Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This morning I attended the WEX breakfast, the Work Exposure in Government breakfast, hosted by Minister Burney and the National Indigenous Australians Agency. About 50 Indigenous students from all over Australia were here in the parliament today, having travelled from near and far. They were here to see how the government works. We entertained them a little in question time, but I think the highlight of their day will have to have been when Adam Goodes showed up at the breakfast. It was great to meet some of the students this morning, and I was truly impressed with their maturity, their interests, their attitudes and their stories. It was also great to share in the breakfast event and to listen to the minister and other speakers, including the students, particularly knowing that just hours earlier the Treasurer had brought down an excellent budget, not least in the areas particularly relevant to the Indigenous Australian communities.

The commitments made in the budget are significant and wide-ranging. They will make a difference in every state and every community. These commitments will create better futures. They will improve programs and services and invest in self-determination. Closing the Gap targets have informed the government's approach at every turn. The government made commitments across the broader areas of health, education, housing, environment and justice. In each area, the government's approach is to work in partnership with Indigenous communities to deliver the best outcomes for First Nations people.

In the Indigenous health budget, there are provisions for the training of 500 First Nations health workers, vital health infrastructure, birthing on country and a renewed focus on combatting health disease and better renal care for diabetes.

In the education budget, there is funding for First Nations educators and primary schools to teach First Nations languages, and subsidies to better enable Indigenous families to access early childhood education. Minister Burney remarked this morning to the students that, if someone had told her when she was in high school that one day she would be a government minister, she would not have believed them. She told them never to listen to anyone who tells them that things aren't possible and that their education was something no-one could take away. Of course, this is true, but it also helps to have a government that is on its game and delivering on education.

For housing and environment, there is a boost for housing on Northern Territory homelands, an extension of the Indigenous Protected Areas program and a doubling of Indigenous rangers. Not only is the significant extension of the Indigenous rangers program good for the individuals; it's great for communities. The rangers program means that young people who are interested in the role can stay on country, learn from their community members and work on their local environment in culturally attuned ways employing traditional knowledge.

In justice, there is over $80 million for justice reinvestment initiatives in up to 30 locations around Australia; additional funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services, including funding for the peak body to provide leadership across the Indigenous legal sector; and, not least, provision was made in last night's budget for the Electoral Commission to start making preparations for the referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament to fulfil this government's pledge to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full. Many of the students I met this morning will be old enough to vote in that referendum. Additionally, the government has provided for our first ambassador for First Nations people and allocated significant funds for preparatory work for the establishment of an independent Makarrata commission for agreement making and truthtelling.

The budget was a wellbeing budget and not least in this portfolio area, where the budget seeks to support culture, language and community as well as individual wellbeing. Minister Burney told the students at breakfast this morning that she was once a schoolteacher. She's still teaching now, as she shows us the way towards reconciliation, a voice to parliament and real measures with real purpose that are underpinned by real funding measures in the budget and that will take us further towards closing gaps across health, education and justice.