Page 1779 - Week 06 - Thursday, 30 July 2020
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Katrina Fanning, as chair of the elected body, has done an absolutely outstanding job in representing the elected body and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community of the ACT through the development of the new national partnership agreement on closing the gap, which was announced jointly today by the Prime Minister and the indomitable Pat Turner, as chair of the Coalition of Peaks.
I particularly want to congratulate the coalition of peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations on delivering this. The priority reforms under closing the gap commit governments to new partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and organisations, focusing on addressing structural racism in our systems, sharing information and data but particularly on strengthening community-controlled organisations to deliver services. We know that when services are in Aboriginal hands and are Aboriginal led the outcomes are so much improved.
I want to quote from Katrina Fanning’s media release that she put out today on behalf of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body. It emphasises the driving role of the Coalition of Peaks in getting to where we have got to on the national agreement on closing the gap. Katrina says:
The national agreement does not include everything that the coalition of peaks wanted nor everything that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have said is needed to improve their lives. But governments have been pushed in their commitments to our people on closing the gap because the coalition of peaks has been at the negotiating table. There is a big difference from what governments alone were prepared to commit to in December 2018 and where we are now. That change has come about because of the work of the Coalition of Peaks and the support of our communities and organisations.
I could not agree more. The ACT government has strongly supported and advocated for the positions being proposed by the Coalition of Peaks throughout this process and has absolutely welcomed their role sitting alongside ministers from commonwealth, states and territories, as well as the local government association, in driving the national partnership agreement on closing the gap. We absolutely welcome that they will be there at the table for the next 10 years, holding us to account.
The changes made by the this bill will formalise the elected body’s role in the ongoing work under the national partnership agreement and strengthen its capacity to work and advocate on a national level. The bill will also establish the ability to enter into agreements for the purpose of broadcasting elected body annual hearings. The elected body has told us that hearings, while very important to members of the community, can be hard to attend or access. The broadcasted hearings will allow people to follow the questioning from the members on issues that are important to them. It also has the potential to provide an accessible archive of hearings similar to the Assembly on Demand service.
Enabling community members to follow the hearings process in a way that is convenient to them while also providing a new platform to hold their own elected body members accountable is significant. I believe it will foster a stronger hearings process that will be more relevant to more members of the community. As
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