Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last December the Northern Territory Liquor Commission granted a liquor licence to the Wadeye Community Club, the first in that community for more than 30 years. With a population of over 2,000 people, Wadeye is one of Australia's largest remote Aboriginal communities, with a long history, sadly, of episodic alcohol fuelled violence and disorder. The decision has been made despite significant warning signs. The community club is on track to open soon. What I want to know is what, if anything, the Albanese Labor government has done to ensure that Wadeye does not descend into chaos when the club starts opening.

There has been significant investment of taxpayer money in Wadeye. There are important questions I invite the Albanese government to answer. Did the government make a submission to the inquiry or just stand by and let it slide, like you did with the lifting of alcohol restrictions in 2022? Has the Albanese government provided a single cent of Commonwealth money, including in-kind support, towards the community club, given the investment in Wadeye? What has the Albanese government done to protect Commonwealth investment in programs in Wadeye to ensure Closing the Gap outcomes don't lurch even further backwards in the Northern Territory, or has it once again looked the other way?

In the spirit of self-determination, the NT liquor commissioner recommended new and additional program supports related to alcohol addiction, family violence and school attendance. The Albanese government, which includes three NT parliamentarians, has had nearly three years to act on this advice, to plan, to coordinate and to protect specifically for that risk factor. But when real leadership is required, Labor tends to retreat to slogans and symbolism. A read of the decision would have anyone concerned, alarmed even, about risk mitigation for vulnerable people and public infrastructure. This is not alarmist; it is evidence. It is widely accepted that the Northern Territory is the key driver of the Closing the Gap targets for suicide, adult incarceration, children in out-of-home care and children commencing school developmentally on track getting worse.

We've seen this story before. In 2023, the Albanese Labor government allowed alcohol restrictions across parts of the Northern Territory to lapse, cheered on by members of Territory Labor, who were actually in government at the time. The consequences were obvious and tragic. When you make decisions based on ideology, not evidence, that is what happens. The impact was immediate and devastating. Crime, violence and disorder surged everywhere, especially in Central Australia, with domestic violence assaults increasing 77 per cent month on month,. It was a public outcry that forced the government into a humiliating reversal and reinstatement of those restrictions, but the damage was already done. That experience should have taught the government that access to alcohol in vulnerable communities demands caution, preparation and accountability, but the story here will no doubt be one of complacency first and crisis later.

Picking up the pieces in response, recovery and healing is not what anyone would wish to happen in Wadeye, but wishing and hoping does not make it so. The Liquor Commission recognised the likelihood that many townsfolk were too afraid to speak out publicly for fear of retribution. Only one brave local did. Labor talks big on community drive approaches and listening to voices, yet has it done consultation to ensure those voices are heard? I'd like to hear that. Did the government itself seek to be heard? I don't know.

Nationally, Indigenous women are 33 times more likely to be hospitalised for family and domestic violence injuries than non-Indigenous women. We learned, with the end of the cashless debit card in those communities that wanted it, that it was women and children who were impacted the most. They are the ones who see violence in their homes, miss school, fail to thrive, come to the attention of police and grow up believing that chaos and fear are normal parts of life. You can't just simply shrug and say that this is a Territory matter, because taxpayers make significant investments in Wadeye. Imagine what the $450 million spent on the Voice referendum could have done. There was $350 million spent in Central Australia on repairing the destruction rather than on prevention and early intervention.

Make no mistake, Labor makes a mess because it is distracted by ideology and announcements over action. In Wadeye, despite legitimate concerns, I hope the community club is successful, because the safety and wellbeing of the community and its people depend on it. Self-determination does not mean leaving communities to fend for themselves. Safety of the most vulnerable is crucial, not mopping up afterwards, but no amount of wishing and hoping will do that.