Parliamentary Committees

ABORIGINAL LANDS PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE: ANNUAL REPORT

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. J.M. Gazzola:

That the annual report of the committee 2006-07 be noted.

(Continued from 27 February 2008. Page 1842.)

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:53): I rise to support this motion. Being a relatively new member of the committee, I wish to share some observations. I will not repeat the Hon. John Gazzola's reasonably lengthy contribution, but I concur with most of his comments. I found the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee to be a bipartisan committee, with a genuine intention to improve the lives of our indigenous citizens. We have been quite privileged to hear from a number of people from different communities and share some of their problems. I am not sure how many solutions we have come up with at this point, but I guess that is a work in progress.

Like the Hon. John Gazzola, I would certainly like to thank those government and non-government sectors that have made contributions to the work of the committee during the period of the report. I would also like to thank the Aboriginal communities that I was fortunate enough to visit earlier in the year. I also pay tribute to the Presiding Member, the Hon. Jay Weatherill; the member for Little Para, Hon. Lea Stevens; the member for Giles, Lyn Breuer; the member for Morphett, Dr Duncan McFetridge; and also the Hon. Andrew Evans, for their solid contributions and enthusiasm. While I am handing out bouquets, I would really like to pay tribute to Ms Sarah Alpers, our committee secretary, who is extremely passionate in this area and who brings quite a lot of enthusiasm to her work. Without saying too much about her, Sarah really does drive the committee. I am sure that we serve the community better for her efforts in terms of coordinating things. With those few words, I commend the motion of the Hon. John Gazzola.

Motion carried.