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

Are you right? Cracker! Just let me get 'uh' out, if you could. Senator Dodson, I know you'll be listening to this, if none of the others on the other side are. No, we're not walking away from that at all, Senator Dodson. But one of the things you need to know, which I haven't had the opportunity to personally come round and explain yet, is that since Christmas we've been doing some calculations about why it is that the clear calculations we did about 10 years, which are about numbers—how many houses we need to invest in and predictions of population—haven't quite got there and we now need another little addition.

There were a number of things that might have happened, but there's one thing we're most concerned with. I asked every state and territory jurisdiction: 'Is it a fact that you stopped building houses in the NPARIH area for 10 years? Is it a fact that you actually took the money away in the most racist possible process and policy that I can remember in this place?' In any event, I'm giving a new opportunity for the jurisdictions to come back about that. New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania have acknowledged that they're moving away from that; they're taking their own responsibilities under that. But they are in different circumstances. We had an independent review that showed the Northern Territory is the largest need, about 50 per cent. Under that come South Australia and Queensland—almost under that—and then much further down the pace comes—