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

First of all, I will make it quite clear that the ownership of the land will always remain with those people. The leases are for a five-year period. There are some clear connections between the violence and child abuse and the reasons we need to acquire unfettered access to the land to provide for changes—principally in infrastructure—to provide for further protection of children and families within these communities. That connection needs to be clearly articulated in the context, usually, of governance arrangements. It has been very difficult. I could cite examples, but it has been pretty difficult around communities in terms of a decision-making process to ensure that these infrastructure placements are done in a timely manner.

Often the townships are owned by traditional owners. Often not all of the people living in the townships are traditional owners. The process to establish, for example, where there may be three or four groups of different traditional owners, who own parts of a township is an extremely long process, and a process that is a requirement when, let us say, we have to go and put in a sewerage pipe. It might cut across four or five of these. Because their rights are still protected in terms of consultation in other places in Australia, not when they are in the community—under the Aboriginal land rights act—the process to find the traditional owners and to go through the consultation process may take 12 months.

If we are going to make some changes to these communities in terms of infrastructure in a timely way then we need to ensure that the governance arrangements—which, in other circumstances, would have been okay, but might take a fair while—are okay. It may also be that the governance arrangements that are in place are the reason that the infrastructure is, frankly, so poor. But in any event, as you would well know, Senator, there is a very clear connection between the abuse and violence in the communities and the level of amenity. If we have 22 people living in a house then the stress and the tension—as well as the general hygiene and a whole range of other issues—within the house are obviously going to impact on the suite of issues that we are trying to ameliorate. So there is a very close connection between that and this government’s need to be able, in an emergency, to do this. I am not sure whether you accept that that is the case, but the government and the Australian people see it as an urgent situation—an absolutely urgent situation.

We know that we need to deal with this crisis on every front. One of the fronts that is absolutely fundamental to change—and I know you will accept it—is the provision of and changes to infrastructure that every other Australian takes for granted. We also know that you are not going to be able to provide that infrastructure in a timely way unless impediments to the swift application of that, by law, are removed. It is for a five-year period. I would hope that, well within that five-year period, the changes we are able to provide will change the circumstances of particularly the women and children who are living in these communities.