Nova Peris (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers given by Senator Scullion to questions on Indigenous Affairs asked in question time today. I am sure we all remember the media coverage our Prime Minister received when he proclaimed that he aspired to be 'the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Australians'. This budget confirms that what this government says and what they do are two different things. Some of our most vulnerable people in this country will be hurt the hardest. This is a budget that well and truly widens the gap on Indigenous disadvantage. My electorate of the Northern Territory has the highest proportion of Aboriginal people in Australia and, make no mistake, they will be hurt more than people anywhere else by these savage cuts. Tony Abbott promised to be the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Well, it is now clear that he was not telling us the truth. Indigenous Australians put their trust in Tony Abbott, and they are being repaid by having half a billion dollars slashed from Indigenous Affairs.

Senator Scullion stood in the Senate today and said there will not be any impact on front-line services. That shows just how delusion this government is, especially on the matter of Indigenous Australians. Essential front-line services will be critically affected, including in the areas of education, health, legal services, art programs, Indigenous radio stations, employment programs and more. This has been done under the sneaky cover of `streamlining' and leaves service providers out in the cold. Across this country, 38 child and family services for Indigenous families will be cut.

This budget also confirms cuts of $15million to the National Congress, which has over 7,500 individual and organisational members. Thanks to the efforts of the previous federal Labor government and the Northern Territory governments, the Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction currently meeting the Closing the Gap targets. This budget puts that achievement at serious risk.

Indigenous Australians make up 85 per cent of the prison population in the Northern Territory. This is a shocking statistic, yet this budget will only result in that percentage increasing. Providing legal service for Indigenous Australians is paramount. Access to legal aid is something most Australians rightly take for granted. It would appear that this government considers Indigenous Australians to be 'out of sight, out of mind'. So far, the self-professed Prime Minister for Indigenous Australians has given the green light to racism while slamming the brakes on Indigenous programs and, worse, takings us backwards. There are also cuts to local governments, which will mean more pain for those in the bush, where the regional councils already struggle to raise their own revenue in the face of so much need.

The year 2013 was the most violent in the history of the Northern Territory, with the majority of victims being women. Domestic violence in the Northern Territory increased by 22 per cent last year. An Aboriginal woman is 80 times more likely than other Territorians to be admitted to hospital as a result of assault. I have said it before and I will say it over and over and over again: this is a statistic that every Australian should be made aware of, and be embarrassed by. But it seems to fall on deaf ears on the other side of the House. Given that statistic, it is a national disgrace that this government has seen fit to cut family violence prevention programs. Ultimately, the government is tolerating the unacceptable violence that women in the Territory suffer. This is a message Senator Scullion will need to communicate to his constituents. This was his chance to influence a budget to help Indigenous Australians. No matter the spin coming from the other side, this promise has been broken—like so many other promises that this budget has broken.

But it doesn't stop there. The cuts to tertiary education will also impact on widening a gap that we are meant to be actively taking part in bipartisan efforts to close. One of the best achievements of the previous Labor government was the establishment of the Northern Territory Medical School at Charles Darwin University. We face a doctor shortage in the Northern Territory, and developing our own home-grown doctors is the best way to address it. This program encouraged local doctors and nurses to provide their much needed skills in the remote bush regions of the Territory. This facility should be expanded, not cut, but instead this government has announced a cut of $400,000 over four years.

The Prime Minister has broken the fundamental commitment he made to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples before the election. He said: 'Should the coalition win the election, Aboriginal people will be at the heart of a new government in word and in deed.' Closing the Gap requires more than words. Whether we succeed or fail will depend on a relationship of trust and support between the Commonwealth government and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia.

Question agreed to.