2012-12-05
Mini-Budget – Cost of Living
Ms LAWRIE to CHIEF MINISTER
Yesterday in Question Time you proudly claimed you had stuck to your five-point plan. One of these points is to reduce the cost of living. Your mini-budget is a major disaster for Territory families. When your own mini-budget shows inflation will rise from 2.1% to 4.35% because of your price hikes, how can you possibly claim that you are delivering on your cost of living commitment?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Opposition Leader, who is also a former Treasurer who presided over the pre-election fiscal outlook. That pre-election fiscal outlook also indicated the cost of living increase. The CPI increase was cited in that document you handed down in the Northern Territory parliament just before the election ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: I was silent when you asked the question. Could you just listen to the answer, please?
Ms Lawrie: No, you are misleading Territorians again.
Mr MILLS: So very rude. Of course, you would understand how the CPI is worked out. It is a basket of expenses that a household has to pay in order to live in this community and includes a whole range of things. Yes, it is groceries, the cost of utilities and so on. It is also the cost of rents and mortgages.
You handed down the pre-election fiscal outlook. Judging that against the question you have just asked and the churlish and childish scaremongering you are now conducting in the Territory community, you are providing zero leadership and discrediting and devaluing your position as a former Treasurer and as an Opposition Leader. You are not a leader because the fact is, in your pre-election fiscal outlook, you …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance. The question was how can he claim he has reduced the cost of living ...
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Please be seated. Chief Minister.
Mr MILLS: Coming back at you, we are getting to the pre-election fiscal outlook which was your document. In that document, which weighs up a range of expenses, you predicted the cost of living would …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Mr Mills: I am answering the question, Madam Speaker.
Ms LAWRIE: Misleading - the PEFO is the Treasurer’s document, not my document so …
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order Opposition Leader. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr MILLS: The PEFO looked at the fiscal settings under the responsibility of the then Treasurer and foretold the CPI increase would be 1.2%. The calculation under the mini-budget that was handed down yesterday is 0.9%
The calculation - the 1.2% to the so-called alleged doubling - the greater part of it is your own financial settings which were outlined in the pre-election fiscal outlook. You are the one who has contributed the greater degree to the cost of living in the Northern Territory ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Then why does the mini-budget paper say it is due to the utility price increases ...
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order, please be seated.
Mr MILLS: That point of order illustrates you are losing the argument ...
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! We are continually pleading these frivolous and deliberately interruptive points of order, which have nothing to do with standing orders and are being used to diminish ministers’ opportunities to answer. I will not say it again in this House, we will change the orders around Question Time so ministers can complete their answers if this continues. It will happen the next time this happens.
First Homeowners –
Change to Quantity of Houses
Change to Quantity of Houses
Ms LAWRIE to MINISTER for HOUSING
Based on realestate.com, on Monday, prior to your first homeowner changes, there were 1269 homes in Darwin and Palmerston on the market for which first homeowners were eligible for the $25 000 assistance. Today, following your changes, there are only 117 homes in Darwin and Palmerston on the market for which first homeowners are eligible for $25 000. How does making 1000 homes ineligible for first homeowners help them?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Opposition Leader for her question. The reality is housing prices in the Northern Territory were amongst the highest in this country and probably one of the major reasons people were walking out of this place in droves. I speak to business people every day about the difficulties they have in getting people to stay here because the wages they are paying are not sustainable with the rents in the Northern Territory.
It is true to say the previous government had lost the plot when it came to managing rising housing costs in the Northern Territory. The reality is, if they really analysed what their programs were doing before, what they were focusing was raising the prices of houses.
The fact is, if you add to the pool of eligible people into a market where you do not add to the stock, you push the prices up. It does not take Einstein to work that out. Your programs attributed …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question was how does making 1000 homes ineligible for first homebuyers help them, because that is what you are doing.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister for Housing, you have the call.
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, I am trying to answer the question. It is quite clear the former Treasurer has no idea when it comes to what drives the market in the Northern Territory. The lack of land release drove up prices. The fact your own programs had to have the caps lifted was a direct result of a failed program. That is the measure of what a failure this program was.
The programs we have developed will focus on new builds in the Northern Territory. That will have a direct benefit to Territorians and those people who want to live here in the long term. If there is something we can do as a government which can help manage the housing stock in the Northern Territory, it is focus on the first homebuyers, focus on new builds, and that is what we are focusing on.
The last government of the Northern Territory lost the plot when it came to managing housing stock in the Northern Territory. Their program of failed land release pushed up the prices. That is a fact.
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113. Two-and-three-quarter minutes and the minister will not answer the question.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Please be seated.
Freds Pass Reserve –
Cessation of Funding
Cessation of Funding
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for SPORT and RECREATION
Your decision to stop funding for Freds Pass Reserve has meant a loss of $2.8m for the main sporting facility in the rural area. Before you made this decision did you have any discussions with the Freds Pass Management Board? Did you discuss the matter with the local CLP members Kezia Purick and Gary Higgins? Since you have become minister, have you bothered to visit Freds Pass to see for yourself what a wonderful facility it is and how it serves the rural community, especially the youth?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is great to have a question from the member for Nelson regarding sport and recreation, something we do not see too often from the previous government. The fact is we are in a pretty serious situation when it comes to the finances of the Northern Territory ...
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance. Did he talk to the Freds Pass Management Board? Did he talk to the local members? Have you bothered? No, because I know where he is going. This is a specific question and the answer has to be directly relevant according to standing orders.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, if you could answer the question and get to the point.
Mr CONLAN: Thank you, I am getting to the answer. I have not been to Freds Pass since becoming the minister, but I have been to Freds Pass on a number of occasions.
This was a commitment made by the former Northern Territory government that kept you in power, that gave you the power to let them do nothing. They sat on their hands, thanks to you. I have to also say there was a commitment to a 25 m swimming pool ...
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It has to be directly relevant to the question. The question was specific, and he has gone off to the swimming pool. I will give him a question on that later. Did he talk to the management board? Did he talk to you and the member for Daly? He has answered one part - he has not been to Freds Pass.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, you have the call. Get to the point.
Mrs Lambley: How about you answer the question?
Mr CONLAN: That is a very good idea. It seems the member for Nelson is not interested in the answer. I have three minutes to articulate the answer. There was a bit of a preamble. The previous government was kept in power by you; they did nothing. It was a promise to you, as was the swimming pool. You do not particularly want to hear the answer. I will give you a briefing on it later; that might be the best way. We can just get on with some serious questions in the House ...
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
100 Days of Government –
Consultation
Consultation
Mr STYLES to CHIEF MINISTER
You told Territorians you would be a consultative government. What consultation has the government undertaken and with whom in the 100 days of your government?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Sanderson for a very important question. We have taken a central position; that is, we will govern in the best interests of all Territorians and work to unite all Territorians into one project and deal with a real problem which is the difficult situation all Territorians have been presented with. These are not just words; these have been demonstrated by action.
We do not just pay lip service, as the former government did, to consultation just as a device to manage the message. We have conducted consultation in good faith, aimed at achieving some really strong and long-lasting shared outcomes.
Since taking government just a little over three months ago I, along with my ministers, made a priority of meeting with as many stakeholders as possible. In doing this we have not restricted ourselves to speaking with all the usual players but have deliberately gone about seeking to meet with others whose voices are not often heard above the noise of politics, and that is important. As Chief Minister, I have travelled the length and breadth of the Territory in an attempt to discover the issues of concern to ordinary people ...
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Could the Chief Minister please explain why the Education minister has not yet met the education union?
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order, member for Fannie Bay. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr MILLS: Since taking office I have travelled from the Tiwis in the north to Finke in the Centre, and from Wadeye in the west to Ramingining in the east - not always with media in tow as a demonstration or a spectacle to draw attention to me or my government, but in a genuine effort to meet with people out of the spotlight where honest conversations can occur.
It has not just been me, this is a whole-of-government approach with involvement from every member of my team. In governing for all Territorians it is important we carefully manage our relationships with our regional neighbours, and carrying out this proper consultation is critically important.
There was a time when the friendship and business relationship between the Northern Territory and Indonesia was, to put it simply, extraordinary and the envy of the country. Territorian politicians of both major parties considered our business relationship with our northern Asian neighbours very important, if not more so than the relationship with our fellow Australians down south. Then, when Labor took over the reins in the Northern Territory, inexplicably they allowed that very special relationship to wither.
The Mills government is taking action to rejuvenate the important relationship between the Northern Territory and Indonesia. There is a planned trip coming up and there have been excellent meetings with the Ambassadors of China and of Japan.
Public Sector Enterprise Bargaining Agreements
Ms LAWRIE to CHIEF MINISTER
I draw your attention to page 98 of the mini-budget:
- Prices and Costs
...
In 2013, growth in Darwin’s CPI is forecast to strengthen to 4.3% reflecting increases in utility tariffs from January 2013, which are expected to add 1.1 percentage points to growth in the year.
This will put enormous pressure on public and private sector wage growth. Do you guarantee your public sector EBAs will involve at least a 4.3% increase, or will you be giving our nurses, teachers and police, along with every other public servant, a pay cut?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Opposition Leader for the question. You still have not acknowledged the glaring fact that your own fiscal settings have been the largest contributor to the CPI increases. You will be out there claiming in the marketplace, quite falsely, that there has been a doubling in three months under the new government when, in fact, your own presentation to the Territory community has demonstrated the greatest ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance. The question was, will he guarantee a 4.3% wage increase in the public EBAs? Otherwise will police, teachers and nurses get a pay cut from him?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr MILLS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. This is getting a bit silly because in order to answer the question I need to say a couple of things ...
Ms Lawrie: Get to the answer!
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: I am on my way to saying those things. I do not want to be controlled by an Opposition Leader who is using the processes of the parliament to her advantage ...
Ms Walker:: The Opposition Leader is holding you to account.
Mr MILLS: The truth will hold you to account at the end of the day. The truth is, the greatest contribution to the rising cost of living in the Northern Territory is the settings that have already been established by the former government. We accept there has been an increase in the cost of living, but that is a fact. Do not say it is not true, and it goes away. It stands there for anyone to see, but you will not look at it. You are well suited to opposition because you are not accountable anymore, you can say whatever you like, create any story or myth you like. You will do very well ...
Ms Lawrie: Answer the question.
Mr MILLS: In answering the rude Opposition Leader’s question, we will negotiate in good faith because I reckon I have people who have a real interest in the future of the Northern Territory and who understand the facts and the reality. We are all in this together, and we will work this out together because we are all a part of some big enterprise. It is not a political enterprise to advance the interests of Delia Lawrie and the Labor Party; it is to advance the interests of the Northern Territory. I reckon everyone who enters those negotiations will be entering them with the future of their families, their children, and the Northern Territory in mind. We are in it together and will negotiate in good faith with people who love the Territory.
Affordable Housing –
Government Measures
Government Measures
Ms FINOCCHIARO to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you tell the House about the measures your government is taking to lay the foundation for affordable housing in Darwin, particularly in the Palmerston and Litchfield areas?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale. This is an issue that is of real concern, particularly to the people of the electorate she represents, the good people of Drysdale. There is no doubt the cost of living is too high in the Northern Territory, and in Darwin in particular ...
Ms Walker: You made it higher! Thank you very much.
Mr MILLS: What? We have created this in three months? Where do you think it came from? You live in a fool’s paradise in opposition.
We are taking responsibility and dealing with the issue ...
Ms Lawrie: You are taking a wrecking ball to the Territory.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr McCarthy: Yes, you have new parameters.
Mr MILLS: Yes, you just yell out in Question Time. Big hit, big hit.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: Some of the recent decisions taken by my government will impact on the cost of living; we accept this. We will not make it up. We know it will impact on the cost of living. We have explained why, and I reckon Territorians will understand why. I regret that.
However, overwhelmingly, the greatest item on the cost of living is the cost of housing. This government will reconfirm an allocation of $47.6m for residential developments, $4.6m for public housing at Bellamack, $6.1m at Zuccoli for social housing, $2.4m to construct seven two-bedroom units at Rosebery, $12m for Howard Springs Road, and $12.8m for continuing headworks for residential development around Palmerston.
Palmerston and the rural surrounding areas are among the fastest growing regions in …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It would be remiss of me not to thank the Chief Minister for acknowledging all the Labor initiatives in his …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Barkly, you are on a warning!
Mr MILLS: We are not involved in politics we are about fixing up the problems. It is not about taking credit, it is about doing the job, mate.
We have provided $300 000 in 2012-13 to upgrade the Satellite City BMX facility in Palmerston, and a $2m grant to support the expansion of Somerville’s community centre in Palmerston. This government is addressing the long-term future and the high cost of living in the Northern Territory with a comprehensive and well-thought-out plan, unlike the opposition which had no concept of planning other than to use a credit card.
Motor Vehicle Registration – Increasing Cost
Ms LAWRIE to TREASURER
You justified your registration increases of up to $105 a year on national averages. With the price of petrol in the Northern Territory so much higher than down south, do you really think Territorians would agree with you?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question - a peculiar question it is. You had 11 years to preside over the price of fuel in the Northern Territory - 11 years to do something about bringing it down to at least something reasonable that equates to the real cost of bringing fuel to the Territory ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance. It was her $105 registration hike and whether or not Territorians will agree with her.
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, you have the call.
Mrs LAMBLEY: The price of fuel we can thank the former government for. They did nothing to try to stem the escalating increases to the price fuel.
In answering the question the Leader of the Opposition has posed, our increases to the motor vehicle registration levies have been very reasonable. There have been no increases apart from CPI increases for 16 years. For 16 years, apart from CPI increases, there has been no increase in motor vehicle registration fees.
Sixty-seven dollars per year additional registration for small cars and $105 for larger vehicles is between $1 and $2 extra per week. It will be an impost on low-income earners and an extra struggle for families. However, we believe, given there has been no increase apart from CPI increases for such a long time in motor vehicle registration fees, this is a reasonable increase when you consider all the factors at play.
Schools –
Performance Information for Parents
Performance Information for Parents
Mr KURRUPUWU to MINISTER for EDUCATION
Can you tell the House of the government’s plans to give parents information about the performance of their children at school?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. Education is the gift that keeps on giving for our children. It is the foundation upon which the Northern Territory has been built. I am very proud to be the new Minister for Education in the Northern Territory.
We want our children to be skilled, to be in line for high-paying, rewarding jobs that really make a difference to the Territory and to those future adults in our community. They must have a good education.
The former government left us with a legacy of very high absenteeism and low attendance rates which will continue to be a struggle for this government to fix - another problem the former government left us which we will endeavour to fix.
Education is like a race; while every competitor should be praised for competing, so too should every competitor strive to do better. We are committed to providing Territorian parents with information they need to make an informed decision on the selection of a school for their Year 12 children.
Rather than face a long wait as we try to develop from scratch a specific Northern Territory government rating system, the Territory government has decided to work with the Northern Territory Board of Studies to move towards the excellent South Australian Certificate of Education model. This model will allow Territory parents to compare the academic and other performance of schools. It is logical parents will select the schools which deliver the best results. Anything that can be done to help parents and students achieve the best results should be pursued.
The former government ignored the established practice of releasing student data through the relevant appropriate authority. The Northern Territory Board of Studies has decided to copy the information release processes used in South Australia starting from next year. This is good news. We have invested in this new data release process and it is good news for all Territory families. The sort of information that will be released will include aggregated student achievements in particular subjects and learning areas. It will also show overall school achievements in many areas.
Renal Services in Katherine
Mr VATSKALIS to MINSTER for HEALTH
Your budget slashes the expansion of renal services in Katherine. It is well known the member for Katherine has always been opposed to having a new renal clinic in Katherine. Do the members for Stuart and Arnhem agree that the Katherine region should not have expanded renal services?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Casuarina for his question. It has been a long time since we heard a question from the other side on health. Good on you, member for Casuarina, you once had an interest in health and I am glad to see there has been a spark fired in your soul. Good on you for asking about the constituents of Katherine and the regions around there. They are very important to us and all Northern Territorians. Anything we can do to improve services in that region is a good thing, member for Casuarina.
In relation to renal services, they are not being reduced. Renal services will continue from the Katherine Hospital. I was in Katherine only a week-and-a-bit ago and can tell you Katherine Hospital is a fantastic facility. It is probably our best resourced hospital in the Northern Territory. It is a great hospital, great setting, and great location. Of course, in the long-term future it will need to be moved, but not at this stage; it is doing a fantastic job.
As for renal services, there is plenty of opportunity to expand renal services within Katherine Hospital. We are looking at doing exactly that, member for Casuarina. People who require those services will still be able to access them at Katherine Hospital; nothing is being reduced. The government is not going ahead with an additional infrastructure requirement somewhere away from the hospital when we have perfectly adequate facilities at the hospital.
Of course, the ongoing funding of that was never budgeted for by the previous government - another indication of the failure of the previous government to manage their budgets ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! He is clearly misleading Territorians. That was in the 2012-13 budget.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no a point of order. Minister, continue.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Speaker, they do not like listening to answers on these things. I pay credit again to the member of Casuarina. He is one of the former failed Health ministers on the other team, but good on him for asking a question about health.
Literacy and Numeracy Panel –
Appointment of
Appointment of
Mrs PRICE to MINISTER for EDUCATION
Can you tell the House of the government’s appointment of an expert literacy and numeracy panel to focus on the issues impacting teaching and learning in the Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Stuart for her question. There is more good news when it comes to education from this new government. It is now accepted that the three Rs are considered extremely important to the success or otherwise of young people looking for work. The three Rs are critical to a good life. We all know that, reading, writing and arithmetic; excuse my annunciation of that.
The government is determined to provide every student in the Northern Territory with the optimal opportunity to succeed in their schooling. Indeed, the government has included in all school and regions an explicit literacy and numeracy component which sets negotiated targets.
Shortly after the election, the government identified the urgent need to appoint an expert panel on literacy and numeracy. This government recognised this is a critical part of planning for the future of Northern Territorians.
I can tell the House today the panel will be composed of national and Northern Territory numeracy and literacy experts, which is great news for the Territory. The panel will oversee a renewed focus on teaching and assessing the core competencies of reading, writing, and arithmetic, including a review of current practices.
Most importantly, the panel will develop explicit guidelines for literacy and numeracy teaching. Among the aims of the panel are: to provide strategic direction, future planning, and advice for the effective implementation of literacy and numeracy leadership and learning; oversee the ongoing implementation of the literacy and numeracy improvement policy; and provide advice on professional learning to assist teachers develop quality literacy and numeracy teaching in all learning areas.
The panel will include members from the Australian Association of English Teachers NT and the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers NT and other noted education groups.
Schools and teachers will be supported to de-clutter and prioritise curricula, offerings, and analysed data through in-class coaching and mentoring.
The government will do everything it can to ensure every student is given the opportunity to succeed in life.
Mini-Budget –
Local Government Sustainability after Cuts
Local Government Sustainability after Cuts
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Last week in a ministerial statement you said local governments did not have sufficient funding to remain sustainable. Your mini-budget cut funding for local government from $72m to $59m - a cut of $13m or 18%. How does cutting their funding help them have sufficient funding to remain sustainable?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. I note she has been busy over there with illiterate mutterings. She has taken on the new role of the former member for Drysdale, Ross Bohlin - seems to be sitting in a very similar place over there rabbling on the whole way. I am very happy to give the minister for ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Offensive to a member.
Madam SPEAKER: Please be seated. Minister, you have the call if you could get to the point.
Mr GILES: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I am very happy to give the shadow minister a briefing about how finance works for local government.
I can explain the way it works. There is a federal Grants Commission which identifies how money comes to the Territory. In the Territory we have a Territory Grants Commission which works out how the money goes to local government in the Northern Territory.
There is currently about $15m in FAGS grants, or financial assistance grants, $15m in roads grants, there is operational money of $20m. Sometimes, that money comes in from the federal government at different stages of the year. That is why the money has not been identified in the budget because it has already gone out or we are waiting on the new money to come in.
A total of 93% of the local government budget is grants money - it comes in as grants, it goes out - and 7% is for us to actually do the business.
While I have a bit of time up my sleeve, I point out the operational grants money of which there is $20m. Did you know that over the last six years there has not been an increase in operational grants? Where the Deloittes report talks about the long-term financial sustainability of the shires, that is actually talking about how much money they receive to operate. Aside from the rate increases and other issues about raising revenue, they did not increase any money for six years - six years, bush members!
They brought in the shire councils and did not give them any extra money. Is it any wonder they are in trouble financially? You jump up here leading with the chin asking questions about local government and not even understanding what it is about ...
Ms Lawrie: What are you increasing?
Mr GILES: I am particularly happy to give you a briefing.
What you do not know is, in that budget over the forward estimates, there is $6.2m for local government in regional governance reform for the shires, because we are acting on our election commitments. Plus what else is in there? In addition …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask the member for Braitling to direct his responses through the Chair.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, I remind the member for Barkly he is on a warning. I know it is not my job, but I am happy to help out in this House.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling!
Mr GILES: It is good to see him back in Darwin. He must have had a good week in Tennant Creek. I know there was a protest there about the weather station and he would have been front and centre on the weather station ...
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113, relevance.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister.
Mr GILES: You lead with your chin and come up with frivolous points of order. You cannot hack it. You did not go back to Tennant Creek to fight the fight for the weather station. You are the member for Barkly; the Labor member with friends in high places who cannot even stop a weather station being closed down, cannot stop Muckaty, cannot stop the weather station. You are a waste of space …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113. The member knows he should direct his responses through the Chair.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister.
Mr GILES: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I will go on. This was the former ‘yes’ government ...
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I asked a very direct question of the minister and he has not answered it. People will not be satisfied with that answer, it is pathetic.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mini-Budget –
Impact on the Office of Children and Families
Impact on the Office of Children and Families
Ms LEE to MINISTER for CHILDREN and FAMILIES
For the benefit of the member for Casuarina, how has the government addressed the growing demand for out-of-home care and child protection services? Can you outline how the mini-budget will impact on the funding for the Office of Children and Families?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arnhem for her question. This is a great question.
On 31 October, the member for Nightcliff moved a motion calling on the government to guarantee it would maintain its commitment to the level of funding for the Office of Children and Families. When I moved the amendment to the motion, I said we would to commit to the current level of funding because if we did, we were locked into not being able to increase the level of funding.
The member for Casuarina mocked me saying, ‘I would like to see that’. Remember that, member for Casuarina? Well, member for Casuarina, now you get to see it in print.
This government is demonstrating its real commitment to child protection in these tough times by providing an additional $10m this financial year and $5m ongoing from 2013-14 to the Office of Children and Families. It is an overall substantial increase in an area we think is extremely important.
As I have outlined previously in the House, the number of Northern Territory children harmed every year continues to increase and so does the number of children who need to come into care in order to grow up in a safe environment. The demand for child protection services in the Northern Territory has increased substantially year on year ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Then why is the non-government sector saying that slashing the family crisis support will put more children in danger?
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, there is no point of order. You have the call, minister.
Mrs LAMBLEY: We take this area of government business extremely seriously - the welfare of children and families in the Northern Territory.
When we came into office just 15 weeks ago we uncovered a complete shambles, the spending of millions and millions of dollars that was not budgeted for, 90 unfunded child protection workers and substantial increases in operational costs resulting in a black hole of $35m in the 2012-13 budget. That is a huge amount of money which the former government intended to spend with no dollars existing for that expenditure. The former Labor government was so focused on the board of inquiry report and being re-elected they did not notice what was happening to the welfare of children in the Northern Territory.
As the minister and Treasurer, I have made tough decisions. There have been some changes to how we prioritise the funding of the non-government sector, as the Leader of the Opposition has pointed out, but our priority is the welfare of the children of the Northern Territory.
Mini-Budget –
Cancellation of Proposed Litchfield
Swimming Pool
Cancellation of Proposed Litchfield
Swimming Pool
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for SPORT and RECREATION
Yesterday, you cancelled the proposed swimming pool for the Litchfield community. Did you have any discussions with any of the CLP local members - the members for Goyder and Daly - about the future of the pool, the design of the pool, and the site for the pool, or was this decision made purely out of spite because you hated the agreement I had with the previous Chief Minister? Was that more important than the welfare of rural Territorians?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there is a stack of questions in that one question. The best way to go about this is to provide the member for Nelson with a briefing, or maybe I can put it together in the form of a letter and articulate it to you. It is very difficult to explain something in this parliament at the moment with all the interjections we continue to be bombarded with. There is nothing sadder than a man who has spent 11 years in parliament and achieved very little. You had all the power in the world to make this happen, and I rest my case ...
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I asked did he discuss the issue with you and the member for Daly, and all I am getting is a reflection of the spite and hatred that side is making the decisions on for this swimming pool. He has said it, and that is what it is about. I want to know, did he ask you and the member for Daly about this decision before it was made?
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you. Minister, have you finished, or do you wish to continue?
Mr CONLAN: No, I have finished my answer. We will provide the member with a briefing.
Indigenous Employment
Training Program Cuts
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for INDIGENOUS ADVANCEMENT
Last week the minister complained that not enough jobs had been created for Indigenous Territorians. Does the minister agree with the decision of the Minister for Business to cut the Indigenous employment training programs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for that question. I put into context the things the former Labor government has done to Aboriginal employment and Aboriginal people in general. You did not care about Aboriginal people. That is why you are sitting across there, because they put you there. You did not care about Aboriginal people.
We are a government that trusts Aboriginal people and we want to have an honest relationship with Aboriginal people. Our Chief Minister has gone to Aboriginal communities, spoken to Aboriginal people and given the commitment to Aboriginal people that the Country Liberals are about working with them.
We are about bringing all Territorians forward. We are not about dog whistling to the northern suburbs like a ninth member of parliament, Nigel Adlam, and you, Opposition Leader - dog whistling to the northern suburbs, saying black people are getting everything ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Namatjira, please address your comments through the Chair.
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I have allowed a certain preamble in the answer to this question but I draw the minister back to a very specific question that has been asked of her and call relevance under Standing Order 113.
Madam SPEAKER: Please be seated, member for Nhulunbuy.
Ms ANDERSON: Madam Speaker, the preamble was that wide and I need to bring it back into context so I can draw a picture of the ninth member of the Labor Party, Nigel Adlam, and the Opposition Leader dog whistling to the northern suburbs about Aboriginal people. That is very dangerous ground to get into; dog whistling to the northern suburbs.
We are about developing relationships, we will have relationships with Indigenous Territorians, and we will move them forward ...
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask you to remind the minister about mentioning names of individuals who do not have right of reply in this parliament. She clearly has a hatred for certain elements of the media, that is very clear.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, I remind you about mentioning people’s names who do not have any right of reply.
Ms ANDERSON: I will go back to saying the Country Liberals are about having a relationship with Indigenous Territorians. We are about moving Territorians forward and treating Territorians as equals.
We are not about dog whistling to the northern suburbs like your ninth member of parliament, ninth member of the Labor Party and you, Leader of the Opposition ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question was does she agree with the axing of the Indigenous employment training program?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, you have the call.
Ms ANDERSON: Madam Speaker, I have answered the question and I urge the Opposition Leader to stop dog whistling along with Nigel Adlam.
Elective Surgery –
Improvements to Waiting Lists
Improvements to Waiting Lists
Mr HIGGINS to MINISTER for HEALTH
Can you please advise the House how this Country Liberal government is improving services to Territorians who require elective surgery?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his very good question. Elective surgery waiting lists are of particular concern to Northern Territorians given our heavy reliance on the public hospital system for major elective surgery.
There are other problems such as the lack of creativity by the previous government in looking for answers to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. Their desire to constantly deficit fund the Health department has put pressure on that department over certainty with their funding. The fact they ignored ongoing funding requirements for health services across the Northern Territory has put enormous pressures on elective surgery waiting lists.
Unlike other states where they have a strong private sector to assist in reducing the significant block on elective surgery, the Territory practically has none, with some elective surgeries being carried out at Darwin Private Hospital and some - and I hope many more - being carried out at the Casuarina Day Surgery. Those things should go a long way to reducing waiting lists.
However, as the Treasurer announced yesterday, the government has allocated an additional $4.6m to provide 400 additional elective surgeries every year. It is probably an easy thing to say: $4.6m for 400 additional surgeries. However, the way in which government is looking to reduce these waiting lists with that money is by tasking clinicians at RDH and Alice Springs Hospital to find a number of ways to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. They are looking at increasing blitzes at some of our underutilised hospitals. The very beautiful Katherine Hospital, Tennant Creek Hospital, and Gove Hospital are all places where we can carry out elective surgeries and where we do not have major capacity problems. They are looking at a dedicated emergency surgical team to manage those high-demand emergency services, reducing cancellations for that reason. We are looking at putting in place tele-medicine for outpatient appointments and reducing turnaround surgery procedures to get more people through surgeries.
All in all, it is a good news story for Territorians. We are working to reduce elective surgery waiting lists ...
Madam SPEAKER: Your time has expired, minister.
Education –
Cuts to Budget
Cuts to Budget
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for EDUCATION
You are cutting the education budget by 10%. We have been told Casuarina Senior College has been required to cut six full-time equivalent teaching positions from its staffing roster. You said you want to improve literacy and numeracy. How will cutting six positions at Casuarina Senior College help improve education and, if teachers are not considered front line, who is?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his question. A 10% reduction in the education budget - have you read the budget books member for Fannie Bay? That is just not true. I heard it from the Opposition Leader yesterday. I heard it on Channel 7 last night when I got home. Where are people getting these figures from? They obviously cannot read the budget papers. There is not a 10% decrease in the education budget. It is simply not true ...
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance - the six positions at Casuarina Senor College.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, you have the call.
Mrs LAMBLEY: Madam Speaker, if what I am saying is not relevant then why did he ask the question in the first place?
The May 2012-13 budget for education was $831m. For this mini-budget covering 2012-13, the budget for education is $843m. There is an increase of $12m in the education budget for the rest of this financial year. The member for Fannie Bay must get his figures from fairyland ...
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! In the media lock-up yesterday they were briefed there would be a 10% cut to education over this term. Are you saying what the media was told in the lock-up is wrong?
Madam SPEAKER: Please be seated, member for Fannie Bay.
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It is irrelevant.
Madam SPEAKER: Deputy Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mrs LAMBLEY: Given no one from government addressed the lock-up, I do not know who he is referring to. However, he has reasonable literacy and numeracy skills; he was well educated in the Northern Territory ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It shows a reduction in middle years education and non-government education. It shows a reduction in international education. It shows a reduction in Territory education. Read your own mini-budget ...
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, be seated!
Mr Tollner: Kick her out!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, you are on a warning. Deputy Chief Minister.
Mrs LAMBLEY: I appreciate the need for the Leader of the Opposition to step in and help the member for Fannie Bay. It must be deeply embarrassing when your shadow ministers cannot even read basic figures like, ‘Gee, there is an increase from $831m to $843m’. There is no question from the member for Fannie Bay; he does not know what he is talking about. He needs to look at the budget papers, maybe get a briefing, maybe get some help from someone externally who knows how to read these things, before he stands in parliament and makes a goose of himself.
Boot Camps –
Status and Benefits
Status and Benefits
Ms FINOCCHIARO to MINISTER for CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
Can you please inform the House as to the status of the promised boot camps and the benefits of such camps?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question because an important component of our legal system is how to deal with juveniles who come to the attention of the criminal justice system.
The concern we have on this side of the House is the arrangements under the former government were structured in such a way as to try to make excuses for many of these juvenile offenders. They were taking an approach which was soft on crime. This Northern Territory government on this side of the House believes that when juvenile offenders go through the system we should be challenging them, and challenging them inside institutions which will seek to correct their conduct, not just give them a little warm cuddle but challenge them on a mental, psychological and physical level.
To that end, the Northern Territory government has dedicated $1m in the mini-budget to start establishing appropriate boot camps in the Northern Territory. This requires research, it requires work. Nevertheless …
Ms Walker: Boot camps fly in the face of the youth justice review done by Jodeen Carney. Out the window; cannot find it on a website.
Mr ELFERINK: I hear the member for Nhulunbuy complaining desperately about us being tough on kids. We do not mind being tough on kids because we have expectations of children. We have an expectation they do the right thing and, when they live in our communities, that they attend to the normal standards of those communities.
Moreover, there is not only $1m this year to go into researching and the establishment of boot camps, but a further commitment of $2m ongoing funding from the year 2013-14 so these juvenile young offenders, when they come to our attention, will be placed into boot camps and be challenged. They will be challenged in all sorts of ways by specialised professionals.
We are not scared of asking young people who engage in miscreant behaviour to say they are responsible for themselves and will be responsible for themselves into the future. That is what a correction system and boot camps are about; it is about challenging young people to change their behaviour and putting real pressure on them, not just giving them a nice little warm cuddle and an emotional hug in the corner, but saying to them, ‘You are responsible and you will correct your conduct’.
The Country Liberals are unafraid and unembarrassed to go down this path. We look forward to a future where these young people will find themselves in a correction system that will actually correct them, and not tell them they are victims.
Mini-Budget –
Tertiary Education Funding Cuts
Tertiary Education Funding Cuts
Mr GUNNER to TREASURER
Labor was pursuing a Commonwealth investment of $21.5m for a state-of-the-art TAFE facility at Charles Darwin University. Do you think your mini-budget cutting tertiary funding by $4m will help deliver this Commonwealth funding, which is on top of the 10% cut that was in your media release as Education minister yesterday? You have the wrong priorities. Why are you walking away from upskilling Territorians to take advantage of the emerging job opportunities we have?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the plans and commitments of the former government have been factored in as much as we can and as much as they fit into the priorities of the new government. The new TAFE facility referred to by the member for Fannie Bay is part of the considerations and process we undertook in looking at what is feasible, given the limited finances which are available for new initiatives.
We are committed to education, there is no doubt about it, but we all know that with the escalating debts, the escalating financial or fiscal imbalance, things are tight. We cannot fund everything. We have had to make savings across the board which has included savings within Education.
To shed some light on what the member for Fannie Bay is referring to, there have been savings made in the behind-the-scenes sections of Education: a 10% reduction in support services and things that are seen as non-essential to the front line of providing education services in the Northern Territory. Those savings have been made very open and transparent by this government for some time now. There have been some positions lost through natural attrition and non-renewal of contracts. All up, over the forward estimates, those behind-the-scenes savings will amount to approximately 10%, not an overall saving of 10%, but behind the scenes.
It is difficult to understand, particularly for a former government which only knew about spending. The concept of savings was foreign to the former government. They did not know how to put money aside during the good times to save for a rainy day. It was all about spending. So, when we talk about savings the former government goes into a state of shock and despair and cannot imagine how you can live with savings.
Madam Speaker, what we provided yesterday in the mini-budget is a very balanced plan of attack of how we will get through these exceedingly difficult times in the Northern Territory.
Mini-Budget –
Correctional Services Work Gangs
Correctional Services Work Gangs
Mr STYLES to MINISTER for CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
Can you tell the House about the $448 000 announced in the mini-budget to fund two extra work parties in the Department of Correctional Services.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Sanderson for his fine question. When a person is convicted in the Northern Territory of a crime, they have a debt to pay to the society in which they live. We, on the conservative benches of this government, believe you should repay that debt to society in many practical ways. I would like to be able to do it for free but, unfortunately, it costs money. The question was quite correct; the budget contains an amount of $448 000 to ensure we can get two more work parties into the community.
Part of repaying the debt to the community which they have offended against includes providing services to people such as pensioners. We have many people - some 500 individuals - who receive services from these work parties. The mowing of lawns and those sorts of things are done and that is part of the debt these people pay back to the community. There are some 80 extra people who will receive services from these prison work gangs.
I have made it clear that under a Country Liberals’ government, the Corrections system will seek to correct. That means we will expect prisoners to work and put in an effort, not only to the inside of the prison where they work, but to the community as a whole.
The Northern Territory public has every right to expect to see these work gangs out and about working to restore some of the damage they have done to the people of the Northern Territory. I will ensure the Northern Territory public will see more and more of these people working in the community so we can take comfort in the fact these people, once they have been found guilty of the crimes they have committed, answer to the community they have offended against ...
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Will the minister admit it was a fantastic initiative under the Labor government which he is simply carrying on?
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order, be seated.
Mr ELFERINK: That is not only not a point of order, but it is wrong. These work gangs go back a long time and they predate the Labor government by a long chalk. This is not about the CLP or a Labor government winning; this is about prisoners making good on the damage they have done.
I am unembarrassed to say we will make prison life an environment where you will be expected to work. We will ensure the people who owe that debt to the community repay it, unlike the members on the benches opposite who seem to think the only answer to crime in the Northern Territory is a hug.
Incomplete Question
Ms LAWRIE to TREASURER
On 29 September this year you said, and I quote ...
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader it is 11 am.
Ms LAWRIE: I have the call.
Madam SPEAKER: It is 11 am.
Ms LAWRIE: I had the call.
Madam SPEAKER: It is 11 am, member for Karama.
Ms LAWRIE: You gave me the call, Madam Speaker. We may have started slightly after 10 am ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Karama!
Ms LAWRIE: You said a couple of things when you sat in the Chair.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Karama, please be seated.
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Speaker, I was just about to point out to you there is a motion on the book of this House that at 11 am the Leader of the Opposition be allowed to reply to the budget. If she seeks to rescind that motion we can rescind it, or at 11 am we can proceed with the budget reply.
I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016