2015-04-30
TIO – Staff Redeployment
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER
Announcing the sale of TIO on 24 November 2014 your media release stated:
- Under this new model nothing changes for our customers. The TIO name remains, branches stay open, policies stay the same, flood and storm surge cover continues and staff keep their jobs.
Yesterday Allianz said on the purchase of TIO that it undertook to retain existing staff and their conditions on the transfer of ownership and that there would be no redundancies until a thorough review of the business has been completed. Yesterday on Channel 9 news your Treasurer said, ‘The fact is we always knew there was going to be a restructure’. Do these facts not show that you knew TIO workers would get the sack all along? How can Territorians trust anything you say?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. It has been quite pleasing to see in this budget week the Treasurer talk about the strength of the economy in the Northern Territory. One of the messages he has given consistently is about the liberation of TIO and how we freed it so it has capacity to expand as a business, allowing a greater deal of protection.
Mentioned in the media release about TIO yesterday was its decline in business since 2011, or over a four-year period. I think its market share in motor vehicle insurance went down to about 27% and business insurance, particularly around workers compensation, had dropped down by 37% to 17%. They were losing market share and being picked off by insurance companies. We needed to do something to protect TIO and allow it to grow.
Yesterday they announced an expansion of their business and their products; a reduction in cost structure, particularly around reinsurance; and the ability to spread risk better, which will lead to downward pricing pressures, particularly for the average consumer.
They also announced that 43 employees will be offered redeployment, and that is a decision for the business. I have said all along, and say the same in regard to the port changes, that for any person who is employed at TIO – whether they go to People’s Choice Credit Union – or is involved with the port, it is the government’s responsibility to ensure we protect the interests of those employees.
As a result of yesterday’s announcements, 43 employees will be offered redeployment support over a 14-month time frame. It is the responsibility of TIO to look after the best interests of those employees. However, the Treasurer said yesterday that the Northern Territory government would be keen to place these employees in the Northern Territory government and preserve their employment conditions. When I say that TIO has a responsibility, they have to do all they can in redeployment, training and development of those staff and looking for new jobs, but where those …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question. Do these facts now show that you knew TIO workers would get the sack all along?
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! He is answering the question. This is just a chance to repeat the question.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: We have said if those employees do not seek to be redeployed we are happy to take them on. I had a meeting with the head of the Department of the Chief Minister yesterday and asked about current vacancies in our agencies. We are begging for these corporate service-type staff in the Northern Territory, and we will take them on tomorrow. We will leave the responsibility with TIO to work with their staff, but we are very keen to support the ongoing engagement of these staff going ahead should they not wish to be redeployed in that 14-month time frame.
TIO will continue to grow and prosper. You will continue to see downward price pressures in insurance for the average consumer with TIO.
SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION
TIO – Staff Redeployment
TIO – Staff Redeployment
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER
The Chief Minister insists on saying ‘redeployed’, but these 43 Territorians had a job in Darwin at TIO yesterday and today they do not. Is that what you mean when you say they have been redeployed?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has just lied, because it is a 14-month time frame for …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker!
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Chief Minister, I ask you to withdraw ‘lie’.
Mr GILES: I withdraw ‘lie’.
It is a 14-month time frame and you know that, Leader of the Opposition. You come in here and put fear into people. Saying that people have been sacked today has put fear into people, in the same way the opposition has eroded confidence in the public education system in the Northern Territory. You continue to talk it down. Everybody knows the education budget this year has grown and we are investing $150m in education infrastructure - new special schools, preschools and childcare centres - but you continue to talk it down. It is offensive.
If you want to talk about job protection and employment, let us look at the form. Forty-three people will be redeployed over 14 months. If some people choose not to be redeployed we will employ them; that is a guarantee. How many jobs did you guarantee when Labor stopped the live cattle trade in the Northern Territory?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
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Visitors
Visitors
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Year 11 Legal Studies students from Essington High School, accompanied by Mali White. I wish a very good afternoon to you.
I also advise of the presence in the gallery of the Chief Executive Officer of the Territory Eels, or the Parramatta Eels, Scott Seward, accompanied by the CEO of the Department of Sport and Recreation. I extend a very big welcome to you.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Fuel Price Reduction
Fuel Price Reduction
Mr BARRETT to CHIEF MINISTER
I am very excited and lucky to ask this question, because I am stoked about it. I wish there was more I could have done other than come with harebrained ideas and whinge about it. Can you please outline the latest exciting development in the campaign to deliver cheaper fuel to Territorians?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. You do much more than coming up with harebrained ideas and whingeing; you come up with solutions for cheaper fuel prices, so congratulations.
Talking about whingeing a lot, you should look at the member for Nightcliff.
In regard to cheaper fuel prices announced today with AANT in partnership with United, there is an 8c reduction per litre on the lowest price on the signage of United going ahead. In July that will come down to a 6c reduction, but congratulations to AANT and United for this partnership. This was an idea that came up in the boardroom of the Chief Minister with the member for Blain when we said to AANT, ‘Let’s form a partnership and offer your members cheaper fuel’. This was delivered today at 7 am by AANT and United Petroleum.
Territorians would remember the price differential between the Northern Territory and the rest of Australia. Between June 2009 and 2014 the price differential was around 38c a litre, give or take a fraction. Concerns were raised publicly. Government listened and acted. We held our fuel price summit, which is where the black line is on this graph where the cliff came off with the differential between us and other parts of Australia. Instead of being 38c it is now around a 4c a litre differential.
This morning’s announcement of the partnership between AANT and United will continue to deliver cheaper fuel prices in the Northern Territory. The fuel summit, widely criticised by those opposite, was the turning point on dropping fuel prices in the Northern Territory. I remember our candidate for Casuarina assisting with the fuel price summit, raising concerns. The new member for Casuarina did not even turn up at the price summit and has never even spoken about fuel prices in the Northern Territory.
Fuel prices are not the only area where we are taking action on lowering the cost of living. We have also done it with housing and rentals in the Northern Territory, because we know there was another massive cliff of cost of living in the Northern Territory left to us by the incompetent former Labor government. We have increased supply to the point where prices are coming down in some areas by up to 15%, making it easier for families in the Northern Territory. We will continue to deliver. We will deliver on power prices and groceries.
We have been working very hard on fuel prices since the fuel price summit, as we have seen today. There is only one party in this Chamber that stands up for Territory families.
TIO – Staff Redeployment
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER
Yesterday Allianz announced that 43 Territorians would lose their jobs as a result of the sale of TIO. On 24 November 2014, when announcing the sale of TIO, you said:
- All along, the government has said that any new owner must look after the respected TIO brand, maintain the services Territorians rely on, and look after TIO’s staff.
How can these 43 Territorians and their families not feel betrayed by your failure to keep your word? How can you sacrifice the jobs of these 43 Territorians in a cynical attempt to pork barrel your way back into the favour of Territorians?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition. Pork barrel? We are spending money to grow the Territory! We will build infrastructure. We manage the budget well. You call it pork barrelling; we call it looking after Territorians.
Five seconds after TIO released its media release yesterday the Treasurer stood in this Chamber and delivered my message that all 43 people will be guaranteed a job in the public service if they do not take redeployment.
Julia Gillard, the former Prime Minister, and Paul Henderson, the former Chief Minister, stood in Gove and cancelled the live cattle trade; 160-something jobs in the cattle industry were lost overnight and families were ruined, livelihoods were ruined, people were ill and industry was gone. Have you ever apologised? Did you ever look after any of those jobs?
It took us five seconds to look after 43 Territorians. You have never stood up …
Ms MANISON: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. This is a question about TIO.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Chief Minister is coming to the point and speaking about TIO. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I restate that it took us five seconds to guarantee every one of those 43 jobs.
It is redeployment, not sackings. Do not put the fear of God into people …
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Will the Chief Minister offer the 1000 people who lost their jobs in Gove a job with government?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, that is a clear abuse of standing orders. You know that it is not Standing Order 113. Yesterday I regretfully put you on a warning. I do not want to do it again today, so please do not abuse standing orders. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker.
In the same way the member for Nhulunbuy has not built a house in her electorate since she or her government was in power – she never stood up for the 1000 jobs at Rio Tinto. But the government has responded by helping with jobs in Nhulunbuy and East Arnhem.
We have protected the 43, but you have never stood up for Territorians. You do not stand up for fuel prices, housing, cost of living, TIO or the cattle industry. There is only one party in this Chamber which is standing up for Territorians and families, and that is us! It is the Country Liberals delivering budgets on time, reducing your debt and deficit and delivering infrastructure.
Call it pork barrelling all you like, but we will continue to deliver for Territorians and deliver the infrastructure required to grow this economy.
Budget 2015-16 – Local Government
Mr KURRUPUWU to MINISTER for LOCAL GOVERNMENT and COMMUNITY SERVICES
Can you inform the House how Budget 2015-16 is continuing the good work in the area of local government?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. He knows it is important that we look after local government, especially our councils in remote communities. We want to ensure our councils function properly and look after the people who vote for them to be a good councillor and do their job.
I am very proud to be speaking on my portfolio of Local Government. We have delivered on our election commitment, which was to bring back a voice to the bush through local government. Local government was one area where those opposite destroyed and disempowered my people. The super shires were nothing but a super mess, one that we are still mopping up.
It has cost Aboriginal people and the general public more than money. It has cost the loss of dignity and pride, and I remember the member for Namatjira also using those words.
We continue to mop up this mess with this budget through continuing with good work and bringing back the voice to the bush. Budget 2015-16 sees over $85m injected into local government. There are no reductions, member for Barkly. Again, this shows those opposite cannot read a budget.
The $500 000 difference is because projects have finished and that funding is spent. Significant projects have been completed in the last financial year and this is reflected in the budget. Some of the highlights are $32.97m in Commonwealth financial assistance grants, $7.9m for the continuation of an Indigenous matching jobs program, $5m for local authorities …
Ms Anderson: Can’t even read.
Mrs PRICE: You can talk, member for Namatjira, I know Nicholas used to write yours.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, minister. Stick to the question, please.
Mrs PRICE: There is $5m for local authorities to support the financial sustainability of regional councillors, $1m as the final instalment of a $6.2m four-year program to review local government across the Territory, $1m as part of a three-year agreement with LGANT …
Ms Anderson interjecting.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, member for Namatjira!
Mrs PRICE: If the member for Namatjira wants to carry on, I suggest she reads King Brown Country to remind her of how she neglected Papunya.
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 255. We are running out of time, would the minister table the paper she is reading from?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, are you prepared to table those documents?
Mrs PRICE: Why doesn’t the member for Barkly table the papers he reads from?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, are you prepared to table those documents?
Mrs PRICE: These are my notes.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. You have the call for the remaining 10 seconds.
Mrs PRICE: Let me detail the remainder of our spending. Some of the major infrastructure investments …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Sadly, minister, your time has expired.
Port Workers – Job Security
Ms FYLES to CHIEF MINISTER
Yesterday the Treasurer and Allianz announced that 43 Territorians would lose their jobs as a result of the sale of TIO. Territorians know this is just the tip of the iceberg. Today your government is attempting to sell the lease for the Port of Darwin. What guarantee will you give to our port workers that their jobs are safe? Why should they trust anything you say?
ANSWER
I do not accept the premise of the question. It was deliberately misleading to try to confuse people in the Northern Territory. The Treasurer did not make any such announcement and nor did TIO. There was no joint announcement. TIO announced a wide-ranging expansion of insurance products and services across the Northern Territory. It announced it is reducing costs so it can remain competitive. A good thing about TIO in its liberated form is that you can now take TIO insurance across borders into other states and continue with your motor vehicle insurance.
It is extending its range of products and services. That is a good thing. Part of reducing costs will see the redeployment of 43 staff. We know that, but to say these people have been sacked …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113. It was a very direct question. What guarantee will you give workers at the port that their jobs are safe?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think the Chief Minister is coming to the question.
Mr GILES: There is a whole lot of misleading information, insinuations and so forth in your question, but TIO is expanding. TIO has been saved. It is expanding and restructuring. We have guaranteed those positions and conditions of service should those 43 people over the next 14 months wish to take that up.
In regard to your allegation about selling the port today, that is just a lie; that is not happening today at all.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker!
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, thank you. Chief Minister, please withdraw ‘lie’.
Mr GILES: I withdraw. You know that is not happening; you are just looking for a media grab. You are misleading Territorians again. You changed your Leader of the Opposition but you have not changed your tactics. Stop lying to Territorians.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 62.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Chief Minister, please withdraw that last reference to lying.
Mr GILES: I withdraw, Mr Deputy Speaker and will continue my response.
You have to stop misleading Territorians. People believe what you are saying. Today there are three pieces of legislation in relation to the port. One is enabling legislation, for those who do not comprehend it, to allow a potential lease of the port some time down the track. The other is about port management and the regulatory environment of ports in the Northern Territory, not just Darwin ports but across the coastline. The third is consequential amendments to things such as the Liquor Act. I am happy to brief you in more detail later.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113. Will you guarantee port workers their jobs?
Mr GILES: Members on the other side are very keen to belittle my colleague, the member for Stuart, the Minister for Local Government and Community Services, and make jokes about her ability to read. I find that highly offensive.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. We want a guarantee that port workers’ jobs are safe.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Chief Minister rejected the premise of the question from the outset. It was a question laced with a number of imputations and the Chief Minister is responding to that in the remaining 45 seconds he has.
Mr GILES: The disgraceful slurs the other side is making about the member for Stuart’s ability to read I find highly offensive. Your most recent relevance point of order about the ongoing employment of people at the port should anything change into the future – I challenge you to read Hansard from last night in the port debate where I guaranteed the jobs and employment conditions of everyone at the port. If there is anyone in this Chamber not reading, it is clearly the Leader of the Opposition, the person who has taken up the same principles and practices as the disgraced former Labor Leader of the Opposition.
Banana Freckle Eradication – Update
Mr BARRETT to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY and FISHERIES
Can the minister update the House on how the Northern Territory banana freckle eradication program is tracking?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for his question. All the Palmerston-based members have been leaders in this field. They have led the charge within the Palmerston region, recognising the importance of eradicating banana freckle in their area.
It gives me a great deal of pleasure to inform the House that more than 99% of households affected by this have complied with the campaign. Banana plants have been destroyed at more than 9000 properties while another 32 000 properties have allowed field teams to undertake surveillance on their land. A total of more than 41 000 properties have been visited by the banana freckle inspectors. That is no small undertaking and I give full credit to the state coordinator, Kevin Cooper, and his 220-odd staff involved in this. They have worked tirelessly on this national eradication campaign to ensure the NT is free from banana freckle. I also thank the more than 41 000 residents who have rallied with us to support the biosecurity of Australia and the Northern Territory. Together we recognise the importance of the future of our banana industry, which will not exist if we have banana freckle in the Northern Territory.
There are around 80 properties left in the red zone which continue to show resistance to the eradication campaign. That is only 80 of some 41 000 properties showing resistance, and that number is dropping daily. I am particularly pleased to note that a gentlemen with a large farm has, in the last few days, seen the light, so to speak, and complied with the request of the banana freckle response team to destroy his plants. This gentleman is now in the process of destroying his own plants. We are getting some fantastic cooperation.
Today is the deadline for this phase of eradication and as from tomorrow people are reminded that destruction of their plants is compulsory. Those who do not destroy their plants risk a fine and the involvement of authorities in actioning this important program for the biosecurity of the Territory.
I urge those people who have dug their heels in and continue to do so to rethink their position on this. They are placing the biosecurity of the Northern Territory at risk by entrenching themselves in this position of not allowing inspectors to do their job.
I commend those 41 000 people, and all of the banana growers who have cooperated with this campaign as we move into the next stage. I hope those people who have continued to dig their heels in will see the light in the next few days.
Budget 2015-16 – Public School Funding
Ms MANISON to MINISTER for EDUCATION
The CLP has cut government education by a further $12m in this budget, yet you maintain results are improving. Unfortunately data from your department shows the opposite. I point to a graph titled, Achievement Trends in Writing, which shows that results achieved by Territory students are on a downward trend.
I also point to a graph titled, Achievement Trends in Numeracy, which shows that results are flat lining. I further point to NAPLAN results showing that in very remote schools Territory students are significantly behind at Year 3 in reading, writing, spelling and numeracy. I seek leave to table this information.
Leave granted.
Ms MANISON: Will you now admit that your sustained attack on Territory schools is leaving Territory students worse off?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, the only sustained attack is from Labor, which keeps attacking public education.
Ms Manison: We stood up for public education.
Mr CHANDLER: Time and time again we have tried to explain to the mob on the other side, but they do not get it. The system today is far more efficient than it was under their watch.
We have come off such a low base; they cannot deny that. They cannot deny that we inherited terrible results in the Northern Territory. There are good signs of improvement across the Northern Territory. There were no good signs of improvement, particularly under Labor, in our remote schools where the children were neglected because they were not getting a decent education, not through the lack of effort from resources or the hard work of the teachers, but through the system they were trying to operate in.
Over the last couple of days during repeated questions we pointed out that there are a couple of line items within the budget showing a decline. It was explained many times that a couple of those programs are federal and have not been funded yet, so they cannot be in our budgets. We hope some of those programs will be funded when the federal government announces its budget shortly. Should that money come to the Northern Territory it will go into these programs, but until we have guaranteed …
Ms Manison: Continual cutting of education.
Mr CHANDLER: … that funding we cannot put it into our budget.
Let us look at the education budget overall. Has is declined? No. Is this the largest education spend by a Country Liberal government, if not any government in the Northern Territory? Yes.
Ms Manison: Less support for public schools.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Member for Wanguri, you have been providing a running commentary throughout this answer. I do not wish to hear it and neither does the House. You asked the question, now would you please pay the minister the courtesy of listening to the answer. You do not have to like it or agree with it, but the House would like to hear it.
Mr CHANDLER: We have global funding. We have teachers, principals, school councils and parents making decisions in schools. Labor does not like it. They want it like they had it before with an over-inflated bureaucracy where all decisions were made because they did not trust the schools. I trust the parents, principals and teachers. That is where the decisions should be made.
I can demonstrate to you clearly that results in the Northern Territory are improving from a very low base. We had more NTEC passes last year than any Labor government. We have better results, more money, more infrastructure, new schools and a better education system than Labor.
Abattoir at Livingstone – Control of Odour
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for the ENVIRONMENT
Being a rural resident living on a rural-sized block in the rural area, you know an abattoir has recently been opened at Livingstone not far from where you live. When the building of the abattoir was first announced the owners said there would be no smell and the latest technology in odour control would be installed. Unfortunately the residents of Livingstone know only too well it does smell. Obviously you have a nose for these things, so could you please say what is being done to fix the problem?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. It is a shame that Phantom Rhymes is not here today to hear this answer as well, but that is a different matter.
There is an odour coming from the abattoir at Livingstone. Living at Acacia Hills I occasionally get a whiff. My wife reports the smell to the EPA.
Some background on this, on 27 May an exceptional development permit was granted allowing the development of the section at Livingstone for the purpose of an abattoir. The project has been assessed by the NT government under the Planning Act and the Environmental Assessment Act. Recommendations of the environmental assessment process were imposed on the development as conditions of the exceptional development permit, including a condition to develop an operational environmental management plan.
The NTEPA approved the conceptual ground water model and ground water monitoring program in September 2012.
On 15 October 2013, after communications with the proponent and their consultant, the NTEPA determined that a variation to incorporate changes to the effluent treatment system did not require assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act. The proponent was advised that a maintenance plan for the effluent treatment system must be strictly implemented to ensure contaminated effluent was not discharged into the environment.
The NTEPA was provided with a draft operational environmental management plan on 11 July 2014. Following the AACo revisions of its plan the NTEPA provided a letter to AACo on 15 October 2014 stating that the operational environmental management plan satisfies condition 6 of the exceptional development permit. An environmental protection licence was issued on 31 October 2014 for the storage, recycling, treatment and disposing of listed waste on a commercial or fee-for-service basis, including recycling and treatment by rendering or wastewater treatment and disposal of listed waste of irrigation of treated waste water.
The environmental protection licence allowed AACo to commence operation on 31 October. This involved a commissioning process that included progressive improvement in the quality of treated waste water. The NTEPA has received data from AACo since commissioning of the site. This data has indicated ongoing compliance issues with the environmental protection licence.
The NTEPA Board met with AACo senior management during January 2015. AACo is aware of the level of non-compliance, particularly in relation to odour, and views the performance as unacceptable …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, minister, your time has expired.
Budget 2015-16 – Public School Infrastructure
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to MINISTER for EDUCATION
Unlike the member for Wanguri’s tragic question – she has obviously been spending a lot of time with the member for Nightcliff. What plans does the government have to upgrade public schools?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, it is really sad that our budget is up, attendance is up, results are up, but we have a bottom lip that is down. The bottom lip is on the other side.
I thank the member for Drysdale for her question. She visits her schools and has a wonderful relationship with her electorate, particularly the schools. She knows how important education is.
The Country Liberal government is committed to making the Territory simpler, safer and smarter. Today’s students are the future of the Northern Territory and that is why Budget 2015-16 invests $152.4m for a range of education infrastructure in government schools across the Territory. The spending program includes significant minor new works and investment in school upgrades and improvements. Allow me to touch on a few of the highlights of major education capital works:
$33m for repairs and maintenance
$21.4m for stage one of the Palmerston special needs school
$11.6m for minor new works programs
$5.5m for Larapinta Child and Family Centre
$4m for a new preschool at Braitling Primary School
$2.7m for a new administration facility at Kintore Street School
$2.1m for a refurbishment at Wulagi Primary School
$1.3m for an extension at Bees Creek Preschool
$1m for a tempered air system at Anula Primary School.
Budget 2015-16 demonstrates the Country Liberal government’s commitment to education in the Northern Territory. Our schools will continue to grow and the services they deliver will continue to improve. We will not apologise for spending money on making studying and teaching simpler, safer and smarter for our students and teachers. This is a record budget from the Country Liberal government, investing in education, not only in infrastructure but also in delivering that education.
The amount of reform we have put in education in the last couple of years is just short of amazing. We are looking at global school budgeting, independent public schools, rewriting an Education Act that is more than 30 years old;, and looking at Indigenous education for the first time in 15 years and introducing a new way of delivering education for the most needy children in remote locations, hopefully giving them an opportunity they never had under the Labor government, which turned a blind eye to Indigenous issues and used them for their own purposes rather than understanding what can change their lives.
We are investing in education. I am proud to be the Education minister in the NT. Whilst we have come off an incredibly low bar, we have hard-working teachers and a great education system. We will go nowhere but up.
Budget 2015-16 –
Palmerston Regional Hospital
Palmerston Regional Hospital
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for HEALTH
In its last term of government Labor started work towards the construction of a hospital for the people of Palmerston and greater Darwin. While your government has been dragging its feet and making excuses, under Labor’s plan this hospital would be nearing completion. This year’s budget includes revoted planning and construction work for the Palmerston Regional Hospital. According to your own budget books you are still in the planning stage, dragging your feet and crawling further behind schedule. You have missed deadline after deadline. You are cutting primary health spending. You have failed to deliver on a promised paediatric ward. How can Territorians trust anything you say about the delivery of health services when your track record indicates you have no intention of delivering them?
ANSWER
Sometimes one is offered a smorgasbord of opportunity and you are left with only one question: where do I start? The shadow minister forgot to mention the bubonic plague, which was also my fault. The outbreak of smallpox in the 1800s, that was me as well. This is the sort of question that leaves you bereft.
I remember the former government’s attempt at building the Palmerston hospital. They erected a monumental fence. It was a fine fence; it did fency things and surrounded a bunch of bulldozers and other equipment which was paid for to be parked there indefinitely. There was never a job, but they were hiring the bulldozers to park them on the block so people could drive past and say, ‘Ooh, the Labor government has some bulldozers on the block’. They were really good bulldozers, but like so many garden gnomes, they were merely monuments. That question demonstrates the extraordinary incompetence of the former Labor government.
I pay a tribute to the members for Araluen and Fong Lim, former Health ministers, because they were stepping forward through this process and we have been able to secure money from the Commonwealth to ensure this will to be built. If the honourable member would like to cast open the budget book she says she has read she would notice $25m is in the infrastructure budget to start building the hospital.
That is a lot of planning. You would have a pile of plans about as thick as Parliament House. Alternatively, the reality is that is infrastructure money that will go into slabs, water pipes and work on the area that people will be able to see. Has the honourable member not noticed all of the works on the Stuart Highway at the front of the site of Palmerston hospital? There is millions of dollars of work preparing for the Palmerston hospital site.
This is a little like the person in a room full of purple things looking for purple things saying, ‘Can’t find anything here’. For God’s sake, whoever writes these questions, do it better!
Budget 2015-16 – Youth Services
Mr McCARTHY to ATTORNEY-GENERAL and JUSTICE
Last week the ABC reported that the former Minister for Children and Families, the member for Araluen, said her CLP colleagues should restore youth services cut when the CLP came to power, but effective youth programs continue to be cut by your government.
Barkly Youth Services is being asked to run its successful youth diversion program with half the funding it had in the past. Why is restoring services for youth at risk such a low priority in the CLP Budget 2015-16?
Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek leave to table the document I am reading from.
Leave granted.
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, the best service a child can have is two loving parents, and this is consistently and assiduously avoided by the members opposite. I do not care what shape a family takes. One loving parent would be a good start in many instances, but two is good, maybe even three or four in the right arrangement. I do not make any presumptions about domestic relationships, but what about the idea of people looking after their kids? You never hear that from the members opposite. It is always the government’s fault when the government has to deal with some of the problem children we have in our community by virtue of neglectful parents. Never do we hear that, and I bang on about it relentlessly because that is the message we should be sending out, not only as a Territory government but as a federal government and a society. Look after your kids; it is your job when you are a parent.
Sadly, from time to time no matter how much you plead, beg, implore or ask parents to do that job they will not. When they engage in that type of neglectful activity, yes, the government steps in and has to do things like, unfortunately and too often, take children into care. We are doing this in increasing numbers because increasing numbers of parents on the welfare system are disengaging with their children and neglecting them 95% of the time and abusing them 4% of the time …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Will the minister restore Barkly Youth Services’ funding, that has been reduced by half, to operate a successful diversion program?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Barkly. It was reasonably direct, minister. You still have a minute or so to come to the question.
Mr ELFERINK: Clearly I have to deal with some of the imputations and epithets he loaded the front end of the question with. If he wants a direct answer he should ask a direct question, not spray around the room with a machine gun and then say, ‘By the way, look at the goldfish’. I want to respond to what he has been doing with the machine gun, which is exactly what the Chief Minister described – being dishonest.
There is $4.2m extra in youth services this year across the Northern Territory. We continue to provide $172m to child protection services in the Northern Territory. We build schools and have programs through the police force which also reach out to the youth of the Northern Territory. There is any number of NGOs across the Northern Territory providing services. We are building childcare centres. We are continuing to provide health services for kids, and youth services through the suicide prevention action strategy we are rolling out. I could go on ad infinitum. We could provide those services ad infinitum, but we would not need to if parents did their job.
Budget 2015-16 – Racing Industry
Mr BARRETT to MINISTER for RACING, GAMING and LICENSING
The racing industry is very important for our tourism industry as the Cup Carnival attracts people from all over the country and overseas. Can you please update the House on the Northern Territory government’s contribution to the racing industry in Budget 2015-16?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for his question. He understands economics and jobs. Interjections have been flowing freely about pork barrelling and things like that. On this side of the House we are worried about jobs, unlike you. You do not seem to understand anything about jobs. You claim to, but your actions and words do not back that up. I will give you some facts.
Horse racing in the Territory touches one in five jobs in the Northern Territory. I am not sure whether it runs third or fourth in the Territory, but in New South Wales it is the second-largest industry. It is a huge industry.
The Country Liberal government has supported that industry out of the tax take by granting funds to the racing industry. Race tracks in the Northern Territory are gearing up for another great season. The Darwin Cup is coming up in a few months, and this weekend in Alice Springs the cup gets under way in the Red Centre. I will see you there if I am lucky.
To the racing industry, the tourism industry and the locals who love to come to the track and enjoy the festivities, the allocation of funding is great news. The Northern Territory government and the Darwin Turf Club will build a pedestrian underpass to improve the safety at Fannie Bay race track.
As a result of the sad death of Ms Simone Montgomerie, the coronial inquest into that incident, which concluded in December 2014, recommended against establishing crossings in the track to the infield near the finish line and supported the proposal of an underpass.
The Darwin Turf Club will receive $250 000 in funding to assist in the construction of a pedestrian underpass as part of the Giles government’s commitment to the racing community and the safety of Territorians.
An additional $150 000 has been allocated to the construction of that underpass by the Northern Territory government from the workers compensation reserve to make it safe for Territorians at the track.
The Northern Territory government is working with the racing industry and talking to stakeholders to ensure there is minimal disruption to Territorians during race meets as a result of upgrades and changes in the industry. By providing over $15m in funding to the racing industry in the 2015 budget, the Giles government is continuing to commit to and build on funding allocated to the Darwin Turf Club and Thoroughbred Racing NT.
The safety of all Territorians is paramount to the Giles government, and we are working with the racing industry to increase track safety and enhance the experience for everyone visiting Fannie Bay race track.
I have been to the track today with the CEO and he is pleased the construction will get under way as soon as it can. They led me to believe it might happen after the cup. We will give them the cheque so they can start tomorrow.
Urapunga Telecommunications
Ms LEE to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES referred to MINISTER for CORPORATE and INFORMATION SERVICES
Urapunga community has contacted my office several times regarding telecommunications. Urapunga has had no telecommunications for 10 of the last 13 days. This community is entirely dependent on these connections for daily living, with the Urapunga store being dependent on the Department of Human Services’ access point. The mobile and PTSN is unreliable and is now a matter of urgency. Telstra has been contacted multiple times with no results for Urapunga. Can you please inform the House what the CLP government intends to do about this urgent matter for the people in the bush?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, in a moment I will pass this question over because Essential Services deals with power, water and sewerage and not telecommunications. I am a little surprised the question was directed to me. I imagine the Minister for Corporate and Information Services will be able to answer the question.
Mr STYLES (Corporate and Information Services): Mr Deputy Speaker, I am pleased to talk about telecommunications in remote communities. Tomorrow I will be visiting Desert Knowledge in Alice Springs and I will be talking about a booster for mobile phone services that has not been announced yet. I will be very pleased to bring to this House, probably at the next sittings, a complete rundown of what will happen in remote communities. We will have boosters which you can put your mobile phone in and boost the reception. It does not require any power. It is a fantastic invention that has been developed at the Centre for Appropriate Technology in Alice Springs. They are very proud of that. I will be very happy to organise a briefing …
Ms LEE: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker!
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I was afraid this would happen. Standing Order 113, relevance, I am assuming, member for Arnhem?
Ms LEE: Exactly. The question was about Urapunga. Answer the question. I would like to know the answer.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes thank you. Minister, it was quite a direct question. I suggest, to avoid endless points of order, you answer the question or provide a briefing to the member to address her specific request. Then you can enlighten us to the wonderful work taking place across the Northern Territory, which I am sure you are very committed to when it comes to ICT.
I would like you to address this question one way or another, whether it be to provide a briefing or take the question on notice because otherwise we will spend the next two-and-a-half minutes with points of order to Standing Order 113: relevance. I do not particularly want to sit through that, nor does this House.
Mr TOLLNER: Mr Deputy Speaker, speaking to the point of order, the question was directed at the Minister for Essential Services. I doubt the minister for Corporate and Information Services even heard the question. It seems a bit harsh for the member for Arnhem to start firing off about not getting an answer when she does not even know who she is asking the question of.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, hence my suggestion it is taken on notice for the member for Arnhem, and the very committed minister for ICT can continue to enlighten us about remote telecommunications across the Northern Territory.
Mr STYLES: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am very happy to provide the member with Malcolm Turnbull’s phone number. He can probably give you some more information.
The Territory government is working very closely with Telstra, which obviously works very closely with the federal government to provide infrastructure into all bush seats across the Territory.
Over a three-year period there is $30m in a joint investment infrastructure sustainability co-investment program to expand access to telecommunication services in NT remote communities. This is not just about one community; this goes across communities. Eleven communities will have these boosters very shortly, and 12 or 13 communities will have towers. Telstra has committed $15m towards this infrastructure development. The NT government has committed $9m over three years.
These are efficiencies generated from the delivery of government ICT services. We are taking those efficiencies and spending them in the bush. When we go there with our Business in the Bush program and conduct the NT business programs it will enable people in the bush to start businesses on communities. The best thing you can do there is give people a job. How do we do that? We enable IT communications with the outside world. This government is about making sure every Territorian gets a go.
Budget 2015-16 – Disability Services
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to MINISTER for DISABILITY SERVICES
Can you please update the House about some of the spending initiatives in Budget 2015-16 to assist Territorians and their families living with a disability?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, this is a good question because it goes to the heart of the newly-formed ministerial title and portfolio area of Minister for Disability Services. The Chief Minister determined that the Northern Territory government needed a dedicated minister in the area of disability services. I have been asked to shoulder that responsibility on behalf of the Giles government.
More than $88m has been allocated for disability services in this year’s budget. That is a healthy amount of money which continues to provide services to many people who suffer disabilities in the Northern Territory, $4.7m extra than was allocated in the previous year’s budget. There was also $500 000 for particularised and itemised spending items, $500 000 for the Riding for the Disabled in Darwin and Alice Springs, $110 000 for another special needs bus to operate in the Darwin region and $21.4m for stage one of the Palmerston special school.
Work is also under way to construct a $31.5m special school in the Darwin’s northern suburbs. The new Henbury School will be a state-of-the-art purpose-built construction and will provide special education to students with a range of particular needs.
This budget also invests $152.5m for a range of educational infrastructure in government schools across the Northern Territory. This means we are changing the shapes of the schools so we can make them accessible to people with disabilities, in other words, removing the ‘dis’ from ‘ability’.
One of the problems in the disability sector is a philosophical one. We do things in such a way that we separate people with disabilities. We do this through our architecture, design work, whatever we do. That is a mistake. We have taken a different approach. We are spending money to create schools that embrace people who would otherwise be qualified as disabled.
We want to remove that ‘dis’ and just simply treat them as ‘abled’: people with ability. They can come into those schools and be part of society. This is what so many of these people want to achieve in their lives. They do not want to be separated. They want to be abled to live their lives. It is the thrust of the NDI and the Western Australian My Way model. It is a model we should adopt in the architecture of our buildings. That is exactly what we are doing in the Northern Territory.
Travel Expenses – Discrepancy
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for WOMEN’S POLICY
Invoices obtained under Freedom of Information show that your staffer, Paul Mossman, travelled economy class when he accompanied you on your trip to New York last year, but in yesterday’s NT News Mr Mossman claimed he flew business class with you. I seek leave to table these two documents.
Leave granted.
Ms WALKER: Can you confirm the existence of a second invoice that supports Mr Mossman’s claims? For the benefit of Territorians and to clear up any confusion, will you table the second invoice in parliament?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I will take the question on notice.
Darwin Symphony Orchestra and Nhulunbuy
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you please update the Assembly on some exciting news for the people of Nhulunbuy in relation to the Darwin Symphony Orchestra?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for this question. This is a very exciting announcement, something I have been working on for a long time with the DSO. I provide representation for the DSO, as an ambassador or patron, and promote their wares.
There have been troubled times in Nhulunbuy with the closing of the refinery. We have put a lot of effort there trying to make sure we protect the economy and build jobs for the future. There is a long road ahead but there is a lot of work being done.
I wanted to see if we could roll out the DSO into regional parts of the Northern Territory, starting with Nhulunbuy, to provide a DSO experience to the people of Nhulunbuy. The DSO will be going to Nhulunbuy at the Garma site on 30 May this year. The project has been well supported by government. Financial support has been provided to assist them to get there, plus there has also been a lot of well-facilitated private sector support in transportation, logistics and the like. It will allow the Nhulunbuy community to come together at a time of celebration and support those who have gone through some difficult times.
To Karen Relph and everybody involved with the DSO, thanks very much for taking up this offer. I tried to get it out there for Territory Day, which was a logistical challenge. Seeing that this will happen on 30 May is exciting. I have been to many DSO events. Most recently there was one in partnership with the Defence band at the Convention Centre. It was a fantastic adaption and it really showcased the partnership in Darwin, and the spirit of the Anzacs in this 100-year centenary anniversary.
I am keen to see what adaption the DSO may like to entertain while in Nhulunbuy. Sitting in the Chamber today I cast my mind to what adaptions may be relevant to the sour approach of the member for Nhulunbuy. I have come up with suggestions for the DSO, such as Hank Williams’ I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry or Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven or maybe …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 62. It is offensive to say that of the member for Nhulunbuy.
Mr GILES: I have a lot of respect for Eric Clapton, the same way I have a lot of respect for …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Chief Minister, I ask that you cease using offensive words.
Mr GILES: I will cease if anyone has taken offence.
Perhaps an adaption of Jeff Buckley …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker!
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Chief Minister, there is a request that you withdraw those words.
Mr GILES: I withdraw.
Perhaps an adaption of Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah. The budget is finally paying back Labor debt, reducing their deficit and getting the Territory economy back on track. Hallelujah, Labor, hallelujah.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Budget 2015-16 – Social Housing Dwellings
Ms MOSS to MINISTER for HOUSING
Budget 2014-15 committed to building 94 new social housing dwellings. Budget 2015-16 shows you will only build 18 of them. How can Territorians have any confidence that you will deliver the promised 74 new social housing dwellings in this year’s budget?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Casuarina for her question because I would like to work with her to make sure we deliver housing properly for Northern Territorians. I am glad the member has asked me what this government is doing about housing in the Territory.
Budget 2015-16 provides an allocation of $322m, the biggest ever housing budget in the Territory’s history. It also provides $76m more than Labor’s last budget for housing. This will deliver housing across the Territory, allowing this government to provide the right house in the right place at the right time for eligible Territorians.
We are committed to looking after all Territorians. One way we are doing this is through Real Housing for Growth. This program supports the attraction and retention of key low- to middle-income workers in the Northern Territory, such as childcare workers and hospitality or retail staff. Through our program we are building 2000 new affordable dwellings for rental and home ownership. Over 488 affordable rental and home ownership dwellings have been delivered as of 31 March 2015 …
Ms MOSS: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. I was asking about the 74 new social housing dwellings in Budget 2014-15 which have now come up in Budget 2015-16.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Casuarina.
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! This is not a point of order; this is just a revisit of the question the minister is answering.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the point of the question, please?
Mrs PRICE: Another 500 dwellings are under construction across the Territory. Two of these developments are in one of our fastest-growing areas of Palmerston. The developments at 89 and 100 Farrar Boulevard, Palmerston consist of 14 units and 23 units respectively. We have had at least 37 of the privately-owned Farrar Boulevard units for a term of 10 years. In Alice Springs, 25 units have been recently completed in Larapinta and are now available for eligible tenants. Another 20 dwellings in Heavitree Gap will be available in the second half of 2015.
This program is already seeing success. Last week I met a young single mum in Palmerston who has returned to the workforce. Through the Real Housing for Growth program she was able to get a home for herself and her two children. She was just over the income threshold for public housing, and because of this program she did not have to sacrifice her career or make job choices to reduce her income to get a house.
I also note that a recent Anglicare rental affordability snapshot found that rents have gone down by …
Ms MOSS: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! It was a very direct question; 95 houses were committed in the 2014 budget and only 18 of them were built in the 2015 budget. How can we have confidence the 74 new social housing dwellings will be built?
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. If she does not like the answer then it is a matter for her to raise later in debate.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I understand. Minister you have 15 seconds to go.
Mrs PRICE: Across the Territory rent has gone down by 21% per week. We said we would drive the cost of living down and we have succeeded, first with the cost of petrol and now a plan for the cost of rent. That is extra cash every week back in the pockets of Territorians. This proves that our programs are working.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Budget 2015-16 –
Opposition Leader’s Response
Opposition Leader’s Response
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to TREASURER
Could you please provide your assessment of the Opposition Leader’s response to your budget?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question. It was an interesting presentation by the Leader of the Opposition yesterday. There were a few notable things missing, like the words ‘debt’, ‘deficit’ and ‘saving’. I think he talked about a truth deficit, but sometimes you have to wonder where the truth lies and where the truth deficit is. Those things did not reckon in his speech. He made a long comment about travel and how members of parliament should travel in the future. There was not a lot in it, apart from this mantra that they will keep spending, which is what Labor governments do best.
There was nothing to say about supporting any of the policies we have to diversify the economy, growing overseas trade, the Developing the North program or expanding mining. Most of what he said was not accurate. There was a suggestion that we are under-funding education. As I said yesterday, and I have gone to lengths to explain, we are putting more money into education than we ever have before.
After I had re-read the Opposition Leader’s speech, there was something that stuck out and caught my eye. I thought he was close to right on this one. He promised, along with all these other promises for extra money and the like, more money for health. He did not say how he would pay for this money for health, but he did say he would fund it by increasing the budget by 7% every year. His words were:
- We know health costs rise higher than inflation. You need to put in about 7% extra every year just to keep pace.
As a former Health minister I know you have this thing called growth demand. It grows at an incredible rate, so I thought I would do a bit more research. I went into the 2013 budget papers, Labor’s last budget, and looked at the health appropriation. Operational expenses for health were $822m, with $852 000 on top of that. I then did a quick calculation of 7% growth on that, multiplied out by a term of three years. The budget projection would have been a future value of around $1.008bn. Currently we are at $1.011bn. I table that.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you Treasurer, your time has expired.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Mr Deputy Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper. I understand the Chief Minister, Minister for Education and the Minister for Housing have further information arising out of questions.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Mr Deputy Speaker, a point of clarification on fuel. I said the fuel price differential had gone down from 38c to 4c. In fact, the latest figures from the Australian Institute of Petroleum show unleaded fuel across the Territory has gone down an average of 36.8c compared to a year ago. I referred to that as a differential but it was actually the price drop.
The differential was 22c a litre a year ago and is 4.3c a litre right now. The price has dropped 36.8% on average Territory-wide, or 38.8c in Alice Springs and 37c in Darwin but the differential has closed from 22c per litre to 4.3c per litre. That is a fantastic outcome.
Mr CHANDLER (Education): Mr Deputy Speaker, I also want to clarify a couple of things because we know the Labor Party members are quite clever in dropping things on the table and walking away, throwing mud and walking away. They have done it again today.
The member for Wanguri tabled some charts to indicate a couple of points about education in the Northern Territory. One of those – and I need to put this into context – was Achievement Trends in Writing. What you will see here – and I have highlighted the things you have tabled quite clearly – is a decline in writing.
You will notice at the end though that the section highlighted yellow is across Australia. This is a concern across Australia at the moment, not just in the Northern Territory. In fact, the federal Department of Education is investigating the NAPLAN exams to ensure the type of testing used is not causing this trend. That puts that into context.
This one is more important; this is in regard to numeracy. You will see again all I have done is highlight the tabled documents. You will see the beautiful ochre line here. This indicates 2012 when the Country Liberals came to government. You can see that most of those lines were trending downwards before the Country Liberals came to government. Quite clearly after the ochre lines when the Country Liberals came to government the trend is on the way up.
I will show you NAPLAN results if you want us to get charts out and show you in the time when Labor was in government it was a sea of red. Who remembers in the NT News the ‘sea of red’? Whilst I will admit there are still many bits of red because we are coming off a low base, there is far more green today.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, minister. The House is satisfied with your clarification, minister.
Mrs PRICE (Housing): Mr Deputy Speaker, I table Mr Mossman’s travel details.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, minister, for tabling that document.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016