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

The Closing the Gap report always delivers a feeling of disappointment to me and many members in this House. When I was first elected to this parliament, the first inquiry on a committee that I was involved in was into Indigenous health in Australia. It identified that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were sicker; they died earlier; and their access to health services and support in their communities was second to that of the rest of Australia. No matter where an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander lived in Australia, they were sicker than their counterparts and they died earlier than their counterparts. As much as I hate to say it, that is still the same. There have been some improvements in relation to infant mortality. There have been some improvements around the edge, but it is really sad to say that Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are still sicker and have poorer access to the health care that other Australians have. That is one area where I think we are not delivering on the targets and the priorities that we should as a government and as a nation.

The proudest day that I have spent in this parliament was the day of the apology. It was a time when I felt that there was going to be renewed hope, and it was very, very special. Many members of this parliament had walked across the Harbour Bridge on Sorry Day, and it had culminated a little later in a different parliament with the apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. I saw that as a starting point: from there, maybe the recommendations of the report that the then Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs had brought down, and some of the issues that it identified, would be acted upon, and maybe there would be real change. Unfortunately, it has not happened.

It is hard, and I will acknowledge that you cannot make changes overnight. But you can make some changes, and you can address systemic problems—and there are so many systemic problems in this area.

Bringing down a nice glossy report, looking at that report and trying to put the best possible spin on it is not really going to solve the problems, because Indigenous Australians are sicker; they have less money; they have a poorer level of education. The access to the things that other Australians take for granted is not available to them. They have a higher rate of imprisonment—and I was pleased to hear the Prime Minister mention that as something that needed to be addressed. The previous Prime Minister did not come to terms with that or did not address that or did not accept that as something that was of significance and importance. But we need to see what action takes place in that space. We need to hear more than words. We need to see some action.

It is true that there will only be real change when there are real partnerships and everybody is addressing the issue together and with a common goal. It is true that we need to do it in partnership with Indigenous Australians. We do not need to do it to them or for them; we need to do it with them. Some of the words that the Prime Minister used indicated an inclusiveness and a partnership, but we need more than words.

We need action, and we need to make sure that the referendum on Indigenous recognition actually happens. Labor is committed to the referendum in the first year of taking office, and I want to see some action by the Prime Minister. I want to see what he and his government are going to do in that space.

As to education, the member for Chifley's contribution around education generally was outstanding, but especially the point he made about the Leader of the Opposition committing to fully fund Gonski in the next term of parliament if elected. Prior to Christmas, I, like most members of parliament, visited my schools, and the one thing that every school emphasised to me was how important the funding has been—particularly in disadvantaged schools—and how important it had been in those schools in the Shortland electorate that have a high number of Indigenous students enrolled. If we are serious about addressing educational disadvantage in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and allowing them to enjoy equal access to and equity in education, then Gonski is a must. Without Gonski, they are not going to be offered the assistance and the extra programs that are needed to address that imbalance and inequity that exists.

The Closing the gap report is all about addressing inequity, injustice and inequality. It is about saying to Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, that they are important and that we believe the entrenched disadvantage that exists in our community needs to be addressed. It is much more than fine words. Words are good, but actions are better. The high imprisonment rate of Indigenous Australians cannot be considered in isolation from disadvantage and the lack of education—for instance, the number of people in our jails who have poor literacy skills is somewhere around the 80 per cent mark. Access to legal aid and legal assistance is also part of the pie. The one thing that the government can do straight away is restore funding so that Aboriginal legal services can provide the services they need to provide and go some way to addressing that inequity and injustice. Without proper legal representation, a person is much more likely to end up in jail.

The final thing I would like to touch on is that we need to address the fact that racism exists in our society. We need to recognise it, we need to address it and we need to make sure that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not subject to that racism. One of the ways we can address that is by joining together, working together and trying to close the gap that exists. It is not easy, it takes real effort and it takes actual funding, action and a government that is committed to doing it.

See this speech in context