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  • 3 hours ago
The CEO of one of Australia's most remote Indigenous communities has described the housing conditions there as some of the worst in the country. There are more than 100 government owned homes in the Kimberley community of Kalumburu and many of them have long term maintenance issues posing health risks to the families who live in them.

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00:02Black mold, doors and windows that cannot be shot, insect infestation and major plumbing
00:08issues are just some of the issues in desperate need of repair in Kalambarut.
00:16When Matilda Giangara and her family need to use a toilet, they have to walk to another
00:20house.
00:32The house next door has the same problem, the floor floods when Kiran Karadada flushes
00:42the toilet or opens the tap, he's put up with it for years.
00:46I pay rent and I still can't use the toilet.
00:49This electrician has been flown in to do repairs.
00:52We've got 30 jobs at the moment, but probably done more than 10 today.
01:01And then you're flying back this afternoon?
01:03Yes.
01:04Today a fan switch has been replaced, but the house has bigger problems.
01:09It's too high and the snakes and cancodes come in through here.
01:15Kalambarut's CEO says maintenance workers only stay for less than a day.
01:21She wants the Department of Housing to visit to see the conditions first hand.
01:26They've not respected the human beings that are living here and I'm really disappointed
01:30in what's happened.
01:31She says the living conditions are the worst she's seen in Australia and Kalambarut desperately
01:37needs a different approach to maintenance.
01:40When they do come out here, they fix one or two minor things.
01:43They don't look at the bigger picture.
01:44They're certainly not coming out and fixing all the big issues that we have here.
01:48In a statement, a spokesperson from the Department of Housing and Works said extreme weather,
01:54remoteness and difficulties in accessing tenancies in Kalambarut had caused delays.
02:00Contractors are scheduled to return to Kalambarut in the coming weeks.
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