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

It brings accountability, Senator Hanson. You have shown no interest whatsoever, so I don't think I'll speak with you on this matter, but I will say this: for those who are genuinely interested in seeing improvement in First Nations people's lives in this country, then work with me. This decision comes about because we need greater scrutiny. I have called on every cabinet across every parliament who have signed up to the Closing the Gap agreement. It's been five years. So of course we've got to insist that every single cabinet across Australia and every minister that sits around those cabinet tables is responsible. When the joint council meets and I sit with Pat Turner, the leader of the Coalition of Peaks, on this, we call on the Indigenous affairs ministers in every jurisdiction to work with their colleagues, and it's the same in this parliament. We need to make sure that every minister, every cabinet secretary and every bureaucrat that works behind them is questioned appropriately on these targets—