Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and relates to a matter causing serious concern to Aboriginal communities throughout Far North Queensland. I draw the minister’s attention to a recent report in the Cairns Post quoting the CEO of Hope Vale Aboriginal community calling for a crisis meeting between all of the councils on Cape York and the federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations over what he described as ‘profound problems with the changes made to the Community Development Employment Project that have created a nightmare for the cape’s Aboriginal communities.’ Is the minister aware of similar criticisms by the CEO of Lockhart River Aboriginal community, and the councillor at Meppoon community on the west of the cape, that the CDEP changes have undone years of work building up a ‘no work, no pay’ ethic in the community and that the government’s changes have resulted in sit-down money being paid in the community for the first time in years? What is the government’s response to these concerns? What action has the government taken to meet with Aboriginal people at the community level to work through the problems being caused by the CDEP changes to ensure they do not negatively impact on the economies and communities of Cape York?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can inform Senator Bartlett and the Senate that the minister is aware of the views that Senator Bartlett has expressed in his question. We are, of course, widely recognised as a consultative government; and so, of course, we will listen to those people that have concerns in this particular area. I should also say that, because we are a consultative government, we listened very carefully to some of the concerns about the way CDEP was being administered. Comments such as:

CDEP was ... a poor substitute for real jobs and not enough was done to provide the pathways for real outcomes. It sat there for 25 years and longer and the governments, irrespective of their persuasion, didn’t look ... beyond that.

They are the words of former Australian Democrats Senator Aden Ridgeway.

We as a government said CDEP should be put out to a competitive tender process. The organisations that have complained about the outcomes are, not surprisingly, those organisations that were not successful in that competitive tender process. I am advised that the competitive tender process was done on the basis of the normal sorts of qualities that are looked for—issues of governance, financial capacity and viability.

The government and the minister in particular make no apology for the fact that with our CDEP funding we are concerned about the individual outcomes for individual participants in the CDEP schemes. We are not about providing funding to particular organisations; that is not the aim of using taxpayers’ money. We want actual outcomes for individual participants. We want to engage those individual participants in a meaningful way in self-help, in community projects and in ensuring their genuine job readiness so that they can participate in the ever-growing employment market in our country.

So whilst on one hand the government accepts that there will be concerns expressed by those organisations that did not successfully tender, on the other hand there are organisations that were successful and that are confident that they can deliver for the benefit of the Indigenous communities for which this money was made available. As to whether the minister would seek to have further discussions with the Aboriginal communities referred to by Senator Bartlett, I am willing to see whether the minister is desirous of adding to the answer that I have provided. If he is, I will get back to the honourable senator.

Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I thank the minister for his response and I acknowledge the previous problems with the CDEP that he described. They were not just expressed by former Senator Ridgeway but by Cape York communities themselves. I ask the minister: how does so-called improving or reforming a program in a way that ends up giving people sit-down money help to address those problems which have been widely acknowledged? How does taking resources out of Aboriginal communities help to improve things for individuals in those communities? I also ask the minister to address one of the other concerns relating to this matter. Many Aboriginal people in the communities on the cape are asking whether there is a hidden agenda of the federal and state governments to close down some remote communities. Given the difficulty in improving your community, you may be wondering whether the government desires to close the community down the track. Can the minister give the Senate an assurance that there is no agenda or plan to do this?

Honourable Senator:

An honourable senator interjecting—

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am not sure who interjected that Senator Bartlett was doing well until he came up with the suggestion of a hidden agenda. Really, I do not think that suggestion does him any justice. I indicate to Senator Bartlett and the Senate that this is not about taking money out of the communities of Far North Queensland. Indeed, as part of our changes, the remote area exemptions were lifted, which means that more money for the CDEP schemes is being delivered into areas such as Far North Queensland. So rather than taking money out of these communities, I am advised that in fact extra money is going into those communities. Of course, the money is going in via a different service provider. I think that is at the heart of the difficulties regarding some of these organisations—they feel aggrieved that they are no longer going to be the service providers. (Time expired)