Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We have not got a big enough stick to whack it in! I believe three companies have formed an alliance. There has been a proper tender process. And rather than have one-offs here and there, these three companies in an alliance were asked to tender on building some 20, 30, 50 or whatever new houses and structures as well as doing up existing buildings in communities. But just as Australian taxpayers can get the best bang for their buck—it is a word that I hate, but unfortunately nothing else has come to mind at this stage—so can the Indigenous communities get the best outcome that they deserve. That it is why the tender process has gone in like that. That is why there has been not just one building here and one there. That is why there have been a number of tenders for buildings. I am led to believe of the 750 homes—Senator Bernardi sits there still shaking his head. Go back to your daytime job; undermine your South Australian colleagues, Senator Bernardi. You are good at that. You are not good at much else in this chamber when it comes to Indigenous affairs, but you are good at that.

Of the 750 homes these three big companies—I am led to believe one of them is Leightons, and I believe one is a very renowned and respected building and construction business in the Territory, Sitzler Bros, I think, but I will stand corrected; they are not fly-by-nighters. But the beauty of it is that not only are they tendering on large amounts, not only are they building and improving existing structures and building new structures, but, as part of the government’s package, we are also building communities. We are not just propping up one or two homes here and there; we are building new communities. And to make matters even harder for that lot over there to comprehend, we are consulting with traditional owners. We are consulting with the people who matter, the people who will be living in these homes. I know that is a revelation, but that is what we are doing.

Another very positive part of SIHIP is that the tender calls for training of Indigenous workers. Training of those who not only will be living in the new homes or living in those improved structures, but will be in those communities with construction skills for ongoing maintenance. We are talking about a window of construction, from 2009 through to 2013, and those young Indigenous boys and girls and men and women will be trained. They will have those skills to continue the maintenance. This is a wonderful thing. On my travels through Indigenous communities, I have met so many Indigenous people who are trained to the hilt because it has been fashionable or groovy to throw a few bob out here and get TAFE to do some training. No disrespect to TAFE, but they have not been trained with the skills that they need. They have to train them with skills that they actually need. And what a wonderful opportunity for these young Indigenous men and women to gain construction skills, to have the ability not only to put into their community for the next four years while this program is going, but to do ongoing maintenance jobs to keep them on their traditional lands. What a wonderful opportunity.

In saying that, I remember watching I think it might have been Lateline prior to the last election. I heard one of the now opposition members, but a government minister at the time, and I think it might have been the Leader of the Opposition at the moment—if he is still the leader. When I last read the Australian, he was still the leader. But they have been quiet, so he probably has not been knifed yet. I remember him making this wild and ridiculous statement that we—being Australians, I gather—have to get Indigenous people to where the work is. That is probably one of the most condescending remarks that I have ever heard come out of a politician’s mouth. They had absolutely no idea why our Indigenous brothers and sisters live on the lands they do, of their connection to their lands because that is where their forefathers walked their sacred sites. That is where they want to be. This will actually deliver in 16 communities the opportunity for young Indigenous Australians to gain fantastic construction skills and have an ongoing job—a proper job. Not sit-down money, a proper job.

If we are to be condemned for doing it properly, I do not mind being condemned, because these are big-ticket items. As I said, there is over half a billion dollars of taxpayers’ money and it is going to be done properly. In saying that, there were a number of other issues that we have had to work through with the traditional owners. There have been all sorts of issues, like sacred sites. If we are going to walk into a community and we are going to build 20 or 30 homes, you cannot just plonk yourself on a plot of land and say, ‘Pour the concrete, boys, and let’s start building.’ You have got to do it in consultation.

There is a very important thing that I also want to raise before I run out of time. It is another issue that confronted us and it has taken a lot of the time because it is being done properly. It is security of tenure. It is a key element of SIHIP. On top of governments needing titled assets, secure land tenure will encourage the development of markets in land, private investment and home ownership in the longer term. For this reason, SIHIP is closely linked to the broader reform of the NT remote housing system, where mainstream and consistent housing management practices will be put in place.

We expect that leasing negotiations will continue to be productive. At the current rate, we believe leases will be in place ahead of time and we anticipate that SIHIP may now be completed ahead of schedule in 2013. In formulating SIHIP, both the NT and Commonwealth governments agreed to quarantining 15 per cent of the overall $672 million budget for program management and the Northern Territory government’s operating costs. I just want to reiterate that 15 per cent is the original figure. The government did so knowing that this percentage would be reduced over the life of the program as we implemented new efficiencies. Operational costs are presently running at 11.4 per cent—well below the 15 per cent threshold—and operations will run at 10 per cent by the end of this month. We will cut that even further to eight per cent by October 2009. That eight per cent will cover program management and staffing costs, planning and mapping, design coordination, quantity surveying, auditing for finances, probity covering insurance and legal matters, and other general operational costs that are directly related to the program.

SIHIP is the biggest, most ambitious integrated housing program in Australia’s history. It is says it all there. It is an entirely new approach, with governments actually working together with communities. Once again, I know that is strange for that lot over there but we are actually working together. Governments are also changing their behaviour and the way they interact with people in the bush. The opportunities at hand can capture the imagination. That is important because the vision is critical to ongoing success.

In reflecting on all this, though, it boils down to an effort to change the lives of people—the citizens of the Northern Territory, like the previous examples that were given. The reality is that any significant improvement to the health, welfare and productivity of remote communities and individual residents will come through generational change. SIHIP is not a panacea but it is the start we need for that. All of us on this side of the chamber are more than certain about that.

In concluding, it is very mischievous to sit and listen to some of the arguments that were put up in this chamber by previous speakers. As I did say, some were very good, some from the other side were very good too, but some were appalling. For those out there listening, this is ambitious, this huge and this is part of nation building but it is, more importantly, about doing the right thing—doing the right thing properly, doing it in consultation with the traditional owners of the land and those first Australians who desperately and deservedly need our help. (Time expired)