Prime Minister’s speech at Arnhem Land Garma Festival criticised

Professor Jackie Huggins who is the ABC Elder-in-residence, says the Prime Minister’s speech didn't hit the mark in terms of its messaging.

Transcript

00:01I definitely thought the agenda was very thin, in fact.

00:07That it was something that wasn't deep enough in terms of the issues that we face as Indigenous people in this country.

00:20Did you speak to people afterwards about what he had had to say?

00:25Yes, I did. I spoke to many people and asked them how did they find the Prime Minister's speech.

00:31Many were nonchalant and feeling that they are words yet again and we want action and we want those actions delivered and implemented.

00:44But in terms of the broader scope of it, we really do need to concentrate on what is affecting our people on the ground.

00:55And I didn't hear very much of that at all, just in terms of social, emotional health and wellbeing.

01:03And before you get jobs, any job you get in this country, you need to have housing, health, education.

01:11So we need to really concentrate on those things, rather than go at the top end and bring it back.

01:19It's got to be applied there in terms of doing the work for our people.

01:25So, you know, I was, yeah, I was thinking as we sat there, when is it ever going to get better for our people?

01:34You know, when is government starting to listen to us?

01:39And when are they going to do something that's really important that we're able to really address these problems and tackle them right on?

01:51And also, I spoke to a lot of women here after the speech.

01:56And, of course, we concur with what's been said by the social justice commissioner, Katie Kiss, in terms of the children were missed out.

02:08They were the invisible mob in the room.

02:11And here we are at the epicentre of crime, youth justice, you know, youth detention, all those things.

02:22Our kids are still getting locked up and our people are still dying.

02:26So what is what is the ability for governments to keep tackling that and to keep tackling that consistently?

02:37And really, we've just seen the results of the close the gap where it's getting worse.

02:43So something is not happening.

02:45These systems are not working for us.

02:47So hopefully, you know, I live in hope of the ability for governments to engage.

02:55But so far, they've done a pretty poor job.

02:59And they've done a poor job over the past 40 years in terms of my experience in Aboriginal affairs.