Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Let me just remind the Chief Government Whip that the carbon tax legislation, surely the most significant legislation to be brought into this parliament in the current term, was simply looked at by one single joint committee. There were 19 bills of carbon tax legislation and one single joint committee was given just 19 days to look at that shattering legislation. Here we have a tiny five-page bill that has gone off to five separate committees, which have now dragged on their inquiries for the best part of two years. It just is not good enough.

Let me make this point: this is a government, and a Labor Party, which is happy to pose as a defender of Aboriginal people until that pose runs up against the political interests of the Labor Party. We all know who is running this government. The real power in this government is not the Prime Minister but is, in fact, Senator Bob Brown, the Leader of the Greens. This is a Bob Brown veto that is being exercised over the parliament's consideration of my private member's bill. If members opposite had any real desire to do the right thing by the Aboriginal people of this country, they would say: 'Let us slough off the Bob Brown veto. Let us for once, just for once, put the real interests of Aboriginal people ahead of our political interests and certainly ahead of the political interests of the Greens and Senator Brown.'

To think that the understandable desire of the Aboriginal people of Cape York, who just want to turn their land into more than a spiritual asset, who just want their land to be an economic asset too, is being thwarted by the additional levels of green tape which have been placed upon it by the Queensland Labor government is just scandalous. Time after time, I have been approached by the decent people of Cape York, the Richie Ahmats, the Noel and Gerhardt Pearsons and all of the mayors of the Aboriginal communities of Cape York, who say, 'Please, do whatever you can to take this green-tape strangulation off us.' They want to do the right thing by their communities. They want to do the right thing by their people and see economic development on Cape York go ahead in ways which are consistent with maintaining the extraordinary environmental qualities of that marvellous area.

Do you think for a second that the Aboriginal people of Cape York, who have been the custodians of this land since time immemorial, would for a second do something that is going to prejudice the environment in which they live? Is that what this government thinks, that the Aboriginal people of Cape York are just waiting for a chance to despoil their environment? Shame, if that is what this government thinks. Of course the traditional owners of Cape York are not going to do anything which is inconsistent with the environmental amenity of their land. That is why we should trust them. We should trust them with the power that my bill seeks to give them. That is why this bill should go for a vote in this chamber this week.

It would be shameful if Labor members of this House, particularly Queensland Labor members of this House, were not forced to declare themselves on this issue this week. They should be forced to declare whether they are standing up for the Aboriginal people of Cape York or whether, rather, they are prepared to defer to Prime Minister Gillard and Premier Bligh in this sordid deal with the Greens. They should be forced to declare exactly where they stand, and that is why this particular resolution of the House is so important.

We have had a lot of sanctimony from members opposite over the years about the importance of Indigenous rights. I think that many members opposite are sincere in wanting to do the right thing by Aboriginal people. That is why it is so shameful that this government has conspired for so long to bury this important but simple and short piece of legislation in these endless inquiries. It is not too late for members opposite who care deeply about Indigenous issues to recover their decency and conscience on this issue and actually get this matter voted upon in this chamber this week.

The suspicion has to arise, if this government continues to bury my bill, that Aboriginal people are being used by the Labor Party, that Aboriginal people are being manipulated by the Labor Party. When you see what this government does, as opposed to what it says, you can understand Aboriginal people feeling that they have for far too long been politically used by the Labor Party rather than politically benefiting from the Labor Party. Just a couple of weeks ago we had the spectacle of the Labor Party passing over, yet again, one of the most distinguished Aboriginal leaders this country has produced, Warren Mundine. A former national president of the Labor Party, no less, and he was passed over yet again, this time for a failed state premier.

The time is coming when Aboriginal people will say: 'This is not good enough. We want to be properly represented by the political parties of Australia and by the parliament of Australia.' That is why this motion of mine is so important.

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