Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Payne for the question. I gave some information in answer to Senator Scullion’s question the other day on the administrative costs of the program. Let me be very clear: the SIHIP program will deliver 750 new houses, 230 rebuilds and 2,500 refurbishments of houses in remote Northern Territory communities by the end of 2013. It is an ambitious and large-scale housing program—in fact, the largest ever undertaken in this country. The Australian and Territory governments have each appointed a senior official to make sure the program is operating effectively. They have been going through the program line by line and are assessing a range of issues, including the sorts of matters that have been raised publicly and which you raise again in the chamber today. The minister advises me that she is expecting a report from them shortly.

We are very conscious that we are accountable for taxpayers’ money and the Indigenous people of the Northern Territory and we are absolutely committed to delivering the program and delivering it efficiently. The departmental officials are examining the structure of the SIHIP program to ensure that it delivers on the targets that have been set. We will of course respond to the report that has been requested appropriately. I think it is important for us to acknowledge, though, that old housing models have not served Indigenous interests. Over the decades, many millions of dollars have been poured into housing, and the outcomes have been simply abysmal. I think that was a lesson the previous government learnt under its genuine initiative to try to better use the COAG process to deliver housing. Those initiatives failed. It is important that we do not repeat those failures, and there were more before that. We know that run-down overcrowded houses, where no-one has clear responsibility— (Time expired)