The Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister, Mal Brough, says unemployment could be reduced in remote communities by offering more jobs in the hospitality industry to indigenous Australians who could work in major cities.
However, Labor's Federal President, Warren Mundine, says the plan is demeaning and patronising towards indigenous Australians.
Mr Mundine says it would make more sense to improve employment opportunities within the individual communities themselves.
“Let's face reality. If the Aboriginal people who are living in Sydney and Melbourne and Brisbane areas want to go into the hotel industry, why don't we look at encouraging them into the industry so that they can find employment. The statistics tell us that unemployment is just as bad in those places as in any remote or rural communities. What we've really got to do if we're going to help those remote and rural communities move ahead, we need to actually create employment in those communities, otherwise we're going to be wasting our time,” Mr Mundine said.