NT homelands review calls for federal govt to be involved in ‘more equitable’ funding plan, six years after CLP took control of outstations for $155m
THE NT government will attempt to negotiate funding for remote Aboriginal communities with the commonwealth, six years after the previous government took control of housing costs in exchange for cash.
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THE NT government will attempt to negotiate funding for remote Aboriginal communities with the commonwealth, six years after the previous government took control of housing costs in exchange for cash.
But the announcement by the NT government, in light of an independent review into its Homelands policy, appears to have caught its federal counterparts off guard.
The NT government on Thursday released the findings of its Homelands Policy Review, which it ordered in October 2019, and its response to 13 recommendations laid out in the report.
The review recommends the NT government “re-engages” with its commonwealth counterparts and land councils to “encourage a more equitable sharing of financial and program responsibilities”.
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This comes after the CLP government in 2015 took control of homelands housing from the commonwealth in exchange for a $155m payment.
The NT government said it would develop a new homelands policy “in collaboration with land councils, the Australian government and homelands residents”.
But a spokesman for federal Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt said in a statement housing was the responsibility of state and territory governments, and that the commonwealth had received “no proposals” from the Northern Territory government.
“People in remote communities should expect their housing services to be provided consistently with housing services in other communities in their state,” he said.
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The NT government has also committed to revising its homelands grants program by “removing red tape and streamlining program funding” by July 2021.
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