2022-03-18
“The Closing the Gap Report tells us the same thing every year: treating the symptoms of
colonisation doesn’t work. We need to address the cause of the injustices we face through
Treaty,” said The Greens spokesperson for Justice and First Nations: Gunnai, Gunditjmara
and DjabWurrung Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe.
This comes on National Close the Gap Day 2022, as the rate of First Nations children in
out-of-home care is increasing. First Nations and non-Indigenous Australians continue to have
an unequal life expectancy. Aggressive policing results in too many Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people being locked up in prisons that do not have independent oversight to
safeguard their human rights.
“Treaty is an opportunity for us to tell the story of who we want to be as a country. We need
to explore, understand and reckon with our past to unpack the impact it continues to have on
First Nations people today. Co-design doesn’t work. Shared ownership doesn’t work.”
“The continuing high rate of suicide among First Nations people shows that too many of us
cannot see a future in the current system. The system wasn’t designed to keep us alive,
because ultimately, it’s killing us.”
“The Morrison Government has continued a long legacy of taking decisions about our health,
our education and our Country away from us. We can put First Nations people back in the
driver's seat, by backing community controlled services and decision-making.”
“First Nations people know what’s best for our communities. We have the solutions. Treaty
will restore our right to make decisions for ourselves. Our people are strong, and just like
everyone else, we thrive when we're free to set our own course.”
“We are sick of hearing about this gap, we want action. We demand the recommendations
from the Bringing Them Home Report and the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in
Custody be implemented. Stop wasting our time.” Said Thorpe.