Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this excellent motion by the member for Durack. Last year the Labor government devoted their time and energy to championing the Prime Minister's divisive Voice to Parliament proposal. They told us that Indigenous Australians needed our help and that the divisive Voice was the only way to close the gap and to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians. Yet the Voice was defeated soundly at the ballot box by everyday Australians who did not want to be divided by race. It cost Australians $450 million, and, even if it had been successful, it would not have achieved anything to close the gap in this country.

Since that point, despite being in government, Labor have offered no alternative solutions to the problems plaguing Indigenous Australians. In the months since the Voice, they have proposed no new legislation for issues specific to Indigenous Australians. As is so often evident with this government, it had no plan B. Labor had no practical solutions, despite the coalition proposing multiple. When Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Senator Liddle tried to push for a committee inquiry and audit into spending and accountability in Indigenous communities and land councils, those calls were rejected by the government. The government could not even look into whether any money is being wasted, and of course we know that millions of dollars are being wasted across this country.

When the opposition leader called for a royal commission into child sex abuse in Indigenous communities, the Labor government ignored these calls. Programs which were working in vulnerable communities, such as the cashless debit card, have been scrapped, and, when the plight of these communities is raised with the government, they tie themselves in knots to explain why these communities are experiencing increases in violence. It's clear that the Labor government has no plan for Indigenous Australians.

Last month, we again sat in this House as the Prime Minister spoke on the annual Closing the gap report. He acknowledged that not enough was being done to change the confronting statistics and improve the lives of Indigenous Australians. But, yet again, Labor offered no real solutions. The government's new remote jobs program has no modelling or proper planning. Aboriginal justice organisations like the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency are in turmoil, and the problems of crime, domestic violence and alcohol and drug abuse continue to grow every single day.

It's clear that there is more work to be done in order to close the gap in my electorate and improve the living conditions for Indigenous communities in Bowman. I've spoken in this House before about how, just 38 kilometres from Brisbane's city centre, on North Stradbroke Island, many Indigenous Australians live in near Third World conditions. Many of these areas predate European arrival as sites of Indigenous habitation, yet the current residents have no official tenure over the land they occupy. In the settlements near Amity Point, Myora reserve, One Mile and Two Mile, Australians are living in informal settlements with no established roads, mains electricity, running water or sewerage. Some of the dwellings are well maintained and built, but others are often made up of scrap materials or extended from mobile homes and are usually powered by generators.

In One Mile, one council-supplied skip bin is provided for the weekly waste of over 60 people who reside there. Some of these encampments are on unallocated state land, but most are on land subject to native title. These homes cannot be formally sold, leased, secured or insured. I worry for the welfare of my constituents living in these encampments. I worry for the severe bushfire risk that they face. I worry about the lack of security, both financial and physical, that these properties provide their owners. And, with the complete lack of housing options within North Stradbroke Island, I worry that this situation will only get worse.

The Indigenous elders on the island are looking to solve some of the problems in this area, and I've met with them regarding their Aboriginal rights of residence program, which could help these communities invest in essential infrastructure and enable true ownership of their homes. They are proposing practical action—the sort of action the federal government could have supported, if it hadn't wasted $450 million on a failed referendum. The Voice would not have helped the people of One Mile or these other settlements, and a lot of the people living within those communities rejected the proposal at the ballot box.

Australians deserve a government who brings practical solutions to the table to fix the issues plaguing Indigenous Australian communities. I call on the government to take practical action to enable and support communities across the country to deliver real solutions on the ground.

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