Mr MITCHELL - 1996-11-19
Last week, Senator Herron mentioned a Commonwealth proposal to use the army to provide water and sewerage works in remote communities. The minister has expressed concerns publicly about this proposal. What is the nature of those concerns?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I have spoken out on this issue in what I believe is a constructive manner. I hope that my comments will be supported by members on both sides of the Chamber. Essentially, what I am saying is that, if the Commonwealth has reawakened its interest in Aboriginal health issues, let us be very sure that we address these issues together, in cooperation, and that we target our efforts where they will be really most effective. In that regard, I have spoken out often about Medicare. It is a system that is set up primarily to fund doctors and hospitals. Unfortunately, it is quarantined as a wonderful system by both political parties. However, it is something that I think we all have to look at - the freeing up of Medicare money more and more. We need the sort of flexibility in Medicare that will enable us to use that money to assist, among others, people in Aboriginal communities.
What concerns me about the government proposal is that the army is being mooted as some sort of panacea for the health situation in Aboriginal communities. There is plenty of data to suggest that, when we talk about Aboriginal health, it comes down to chronic health problems. Something like 64% of the health problems are caused by issues other than water and sewerage. Certainly, in my time as Minister for Power and Water, I was particularly impressed by the Territory government's delivery of water, sewerage and power to established communities. Where there are deficiencies, they are at ATSIC-funded outstations which remain a Commonwealth responsibility.
I suggest that we should all support the policy that the infrastructure should be provided for communities as their critical mass increases and as they become more established. I think that to use the army in some ad hoc fashion - unfocused, uncoordinated and unsupported by the Power and Water Authority and by contractors in the Northern Territory - would be a wrong use of that effort. Senator Herron spoke of consultation with the Northern Territory government and those organisations that provide the services. He spoke about very good
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coordination. Unfortunately, none of that has happened to date. The reality is that this was a suggestion that came from 2 members of the National Reconciliation Committee. It was picked up by a couple of members of the federal parliament and seen as a wonderful idea. We have to ask, however, what exactly the army could do. Nowadays, the army has 2 under-strength engineer regiments. Their capability is purely in mobility and counter-mobility tasks. They are focused to support the operational troops and have almost no civil engineering capability whatsoever. In fact - and I reckon it is an indictment of the environmentalists - the army units operating at Mt Bundey and other places in the Northern Territory cart portaloos with them. They do not even dig their own sanitation trenches. They have a problem within before they start looking without. The engineering capability is particularly small.
I believe this is primarily a money issue. I understand that the federal government is finding money to address the matter. If the federal government is genuine, it should indicate how much money is involved, target that money to Aboriginal essential services and use PAWA and the civil contractors who are equipped to handle the task. If it does that, it will obtain a much better effort for its dollar.
If we are to talk about army involvement - I am not pouring cold water on it at all - some excellent initiatives are in place. We are all aware of the teams that look at eye problems in the Northern Territory. Certainly, Norforce, which has a strong Aboriginal involvement, is creating the leaders of tomorrow for communities. When I was in the army, I suggested that we should establish more special conditions units in the Northern Territory. Given that there is now a brigade in the Northern Territory, we could look for more special conditions recruiting to enable more Aboriginals to become involved in defence and learn leadership and other skills that they can take back to their communities.
If I were to suggest an area where the military could be involved, it would be in strategic roads maintenance. That is an area that we all see as a priority. The army has some capability for continuing maintenance of Aboriginal strategic roads in the Northern Territory. I see that as a far higher priority than those mooted by Senator Herron at the moment.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I have spoken out on this issue in what I believe is a constructive manner. I hope that my comments will be supported by members on both sides of the Chamber. Essentially, what I am saying is that, if the Commonwealth has reawakened its interest in Aboriginal health issues, let us be very sure that we address these issues together, in cooperation, and that we target our efforts where they will be really most effective. In that regard, I have spoken out often about Medicare. It is a system that is set up primarily to fund doctors and hospitals. Unfortunately, it is quarantined as a wonderful system by both political parties. However, it is something that I think we all have to look at - the freeing up of Medicare money more and more. We need the sort of flexibility in Medicare that will enable us to use that money to assist, among others, people in Aboriginal communities.
What concerns me about the government proposal is that the army is being mooted as some sort of panacea for the health situation in Aboriginal communities. There is plenty of data to suggest that, when we talk about Aboriginal health, it comes down to chronic health problems. Something like 64% of the health problems are caused by issues other than water and sewerage. Certainly, in my time as Minister for Power and Water, I was particularly impressed by the Territory government's delivery of water, sewerage and power to established communities. Where there are deficiencies, they are at ATSIC-funded outstations which remain a Commonwealth responsibility.
I suggest that we should all support the policy that the infrastructure should be provided for communities as their critical mass increases and as they become more established. I think that to use the army in some ad hoc fashion - unfocused, uncoordinated and unsupported by the Power and Water Authority and by contractors in the Northern Territory - would be a wrong use of that effort. Senator Herron spoke of consultation with the Northern Territory government and those organisations that provide the services. He spoke about very good
Page 1770
coordination. Unfortunately, none of that has happened to date. The reality is that this was a suggestion that came from 2 members of the National Reconciliation Committee. It was picked up by a couple of members of the federal parliament and seen as a wonderful idea. We have to ask, however, what exactly the army could do. Nowadays, the army has 2 under-strength engineer regiments. Their capability is purely in mobility and counter-mobility tasks. They are focused to support the operational troops and have almost no civil engineering capability whatsoever. In fact - and I reckon it is an indictment of the environmentalists - the army units operating at Mt Bundey and other places in the Northern Territory cart portaloos with them. They do not even dig their own sanitation trenches. They have a problem within before they start looking without. The engineering capability is particularly small.
I believe this is primarily a money issue. I understand that the federal government is finding money to address the matter. If the federal government is genuine, it should indicate how much money is involved, target that money to Aboriginal essential services and use PAWA and the civil contractors who are equipped to handle the task. If it does that, it will obtain a much better effort for its dollar.
If we are to talk about army involvement - I am not pouring cold water on it at all - some excellent initiatives are in place. We are all aware of the teams that look at eye problems in the Northern Territory. Certainly, Norforce, which has a strong Aboriginal involvement, is creating the leaders of tomorrow for communities. When I was in the army, I suggested that we should establish more special conditions units in the Northern Territory. Given that there is now a brigade in the Northern Territory, we could look for more special conditions recruiting to enable more Aboriginals to become involved in defence and learn leadership and other skills that they can take back to their communities.
If I were to suggest an area where the military could be involved, it would be in strategic roads maintenance. That is an area that we all see as a priority. The army has some capability for continuing maintenance of Aboriginal strategic roads in the Northern Territory. I see that as a far higher priority than those mooted by Senator Herron at the moment.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016