As the local ATSIC Commissioner, and the host, if you like, for the whole event, I want to tell you that NAIDOC Week here in Townsville was the most successful ever held.
Not only is that a local impression, it is the strong impression of all the visitors we had here from around Queensland and from interstate.
NAIDOC 2000 in Townsville is now well and truly recognised as the national benchmark for NAIDOC Week Celebrations around the country.
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I am very proud to say that this is well deserved recognition for the Indigenous community of this town and the region. And a deserved vote of confidence in the 30,000 Indigenous people of this town, region and all our organisations.
But even more that that, it is also a proven feather in the cap for the wider community as well, to have Townsville and the North Queensland put on such a successful national event.
Our record turnouts for the NAIDOC march and the NAIDOC ball and awards were also a huge boost to Reconciliation as well as to our own community pride.
In fact, as I said to many people after the event: the true mark of this National NAIDOC Week in Townsville is that it has left something tremendously positive behind in our community.
A feeling of pride and confidence that will last long after the event.
And I want to give you two examples of what I mean.
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The first sign of this I want to mention is the record crowd of 5,000 people – black and white – who marched for Reconciliation here in Townsville on August 20.
And also the attendance at the Multicultural Festival that tied in with the march, drawing around 30,000 people.
I believe that this shows there is a fundamental shift in community attitudes underway here in North Queensland. Something I think many feared would never happen here in North Queensland. But it is and it has.
That turnout also means that Townsville now holds the record for the a largest Reconciliation March held so far anywhere in regional Australia.
The second example of NAIDOC leaving something stronger and worthwhile on the ground in the community is the 24 young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander waiters who are achieving their certificates today.
They are, I believe, the first group of young people to be trained specifically for a role at the National NAIDOC awards.
They did it so well at the Awards night ball, that I am going to be recommending to the ATSIC's NAIDOC Week Committee that this become a permanent feature of all future NAIDOC Week Awards nights.
We have a wonderful success story here today. We have two groups of our young people who are now far more ready for jobs or further training opportunities in the local hospitality industry, as result of their course at this TAFE.
Many of them now have excellent references as well as excellent training behind them, and some experience – as a result of their efforts on the night of the ball.
But I want to say a bit more about this – about jobs for our people. I want to take this opportunity to again call for local employers in the hospitality industry to come forward with job and training opportunities for these young people
here today.
We are hearing a lot from government and many employers and others about "mutual obligation".
Most of that is directed at unemployed people.
Well what we have in Townsville is a situation where we need to see some "mutual obligation" – from employers and their peak groups – like the local Chamber of Business and Commerce, too. It is time that these groups started to
pull their weight a bit more.
We have a group of young people who have fulfilled their "obligation" by getting training, getting experience, getting themselves "ready" for the job market. They have done the right thing.
The government, through TAFE has done the right thing , by contributing the cost of training. But I understand that none of these 24 young people have got any jobs out of it.
So I am calling on the local Chamber of Commerce to get behind these kids. I am asking them to take up the case of these young people with employers, and work with us, and TAFE and the Job Agencies.
ATSIC is calling for legislation to be passed to help tackle this jobs crisis. As the way to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people get just a two per cent share of jobs in companies employing more than 250 people.
The local Chamber of Commerce and Industry is very critical of this. They say to do this would "create an unequal playing field."
Let me make it clear what our call actually means. It means that for a company with 250 employees people, there would be five places for Indigenous employees. That’s what two per cent adds up to. Hardly a big ask, I would have thought.
Let me tell you why we are calling for this. Because the real jobless rate for Indigenous people in this country is 51 per cent. Seven times higher than for other Australians. And rising.
This is a national crisis in Indigenous employment. It needs urgent action. Before it is too late for a whole new generation of our people.
As the QCCI already knows, and these figures show it: we already have an "unequal playing field". It’s not the employers who are finding it unequal.
We have 24 young people who have done the right thing. Who have gotten some training, some experience and some good references too. But three months on from their training, none of them have a job.
The message is :it is time for a bit of "mutual obligation" and a bit more "level playing field" on the part of business.
So congratulations to the young people on their efforts and achievements, and to TAFE for doing their part.
And let’s see if we can find a bit more of that new spirit we have all seen signs of in Townsville recently.
This is an edited version of a speech delivered to Pimlico TAFE, Townsville, on September 7, 2000.