Aboriginal Communities Water and Sewerage Infrastructure

Mr STEVE WHAN: My question is directed to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. What is the Iemma Government doing to improve water and sewerage infrastructure for Aboriginal people in remote communities?

Mr PAUL LYNCH: Some members on the Opposition frontbench might want to listen to my answer.

Mr Chris Hartcher: Why should we listen when nothing will happen? You will talk and nothing will happen.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr PAUL LYNCH: I would be delighted if the member for Terrigal gave us his plan for a change.

The SPEAKER: Order! The House is not helped by the continual interjections of the member for Terrigal. I place the member for Terrigal on three calls to order.

Mr PAUL LYNCH: The member for Terrigal has never helped this House. Aboriginal communities in this State have Third World water and sewerage standards. Those conditions shame us all. More than that, they are a palpable contribution to indigenous disadvantage and the 17-year life expectancy gap.

[Interruption]

I note the constant interjections of Opposition members who demonstrate their utter contempt for far more serious issues than any issues that they are raising. Inadequate water and sewerage facilities inevitably give rise to greater gastrointestinal disease. Sick kids do not go to school, sick kids do not learn, sick kids do not get educated, and kids who are not educated will be disadvantaged and add to the entrenched disadvantage in indigenous communities.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is too much audible conversation in the Chamber. The Minister is speaking to an important matter.

Mr Andrew Stoner: We read about it in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mr PAUL LYNCH: Does the Leader of The Nationals really want me to tell the House what the Aboriginal community in Kempsey thinks about him? I was there last week. If the Leader of The Nationals thinks I do not like him he ought to talk to his constituents. They have a much more adverse view of him than I do. Despite the best efforts of the Opposition to downplay what I am saying, conditions such as these are unacceptable in twenty-first century Australia. There are more than 60 such discrete communities in this State. I have visited many of them in the 12 months that I have been the Minister.

[Interruption]

The interjections from Opposition members demonstrate their profound racism and contempt for Aboriginal people. As I was saying, I have visited many of the communities in remote New South Wales and I have visited many of the discrete communities that are suffering from inadequate water and sewerage systems. In particular, earlier this year the Premier and I visited the Namoi and Gyngie estates in Walgett. Both of these estates have very significant water and sewerage issues. At one of them what is effectively raw sewerage covers the backyards in which children play—this is particularly noticeable during time of drought.

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Bega to order.

[Interruption]

The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Bega to order for the second time.

Mr PAUL LYNCH: At Walgett on one of the estates I have mentioned on a hot summer's day an overpowering stench pervades all surrounding houses. It comes from a broken concrete septic lid that has remained unrepaired for many years. On another estate an elderly woman is required to put her hand down the sewerage system twice a day to manually operate a malfunctioning pump. There are two broad explanations for these conditions. One is that largely we are talking about ex-missions. For decades infrastructure in those areas often was inadequate, largely because they were Aboriginal missions. In 1983 they were handed over to the newly created local Aboriginal land councils. That was a genuinely progressive development and part of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act—the twenty-fifth anniversary of which we celebrate this year. However, whilst undoubtedly being a progressive step, it was only a first step, and the other steps did not come. Significant land was handed over but without adequate resources to maintain it. The entire estates, including roads, were private land. So, public investment in water and sewerage in the estates did not occur adequately, as it would in non-Aboriginal estates.

The second reason is that whilst there certainly has been a substantial injection of public money, both Federal and State, into some of these estates it has not rectified the problem. It is not the case that there has been no attempt to fix it. I believe the weakness in previous attempts is that there has been little or no focus on maintenance—that is, there has been significant capital expenditure but precious little emphasis on ongoing maintenance. The New South Wales Government now has entered into a long-term partnership with the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council [NSWALC] to bring water and sewerage facilities in New South Wales up to contemporary standards. This will cost approximately $205 million.

Mr Andrew Fraser: You have done nothing for the last 13 years.

Mr PAUL LYNCH: It would be nice to hear what the Opposition plans as an alternative to this instead of the mindless interjections we have had so far. The importance of partnerships cannot be overstated.

The SPEAKER: Order! The House will come to order.

Mr PAUL LYNCH: Apart from putting out a plan and putting some money with it, the other great difference between this side of the House and the other side of the House is that we are committed to developing partnerships with Aboriginal communities rather than giving them orders as our opponents on the other side are doing. Programs and policies imposed on Aboriginal communities simply will not work. Programs and policies designed and implemented in partnership with Aboriginal communities are likely to be far more successful. The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council is, of course, the largest, most important and most democratic Aboriginal body in this country. Under the newly elected board and chairperson Bev Manton it has demonstrated a capacity for innovative approaches to problems. That innovative approach and commitment by the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council in my view will be a significant contribution to combating indigenous disadvantage.

Dealing with these issues is central to achieving the environmental health aims of State Plan priority F1. In his Australia Day speech this year the Premier committed the Government to making substantial inroads into Aboriginal disadvantage over the next three years. This plan delivers on that commitment. The plan has two primary elements. The first is significant capital investment of approximately $17 million over three years to repair or install new equipment in about 26 communities. The second is an ongoing maintenance program. That has been the missing piece of the puzzle in previous expenditure. It is also the element that ensures the capital expenditure we are making now will not go to waste. The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council is committed to providing half the service delivery costs associated with the operation, maintenance and monitoring of water and sewerage systems.

[Interruption]

I note the racist interjections from the opposite side. The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council advises that this represents a recurrent investment of approximately $100 million over at least the next 25 years. The package will provide water disinfection by replacing pipes and treatment plants, improvements to water quality, repairs to centralised sewerage systems and subsurface irrigation, regular inspections and maintenance of pump stations and water treatment plants, regular maintenance and cleaning of sewer pumps and sewer mains, and the regular collection and testing of water.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will cease interjecting.

Mr PAUL LYNCH: It is an indication of the contempt that Opposition members have for what are incredibly important health issues that they have persisted with a cacophony of interjections.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members will cease interjecting.

Mr PAUL LYNCH: Members opposite have an extraordinary contempt for Aboriginal people—a classic example of which is their disinterest in the substance of what has been said today. The other significance of these issues is that they are not just for the Aboriginal community; they are issues for all Australians—even the Opposition. They are, in fact, core Australian challenges. Having a significant number of communities without adequate water and sewerage facilities diminishes the entire country, and certainly the entire State. This initiative is a direct attempt to deal with that reality.