Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Robertson for her question because, as she knows, this government is committed to transforming Alice Springs and the town camps into safe places to live and bring up children and into places that are part of the economic and social life of Alice Springs. This government has invested $150 million through the Alice Springs Transformation Plan to reduce overcrowding in the town camps and to improve the services, something that has needed to be done in Alice Springs for a very, very long period of time. It is being done by this government and was certainly never done before.

It is the case that the town camps in Alice Springs have been ignored for too long, leading to appalling living conditions for women and children in particular. I can assure the House that I am resolute in my commitment to the people of Alice Springs, and particularly to the people who live in the town camps, that we intend to turn this around. Where Mal Brough and the previous Liberal government walked away, we have persisted. They walked away from the people of the town camps, and we have persisted. When my action was challenged in the Federal Court, we persisted and we won. Despite the enormity of the transformation task, we intend to persist until change is delivered.

I welcome the Leader of the Opposition’s recent interest in this issue—and it is recent. I am very concerned that his actions overnight have put this issue into a political frame—rather than commit himself to the bipartisan approach that I thought we had. I understand that the Leader of the Opposition had raised the issue with the Prime Minister a couple of times, most recently on Friday, and I understand that at that time the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister agreed to meet and discuss the matter further. Unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition then decided to release his letter to the Prime Minister to a newspaper. He had decided that rather than behave in a bipartisan and constructive manner he of course wanted to take this into politics. He decided he wanted to behave as always and make this issue a political issue rather than treat it as the very serious issue that it is.

This government will continue to work in a bipartisan manner with the shadow minister for Indigenous affairs, who has treated this issue seriously, unlike the Leader of the Opposition. We have been meeting. We have agreed on what needs to be done in Alice Springs. Most recently we announced around 10 days ago: improved lighting in critical areas in Alice Springs; extra places for Work for the Dole; improved housing support—all agreed with the shadow minister, but of course this Leader of the Opposition is always out to play politics rather than take these issues seriously.

The matters that were addressed in the most recent announcement agreed to by the shadow minister build on the enormous task that we have already started. We have already built many houses, rebuilt houses, put in alcohol rehabilitation services; all this is happening and all the Leader of the Opposition wants to do is play politics. (Time expired)

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