Nova Peris (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to respond to the Prime Minister's statement on this nation's effort to close the gap on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage. I want to talk about areas where we are making progress but also address some concerns I have about areas where we are going backwards. The Closing the Gap report reminds us that, while we have made a start, we still have a long way to go. The aim is to have closed the gap by 2030. It might seem a long way off, but if we have any chance of succeeding we have to be making gains now. I am proud that the Northern Territory is leading the way. The Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction on target to meet the Closing the Gap targets by 2030. This is due to the long-term investments of policies of both the Northern Territory and the federal Labor governments.

There have been clear improvements in life expectancy and a reduction in Aboriginal infant mortality. Across Australia the Indigenous child mortality rate has dropped by 32 per cent. This is an achievement to be proud of. There has been a dramatic increase in the life expectancy of renal patients. The life expectancy of an Indigenous renal patient is now the same as that of a non-Indigenous patient—a real achievement that is clearly the result of an expansion of renal dialysis facilities into remote communities.

Under the previous government, investments and policies in health, education, housing and community safety all helped to improve life expectancy. However, I am worried that some of these investments and policies are being undone, particularly in relation to stopping the rivers of grog and in relation to education. On coming to government in August 2012 the CLP, the Country Liberal Party, government in the Northern Territory scrapped the Banned Drinker Register. For those that do not know, the Banned Drinker Register was an electronic identification system installed right across the Northern Territory that prevented problem drinkers from purchasing takeaway alcohol. When it was scrapped there were around 2,500 problem drinkers on the register.

This time last year, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard spoke out against the scrapping of the Banned Drinker Register. To his credit, the opposition leader at the time, Mr Tony Abbott, stated that he shared her concerns. Tragically, their mutual concerns were ignored by the Country Liberal Party government, and the consequences have been devastating. In the last year, alcohol related violent assaults have increased by 15 per cent right across the Northern Territory. Domestic violence has increased by 21 per cent across the Northern Territory. Aboriginal women are bearing the brunt of this violence. Dr Howard Bath, the Children's Commissioner in the Northern Territory, has graphically outlined that Aboriginal women are 80 times more likely than other Territorians to be hospitalised for assault. This is a shocking statistic, and one that no Australian should accept. When you travel to the Northern Territory, you can see this violence on the streets. Towns like Katherine and Tennant Creek are awash with alcohol. In Tennant Creek, alcohol related assaults are up by 54 per cent, and domestic violence is up by 70 per cent—in just one year.

None of the Closing the Gap targets can possibly be met while this continues. Until the sale of alcohol is controlled at the point of sale, the rivers of grog will flow and the violence will continue to grow. I have met with doctors in our emergency departments. Alcohol admissions in hospitals have gone through the roof in the last year and a half. Emergency departments are full of the victims of alcohol related violence. The costs of this are enormous. Such an enormous amount of our vital health resources is being spent dealing with a crisis that can be avoided.

Under Labor, alcohol sales in the Northern Territory declined for six straight years. But now they are increasing. The increase coincided with the scrapping of the Banned Drinker Register. It is beyond argument that the scrapping of the Banned Drinker Register has compromised our capacity to reach the Closing the Gap targets in the Northern Territory. Doctors, police, lawyers, judges, Aboriginal health workers and many others have called for the return of the Banned Drinker Register. Even some of the CLP's own members of parliament have called for its reintroduction to be considered.

The Prime Minister's Closing the Gap report states:

All Australians have a right to live in a community where they can be safe.

For many Aboriginal women and children, this right is not currently fulfilled. The Prime Minister says his government will continue to support tough alcohol regulations, but, unfortunately, he is passively sitting back while alcohol regulations that worked are being undone. I call on the Prime Minister and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, as a matter of urgency, to use the influence they have with the Country Liberal Party government to bring back the Banned Drinker Register. I urge the Minister for Indigenous Affairs to proactively work to get the 23 alcohol management plans being prepared to be finalised. I urge him to not just wait until they are developed but ensure that they are developed, approved and implemented as soon as possible.

Another area I am extremely concerned about is education. Improved education is essential if we are to close the gap in the long term. Equality in education is essential. Every Australian child should have access to a quality education. As I said this morning at the Closing the Gap breakfast, my grandfather told me, 'Don't just talk about it; be about it.' To be about it, a child needs an education. A child without a proper education will miss out on opportunities for the rest of their life. The education outcomes in the Closing the Gap report are disappointing. The cuts to education in the Northern Territory are hurting the bush. Remote schools are starting this year with fewer teachers and less resources than they had last year.

Just last week I was in a remote community, and the school in that community has an attendance rate of 90 per cent, which is very high for a remote community. It is due to the hard work over 30 years of one individual teaching assistant at that school. The Country-Liberal government has just cut back his position to half time. He went from 8:30 to 3:30 and now the position has gone back to 8:30 to 11:30 after 30 years of success. The Prime Minister and the Minister for Indigenous Affairs have been busy talking about the truancy officer plan as a method of getting kids to school. This plan will not work while teachers like this man are being cut back.

I welcome the Prime Minister's commitment to include school attendance as a Closing the Gap target, but I urge him to look at the effects that current education cuts are causing. Picking up the kids and taking them to school is actually the easy bit. Keeping them at school is the hard bit—and only dedicated teachers with the resources they need can get this done.

Indigenous incarceration rates are higher, and we need to address this. The Commonwealth's decision to cut funding to Aboriginal legal services is wrong. These organisations do not just provide legal representation; they work with their clients to try and make sure that they do not reoffend. This is the area where the funding cuts will hurt the most, and incarceration rates will continue to increase.

As the deputy chair of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples I will be working hard this year alongside the chair, the member for Hasluck, Ken Wyatt, to promote this issue. The referendum is an opportunity to unite all Australians. We will be working to raise public awareness and to demonstrate the importance of this to Aboriginal Australians, but we also need it to be a positive step for all Australians.

I welcome the bipartisan nature of the Closing the Gap targets. But that does not mean I will not speak out when government policies are wrong.    If I believe that any government decisions compromise our capacity to reach the Closing the Gap targets then I will speak out.

Finally, I would like to thank the many people who work so hard to close the gap: our teachers in our schools, the medical professionals working hard with our Aboriginal health services, the alcohol service providers and everyone who is in a community, working with their families and children and striving to improve lives. I commend them for the terrific job in an often challenging environment.

I welcome the Closing the Gap report released today and I urge everyone in this parliament to continue to work hard to ensure we close the gap on Indigenous life expectancy.