The Guardian 11 February, 2009

Ex Labor minister recommends "no job - no house"

Darren Coyne

Aboriginal people living in remote communities must adjust to the idea of moving for work, or become trapped in poverty. That's according to Gary Johns, a former Keating government minister who has argued that new housing should not be provided for remote communities where people were unable to pay rent or service a mortgage.

In a paper released by the Menzies Research Centre, Dr Johns said the government was looking to consolidate Aboriginal towns in the Northern Territory, and elsewhere, by building some up, and letting others die.

"The consolidation involves the distribution of over $600 million for public housing. There is the hope that jobs will follow," he said.

In his paper, No Job No House: An Economically Strategic Approach To Remote Aboriginal Housing, Dr Johns argues that governments should cease building permanent housing for Aboriginal people in remote communities where they do not have a job in "the real economy".

"Employment projections suggest there is little prospect of employment growth in much of the land on which Aboriginal communities are located," he said.

Dr Johns' views copped flak from the Australian Greens, who said his ideas were irresponsible and ignorant of cultural differences.

Under fire

Greens Housing spokesman Senator Scott Ludlam said forcing a "no job no housing" policy would result in enforced migration away from traditional communities and their traditional lands, into town camps where there was already rampant unemployment.

"Over a quarter of Australia's Indigenous population live in overcrowded conditions, with inadequate, low-grade or otherwise substandard housing rampant," Senator Ludlam said.

"Evidence of an 'urban drift' of Indigenous Australians from rural and remote areas into cities that cannot cope with the increased population was presented to a Senate Inquiry in May last year.

"Dr Johns' solution of 'services and facilities to help Aborigines transition into mainstream economic life' reeks of an antiquated, outdated methodology - one more suited to colonialism than modern governance.

"The government has a responsibility to provide equitable housing for all Australians, particularly those most disadvantaged. We need to be looking at the housing, education, health and infrastructure needs of Aboriginal Australians, both in the bush and in the cities."

However, NSW Senator Marise Payne, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Indigenous Affairs, said Dr Johns had made a timely contribution on the issue of Indigenous housing.

"There is an irrevocable link between a strong economy, jobs, home ownership and basic living standards - this is true not just for Indigenous Australians, but for all Australians," she said.

"A move from public housing to home ownership will remain simply impossible for most Indigenous people in remote communities without an equivalent move from welfare to work."

The Koori Mail

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