Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity in the adjournment debate to support the statement made by the Prime Minister's during his inaugural Closing the Gap address.

Aristotle is often quoted as saying, 'You can judge a nation by the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens'. In Australia we do care for the most vulnerable in our society. We have a safety net for people who, through circumstance, are unable to care appropriately for themselves or their family without some support. With this in mind, it is deeply troubling that there are still people who live in poverty and violence in Australia. A disproportionately high number of these people come from Indigenous communities. They are our fellow Australians. In one of the wealthiest nations in the world there is a whole subset of society that lives in third-world conditions.

Much has been said about the supposed rancour and acrimony that exists between the two major parties. And, yes, at times parliament can descend into what appears to be nothing more than a slanging match across the dispatch box. However, one thing I never question is the sincerity of all members in this place when it comes to wanting to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous living standards. That is why the Prime Minister paid appropriate tribute to Kevin Rudd for his foresight with the Closing the Gap report. I would like to echo those sentiments.

There is no doubt at all that the current Prime Minister is as equally dedicated to improving Indigenous welfare as his predecessors. Beyond his many years working in remote Indigenous communities he wants to be known as a Prime Minister for Aboriginal affairs. In so doing he has moved Indigenous affairs into the portfolio of Prime Minister and Cabinet as well as dedicating one week of the year, every year, for cabinet to work in Indigenous communities. The Prime Minister has also made it clear that he does not want our government to be measured by how many words we say on this topic but rather on the outcomes that we achieve together. That is why in Closing the Gap we will feature a seventh test to benchmark our results on: school attendance. As the Prime Minister said in his statement, 'No one ever received a good education by not going to school.' Education is the key to long-term, intergenerational improvement within Indigenous communities. After all, your chances of getting and holding a job are almost negligible without an education. And without a job, you cannot improve your economic circumstances.

I know that in my own electorate of Higgins there are a number of independent schools that now offer scholarships for Indigenous students. These students receive a top education throughout their secondary years and often go on to further their studies at university. Their job prospects are very strong. It is this value for the educational experience and culture of learning that we need to embed in Indigenous communities.

The Closing the Gap report does have some good news. The target of having 95 per cent of remote children enrolled for preschool has almost been met. In addition to this, the target to halve the gap in year 12 attainment by 2020 is also on track. However, in other areas the progress has not been as successful. Life expectancy is still about a decade apart between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. There has been very little change over the years. This is despite the fact that there has been significantly increased funding over those years, particularly between 2009 and 2012, when there was a 56 per cent increase in spending. Indigenous employment has also gone backwards. This is another key challenge, one that was at the forefront of the Prime Minister's mind when he formed the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council led by Warren Mundine. There is still so much work to be done, and we have to be prepared to countenance some radical options.

I would like to conclude by revisiting part of my maiden speech, which I gave in this place just on four years ago. In that speech, I said:

Basic fairness and compassion mean a strong social safety net is essential, but I want as few people as possible to rely on it. In particular, we need to break the nexus of intergenerational welfare dependency, a problem tragically apparent in some of our Indigenous communities and, equally tragically, not confined to there. Our policies must encourage self-reliance and resilience.

This is what we will work towards in this parliament and the next, and we will be, rightly, judged on what we achieve.

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