Aboriginal Community, Ceduna

The Hon. J.S. LEE (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:39): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs about the Aboriginal community in Ceduna.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: An article published by the ABC News on 17 February mentions that there has been a rise in crime and antisocial behaviour in Ceduna. Ceduna Aboriginal Corporation Chief Executive, Wayne Miller, was quoted as saying:

…the community needed to come together to find a solution to social unrest.

We want to see Indigenous people employed in the main street from local businesses.

...rough sleeping and violence were connected to a lack of housing.

Yalata Anangu Aboriginal Community Chief Executive, David White, was also quoted as saying that there was a need for job incentive programs, that lack of job incentives had impacted the community. My questions to the minister are:

1. During the minister's recent visit to Ceduna, what response was the minister given in relation to housing and jobs to address the problems that have been brought up by the Ceduna Aboriginal community and the Yalata Anangu Aboriginal community?

2. Will the minister outline the government's plan to address these critical issues raised by Aboriginal community leaders?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:41): I thank the honourable member for her question. As the honourable member points out, I was recently in Ceduna—last month—on a planned visit that went to Port Lincoln, Ceduna and a number of homelands around Ceduna. I had an opportunity to meet with Aboriginal leaders in Ceduna to talk about issues being faced in that community.

Housing certainly is one of those, and that is why I spent some time at a number of homelands around the outskirts and west of Ceduna, to look at what issues are being faced, what could be done and addressed in terms of the housing issue. The housing issue, not just in the Aboriginal community but, as we have discussed here and in many forums, is acute in not just regional communities but also in metropolitan communities across the country at the moment.

One thing that was raised, that was talked about as being needed, are more jobs in remote Aboriginal areas. Certainly a large part of the discussion centred around I think the just over $700 million commitment for the reinstatement of the Aboriginal employment program by the federal government, a reinstatement of something similar to the old CDEP rather than the CDP, which will provide some 3,000 jobs, including funding for the projects, the jobs we worked on. It was certainly exceptionally welcome, that we had discussions about how that might look in the Ceduna area.

I would have to say that there was some disappointment among the Aboriginal leaders when I met a number of them in Ceduna, and a lot of that disappointment was focused particularly on Liberal members in that area—members such as the federal member for Grey, Rowan Ramsey, and the local member, Sam Telfer.

A large part of the disappointment was the demonisation of those people, including a pile on with the federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, about the Aboriginal community in Ceduna. There was grave disappointment in those Liberal leaders and the way they treat Aboriginal people. These members have had near death experiences from independent women who have run against them in recent elections, but beating up on Aboriginal people, as they do—

The Hon. J.S. LEE: Point of order.

The PRESIDENT: I will listen to your point of order.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: There is no relevance in the answer to my question.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I completely understand why the deputy leader doesn't want to hear this, I completely understand it. As I have said, there was grave disappointment amongst the Aboriginal leadership on the way some of these Liberal members of parliament have been demonising them, and just because they both have come exceptionally close to being beaten by exceptionally high-quality women candidates in recent elections is no reason to treat people like this.