Barry Haase (Kalgoorlie, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Roads and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seize this moment to speak in the adjournment debate on a topic most current. With the new government, the creation of new standing committees and the investigation as to particular topics of inquiry to pursue, I am reminded that one of the final initiatives of the previous government was to make some radical changes to the long-entrenched system of community employment development in Indigenous communities. The original concept for setting up CDEP was to give members of communities the opportunity to have some meaningful employment within their communities where otherwise sustainable commercial jobs did not exist. In reality the program became a substitute for welfare. The best intention of creating a circumstance where people were eased into an employment situation was based on the premise of the very old Christian work ethic and the necessity for Indigenous people in communities where no real, sustainable commercial work existed to be slowly eased into a position of gaining income through employment, as opposed to gaining welfare while doing nothing.

There was a very long and well-considered process for the eradication of CDEP in so many Indigenous communities. It was declared broadly that, where unfilled, real jobs existed, CDEP would be phased out over time; and, where it was considered there were no real, meaningful, sustainable commercial jobs, CDEP would remain. Of course, in the rollout of this new program, some glaring errors were made. A classic example perhaps is that CDEP was abolished in Kalgoorlie, Broome, Port Hedland and Esperance, in my electorate, but it was not abolished in Karratha. Karratha is one of the most buoyant economies in Western Australia right now, with job vacancies through the roof, and yet we maintain the CDEP program for able-bodied people with the time on their hands to fill these positions, a number of them not requiring special skills.

The reason I rise on this occasion is to highlight the fact that, with a new government, we are now contemplating the rolling back of that removal of CDEP programs. Just today, in the Australian, there is a wonderful article that I would bring to members’ attention that cites a case where 50 members of a community, previously employed on CDEP, as a result of the previous government’s removal of that policy have now got real, meaningful jobs where they are being paid for the work that they do—primarily, I might add, in home maintenance, an area that we all accept is dreadfully unattended in Indigenous communities.

We all talk about the dreadful state of Indigenous housing in communities. The dreadful state of that housing is too often a result of very poor maintenance and the heavy impact of a large number of people living in that one dwelling. You would assume, therefore, that it would go hand in hand—that every Indigenous community with a housing program would also have meaningful employment for Indigenous members of that community in maintaining those houses. It is not the case, I may tell you. It is the exception rather than the rule that people presently on CDEP transfer into real jobs—for instance, maintaining houses. There is a lot of work to be done in transferring from CDEP to real employment, and there is no magic wand. But it is an area that does deserve serious consideration, because CDEP is not appropriate in all communities and the transition must be made to real employment.

Question agreed to.