Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

In response to the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, it might be useful to give a suite of responses, generally, to the report and then he can come back and provide me with some questions on the gaps. The Australian government will be supporting, either in full or in part, the majority of the recommendations put forward by the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in relation to these bills.

We agree that the bills will be continuously monitored and to report to the public annually on the process. We reserve our position on whether the overcoming Indigenous disadvantage reporting framework is the best for this work and we will consider that matter further and report back to the committee as soon as possible. We also agree that the Northern Territory Emergency Response Taskforce will make strategic and operational plans public within six months and long-term plans within 12 months. Significant revisions to these plans will be reported publicly. We agree to the committee’s recommendation that the operation of the measures implemented by the bills will be subject to a review after two years and that a report will be tabled in the parliament.

The committee recommends that a public information campaign be implemented as soon as possible. This is already underway. Advance communication teams have visited all prescribed townships and most have been visited by departmental survey teams. Government business managers are starting to be deployed and will provide pertinent Australian government presence in the townships. Other communication measures are being rolled out, including written publication and electronic media. I was pleased that Senator Crossin complimented magistrate Dr Sue Gordon on radio advertisements that she participated in. The task force and the government will be working to build on these communication efforts in the coming months.

The committee recommends that explanatory material be developed to help people understand the phrases ‘a quantity of alcohol greater than 1350 millilitres’ and ‘unsatisfactory school attendance’. The Australian government accepts this recommendation and the department is meeting with representatives of the liquor industry tomorrow to begin to develop comprehensive information strategies and other tools in relation to the provision of takeaway alcohol. Steps will be taken to ensure that students, children, and parents and teachers understand exactly what is meant by ‘unsatisfactory school attendance’.

In respect of the committee’s recommendation on drug and alcohol rehabilitation services, the Northern Territory has already been provided with $15.9 million to support rehabilitation services flowing from the $130 million funding package following the 2006 Summit on Violence and Child Abuse in Indigenous Communities. The Australian Labor Party provided additional comments in the committee’s report. The $587 million funding package for the first year demonstrates the magnitude of the problem we are facing. The government will be considering at the earliest opportunity the level of funding required for future budget years. I should point out that funding for remote Indigenous housing was substantially increased in this year’s budget—$1.6 billion over four years will be provided for Indigenous housing and infrastructure in remote areas and much of this will go to the Northern Territory.

I assure the Australian Labor Party that the intervention will be part of a long-term strategy. The Labor Party provided additional comment to the committee that the intervention is silent on many recommendations set out in the Little children are sacred report. I point out to senators that this report was to the Northern Territory government and not the Australian government, and that the Northern Territory government had been sitting on that report for around three months. The Australian government intervention in the Northern Territory responds to the first recommendation of that report, that Aboriginal child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory be designated as an issue of urgent national significance. I say, though, that, whilst the findings of the report were very distressing and compelling, the recommendations contained in that report were just proposing more of the same. They did not even recommend additional sworn-in police officers, which is a fundamental ingredient in our intervention.

I have already outlined that the government is leaving the permit system in place for some 99.8 per cent of Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory. As well, I have outlined the reasons for lifting the requirement for permits in the townships and the roads that give access to the townships. The government therefore rejects the Australian Labor Party’s recommendation in respect of the permit system. I am pleased that Labor senators will not oppose the compulsory acquisition of five-year leases for prescribed townships; however, the government stands by its position that the recommendation for a 12-month review would not be appropriate. The recommendation of a 12-month review of welfare reform and income management systems specific to the Northern Territory would not take into account the fact that the measures would be applied progressively over a 12-month period, and the government would therefore not support that recommendation.

The government will not accept Labor’s recommendation in respect of the Racial Discrimination Act. We believe our obligations, including through international treaty, to protect the children are the priority. The Australian government are pleased that the Labor opposition has joined coalition senators in recommending that the Senate pass these bills; however, the government do not propose to go through the Australian Democrats and Australian Greens legislation, which is intended to delay and undermine the fundamentals of this legislation. The government will not accept their recommendations that would allow these children to remain at risk.