Indigenous jobs will go and Territory Housing customers will be left in the lurch following a decision by the NT Government to ditch regional councils as maintenance providers.
West Arnhem Regional Council (WARC) is joining a chorus of complaints from six of eight local government regional councils being forced to lay off Indigenous staff.
The Northern Territory government is rejecting regional government tenders in favour of the private sector.
“As of Monday [March 3], we don’t know how anything will be fixed, whether it is repairs, or a blocked toilet, we have been left completely in the dark” said WARC Chief executive Brian Hylands.
Mayor Lothar Siebert said the NT Government had done nothing to advertise the fact that Council was no longer responsible for Territory Housing work.
“This smacks of arrogance from the government.
“Our mob will believe WARC bears responsibility for this, and we will still have customers coming to us for housing repairs – but there is nothing we can do.
“The NT Government has a responsibility to Indigenous people under the Closing the Gap policy.
“Instead, Indigenous people have lost their jobs, and they can’t just pack up and go somewhere else.”
Deputy Mayor James Marrawal said there had been no consultation from the NT Government in his community of Warruwi.
“They don’t tell us what’s happening, we don’t get enough feedback from the government mob on where we’re standing,”
Mr Hylands said the NT Government had taken jobs and revenue away from West Arnhem communities.
“The new contract has fly-in-fly-out contractors, which does nothing to build capacity within our communities.
“By comparison, the Regional Council employs local Indigenous labour as trade assistants.”
Under its previous contract, WARC had 25 positions, 16 of which are for Indigenous staff, he said.
“A number of these positions have been left vacant while waiting to hear the results of the contract,” Mr Hylands said.
“As a result of the government decision, 15 staff will be made redundant or redeployed.
“The government are saying this is about creating local jobs, but all we’ve seen so far are job losses.”
