Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker Coulton, and I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your elevation to the high office you now occupy. I wish you all the best in it.

I rise to inform this place of Bubup Wilam, which is an Aboriginal children and family centre established under the national partnerships of the former Labor government. It is located in the suburb of Thomastown in the Scullin electorate. I am incredibly proud of the role it plays in supporting Aboriginal children and families, but I am desperately concerned that this vital work is now under threat.

I have often spoken about Bubup Wilam in this place, as well as having made numerous representations about it to Minister Scullion, because Bubup is incredibly important to the Aboriginal communities of Melbourne's north. It plays a key role in closing the gap, not only in supporting early childhood education and young families but also by being a real hub for an expanding Aboriginal population in our part of Melbourne.

A few weeks ago I was very pleased, but not surprised, to hear that Bubup, which is also a very significant employer of Aboriginal people, was awarded Victorian Medium Employer of the Year at the Victorian Training Awards. This award recognises Bubup's significant achievement in providing educational opportunities for Aboriginal people in Melbourne.

It is a bittersweet award, though, because Bubup faces an uncertain funding future and may have to close its doors within the month. This simply cannot happen. I noted yesterday that in his 2016 Boyer Lecture epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot, speaking of the gross health inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, identified early years education as a critical response. He could have been talking about Bubup. He said:

The social injustice of condemning some children to a poor start in life should not be tolerated.

Indeed. We cannot allow this to happen in Melbourne's north. Bubup is vital for kids, for families, for community, for staff—for all of us. It is a powerful tool in lessening and ending these inequalities. It is shameful that Bubup's future is uncertain.

While the City of Whittlesea has been a strong supporter and the state Labor government is working to find ways to keep Bubup going, little has been heard from the Turnbull government, despite the evidence. So much for a national partnership! So much for including school attendance as a 'close the gap' target! While the Leader of the Opposition and many senior Labor MPs have visited Bubup, repeated lobbying efforts have failed to engage this government. It is time for Minister Birmingham and Minister Scullion to look to the evidence and step in to secure Bubup's future.

I am in awe of the work that Lisa Thorpe and her team do, especially in such desperate and uncertain circumstances when it comes to funding. And so I stand here to draw the attention of this parliament to the extraordinary work of Bubup Wilam and the vital importance of keeping it going, and to recommit my support for Bubup and all connected to it. I will do everything I can to keep it running and to support Aboriginal families in Melbourne's north.