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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-06-03 Daily Xml
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ABORIGINAL ENTERPRISE

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:07): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation. How is the government supporting Aboriginal enterprise in South Australia?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister Assisting the Premier in Cabinet Business and Public Sector Management) (14:08): I thank the honourable member for her question and acknowledge her great commitment to reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia. She is at every event, and I acknowledge her strong support there. I also want to draw attention to something that has been occurring in this great state over the period since 2002, and that is the incredible resurgence in our economic position. In recent years, we have seen unprecedented growth in mineral exploration, substantial new investment in tourism, groundbreaking innovations in aquaculture, farming and viticulture and growth in our high technology industries and further education, yet there is still an untapped resource in this state.

I think it is fair to say that governments of all persuasions have, with a few exceptions, struggled to meaningfully support Aboriginal enterprises. We have a largely untapped resource in Aboriginal communities, in terms of knowledge of Aboriginal land—in fact, the Aboriginal land is quite a large estate—and, indeed, their expertise in managing it.

At the urging of Aboriginal communities around the state, and with the support of Aboriginal Congress, a group called the Aboriginal Foundation of South Australia was established to support the development of Aboriginal enterprises. The foundation has been set up to generate business and economic opportunities for Aboriginal people, particularly through indigenous land use agreement process but also for more effectively leveraging off the Aboriginal owned assets that exist in South Australia and seeking joint investment opportunities.

To support these goals, the foundation's board comprises prominent business and Aboriginal community leaders such as its chairperson, Rick Allert AM, current Chair of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings and Tourism Australia; Kerry Colbung, previous chair of the South Australian Aboriginal Advisory Council and member of the Social Inclusion Board; and the Hon. Greg Crafter, former minister for Aboriginal affairs, who brings together a range of skills and experience in investment, commerce, law, public relations, human resources, project management, marketing and Aboriginal community development.

I commend to the house the foundation's work and draw attention to a statement made by the South Australian Commissioner for Community Engagement that the foundation really is one of the most exciting developments that has occurred in recent South Australian Aboriginal history. That is why I am delighted today, on this last day of Reconciliation Week, to announce that the state government will be providing $500,000 in funding to the foundation to assist Aboriginal communities to share in the economic development opportunities that exist across this state.

This funding is a clear and positive signal of support from the state government for the goals of the foundation, and I encourage organisations, communities and native title claimants who have been presented with a business idea, or indeed resources through those processes, to seek joint venture partners to encourage contact with the Aboriginal foundation. This is another fantastic example of the business community partnering with state government, in this case to support the Aboriginal community.

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