Brough defends housing move: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Patricia Karvelas, John Stapleton, Additional reporting: Anthony Klan. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 23 Feb 2007: 4.
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MORE than $100 million a year would be slashed from Aboriginal housing in urban areas under a Howard Government plan aimed at ending corruption by indigenous land councils and forcing city Aborigines to join the mainstream housing market.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough said yesterday that 600 indigenous housing bodies were mismanaging taxpayer money, but his proposal to divert thefunds from major urban centres to remote communities would only affect a small proportion of urban Aborigines.
Yvonne Simms, 55, has lived at La Perouse all her life and is angry at Mr Brough, who visited the community last year, for falsely raising hopes that something would be done about the derelict state of the homes. But she agrees with Mr Brough about the corruption in indigenous land councils.
MORE than $100 million a year would be slashed from Aboriginal housing in urban areas under a Howard Government plan aimed at ending corruption by indigenous land councils and forcing city Aborigines to join the mainstream housing market.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough said yesterday that 600 indigenous housing bodies were mismanaging taxpayer money, but his proposal to divert thefunds from major urban centres to remote communities would only affect a small proportion of urban Aborigines.
"The overwhelming majority of indigenous Australians in cities live in state public housing, private rental properties or either own or are buying their own home," he said.
Mr Brough said while Aborigines in cities had access to housing through a variety of sources, only 40 per cent of the $240 million spent on new indigenous housing and maintenance reached remote communities.
"This imbalance needs to be addressed if we are serious about tackling housing issues in remote communities," he said.
Mr Brough's views on corrupt land groups won agreement from some Aborigines living in urban indigenous housing.
At La Perouse -- 30 minutes' drive from Sydney's central business district -- Aborigines occupy 28 houses with spectacular views across Botany Bay that would deliver a windfall of up to $20million if sold to developers.
But the houses themselves are basic and poorly maintained.
Yvonne Simms, 55, has lived at La Perouse all her life and is angry at Mr Brough, who visited the community last year, for falsely raising hopes that something would be done about the derelict state of the homes. But she agrees with Mr Brough about the corruption in indigenous land councils.
She believes that millions of dollars are being wasted or rorted through the land council system, wasted on bureaucrats and useless reports while the families themselves continue to live in poverty.
She also believes that Aboriginal bureaucrats show no respect for the indigenous elders in La Perouse.
"There is a big story here," Ms Simms said. "I would love to tell him about the rorting and the way the NSW Government has covered it up. Even in our own mob, the system is rife with nepotism."
Ms Simms said that while she admired the Lands Rights Act, she would like to see the land councils themselves abolished.
"They are rotten to the core," she said. "We want the Government to show us respect, to understand how significant La Perouse is to the traditional land owners."
Mr Brough said a recent review found one land council in a major city provided housing to five current or former board members and gave priority to people already in mainstream public housing.
It also had more than $500,000 sitting in a bank account.
And he cited other examples: one of a major regional centre with seven separate organisations involved in Aboriginal housing; and another of a land council that had six brand new houses sitting vacant because of poor management within the organisation.
But Labor's indigenous affairs spokeswoman, Jenny Macklin, said Australia's housing crisis would only get worse if the Howard Government scrapped support for indigenous housing in cities.
"Responsibility for indigenous housing was transferred to the commonwealth from ATSIC in 2004, so the Government has had the power for 2 1/2 years to stamp out this alleged rorting," Ms Macklin said.
"Taking away money from indigenous Australians in urban areas will not solve these problems. In fact, it will only make them worse. Stripping money from maintenance of existing urban housing stock won't help the situation either."
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