Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Health, Rural and Regional Health and Regional Service Delivery) Share this | Hansard source

I was enthralled by the shadow minister’s contribution, for a number of reasons, one of which is the patronising way he speaks about the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. I think this is a very disingenuous approach to the issues. There is also a failure to admit or accept any responsibility for the failures of the Howard government over 11 years to do anything about this social disaster of horrific magnitude, as he described it.

Let us be very clear about it. In 1996, John Howard became Prime Minister. In 2007, what did we have? Did we have a dedicated housing program which would address the issues which are now the subject of this discussion? No, we had a periodic arrangement where annually the Commonwealth government would provide moneys to the Northern Territory government for housing. On their best year—their very best year, 2004-05—they delivered 94 houses and in 2006 as few as 51 houses. So what the hell were they doing over that 11-year period? If it is such a big problem, why wasn’t it a problem then? The reason why we have the problem now is the failure of previous governments, particularly over the period of the Howard government, to do anything substantial about Indigenous health, Indigenous housing or Indigenous education. And that is a matter of public record. There can be no doubt about it. I have been in this parliament off and on for 22 years—20 years in this place—and I have forever been talking about the issue of housing and the need to address issues of abject poverty in Aboriginal communities, to address the issues of the social determinants of health: employment, education and housing.

During the Howard years it was no different. What did we get? We got Mal Brough marching into the Northern Territory like some jackboot colonel, making pronouncements about what we should be doing about housing in the Northern Territory and then, interestingly, picking on Wadeye and saying, ‘This is a disaster.’ And to that extent he was correct. It was a social disaster. It remains a social disaster in the context of housing. There are 20 or 30 people to a house. So what did he say? He said, ‘Well, I’m going to build some houses in Wadeye.’ So he spent $21 million in two communities near Wadeye—Wudapuli and Nama—for the purpose of housing. He built 24 houses. That is an average cost of $875,000. What did he say when he commenced this process? How much was it going to cost to build these houses? It was supposed to cost $300,000. So the cost blew out from $300,000 to an average cost per house of $875,000. Who, I wonder, accepted responsibility for that? Did we hear in the halls of the then government arguments for the minister to be held responsible for that cost? We heard no such thing. In fact, he stood in this place defending his position day in and day out. And that is the problem. It is very easy to cast the stones and very easy not to accept any responsibility. And that is the problem: a failure by respective governments to accept real responsibility for addressing the needs of Indigenous housing.

Significantly, in September 2007 the then Minister Brough signed an MOU on Indigenous housing with the Northern Territory government. As part of that MOU there was this:

The Australian Government will have no further responsibility for the delivery of Indigenous housing in the municipal essential infrastructure services in the Northern Territory from 1 July 2008.

So whilst making a heap of money available in 2007, henceforth after 1 July 2008 the Commonwealth was to accept no responsibility for Indigenous housing in municipal essential infrastructure services in the Northern Territory. Now does that sound like a plan? Or does that sound like a great abrogation of responsibility? It was an abrogation of responsibility. The previous government was prepared to walk away from its responsibilities to maintain and improve housing, with no performance indicators and no accountability checks.

In stark contrast, this government, as the minister has said, has taken the matter extremely seriously. It secured a major remote Indigenous housing agreement with the states and the Northern Territory, which—rightly so—is groundbreaking in both its quantum and its underlying reform framework, with $5.5 billion over 10 years. There is no doubt that, if you look at the program which is proposed and is being put in place in the Northern Territory, there have been issues. Unlike the opposition, the minister has confronted those issues, as she should. She has had a review of the housing program in place in the Northern Territory, as she properly should. She has not tried to shift responsibility. She has accepted her responsibility as minister by making sure that changes have to be made. And these changes will be made.

Despite the protestations of the shadow minister I am absolutely confident that we will see the 750 new houses, 230 rebuilt houses, and 2,500 refurbishments. They are sadly needed. I would hope that we could see the need—just once—for a bipartisan approach to developing strategic options for the future. Instead of trying to throw stones across the corridors here about the performance of the government and the terms of the housing program, reflect a little on your own performance. Come to an understanding that you were abysmal failures and then ask: ‘How can we move ahead together? How can we work with you to make sure we all get the outcomes that this nation needs for its Indigenous communities? How can we work with you to make sure that we can properly close the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians?’

Let me remind you, Mr Deputy Speaker—lovely bloke that you are!—that in fact that gap is around 11 years for men. Think about it, and the chronic overcrowding that exists in many communities. Just put yourself in the place of a parent when there are 20 or 25 filled in a home and you are expected to provide good nutrition, good home care, to set a good example and to provide a capacity to do school work. How can it be? So we cannot just look at housing on its own. We have to understand its really dramatic importance if we are properly to address the issues to do with poverty, including the prospects of people to get a decent education and the possibilities of kids getting healthy, because they have a direct impact. If we cannot address those issues then we are going to continue to put bandaids over sores which should be prevented in the first instance by doing our jobs collectively in this parliament. We can do it, if we are prepared to work together.

I do not think that blaming one another is very smart. We know that the Commonwealth is working cooperatively with each state and territory government to try to make a material difference to closing the gap. I would hope—just hope—that the opposition will see its way clear to say: ‘This is a damn good thing. At last we have got a government that is prepared to make agreements with state and territory governments on how to improve the outcomes for Indigenous Australians.’ (Time expired)

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