Territorians are right to question why they get no bang for the bucks they contribute to Aboriginal services, according to Shadow Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Steve Edgington.
Mr Edgington today moved to set up an inquiry into the billions of taxpayer dollars intended to benefit Aboriginal Territorians.
“Labor cannot manage money and they have no idea what benefits are actually delivered, if any, by more than a billion dollars being spent on countering Aboriginal disadvantage,” Mr Edgington said.
“Now the Federal Government is sending another $250m of taxpayer money to Chief Minister Natasha Fyles to paper over the crime and alcohol crisis she created in Alice Springs.
“But most of the programs we already fund don’t have the declared outcomes, KPIs and accountability that Territorians would expect with such huge expenditure.”
Mr Edgington said it would be irresponsible of Labor to keep throwing money at programs that don’t work or to spend money on new programs that might duplicate services already offered.
“If some programs don’t work, the money should be shifted into programs that do,” he said.
“We know from the Closing The Gap report that the government’s current programs aren’t working – the gap is getting wider.
“Throwing another $250 million at the problem with no accountability would be a reckless use of taxpayer money.”
ENDS