Subject: Joint Council on Closing the Gap, deaths in custody
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Good morning, everyone. I'd like to acknowledge that we come together on the lands of the Larrakia people and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. Today is a significant day as I, along with my co-chair Scott Wilson, with the Coalition of Peaks and the Indigenous Affairs Ministers, come together from around the country here on Larrakia land to discuss important issues around Closing the Gap, but in particular, justice issues, out of home care, are two central points of today's discussion, along with other matters that members wish to raise. The reason we come together twice a year is to be able to make sure our country moves closer to Closing the Gap. I'm very proud to be here on behalf of the Albanese Labor Government as the Minister for Indigenous Australians in our second term. We are yet to be sworn into the Australian Parliament, which will happen at the end of next month, but what we know is that we have to keep moving in this term. There is so much more work to be done and this opportunity to continue to work with the states and territories is absolutely vital from my perspective as minister, but also with Aboriginal organisations around the country who form the Coalition of Peaks, and also those who are not a part of it as well. It's my role to speak to and listen to everyone but to make a difference in the lives of First Nations Australians in our country. And I do look forward to chairing that today. There will be difficult discussions, complex discussions, certainly heated discussions perhaps in terms of the way we should be embarking on this road, and the immediate things we need to be doing, the mid-term things we should be doing, and the long-term things we should be doing. And I thank all ministers and all members of the Coalition of Peaks, in particular Scott, and I take great mention of their Lead Convener in Pat Turner, who our thoughts are with as well today. So, thank you very much and I’ll hand over to Scott.
SCOTT WILSON, ACTING Lead Convenor, Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations: Thanks a lot Minister. As the Minister said today's meeting is critical. It’s the only national forum where Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations sit at the decision making table with governments to make shared decisions on the policies that affect our lives. This comes at a critical time, the independent review on Closing of Gap is about to be released, national attention is focused on justice reform and the very real need to invest in community-led solutions. The message is clear, when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led organisations lead, outcomes improve in health, education, justice and across the board. The government has seen the evidence; the question now is will they act on it? Today, we must deliver progress, particularly on youth justice, child protection, water rights and data. On the issues of youth justice and child protection, our kids are harmed by the system that should protect them. We're calling for a co-designed national strategy that addresses the drivers of youth detention and out of home care. That is poverty, unstable housing, racism and lack of access to services. Governments can't keep working in silos, progress depends on cross government coordinated leadership and suitable investment. Locking up 10-year-old kids isn’t justice; it’s a failure of policy and compassion. We expect the Commonwealth to lead on this. On justice reform, we must acknowledge that deaths in custody and mass incarcerations are not accidents. They’re outcomes of a system that needs deep systemic change. This is complex and sometimes painful, but necessary work. Governments have committed to resourcing our organisations, dismantling systemic racism and working in genuine partnership. That means state and territory funding should be tied to reform. It also means eliminating racism in policing, courts and corrections. On water rights, we welcome the inclusion of the inland water target and the progress that has been made. Jurisdictions must now back in the progress and access ownership and management for our communities. On data governance, we're pleased to see the endorsement of the Data Policy Partnership, a really critical step towards realising Indigenous data sovereignty and gives communities the data they need to drive solutions that reflect our realities. Now, we must see action on the Productivity Commission’s recommendations, including regional level access to shared data. Following the Productivity Commission's recommendations, significant recommendations have also been made in the independent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, which will be made public tomorrow. While I won't speak ahead of it, we expect it will reinforce what we already know, that real change requires genuine partnership, shared accountability and smarter funding models. We're hoping ministers who have come here today with more than good will, but with the real appetite for action on the National Agreement. Finally, to acknowledge that this Joint Council welcomes back Senator the Honourable Malarndirri McCarthy, as Minister for Indigenous Australians, following her reappointment after the federal election. Congratulations Senator. It also marks the first meeting for the Queensland Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Fiona Simpson and the West Australian Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Don Punch, and we congratulate them on their appointment and welcome to Joint Council. It's a chance for all governments to show they’re serious about working in partnership and delivering on their commitments. Thankyou.
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: And just before questions can I invite our Local Government representative to join as well. Good to see you here. Come and join us please, the Australian Local Government is also represented on the Joint Council. Questions, if any?
JOURNALIST: Just a question for you Senator, in the wake of Kumanjayi White’s death in custody you supported calls for an independent investigation to be considered, which have been batted away by the Chief Minister quite consistently. Are you considering any further levers to put pressure on the Territory Government and if so, what are they?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: The Australian Government is looking at what's occurring in the Northern Territory, but also across Australia. It is important that we see a reduction and end to deaths in custody. We are looking at what's happening here in the Northern Territory. It is a concern. The fact that you've got two deaths from one community and those families are still recovering from the previous death of Mr Walker and are still waiting the coronial inquiry into that, which comes down next month. We are watching very closely. I have spoken both with the Chief Minister and the Acting Police Commissioner in the fact that I made these requests and explained my reasons behind it.
JOURNALIST: Scott was just calling for the Commonwealth to step in in cases where the justice policy by states may not be great for Indigenous outcomes, such as lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10, would you consider the Commonwealth overriding states’ rights to legislate in that area?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well, let’s be very clear. Every state and territory jurisdiction has their own responsibilities. My role as Indigenous Affairs Minister is to concentrate at the federal level on what's going on with First Nations people across Australia. It is alarming to see the high rates of First Nations people dying in custody. This is a fact I have raised this week already with Indigenous Affairs Ministers, we will be going into greater detail with that today. The Commonwealth is concerned, the Attorney-General is concerned, and I know that in my conversations with the Attorney-General, that she will be bringing that forward as well at the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General.
JOURNALIST: Lydia Thorpe and others have called for a meeting of National Cabinet to address the issue of First Nations deaths in custody. Is that something that you would like to see as well?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: There’ve been calls across the country in terms of making sure this stops, those calls are absolutely adequate in terms of making sure we do do that. The first step here is for the Joint Council to come together on it. The second will be when the Attorneys-General meet across the country and the Prime Minister is being briefed on both of those and he has carriage of the National Cabinet.
JOURNALIST: You've got Indigenous Affairs Ministers from a couple of jurisdictions here today that have reduced the age of criminal responsibility, such as the NT and Queensland. What kind of pressure are you hoping to put on some of those leaders in other states that are perhaps walking back some recommendations in this area?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well, pressure is being applied on all of us, not just the state and territory ministers, myself as well as federal minister, and I have the Coalition of Peaks right here behind me who I'm sure would probably not disagree with me, but they place incredible pressure on us. The fact that we can come together is exemplary. We know it's going to be tough in this room today, but that's why we're here.
JOURNALIST: Perhaps just one for the Acting Lead Convener. You said you'd like to see the federal government tie funding to implementation of justice reforms. Are there any other instruments that you'd like federal, state and territory governments to consider to ensure that they have to listen to the Coalition of Peaks in the policies they actually implement?
SCOTT WILSON: We think that we have a fairly good relationship with the Commonwealth, in terms of how, like I said, we're partners in this whole National Agreement, that the Commonwealth and all of the state and territory governments behind us all signed off on, as well as the Coalition of the Peaks. And so we believe that we've been able to use the National Agreement, to sort of bring about change and try and get these state and territory governments to actually agree to what they signed up to in 2020 and clearly, one of the discussions that we have today is about the Indigenous-led review, it basically, without going into it too much, because obviously a lot of people have only just seen it early this week. But it mirrors to a certain extent what the Productivity Commission found that the architecture is right, the architecture is the right way to go through the National Agreement and through all of the structures that we sort of have got out of that, and also the four priority reforms are the way to go. And so, we're sort of, we're community organisations but we sit at the same table as the Commonwealth and the states and the territories, and we think that we have the levers for change.
JOURNALIST: Given you've got the Territory Government, for example, which has quite actively said they don't want to listen to your calls as the federal minister. Do you think that the national partnership is effective in compelling the states and territories to act?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well as Scott says, everyone here has signed up to the National Agreement, including the Northern Territory, and the Northern Territory will be reminded of that again today.