TIME FOR A NEW APPROACH
Tangentyere Council CEO Walter Shaw has welcomed the release of the NT Public Accounts Committee Report into Town Camps, which was tabled in Parliament last night.
“The report supports what we have been saying for years – the current system of housing management in Town Camps just isn’t working,” Mr Shaw said.
“The PAC findings outline the unfair, ineffective and failing system of managing housing on Alice Springs Town Camps and we call on the Government to implement the recommendations as a matter of urgency.
“The NT Government is moving towards another review of town camps right now, which is all well and good but Town Campers need action now.
“This latest review hasn’t even started yet and is not due to be completed until the end of this year.
“We cannot afford to wait until next year for the NT Government to actually do something to directly address the critical housing shortage on Town Camps.
“As the PAC reports says, there are issues associated with Town Camp housing that are in desperate need of attention and cannot continue to be overlooked.
“Town Camps cannot go on sitting in Housing Minister Bess Price’s too hard basket.
“Setting up more bureaucracies and reviews isn’t going to build one more house or make sure one more family has a functioning home.
“The NT Government-controlled housing system has failed Aboriginal people, in Town Camps, in urban housing and out bush.
“It’s time for all levels of Government to give control over something as fundamentally important as housing back to the community and the people who live there.
“Town Campers need and deserve real commitments and real funding to improve our living conditions.
“We urge the NT Housing Minister to implement the recommendations of this report immediately so we don’t have to continue to live under a broken system.”
May 25, 2016
For more information contact Mandy Taylor 0414 634159