Peter Dutton says coalition government will bring ‘meaningful employment’ to remote communities
The federal opposition says he plans to create ‘meaningful employment’ in remote communities, while the Federal Indigenous Australians minister has her own plan, involving ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’. Find out more.
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“Meaningful employment” will come to remote communities if the coalition government is elected this year, according the federal opposition leader, but the current government says its plan will see residents with “jobs, jobs, jobs”.
Speaking in Alice Springs on Wednesday, federal opposition leader Peter Dutton said his party “strongly supported” a work-for-the-dole program and, if elected in the upcoming federal election, he would work closely with the Territory government to deliver “meaningful employment”.
Elaborating on what “meaningful employment” was, Mr Dutton said “I think engagement in relation to some of the programs that we’ve spoken about before in delivery of health services, delivery of law and order services and outreach services that government departments may not be able to provide on a daily basis”.
“Given the importance of connection to country as well, there’s a lot of work meaningfully that can be done in communities around housing projects,” he said.
“There are many aspects of work that could be meaningful and you need to have a will to do it, and the Territory government has that will. The Albanese government in Canberra doesn’t.”
However, federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy told the national masthead her vision for remote communities centred on “jobs, jobs, jobs”, reworking the work-for-the-dole scheme – also known as the Community Development Program (CDP) – in way which encourages private enterprise.
Ms McCarthy’s proposal seeks to transition the CDP into a remote employment service, aiming get residents jobs in either the private or public sectors.
“It’s about local people doing local things but it’s also about people who want to go beyond their local situation and environment to do something far broader, whether it’s national or international,” she said.
The model is currently being trialled, with 200 Aboriginal people already on board, The Australian reported.
A further 3000 are set to join the trial within three years, with Ms McCarthy believing the 40,000 people currently on the CDP would eventually take part – if Labor wins government at the next election.
“I know that if we can roll this out successfully in this term, and if we are given another one, we will see a marked improvement not only in the lives of First Nations people but also more generally in the lives of all Australians,” she said.
“I want to bring back the dignity of work.”
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