Patricia Karvelas; 1/12/08
The Rudd Government will build more than 4000 houses for indigenous families and flood communities with health workers to tackle chronic disease, in an ambitious new plan to end the staggering life expectancy gap between black and white Australia. Despite hard economic times denting the federal budget, the Council of Australian Governments agreed to spend $4 billion to improve housing, health and employment and to force states to reform indigenous service delivery over the next 10 years. Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin told The Australian yesterday this was a major step forward in the national effort to close the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. She said while the investment was big, it was only the start, and further investment would be needed from all governments. “We recognise that this is a very important step. I think this is groundbreaking … but we know that we have a huge task to close the life expectancy gap. We expect that to take a generation, but this will be a very big step in that direction,” she said. “There’s certainly more to do.”
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24731194-5013404,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Human Rights