Lidia Thorpe accuses government of ‘year of betrayal, delay’ over stalled Closing The Gap progress

Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe has taken aim at the stalled progress in Australia’s Closing The Gap initiatives.

Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe has accused the government of a “year of betrayal, delay and deflection” in its commitment to “closing the gap” between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, with both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton conceding more needs to be done.

The Victorian senator’s fiery response follows the Prime Minister’s annual Closing the Gap address to Parliament House on Monday, with the latest Productivity Commission stating only five of the 19 targets are on track to be met by 2031.

According to the February 2024 Productivity Commission report, rates of suicide, incarceration and Indigenous children in out-of home care have increased.

Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe accused the government of a ‘year of betrayal’. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

While life expectancy rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people were narrowing, they were still not on track to meet targets.

Senator Thorpe accused the government of “intentionally widening” the gaps, pointing at tightened child bail laws in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.

“This time last year, the Productivity Commission delivered a damning assessment of Closing the Gap and called for an overhaul of how First Nations policy is developed and implemented,” she said on Monday.

“A year later, things have gotten worse. It has been a year of betrayal, delay and deflection.

I want to be very clear: These gaps are widening because governments are intentionally widening them.

“The list of attacks on First Peoples by governments is growing by the day.”

She also criticised Mr Albanese’s $842.6m funding package for Indigenous people in remote communities in the Northern Territory announced last week that included $205.9m to boost policing efforts.

“This will just funnel more of our people into the court and prison system at a time where courts are crumbling, as many people are unable to access legal assistance or even an interpreter,” she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said more needed to be done to address the Closing the Gap targets. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

Speaking to parliament ahead of the 17th anniversary since Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generations, Mr Albanese said he wanted “First Nations people to have ownership of their futures and a stake in the economy”.

He also acknowledged that the government “must do more”, stating: “Today is about facing up to what’s not working and learning from what is.

“That is the foundation on which everything else can be built. If we get it right, we can break the cycle that has ensnared generations.”

On Monday, the government announced a series of new measures to boost welfare in remote Indigenous communities, including funding to ensure that the cost of 30 essential products in 76 remote stories are the same as prices in metro stores.

Items will include toilet paper, rice, bread, eggs, nappies and menstrual products.

“We will also build on the success of the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation’s nutrition workforce initiative, which trains First Nation shop staff to promote good nutrition,” he said.

“We’ll bring that program to more communities, like Australians right across the continent.”

Labor will also open or upgrade laundry facilities in 12 remote communities, with the initiative essential in boosting health outcomes and “reducing preventable diseases”, Mr Albanese said.

“By ensuring reliable clean water power supply and access to laundries, we can reduce infections that can open the door to asthma, ear conditions, trachoma and rheumatic heart disease – a Third World disease that has all but faded from living memory in most of our nation but retains its grip on Indigenous Australia,” he said.

Labor senator Jana Stewart, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy and Foreign Minister Penny Wong attended Mr Albanese’s address. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was also in the chamber. NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Other new initiatives announced by the government include critical prevention and early intervention to address family, domestic and sexual violence, plus coaching and business initiatives for First Nations businesswomen and entrepreneurs.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said there needed to be a “new beginning” for Indigenous Australians, and current approaches weren’t working.

“Australians want to see changes on the ground for those Indigenous communities where safety, housing, health, education and employment are critical issues, but by maintaining the status quo, we will not bring about the drastic improvements we all yearn for,” he said.

He also doubled down on reducing crime in Indigenous communities, labelling it a “practical change” to boost school attendance rates and health and home ownership outcomes.

“It follows that where crime continues, aspiration is out of reach,” he told the parliament in his response speech.

“I’m going to provide every support to the Chief Minister and the work that the new territory government is doing in the pursuit of that end.”

Greens’ Indigenous spokeswoman Dorina Cox said the annual report was “Groundhog Day for First Nations communities”.

“This report continues to tell the story most mob already know and experience daily,” she said.

“What’s not written here is that the lack of action on these targets are continuing to keep First Nations people out of schools, out of hospitals, out of workplaces and in detention centres and putting our people in early graves.

“These attitudes empower state violence against our people and ensure we do not get justice.”

Originally published as Lidia Thorpe accuses government of ‘year of betrayal, delay’ over stalled Closing The Gap progress