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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-10-14 Daily Xml
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REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (15:10): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation. Can the minister provide the house with information about the report by the commonwealth Coordinator-General for Remote Indigenous Services, which was released last week?

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:10): I thank the member for Mawson for his important question. I am very pleased to report that South Australia has received a very positive tick from the Coordinator-General for Remote Indigenous Services, Mr Brian Gleeson, in his second six-monthly report. The report measures progress being made towards delivering improved services in 29 remote Aboriginal communities—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: —including the two South Australian communities that are part of this work, Amata and Mimili in our APY lands. I would like to offer my most sincere congratulations to our communities in Amata and Mimili, because they were the first in Australia to sign off on these local implementation plans, and they did so at the end of June. That is an outstanding result.

These local implementation plans (LIPs) are a bit like a local plan of action for these communities. They identify the things—the projects, the services—that are important for the sustainable development and progress of these communities. They are very simple things like improved street lighting and public facilities. Others are more complex—issues relating to education—

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: The opposition leader laughs. Others are more complex, and relate to education and health services as well as governance structures for these communities. I am very pleased to see that very real progress is being made in relation to things like the near finalisation of plans for an early childhood centre in Amata, the construction of 15 new houses by Housing SA in Amata and 11 in Mimili and the development of a home living skills program—and the list goes on.

Mr Gleeson's report does highlight that more work needs to be done in relation to governance, and we are committed to doing that. We have made, however, very significant progress with the APY Executive and changed, for instance, bylaws so that visiting journalists, Australian Public Service employees, contractors and Australian Federal Police no longer have to apply for permits to enter the lands.

It is important to remember that this remote service delivery initiative is not about quick wins: it is a long term commitment by the commonwealth, by the state and, most importantly, by those communities for their sustainable development.

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