Kevin Rudd says reconciliation is achievable

Today former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd addressed the National Press Club to mark the 10th Anniversary of the National Apology to Indigenous Australians, which he delivered on 13 February 2008.

It is difficult to believe that ten years and four changes of Prime Minister have passed since that moment.

In his speech today Mr Rudd called for consistency of political commitment as core business in the reconciliation effort more broadly.

He reminded us that change is possible and reconciliation is achievable.

Mr Rudd introduced the Closing the Gap strategy after his 2008 apology and says he isn't against a refresh, but the original targets were meant to be ambitious.

"What I do oppose is if these targets are watered down to let governments, federal or state, off the hook - to lessen the political responsibility, to lessen the financial burden," he told the National Press Club.

A bit of history

The National Apology to the Stolen Generations originated as a recommendation from The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal Children from their Families. It highlighted the suffering of Indigenous families under the Commonwealth, state and territory Aboriginal protection and welfare laws and policies.

The National Inquiry then led to the Bringing them home report which was tabled in Parliament on 26 May 1997. It contained 54 Recommendations on how to redress the wrongs done to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by the laws and policies of successive governments throughout Australia.

The report identified that;

• Forcible removal policies saw the removal of between 1 in 3 and 1 in 10 Indigenous children, in the period 1910 to 1970
• The effects of such removal were, for most victims, negative, multiple and profoundly disabling
• Removal laws were racially discriminatory, and genocidal in intent
• For many children removed there were breaches of fiduciary duty and duty of care, as well as criminal actions.

The rates of Indigenous child removal today may well be higher than at any point in Australia's history

In 2014-15, there were more than 15,000 Indigenous children in care across the country. 

Since Kevin Rudd made the National Apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008, that number has risen by 65 per cent. 

Even though Aboriginal children make up just 5.5 per cent of children aged 0-17 years in Australia, they represent 35 per cent of those placed in out-of-home care. 

Indigenous children aged 1-4 are 11 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-indigenous children in the same age group. 

There are claims that there are more Indigenous children being removed today than any other time in Australian history. It's difficult to know, given many records prior to the early 90s were destroyed or kept erratically, but in 1993 there were only 2,419 Indigenous children in out-of-home care.

A brighter future

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wants to be more positive. He says that too often despondency in indigenous communities is highlighted, which does little to help those who aspire to succeed.

Mr Turnbull insists jobs and setting up businesses are crucial to improving the lives of indigenous Australians.

Handing down the annual Closing the Gap report today Mr Turnbull focused on growth in indigenous businesses as a sign of success, while acknowledging four of the seven targets are not on track.

Mr Turnbull announced a new indigenous grants policy designed to increase the number of local indigenous owned and controlled organisations.

The policy will extend principles of the indigenous procurement policy, which has allowed indigenous businesses to win more than $1 billion in government contracts since 2015, up from $6 million in 2012/13.

"The government must be the enabler of this success," Mr Turnbull told parliament.

"Too often we are quick to highlight the despondency which does nothing to help those who aspire to be like (the) people that work hard and succeed all the time, all while being proud First Australians, Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander Australians."

In highlighting other successes Mr Turnbull said the latest Closing the Gap report shows the target to halve the gap in Year 12 attainment by 2020 remains on track.

Two more targets - halving the gap in child mortality by 2018 and having 95 per cent of all indigenous four-year-olds enrolled in early childhood education by 2025 - are both now on track.

However, the remaining four targets are lagging, including a key goal to close the 10-year gap in life expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians by 2031.

As well, three of the remaining four targets - to halve the gaps in employment, reading and numeracy, and in-school attendance for indigenous students - are due to expire in 2018.

Work is underway to update the targets, with the deadline for that extended until October.