Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of Minister Scullion's answer to the question on the Indigenous Advancement Strategy from Senator McLucas. I express my disappointment at the minister's response to that question. He clearly has not been listening to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in terms of their response to the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, which in fact they were not consulted on in the first place. I urge him to relook at Commissioner Gooda's Social justiceand native titlereport 2014 where, very clearly, Mr Gooda points out:

… it has been a year characterised by deep funding cuts, the radical re-shaping of existing programs and services, and the development of new programs and services.

… … …

Information on the transfer arrangements has been scant with minimal involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. There was little or no consultation with those working on the ground about which programs and activities were best kept … or which departments were best placed to administer them.

… … …

Overall, this upheaval and lack of clarity is deeply worrying and is causing widespread uncertainty and stress, particularly amongst our communities.

Mr Gooda has been out throughout the year talking to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and these are his findings. How can we believe the minister when the commissioner charged with social justice and working on these issues finds that, overall, this upheaval and lack of clarity is deeply worrying and is causing widespread uncertainty and stress, particularly amongst Aboriginal communities?

I must admit that absolutely reflects the feedback that I received when I was out and about talking to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. I have not been to as many communities as the commissioner has, but certainly that is the feedback. Who can blame them for feeling like that when you have had 5,000 applications? In estimates, the department's response was, 'We think that we have had around 3,000; we have not opened them all yet.' They could not tell us how many submissions they had, they could not tell us what they were for and they could not tell us the amount of money they were for. Since then, they have discovered that there are 5,000, and I do not think that they are going to be able to meet even the extension that they have granted themselves.

Organisations that rely on this funding are deeply worried about the future, their future, but that is only really a symptom of their deep worry, which is how services are going to be provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The government are leading people up the garden path if they think that they are not going to be taking funding away from front-line services and that communities will not realise that their services have been cut. We have a Prime Minister for Aboriginal affairs who is overseeing a mess when it comes to delivery of services and programs. As Commissioner Gooda said, 'the radical re-shaping of existing programs and services'. He is overseeing a mess. That is what it is looking like to people on the ground. It absolutely looks like a mess on the ground. If it walks, talks and quacks like a duck, it is a duck and that is what is happening with this strategy. It is a duck. People are deeply worried about the future of their communities.

On top of this process what do we see? Premier Barnett in Western Australia announce that he is going to close up to 150 communities. That is also as a direct response to the fact that there is not enough funding coming in to support those communities. Have governments, state and federal, thought through what happens to those people when they are effectively kicked out of their communities? They end up being homeless, on the outskirts of time, living in far worse situations than those they have left, meaning that services have to go further to provide the support people need. Commissioner Gooda goes on to say:

It is disappointing that savings from the rationalisation of Indigenous programs and services will not be reinvested into Indigenous Affairs and Closing the Gap initiatives.

This, once again, is highlighting the failure of this government to provide the necessary services and support from a Prime Minister who says he is the Prime Minister from Aboriginal affairs. Then, of course, you have the Minister for Indigenous Affairs and the parliamentary secretary. Nobody really knows what is going on in the mess this government is currently making of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs.

Question agreed to.