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

I table the annual report on Closing the Gap together with accompanying ministerial statements and documents. I move:

That the Senate take note of the documents.

I stand today to affirm the Prime Minister's statement in the House of Representatives on 12 February, where he made it clear that we must continue the work of Closing the Gap with honesty, courage and partnership. Everywhere I go, I see the strength of First Nations people. It's in the way communities come together to celebrate culture, protect country and create opportunities for the next generation. I see communities standing strong in moments that challenge us, like after the shocking alleged terror attack in Boorloo, Perth. Our people show up for each other and stand together with resilience, love and unity.

I make particular mention of my colleagues Senator Dorinda Cox and you, President, and also Patrick Gorman MP for being very present with the Noongar families in Perth. As the Prime Minister said, the danger of that alleged attack was real and so were the racism and hatred behind it, motivated by a white supremacy ideology. Violent racism and hatred are faced far too often by First Nations Australians. We must continue to raise our voices against all forms of racism and hate.

As a government, our task is to ensure no-one is held back and no-one is left behind. That means confronting the challenges while also recognising the strength, innovation and leadership in communities. This year's Commonwealth Closing the Gap annual report and implementation plan reflects progress. It reflects the lived experiences and aspirations of our families, elders and communities. It reflects our shared commitment to lasting change. We are determined to keep building on what is working. I want to acknowledge the Special Envoy for Remote Communities, Marion Scrymgour, who walks alongside me as we deliver for First Nations people. I also want to acknowledge my First Nations caucus colleagues—Senator Jana Stewart in particular—for their support and commitment to improving the lives of First Nations people.

One year ago, I committed to focusing on what communities tell me matters most: improving health outcomes, reducing overcrowding, improving food security, keeping First Nations women and children safe and, crucially, supporting economic empowerment and employment. Employment and economic empowerment are central to self-determination. That's why my focus has been steadfast on jobs, jobs, jobs. Having a job is a critical foundation, creating pathways that support dignity, security and generational change. That's why we are doubling our successful Remote Jobs and Economic Development program, RJED, from 3,000 jobs to 6,000 new jobs. This is about the dignity of work with proper pay and conditions for people like Marcus, who I met at Wanilla Forrest in Port Lincoln who weeks ago, who said, 'It means a lot for community for us to be out there and doing the things we do,' and Alex, who I also met in Port Lincoln, who told me his family is so stoked to see him working.

I know it sounds really simple, but sometimes we just have to go back to the simplicity of decency in people's lives, to feel good about what they are doing so they wake up each morning proud of getting to work—people who travel an hour and a half to get to their jobs and then travel back home in the Port Lincoln area. This is the real-life impact of our work as politicians. It strengthens individuals and families, lifts local economies and creates long-term pathways.

I'm so proud of our Indigenous Rangers Program, which we continue to expand. We are on track to meet our commitment to double the number of rangers across Australia from 1,900 to 3,800 by 2030. These are crucial roles that protect and care for land and sea country, like the work being done on the Great Barrier Reef by Gavin Singleton and the Yirrganydji Land and Sea Rangers, where I know Senator Green is very much involved. They operate between Cairns and Port Douglas. They're carrying out restoration work on the reef and looking at different ways to save coral. We also have our junior rangers program, which we've expanded to more than 60 new locations right around Australia so students like Chayse-John Shepherd from the South Coast of New South Wales can learn about caring for country and connect with and stand tall in culture. It's these stories that I get the privilege of hearing firsthand.

As the Prime Minister said, our approach to Closing the Gap is driven by economic empowerment. Later this year the new First Nations economic partnership will deliver an economic policy to drive economic empowerment right across Australia. We know Australians are doing it tough, especially in remote communities, where essential goods cost much more than in cities. A hundred and thirteen stores have already signed up to our low-cost essential subsidy scheme on 30 essential items. That's 113 stores in four jurisdictions—Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. And now it's going to be available to all 225 remote stores right around Australia, providing more cost-of-living relief to families in our remote regions. A few weeks ago I visited the Outback Stores Adelaide warehouse, when the 4,000th pallet of goods was dispatched to remote communities in the APY Lands and Northern Territory. The demand from communities has been enormous, and now we can meet more of it. We're expanding the Store Efficiency and Resilience Package to 75 additional remote stores to support upgrades that will help keep stock fresh during the wet season and extreme weather events, which we're actually seeing right now across Northern Australia. And we're getting feed back from those stores on that resilience package. They now feel far better prepared because they are stocked up as a result of the resilience package we provided over the last few years. We've seen how important it is during the recent floods in Central Australia. Communities have been better prepared to cope with being out of any goods thanks to our investments. In places like Lajamanu, for example, they've been able to install more dry and cold storage so that it can hold an additional 13 weeks of stock to get through the wet season. Our funding has gone to really simple and effective policies to assist our communities.

Across the country we've expanded access to culturally safe health care, increased the number of First Nations specialists in training and upgraded essential healthcare infrastructure so services are fit for purpose and comparable to those in urban areas. We will continue our investment in 10 birthing-on-country units across Australia, led by First Nations women, to deliver culturally safe care that keeps our mothers and babies strong. Programs like Birthing in Our Community in Brisbane and Waminda's Birthing On Country in Nowra are reducing preterm births and improving antenatal visits and breastfeeding rates. We know that our health is more than physical; it includes strong minds and spirits. Where support is needed, it must be immediate and culturally safe. That's why we're investing $13.9 million in 13YARN, to ensure more First Nations people can access community led help when they need it.

The Albanese government understands the importance of having a roof over your head and access to safe and affordable housing. We know that homeownership remains a challenge for many people. The Indigenous Business Australia homeownership program saw 583 concessional home loans approved, supporting more First Nations families, particularly single-income households, to achieve homeownership and financial independence. In many parts of Australia it's not just about financing a home; too few homes are available, which can often mean severe overcrowding. That's why, between 1 July 2024 and 30 November 2025, we built 300 houses in 34 remote Northern Territory communities and two Alice Springs town camps. This was part of our historic agreement with the NT government, all four land councils and Aboriginal Housing NT. Over the next 12 months, we will continue to support First Nations people to secure appropriate housing. Round 3 of the Housing Australia Future Fund will include dedicated funding to support more than 21,000 new social and affordable homes, with a First Nations tenancy target of 10 per cent and delivered through the First Nations community controlled sector.

On 10 February, I was proud to stand beside the Minister for Social Services to launch 'Our Way—Strong Ways—Our Voices'—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Wong?

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

Can I just ask if we could seek leave for another minute for the minister, and I'll endeavour to make sure my remarks are perhaps a little short of the 10 minutes.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

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

delivering on our commitment for a standalone plan to end violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children. To support the plan, the Albanese government has made an immediate investment of $218.3 million to implement 'Our Ways' with First Nations organisations at the centre.

I refer this statement to the Senate and I also urge senators to have a look at the Prime Minister's in-depth statement to the House on behalf of our government and, indeed, on behalf of the Parliament of Australia. I certainly reach out to state and territory Indigenous affairs ministers to also provide their updates. This does require a combined approach of all states and territories and the Commonwealth, along with our opposition shadow ministers. We have all signed up to this deal—the Australian parliament has—and I acknowledge the work we've done but also that there is still much more to do.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sadly, the Closing the gap report has once again become an annual reminder of what this government is not doing and what it has not done for Indigenous Australians. This year's report is no different. In fact, the Productivity Commission's data shows that only four of the 19 targets in the national agreement are actually to be met. I say that again—four. That is not progress, despite the speech we just heard. Quite frankly, it is a disgraceful national failing, and, disturbingly—despite the speech, again—it is actually worse than last year, when at least five targets were on track.

Let that sink in, everybody. The Albanese government have gone backwards when it comes to closing the gap. After four years of this government, after billions of dollars in spending and after an enormous and divisive national debate about a voice to parliament, we now have—this is the reality for Australians—fewer Closing the Gap targets on track than when Labor came to power. I certainly wouldn't sit here and ask for congratulations if I were the minister. The number of children being removed from their families and placed in out-of-home care is getting worse under the Albanese government. Suicide rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are getting worse under the Albanese government. The proportion of Indigenous children who are developmentally on track is getting worse under the Albanese government. That is the Albanese government's record when it comes to Closing the Gap.

In fact, if I cast my mind back to October 2023, Australians gave the Albanese government a very, very clear message about the way they wanted these issues approached. They said no to the Voice referendum by an absolute majority. In the wake of that result, what has this government done? Quite frankly, they have pretended that it all never happened. Instead of rolling up their sleeves and getting on with the work of closing the gap in health, in housing, in education, in employment and in safety, the Albanese government consumed the better part of its first term and enormous political capital and public goodwill on a referendum that Australians ultimately resoundingly rejected. Then what did it do? As I said in the beginning of my speech, we have gone backwards. Last year, it was five targets; this year, it is four targets. That is an appalling record. They have left behind Indigenous Australians. That is the leadership, sadly, that we have come to expect from the Albanese government: give a great speech, don't go anywhere near the failures and pretend it is all alright. Well, it's not alright, and the Closing the Gap annual statement clearly shows that.

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, my colleague and someone who, as we all know, has dedicated her public life to the genuine wellbeing of Indigenous Australians, has said for many years that these issues should be approached not solely on the basis of race but on the basis of need, and Senator Nampijinpa Price is right. The Australian people agreed with Senator Nampijinpa Price in 2023, and the data in the latest Productivity Commission report again proves Senator Nampijinpa Price right today. Senator Nampijinpa Price, with the full backing of the coalition, has persistently and courageously called for a complete and independent audit of government spending on Indigenous Australians and the programs that are supposedly supporting them.

Hon. Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

Slade Brockman (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator McCarthy was heard in silence. I will ask that Senator Cash is also heard in silence.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I said, Senator Nampijinpa Price has consistently and rightly called for an audit of the programs that are supposedly supporting—we know they're not; the statistics show that—Indigenous Australians. Without such an audit, it is impossible to know what is working, what is failing and where the money is being wasted. Without it, we will keep funding the same old programs year after year, watching the same statistics plateau or worsen and delivering the same regretful speeches to this chamber. What programs deliver results? Which programs are absorbing funding without producing outcomes? Where is the money going? I would have thought, Senator Nampijinpa Price, that these are not unreasonable questions for all Australians to be asking. These are certainly the questions that Australians deserve to have answered. Yet the Albanese government has refused to support, time and time again, such an audit, preferring to announce new initiatives and tout new funding rather than holding itself accountable for what has come before and the abject failure it has been when it comes to changing the lives of Indigenous Australians for the better.

The Northern Territory data in the report is particularly alarming. Of the 15 targets with sufficient data in the Territory, only seven are improving. The Northern Territory, where some of Australia's most disadvantaged communities live, where the gap is the widest and the need is the greatest, is the jurisdiction where the Albanese government has failed most comprehensively. We know that, since the removal of the cashless debit card, conditions in many of these communities have deteriorated markedly. Violence, crime and child neglect, all directly linked to the scourge of alcohol and drugs, are flooding back into communities that had gained some measure of needed protection. The coalition has consistently called for the reinstatement of the cashless debit card. These are not punitive measures; they are protective ones. They give children in these communities the chance to receive the care and the support that every Australian child deserves. Rates of domestic violence and child sexual abuse, in too many communities, remain catastrophically high. The coalition has called for a royal commission into sexual abuse in Indigenous communities. The evidence for such a royal commission is overwhelming, and the government's refusal—in particular, based on the damning statistics that I have read out—to actually support it is, quite frankly, inexcusable.

We have also called for the Native Title Act and the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act to be used to unlock economic development in Indigenous communities. This is an opportunity to unlock multigenerational wealth through mining, pastoral activity and other land uses that drive prosperity.

The coalition has consistently called for a focus on attendance and completion at school. The government will say, 'Well, hey, hold on, the attendance rates are there, because there's an enrolment figure,' but, as Senator Kerrynne Liddle has pointed out time and time again, the mere fact that someone is enrolled does not mean that they attend or, worse, that they actually complete school. Completing school is one of the best ways to improve outcomes for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The failures documented in the Closing the gap report are not simply failures of intent. Ministers and governments across the political spectrum have genuinely wanted to make progress on these issues, but good intentions do not feed a child, they do not house a family and they do not keep a young person out of detention. Outcomes do that. Results do that, and on this the Albanese government has yet again failed miserably. The Albanese government must answer for a fundamental truth: it spent its political energy, its public platform and its moral authority on a referendum that divided this country and ultimately failed, and, after it did so, four of 19 Closing the Gap targets continue to worsen.

All Australians want better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. All of us want to see the gap in life expectancy closed. We all want children born healthy and given every chance to thrive. We all want communities that are safe, where parents can raise their children free from violence, addiction and despair. But Australians also know, instinctively and correctly, that we cannot keep spending billions of dollars on the same approaches expecting different results, and that is why an independent audit matters, that is why the reinstatement of income management tools matters and that is why a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities matters. We need new thinking, genuine accountability and a laser focus on what works. We need to listen not just to peak bodies and institutional voices in Canberra but to the communities themselves—the parents, grandmothers and community leaders who live these realities each and every day.

We'll come back to this chamber next year. We'll receive another report. The question we must all answer—but, in particular, the Albanese government, which is failing Indigenous Australians—is whether they, and all of us collectively, have done more to deliver, yet again, another regretful speech. The coalition is committed to finding a better way. We believe in closing the gap. We believe that means action, accountability and honesty, not symbolism, not spin and not another four years of the status quo. We owe all Australians and, in particular, the most disadvantaged Indigenous Australians far better than this.

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by acknowledging that this is Ngunnawal and Ngambri country. It always was and always will be. I honour their elders past and present and their future leaders.

I rise to speak on the ministerial statement on Closing the Gap, but, before I turn to that report, I want to acknowledge the hurt being felt across First Nations communities affected by the attempted bombing of the Invasion Day rally in Boorloo/Perth and the ongoing escalation of racist violence and hate speech towards First Nations people. The delay in recognising and reporting the Boorloo attack as a terror incident is indicative of the ongoing failure of governments at all levels to take violence against First Nations people seriously. How can we hope to close the gap while such obvious racism persists across our nation? The Human Rights Commission's National Anti-Racism Framework is gathering dust across government desks. The Prime Minister should show leadership and fund its full implementation as a matter of urgency.

This year, just like last year, the Closing the gap report shows only four of 19 targets are on track. The gap is not, in fact, closing. The 2026 report is sobering reading, but, sadly it's not surprising reading. What should be shocking has become routine. That cannot continue. Labor must show more ambition and courage if they're going to get serious about closing the gap and getting real outcomes on First Nations health, housing, education, culture, safety and justice. Every day that passes without meaningful structural change is a conscious decision by this government not to improve the lives of First Nations people.

The Productivity Commission's review of the Closing the Gap agreement found that all governments are falling well short of their commitments. They have collectively failed to understand the nature and the scale of action needed to close the gap. Collective failures are why First Nations people are twice as likely to go without adequate housing. Housing is a crisis across Australia, but it's one that's felt even more acutely by First Nations communities. One in eight Indigenous households are in housing stress, facing unaffordable rents, severe overcrowding and unsafe housing. Collective failures are why more First Nations people are incarcerated and dying by suicide than in the last report. In New South Wales alone, 2025 had the highest recorded number of deaths in custody in 40 years, and yet the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody are still not implemented.

The Commonwealth government should be using every lever available to it to end this disproportionate incarceration and the preventable deaths of First Nations people. It should intervene on issues like raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility and end the overpolicing and draconian laws that put First Nations kids behind bars at alarming rates. In the other place, the Closing the Gap statement was made on the 18th anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. For First Peoples, that anniversary is a time for remembrance of the trauma they endured and the power of survival. For this parliament, that anniversary should be a time of reflection on that legacy of injustice and how we must all do better.

Yet collective failures mean more First Nations kids are in out-of-home care now than when the Closing the Gap agreement was signed. That number is even higher if you include children on permanent care orders outside of their families. One in seven Aboriginal children will have an out-of-home care placement by the time they are 13. This is unacceptable. The injustice is not just in the disproportionate numbers of children in out-of-home care but in how those kids are treated. Too many are exploited or neglected in care—or abused. Too few have comprehensive exit plans that set them up for success beyond care. We need to invest in community led services and kinship care, support for families to stay together and recovery for children leaving care.

Domestic, family and sexual violence against First Nations women and children remain shockingly high. First Nations women are still more likely to be killed by a current or former partner, more likely to be hospitalised by that violence and less likely to be able to access support to leave violent relationships and are too often ignored or blamed when they report violence. 'Our Ways—Strong Ways—Our Voices', which is the standalone, community led plan to end violence, is an important step. It recognises that community led, culturally safe solutions are the most effective, but it should not have taken so long for the government to listen to First Nations women in the first place. Advocates have been calling for a standalone plan for years. Now the government must ensure that Aboriginal community controlled organisations have the funding needed to make that plan work.

Two of the only Closing the Gap targets that are on track relate to land and sea management, and yet we are still a long way from actually recognising First Nations communities' rights to manage their country. After Rio Tinto shamefully blew up 46,000-year-old caves at Juukan Gorge, this parliament set out on a pathway to do better in the Away forward report. It called for comprehensive new national cultural heritage laws co-designed with First Nations people. Despite this clear pathway, Australia has yet to ratify the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, new cultural heritage laws are yet to be delivered and new environmental laws were reformed without clear standards for engaging with First Nations communities.

Australia is unceded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land, and traditional owners must be able to decide what happens on country. They must be able to withhold consent to the destruction of their cultural heritage and to determine how their land is managed. If this government is truly committed to managing land, sea and cultural heritage in partnership with First Nations people, it must fully implement the Juukan Gorge recommendations and ensure that new cultural heritage laws and consultation standards are consistent with the principles of self-determination and with free, prior and informed consent.

Closing the Gap is an important commitment to addressing inequality, but it is ultimately a deficit model that fails to address the underlying history of dispossession and the systemic discrimination that goes to the heart of why there is a gap. If we have any hope of closing the gap by 2031, we need to get real about the impacts of systemic racism, intergenerational trauma and chronic underinvestment in Aboriginal led responses. Truth-telling and treaties with First Nations people offer a path to do that.

First Nations people deserve much bolder action on truth and treaty from this government, and yet the government has walked back its early commitment to truth-telling and it's stripped funding from the makarrata commission. The Yoorrook Justice Commission's truth-telling work established a treaty pathway in Victoria, and that provides a model that the Commonwealth could follow. The Walk for Truth campaign will conclude in Canberra in May, and I urge the government to be ready to take action by then.

Closing the gap is about accountability, but no-one's being held accountable for this ongoing failure. This year's report shows once again that not enough is being done. First Nations communities are still not being prioritised, and this government needs to take responsibility for turning that around. Communities have the solutions. Labor needs to show the political will to listen to First Nations people; implement structural reform towards truth, treaty and justice; and make real and lasting progress to actually close the gap.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to 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.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We're at the halfway point of the decade-long Closing the Gap agreement, and, as Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, I stand to express my party's concern about what has sadly become an annual ritual consisting of solemn expressions of dismay and concern about the gap and of cherry-picking and self-congratulations on minor wins, yet little progress. This year the Prime Minister described closing the gap as a national test, a generational task and a moral imperative. He talked about listening to communities, investing in codesign and entrusting the coalition of peaks—noble rhetoric from our Prime Minister, a bunch of nice words.

Yet the latest report released by the Productivity Commission makes for another sobering but predictable read. Only four of the 19 targets are on track to be met by the time the agreement ends in 2031. Indeed, based on the date, this Productivity Commission report suggests that we have been marking time, even sliding backwards, even since last year, when five of the 19 primary targets were on track. Closing the Gap has been a bipartisan policy for almost two decades, and, yes, both sides of politics have failed to deliver on it whilst in government.

The bringing in of the Productivity Commission by former coalition minister Ken Wyatt was a welcome move because at least it brought some rigour and accountability to what, in essence, is an aspirational policy. But this year incarceration rates are up, suicide rates are getting worse and even the expectation for healthy baby birth weights has slipped, according to the ABC's Indigenous affairs team. Yes, let's celebrate because we're making progress on Indigenous land and sea rights, and we're getting some more rangers, but I would suggest incarceration rates, suicide rates and birth weights are of much more significant impact to the lived experience of Indigenous Australians.

The Prime Minister used his Closing the Gap speech to warn about the rise of white supremacy in Australia, citing the disturbing incident in Perth at an Indigenous rights protest where a man allegedly threw a homemade improvised bomb device. The Minister for Foreign Affairs referred to this event in her contribution. The man has been charged; the matter is being fully investigated by the security authorities, and that's as it should be. This is our democracy and our institutions doing exactly what they're meant to do. But with respect, Prime Minister, the alleged action of a lone lunatic racist, at a protest about Australia Day, is a long way from the violence and abuse of women and children, widespread substance abuse and premature deaths that are happening in so many Indigenous communities right now.

Indigenous affairs in Australia has long been a battle between two different ideologies—one that says Indigenous citizens are lifted up through a recognition of their rights and one that views Indigenous disadvantage as something that can be fixed with practical approaches of houses, jobs, education, homeownership and economic opportunities. The Australian's Indigenous affairs correspondent, Paige Taylor, recently wrote:

When Australians said no to a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous voice on October 14, 2023, politicians from the left and right understood this as a rejection of the rights-based approach to Indigenous affairs.

According to Ms Taylor, Labor committed to 'practical reconciliation' in which ministers spoke about the importance of closing the gap and avoided conversations about treaty, truth-telling and anything else that could be interpreted as special rights. I absolutely agree with that, but the reality is not enough is being done. Practically nothing is being done. Aboriginal women are experiencing extreme violence in their communities, and that requires intervention.

Labor will spend $218 million on a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander plan to end domestic and sexual violence. That sounds like a lot of money, but it's a 20-year plan. Let me put that in context: that is a third of what's going to be spent on a study into high-speed rail between Sydney and Newcastle in the next two years. They're going to spend a third of what they're spending on the high-speed rail plan to end domestic and sexual violence against Aboriginal women in the next 20 years.

It's often forgotten that my party, the National Party, represents all of the electorates with high proportions of Indigenous Australians. We've had exemplary Indigenous affairs ministers and shadow ministers who've made major contributions to the portfolio. But we know an audit of the spending has to be done as a matter of urgency. We have spent $50 billion to $60 billion on Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander affairs, and our suicide rates are going up; birth weights are going down; incarceration rates are going up. We are not closing the gap despite all of that money and all of the goodwill and kind words.

I've been a strong supporter of this policy since 2019, when I was the minister sent to Tennant Creek, after the horrific rape of a two-year-old, to sort something out and to make a change. When I got on the ground and spoke to those delivering services to that community, they did not want extra roads. They did not want treaty. What they wanted was service provision in the gaps. We had Territory government services, Commonwealth government services and non-government services all going into the same places, and there were significant gaps that these babies were falling through.

The one recommendation of the Barkly Regional Deal that never got done was the one that was the cheapest, which was to audit the service provision and fill the gaps. It's an indictment, and I've no doubt that the current minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, whom we've heard from today, is strongly motivated by similar sentiments to improve the lives of Indigenous people. However, this portfolio, probably more than any other, requires more than a listening ear. It actually requires a minister who's prepared to intervene, when required, when things aren't workings, when money is being wasted, where vested interests have a stronghold and where nepotism is rife.

While Closing the Gap has been bipartisan policy for a long time, maybe it's time we all admitted failure and made some fundamental changes to this policy. Let's be practical. Let's be strong. But let's not pretend things are improving when they're not. Most of all, let's be honest: we're widening the gap; we're not closing it.

I would suggest that everyone in this place is committed to reconciliation and to all Australians having access to services and opportunities if we're actually going to be a prosperous, safe and cohesive nation going forward, but the definition of insanity, according to a guy a lot more clever than me, Albert Einstein, is to keep doing the same thing while expecting a different result. If the test of a good society is how the most vulnerable in your society are treated, then I think it's time we changed what we are doing. Instead, we stand up year after year, no matter who's in government, and say we're committed to closing the gap while we see the targets go in the wrong direction, waste $50 billion to $60 billion of taxpayers' money and see the heartache out in communities as women and children, in particular, suffer as they do. I think it is an indictment on all of us.

Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Closing the gap—yes, we all want to see that happen. It's been going on for decades, and nothing happens. It's the same old rhetoric we hear all the time. Australians have been saying to me for ever and a day, 'Where does the money go? Why aren't things changing. If anything, our society is getting worse, because there's more division than there ever has been in the past.' We saw this division widen even further under this Labor government when it brought in the Voice. That was to have a voice to parliament which was just for Aboriginal people, regardless of the fact that all Australians can, at an election, vote for members of parliament to represent them in this place. That didn't get up. Over 60 per cent of Australians nationally said, 'No. We don't want that. That's divisive.' Then we had treaty. That's being brought into the state parliaments. Where's that taking us? It's taking us to more division.

It doesn't matter what you've done over the period of time since 1996, when, in my first maiden speech to this place, I advocated about the fact that I was born here. This is my land as much as anyone else's and any migrants who have come to this country. We should enjoy what this country has to offer us equally. But that hasn't been the case. I pointed out ATSIC. ATSIC was the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, which was running on about $2 billion a year, and it was a waste. It didn't do anything for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It was an industry, and I've been saying that for many years.

We've structured an industry in this country that has created division based on race. Think about it. That's what it's based on. Aren't we all Australians, regardless of our culture, race or background? But we don't see it that way. The laws that have been structured in this place over the period of time, even under the constitution—when section 51(xxvi) was changed in the referendum in 1967, it was basically to bring the Aboriginal people into the census in order to count them in the census, but what it did was create more division. Whereas the government could make specific laws for any race of people, for Aboriginal and any race of people—again, division. So it's in our constitution, which gives the government rights to make specific laws for any race.

All we have seen over the period of time is division that's happening, violence, aggression, crimes, more people in prison, sexual abuse, domestic violence—the list goes on and on and on. When is it ever going stop? Senator McKenzie made a point about the money that's thrown at this. It's estimated about $30 billion a year, possibly more because you've got the states and local government as well. This is all taxpayer dollars. The figures that we have are that about 980,000 people claim to be Aboriginal, yet, if you go to the native title, there are about 430,000 to 450,000 who claim to have a connection to the lands since 1788 for native title claim, yet here we have a census of 980,000 people claiming to be Aboriginal in this country. And the next census is going to happen this year, meaning it's going to rise—I'm sure it will rise over 1 million people, because, between the 2021 census at that time and the one prior to that, people claiming Aboriginality rose over 25 per cent. Yet the population increase was only eight per cent, so something doesn't add up. It's like tick the box. You tick the box? You're going to get government assistance. A lot of these people are not Aboriginal. They haven't even got any Aboriginality. So it's based on 'let's tick the box', and then these government departments, if you go out there to put your name down, aren't game to question you, because you will be called a racist, but you can go and claim Aboriginality. Let's split the pie even more, and that's what's happening.

People are supposed to—I went up to Doomadgee. I've been up there and to Bourke and these places. I've been to the Aboriginal communities. I've spoken to them. Councils want assistance. The one at Bamaga that I went to suggested building their own houses. It's costing the taxpayers about $1 million a house. They said, 'We can actually make the building blocks and build our own house for about $200,000, maybe even less.' Brought it to the government. They weren't interested. That would have given them a business sense, given them employment and built more houses for the people, and cheaper to the taxpayer—not interested. How many times I have raised in this place here about the corruption? Where does this money go? No answers—not interested. Probably one of the worst Aboriginal affairs ministers in this place that we see under this government. Nothing. Nothing's happening. You wonder why—the same old rhetoric in the place, time and time and time again, and the Australian people have had a gutful of it. This division must stop. Once you stop the division—get rid of 'who's Aboriginal', 'who's Indigenous', 'who's Australian'. The fact is we are all Australians and should be treated equally and the same based on individual needs basis.

When I have Australians out there, families, live in their cars, can't get a roof over their head—that's where their needs are. When I have children who cannot get their uniforms or shoes or whatever given to them because they're not Aboriginal and their families have to try and find the money—that's not Australian. When we see ads on our TVs saying that the Smith Family have a million children in this country living in poverty, that is an absolute disgrace. It breaks my heart to hear about these young children being raped because no-one wants to interfere or say anything because it's cultural. Don't interfere into it—

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Alright, that's enough! I have a point of order.

Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Then you have—

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What are you saying, Senator Hanson—

Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Please be seated, Senator Hanson.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have a point of order! What are you saying? What are you saying, Hanson—that my people are raping babies?

Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Thorpe, can you please make a point of order?

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is that what you're trying to tell your audience? What an absolute disgrace. The President should be in here to stop racism.

Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Thorpe, do you have a point of order?

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

She needs to go. We need another censure motion to get her out. She is racist—

Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Thorpe, please take your seat. Senator Roberts?

Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When is it okay to have a conversation between two senators?

Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Roberts, do you have a point of order?

Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I do. Point of order—Senator Thorpe is engaging in a slanderous conversation with Senator Hanson.

Steph Hodgins-May (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's not a point of order. Senator Hanson, please resume your speech.

Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will repeat what I said. Children as young as two are being raped out there. It's fact. It's known. If the truth hurts—it bloody hurts me. It's disgraceful for this to happen. You also have domestic violence happening against these women. They are not being fought for. Because of their cultural background, no-one wants to stand up or say anything about it. We're letting these people down; we really are. I have them come to my office. There are native title claims over this land. Sixty per cent of our nation is under native title. What is actually happening with that? I had these Indigenous people come into my office years ago, and they said: 'Pauline, all we want is part of the land. Give us some of the land back, not through the land councils. We want it personally so we can actually go and build homes, run businesses and get loans. We want to further ourselves.' But no. We keep them tied down, keep them under this control so that you use them for your own benefits. That's what's so wrong and stinks in this bloody place. Nothing's being done about it.

They're crying out. These people just want freedom and to get on with their lives. A lot of these people have said they don't agree with the Voice and with splitting this nation. There shouldn't be three flags in this chamber. There's one flag; it's called the Australian flag. There are not three. This is more division that's happening in this country. We've had enough of welcome to country. We've had enough of that. The Australian people don't want a welcome to country or an acknowledgement of country. It was never a cultural thing that they did. It was brought in by Ernie Dingo. It was brought in by him. It's not cultural whatsoever. It keeps going on and on because of the payment that happens for any land or anything. To stop Australians from even travelling and going to places in our own country is disgraceful. The division has happened, and Australians want change. They want accountability. They want to know where their taxpayer dollars are going. Australians don't deny helping those who are truly in need, but we've allowed it to get out of hand, constantly, all the time. We are not making sure their taxpayer dollars are counted.

There is racism in this country; you'd better believe there's racism in this country. We have to be seen to be treating all Australians equally under one law. There are these poor children who constantly get pulled up for the crimes they're committing because they're taught the hatred, they're taught to have that opinion. All we're setting them up for is a life of crime—in prisons all the time. People don't go out there and get locked up because of their cultural background; they get locked up because they commit a crime against society. That's why they end up in our prison system. People have to take responsibility for their own actions and not just get off because of their cultural background. When we treat people equally in our country, that's when the gap will start to close.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've only got a minute to do this speech, but it's very disappointing to see some so-called senators who represent the absolute filth of this country—the racists out there. We know racism contributes to incarceration rates, contributes to ill health and contributes to so much hurt and division in this country because of the racist words that come out of Pauline Hanson's mouth—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Thorpe, withdraw.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What for?

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You know that the standing orders say that you cannot reflect on the views of another senator. So I'm asking you to withdraw. Please withdraw.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm saying what comes out of her mouth—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Thorpe!

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say that—we all say that about each other.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Thorpe, in this chamber—

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why can't you deal with the racism in this chamber, President?

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Thorpe, you're not in a debate—

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What are you doing about the racism in this chamber, President?

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Thorpe, unless you withdraw, I will withdraw the call from you.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of course you would. The Closing the Gap speech—you would do that, wouldn't you?

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Thorpe, I've asked you to withdraw.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Senator Thorpe. The time for the debate has expired. The question is that the motion as moved by Senator McCarthy be agreed to.

Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hang on! There are still more speeches to be done. Hanson here took up the rest of her time. Do your job! You're not calling a vote!

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Thorpe, resume your seat! I am informed that we will come back to this debate. But you will recall that this morning we allowed two hours for it, and Senator McCarthy started the debate by moving the motion. We are at two-minute statements.