Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Senator Arbib, who also happens to be the Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development. I would like to draw the minister’s attention to recent reports of Aboriginal workers renovating houses under SIHIP in Central Australia. Is the minister aware of claims that CDEP participants are being used in preference to providing real jobs for Aboriginal workers and that these CDEP workers have been underpaid, some have not been paid top up or some have had diminishing rates of top up? Is it a fact that some of these workers are in fact on the BasicsCard? If the minister is aware of this, what is the government doing about addressing the problems in this key infrastructure program?