Page 304 - Week 01 - Thursday, 13 February 2020
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The 2020 Closing the Gap report, released this week, has shown that these are not problems just of the past. While first nations people do not have equitable outcomes in education, employment, housing and health, there is still so much more to be done.
Today, we continue to have higher rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people removed from their families and, of course, as is very well known, we have too many of these communities in detention in its various forms. We must do better at listening to first nations communities, letting them decide what and how to address their disadvantages. first nations sovereignty was never ceded and it is clear that, after 12 years of Closing the Gap, strategies to date have not achieved the aspirations that were set out in that strategy.
As we reflect on the wrongs of the past, we must also celebrate the resilience of first nations people, particularly those in the stolen generations. Their culture, heritage and knowledge have survived systematic attempts to destroy them. I and the Greens acknowledge that the national apology was an important symbolic milestone on the journey towards truth, justice and reconciliation. However, symbolic change must be accompanied by recognition of and respect for the skills and knowledge of first nations people and support in their self-determined aspirations.
This week in the Assembly we have, naturally, had a real focus on the bushfires that have swept the eastern seaboard and other parts of Australia in recent months. As traditional custodians of this land, first nations people have a unique cultural and spiritual relationship with the land and water. This bushfire season has highlighted the importance of us having a discussion with the traditional custodians about issues around knowledge of land management that we can build into our modern approaches and, in fact, in some cases, reinvigorate.
There is an important discussion to be had with one of the oldest continuing cultures in human history, who successfully and sustainably managed this land for thousands of years, as to how we approach land management going forward. So I take this opportunity to recognise the injustices of the past and today reaffirm our apology to the stolen generations for the hurt, the pain and the suffering that were caused by the laws and parliaments of this country, a country that was stolen from those traditional custodians and first nations people.
Florey community fair
MRS KIKKERT (Ginninderra) (5.14): My family and I love a community event and we certainly enjoyed ourselves at the fabulous Florey community fair, which was held at Florey Primary School on 30 November. I rise today to publicly thank the Florey Neighbourhood Watch for organising and running such a perfectly named event; it was genuinely fabulous. I want to specifically thank Sharon Leigh-Hazell, area coordinator of the Neighbourhood Watch, and her great leadership team for all that they did to make sure the fair ran so smoothly. I also wish to thank all the community volunteers who assisted them.
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