Minister for Indigenous Australians
Topics: Junior Rangers expansion, Food Security in remote First Nations communities, Low-Cost Essential Items Subsidy Scheme
JOURNALIST: How significant is this expansion to the Junior Rangers program for First Nations students and communities?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: It's incredibly significant to see the expansion of the Junior Rangers program on a number of levels. One is to keep our kids at school. We want our kids to go as far as they can, preferably through to Year 12, and that's what this real focus is about. But deeply, it's just as important for our First Nations children to know who they are, where they come from, how they fit, in terms of their sense of belonging. And that's what the Junior Rangers program does. It connects people to Country, be able to learn new skills, both academically, but also spiritually.
JOURNALIST: And learning on-Country, what difference does that make for young First Nations people, to get that hands on experience on-Country?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Learning on-Country does reveal solid results. We see young people grow in confidence, they have a deeper appreciation of the world around them, and an even deeper appreciation with the knowledge of 60,000 years or more of First Peoples in this country. And I think when you connect that with the learning, whether it's as simple as establishing a garden in the yard so you can see what kind of plants to plant, food plants, bush medicine plants, or if you're out on the coast, and you're trying to work with sea creatures, looking after the sea, those sorts of skills can be for anyone, but how they impact First Nations people is about our affinity and our relationship to Country and sea Country as well. And that's what's special about the learning on-Country program.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned the Closing the Gap targets and how does this initiative tie in with those?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Sure. It is around a number of things with Closing the Gap. It's clearly about education. We do want our children to go to school every day, to enjoy going to school. And part of the Junior Rangers program actually encourages that participation even more. And we've heard that, as I've travelled to Nowra, to the ACT, and other places across the country, where teachers say they can see the students coming to school, where previously they didn't, because the Junior Rangers program is a program they want to be a part of. So, that's one thing academically, but also leading them into jobs post schooling and also about Country again, and all of these are about Closing the Gap.
JOURNALIST: What have you learned in particular about the success stories here at the Murri School in Brisbane?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well, the Murri School's in its 39th year. It was quite lovely to hear that it is going to be 40 years in 2026, and to meet some of the staff, especially Auntie Gail, who's been here, I believe, for about 30 years. Clearly, there's something in the learning space for all of these students here to, a), be proud, to be a part of this school, but b), to actually be here well after school hours. I mean, school finished hours ago and they're still here, very excited to show what they do as Junior Rangers.
JOURNALIST: What about for some of the young people maybe watching this and want to get involved in Junior Rangers? How does one go about?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Sure. Look, I would certainly encourage families to have a look, see what's happening in your area. Clearly, not every school will have a Junior Ranger program. We have around 5,000 students across the country involved in Junior Ranger programs, and it really is about trying to encourage kids to stay at school, but also to have that affinity with culture. And I'm sure there's other ways to do that as well. But as the federal government, we're very proud to support this initiative.
JOURNALIST: It's very helpful when you can announce the $7.6 million funding and 11 new programs?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Sure. Well, we've got around 61 projects across the country. This is 11 new ones. We're seeing two new spaces here, just in this region, and we saw here at the Murri School today. The more we see solid results, hopefully the more I can advocate in the Cabinet and the ERC budget process for more support for schools everywhere else around the country.
JOURNALIST: Just touching on that last point, I guess just the future of the expansion of on-Country learning programs, is that something we've thought much about and sort of how does that look?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well, as far as I'm concerned, I want to keep seeing this as a really strong positive. We deal with so many negatives in our country, and I think it's really important when we have successful Junior Ranger programs like this, where we show such pride, getting our young kids involved at an early age, is not only good for First Nations families, but for the whole community.
JOURNALIST: And the program here, I know you've met some of the kids only briefly, who've been part of the program, but how does the success here speak to, I guess, the wider success of the program throughout the country?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: I think the program speaks to success when you see very proud young people who are respectful, who are courteous, who stand strong and confident, who want to reach out and help others. I think that makes for good community members wherever you are in Australia, and if we can build our young people to just take their place in society, knowing that they're strong in culture, they are strong with the people around them and they have respect for those around them. I think that's a good thing.
JOURNALIST: What about Elders? We heard from Uncle Cheg before, what role do the Elders play in the Junior Rangers program?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well, the Elders are very much such a strong part of this. Where would we be without our Elders? It's our Elders who are sharing the stories, the good stories and the not so good stories, so our young ones can learn and also give confidence to the young ones that they're doing OK. And we can see that here today.
JOURNALIST: Minister, you've also announced the nutrition workforce and how that plays into the food security policy for remote and regional communities. Can you talk a little bit about what that nutrition workforce will be doing, and what they'll actually be doing for communities on the ground?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well, a couple of the things that have troubled me when I came into the portfolio was the high prices in our remote stores across the country. So, we've moved as a government on that by introducing a policy called food security policy to see at least 152 remote stores cut their prices by up to half on 30 essential items. The 100th store that we signed up was on Palm Island, just a couple of weeks ago when I was there. And part of this is also about good food choices and healthy choices. So, by rolling out nutrition workers into these stores, it does two things. It creates jobs pathways in nutrition and health. But secondly, it also assists families with making healthier choices. It really troubles me also to see the high rates of renal dialysis and kidney disease in our communities. I've been on Palm Island, spending time with them, been at the Cairns Base Hospital, so many of our families have to leave Country to go on renal dialysis. So, if we can do this preventative measure of early, healthy food choices at one level, as well as try and support those who are in the critical end stage of renal dialysis. It all matters.
JOURNALIST: And this obviously dovetails into the other announcement around those 30 essential items as well?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: That's right. It certainly does. I worked with a food security working group to identify the 30 essential items and it's a start. As I've travelled around, when I was at Daly River in the Northern Territory, I talked to a mum there. She's got five kids. She told me, my basket now is down $500 in terms of the costs. And I thought, wow. I mean, I wanted to hear that, but when you actually hear families come up and tell you what it's meant for them, it really shows it matters on the ground. But there also has to be some good choices about the foods that they eat. So, that's why the nutrition workers as well.
JOURNALIST: Thankyou.
