Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we gather and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. I also acknowledge Commissioner Kiss and Commissioner Hunter, who join us in the gallery today.

Before I turn to the substantive nature of the bills before us, the National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Bill 2026 and the National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People (Transitional Provisions) Bill 2026, I can't let the words of the member for Riverina go unchallenged. Just before, the member stood up in this place and spoke about some history. He brought in the book and painted an idyllic picture of First Nations Australians working as stockmen and domestics. If that's the case—that he wants to talk about that history—we should talk about the whole history, not just the parts that suit him. He wants to talk about women working as domestics and men working as stockmen. What he leaves out is the actual truth—that many women who worked as domestics were often paid very little or nothing at all, that many were exploited and that many were subjected to sexual violence, causing pain and causing trauma that is generational and is still felt deeply today. The men who worked as stockmen were exposed to brutal conditions, including witnessing frontier violence and massacres. If the member for Riverina wants to lecture this place about history then he should have the courage to tell it honestly, not cherrypick fragments that paint a convenient picture for pastoralists while erasing the suffering of First Nations Australians. It highlights the importance of truth-telling in this place and, indeed, right across our country.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people continue to face unacceptably high and persistent levels of disadvantage in our country. They are 11 times as likely to be placed in out-of-home care and 27 times as likely to be in youth detention as non-Indigenous children. These figures are confronting. But, as Minister Plibersek has rightly said, our children are not statistics. They are our future, and they must be at the centre of everything we do.

For decades, experts, advocates and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have been calling for reform. Since the 1980s, many voices have warned that the systems designed to protect and support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were instead driving discrimination that was widespread, systemic and intergenerational. Too often, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people have been spoken about but not spoken with. Too often, decisions affecting their lives have been made without their voices at the table. This legislation begins to change that.

The National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Bill 2026, together with the National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People (Transitional Provisions) Bill 2026, establishes a permanent, independent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander led national commission with the authority and responsibility to drive real systemic change. It delivers exactly what advocates have been calling for: a national commissioner backed by legislation, independence and powers, focused squarely on improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people today and into the future. At its heart, this legislation is about listening, accountability and long-term reform.

For me, as the proud mum to three First Nations children and as the wife of a proud Waanyi and Kalkadoon man, this policy that impacts all First Nations Australians is deeply personal. Like all parents, what I want for my children is simple: to grow up safe, connected to culture, strong in identity and supported to reach their full potential. This bill reflects that same aspiration for every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child in this country. Through this legislation, the Albanese Labor government is delivering on its commitment to establish a permanent national institution that does not come and go with political cycles but endures, because the rights of children demand nothing less. The commission will ensure that the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people and their families are heard directly and heard at the highest levels of decision-making. The legislation makes clear that the national commissioner must always act in the best interests of children and young people, and I have every confidence that she will do just that. It empowers the commissioner to identify systemic barriers and failures through inquiries and research; hear directly from children and young people and support them to assert their rights; promote coordination across government; and advise on policies, programs and services that shape children's lives. These powers are not symbolic. They are practical, enforceable and designed to hold systems to account.

This bill also transitions the office of the national commission, established in January 2025 as an interim executive agency, into a permanent statutory authority independent from government and led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. That independence is critical. It enables the commissioner to conduct inquiries, gather evidence, publish reports and ensure governments are publicly accountable when they fail to respond. It strengthens oversight, it elevates transparency and it ensures responsibility does not stop at jurisdictional boundaries.

This reform has been shaped through deep consultation and collaboration. It reflects the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, the Safe and Supported Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership group, children's commissioners and advocates across the country and, importantly, the advice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves. I want to acknowledge the leadership of the permanent national commissioner, Ms Sue-Anne Hunter, who does join us today, whose words remind us of the urgency of this task. She said:

The work is urgent and the statistics are grim. But our children … are our future.

This bill forms part of the Albanese Labor government's broader commitment to closing the gap, because we know that children do not grow up in isolation from housing, health, education, justice and economic opportunity. That is why Labor is investing in housing security—recognising that safe, stable homes underpin better outcomes for children and families—through the Housing Australia Future Fund, $600 million in concessional loans in supporting projects delivered by or in partnership with First Nations organisations, alongside a 10 per cent First Nations tenancy target and a new First Nations concierge function within Housing Australia. Labor is also tackling overcrowding in remote communities, delivering more than 300 new homes already, with up to 2,700 homes to be delivered by mid-2034.

Economic empowerment is equally critical. The government has launched the Remote Australia Employment Service, investing $75 million in prescribed bodies corporate through the First Nations Economic Partnership; expanded Indigenous ranger programs; and invested in digital inclusion through free community wi-fi in remote communities. These initiatives recognise that self-determination, opportunity and connection to land and culture are central to strong futures for First Nations children and young people.

In my electorate of Bonner, there are more than 3,200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who call our community home. I want to acknowledge organisations like Yulu-Burri-Ba and Winnam Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders Corporation and leaders such as Aunty Merle Dippel OAM, whose work strengthens families and supports children every day. Bonner is also home to organisations like Gundala Community Kindergarten, which for 30 years has embedded First Nations cultural knowledge for all children. I've been proud to also support festivals like the Quandamooka Festival celebrating First Nations culture and traditions. Each of these organisations plays a role in building opportunity, identity and belonging.

The establishment of the National Commission for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People is a landmark reform. It recognises that children must be heard. Accountability matters, and lasting change requires systems that are designed with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, not for them—nothing about us without us. This bill is about dignity, justice and opportunity.

It was a Labor government that said sorry for the laws and policies that caused profound harm to First Nations peoples. It was a Labor government that apologised for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, communities and country. And today it is a Labor government that is promoting and protecting the cultural identity, rights and development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people by ensuring their voices are permanent, powerful and impossible to ignore. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

I commend the bills to the House.

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