Commonwealth to match $1.1b NT housing pledge

Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister, Nigel Scullion, has announced the Commonwealth Government will match a 10-year $1.1 billion Northern Territory investment in remote housing.

The Federal Government will conduct an independent review into the housing conditions in remote Indigenous communities. Source: AAP

The move has been welcomed by the Northern Territory Labor Government, with Minister for Housing and Community Development Gerry McCarthy saying he's "looking forward to meeting with Minister Nigel Scullion in the coming weeks to finalise the details".

“It is also critical that the Federal Government matches our $50 million per annum land servicing commitment to support the delivery of the housing program," Minister McCarthy said.

“A recent report released by the Federal Government highlighted that the Northern Territory has more than half of the nation’s remote housing deficit with the least capacity to pay for it.

“This underlines the importance of the Northern Territory and Commonwealth Governments working together to address the need."

Mr Scullion says other jurisdictions should follow the NT’s lead in pledging significant cash if they expect Federal Government money.

The comments come after WA Housing Minister Peter Tinley accused the Turnbull government of turning its back on Aboriginal Australians by slashing a $776 million commitment to the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Housing (NPARH) to just $100 million, and only for homes within the Northern Territory.

Minister Tinley argued the cuts would leave South Australia, Queensland and WA with a funding shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars.

But Mr Scullion says the WA Labor government is just having "a bit of a whinge" and slammed Minister Tinley for not pledging similar funds to that of the NT government.

“Show me the money, as they say, West Australia,” he said.