Minister for Indigenous Australians
Subjects: Kidney disease, food security in remote communities.
MIKAELA SIMPSON, HOST: Something that I learned today was that Central Australia has one of the highest rates of amputation in the country due to conditions like diabetes. We all know that poor nutrition is linked to illnesses such as diabetes, which can then lead to kidney disease. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, they are twice as likely than non-Indigenous Australians to have chronic kidney disease and almost four times as likely to die from the condition. Today, Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator for the Northern Territory, Malarndirri McCarthy has announced that the Albanese Government is investing $13.5 million for a multi-purpose community development in Borroloola which will include a renal dialysis clinic. It is one of 30 dialysis units that are rolling out across the country and it’s part of the government’s $73.2 million investment in better renal services for First Nations people. I spoke to Senator McCarthy earlier today.
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Oh, lovely to join you, Mickaela, and hello to all your listeners right across the NT.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: You have been travelling home specifically where you got to announce some pretty big changes that are going to be coming in the form of funding. Tell us about what’s going on.
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Yes, it’s been important to look at the food security issue across not only the NT but Australia. And having recently gone home to Borroloola to announce renal dialysis chairs for the community. One of the things that I’ve always been conscious of is that while we have high rates of health issues, especially around chronic kidney disease, we also need to look at prevention and good, healthy foods, foods that are available, foods that are affordable. So, part of my work is also around food security and also food resilience. And I’ve seen what has happened in the last summer, in particular around the floodings, Mikaela, and how our stores get flooded in and almost get food run off the shelves because they don’t have the capacity to hold on for much longer than so many weeks.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: You mentioned prevention. Would you say that things have gotten to a severe state because there’s been a lack of prevention when it comes to food security, in terms of health and dialysis and the amount of people who are suffering because of that?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: The high rates of kidney disease disturbs me deeply but also affects me personally as well, in terms of my own family members who have to live in Darwin at Aboriginal hostels to be able to receive treatment three days a week. And as I travel the country to try and improve the amount of renal chairs for people who have to go away to capital cities, away from their community, they often say to me that sometimes they prefer just to go home and if that means dying on Country, then they’d prefer that and I don’t want to see that. And no Australian should ever have to feel that that’s the only choice they have. So, it is important to me to try and connect the two. We see that in Central Australia, the high rates of diabetes often leads to what we see, the high rates of amputations. Just in the Alice Springs Hospital alone, I travel there to meet with the doctors and nurses who work in that area around amputations and what that means. At Congress, we provided a foot bus for Congress so they can go around and talk about the importance of getting your feet looked at when you feel certain pain, just so that you don’t get amputated, so you can have prevention. And now I’m dealing with food. So, look, you know, it’s a bit of a road, but I’m pretty determined and there’s a lot of good people out there in these communities, in our stores, who want to see the best, pulling together manufacturers and retailers. Last week, Mikaela in Canberra, was about that and saying, come on you mob, we’ve all got to work together on this. It’s a health crisis that I’m looking at, not just about people’s access to affordable food, it’s about people’s access to a good life.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: Because we know that something like diabetes and certain levels of it, you can prevent something like this. And obviously, when it comes to food security and just food that is accessible in such remote locations, this is something that obviously needs to be addressed. I’ve lived remotely, I’ve travelled remotely, I’ve been seeing it for over a decade and nothing’s really changed. So, how do we also focus on that level of prevention before it gets to you having to come home and announce what is a really great initiative of funding, but how do we get to look at it in different stages and work it from the bottom up, in terms of making sure change actually sticks?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Sure. Well, I see my role as supporting some of the good initiatives that are going on. If we look at Ali Curung, for example, with the farm down there, they’ve just been able to produce lots of different vegetables. I think garlic was on the menu. I’m so proud of the work that they’re doing just at Ali Curung, south of Tennant Creek. There are pockets of really good things going on, we’ve got the Eon Foundation, which is working in our communities with planting and growing fruit and veges and working with school kids and school programmes. So, there’s that level that we have to get behind and support, as well as our stores like the Arnhem Land Progress Association has been working on this for decades. And one of the remarkable things about ALPA is the incredible employment opportunities they provide for Yolngu people on these lands. Sure, they have their troubles too with getting food, with hopefully getting prices to a better, affordable price, but I commend them wholeheartedly for the work that they’re trying to do on the ground.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: What are you hearing from family members when you go home about, you know, the rates of people who are suffering from things like diabetes?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Largely I hear about the food. People’s inability to either purchase the foods because of the high cost and their inability to get fresh food. So, these are two things that I do hear, certainly from my home community of Borroloola. But then there’s other things, like people also want to go to the shop to buy, you know, white goods, fridges, washing machines, air conditioners, things that can be and should be reasonably affordable, so that they can have those in their homes.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: Yeah, this is something that is really important for so many different reasons. Being able to have access to something like this on Country, in a community, is so vital. And I’d imagine, for people who don’t understand, travel is a huge thing that prevents people from having access to health services, isn’t it?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Oh, absolutely. So, we’ve got remarkable health services in our Aboriginal community health sector. It’s one area that I do enjoy completely working with across the country. I do see the Aboriginal Community Health Organisations as central to assisting governments of all persuasions, state and territory and federal levels, to assisting and representing First Nations health needs.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: I know that this is $13.5 million for a multi-purpose community development. What’s that going to look like on the ground?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: In terms of Borroloola?
MIKAELA SIMPSON: Yeah.
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Look, it’s part of partnering as well with the local community and the Community Benefits Trust around establishing a shopping complex, if you like, so you can have, and it’s up to the community to choose through their board, whether they have a local baker, whether they can have a local retail shop, whatever they wish to do. But in one of those shopping rooms has to be four renal dialysis chairs. And that’s what I’ve said. You know, you can build your shopping complex, government rooms, whatever you wish to use it for, multi-purpose. But we must have a facility for the four renal dialysis chairs and we must have accommodation for the nurses who we’re going to require to assist with those patients in that multi-purpose building.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: Outside of the health aspect of, you know, this shopping complex that you’ve just described, how do we also make sure that things like, whether it is a bakery or, you know, a store or something like that, is also encouraging local employment instead of bringing people from outside?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Totally. And that’s the thing, Mikaela. I see that, you know, just recently announcing a thousand rangers was really important to me. I think the work of our rangers across Australia, but especially here in the Northern Territory, is incredibly inspiring work, from the desert country to the sea country to the rivers in between. And they are the eyes and ears of our country. And I actually call them the guardians of caring for Country, and they teach us as First Nations people, but all Australians, what’s going on. So, that’s important to get the jobs out there. Soon I’ll be announcing 3,000 more jobs for the Remote Jobs Programme, and I’m looking forward to doing that with those providers who are currently working with the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Indigenous Australians Agency, plus others. And of course, as we go forward, we want to see the impact that economic wealth has for women and children in particular, who are trying to escape family and domestic violence. I do believe that when you do have access to financial support yourself, you can go a long way to lifting yourself out of situations that you don’t need to be in.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: And then on the flip side of that, when it comes to, you know, these renal places and facilities, which obviously require a level of awareness and just skill and health practice, if people in community don’t have that, how are we going to attract people who do have that knowledge and skill set, to want to work remotely?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well, it’s always going to be a balance, isn’t it? We certainly do want the professionals to come in but there has to be the ability to encourage local people across Australia, wherever they may be, to take up health positions. So, what we’ve also done is create 500 health practitioner traineeship positions. Nearly 400 of those are already filled across Australia. I’m really proud of that. And then it’s not just about training them, though, Mikaela, as we’ve all heard, so many of our mob have traineeships, but they don’t have jobs. And I’m determined to make sure that there is an absolute flow-on for those health practitioners training, to actually go into jobs and into our communities or wherever they wish to work.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: It’s a really fantastic initiative. I’m so glad to have you here in the studio telling us all about it. What’s it going to look like in real time? When are we going to see this rolled out and implemented and changing lives?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: We’re seeing it now. So, South Australia was the first with the Aboriginal medical organisations down there, in terms of setting up the training. We’ve certainly got it here in the Northern Territory. We’ve got it in each state and territory jurisdiction at the moment. What I’d like to see is they can move into health worker positions or they can become doctors here at the Charles Darwin University Medical School, that we’ve also set up for Indigenous doctors to be able to train and study here. So, the choice is there. It really is about encouraging now. And I just urge your listeners, you know, encourage people to take up these opportunities. You know, Fee-free TAFE, we are so focused on the educational aspect and giving opportunity to all Australians. And my focus, of course, is First Nations Australians, because that’s the portfolio I hold. But I’d encourage your listeners to, you know, if you see people out there, encourage them to please take these up.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: We are so behind on so many of the targets when it comes to Closing the Gap around the country, specifically here in the Territory as well. How significant do you think this is in terms of maybe getting back on track and ultimately changing the statistics and lives of what so many people are living at the moment?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: We have to do it. You know, the urgency is there. We have no real choice as governments and certainly as the Coalition of the Peaks has also reminded us, we have to get this right. And in the time that I have as your Minister, I certainly will do my best.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: Malarndirri McCarthy is here in the studio with me this afternoon on ABC Radio Darwin and the Northern Territory. Finally, to anybody out there who’s listening, who is struggling with their health, that’s living remotely, that has chronic kidney disease or knows a loved one that does. What’s your message to them this afternoon?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: I would say reach out. I think whatever it is that’s ailing you or worrying, never hold it to yourself. There are opportunities to talk to people. There are really good people right across the country. And I’m sure you know at least one person you can turn to who can give you that assistance. Knowing that everything that I’ve spoken about this afternoon, Mikaela, is there for Australians around the country to tap into.
MIKAELA SIMPSON: Great. Thank you so much for your time today.
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Thank you.
