Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased also to offer my contribution following the release of the latest Closing the Gap report. There are 274 remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia with the majority of them located in my electorate of Durack. They are located in the Kimberley, the Gascoigne, the Pilbara, the mid-west and also the northern wheat belt. But as we have heard, the gap remains very wide. Durack has the second largest number of Indigenous people living in any electorate.

In discussing the Closing the Gap report, you are left with this sinking feeling that serious restructuring of the way that we do things is required to address the difference between the living standards of Aboriginal people and the rest of the Australian community. The reorganisation does need to be transformational and this government has made a good start on the right path. We need to focus on education and schooling, jobs and meaningful work, training opportunities leading to a job—not training just for training's sake—safety and security in the community and in the home, and, of course, health and wellbeing.

Only with positive, reliable and sustainable practices in these four areas will outcomes be realised, will the breach lessen and will the gap narrow. This is an easy thing to say but so difficult to do, as previous well-meaning governments have experienced. Let us take some time to look at the progress against the seven targets as outlined in the recently released Closing the Gap report: closing the gap in life expectancy within a generation, not on track—limited progress and much more to do; halving the gap within a decade in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five, on track for the longer term—some good news there; access for Indigenous four-year-olds in remote communities to early childhood education, not met—however, noting the target is 95 per cent and all jurisdictions have committed to this; closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous school attendance within five years—new targets have been set against the 2014 baseline to close school attendance gap by 2019; halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy for Indigenous children, not on track—alarmingly, no overall improvement since 2008 so most unsatisfactory; narrow the gap in year 12 or equivalent attainment, on track and the gap is narrowing—some positive news there; finally, halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, not on track—in fact, in decline since 2008, very disappointing.

We see some improvement but, overall, a pretty poor report card by any means. Frankly, if we cannot get kids to school, which this government is working hard to achieve, and improve numeracy and literacy then we should not be surprised that employment targets have not been met. But are the expectations of the system we have too low? What are the programs? Who is getting funded and are these programs effective? Where is the accountability? These are the questions we have to ask ourselves. This government is focused on answering these questions and on quality outcomes for Indigenous people but there is much more we need to do—that is obvious to all.

To paraphrase Warren Mundine, Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Council: it is not about money; it is the fact that the money is not going where it is needed—and I sadly see that in my electorate all the time

However, others add that the problem relates in many cases to culture. So many Aboriginal Australians are caught in a cross-cultural chasm, which complicates, confuses and compounds everyday life for them. Further, many are homeless, victims of family violence, suffering from alcohol or other substance abuse issues or are incarcerated. But pretty well most Aboriginal Australians, to some greater or lesser degree, find themselves wedged and then torn between conflicting ideologies—the ancient, nomadic Aboriginal culture where land and ancestry are the essence of life and living and the Western culture, like the institution of this very parliament where we gather today to make speeches, to make laws and the like. But it is not Aboriginal lore. It is not how a 60,000-year-old Aboriginal culture maintains its law and order. As law makers, we must ask ourselves: are we addressing culture adequately and genuinely in our efforts to close the gap?

It is my view that the practices and reforms that are intended to reduce the gap must be brutally culturally appropriate and led by those who have the ear of Aboriginal Australians. I am talking about leadership. I am talking about opinion leaders. And I would offer to this important conversation that we need and want more Aboriginal people to take on this leadership role. Perhaps, for too long, we have had politicians and administrators—mainly non-Indigenous—being the ones to present so-called solutions to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians.

There are many brilliant Indigenous leaders in Durack. I would like to take a moment to mention one young leader in Durack by the name of Torekana Bole-Turner, of South Hedland, which is a mining town in the Pilbara. Torekana is a finalist in the 2015 National Youth Awards in the Youth Leadership category. Torekana has been nominated for challenging racism and disadvantage in his home town by facilitating an outreach program known as 'The Hood Academy'. Torekana has shone through with his passion and dedication, showing that age is no barrier to getting involved, to showing the way, to being a leader. Torekana is a credit to our community and an outstanding youth ambassador across regional Western Australia. We need more people like Torekana to step up and to work in partnership with communities, the non-government sector and government. The federal government has commenced a program of real reform, significantly changing policies and programmes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

As we have heard, the new Indigenous Advancement Strategy has three priorities: get the kids to school, get the adults to work and make communities safer. There is no argument there that they should be our three priorities. I stand behind the genuine efforts across all levels and all persuasions of government to close the gap. I share in the frustrations of those Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who have tried so hard to make a difference. The recent release of the seventh Closing the gap report has heightened the disparity in health, education, employment and safety between Aboriginal Australians and the rest of the community. Despite the best efforts of previous governments, there is still so much more to be done to improve quality of life for all. We all need to work together to close the gap.

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