Page 710 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 5 April 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Islander community to deliver on the priorities identified through the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement. The Healing and Reconciliation Fund was a Labor election commitment at the 2020 election, and I am pleased that we are delivering this commitment in government.
As the agreements represent genuine partnership in identifying problems and solutions, the Healing and Reconciliation Fund will represent genuine partnership with the community in driving this work forward. The fund will be administered in partnership with the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and will address priorities identified by the community.
Treaty has been identified as one of the priorities of the fund. I was pleased to see the Chief Minister, Minister Stephen-Smith and the United Ngunnawal Elders Council announce the appointment of Professor Kerry Arabena as a facilitator for early treaty conversations.
A treaty process represents an enormous opportunity for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and for our whole community broadly, and I am pleased to see the community taking these first important steps in this process. Treaty supports many of the focus areas of the ACT agreement, including the core areas of cultural integrity and inclusive community, as well as having potential for broad benefits across the areas of economic participation, health and wellbeing, housing and justice.
Treaty will be critical in achieving the trajectory of healing and reconciliation in Australia. Successful partnerships are built on trust. Governments and institutions in Australia cannot take the trust of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for granted. It must be earned and, when won, it must be respected.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart was a momentous expression of reconciliation from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I am pleased that Labor is committed to the Uluru statement. In the ACT we have a democratically elected voice to government enshrined in legislation, the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body. The ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement is a tangible demonstration of the value that this brings.
As the annual impact statement demonstrates, while we are seeing progress in some areas there is more to be done to close the gap and to support our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this healing process, and to heal together as a community. With the early stages of treaty discussions getting underway, the development of the Healing and Reconciliation Fund and a real commitment to doing things differently in our community, I am hopeful of real progress over coming years.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Government—heritage policy
Ministerial statement
MS VASSAROTTI (Kurrajong—Minister for the Environment, Minister for Heritage, Minister for Homelessness and Housing Services and Minister for
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video