Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

It does not seem that the alcopop tax is really working too hard there, Senator Crossin. But they have done a fantastic job! But, regrettably, the people who were arrested and are alleged to have been carting that particular grog live in the community. They are community residents. Of the people who have been apprehended for carrying drugs or substances of abuse since the implementation of the intervention, 98 per cent have lived in the community. The other two per cent are unknown. So, again, the notion that permits will stop all this is a completely foolish one. It has absolutely no basis in fact.

Looking at some of the fundamentals, people say to me, ‘Look, there has been no link with child abuse. Where is the evidence of the link between child abuse and the permit system? It does seem a fair way away.’ I would have thought that most people in this place would understand that the circumstances in remote Indigenous communities are, tragically, not unique in Australia. The sorts of places that are similar to them are the areas of low socioeconomic status. They are the poor areas. Poor areas are characterised by higher levels of substance abuse and child abuse. We know that. So it is not only these communities. But if you have a job and you make more money than the dole you can pull yourself away from that and get out of the demographic where these appalling behaviours are so common.

Imagine not needing a permit. At the moment tourists drive into town and are told, ‘Oh, you can get a permit.’ But they do not get a permit. They do not go to the communities now. That is why we have those circumstances. When someone drives into town they need accommodation, and where you have accommodation you will also have hospitality—someone to cook the food, someone to do the laundry, gardeners, a garage to fuel your car because people will have driven there, mechanics to service cars and retail sales assistants. And there would be a need for tourist products: biodiversity guides, birdwatching, bush tucker tours, guided fishing and hunting trips and anthropological tours—all the stuff we go into these communities and train the bag out of people to do. And they are the best in the world at it; they are fantastic. They have great products. And six per cent of Australians leave with the satisfaction of having had an Indigenous experience.

That is a shame, principally because if anybody were able to drive into the communities they would actually be able to see and do something and to interact with Indigenous people and give them the same sorts of opportunities that the rest of Australia takes for granted. So there is the connection. If you have an economy removed from the welfare state and you have a job then you are less likely to be in the demographic where you have substance abuse and child abuse. It is absolutely essential for us to understand that unless we change the economic opportunities of the individuals in these communities we are going to continue to intervene, despite the best efforts of all sides in this place.

The other thing about the permit system, tragically, is that I am not sure that it has not been abused. I cannot remember how long ago it was, so perhaps the good senator from the Northern Territory on the other side would remind me. In a Territory election about three years ago I remember a particular husband and wife outfit who lived in the house, ran the local store in the community and were going along merrily when an election was called. The Country Liberal Party preselected the woman who ran the store. It did not take long for someone to think that was unsatisfactory. The Central Land Council: ‘You’ve been living there for two years? Sorry about that!’ A policeman arrived and told them to get their gear in their trailer and leave all Aboriginal lands as they were without a permit. I do not know about you, Mr Acting Deputy President Parry, but I reckon that is serious abuse. We have had plenty of allegations of abusing the permit system by completely and inappropriately preventing people from coming to a community.

I would submit that the intervention has been a wonderful thing. It has changed the lives of many Territorians in a very positive way. I think my colleague opposite will acknowledge that there is much more to do. Many aspects of the rollout of the intervention could have been better and I acknowledge that. But the fundamentals are that the permit system was in place before the intervention. Before the intervention, if you are prepared to sit through and read the Little children are sacred report, it was a dark place. The permit system did not save anybody. It was not any miracle cure for anything. We had all that darkness that is indicated in the Little children are sacred report.

So the notion was that we had to keep the permits as they were obviously a fundamental part. Well, they were part of the past. We do not need the permits and we need to recognise that everybody understands that 99.8 per cent of Aboriginal land will still require a permit. You can access the public road that goes to the township, the post office and the medical facilities—all public facilities, I might add—and you can get access to the public airstrip if it is a publicly owned airstrip. If it is not publicly owned, that is another matter, but I think there is only one. If it is the northern end then you can get access to the barge landing. You can access all public roads provided and maintained by public funding. What is most important? Without this artery to the future and to economic prosperity these communities will remain in the darkness as they were before the intervention.

I commend listening to the carefully crafted amendments from Senator Bernardi to those in this place, particularly those on the crossbenches, and I commend those amendments very much to this place.