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

As the Minister for Indigenous Australians and also on behalf of the Prime Minister, I table the annual report on Closing the Gap together with accompanying ministerial statements and documents. I move:

That the Senate take note of the documents.

I acknowledge that we come together on the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples on this incredibly significant day, and I acknowledge too the visitors who've come to the gallery and, in particular, members of the Coalition of Peaks who are either here in person or watching from around the country.

Today we table the Closing the Gap annual report and implementation plan.

And I want to be crystal clear.

The Albanese Labor government is ambitious for Indigenous Australians.

Closing the Gap—so that all Australians have the same opportunities in life—will take a collective effort.

As the Prime Minister has just outlined, the National Agreement on Closing the Gap is a landmark partnership.

It brings together all levels of Australian governments and the Coalition of Peaks.

From the first day I had the privilege of being the Minister for Indigenous Australians, my priority has been collaboration and partnership.

I have worked closely with my cabinet colleagues.

I have reached across the aisle to engage the opposition and the crossbench.

And I have prioritised deepening our partnership with Indigenous Australians and their organisations with the Coalition of Peaks.

And I acknowledge Pat Turner, the lead convenor and my co-chair of the Joint Council on Closing the Gap, who is here today.

As Pat Turner will tell you, at the core of making a difference are the four priority reforms informed by First Nations people and communities.

We know that:

we will see real, positive changes in the lives of First Nations Australians.

Our annual report and implementation plan shows the progress made across the government and details our plan in the priority areas of economic empowerment, cost of living, mental health and wellbeing, and giving our children the best start in life, health, education and housing.

The foundation of economic security is jobs, jobs, jobs.

We are delivering on our commitment to get rid of the failed CDP.

We launched the Remote Jobs and Economic Development program and received more than 200 employer applications in the first round.

Our jobs program is about the dignity of work

It's about fair pay and decent conditions, including superannuation, sick leave and annual leave.

It's a game changer.

During my recent visits to Alice Springs and Kununurra, I met some amazing young men and women: Ephrem and Tremayne working in maintenance at Lily Lagoon Resort; Nathalia at Waringarri radio; and John, Maxie, Andre, Jared and Darren working in town camps near Alice Springs.

They told me about how proud they are to get up and go to work and how they want to inspire others.

They are proud of themselves and each other.

Some of them are in their first ever job.

And that's life changing.

Our work across government is making a difference.

Last year we built more than 200 new homes in remote communities in the Northern Territory.

And we are on track to build an additional 270 this year as part of our 10-year goal to halve overcrowding.

We have delivered significant increases in funding for First Nations legal services.

And we've invested in 27 community-led justice reinvestment initiatives across the country.

We have expanded the highly successful Indigenous Rangers Program to create 1,000 new jobs, including 770 positions for First Nations women.

At our launch in Healesville, Victoria, last year, I met Jessica from the Narrap Rangers group.

She told me:

To have First Nations women take leadership of healing Country is really important to us and really important to many women across Australia.

Healthy country means healthy people and it's a part of our identity, it's in our blood, it's who we are and to keep carrying that on, it means everything to us.

We are making great progress on our commitment of 500 First Nations health workers, with more than 300 people enrolled.

We have introduced legislation to expand the role and remit of Indigenous Business Australia to turbocharge First Nations economic empowerment.

Our focus going forward is to build on these achievements and continue delivering action that will improve people's lives, leaving nobody behind.

Last Friday, the Prime Minister travelled to Alice Springs to join the member for Lingiari, my friend and colleague Marion Scrymgour.

They announced a new six-year agreement to fund essential services in remote communities across the Northern Territory, like policing, women's safety, education and interpreter services.

The Remote Aboriginal Investment agreement is with the NT government and Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT.

This is our way of working with a community-led approach.

And Marion Scrymgour is absolutely right about investing in the bush, and I thank her for her fierce advocacy that's secured landmark funding for the people of Lingiari.

Other important measures we are announcing today include:

It's an important measure I'm very proud of, along with our investment in 12 remote community laundries.

We will target remote communities with high rates of skin diseases, and with these laundries we will help stop the spread of preventable infectious diseases, like rheumatic heart disease and kidney disease.

One of my priorities, as assistant minister previously and now minister, has been improving food security in remote communities.

It is unacceptable that people out bush are paying more than double the price as people in urban centres.

Not being able to access fresh, healthy food at affordable prices has such an enormous impact on people's health.

We have been working with the states and territories and First Nations experts on a national strategy.

We know people are doing it tough.

So, to ease the cost of living, we have announced subsidies to reduce the cost of 30 essential items.

To boost education about healthy choices, we are creating more than 100 nutrition worker jobs in remote communities.

Today, we are also announcing measures to target the deeply concerning suicide rates in First Nations communities.

This includes scholarships for up to 150 First Nations psychologists.

We have delivered on our promise to set up the office of the First Nations children's commissioner, which will play such an important role in bringing down the unacceptable rates of First Nations children in out-of-home care and youth detention.

The levels of violence against First Nations women and children are a national shame.

The missing and murdered inquiry and the recent NT coronial inquest into the deaths of four Indigenous women painted a devastating picture.

They are not numbers and statistics; they are daughters, sisters, mothers, aunties, grandmothers.

They are matriarchs of our communities.

The Albanese government is leading a range of important initiatives and making record investments into services that support First Nations women and children experiencing violence.

An important part of our work is in changing men's behaviour.

When I met with frontline services in Alice Springs recently, they made it clear that's a critical step to reducing violence against women and girls.

I'm so proud of what we have achieved in a short time, and I pay tribute to the tireless work of my friend, the former minister, Linda Burney for her contributions over many, many years.

The focus for 2025 is on continuing to improve health outcomes, reduce housing overcrowding, improve food security, keep First Nations women and children safe and increase economic empowerment.

My pride in what we have achieved is only exceeded by my excitement and enthusiasm for the opportunity to do so much more.

We've come a long way, and we certainly have a lot further to go.

It is an opportunity I relish. I invite all people of goodwill to join me in closing the gap so that all Australians have the same opportunities in life.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to make a contribution on the Closing the Gap ministerial statement. Sadly, the Closing the Gap report has become a yearly reminder of what we are not doing well in this country. This year's report is no different. It once again shows outcomes falling short of the targets that have been set. The Productivity Commission reporting today shows that only five out of the 19 targets in the national agreement are on track to be met. There have been improvements on 11 of the 19 targets, but on these issues we remain a long way from where we want to be as a nation.

In October 2023 Australians gave government a very clear message about the way in which they wanted these issues approached. Australians want to tackle these issues in a united way. They told us in no uncertain terms that they do not want this country divided along the lines of race, and thus want a united front when it comes to closing the gap. As my colleague Senator Nampijinpa Price has said many times, these issues should not be approached solely on race but should be looked at on the basis of need. I believe Australians understand that concept and it is their message that they want us to approach these issues in this way.

We need to rethink how we deal with Indigenous disadvantage and we need to find new ways of dealing with it. Senator Nampijinpa Price, with the full backing of the coalition, has, for a number of years now, been calling for a complete audit into government spending on Indigenous Australians and the government programs that supposedly support them. Without such an audit it is impossible to see how we can truly begin to close the gap. If we want to at least start down the road of making a real difference, an audit should be initiated as soon as possible. Sadly, support for an audit has not been backed in this place, or we could have already been on the way to discovering what is working and what is not. What money is being wasted? How could government money be better directed? What programs are working well and should be expanded? What should be rethought and the money potentially directed elsewhere? These questions and many more need to be answered if we are serious about the quest to close the gap. Without such an audit, I fear we will come back to this place year after year, giving the same regretful Closing the Gap speeches we have for many years.

All Australians want better outcomes for Indigenous Australians. We all want something done about the scourge of alcohol and drugs and the toll they take on many Indigenous Australians, particularly those living in regional and remote Australia. We see this played out on the streets of Alice Springs or remote communities elsewhere, including in my home state of Western Australia. We know that since the end of the cashless debit card the situation in many towns and communities has deteriorated again. Violence, and particularly violence within Aboriginal communities themselves, is all too often the scourge of alcohol and drugs. It is unsurprising, but desperately sad, that in the Northern Territory alone we have seen over 200 leaders and representatives from the Aboriginal community and from health and research organisations calling on Chief Minister Lia Finochiarro to keep measures that reduce alcohol related harm, which is a departure from the approach taken by her predecessor.

The rates of domestic violence and child sexual abuse, in many communities, are still way too high. More needs to be done to protect these children, who are vulnerable and often trapped in a cycle they unable to break free from. The coalition believe a royal commission into sexual abuse in Indigenous communities is a vital step, and we've asked the government to support this position. We also believe the cashless debit card should be reinstated. The scourge of alcohol and drugs is causing so many of the other issues we see in many communities, including increased levels of violence and crime. The cashless debit card helps children in these communities get the sort of support from their parents that all children in our nation deserve.

The failures that we see in today's Closing the gap report do not indicate a lack of good intentions or effort by a succession of governments and ministers. Over many years, governments have worked with community groups and other partners in an attempt to close the gap, but year after year we find ourselves in a similar position. That is why we need new thinking—a redoubling of effort but effort put towards the right initiatives. Make no mistake, all Australians want us to achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. But Australians also instinctively know that there must be a better way than just throwing billions of dollars at the same sorts of initiatives that we have tried before.

We need progress on improving health, safety, housing, education and employment for Indigenous Australians. It is the responsibility of all of us in this place to work towards achieving those better outcomes. We can set ourselves targets, but unless we can achieve them, or at least go much closer to achieving them, Australians will rightly question our value on this vitally important national issue. We owe all Australians, but particularly disadvantaged Indigenous Australians, better outcomes.

Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I firstly want to acknowledge the lands and the people of these lands past and present. I stand here today with great sadness but not any surprise. Today feels like groundhog day, with the same old conversations and the weak commitments. Every year, we hear the same: 'We must do better.' The report's findings are an affirmation. The sad thing about this report is that it is about people's lives—what they are living every single day. This report continues to tell the story that most of the mob out there already know and, in fact, experience daily. This report reveals that, while 11 of the 19 Closing the Gap targets are seeing improvements on outcomes, only five are on track to be met. Australia is failing all Australians, not just First Nations people, on this. We deserve to be a healed and equitable nation, and this is completely unacceptable.

I listened to the Prime Minister in the other place and his remarks that these must be reminders to learn from our injustices, the mistakes of the past. Here's the news flash, Prime Minister: this isn't about our past; these mistakes are still happening today. This is our lived reality, and this must be the way that we rewrite our history. The reality is what I hear daily about the experiences of community. There is the lack of housing, especially in regional communities, which means they are off country. There is the food insecurity, starting in vulnerability communities, which face huge costs. Yes, listing 30 essential items is a start, but we need to look at how we remove the systemic duopoly that currently exists and reduce those prices not just in remote communities but across the whole of Australia, because Australians are doing it tough. There are the deaths in custody and the locking up of our children, our babies. There is the lack of access to water clean enough even to swim in, let alone to drink. Power is regularly disconnected—up to twice a week in northern Australia. And if you've got aircon or a fridge you can't afford to keep those things connected. You're unable to see a doctor because either there isn't one or you can't afford to see one, and you in fact become so ill that your condition becomes terminal. We are seeing this for so many First Nations communities across Australia, and there is so much sorry business that is attached to that, which has reduced our lifespans.

We are running out of time. The loss of our languages and knowledge from our elders is heartbreaking and in fact quite profound. I welcome the recognition of First Nations women—our matriarchs, the hearts of our families and communities—who are carrying the load. They often manage the lack of food, trying to get kids to school and the need to leave their kids to give birth to children on country. They also experience the absolutely horrific and unacceptable rates of family and domestic violence in this country. We know that First Nations women are 33 times more likely to experience family and domestic and sexual violence. I've listened to the loved ones and stakeholders who told us those stories during the missing and murdered First Nations women and children inquiry. These are in the report that the Greens put additional comments into, which that this government still haven't responded to. It's a wonder that that target is not on track! And it's shameful.

We are experiencing and suffering the continuation of intergenerational trauma. Mr Dutton mentioned 1970, when those kids stopped being removed. I was born in 1976, which wasn't that much later. This is still the profound trauma that exists, and I'm not going to listen to people say, 'Get over it.' There is no justice for our people, and this report just reaffirms this. This has been even worse and will be worse under a coalition government. We have seen the remarks that show how they feel about First Nations people in this country. One of the examples is removing our flags. This week, we will be at the 17th anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations breakfast, and yet I'm sure that this place is truly sorry and say that they are learning! Are we, as the PM said, facing up to what is not working and learning from what is? If you ask mob in community these days, they will confirm that what they have been saying for a long time is not being listened to.

The gaps are not closing. We must take a different approach to the way we put in place and support self-determination in our communities. We want to thrive in this country by spirit, by connection to our country and our sea and by preservation of our language and cultural ways. If we do it for other cultures in this country, we should do it for First Peoples. If we don't work together to change those things, it is collusion with the genocide of First Nations people in this country, which will cause further deaths. It will cause the destruction of our country, our cultural heritage and our 65,000-years-old connection to this place. If Australians want equity, then this is the fair go we speak of too.

At the moment, we are not valued, respected or heard for our First Peoples' knowledge and self-determination in decisions that impact us—and it's a wonder the gap is in fact not closing! This report is a necessary aspect of truth-telling in this country, but now we must be prepared to be open to listening, and I'm unsure whether this government is even listening. This government must not continue to paint the picture that government knows best in its approach of doing to communities. There is a clear need to change the system. It is a proud, rich and deeply remarkable story—a story of hope, achievement and survival against the odds—that we must share and that comes from First Peoples. Yet the government is still continuing not to put their absolute support behind formal truth-telling in this country, their commitment to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.

When this Prime Minister talks about giving us a stake in the economy, absolutely, the Greens are continuously advocating for that real, genuine benefits-sharing, stopping black cladding and knowing that that involves shared ownership on our country. It involves free, prior and informed consent. Communities that will see the brunt of fossil fuel extraction and already do in my home state of Western Australia, in the Pilbara, still have such a low OECD rating of poverty when they're less than 10 kilometres away. It is a disgrace, so level up the playing field.

The Prime Minister's hope will not carry First Nations people through, nor will goodwill. A fair go for all is what Australians expect, and I respect that, but what this report shows is that the current form of implementation is not working and has not worked for the successive governments of the Liberal and Labor parties. This is why the Greens have introduced a select Senate committee, which I will be chairing, on measuring the outcomes and reviewing those targets that are going backwards. It includes ensuring that wellness is viewed through the proper lens, an Indigenous lens, and is about mental, physical and spiritual health and wellbeing.

As the portfolio holder of the Australian Greens and the chair of that committee, I will make sure that I am asking all the relevant questions about how we can strengthen the accountability, but I will also make sure that we get these targets back on track. What we know today is they are not being met—they are not even on track to being met—but the attitudes to them are what underpin the criticisms that the Productivity Commission are actually making. We know that, if we continue this trajectory, we will end up with another generation of First Nations children who are locked out of schools, hospitals, universities and workplaces in this country. These are the things that this government could do, but are not doing, to improve the lives of First Nations people: having Medicare in prisons, raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 and supporting our bill that will form Australia's first federal truth and justice commission.

First Nations people have the solutions. They keep saying that. They keep telling governments; it's that the governments are not listening. Every government department, every minister in this place and every member has a role to play. Root causes need to be addressed. Youth need to be in communities, not in prisons, and, without urgent action and without this government doing more, Closing the Gap risks becoming another broken promise to First Nations people. But it's bigger than just another broken promise. This is life or death for many First Nations people across Australia. It is now beyond time to change that and to get the job done.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I first acknowledge the traditional owners of this land on which we gather, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging, and I pay tribute to First Nations colleagues in this chamber and across the parliament. I particularly want to pay tribute to government's First Nations caucus—Senator McCarthy, who provides wise and energetic leadership as minister, as well as former minister Linda Burney, Senator Stewart, Ms Scrymgour and Mr Reid. They are central to the Albanese government's work to build Australia's future —a brighter, more inclusive future—and a stronger and more united nation.

Colleagues, this year marks 17 years since former prime minister Kevin Rudd took such an important step forward in our reconciliation journey by making the National Apology to the Stolen Generations—a profound acknowledgement of past wrongs and a commitment to a future where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples share in the same opportunities and outcomes as all Australians. It was a moment of profound unity in this country. We know that commitment as Closing the Gap.

In realising that commitment, we all know we still have a long way to go. But Senator McCarthy has outlined in detail the ways in which this government is working in partnership with states, territories and peak organisations to close the gap. As Senator McCarthy has said today and on so many occasions, her priority is collaboration and working with others. The government is delivering record funding in health, education and housing, and, just last week, announced more than $840 million to fund essential services in remote communities. We are committed to building on our record investments and to easing cost-of-living pressures in remote communities. We know that, by working in genuine partnership with First Nations people, we can ensure that better outcomes for all are delivered. Minister McCarthy has said our focus is to build on these achievements and to continue to deliver action that will improve people's lives, leaving nobody behind.

So often the discourse on reconciliation has a tone of burden, with little expression of the vast contribution First Nations people have always made to Australia and the contribution they continue to make to Australia every day. This includes their contribution to Australia's place in the world. As foreign minister, I have sought to elevate First Nations international engagement, seeking to close the gap in how Indigenous Australians are included in the effort of advancing our interests in the world. First Nations people were this land's first diplomats. First Nations people were this land's first traders. First Nations people have built enduring economic and cultural ties across our region, and we recognise that these ties to the region are an asset as we seek to rebuild trust and Australia's reputation with our nearest neighbours. That is why I appointed Mr Justin Mohamed as Australia's first Ambassador for First Nations People. The work of the ambassador and his office has reinforced Australia's influence in the Pacific, where traditional leadership structures play such an important role shaping public opinion and government policies. The ambassador has engaged with the leaders in Papua New Guinea, in Solomon Islands, in Fiji, in Vanuatu, in Tuvalu and in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Now, I know there are some who seek to diminish the value of these engagements and our approach to the region. I invite them to visit the region and talk to traditional owners and traditional leaders about their views. I invite them to consider whether their domestic political pointscoring is more important than Australia doing everything we can to strengthen our ties across our increasingly contested region. First Nations engagement makes Australia stronger and it makes Australia safer. As the Prime Minister has said:

It is a rich, proud and deeply remarkable story, a story of hope, achievement, and survival against the odds.

And it should be shared.

The Albanese government recognises that First Nations people's success in the world is Australia's success. We know international engagement doesn't support just our strategic and diplomatic objectives in the region; it has economic benefits for First Nations people and Australia as a whole. First Nations businesses can be drivers of economic growth, seizing opportunities for investment, trade and innovation at home and all around the world. That's why the ambassador and his office have been central to securing the first-ever dedicated First Nations provisions in the Australia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement—an agreement that ensures Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses can expand into new markets. We have also facilitated First Nations trade missions to the United States and other key partners to boost exports and open new investment channels, all of which helps make the Australian economy stronger, more resilient to shocks and more competitive.

The Albanese government has also fought for and secured the Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge. It is a landmark agreement that for the first time ensures First Nations people's genetic resources and traditional knowledge will have formal legal recognition. Today I can announce to the chamber another achievement: the successful conclusion of the Riyadh Design Law Treaty—a treaty that makes it easier for Australian designers, especially small and medium-size businesses, to protect their intellectual property overseas. Critically, it ensures that Indigenous cultural expressions and traditional knowledge are protected in design law. These are agreements that safeguard Australia's competitive edge, preserve our national identity and help secure our economic future by ensuring that First Nations businesses and designers have greater opportunities out there in the world. These international efforts shine a light on how closing the gap across all our endeavours is so firmly in Australia's national interest. Our greatest asset is our people. As the PM said today:

Each one of us is a part of this nation's story.

Each of us adds to its newest chapters.

Like anything made stronger by its layers, we draw strength from Australia's extraordinary and profound depths.

The contributions of all our people will be decisive in Australia's ability to be resilient and effective in navigating a world that is more uncertain and more unstable, so closing the gap is more than addressing disadvantage. It is about that, but it is also about building a stronger and more prosperous future for Australia, and what we know is that, when First Nations people are included and empowered, all Australians benefit. We know that an Australia that is stronger at home is stronger in the world.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the National Party to associate my remarks with those of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Michaelia Cash, on the presentation of Labor's third Closing the Gap statement—an occasion for assessing our nation's progress, or lack thereof, in improving outcomes for Indigenous Australians.

I know I am incredibly proud to be here in our nation's parliament where all sides of politics have very strong Indigenous women representing territories and states and, indeed, local communities. That was not the case—and couldn't have even been envisaged—when I first arrived nearly 15 years ago. What that tells me is that Australians, no matter where they live, absolutely understand and appreciate the need to send Indigenous Australians to our nation's decision-making body, and that is absolutely how it should be. But I think it is concerning that we have fake fights about flags from Senator Cox and talk of record funding deals, when the lived experience in regional and remote communities for Aboriginal Australians is incredibly difficult. It's shameful. It is something that I, in former ministerial roles, have done my best to overcome, yet it is still here. It is a scourge on all of us, on all sides of politics. Women and children in particular are living in situations that would not be acceptable anywhere else in this country.

The Closing the Gap statement is made in this period of our parliamentary year when we come from all different political persuasions to discuss and debate how this needs to be addressed. I think the way Australians expect us to tackle disadvantage and to address the most vulnerable in our communities so that they get a better go—and they showed this through the Voice referendum—is to do that together so that Indigenous Australians can participate fully in all the opportunities that this great nation of ours can provide. That means addressing the fundamentals: health, education, economic empowerment and safety. If we cannot get the basics right, I'm not sure, Senator Wong, what use there is for an Indigenous ambassador swanning around the Pacific. I can tell you—and I'm sure Senator Nampijinpa Price will go into more detail—that, on the ground, regional and remote communities would like running water, thank you very much! I don't think that's too much to ask in a modern Australia. I apologise to my staff because I have completely gone off my speech.

We've seen another year of division and distraction around Indigenous policy, following the failed Voice referendum from the Albanese government. It failed to unite a nation on something we all agree on: ensuring that disadvantaged and vulnerable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders get a fair go in a 21st century Australia. The National Party was the first party to oppose the Voice with a very respectful 'no' because we knew this would just be another bureaucratic advisory body. Thankfully—and thanks to the work of so many, particularly Senator Nampijinpa Price and Warren Mundine—60 per cent of Australians agreed with us. It was actually a distraction from the real issues: economic development, community safety, health, education and accountability. Senator Nampijinpa Price has been an unwavering advocate for Indigenous Australians and a powerful voice for real change. Jacinta, your work in exposing the Voice referendum and championing practical solutions is commendable because that's what closing the gap is supposed to be about: actual practical change to the everyday lives of those in our community. I want to mention a quote from Senator Nampijinpa Price: 'Indigenous Australians have repeatedly demonstrated our strength, resilience and ability to determine our own futures.' I think that is something we can all agree on working together on.

Since the referendum, what's been most appalling is that the symbolism of it all was exposed. Labor's lack of a plan to actually deal with the very poor outcomes on the ground for remote Indigenous Australians was exposed—no plan, no bold vision. We saw the landslide election of the Country Liberal Party in the Territory because those communities in the Territory want change. They want crime in Indigenous communities dealt with. They want to ensure that locals are involved in decision-making. They want to make sure that private enterprise is at the heart of economic empowerment for Aboriginal Australians in the Northern Territory. I know that is something that the CLP is absolutely committed to seeing happen, as is Lisa Siebert, the CLP candidate for Lingiari at the federal election. The Prime Minister's statement points to throwing more money at the same problem, and, as we know in this place time and time again, record funding does not shift the dial on this issue. We need a completely new way of looking at it, and we actually have to have a hard, honest conversation with ourselves about how we can do this better, because throwing money and using the same ideas are not actually going to change things.

The National Party have long championed an approach that empowers local Indigenous communities, rather than imposing top-down solutions from Canberra. We believe that regional and remote Indigenous Australians deserve real economic opportunities, not just more government handouts. It is because the National Party, like the Country Liberal Party, actually represents rural and remote Aboriginal Australians. Mark Coulton's electorate, the seat of Parkes, is 16 per cent Indigenous Australians, and so it's not from a lack of experience, understanding or engagement with rural and remote Aboriginal Australians that we come to this place.

I was very proud to be minister that signed the Barkly Regional Deal, but I'm profoundly disappointed that, over five years later, the Barkly deal has been bogged down in bureaucracy, much of the agreement has been delayed, costs are continuing to rise and not enough is happening on the ground. But that was not entirely unique to remote Indigenous programs, and so while time marches on, more remote communities fall behind. The facts now speak for themselves, with only five of the 19 Closing the Gap targets on track. That's not progress; it's actually failure. In remote communities, children are still going to school hungry, if at all. Health outcomes remain dire, and violence continues to plague too many families and communities. We've seen the violence escalating over the past three years, particularly in the NT, in Queensland and in WA.

The government has no opportunity and does not seem to want to actually address this, because it does come down to economic empowerment. Indigenous Australians need jobs, not just welfare. We must support businesses and industries to take real economic opportunities for regional and remote Indigenous communities. We need to talk about royalties in a new, practical way and address law and order. Every dollar needs to be accounted for, and I know Senator Nampijinpa Price, if she gets the great honour to be Minister for Indigenous Affairs in a Dutton-Littleproud government, will absolutely go line by line through this to make sure the taxpayer dollar goes where it is needed and where it is going to affect change and change lives, not just in the present but for generations to come. That is the challenge for each and every single one of us.

The coalition stands ready to work with Indigenous communities. We don't need another advisory body. The time for symbolism is over. We need real solutions and outcomes. The National Party proudly wants to see change, and we hope that a future coalition government will be able to deliver that with Minister Nampijinpa Price at its helm.

David Fawcett (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Given the time is approaching 1.30, we will proceed to two-minute statements.