Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak about a Darwin based organisation that is facing an uncertain future, an organisation that serves a vital cultural and service-delivery role to the wider community. This organisation deserves a fighting chance to be able to continue to serve the people of Darwin and Palmerston to the best of its ability. Tonight I want to outline the journey of the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation.

Darwin is on Larrakia land. Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation is the representative organisation for the Larrakia people, the traditional owners and is also a major service provider for Aboriginal people in the region. Last week my colleague The Hon. Luke Gosling, the Member for Solomon, and I met with staff and board members of Larrakia Nation in Darwin. They are literally fighting for the survival of their organisation, the jobs of local workers—Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal—and the vital services they deliver not only to Larrakia but to all first nations people from across Australia, really, who end up in the Northern Territory, and in particular in the Top End.

The board is made up of representatives of local traditional owners. hey are fearful that they may have to close down on 6 December, just a few weeks before Christmas. In fact, the contracts of most of the staff expire on 30 November, which is next week. That is about 60 workers and their families, who are looking at a pretty grim Christmas. Most of these workers and families are Aboriginal people from the local region.

The story of Larrakia Nation is this: they asked to be placed under special administration when it became apparent about five months ago that they were in dire financial straits. I want to make it very clear to the Senate that there has been no suggestion of inappropriate dealings by anyone associated with Larrakia Nation. The debt—and it was sizable, at about $1.8 million when it went into administration in June—was largely due to governance issues, mostly bad luck and complex bureaucratic red tape. The new board members and staff have been working hard to reduce the debt and improve governance and management, and they have cut programs and staff pretty much to the bone. In fact, in just five months the Larrakia Nation has got the debt down from $1.8 million to $500,000. They deserve a fighting chance.

Much of this debt is due to the work Larrakia Nation does with the Return to Country program in Darwin. Let me explain a bit about what return to country means. This is a service for Aboriginal people who are visiting Darwin for health reasons, for education reasons, to go to the jail to visit family and for other reasons that bring them to the Top End. Basically, some of them find it hard to return home. They get stuck in town. Many end up in what we call the long-grass camps around Darwin, and there they live until they can return.

To put this into some context, the Northern Territory is not a cheap or easy place to get around. The roads are long, often dirt and often pretty rugged, especially in the wet season, when most communities can travel to Darwin and the Top End only by air. So, getting back home, travelling thousands of kilometres at times, is not cheap. People often end up living rough. Under Return to Country services, clients pay the costs through deductions from Centrelink benefits, under the Centrepay program. Clients can cancel the deductions once they get back home, as Centrepay is a voluntary service, or the repayments stop if the client's Centrelink benefits stop. We have seen how this is possible and has been happening under different Centrelink programs, when there are cuts to people's programs and attachments to Centrelink, for different reasons, such as where breaches have occurred or other areas of their association with Centrelink has forced it to end. Ultimately, Larrakia Nation becomes a casualty when it stops. Larrakia Nation has been trying to meet with Senator Nigel Scullion since June to talk about some of these issues. I urge my fellow senator from the Northern Territory—I know that he has so many other things to deal with across this country, but Larrakia people and Larrakia Nation need his attention urgently, right now.

The Return to Country services had to stop in Darwin in 2015 because of funding issues, and were only reinstated early this year. We certainly found out very quickly what the result of that was. There were an estimated extra 700 people sleeping rough, who became homeless around Darwin during those months that the service did not operate. Let me tell you that with Larrakia Nation and the work of the staff there—they are the only ones in the Top End, in the capital of the Northern Territory, who take the time to go around and care for the First Nations people who are stuck in the city. As well as Return to Country services, Larrakia Nation runs aged-care services. It also runs the homelessness services program which I just mentioned, in terms of the long grassers, going around and seeing that they are okay, obviously relocating families who may have children in the long grass and camping.

There are a range of programs there. They are a successful range of programs, and I am incredibly proud of what the women there do. It includes tenancy support—all up, 11 services for the Darwin community. All of these are at risk. Night patrol works to remove people from danger and keep them safe. Seven nights a week, three cars from this specialised service travel through Darwin and Palmerston. I have heard that by having these cars on the road it means less time is needed from the Northern Territory police to have to deal with some of the issues that the night patrol takes up for them. It means two fewer police cars having to go around the camps of Darwin. Last year the night patrol worked with 10,000 clients. This demand is growing every year. If Larrakia Nation closes its doors on 6 December, there will be no night patrol.

Larrakia Nation also monitors people's health and transports them to doctors' appointments, to the hospital and to specialists. The HEAL program is also specifically focused on early health intervention by providing information, provisions such as thongs and condoms, and environmental safety audits of campsites, looking at sexual health and different things and other issues that impact on First Nations people. The phrase 'economic development' is often thrown around, and we see this with the coalition. Certainly, I look at Senator Scullion and say, please help Larrakia Nation. Give your attention to Larrakia Nation.

The ranger program is one of the commercial arms of the Larrakia Nation. It is a source of income for the organisation, which assists to subsidise the services offered. Croc monitoring is probably a service that is not required in the southern states of Australia, but it is certainly used by various companies when they are working in the waters around Darwin. Sadly, some of the financial issues of Larrakia Nation were incurred when a company who hired the Larrakia rangers to monitor for crocodiles to protect its workers went bust, owing Larrakia Nation more than $200,000.

This organisation, the Larrakia people, have their backs against the wall and they are fighting for their survival. The member for Solomon and myself stand strongly with them. It is not just about service delivery as an organisation. Larrakia Nation plays a wider role in supporting the aspirations, culture and identity of Darwin Larrakia families. As an organisation it has wide support across the community. Upwards of 250 people attended a rally in Darwin today, sending a strong message about the vital roles and value of the Larrakia people and Larrakia Nation. It is time that all nations got behind Larrakia Nation. It is an organisation worth fighting for, and I do not want to imagine a Darwin where we do not have them. I call on Senator Scullion: I know you know how important the Larrakia Nation is to Darwin and to the Larrakia people. I urge Senator Scullion, please meet with Larrakia Nation, and do not just meet with them; give them a reprieve and give them the fighting chance that they deserve. They have shown that they deserve to keep going and to keep being therefore the people of the Northern Territory. I stand with Larrakia Nation. Indigenous affairs minister Nigel Scullion, I hope you do too.