4 Billion Reasons Why Building Homes in Aboriginal Regions Will Achieve Little

Commentary The Australian prime minister has promised that $4 billion (US$2.6 billion) of taxpayer’s money will be a “historic investment” in housing in remote communities across the Northern Territory. Investment implies a return. I doubt there will be a return. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared, “The Northern Territory has the highest level of overcrowding in the country, which we are working to halve by building 270 houses each year.” There was no guide as to which of the scores of discrete Aboriginal communities would be the lucky recipient. At the rate houses deteriorate in the north, and in these communities, the “investment” will be lucky to keep up. But is it even an investment?...