Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate that the member for O'Connor was intending to speak next in this debate on Closing the Gap. I just really wanted to put some words on the record, and I promise him I will not keep him waiting too long.

Closing the Gap and the Closing the Gap statements that the Prime Minister has made since the first report are very important because, as a nation, we have to ensure that all people living in Australia have equality—and not just equality on the surface but equal access to all the things that everyone in our society enjoys. In this debate I probably speak from a different perspective from that of a lot of other people. I grew up in an area where there were a number of Indigenous Aboriginal students and Aboriginal people living in the community that I lived in. Some of them were my friends, but at the time I was at school there was very definitely a segregation within the town between people who were non-Aboriginal and those who were Aboriginal. I am also in a position where I have two Aboriginal grandchildren and I know that I want them to have the same opportunities in life as my other grandchildren that are not Aboriginal. They are fortunate because they live in an area where they have access to a number of services and opportunities, but there are other areas and other communities in Australia where simply being an Aboriginal child or person means that you do not have the same access to jobs, education, health care and aged care as non-Aboriginal or non-Indigenous people in those communities do.

It was interesting hearing the shadow minister for education speak and I was pleased to hear that he is totally committed to seeing young Aboriginal students get access to the type of education that they need, because education is the key. If young people can have a quality education—if they can get the support that they need in the school system—then they have a much better chance of succeeding in all those other areas of life. Education is the key that unlocks the door to employment. Education is the key that unlocks the door to quality of life. Education is the key that unlocks the door to choices, I believe, by ensuring that young Indigenous students—and I am looking at it from the time that they start preschool—have full access to services that other students have. Prior to even looking at education—I suppose it could be put in terms of education—we need to make sure that from the time they are born they have access to proper health care, immunisation and support services and do not just rely on mainstream services without being given extra assistance. It is not realistic to just expect somebody that lives in a very remote community to be able to access the services that somebody living in the area I live in can access. Even within the community I live in, some people are more able to access mainstream services than others. That is why it is important to have special services for Indigenous Australians—services that they can relate to—and for those services to facilitate their ability to get that education and those jobs that they need in the future. That is why the Smarter Schools National Partnerships program, and putting more money into education, is so important as well.

I know that when the minister and the Prime Minister spoke they spoke at some length about alcohol and alcohol programs in the Northern Territory. It is really important that, if we are serious about looking at issues like domestic violence and community safety, all sides of politics get together and support the alcohol policy in the Northern Territory. I focussed on education in the beginning. Education leads to jobs and jobs lead to financial security, but jobs also lead to a situation where a person has a meaningful role. A job does not necessarily only exist if you go off and work in a mine or a school or a factory. Jobs for Aboriginal and Indigenous Australians should not be just low-skilled jobs, as I heard one previous speaker refer to. Jobs can be within a community and they can perform a more meaningful role. They can be high-level jobs. Jobs for Indigenous Australians should not be restricted by any preconceived ideas we have.

We as the parliament should be providing people with opportunities, not trying to fit people into a mould that we predetermine they fit into. The best way we can achieve this is by making sure that young people get the education and access to education that they need. We also need to ensure that there are proper health programs available in communities throughout Australia, be they in remote, rural or metropolitan areas—of course, we must never forget that the majority of Indigenous people live in metropolitan areas. We need to make sure that the health programs link to providing services, education, immunisation and preventative health care. We need to support the alcohol policy in the Northern Territory.

We need to make sure that there are adequate and appropriate services for all people living in Indigenous communities and older people living in metropolitan areas. When aged-care services are provided they need to be relevant. When I was recently in Alice Springs I visited a number of aged-care facilities and saw some of the services being provided were culturally appropriate for Aboriginal people living in those residential facilities. I also looked at the services that were provided through the community sector. I looked at how the aged-care packages were delivered in remote areas. Similarly, within my own area Awabakal provides specialised aged-care packages and services to Aboriginal people. There is a need for specialised packages.

In closing the gap we need to embrace both mainstream and specialised services. It is all about making sure that all Aboriginal and Indigenous people living in Australia have a true opportunity to enjoy all of the benefits of living in Australian society. This can be done only by us working to close the gap. I congratulate the Prime Minister on her speech and her commitment—and the commitment of the minister—to closing the gap between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians.

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