❓ Dr. Hames questions Premier Carpenter about the closure of an Aboriginal Affairs Department office in Halls Creek. Carpenter defends the decision, citing the failure of the previous government's disability services model and community feedback.
AnsweredQoN 58Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HALLS CREEK - DEPARTMENT OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
I refer to the appalling situation being faced by the Halls Creek and other Aboriginal communities. I also refer to the office of the then Aboriginal Affairs Department that was opened at Halls Creek in 2000, and whose tasks included liaison with government departments to ensure that adequate provision of essential services was being provided. (1) Will the Premier confirm that when he was Minister for Indigenous Affairs he shut down that office? (2) If so, why? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
I refer to the appalling situation being faced by the Halls Creek and other Aboriginal communities. I also refer to the office of the then Aboriginal Affairs Department that was opened at Halls Creek in 2000, and whose tasks included liaison with government departments to ensure that adequate provision of essential services was being provided. (1) Will the Premier confirm that when he was Minister for Indigenous Affairs he shut down that office? (2) If so, why? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(2) I will tell the member what was happening. The previous government had started a process based on the disability services model, which I thought was entirely inappropriate. The previous government had local area coordinators supposedly dealing with Aboriginal people, I think on the basis of a certain ratio of Aboriginal people around the state to each coordinator, in the same way that it dealt with people with disabilities. That is the model the government borrowed from. The current chief of staff of the new Leader of the Opposition, Hayden Lowe, was the head of the department and knows all about it. He knows why I withdrew it; it was because the model failed. Dr K.D. Hames : After one year of being there, you decided that it had failed. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
(1) Will the Premier confirm that when he was Minister for Indigenous Affairs he shut down that office? (2) If so, why? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I will tell the member what was happening. The previous government had started a process based on the disability services model, which I thought was entirely inappropriate. The previous government had local area coordinators supposedly dealing with Aboriginal people, I think on the basis of a certain ratio of Aboriginal people around the state to each coordinator, in the same way that it dealt with people with disabilities. That is the model the government borrowed from. The current chief of staff of the new Leader of the Opposition, Hayden Lowe, was the head of the department and knows all about it. He knows why I withdrew it; it was because the model failed. Dr K.D. Hames : After one year of being there, you decided that it had failed. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
(2) If so, why? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I will tell the member what was happening. The previous government had started a process based on the disability services model, which I thought was entirely inappropriate. The previous government had local area coordinators supposedly dealing with Aboriginal people, I think on the basis of a certain ratio of Aboriginal people around the state to each coordinator, in the same way that it dealt with people with disabilities. That is the model the government borrowed from. The current chief of staff of the new Leader of the Opposition, Hayden Lowe, was the head of the department and knows all about it. He knows why I withdrew it; it was because the model failed. Dr K.D. Hames : After one year of being there, you decided that it had failed. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I will tell the member what was happening. The previous government had started a process based on the disability services model, which I thought was entirely inappropriate. The previous government had local area coordinators supposedly dealing with Aboriginal people, I think on the basis of a certain ratio of Aboriginal people around the state to each coordinator, in the same way that it dealt with people with disabilities. That is the model the government borrowed from. The current chief of staff of the new Leader of the Opposition, Hayden Lowe, was the head of the department and knows all about it. He knows why I withdrew it; it was because the model failed. Dr K.D. Hames : After one year of being there, you decided that it had failed. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
(1)-(2) I will tell the member what was happening. The previous government had started a process based on the disability services model, which I thought was entirely inappropriate. The previous government had local area coordinators supposedly dealing with Aboriginal people, I think on the basis of a certain ratio of Aboriginal people around the state to each coordinator, in the same way that it dealt with people with disabilities. That is the model the government borrowed from. The current chief of staff of the new Leader of the Opposition, Hayden Lowe, was the head of the department and knows all about it. He knows why I withdrew it; it was because the model failed. Dr K.D. Hames : After one year of being there, you decided that it had failed. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
Dr K.D. Hames : After one year of being there, you decided that it had failed. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
(1) Will the Premier confirm that when he was Minister for Indigenous Affairs he shut down that office? (2) If so, why? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I will tell the member what was happening. The previous government had started a process based on the disability services model, which I thought was entirely inappropriate. The previous government had local area coordinators supposedly dealing with Aboriginal people, I think on the basis of a certain ratio of Aboriginal people around the state to each coordinator, in the same way that it dealt with people with disabilities. That is the model the government borrowed from. The current chief of staff of the new Leader of the Opposition, Hayden Lowe, was the head of the department and knows all about it. He knows why I withdrew it; it was because the model failed. Dr K.D. Hames : After one year of being there, you decided that it had failed. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
(2) If so, why? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I will tell the member what was happening. The previous government had started a process based on the disability services model, which I thought was entirely inappropriate. The previous government had local area coordinators supposedly dealing with Aboriginal people, I think on the basis of a certain ratio of Aboriginal people around the state to each coordinator, in the same way that it dealt with people with disabilities. That is the model the government borrowed from. The current chief of staff of the new Leader of the Opposition, Hayden Lowe, was the head of the department and knows all about it. He knows why I withdrew it; it was because the model failed. Dr K.D. Hames : After one year of being there, you decided that it had failed. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(2) I will tell the member what was happening. The previous government had started a process based on the disability services model, which I thought was entirely inappropriate. The previous government had local area coordinators supposedly dealing with Aboriginal people, I think on the basis of a certain ratio of Aboriginal people around the state to each coordinator, in the same way that it dealt with people with disabilities. That is the model the government borrowed from. The current chief of staff of the new Leader of the Opposition, Hayden Lowe, was the head of the department and knows all about it. He knows why I withdrew it; it was because the model failed. Dr K.D. Hames : After one year of being there, you decided that it had failed. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
(1)-(2) I will tell the member what was happening. The previous government had started a process based on the disability services model, which I thought was entirely inappropriate. The previous government had local area coordinators supposedly dealing with Aboriginal people, I think on the basis of a certain ratio of Aboriginal people around the state to each coordinator, in the same way that it dealt with people with disabilities. That is the model the government borrowed from. The current chief of staff of the new Leader of the Opposition, Hayden Lowe, was the head of the department and knows all about it. He knows why I withdrew it; it was because the model failed. Dr K.D. Hames : After one year of being there, you decided that it had failed. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
Dr K.D. Hames : After one year of being there, you decided that it had failed. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : It did not take me a year. What we got back from the Aboriginal community in Western Australia was that the model was inappropriate and it did not work; all it did was see precious government resources absorbed in a way that delivered no benefit. That is the message we got back from the community. I thought that the new member for Victoria Park made a very good speech on the issues confronting Halls Creek. However, as members on both sides said yesterday, this issue is bigger and broader than Halls Creek. We need to find pragmatic initiatives that will deliver real benefit to the people there. They need to step forward and present us with options that the community believes will work. That is the way it will work. What does not work is to have a model imposed upon the Aboriginal community in the way that the previous government did it. Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
Dr K.D. Hames : There was no imposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There was. The way the previous government did it failed and it was recognised to have failed.
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