CANBERRA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt has issued a warning to state and territory governments that fail to address indigenous disadvantage.
Wyatt, the first indigenous Australian to serve as a government minister, on Tuesday said he was prepared to circumvent governments that fail to meet their Closing the Gap obligations, describing the Northern Territory's (NT) failure to deliver remote indigenous housing as "a disgrace."
Established in 2008, the Closing the Gap framework aims to reduce the everyday disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Wyatt used a speech in Darwin on Tuesday to warn that "where critical and key service delivery is failing, we must look to new partnerships to ensure that no one is left behind."
"It is unacceptable that so many Indigenous Australians in the NT live in overcrowded and inadequate housing," he said.
"People in remote communities should expect their housing services to be provided -- just as they would in any other location in Australia. The fact that this is not happening is a disgrace -- and in the year 2020 -- and looking ahead to 2021 -- something that neither I nor the NT government should allow to happen."
Wyatt is on a tour of the NT where he will announce that 100 million Australian dollars from a mining royalties fund will be unlocked for use by indigenous businesses as they recover from the coronavirus pandemic and to develop Aboriginal land.
In his speech on Tuesday he stressed the importance of partnerships with communities that enable "joint decision making and a genuine commitment to co-designing solutions." Enditem
