The latest data from the Productivity Commission on Closing the Gap targets are both dispiriting yet unsurprising. 

The Productivity Commission’s data shows a range of incarceration and out-of-home care outcomes as well as socio-economic outcomes not on track to be met. 

The Prime Minister flagged Closing the Gap as a national priority. Yet we do not see that rhetoric matched in the budget. 

How could it be that no funding for Closing the Gap was included in the nation’s primary financial document? 

Closing the Gap is not about adjusting the targets to make it easier for the Government to achieve. 

It is about genuinely guiding and driving investment in resources and priority areas for First Nations communities, such as employment, education, health and housing. 

These indicators and priority areas are interconnected. When one fails, then it is likely it will see failures in others too. 

When a child has no decent and safe housing, they’re less likely to complete their homework; eat or sleep well; and in turn their health and employment prospects are diminished. 

And yet in this one fundamental area, that has so many implications for other areas, the Morrison Government has been completely silent and inactive. 

The key test for the Government will be whether it is willing to finally stand up and demonstrate leadership in this area. 

And Labor again is calling on the Government to back its rhetoric on Closing the Gap with action and investment.