The Minister for Indigenous Australians has confirmed what Aboriginal organisations have been saying for months: the Northern Territory Government did not want Darwin's largest homeless shelter to continue operating in its current form because it was run by Yilli Rreung Housing Aboriginal Corporation.
The future of the YiSSA Short-Stay Accommodation facility on Batten Road has been uncertain since July, when the NT Government ordered Yilli Rreung Housing Aboriginal Corporation to leave the site within 90 days, after the government and Ausco, which owns the demountable buildings on the site, failed to reach an agreement over their purchase.
The facility accommodates up to 400 people, most of them Aboriginal, including domestic violence survivors and people from remote communities who travel to Darwin for life-saving medical treatment such as kidney dialysis. It is due to close on October 11.
The decision came after the NT Government rejected a Commonwealth funding offer which would have allowed the YiSSA facility to continue operating. The site is on Crown land, with the accommodation blocks owned by Ausco and leased to the Northern Territory under a five-year agreement.
Asked by reporters on Thursday whether the sticking point in negotiations was that the facility was operated by Yilli Rreung, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy replied: "That's correct."
"The Commonwealth did offer the Northern Territory government the opportunity of us paying the $6.5 million on the condition that Yilli Rreung would continue to service the facility and the people here," she said.
"That agreement was not accepted. So we went to the next point in the negotiation, and that was to go part way, which was the $3.5 million."
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Her comments mirror concerns raised by several people who told this masthead they feared the NT Government did not consider it a priority to keep the shelter under Aboriginal control.
The Northern Territory has the highest rate of homelessness in the country, at almost 12 times the national average. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up 87 per cent of the Territory's homeless population.
Asked whether the NT Government was "just not willing to communicate at all at this point," Senator McCarthy said her position is to work with the states and territories to advance commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
"My role is to work with the Indigenous Affairs Ministers and their cabinets to try to do exactly that," she said.
"What I've done in these negotiations is to encourage the partnership with Aboriginal organisations with the Northern Territory Government. That partnership was not accepted by the CLP government."
The comments reflect broader concerns raised by Indigenous organisations, community members and leaders across the Territory, who have accused the Country Liberal Party (CLP) Government of failing to negotiate with them in good faith on issues ranging from housing and land rights to justice.
Last month, the NT Government confirmed YiSSA residents would instead be accommodated at a new Northern Territory Respite and Recovery Facility in Batchelor, next to the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, about 100 kilometres south of Darwin.
The government said up to 150 people would be relocated to Batchelor, while other residents would be moved into alternative accommodation before the Batten Road facility closes.
"The situation is exacerbated by the selection of a non-Aboriginal organisation to manage the facility," Danila Dilba Health Service (DDHS) chair Carol Stanislaus said last month.
"Without any discussion or tender, despite the availability of Aboriginal-controlled organisations with demonstrated competency and capacity in supporting our most vulnerable Territorians."
A large protest was held outside the Australian Homelessness Conference at the Darwin Convention Centre this week, with demonstrators calling for YiSSA to remain open.
NT Opposition Leader Selina Uibo said the CLP Government had justified the closure on the grounds of cost and the conditions attached to the Commonwealth funding offer.
However, the government's own figures showed that $12.7 million would cover the purchase of the YiSSA site and operation of the 300-room service for a year.
By comparison, Ms Uibo said, the Batchelor model involved $18.2 million in public funding for about 150 rooms.
"That is $5.5 million more for a temporary service with half the room capacity," she added.
The NT Government says they will not relocate medically vulnerable YiSSA residents away from their existing services.
Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill has told reporters NT Health was working to find accommodation for residents receiving dialysis close to services in Darwin.
YiSSA resident Leo Lenardo has also voiced opposition to the move, telling reporters he did not want to go to Batchelor.
"The government just kicked us out," he said. "We're on a program where we're all going to get into housing eventually, but the government CLP are being stupid just kicking us all out."
Another resident, Rose Laynbalynba, also pleaded with the government to delay the move.
"We are not really ready to go to a place where we are being sent," she said. "I saw that my people are being mistreated and moved out quickly. Can we cooperate and talk about what is the bottom line?
"What happened here? We want to stay here. This is a safe place. Now, if I go to Batchelor, if anything goes wrong, going from bad to worse, if my kids are being raped or taken, Government will only turn around and blame the Aboriginal people for not looking after the children."
Senator McCarthy this week called on the NT Government to pause the relocation for at least another six months to coincide with the wet season. She said more than 120 people remained at the facility without alternative accommodation.
With AAP
