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

Again I am pleased to be able to put that in context, because I said it. It was part of an interview that I gave where I indicated that there was a lot of noise and a lot of conversation around this but the conversation that was not being had was with the people of the potentially affected communities. As I have just indicated with answers to my previous question from Senator Sterle, what I have been constantly saying to those involved is this is a matter entirely for the Western Australian government. The Western Australian government are currently starting off a consultation process on 30 June which I understand will take place for a year. They have said that in that period of time there will effectively not be a lot of changes to services. That is as I understand it; but, as I move around the communities, that does not seem to be the case. They do not understand that. So my attempts to get the communities' voice out there have been somewhat mollified by the noise of other people having other conversations around Australia.