Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

I want to acknowledge the members of the stolen generations and Indigenous people in this chamber today sitting and observing. To my parliamentary colleagues who are Indigenous members of this parliament: thank you for the work that you do; it is important. I acknowledge the Ngunawal people, who are the traditional custodians of the Canberra area, and pay my respects to the elders past and present of all Indigenous peoples.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures have spanned 65,000 years. Ours are cultures that care for country, land and water. They are cultures that are sewn into the fabric of modern-day Australia, and they are cultures that have survived dispossession, disease and disruption.

Today I stand in our national parliament, like Harry, as the son of a stolen generations survivor. I stand here as the first Aboriginal person elected to the House of Reps and a first on many other fronts. But I know that my mother would have been proud to have seen me stand in this chamber.

I see all too often the disadvantage in our communities, the struggles of our people to be heard. I've spent many hours over many years listening to the men and women of the stolen generations whose experiences have left them with indelible memories of the things done to them because of government policy, even well-intentioned.

My mother's own story, and that of her brothers and sisters, has affected my approach to life and what I fight for. I have read my grandparents' and mother's native welfare files that outline the way in which they were controlled and managed by government and the institutions of the day.

On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stood at the dispatch box and delivered a formal apology to Australia's Indigenous people—particularly to the stolen generations, victims of past government policies of forced child removal and cultural assimilation. On that day, on behalf of all Australians he said: 'I am sorry,' and I associate myself with the comments of both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Today those words are as important, as a reminder of the journey that we have all walked, a significant moment on the path to reconciliation and an acknowledgement of our shared history and the importance of our contribution to this national story.

Following the national apology came the effort to close the gap. For over a decade, we saw mixed results, inconsistencies in outcomes and a failure to achieve permanent change. This is not to detract from the commitment and motivation of former governments in their efforts to close the gap. Under our government, we are changing the way in which we work with Indigenous Australians, not just in our efforts to close the gap but in everything we strive to do. Our government is committed to working in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians because we know that the best outcomes occur when governments and Indigenous Australians work together, from the landmark national agreement on closing the gap to the ongoing work to empower Indigenous Australians through the Indigenous voice codesign process and ongoing work to ensure economic recovery provides opportunity for our peoples through skills, jobs and wealth creation.

The Prime Minister has made it clear that the National Agreement on Closing the Gap is a whole-of-government priority. The targets and reforms agreed to in the national agreement require governments to change the way we work, and, as a government, we are changing the way that we do business. Our ministers are working together, and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, to deliver a Commonwealth implementation plan that will achieve better life outcomes in partnership with our people.

This includes the work underway to develop the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Early Childhood Strategy, in concert with SNAICC, as part of our implementation approach. Working in partnership, our focus is to ensure young children have access to good-quality, culturally safe and accessible care and education services. This means that when a child goes to school they'll have a better chance of success.

Across all jurisdictions and with the peak organisations there will be shared accountability. For the first time state and territory governments will need to present to their parliaments on their progress towards closing the gap. It is the job of all Australian governments to address Indigenous disadvantage and to implement programs that contribute to closing the gap in all of the key and critical areas.

The Prime Minister will deliver the Commonwealth's implementation plan and report on progress that we have made against the targets using the Productivity Commission's data review midyear, and it will clearly show how our actions are contributing to achieving the priority reforms and targets and how we are reporting and leveraging existing initiatives—such as mental health, skills and job creation—to achieve targets and to embed the four priority reforms. The new actions we commit to taking are actions to bring about the change imagined in the national agreement, and significant progress is being made. It is about thinking differently, but there is much more to do.

Again, I state that our commitment to working in genuine partnership is the foundation for the changes that we need to achieve. As we implement the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, we will continue to work closely with our people. We will continue to co-design an Indigenous voice because there is much that we can take from the past as we look to the future. I ask that we all look at the role that we can play in empowering Indigenous Australians, our elders and traditional owners, and work to continue to improve the lives and futures of the next generation of Indigenous people as we continue to walk side by side, as one, to reflect, respect and celebrate that which makes us all Australians: Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

I saw that reflected in one of the recipients, Miriam, who said, 'Do things with us: walk with us, work with us, listen and then shape the future'. To all of the stolen generation members: what we want to do is honour what they achieved, acknowledge what happened and ensure that it doesn't happen to future generations. That is a challenge for every one of us in here, because when we are one we are strong and when we walk together we have limitless potential.

I acknowledge, in closing, all of those who are still with us from the stolen generation and all Indigenous Australians who aspire to a better future, to better opportunities and to their rightful place in every facet of Australian life.

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