❓ Mr. Wyatt questions the Premier about the high cost of services in a remote Aboriginal community and the potential closure of communities. The Premier avoids naming the community and states the government will not close communities but will assess the viability of providing essential services.
AnsweredQoN 972Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ABORIGINAL
COMMUNITIES — CLOSURE
972. Mr B.S. WYATT to the Premier:
The Premier claimed last week that a
remote community was costing $85 000 per person for the provision of municipal
and essential services.
(1) Which community was the Premier
referring to?
(2) Exactly how did the Premier
arrive at the figure of $85 000?
(3) Is the cost
of services per person the basis upon which the Premier will be deciding which
communities will be closed?
COMMUNITIES — CLOSURE
972. Mr B.S. WYATT to the Premier:
The Premier claimed last week that a
remote community was costing $85 000 per person for the provision of municipal
and essential services.
(1) Which community was the Premier
referring to?
(2) Exactly how did the Premier
arrive at the figure of $85 000?
(3) Is the cost
of services per person the basis upon which the Premier will be deciding which
communities will be closed?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) The
state government will not be closing communities as such. The issue is: for
which communities will we be able to continue to provide essential services? It
will not restrict people going back to lands—it will not. That has
always been the position. We have to work progressively through communities in
a sense to see which ones are considered viable over the long term—some
communities may even be normalised into townships—and which ones for
which we will continue to provide essential services.
Several members interjected.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : Yes, that is the term used in local government.
Again, I stress that there is going
to be no restriction or barrier on people going back into those lands or to
those areas; they will do that as they wish.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : With respect to the figures I quoted, they related to a
particular community—information supplied to me. As I said at the time,
I have no intention of naming the community.
Several members interjected.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I
made that point at the time, that I would not name the community, and I will
not name the community, because I am not going to do what perhaps the
opposition thinks I might be doing or what they seem to be doing; I am not
going to wander around and target communities and tell them, ''You will
be closed.'' We will go through this carefully over coming years.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
There are over 100 communities with an average of five people, and another 70 communities
with an average of 15 people—yes, they are not viable. The point I made
is that there are issues in providing education and health, and many are
isolated, so it goes beyond water and power supplies. What are the
opportunities for young people? There is no work. There is no opportunity to
succeed in life. That is the issue that has been forced upon us by the federal
government decision. We will do it properly. We will do it progressively. We
will talk to those communities and we will work our way through it.
Mr B.S. Wyatt :
When are you going to talk to them?
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Member for Victoria Park, there is a difference between this government and the
previous Labor government—lots of differences.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
One big difference is that when there is a difficult issue and a problem, this
government will walk up to the issue and deal with it. I give members one
example. A legacy of the Labor government was lead pollution in Esperance,
which it literally tried to hide under the carpet. It was this government that
went in and dealt with that. Here is another issue—this time amongst
Aboriginal communities—and we will go in and deal with it. The approach
of the Labor Party is to cause stress and tension. I have put the issue out
there publicly so that Aboriginal people, regional towns in the Kimberley and
the Pilbara, and the wider population of Western Australia know that we have a
very difficult social issue to deal with. Labor would have ignored it.
state government will not be closing communities as such. The issue is: for
which communities will we be able to continue to provide essential services? It
will not restrict people going back to lands—it will not. That has
always been the position. We have to work progressively through communities in
a sense to see which ones are considered viable over the long term—some
communities may even be normalised into townships—and which ones for
which we will continue to provide essential services.
Several members interjected.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : Yes, that is the term used in local government.
Again, I stress that there is going
to be no restriction or barrier on people going back into those lands or to
those areas; they will do that as they wish.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : With respect to the figures I quoted, they related to a
particular community—information supplied to me. As I said at the time,
I have no intention of naming the community.
Several members interjected.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I
made that point at the time, that I would not name the community, and I will
not name the community, because I am not going to do what perhaps the
opposition thinks I might be doing or what they seem to be doing; I am not
going to wander around and target communities and tell them, ''You will
be closed.'' We will go through this carefully over coming years.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
There are over 100 communities with an average of five people, and another 70 communities
with an average of 15 people—yes, they are not viable. The point I made
is that there are issues in providing education and health, and many are
isolated, so it goes beyond water and power supplies. What are the
opportunities for young people? There is no work. There is no opportunity to
succeed in life. That is the issue that has been forced upon us by the federal
government decision. We will do it properly. We will do it progressively. We
will talk to those communities and we will work our way through it.
Mr B.S. Wyatt :
When are you going to talk to them?
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Member for Victoria Park, there is a difference between this government and the
previous Labor government—lots of differences.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
One big difference is that when there is a difficult issue and a problem, this
government will walk up to the issue and deal with it. I give members one
example. A legacy of the Labor government was lead pollution in Esperance,
which it literally tried to hide under the carpet. It was this government that
went in and dealt with that. Here is another issue—this time amongst
Aboriginal communities—and we will go in and deal with it. The approach
of the Labor Party is to cause stress and tension. I have put the issue out
there publicly so that Aboriginal people, regional towns in the Kimberley and
the Pilbara, and the wider population of Western Australia know that we have a
very difficult social issue to deal with. Labor would have ignored it.
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