Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It would be a good idea if you answered it at some point, Senator Cormann.

I want to talk about what is happening on Aboriginal land. Although I am yet to see it, I do note our Prime Minister's absolute spoken commitment to Aboriginal people across this country. I think he said he wants to be the Prime Minister who makes a difference to Aboriginal people's lives. But the only difference he is making at the moment is attacking Aboriginal community organisations and Aboriginal people through his harsh and cruel budget measures in the same way he is attacking the rest of the population. Anyway, we will have a go.

There is a public consultation period at the moment on carbon abatement. Four Aboriginal organisations in my home state of Western Australia have put submissions in: Aboriginal Carbon Fund, Indigenous Land Corporation, Kimberley Land Council and Latitude Forest Services. They ask some really important questions. It is not just a matter of those corporations putting submissions in for any of the Direct Action funding which might be available. It is really about how any policy of government really acknowledges and respects that very strong commitment and cultural attachment to the land that Aboriginal people have right across this country. If that first principle of that strong connection to country is missing, then I am not quite sure how Direct Action or any kind of carbon abatement scheme could benefit Aboriginal communities; because currently there is a range of projects in those communities which are not only creating work but are continuing that strong connection to land.

The submission raises some very serious concerns in relation to what might happen. They say that the contract and crediting positions do not provide the certainty for higher costs and longer term land sector projects to participate in the ERF and the voluntary market. I would certainly be interested in hearing the government's response to that. As I said, if it is against the backdrop of working with Aboriginal communities—of building capacity, of respecting that strong attachment to land and that cultural connectedness—I would be very interested to hear the response to that question.

The submission goes on to say:

The White Paper indicates that projects can only win one purchase contract for (preferably) 5 years. The stated reason is

to encourage new projects.

It is so typical of this government not to respect the work that is already going and to come in with this new brush to think they know best. That kind of patronising attitude has gone on for far too long in Aboriginal communities. The government needs to work with communities, not on top of them or riding roughshod on what is already happening.

They state the concern that there is a preference for new contracts; however, they say that remote land sector projects with high start-up costs need a longer planning window. We know this already in Aboriginal communities, particularly in very remote areas such as in Western Australia. They need longer periods to be successful and they can be successful, if they have an idea that is supported and grows from the community and where good governance structures are in place.

They have a range of savanna projects and, conversely, if those projects stop, Australia' emissions will rise. They believe that five years is too restrictive to catalyse these kinds of projects. Again, this one-size-fits-all kind of response will not work if the government is genuinely committed to protecting our environment and to the science of climate change—and we have heard the Prime Minister's view on that over and over. If it is genuinely committed, these projects need a longer window and there needs to be difference, and so we need to have guidelines that support that kind of difference, different start-up costs and so on.

Another question I have for the minister is: how will Direct Action address and protect the work of Indigenous communities such as savanna and landcare projects? The submission from the four organisations—