A solution for Indigenous housing?
Accommodation for Indigenous people is still a big problem in many areas. On Queensland’s Palm Island, Deputy Council Chair Alf Lacey wants to get people with alcohol or drug problems out of city parks, and back in the folds of their communities. As Mr Lacey told Valma Garra from Radio 4K1G, reuniting people with their community and family is a starting point for getting lives back on track. His call for rebuilding communities comes as the Queensland government announces the redevelopment of Happy Valley in Townsville will be finished by the end of the year. The government hopes the upgrade of accommodation and health facilities at the site will help address problems with homelessness and public drunkenness in the area. Meanwhile in the Northern Territory, Housing Minister John Ah Kit has warned sub-standard accommodation and social unrest could lead to more Redfern-like riots, and is calling for a $100 million funding boost. The federal Labor party pledged an extra $75 million for Indigenous housing at a policy launch last week. But Minister for Family and Community Services Kay Patterson says Labor’s policy is nothing new, and relying on public housing isn’t the way forward.