Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate Senator David Pocock's interest in the area of housing. I acknowledge his support in the past for practical measures to support better housing outcomes, including supporting the Housing Australia Future Fund in this place, which we know we had to struggle to get through. What I want to bring to this debate, Senator Pocock, is the importance of housing not only for broader Australia but for First Nations people, which is an area that I have responsibility for, and with health in particular.

I am conscious that, just in the Northern Territory alone, we see too often the devastating impact that homelessness and housing stress have on so many people. For those sleeping rough on the streets of Darwin City, those in regional towns like Katherine or even Tennant Creek—Katherine, in particular, which has one of the highest rates of homelessness in this country—and those in our remote communities, so many homes are run down, unsafe and barely fit for humans to live in, and it isn't uncommon to have 20 people crammed into a three-bedroom house.

There's another area for Senator Pocock to be aware of with regard to housing, and that is the lack of support in housing for our homelands and outstations in the Northern Territory. For the previous nine years, there was no movement in that space for First Nations people to move from their areas out on country. We made a commitment when we came to government that $200 million would go towards assisting with housing on the homelands. Homelands are a really important part. For those senators who are unaware, for particular clan groups to be able to go back on country and establish their presence in those homelands has been significant. It was a movement that began in the eighties. It was well funded for quite a number of decades, and, as I said, for the previous nine years, it was not supported and not funded. It also goes a long way to reducing the conflict that we've seen, in particular in places like Wadeye. Over 12 months ago, when I was out there with the elders, many people in Wadeye needed to go back to their homelands and outstation areas. So, for the funding that goes through, when we talk about houses more broadly across Australia, we do want to ensure—as the Albanese Labor government is doing—that it is focused on particular areas, like homelands and outstations.

We're also working towards the development of a new National Housing and Homelessness Plan to help set out a shared national vision on tackling the country's housing challenges. Consultations on the development of the plan have been held around the country and online. We received around 500 submissions from individuals and organisations and held over 40 consultations with nearly 600 attendees. The government will be carefully considering these views as we continue with the development of the plan. We've also committed to an ambitious housing reform agenda, and this includes an over $100 million investment, as I said, with the homelands now. I want to give an example: about 230 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs on the Utopia homelands, father and son Charlie and Zachariah received the keys to their restored homes. Why do I mention this? Within my area of health, one of the biggest things we're facing in terms of chronic disease is kidney failure and the fact that overcrowding is contributing to unhealthy standards for First Nations people. So I hear, very much so, the concerns raised around housing, and I want to continue to bring to the Senate's attention the importance that we place on the broader issue of ensuring more housing as well as the health and lifestyle of First Nations people in trying to close the gap.

That property on Utopia is the first of more than 80 properties to be refurbished under the $100 million program. It is part of Closing the Gap, and I certainly look forward to giving more reports to the Senate on what we're doing in the housing and health space.