Mr ELFERINK - 2003-05-27
Madam Speaker, my question is on the tail end of the answer she just gave. The Chief Minister assured this House that $5.25m was going to be spent on accommodation support services for itinerants who come to our major centres. How do you expect to curtail the movement of itinerants towards the major centres when you make the major centres effectively more attractive to them? It is a coming into town strategy, not a going home strategy.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the member for Macdonnell always has curious questions. Very important issues need to be dealt with when we are tackling antisocial behaviour and the problem of itinerancy around the Territory.
One important point I would like to make very, very clearly is that Aboriginal people who live in remote areas of the Territory are very welcome to visit towns, for whatever reasons they have. They can visit for shopping, football, medical health, talking to friends, whatever, as any of us travel round the Territory and do those things. The fundamental issue, when you visit towns - and this is exactly what we are working with the Larrakia about for Darwin - is that there is specific behaviour for town. It is not sleeping in the streets, drinking, harassing or begging. This is the change that we are going to be putting in place, different to what was tolerated by the previous government. Let me make the point very clear; there are issues of how we grow jobs in remote parts of the community, which are critical, and certainly not dealt with by the previous government. The critical issues of growing those jobs, making our communities more sustainable, and building their capacity have been addressed in this budget today with funds there to really put some effort into doing that.
This is not just a one-faceted strategy. This is about saying: ‘When you visit our towns, there are behaviours’. Quite rightly pointed out by the member for Macdonnell, half of this $5.25m funding will be used in looking at low cost accommodation options, because if people are going to come to town, they need to be able to access appropriate accommodation. You would have to agree that, in somewhere like Darwin and Palmerston, that is simply not available right now. The funds are there for the tackling of antisocial behaviour, and the issues associated with that will be addressed. Hopefully, the money we put in this budget will not have to be replicated in the next as we will see that problem starting to be tackled. I make the point very clearly that Territorians, no matter where they live, are entitled to visit whatever towns they like.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the member for Macdonnell always has curious questions. Very important issues need to be dealt with when we are tackling antisocial behaviour and the problem of itinerancy around the Territory.
One important point I would like to make very, very clearly is that Aboriginal people who live in remote areas of the Territory are very welcome to visit towns, for whatever reasons they have. They can visit for shopping, football, medical health, talking to friends, whatever, as any of us travel round the Territory and do those things. The fundamental issue, when you visit towns - and this is exactly what we are working with the Larrakia about for Darwin - is that there is specific behaviour for town. It is not sleeping in the streets, drinking, harassing or begging. This is the change that we are going to be putting in place, different to what was tolerated by the previous government. Let me make the point very clear; there are issues of how we grow jobs in remote parts of the community, which are critical, and certainly not dealt with by the previous government. The critical issues of growing those jobs, making our communities more sustainable, and building their capacity have been addressed in this budget today with funds there to really put some effort into doing that.
This is not just a one-faceted strategy. This is about saying: ‘When you visit our towns, there are behaviours’. Quite rightly pointed out by the member for Macdonnell, half of this $5.25m funding will be used in looking at low cost accommodation options, because if people are going to come to town, they need to be able to access appropriate accommodation. You would have to agree that, in somewhere like Darwin and Palmerston, that is simply not available right now. The funds are there for the tackling of antisocial behaviour, and the issues associated with that will be addressed. Hopefully, the money we put in this budget will not have to be replicated in the next as we will see that problem starting to be tackled. I make the point very clearly that Territorians, no matter where they live, are entitled to visit whatever towns they like.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016