Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Housing and Urban Development) Share this | Hansard source

I unreservedly withdraw any comment you want me to. There was a 48 per cent fee collected by the government of the Northern Territory under your party—a 48 per cent administrative charge for Indigenous programs in the Northern Territory. What sort of nonsense was that? They were claiming that there were administrative costs in education which totalled 48 per cent of the budget. So we have a situation here where there is a long and sorry record of abuse. Inherent in that abuse is a notion that somehow or another Indigenous people are not up to it. They are not up to having the same level of services that the rest of the country is entitled to. They are not up to enjoying medical services, housing and education on the same basis as every other Australian in the country. We do not seem to have a view that equality of opportunity extends to all our citizens—particularly if they are Aboriginal and live in towns such as Wadeye. There are 3,000 people without a doctor or a public telephone booth. How can we possibly justify that in a country of this wealth?

I ask a simple question: what do we expect from a government that seeks to use this as a political device to attack Labor governments? That is what is going on here now. We have a new minister trying to make a name for himself by seeking to criminalise an entire community and seeking to avoid his responsibilities and the fact that there has been a massive underinvestment for 10 long years. We have a situation where Minister Andrews pointed out a simple fact a few months ago. He said that Indigenous people have an average income of between $12,000 and $16,000 per year. Compare that to what the rest of the country enjoys, and you will find a very simple proposition: you cannot fund a private mortgage on an income between $12,000 and $16,000 a year. We have a situation where in Tasmania 52 per cent of Indigenous people own their own home. In the Northern Territory it is only 15 per cent. It is not a question of whether or not you are for or against home ownership. There are statements that are clear facts that this government is seeking to avoid. There are simple propositions here. If you have an income between $12,000 and $16,000 a year, the Commonwealth Bank is not going to rush down and offer you a mortgage. (Time expired)