Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

NAIDOC Week is, of course, a fantastic opportunity for the entire country to celebrate our diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and their very long, deep history, which has been across this continent for millennia. There's much to celebrate and there's much that we can all be very proud of. There are also, obviously, things that we are not proud of, but the strength of NAIDOC Week is that we focus on where we've come from, celebrate the incredible First Nations communities that we have in our country and look to the future and to making lives better.

During NAIDOC Week, we're here in Canberra for sittings, so, along with colleagues from our Labor's First Nations caucus committee, we visited the Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services centre in Narrabundah. It was fantastic visit. It is an Aboriginal controlled health service right here in the nation's capital. It was an excellent reminder of the power of Aboriginal controlled health services and of the fantastic results they get. Our First Nations health professionals obviously have a unique insight and are best placed to improve the lives of First Nations people. They have the culturally appropriate way of operating. They know how to get the best results for our First Nations brothers and sisters.

I want to acknowledge Mike Freelander, who is here with us today, along with the member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon, in the work of our First Nations caucus committee, which has really been pushing this important concept of the first 1,000 days. That is not just limited to First Nations Australians, of course. If all parents create a really healthy environment from antenatal through birth into that postnatal stage, good perinatal health for the mum and the bub is going to give us the healthiest young Australians possible, which should be the aim of all of us. The role of the Aboriginal controlled health centres is that that support during that first thousand days is absolutely essential and is making a huge difference.

These Aboriginal controlled health organisations around the country are also really empowering our First Nations communities as well as improving their access to health services. In the Top End of Australia––we heard the member for Higgins refer to her eyes being opened whilst visiting the Northern Territory––in my electorate, in Darwin and Palmerston we have a fantastic Aboriginal controlled health centre series of clinics, called Danila Dilba. They do wonderful work. They serve about 80 per cent of our large Indigenous population in the greater Darwin area. They also look after huge numbers of First Nations people, Aboriginal and Territorians that come in from the communities into Darwin.

They do a great job. They're reducing strokes and heart attacks, preventing low birth weights and also preventing complications from diabetes. People who engage with Danila Dilba health services are less likely to need to engage with other health services. A Deloitte analysis found that every dollar invested in health services generated a $4 return or benefit to society. That is terrific economics by any measure, and it's terrific humanity by any measure.

I also want to acknowledge Yilli Rreung. When the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, was in Darwin recently we visited this great NGO that is helping First Nations people in the accommodation space. I want to acknowledge their CEO, Leeanne Caton, and also congratulate her for being appointed chair of the Aboriginal Benefits Account Advisory Committee. She is a great asset and will do a fantastic job in all her roles.

During NAIDOC Week, the Larrakia Nation launched its 'lighting the spark' initiative, which is working with young people to help promote youth entrepreneurship. I want to congratulate Nicole Brown from Larrakia Nation. I want to also congratulate quickly the NT Indigenous Business Network, in particular CEO Jerome Cubillo and Steve Cardona, who are doing a fantastic job helping Indigenous businesses thrive.

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