Opinion

June 14, 2026

Work brings dignity because work creates independence. It allows people to provide for themselves, support their families and build a future on their own terms.

That is why every Australian should want to see more people in remote communities earning a wage rather than relying on welfare. Work matters. Nobody should object to people finding employment or earning an income. In fact, that should be the goal.

Recently, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy wrote about Labor’s Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program and the opportunities it is creating in remote communities. The Government points to the number of jobs being created. Fair enough.

But alongside that claim sits a question that cannot be ignored.

What happens when the funding stops?

Senate Estimates recently revealed Labor’s remote jobs program is expected to cost taxpayers almost $950 million to create around 6,000 positions by 2030. That works out to approximately $158,000 per job.

At a time when Australians are being asked to fund almost a billion dollars for this program, they are entitled to ask a simple question: what will remain when the funding ends? Because creating a job and creating a future are not necessarily the same thing.

I grew up in Central Australia and have owned a small business. I know how difficult it can be to create jobs, keep the doors open and build something that lasts. I also know the pride that comes from earning your own living and providing opportunities for others.

For decades, Australians have been told that the answer is another program, another funding package, another strategy or another announcement. Billions of dollars have flowed through Indigenous affairs. Yet many remote communities continue to struggle with unemployment, welfare dependency and limited economic opportunity. The question is not whether money has been spent. The question is why, after all this spending, the outcomes remain so poor.

This is why I have repeatedly called for greater scrutiny of Indigenous funding. Not because support should be withdrawn, but because accountability should never be optional. Australians are constantly told more money is needed, yet asking where it goes and what outcomes it delivers is too often treated as controversial.

Pointing to funding levels is not enough. Nor is pointing to programs. What matters is whether those investments are translating into stronger communities, greater self-reliance and lasting economic independence.

Across remote Australia, station owners, tourism operators, transport companies, mechanics, contractors and shop owners create jobs every day while navigating rising costs and economic uncertainty.

The real challenge in remote Australia is not finding new ways for government to employ people. It is creating the conditions where more people can build skills, careers, businesses and futures of their own.

For too long, governments have controlled economic opportunity in remote Australia rather than empowering local people to create it.

That means removing barriers to economic development and creating opportunities for Traditional Owners to become entrepreneurs, business owners and employers in their own communities.

Yet this Labor Government remains focused on expanding government-funded employment rather than creating the conditions for private enterprise to flourish in remote Australia. Lasting economic independence will come from thriving local businesses and sustainable jobs that can survive long after government funding ends.

That is how lasting opportunity is created.

The question is not how many jobs government can fund.

The question is whether those jobs will still exist when government funding is no longer there.

Which brings us back to the central question.

What happens when the funding stops?

Will these jobs still exist? Will local businesses be stronger? Will communities be more self-sufficient?

Those are the measures that matter.

Remote Australians deserve more than another announcement. They deserve thriving local economies, thriving businesses and opportunities that can survive beyond the next budget cycle. They deserve the same thing every Australian wants: the opportunity to build a future through their own effort.

Because after decades of spending and countless announcements, the benchmark for success should not be how much government spends. It should be whether communities are becoming stronger, more prosperous and more independent.

A billion dollars is a lot of money. Remote Australians deserve more than another program. They deserve the opportunity to stand on their own feet and the dignity that comes from genuine economic independence.

Because the true measure of success is not how many jobs government funds, it is how many no longer need government funding to exist.