Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Indigenous Australians. How is the Albanese Labor government helping to reduce overcrowding in housing and creating more real jobs with proper wages and decent conditions in remote communities, including in the Northern Territory?

Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lingiari for her question. Lingiari is most of the Northern Territory, covering many remote communities, and I can tell you the poverty there is grinding. The first stage of our Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program will create 3,000 new jobs, real wages, proper conditions and the sorts of things that we all expect to come with the job in sectors like community services or health care, hospitality, tourism, and horticulture, which will help with the cost of living in remote communities where people are doing it so, so tough.

Two weeks ago I was in Kununurra and I met Connie and her mother, who are both part of the New Jobs Program Trial. They are working at the Lily Lagoon Resort. They told me what having a job means to their lives, what it means for their families and what it means for their communities. It is making a difference to their skills; it is making a difference to the way in which they can look to the future. Jobs in remote communities are about so much more than a payslip. They help to break the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage, build stronger communities and create opportunities for the future.

Decent housing and employment are fundamental to Closing the Gap. Many Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory live in overcrowded conditions—I think most people are aware of that. This drives poor health, educational outcomes and economic and social outcomes. In March, the Prime Minister and I visited Binjari in the Northern Territory and announced a $4 billion agreement with the Northern Territory government to build 2,700 homes over the next 10 years. It will halve overcrowding.

Two weeks ago, on the Tiwi Islands, I signed a partnership agreement to deliver these houses with the Northern Territory government, Aboriginal Housing Northern Territory, and the land councils of the Territory. It demonstrates a new way of doing business with Aboriginal communities. Houses will be built that are culturally appropriate and meet the climatic needs of those parts of the world. This has meant a 200 per cent increase in the Albanese government's investment in Aboriginal housing. Last financial year alone, we delivered 250 houses. These measures are changing lives.