Dave Tollner (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Would the minister inform the House of the government’s new private sector approach to improving nutrition in remote communities through the establishment of Outback Stores?

Mal Brough (Longman, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Solomon for his question. He would be aware that most remote Indigenous communities rely on just one store per community. The unfortunate reality is that many of those stores have had poor and inadequate management. There has been a poor range of stock and, quite often, that stock has been overpriced. Just today Alan Williams, who is the former executive of Coles Food and Liquor and is now on the new board of Outback Stores, which had its inaugural meeting here yesterday, had this to say:

There are many examples where there are more products going out the back door than there are going out the front door, and we have got to stop that. The second stage is that we will start working with nutrionists who will work with the stores and with the community health workers and local schools to start raising nutritional profile.

As the member for Solomon would be aware, the Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia said, when asked by the government, that if there were one thing that could do more to lift the life expectancy and the nutritional value for Indigenous people, in particular Indigenous children in these remote communities, it would be the better provision of food. The expertise of Coles and Woolworths has been provided and, to that end, I want to pay my public thanks to Roger Corbett and John Fletcher, two of Australia’s greatest retailers, who have put the expertise, their personal commitment and their companies’ commitment behind this initiative to ensure that Australian Aboriginals that live in remote communities have access to the best training, the best management, good supply chains and good point of sale operation so that nutritional value can be delivered in these communities, which is not currently occurring in all of them.

We should point out that there are some excellent examples. Arnhem Land Progress Association, ALPA, is but one that has done a wonderful job up there with its six stores. It also supports seven others. But what is paramount here is that more than 100 other stores need assistance. The Outback Stores initiative will provide the best quality advice that Coles, Woolworths and Metcash can bring to bear. The sum of $48 million has been provided by the federal government through my colleague the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and his department to bring all of that together to deliver better health outcomes, better economic outcomes and a brighter future for remote Indigenous Australians.