Mrs DRAPER (5:41 PM) —I rise to speak in support of the government's response to National Reconciliation Week, and in particular the approach of the Prime Minister (Mr Howard) to this issue. Our theme this year, as the Prime Minister outlined earlier, is `communities working together'. This is in keeping with the government's fundamental belief that the interests of indigenous people are best served by moving forward together to solve today's problems and to create a bright future for all Australians, indigenous and non-indigenous alike.

Some people in this place and elsewhere want to use this week as an occasion to apportion blame, to inflict guilt upon this generation for the wrongs of the past, and to encourage a victim mentality rather than a positive problem solving approach to the issues that confront us. Contrary to some opinions, the Prime Minister has personally apologised and expressed his regrets on more than one occasion in this place and in public.

I would like to take this opportunity in this place in National Reconciliation Week to express my sorrow and regret for the mistakes of the past. As the Prime Minister has pointed out, we need to acknowledge past wrongs and to resolve to address the problems that we are still facing, which is exactly what the Howard coalition government is doing. At the end of its first four years in office this government will have spent almost $700 million more in real terms on indigenous-specific programs than the previous government spent in its last four years. The bulk of this spending is in the areas of housing and infrastructure, health, education, employment and training, and economic development.

In the area of indigenous health alone, as the Prime Minister stated earlier, we have increased spending in real terms by 37 per cent since 1995-96. Included in this spending is a raft of new initiatives, including programs to fight respiratory illnesses and immunisation against influenza. Work is also under way to respond to priority health issues such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Resources have been especially devoted to hearing and eye health. Diseases affecting health status in these areas are causes of significant morbidity, but also contribute to the relatively high level of disability within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

I am delighted to say that we are also spending $63 million to address the recommendations of the Bringing them home report. The government has also maintained a strong commitment to the Abstudy and community development and employment programs. To address the difficulties faced by our indigenous communities, we have allocated funds in areas which will bring about significant long-term improvements. I congratulate the Prime Minister for his stance in this area of policy, and the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Senator Herron, and the Minister for Health and Family Services (Dr Wooldridge) for the many positive initiatives that this government has promoted and implemented.

Sadly, true reconciliation will probably not come about in our immediate generation—and how can it? How can it when our indigenous people have a higher rate of incarceration per head of population and their health care and educational needs are not met, nor are they anywhere near the standard of the rest of the population. Perhaps here, as a government, we could take a leaf from the book of Fred Hollows and provide not just eye care but comprehensive health care to remote areas by mobile caravan. What could be more simple or more effective than having it staffed by our own indigenous nurses and doctors—by those who best understand their spiritual, cultural and health needs?

As I said, reconciliation will not come about in this generation. Rather, it will come about when all our children have been taught that, to differentiate one person from another, you need only ask their name. For true reconciliation, it is my hope that in the future our children do not feel the need to differentiate people by their race, religion, age, gender or culture or whether they have disabilities—or, rather, special abilities. That hope, I believe, is well founded.

During the last school holidays, my two young boys went on a camp with the YMCA of Adelaide and shared their cabin with two brothers—very special, funny guys—both of whom, I sadly noticed (with the emphasis on `I') had intellectual and physical disabilities. When I asked how the two guys with the disabilities coped, my sons answered that there were no kids with disabilities that they noticed and questioned my concerns. What did my sons notice? That these two boys had a great sense of humour and were the greatest at basketball swishing, and that these two guys with the supposed disability were the only ones on camp who knew the entire Crows Club song word for word. The only thing my sons noticed of any difference was that these guys were super cool dudes. (Time expired)