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

I thank Senator Brockman for that question. Both he and probably everyone else in this room will acknowledge that supporting all Australians into an opportunity for a job is probably one of the most important things we can do. The Community Development Program is a government remote employment service that works with all jobseekers in remote Australia to provide training, engagement, work experience—the sort of support they need to transition into work. The Community Development Program is working to deliver jobs that remote Australia needs.

Since the introduction of the Community Development Program, remote jobseekers have been supported into more than 27,607 jobs. Most importantly, more than 9,300 of those jobs have lasted for six months. Why is that important? The data show that, if you're there for six months, 82 per cent of you will be in a job two years later. It's really important; it's long-term employment. That's the evidence. This is absolutely our priority. If you've got a community where adults are engaged in training, whether it's work experience or increasingly in work, it's a much healthier community, rather than one that's plagued by the misery of passive welfare. That's what I see when I visit remote communities. That's what leaders like Galarrwuy Yunupingu, Noel Pearson, Roy Ah-See, Sammy Bush Banasi and Susan Murphy have called for.

But I agree, and I've been talking to many of you in this place, that there is much more to do. We need to generate more jobs. I'm very proud of the success of Indigenous businesses in winning contracts under our Indigenous Procurement Policy. We're supporting states and territories not only to introduce their own procurement policies but to make sure there are local Indigenous employment targets as part of that. This is part of our record infrastructure rollout. We have also announced the introduction of 6,000 subsidised job packages in remote Australia. This is going to boost opportunities for every jobseeker. (Time expired)