Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I also start by acknowledging the traditional owners of this land; pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging; and pay tribute to First Nations colleagues in this chamber and across the parliament. I particularly want to pay tribute to Labor's First Nations caucus: Senator McCarthy, who provides such strong leadership as minister; Senator Stewart; Senator Cox; Special Envoy Scrymgour; the member for Robertson, Dr Reid, and the member for Leichhardt. This caucus is central to our government's work to continue to deliver for all Australians.

At the outset I want to address the alleged terrorist attack targeting First Nations Australians in Perth. I know First Nations people around Australia are grappling with disbelief, anger and fear, and I repeat what the Prime Minister said, which is that, as a government, as a nation, we see you and we stand with you. There is no place for racism or hatred in our nation. You see, the alleged terrorist might have thought he was perpetrating an attack only on Indigenous Australians, but it was an attack on all Australians, because we have a right to live in peace, to gather in peace and to express our views without fear of violence.

The release of the Commonwealth's Closing the gap report each year is an important milestone. It reminds us of what we strive for in this place: a more inclusive Australia, a more equal Australia and a stronger Australia—one that is united in the task of eradicating the intolerable disadvantage that First Nations Australians continue to face. This year, it's 18 years since Prime Minister Rudd delivered the national apology and committed to closing the gap. It was a day I was proud to be in the parliament for and it's a day of which all Australians can be proud. It was such an important step on our long walk towards reconciliation, a humble acknowledgement of past wrongs and a commitment to a future where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples share in the same opportunities and outcomes as all Australians—as the former prime minister Kevin Rudd said, to embrace a new partnership between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. And the core of that partnership is closing the gap. It is closing the gap in life expectancy, educational achievement and employment opportunities between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

In Minister McCarthy's excellent contribution today, she outlined the government's work to deliver on our Closing the Gap commitments and the fact that we are doing so by working in partnership with First Nations Australians, represented by the coalition of peaks, to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people around Australia. Our focus last year as a government was delivering economic progress for First Nations communities—in jobs, training, cost-of-living pressures, increasing food security in remote communities and improving housing, health and education outcomes.

In 2026, the government's priority is to build on what is working by investing in key areas that drive better outcomes in health, education, training and economic empowerment and by investing in those areas where progress has stalled or is going backwards, where the challenges are complex and born of generations failed and policies that, while sometimes well meaning, have too often entrenched disadvantage. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are 2½ times more likely to die by suicide than non-indigenous Australians. The government is acting, including, most urgently, by delivering a boost to 13YARN, a crisis counselling service designed, led and delivered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Whilst we are resolutely focused on the challenges we have to meet to close the gap we should recognise the hard-won progress that has been made, and acknowledge and thank the generations of First Nations leaders whose tireless work has helped deliver this. We have four targets on track and six improving. That is progress that speaks to the aspirations of Indigenous Australians for a better life for future generations. Since we came to government about 1,500 jobs have been created across the country as part of the successful Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program, and now that is being doubled. Since July 2022, more than 850 new houses have been built in remote communities, helping to address overcrowding. We're expanding the cost-of-living support to remote communities through the low-cost central subsidy scheme, and Minister McCarthy spoke about the additional access in remote stores. We are also reforming the health and hospital system to better meet the needs of First Nations people as part of the historic hospital funding agreement reached between the Commonwealth, states and territories, and we are delivering the first stand-alone plan to end violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children.

First Nations people have always made important contributions to Australian society, and that includes their contribution to our place in the world. As foreign minister, I have sought to elevate First Nations international engagement and to ensure that Indigenous Australians are included in advancing our interests in the world. As the Prime Minister has said, First Nations people were this land's first diplomats and traders. They built enduring economic and cultural ties across our region and those ties across the region are an asset as we continue to build trust and Australia's reputation. This is why I appointed Justin Mohamed as Australia's first Ambassador for First Nations People. Utilising First Nations Australians' unique cultural ties with Pacific Island nations creates opportunities to grow our relationships in ways other competitors are simply not able to replicate.

On 8 February 2024, Prime Minister James Marape said to our parliament:

Ours is a relationship that has shared ethnicity, that is built on shared ethnicity between the Torres Strait Islanders and my people up north from you, between the Indigenous Australian people and the Melanesian people, who have lived in this space of planet Earth for more than thousands of years.

That is why the work of the First Nations ambassador is so important in the Pacific. It is a region where traditional leadership structures play an important role in shaping public opinion and government policies. There has been engagement by Ambassador Mohammed with leaders in Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, New Zealand, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and the Republic of Marshall Islands. This is about strengthening our connection with the region.

The commitment to closing the gap is shared across the government. The Prime Minister said in his speech last month that the Closing the Gap targets are a measure of our national progress. Every time we open our minds to the wisdom and strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, every time we break down barriers of racism or of disadvantage, every time we broaden the circle of Australian opportunity and deepen the meaning of the fair go, we are all stronger for it. Our nation is better and more united for it. Let us renew our commitment to First Nations Australians. Let us renew our commitment to closing the gap.