Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The government is very proud to be supporting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As we heard from earlier contributions and from Senator Darmanin, we're also committed to enhancing Australia's application of rights under UNDRIP. We acknowledge the work of the Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and its report on the application of UNDRIP in Australia. It is worth noting that the government is considering the findings of the inquiry, and we've been working through those findings. We've also been working on embedding many of the principles of UNDRIP in the work that we do. It must be right. It must take time, but it must be done in the right way. Australia has been, proudly, a signatory since 2009 but, unfortunately, it took a Labor government to overturn the Howard government's shameful rejection of UNDRIP back in 2007.

Labor strongly believes in the right to self-determination and First Nations peoples' participation in decision-making. We know that, when First Nations peoples are meaningfully involved in the development of laws and policies, those laws and policies are much more successful. Nowhere is this partnership better shown than in the government's work with the Coalition of Peaks on closing the gap. The Coalition of Peaks is an organisation of more than 80 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled peak organisations and their members. The government proudly considers its working relationship with the Coalition of Peaks to be successful.

As the Prime Minister outlined earlier this week, the National Agreement on Closing the Gap is a landmark partnership. Also earlier this week, Minister McCarthy and the PM launched the Closing the Gap: Commonwealth2024 annual report:Commonwealth 2025 implementation plan. In Minister McCarthy's speech, she acknowledged what the government has been doing. The 2024 annual report also outlined the actions that the government has taken over the past year to deliver on the outcomes of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, an agreement in partnership with the Coalition of Peaks that is emblematic of the principles of UNDRIP. It was focused on creating jobs and economic empowerment for remote communities, easing housing overcrowding and improving safety.

In 2024, the Commonwealth government commenced the new Remote Jobs and Economic Development program, which will create up to 3,000 jobs in remote communities over the next three years. The government is also committed to expanding the Indigenous Rangers Program to create a further 1,000 jobs with 770 positions being assigned to First Nations women. Further, there will be the release of the First Nations Clean Energy Strategy to maximise the nationwide potential for First Nations people to benefit from the clean energy transformation that this government is proudly implementing.

We've also introduced legislation to expand the role and remit of Indigenous Business Australia to boost First Nations peoples' economic empowerment. We've built more than 200 new homes in remote communities in the Northern Territory as part of our 10-year goal to halve overcrowding, expanded access to affordable PBS medicines, and opened the first of up to 30 dialysis units in regional and remote locations so First Nations people can receive treatment closer to home and on country. We've also welcomed over 300 enrolments in the First Nations Health Worker Traineeship Program.

The 2025 implementation plan outlines our strategy for the year ahead, focusing on easing cost-of-living pressures and improving food security in remote communities, delivering the next steps of the economic empowerment agenda and continuing to improve the outcomes of First Nations people. We've already announced $842 million and a six-year partnership with the Northern Territory government and Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory, another First Nations partner—something that the government is very proud to be working with—to deliver essential services for many remote communities, including policing, women's safety, health and education. The government is also investing in a range of other measures to reduce the cost of 30 essential products in more than 76 remote stores, building a nutrition workforce in remote communities, rolling out new laundries and upgrades to existing facilities in 12 remote communities, strengthening the Indigenous Procurement Policy to boost opportunities for businesses and increasing opportunities for First Nations Australians to buy their own home and build intergenerational wealth through the Australian home loans capital funds. These measures are just some of the initiatives that the government is committed to delivering over 2025.

Closing the Gap is UNDRIP in action. We cannot make decisions about how to implement UNDRIP in Australia without meaningful engagement and consultation with First Nations people. I think that has to be the bedrock of any decision that this government makes. There is no-one who pushes against the principles of UNDRIP or has a record of opposing it like those opposite. Really, it is about trying to bring everybody together in this place. I think it's so important that we do work in a collaborative manner. This government, particularly with the leadership of Minister McCarthy, are very much implementing our promises and our agenda to empower First Nations people here in Australia.

It is also worth mentioning that the Albanese government is committed to progressing meaningful programs and policies that will empower First Nations people through the strengthening of partnerships and hearing from all of them about what works, what does not and what will lead to meaningful change. That is UNDRIP in action. Through the Joint Council on Closing the Gap, we are creating systemic change to improve the way we work with First Nations Australians, the Coalition of Peaks and state and territory governments. At the end of the day, we all need to work collectively and cooperatively, and we have to make sure that we do build a better future and that there is meaningful change for many generations ahead. On that note, I am going to finish my speech there.