Thank you, and good morning.
I begin by acknowledging and paying my respect to the Wadjuk people of the Noongar nation.
The Traditional Owners of these lands and waters, and to their elders, past and present. Thank you Barry for that warm welcome.
I also acknowledge His Excellency the Honourable Christopher John Dawson APM, Governor of Western Australia and Mrs Darrilyn Dawson.
Thank you for bringing us together today.
The Australian Government is providing $1.6 million to support local communities and organisations with celebrating NAIDOC Week from 2 to 9 July.
The NAIDOC Local Grants enables communities to hold activities that recognise the histories, cultures, achievements and ongoing contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The flight from Brisbane to Perth is 330 minutes long. Like many travelling parents, my wife Jess and I counted every single one when travelling with two-year-old Ruby and five-year-old Leo.
But being able to spend time with family in Brisbane this summer was something we were so delighted to do once again. Brisbane is Jess' hometown and for me as a Western Australian, it has always felt like a second home.
The Albanese Government will today bring together First Nations experts and stakeholders from across the telecommunications, media and broadcasting sectors as part of a First Nations Digital Inclusion Roundtable.
The Roundtable will provide an opportunity to discuss issues relating to First Nations digital inclusion, with a focus on identifying initiatives already underway to support improved digital access, affordability and ability for First Nations people and communities, and to explore possible priorities for future action.
As part of its commitment to Closing the Gap, the Albanese Labor Government is delivering more than $4 million towards a pilot program which will establish partnerships between Indigenous language centres and local service delivery partners.
Funded through the Indigenous Languages and Arts Program, the 11 place-based partnerships will enable these First Nations-led organisations, in the health and early childhood education sector, to increase the use of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.
Travel is not just about the adventure, it is about the report back when you get home.
What was once slide carousels and picking up Kodak moments has been replaced by Instagram curation and Facebook reviews.
But it is still word of mouth that makes the real difference. When you can’t stop talking about your trip. Your discovery of a new part of the world.
Instead of farewelling a destination vowing never to return, we want visitors so enthused they get home and organise for their friends and family to join them on a return trip.
Western Australia's John Curtin put it bluntly, "politics is a generic name given to the art of government."
We know there is good art and there is bad art. For too long the art of Australian politics has been bad art. Art that you would be embarrassed to hang anywhere in your house.
That changed this year with the election of the Albanese Government. Here in Western Australia, we have been central to painting a new national picture.
And it's a big picture.
Joint Council members were welcomed to Gadigal Country by Brendan Kerin of the Sydney Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council.
Joint Council members shared updates on Closing the Gap and outlined strategies for embedding the Priority Reforms in 2023 within their respective jurisdictions, with a particular focus on Priority Reform Three – Transforming Government Organisations.
Members considered and approved the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages Policy Partnership and a Housing Policy Partnership.
TOM CONNELL, HOST: Well, you've seen all the various year in reviews. You've wondered how Australian politics is in 2022. There's only one take you need, though, and that's from Patrick Gorman and Jason Falinski. They join me, my panel, for the final time in 2022. Gentlemen, thank you both for your time. But we'll get a little bit I'm not quite sentimental, I suppose, but retrospective in a moment. But we've got big news that I said first of all, Patrick Gorman, Kevin Rudd, your former boss, US ambassador to Washington. It's an interesting appointment, isn't it?
BEN FRANKLIN, NSW MINISTER FOR ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us here at the Joint Council on Closing the Gap. We are particularly honoured to host this extraordinary and important event in Sydney. This is a meeting between obviously the Federal Minister and all State Ministers for Aboriginal and Indigenous Affairs, along with representatives from the Coalition of Peak Aboriginal Organisations in the nation.