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Focus on Torres Strait community stores
Committee chair Richard Marles (Member for Corio, Vic ) said well-run local community stores are the lifeblood of many remote Indigenous communities. To understand the importance of these stores, the committee is holding public hearings and inspecting stores on Thursday Island, Badu Island, Masig Island and Mer Island from 30 March to 1 April. The MPs will then travel to the Cape York Peninsula and visit the Northern Peninsula Area and the communities of Aurukun and Kowanyama for further hearings on 1 and 2 April. “The Torres Strait is a unique part of our country,” Mr Marles said. “The geography of it obviously presents challenges. It’s not just remote in distance from our capital cities but it’s also remote in how you can travel there. We are really keen to go there to start with because the issue of community stores, the quality of the food being provided and the cost of that food is as acute in the Torres Strait as it is anywhere. I think we will learn a lot by going there first in terms of what we can do in providing better community stores to remote Indigenous communities in the future.” The ATSIA Committee will be holding a public hearing at Parliament House in Canberra beforehand on 12 March with the federal Department of Family, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, which will be webcast live on http://webcast.aph.gov.au/livebroadcasting/ The committee will also hear from the Australian National University’s Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research. Mr Marles said the quality and cost of food supplies to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities is of critical importance to the health and economic outcomes of these communities. “Community stores are very vital to remote Indigenous communities — there are real issues associated with the food security, with the quality of the food sold at the stores and also with the economic viability of the stores — whether or not they’re making a profit,” he said. “Community stores are not only where people get their food but a range of supplies to carry out their lives. Whether or not these stores end up being community owned or whether they are privately run — all of those are critical questions for those communities. “What’s important is that we have good quality food that is available to all communities no matter how remote they are. These stores are a vital part of that link so what we want to do as a committee is look at how they are functioning, what models are out there and how it can be done better.” More information
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The House of Representatives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Committee will be holding public hearings in the Torres Strait in late March for its inquiry into remote community stores.