Canberra has declared it will match a 10-year $1.1bn Northern Territory investment in remote housing but criticised Western Australia for having a “whinge” instead of similarly pledging funds.
A separate $776m commitment by the federal government to the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Housing (NPARH) has meanwhile been slashed to just $100m and only for homes within the NT.
The federal government has not announced that it is discontinuing the agreement but the states say it has not begun negotiations to renew it.
The WA housing minister, Peter Tinley, has accused the Turnbull government of turning its back on Aboriginal Australians, saying the cuts would leave South Australia, Queensland and WA with a funding shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars.
But the federal Indigenous affairs minister, Nigel Scullion, said the WA Labor government was just having “a bit of a whinge” and that the commonwealth had only discussed the matter with the NT.
“At least they’ve had the gumption to put money on the table,” Scullion said. “And we’ll be matching that money, significant funds. They’ve put over $1.1bn on the table and that’s why we’re having a conversation with the Northern Territory.”
Scullion said the WA government hadn’t pledged any cash so far.
“Show me the money, as they say, West Australia,” he said. “This is a shared responsibility.”
Scullion said Canberra would insist any future investments under the NPARH agreement were tied to employment outcomes.
The WA and SA governments have previously said funding to address overcrowding in remote Indigenous communities should take precedence over Scullion’s push to introduce home ownership targets to Closing the Gap goals.
WA is believed to be concerned the federal government will not commit to another long-term funding deal but will instead make a one-off commitment.
Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
