Internal documents have revealed the Northern Territory government last year predicted it would miss its deadline to build hundreds of homes aimed at reducing overcrowding in remote Indigenous communities.
The Commonwealth in 2019 agreed to provide the NT with more than half a billion dollars over five years to construct 1,950 bedrooms – or the equivalent of 650 homes — in a so-called "milestone" schedule.
But letters and other documents obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) show that, as recently as June last year, the NT government was forecasting it would miss the June 2023 deadline.
"I continue to remain concerned about the delay in Australian government-funded capital works delivery under the national partnership," Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt wrote in June last year to NT Remote Housing Minister Chansey Paech.
"I understand forecasting for Australian government-funded capital works provided by the NT Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics continues to extend beyond the national partnership deadline of 30 June 2023."
The NT government also committed to spending $550 million of its own cash on housing over the same time frame.
But the Australian government funding hinges on the NT government hitting targets.
In the letter from June last year, Mr Wyatt said he had requested officials from the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) to work with the NT government "on a viable solution" to ensure the deadline was met.
'500 homes' to be built before July next year
At the end of January 2022 – the most recent date for which Housing Department data is available — the NT government had completed 448 federally-funded bedrooms, or 135 homes — not yet a quarter of the 1,950 bedroom target, which is 15 months away.
That means more than 500 homes still need to be built before the end of June next year.
Mr Paech has told the ABC he is now "comfortable that we'll reach those targets".
“I worked with my departments around putting forward an accelerated program to make sure that we would meet those milestones," he said.
Mr Paech said the NT government had been transparent about the remote housing program and its challenges.
"I've been open and transparent the whole time of my tenure as the Remote Housing Minister," he said.
"I continue to have an open dialogue with Minister Ken Wyatt, I spoke with him around some of the issues and challenges that we were facing."
While Mr Paech has previously made comments about delays in building works due to COVID-19 and the lack of serviced lots to build on, it was not publicly known that his department had been previously forecasting building works to continue beyond the national partnership's expiry date.
One house vacant for over 200 days
The internal documents also reveal that some newly-constructed remote homes, funded by the Australian government, have remained vacant for more than 100 days after completion.
The Department of Housing report said there were 18 newly built homes unable to be allocated to tenants within the expected eight week time frame, including one house that was vacant for 237 days due to "sorry business" and another three homes empty for more than 100 days each.
However, the NIAA said the department had provided appropriate reasons for the delays, including community unrest, cultural reasons and difficulty in allocating a house.
Meeting deadline 'will require concerted effort'
The current national partnership agreement covers housing in the Northern Territory's larger remote communities, and not traditional Aboriginal homelands.
The NT and Commonwealth have previously disagreed over who is responsible for building new homes on communities, including Rockhole south of Katherine, where residents report there have been no new builds for decades.
Correspondence in the FOI documents shows Mr Wyatt dismissed Mr Paech's immediate request for the Commonwealth to fund housing in homelands, saying meeting the national partnership deadline "needs to remain the focus of the NT government".
"This will require concerted effort," he wrote.
Speaking in Darwin last month, Mr Wyatt reiterated that position.
"What I want them to do is build the current housing that is required under the agreement," he said.
Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney said federal Labor was currently considering its remote housing policies and would be making an announcement ahead of the federal election.
"Labor is very interested in looking at the issue of housing and the condition of housing on homelands," she said.
Mr Wyatt's office would not disclose if he would be making further remote housing commitments ahead of the election.
