In defence of the Strategic Indigenous Housing Investment Program, on which I worked for almost two years, the program is the largest that the Australian government has ever delivered and Victoria Laurie does not do justice to the commitment of the people I worked with (‘Home Improvement’, June). It was the best example of an integrated cross-departmental program that I had worked on in the Territory. The work of Healthabitat should be applauded because it has made many incremental and measurable differences to people’s lives. But for Laurie to compare Healthabitat’s work against the aims of the National Partnership Agreement is comparing one grape to the whole bunch. Healthabitat’s methodology is part of the solution, but it alone cannot solve the dire living conditions for Indigenous Australian residents in remote areas.
Dr Shaneen Fantin
Edmonton, QLD
