APY LANDS, EXPENDITURE

In reply to the Hon. R.I. LUCAS (31 October 2012).

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation): The Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion has been advised that:

1. In August 2012, the department provided the then Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion with a briefing on the motorbike program which functioned between 2005 and 2011 and provided opportunities for young people in communities to participate in local motorbike rallies and other activities. However the cost of maintaining and repairing the bikes increased each year.

Since 2007 the department has worked with communities to develop recreational programs that are based in local communities, training and employing local staff and by 2010 there have been well-established Youth Sheds in six communities, providing a range of recreational activities, and staffed by community members.

In 2011 a review of the motorbike program was undertaken as a result of the increasing cost of the program, the lack of a staff member with the appropriate skills and experience to manage the program, and the availability of alternative activities in communities. The condition of the motorbikes was assessed and one valuation was provided to inform a decision on the future of the program. At the time of the valuation, employees of SA Motorcycles were on the APY lands on unrelated business, and DCSI took the opportunity to have the motorcycles valued: seeking another valuation would have been expensive and logistically difficult. The estimated value of the motorbikes was $36,200 and the estimated cost of repairing them $164,861.

2. Draft answers to the questions asked of departmental staff during the Budget and Finance Committee in August 2012 have been provided to my office. No changes to the draft answers were made by me or my staff.

3. The answers have now been provided to the Budget and Finance Committee.

4. No.