Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also welcome the opportunity to contribute to this matter of public importance debate. To talk about the sustainable development of Northern Australia is an exciting opportunity for all of us in this chamber. I am looking forward to the contribution from my esteemed Western Australian colleague Senator Eggleston who, like my good self, had a long working history in the north. I delivered furniture, he delivered babies, but both very honourable vocations.

I was not here for Senator Macdonald’s contribution and, if he wants to extend the same courtesy of disappearing out of the chamber while I make mine, I would welcome that. On that note, I think it is a little bit rich of the opposition to attack the Rudd government. The words used in the matter of public importance are:

The Rudd Labor Government’s continued failure to meet the development needs of Northern Australia preventing the region from advancing.

It is quite mischievous. I might be wrong—and I am sure other senators can correct the record for themselves—but a lot of this has stemmed from the Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce report. What it boils down to is that the make-up of the task force was significantly changed when the Labor government took office after November 2007. Gary Gray, the Parliamentary Secretary for Western and Northern Australia, said that the opposition did not like it because the politicians were removed from the task force. I do not have a problem with that at all. If we look at the make-up of the politicians who were on that task force, two of them are no longer members of parliament anyway. One is from the Northern Territory and one is from Queensland. But what is wrong with saying to Australia, ‘We want to know what is going on’? What is wrong with asking the stakeholders, the people involved, in that part of the world? I am not saying that some of the members of this task force, the previous Liberal members, were not part of the north. There were one or two who lived in the north—there is no argument about that. I do not live in the north, but I made my living running through the north, as did Senator Eggleston. I have a passion for the north and I have a passion for the north of Western Australia.

On that note, let me give the Senate a few figures. I was in Kununurra in July last year. The Prime Minister was also there for a couple of days with Gary Gray, the Liberal Western Australian Premier, Mr Barnett, and the Minister for Regional Development, Brendon Grylls. The federal government announced a package of $195 million for injection into the Top End, the East Kimberley, which predominantly takes in the two towns of Kununurra and Wyndham. That package was warmly and gratefully received by the people of Kununurra, and so it should be. On saying that, the state government committed a heck of a lot of money to that part of the world—I think some $220 million—because everyone recognises that to achieve outcomes for Australia we have to work together. It is very easy to sit on the other side of the chamber and throw darts and arrows at every decision that is made, but I do not think for one minute that that lot over the other side have the right to bag the Rudd government for the efforts it has made in the East Kimberley hand in hand with the state government.

In that part of the world, $50 million is being flagged for health. We all hear about, talk about and read about the health conditions of our Indigenous Australians and about the gap. No-one would argue that $50 million is no small amount of money. It is a start. There is a long way to go, but at least the Rudd government is starting. That $50 million is broken up into a couple of projects. One of significant importance is $20 million for the Kununurra hospital expansion. I welcome that. I have had to visit the Kununurra Hospital. I know it upsets a few on that side, but I came through all right. They do a fantastic job, but they need more money up there because it is a gateway to the great state of Western Australia, especially if you are coming from Darwin in the Northern Territory. There are some 17 or 18 health initiatives going on up there. Another major contribution from the Commonwealth government to that part of the world is around $50 million in housing. We know the problems with housing and we have a long way to go. Senator Evans said in this chamber last year in a debate on Aboriginal housing, ‘Quite frankly, none of us have got it right. No-one can stand up and brag about how well we have done. It is time to work together and start fixing that.’ That is what we are doing.

Of the $50 million, $30 million is going into social housing in Kununurra and Wyndham and the other $20 million is going into transition housing in Kununurra and other locations. There is $15 million going into transport, $10 million of which is going into the Wyndham port facility upgrade. That is fantastic. I have an affiliation with Wyndham. Unfortunately it is not a happy one, because a mate of mine was taken by a crocodile up there. But it is great to see that Wyndham is also on the receiving end of this money. Wyndham has always been the poor cousin of the two towns up there. Into the community is going $16 million for a wonderful array of initiatives.

What we are seeing is that we have a long way to go. It is very mischievous of the opposition to use the report of the Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce to attack the Rudd government, which has done far more in such a short time for that part of the world than the previous government did. There is no argument about that. I was in Kununurra last Monday, and I had the fortune to sit with the shire president, Mr Mills. He made it very clear to me, on behalf of the community of Kununurra, that they were very relaxed and very happy with the Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce report. There were no spears at dawn. One would think, from listening to the opposition, that the whole of Northern Australia has been badly let down. The Rudd Labor government has done much, much more than was done in 12 years of the Howard government.

The opposition should just come clean. If you want to use this as a political football, at least have the guts to stand up in front of us and tell us it is a political football. But you bag everyone. You bagged the make-up of the task force and you sooked because the politicians were removed—very childish. I have heard some scurrilous comments about the make-up of the task force. If I were one of the task force, I would not even waste my oxygen talking to some of the members of the opposition. To make comments degrading the credibility of the task force is absolutely nothing short of disgraceful. But we will not be deflected by petty arguments from the opposition. We have got a job to do. We have been elected to do that job. We will do that job. Not only that; we are coming through one of the worst financial crises in our history— (Time expired)