Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That standing order 4 be amended as follows:

(1)

After “When Parliament first meets after a general election, the procedure shall be as follows:”insert:“(a) Local Indigenous people shall be invited to conduct a ceremony of welcome prior to Members assembling in the House of Representatives.”

(2)

That paragraphs (a) to (i) be renumbered as paragraphs (b) to (j).

I am pleased to move this amendment to the standing orders today and to speak on this amendment. This amendment seeks to amend the standing orders to formalise the inclusion of an Indigenous welcome to country ceremony at the first meeting of a new parliament after a general election. This amendment represents the government’s implementation of recommendations made to it in an inquiry by the Procedure Committee.

The Rudd Labor government is committed to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to progress reconciliation, and it is a key element of the government’s objective of closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage. The Rudd Labor government has invested in measures to support this commitment and reset the relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The Rudd government’s commitment was shown when, in February 2008, as the first order of government business in the 42nd Parliament, the Prime Minister apologised to Australia’s Indigenous people for the treatment they received as a result of policies of previous federal governments. I note that the then Leader of the Opposition, the former member for Bradfield, Brendan Nelson, joined with the Prime Minister in that apology.

On 20 December 2007, even before the first sitting of this parliament, the Prime Minister and the government began work which was directed towards reducing Indigenous disadvantage when the Council of Australian Governments agreed to important Closing the Gap targets. These include: within five years, all Indigenous four-year-olds in remote Indigenous communities having access to a quality early childhood education program; within the decade, halving the gap in infant mortality, halving the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievements by Indigenous children, and halving the gap in employment outcomes for Indigenous Australians; and, within a generation, at least halving the gap for Indigenous students in year 12 or equivalent attainment rates by 2015, and closing the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. With the leadership of the Prime Minister, these important targets were agreed upon to ensure that all governments are held to account for the progress and achievement of these goals. Since the agreement of the COAG targets and the national apology, all Australian governments have committed more than $4.6 billion in health, housing, early childhood and economic participation funding to achieve these goals.

The government has made progress. As at 11 June 2010, 100 houses have been completed under the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing across Australia. A further 316 are underway, with an additional 422 refurbishments of existing homes in poor condition. By April 2010, nine new creches had been constructed in the Northern Territory, including at Lajamanu, Peppimenarti, Robinson River, Areyonga, Docker River, Papunya and Yarralin. Fifty-four child and maternal health services have been approved for funding, of which 46 are in operation. The Remote Air Services Subsidy Scheme is ensuring access for remote communities to these vital services.

Last year, as a result of extensive consultation with more than 100 remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory about the redesign of the Northern Territory Emergency Response, the Rudd government introduced legislation to the parliament to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the Northern Territory, which had been suspended by the Howard government. I am pleased to say that this legislation has now carried the parliament. In the 2009-10 budget the Rudd government provided $10.8 million for the continued operation of Reconciliation Australia, to promote respectful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Reconciliation Australia leads community-level education and awareness about reconciliation, and encourages commitment to reconciliation at the corporate, school, organisational and individual levels. Additionally, the Reconciliation Action Plan program has been particularly successful amongst these sectors, with over 300 organisations signing on each year and commitments of around 2,000 new jobs for Indigenous people.

Being welcomed onto country by traditional owners is now acknowledged as an important gesture by many Australians. The Rudd government was pleased to have a welcome to country to open this parliament. That event received bipartisan support. This change to standing orders has bipartisan support. It is an important gesture to Indigenous Australians to acknowledge what is the oldest living culture on the planet. It is a matter of respect and it is something that should give pride to all Australians. We were indeed very proud to be members of the House of Representatives when the Prime Minister delivered the national apology on behalf of all Australians. This resolution will ensure that welcome to country has a formal place in the opening of all future parliaments, and I commend the motion the House.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will not delay the valedictory speech of the member for Chifley unnecessarily, suffice to say the opposition will not be opposing this motion. I do make a couple of points. Firstly, it is quite unnecessary to include welcome to country in the standing orders as part of the opening of the parliament. As the Leader of the House mentioned, a welcome to country ceremony formed a part of the opening of this parliament, and it is a matter for the government how the ceremony for the opening of parliament should be conducted. Therefore, it is quite unnecessary to include it in the standing orders. It is the prerogative of the government to alter the standing orders if it so wishes, and to include matters that it thinks are important. That is what is happening with this particular motion.

The opposition does not raise any objection to this, but we would also make the point that, while the Leader of the House said that this was part of the important task of bridging the gap, I do not believe, and nor would many members of the opposition, that a welcoming ceremony at the opening of parliament will make the slightest difference to the health, education, employment, housing or welfare outcomes of Indigenous Australians. Given the circumstances, and that it is the prerogative of the government to introduce such a measure, we certainly would not be churlish enough to oppose it. We do not believe it will make any difference to the outcomes for Indigenous Australians in this country, but we are quite prepared to see it passed.

Question agreed to.