Jim Turnour (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel. Would the minister update the House on Indigenous participation in the Australian Defence Force? What potential exists to strengthen this participation?

Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Science and Personnel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt for his question. He will be interested in this answer, and I am sure all members of the House will be. Yesterday we heard from the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs about the bombing of Darwin festivities today, commemorating that fateful event in 1942. A month after that event was the strafing of Broome. As a result of the strafing of Broome, the North Australia Observation Unit was formed, later called the ‘Nackeroos’ or, euphemistically, ‘Curtin’s Cowboys’. It was pulled together by a subsequently very famous Australian, Major Bill Stanner. This unit consisted of 550 personnel, based out of Katherine, in the Northern Territory, and was charged with patrolling northern Australia to try to discover if there were any enemies on Australian soil. It was disbanded three years later, in March of 1945.

Its equivalent today is the Regional Force Surveillance Units, or RFSUs, one of which exists in the member for Leichhardt’s electorate. That is the 51st Battalion, the Far North Queensland Regiment. Forty-seven per cent of its members are Indigenous Australians. Another unit is in NORFORCE, based out of Darwin. Forty-eight per cent of its members are Indigenous Australians. The other is in the member for Kalgoorlie’s electorate, at Karratha, in the Pilbara Regiment, where only four per cent are Indigenous Australians.

What we need to comprehend here is that Indigenous people make up 2.4 per cent of the Australian population. They make up 1.4 per cent of the Australian workforce. But across the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force they are only 0.6 per cent. There is much that needs to be done. One of the biggest challenges currently facing the Australian Defence Force is a shortage of the right people, the right skills. We know this. The now Leader of the Opposition understood this in his former role as Minister for Defence. We need to make the most of Australia’s human resources, and this includes Indigenous Australians. Attracting Indigenous people into the Defence Force is a huge challenge, but it offers huge potential.

There are many reasons why Indigenous Australians are not attracted to the Defence Force or are not adequately represented. Some of those reasons go to the issues which we confronted last week on those momentous days, Tuesday and Wednesday. They involve lifestyle, health, homelessness, lack of education, poor skills, cultural issues, isolation—things that we as a nation need to address. But there are many reasons why we should have Indigenous people in the Australian Defence Force. They have an incredible amount to offer.

I am someone who has been able to observe this over many years. I have observed their role in NORFORCE in particular. I have had the opportunity to go on patrols with the squadron out of Darwin. They have done great work over the last 12 months on Operation Outreach, supporting the government’s intervention in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory and providing logistical support, primarily for the health teams. They have done great service over a number of years by protecting Australia’s borders, doing those surveillance tasks which have been very important to Operation Resolute.

There is a lot more that can be done, but we need to appreciate that on the other side of the coin there are many advantages to Indigenous Australians being part of the Australian Defence Force, because the ADF can provide many things. It provides a capacity for not only new educational opportunities, new training opportunities and new skills but income support and personal and community pride. We have proven that it can be done. This success needs to be reflected across the ADF. There are lessons that can be shared. In fact, I note that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, the member for Eden-Monaro, has responsibility for the ADF Parlia-mentary Program. One of the activities in the parliamentary exchange this year is an opportunity to spend four days patrolling with the Centre Squadron from NORFORCE, and I commend that opportunity to members of the chamber.

Currently, we are finalising within Defence an Indigenous recruitment strategy, which is part of a larger Aboriginal recruitment training, employment and retention effort within the department. We have to learn from the mistakes as well as the successes of the past. What we need to acknowledge is that the one-size-fits-all approach will not work and has not worked. If we need additional programs or initiatives such as mentoring, networking, cadetships and traineeships then sobeit—it will be done. We must do all that we can to enhance the capability of the ADF, including by increasing Indigenous participation. After all, it is in the national interest.