Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I would also like to speak to the report of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. If people are going to read only one of the 72 documents listed in the Notice Paper today, I would suggest that this would be a good one for them to pick. The report from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner is very comprehensive and thorough. What is important about it are not just the issues it raises but that it does so in a very fact based way and that it details what needs to be done and what progress has occurred. So it is not just a document bemoaning the state of things with regard to what is faced by Indigenous Australians; it is very specific and it particularly documents what needs to happen from here, including, I might say, actions to be taken by the commissioner and the commission itself.

One particular aspect of the report that I would like to draw attention to, because I think it is indicative of a wider problem at the moment, is the section that refers to Indigenous representation and Indigenous voices in public debate. The approach the government is currently taking with regard to a range of issues affecting Indigenous people is one that we all have varying views on and I think it would depend a bit on which particular issue you are focused on. But the one area of the government’s approach which I am definitely critical about is their lack of action with regard to Indigenous representation and, frankly, their lack of action in responding to reports specifically like this one.

This report contains a recommendation identifying as a matter of urgency the need for the development of much clearer and more effective mechanisms to provide representation for Indigenous people on matters that directly affect them. It is a principle that has growing recognition—the need for prior and informed consent with regard to issues that are affecting people. We saw the government fail this quite drastically with regard to the changes with the Northern Territory land rights legislation. Regardless of your views about the plusses or minuses of those changes, there is no doubt that the process itself did not adequately involve the very people that were most affected—that is, the Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, particularly the traditional owners. Even the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs himself, Mr Brough, eventually—after the fact, unfortunately—acknowledged that the process was less than ideal. It is one thing for us in this place to complain about the process being less than ideal and not adequate for our needs, but it is a much greater failing when it does not meet the needs and requirements of the people directly affected by legislative changes.

Certainly in many of the consultations I have with Indigenous people, particularly in my own state of Queensland, concern about the lack of representation—the lack of a seat at the table, for want of a better phrase—comes up very regularly. There is no doubt that Indigenous Australians are in a very powerless position when it comes to us having a say in matters that affect them, including legislative changes, the administration of programs and issues to do with funding.

The recommendation regarding Indigenous representation urged a response from the government by the end of June. As far as I know, that has not happened—not even, ‘No, we don’t think this needs to happen’. I think it is totally unsatisfactory that there is no response at all. Very important proposals are put forward in this report, and the least that can be done by the government is to take them seriously and treat them with some respect.

I would like to take the opportunity to briefly note that Mr Calma and others participated in a forum today highlighting the development and pending adoption globally of the United Nations convention on the rights of indigenous peoples. To date, the Australian government has not been supportive of that convention, which I think is a shame, but, regardless of whether the government is supportive, the fact is that this convention will be adopted. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.