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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-05-25 Daily Xml
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Municipal and Essential Services Program

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:34): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation in relation to the delivery of services to Aboriginal communities.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: On 13 April 2015, the minister welcomed an agreement with the commonwealth under which the state would receive $15 million of federal funding to support the delivery of municipal and essential services at Aboriginal communities outside the APY lands. In last year's announcement, the minister stated that over the course of the next 12 months, the state government would 'work closely with the Aboriginal Lands Trust' and others 'to ensure that these services are properly planned and delivered in an effective manner'.

The announcement included a number of positive remarks from Mr Haydyn Bromley, the presiding member of the Aboriginal Lands Trust, who welcomed the idea of bringing together the Aboriginal Lands Trust, Aboriginal community leaders and service delivery experts with the goal of ending the fragmented approach to service delivery. In recent days, Mr Bromley has criticised the government for failing to include the Aboriginal Lands Trust in the planning and delivery of these federally funded services.

As reported by the ABC, the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure has, without any discussions or negotiations with the trust, entered into agreements with councils, contractors and other parties to deliver these federally funded services to trust communities. My questions are:

1. Does the minister support the way the Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure has excluded the Aboriginal Lands Trust from the planning and delivery of these services?

2. What will he do to ensure that the government honours the commitment that he gave last year to work closely with the Aboriginal Lands Trust to ensure that these services are properly planned and delivered?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:36): I thank the honourable member for his question. Certainly, the delivery of services, whether they be health, education or municipal services, to Aboriginal communities, particularly remote Aboriginal communities, is exceptionally important to South Australia. In nearly all areas of service delivery in South Australia there is always room for improvement, and certainly we seek, not just we as a state government but the federal government and other service providers, whether they be Nganampa Health in the APY lands or other service providers right around South Australia, to make sure that we are providing the services as effectively as we possibly can to Aboriginal communities, particularly remote Aboriginal communities where there are significant challenges, not just through distance but also in terms of cultural and language barriers.

Certainly, I meet very regularly with the Aboriginal Lands Trust, a number of times a year, and in discussion with the Aboriginal Lands Trust regularly pass on any views they have to a whole range of areas and government agencies and service providers. I have done that in the past and I will continue to do that. I will continue to raise anything that is raised with me by the ALT with those different areas of government concerned. I have done that in the past and I undertake to continue to do that.

The PRESIDENT: Supplementary, Mr Wade.

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