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

I must confess that the government believe it is in the interests of the communities to develop business. It is in the interests of the communities to develop employment. We unashamedly support that, and all of the communities I go to unashamedly ask for more opportunities for business. As a clarification—and I know you are not being mischievous, Senator Siewert—my answer last night was directed to a question you asked of me with regard to the permit system. When I talk about businesses, I am talking about the sorts of businesses that spring from tourism—from people who simply drive in and drive out, thereby providing opportunities principally for people in the community. A range of opportunities exist. The vast majority of tourists to Australia want an experience that is an Indigenous Australian experience, and those experiences can only be had with Indigenous Australians—for example, a bushwalking or a fishing operator. Opportunities are acquired from tourists driving into the town, as happens in any other town on the east coast of Australia. I certainly was not alluding to businesses that might need some special lease arrangements. The Indigenous people already live in the communities. They have access to infrastructure in the communities for those sorts of things. I certainly was not making any connection between the leasing and the operation of businesses in the Indigenous communities. I stand by my first comment: we are absolutely behind opportunities for employment and the sense of wellbeing that it gives individuals in communities. Taking away the necessity for a permit system along the main road and in the township area will provide great opportunities for, and will increase the wellbeing of, Indigenous people living in the communities.