Page 165 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
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government’s foresight and our determination to switch to clean, renewable energy sources is not only reducing our city’s carbon footprint but is also providing financial relief to Canberrans.
Taken together, with the reduction in car insurance and fuel costs and the electricity price drop, the average Canberra family will be saving hundreds of dollars each year.
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders—Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm
MR MILLIGAN: My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. Minister, in answer to question on notice 2843 about the intended purpose of the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm, you quoted a statement from Mr Gentleman that he made in 2014. The statement was, “The farm will not be a place for medical treatment or to detoxify. Rather, it will be a place free of drugs and alcohol.” This seems at odds with the recurrent expenditure appropriation made under a second appropriation bill in 2007, the purpose of which was “to provide for a culturally appropriate residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in the ACT”.
Minister, if a person addicted to drugs or alcohol goes to a place where there are no drugs or alcohol, is that not part of a program to detoxify and rehabilitate?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mr Milligan for the question. There is a continuum of support that is required for people who have a drug and alcohol addiction. It is not appropriate to send somebody who would be experiencing significant withdrawal symptoms to a location remote from health services, without clinical support to detoxify, when they may be experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
The Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm is operational and continues to provide a place of healing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to feel safe and supported while making ongoing and meaningful changes to their lives. That is at the further end of the continuum of rehabilitation. There is not one single thing that you do to rehabilitate when you have a drug or alcohol addiction. It is a complex matter that requires a range and a continuum of supports.
The programs at the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm provide clients with the opportunity to participate in a range of cultural activities such as land management, mindfulness, music, yarning circles and a healing program. The directorate is currently finalising the procurement for some providers to deliver services as part of the therapeutic programs for the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm for 2020, and planning is underway. Importantly, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation has progressed the healing framework to be delivered at the farm, with facilitation of two knowledge circles with the United Ngunnawal Elders Council to identify the healing vision for the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm. This is not the same thing as detoxification.
MR MILLIGAN: Minister, when did the government amend the 2007 appropriation to change its purpose from being a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility?
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