Ten Indigenous communities in Western Australia will be given a $52m upgrade as part of a plan to improve the quality of life for people living in remote communities.
But the Kimberley Land Council, which represents 221 of WA’s 274 remote Indigenous communities, is concerned the targeted funding boost will mean some other communities that are still reliant on state government funding will miss out.
It comes two years after the WA premier, Colin Barnett, suggested up to 100 communities faced “closure” at the withdrawal of $90m in federal government funds.
He later backpedalled and announced a wide-ranging review into the service delivery and social problems in remote communities, with a view to ensuring their long-term sustainability.
In a statement on Wednesday, the regional development minister, Terry Redman, who has headed up the remote community service reform process, said that all communities that currently receive state government support would continue to do so, despite the new funding arrangements.
The communities tapped for extra funding are some of the largest Aboriginal-only settlements in the state, accounting for 20% of the more than 12,000 people who live in remote Indigenous communities.
Under a proposal announced in July, the communities will be expanded to become regional “hubs” that will act as service centres for nearby smaller communities and, eventually, be gazetted and given the same town status as comparable non-Indigenous communities, with the same obligations to pay rates and other fees.
“In many remote Aboriginal communities, poor living conditions negatively affect the health of residents and their participation in school and work,” Redman said. “We believe that living conditions can be improved through mutual accountability between households, communities and government.”
Redman said 10 communities would receive a “significant investment in upgrades to power, water, wastewater and municipal infrastructure”, funded by mining royalties, but individual households in those communities would be expected to pay for water and power.
That is currently managed as a collective and paid for by state and federal government subsidies.
Most of the communities slated for upgrade are in the west Kimberley region. The largest is Bidyadanga, a community of 593 people near Broome, and the smallest is Lombadina with a population of 41, also near Broome.
Also singled out for funding near Broome are Beagle Bay, with a population of 308, Ardyaloon, population 332, and Djarindjin, population 202.
Other communities include Bayulu (population 321), near Fitzroy Crossing, and Mowanjum (population 305) near Derby, as well as Warnum (population 344), north of Halls Creek.
Two communities in the Pilbara are also on the list: Wakathuni, a settlement of 91 people near Tom Price, and Yandeyarra, a community of 105 people inland of Port Hedland.
Anthony Watson, the chairman of the Kimberley Land Council, welcomed the funding announcement but said people who lived in the other 264 remote communities still faced an uncertain future.
Among those is Watson’s home community of Jarlmadangah. Also in limbo is the troubled community of Balgo near Halls Creek, which, with an official population of 508, is the second-largest remote community in WA.
“What remains unclear is what this means for those communities that have been left off this list,” Watson said. “By prioritising some communities, it may mean that the state government is de-prioritising others.”
Many of the homelands communities in Western Australia were established in the 1980s as a backlash against failed attempts to move people from different groups into larger towns, with occasionally violent results.
Watson said he remained concerned about the viability of encouraging people to leave smaller communities for the larger “hub” communities, saying it increased the risk of poor housing and overcrowding without addressing the lack of job opportunities.
“Aboriginal people must be assured that they will not be abandoned and that government support for essential and municipal services will be maintained,” he said.
