Subject: Visit to Kimberley.
SANDY DANN: The Attorney-General is with us in the studio. We’re so privileged to have visits by such a person of authority, especially when he’s pretty much legally across most of what’s happening across the country when it comes to federal issues. He also spent a year working for the Northern Land Council, has also been a barrister and a solicitor. He’s done lots of parliamentary jobs that he’s been doing since elected back in 2007 and lucky enough to still be the Member for Isaacs in Victoria. And guess what? He’s WA born. So, Mark Dreyfus, hello.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL MARK DREYFUS: Hello, Sandy. It’s great to be with you.
DANN: Federal Attorney-General, that’s a big title. Can we break it down? What does that mean with the job you do?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: The Federal Attorney-General sits in the Cabinet and I’m responsible for lots of Acts of Parliament, for looking after the court system, looking after the Australian Federal Police and among other things, the Native Title Act. But I’m responsible for a lot of justice issues, law policy, and it’s a pleasure to be in government again after a long time in opposition.
DANN: Do you get a chance to come back to WA much?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: I come back to WA when I can. I’ve been in the Kimberley quite a few times in my life, but it’s always wonderful to be here in Broome. On this trip I’ve been up here with the Western Australian Attorney General John Quigley and Senator for WA Sue Lines and the Member for Kimberley Divina D’Anna. We went to Derby on Tuesday, to Kununurra on Wednesday, we’ve been in Broome yesterday and had a long day which actually ended with going out with the Night Patrol and that was very interesting to see. You know, they’ve only been going since April but it’s been good to see them doing their work last night. I was out with them for a couple of hours.
DANN: A pretty hard-working mob. They’ve been going for years but situations change over time. With your Kimberley visit, what are you focusing on?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: One of the things I was keen to talk to people in Derby about was one of the 20 Justice Reinvestment projects that is happening and that project is the Emama Nguda Aboriginal Corporation. They’ve obtained a Justice Reinvestment grant from my department and it’s really an expansion of the existing programs which are designed to keep kids out at school. They’ve got a basketball at night program, they’re feeding meals to kids and supporting families to support those kids in turn, so that they stay away from the criminal justice system. I’m very hopeful that these Justice Reinvestment projects around the country are going to start producing results. I can already see, meeting with the Emama Nguda people in Derby, that their program is producing results and I think that’s got to be the future. That instead of spending money on courts and jails we can start spending money on care and keeping kids away from the criminal justice system.
DANN: So you can go in with decisions that maybe the state government has made on juvenile detention?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: No, I work with the state government. I can’t override what the state government does. But one of my reasons for coming up here with John Quigley, the Attorney-General for Western Australia, is because we work together. We want to work together on these problems. We work together in the Standing Council of Attorneys-General which is me meeting with all of the State Attorneys-General, and I’ll work together with state governments across the country including the Western Australian State Government. But it’s not my job to override what the WA Government does. It is my job to work with them and support them.
DANN: And other matters that you kind of focus on. You mentioned Native Title there. What do you do in that space?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: I’m the Minister responsible for the Native Title Act. I’ve recently asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to do an inquiry into the provisions of the Native Title Act that deal with the future acts regime. That’s economic development-related issues. And the Law Reform Commission is going to be reporting back to the Government towards the end of next year, which I think will probably lead to some change in the Native Title system. Another thing I do in the Native Title system is to make sure that the Federal Court of Australia, which has Native Title cases, is properly resourced, has enough funds to hear Native Title cases, to make sure that the Native Title cases are run well. And while I was in Broome yesterday I met with the Kimberley Land Council to talk to them about some of the issues they face in the Native Title system.
DANN: So that’s been on your radar. Federal Police in the Kimberley?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: There’s really not a big presence of the Australian Federal Police in the Kimberley. Most of the Australian Federal Police work is in the capital cities. Occasionally there has been a need for some Australian Federal Police officers here in the north west looking at people smuggling ventures, I’ll leave it at that. But by and large there are not that many Australian Federal Police in the Kimberley. Policing up here is a WA Police responsibility.
DANN: Are we maybe looking at getting some assistance in the future?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: A visit from me or from the Australian Federal Police?
DANN: Visitors from those offshore?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: We’re very much hoping not and we’ve had a couple of very, very small number of unauthorised maritime arrivals in recent months. And we’re hoping that we’ve got on top of that and are preventing it.
DANN: Where does your visit take you from here?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: I am going back home to Melbourne to the cold Sandy. And having spent, as I say, the week in the Kimberley, it’s always fantastic to be up here. It’s a reminder to me of some of the difficulties that are faced by people providing services up here in the Kimberley. It’s a reminder of the great distances that people have to travel. But equally, I was very encouraged to see the great work that’s been done by health services, by Aboriginal Legal Services with whom I visited in Derby and Kununurra and Broome.
DANN: What has been probably a high point for you?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: I think a high point was meeting with the Shooting Stars, the girls at the senior high school in Kununurra. That was just fantastic to see how well some young Aboriginal women are doing and how programs that are there to support them like the Shooting Stars program are really working. I met with some of the girls in that Shooting Stars program. They talked to me about going out on country, about visits that they’d made to other towns and it was just wonderful to meet with them. I’d say that’s a high point of my visit.
DANN: Okay. Federal Attorney-General it’s been pretty exciting meeting you, and it’s been a highlight having you in the studio. Thank you for paying us visit.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL: It’s a pleasure, Sandy.
