Page 2387 - Week 08 - Thursday, 6 June 2013
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The government is also commissioning a review of ACTEW’s institutional governance. The existing arrangements have been in place for some years and this review is the opportunity to examine whether they continue to be appropriate and reflect best practice. This review will look at whether the existing structures and legislative framework can be improved, or remains fit for purpose.
Finally, I am advised that representatives of the Auditor-General’s Office have had preliminary discussions with various government agencies concerning the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes for regulating water and sewerage prices. I understand the performance audit is expected to be completed by December 2013.
Reconciliation Week, Mabo Day and Sorry Day
Statement by minister
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Housing, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for Ageing) (11.58): I present the following paper:
Reconciliation Action Week, Mabo Day and Sorry Day 2013—Ministerial statement, 6 June 2013.
I move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
During the past two weeks Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and all Canberrans have marked three very significant and special occasions—Reconciliation Week, National Sorry Day and Mabo Day.
Each of these occasions represents the struggles, as well as the healing process, endured and felt by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the nation—and indeed here in Canberra. But marking these occasions is part of the healing process and it provides us all with an opportunity to reflect on the errors of the past, gauge where we are now and how we forge ahead into the future.
During National Reconciliation Week we had an excellent opportunity to recognise and celebrate the cultural, historical and contemporary role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia. On 24 May 2013, I joined hundreds of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canberrans to walk-as-one over Commonwealth Avenue bridge, giving a physical presence and a strong showing of support for the significance of this important week, which celebrates three landmark achievements. I would like to thank the organisers, and Winnunga Nimmityjah in particular, for inviting me in my capacity as Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, a position I am humbled and privileged to hold.
The first event was the anniversary of the tabling of Bringing them home—the stolen children report—tabled in the Australian parliament on 26 May 1997. The report was “a tribute to the strength and struggles of many thousands of Aboriginal and Torres
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