Chris Ketter (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to put on the record my serious concerns about the Turnbull government's attitude towards the funding of housing in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

This is a matter that I have only recently become aware of, and I know there are many other senators in this place who have closer association with these types of issues. But this matter was brought to my attention during the course of the Senate Economics Legislation Committee's review into the Treasury Laws Amendment (National Housing and Homelessness Agreement) Bill 2017. We had a public hearing recently in relation to that, and I'm indebted to the Local Government Association of Queensland for highlighting the plight of remote Indigenous communities and the prospect that we have now of the funding for housing in those communities being discontinued, with the responsibility for funding for these communities going back to the states.

So the Local Government Association wrote to me to seek our committee's urgent intervention in relation to this issue, and I must say I was somewhat shocked to learn that the government, since December of last year, has not provided any indication that there will be a continuation of funding. So the other levels of government in Queensland, local government and the state government, now appear to be of the view that there will not be any further funding until the federal government advises otherwise

When it comes to disadvantaged communities like this, surely, if there's one thing that we've learnt from the Closing the Gap exercise, it's that all levels of government should be working together to address these types of issues. I can't think of an issue that's any more fundamental than the question of housing. So many things flow from that. It goes to the dignity of individuals. It underpins their capacity to engage in a range of other areas that we would support them in. If you don't have proper housing, you are really struggling to participate adequately in society.

The LGAQ advised me that they consider that the government is basically on the doorstep of abrogating its Closing the Gap responsibilities. They say that the situation in remote communities in Queensland is a housing crisis. They say that in some instances the overcrowding in these communities is so great that you have up to 30 people living in a two-bedroom house in some of these areas. I've also been contacted by the Queensland Minister for Housing and Public Works, expressing the concern of the state government in Queensland in respect of this issue.

We've seen that the funding that has flowed through to remote housing has been in place since the Commonwealth gained responsibility for Indigenous affairs in the 1967 referendum. It specifically sought to improve housing standards and overcrowding in remote communities. So this is a pretty historic abrogation of responsibility by the Commonwealth. It's not an issue that I have been involved in in the past, but I must say, as I said earlier, that I am somewhat shocked that people in vulnerable situations in remote communities are being placed in this situation.

There is a lack of information coming forward, so I call upon Senator Scullion to clarify the situation, and I hope there will be a continuation of funding for these communities. It's not just the funding for the housing which is so important. The funding for this housing goes towards job opportunities and apprenticeships in these areas which have been extremely valuable in providing jobs for these areas. The independent advice that we have calls for an increase of 1,100 new houses over 10 years. I understand that the Commonwealth government endorses that target of 1,100 new houses. Whilst Queensland is closing the gap, it appears that the Commonwealth is on the doorstep of abrogating its responsibilities in this area.