Matt Cooke is chief executive of the Nhulundu Health Service in Gladstone, Queensland and was one of the speakers at the National Reconciliation Forum in Kalgoorlie-Boulder this month.

He said the Aboriginal health crisis needed to be dealt with now, and industry had a key role to play in any response.

“Industry is certainly working with us in taking the small steps, however we need to start laying the foundations,” Cooke said.

Earlier this year Cooke was named the 2007 Young Leader in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in awards presented by the Federal Government.

Cooke spoke at the reconciliation forum to encourage the mining industry and corporate sector to undertake long-term partnerships with Indigenous communities to improve Aboriginal health.

He told delegates that Rio Tinto had provided funding to his health service, and the money had been put towards employing consultants to help the group access government funding.

While he would not say how much money Rio Tinto had contributed, Cooke said the mining major’s funding help meant the health service was now able to access just under $2 million in recurrent government funding.

“We have been able to grow our services drastically to meet the needs of our people,” Cooke said.

While Cooke acknowledged Rio Tinto’s assistance, he said more long-term partnerships with the corporate sector were needed.

He said if multi-national or Australian industry giants could make money out of resources taken from the land then they should be able to help improve the health status of Aboriginal people who were traditional owners of that land.

“For years and years, corporate industry has been taking billions and billions of dollars out of our beautiful country,” he said.

But despite the wealth creation provided by the mining industry, Indigenous Australians still had fourth-world health status.

Cooke said while mining companies often put money towards education and training programs for Aboriginal people, early intervention and prevention of chronic disease should be a priority.

“We can’t have the employment and training if we don’t have that health,” Cooke said.

He said, for example, that even if an Aboriginal man earned $120,000 on a minesite there was not much point putting money aside for superannuation if the man only lived to his mid-50s, the average age of death for an Indigenous male.

With problems like alcoholism, diabetes and associated illnesses also impacting people’s ability to find and hold down jobs, the issue of health and employment is closely linked.

Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Andrew Forrest, who is well recognised for his philanthropic work with Aboriginal people, was a key drawcard at the forum in his role as host.

During the forum, Forrest called for white Australians to recognise that the lives of many Indigenous people are “crap”, and also demanded stricter alcohol restrictions in the Kimberley.

Forrest has also pioneered a scheme in Western Australia to build men-only sheds to help lure Aboriginal men away from alcohol. In the sheds, men can focus on activities like woodwork or leatherwork, and the first such shed has been opened at Fitzroy Crossing.

Cooke said Forrest’s commitment to Aboriginal health and welfare was a well-received approach in some communities.

“However it’s not just about one person, it’s the whole of corporate Australia,” Cooke said.

Cooke was not alone in his views at the forum – Dr Mick Adams agreed mining companies needed to be more involved in supporting Aboriginal health.

Adams is the chairperson of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and he said one of the reasons he attended the forum was to look at ways to work with mining companies.

He said he did not believe mining companies were consulting enough with local people when they went onto Aboriginal land, and there was more potential for companies to support Aboriginal people through education, housing and health.

For example, given how serious an issue alcohol and drugs are in Aboriginal communities, Adams said having community members working on mines that enforced drug-free environments would go a long way towards improving health.

Education and employment would lead to greater health, but he also said mining companies needed to work with communities to establish these vital economic foundations.

“It has to be a broad overview – we need Aboriginal people to feel good about themselves and see there is a future,” he said.

While Adams said Aboriginal health services were always going cap-in-hand to government and the private sector for funding, he believed mining companies could look to the Aboriginal health services to access their experience in Aboriginal health in return.

“It would be good for them,” Adams said.

Heron Resources is one company that has worked with a local Aboriginal health service in the Goldfields.

The company is at the pre-feasibility stage with its Kalgoorlie Nickel Project, which could rival the size of BHP Billiton’s Ravensthorpe mine if it proceeds.

Heron managing director Mathew Longworth said as part of the company’s negotiations for tenements, Heron contributed significantly towards setting up the Ngunytju Tjitji Pirni infant health clinic in 2002.

Heron would also be making an ongoing commitment to the Kalgoorlie-based centre if production went ahead.

Longworth said Heron was also involved in scholarships and traineeships for Aboriginal people.