Prime Minister Kevin Rudd admits it is going to be a challenge delivering his $100 million housing and infrastructure package for town camps in Alice Springs without the support of the local Aboriginal council.
The Commonwealth has threatened to compulsorily acquire 15 town camps if the Tangentyere Council is still refusing to lease the camps for 40 years to the Government by July.
The council has described the Government’s plan as a “land grab” but the Government says its actions are essential in the delivery and management of new infrastructure.
Speaking in Darwin today, Mr Rudd admitted it is not an ideal situation but he says he cannot sit back and watch the living conditions on the camps deteriorate further.
“We’ve got to take hard decisions and we believe we’ve taken the right decision there,” he said.
“The [Indigenous Affairs] Minister, Jenny Macklin, has spent a long time trying to negotiate with the council, [and it] didn’t work.
“So you can either just haul up the white flag and say, ‘Too hard, walk away’, or you can actually put your shoulder to the wheel and have a go.”
He says the Government is going to have a go, and intends to make a difference.
“And this will be tough in the implementation, I grant you, but the alternative is to do nothing,” he said.
However, the chief executive of Anglicare NT has condemned the Government’s takeover threat.
Coralee Nichols says the move is unacceptable, unnecessary and will only compound existing problems around homelessness.
“If a community based organisation is having a difficult time it’s not up to the Government to come in and take over.
“It’s up to the Government to work out how to better support these organisations.
“It’s up to the Government to provide a partnership role so that these organisations can actually be driven by the organisations they’re supporting.”
Meanwhile, Mr Rudd has rejected the Federal Opposition’s accusation the Government has gone “soft” on the federal intervention.
A Government discussion paper on the intervention proposed allowing people to apply to be exempt from welfare quarantining.
Mr Rudd says the Government is committed to using the intervention to improve Indigenous disadvantage.
“We are going to see it through because we are determined to have in place policies which materially close the gap in life expectancy and infant mortality and safety for Aboriginal communities, as well as improving the educational outcomes and the health outcomes for Aboriginal people.”