Mr MITCHELL - 1998-11-26
Can the minister advise the House what the government is doing to ensure that Aboriginal people are better placed to benefit from developments from the Kakadu region?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to announce today that action has commenced on the implementation of the recommendations of the Kakadu Social Impact Study, otherwise known as KSIS. Let me state up front how pleased I am to see the former Senator Bob Collins accept the offer of the position to chair the implementation team which he will put together to progress the social impact study responses.
The study, as members would know, was initiated by the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments, along with the Northern Land Council and Energy Resources of Australia. The objective is to ensure that Aboriginal people are better placed to benefit from the developments in Kakadu.
That study produced a community action plan, setting out a comprehensive set of recommendations for future action. Speaking from a Northern Territory government perspective, our response to the recommendations has been very substantial and has canvassed a whole group of areas within that report. Areas like education, employment and training, housing and infrastructure, health, alcohol, sport and recreation, ceremonial business and, certainly, business development.
Mr Collins is now bringing together government and non-government organisations to work in partnership with Aboriginal people to implement the positive outcomes of the social impact study, and I’m advised that Mr Collins is pleased at the commitments that have been made from all the players in this study, and the spirit of cooperation that is evident among those individuals and organisations with an interest in this area.
Mr Collins has been out for the last couple of weeks, meeting with key people and organisations in the Kakadu region to discuss how the KSIS action plan should progress from here. He certainly has commitments from ERA, the NLC and both governments, including the Northern Territory government, to support the work of that study and the implementation team that will now progress it. A priority, of course, is for him now to develop a firm timetable for ongoing action.
I welcome the fact that today the work is progressing on this important regional study which has been a key factor in the progress of the Jabiluka mine and jobs for Territorians.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to announce today that action has commenced on the implementation of the recommendations of the Kakadu Social Impact Study, otherwise known as KSIS. Let me state up front how pleased I am to see the former Senator Bob Collins accept the offer of the position to chair the implementation team which he will put together to progress the social impact study responses.
The study, as members would know, was initiated by the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments, along with the Northern Land Council and Energy Resources of Australia. The objective is to ensure that Aboriginal people are better placed to benefit from the developments in Kakadu.
That study produced a community action plan, setting out a comprehensive set of recommendations for future action. Speaking from a Northern Territory government perspective, our response to the recommendations has been very substantial and has canvassed a whole group of areas within that report. Areas like education, employment and training, housing and infrastructure, health, alcohol, sport and recreation, ceremonial business and, certainly, business development.
Mr Collins is now bringing together government and non-government organisations to work in partnership with Aboriginal people to implement the positive outcomes of the social impact study, and I’m advised that Mr Collins is pleased at the commitments that have been made from all the players in this study, and the spirit of cooperation that is evident among those individuals and organisations with an interest in this area.
Mr Collins has been out for the last couple of weeks, meeting with key people and organisations in the Kakadu region to discuss how the KSIS action plan should progress from here. He certainly has commitments from ERA, the NLC and both governments, including the Northern Territory government, to support the work of that study and the implementation team that will now progress it. A priority, of course, is for him now to develop a firm timetable for ongoing action.
I welcome the fact that today the work is progressing on this important regional study which has been a key factor in the progress of the Jabiluka mine and jobs for Territorians.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016