Hope for Indigenous home owners

A Hope Vale woman has become the first person in Queensland to be granted a Home Ownership on Indigenous Land home loan package to purchase her own home.

School principal, Cheryl Cannon, hopes to move into her new home in the Indigenous community northwest of Cooktown by the middle of next year.

Premier Campbell Newman congratulated Cheryl during a visit to Hope Vale today when he inspected progress on a display dwelling being built on Hope Valley Estate, just up the road from the block where Cheryl’s house will be built.

“Approval of the loan for Cheryl’s house is a significant step towards encouraging private home ownership in Indigenous communities,” Mr Newman said.

“At present, the vast majority of land within Indigenous communities is owned by the State through Deed of Grant in Trust, which means people living in the communities are denied the right to purchase land and own their own home.”

The Indigenous home loan program was established to overcome barriers such as lack of access to financial institutions and services, low incomes, higher construction costs and an absence of residential property markets in rural and remote areas.

The Newman Government recognises that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Queensland want to own their own homes in their communities.

“That’s why we recently released a Discussion Paper, Providing freehold title in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, which outlines a range of options to make more freehold land available for Indigenous communities,” Mr Newman said.

Mr Newman said that increasing opportunities for home ownership is just part of the Government’s strategy to improve sustainability and self-sufficiency in Indigenous communities.

“The Newman Government is committed to increasing employment opportunities among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Queenslanders, and to helping locals develop the skills they need to manage and grow their own economies,” he said.

“This government’s approach to addressing Indigenous disadvantage is to create jobs and develop local economies that support home ownership and the creation of small businesses.

“If we can create jobs, many of the social problems in the community will take care of themselves.”

Mr Newman said that the more employment and business opportunities that can be created in Indigenous communities, the better the chances of dealing with social problems like alcohol and substance misuse and violence towards women and children.

[ENDS] 15 January 2013

Media contact: Kylie Jacobson 0419 850 223