Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced the composition of his Indigenous Advisory Council.
The Council will be chaired by Warren Mundine, the former ALP president who has now left the party.
The Council’s membership includes indigenous representatives, the heads of Westpac, Rio Tinto and Carey Mining, and the former Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Department, Peter Shergold.
Statement issued by the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott.
I am pleased to announce the membership of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council.
I want a new engagement with Aboriginal people to be one of the hallmarks of my Government and the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council is an important part of that.
The Council will be chaired by Mr Warren Mundine. Joining him will be a mix of leaders with a broad range of skills and experience, including in business and the public sector.
Senator SCULLION (Northern Territory—Deputy Leader of The Nationals) (13:19): I too support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Bill 2012. I thank the previous speakers and I have to say that this is, without doubt, the first time in my 12-odd years in this place that I have had a genuine sense of bipartisanship. We are excited by the prospects, we are nervous about how we proceed and we are talking genuinely with each other to ensure that our views are not polarised. It gives me a great deal of confidence that we, as representatives of the wider Australian community, can behave in that way. Hopefully that will help engender an appropriate environment for the community discussions to follow on the content of the changes.