Jeannie Ferris (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is certainly not easy for Senator Carr as he sits there and denigrates the president of his own party—an Aboriginal man who had the courage to lay on the table at a non-party-political conference the issues that need to be tackled for the youth of Aboriginal communities. In his view, the issues that need to be tackled as policy, and again I refer to his speech, are: the development of Indigenous private enterprises and home and property ownership as the basis for building a future in those communities for families, as in the rest of Australia; and working with Indigenous youth by putting them into trades and/or university programs where they can—as his sons are—become self-employed and run their own enterprises. These policies must be put in place.

Minister Brough is moving to do these things. Educational programs, scholarships and private home ownership are issues that we need to tackle. Chief Minister Clare Martin’s housing minister, Elliot McAdam, said that, without decent housing, efforts to end the sexual violence and substance abuse are futile. What confusion is this man suffering from? We all know that, but what is the Northern Territory government doing to address the problem? (Time expired)