MULLIGHAN INQUIRY RECOMMENDATIONS

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (15:13): My question is again to the Minister for Education and Child Development. When will the government complete its delivery of the 19 unfulfilled recommendations from the Mullighan inquiry that the minister referred to earlier which were accepted by the government; and why are so many of these actions incomplete four years after the Mullighan inquiry was completed? When asked on ABC radio last Friday how long it would take to implement these recommendations, minister Portolesi responded:

I will be making a—tabling the annual report—and that will be my next—I'll be tabling that annual report and I'll have a look at it, as I do on a regular basis.

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Education and Child Development) (15:14): I thank the member for this question. Like I said, we have accepted 45 out of the 46 recommendations. We have implemented 26.

Mr Goldsworthy interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Kavel, order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: Towards the end of every year, I provide a report to the parliament on our progress in relation to those recommendations. We are making good progress on the remaining 19, but these are long-term recommendations. I am very happy to, as I will in due course, provide a report to the house, but there is no question that everybody who sits on this side, on the front bench, is absolutely committed to doing our bit, with communities.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

An honourable member: And us.

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: Of course, you. We actually have to deliver services on the lands but, of course, we are absolutely committed to working with communities, working with the commonwealth and working with people like Brian Gleeson to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our community have the life chances that every other child in our community has.

The SPEAKER: I point out to the member for Morialta that, on the explanation he gave to that last question, I failed to see the relevance, from what I heard. Member for Florey.