Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

  Residents of Cape York and the Torres Strait will be very pleased to hear that three community focused infrastructure projects will be funded under the federal government's Stronger Communities Program. In Bamaga, the Naygayiw Gigi Indigenous Corporation will receive $5,000 towards a community bus that will be used to transport elders to meetings, social events and medical appointments, and by the dance group to get to performances around the Cape. In Lockhart River, the Puuya Foundation will receive up to $20,000 to help beautify the town centre, creating a visually-attractive garden and a place of reflection where community members can gather. And on Mabuiag in the Torres Strait, the Goemulgaw (Torres Strait Islanders) Corporation will receive up to $5,000 to install a mobile phone repeater so the community groups that operate there will no longer have to walk to the other side of the island to get phone reception.

This is fantastic news for these non-profit groups, who do essential work in our communities but often run on the smell of an oily rag. It is also great to see that, for every dollar the government is investing, the proponents themselves are making a matching contribution. These are all projects that have a very positive social impact on our residents. I am certainly looking forward to travelling up into that area in the not-too-distant future to encourage them to look at putting further initiatives into this program so that they can continue to build on it in their communities. (Time expired)