Parliamentary Committees

ABORIGINAL LANDS PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE: ANNUAL REPORT

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers, Minister Assisting the Premier in Social Inclusion) (11:04): I move:

That the annual report 2009-10 of the committee be noted.

This is the sixthannual report of the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee. It provides a summary of the committee's activities for the financial year ended 30 June 2010. Over the last year, the committee has consulted and engaged with a wide range of Aboriginal people in their communities. These consultations have assisted the committee's understanding of the way services and programs are delivered to Aboriginal people.

The majority of this report summarises the activities undertaken by the committee as it was constituted prior to the 2010 state election. During the year the committee visited communities at Oak Valley, Yalata, Oodnadatta and Coober Pedy and numerous Aboriginal organisations and support organisations within Adelaide.

The highlight for the committee was attending the hand-back ceremony of the Maralinga Tjarutja lands to its traditional owners in December 2009. I am pleased to report that the current committee is building on the work already established, particularly its commitment to take time to work with Aboriginal people in their own country.

I am thankful to all members of the committee, past and present, for their dedication and hard work. I would like to particularly thank previous members for their contributions: the Hon. Jay Weatherill, Mrs Lynn Breuer (yourself, Madam Speaker), Dr Duncan McFetridge, the Hon. Rob Brokenshire and the Hon. Lea Stevens. I also thank current members of the committee for their ongoing efforts: the Hon. John Gazzola, Mrs Leesa Vlahos, Francis Bedford, the Hon. Terry Stephens, Steven Marshall and the Hon. Tammy Franks.

Lastly, on behalf of the entire committee, I express my gratitude to the Aboriginal people and communities the committee has met with over the past year. I appreciate their willingness to share their stories, their knowledge, their expertise and their issues, and I am certain the committee looks forward to continuing this good work and building on these relationships.

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood) (11:06): I thank the minister for tabling the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee annual report. I note that this is a report that is legislated to be received by the parliament by 31 December each year, so it is running approximately seven months late. I am not wishing to cast any blame, but one of the issues associated with the passing of the report so that it can come to parliament is the situation where you need to have a six-member quorum for the passing of an annual report.

There are seven members on the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee, and the minister is one of those people. As with previous ministers, we have the odd situation where the minister, although being on the committee, does not attend the meetings. I know the minister is considering this at the moment, but I believe this is the fundamental reason for the delay in tabling this report.

It is an important report, as the minister has said, and it is important that it is received in a timely fashion in accordance with the legislation. However, it is running seven months late, as I pointed out. I encourage the minister, at her earliest convenience, to consider her position on that committee and get back to the committee so that we do not have this situation again for the annual report this year.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (11:08): I am pleased that this committee has been resurrected, so to speak. The issue of what happens in the Aboriginal lands and the concerns have been around for a long time. Some years ago, I visited the lands; I do not know whether things have improved since that time, but one longstanding concern I have is that, if you do not provide some economic basis for the people who live in the Aboriginal communities in remote areas, they will be continually dependent upon welfare.

The focus should be on trying to provide some sort of economic basis, whether it be tourism, pastoral activity where appropriate, manufacturing artefacts, or whatever. In the long term, maybe through the use of modern communication, it would be possible to have people employed in those areas. I know it is a long-term option, but they could participate through the internet in a whole range of economic-type activities. That is a fair way off, I suspect.

It is fine to be focusing on improving housing, roads and so on in those areas, which is necessary, but if you do not provide an economic basis then all you will ever have is a community based on welfare, and that is not a good thing for those people, for their community or for the wider community.

Motion carried.