Tony Crook (O'Connor, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

During the five-week parliamentary recess, I took the opportunity to travel to the Central Desert, where I visited the communities of Tjirrkarli; Warburton; Jameson; Blackstone; Wingellina, home of a fantastic media centre where we were treated to some sensational music by a group of young musicians; Warakurna, home of the Giles weather station; and Patjarr, a particularly isolated and small community. I spent three days travelling through these remote communities, visiting community managers, schools, police and health centres. I also spent time meeting with representatives of the Ngaanyatjarraku Shire, one of Australia's largest and most remote local government areas, comprising 250,000 square kilometres, stretching across three states and featuring just 12 kilometres of sealed road. I also attended community barbecues in Warburton and Warakurna, which gave me further opportunity to speak with the people who live and work in this region.

This visit was my first trip to the lands and I found the experience to be extremely gratifying and enlightening. One of the key issues facing the Ngaanyatjarra lands is petrol sniffing and substance abuse. I have raised this issue previously in this parliament and it is very unfortunate to see that this scourge is still prevalent. The communities have benefitted from the rollout of Opal fuel into the Northern Goldfields. This is a low-aromatic fuel which removes the high associated with sniffing. Opal fuel has been rolled out into many locations in the Northern Goldfields and Central Desert lands; however, I believe this rollout must continue into all regional communities in the vicinity, including Laverton, Leonora, Wiluna and Menzies. Unless this rollout continues, it will be impossible to fully prevent unleaded fuel from reaching these communities.

The next issue I would like to highlight to the parliament is the replacement of the CDEP, the Community Development Employment Projects, with the Newstart program. Every community I visited expressed concern with this change, and I believe this must be addressed as a matter of urgency. The Newstart program has proven to be harmful to the sustainability of many of these communities. It has resulted in many people leaving their communities and moving to the major outlying towns of Laverton, Alice Springs and Kalgoorlie. This new measure has in no way benefitted our remote communities, which are losing valuable community members and family members. At the same time, by leaving their community many people are often living rough and become increasingly exposed to outside influences and the substance abuse that is more prevalent in major centres. Under Newstart, there is no longer a reason for many to stay within the community, but under the previous system, CDEP, people were encouraged to live in the community and remain with their families. I see the transition from Newstart, either back to CDEP or to another social security program tailored to remote communities, as a vital step to preserving the spirit of these remote communities.

Diabetes is a major health issue in these communities, along with other associated illnesses stemming from poor diet. Fresh meat, fruit and vegetables are often not easily or cheaply available. Many community stores do a wonderful job in endeavouring to provide fresh food to these communities. I commend the work that the storekeepers are doing to supply these communities and I by no means disrespect their efforts. However, my recent visit to the lands has certainly highlighted how important it is to ensure we provide education and resources to help people in remote communities improve their diets.

As I stated earlier, diabetes is a major health issue and this is enhanced by the fact that there are currently no medical staff available in the lands to provide the assistance needed for renal dialysis. This leads to two outcomes. Firstly, those needing dialysis must travel vast distances, either to Kalgoorlie or to Alice Springs, for treatment. Secondly, many people choose not to undertake dialysis at all. This will result in increased health issues, putting increased pressure on health services and in many cases leading to premature death. I am aware that there is an application through the Royalties for Regions program in Western Australia to provide staff accommodation, and I hope this will go some way to alleviating the issue.

I have since taken the opportunity to meet with the Minister for Indigenous Health, Warren Snowdon. I was able to discuss each of these issues in detail with the minister and I thank him for the time he took to meet. I look forward to continuing to work with the minister to improve the health and lifestyle of those living in the Central Desert.

Debate interrupted.

House adjourned at 22: 3 0