SENATOR THE HON MALARNDIRRI MCCARTHY, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS HEALTH: I just acknowledge that we're on Larrakia country and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and just would like to thank Minister Linda Burney for being with us today. And also family from Borroloola, who live here at Daisy Yarmirr hostels. So we have Loretta Anderson, Miriam Charlie, and mum, Carol Charlie. They don't know what we're going to announce at the moment, but I'm hoping they're going to be happy when they hear it. I'll hand over to the Minister. So we will obviously make the announcement. We know you have other questions, so if we can perhaps just go through the announcement first, and then take questions after that, if that's okay.
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Thank you very much, Senator and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for coming. And thank you mum Loretta, and Miriam for being part of today's announcement. I wanted to address two issues today. We've got a very significant announcement around health. But firstly, I wanted to make some comments about the Voice to the Parliament. The Voice to the Parliament is about two things. It's about listening and it's also about making sure that there is recognition. Recognition of the oldest continuous surviving culture on this planet, into the big law book of this country, the Constitution, and listening in a way that makes sure that First Nations voices are heard in the Federal Parliament. The Voice will be about very practical things: health, education, and what we're here today to talk about, most importantly. It will be about protection, it will be about a whole range of things, that are the issues that face Aboriginal people. It will be about housing, it will be about things like incarceration, and issues to do with those things that very much impact First Nations people. But let me be very clear what it will not be about. It will certainly not be about making changes to things like Australia Day. That is an act of desperation to start talking about things like that. The Australian Government has a very clear policy on Australia Day, we have no plans to change it but we do believe that there needs to be a different way of marking that day. It should be in celebration, and recognition of the great things about our nation, but it also has to be in reflection about the truth of this country. So let's be very clear. The Voice will be about practical things that affect the daily lives of Aboriginal people. It will not be about scare campaigns. It will not be about nonsense like changing Australia Day. And I want to make that extraordinarily clear today. The most important announcement I'd like to make today, and I'm going to invite Assistant Minister McCarthy to tell us the details. But what's fabulous about being here at the hostel and meeting these fine women, as well as the many workers here that support people is that we are making a very significant announcement today to improve access to health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We are announcing today a really significant package in relation to dialysis and dialysis units across this country. There will be a number of them. I'll ask Senator McCarthy to talk about the details. But let us remind ourselves that there is a terrible affliction in our communities where kidney disease is absolutely rife. And the Federal Government is very determined to provide support, particularly to remote communities. Mum here has been here for six years now because there is no adequate provision for her health care in her home community. With this announcement today, we might be able to change the dial on that, because kidney disease amongst our people is absolutely at unacceptable levels. The Federal Government knows that and our announcement today is in recognition of that understanding, and in recognition that the answers to the issues on Aboriginal health, on Aboriginal issues come from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. That is where the answers are. And I invite Senator McCarthy to give you the details on this very exciting announcement today.
MCCARTHY: So today, I'd like to acknowledge Purple House where we've gathered and to all the staff who have been able to join us. And thank you for your work, not just here, but right across the country in the locations that you are involved in. And it is with the collaboration of Purple House, and also the Aboriginal community health sector through NACCHO, and the Department of Health, that we've been able to continue with the commitment we took to the Australian people last year, and that is to roll out at least 30 renal dialysis units, with four chairs in each, across the country. And we're starting here today with six of those 30. So six of those units are being announced today to rollout. There will be two in South Australia, one in Western Australia. And there are three here in the Northern Territory. One will be at Ti-Tree, one unit will be in Harts Range and the other unit will be at Borroloola, where there'll be four new chairs in each of these locations. And I'm enormously proud that we can do that. Obviously, the concerns around renal disease for First Nations people in particular is extremely high. Anything to do with renal is usually the reason why most First Nations people are hospitalised and they have high statistics in terms of surviving the issues around renal disease. And so we are determined to tackle the causes and symptoms behind it. But we're also determined to deal with the fact that so many First Nations people in particular, suffer from this dreadful disease, and we want to make sure that they can get home to country and be able to live on country and know that they don't have to be in the larger capital cities. So it's really good news. Any questions?
JOURNALIST: As someone from Borroloola, what’s it like for someone from that community not to have access to those essential services?
MCCARTHY: The minute someone knows that they're diagnosed with renal disease, you know, and I've heard mum, Miriam say it, you know, she said, ‘it's like a death sentence’. You know that your life is about being on a machine three days a week, and when you go into the renal units, and then when you go into the hospital wards, where the renal kidney machines are, and you see those white sheets, with people and patients sitting under them, it is deeply disheartening to think that this is going to be the future for so many people, both now and for these little ones that are growing up. So we have to tackle it. You know, at the end of last year, I stood here to talk about a particular medication that is now available for people to try and prevent themselves getting renal disease and so that have to make sure they get on top of it. That's not going to help people like Mum Miriam and Mum Carol. But what we're trying to do is help them with being able to get home on the country with the support of Purple House, and their purple truck as well, so that they can get out and about across places in the Territory and beyond.
JOURNALIST: Is the funding for infrastructure or ongoing operations?
MCCARTHY: It will include obviously, the infrastructure and we want to see this continue going on into the future.
JOURNALIST: Will that be on the NT Government to fund that?
MCCARTHY: This is us the Federal Government. We're dealing with it going forward.
JOURNALIST: Senator, Minister, how long before this actually hits the ground, hits the ground running? And how long before we see things in the community starting to benefit the Aboriginal community?
MCCARTHY: I want to see this happen as soon as possible in terms of the rollout, and that means working closely with Purple House, and I know they do too.
JOURNALIST: Can you speak I guess a bit about the importance of actually having these services located in remote communities…
MALARNDIRRI MCCARTHY: If you've been to a hospital in Alice Springs or to the Flynn Drive Unit at Alice Springs where renal is or to the Tennant Creek renal ward or to the Katherine ward or Darwin ward here or even at Nightcliff renal centre, you'll see how many First Nations people have to specifically live in towns across the territory, to be able to have that access, when they want to go into a community when they want to go back to community, they may only have one chair there, so they have to be shared between different patients. And so sometimes it's not viable for them to stay on their community. So they need to go back to the major towns of Alice Springs and Darwin, and the same with in South Australia and Western Australia, which is where the other humans will be. So we're very conscious that people's lifestyle changes quite dramatically. And we just hope that this can go some way to assist them.
JOURNALIST: One thing you've heard from people in Alice Springs over the past few months is that when people have to come into a place like Alice Springs, often family members come with them, and then they stay there for a long time they don't return to country, and that's contributing to some of the social issues in town, do you think this is something that could help alleviate some of those issues and so on.
MCCARTHY: That's so true. A lot of the concerns that I've heard talking with Congress, with the mayor, and others in Alice Springs, I just got back from there yesterday, just to see how things are going. The concerns of renal patients is very real. And the fact that they're either overcrowding in the town camps, or not being able to have anywhere to sleep. They also have to bring in their family. So it's a very real fact. And I certainly hope that with the addition of Ti-Tree, and certainly Harts Range, we're going to start to alleviate a bit of that. It's obviously not going to solve every problem, but it goes some way to solving some of the problems.
JOURNALIST: Just on your point about the voice and Australia Day, is that not something we should be doing if people, Aboriginal people, whether it's in the Northern Territory or somewhere else is saying, we don't feel comfortable with the date of Australia Day, if they're coming forward and saying, we want that date change, isn't that something the Voice should be pursuing.
BURNEY: What I'm making very clear is the voice will involve itself in the very real practical issues that affect the daily lives of Aboriginal people. We've had random questions in the parliament about the Reserve Bank, we've had random questions in the parliament, on a whole range of things like defence and so forth, the voice is an amazing opportunity for Australia to be unified. It's an amazing opportunity for the Australian Constitution, to tell the truth and reflect the story of this country. It's an opportunity to make sure that our voices, First Nations voices, are heard in the parliament. The voice will be commenting on pieces of legislation, and I can assure you, as the minister in this portfolio, it is extremely busy. There are many, many issues to do with Native Title, land rights, housing, health, education, you name it. And our government is determined to make sure that what we do into the future better meets the needs of First Nations people and therefore move the dial on the closing the gap targets, where some of them are stubbornly stuck.
JOURNALIST: Minister, the Australian Electoral Commission today has launched a referenda misinformation campaign… how concerned are you about the risk, particularly through social media, of misinformation not just around the voice proposal itself, but the actual process and having a referendum?
BURNEY: There have been already, so early on in the day, much misinformation. And I think mischievous disinformation, put out about the voice, both through press conferences, comments in the public arena, and through social media. It is very important for this country, for all of us, for all of you, to make sure that there is absolutely clarity on what a referendum is, and what this referendum is about. And I am very pleased to hear that the Electoral Commission is taking the action to make sure that the information that has been put out is actually factual. I welcome that very much.
JOURNALIST: Peter Dutton in Alice Springs today has raised again, the issue of the abuse and neglect of Aboriginal children, he raised it when he was here last October, he called for a Royal Commission. But what's your response to the claims that he's making? And is there an issue with abused of Aboriginal children not being taken to a safe place?
MCCARTHY: The first thing I would say to opposition leader Peter Dutton is this: it is a very serious allegation to raise the abuse of a child and a serious allegation to make that a child has been returned to an abuser. I would ask opposition leader Peter Dutton, if you are aware of this, then you need to mandatory report it to police so that there can be an investigation immediately. And if you haven't done that, I would urge you to do so as soon as possible. In terms of statistics around Alice Springs, we know that the statistics around DV, attendance at the hospital, and assaults have dropped dramatically. So I would urge the opposition leader please don't use Alice Springs as a political football with irresponsible accusations if they can't be followed up.
JOURNALIST: Mr Dutton also sort of talked about, I guess, the $250 million, the government committed to address crime in the area, he's questioned where that money is, can you detail what's happening?
BURNEY: I certainly can. Already we have seen a substantial rollout of programmes in Alice Springs, around community safety, and in particular, ongoing support for youth programmes. Just incidentally, the trick of the previous government had all of those programmes ceasing on the 30th of June, we have committed over $20 million to continue those programmes for the next two years, at least. So that's the first thing. The second thing is that I have been to Alice Springs, three times. And I have had ongoing discussions with people who are running organisations and living in Alice Springs, including Marion Scrymgour, the local member for Lingiari and the local government, Mayor, and a whole range of other organisations in Alice Springs. Alice Springs sure has hit the headlines. But I can assure you as the assistant minister just said, the statistics are heading in the right direction in Alice Springs. There has been substantial reduction in presentations to the emergency ward, and substantial reductions in call outs for domestic violence, dramatic changes, which is not being reflected, unfortunately, by the use of Alice Springs as a political football that we're seeing right now. The second thing is that the governance arrangements for the $250 million are going to be done and are being done properly. And I will be back in Alice Springs in the coming weeks, probably in the next two or three weeks. But I am not going to be dictated by people who seek to use Alice Springs as a political means to an end. What Alice Springs can offer is its own solutions. And we are taking that extremely seriously. The best way to get solutions on the ground is not to impose things as we saw 13 years ago, with disastrous outcomes for places like Central Australia. The way to support long term change there is working with the local community, working with the Northern Territory Government, and that is precisely what we're doing. Thank you, everyone.