Mr BALDWIN - 1995-11-22
Will the minister please comment on the member for Fannie Bay's call for the transfer of an extra $40m in capital works funding for Aboriginal housing?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I am well aware of the call by the member for Fannie Bay for the transfer of an extra $40m in capital works funding to Aboriginal housing. I found that call most disappointing and inappropriate. In effect, the member for Fannie Bay called on the Territory government to accept responsibility for an absolutely appalling situation in relation to Aboriginal housing in the Territory. That situation exists not only in the Territory, but right across Australia. She called on the Territory government to redeploy capital works money and other moneys from areas such as education and health to Aboriginal housing.
Ms Martin: Capital works, capital works!
Mr Stirling: $13m to Cullen Bay, but not one cent for Aboriginal housing.
Mr MANZIE: Why I find it disappointing is because, instead of looking at the circumstances which face Aboriginal Australians and the major problem of the lack of resources to resolve the issue, and saying that there needs to be a bipartisan effort to try to resolve the situation, the member for Fannie Bay has decided that the blame might be laid at
Page 1026
the door of the ALP because it has held the purse strings for the last 12 years nationally and the local member has done nothing ...
Mr Ede: You blew it all on Yulara and 5-star hotels.
Mr Hatton: Nonsense!
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: She must have thought that they might receive the blame for this ...
Mr Stirling: How many houses would this place have built?
Mr MANZIE: ... so she decided to call on the government to redirect funds from areas such as health and education to Aboriginal housing. While I find this disappointing ...
Members interjecting.
Mr MANZIE: They are all interjecting now. It really grates on me because ...
Mr Stirling: The truth really annoys you, doesn't it?
Mr Hatton: No. It is the fact that you are not telling the truth.
Mr Bailey: You do not put any of your own money in, and you know it.
Mr Hatton: That is not true.
Mr Ah Kit: None at all.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Housing has the floor.
Mr MANZIE: I become so angry because the member for Fannie Bay knows the circumstances now. She was briefed and given the details. She was provided with information such as that there has been a cut in the CSHA funding to the Territory of over $40m a year for the last 5-odd years. Thus, we are talking about a $200m cut from Territory funding. That is a fact and everyone knows it. She knows it. Another fact of which she was informed was that the Commonwealth government retained responsibility for Aboriginal community housing at self-government. However, that was again a matter that she kept to herself. She was informed also that we had a bilateral housing agreement between ourselves and ATSIC and the Commonwealth government and that all moneys for Aboriginal housing were going into a pool - $60m - and she was informed ...
Ms Martin: But none out of your pocket! Everybody else is to blame.
Page 1027
Mr MANZIE: She was shown very clearly that that is a great deal less than we need. She was informed very clearly and concisely that the Territory government matches CSHA expenditure. She should report that information to the member for Nhulunbuy, who has this fixation and cries continually that the Territory government spends no money. She was informed also that that CSHA expenditure by the Territory government has been on Aboriginal housing since about 1987. Again, she refused to say anything about that. Thus, we have a set of circumstances where the Commonwealth rips hundreds of millions of dollars out of housing in the Territory, refuses to transfer responsibility for Aboriginal housing to the Territory government and, when all the information is pointed out ...
Members interjecting.
Mr Bailey: Tell a big enough lie and people may ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Stirling: Or tell it often enough.
Mr Hatton: Did you hear that?
Mr SPEAKER: It was not a direct reference, though.
Mr MANZIE: When a very serious request is made to treat this matter in a bipartisan way and to work cooperatively towards trying to improve a national disgrace, what does the member do? She issues a little press release saying that the Territory government needs to take $40m from its current expenditure and put that in. That is inexcusable. It might be excusable if she did not know the facts, but it is disgraceful when she does know the facts and decides deliberately to make it a party political matter in an effort to protect her Labor Party mates.
It is interesting to note that all ministers with responsibility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs agree that the resources allocated by the Commonwealth for Aboriginal housing are totally and utterly insufficient, and that includes ...
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr MANZIE: ... Labor ministers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. They all agree that there is a need for extra impetus from the Commonwealth. Despite that, the member for Fannie Bay says that it is the Territory government's role.
Members interjecting.
Mr MANZIE: The former Territory housing minister came up with an idea which would provide an extra $15m a year. The concept was that, instead of the Territory paying interest of $15m-odd to the Commonwealth each year on the debt that was transferred to us at self-government ...
Members interjecting.
Page 1028
Mr MANZIE: What do we get? They pooh-hooed the idea.
Mr Stirling: You are joking!
Mr MANZIE: What do we get from the member for Nhulunbuy, who is representing Aboriginal people? We get a rubbishing.
Mr Stirling: Not many new houses, that is what we get!
Mr MANZIE: This situation will not be fixed until people are fair dinkum about the problem. Members opposite think there is a problem for their side of politics and they try to make excuses for it. I find that disgusting. When you go out there and you see what the people are living in, where they have no shelter, and you decide ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: ... and I hope that you go home tonight and think about it. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: The Commonwealth government has ripped hundreds of millions of dollars out of housing, but members opposite say that it is a political problem for the CLP administration. Shame, shame, shame! They should do some reading, do some research and stand up for their constituents. I am telling you now that, unless all Australians stand up and do something about this, the situation will remain as it is. Shame on them!
Page 1029
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I am well aware of the call by the member for Fannie Bay for the transfer of an extra $40m in capital works funding to Aboriginal housing. I found that call most disappointing and inappropriate. In effect, the member for Fannie Bay called on the Territory government to accept responsibility for an absolutely appalling situation in relation to Aboriginal housing in the Territory. That situation exists not only in the Territory, but right across Australia. She called on the Territory government to redeploy capital works money and other moneys from areas such as education and health to Aboriginal housing.
Ms Martin: Capital works, capital works!
Mr Stirling: $13m to Cullen Bay, but not one cent for Aboriginal housing.
Mr MANZIE: Why I find it disappointing is because, instead of looking at the circumstances which face Aboriginal Australians and the major problem of the lack of resources to resolve the issue, and saying that there needs to be a bipartisan effort to try to resolve the situation, the member for Fannie Bay has decided that the blame might be laid at
Page 1026
the door of the ALP because it has held the purse strings for the last 12 years nationally and the local member has done nothing ...
Mr Ede: You blew it all on Yulara and 5-star hotels.
Mr Hatton: Nonsense!
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: She must have thought that they might receive the blame for this ...
Mr Stirling: How many houses would this place have built?
Mr MANZIE: ... so she decided to call on the government to redirect funds from areas such as health and education to Aboriginal housing. While I find this disappointing ...
Members interjecting.
Mr MANZIE: They are all interjecting now. It really grates on me because ...
Mr Stirling: The truth really annoys you, doesn't it?
Mr Hatton: No. It is the fact that you are not telling the truth.
Mr Bailey: You do not put any of your own money in, and you know it.
Mr Hatton: That is not true.
Mr Ah Kit: None at all.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Housing has the floor.
Mr MANZIE: I become so angry because the member for Fannie Bay knows the circumstances now. She was briefed and given the details. She was provided with information such as that there has been a cut in the CSHA funding to the Territory of over $40m a year for the last 5-odd years. Thus, we are talking about a $200m cut from Territory funding. That is a fact and everyone knows it. She knows it. Another fact of which she was informed was that the Commonwealth government retained responsibility for Aboriginal community housing at self-government. However, that was again a matter that she kept to herself. She was informed also that we had a bilateral housing agreement between ourselves and ATSIC and the Commonwealth government and that all moneys for Aboriginal housing were going into a pool - $60m - and she was informed ...
Ms Martin: But none out of your pocket! Everybody else is to blame.
Page 1027
Mr MANZIE: She was shown very clearly that that is a great deal less than we need. She was informed very clearly and concisely that the Territory government matches CSHA expenditure. She should report that information to the member for Nhulunbuy, who has this fixation and cries continually that the Territory government spends no money. She was informed also that that CSHA expenditure by the Territory government has been on Aboriginal housing since about 1987. Again, she refused to say anything about that. Thus, we have a set of circumstances where the Commonwealth rips hundreds of millions of dollars out of housing in the Territory, refuses to transfer responsibility for Aboriginal housing to the Territory government and, when all the information is pointed out ...
Members interjecting.
Mr Bailey: Tell a big enough lie and people may ...
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Stirling: Or tell it often enough.
Mr Hatton: Did you hear that?
Mr SPEAKER: It was not a direct reference, though.
Mr MANZIE: When a very serious request is made to treat this matter in a bipartisan way and to work cooperatively towards trying to improve a national disgrace, what does the member do? She issues a little press release saying that the Territory government needs to take $40m from its current expenditure and put that in. That is inexcusable. It might be excusable if she did not know the facts, but it is disgraceful when she does know the facts and decides deliberately to make it a party political matter in an effort to protect her Labor Party mates.
It is interesting to note that all ministers with responsibility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs agree that the resources allocated by the Commonwealth for Aboriginal housing are totally and utterly insufficient, and that includes ...
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr MANZIE: ... Labor ministers for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. They all agree that there is a need for extra impetus from the Commonwealth. Despite that, the member for Fannie Bay says that it is the Territory government's role.
Members interjecting.
Mr MANZIE: The former Territory housing minister came up with an idea which would provide an extra $15m a year. The concept was that, instead of the Territory paying interest of $15m-odd to the Commonwealth each year on the debt that was transferred to us at self-government ...
Members interjecting.
Page 1028
Mr MANZIE: What do we get? They pooh-hooed the idea.
Mr Stirling: You are joking!
Mr MANZIE: What do we get from the member for Nhulunbuy, who is representing Aboriginal people? We get a rubbishing.
Mr Stirling: Not many new houses, that is what we get!
Mr MANZIE: This situation will not be fixed until people are fair dinkum about the problem. Members opposite think there is a problem for their side of politics and they try to make excuses for it. I find that disgusting. When you go out there and you see what the people are living in, where they have no shelter, and you decide ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: ... and I hope that you go home tonight and think about it. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: The Commonwealth government has ripped hundreds of millions of dollars out of housing, but members opposite say that it is a political problem for the CLP administration. Shame, shame, shame! They should do some reading, do some research and stand up for their constituents. I am telling you now that, unless all Australians stand up and do something about this, the situation will remain as it is. Shame on them!
Page 1029
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016