Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Thorpe, for your question. Recently we held the Joint Council on Closing the Gap in the Northern Territory, and one of the first things we did there, as a joint group with First Nations ministers and the Coalition of Peaks, was to call on all governments to commit and maintain true commitment to the agreement. It is tough. Without a doubt, it is very tough. There are no actual penalties in that agreement for not agreeing to it. I remind all parliaments and cabinets across Australia that they have signed up to this. Both sides of the political spectrum have signed up to it. It is very tough, Senator Thorpe, to be able to ensure that, across the country, all of those jurisdictions adhere to that—in particular, in the area of justice. We've seen rising numbers of Indigenous people being incarcerated, both youths and older people—in particular, in a number of states and the Northern Territory. But I have to keep working at it, Senator Thorpe. I have to keep working with my colleagues here in the federal parliament on all sides, but especially in the cabinet.