Page 3146 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 20 August 2019
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Islander Elected Body, will look at future options for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander management and governance, including for Boomanulla Oval and the cultural centre.
As further recognition of the importance of strong families and the principle of self-determination, the ACT government is establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy and practice co-design forum. The co-design forum will be a way to ensure that relevant changes to the human services system are developed and led by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Community conversations and consultations have reiterated that better outcomes for the community will only be achieved when the services and programs for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander designed and led. The forum includes members from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, the United Ngunnawal Elders Council and key service providers, as well as members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community who have experience in the service system. The first forum will be held in September.
The ACT government looks forward to continuing to work in partnership with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and working towards equitable outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We know that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the answers. It is up to governments to listen.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (11.35): I was not going to speak on CSD but the minister’s outrageous spray means that I am compelled to. The fact that the minister took up so much of her time not talking about the budget but talking about Mr Milligan and the policy booklet that he put forward and to call it a booklet of fuzzy ideas really indicates just how effective Mr Milligan has been in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander space, listening and talking to people, and how much he has got under this minister’s skin because of the very positive reception that Mr Milligan’s policy plan had in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community across the board, almost without exception. For the minister to come in here and dismiss Mr Milligan, that is politics; we understand that; that is what this government does. But to be utterly and completely disrespectful to the people who contributed to that document and who have endorsed that document, I think they will find it quite telling to hear the offensive tone that this minister used in disrespecting their views, their policy ideas and the way that they have embraced what Mr Milligan has done in a way that no other shadow minister or minister has ever done in this place.
It shows just how thin skinned this minister is that she would spend so much time doing that. Perhaps she should spend a little more time being concerned at actually doing something about the number of Indigenous children in care, because that is her responsibility. It is not her responsibility to disrespect the work done by Mr Milligan when she is supposed to be talking about the budget. It is not her job to disrespect the members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community who have shown support for the initiatives outlined by Mr Milligan.
But when she comes in here to talk about the most important part of the legislative program, the budget, she should be more concerned about what this budget is going to do to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are
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