Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

No we will not be, and it is not something we have taken lightly. The setting of a target is probably one of the easiest things we do in this place. We can simply set a target. I am not suggesting anyone has just set a target and forgot about it. But it is a very complex area. You would know the statistics that many of the people who are incarcerated are incarcerated because of circumstances invariably involved with alcohol and violence. Tragically, that violence is perpetrated against other Aboriginal people. So we think that, by action rather than targets, we can change that circumstance by changing the circumstances that people find themselves in where they are so disconnected that they self-medicate, particularly with alcohol, and then lash out at their own families and their own communities. We need to engage them.

If you are school aged, you need to be engaged with school. You know we are trying very hard to engage people in school with our school attendance strategies. I think it is very important that one of the fundamentals of a life of engagement is a job—work—and all the self-esteem that gives you, so we are very much focused on ensuring that we readjust our inherited programs to ensure people are working in purposeful activity so they are in the best position to move into work when they are ready.

Of course, the last of our fundamentals is to provide safer communities. Whilst it is not the complete answer, I certainly think in our investment of some $54 million in the budget—around $3 million of that for police stations, around $3 million for Aboriginal police officers—we have made a number of investments that I think will have a fundamental outcome, particularly relating to the last part of your question about incarceration. But I, like every Australian, share your legitimate concerns about this indicator. It is not only the highlight indicator of people who are incarcerated; it is also the mental health circumstances. (Time expired)