ABORIGINAL LANDS PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE: ANNUAL REPORT

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (11:40): I move:

That the annual report 2010-11 of the committee be noted.

This is the seventh annual report of the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee. It provides a summary of the committee's activities for the financial year ending 30 June 2011. Over the last year, the committee has met with a wide range of Aboriginal people in their communities. These meetings have given the committee and the South Australian parliament a better understanding of the many and varied issues that are of importance to Aboriginal South Australians.

During the year, the committee spent significant time in the APY lands and Alice Springs. From that trip the committee gained insight and appreciation of the challenges faced by Aboriginal people living in the APY lands. The committee also visited Raukkan and Camp Coorong, the Devonport community and Aboriginal organisations in Port Augusta, as well as Yalata, Koonibba, Ceduna, Point Pearce and numerous Aboriginal organisations and support organisations within Adelaide.

During the year, the committee also heard evidence from witnesses from a number of state and commonwealth agencies and Aboriginal support organisations, and I thank the people who provided information to the committee. I am also thankful to all of the members of the committee, past and present, for their dedication and hard work. I would like to particularly thank the previous presiding member, the Hon. Grace Portolesi, for her contribution to the committee, as well as acknowledge the current members of the committee for their ongoing efforts: the Hon. John Gazzola, Mrs Leesa Vlahos, Ms Frances Bedford, the Hon. Terry Stephens, Mr Steven Marshall and the Hon. Tammy Franks. On behalf of the committee, I also want to thank the executive officers, Jason Caire and Terry Sparrow, for their work and support over that period of time.

On behalf of the entire committee, I would like to thank all of the Aboriginal people the committee has met over the past year. I appreciate their willingness to discuss their issues and share their stories and knowledge. I would like to read into the Hansard the closing paragraph of the committee's comments provided in this report:

The committee recognises that many issues remain and many challenges lie ahead. However, the committee believes that increased support for Aboriginal people through capacity building and governance training, support for community-based economic enterprises with training and employment outcomes as well as improved service delivery particularly in remote and rural communities will help overcome the disadvantage faced by Aboriginal South Australians as well as create a solid foundation for optimism and prosperity into the future.

I just want to finish off by saying that I feel very privileged that the Premier has provided me with the opportunity to be this state's Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation. On Friday, I will be chairing my first meeting as the Presiding Member of the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee, and I look forward to discharging that responsibility and also working with other committee members in a non-partisan way to achieve the objectives that were set out in the last paragraph of the committee's report.

I look forward to doing that by working in a completely non-partisan way, contributing as best we possibly can to this parliament's understanding of Aboriginal matters and, by doing so, advancing the welfare and well-being of Aboriginal people in South Australia through a coherent, cohesive and non-partisan working relationship that I wish to develop with all members of the committee. The committee, and I, as presiding member, look forward to developing those relationships over this coming year.

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (11:44): I am happy to support this motion and note the work that the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee does and has done over the past year. In doing so, I would also like to congratulate the minister on his appointment. I trust that he will carry out that responsibility with the great level of dedication that the position demands, and I trust that he will work very hard in that role and that he will do well.

The Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee is an important standing committee of this parliament because we know the level of disadvantage and the level of pressure placed upon the people on those lands. Scott Kennedy, who works in my electorate office as my research assistant, recently came back from a week on the lands where he was assisting the Salvation Army in delivering furniture that will be made available for use in the housing that is on the lands.

It is disappointing that it falls upon volunteer work to do some of these things that one might have hoped the government would take responsibility for. I certainly commend Scott and I understand that he was joined by the member for Norwood's research assistant in joining that trip with the Salvation Army to attend and assist in that capacity.

When I got the call asking if Scott could have a week's leave, it was notable that they particularly wanted him to come along because all of the volunteers they had thus far were slightly built and Scott is a CFS volunteer with a somewhat slightly more muscular build than some of the others who were on that trip. I think that the volunteer work that all of the volunteers did was commendable. It is disappointing that so much of the work up there falls upon the work of volunteers rather than those government agencies that, we might hope, would deliver better outcomes.

I think that the members of the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee in the past year have undertaken a number of trips up to the lands. I note that the minister is looking forward to his first meeting and I think it is good that the presiding member of the committee attend and be involved in the work of the committee.

The fundamental importance of the work that this committee does, I think, is important also in underlining the value of the committee system to the parliament. When a committee can act in a bipartisan fashion and recommend changes where they need to be made, then it reflects well on our Westminster system. I trust that the minister and the members will work well together in the year ahead to ensure that some of the challenges that face those lands receive an appropriate response.

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood) (11:47): It is my great pleasure to stand and speak to this annual report which was tabled in parliament some weeks ago now but is being noted this morning. It has been my great privilege, since being elected as the member for Norwood, to actually serve on the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee. I think it is an extraordinarily important committee, established by this parliament back in 2002.

It serves a lot of useful purposes: one is to, of course, go out and visit people who are living on Aboriginal lands. As the report notes, there have been many trips over the past 12 months to the APY lands to many of the communities, especially on that eastern side of the APY lands, but also to Aboriginal lands at Raukkan, Camp Coorong, Davenport, Port Augusta, the Lakeview accommodation centre, Koonibba and Point Pearce. I hope I have not left anybody out, but we have certainly been to all of those places with the committee, just in that 12-month period. I have made several trips myself to other communities during that time and I would just like to thank all of those communities for making the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee so welcome.

Another very important component of the work of the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee is taking evidence from groups, and the committee has worked extremely hard in this area, having a large number of government departments, but also interested bodies, come and speak to the committee. All of that evidence is available on the parliamentary website. It is a hardworking committee which has met many times throughout the year.

I am particularly indebted to the two officers who work with the committee. The first one I worked with was Terry Sparrow—an Indigenous man who is now working, I believe, in the Premier's department. He has a huge knowledge and background in this area and he was an excellent executive officer. He has been recently replaced by Jason Caire, who also has a huge amount of experience, especially in the area of native title. We are very much looking forward to working with him.

I do note that the new minister, the Hon. Paul Caica, has indicated that he will take up the role of presiding officer on that committee. I strongly welcome that, and I look forward to working with him. I think as an indication of how he will serve in a bipartisan way, he has invited all of the members of the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee to travel with him this weekend up to Nepabunna. I think that is a great opportunity for us to be able to work with the minister and provide input to him in the important decisions that he has to make in his time as the minister for this area.

I was particularly pleased that the annual report for last year came down in such a speedy way, unlike the previous year, which took almost a year longer than this one. So I am very pleased that the committee is working so effectively. I look forward to this current year that we are operating in at the moment.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (11:51): The first point I make is that it is ironical that as Europeans or Caucasians we are focusing on the Aboriginal community. It is unfortunate that we do not have, as far as I know, a member of parliament who has Aboriginal heritage. We cannot change that immediately, but I look forward to the day when we will have in this parliament a person with Aboriginal heritage who can speak not necessarily more strongly, but certainly on the basis of that heritage, and communicate some of the concerns that affect Aboriginal people.

The title of this committee is not inappropriate, but I do not know whether it should not be expanded. The terms of reference allow it to look at things beyond Aboriginal lands. If you look at the functions of the committee under the Standing Committee Act 2003, in paragraph (d) it states:

to enquire into matters concerning the health, housing, education, economic development, employment or training of Aboriginal people, or any other matter concerning the welfare of Aboriginal people.

It is really an opportunity to look at almost any issue. I think what would be useful—and I am not saying the committee should not look at the lands—is for the committee to zero in more specifically on the wider Aboriginal community. I am not critical of the staff—our committees here are generally under-resourced—but I think it would be useful if the annual report contained more benchmark data so that we could chart the progress that is happening in respect of Aboriginal people in terms of health and other matters like school attendance.

Otherwise, what you are dealing with is a general commentary—a sketch. I am not being critical of the staff. What you need is to be able to say that five years ago life expectancy of Aboriginal people was so-and-so and now it is at a higher level. That benchmarking is very important because otherwise we cannot really hold the government or ourselves accountable in terms of what is or is not being achieved. That also includes Aboriginal people, because they have a responsibility and, ultimately, it should be their responsibility to decide their future and what choices are made. I think that, in many ways, we have gone from the old sugar and flour welfare system to a more subtle welfare system, which is just as effective in damaging Aboriginal people.

I note here that the committee visited several schools in the APY lands, but there are no statistics about the percentage of children attending school—some of them are attending school. I have noticed that the commonwealth government has recently introduced, what some people are calling, a 'tough love' program, so that if your child does not go to school then you do not get any government benefits, and that has had a significant impact, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland. I think we have to stop pussyfooting around with issues like that. If an Aboriginal child does not go to school, then the chances of that child ending up with worthwhile employment and so on are fairly small.

I will not go into all of these, because I know other members may wish to speak, but we still have a very serious problem in the metropolitan area, particularly with young Aboriginal men, many of whom have lost their way. Our prisons and our youth detention centre have got a very high representation of Aboriginal people who have lost their way, and there needs to be a lot of effort put into trying to ensure that they do not see a life of crime as the only option. If you do not have an education, then you cannot get a job, and the choices for you are fairly limited.

I commend this committee. I make the suggestion not in any way being critical of it, but so that maybe in the future there will be a focus on data and benchmarking so that we can chart the progress of Aboriginal people and help reduce some of the gaps which still exist in relation to health, education and aspects such as the level of incarceration and so on. I commend this report. It is an important part of the process of ensuring that Aboriginal people can achieve their full potential in our society.

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (11:56): Thank you, Madam Speaker. As you know, you and I were on this committee for many years, and are no longer on the committee. It was a very hardworking committee, and the biggest problem we had—and I understand that it is still a problem—is that the minister is the presiding member and the minister very rarely comes to the meetings or very rarely goes on trips.

I congratulate the new minister on having been given this portfolio, and for taking the challenges on board, but if there is one thing I ask of this minister, it is that he remove himself as the presiding member of the committee. It interferes with the way in which the committee works, it hamstrings the committee, and it is a ridiculous situation with the minister writing to himself as the presiding member of the committee. It is an absolutely ridiculous situation and it has never worked under all the ministers. It is a terrific committee. It does a lot of good work but, if there is one thing—and I have not read the current report—that can enhance the way in which this committee works, then the minister should change the legislation and remove himself as the presiding member.

Debate adjourned on motion of Ms Chapman.