The Australian Government continues to secure the return of Aboriginal ancestors to their rightful custodians – with six ancestors to be repatriated to Australia from the State Ethnographic Collections of Saxony in Germany.

Five will be returned to the custodianship of their respective communities, the Gannagal, Awabakal, Worimi and Mutthi Mutthi peoples of New South Wales. Community representatives have travelled to Germany for the handover ceremony where they will receive their ancestors and accompany them on the long journey home.

It is a delight to be back in Adelaide.

A city where powerful history was made just nearby, on Victoria Square - Tantanyangga - where the Australian Aboriginal Flag was flown for the first time.

The flag was raised by the artist himself, Luritja man and former local, Harold Thomas.

Fifty-one years on, this flag flies in squares, schools, Parliaments and parks right across the country.

A symbol of where we are as a nation, and where we can walk together.

On Wednesday 16 November 2022, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Special Envoy for Reconciliation and the Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, the Attorney General, and the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians met with the Referendum Working Group (the Working Group) in Sydney.

The Working Group had presentations from non-government organisations about the work they’re doing to garner support for a successful referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.

Thank you for the introduction John Paul Janke and Uncle Allen for your Welcome to Country.

Friends - I acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, on whose land we meet today – and I pay my respects to elders past and present.

I also want to acknowledge my colleague and friend -

The Hon Emma McBride MP, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and the Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health.

The latest funding round of the Aboriginals Benefit Account is delivering $43.9 million for 36 community-led projects across the Northern Territory.

The Aboriginals Benefit Account (ABA) under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, collects and distributes royalties generated from mining on Aboriginal land.

Thirty-four organisations have been successful in their bid to deliver economic development, employment opportunities and important infrastructure for communities.

The range of projects to receive funding includes:

The latest funding round of the Aboriginals Benefit Account is delivering $43.9 million for 36 community-led projects across the Northern Territory.

The Aboriginals Benefit Account (ABA) under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, collects and distributes royalties generated from mining on Aboriginal land.

Thirty-four organisations have been successful in their bid to deliver economic development, employment opportunities and important infrastructure for communities.

The range of projects to receive funding includes:

A significant achievement has been reached for Anindilyakwa Traditional Owners across the Groote Archipelago in the Northern Territory, with the formal transfer of the Groote Eylandt Township Lease to the Anindilyakwa Royalties Aboriginal Corporation (ARAC).

This is the first time a Township Lease in the Northern Territory has been transferred from the Commonwealth Executive Director of Township Leasing (Executive Director) to a Traditional Owner Corporation and represents an important milestone for all Township Leasing stakeholders.

A significant achievement has been reached for Anindilyakwa Traditional Owners across the Groote Archipelago in the Northern Territory, with the formal transfer of the Groote Eylandt Township Lease to the Anindilyakwa Royalties Aboriginal Corporation (ARAC).

This is the first time a Township Lease in the Northern Territory has been transferred from the Commonwealth Executive Director of Township Leasing (Executive Director) to a Traditional Owner Corporation and represents an important milestone for all Township Leasing stakeholders.

As part of the Australian Government’s commitment to international repatriation, the remains of 18 First Nations ancestors from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museum in the United Kingdom will return home to Australia.

The ancestors were returned at a handover ceremony in Oxford. One Old Person has been returned to the custodianship of the South East First Nations people of South Australia, while the Australian Government has taken stewardship of 17 ancestors so they can be cared for closer to home.

PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and someone who is very excited that today we will vote on the Secure Jobs, Better Pay bill. This is the plan that Labor took to the election to make sure that working Australians get the pay rise that they deserve. We know that for so long working Australians been working harder and harder, haven't been getting the pay increases that they have well and truly earned. And for many Australians, the enterprise bargaining system is not working for them.