NT: Sacked SIHIP head slams Macklin

AAP General News (Australia)
08-19-2009
NT: Sacked SIHIP head slams Macklin

By Tara Ravens

DARWIN, Aug 19 AAP - Money earmarked for desperately needed homes in remote communities
across Australia could be used to prop up an embattled housing scheme in the Northern
Territory.

Hobbled by soaring costs and "appalling mismanagement", the Strategic Indigenous Housing
and Infrastructure Program (SIHIP) is yet to produce a single new home in almost 18 months.

SIHIP's sacked head Jim Davidson on Wednesday went public with a number of damning
claims, including a statement that the scheme was never going to be able to deliver the
750 homes it promised.

Instead, he says the $672 million will result in only 300 new houses, adding that bungling
bureaucrats - seeking to "save (federal Indigenous Affairs Minister) Jenny Macklin's political
skin" - have been reluctant to adopt a more realistic outlook.

"She was poorly advised," Mr Davidson told ABC radio.

"You simply cannot say those numbers because you don't know what you are going to find
until you get out to these places and find out what's wrong with the substructures, what's
wrong with the sewerage system ...

"I think people were so busy trying to protect the minister's reputation that that
became the priority rather than delivering the results."

Both Ms Macklin and NT Chief Minister Paul Henderson are standing by a commitment to
deliver all 750 homes within five years.

But in order to achieve this the budget is likely to blow out to well over $1 billion,
requiring additional funding from the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous
Housing, according to the ABC's 7.30 Report.

NT Housing Minister Rob Knight on Wednesday hinted more money might be needed to achieve
project targets, but he dodged questions about where the $300-odd million would come from.

"At this stage, we are working within the existing budget," he told reporters in Darwin.

Asked if the NT would need to rely on funds set aside for addressing the indigenous
housing shortage nationwide, Mr Knight replied: "Look, at the moment there is obviously
the review happening and we are looking at a whole range of things".

Outrage over SIHIP's apparent lack of progress prompted the NT and federal governments
to appoint two public servants to take a month to "independently review" the scheme.

But Mr Davidson said the official appointed to lead the investigation, Amanda Cattermole,
was also on the SIHIP steering committee and had overseen and signed off on the first
round of packages.

"She is the one who should have made the analysis as to what could have been achieved
within the SIHIP budget, and she is the one who should have, but didn't, advise Jenny
Macklin of what the implications were," he said.

"I want a genuine review by people whose primary interest isn't protecting their minister's
and their skin ...

"The fact of the matter is that it's far from independent."

NT Opposition Leader Terry Mills described the situation as "a dog's breakfast".

"Someone who had a hand in making this breakfast is now going to assess it. Are they
having a lend of us or what?" he told reporters in Darwin.

Former Labor MP Alison Anderson walked out on the government last month after Mr Davidson
reportedly told her only 30 per cent of the SIHIP money would go to build new homes.

He denied that figure on Wednesday, saying it's "more like 45 to 50 per cent" and "anyone
in the construction industry would completely understand that ratio".

"Half of your money in building houses and infrastructure in a place like Groote Eylandt
(in the Gulf of Carpentaria) is going to go in the costs of getting there, supporting
the people while they are there, and then getting them out again at the end of the job."

That these calculations were not used by the federal government to revise down the
total number of houses is one of SIHIP's major flaws, Mr Davidson said as he called on
the commonwealth to "back off".

"I don't want SIHIP to be ruined just to save Jenny Macklin's political skin," he said.

Canberra is doggedly sticking to a promise to build all 750 new homes, and Ms Macklin
has defended Ms Cattermole's appointment.

"She's going through this line by line ... she'll report to me very shortly, and I'm
determined that these houses get built," Ms Macklin said in Canberra.

AAP tr/jl/cdh

KEYWORD: SIHIP WRAP

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