Mr WAKELIN (12:09 PM) —by leave—I thank the member for Lingiari for his generous comments and for his contribution. I thank my deputy chair, the member for Charlton, and I appreciate the contribution she has given over a long period. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues have challenged successive Australian governments for a very long period, particularly since the 1967 referendum, when the federal government was brought into the discussion as an equal partner and given approval by the Australian people to see what it could do to improve the lot of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders within Australia. So the path we have travelled is not new. There have been many before us and there will be many after us.

But there are some things we can do now and in the immediate future which if accepted will give greater opportunities to a group which, not always but in the main, is very disadvantaged. While some of the committee's suggestions would seem a little different to some, they are well based in the evidence that we have taken, over two years, from somewhere near 400 witnesses from diverse areas, including Redfern, Cape York, the Torres Strait, Broome, Wadeye, Lombardina, Warrnambool and Shepparton. Members of the committee would recall the wonderful contribution from Rumbalara Football Club in Shepparton, whose role in everything from education to leadership for younger people was very much to the fore.

Our recommendations and the discussion within our report offer a number of components, and I will touch on some of them today. The opportunities for the Australian government, the states, the territories, local government—where it is appropriate—and the Aboriginal communities to work together are very significant. They have not been maximised. I share the view of the member for Lingiari that, while the Council of Australian Governments trials are a very welcome initiative, we need to go a lot further with them and give them a focus, in a whole-of-government approach, as we have never done before. That is where effective governance can give better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

As far as the governance of Aboriginal organisations is concerned, there is much that can be improved, but, once again, that relies on the willingness of the Aboriginal community to work with the government and, in turn, on the government having the skills to work with the communities. I cannot stress enough that the Council of Australian Governments trials, which had early promise but which are yet unfulfilled, are still a very important mechanism where, if you like, we lay down memoranda of understanding—very clear approaches—as to who is responsible for what, and who is going to do what, in partnership with Aboriginal communities.

There are great opportunities for the Australian government—and, for that matter, state and territory governments—to work with the corporate sector, nongovernment organisations and volunteer groups to give stronger alternative models of service delivery for Aboriginal people. It is early days, but we do know of the work in Cape York, where Cape York Partnerships have been working with many corporate partners, government and the community. The style of those negotiations with the community is vital to the outcome, and there is much time invested in that. We do know from Cape York that there are promising signs for great improvement, but these things, of course, are yet to be concluded and the process will be ongoing for many years. However, with the proper partnerships with corporate and volunteer organisations and people simply as volunteers, there will be success.

I make the point that the Harvard work with indigenous people in the United States of America, after many decades of very measured and careful analysis and working out what works and what does not, makes the observation that, whilst entrenched passive welfare is one of the great impediments to progress, alternatives for economic development are very critical to the future. Therefore, government has a clear responsibility, equally with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, to look very clearly at their future and at the potential for much stronger economic development, where those scarce government and welfare resources become much less of an issue and where the ability to create their own wealth and their own opportunities in the future becomes very much a part of their way of life. There was a wonderful statement from one of the state governments, that governments must accept and be responsible for that which they do the best and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities must accept responsibility for what only they can do. I cannot put it more concisely than that. I have spoken of Harvard, and I think the Harvard experience offers us, whilst not direct comparisons, some valuable guides as to what will work and what will not.

I also make the point that the Australian government, in my opinion—and we mentioned this in our recommendations—should significantly increase funding for leadership development amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. When it becomes well known—or as well known as I can make it—that the Australian Indigenous leadership group, who are doing excellent work, are funded more than 50 per cent by a New York foundation, then we will understand that as a nation we have perhaps not offered the support that this organisation is worthy of. I am not sure that they want a total government contribution, and they would like very much to acknowledge the government contribution that is made. However, at the same time, there is some irony in the fact that the majority of their funding comes from offshore, from New York.

We talk at some length in the report about the need for financial literacy, the role for the banks and how the government can do much more in a leadership role, in partnership with the banks, to develop financial literacy and better outcomes for Indigenous people.

We mention the issue of violence, particularly sexual violence, in Aboriginal communities. We believe that there is much work to be done there. We have made a recommendation that we need to measure the existing work—and there is some useful and good work being done by the Australian government and state and territory governments—and to understand a lot better what is happening with those various programs.

I conclude by simply saying that Harvard made the observation to us—it was raised by a number of our members during the hearing—that when the family ethic, whilst an important foundation stone of our society, is focused on competition for scarce welfare and government facilities, it will never offer the same opportunity of improvement in life as focusing on creating stronger economic activity and much less reliance on welfare. As our report says, when a family starts to focus on the need to create a larger cake and all that goes with it—whether it is education, understanding finance, understanding the need for skills, the need to accept mentoring, the need to cope with the dual society that many Aboriginal people live in and the need to accept that it is a vital link to their future—then Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will offer themselves a far stronger opportunity for the future.

I want to make particular reference to a magnificent example of the positives that can be found in regional Australia—and I need go no further than Moree and a fellow by the name of Dick Estens and a lady by the name of Mrs Cathy Duncan. I acknowledge their magnificent work in turning communities around and showing the government sector that, by an investment in their future and by respecting Aboriginal people very much as equals and not something to be traded in some subsidy market, much progress can be made. So much progress has been made due to the leadership of Dick Estens—though he would not want me to say this—and through people like Mrs Duncan. It shows you just what can be done. If we want an example of what should be repeated around Australia, we need go no further than those two magnificent people.

In conclusion, I thank all the committee members, and I thank the member for Parkes, who asked us to go to Dubbo to see the situation there—which really opened our eyes. In his presence, I thank him for that. I thank the staff, particularly Mark McRae for all that he did. I also thank very much my deputy chair, Kelly Hoare.

Debate (on motion by Mr John Cobb) adjourned.