Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have every idea. On behalf of the local Townsville Aboriginal and Islander population we have demanded that this government investigate the practices of every Indigenous organisation in which the Ross and Akee families have held board positions. That has been the case since 2007. Anything less than that is an insult, not only to the Aboriginal and Islander peoples of North Queensland but to the taxpaying public of all colours and ethnicity. I would also like to praise the efforts of the community and the call for a community election for all board positions. We must find a chain of command which is economically literate as well as being culturally sensitive, but the former must come first.

When I talk to Indigenous people across my electorate, both on the mainland and on Palm Island, the message I get from them is that they do not want handouts. They do not want to live off welfare. They want opportunities. They want to be given the chance to get jobs, to open small businesses, to support themselves. Indigenous Business Australia is about helping our First Australians work towards this goal. But it is also a reminder that the answer to issues in the Indigenous community is not simply to throw money at the problem.

As the member for Blair was saying earlier, no government has covered itself in glory when it comes to dealing with our Aboriginal and Islander people. Too much money is being caught on the way to the people it is supposed to help and not enough is reaching them. I commend Townsville's Indigenous community for speaking out on their concerns with TAIHS and working towards a solution to the problem. TAIHS was once a great organisation and it can be so again. We must attack all organisations the same way to ensure that the public has confidence in management and that it is not a gravy train for the few, but a helping hand for the many.

That is what the people of Townsville and North Queensland are crying out for when it comes to Aboriginal and Islander assistance. They need to make sure that it is being taken care of correctly and that it is being maintained properly, because sooner or later someone is going to say, 'Enough is enough,' and they will pull up the drawbridge and no-one will get any funding whatsoever. We need to make sure that funds are getting through to the right people for the right reasons at the right time.

Reform of the way we provide services to Indigenous people is needed to ensure that they are getting from the government what they need to be financially independent and to close the gap. Whether it is by investigating corruption allegations in Townsville or by ensuring that high-level Indigenous positions are kept separate from government departments to avoid compromise, we must keep pursuing the goal of an efficient and transparent delivery of Indigenous policy. This bill does the right thing in parts, but for its failure in others I support the coalition's amendment to it. I thank the House.

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