Mal Brough (Longman, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Solomon for his question. I note his genuine concern for the people he represents in Darwin and the Northern Territory and his understanding of this very difficult issue. The federal government this year committed a record $3.3 billion to assist Indigenous Australians to have a better life. As we have all seen this week, horrific incidents of child abuse and domestic violence are occurring throughout Australia, which is totally unacceptable. This has occurred despite the best efforts of all levels of government of all political persuasions over a long period of time to deal with it. Today, the Co-Principal of Wadeye School in the Northern Territory reiterated how challenging this is. I remind the House that Wadeye is the site of a COAG trial where the Northern Territory government and the federal coalition government committed and spent some $40 million over the last three years on a range of programs in this community of 2,500 people. We are talking here of domestic violence programs, of interventions after the event, of employment programs and of housing and infrastructure programs across both the Territory government’s and the federal government’s range of portfolio responsibilities. Despite this genuine commitment by the Northern Territory government and the federal coalition government, there is still a belief that there is no future. Let me explain by reading what the co-principal had to say to the ABC today. She said:

I’m seeing people very scared, intimidated, afraid to speak out. Shop access is blocked, therefore food supplies are restricted. The health clinic access is difficult because they can’t get there. I’ve had to offer the school as a shelter when houses have been vandalised.

Her husband is the local GP. He said he recently treated a six-year-old child who had been raped. He says that the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services told him not to talk to the media. Unfortunately, these are not isolated incidents. The fact is that the best of goodwill and the best of intentions will do nothing unless we are able to address the fundamental issue that every society not only demands but relies upon to be successful—the basis of rule of law and that policing be present, be visual and be trusted. That simply does not happen in these communities.

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