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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-02-20 Daily Xml
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APY LANDS, FOOD SECURITY

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:47): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation a question relating to market gardens in the APY lands.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Yesterday, the Hon. Terry Stephens and the Hon. Tammy Franks asked the minister a number of questions regarding market gardens in the APY lands. In one of the minister's answers, he stated:

There are seven food security priority areas that this government, the federal government and the APY have been working on. This strategy is overseen by the APY executive action team which includes state government, federal government and non-government members...these programs can only work if we deal with them together.

In an article in today's Australian, Sarah Martin reported that the federal government distanced itself from the market gardens project. Further, the APY general manager, Richard Preece, declined to endorse the market gardens program, stating, 'the program had been developed without the involvement of the APY, which administers the lands'. In the same article, Aboriginal leader, Lowitja O'Donoghue, openly criticised the government for undertaking the project. She said that spending almost $250,000 of taxpayers' money in just two years was 'disgusting'.

Today the minister has repeatedly used phrases such as the need for 'cooperative action', 'partnership', 'Aboriginal people playing a central role' and 'genuine inclusive dialogue'. My questions to the minister are:

1. Does the minister stand by his comments yesterday that programs will only work if the APY and governments work together?

2. Does the minister stand by his comments that the APY, the state government and the federal government all worked together on the market gardens program?

3. Can the minister advise the council what steps were taken to consult the local Aboriginal people, the APY and the federal government on the market gardens program?

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: Tell us about Lowitja.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:49): I thank the honourable member for his very important question and for the interjection from the Hon. Mr Lucas about 'Tell us about Ms O'Donoghue', and I will. Ms O'Donoghue is a remarkable Australian who is held in high esteem as a respected Yankunytjatjara elder and is highly regarded by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians alike.

I understand that in 1976 Ms O'Donoghue was the first Aboriginal woman to be inducted into the new Order of Australia, founded by the Australian Labor commonwealth government. That award recognises her work in the welfare field. In 1983 she was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1984 she was named Australian of the Year for her work to improve the welfare of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in Australia. She won an SA Great award in 1992. In 1999 she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia.

Lowitja O'Donoghue has received honorary doctorates from Murdoch University, the University of South Australia, the Australian National University, the Queensland University of Technology and Flinders University. In 2000 she was made an Honorary Professorial Fellow at Flinders University and was a Visiting Fellow at Flinders University. Ms O'Donoghue is the National Patron of the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre.

In 2000 Ms O'Donoghue was inducted into the Olympic Order. In 2005 Ms O'Donoghue was made Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul II. In 2009 the National NAIDOC Committee gave her a Lifetime Achievement Award for her distinguished leadership in Indigenous affairs and her contribution in the battle for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

I note her concerns reported in The Australian regarding the market gardens, and I will be asking my department to seek her input in preparing the next evaluation report of the APY food security strategy which I mentioned in this place yesterday.

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