Sarah Ferguson presents Australia's premier daily current affairs program, delivering agenda-setting public affairs journalism and interviews that hold the powerful to account. Plus political analysis from Laura Tingle.
SARAH FERGUSON: Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians. She joins me in the studio. Welcome back to 7.30, Senator.SARAH FERGUSON: Will the Coalition continue to use Closing the Gap and its targets to drive its policy?
SARAH FERGUSON: Let me ask you about that, because you've said that you want to focus on Indigenous people living in remote communities. It's well known how starved of resources those communities are, that is not a new fact, it is well-known. Can you spell out what you would do specifically to reverse that?
SARAH FERGUSON: Let me ask you though just some of the measures you would take because there has been a great deal of work done in examining the problem. We know how widespread some of these problems are, we know about, we have a lot of data now that has been collected about the level of disadvantage. What would you do to change the lives of people in those communities?
We need to find ways where we can take these children out of dysfunction, so, you know, so they're not left to fester in these circumstances and, as it stands, we're not doing that. JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE: Well, I think it's not just about resourcing. Absolutely, I've talked about the fact that we need to look at where we can spend money better, but we need to first understand where money is being wasted in order to redirect funds into places that I would suggest are a priority, which is absolutely in upholding the human rights of Indigenous children.
There is a hindrance to economic development in remote communities but if we were to treat these communities like small country towns and allow for traditional owners to initiative economic development opportunities, they would become job creators. JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE: So from the conversations that I've had, you know, there are parts of certainly regional Australia, I visited Toomulla earlier this year, where those in that community suggested that the Aboriginal people from those communities want to work hand-in-hand with people from the broader community to bring about solutions.
JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE: So what I would suggest is that we serve, this is an argument that I've always put forward, that we serve Australians on the basis of need. You don't have, you're not automatically marginalised if you are Indigenous. I don't think we treat any other children of different heritage that way. We don't say, "Okay, this child is of Indian heritage, therefore they need to be put in an Indian family." "This child is of Chinese heritage; they need to be given to a Chinese family when it comes to care."
JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE: And again, the fact that Indigenous children, even in urban settings are treated differently to others is what I believe is actually causing, you know, when a child is left in dysfunction, they are fast-tracked to incarceration, whether it's youth incarceration or other issues. Whether it's education...
SARAH FERGUSON: So I can hear you asking questions, but there's other elements to that, isn't there? There's also education, there's health.
Jacinta Price Closing The Gap Indigenous First Nations
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Senator Fatima Payman quits Labor: why alarm is rising over social cohesion in AustraliaLabor senator Fatima Payman’s resignation from the party highlights a schism between Muslims and the major parties. At risk is Australia’s multicultural ethos.
Read more »
Australia news LIVE: Rate rise on RBA agenda after inflation bump; Julian Assange returns to AustraliaFollow today’s national news headlines with our live blog.
Read more »
Australia news LIVE: Rate rise on RBA agenda after inflation bump; Julian Assange returns to AustraliaFollow today’s national news headlines with our live blog.
Read more »
Australia news LIVE: Rate rise on RBA agenda after inflation bump; Julian Assange returns to AustraliaFollow today’s national news headlines with our live blog.
Read more »
Australia's coldest towns revealed following week-long cold snap across eastern AustraliaAs the bitter cold snap continues across central and eastern parts of the country, the Bureau of Meteorology reveals which places have had the most extreme temperatures during this event, and which towns lay claim as Australia's coldest in general.
Read more »
Australia news LIVE: Labor senator crosses floor to recognise Palestine; Julian Assange to enter plea, return to AustraliaFollow today’s national news headlines with our live blog.
Read more »