A record number of Indigenous mayors will be attending next week’s Australian Local Government Association National General Assembly where public housing, health and mobile black spots will be up for debate.
LGAQ workforce strategy executive Tony Goode said the unprecedented representation of Indigenous councils meant issues pertinent to Indigenous communities, particularly public housing, could be fully explored.
“The federal housing program – NPARIH [National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing], is due to expire in 2018 and communities are waiting for an announcement at a federal level for a replacement program. Decisions around this program will have huge social and economic impacts. It is the single, most important issue affecting Indigenous councils at the moment,” Mr Goode said.
“The NPARIH is vital to Indigenous communities as several councils have become preferred suppliers for the construction of those houses, so a certain percentage of the houses are being built by the communities themselves. This means meaningful employment and skills transfer. It also means kids are learning trades and gaining apprenticeships and it has positive flow on effects on education, health and the economic health of communities. Houses are being built by local people, the money they earn is getting spent in the community and this in turn generates further jobs”.
Palm Island Mayor Alf Lacey said the Indigenous delegation to the ALGA general assembly would be pushing hard for a replacement NPARIH arrangement to factor in growing populations,
“Queensland has been a shining light for delivering the NPARIH program and I welcome further investment. Another round of investment after 2018 would go a long way to providing families and communities certainty and move beyond simply playing catch-up to provide affordable public housing for growing communities. The growth of our Indigenous shires need to be factored into a new round of investment,” Mayor Lacey said.
“Most importantly, the program brings a windfall in terms of money hitting the ground, which means local employment outcomes, apprenticeship and training outcomes. The fact that the program is delivered by councils is key.”
Delegates at the General Assembly will have the opportunity to engage with key Members of Parliament including the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Minister for Indigenous Health Ken Wyatt, Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion and Minister for Regional Development and Local Government Fiona Nash.
You can see the full agenda here.
You can listen to LGAQ’s podcast - LG on Cue - about the general assembly with LGAQ's Principal Advisor for Intergovernmental Relations Stephan Bohnen here