Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I fully support the fine words from the member for Lingiari. The Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia undertook a northern Australia workforce development inquiry. The committee received 83 submissions and held public hearings in eight different locations. We produced an outstanding report, with 12 commonsense, clear, concise recommendations. We've got a good group. We work together. We put the politics aside. We get the job done, because every single person in our committee wants to do the best they possibly can for northern Australia.

I acknowledge the chair, the member for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour, and the fine work and leadership that she's given this committee. She's given everybody a fair go at all times. I thank you so much for that. The deputy chair, the member for Leichhardt, has indulged me with this today because he's retiring—Warren Entsch. Thank you very much, Warren. We are so fortunate to have members, including a chair and deputy chair, that know so much about northern Australia and who are so passionate about northern Australia. You can see that through this report and the delivery of it.

I'd also like to acknowledge the secretariat: the secretary, Alan Raine, and research officers Dr Ros Hewett and Jason See. Thank you for your good work. We really appreciate it.

I believe recommendation 1 in the report is the most important:

The committee recommends that the House of Representatives and the Senate reconstitute a Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia in the 48th Parliament.

Northern Australia contributes so much to the country's wealth, to our food supply, and even to our country's defence. Northern Australia is the land of opportunity. Another important recommendation is No. 11:

The committee recommends that the Australian Government, when developing and implementing measures to address housing shortages in Northern Australia, consider the provision of suitable housing for both families and people in other situations, including young, single workers in rural, remote and very remote communities.

I'd just like to explain to the House that in our travels we came across many First Nations communities where there were lots of houses for families. However, the families then became overcrowded, and some of the young people who had to do shift work or come back in from their job couldn't get the appropriate rest required. We think that, if we can get some more single workers' accommodation built, we'll have a lot better outcomes for some of those communities.

I would also like to just touch on something that is a little bit outside the scope of the inquiry, because it didn't quite fit within workforce development. But we did identify two things that are a big problem for First Nations people, in a couple of communities in particular, and those are rheumatic heart disease and strongyloidiasis, which is essentially worms. This is a big problem. You can't ask people to go and get a job and work if they're unwell. I've got a commitment from our chair and our deputy chair, and we're going to go through some of those recommendations and pass them on to Health and see if we can get a better outcome for some of those communities. I think we definitely should be able to do that. With those few words, I look forward to speaking to the report in more detail in the Federation Chamber. I fully endorse the report and recommend it to the House.

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