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- 20 June 2002
Aboriginal Employment Opportunities
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Page: 3563
Mr MARKHAM: My question without notice is to the Premier. How is the Government working in partnership with the private sector to create jobs for young Aboriginal people?
Mr CARR: This is a terrific question and our colleague ought to be congratulated on the keen interest he takes in Aboriginal affairs. In particular, in relation to this aspect of the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio, the Government is working with the private sector to get jobs and traineeships for young Aboriginal people. Indeed this subject was discussed at the conference, Yarn Up 2, held in the honourable member's electorate of Wollongong. As best I can judge, the whole focus on the conference was on the hunger of young indigenous people for cultural knowledge, leadership skills and employment opportunities. My colleague the Deputy Premier, Minister for Planning, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Minister for Housing stated when he opened the conference—
Mr Souris: That was not a yes.
Mr CARR: One could hardly say that the Leader of the National Party exhibits the dignity expected of a Treasurer of New South Wales. I know that every allowance should be made for inexperience, but the Opposition members are asking a lot as they roam around, disaffected, agitated and restless. In contrast, the Deputy Premier had good things to say when he opened Yarn Up 2.
Mrs Skinner: Arrogance plus!
Mr CARR: Now, now. Jillian, Jillian, and again, my dear Jillian! I detect a note of bitterness creeping into your every comment.
Mrs Skinner: Point of order—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Before the honourable member for North Shore takes her point of order, I remind honourable members that when they address other members, they should do so by using the names of their electorates. Is that the point of order the member wishes to take?
Mrs Skinner: That is half of the point of order. The other half is that I noticed that the Premier, the Minister for Health and other Labor Ministers seem to lapse in this regard more frequently in relation to women, and that exposes the very sexist attitude of Ministers. I ask you to ask them to stop that.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order.
Mr CARR: According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], the rate of Aboriginal unemployment is 23 per cent, which is nearly four times the State average of 6.1 per cent. The Leader of the National Party can work that out for himself. He can go ahead with whatever brings happiness to his soul. Many of the social problems in Aboriginal communities—domestic violence, alcohol and substance abuse—are linked to poverty and, yes, welfare dependence. Meaningful work offers a way forward. Economic independence is central to the Aboriginal Communities Development Program [ACDP], a seven-year program which involves building and fixing houses, and the provision of water, sewage, roads and recreational facilities. This financial year, 90 indigenous apprentices and trainees will be employed on this construction work at a cost of $1.2 million.
So, 90 Aboriginal apprentices and trainees will be employed as a result of a commitment to this basic construction work. They will join a growing pool of indigenous people with trade certificates in building, carpentry, landscaping and horticulture, many of whom have gone on to full-time employment after getting their start with the ACDP. Anyone who looks at developments in indigenous affairs will see that this increase in the stock of indigenous Australians with certificates is one of the hopeful signs in policy.
[Interruption]
I join in giving Malcolm Fraser praise for being a better national Liberal leader than the people who came after him.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The honourable member for The Entrance will remain silent.
Mr CARR: I am trying to add value to the comments of Opposition members.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much audible conversation. The honourable member for Ballina and the honourable member for Wakehurst will remain silent.
Mr CARR: We now have an Indigenous Business Advisory Service, a web site, a directory of over 300 indigenous businesses and a regular newsletter. Indigenous businesses include: Starlifter, an indigenous-owned toolmaker based in Warialda, employing six people full time; Winiam Investments, producers of a product for bicycle tyres sold throughout Australia and exported to the United Kingdom and Thailand.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Epping to order for the second time.
Mr CARR: Other businesses include Terry Janke and Co., an indigenous law firm. I had the opportunity to meet Terry last year when we held a lunch in honour of Paul Okalik, an Inuit leader and lawyer from Canada and Premier of Nunavut, a self-governing territory in the Arctic. We now have three Aboriginal business development managers who are working with businesses like South Moree Motors, a motor vehicle repair firm training Aboriginal people as mechanics, and Riverina-based Walkabout Tours, a tourism outfit employing 20 Aboriginal people full time and 100 part time.
It is important for honourable members to note that, throughout this program, we are linking mainstream business with indigenous communities. For example, the Australian Hotels Association has offered marketing and staffing advice to an Aboriginal-owned motel in Brewarrina. Edna's Table, a restaurant, is providing jobs and training to indigenous people. The Restaurant and Catering Association is planning an accredited training course that will link to 30 hospitality jobs for Aboriginal people. Other businesses, including the Australian Stock Exchange, the Boston Consulting Group and EnergyAustralia, are providing indigenous cadetships. This follows our active program of bringing small Aboriginal businesses together with people who can assist from the private sector. It is an active program to produce those linkages, and it is working.
Mrs Skinner: We did it.
Mr CARR: The honourable member for North Shore said the former Coalition Government did that. I congratulate the honourable member on that initiative, but surely we can discuss policy in this area without saying, "I did it first", or, "We did it better than you." It is an area of government policy. If it was kicked around under the Fahey Government and we picked it up and built on it, all the better. If there is continuity in this area of policy-making, all the better.
[Interruption]
I give credit all round. That is the approach that I have always taken. Today I announce the formation of an Aboriginal business roundtable. Ten senior business people—five indigenous and five non-indigenous—will provide high level advice and contacts to advance indigenous economic development. It will be chaired by indigenous business person Leah Armstrong, General Manager, Economic Division of the Yarnteen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation, a Hunter-based company providing bulk warehousing and rural commodity handling, conference and catering services, tourism and accommodation and property investment. It employs 40 Aboriginal people full time and it has 266 participants from the community development employment program.
One of the four indigenous members of the roundtable is John Moriaty, Chairman and Head of Design, Balarinji Australia, which is famous for the painted jumbo. Later today I will release the names of all indigenous and non-indigenous members of this committee. The roundtable will link the business community with the Aboriginal community. I am looking forward soon to addressing their first meeting. The theme is economic independence as an alternative to welfare dependency in the Aboriginal community. That means people having real and substantial jobs with an emphasis on training. It will build pride, skills and self-esteem. It will reduce social problems such as domestic violence. It will allow indigenous people to take their rightful places as citizens contributing to and sharing in the wealth of our society.
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