scientific advancements and academic achievements and through celebrating our unique and wonderful natural environments, but our record on how we treat First Nations Australians is inseparable from our identity in Australia. Our history as a nation will be judged by the actions governments take now to address the inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, giving all of us an equal playing field.

First Nations mob are strong and resilient. Every year, we face numbers that tell a story that is hard to process. They tell the story of a gap between those of us who were born as First Nations people and those who were not. I have been grappling with these numbers since I first heard the statistics as a 15-year-old in a high school classroom. Since that day, I have been driven every day to change those numbers, and that's why I'm a part of the Albanese Labor government—we're building Australia's future, easing the cost of living and delivering record investments in First Nations outcomes to close the gap.

This report tells a story of a Labor government which is creating jobs and building economic empowerment for First Nations communities, easing housing overcrowding and improving safety. Some highlights for me in particular are that, over the last year, we've commenced the new Remote Jobs and Economic Development program, which will create up to 3,000 jobs in remote communities over three years, and we've expanded the Connected Beginnings program, which supports First Nations children to thrive in early years. I've spoken many times in this chamber about how crucial the early years are. With the right support early on, we can set kids up for life.

While Peter Dutton and the opposition want to rip away the opportunity to build your future, we're giving Australians the opportunity to undertake free study, with over 30,000 First Nations Australians enrolling in our free TAFE programs across the country. We've significantly increased funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services and family violence prevention legal services, to help more women and children who are escaping family, domestic and sexual violence. We've committed $842 million to delivering essential services for remote communities, including policing, women's safety, health and education in the Northern Territory. We've expanded the Indigenous Rangers program to create 1,000 new jobs, which includes 770 for First Nations women. I'm also heartened by the commitment to expand much-needed services for birthing on country, mental health and nutrition.

The 2025 Closing the Gap implementation plan outlines the strategy for the year ahead. There is so much in this plan that sparks optimism for the future for mob. I was particularly excited to see the commitment to establishing a place based business coaching and mentoring program for First Nations businesswomen and entrepreneurs.

Through my role as the Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, I've had the chance to learn more about the economic contribution of First Nations people. Australia's First Peoples have been traders, innovators, entrepreneurs and knowledgeholders for more than 65,000 years. We have an unbroken knowledge of invention, innovation and resilience. Our contribution to Australia's economy and local communities is significant and far-reaching—beyond gross domestic product—and it's growing rapidly.

The committee learned that First Nations businesses contribute $16.1 billion in revenue each year and that for every dollar of revenue spent, First Nations enterprises create $4.41 of economic and social value. That's why we are also expanding the role and remit of Indigenous Business Australia to boost First Nations economic empowerment, strengthening the Indigenous Procurement Policy and investing $16.9 million to deliver a First Nations economic empowerment agenda.

At the core of self-determination is the freedom to write your own story. I want to write a story of our mob building on their resilience with their unique knowledge and skills, and taking our place as economic contributors and partners in this country. I am proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government and to work with colleagues, like Minister McCarthy and Prime Minister Albanese, who are writing that story with me and with all First Nations Australians.

Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I start by recognising that this week is the 17th anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. My own mother was an example of that. She has since passed, but she often used to say, 'I will not let my children live vicariously in my trauma,' and she refused to reflect any stereotype.

The first job of any government is to keep Australians safe. The job is to do better, not to do things everyone knows will make a situation worse. The job is to focus on priorities the evidence says you must focus on. Labor, you've made progress in the Closing the Gap targets worse when you removed the cashless debit card. You made progress worse, too, when you watched the now decimated Northern Territory Labor government lift alcohol restrictions. You made it worse with your $450 million failed Voice referendum, because you were completely distracted—along with the leadership in those same organisations on the frontline of Closing the Gap. Those three things almost guaranteed the annual Closing the gap report was not going to read well. There are some good stories in there, sure, but you lack a focus on accountability and that has meant it's not a better read.

These annual reports are a continuation of our commitment, shared by all in this chamber, to do better by Indigenous Australians, but it's not on track—still only five targets have been met. There are more targets either going in the wrong direction and not on track or there is no data to determine change. And its representation in this report does not tell us by how much it has changed, if anything, within those targets. We are only expected to believe you.

The report handed down today is more of an election campaign pitch than it is about data that is useful. It is not nearly as comprehensive or informative as previous Closing the Gap reports. Box-ticking Indigenous Australians is most likely skewing the data—that is truth-telling. The data is deficient and accountability is becoming unclear. Who is this agreement actually with? Who is responsible for it? This report is 11 pages shorter, 10 per cent less detailed, than the previous year. How is that possible with so much more to do? It is not a true reflection of what is happening. Even the Productivity Commission says to 'beware of the aggregate'.

Closing the Gap is a national snapshot. In some areas, progress is of course so much worse. Sadly for everyone, the Prime Minister is not prepared to address the foundation issues that matter most in closing the gap. This includes the performance of the frontline organisations—the ones who get the funding and who exist to deliver the services. Every Australian deserves better. Victims-survivors and locals who live in communities—from Cairns to the Kimberley and from Ceduna to Katherine, where these outcomes have gotten worse—deserve better from all of us. They deserve better from the federal government, the state and territory governments, local governments and organisations, and from the individuals themselves.

There remain several targets with no data. How can that be so when family violence is such a driver of poor outcomes across all targets? Worse, there is flip-flopping, doublespeak and dodging from the Prime Minister. 'If things aren't working, we'll change them,' he said. There is no evidence that the Prime Minister is doing that at all, and he continues to refuse coalition calls for an audit. In central Australia, the Prime Minister last week tried to sell an existing funding stream for remote communities as if the $842 million was new money. Some of it is, but the truth is most of it wasn't. Much of that funding already existed in the budget and was a continuation of the Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment agreement, which has been negotiated with the Northern Territory for remote communities since 2016. This agreement is a little different, though; it includes Aboriginal peak organisations of the Northern Territory. I acknowledge the funding in it for family and children centres in 12 communities and additional funding for language and men's centres, but your announcements do not provide detail, and your record of implementation is very poor.

The Albanese government, much like the leadership in those Aboriginal community controlled organisations, was distracted by the Voice referendum from its core business. All of you should have been focused on your day jobs, improving the lives of Indigenous Australians and not being a political megaphone for the Labor Party. In this chamber, Labor and the Greens have repeatedly refused our motions for an audit into the organisations responsible for delivering outcomes for Indigenous Australians. How can you continue to do that given the very public shortcomings of several key organisations under your watch? The most spectacular belong to NAAJA, which exists to provide legal advice to the most vulnerable people in the Northern Territory. Federal funding was wasted on a temporary ice skating rink in Alice Springs in the middle of summer and bus services that run until four o'clock in the morning in some areas. That does nothing for children's safety, nor does it do anything to help those kids get themselves to school.

Sure, you have bipartisan support for Closing the Gap but not for wasteful spending that does nothing to assist the most vulnerable and funding that is actually an enabler of further dysfunction. It was your government that failed to stop the NT Labor government ending those alcohol restrictions. You are wedded to ideology rather than evidence. It has resulted in immediate and horrific impact. There was a 77 per cent increase in family violence in the months that followed. There was increasing crime across the Territory, with more children on the streets than in school, too terrified to go home because of alcohol fuelled violence. In the same financial year the restrictions were lifted, there were some 62,000 hospital admissions in Alice Springs, a town of just 29,000 people. Your inflation, which has been higher for longer, has cost Australians dearly—and none more than those in remote and regional areas, who do it tougher. In October, regulator ORIC stepped in to investigate three community stores in South Australia, my home state, at Amata, Indulkana and Pukatja. Court fines and penalties of $32,000 were imposed for failing to comply with reporting obligations. Add to that legal expenses and all the unnecessary and avoidable costs that no doubt are passed onto already struggling and unsuspecting customers.

You talk of tackling food security but fail to tackle those very obvious things that are right in front of us now. We know the Albanese government removed the cashless debit card in communities that wanted it and now refuses to rule out disbanding income management in the Northern Territory entirely. When you do that, you will again condemn the gap to further widening. You must not end income management. The PM went to the last election promising to end income management, but he knows his experiment resulted in worse outcomes for everyone, so he's now hesitant to do anything until after the election. Tell them you plan to do the same again, only after the election. The consultations on ending income management for 29,000 people in the Territory ended on 6 December last year. We know your Labor stacked parliamentary committee concluded with a recommendation to end income management. You only have to go to the parliamentary website to find that.

To close the gap we must combat the drivers behind violence in Indigenous communities. Alcohol is the most significant driver of them all. The Prime Minister's inaction on alcohol access in the Territory is unforgivable, and the victims of this inaction are vulnerable women and children. Ninety per cent of men incarcerated in the Northern Territory are there due to family violence related offences. Alcohol was the main driver of that violence. The Prime Minister is right to focus on early childhood and education as a vehicle for advancement, but you can't ignore the facts. Aboriginal children are on the streets, not in schools.

I want to refer to a distressing element of the 'Help Way Earlier!'- transforming child justice for safety & wellbeing report released by the National Children's Commissioner last year. It told some truths about what children thought. They said that being in custody was safer than living in their own homes. It's a truly appalling state of affairs. It is time to get Australia back on track with practical action for Indigenous Australians that deals with evidence and not emotion.

Fatima Payman (WA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too would like to make a contribution. I acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri elders and knowledge holders who've paved the way for those present here today, those following proudly in their footsteps and those yet to come, as owners and custodians of country. I acknowledge Whadjuk country as my home base where I live, care for and maintain continuing reciprocal relationships with all who share this land.

Today the government released its list of the 2025 investments to address the Closing the Gap targets. On the surface these measures look very promising: cheaper groceries in remote stores, business support for Indigenous entrepreneurs and home loan assistance. These are welcome, but they're nowhere near enough. We know that only five of the 19 targets are on track. While the government tinkers at the edges, the reality for First Nations communities remains dire. Housing is in crisis. Incarceration rates remain shamefully high. Food insecurity is a daily struggle. Children are being taken from their families at record rates. This is not closing the gap. This is barely opening the door.

Let's break it down. The Prime Minister has promised to 'cap the prices of 30 essential products in 76 remote stores', ensuring people pay city prices for basics like milk, bread and apples. It sounds great, right? But let's ask the real question: why are food prices so high in the first place? It's because remote communities lack infrastructure. I've travelled around WA, and I know that freight costs are astronomical. There is no reliable investment in local food production or supply chains. First Nations communities have been calling for community owned food co-ops, better transport subsidies and an end to the price gouging by monopolistic retailers. Yet the government offers only a short-term price cap. What happens when the cap expires?

The Prime Minister boasts about boosting Indigenous homeownership, but what about the tens of thousands of First Nations people living in overcrowded, unsafe and dilapidated public housing? What about the communities with no running water, electricity or functioning sewerage systems? This government has promised new laundries in 12 remote communities, as if access to a washing machine is the solution to third-world conditions in our own country. People don't need a tokenistic upgrade to a laundry facility. They need proper housing, clean water and liveable infrastructure. Where is the massive job-creating investment in First Nations led housing programs? Where is the commitment to long-term community controlled housing solutions? This is a government that will spend billions of dollars on nuclear submarines, but when it comes to First Nations housing all we get is a handful of washing machines.

Yes, the government is strengthening the Indigenous Procurement Policy and offering business coaching. But let's be clear, coaching does not replace secure, well-paid jobs. We know that the Community Development Program, CDP, is the discriminatory work-for-the-dole scheme that has punished First Nations jobseekers with fines, welfare suspensions and exploitation. This policy has failed and it has been proven that it has failed, yet it remains untouched. Issuing empty statements and promises will not replace CDP with real jobs, proper wages and decent conditions. Where is the investment in First Nations led industries, land and water management and renewable energy projects that create sustainable employment? Instead of relying on handouts from government contracts, First Nations communities deserve real economic self-determination.

This government is offering scholarships for First Nations psychology students and funding for domestic violence services. These are important steps, but they don't touch the biggest threats to First Nations people's health and safety. Where is the plan to raise the age of criminal responsibility? Right now, children as young as 10 years old—and disproportionately First Nations kids—are being locked up. The government knows that this is a human rights violation. It knows that it contradicts the Closing the Gap targets, yet it refuses to act.

Where is the commitment to First Nations led health organisations—to expanding Aboriginal community controlled health organisations and to tackling rheumatic heart disease, diabetes and chronic illness in Indigenous communities? The government is extending the Stolen Generations redress scheme, which is long overdue, but where is the commitment to Treaty? Where is the national truth-telling process?

The Uluru statement called for a Voice, treaty and truth. This government abandoned the Voice, and now it is silent on the rest. We have had decades of reports, inquiries and promises, and still, First Nations people die younger, are locked up at higher rates and live in poorer conditions than almost any other group in this country.

In my home state of Western Australia, leaders from First Nations communities have told me about the challenges affecting their communities. One of the key issues is health, as I mentioned earlier. At Edith Cowan University, research found:

… conditions like respiratory diseases (including asthma), heart and circulatory diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney diseases and some cancers are more common among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than among non-Indigenous people in WA—

specifically.

At the last census, WA had the second highest per capita rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander homelessness, at 381 per 10,000 people. The employment rate of Indigenous Australians in regional areas was dire—as low as 32 per cent in very remote areas, compared to the 58 per cent that we see in major cities. The measures announced by the Prime Minister tinker around the edges but fail to address the structural causes of Indigenous disadvantage.

This Senate should not be patting itself on the back for the short-term fixes that are before us. It should be demanding systemic, transformative change because justice delayed is justice denied, and First Nations people have been waiting for far too long. I urge this government to do better.

Question agreed to.