❓ Question regarding the Commonwealth government's commitment to long-term funding for remote Indigenous housing in WA after the National Partnership Agreement expires. The Minister's answer defends the government's actions and criticises the opposition's past record.
AnsweredQoN 490Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP ON
REMOTE HOUSING
490. Mr K.J.J. MICHEL to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the National Partnership
Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing that will expire on Saturday and the
commonwealth government's failure to commit to long-term funding for
remote housing in Western Australia. Can the minister outline to the house why
it is so important that the commonwealth does not walk away from supporting the
families who live in these communities?
REMOTE HOUSING
490. Mr K.J.J. MICHEL to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the National Partnership
Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing that will expire on Saturday and the
commonwealth government's failure to commit to long-term funding for
remote housing in Western Australia. Can the minister outline to the house why
it is so important that the commonwealth does not walk away from supporting the
families who live in these communities?
AnswerView source ↗
Before I start, on behalf of the
member for Joondalup, I would like to acknowledge in the public gallery today
representatives from the Ocean Ridge Cricket Club.
I thank the member for the question
and for his time yesterday in Port Hedland as we delivered a significant
McGowan government promise to provide transitional housing for Aboriginal
people in Port Hedland with the refurbishment of 40 homes, 30 of which had been
taken up from the failed Hedland 125 project, I might add, and 10 from surplus
Government Regional Officers' Housing.
Mr D.T. Redman : So they have
been useful, have they?
Mr P.C. TINLEY : Yes, they
have finally been found to be useful. The direction from the agency is that
when a person goes to Port Hedland to make sure they stay in Osprey Village
because it needs the uplift in its room occupancy rate, mate! The Hedland 125
project—another failed Liberal–National Party policy—has
finally been tidied up by the Labor government. It took the adults in the room
to actually get it sorted out.
I thank the member for the question
that I am coming back to, which is about the closing arrangements with the
commonwealth—the clock is approaching midnight, I suppose, on Saturday—that
will see the end of the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous
Housing. One of the most basic needs of the most vulnerable people in remote
and regional Western Australia is shelter, but more than that, housing provides
—
� shelter, privacy, safety and
security, supports health and education, and has a significant impact on
workforce participation.
Nobody in this room would argue with
those words, but they came from Nigel Scullion, the Leader of the Country Liberals
in the Northern Territory. They were his words in his 2017 report titled, ''Remote
Housing Review'', which identified the requirement for Western Australia
to produce over the next 10 years 1 300 homes in order to keep pace with
population and to attend to the overcrowding issues that are sometimes found in
remote communities. It seems that on Saturday, the federal government will walk
away from 50 years of involvement in remote and Indigenous communities. Many of
those communities are a result of the history of dispossession of Indigenous
people, first nation Western Australians. Twenty years before the Wave Hill
walk-off, we had in the Pilbara —
Mr V.A. Catania : Did you
strike a $61 million deal with the minister?
Mr P.C. TINLEY : I beg your
pardon.
Mr V.A. Catania : Did you
strike a deal with the minister?
Mr P.C. TINLEY : Member for
North West Central, I cannot believe that you actually put your head above the
parapet.
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for North
West Central, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : I cannot
believe you even put your head above the parapet, member for North West Central.
Mr V.A. Catania : It is $61 million.
It is in writing.
The SPEAKER : Member for North
West Central, I call you to order for the second time.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : You have been
in this place since 2005 and the first time you mentioned remote communities
was yesterday—since 2005!
Mr V.A. Catania : That is not
true at all.
The SPEAKER : The minister has
the call.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : The member
for North West Central needs to investigate Hansard . He knows where it
is. He knows how to search it. If he does not, I can provide him with somebody
who might be able to give him a bit of instruction.
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for North
West Central, I call you to order for the third time.
Mr J.N. Carey interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Perth,
you are at the back of the house and I call you to order for the first time.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : For the
benefit of members and the member for North West Central, I would like to
introduce him to his own electorate. That electorate has 22 remote communities.
Since 2005, in the member's entire time in this place, he decided that
yesterday —
Mr V.A. Catania : It has 23.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : Who knows?
Somebody knows how to research! It has four town-based reserves.
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : You would not
know. I imagine from Mount Claremont, mate, all of your electorate is remote!
You really have some gall to come in here and —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, I do
not like people telling everyone where members live in their electorates.
Ms J.J. Shaw interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Swan
Hills, I call you to order for the first time. Members of Parliament are
obviously in high-profile positions. We do not like telling people where other
people live. You can get up in the chamber and say where you live, but I find
it a bit hard when you mention where other people live.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : Thank you, Mr
Speaker. I take your guidance seriously.
I want to highlight the hypocrisy. I
said in this place several weeks ago that the next time the member for North West
Central gets up and does something for remote communities, it will be the first
time.
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : I want to
know why —
The SPEAKER : Minister! Member
for Warren–Blackwood, you know the rules. I call you to order for the
first time.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : Why would the
National Party put out press releases and make spurious claims about the
validity and genuineness of the McGowan Labor government approaching this issue
when it is the very first time it has raised it? Why does the member for North
West Central not table the letter that he has written to the Prime Minister
seeking support from the government? Has he done that? No. Has the Liberal
Party put pen to paper beyond the press release and beyond a question without
notice to see whether it can do any good for the people of Western Australia?
We are talking about some of the most vulnerable people in Western Australia
who need and deserve our assistance. As a single voice from Western Australia, the
member for North West Central should do some of the heavy lifting himself. He
is a complete and utter disgrace. He had all these conversions on the road to
Damascus. Well, Damascus ain't in your electorate, member for North
West Central! Somehow he can support Moora college several hundred kilometres
from his own electorate office. Seriously, members opposite ought to take a hard
look. The behaviour of members opposite is fundamentally dishonest. The
behaviour of the Leader of the Opposition is disingenuous and dishonourable. If
members opposite had any guts, they would pool the intellectual horsepower they
have between them, which would not pull the skin off a custard, and try to put
pen to paper and make a difference for the people of Western Australia.
Withdrawal of Remark
Dr D.J.
HONEY : I take deep objection to the minister's —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Leader of the
House, I call you. I was on my feet.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected.
The SPEAKER : I call the
Minister for Women's Interests to order for the first time.
Mr P. Papalia : It was not
her.
The SPEAKER : Who was it?
Mr P. Papalia : It was the
member for Girrawheen.
The SPEAKER : It was the
member for Girrawheen. I apologise to the minister. The member for Girrawheen
is such a quiet little thing; I cannot generally hear her. I will take the
point of order in silence, please.
Dr D.J. HONEY : I take deep
objection to the member opposite referring to my colleagues and me as dishonest
and —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Minister for
Sport and Recreation, it is a point of order. I will hear it in silence.
Dr D.J. HONEY : It is
imputation and I believe he should be asked to withdraw.
The SPEAKER : What part were
you referring to?
Dr D.J. HONEY : He referred to me and the other members
on this side of the house as dishonest. He said that exact word.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : He was talking
in general terms, so I do not think that you can be personally offended. If you
are, I am sure the minister is getting to the end of a very long answer. Is
that the finish?
Mr P.C. TINLEY : I am done.
All over.
member for Joondalup, I would like to acknowledge in the public gallery today
representatives from the Ocean Ridge Cricket Club.
I thank the member for the question
and for his time yesterday in Port Hedland as we delivered a significant
McGowan government promise to provide transitional housing for Aboriginal
people in Port Hedland with the refurbishment of 40 homes, 30 of which had been
taken up from the failed Hedland 125 project, I might add, and 10 from surplus
Government Regional Officers' Housing.
Mr D.T. Redman : So they have
been useful, have they?
Mr P.C. TINLEY : Yes, they
have finally been found to be useful. The direction from the agency is that
when a person goes to Port Hedland to make sure they stay in Osprey Village
because it needs the uplift in its room occupancy rate, mate! The Hedland 125
project—another failed Liberal–National Party policy—has
finally been tidied up by the Labor government. It took the adults in the room
to actually get it sorted out.
I thank the member for the question
that I am coming back to, which is about the closing arrangements with the
commonwealth—the clock is approaching midnight, I suppose, on Saturday—that
will see the end of the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous
Housing. One of the most basic needs of the most vulnerable people in remote
and regional Western Australia is shelter, but more than that, housing provides
—
� shelter, privacy, safety and
security, supports health and education, and has a significant impact on
workforce participation.
Nobody in this room would argue with
those words, but they came from Nigel Scullion, the Leader of the Country Liberals
in the Northern Territory. They were his words in his 2017 report titled, ''Remote
Housing Review'', which identified the requirement for Western Australia
to produce over the next 10 years 1 300 homes in order to keep pace with
population and to attend to the overcrowding issues that are sometimes found in
remote communities. It seems that on Saturday, the federal government will walk
away from 50 years of involvement in remote and Indigenous communities. Many of
those communities are a result of the history of dispossession of Indigenous
people, first nation Western Australians. Twenty years before the Wave Hill
walk-off, we had in the Pilbara —
Mr V.A. Catania : Did you
strike a $61 million deal with the minister?
Mr P.C. TINLEY : I beg your
pardon.
Mr V.A. Catania : Did you
strike a deal with the minister?
Mr P.C. TINLEY : Member for
North West Central, I cannot believe that you actually put your head above the
parapet.
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for North
West Central, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : I cannot
believe you even put your head above the parapet, member for North West Central.
Mr V.A. Catania : It is $61 million.
It is in writing.
The SPEAKER : Member for North
West Central, I call you to order for the second time.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : You have been
in this place since 2005 and the first time you mentioned remote communities
was yesterday—since 2005!
Mr V.A. Catania : That is not
true at all.
The SPEAKER : The minister has
the call.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : The member
for North West Central needs to investigate Hansard . He knows where it
is. He knows how to search it. If he does not, I can provide him with somebody
who might be able to give him a bit of instruction.
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for North
West Central, I call you to order for the third time.
Mr J.N. Carey interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Perth,
you are at the back of the house and I call you to order for the first time.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : For the
benefit of members and the member for North West Central, I would like to
introduce him to his own electorate. That electorate has 22 remote communities.
Since 2005, in the member's entire time in this place, he decided that
yesterday —
Mr V.A. Catania : It has 23.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : Who knows?
Somebody knows how to research! It has four town-based reserves.
Mr V.A. Catania interjected.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : You would not
know. I imagine from Mount Claremont, mate, all of your electorate is remote!
You really have some gall to come in here and —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, I do
not like people telling everyone where members live in their electorates.
Ms J.J. Shaw interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Swan
Hills, I call you to order for the first time. Members of Parliament are
obviously in high-profile positions. We do not like telling people where other
people live. You can get up in the chamber and say where you live, but I find
it a bit hard when you mention where other people live.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : Thank you, Mr
Speaker. I take your guidance seriously.
I want to highlight the hypocrisy. I
said in this place several weeks ago that the next time the member for North West
Central gets up and does something for remote communities, it will be the first
time.
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : I want to
know why —
The SPEAKER : Minister! Member
for Warren–Blackwood, you know the rules. I call you to order for the
first time.
Mr P.C. TINLEY : Why would the
National Party put out press releases and make spurious claims about the
validity and genuineness of the McGowan Labor government approaching this issue
when it is the very first time it has raised it? Why does the member for North
West Central not table the letter that he has written to the Prime Minister
seeking support from the government? Has he done that? No. Has the Liberal
Party put pen to paper beyond the press release and beyond a question without
notice to see whether it can do any good for the people of Western Australia?
We are talking about some of the most vulnerable people in Western Australia
who need and deserve our assistance. As a single voice from Western Australia, the
member for North West Central should do some of the heavy lifting himself. He
is a complete and utter disgrace. He had all these conversions on the road to
Damascus. Well, Damascus ain't in your electorate, member for North
West Central! Somehow he can support Moora college several hundred kilometres
from his own electorate office. Seriously, members opposite ought to take a hard
look. The behaviour of members opposite is fundamentally dishonest. The
behaviour of the Leader of the Opposition is disingenuous and dishonourable. If
members opposite had any guts, they would pool the intellectual horsepower they
have between them, which would not pull the skin off a custard, and try to put
pen to paper and make a difference for the people of Western Australia.
Withdrawal of Remark
Dr D.J.
HONEY : I take deep objection to the minister's —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Leader of the
House, I call you. I was on my feet.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected.
The SPEAKER : I call the
Minister for Women's Interests to order for the first time.
Mr P. Papalia : It was not
her.
The SPEAKER : Who was it?
Mr P. Papalia : It was the
member for Girrawheen.
The SPEAKER : It was the
member for Girrawheen. I apologise to the minister. The member for Girrawheen
is such a quiet little thing; I cannot generally hear her. I will take the
point of order in silence, please.
Dr D.J. HONEY : I take deep
objection to the member opposite referring to my colleagues and me as dishonest
and —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Minister for
Sport and Recreation, it is a point of order. I will hear it in silence.
Dr D.J. HONEY : It is
imputation and I believe he should be asked to withdraw.
The SPEAKER : What part were
you referring to?
Dr D.J. HONEY : He referred to me and the other members
on this side of the house as dishonest. He said that exact word.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : He was talking
in general terms, so I do not think that you can be personally offended. If you
are, I am sure the minister is getting to the end of a very long answer. Is
that the finish?
Mr P.C. TINLEY : I am done.
All over.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.