Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I was fortunate enough to have the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, visit the electorate. Apart from a bit of a misfire in Port Lincoln, I must say, where for the second time in a month his prime ministerial jet was unable to land because of a crosswind factor, the trip went swimmingly well. Port Lincoln I am going to have to sort out later, but the rest of the trip was primarily focused on remote Indigenous Australia.

In the first leg, we went to Ceduna and surrounding communities. We spent a short amount of time in Ceduna and met with representatives of both the Indigenous community and the local council. Then we ventured out to Koonibba, and then on to Scotdesco for a dinner that evening, and on to Yalata the next morning, where we participated in the school attendance pick-up. Later that afternoon we flew up to Fregon, which is on the APY Lands. We spent over 24 hours there, overnighting at Umuwa and meeting with a wide range of community leaders, NGOs and those that live and work within those communities. I think, on many levels, it has been a very beneficial trip. I often say to people, when your friend moves interstate, the first thing you should do is visit them so that, when you ring them up and they start talking about their home, you know what they are talking about. I think that is the great value of having the Prime Minister visit these remote communities: when I speak to him in the future about them, similarly, he has a very real, personal understanding. So that was very successful. He was treated, I have to say, with a very warm welcome. It was a bit like travelling with a rock star at times, but it was good all the way around.

One of the primary focuses of the trip was on the implementation, and the six-month report, on the cashless credit card in Ceduna. I have been a great supporter of this, and let me say from the outset that we would never have got there without the strong and very dedicated leadership of the local Indigenous groups and the local council there. I think we have reached a new level of understanding and working and cooperation between all of those groups.

Some of the figures that came out of the six-monthly report are quite astounding. Domestic violence incident reports are down by 13 per cent, for instance. The poker machine turnover is down 15 per cent, and that sounds pretty good, but in fact, when you look more closely at that, Ceduna is included in a much bigger region—another five council areas. In fact, the feedback I have is that the reduction of usage of the poker machines at the Ceduna hotel is down by probably double that figure. That is making a very real impact on the goods and things that people are buying for their children. There is more food going out to Hope Valley—there is a truck a week, as opposed to one every fortnight. Thank you. (Time expired)