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Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Page: 1682


Senator Scullion asked the Minister representing the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, upon notice, on 23 November 2010:

Given that the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program [SIHIP] work is released in packages:

(1)   What packages have been released, or commenced, to date.

(2)   What is the value of each of the above packages.

(3)   How many new dwellings, rebuilds and renovations are in each of the above packages.

(4)   What penalties apply for failure to complete all specified new dwellings, rebuilds and renovations in a package.


Senator Arbib (Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development, Minister for Sport and Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) —The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs has provided the following answer to the honourable senator’s question:

(1)   Eleven packages in the following areas have been allocated to alliance partners:Tiwi Islands, Southern Refurbishments, Groote Eylandt, Maningrida, Wadeye, Gunbalanya, Galiwinku, Ngukurr, Lajamanu, Tennant Creek Town Camps and Alice Springs Town Camps.

(2)   The total value of funds allocated to these packages is almost $550 million for new housing, rebuilds and refurbishment works. Infrastructure works are being funded through the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing as foreshadowed in the August 2009 SIHIP Review. Release of funds for these packages by the Commonwealth is subject to targets being met, and as such not all funds have been released as yet.

(3)   Across these 11 packages, 693 new houses and more than 2,180 rebuilds and refurbishments will be delivered. This includes some rebuilds that have been brought forward as part of the acceleration of the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing in the Northern Territory.

(4)   The alliance contracting methodology used for the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program involves risk sharing between the Northern Territory Government and the alliance partners. It is understood that under these arrangements profits are not guaranteed to alliance partners. The method for calculating payments to alliance partners, and making such payments, is the subject of contracts to which the Australian Government is not a party.