Rod Kemp (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

Senator, I am glad that you—well, I am not glad; I am sorry that you feel that the arguments that have been put justify your decision. There is an unwillingness on your part, I think, Senator Evans, to accept that the vast amount of these arrangements and essential services will be provided by the Northern Territory government. The Northern Territory government has made statements on this matter which I would like to share with you. In evidence to the committee inquiry, Mr Bree said:

… the resources of the Northern Territory government will not be allocated on the basis of whether or not there is a lease in place. I will make one exception to that—

this is the evidence from the Northern Territory government—

and that is housing; but it is housing over and above the programs that are provided now. Cabinet has recently made a decision that, in light of leasing being available in communities, Territory Housing—which is a government business division and works on a commercial basis, if you like—will be authorised to go into those areas where there are leases, which it has not before.

All housing funds for Indigenous housing in the Northern Territory go through a body which was previously known as IHANT and is now the Indigenous Housing Advisory Board. So all the programs have been allocated through that board, quite separately from our public housing. Our public housing was only in areas where tenure to land was available, and that has been the case forever. Cabinet has now said that with leases being available, Territory Housing will be authorised to move into those areas. That will not impact on current levels of funding; it will only increase it. Government is looking at rebalancing its efforts between urban and community areas.

So the essential services that you are talking about, Senator Evans, are supplied by the Northern Territory government—a Labor government. It supplies municipal services: normal schooling, public housing, safety, access to health services. All those key services come through the Northern Territory government, which is, as I have pointed out once or twice before, a Labor government. So, Senator, I am not sure what one needs to do to convince you of this. But, where members of your own party have asked the Australian government to legislate in this area to provide the framework by which they will introduce their own legislation, and where they will be supplying the essential services, it does seem to me that your arguments start to look rather shaky, I have to say, and run into the sand. The debate is not between the Australian government and you. It is a debate between the federal Labor Party represented by you—contrary to the Australian government—and in this case the Northern Territory Labor government.

You asked about the relationship with leases, Senator Evans. Let me just reiterate that Aboriginal landowners will decide whether a headlease should be issued over a township area. You understand that. In negotiating a headlease, they will at that time be able to seek the inclusion of general conditions related to subleasing. The granting of individual subleases will be a matter for the entity holding the headlease. It would be possible, for example, for traditional owners to seek the inclusion of general conditions in the township lease relating to subleasing—for example, restrictions on the number of alcohol outlets. That seems perfectly reasonable to me and is something that I would have expected you to support, Senator.

I am not sure whether or not this alters your views, but I hope I have clarified the issue in relation to essential services. If you believe that there will be some inappropriate behaviour in relation to essential services, that is a matter that you should take up with the Labor government in the Northern Territory because they will have prime responsibility for the provision of those essential services. In relation to leases, as I mentioned, there will be the opportunity for subleases which can impose separate conditions.