2014-10-28
QUESTIONS – Tuesday 28 October 2014
Ms MOSS to CHIEF MINISTER
A week ago voters in Casuarina had been to the polls in the belief there would be an inquiry into political donations. A week ago voters had been to the polls believing you were not in the process of selling TIO. You waited until after the by-election to scrap the inquiry into political donations and to run a full page advertisement in the NT News on the likely sale of the TIO.
At lunchtime today, Territorians will rally against public asset sales; they deserve a say as it is their asset, not yours.
Will you hold a referendum on public asset sales or take your new policy to the next general election to give Territorians a say?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Casuarina for her first question in the Chamber. A week ago Territorians voted with a sense of dissatisfaction in the Labor opposition. A week ago they signalled they were not happy with the way Labor is going. A week ago there was a competitive analysis of the way we went in Wanguri, the way we went in Blain and our improvement to date in the seat of Casuarina.
A week ago in the seat of Casuarina there was a 5% swing towards the Country Liberals, as opposed to an 11% swing against an incumbent government in a Labor-held seat, which is historical data. A week ago Territorians knew the government was talking about the TIO sale. A week ago the Labor Party had ‘TIO not for sale’ signs up during the Casuarina by-election, at the Dripstone booth where I was.
A week ago the AEC was conducting an investigation into Foundation 51. A week ago, the Northern Territory Electoral Commission was conducting an inquiry. A week ago we made a decision to hold a different inquiry through the Department of the Chief Minister. Today we are still holding all three inquiries. It is an important lesson in life.
I will tell you what else happened a week ago; a week ago crime was still going down in the Northern Territory, debt was still going down and job numbers were still going up. The good news is, today, not a week ago but today, debt is still going down, crime is still going down and jobs are still going up. That is an important lesson to learn, member for Casuarina.
TIO – Future of
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to CHIEF MINSITER
Could you provide an update on the conversation you have begun with Territorians about the future of TIO?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the member for Drysdale would have loved asking that question. She knows that more than a week ago we started the mature debate and conversation about TIO’s future with Territorians. She knows well and good that happened more than a week ago. The important thing about the member for Drysdale’s question, and what the government is doing in regards to TIO, is that we are trying to have a mature debate about TIO and its future.
We are also trying to work out how we can give any realisation of the value of TIO back to Territorians; ensure the sale criteria represents the interests of Territorians; protect cyclone and flood insurance; make sure the ‘T’ in TIO always remains Territorian; and make sure we keep downward pressure on TIO and the insurance industry as much as possible, because we know -and it has been said by TIO – in May next year prices are anticipated to go up by 30%, particularly in flood and storm surge areas of the Northern Territory. So that is a …
Ms Lawrie: Not if they go higher if it is private. Premiums in Queensland went up by $5000.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, please pause. Opposition Leader, clearly you have a very short memory in regard to what I said about five minutes ago. Cease interjecting, please.
Mr GILES: That is a significant issue. We know premiums will go up by 30% in May. That is a challenge for TIO and a challenge to assist its market competitiveness against national and international companies that have trouble, from a TIO point of view, spreading risk on a location-based model. From TIO’s perspective they will be moving to a location-based risk analysis process, so if you are in Katherine or Rapid Creek …
Ms Fyles: You decided this is in March and failed to tell Territorians.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, please pause. Member for Nightcliff, you also have a short-term memory. I said not to interject across the Chamber. Cease interjecting, please.
Mr GILES: They will be moving to location-based risk analysis, which is the same as national and international companies provide; that will put significant upward pressure on premium prices. We have to make a change to support TIO in the future, but, fundamentally, we must protect jobs and TIO. It must always be Territorian and we must protect flood and cyclone cover.
On radio yesterday I said we are in the final stages of receiving second round bids. I have said if there is to be a change it must happen quickly to protect financial markets. I want a debate in the Chamber with all 14 members on this side; I am also happy to debate with the 11 members on the other side about how we protect these things going forward. I will be introducing a motion tomorrow for debate on Thursday around TIO; I expect all members on this side of the Chamber to debate that and put Territorians’ best interests first. I invite debate from the other side, rather than slanging matches. This is about putting the principles and sale criteria on TIO and debating where the money goes after a potential sale.
Ms LAWRIE to MINISTER for TRANSPORT
In your media release of 6 December last year regarding the sale of the Darwin Bus Service, you said:
I seek leave to table the media release.
Leave granted.
Ms LAWRIE: I am advised the new private operator is no longer paying meal breaks, rostered days off have been cut and overtime is now being averaged out weekly rather than daily. This is an example of what happens when public assets are privatised. Will you now admit that when public assets are privatised workers and their families lose out, and nothing your government says can be trusted?
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 112; the last line of the question offends the standing order.
Madam SPEAKER: No, it is not a point of order. Minister for Transport, you have the call.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her uninformed question. It is so typical of the opposition these days to come in here and make these wild statements.
The Transport Workers Union has met with Territory Transit and made calculations in relation to the payment of employee entitlements. These have resulted in a reduction in take home pay for some recently transferred staff.
I am sure the Leader of the Opposition has spoken to the TWU in relation to this, but I will make a couple of points. Part of the transfer of business requirements national employee legislation, also known as the Fair Work Act, requires that the employment conditions of the first employer transfer across to the second employer. This is so transferring staff maintain continuity in their employment entitlements and are no worse off as a result of the business transferring between operators and employers.
These entitlements, detailed in the Northern Territory Public Sector Enterprise Agreement 2013-17, provide details on the pay and conditions which apply to the majority of public servants. It is also being used by Territory Transit as the award which applies to its staff, who are now considered private sector employees.
This arrangement will continue until such time as the Northern Territory Public Sector Enterprise Agreement expires in 2017 and a new agreement is negotiated by Territory Transit with its staff, or it can be ceased, with the approval of the Fair Work Commission, on application from Territory Transit.
A number of issues have been discovered since we transferred the Darwin Bus Service to Territory Transit. I am assuming Territory Transit management responsible for former Darwin Bus Service staff have reviewed the NT Public Service Enterprise Agreement in detail in order to pay staff in accordance with the award. It appears these arrangements were introduced over a period of time, and these people have been overpaid, in some instances, for about 20 years. I will say that again. There have been a number of overpayments to these staff for many years. Give me …
Ms Lawrie: Those are meal break payments.
Mr STYLES: Meal breaks were paid breaks. The enterprise agreement provisions …
Ms Fyles: You are talking about overtime.
Ms Manison interjecting.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister is asking for an opportunity to answer the question. Constant interjections from the other side are making that difficult for him.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 255 – can the minister table the document he is quoting from?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, is it a document you wish to table or are they your private notes?
Mr STYLES: These are my notes. The information is on the public record, and the member for Fannie Bay should know that. Do some research or get a briefing from your union mates, because they also know workers have been overpaid.
They have had a good deal for many years. It is simply a change …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr BARRETT to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you please update the Assembly on the latest positive economic outlook issues for the Territory reported by Deloitte Access Economics?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. He is the parliamentary secretary for business and is doing an outstanding job in that role. I thank him for travelling to Tennant Creek for an October Business Month function on Saturday night. I understand it was very well attended, and the Country Liberals government’s work in Tennant Creek is well accepted.
The member for Blain’s question refers to the latest Deloitte Access Economics report, which forecasts the Territory’s economic growth to average a very healthy 4.9% over the next five years until 2017-18, well ahead of the national average of 2.9%. The Territory had the highest economic growth figure in 2012-13, with Deloitte’s estimate that this was to be repeated in 2013-14 with a 5.5% growth aspect …
Mr Wood: Due to Ichthys.
Mr GILES: Sorry, member for Nelson?
Mr Wood: Due to Ichthys only; read the whole report.
Mr GILES: The analysis predicts job numbers will continue to grow by 2.6% each year for the next five years against the national average of 1.4%. That focus is in line with other information we are seeing such as the CommSec State of the States report, which shows the Northern Territory leading in five out of eight important criteria, and also reflects on the Sensis Business Index, which confirms a 33% surge in confidence amongst small- and medium-sized Territory businesses.
I note the comment made by the member for Nelson about INPEX and the reliance on that. Yes, there is no doubt when we came to government there was a one-shot-in-the-locker economy. We are working very hard to diversify the economy.
I do not have to look any further than to my right at the Minister for Tourism, and what is happening in the tourism industry with rebuilding tourist numbers. The Minister for Mines and Energy issued two hydrocarbon licences this year, the first in 38 years. We changed the Pastoral Act where you can now have agribusiness and horticulture. We are diversifying our economy in the way we are doing things. The Tiwi Islands is getting forestry up and running there. We are supporting the new port on the Tiwi Islands.
These are some of the areas where we are trying to diversify the economy so it is not a boom-and-bust cycle. We do not want to get to a time similar to when Bechtel came to Darwin with LNG and INPEX came with a big bump. We have to try to smooth that economic bounce out. That is what we are trying to do by diversifying our economy. We are trying to work on onshore natural gas development with the pipeline so we can get more continuity of development in the Northern Territory. It is a challenge.
That is what we mean when we talk about the potential proceeds of the sale of TIO being able to support local industry development through job creation and the establishment of a Territory future infrastructure fund to see a pipeline of projects coming here, so we maintain that continuity of employment and economic growth in the Territory. It is a challenge. It was a one shot-in-the-locker economy we inherited; we are diversifying and trying to grow it for the future.
Mr McCARTHY to MINISTER for TRANSPORT
At a meeting between the Department of Transport and the Transport Workers Union last week, your department’s representative advised they will now apply to the Treasurer to decide whether they will seek to recover the cost of meal breaks paid to drivers for decades. Can you confirm you will seek to punish drivers by requiring them to repay money paid for meal breaks? How does this comply with your promise that all employee entitlements would be preserved?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. The Financial Management Act requires, where an overpayment has been made – I do not accept the premise of the question – that an employee’s pay and conditions – the chief executive is required to recover this money. Some of these overpayments go back possibly 20 years. However, given the length of time involved in some of these errors, the time and effort involved in calculating the overpayment is considered …
Mr Wood: You could not go back 20 years, especially when it comes to donations.
Ms Fyles interjecting.
Mr STYLES: They ask a question, yet it appears they do not want the answer. What is the purpose of the question? Do you ask the question wanting an answer? If you want an answer I would like the opportunity to give it.
In some cases these overpayments have gone for up to 20 years, in the worst case scenario. The effort and time involved in calculating these overpayments is considered to outweigh the benefit of recovering the funds, and therefore they are considered to have been – we are writing to the Treasurer for approval to write these amounts off. My job as minister is to ensure the department spends taxpayers dollars wisely. However, in this case we will be applying to the Treasurer to have these funds written off.
Had the Darwin Bus Service remained with the Department of Transport, the department would also have looked to implement changes to bring meal breaks, rostered days off and overtime payments back into line with the Northern Territory Public Sector Enterprise Agreement.
For those listening, I will outline a number of issues discussed previously with regard to the Leader of the Opposition and her first question on this. If they have not had a briefing from their union mates they should probably get one.
It is not only meal breaks, there are rostered days off. Drivers accrued a rostered day off on the basis of working a 40-hour week, for which they were paid 38 hours and accrued two hours per week towards their monthly rostered day off. The enterprise agreement states ordinary hours of work shall be 38 hours per week or an average of 38 hours per week over a cycle of four weeks. There is no reference to a requirement for a driver to work 40 hours, then accrue an RDO. However, two hours each week was going towards an accrued rostered day off. These benefits were brought in over time. There are others. I have a list of the added benefits not part of the enterprise bargaining agreement. We have decided, given the length of time, we will not be pursuing it …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Will the member table the list of benefits?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, do you wish to table the list of benefits?
Mr STYLES: I have already finished my answer to that question.
Mr HIGGINS to CHIEF MINISTER
This morning news broke that the Brett family from Waterloo Station in the Territory’s west have joined with other members of the cattle industry in launching legal proceedings over the former Labor government’s devastating ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia in 2011. Can you outline the dire financial situation facing many cattle families when the Country Liberals came to government in 2012?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member of Daly for his question about what occurred in 2011. I remember speaking with the member for Daly before he was elected about some of the real issues in the Daly electorate in regard to the live cattle ban and what that meant for many families. I am surprised Labor has not asked a question about this today. I am not sure who their shadow spokesperson for primary industry is now the former member for Casuarina has gone. It is a serious issue and highlights what happened to those families who relied on the live cattle export trade for income.
This means the Brett family from Waterloo station will be taking action against the Commonwealth for the decision that saw an enormous human toll of families in the Northern Territory clearly struggle to keep their businesses afloat.
Never has a government decision been more catastrophic to the development of northern Australia than Labor’s – former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Paul Henderson and the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Karama – decision to stop a mainstay of rural, regional and remote industry in the Northern Territory and ban the live cattle trade.
We know it was a federal decision made by the then Prime Minister and that the former Territory Labor government stood side by side, nodding their heads in agreement in Gove on the day the decision was made. That decision put so many people’s lives in jeopardy. It was not just those who grew cattle, but those who grew the feed for the feedlot areas, the transport industries, the fuel suppliers who helped transport everybody – everybody else in the supply chain.
The devastation those families went through was appalling. Congratulations to Barnaby Joyce, Tony Abbott and the minister for Primary Industry in the Northern Territory, minister Westra van Holthe, for reinstigating the live cattle trade. We have the best performing live cattle trade in Australia’s history as a result of Liberal/National Coalition governments in Australia getting their heads together, building on the relationship we have with Indonesia and ensuring that could get back up and running. We are now at a point where we have the highest number of cattle going over our port and the highest number of permits being issued to go into Indonesia. We are ecstatic to be supporting our ports and the industry.
Cattle are now going for $2.50 per kilogram, which is a fantastic outcome. The Gillard and Labor governments should be condemned, as should the opposition for supporting it at the time. Good on the Brett family for taking it up to the Commonwealth government.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the Gallery of Year 9 students from Nightcliff Middle School, accompanied by Mrs Deb Lamb. On behalf of honourable members, welcome to Parliament House. I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr McCARTHY to CHIEF MINISTER
We know from estimates that you tried to convince Territorians that Darwin was the cheapest city to live in Australia, when the facts show the opposite. The evidence of privatisation throughout Australia shows that when public assets are sold, costs and premiums rise for consumers and reliability reduces. Why do you want to inflict even higher costs of living on Territorians by selling TIO, Darwin port and Power and Water assets? Is it because you have failed to deliver on infrastructure funding from Canberra and are desperate to build a war chest to spend your way to the next election?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, here we go with what I believe is question four from the opposition. They are going downhill already. Where shall I start? I responded to the last question about INPEX, saying it was a one-shot-in-the locker economic injector – albeit big, I grant that – but we need to work out how to diversify our economy and have other investment opportunities.
We are working on TIO and how we can realise asset value in that to invest back into the Northern Territory to support economic growth through economic infrastructure and the diversification of our economy.
These are challenges we all face in government. No doubt Labor would just put the government into more debt and keep spending and spending, but when it comes to privatisation and the way things work, costs are fully accounted for and recovered under a privatised model. Next year, with TIO moving forward, we will see a more locality-based risk analysis used by TIO; this will see premiums go up by up to 30% in many locations across the Territory. We have to be able to support TIO to be able to move towards a competitive environment.
When it comes to the cost of living, when you were the Treasurer in 2011 when fuel prices went up in the Northern Territory, what did you do?
Ms Lawrie: The price went down again.
Ms Fyles interjecting.
Mr GILES: Absolutely nothing. Now we are seeing a more competitive marketplace through many …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The question also asked about the benefits of privatising the Darwin port and Power and Water assets. I would like to hear the Chief Minister’s comments.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The Chief Minister has time to answer the question.
Mr GILES: Thank you …
Ms Fyles: Higher premiums.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, cease interjecting.
Mr GILES: We are already seeing downward pressure placed on fuel prices. There has been a response to the significant increase in house and unit prices in the Northern Territory with the release of 5000 blocks of land. There are 6500 blocks of land being prepared through a $130m commitment in the budget; this is driving down cost of living pressures in the Northern Territory. We now face looming cost of living increases through TIO premiums and its alternate risk-based approach. We need to provide a response to create a competitive environment to stop that occurring, as significant as it is.
We are starting to see more cost realisations in power prices in the Northern Territory. We still do not charge what it costs to create the power; we still subsidise Power and Water by about $77m per annum, so it is not operating on a cost recovery model. We need to continue trying to reach a model of cost recovery. It is a challenge, and we are working towards that.
In regard to …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Mr KURRUPUWU to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY and FISHERIES
Yesterday, the Brett Cattle Company and other industry members launched legal proceedings over the human and financial impact of the federal government’s ban on live exports to Indonesia in 2011. What was the impact on the ground for Northern Territory pastoralists during the 2011 live export ban?
ANSWER:
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Yesterday was the start of a process whereby the chickens are coming home to roost for former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and former Agriculture minister, Joe Ludwig.
The live cattle ban was one of the most disastrous decisions ever made by a government. It brought shame and disgrace on all governments of Australia. It was a reprehensible act, which caused enormous damage. The decision was all about was pandering to the east coast democracy and took no account of the impact it would have in the Northern Territory. This decision put international relations at risk, subjected the population of Indonesia to a food security risk, tarnished the hard work of many Australians and, overnight, shut down an industry that is planned years in advance.
On the ground in the Territory the impact of the decision caused depression and pain to run through every vein of the industry. Within weeks of the shock announcement property values plummeted; the Office of the Valuer-General reduced the value of the pastoral estate in the Northern Territory by almost 50%. We went from a pre-ban value of $1.5bn to about $800m.
Within weeks of the ban properties were on the market – some were old Territory pastoral families who could no longer bear the brunt of poor and weak government decisions made by Canberra. The toll on our pastoralists and their associated businesses was incredible. Within days I visited a company in Katherine called Northern Feed & Cube. Every order they had for stock feed to go overseas on the cattle boats was wiped off the board as a result of Joe Ludwig and former Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s lame decision.
Cattle were trucked thousands of kilometres between properties, agistment blocks and saleyards, resulting in great cost and financial losses. This was truly one of the worst decisions ever made by a government.
My sympathies have always gone out to cattle producers over this horrendous decision. I will continue to do everything I can – I know I am supported by my colleagues – to grow the cattle industry in the Northern Territory. I support this action to bring former Prime Minister Julia Gillard and former Agriculture minister Joe Ludwig to account for the decision they made in 2011, ably, I might add, supported by the then Northern Territory Labor government – shame!
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for LOCAL GOVERNMENT and REGIONS
As you know, Power and Water is trying to move substantial cost on to local government by charging for street lighting, both for maintenance and replacement of infrastructure. During the recent estimates hearing, I said to Mr Clarke, the CEO of Power and Water:
‘Mr Clarke, your role, which is stated in your corporation’s objectives, is to operate at least as efficiently as any other comparable business. We have services within council municipalities. Would you be willing to pay commercial rates for your facilities to help council offset the costs you want them to pay?’
Mr Clarke said:
I now refer it to the government. Can local government charge rates to Power and Water for their facilities within a council area to offset Power and Water charges to councils for street lighting?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. There is no doubt an ongoing issue of concern within local government about Power and Water seeking to charge local government for Power and Water assets, such as the price of electricity. It is only fair and reasonable councils pay for power and water, like mums and dads and businesses have to pay for power and water across the Northern Territory. It is only fair and reasonable that if local government uses power, they should pay for it.
In regard to your question about whether rates should be able to be charged on Power and Water assets, government does not have a position on that, in particular. It is …
Ms Lawrie: However …
Mr GILES: Do you give up?
Ms Lawrie: You are hopeless!
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, withdraw that.
Ms LAWRIE: I withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr GILES: However, it is something we need to look at, from a government point of view, regarding who is charged rates and who is not. A number of businesses, organisations and so forth across the Northern Territory do not pay rates, sometimes in a competitive environment and sometimes in a non-competitive environment.
I have asked Treasury to do some analysis of who pays rates and who does not to see whether we can achieve a better system where everyone has a level playing field on rates. We will, obviously, acknowledge that many exclusions will be made, such as for religious institutions, which do not pay rates in the Northern Territory. There is a range of people who do not pay rates, but we are looking at it now. I will not give my personal opinion, but it is fair and reasonable that all people operate on a competitive and commercial basis when it comes to paying that.
Yes, councils should pay for their power. We have been very careful in deciding when to roll that out. We have held back a number of those decisions and are still holding some back. How rates are applied is an important question. I do not think it is anything that has been fully debated in the Territory before. There are many exclusions. If we wanted to have a sensible debate about that, it is only fair and reasonable. I am still waiting for an analysis paper to advise me who is in, who is out and so forth.
There is anecdotal evidence about one-third of locations within the Alice Springs town boundary – someone might correct me here – may not pay rates. The numbers are something like that. A large number of people do not pay rates. It is not fair, particularly if you are a business competing with a not-for-profit business operating in the commercial environment. That is challenging and something we have to look at.
Mr KURRUPUWU to MINISTER for LANDS, PLANNING and the ENVIRONMENT
Your department recently conducted an open and transparent expression of interest process for the Stella Maris site that included advertisements in the NT News. At a union rally outside the Stella Maris site over the weekend, the Maritime Union claimed the reason they had put in a bid for the site was because the process asked them to detail their ability to carry out their project. Is the minister aware of an MOU proposal and other alternate matters to conduct the EoI process?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for an interesting question. It comes to the point of how Labor and the unions see public monies and assets today as something that should be gifted away, with no questions asked.
I will unpack this for those interested. On the eve of the last election the Minister for Lands and Planning, the member for Barkly, happily walked to Unions NT and had them sign on the same day an application, with a cheque on the back, to the Department of Lands and Planning to gift Stella Maris to Unions NT, basically rent-free, for the next 10 years, with an option to extend. When that file was on my desk, did I think it was strange? Yes. Did I think it did not stack up? Yes. I made the call, and this government stopped it going any further. The government decided this should go out to an open expression of interest process.
The question now, for the public record, is: does the member for Karama, the Leader of the Opposition, support the member for Barkly’s actions before the last election, in the way it was handled? Does she have her hands all over it, or will she condemn the member for Barkly and come out with what she would do?
At the moment the Country Liberals government wants an open and fair process. That process has been open, advertised and closed, and now we are waiting on the results from the umpire to see how this public asset should be used and protected into the future, unlike Labor and the unions. The unions did not put in an expression of interest because questions needed to be answered.
Questions were asked about how someone would use the facilities. They do not want to answer questions. They are happy for an open process, but they do not want to answer specific questions about how public assets and monies should be spent. Does the Leader of the Opposition support the member for Barkly, did she have her hands on it and what other options would she consider, other than an open and transparent process, to use public assets and money?
Mr VOWLES to CHIEF MINISTER
Last week on ABC radio your former Treasurer and deputy admitted political donations would open his door.
This is a scandalous cash-for-access approach to government. This statement from the member for Fong Lim was made the day after your government rescinded the motion for a political donations inquiry, which parliament passed in the August sittings. Your government’s cash-for-access approach is disgraceful and an affront to the democratic process. Will you now rule out the member for Fong Lim being reinstated to Cabinet and immediately announce the establishment of an ICAC, if you have nothing to hide?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Johnston for his question. Let us talk about the cash-for-access for unions. You have money coming from the union into the Labor Party ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Will you rule out the member for Fong Lim being reinstated to Cabinet, and will you establish an ICAC?
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, sit down. That is not proper use of Standing Order 113. You are on a warning. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: Let us follow this bouncing ball. The union gives money to Harold Nelson Holdings, which is the slush fund for the Labor Party, so it can pay for elections.
Any time there is an issue Labor wants to run they ring their mates at the union, like with today’s rally about TIO. ‘Is that Matthew Gardiner at Unions NT? Come on down, buddy, come into my office.’ You drive past here any time there is an issue, and the ETU will be sitting in front of the Leader of the Opposition’s office. Cash-for-access: start looking in your own back yard.
You just had an answer from the Minister for Lands, Planning and the Environment about cash-for-access. The day before the writs were issued for the last election …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a direct question. Will you rule out the member for Fong Lim being reinstated to your Cabinet?
Madam SPEAKER: The Chief Minister has three minutes to answer.
Mr GILES: The day before the election was called, the Labor Lands and Planning minister took a lease for a government asset to give to Unions NT so they could rent it to Labor and make money to fund their own election campaign. That cash-for-access issue is a serious question.
If you want to start talking about more cash-for-access, let us talk about the role of some of your union mates’ operations …
Ms Fyles: Have an inquiry. We have nothing to hide on this side. What have you got to hide?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, you are on a warning.
Mr GILES: … and how they turn up at building sites …
Ms Fyles: Have an ICAC.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, leave the Chamber for one hour, pursuant to Standing Order 240A.
Mr GILES: The unions force right of access onto building sites, most notably and recently the Charles Darwin site across the road. They force right of access onto that site, force businesses to give money to Labor.
Ms MANISON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a very clear question; will you rule out the member for Fong Lim being reinstated to Cabinet? Will you immediately announce the establishment of an ICAC?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The Chief Minister has time to answer the question; get to the point.
Mr GILES: We need an investigation into unions’ right of access onto work sites, which shuts businesses down.
Let me segue for a minute. A serious question comes up on funding for the V8s each year; when the V8s come to Darwin the CFMEU comes for a holiday. To justify their holiday they will run a right of works operation on a building site so they can write it off on tax to come up here and watch the V8s. Every time we host the V8s we know the CFMEU will come.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113; where is Dave, and will he be coming back into your Cabinet?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fannie Bay, withdraw that. You know you cannot make reference to members being inside or outside the Chamber.
Mr GUNNER: I withdraw, ‘Where is Dave?’ Where is the member for Fong Lim?
Madam SPEAKER: Sit down. Chief Minister, you have the call. Do you want to continue?
Mr GILES: Every time the V8s are on we know unions will come here to run right of entry on a work site to blackmail businesses to put money into the Labor Party.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. With nine seconds to go, quite specifically, will you rule out reinstating the member for Fong Lim to your Cabinet, and will you now establish an ICAC?
Mr GILES: The answer to the second question is no, and the answer to the first question is that I will decide who comes into Cabinet. It is very interesting that you are more worried about us than your own little bucket going around over there.
Roads – Funding of NT Infrastructure
Mr HIGGINS to MINISTER for INFRASTRUCTURE
Can you advise the House on what infrastructure projects the Giles government is funding in order to develop the road network to promote economic growth in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. I congratulate him because he is very concerned about road and economic development in his electorate. He is continually on my case to ensure the bush has the appropriate level of infrastructure investment to be an economic enabler and allow Aboriginal people and others in those electorates to prosper and benefit.
In response to a statement I gave last week, the Leader of the Opposition said the government and I are failing to deliver for the Territory. She also accused me of claiming Labor-led projects. If the member for Karama had paid close attention to the statement I gave last week, she would have noticed it was about transport services, not infrastructure funding. There is a huge difference. However, the member for Karama failed to understand what the statement was about. The people of the Territory deserve a strong economy and projects that will create strong economic growth. The Giles government is committed to delivering projects that will contribute to building the economy to take all of us into the future.
I am very pleased to announce the Giles government is continuing to deliver a new strategic roads initiative. The new program of works will see a $30m investment in roads that have strategic economic importance for the development of the north, something very dear to those on this side of the House.
This funding will be used to develop the road network at key locations to promote economic growth in the regions. Key locations identified across the Territory are at Saddle Rail and Yellow Creek crossing on the Port Keats Road, the Tanami road and the Arnhem Highway across the Adelaide River floodplain. I am sure the member for Goyder will be very pleased about that too. There are also various roads on the Tiwi Islands, something very dear to us.
Ms Lawrie: All Labor-funded.
Mr STYLES: No, they are not Labor-funded. As I mentioned the Giles government has committed $30m to upgrade these roads. Each one has a different requirement we are committed to.
This will significantly enhance economic development opportunities for Territorians by providing the necessary funding in the regions for improved infrastructure and access. We are supporting local businesses and promoting economic growth.
Let us look at public tenders awarded for Tiers 3, 4 and 5 in the last four months. Of these, 98.68% have been awarded to local Territory companies on …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Ms ANDERSON to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY and FISHERIES
Can you enlighten the House as to what kind of impact banana freckle will have on families and the Northern Territory’s economy? You said the impact of the live cattle trade ban on the Northern Territory was huge.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Namatjira for her question. There is no doubt, as the member for Namatjira alluded to, there was a huge impact on the Northern Territory as a result of the 2011 live cattle suspension. It was a decision made by a government. In contrast to where we are at with banana freckle – banana freckle is a fungus that has been found within the Northern Territory; it certainly was not visited on the Northern Territory economy by a government. I take up some comments the opposition spokesman made last week, comparing the live cattle ban with banana freckle. Nothing could be further from the truth; the member for Barkly needs to understand the live cattle ban came as a result of a decision made by a government. It is not something that just happened.
Going to the nub of the question from the member for Namatjira, our banana industry here is worth around about $10m. It is, in the scheme of things, a small part of the greater industry throughout Australia, but we note the impact this will have across the Northern Territory economy.
The farms that fall within the eradication zones – I specifically refer to the Darwin banana farm – have quite a number of employees, and those people will, upon eradication of those plants, find themselves, unfortunately, out of work. Many of those people, however, are backpackers and people who visit the Northern Territory. It is very difficult to get Australians to do those kind of very heavy, hard menial tasks associated with the banana industry, and that is why backpackers are a good labour source for those areas. The impacts will run deeper than that, of course.
The local economy will be affected; we have not been able to yet quantify what the local impacts will be in terms of a dollar amount, but we are working very closely with industry to help them through this crisis. Fortunately, the Darwin banana farm is part of an industry that has signed up to the plant health deed, so it will be eligible for what are called owner reimbursement costs. At least their business will be supported by the governments of Australia, plus the greater banana industry. It is a concern we have this disease here. The department and this government are doing everything we can to eradicate banana freckle because we see a future for a banana industry in the Territory, but not with this disease.
Mr BARRETT to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you please update the Assembly on the reaction to the weekend’s news that Alice Springs will host a brand new motor sports event called Red CentreNATS next year? Is there any similar good news for Darwin motor sports fans?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. He was quite pumped on Sunday at 12 o’clock at the ‘Welcome to Alice Springs’ sign on the south side of Alice Springs, where the launch of the Red CentreNATS took place. He was at the launch and had an opportunity to go for a drive in one of the cars that turned up on the day for the announcement.
The Red CentreNATS is a concept the Northern Territory government has been working with for some time to support the motor sport industry in the Northern Territory. There is no doubt motor sport in the Territory is one of the biggest participation sports and provides a significant economic contribution across the Northern Territory in a range of different areas.
We have been working with the organisers and event owners of Summernats in Canberra, which operates at the end of December/start of January every year, to see how we could replicate a similar process or festival in the Northern Territory. Over the last 18 months to a couple of years, it has been determined that Central Australia is the best location and offers the best time frame in which to do this. There has been a local working group working on this.
It is now called the Red CentreNATS, as was announced on Sunday. The inaugural event will be held from 3 to 6 September, designed to fit in between school holidays and other events around the Territory at the same time. It also fits in with Father’s Day, which is very important to note. It is designed to be a family event, particularly for kids, where there is an opportunity for motor enthusiasts to showcase their vehicles in Central Australia, and to encourage tourism through people coming from around Australia to support the local economy. That is very important.
At the same time, we are also very keen to announce today – for Darwin motor sports fans in particular, member for Blain – that the Aussie Racing Cars series will now feature as a support category at next year’s SKYCITY Triple Crown V8 Supercars event to be held from 19 to 21 June at Hidden Valley. Seeing the Aussie Racing Cars as part of the line-up at the V8s will be quite exciting.
No doubt the CFMEU workers will love to see those cars going around too, as they turn up to run building site interventions in the construction industry in the Northern Territory. Sprinkle a bit of asbestos fairy dust over the fence and call for work to stop on a site to try to put pressure on businesses to donate money to the Harold Nelson Holdings slush fund which funds the unions, which then fund Labor for every election campaign.
There is always a question about whether we should support the Aussie Racing Cars coming to the V8s. We know they will be a red rag to the bull of the CFMEU to come here and sprinkle some more fairy dust over the fences of building sites in the Territory to lodge a blackmail claim against businesses in order to put money towards the Harold Nelson Holdings slush fund, which goes into the Labor Party to fund election campaigns ...
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Mr GILES: I am finished.
Mr McCARTHY: Standing Order 113: the Chief Minister has failed to deliver an inquiry into all political donations.
Madam SPEAKER: That is not a point of order, member for Barkly. You are on a warning for the misuse of standing orders.
Mr VOWLES to CHIEF MINISTER
Leaked e-mails from Foundation 51 director, Graeme Lewis to then Chief Minister, Terry Mills, reveal that at least $200 000 was funnelled from the slush fund into the 2012 CLP election campaign. This donation has never been declared on electoral returns, a clear act of criminality.
This scandal has brought your entire government into disrepute and is the subject of an investigation by the AEC and NTEC. Why have you kept Graeme Lewis as Chair of the Darwin Waterfront Corporation and on the Top End Hospital Network Governing Council, where he earns $127 000 per year? Is it the same as Terry Mills staying in his $750 000 taxpayer-funded Jakarta gig? Why have they not been sacked? Is it because you have way too much to hide?
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question clearly has an inference, in breach of Standing Order 112, and should be redrafted.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Johnston, if you could just withdraw that last five or six words, please.
Mr VOWLES: Okay – Terry Mills staying in his $750 000 taxpayer-funded gig. Why have they not been sacked?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there were about 400 questions in there. I will see if I can get through a few answers without interjections.
Firstly, Terry Mills is not on $750 000. The $750 000 was to help set up the office as well as provide his salary. Secondly, I will not be venturing into the public service to sack anyone, unlike Labor with the hit list it clearly started to outline last week. The third point: there are two investigations going on in the Northern Territory right now by the Northern Territory Electoral Commission and the AEC. The fourth point: Foundation 51 is constituted under federal law and it is only appropriate the federal government, through the AEC, has a good look at it and should be able to make the determination.
On that point, it has always been thought, as I am led to believe, that Foundation 51 considers itself not to be an associated entity, unlike Harold Nelson ‘slush fund’ Holdings, which takes money forcibly from building sites to the unions, Harold Nelson Holdings and Labor. I understand in recent days that Foundation 51 may have lodged a return for 2014 and a late return for 2013. I have not seen it, but am advised that may be the case. I am sure that will be public on a website sooner rather than later.
Moving through some of the other points of the question – I cannot remember what the points were …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! To assist the Chief Minister without Standing Order 113: relevance. Why have you kept Graeme Lewis as Chair of the Darwin Waterfront Corporation and on the Top End Hospital Network Governing Council – a total of $127 000 a year?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order, sit down, Opposition Leader. Chief Minister, you have the call; he has time to answer the question.
Mr GILES: Thanks very much for reminding me of some of the other questions. We also left your mum on the Place Names Committee. There are many people on committees in the Northern Territory. If you want to start targeting individual people on committees you are going to a new low point in parliament, Leader of the Opposition.
Ms Lawrie: You are a grub.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, please withdraw that. I heard it.
Ms LAWRIE: I withdraw. It is a new low ...
Madam SPEAKER: That is all you need to say. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: You are attacking people publicly here. Last week you attacked …
Ms Lawrie interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, I remind you, you are on a warning.
Mr GILES: Last week you personally attacked John Coleman, Tim Baldwin and Gary Barnes, and you are personally attacking certain Tiwi Islands people. You are now personally attacking Graeme Lewis for being on a board providing governance. We throw back one of the Labor appointments and you do not like it ...
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: concise. Can you ask the Chief Minister to come to the point?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, if you could answer the question.
Mr GILES: You had a thousand questions in a question. If you interjected with more questions I would be happy to answer them. There are two ongoing investigations. We will see what they come up with. A late return has been put in by Foundation 51, and that is up to the Northern Territory Electoral Commission to deal with. It has nothing to do with me, the same as Foundation 51 has nothing to do with us.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to ATTORNEY-GENERAL and JUSTICE
This month you announced the Northern Territory would introduce Daniel’s Law and become the first jurisdiction in the country to introduce an online public sex offender register. Can you please update the House on some of the feedback you have received since making this groundbreaking announcement? I have received positive feedback from my constituents, who welcome the courage of this government in being the first jurisdiction to have a public sex offender register.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, in the early 1990s in Queensland Brett Peter Cowan coaxed a child into a lavatory and raped that child. Upon his release from gaol he moved to the Northern Territory and, whilst living in the area of the Palms Caravan Park, coaxed another child away and raped that child so profoundly and intrusively the child was lucky to escape. Brett Peter Cowan returned, upon his release from gaol, to Queensland, where he then abducted and murdered Daniel Morcombe.
These monsters, unfortunately, exist in our community. They are the lowest of the low and strike fear into the hearts of women and parents everywhere. As a parent, I certainly fear them and fear for the welfare of my own child. The Northern Territory government has determined, after Attorneys-General nationally stepped away from a national public online sex offenders register, to go it alone and introduce a public online sex offenders register in the Northern Territory, so parents and women will be able to find out who these monsters are and where they live in the community.
They will be named, photographed and there will be identifying material so parents and women in our community know who these people are. I understand there are many people who feel this is a retrograde or negative step, but 40 000 people have placed their names against the Daniel Morcombe website announcement, people have passed on that announcement by way of forwarding or sharing those entries on the website in the number of 10 000, and 3100 comments have been made, almost exclusively positive, about the Northern Territory’s steps in this direction.
This government is committed to protecting, as far as we possibly can, the women and children who live in our community. On balance we believe the public identification of these people will enable parents in particular to take the necessary steps to protect their children. It has become a habit amongst some of these paedophiles in the community to target single mothers for their children.
This website will enable single mothers to look at a potential match on the website and determine for themselves as to whether or not they want a person in their life if they appear on that website. The Northern Territory government stands proud in relation to this matter.
I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
857
Public Assets – Referendum on Sale
Public Assets – Referendum on Sale
Ms MOSS to CHIEF MINISTER
A week ago voters in Casuarina had been to the polls in the belief there would be an inquiry into political donations. A week ago voters had been to the polls believing you were not in the process of selling TIO. You waited until after the by-election to scrap the inquiry into political donations and to run a full page advertisement in the NT News on the likely sale of the TIO.
At lunchtime today, Territorians will rally against public asset sales; they deserve a say as it is their asset, not yours.
Will you hold a referendum on public asset sales or take your new policy to the next general election to give Territorians a say?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Casuarina for her first question in the Chamber. A week ago Territorians voted with a sense of dissatisfaction in the Labor opposition. A week ago they signalled they were not happy with the way Labor is going. A week ago there was a competitive analysis of the way we went in Wanguri, the way we went in Blain and our improvement to date in the seat of Casuarina.
A week ago in the seat of Casuarina there was a 5% swing towards the Country Liberals, as opposed to an 11% swing against an incumbent government in a Labor-held seat, which is historical data. A week ago Territorians knew the government was talking about the TIO sale. A week ago the Labor Party had ‘TIO not for sale’ signs up during the Casuarina by-election, at the Dripstone booth where I was.
A week ago the AEC was conducting an investigation into Foundation 51. A week ago, the Northern Territory Electoral Commission was conducting an inquiry. A week ago we made a decision to hold a different inquiry through the Department of the Chief Minister. Today we are still holding all three inquiries. It is an important lesson in life.
I will tell you what else happened a week ago; a week ago crime was still going down in the Northern Territory, debt was still going down and job numbers were still going up. The good news is, today, not a week ago but today, debt is still going down, crime is still going down and jobs are still going up. That is an important lesson to learn, member for Casuarina.
TIO – Future of
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to CHIEF MINSITER
Could you provide an update on the conversation you have begun with Territorians about the future of TIO?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the member for Drysdale would have loved asking that question. She knows that more than a week ago we started the mature debate and conversation about TIO’s future with Territorians. She knows well and good that happened more than a week ago. The important thing about the member for Drysdale’s question, and what the government is doing in regards to TIO, is that we are trying to have a mature debate about TIO and its future.
We are also trying to work out how we can give any realisation of the value of TIO back to Territorians; ensure the sale criteria represents the interests of Territorians; protect cyclone and flood insurance; make sure the ‘T’ in TIO always remains Territorian; and make sure we keep downward pressure on TIO and the insurance industry as much as possible, because we know -and it has been said by TIO – in May next year prices are anticipated to go up by 30%, particularly in flood and storm surge areas of the Northern Territory. So that is a …
Ms Lawrie: Not if they go higher if it is private. Premiums in Queensland went up by $5000.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, please pause. Opposition Leader, clearly you have a very short memory in regard to what I said about five minutes ago. Cease interjecting, please.
Mr GILES: That is a significant issue. We know premiums will go up by 30% in May. That is a challenge for TIO and a challenge to assist its market competitiveness against national and international companies that have trouble, from a TIO point of view, spreading risk on a location-based model. From TIO’s perspective they will be moving to a location-based risk analysis process, so if you are in Katherine or Rapid Creek …
Ms Fyles: You decided this is in March and failed to tell Territorians.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, please pause. Member for Nightcliff, you also have a short-term memory. I said not to interject across the Chamber. Cease interjecting, please.
Mr GILES: They will be moving to location-based risk analysis, which is the same as national and international companies provide; that will put significant upward pressure on premium prices. We have to make a change to support TIO in the future, but, fundamentally, we must protect jobs and TIO. It must always be Territorian and we must protect flood and cyclone cover.
On radio yesterday I said we are in the final stages of receiving second round bids. I have said if there is to be a change it must happen quickly to protect financial markets. I want a debate in the Chamber with all 14 members on this side; I am also happy to debate with the 11 members on the other side about how we protect these things going forward. I will be introducing a motion tomorrow for debate on Thursday around TIO; I expect all members on this side of the Chamber to debate that and put Territorians’ best interests first. I invite debate from the other side, rather than slanging matches. This is about putting the principles and sale criteria on TIO and debating where the money goes after a potential sale.
Darwin Bus Service – Workers’ Entitlements
Ms LAWRIE to MINISTER for TRANSPORT
In your media release of 6 December last year regarding the sale of the Darwin Bus Service, you said:
- ‘… employee entitlements are preserved …’
I seek leave to table the media release.
Leave granted.
Ms LAWRIE: I am advised the new private operator is no longer paying meal breaks, rostered days off have been cut and overtime is now being averaged out weekly rather than daily. This is an example of what happens when public assets are privatised. Will you now admit that when public assets are privatised workers and their families lose out, and nothing your government says can be trusted?
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 112; the last line of the question offends the standing order.
Madam SPEAKER: No, it is not a point of order. Minister for Transport, you have the call.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her uninformed question. It is so typical of the opposition these days to come in here and make these wild statements.
The Transport Workers Union has met with Territory Transit and made calculations in relation to the payment of employee entitlements. These have resulted in a reduction in take home pay for some recently transferred staff.
I am sure the Leader of the Opposition has spoken to the TWU in relation to this, but I will make a couple of points. Part of the transfer of business requirements national employee legislation, also known as the Fair Work Act, requires that the employment conditions of the first employer transfer across to the second employer. This is so transferring staff maintain continuity in their employment entitlements and are no worse off as a result of the business transferring between operators and employers.
These entitlements, detailed in the Northern Territory Public Sector Enterprise Agreement 2013-17, provide details on the pay and conditions which apply to the majority of public servants. It is also being used by Territory Transit as the award which applies to its staff, who are now considered private sector employees.
This arrangement will continue until such time as the Northern Territory Public Sector Enterprise Agreement expires in 2017 and a new agreement is negotiated by Territory Transit with its staff, or it can be ceased, with the approval of the Fair Work Commission, on application from Territory Transit.
A number of issues have been discovered since we transferred the Darwin Bus Service to Territory Transit. I am assuming Territory Transit management responsible for former Darwin Bus Service staff have reviewed the NT Public Service Enterprise Agreement in detail in order to pay staff in accordance with the award. It appears these arrangements were introduced over a period of time, and these people have been overpaid, in some instances, for about 20 years. I will say that again. There have been a number of overpayments to these staff for many years. Give me …
Ms Lawrie: Those are meal break payments.
Mr STYLES: Meal breaks were paid breaks. The enterprise agreement provisions …
Ms Fyles: You are talking about overtime.
Ms Manison interjecting.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister is asking for an opportunity to answer the question. Constant interjections from the other side are making that difficult for him.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 255 – can the minister table the document he is quoting from?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, is it a document you wish to table or are they your private notes?
Mr STYLES: These are my notes. The information is on the public record, and the member for Fannie Bay should know that. Do some research or get a briefing from your union mates, because they also know workers have been overpaid.
They have had a good deal for many years. It is simply a change …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Economic Outlook for NT – Update
Mr BARRETT to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you please update the Assembly on the latest positive economic outlook issues for the Territory reported by Deloitte Access Economics?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. He is the parliamentary secretary for business and is doing an outstanding job in that role. I thank him for travelling to Tennant Creek for an October Business Month function on Saturday night. I understand it was very well attended, and the Country Liberals government’s work in Tennant Creek is well accepted.
The member for Blain’s question refers to the latest Deloitte Access Economics report, which forecasts the Territory’s economic growth to average a very healthy 4.9% over the next five years until 2017-18, well ahead of the national average of 2.9%. The Territory had the highest economic growth figure in 2012-13, with Deloitte’s estimate that this was to be repeated in 2013-14 with a 5.5% growth aspect …
Mr Wood: Due to Ichthys.
Mr GILES: Sorry, member for Nelson?
Mr Wood: Due to Ichthys only; read the whole report.
Mr GILES: The analysis predicts job numbers will continue to grow by 2.6% each year for the next five years against the national average of 1.4%. That focus is in line with other information we are seeing such as the CommSec State of the States report, which shows the Northern Territory leading in five out of eight important criteria, and also reflects on the Sensis Business Index, which confirms a 33% surge in confidence amongst small- and medium-sized Territory businesses.
I note the comment made by the member for Nelson about INPEX and the reliance on that. Yes, there is no doubt when we came to government there was a one-shot-in-the-locker economy. We are working very hard to diversify the economy.
I do not have to look any further than to my right at the Minister for Tourism, and what is happening in the tourism industry with rebuilding tourist numbers. The Minister for Mines and Energy issued two hydrocarbon licences this year, the first in 38 years. We changed the Pastoral Act where you can now have agribusiness and horticulture. We are diversifying our economy in the way we are doing things. The Tiwi Islands is getting forestry up and running there. We are supporting the new port on the Tiwi Islands.
These are some of the areas where we are trying to diversify the economy so it is not a boom-and-bust cycle. We do not want to get to a time similar to when Bechtel came to Darwin with LNG and INPEX came with a big bump. We have to try to smooth that economic bounce out. That is what we are trying to do by diversifying our economy. We are trying to work on onshore natural gas development with the pipeline so we can get more continuity of development in the Northern Territory. It is a challenge.
That is what we mean when we talk about the potential proceeds of the sale of TIO being able to support local industry development through job creation and the establishment of a Territory future infrastructure fund to see a pipeline of projects coming here, so we maintain that continuity of employment and economic growth in the Territory. It is a challenge. It was a one shot-in-the-locker economy we inherited; we are diversifying and trying to grow it for the future.
Recovery of Overpayments to Department of Transport Drivers
Mr McCARTHY to MINISTER for TRANSPORT
At a meeting between the Department of Transport and the Transport Workers Union last week, your department’s representative advised they will now apply to the Treasurer to decide whether they will seek to recover the cost of meal breaks paid to drivers for decades. Can you confirm you will seek to punish drivers by requiring them to repay money paid for meal breaks? How does this comply with your promise that all employee entitlements would be preserved?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. The Financial Management Act requires, where an overpayment has been made – I do not accept the premise of the question – that an employee’s pay and conditions – the chief executive is required to recover this money. Some of these overpayments go back possibly 20 years. However, given the length of time involved in some of these errors, the time and effort involved in calculating the overpayment is considered …
Mr Wood: You could not go back 20 years, especially when it comes to donations.
Ms Fyles interjecting.
Mr STYLES: They ask a question, yet it appears they do not want the answer. What is the purpose of the question? Do you ask the question wanting an answer? If you want an answer I would like the opportunity to give it.
In some cases these overpayments have gone for up to 20 years, in the worst case scenario. The effort and time involved in calculating these overpayments is considered to outweigh the benefit of recovering the funds, and therefore they are considered to have been – we are writing to the Treasurer for approval to write these amounts off. My job as minister is to ensure the department spends taxpayers dollars wisely. However, in this case we will be applying to the Treasurer to have these funds written off.
Had the Darwin Bus Service remained with the Department of Transport, the department would also have looked to implement changes to bring meal breaks, rostered days off and overtime payments back into line with the Northern Territory Public Sector Enterprise Agreement.
For those listening, I will outline a number of issues discussed previously with regard to the Leader of the Opposition and her first question on this. If they have not had a briefing from their union mates they should probably get one.
It is not only meal breaks, there are rostered days off. Drivers accrued a rostered day off on the basis of working a 40-hour week, for which they were paid 38 hours and accrued two hours per week towards their monthly rostered day off. The enterprise agreement states ordinary hours of work shall be 38 hours per week or an average of 38 hours per week over a cycle of four weeks. There is no reference to a requirement for a driver to work 40 hours, then accrue an RDO. However, two hours each week was going towards an accrued rostered day off. These benefits were brought in over time. There are others. I have a list of the added benefits not part of the enterprise bargaining agreement. We have decided, given the length of time, we will not be pursuing it …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Will the member table the list of benefits?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, do you wish to table the list of benefits?
Mr STYLES: I have already finished my answer to that question.
Live Export Ban – Impact on Families
Mr HIGGINS to CHIEF MINISTER
This morning news broke that the Brett family from Waterloo Station in the Territory’s west have joined with other members of the cattle industry in launching legal proceedings over the former Labor government’s devastating ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia in 2011. Can you outline the dire financial situation facing many cattle families when the Country Liberals came to government in 2012?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member of Daly for his question about what occurred in 2011. I remember speaking with the member for Daly before he was elected about some of the real issues in the Daly electorate in regard to the live cattle ban and what that meant for many families. I am surprised Labor has not asked a question about this today. I am not sure who their shadow spokesperson for primary industry is now the former member for Casuarina has gone. It is a serious issue and highlights what happened to those families who relied on the live cattle export trade for income.
This means the Brett family from Waterloo station will be taking action against the Commonwealth for the decision that saw an enormous human toll of families in the Northern Territory clearly struggle to keep their businesses afloat.
Never has a government decision been more catastrophic to the development of northern Australia than Labor’s – former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Paul Henderson and the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Karama – decision to stop a mainstay of rural, regional and remote industry in the Northern Territory and ban the live cattle trade.
We know it was a federal decision made by the then Prime Minister and that the former Territory Labor government stood side by side, nodding their heads in agreement in Gove on the day the decision was made. That decision put so many people’s lives in jeopardy. It was not just those who grew cattle, but those who grew the feed for the feedlot areas, the transport industries, the fuel suppliers who helped transport everybody – everybody else in the supply chain.
The devastation those families went through was appalling. Congratulations to Barnaby Joyce, Tony Abbott and the minister for Primary Industry in the Northern Territory, minister Westra van Holthe, for reinstigating the live cattle trade. We have the best performing live cattle trade in Australia’s history as a result of Liberal/National Coalition governments in Australia getting their heads together, building on the relationship we have with Indonesia and ensuring that could get back up and running. We are now at a point where we have the highest number of cattle going over our port and the highest number of permits being issued to go into Indonesia. We are ecstatic to be supporting our ports and the industry.
Cattle are now going for $2.50 per kilogram, which is a fantastic outcome. The Gillard and Labor governments should be condemned, as should the opposition for supporting it at the time. Good on the Brett family for taking it up to the Commonwealth government.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
__________________________
Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the Gallery of Year 9 students from Nightcliff Middle School, accompanied by Mrs Deb Lamb. On behalf of honourable members, welcome to Parliament House. I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
__________________________
Public Assets – Sale of and Cost of Living
Mr McCARTHY to CHIEF MINISTER
We know from estimates that you tried to convince Territorians that Darwin was the cheapest city to live in Australia, when the facts show the opposite. The evidence of privatisation throughout Australia shows that when public assets are sold, costs and premiums rise for consumers and reliability reduces. Why do you want to inflict even higher costs of living on Territorians by selling TIO, Darwin port and Power and Water assets? Is it because you have failed to deliver on infrastructure funding from Canberra and are desperate to build a war chest to spend your way to the next election?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, here we go with what I believe is question four from the opposition. They are going downhill already. Where shall I start? I responded to the last question about INPEX, saying it was a one-shot-in-the locker economic injector – albeit big, I grant that – but we need to work out how to diversify our economy and have other investment opportunities.
We are working on TIO and how we can realise asset value in that to invest back into the Northern Territory to support economic growth through economic infrastructure and the diversification of our economy.
These are challenges we all face in government. No doubt Labor would just put the government into more debt and keep spending and spending, but when it comes to privatisation and the way things work, costs are fully accounted for and recovered under a privatised model. Next year, with TIO moving forward, we will see a more locality-based risk analysis used by TIO; this will see premiums go up by up to 30% in many locations across the Territory. We have to be able to support TIO to be able to move towards a competitive environment.
When it comes to the cost of living, when you were the Treasurer in 2011 when fuel prices went up in the Northern Territory, what did you do?
Ms Lawrie: The price went down again.
Ms Fyles interjecting.
Mr GILES: Absolutely nothing. Now we are seeing a more competitive marketplace through many …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The question also asked about the benefits of privatising the Darwin port and Power and Water assets. I would like to hear the Chief Minister’s comments.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The Chief Minister has time to answer the question.
Mr GILES: Thank you …
Ms Fyles: Higher premiums.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, cease interjecting.
Mr GILES: We are already seeing downward pressure placed on fuel prices. There has been a response to the significant increase in house and unit prices in the Northern Territory with the release of 5000 blocks of land. There are 6500 blocks of land being prepared through a $130m commitment in the budget; this is driving down cost of living pressures in the Northern Territory. We now face looming cost of living increases through TIO premiums and its alternate risk-based approach. We need to provide a response to create a competitive environment to stop that occurring, as significant as it is.
We are starting to see more cost realisations in power prices in the Northern Territory. We still do not charge what it costs to create the power; we still subsidise Power and Water by about $77m per annum, so it is not operating on a cost recovery model. We need to continue trying to reach a model of cost recovery. It is a challenge, and we are working towards that.
In regard to …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Live Export Ban – Impact on Pastoralists
Mr KURRUPUWU to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY and FISHERIES
Yesterday, the Brett Cattle Company and other industry members launched legal proceedings over the human and financial impact of the federal government’s ban on live exports to Indonesia in 2011. What was the impact on the ground for Northern Territory pastoralists during the 2011 live export ban?
ANSWER:
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Yesterday was the start of a process whereby the chickens are coming home to roost for former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and former Agriculture minister, Joe Ludwig.
The live cattle ban was one of the most disastrous decisions ever made by a government. It brought shame and disgrace on all governments of Australia. It was a reprehensible act, which caused enormous damage. The decision was all about was pandering to the east coast democracy and took no account of the impact it would have in the Northern Territory. This decision put international relations at risk, subjected the population of Indonesia to a food security risk, tarnished the hard work of many Australians and, overnight, shut down an industry that is planned years in advance.
On the ground in the Territory the impact of the decision caused depression and pain to run through every vein of the industry. Within weeks of the shock announcement property values plummeted; the Office of the Valuer-General reduced the value of the pastoral estate in the Northern Territory by almost 50%. We went from a pre-ban value of $1.5bn to about $800m.
Within weeks of the ban properties were on the market – some were old Territory pastoral families who could no longer bear the brunt of poor and weak government decisions made by Canberra. The toll on our pastoralists and their associated businesses was incredible. Within days I visited a company in Katherine called Northern Feed & Cube. Every order they had for stock feed to go overseas on the cattle boats was wiped off the board as a result of Joe Ludwig and former Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s lame decision.
Cattle were trucked thousands of kilometres between properties, agistment blocks and saleyards, resulting in great cost and financial losses. This was truly one of the worst decisions ever made by a government.
My sympathies have always gone out to cattle producers over this horrendous decision. I will continue to do everything I can – I know I am supported by my colleagues – to grow the cattle industry in the Northern Territory. I support this action to bring former Prime Minister Julia Gillard and former Agriculture minister Joe Ludwig to account for the decision they made in 2011, ably, I might add, supported by the then Northern Territory Labor government – shame!
Power and Water –
Street Lighting Charges to Councils
Street Lighting Charges to Councils
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for LOCAL GOVERNMENT and REGIONS
As you know, Power and Water is trying to move substantial cost on to local government by charging for street lighting, both for maintenance and replacement of infrastructure. During the recent estimates hearing, I said to Mr Clarke, the CEO of Power and Water:
‘Mr Clarke, your role, which is stated in your corporation’s objectives, is to operate at least as efficiently as any other comparable business. We have services within council municipalities. Would you be willing to pay commercial rates for your facilities to help council offset the costs you want them to pay?’
Mr Clarke said:
- … you had better refer that matter to government.
I now refer it to the government. Can local government charge rates to Power and Water for their facilities within a council area to offset Power and Water charges to councils for street lighting?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. There is no doubt an ongoing issue of concern within local government about Power and Water seeking to charge local government for Power and Water assets, such as the price of electricity. It is only fair and reasonable councils pay for power and water, like mums and dads and businesses have to pay for power and water across the Northern Territory. It is only fair and reasonable that if local government uses power, they should pay for it.
In regard to your question about whether rates should be able to be charged on Power and Water assets, government does not have a position on that, in particular. It is …
Ms Lawrie: However …
Mr GILES: Do you give up?
Ms Lawrie: You are hopeless!
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, withdraw that.
Ms LAWRIE: I withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr GILES: However, it is something we need to look at, from a government point of view, regarding who is charged rates and who is not. A number of businesses, organisations and so forth across the Northern Territory do not pay rates, sometimes in a competitive environment and sometimes in a non-competitive environment.
I have asked Treasury to do some analysis of who pays rates and who does not to see whether we can achieve a better system where everyone has a level playing field on rates. We will, obviously, acknowledge that many exclusions will be made, such as for religious institutions, which do not pay rates in the Northern Territory. There is a range of people who do not pay rates, but we are looking at it now. I will not give my personal opinion, but it is fair and reasonable that all people operate on a competitive and commercial basis when it comes to paying that.
Yes, councils should pay for their power. We have been very careful in deciding when to roll that out. We have held back a number of those decisions and are still holding some back. How rates are applied is an important question. I do not think it is anything that has been fully debated in the Territory before. There are many exclusions. If we wanted to have a sensible debate about that, it is only fair and reasonable. I am still waiting for an analysis paper to advise me who is in, who is out and so forth.
There is anecdotal evidence about one-third of locations within the Alice Springs town boundary – someone might correct me here – may not pay rates. The numbers are something like that. A large number of people do not pay rates. It is not fair, particularly if you are a business competing with a not-for-profit business operating in the commercial environment. That is challenging and something we have to look at.
Stella Maris Site – Expressions of Interest
Mr KURRUPUWU to MINISTER for LANDS, PLANNING and the ENVIRONMENT
Your department recently conducted an open and transparent expression of interest process for the Stella Maris site that included advertisements in the NT News. At a union rally outside the Stella Maris site over the weekend, the Maritime Union claimed the reason they had put in a bid for the site was because the process asked them to detail their ability to carry out their project. Is the minister aware of an MOU proposal and other alternate matters to conduct the EoI process?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for an interesting question. It comes to the point of how Labor and the unions see public monies and assets today as something that should be gifted away, with no questions asked.
I will unpack this for those interested. On the eve of the last election the Minister for Lands and Planning, the member for Barkly, happily walked to Unions NT and had them sign on the same day an application, with a cheque on the back, to the Department of Lands and Planning to gift Stella Maris to Unions NT, basically rent-free, for the next 10 years, with an option to extend. When that file was on my desk, did I think it was strange? Yes. Did I think it did not stack up? Yes. I made the call, and this government stopped it going any further. The government decided this should go out to an open expression of interest process.
The question now, for the public record, is: does the member for Karama, the Leader of the Opposition, support the member for Barkly’s actions before the last election, in the way it was handled? Does she have her hands all over it, or will she condemn the member for Barkly and come out with what she would do?
At the moment the Country Liberals government wants an open and fair process. That process has been open, advertised and closed, and now we are waiting on the results from the umpire to see how this public asset should be used and protected into the future, unlike Labor and the unions. The unions did not put in an expression of interest because questions needed to be answered.
Questions were asked about how someone would use the facilities. They do not want to answer questions. They are happy for an open process, but they do not want to answer specific questions about how public assets and monies should be spent. Does the Leader of the Opposition support the member for Barkly, did she have her hands on it and what other options would she consider, other than an open and transparent process, to use public assets and money?
Political Donations – Inquiry and Reinstatement of Member for Fong Lim to Cabinet
Mr VOWLES to CHIEF MINISTER
Last week on ABC radio your former Treasurer and deputy admitted political donations would open his door.
This is a scandalous cash-for-access approach to government. This statement from the member for Fong Lim was made the day after your government rescinded the motion for a political donations inquiry, which parliament passed in the August sittings. Your government’s cash-for-access approach is disgraceful and an affront to the democratic process. Will you now rule out the member for Fong Lim being reinstated to Cabinet and immediately announce the establishment of an ICAC, if you have nothing to hide?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Johnston for his question. Let us talk about the cash-for-access for unions. You have money coming from the union into the Labor Party ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Will you rule out the member for Fong Lim being reinstated to Cabinet, and will you establish an ICAC?
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, sit down. That is not proper use of Standing Order 113. You are on a warning. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: Let us follow this bouncing ball. The union gives money to Harold Nelson Holdings, which is the slush fund for the Labor Party, so it can pay for elections.
Any time there is an issue Labor wants to run they ring their mates at the union, like with today’s rally about TIO. ‘Is that Matthew Gardiner at Unions NT? Come on down, buddy, come into my office.’ You drive past here any time there is an issue, and the ETU will be sitting in front of the Leader of the Opposition’s office. Cash-for-access: start looking in your own back yard.
You just had an answer from the Minister for Lands, Planning and the Environment about cash-for-access. The day before the writs were issued for the last election …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a direct question. Will you rule out the member for Fong Lim being reinstated to your Cabinet?
Madam SPEAKER: The Chief Minister has three minutes to answer.
Mr GILES: The day before the election was called, the Labor Lands and Planning minister took a lease for a government asset to give to Unions NT so they could rent it to Labor and make money to fund their own election campaign. That cash-for-access issue is a serious question.
If you want to start talking about more cash-for-access, let us talk about the role of some of your union mates’ operations …
Ms Fyles: Have an inquiry. We have nothing to hide on this side. What have you got to hide?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, you are on a warning.
Mr GILES: … and how they turn up at building sites …
Ms Fyles: Have an ICAC.
_____________________________
Suspension of Member
Member for Nightcliff
Suspension of Member
Member for Nightcliff
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, leave the Chamber for one hour, pursuant to Standing Order 240A.
_____________________________
Mr GILES: The unions force right of access onto building sites, most notably and recently the Charles Darwin site across the road. They force right of access onto that site, force businesses to give money to Labor.
Ms MANISON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a very clear question; will you rule out the member for Fong Lim being reinstated to Cabinet? Will you immediately announce the establishment of an ICAC?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The Chief Minister has time to answer the question; get to the point.
Mr GILES: We need an investigation into unions’ right of access onto work sites, which shuts businesses down.
Let me segue for a minute. A serious question comes up on funding for the V8s each year; when the V8s come to Darwin the CFMEU comes for a holiday. To justify their holiday they will run a right of works operation on a building site so they can write it off on tax to come up here and watch the V8s. Every time we host the V8s we know the CFMEU will come.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113; where is Dave, and will he be coming back into your Cabinet?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fannie Bay, withdraw that. You know you cannot make reference to members being inside or outside the Chamber.
Mr GUNNER: I withdraw, ‘Where is Dave?’ Where is the member for Fong Lim?
Madam SPEAKER: Sit down. Chief Minister, you have the call. Do you want to continue?
Mr GILES: Every time the V8s are on we know unions will come here to run right of entry on a work site to blackmail businesses to put money into the Labor Party.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. With nine seconds to go, quite specifically, will you rule out reinstating the member for Fong Lim to your Cabinet, and will you now establish an ICAC?
Mr GILES: The answer to the second question is no, and the answer to the first question is that I will decide who comes into Cabinet. It is very interesting that you are more worried about us than your own little bucket going around over there.
Roads – Funding of NT Infrastructure
Mr HIGGINS to MINISTER for INFRASTRUCTURE
Can you advise the House on what infrastructure projects the Giles government is funding in order to develop the road network to promote economic growth in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. I congratulate him because he is very concerned about road and economic development in his electorate. He is continually on my case to ensure the bush has the appropriate level of infrastructure investment to be an economic enabler and allow Aboriginal people and others in those electorates to prosper and benefit.
In response to a statement I gave last week, the Leader of the Opposition said the government and I are failing to deliver for the Territory. She also accused me of claiming Labor-led projects. If the member for Karama had paid close attention to the statement I gave last week, she would have noticed it was about transport services, not infrastructure funding. There is a huge difference. However, the member for Karama failed to understand what the statement was about. The people of the Territory deserve a strong economy and projects that will create strong economic growth. The Giles government is committed to delivering projects that will contribute to building the economy to take all of us into the future.
I am very pleased to announce the Giles government is continuing to deliver a new strategic roads initiative. The new program of works will see a $30m investment in roads that have strategic economic importance for the development of the north, something very dear to those on this side of the House.
This funding will be used to develop the road network at key locations to promote economic growth in the regions. Key locations identified across the Territory are at Saddle Rail and Yellow Creek crossing on the Port Keats Road, the Tanami road and the Arnhem Highway across the Adelaide River floodplain. I am sure the member for Goyder will be very pleased about that too. There are also various roads on the Tiwi Islands, something very dear to us.
Ms Lawrie: All Labor-funded.
Mr STYLES: No, they are not Labor-funded. As I mentioned the Giles government has committed $30m to upgrade these roads. Each one has a different requirement we are committed to.
This will significantly enhance economic development opportunities for Territorians by providing the necessary funding in the regions for improved infrastructure and access. We are supporting local businesses and promoting economic growth.
Let us look at public tenders awarded for Tiers 3, 4 and 5 in the last four months. Of these, 98.68% have been awarded to local Territory companies on …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Banana Freckle – Impact
Ms ANDERSON to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY and FISHERIES
Can you enlighten the House as to what kind of impact banana freckle will have on families and the Northern Territory’s economy? You said the impact of the live cattle trade ban on the Northern Territory was huge.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Namatjira for her question. There is no doubt, as the member for Namatjira alluded to, there was a huge impact on the Northern Territory as a result of the 2011 live cattle suspension. It was a decision made by a government. In contrast to where we are at with banana freckle – banana freckle is a fungus that has been found within the Northern Territory; it certainly was not visited on the Northern Territory economy by a government. I take up some comments the opposition spokesman made last week, comparing the live cattle ban with banana freckle. Nothing could be further from the truth; the member for Barkly needs to understand the live cattle ban came as a result of a decision made by a government. It is not something that just happened.
Going to the nub of the question from the member for Namatjira, our banana industry here is worth around about $10m. It is, in the scheme of things, a small part of the greater industry throughout Australia, but we note the impact this will have across the Northern Territory economy.
The farms that fall within the eradication zones – I specifically refer to the Darwin banana farm – have quite a number of employees, and those people will, upon eradication of those plants, find themselves, unfortunately, out of work. Many of those people, however, are backpackers and people who visit the Northern Territory. It is very difficult to get Australians to do those kind of very heavy, hard menial tasks associated with the banana industry, and that is why backpackers are a good labour source for those areas. The impacts will run deeper than that, of course.
The local economy will be affected; we have not been able to yet quantify what the local impacts will be in terms of a dollar amount, but we are working very closely with industry to help them through this crisis. Fortunately, the Darwin banana farm is part of an industry that has signed up to the plant health deed, so it will be eligible for what are called owner reimbursement costs. At least their business will be supported by the governments of Australia, plus the greater banana industry. It is a concern we have this disease here. The department and this government are doing everything we can to eradicate banana freckle because we see a future for a banana industry in the Territory, but not with this disease.
Red CentreNATS Motor Sports Event
Mr BARRETT to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you please update the Assembly on the reaction to the weekend’s news that Alice Springs will host a brand new motor sports event called Red CentreNATS next year? Is there any similar good news for Darwin motor sports fans?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. He was quite pumped on Sunday at 12 o’clock at the ‘Welcome to Alice Springs’ sign on the south side of Alice Springs, where the launch of the Red CentreNATS took place. He was at the launch and had an opportunity to go for a drive in one of the cars that turned up on the day for the announcement.
The Red CentreNATS is a concept the Northern Territory government has been working with for some time to support the motor sport industry in the Northern Territory. There is no doubt motor sport in the Territory is one of the biggest participation sports and provides a significant economic contribution across the Northern Territory in a range of different areas.
We have been working with the organisers and event owners of Summernats in Canberra, which operates at the end of December/start of January every year, to see how we could replicate a similar process or festival in the Northern Territory. Over the last 18 months to a couple of years, it has been determined that Central Australia is the best location and offers the best time frame in which to do this. There has been a local working group working on this.
It is now called the Red CentreNATS, as was announced on Sunday. The inaugural event will be held from 3 to 6 September, designed to fit in between school holidays and other events around the Territory at the same time. It also fits in with Father’s Day, which is very important to note. It is designed to be a family event, particularly for kids, where there is an opportunity for motor enthusiasts to showcase their vehicles in Central Australia, and to encourage tourism through people coming from around Australia to support the local economy. That is very important.
At the same time, we are also very keen to announce today – for Darwin motor sports fans in particular, member for Blain – that the Aussie Racing Cars series will now feature as a support category at next year’s SKYCITY Triple Crown V8 Supercars event to be held from 19 to 21 June at Hidden Valley. Seeing the Aussie Racing Cars as part of the line-up at the V8s will be quite exciting.
No doubt the CFMEU workers will love to see those cars going around too, as they turn up to run building site interventions in the construction industry in the Northern Territory. Sprinkle a bit of asbestos fairy dust over the fence and call for work to stop on a site to try to put pressure on businesses to donate money to the Harold Nelson Holdings slush fund which funds the unions, which then fund Labor for every election campaign.
There is always a question about whether we should support the Aussie Racing Cars coming to the V8s. We know they will be a red rag to the bull of the CFMEU to come here and sprinkle some more fairy dust over the fences of building sites in the Territory to lodge a blackmail claim against businesses in order to put money towards the Harold Nelson Holdings slush fund, which goes into the Labor Party to fund election campaigns ...
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Mr GILES: I am finished.
Mr McCARTHY: Standing Order 113: the Chief Minister has failed to deliver an inquiry into all political donations.
Madam SPEAKER: That is not a point of order, member for Barkly. You are on a warning for the misuse of standing orders.
Terry Mills and Graeme Lewis – Removal from Positions
Mr VOWLES to CHIEF MINISTER
Leaked e-mails from Foundation 51 director, Graeme Lewis to then Chief Minister, Terry Mills, reveal that at least $200 000 was funnelled from the slush fund into the 2012 CLP election campaign. This donation has never been declared on electoral returns, a clear act of criminality.
This scandal has brought your entire government into disrepute and is the subject of an investigation by the AEC and NTEC. Why have you kept Graeme Lewis as Chair of the Darwin Waterfront Corporation and on the Top End Hospital Network Governing Council, where he earns $127 000 per year? Is it the same as Terry Mills staying in his $750 000 taxpayer-funded Jakarta gig? Why have they not been sacked? Is it because you have way too much to hide?
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question clearly has an inference, in breach of Standing Order 112, and should be redrafted.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Johnston, if you could just withdraw that last five or six words, please.
Mr VOWLES: Okay – Terry Mills staying in his $750 000 taxpayer-funded gig. Why have they not been sacked?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there were about 400 questions in there. I will see if I can get through a few answers without interjections.
Firstly, Terry Mills is not on $750 000. The $750 000 was to help set up the office as well as provide his salary. Secondly, I will not be venturing into the public service to sack anyone, unlike Labor with the hit list it clearly started to outline last week. The third point: there are two investigations going on in the Northern Territory right now by the Northern Territory Electoral Commission and the AEC. The fourth point: Foundation 51 is constituted under federal law and it is only appropriate the federal government, through the AEC, has a good look at it and should be able to make the determination.
On that point, it has always been thought, as I am led to believe, that Foundation 51 considers itself not to be an associated entity, unlike Harold Nelson ‘slush fund’ Holdings, which takes money forcibly from building sites to the unions, Harold Nelson Holdings and Labor. I understand in recent days that Foundation 51 may have lodged a return for 2014 and a late return for 2013. I have not seen it, but am advised that may be the case. I am sure that will be public on a website sooner rather than later.
Moving through some of the other points of the question – I cannot remember what the points were …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! To assist the Chief Minister without Standing Order 113: relevance. Why have you kept Graeme Lewis as Chair of the Darwin Waterfront Corporation and on the Top End Hospital Network Governing Council – a total of $127 000 a year?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order, sit down, Opposition Leader. Chief Minister, you have the call; he has time to answer the question.
Mr GILES: Thanks very much for reminding me of some of the other questions. We also left your mum on the Place Names Committee. There are many people on committees in the Northern Territory. If you want to start targeting individual people on committees you are going to a new low point in parliament, Leader of the Opposition.
Ms Lawrie: You are a grub.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, please withdraw that. I heard it.
Ms LAWRIE: I withdraw. It is a new low ...
Madam SPEAKER: That is all you need to say. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: You are attacking people publicly here. Last week you attacked …
Ms Lawrie interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, I remind you, you are on a warning.
Mr GILES: Last week you personally attacked John Coleman, Tim Baldwin and Gary Barnes, and you are personally attacking certain Tiwi Islands people. You are now personally attacking Graeme Lewis for being on a board providing governance. We throw back one of the Labor appointments and you do not like it ...
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: concise. Can you ask the Chief Minister to come to the point?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, if you could answer the question.
Mr GILES: You had a thousand questions in a question. If you interjected with more questions I would be happy to answer them. There are two ongoing investigations. We will see what they come up with. A late return has been put in by Foundation 51, and that is up to the Northern Territory Electoral Commission to deal with. It has nothing to do with me, the same as Foundation 51 has nothing to do with us.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Daniel’s Law – Sex Offender Register
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to ATTORNEY-GENERAL and JUSTICE
This month you announced the Northern Territory would introduce Daniel’s Law and become the first jurisdiction in the country to introduce an online public sex offender register. Can you please update the House on some of the feedback you have received since making this groundbreaking announcement? I have received positive feedback from my constituents, who welcome the courage of this government in being the first jurisdiction to have a public sex offender register.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, in the early 1990s in Queensland Brett Peter Cowan coaxed a child into a lavatory and raped that child. Upon his release from gaol he moved to the Northern Territory and, whilst living in the area of the Palms Caravan Park, coaxed another child away and raped that child so profoundly and intrusively the child was lucky to escape. Brett Peter Cowan returned, upon his release from gaol, to Queensland, where he then abducted and murdered Daniel Morcombe.
These monsters, unfortunately, exist in our community. They are the lowest of the low and strike fear into the hearts of women and parents everywhere. As a parent, I certainly fear them and fear for the welfare of my own child. The Northern Territory government has determined, after Attorneys-General nationally stepped away from a national public online sex offenders register, to go it alone and introduce a public online sex offenders register in the Northern Territory, so parents and women will be able to find out who these monsters are and where they live in the community.
They will be named, photographed and there will be identifying material so parents and women in our community know who these people are. I understand there are many people who feel this is a retrograde or negative step, but 40 000 people have placed their names against the Daniel Morcombe website announcement, people have passed on that announcement by way of forwarding or sharing those entries on the website in the number of 10 000, and 3100 comments have been made, almost exclusively positive, about the Northern Territory’s steps in this direction.
This government is committed to protecting, as far as we possibly can, the women and children who live in our community. On balance we believe the public identification of these people will enable parents in particular to take the necessary steps to protect their children. It has become a habit amongst some of these paedophiles in the community to target single mothers for their children.
This website will enable single mothers to look at a potential match on the website and determine for themselves as to whether or not they want a person in their life if they appear on that website. The Northern Territory government stands proud in relation to this matter.
I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016