Housing plan sparks call for more Indigenous consultation
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APY Lands housing ... Indigenous consultation urged. (ABC News: Jason Om)
A community leader on the APY Lands, in far north South Australia near the Northern Territory border, is urging the Federal Government to be more inclusive in its plans for the $25 million it has committed to housing upgrades.
Last month, the South Australian Government signed off on a 50-year lease of the lands so that a $25 million federal housing plan could go ahead.
The plan is in accordance with recommendations from the Mullighan Inquiry into sexual abuse in the region.
Makinti Minutjukur from the Ernabella Mission says good housing will help alleviate some of the social issues highlighted, but Aboriginal people need to be consulted more.
"Sometimes the Government come in and they say, 'oh ... here is the programs, you have to do it' ... they should come sit with Anangu what Anangu wants and then we can put it together."
