Malcolm Turnbull slammed for leaving indigenous health, Close the Gap breakfast early
MALCOLM Turnbull has been slammed for leaving a Parliament House event early where a damning review of the government’s performance on indigenous health was launched.
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MALCOLM Turnbull has been slammed for leaving early from a Parliament House breakfast where a damning review of efforts to close the life expectancy gap for indigenous Australians was launched this morning.
Labor’s indigenous affairs spokesman Pat Dodson blasted the Prime Minister for the walkout, saying it was indicative of the Turnbull Government’s “deafness”, “absolute derision”, and “contempt” for Aboriginal people.
The report, a review of the failures of the Close the Gap campaign, declared Australia would not be able to rein in the life expectancy gap between indigenous and non-indigenous people unless governments spent more on indigenous health.
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“We saw the Prime Minister walk out 15 minutes before the whole show was over,” Mr Dodson told reporters in Canberra today.
“He may have had something important to do, but he should have stayed there and listened.”
Mr Turnbull attended for the first two major speeches by June Oscar, Close the Gap Campaign co-chair and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, and Rod Little, Co-Chair at the National Congress of Australia’s First People.
The Close the Gap Campaign Steering Committee — a coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and advocacy groups — said the federal government strategy on closing the gap had all but fallen apart and a “refresh” is needed.
While life expectancy for indigenous Australians has improved since 2001, non-indigenous men and women live about a decade longer.
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Part of the problem in failing to reduce the gap, the report said, was the “myth” that dedicated spending on indigenous health was a waste of taxpayer funds.
It said increased spending on indigenous health shouldn’t be a surprise given Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders had between two and three times the health needs of other Australians.
However on a per-person basis the government spends only about a third more on indigenous people than other Australians, with much of that money invested in the wrong areas, rather than in primary care and Aboriginal community-controlled services.
“The Close the Gap Campaign believes no Australian government can preside over widening mortality and life expectancy gaps and yet maintain targets to close these gaps without additional funding,” the report said.
“While funding levels for indigenous health care is expected to grow over the next four years, it will not be of the magnitude to support equality of opportunity in relation to the underlying matters that will make a long term, sustainable and positive difference to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health — primary health care and health infrastructure.”
The report makes seven recommendations, including for the government to fund the 2015 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan Initiative as well as a complementary mental health program.
It calls for indigenous leaders to be involved in the “refresh” of the Closing the Gap strategy, which the steering committee wants expanded to address the underlying causes of indigenous health problems, such as poor housing.
The report’s release comes on the eve of a COAG meeting where Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his state and territory counterparts will discuss refreshing the Closing the Gap strategy, amid fears only one of its seven targets will be met.
Ms Oscar said state and territory governments needed to do more to address the “national shame” of inequality.
“No more finger pointing between governments,” she said.
Fellow Labor Senator Malarndirri MaCarthy said it was also an “absolute disgrace” the government failed to consult a number of indigenous MPs on a Close the Gap refresh set to be discussed by Mr Turnbull and state leaders at a major meeting in Canberra tomorrow.