Page 3071 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 23 August 2005
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future. ATSIC was Australia’s first serious and concerted effort to extend to Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a right to self-determination. If it was an experiment, it was only an experiment in the sense that Australian federation was an experiment, or self-government for the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory were experiments. The abolition of ATSIC is akin to the abolition of self-government in the Australian Capital Territory. It is a sign that self-determination was only ever a conditional right, capable of being withdrawn by white governments at the first sign of inconvenience or the first barometric shift in political commitment.
But we do need to go on. We do need to keep acting with our eyes open on the importance of indigenous affairs here in Canberra. For my government, this has meant committing to across-the-board initiatives to deal with all aspects of indigenous disadvantage. These include delivering the broadest range of new initiatives for the ACT indigenous community since the beginning of self-government. The 2004-05 ACT budget demonstrated the government’s ongoing determination, in consultation with the community, to develop and fund innovative and effective programs in the ACT. The injection at $7.7 million is specifically aimed at tackling ongoing issues to reduce disadvantage in the community. We will provide $685,000 over four years towards indigenous employment opportunities, $868,000 to expand Koori preschool programs to five additional sites and we have provided $1.24 million for indigenous student support aimed at assisting young indigenous people to reach their potential.
We are taking part in COAG trials, which are under way in eight regions across Australia. We are setting up the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Consultative Council, which has been a major partner in the process of building stronger relations with the indigenous community. The council has produced a strategic plan for 2004-07, which is designed to achieve equity and better access to services for indigenous people in the ACT. We are committed to exploring the potential of an elected body to represent indigenous people in the post-ATSIC era. The conversation with the local indigenous community has begun on this, and it will be that community that determines the shape of any organisation to come out of negotiations.
We are making sure that indigenous prisoners in Canberra will be the best cared for in the country. Planning for the Alexander Maconochie Centre has paid close attention to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, as well as more recent research on the needs of indigenous inmates. The new prison will make sure indigenous inmates have access to the recreational, employment, education and therapeutic programs they need to get them out of the criminal justice system. Vocational education and training programs will make sure inmates have a life to go to when they get out of prison, that they are equipped with what they need to take part in society and that they reach their full potential. Because the prison will be in the ACT, inmates will stay close to the communities that support them while they are in prison and after they are out. We are trialling circle sentencing for indigenous offenders. Involving elders and the broader community in sentencing can address some of the core issues for indigenous offenders. Rather than facing a confusing and sometimes alien justice system, indigenous offenders can be encouraged to take responsibility for their actions and explain themselves to the community. This is very empowering for offenders and their communities.
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