Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians
GREG JENNETT, HOST: Alice Springs central business district has been under youth curfew for almost a week now and on paper that curfew is meant to expire next week. That decision will fall to Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler. But the Federal Government is keeping a close watch on what plays out in Alice from here. Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy is soon to inspect what's going on in Central Australia for herself. She joined us from Darwin earlier. Malarndirri McCarthy, welcome back to Afternoon Briefing from Darwin, but I wanted to start our discussion about Alice Springs. I believe you might be heading there soon. Is the curfew working?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Good afternoon, Greg. Always happy to join you. It is good to see calm on the streets of Alice Springs. And from the many organisations and individuals I've been able to speak to, they certainly do say it's very calm. So that was the intent, no doubt of the curfew when the Chief Minister introduced it Greg. And I do believe it's the circuit breaker right now that the town has needed, but clearly it's not the long term solution.
HOST: Alright, we might move to some of the longer term solutions after a curfew, but just on the application of the curfew, when would a decision have to be made on whether to extend it or not? And are you, as a representative of the Federal Government actively involved in those considerations?
SENATOR McCARTHY: Well, I was certainly not involved with the announcement of the curfew, Greg, but I will be travelling down to central Australia over the weekend now that we've been able to get residents from the Gulf country back to their home in Borroloola after the recent events of the cyclone. So, I'll travel down through Tennant Creek and down to Alice and get a sense of how people are feeling, what's going on, and also get a deeper understanding of where this will go in terms of the long term commitment of the Northern Territory government. We've committed, from a federal perspective, quite heavily in terms of funding in central Australia, and it's important to get a sense of where people are at.
HOST: Would it make sense to you to extend the curfew, if only to span the duration of the official school holiday period?
SENATOR McCARTHY: Well, it's not for me to say right now, Greg. I think it's really important to listen to the residents of Alice Springs. Certainly the Chief Minister has been on the media saying that's exactly what she's been doing. And I'd like to do the same when I travel down there this weekend to get a sense from the residents of Alice Springs themselves, both those who live there and those who come in from the communities as to how they're feeling. And I'm certainly more than happy to give you my response once I'm down there.
HOST: Alright, now, that's fair enough. You should take soundings yourself. We spoke on the program, since you've introduced the idea, of longer term solutions. We spoke on the program late last week to your colleague, Marion Scrymgour. She is keeping a weather eye on the very large amount of money that has been made available from the Federal Government $250 to $300 million. She clearly has concerns about how some of that has been spent and where it's going. What assurances can you give as Assistant Minister that it either is being spent appropriately or that it's flowing to organisations that might make a difference?
SENATOR McCARTHY: Well, I'm confident, especially in the areas of health, which is the portfolio area, that I also hold, Greg, that the commitment we provided towards Congress, towards the establishment of better health centres throughout the region, for renal dialysis in those areas is flowing and is being put forward in the region. In terms of the broader funding that's gone there, between close to $300 million, we also know that education is a key component of that, every school in Central Australia is receiving that. We've also announced, and that's over $40 million Greg, and, of course, $18 million for boarding schools and options, again, in Alice Springs itself. So, we do have an Aboriginal Leadership Group that I know that Minister Burney consults with and it's important that that Leadership Group speaks to us and certainly speaks to me when I come down next week as to how we're going in some of those other areas.
HOST: Alright. But is there anything from that pot of money, up to $300 million that you think should be on standby to smooth the transition off the curfew back to normal rules of operation around Alice Springs whenever that curfew is to come off. How do you smooth that transition?
SENATOR McCARTHY: Well, that funding is actually over four years, Greg, so it's already in process and progress. What the Northern Territory government is dealing with here is about safety and the issue of keeping people safe, the issue of having police, or PALIS, as they call it, on the alcohol bottle shops to ensure that there is safety around the purchase of alcohol and the consumption of alcohol. So, these are things that the Northern Territory government, as it should deal with in terms of the safety. What we've done is looked at the longer term plan and that is the four year plan, over the $300 million.
HOST: Yeah. Now, it's a large body of work and it will take time I'm sure. You'll be able to assess all of that when you arrive in the centre. Let's move to the Governor-General announcement though today Malarndirri McCarthy…
SENATOR McCARTHY: Isn't that wonderful
HOST: Highly significant. You're going to welcome it I know. Sam Mostyn. You're familiar with her.
SENATOR McCARTHY: Absolutely.
HOST: In what ways do you think she will modernise or reflect modern Australia, which was the Prime Minister's description, and how does she bring that to the office of Governor-General?
SENATOR McCARTHY: Well, we've already seen that, I think in terms of Sam's role with the AFL and having been the first woman Commissioner on the AFL board and the fact that there's the Mostyn Award in terms of Best and Fairest in the AFL women's area, and all of that shows that her leadership in trying to inspire women to achieve not only on the sporting field, but obviously in the boardrooms and right across in terms of gender parity Greg, that brings an absolute delight, I think, to her role as Governor-General.
HOST: It was speculated on, and I think we even discussed it here with you Malarndirri, that the Prime Minister might consider, at least consider an opportunity to appoint an Indigenous Governor-General. That didn't happen. What do we do? Wait another five years?
SENATOR McCARTHY: Well, look, we certainly did discuss it, Greg. In fact, I think I might have suggested you should throw your hat in as well, didn't I?
HOST: Cheekily, you did.
SENATOR McCARTHY: Well, I certainly don't know who may have applied for that or who may have been tapped on the shoulder for a conversation about it, but clearly the Prime Minister is very happy with the choice, and I certainly wish Sam Mostyn all the best.
HOST: Alright, and look, just a final element in our discussion here today. I think we've seen the donations out, I should say, yesterday, and the declarations to the AEC from last year's Voice referendum. What do you think it tells you about the weight of money and where it landed, particularly on the Yes side? So, much money, more than $70 million in total was donated. Did it make a difference?
SENATOR McCARTHY: Well, it was important to have the referendum, Greg, and we made that commitment when we went to the election as you and I have spoken about a number of times. So, I don't think there was anything wrong with doing what we know was a constitutional question that came to us from First Nations people. I think that is something that as a democracy, we should always try and pursue and stick to our word when we say we're going to do that. And we did. In terms of the amount of money that was spent, well, we've seen with previous referendums, no doubt the Republic campaign had an extraordinary amount of money on both the Yes and No side. It's what referendums are about. People are wanting to make sure their side, whichever side that is, does get the outcome. We didn't in terms of a Yes, and we've accepted that decision.
HOST: Yeah, I mean, criticism's been made by people like Bridget McKenzie and others that corporate Australia, we're talking here about banks, supermarkets, miners might in future think twice before placing their bets or putting their money down for these sorts of campaigns, do you think they will? And if they did, would that be a good or bad thing?
SENATOR McCARTHY: Well, it's interesting, isn't it? You also had large corporates that donated to the No side. And I think it's important for each organisation, individual, family, to determine where they stand on issues. And I certainly commend those organisations that stayed with the Yes vote. It was important to First Nations people, Greg, and we saw that with the Northern Territory outcome in terms of the bush. We saw that in bush communities in Queensland and certainly over in Western Australia. It was First Nations people who voted overwhelmingly yes. And sadly, we are underrepresented in terms of the population in getting the outcome we wanted.
HOST: Yes, well, that has flowed under the bridge and we'll see if and when we ever get to another referendum on that or other matters. Malarndirri McCarthy, we'll wrap it up there. Thanking you once again. We'll talk soon.
