Housing and the cost of living has dominated the Federal election campaign, with both major parties promising millions to ease the burden and boost the housing supply. In the Northern Territory, where homelessness is the highest in the nation and overcrowding in remote communities is dire – change can’t come fast enough. In one small community south of Darwin, residents are asking what different a major housing promise made by the prime minister last year has made to life on the ground. We visited the community of Binjari for this special report.
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00:00Deep in the Northern Territory's remote heartland, the tiny community of Binjari made national
00:10headlines last year after a big visit from the top.
00:14We want to close the gap.
00:16What we've said is that we want to look at measures that will make a practical difference
00:21to people's lives.
00:22Anthony Albanese promising billions to fix the NT's dire housing situation in the bush.
00:29But more than a year on, life in Binjari hasn't changed.
00:33They were saying that we're going to build more houses, but nothing.
00:37We're still waiting.
00:40Danielle Raymond shares the two bedroom unit behind her with up to six others.
00:45It's not uncommon for up to 15 people to share a home here.
00:49We need more, like, extra rooms in a home.
00:52The $4 billion investment aims to build 2,700 homes in the Northern Territory over the next decade.
01:01According to the NT government, which oversees the spending, $24 million has gone toward repairing
01:07remote homes.
01:0925 new or replacement homes have been delivered across 28 communities, but Binjari isn't one
01:16of them.
01:17How are you?
01:18Hi, Libby.
01:19Hi, Libby.
01:20Resident Olivia Raymond spoke to the Prime Minister during his visit about her poor living conditions.
01:26When the rain comes, you know, we'll have mole coming from underneath and mosquitoes and
01:31we hardly sleep at night.
01:33Debbie Aloysi has spent decades working in Binjari and heads the local corporation.
01:39She's witnessed living standards go backwards.
01:42They'll come out and they'll give you these motherhood statements and then nothing happens.
01:47This is where the community of Binjari gathered more than a year ago to hear the Prime Minister's
01:51announcement.
01:52Since then, not only has not a single new house been built here, but employment for local
01:57construction workers has dried up.
02:00The community says they're frustrated to see progress stall, especially when Binjari was
02:05used as the backdrop for a multi-billion dollar housing promise.
02:10Father, Justin Maroney, thought the Prime Minister's announcement would bring more work to the
02:15community.
02:17Government building tenders have dried up and he's doing odd jobs around town to get
02:21by.
02:22I used to have a car, and every time it used to break down, I always had money there to
02:27pay for it.
02:28Now, I had to get rid of it.
02:30The Northern Territory government insists it is on track to meet the targets set under
02:35the remote housing agreement.
02:37But its future under a coalition government isn't clear cut.
02:40How they're being carried out and delivered and also costs associated with those bills will
02:47all be considered and under review.
02:50As the federal election draws closer, the community of Binjari feels neglected.
02:55There's a lot of, you know, kids.
02:57They've got to grow up, you know.
02:59We need houses for the future as well.
03:01Speaking up for those relying on change.
03:04方 and choses being used in front of the victimicy, your own language and at the time, even if it włati is
03:11been open in quite one hour or two years later, moving forward and building his own music and
03:17everydayeda quickly, moving forward and happening anyway.
03:17God says, it's a strongaining momentos inside and building a big part of it till the end of you have
03:23ations with a maximum alcohol island there.
03:25And on behalf of the victimess, the enemy of the human being isría close, it's a stronghold,