2014-02-19
Madam Speaker Purick took the Chair at 2 pm.
Education Cuts
Ms FYLES to MINISTER for EDUCATION
You have consistently refused to be truthful with Territorians about the real impacts of your education cuts …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This is a clear breach of Standing Order 112: general rules. It relates to epithets, inferences and those types of things. This is accusing the minister of being a liar. He is not and it should be ruled out of order, I argue.
Mr GUNNER: Madam Speaker, speaking to the point of order. The member is five words in. I think she is allowed to ask the question.
Mr ELFERINK: She has already made an allegation of lying, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, I caution you to be very careful of how you word your question.
Ms FYLES: You are hiding the real number of teacher positions cut from our schools and have refused to reveal how many teachers have not had their contracts renewed. The Australian Education Union requested these figures under freedom of information. Instead of clearly answering the question, you answered with these 11 455 pages. I seek leave to table these pages.
Leave granted.
Ms FYLES: Why do you not stop hiding behind the mountain of paper, come clean and answer the question: how many teachers and workers on contracts have lost their jobs in Territory schools?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nightcliff for her question. I think we have done everything we have been asked. The information was asked for and provided. However, let us talk about the truth for a second because we have had the member for Nightcliff consistently allege things happening in our schools which we have proven again and again to be untruthful.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. The minister can table the figures here and now, and clear …
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The minister was only 10 to 20 seconds into his answer.
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, I am gobsmacked the member for Nightcliff would be the one to talk about truth and honesty. Only last night, in her tirade at the closing of parliament - I quote from Hansard:
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. It is about education cuts. Gary Nairn sent that e-mail today.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. I give the minister latitude; he is answering the question.
Mr CHANDLER: The question was about truth and honesty and what we bring into this parliament. I am happy to table this e-mail from the Commissioner, Gary Nairn, sent on Monday 10 February 2014 at 8:57 am, copied to the Northern Territory Planning Commission, Nightcliff electorate and, of course, Natasha Fyles. It says:
The e-mail goes on. I would be calling on the member for Nightcliff to perhaps offer an apology …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker. I asked a question about education. When will you table the cuts from our schools?
Mr CHANDLER: This is not the only time. I can quote from a point of order the member for Nightcliff made yesterday about the social analysis this government undertook with the community before putting an island there.
The last time I was in Nightcliff, there was no island. The member for Nightcliff makes it up. Half of the things which happen in this place are made up by the other side.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was about education and cuts to teacher numbers in our schools.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Minister, you have the call if you wish to continue.
Mr CHANDLER: People like the NT Planning Commissioner or those people who lead our boards are like our public servants; they do not deserve to have their names tarnished in this way with untruths from the other side, like most of the stuff this side raised last year in relation to education. It was untrue and was brought in here time and time again by the member for Nightcliff, whose credibility is in question. I call on the member for Nightcliff to apologise to our Planning Commissioner, the Hon Gary Nairn.
Mr KURRUPUWU to CHIEF MINISTER
Could you update the Assembly on this morning’s Bombing of Darwin Commemoration?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. I know, as does he, the Tiwi Islands have a unique place in Australia’s war time history, a very important element of what we were commemorating today, and I appreciate his question. It was the Tiwi people who first saw the Japanese planes flying over on their way to Darwin in 1942.
The Bombing of Darwin was perhaps the darkest chapter in the Territory’s history. Japan’s surprise attacks on 19 February 1942 killed hundreds and destroyed the city. It was the day innocence was lost and the day the war came to Australian shores. The day was declared a national day of observance in December 2011 by the Governor-General, and is now officially known as Bombing of Darwin Day. Thanks go particularly to the member for Solomon, Natasha Griggs, for her determination in seeing this happen.
It means new generations of Australians are learning about this difficult chapter in Darwin’s history and the history of the Territory. It is through understanding the true horror of war that future generations can hope to avoid its pain and suffering. Close to half of those who died were Americans, mostly on board the USS Pirie, which took five direct hits when Japanese aircraft launched their surprise attack.
It was moving to see US Ambassador John Berry yesterday, having a chat with him about the commemorations today, along with the Japanese Ambassador to Australia who was in the audience this morning. Our relationships with the countries were forged together in war; however, both countries are now among our most trusted friends, allies and trading partners, particularly in the Northern Territory. It was a true honour to be present at both ceremonies today, at the Pirie memorial and the Bombing of Darwin.
It was also an honour to have the veterans in the hall of Parliament House today. Speaking with those veterans, identifying people who were there on 19 February 1942 - I think there were about 17 people in the hall today who were there - and acknowledging the change in dynamics from the Northern Territory and Darwin from 19 February 1942 - for those who can recall it - where we are today and what those new relationships mean for the Northern Territory, particularly with Japan and the US. It was interesting to hear people talking about their acceptance and desire to see a greater involvement of the US and their Marines’ deployment rotation occurring over the last couple of years, including this year and into next year as well. It was good to hear people welcoming this, particularly those who have seen the change since 19 February 1942.
Today will go down as an important day, as it does every year, and it is important we always maintain it within our curriculum and share with the rest of Australia the impact of war coming to the shores of the Northern Territory.
Ms LAWRIE to CHIEF MINISTER
A call yesterday afternoon to businesses in Alice Springs has confirmed what you have been refusing to admit. The economy has flat lined and because of your power price increases people are hurting. Businesses have reported what was once a weekly purchase is now a fortnightly or monthly special treat. There is a real feeling of uncertainty and the only activity people can point to is the 33 houses being released, off the plan, in the Labor suburb of Kilgariff. Will you now admit you got it wrong on managing the economy – government is important to regional economies – and will you explain to businesses in Alice Springs your plans to get them out of the flat line you have put them into?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there is no doubt there is a change in the economy in Central Australia. I will give you my understanding of how the economy in Central Australia works in many regional parts of the Northern Territory.
It would be very easy to complain about the devastating effects of disadvantage, alcoholism, welfareism and despair in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. It would be very easy to outlay poor school attendance, chronic domestic violence and all those issues we see in many Aboriginal communities in the Territory. They have occurred for many a long year and many a generation in the Territory.
It is interesting when you reflect on the economy since 2006 in the Territory and see the money which came in through the intervention, designed to fix many things. I am not attacking the intervention; I am talking about it as a measure. Many of the things resulting from it were about building infrastructure - schools, preschools and so forth. You then look at adding on top of it the BER stimulus package Kevin Rudd introduced, and you look at the money which flowed into the Northern Territory. A lot of money flowed into the Territory from federal coffers, mostly through the Territory government. It helped stimulate the size of the infrastructure spend in the Northern Territory and went out to many construction companies in the Territory.
We came in and now have a $5.5bn debt legacy from Labor, which we are trying to repay. We know the federal government is around $500bn in debt. It does not have money to throw around, and we are determined, in government and in Cabinet, that we will not parade around poverty and misery for Aboriginal people to try to get money from Canberra to support our economy.
What we are doing - and we saw yesterday the promotion, announcement and launching of our pitch for taking the lead role in northern Australia - is allowing ourselves to start growing the economy, not running it as a welfare-based economy. Yes, we get a lot of our income from the federal government. Much of it is designed to assist Indigenous Territorians, but the best assistance we can give is to move away from the cycle of welfareism. Much of it is economic welfareism which supports business and moving to the real economy. This is why we want to build roads, see water licences issued, see changes in the Pastoral Act and see these economic drivers being developed so we can create jobs and have a different economy from the generations of the past.
Generations of the past lived off a welfare economy. It does not matter if you are individuals, what we do when you talk about the Alice Springs and other regional economies - we will not go into debt. We will not lambast Aboriginal Territorians to try to get money for people to get jobs. We want real jobs in real economies. It is what northern Australia is about and is what we will continue to do on this side of the Chamber in our term of government to build a proper economy in all areas of the Territory.
Ms LEE to MINISTER for MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS
On this special day, we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the Bombing of Darwin. Can the minister update the House on the involvement of the Filipino community on that fateful day and how those brave people are being remembered?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, thank you to the member for Arnhem for her question. She is well aware of many local people who died on this fateful day 72 years ago.
It is a great honour to update the House on what has occurred today and yesterday. Briefly on today’s Bombing of Darwin ceremony, I pay my respects to all those people, both military and civilians, who paid the ultimate price in the defence of Darwin, and those who were here, sadly, during the bombing. Yesterday there was a ceremony held at the Defence of Darwin Museum, attended by Her Excellency Belen F Anota, who is the Philippine Ambassador to Australia; Mr John Rivas, Honorary Consul; Mr Oscar Parian, the President of the Filipino Association of Australia NT; Dr Tom Lewis; and many others, to acknowledge the contribution of a number of Filipino merchant sailors who, sadly, died on 19 February, 72 years ago.
These sailors were on two ships, the Florence D and the Don Isidro, and were killed during the Japanese air raids while outside Bathurst Island. They were part of a secret flotilla which had come to Darwin and was going to resupply allied and Philippine troops who were on islands just off Manila Bay during the Japanese invasion.
They were the first victims of the air raid on the day of the incoming Japanese attack; they were strafed and bombed and were finished off on the way out. They copped a double dose.
The Filipino community had about 100 members present yesterday, along with approximately 50 or 60 other local representatives, for the unveiling of a plaque which will be placed on a memorial wall at the Darwin Military Museum at East Point. This wall commemorates all those from many countries who died here. If you ever get an opportunity, I encourage everyone in this House to go for a walk past that wall. It is a very moving experience.
We all know there are many descendants from Filipino sailors who came here in the early 1800s, those who came here during the war and stayed, and there are many local families who have intermarried with European and Aboriginal families here. The first name which comes to mind is the Cubillo family who are of Philippine and Aboriginal descent. Many people, like all of us here, will acknowledge these people have now been recognised for the ultimate sacrifice they made in the war effort in not only defending Australia, but defending the free world.
Mr VOWLES to MINISTER for COMMUNITY SERVICES
The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, under the Chairmanship of Mr Bernard Abbott, has worked to responsibly balance the needs of sacred site custodians with the business needs of developers. The AAPA has a key role in facilitating the planning and development of hundreds of projects across the Territory. You have admitted you are reviewing the role of AAPA, but you have not revealed the real reasons. How will your proposed changes to the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act affect how AAPA protects sacred sites, and what control measures has the Chief Minister asked you to consider as part of your review?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Johnston for the question. I have enjoyed getting my head around the challenges facing this portfolio, including what the member has raised today. The sacred sites authority, AAPA, is one organisation which means a great deal to Aboriginal people, me and the members for Namatjira, Arnhem and Arafura. I note the member’s question raised the issue of AAPA. This is an important issue for all of us and one I am happy to listen to the member’s concerns about, and consider them.
First, let me thank the staff and Dr Ben Scambary of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority for their hard work, also Bernard Abbott, who I know is very sick.
AAPA is known for its capacity to negotiate outcomes and situations where development and sacred sites coincide. The former Minister for Regional Development initiated a reform process to identify legislative amendments to the Sacred Sites Act to be put forward for Cabinet consideration. This process was undertaken through consultation with key stakeholders, including the board of AAPA.
Let me be clear, I have no plans to sack the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority Board. This is another hysterical beat-up by the opposition, devoid of facts and ideas.
I want to ensure the Sacred Sites Act balances the preservation and enhancement of Aboriginal culture with the economic, cultural and social advancement of the Territory. The current structure of the authority supports this process, but there could be further efficiencies to benefit the authority and its stakeholders.
I have no role in the review. I have been advised the report is being prepared by AAPA and I look forward to receiving it.
Ms FINOCCHIARO to MINISTER for TOURISM
Today is a significant day in our history when we remember those who lost their lives in the Bombing of Darwin. Could you please inform the House how the Northern Territory Library has developed a new way for Territorians and visitors to commemorate our military history?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this falls squarely into the portfolio of Arts and Museums, but leveraging the huge tourism component as well. I thank the member for Drysdale for her question and am sure with her background in the Northern Territory, being a born and bred Territorian, she might be able to utilise this brand new facility at the Northern Territory Library.
The library, as we know, is an award-winning facility which won a gold award at last year’s Qantas Australian Tourism Awards - an outstanding achievement for the team at the library and great for the Northern Territory. It was one of five last year.
It has been in operation for more than 30 years, and today I had the pleasure of launching a new exhibition of the library which will make it even more popular with locals and visitors, particularly on a day like today with the 72nd commemoration of the Bombing of Darwin. It is a brand new website and the first comprehensive list of military units and ships which served the Northern Territory during WWII. It is a fitting tribute to the Territory’s proud military past which is fully illustrated on days like today. The website is unique and a valuable resource of information with no other state or Territory having produced such a comprehensive list of units serving within the borders of WWII. Once again, the Territory is not only showcasing our proud military history but punching above its weight against the rest of the country.
The histories and bibliographies for each unit allow families anywhere around the world to locate information about their relatives’ military service at the touch of a button. Once upon a time we had to trawl through archives, which would take a long time and it was often very difficult to find the history. Now it is a touch of a button through a comprehensive website. It answers the common questions of, ‘Where did my relatives serve?’ without having to trawl through a lot of paper records. They will be able to locate their relatives’ unit, where they were stationed and any published and unpublished information on that unit with ease.
I was there this morning, launching the website. A big hooray and congratulations to John Richards from the Australian War Memorial. He worked in the Northern Territory Library for a number of years but is now with the Australian War Memorial and has done a huge job in correlating all that information.
It is not only information on a particular ship or unit; it is detailed information about Territorians who have served in those units. Some of the interesting visitors you will find through the website, discovered when we correlated this information, are: Australian Prime Ministers Gough Whitlam and John Gorton, who both served with the RAAF in the Territory; US President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who came to the Territory while on a mission; and the famous Field Marshall Montgomery reviewed troops in Darwin at one stage. Douglas MacArthur landed on one of our dirt airstrips - the Batchelor airstrip.
It is a fabulous resource. I encourage all members to discover it and perhaps look at some of your family history. You never know what you might find.
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Documents previously tabled in this Assembly expose that you were directly involved in the decision to award a huge water extraction licence to CLP candidate Tina MacFarlane. A ministerial briefing, recently discovered under FOI, also reveals you received applications from two aggrieved horticulturists to review the decision. Your Chief Executive Officer recommended that you uphold the decision he made as Controller of Water Resources to grant the licence to Tina MacFarlane, a decision in which you were directly involved.
Madam Speaker, I seek leave to table the relevant ministerial briefing.
Leave granted.
Ms WALKER: Minister, could you not see the clear conflict of interest in the decision-making process to award the licence to Tina MacFarlane, and why did you not refer the two applications for a review of the decision to the independent Review Panel established under the Water Act? What did you have to hide?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question, which contained a number of false allegations. I have stood in this House many times before saying - and I will say again - I did not have any direct involvement in issuing the water licence you refer to at Mataranka to Tina MacFarlane. In fact, I do not have any involvement in the issuing of water licences at all. There are good reasons for that, and I am happy to articulate those reasons.
The water controller, under the Water Act, is the person charged with the responsibility of issuing water licences. The water controller takes advice from the department about the issue of those licences and issues them according to the advice he receives. By law, the minister has no involvement or responsibility in the issue of water licences.
The other good reason for ministers not to become involved is that I am the first point of contact for appeals. If I were involved in the issue of the licence, I could not, in all reasonableness, be involved in an appeal process which might come along. It is typical of the opposition to feign a lack of knowledge or ignorance in the law, then spout all these accusations across the Chamber which are patently false. Let us get back to nub of what the member for Nhulunbuy was talking about.
Ms Walker: Yes, about why you did not refer it to a review panel.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: First of all, if you have read the legislation, I do not have to refer those appeals to the water committee. I can do it myself if I want to. This is the power of the minister. Guess what! When you had a minister responsible for it, he had the same power as well. Nothing has changed. You had all the same powers.
To give you a bit of background on the process, further advice, once the appeal was made, was handed to the water controller who dealt with the contents of the appeal, given by different people in the department to those who handled the water application. The water controller recommended it based on the further advice he received from other people within the department.
Members interjecting.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: You come in here pointing all sorts of smoking guns and you think there is all this conspiracy stuff going on, making false accusations, denigrating good public servants - you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Ms ANDERSON to the MINISTER FOR HEALTH
Could you please update the House on the federal Health Minister’s visit to the National Critical Health and Trauma Centre following its deployment to the Philippines in response to Typhoon Haiyan?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Namatjira for her question. The federal Minister for Health, Peter Dutton, is coming to Darwin tomorrow. He will be attending an event hosted by the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre. He will be going to the warehouse to recognise their participation and great effort in the response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
The typhoon hit just over three months ago; it feels like a lot longer; it was such a profound event. It happened on 8 November, and within weeks the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre was able to dispatch its first team - Team Alpha - to respond to the medical needs of people within the Philippines. It was an amazing effort, not beyond them at all.
This is a centre established by the former federal Coalition under John Howard, who had a vision. He could see basing such an important medical rapid response team in Darwin was strategic, being close to Asia. Our very important Asian neighbours are dependent and reliant on the good will of this Australian service to respond to their emergencies, their crises, which involve medical intervention. It is a good story and we are very pleased the federal Minister for Health, Mr Peter Dutton, is on his way to the Northern Territory as we speak.
As we remember, Typhoon Haiyan destroyed a region of the Philippines just a few months ago. The Australian medical facility which was set up at Tacloban treated almost 300 people and performed almost 300 surgeries. The types of conditions they were treating included respiratory infections and untreated wounds. Within the last few days of their second deployment by team Bravo, they had to respond to a helicopter crash which affected, I think, four victims. They were on high alert. They worked incredibly hard and the contribution they made to the emergency response in the Philippines was profound. We look forward to acknowledging the hard work of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre tomorrow night. It included interstate doctors, many of whom will be in attendance tomorrow. Eighteen of the 20 interstate doctors will be coming to the function, as well as a considerable representation from the Filipino community.
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
The complaint I hear most from residents is about hooning and the misuse of quad bikes. Quad bikes are a popular recreational vehicle, but they are also the cause of a very high rate of injuries in Australia and the NT. They are used to drive along roads, on and off the bitumen, wrecking nature strips and road edges. Many are unregistered and speeding. Many drivers do not wear helmets and some carry passengers, especially children. Many are extremely noisy. Some riders enjoy wrecking the environment, annoying residents at night and breaking down fences to access property.
Last Friday at my mobile office, I listened to this litany of complaints from a number of Howard River Park residents, who are absolutely fed up. You might look at this letter in Saturday’s paper. I wrote to the Minister for Transport and you last year about this issue. I even asked for CCTV cameras to be placed on power poles in the area to try to enforce some controls. What can you do before residents take action, or even worse, people are injured or killed through the misuse of quad bikes? I am happy to contribute to the cost of cameras, and I realise police are doing their best but they cannot be everywhere.
Madam SPEAKER: Member, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. Yes, it is true the irresponsible use of all-terrain bikes, such as quad bikes and motorbikes, can cause considerable disruption to many members of the community. I am advised this disruption is not just limited to all-terrain vehicles but extends to usage of motor vehicles and other motorised bikes in the rural area, especially along the area around Girraween Road, on which you have corresponded in the past. But the use of those off-road vehicles is not just around the Darwin rural area, it is in certain areas all over the Northern Territory.
Most of these types of vehicles cannot be registered and there are limited options to engage in this type of recreational activity on private land. This has led to some people using less populated rural areas to engage in these types of activities. I would be surprised if the establishment of CCTV on all power poles in the rural area would work in trying to catch people who are using these vehicles, particularly when they are not registered, as there are no identifying factors for those vehicles. To put a CCTV camera in these areas would only result in moving the problem away from where those cameras are, if they were successful in catching people.
You mentioned in your question the role and effectiveness of policing. Our police can only catch people if they see them doing it. When people call, police get out and identify - it becomes a challenge. You have identified in your question that we have a problem. We are trying to deal with it by getting active policing out there as much as possible. We will continue to do this, but we send messages to the community saying motorbikes, quad bikes, ATVs and all those sort of things which are not supposed to be on the road or in public areas are advised not to be. We continue to put that message out there.
When police actively apprehend or catch someone doing the wrong thing, they let them know this. As politicians, I do not think we should put CCTV cameras up throughout the rural area. I think it would be completely ineffective, but we can stand up and tell people it is not the right thing to do and perhaps dob people in.
You are in the rural area, in the area of Nelson. This might be something quite effective, through your newsletter, and we will continue to make statements to …
Ms Fyles: Pass the buck.
Mr GILES: It is not passing the buck. Grow up, member for Nightcliff. Are you that irresponsible and immature to make silly comments all the time? I am giving a sensible answer to the member for Nelson and you behave like a little kid.
In regard to these bikes, we have to keep sending the clear message that it is not the right thing to do. As I said, there are no identifiable characteristics for those motorbikes such as registration or licence plates. We need to keep sending the solid message that it is not the right thing to do. The other point is if they are not registered, they are not insured, which creates problems for families if accidents occur.
We know that all too many people end up as quadriplegics by having accidents on quad bikes and the like. I send the message that people need to be safe, responsible and courteous to others, particularly neighbours. They do not enjoy the peaceful amenity of their properties when people are causing noise and disruption on these vehicles.
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Your indefensible decision to award a water licence to CLP candidate Tina MacFarlane was appealed by two aggrieved horticulturalists, but you declined to refer the appeals to the independent Review Panel, established under the Water Act. Will you apologise to all the water users aggrieved by your decision to award such a large licence to Tina MacFarlane? Will you now concede preferential treatment was given to CLP candidate Tina MacFarlane compared to other water users?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, my thanks again to the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. I enjoy answering questions about water in the Northern Territory. It is the most precious resource, agreed. As I keep pointing out and the opposition fails to grasp - although it is not a terribly difficult concept to grasp - if you have a resource like water and you can add to it another resource called arable soil and all the appropriate things which go with it, you get development in the Northern Territory. This is what we want on this side of the House, as opposed to the opposition.
When they were in government they were too frightened to make difficult decisions which might upset the greenies. When we came into government, we did not discover it right away, but we did discover some months later there was a backlog of 75 water licence applications which had never been dealt with by them, because they were not interested in agricultural development. They did not want to upset their green mates.
You make these assertions and talk about indefensible decisions and all those sorts of things. What about the indefensible decision the member for Casuarina made when he was the Mines minister and gave Rio Tinto carte blanche to produce bauxite without linking it to running the refinery? You want to talk about indefensible positions? I will tell you who, if anyone in this House, will wear some blame for the closure of the refinery at Gove and is complicit in the situation Nhulunbuy finds itself in. The member for Nhulunbuy should be pointing the finger at the member for Casuarina …
Mr VATSKALIS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 112. The member made inferences that somehow I gave carte blanche to Rio Tinto to export bauxite. I call on the member to table the agreement to prove his argument, otherwise he must apologise or withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Casuarina, it is not a point of order. Minister, if you get to the question please.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Madam Speaker, I have made the point adequately about the member for Casuarina’s involvement in the downfall of the Rio Tinto refinery. The member for Nhulunbuy should have a chat with the member for Casuarina about it.
We on this side of the House will continue to issue water licences. We have the department work through the process now. We want to see our land resources developed so they create real economies. You will not get a real economy unless you create business and jobs.
Mr HIGGINS to MINISTER for ALCOHOL REHABILITATION
Can you provide the House with some insight on the early successes of the alcohol mandatory treatment scheme?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. The alcohol mandatory treatment system is making a difference to the people of the Daly and in the lives of people across the Northern Territory. On the last count of the figures released, which was at the end of December, we had over 100 people go through alcohol mandatory treatment in just over seven months. The numbers would have climbed to perhaps as many as 200, but we are waiting for those stats to come through.
This program is changing the lives of people affected by chronic alcoholism. No strategy around alcohol has ever managed this before. We have tried to turn off the tap; the BDR failed; there were all sorts of strategies in place. However, this is changing and improving the lives of the most disadvantaged alcohol-affected people in our community. For that, we on this side of the Chamber are enormously proud. We make no apologies for how we have gone about this. We did it quickly because we promised the people of the Northern Territory we would roll out alcohol mandatory treatment as soon as possible. We did and it has been under way for just over seven months.
How have we changed people’s lives? For the first time in a long time, most people going through alcohol mandatory treatment are getting health services. Their health needs are particularly high. They suffer from a range of chronic diseases and infections, and they have neglected themselves physically and mentally for many years. Being a part of the alcohol mandatory treatment system means they get full medical attention for that 12-week period. For 12 weeks they will experience what it is like to feel reasonably good and healthy.
Who on earth can say that is a failure? We have our critics; they are lining up on the media, battling to have voices heard, but no one could dispute the fact our alcohol mandatory treatment system is improving the health of these people. It is providing them with social re-engagement. These people have been disengaged from their families and communities for many years. We are hearing stories of years – some families had thought they were deceased.
No one can convince me our alcohol mandatory treatment is doing nothing. It is improving the lives of our most disadvantaged, and we are very proud.
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER
The crime statistics were last released on 17 January. It is now 19 February and we have not seen the monthly crime statistics, but we know under the CLP’s watch 2013 was the most violent year in the history of the Northern Territory.
You promised to cut crime by 10%, but instead we have seen violent crime increase by 12%. In Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, police are standing guard outside bottle shops. Police doing this for one day would cost more than the Banned Drinker Register for one year.
Chief Minister, will you table the cost of police standing outside the front of bottle shops?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this is where we are at. Rise above it! It is very hard when you get questions like, ‘How much does it cost for a police officer to stand outside the front of a bottle shop?’
You come here with mistruths about the crime statistics. Let us go to the question. They were released on 17 January, today is 19 February, two days after 17 February, why are they not out? These are publicly available statistics on websites. They may be two days late, but let us recall what it was like 18 months ago under Labor. There was no public release of crime statistics at all. We release them although they may be two days late.
Attorney-General, why are they two days late? Can you please fix them for the member for Fannie Bay? Two days! Holy moly! Give me a slap over the wrist, member for Fannie Bay!
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Before he hands over to the Attorney-General, the question was at the end: will he table the cost of police standing outside the front of bottle shops? I believe it is the Chief Minister’s question not the Attorney-General’s?
Mr GILES: Thank you very much. I am not handing this one over; this one is gold, member for Fannie Bay.
You talk about the BDR. We have the member for Nhulunbuy, who swears under her breath quietly - but after talking about the BDR in the last question, I will go through it again.
The statistics for the wholesale supply of alcohol have reduced. When the BDR was in it went up, now the BDR has gone it has come down. It is like minister Styles’ pyramid. BDR, alcohol goes up; no BDR, it comes down. The same as crime. It is rather funny because crime has gone down too.
We see around a 48% decrease in property crime in the Northern Territory. What have we seen since APOs have come in? There is roughly an 18% decrease on month-on-month figures in alcohol-related violent assaults on people.
Are you for real asking this question? You are completely blind. Let us come to another point, I was listening to some poor questions from the member for Nightcliff during Question Time and wondered what crime is like in Karama. I said to the police, ‘Get me the statistics for Karama and Malak’, because the member for Karama - who, when she was in government, was also the Deputy Chief Minister and, at times, Attorney-General - said Karama was a war zone. I wonder how much of a war zone it is now.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. That is a complete lie and you know it. I never said it.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, withdraw that comment.
Ms LAWRIE: I withdraw, but it is not true and you know it.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, the member for Karama calls her own electorate a war zone; I went to check how bad it is …
Ms Lawrie: Wrong, you are misleading the Chamber, you have no facts.
Mr GILES: .. and while I do not have the stats in front of me …
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, withdraw that statement.
Ms LAWRIE: Which one, Madam Speaker?
Madam SPEAKER: The reference to misleading the Chamber.
Ms LAWRIE: I withdraw. He knows it.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! A withdrawal is essentially an apology to the House for the comment made. It should be withdrawn without qualification, and it has been twice qualified.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, Leader of Government Business. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: Maybe tomorrow I will bring in the statistics for Karama, but there was about a 25% drop in assaults, and a 25% drop in property crime in Karama – in your electorate, which you called a war zone when you were in government.
Make no mistake, there is only one party reducing alcohol supply, property crime and assaults across the Northern Territory, even including your war zone.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Ms ANDERSON to MINISTER for DISABILITY SERVICES
There are many Territorians with mixed abilities who contribute enormously to our economic and cultural fabric. Can you please outline the historic step taken by the government to recognise the challenges facing Territorians with a disability, their carers and their families?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there are people right across the Northern Territory with disabilities who are contributing enormously to our social and economic fabric. I thank the member for Namatjira for her question.
On 3 February, just a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being sworn in as the Minister for Disability Services of the Northern Territory. It was a great honour for me personally and professionally, given 27 000 in the Territory identify as having a disability.
Mrs Vicki O’Halloran, who we all know, and who is President of the National Disability Services Network and the CE of Somerville Disability Services, said she had been waiting 20 years for these important changes to occur.
We have had endorsements across the Northern Territory and the country. It is well overdue. I have a big job ahead of me which I take on with great gusto and enthusiasm.
One of the key projects I will be focusing on is the trial of the National Disability Insurance Scheme rolling out in the Barkly region as of 1 July. This morning, I had the pleasure of meeting the CEO of the National Disability and Insurance Agency, Mr David Bowen, and Meryl Sveck who is the launch manager for South Australia and the Northern Territory.
This is incredibly exciting. I invite you all to get on board to familiarise yourself with what is going on in Barkly. I am going to Tennant Creek next week, meeting with the agency staff and stakeholders there. One-hundred-and-three people living in the Barkly area will be included in this trial: 103 local residents, people of different racial backgrounds, afflicted with all sorts of disabilities. It will be very exciting. It is the most remote trial site in Australia. All eyes will be looking at what we are doing in Barkly. It gives those people with a disability who are living in Barkly an opportunity to determine for themselves what services they access and how they access those services.
Generally, across the Northern Territory, this is not just about the National Disability Insurance Scheme, it is about modernising our approach to providing disability services, looking at the individual, giving them the ability to determine what they want and how they want it. It is a very exciting era we are moving into, a modern era.
Ms FYLES to MINISTER for EDUCATION
Your draft Indigenous education review says the Clontarf program should be maintained and a similar system-wide program for girls established. You may remember the Girls Engagement, Mentoring and Support programs – GEMS, as they were commonly known - at Casuarina Senior College, Sanderson, Dripstone and Nightcliff Middle Schools which successfully helped engage young Indigenous girls in schooling. GEMS was a successful engagement program for girls, but you scrapped it as part of your education cuts. Will you admit you jumped the gun with your education cuts and reinstate funding for GEMS, as recommended by your own review?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nightcliff for her question. The reality is the GEMS program was not delivering the same educational outcomes the Clontarf program was delivering. In addition, the arrangements were quite different when it came to funding Clontarf compared to GEMS.
Most people understand the Clontarf program is a well-established program. It receives funding from the federal and Northern Territory governments, as well as many well-intentioned donors who give money to the organisation to ensure Clontarf is successful. Overall, it is pretty successful. The GEMS program, on the other hand, while showing some good results in certain areas, was an expensive option for the Northern Territory government to consider. However, I would like to see, in future, us having a similar program to Clontarf running for females. The reality is the budget structure and how it is paid for, and remembering the focus should always be on educational outcomes. This is unlike the Labor Party, thinking throwing extra money at something will achieve better outcomes; this is not the way it works. We need to focus on results.
We are working on ways we can have similar programs to Clontarf for girls in the Northern Territory. It has to be run and funded properly, and it has to have the outcomes focused on education; this is the problem.
Members interjecting.
Mr CHANDLER: Listen to the rabble. You had the member for Nightcliff come in with another political stunt, 11 000 pieces of paper she has tabled. She is also the shadow minister for the Environment. Eleven thousand pieces of paper - if every member of this parliament …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. I am not the shadow minister for the Environment, I also seek leave to table the e-mail I received from the Planning Commission this morning at 8.47 am. I find it interesting that you got one on Monday.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, that is out of order. You are on a warning. You did not reference your standing order and seeking leave when you do not have the floor is out of order.
Mr CHANDLER: Someone who is promoting and standing up for our environment wants to print 11 000 pages just for a political stunt. If everyone in this House, 25 members, all have a right to see tabled documents, I think it would be around 275 000 copies needing to be printed for each of us to have 11 000 copies. What is that? If I do my numbers - 555 reams of paper would be required to give every member of this parliament a copy of the tabled paper. Unlike the member for Nightcliff, we provided information on a disk to the union to save printing 11 000 pieces of paper, because it was the information they asked for. We have the Labor rabble with their misinformation, mistruths, just like they do in public …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr KURRUPUWU to MINISTER FOR HEALTH
Can you outline the significant upgrades scheduled to occur at Royal Darwin Hospital, which will increase its role as the premium Territory hospital in northern Australia?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. Earlier in the year, I was walking around the campus of the Royal Darwin Hospital, foraging in the nooks and crannies of this enormous campus. Just over yonder, there was the helipad, which is quite a remarkable facility as it is, but is due for a significant upgrade, thanks to our friends from INPEX.
This facility already provides an important emergency recovery response service; it allows a helicopter to land within the RDH precinct. The upgrade will mean bigger helicopters will be able to land, which meets the needs of INPEX and the broader Territory community. Our tertiary hospital will have this upgrade in the next couple of months; the tender is in process. INPEX will be using the large Sikorsky S-92 and the Eurocopter Super Pumas in the instance it needs to medically evacuate any injured employees. I am told they are very impressive machines, not being au fait with helicopters.
The new helipad will be able to handle large military helicopters, including the Chinook and Black Hawk. It will be quite a sight to see when these larger aircraft are able to land on the new upgraded helipad.
The Royal Darwin Hospital is the home of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, which is a key element in the Australian government’s disaster and emergency medical response to incidents of national and international significance. The National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre will have access to this new upgraded helipad. It will be able to move in its helicopters, load its gear and get to where it wants to go much more easily than taking it all the way to the airport, which has been the case in the past.
The US Marines are set to base more than 1200 troops in Darwin this year, with the number expected to grow. With this new helipad, they will also be able to handle the MV-22 Osprey which is the US Marines’ troop transport.
It is good news for the Royal Darwin Hospital. It is great to see all these sectors - Defence, private industry and the Northern Territory government - working out these mutually beneficial projects.
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for TRANSPORT
In the last sittings of parliament you made a statement about transport in the Northern Territory. In the statement you said nothing about the sale of the government-owned bus service, a public asset. Three days later, the day after sittings - after we had all gone home - you announced the government-owned bus service was to be sold. Why did you leave the sale of the Darwin Bus Service out of your ministerial statement when you knew you would announce the decision three days later? Why did you not have the courtesy of telling the parliament of your intention to sell the public bus service, but left the announcement until parliament had finished? Can you explain the reason the Darwin Bus Service is being sold, what you expect to receive for it - and the ‘it’ is a public asset by the way - and who you intend to sell it to?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for the question. We were looking at a range of issues. We wanted to get the tenders for this out as soon as we could, which is why we were pushing to meet the 6 December deadline. A range of meetings occurred with the Department of Transport and with me. We wanted to get everything done for the change-over in a financial year. The longer you leave these things, the longer you have the commencement date. We have looked at a range of issues in the transport sector and public transport in relation to providing an effective and efficient service to the people of the Northern Territory to get around at a respectable price, but also to increase the service and the competition.
As Darwin grows - and we all know we are in for a massive growth spurt - we are looking at introducing competition into the system. You will notice this across a range of portfolios. We on this side are about driving forces down because of competition.
We had this discussion in a previous debate in this House in relation to what we do on our side and what you do on your side. We hear the members of the opposition calling for one big fat organisation to run Power and Water, for instance, but to get efficiencies you need competition. This has been proven all over the place. If you look at power, for instance, it was the Labor governments around Australia privatising power to drive the cost down. It was Labor that advocated the breakdown of Telstra.
We have competition now. I think I mentioned to you the last time we debated, my phone calls these days are cheaper if I want to ring someone interstate than they were 32 years ago when we had one provider. So, tell me where competition is not a good thing.
We on this side want to go into competition; we have thrown it out there to see what will happen. My understanding is …
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. I asked why this was not included in your ministerial statement and why were we told after parliament had completed its sittings.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, if you can get to the point please.
Mr STYLES: The decision was not made. The decision was made as soon as we could get the information in.
Members interjecting.
Mr STYLES: I hear the interjections, but you cannot announce something until the decision is made and the department signs off to ensure all due diligence has been done in relation to the tendering process. We will put it out there. My understanding is six organisations have tendered for this and the department is, with some experts, determining what will happen. When you ask who we will give it to, it is about the tendering process being done, due diligence being done and then we will talk to the people who are the recipients.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, yesterday there was a question about $2.5m being expended on advertising in relation to a request for tender. I said yesterday I was not sure of the amount spent by the previous government, but I can advise the amount spent by the previous government in the full financial year was $5 041 909, as opposed to $2 500 759 by this government. The expenditure of the $5m by the former Labor government does not include all their communications officers and other spin machines. Quite clearly, we do not spend anywhere near what Labor spent.
Education Cuts
Ms FYLES to MINISTER for EDUCATION
You have consistently refused to be truthful with Territorians about the real impacts of your education cuts …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This is a clear breach of Standing Order 112: general rules. It relates to epithets, inferences and those types of things. This is accusing the minister of being a liar. He is not and it should be ruled out of order, I argue.
Mr GUNNER: Madam Speaker, speaking to the point of order. The member is five words in. I think she is allowed to ask the question.
Mr ELFERINK: She has already made an allegation of lying, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, I caution you to be very careful of how you word your question.
Ms FYLES: You are hiding the real number of teacher positions cut from our schools and have refused to reveal how many teachers have not had their contracts renewed. The Australian Education Union requested these figures under freedom of information. Instead of clearly answering the question, you answered with these 11 455 pages. I seek leave to table these pages.
Leave granted.
Ms FYLES: Why do you not stop hiding behind the mountain of paper, come clean and answer the question: how many teachers and workers on contracts have lost their jobs in Territory schools?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nightcliff for her question. I think we have done everything we have been asked. The information was asked for and provided. However, let us talk about the truth for a second because we have had the member for Nightcliff consistently allege things happening in our schools which we have proven again and again to be untruthful.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. The minister can table the figures here and now, and clear …
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The minister was only 10 to 20 seconds into his answer.
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, I am gobsmacked the member for Nightcliff would be the one to talk about truth and honesty. Only last night, in her tirade at the closing of parliament - I quote from Hansard:
- I also invited the Planning Commission’s Gary Nairn, but never heard back in relation to my invitation.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. It is about education cuts. Gary Nairn sent that e-mail today.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. I give the minister latitude; he is answering the question.
Mr CHANDLER: The question was about truth and honesty and what we bring into this parliament. I am happy to table this e-mail from the Commissioner, Gary Nairn, sent on Monday 10 February 2014 at 8:57 am, copied to the Northern Territory Planning Commission, Nightcliff electorate and, of course, Natasha Fyles. It says:
- Dear Ms Fyles
Thank you for your e-mail inviting me to a community meeting on the 17th February. I am not able to attend the meeting due to other commitments.
The e-mail goes on. I would be calling on the member for Nightcliff to perhaps offer an apology …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker. I asked a question about education. When will you table the cuts from our schools?
Mr CHANDLER: This is not the only time. I can quote from a point of order the member for Nightcliff made yesterday about the social analysis this government undertook with the community before putting an island there.
The last time I was in Nightcliff, there was no island. The member for Nightcliff makes it up. Half of the things which happen in this place are made up by the other side.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was about education and cuts to teacher numbers in our schools.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Minister, you have the call if you wish to continue.
Mr CHANDLER: People like the NT Planning Commissioner or those people who lead our boards are like our public servants; they do not deserve to have their names tarnished in this way with untruths from the other side, like most of the stuff this side raised last year in relation to education. It was untrue and was brought in here time and time again by the member for Nightcliff, whose credibility is in question. I call on the member for Nightcliff to apologise to our Planning Commissioner, the Hon Gary Nairn.
Bombing of Darwin Commemoration
Mr KURRUPUWU to CHIEF MINISTER
Could you update the Assembly on this morning’s Bombing of Darwin Commemoration?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. I know, as does he, the Tiwi Islands have a unique place in Australia’s war time history, a very important element of what we were commemorating today, and I appreciate his question. It was the Tiwi people who first saw the Japanese planes flying over on their way to Darwin in 1942.
The Bombing of Darwin was perhaps the darkest chapter in the Territory’s history. Japan’s surprise attacks on 19 February 1942 killed hundreds and destroyed the city. It was the day innocence was lost and the day the war came to Australian shores. The day was declared a national day of observance in December 2011 by the Governor-General, and is now officially known as Bombing of Darwin Day. Thanks go particularly to the member for Solomon, Natasha Griggs, for her determination in seeing this happen.
It means new generations of Australians are learning about this difficult chapter in Darwin’s history and the history of the Territory. It is through understanding the true horror of war that future generations can hope to avoid its pain and suffering. Close to half of those who died were Americans, mostly on board the USS Pirie, which took five direct hits when Japanese aircraft launched their surprise attack.
It was moving to see US Ambassador John Berry yesterday, having a chat with him about the commemorations today, along with the Japanese Ambassador to Australia who was in the audience this morning. Our relationships with the countries were forged together in war; however, both countries are now among our most trusted friends, allies and trading partners, particularly in the Northern Territory. It was a true honour to be present at both ceremonies today, at the Pirie memorial and the Bombing of Darwin.
It was also an honour to have the veterans in the hall of Parliament House today. Speaking with those veterans, identifying people who were there on 19 February 1942 - I think there were about 17 people in the hall today who were there - and acknowledging the change in dynamics from the Northern Territory and Darwin from 19 February 1942 - for those who can recall it - where we are today and what those new relationships mean for the Northern Territory, particularly with Japan and the US. It was interesting to hear people talking about their acceptance and desire to see a greater involvement of the US and their Marines’ deployment rotation occurring over the last couple of years, including this year and into next year as well. It was good to hear people welcoming this, particularly those who have seen the change since 19 February 1942.
Today will go down as an important day, as it does every year, and it is important we always maintain it within our curriculum and share with the rest of Australia the impact of war coming to the shores of the Northern Territory.
Alice Springs Economy
Ms LAWRIE to CHIEF MINISTER
A call yesterday afternoon to businesses in Alice Springs has confirmed what you have been refusing to admit. The economy has flat lined and because of your power price increases people are hurting. Businesses have reported what was once a weekly purchase is now a fortnightly or monthly special treat. There is a real feeling of uncertainty and the only activity people can point to is the 33 houses being released, off the plan, in the Labor suburb of Kilgariff. Will you now admit you got it wrong on managing the economy – government is important to regional economies – and will you explain to businesses in Alice Springs your plans to get them out of the flat line you have put them into?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there is no doubt there is a change in the economy in Central Australia. I will give you my understanding of how the economy in Central Australia works in many regional parts of the Northern Territory.
It would be very easy to complain about the devastating effects of disadvantage, alcoholism, welfareism and despair in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. It would be very easy to outlay poor school attendance, chronic domestic violence and all those issues we see in many Aboriginal communities in the Territory. They have occurred for many a long year and many a generation in the Territory.
It is interesting when you reflect on the economy since 2006 in the Territory and see the money which came in through the intervention, designed to fix many things. I am not attacking the intervention; I am talking about it as a measure. Many of the things resulting from it were about building infrastructure - schools, preschools and so forth. You then look at adding on top of it the BER stimulus package Kevin Rudd introduced, and you look at the money which flowed into the Northern Territory. A lot of money flowed into the Territory from federal coffers, mostly through the Territory government. It helped stimulate the size of the infrastructure spend in the Northern Territory and went out to many construction companies in the Territory.
We came in and now have a $5.5bn debt legacy from Labor, which we are trying to repay. We know the federal government is around $500bn in debt. It does not have money to throw around, and we are determined, in government and in Cabinet, that we will not parade around poverty and misery for Aboriginal people to try to get money from Canberra to support our economy.
What we are doing - and we saw yesterday the promotion, announcement and launching of our pitch for taking the lead role in northern Australia - is allowing ourselves to start growing the economy, not running it as a welfare-based economy. Yes, we get a lot of our income from the federal government. Much of it is designed to assist Indigenous Territorians, but the best assistance we can give is to move away from the cycle of welfareism. Much of it is economic welfareism which supports business and moving to the real economy. This is why we want to build roads, see water licences issued, see changes in the Pastoral Act and see these economic drivers being developed so we can create jobs and have a different economy from the generations of the past.
Generations of the past lived off a welfare economy. It does not matter if you are individuals, what we do when you talk about the Alice Springs and other regional economies - we will not go into debt. We will not lambast Aboriginal Territorians to try to get money for people to get jobs. We want real jobs in real economies. It is what northern Australia is about and is what we will continue to do on this side of the Chamber in our term of government to build a proper economy in all areas of the Territory.
Bombing of Darwin – Filipino Community
Ms LEE to MINISTER for MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS
On this special day, we remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the Bombing of Darwin. Can the minister update the House on the involvement of the Filipino community on that fateful day and how those brave people are being remembered?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, thank you to the member for Arnhem for her question. She is well aware of many local people who died on this fateful day 72 years ago.
It is a great honour to update the House on what has occurred today and yesterday. Briefly on today’s Bombing of Darwin ceremony, I pay my respects to all those people, both military and civilians, who paid the ultimate price in the defence of Darwin, and those who were here, sadly, during the bombing. Yesterday there was a ceremony held at the Defence of Darwin Museum, attended by Her Excellency Belen F Anota, who is the Philippine Ambassador to Australia; Mr John Rivas, Honorary Consul; Mr Oscar Parian, the President of the Filipino Association of Australia NT; Dr Tom Lewis; and many others, to acknowledge the contribution of a number of Filipino merchant sailors who, sadly, died on 19 February, 72 years ago.
These sailors were on two ships, the Florence D and the Don Isidro, and were killed during the Japanese air raids while outside Bathurst Island. They were part of a secret flotilla which had come to Darwin and was going to resupply allied and Philippine troops who were on islands just off Manila Bay during the Japanese invasion.
They were the first victims of the air raid on the day of the incoming Japanese attack; they were strafed and bombed and were finished off on the way out. They copped a double dose.
The Filipino community had about 100 members present yesterday, along with approximately 50 or 60 other local representatives, for the unveiling of a plaque which will be placed on a memorial wall at the Darwin Military Museum at East Point. This wall commemorates all those from many countries who died here. If you ever get an opportunity, I encourage everyone in this House to go for a walk past that wall. It is a very moving experience.
We all know there are many descendants from Filipino sailors who came here in the early 1800s, those who came here during the war and stayed, and there are many local families who have intermarried with European and Aboriginal families here. The first name which comes to mind is the Cubillo family who are of Philippine and Aboriginal descent. Many people, like all of us here, will acknowledge these people have now been recognised for the ultimate sacrifice they made in the war effort in not only defending Australia, but defending the free world.
Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority - Review
Mr VOWLES to MINISTER for COMMUNITY SERVICES
The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, under the Chairmanship of Mr Bernard Abbott, has worked to responsibly balance the needs of sacred site custodians with the business needs of developers. The AAPA has a key role in facilitating the planning and development of hundreds of projects across the Territory. You have admitted you are reviewing the role of AAPA, but you have not revealed the real reasons. How will your proposed changes to the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act affect how AAPA protects sacred sites, and what control measures has the Chief Minister asked you to consider as part of your review?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Johnston for the question. I have enjoyed getting my head around the challenges facing this portfolio, including what the member has raised today. The sacred sites authority, AAPA, is one organisation which means a great deal to Aboriginal people, me and the members for Namatjira, Arnhem and Arafura. I note the member’s question raised the issue of AAPA. This is an important issue for all of us and one I am happy to listen to the member’s concerns about, and consider them.
First, let me thank the staff and Dr Ben Scambary of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority for their hard work, also Bernard Abbott, who I know is very sick.
AAPA is known for its capacity to negotiate outcomes and situations where development and sacred sites coincide. The former Minister for Regional Development initiated a reform process to identify legislative amendments to the Sacred Sites Act to be put forward for Cabinet consideration. This process was undertaken through consultation with key stakeholders, including the board of AAPA.
Let me be clear, I have no plans to sack the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority Board. This is another hysterical beat-up by the opposition, devoid of facts and ideas.
I want to ensure the Sacred Sites Act balances the preservation and enhancement of Aboriginal culture with the economic, cultural and social advancement of the Territory. The current structure of the authority supports this process, but there could be further efficiencies to benefit the authority and its stakeholders.
I have no role in the review. I have been advised the report is being prepared by AAPA and I look forward to receiving it.
NT Library – Military History Commemoration
Ms FINOCCHIARO to MINISTER for TOURISM
Today is a significant day in our history when we remember those who lost their lives in the Bombing of Darwin. Could you please inform the House how the Northern Territory Library has developed a new way for Territorians and visitors to commemorate our military history?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this falls squarely into the portfolio of Arts and Museums, but leveraging the huge tourism component as well. I thank the member for Drysdale for her question and am sure with her background in the Northern Territory, being a born and bred Territorian, she might be able to utilise this brand new facility at the Northern Territory Library.
The library, as we know, is an award-winning facility which won a gold award at last year’s Qantas Australian Tourism Awards - an outstanding achievement for the team at the library and great for the Northern Territory. It was one of five last year.
It has been in operation for more than 30 years, and today I had the pleasure of launching a new exhibition of the library which will make it even more popular with locals and visitors, particularly on a day like today with the 72nd commemoration of the Bombing of Darwin. It is a brand new website and the first comprehensive list of military units and ships which served the Northern Territory during WWII. It is a fitting tribute to the Territory’s proud military past which is fully illustrated on days like today. The website is unique and a valuable resource of information with no other state or Territory having produced such a comprehensive list of units serving within the borders of WWII. Once again, the Territory is not only showcasing our proud military history but punching above its weight against the rest of the country.
The histories and bibliographies for each unit allow families anywhere around the world to locate information about their relatives’ military service at the touch of a button. Once upon a time we had to trawl through archives, which would take a long time and it was often very difficult to find the history. Now it is a touch of a button through a comprehensive website. It answers the common questions of, ‘Where did my relatives serve?’ without having to trawl through a lot of paper records. They will be able to locate their relatives’ unit, where they were stationed and any published and unpublished information on that unit with ease.
I was there this morning, launching the website. A big hooray and congratulations to John Richards from the Australian War Memorial. He worked in the Northern Territory Library for a number of years but is now with the Australian War Memorial and has done a huge job in correlating all that information.
It is not only information on a particular ship or unit; it is detailed information about Territorians who have served in those units. Some of the interesting visitors you will find through the website, discovered when we correlated this information, are: Australian Prime Ministers Gough Whitlam and John Gorton, who both served with the RAAF in the Territory; US President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who came to the Territory while on a mission; and the famous Field Marshall Montgomery reviewed troops in Darwin at one stage. Douglas MacArthur landed on one of our dirt airstrips - the Batchelor airstrip.
It is a fabulous resource. I encourage all members to discover it and perhaps look at some of your family history. You never know what you might find.
Water Extraction Licence Allocation
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Documents previously tabled in this Assembly expose that you were directly involved in the decision to award a huge water extraction licence to CLP candidate Tina MacFarlane. A ministerial briefing, recently discovered under FOI, also reveals you received applications from two aggrieved horticulturists to review the decision. Your Chief Executive Officer recommended that you uphold the decision he made as Controller of Water Resources to grant the licence to Tina MacFarlane, a decision in which you were directly involved.
Madam Speaker, I seek leave to table the relevant ministerial briefing.
Leave granted.
Ms WALKER: Minister, could you not see the clear conflict of interest in the decision-making process to award the licence to Tina MacFarlane, and why did you not refer the two applications for a review of the decision to the independent Review Panel established under the Water Act? What did you have to hide?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question, which contained a number of false allegations. I have stood in this House many times before saying - and I will say again - I did not have any direct involvement in issuing the water licence you refer to at Mataranka to Tina MacFarlane. In fact, I do not have any involvement in the issuing of water licences at all. There are good reasons for that, and I am happy to articulate those reasons.
The water controller, under the Water Act, is the person charged with the responsibility of issuing water licences. The water controller takes advice from the department about the issue of those licences and issues them according to the advice he receives. By law, the minister has no involvement or responsibility in the issue of water licences.
The other good reason for ministers not to become involved is that I am the first point of contact for appeals. If I were involved in the issue of the licence, I could not, in all reasonableness, be involved in an appeal process which might come along. It is typical of the opposition to feign a lack of knowledge or ignorance in the law, then spout all these accusations across the Chamber which are patently false. Let us get back to nub of what the member for Nhulunbuy was talking about.
Ms Walker: Yes, about why you did not refer it to a review panel.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: First of all, if you have read the legislation, I do not have to refer those appeals to the water committee. I can do it myself if I want to. This is the power of the minister. Guess what! When you had a minister responsible for it, he had the same power as well. Nothing has changed. You had all the same powers.
To give you a bit of background on the process, further advice, once the appeal was made, was handed to the water controller who dealt with the contents of the appeal, given by different people in the department to those who handled the water application. The water controller recommended it based on the further advice he received from other people within the department.
Members interjecting.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: You come in here pointing all sorts of smoking guns and you think there is all this conspiracy stuff going on, making false accusations, denigrating good public servants - you should be ashamed of yourselves.
National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre –
Federal Health Minister’s Visit
Federal Health Minister’s Visit
Ms ANDERSON to the MINISTER FOR HEALTH
Could you please update the House on the federal Health Minister’s visit to the National Critical Health and Trauma Centre following its deployment to the Philippines in response to Typhoon Haiyan?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Namatjira for her question. The federal Minister for Health, Peter Dutton, is coming to Darwin tomorrow. He will be attending an event hosted by the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre. He will be going to the warehouse to recognise their participation and great effort in the response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
The typhoon hit just over three months ago; it feels like a lot longer; it was such a profound event. It happened on 8 November, and within weeks the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre was able to dispatch its first team - Team Alpha - to respond to the medical needs of people within the Philippines. It was an amazing effort, not beyond them at all.
This is a centre established by the former federal Coalition under John Howard, who had a vision. He could see basing such an important medical rapid response team in Darwin was strategic, being close to Asia. Our very important Asian neighbours are dependent and reliant on the good will of this Australian service to respond to their emergencies, their crises, which involve medical intervention. It is a good story and we are very pleased the federal Minister for Health, Mr Peter Dutton, is on his way to the Northern Territory as we speak.
As we remember, Typhoon Haiyan destroyed a region of the Philippines just a few months ago. The Australian medical facility which was set up at Tacloban treated almost 300 people and performed almost 300 surgeries. The types of conditions they were treating included respiratory infections and untreated wounds. Within the last few days of their second deployment by team Bravo, they had to respond to a helicopter crash which affected, I think, four victims. They were on high alert. They worked incredibly hard and the contribution they made to the emergency response in the Philippines was profound. We look forward to acknowledging the hard work of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre tomorrow night. It included interstate doctors, many of whom will be in attendance tomorrow. Eighteen of the 20 interstate doctors will be coming to the function, as well as a considerable representation from the Filipino community.
Quad Bike Hooning
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
The complaint I hear most from residents is about hooning and the misuse of quad bikes. Quad bikes are a popular recreational vehicle, but they are also the cause of a very high rate of injuries in Australia and the NT. They are used to drive along roads, on and off the bitumen, wrecking nature strips and road edges. Many are unregistered and speeding. Many drivers do not wear helmets and some carry passengers, especially children. Many are extremely noisy. Some riders enjoy wrecking the environment, annoying residents at night and breaking down fences to access property.
Last Friday at my mobile office, I listened to this litany of complaints from a number of Howard River Park residents, who are absolutely fed up. You might look at this letter in Saturday’s paper. I wrote to the Minister for Transport and you last year about this issue. I even asked for CCTV cameras to be placed on power poles in the area to try to enforce some controls. What can you do before residents take action, or even worse, people are injured or killed through the misuse of quad bikes? I am happy to contribute to the cost of cameras, and I realise police are doing their best but they cannot be everywhere.
Madam SPEAKER: Member, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. Yes, it is true the irresponsible use of all-terrain bikes, such as quad bikes and motorbikes, can cause considerable disruption to many members of the community. I am advised this disruption is not just limited to all-terrain vehicles but extends to usage of motor vehicles and other motorised bikes in the rural area, especially along the area around Girraween Road, on which you have corresponded in the past. But the use of those off-road vehicles is not just around the Darwin rural area, it is in certain areas all over the Northern Territory.
Most of these types of vehicles cannot be registered and there are limited options to engage in this type of recreational activity on private land. This has led to some people using less populated rural areas to engage in these types of activities. I would be surprised if the establishment of CCTV on all power poles in the rural area would work in trying to catch people who are using these vehicles, particularly when they are not registered, as there are no identifying factors for those vehicles. To put a CCTV camera in these areas would only result in moving the problem away from where those cameras are, if they were successful in catching people.
You mentioned in your question the role and effectiveness of policing. Our police can only catch people if they see them doing it. When people call, police get out and identify - it becomes a challenge. You have identified in your question that we have a problem. We are trying to deal with it by getting active policing out there as much as possible. We will continue to do this, but we send messages to the community saying motorbikes, quad bikes, ATVs and all those sort of things which are not supposed to be on the road or in public areas are advised not to be. We continue to put that message out there.
When police actively apprehend or catch someone doing the wrong thing, they let them know this. As politicians, I do not think we should put CCTV cameras up throughout the rural area. I think it would be completely ineffective, but we can stand up and tell people it is not the right thing to do and perhaps dob people in.
You are in the rural area, in the area of Nelson. This might be something quite effective, through your newsletter, and we will continue to make statements to …
Ms Fyles: Pass the buck.
Mr GILES: It is not passing the buck. Grow up, member for Nightcliff. Are you that irresponsible and immature to make silly comments all the time? I am giving a sensible answer to the member for Nelson and you behave like a little kid.
In regard to these bikes, we have to keep sending the clear message that it is not the right thing to do. As I said, there are no identifiable characteristics for those motorbikes such as registration or licence plates. We need to keep sending the solid message that it is not the right thing to do. The other point is if they are not registered, they are not insured, which creates problems for families if accidents occur.
We know that all too many people end up as quadriplegics by having accidents on quad bikes and the like. I send the message that people need to be safe, responsible and courteous to others, particularly neighbours. They do not enjoy the peaceful amenity of their properties when people are causing noise and disruption on these vehicles.
Water Extraction Licence Allocation
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Your indefensible decision to award a water licence to CLP candidate Tina MacFarlane was appealed by two aggrieved horticulturalists, but you declined to refer the appeals to the independent Review Panel, established under the Water Act. Will you apologise to all the water users aggrieved by your decision to award such a large licence to Tina MacFarlane? Will you now concede preferential treatment was given to CLP candidate Tina MacFarlane compared to other water users?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, my thanks again to the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. I enjoy answering questions about water in the Northern Territory. It is the most precious resource, agreed. As I keep pointing out and the opposition fails to grasp - although it is not a terribly difficult concept to grasp - if you have a resource like water and you can add to it another resource called arable soil and all the appropriate things which go with it, you get development in the Northern Territory. This is what we want on this side of the House, as opposed to the opposition.
When they were in government they were too frightened to make difficult decisions which might upset the greenies. When we came into government, we did not discover it right away, but we did discover some months later there was a backlog of 75 water licence applications which had never been dealt with by them, because they were not interested in agricultural development. They did not want to upset their green mates.
You make these assertions and talk about indefensible decisions and all those sorts of things. What about the indefensible decision the member for Casuarina made when he was the Mines minister and gave Rio Tinto carte blanche to produce bauxite without linking it to running the refinery? You want to talk about indefensible positions? I will tell you who, if anyone in this House, will wear some blame for the closure of the refinery at Gove and is complicit in the situation Nhulunbuy finds itself in. The member for Nhulunbuy should be pointing the finger at the member for Casuarina …
Mr VATSKALIS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 112. The member made inferences that somehow I gave carte blanche to Rio Tinto to export bauxite. I call on the member to table the agreement to prove his argument, otherwise he must apologise or withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Casuarina, it is not a point of order. Minister, if you get to the question please.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Madam Speaker, I have made the point adequately about the member for Casuarina’s involvement in the downfall of the Rio Tinto refinery. The member for Nhulunbuy should have a chat with the member for Casuarina about it.
We on this side of the House will continue to issue water licences. We have the department work through the process now. We want to see our land resources developed so they create real economies. You will not get a real economy unless you create business and jobs.
Alcohol Mandatory Treatment – Success
Mr HIGGINS to MINISTER for ALCOHOL REHABILITATION
Can you provide the House with some insight on the early successes of the alcohol mandatory treatment scheme?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. The alcohol mandatory treatment system is making a difference to the people of the Daly and in the lives of people across the Northern Territory. On the last count of the figures released, which was at the end of December, we had over 100 people go through alcohol mandatory treatment in just over seven months. The numbers would have climbed to perhaps as many as 200, but we are waiting for those stats to come through.
This program is changing the lives of people affected by chronic alcoholism. No strategy around alcohol has ever managed this before. We have tried to turn off the tap; the BDR failed; there were all sorts of strategies in place. However, this is changing and improving the lives of the most disadvantaged alcohol-affected people in our community. For that, we on this side of the Chamber are enormously proud. We make no apologies for how we have gone about this. We did it quickly because we promised the people of the Northern Territory we would roll out alcohol mandatory treatment as soon as possible. We did and it has been under way for just over seven months.
How have we changed people’s lives? For the first time in a long time, most people going through alcohol mandatory treatment are getting health services. Their health needs are particularly high. They suffer from a range of chronic diseases and infections, and they have neglected themselves physically and mentally for many years. Being a part of the alcohol mandatory treatment system means they get full medical attention for that 12-week period. For 12 weeks they will experience what it is like to feel reasonably good and healthy.
Who on earth can say that is a failure? We have our critics; they are lining up on the media, battling to have voices heard, but no one could dispute the fact our alcohol mandatory treatment system is improving the health of these people. It is providing them with social re-engagement. These people have been disengaged from their families and communities for many years. We are hearing stories of years – some families had thought they were deceased.
No one can convince me our alcohol mandatory treatment is doing nothing. It is improving the lives of our most disadvantaged, and we are very proud.
Violent Crime
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER
The crime statistics were last released on 17 January. It is now 19 February and we have not seen the monthly crime statistics, but we know under the CLP’s watch 2013 was the most violent year in the history of the Northern Territory.
You promised to cut crime by 10%, but instead we have seen violent crime increase by 12%. In Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, police are standing guard outside bottle shops. Police doing this for one day would cost more than the Banned Drinker Register for one year.
Chief Minister, will you table the cost of police standing outside the front of bottle shops?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this is where we are at. Rise above it! It is very hard when you get questions like, ‘How much does it cost for a police officer to stand outside the front of a bottle shop?’
You come here with mistruths about the crime statistics. Let us go to the question. They were released on 17 January, today is 19 February, two days after 17 February, why are they not out? These are publicly available statistics on websites. They may be two days late, but let us recall what it was like 18 months ago under Labor. There was no public release of crime statistics at all. We release them although they may be two days late.
Attorney-General, why are they two days late? Can you please fix them for the member for Fannie Bay? Two days! Holy moly! Give me a slap over the wrist, member for Fannie Bay!
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Before he hands over to the Attorney-General, the question was at the end: will he table the cost of police standing outside the front of bottle shops? I believe it is the Chief Minister’s question not the Attorney-General’s?
Mr GILES: Thank you very much. I am not handing this one over; this one is gold, member for Fannie Bay.
You talk about the BDR. We have the member for Nhulunbuy, who swears under her breath quietly - but after talking about the BDR in the last question, I will go through it again.
The statistics for the wholesale supply of alcohol have reduced. When the BDR was in it went up, now the BDR has gone it has come down. It is like minister Styles’ pyramid. BDR, alcohol goes up; no BDR, it comes down. The same as crime. It is rather funny because crime has gone down too.
We see around a 48% decrease in property crime in the Northern Territory. What have we seen since APOs have come in? There is roughly an 18% decrease on month-on-month figures in alcohol-related violent assaults on people.
Are you for real asking this question? You are completely blind. Let us come to another point, I was listening to some poor questions from the member for Nightcliff during Question Time and wondered what crime is like in Karama. I said to the police, ‘Get me the statistics for Karama and Malak’, because the member for Karama - who, when she was in government, was also the Deputy Chief Minister and, at times, Attorney-General - said Karama was a war zone. I wonder how much of a war zone it is now.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. That is a complete lie and you know it. I never said it.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, withdraw that comment.
Ms LAWRIE: I withdraw, but it is not true and you know it.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, the member for Karama calls her own electorate a war zone; I went to check how bad it is …
Ms Lawrie: Wrong, you are misleading the Chamber, you have no facts.
Mr GILES: .. and while I do not have the stats in front of me …
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, withdraw that statement.
Ms LAWRIE: Which one, Madam Speaker?
Madam SPEAKER: The reference to misleading the Chamber.
Ms LAWRIE: I withdraw. He knows it.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! A withdrawal is essentially an apology to the House for the comment made. It should be withdrawn without qualification, and it has been twice qualified.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, Leader of Government Business. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: Maybe tomorrow I will bring in the statistics for Karama, but there was about a 25% drop in assaults, and a 25% drop in property crime in Karama – in your electorate, which you called a war zone when you were in government.
Make no mistake, there is only one party reducing alcohol supply, property crime and assaults across the Northern Territory, even including your war zone.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Disability Services
Ms ANDERSON to MINISTER for DISABILITY SERVICES
There are many Territorians with mixed abilities who contribute enormously to our economic and cultural fabric. Can you please outline the historic step taken by the government to recognise the challenges facing Territorians with a disability, their carers and their families?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there are people right across the Northern Territory with disabilities who are contributing enormously to our social and economic fabric. I thank the member for Namatjira for her question.
On 3 February, just a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being sworn in as the Minister for Disability Services of the Northern Territory. It was a great honour for me personally and professionally, given 27 000 in the Territory identify as having a disability.
Mrs Vicki O’Halloran, who we all know, and who is President of the National Disability Services Network and the CE of Somerville Disability Services, said she had been waiting 20 years for these important changes to occur.
We have had endorsements across the Northern Territory and the country. It is well overdue. I have a big job ahead of me which I take on with great gusto and enthusiasm.
One of the key projects I will be focusing on is the trial of the National Disability Insurance Scheme rolling out in the Barkly region as of 1 July. This morning, I had the pleasure of meeting the CEO of the National Disability and Insurance Agency, Mr David Bowen, and Meryl Sveck who is the launch manager for South Australia and the Northern Territory.
This is incredibly exciting. I invite you all to get on board to familiarise yourself with what is going on in Barkly. I am going to Tennant Creek next week, meeting with the agency staff and stakeholders there. One-hundred-and-three people living in the Barkly area will be included in this trial: 103 local residents, people of different racial backgrounds, afflicted with all sorts of disabilities. It will be very exciting. It is the most remote trial site in Australia. All eyes will be looking at what we are doing in Barkly. It gives those people with a disability who are living in Barkly an opportunity to determine for themselves what services they access and how they access those services.
Generally, across the Northern Territory, this is not just about the National Disability Insurance Scheme, it is about modernising our approach to providing disability services, looking at the individual, giving them the ability to determine what they want and how they want it. It is a very exciting era we are moving into, a modern era.
Indigenous Education Review
Ms FYLES to MINISTER for EDUCATION
Your draft Indigenous education review says the Clontarf program should be maintained and a similar system-wide program for girls established. You may remember the Girls Engagement, Mentoring and Support programs – GEMS, as they were commonly known - at Casuarina Senior College, Sanderson, Dripstone and Nightcliff Middle Schools which successfully helped engage young Indigenous girls in schooling. GEMS was a successful engagement program for girls, but you scrapped it as part of your education cuts. Will you admit you jumped the gun with your education cuts and reinstate funding for GEMS, as recommended by your own review?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nightcliff for her question. The reality is the GEMS program was not delivering the same educational outcomes the Clontarf program was delivering. In addition, the arrangements were quite different when it came to funding Clontarf compared to GEMS.
Most people understand the Clontarf program is a well-established program. It receives funding from the federal and Northern Territory governments, as well as many well-intentioned donors who give money to the organisation to ensure Clontarf is successful. Overall, it is pretty successful. The GEMS program, on the other hand, while showing some good results in certain areas, was an expensive option for the Northern Territory government to consider. However, I would like to see, in future, us having a similar program to Clontarf running for females. The reality is the budget structure and how it is paid for, and remembering the focus should always be on educational outcomes. This is unlike the Labor Party, thinking throwing extra money at something will achieve better outcomes; this is not the way it works. We need to focus on results.
We are working on ways we can have similar programs to Clontarf for girls in the Northern Territory. It has to be run and funded properly, and it has to have the outcomes focused on education; this is the problem.
Members interjecting.
Mr CHANDLER: Listen to the rabble. You had the member for Nightcliff come in with another political stunt, 11 000 pieces of paper she has tabled. She is also the shadow minister for the Environment. Eleven thousand pieces of paper - if every member of this parliament …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. I am not the shadow minister for the Environment, I also seek leave to table the e-mail I received from the Planning Commission this morning at 8.47 am. I find it interesting that you got one on Monday.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, that is out of order. You are on a warning. You did not reference your standing order and seeking leave when you do not have the floor is out of order.
Mr CHANDLER: Someone who is promoting and standing up for our environment wants to print 11 000 pages just for a political stunt. If everyone in this House, 25 members, all have a right to see tabled documents, I think it would be around 275 000 copies needing to be printed for each of us to have 11 000 copies. What is that? If I do my numbers - 555 reams of paper would be required to give every member of this parliament a copy of the tabled paper. Unlike the member for Nightcliff, we provided information on a disk to the union to save printing 11 000 pieces of paper, because it was the information they asked for. We have the Labor rabble with their misinformation, mistruths, just like they do in public …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Royal Darwin Hospital Upgrades
Mr KURRUPUWU to MINISTER FOR HEALTH
Can you outline the significant upgrades scheduled to occur at Royal Darwin Hospital, which will increase its role as the premium Territory hospital in northern Australia?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. Earlier in the year, I was walking around the campus of the Royal Darwin Hospital, foraging in the nooks and crannies of this enormous campus. Just over yonder, there was the helipad, which is quite a remarkable facility as it is, but is due for a significant upgrade, thanks to our friends from INPEX.
This facility already provides an important emergency recovery response service; it allows a helicopter to land within the RDH precinct. The upgrade will mean bigger helicopters will be able to land, which meets the needs of INPEX and the broader Territory community. Our tertiary hospital will have this upgrade in the next couple of months; the tender is in process. INPEX will be using the large Sikorsky S-92 and the Eurocopter Super Pumas in the instance it needs to medically evacuate any injured employees. I am told they are very impressive machines, not being au fait with helicopters.
The new helipad will be able to handle large military helicopters, including the Chinook and Black Hawk. It will be quite a sight to see when these larger aircraft are able to land on the new upgraded helipad.
The Royal Darwin Hospital is the home of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, which is a key element in the Australian government’s disaster and emergency medical response to incidents of national and international significance. The National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre will have access to this new upgraded helipad. It will be able to move in its helicopters, load its gear and get to where it wants to go much more easily than taking it all the way to the airport, which has been the case in the past.
The US Marines are set to base more than 1200 troops in Darwin this year, with the number expected to grow. With this new helipad, they will also be able to handle the MV-22 Osprey which is the US Marines’ troop transport.
It is good news for the Royal Darwin Hospital. It is great to see all these sectors - Defence, private industry and the Northern Territory government - working out these mutually beneficial projects.
Darwin Bus Service - Sale
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for TRANSPORT
In the last sittings of parliament you made a statement about transport in the Northern Territory. In the statement you said nothing about the sale of the government-owned bus service, a public asset. Three days later, the day after sittings - after we had all gone home - you announced the government-owned bus service was to be sold. Why did you leave the sale of the Darwin Bus Service out of your ministerial statement when you knew you would announce the decision three days later? Why did you not have the courtesy of telling the parliament of your intention to sell the public bus service, but left the announcement until parliament had finished? Can you explain the reason the Darwin Bus Service is being sold, what you expect to receive for it - and the ‘it’ is a public asset by the way - and who you intend to sell it to?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for the question. We were looking at a range of issues. We wanted to get the tenders for this out as soon as we could, which is why we were pushing to meet the 6 December deadline. A range of meetings occurred with the Department of Transport and with me. We wanted to get everything done for the change-over in a financial year. The longer you leave these things, the longer you have the commencement date. We have looked at a range of issues in the transport sector and public transport in relation to providing an effective and efficient service to the people of the Northern Territory to get around at a respectable price, but also to increase the service and the competition.
As Darwin grows - and we all know we are in for a massive growth spurt - we are looking at introducing competition into the system. You will notice this across a range of portfolios. We on this side are about driving forces down because of competition.
We had this discussion in a previous debate in this House in relation to what we do on our side and what you do on your side. We hear the members of the opposition calling for one big fat organisation to run Power and Water, for instance, but to get efficiencies you need competition. This has been proven all over the place. If you look at power, for instance, it was the Labor governments around Australia privatising power to drive the cost down. It was Labor that advocated the breakdown of Telstra.
We have competition now. I think I mentioned to you the last time we debated, my phone calls these days are cheaper if I want to ring someone interstate than they were 32 years ago when we had one provider. So, tell me where competition is not a good thing.
We on this side want to go into competition; we have thrown it out there to see what will happen. My understanding is …
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 113: relevance. I asked why this was not included in your ministerial statement and why were we told after parliament had completed its sittings.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, if you can get to the point please.
Mr STYLES: The decision was not made. The decision was made as soon as we could get the information in.
Members interjecting.
Mr STYLES: I hear the interjections, but you cannot announce something until the decision is made and the department signs off to ensure all due diligence has been done in relation to the tendering process. We will put it out there. My understanding is six organisations have tendered for this and the department is, with some experts, determining what will happen. When you ask who we will give it to, it is about the tendering process being done, due diligence being done and then we will talk to the people who are the recipients.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
ANSWER TO QUESTION
Government Advertising
Government Advertising
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, yesterday there was a question about $2.5m being expended on advertising in relation to a request for tender. I said yesterday I was not sure of the amount spent by the previous government, but I can advise the amount spent by the previous government in the full financial year was $5 041 909, as opposed to $2 500 759 by this government. The expenditure of the $5m by the former Labor government does not include all their communications officers and other spin machines. Quite clearly, we do not spend anywhere near what Labor spent.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016