The Northern Territory's Aboriginal Affairs Minister says he is "offended and disgusted" that former prime minister Tony Abbott failed to meet with him on his first trip to the NT as the Indigenous affairs envoy, labelling the visit an excuse to "get around kissing some black kids".

Key points: Tony Abbott visits remote NT communities for the first time as special envoy on Indigenous affairs

Tony Abbott visits remote NT communities for the first time as special envoy on Indigenous affairs NT Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ken Vowles "offended and disgusted" Mr Abbott did not meet with him

NT Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ken Vowles "offended and disgusted" Mr Abbott did not meet with him Special envoy trip labelled a "photo opportunity" and excuse to "get around kissing some black kids"

Mr Abbott was tasked with improving remote school attendance and performance as part of his role as special envoy on Indigenous affairs, and visited the remote communities of Warruwi and Galiwin'ku on Tuesday.

However, the visit has come under scrutiny from NT Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ken Vowles, a Wakaya/Waramunga man, who lambasted the special envoy appointment as "politics 101".

Loading

"[Mr Abbott] hasn't bothered to meet with me as Aboriginal Affairs Minister and I'm pretty offended and disgusted by that," he said.

"It's about keeping him busy, give him some extra coin, give him a special title.

"Get around kissing some black kids and getting some good photo opportunities, but actually doing nothing."

During his visit, Mr Abbott met with NT Education Minister Selena Uibo to discuss early childhood investment.

However, Mr Vowles questioned why he too was not involved in those discussions.

"I thought I'd get a call as Aboriginal Affairs Minister, but he didn't have any time for me," he said.

"We've had a conversation about what they spoke about … I'll take the advice and what she's told me about those meetings."

Mr Abbott declined to comment.

On Tuesday, Mr Abbott told Sydney radio station 2GB he wanted to ensure children in remote communities were attending class every day.

"The outcome has got to be that at the end of their schooling they can read, write, count, think and function tolerably well in modern Australia as well as in remote communities," he said.

Mr Abbott visited the Warruwi and Galiwin'ku communities as part of the trip. ( Twitter: Tony Abbott )

"Because we've got to give people the choice.

"Structure, discipline, repetition and I guess that sense of mastery that comes when you actually start to get things right, that's really, really important in these schools."

'We need to listen and encourage local decision-making'

Ms Uibo said she would welcome any Commonwealth input into improving school attendance in remote communities.

However, she cautioned the special envoy to listen to "a broad range of Aboriginal people".

"We need to listen and encourage local decision-making," she said.

"It is only genuine engagement with Aboriginal families and communities that will create the kind of generational change that will lead to long-term improvement in school attendance and education overall."

Mr Abbott's decision to accept the role of special envoy on Indigenous Affairs has been drawn a mixed response from Indigenous groups and politicians alike, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison previously defended the appointment.

Stop 'being a bonehead', Indigenous Affairs Minister says

On Thursday, Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said Mr Vowles should stop being a "bonehead".

Senator Scullion, who also represents the Northern Territory in Parliament, said Mr Vowels could work constructively by sending more federal funding to remote schools.

"That would be something you could actually do rather than just being a bonehead," he said in Alice Springs.

"Kenny Vowles wants Tony Abbott to meet with him on the fifth floor [of Parliament House] in Darwin.

"Well let me tell you there's not many Indigenous kids on the fifth floor in Darwin, although they could teach him a thing or two."

Senator Scullion said Mr Abbott's role, which was offered to him by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, focussed on Indigenous education.

"I don't understand. Kenny's just had a bit of a gap in his thought, his normal rational thinking and he's just lashed out because he's been told to lash out," Senator Scullion said.

"This is just more politicisation on an area that he should know better on."

The Minister also defended Mr Abbott's experience in Indigenous issues facing Australia.

Senator Scullion denied having Mr Abbott in the ambiguous envoy role would cause confusion for the NT Government.

"If the Territory Government are getting all terribly confused, they can ring me and I can give them Tony's number," he said.

Borroloola's Gadrian Hoosan says the Gulf coast community was unhappy that Mr Abbott had been appointed Indigenous Affairs envoy ( ABC News: Jane Bardon )

'We're not happy with him': Borroloola community

Meanwhile in Borroloola, community members said Mr Abbott was unwilling to listen to their ideas on how to solve problems in the community, such as overcrowded housing.

"He didn't want to sit down and listen to us, he just wanted to get up and go," said parent and school council member Gadrian Hoosan.

"We told him we didn't want him coming around here brainwashing our kids… he got pissed off because we all jumped down, we all jammed him from every corner."

He said the Gulf coast community was unhappy that Mr Abbott had been appointed Indigenous Affairs envoy.

"We never voted him in, we don't want Tony Abbott, we don't want him to be an Indigenous envoy, we don't want him to be our spokesperson or something like that, we know what he done before [when he was prime minister]," Mr Hoosan said.

"He supported the intervention, he's the one who pulled back the funding and everything. What Aboriginal community is going to sit down and listen to him?"

Mr Hoosan said the community didn't like being told what to do, and that real change would come from the community being supported in its problem-solving and grassroots decision-making.

"The meeting ended really not good because he wouldn't listen, he didn't want to listen to any people in the community," he said.

"We're not happy with him… We need the Government to sit and listen and start finding a way how we can fix this together and take all this pain and trouble away from us, together."

He also said community members were worried about Mr Abbott's commitment to bilingual education.

Borroloola elder Jack Green said children needed to know their own culture.

"It's not good because our kids need to be trained, our law and our culture, it's very important for Aboriginal people to keep our knowledge and our laws together," he said.

"We need to train both [languages] I suppose, but important that we speak with our culture, there's no one can stop us learning our kids with our culture."

However Gregory Crofts, the outgoing chief executive of Mabunji Aboriginal Corporation, said he supported Mr Abbott's trip.

He said Mr Abbott met with the Mabunji Creche staff and Playgroup staff to discuss their individual programs and how the deliver early childhood learning and culture.

"I support Mr Abbotts recent visit, he was genuine in his questions and showed concern about the education of future generations," Mr Crofts said.

While he agreed culture was important, so was equipping young people "going into the real world".

He also said some of those who spoke out against Mr Abbott's visit may have been more interested in advancing personal agendas, rather than advancing children's development.

"There are a number of elders in our community working behind the scenes with the young to help them learn and develop, these are the quiet achievers, these are people with genuine concern, these are the people who know outcomes are achieved by being involved directly," he said.

"These elders don't crave media attention."