Dr ANDREW McDONALD (Macquarie Fields—Parliamentary Secretary) [12.52 p.m.]: On 9 December 2009 I attended the graduation ceremony for the eight week indigenous pre-recruitment course [IPRC] for the Australian Defence Force [ADF]. The ceremony was held at Inspire Ministries in my electorate and involved 29 candidates from all around Australia. The eight-week pre-recruitment course gives the candidates the literacy, numeracy and physical fitness prerequisites to enable them to enter the selection process for the ADF. Aunty Mae Robinson gave a welcome to country and Uncle Steve Williams performed a smoking ceremony.

Jack Johnson, the chief executive officer of Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council spoke passionately of the partnership between Gandangara, the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR], the Australian Defence Force, Inspire Ministries, and the NSW TAFE. As he said the candidates are a credit to themselves. Anybody could see the discipline of these young people that attests the life-changing experience they have undergone. As Mr Johnson said, this is the sort of thing that will bring us back to the right place in this country. The IPRC is a brilliant training program that needs to continue and Mr Johnson challenged government to change these trainees into employees.

Roger Price, the Federal member for Chifley and Government Whip, described the candidates as "opportunists". An opportunist is a person who adapts his or her action to take advantage of opportunities. Mr Price has lobbied hard to have the program in Chifley and complimented the students on their performance. Some of these young people will join the ADF and some will work elsewhere, and he encouraged them to spread the word about the course. This is about celebrating the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander [ATSI] people to the Australian Defence Force. As John Allison the Indigenous Services Manager of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations said, " this is about closing the gap in health education and unemployment." The unemployment rate for ATSI people is three to four times the rate for non-indigenous Australians. To meet the target of returning it to the same level there would need to be 100,000 positions for indigenous people created over the next 10 years.

Garry Browne from TAFE spoke about the role of TAFE in providing instruction in literacy and numeracy and fitness skills for entering the ADF recruitment process. The South West Sydney Institute [SWSI] of TAFE has an Aboriginal education and training unit and the course has full TAFE accreditation. SWSI staff and Inspire Ministries do much of the teaching. The fitness work is carried out at the Liverpool Catholic Club gym. The gym work is important as it can uncover unmet health needs. My experience with Aboriginal young people is that asthma is common in childhood. Young people who have had no symptoms or treatment in the past three years can be considered for ADF entry and those with mild asthma can also be considered, although they need medical assessment.

Candidates on the course also visit bases to see what military life is like. However, the strength is personal discipline. As Pastor John McMartin, the chief executive officer of Inspire Group, said, "This is the start of something for this fine bunch of men and women". The audience was played a DVD, which showed some aspects of the rigorous training involved. As one of the candidates on the course said, "It has really made me appreciate civilian life". Major General Fairweather the Patron of Indigenous Personnel for the ADF complimented the students on their achievements. He said, "this is about life preparation and we are proud of you". He also said, "you have learnt more than you think, especially self-confidence and teamwork".

I am very proud of the candidates who have completed the ADF indigenous pre-recruitment course and compliment all the agencies that were involved in this wonderful cooperative effort. I thank Inspire Ministries very much for its help during the course. This wonderful ministry does magnificent work in our electorate, and I am glad to be able to acknowledge it for just a small fraction of the good it does for our area. As St Paul said:

For so is the will of God that by doing right you shall put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Be a free man, yet not as those who make freedom a cloak of wrongdoing, but as the servants of God.

Inspire Ministries does exactly that, and I commend it to the House. It is an inspiration to all who see its work.