Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Thorpe for her question and for her participation, along with that of many other senators, this morning in the statements acknowledging the Closing the Gap statement made and the implementation plan for the new approach to the targets in relation to the Closing the Gap program.

I did reference, in my remarks in that debate this morning, some of the new targets in relation to justice within the Closing the Gap targets that have been developed alongside the Coalition of Peaks, state and territory governments and the Australian Local Government Association. Those targets that I referenced, which you have quoted, Senator Thorpe, are targets set out through until 2030 for reduction in the proportion of Indigenous Australians incarcerated. It should not be extrapolated that the reductions sought through to 2030 would be a linear rate of reduction into the future. It would absolutely be the government's hope—as I'm sure it is the hope of every state and territory government, as I am confident it is the hope of the Coalition of Peaks, and as I know from your question, Senator Thorpe, it is your hope—that we could and should strive to do even better than those targets to 2030 and to see the rate of reduction and equivalence in relation to incarceration rates achieved at a much faster rate beyond 2030 than can be achieved within that next eight-year period. We're serious about the investment in the programs there. We're serious about the fact that setting targets at a state and territory level as well enables them to be held to account. The reporting mechanisms enable everyone to focus on what is working to drive those rates down even further in the future.