2009-10-14
Confidence in Minister for Housing
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Your Housing Minister has made a complete hash of the $670m SIHIP program; overseen a massive escalation of public housing waiting lists; stood by for 11 months as houses damaged by wind in Santa Teresa remained without roofs; and, received summary dismissal from his job at Ngaliwurru-Wuli Association for monumental incompetence. Do you have …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! We have been through this already. This is the opposition indulging in gutter tactics around something that relates to the minister before he even entered this parliament.
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, Madam Speaker. There is no limitation anywhere in the standing orders within the realm described by the Leader …
Dr Burns: There is a limitation on decency.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: … of Government Business, and I would urge you to point out to him that there are no grounds for his current point of order.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I am concerned about the matter relating to the letter, only because the minister has a completely different story about that. If you could continue the question, but perhaps reword that aspect of it?
Mr MILLS: Madam Speaker, the fact is that he received a summary dismissal notice from his job - that was for monumental incompetence.
Chief Minister, do you have complete confidence in the member …
Mr VATSKALIS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 62 clearly refers to reference to a member’s private affairs, and all personal reflection on members is deemed to be disorderly. What the member is doing is reflecting on personal affairs. That is clearly a personal matter, Madam Speaker. He was not a member of parliament in 2001. Whatever happened then, it is totally irrelevant and he cannot …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, resume your seat.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Please resume your seat, member for Port Darwin. I believe the way the Leader of the Opposition has rephrased that is now appropriate.
Mr MILLS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The point of the question is: Chief Minister, do you have complete confidence in the member for Daly’s handling of the Housing portfolio?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the answer is yes.
Police Beats – Progress
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
During the last election, this government made a commitment to establish Police Beats in five of the main shopping precincts in the Territory during the term of this government. Can the you please advise the House of progress made in fulfilling this election commitment?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his question. This was a significant announcement by government which has been very well received in the broader community. I am very proud of this initiative of our government. It is an initiative that we are expanding and rolling out across the Northern Territory. I also note that the opposition’s official position is that they oppose the Police Beat roll out.
I committed $12.3m to establish Police Beats in five of the Territory’s main shopping precincts over the term of the government. The first one was Casuarina Police Beat which, again, CLP policy is to close if they were to ever achieve government. That commenced operation in December 2008. Talk to any of the retailers in Casuarina, the people who shop there, the people who work there, and they say that it has been a significant initiative to deter antisocial behaviour in what is our busiest shopping precinct in the Northern Territory.
We have also opened the Police Beat in Alice Springs as part of the Alice Springs Action Plan. I and the member for Central Australia were at that a couple of months ago, and the feedback from the retailers and residents of Alice Springs has been very positive. There is a commitment to open a Police Beat in Palmerston by the end of the year. I am advised we are on track to achieve that, with just commercial issues in terms of negotiating a lease to conclude. This complements our initiative with the Australian government to significantly roll out CCTV networks in Darwin, Casuarina, and Palmerston, as well as in Alice Springs. It is all about making the community a safer place.
I am also announcing today that we are bringing forward the budget allocation so that the Police Beats will be brought forward this financial year, including Karama and Parap. An opportunity has presented itself, and just today I have opened the Police Beat at Nightcliff Shopping Centre. This opportunity has presented itself with the specific operational divisions at Nightcliff, with the Traffic section and the Domestic Violence Unit moving to the new Casuarina Police Station so space has become available and negotiating leases is not an issue.
We have allocated an additional four police officers and two auxiliaries to patrol what is a very busy area in the northern suburbs, not only the old shopping centre area and the new shopping centre. We have major public housing complexes at John Stokes Square and the flats at Litchfield Court, and a proactive police presence, getting to know local residents, will do much to clamp down on antisocial behaviour.
We have record investment in our police force, with over 330 additional police officers. What the community wants to see is an expansion of this Police Beat program and police being a visible deterrent to antisocial behaviour in our major public areas. This program will be accelerated. It was great to be able to announce the latest in a series of Police Beats at Nightcliff today.
Public Housing Issues
Mr ELFERINK to MINISTER for HOUSING
On 21 August, I wrote to you accusing you of being a slum lord in relation to your administration and management of Tomaris Court. You did not even bother to acknowledge receipt of that letter until a month later. You only replied in a hurried fashion on the same day that a man was stabbed in the neck during a drunken brawl and you became aware that your failure to reply to my letter was going to be mentioned on television. Why is it that the media sets your priorities and agendas above the care and protection of your own tenants?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the question from – not the housing minister; obviously the housing minister does not want to answer too many questions.
Mr Tollner: You are the Housing Minister.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I would like to advise the member for Daly, he is the Housing Minister.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, resume your seat. There are far too many interjections. Minister, you have the call.
Mr KNIGHT: I have been a little bit confused over the last couple days as to who is the spokesperson for housing …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr KNIGHT: We apparently have three over there now. There were two yesterday …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr KNIGHT: … the shadow minister over there in her handling of the shadow responsibilities of this portfolio …
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question had nothing to do with who was the shadow Housing minister on this side. He has made a complete fool …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, resume your seat. Order! Minister, resume your seat.
Ms Carney: Yes, that is you.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Araluen!
Honourable members, we are only a few minutes into Question Time and we have already had a significant number of interruptions. I have to say that, following yesterday’s Question Time, as usual, my office, both here and in Nightcliff, received a number of complaints regarding the level of interjections and people being unable to hear the broadcast. I am asking members to follow Standing Order 51, and I will be putting members on warnings.
In relation to questions, I remind you once again that, if you ask questions which have a number of matters in a preamble, then you must expect a minister to respond in a fashion which you may not wish him to do. Minister, you have the call.
Mr KNIGHT: Madam Speaker, as I said, I am happy to provide answers to questions. I am still waiting for an answer from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in regard to her claims from the ABS report that she quoted.
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I raised a point of order just a minute ago about the minister being relevant to the question. I ask you to draw him to the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Fong Lim. Minister, you have the call. The question had several parts to it; please answer the question as best you can.
Mr KNIGHT: In relation to antisocial behaviour and the condition of these hot spots, these complexes, Territory Housing undertakes a range of measures. We have security patrols at these hot spots seven days per week - sadly, seven days per week. The ones in Darwin operate from 6 pm to 6 am, and there are also other patrols. Sadly, we have had to engage the services of commercial cleaners in many of those complexes to try to clean them up. We are dealing with a very different …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question was very specific, as was the preamble. It relates to why he did not reply to a letter that I sent him - nothing else.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, the question is being …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Port Darwin! Order, member for Sanderson! Minister, you have the call, but if you could come to the point fairly quickly.
Mr KNIGHT: Madam Speaker, it was a pretty broad question.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr KNIGHT: Madam Speaker, we do have security patrols going there. We do have cleaners going to those properties. They are very old properties. They were designed for government workers when they were originally built. We now have people in those complexes who have specific and complex needs. We try to work with those clients. The person who was stabbed that night was a visitor, not a resident of that complex, and that was a very sad incident.
With respect to the communication with the member for Port Darwin, we always write back to the member on all matters. In relation to the media, I first became aware of it when it was brought up at a press conference. I thought it was a fairly disgusting sort of comment. We work very closely with our clients in difficult circumstances.
Alcohol-Fuelled Crime
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Can you please update the House on the government’s efforts to address alcohol-fuelled crime?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. We know that a majority of assaults across the Territory are, sadly, alcohol related. We know the CLP’s only policy to address alcohol-fuelled crime is to sell more alcohol.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Ms LAWRIE: Check out the motion that the member for Araluen has placed before this Chamber …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Ms LAWRIE: … to sell more alcohol for more hours in Alice Springs.
Members interjecting.
Ms Carney: You are a failure.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Member for Araluen!
Ms LAWRIE: In contrast, this government has a comprehensive strategy to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence, that is, crime and antisocial behaviour. Our strategy includes patrols, supply restrictions, more rehabilitation, and treatment programs.
Ms Carney: People are drinking Listerine and cooking essence, did you know that?
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Araluen!
Ms LAWRIE: The unacceptably high levels of alcohol-related violence was one of the reasons why this government took the tough action and introduced an innovative model, the alcohol court.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Elferink: A vehicle by which you can avoid custody.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Port Darwin!
Ms LAWRIE: They truly are a rabble. We are the only jurisdiction which has established an alcohol court …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Araluen!
Ms LAWRIE: Since its commencement, there have been 380 referrals to the court, with 251 treatments ordered. A total of 121 clients have successfully completed the rehabilitation program.
Mr Giles: That is 13 000 protective custodies in Alice Springs; 140 people have completed it.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The Attorney-General has the call.
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, we think the alcohol courts could be more effective. We are the first and only place to bring in an alcohol court in Australia. We never pretended that the first part was going to be perfect. We always said we will go in and review its operation, which is what we have done. We have undertaken a comprehensive review. We will be releasing a discussion paper into the public domain to bring forward the debate around the alcohol court options that are contained within that discussion paper. It raises a range of options that we believe have a great deal of merit and will work. We are also asking for ideas from the experts in the sector …
Members interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: I will give the opposition a tip: we will not be increasing supply to reduce alcohol consumption. That is a tip, a direction to the opposition.
We will continue to do all it takes to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence in our community, the tragedy which occurs as a consequence of that, and alcohol courts are one part of that strategy.
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Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 5/6 Pigeon Hole School students, accompanied by Ms Ann Watkins and Mr Les Mason. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Housing Crisis – Use of Demountables
Housing Crisis – Use of Demountables
Mr GILES to MINISTER for HOUSING
In 2006, dozens of demountables were sent to Alice Springs by the then Coalition government to be used as temporary accommodation for hundreds of people as part of the emergency response. Since then, many of those have not been used and have just been gathering dust in Alice Springs. Can you inform the House why those demountables were not used to house Territorians during the worst housing crisis in history, and why they are now being relocated to Darwin to house illegal immigrants?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I understand they are owned by the Commonwealth.
Mr Giles interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr KNIGHT: Perhaps you should direct it to the Commonwealth Housing minister, member for Braitling.
Upgrade of Prisons –
Rehabilitation and Training
Rehabilitation and Training
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
Can you please update the House on how our prisons are being upgraded to stop the cycle of reoffending by providing more opportunities for rehabilitation and training?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. Under the Henderson government, there are more police on the streets than ever before. Our police officers are working hard. As a result, those who break the law are caught and prosecuted, and, consequently, we have more offenders in our prison.
The most recent data shows that, in Darwin Correctional Centre there are now 563 prisoners, in Alice Springs Correctional Centre there are 480, and at Don Dale there are 29 offenders.
It has been our intention to build a new prison. We believe the old prison is now no longer big enough and no longer modern enough to address the issues we are determined to change, and that is the breaking of the cycle of reoffending. We are working with the member for Nelson to review the location of the prison, and to make recommendations as to whether one big prison remains the solution. We then move on to the area of addressing the real issue of providing education and rehabilitation with a booming population growth throughout the Northern Territory.
That is why we are spending $26.3m on vital improvements to both correctional facilities in the Northern Territory. My recent visit to Alice Springs Correctional Centre witnessed the $12.3m initiative to provide an extra 100 beds, including 24 multi-classification female beds; additional program education space; expansion of the laundry; upgrade to the sewerage pond; a new store/warehouse; and additional administration space.
The concept that I am learning about in this portfolio is called normalisation, and we need to take the most disadvantaged Territorians who end up in our custodial system and start to normalise their lives and put them back in the community with a real hope of breaking that cycle of reoffending.
Madam Speaker, $11.3m is being spent on the Darwin Correctional Centre: 140 additional prisoner beds in bunkhouse accommodation blocks; new prisoner visiting areas; new prisoner reception; additional program education space for the female accommodation block and at the living skills unit; expansion of laundry; refurbishment of medical; upgrade of the sewerage ponds; and additional space.
Most importantly, these buildings are being built as demountable buildings which can be moved, and with the government’s move into trying a new concept with the Barkly work camp, these buildings can be easily moved to establish more of this concept when we prove that it will work, when we demonstrate to Territorians that taking the most disadvantaged of our society and turning their lives around, giving them hope, giving them self-esteem, that they will re-enter our community with a whole new life of opportunities to not reoffend.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, these improvements are part of the Henderson government’s commitment to bring in a new era in Correctional Services. We are building highly functional living quarters for prisoners which will allow staff to monitor, assess and supervise them in a most effective way. We are aiming to reduce the likelihood of prisoners reoffending by fostering an environment that is supported by rehabilitation and education. We know that if an offender leaves our prison with skills and reasonable job prospects, they have a much greater chance of not reoffending. That is the aim. That is my job and I am very proud, as part of the Henderson government, to be challenged with it.
Hotels – Meals in Smoking Areas
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for HEALTH
I would like clarification of a question I asked on Monday in relation to your proposed new non-smoking laws for NT hotels. I do not support smoking either, but I need this clarified. How will these new laws affect the consumption of food in these areas? I am not referring to the serving of meals by staff.
Are you saying that in a proposed outdoor smoking area at a hotel, a smoker cannot bring food of any kind from anywhere into that area? If that is the case, if the smoker is allowed to drink in the smoking area but not eat anything, is that not against your policy of responsible drinking? Is it not the case that in all other states, except Queensland, consumption of meals in outdoor smoking areas is permitted as long as they are not served in that area?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. If he noticed in the Hansard, I did not mention anything about eating or not eating in the non-smoking areas. What I said is that our intention is to actually protect the non-smokers and the staff working in the property, and also to make smoking unattractive.
The reality is, 150 people every year die from smoking-related diseases in the Territory, and the last thing I want to have is people working, earning their daily bread, being exposed to side-stream smoking. The reason we formed the Tobacco Action Task Force is to bring together the health services, my department, and the Australian Hotels Association, the interested parties, to sit down and discuss how we are going to implement the changes, and what changes we are going to make. I am not going to direct what is going to happen or not happen, apart from the safety issue about the staff. If it is about to eat or not to eat, it is something that the task force has to come back to us with proposals. I am expecting the task force to put a number of proposals to me within two weeks after they finish a series of meetings.
Elective Surgery Waiting Times
Mr CONLAN to MINISTER for HEALTH
Your predecessor, the member for Johnston, said in this place on 18 October 2006, and I quote from Hansard:
- It is important to note that Territorians do not wait any longer for elective surgery than people in other jurisdictions. The median waiting time for surgery in the Territory is the same as nationally, that is, 29 days.
The public hospital report card released today by the AMA shows that the median waiting time for elective surgery has worsened and is now actually 43 days compared to the national average of 34. That is 43 days, not 29 as stipulated by the member for Johnston, and not to the national average of 34. Could you please explain to the House how the Northern Territory Labor Party has made an unmitigated mess of our Northern Territory hospitals?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex for his question. The AMA report is totally inaccurate, full of …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr VATSKALIS: I am not the only one to say that. My colleague, the minister in Queensland said exactly the same, and my colleague, Hon John Hill from South Australia, said exactly the same in the media release he issued …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr VATSKALIS: Let me tell you what John Hill said in South Australia:
- The AMA issues this annual sideswipe without any consultation with the health services it has appointed itself to criticise and uses outdated statistics in the process ... The data used in this year’s report is over 15 months old, dating back to the Howard government, which notoriously underinvested in health …
Members interjecting.
Mr VATSKALIS: Let me tell you about this report. This report claims that we closed the maternity ward in Gove. We did not. We suspended birthing in Gove for five weeks because we did not have any doctor going to Gove to perform obstetric services. The AMA got it wrong. It claims that we had 750 beds in 2006-07 when we had 675 beds, and then they claimed that we actually reduced the number to 616 in 2007-08 when, in reality, we increased it to 674.
In addition to that, it says that the Emergency Department has long delays, but failed to recognise that, at the same time, we had double the rate of presentations in our Emergency Department than anywhere else in Australia. The AMA claims that the waiting list has increased to 43 days, but it fails to recognise the significant investment made by the Rudd federal government to reduce the waiting list, and also the fact that the Northern Territory performs a significantly higher number of category one urgent elective surgeries than any other jurisdiction.
This report is not worth the paper it is written on. I am not the only one who says that. All my colleagues in the rest of Australia say exactly the same. It is a report based, not on evidence, but on hearsay. It was never discussed it with us. The member for Greatorex likes to claim these kind of reports, the same way the member for Goyder claimed a non-existent Bureau of Statistics report yesterday.
Housing Finance Data
Mr GUNNER to TREASURER
Can you please update the House on the latest housing finance data for the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his question. Last night, we had a matter of public importance debate brought on by the Deputy Opposition Leader, the member for Goyder. During that debate, she made a claim, and I quote her from Hansard:
- Recently we saw figures released from the Australian Bureau of Statistics which had the Territory experiencing a dramatic drop in the take up of home finance to buy or build.
In fact, the latest figures from August from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that, in August 2009, there were 33% more housing finance commitments in the Northern Territory than in August of last year. The member for Goyder was claiming there were fewer when, in fact, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released in August, the current statistics, show there were 33% more housing finance commitments in the Territory than in August of last year. To put that in context, that is more than 100 more Territorians who took out a home loan this August compared to August of last year, and this is a trend. Over the last 12 months, there has been a 9% increase in home loans over the previous 12 months, the second highest in the nation and well above that national average increase of 1.7%.
Deliberately misleading Territorians by misusing ABS figures is one thing. Deliberately making them up is quite something else.
Yesterday, during Question Time, the Deputy Opposition Leader said that she had an ABS report of March 2009 containing information regarding public housing waiting lists. We could not find this report anywhere, so we rang the Australian Bureau of Statistics to find it for us. Madam Speaker, they had no idea what we were talking about. We have called on the Deputy Opposition Leader to table the report. I now call on the Leader of the Opposition to stand up and show some leadership. It appears that this House may have been deliberately misled by the Deputy Leader …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! They know the rules in relation to making those allegations. They either stick to them or they do not.
Madam SPEAKER: Indeed, member for Port Darwin. However, the minister said ‘may have’, and did not actually say that the member had deliberately. Minister, if you could please stick as close as possible to the standing orders, particularly in relation to matters relating to another member.
Ms LAWRIE: Absolutely, Madam Speaker, and I am well within the standing orders in pointing out that it appears that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition may have deliberately misled this House in saying she had an ABS report …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It is also quite conceivable that the Treasurer may be a liar.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Port Darwin, that is not a point of order.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Please resume your seat. Member for Port Darwin! Member for Goyder, cease interjecting.
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Treasurer just then made an extremely unparliamentarily comment. I would ask you to ask her to withdraw that.
Madam SPEAKER: I am sorry, I did not actually even hear it because of the level of interjections.
Dr BURNS: Speaking to the point of order, Madam Speaker, it is a very serious thing to come into this parliament and assert something, assert that the minister has misled the parliament by a previous statement, and use a non-existent report. I will quote from what the member for Goyder said yesterday in her question. It was a leading question from the other side: ‘The fact is, Australian Bureau of Statistic figures show that …’
A member: What point of order is this, Madam Speaker? Is this a standing order, or what point of order is this, Madam Speaker? You cannot really tell.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Minister, resume your seat.
Honourable members, the Treasurer has been asked a question. There have been so many interruptions, and I am sure there have been many unparliamentary interjections, but it is impossible for me to actually hear those. However, I will remind you of Standing Order 51:
- No Member may converse aloud or make any noise or disturbance, which in the opinion of the Speaker is designed to interrupt of has the effect of interrupting a Member speaking.
Minister, you have the call, but just be mindful, please, of Standing Order 62 in relation to matters to do with a member.
Ms LAWRIE: Certainly, Madam Speaker. In the ...
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Treasurer accused the Deputy Opposition Leader of deliberately misleading the parliament. That is an unparliamentarily statement and can only be made through substantive motion.
Madam SPEAKER: That is correct, member for Fong Lim, but I do not actually think that is what she said.
Mr TOLLNER: She did say that.
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, can we just clarify that. Are you actually making an allegation, which would come under Standing Order 62, an allegation that the member for Goyder has deliberately misled the parliament? Is that what you are actually saying?
Mrs LAWRIE: No, what I am actually saying is that there is a big question mark over whether or not the member for Goyder has deliberately misled this parliament because, consistently, this government has called for the member for Goyder to table the report she was quoting from. We have contacted the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and they know nothing of such a report. We will repeat again today: table the report. If there is no misleading of this parliament, simply solved! Table the report, member for Goyder. Now I am calling on …
Ms PURICK: Madam Speaker, if I may talk to the point of order. If the Deputy Chief Minister goes to a copy of Hansard, she will see that I referenced that the information came from a question on notice by the member for Nelson, and the information came out of the minister’s office.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Goyder, you may approach me after …
Dr Burns interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Leader of Government Business!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Goyder, if you wish to, you may approach me after Question Time and you may make a personal explanation. Minister, are you nearly at the end of your answer?
Ms LAWRIE: Nearly at the end, Madam Speaker. Just to clarify, the Hansard, Question Time, Tuesday 13 October, that is yesterday, the first question in Question Time, Ms Purick to Minister for Housing, I quote:
- The fact is, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the Territory has the second-largest per capita waiting list in the country and it is growing, as this chart indicates …
It goes on, interjections are: ‘from which one’; and Ms Purick replies, ‘… from March 2009’.
The government, appropriately, has looked into this matter. Is there an ABS report, because certainly we were not aware of any, the ABS is not aware of any? It certainly poses the question: if there is, by all means, the member for Goyder should table it. If, indeed, it appears that the member for Goyder has misled this parliament, then the Leader of the Opposition should rein her in and ensure that people do not enter this House and deliberately mislead the parliament.
Mr Giles: Have a look behind you. Who is the biggest misleader of all?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: We appreciate that she is probably one of the few members …
Mr Giles: Who is the minister for Housing?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling!
Ms LAWRIE: We appreciate that she is probably one of the few members of the opposition who would vote for him in a leadership challenge. That being said, the leader should insist that members do not come in and mislead this House.
Royal Darwin Hospital – Elective Surgery
Mr CONLAN to MINISTER for HEALTH
In your last response, I note that you dismissed the figures quoted in today’s AMA report. It is interesting because, in 2007, the media release from the previous Minister for Health, on 11 October 2007, titled: ‘Overdue Elective Surgery List Plummets’, and patients seen quicker at RDH, all indicating that things are in pretty good shape. In fact, as the AMA report states and, indeed, as does the latest State of Our Hospitals report states: things are getting worse. Plain and simple, minister.
How can Territorians believe anything that you or your government say on health?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we have the member for Greatorex still referring to the previous minister and data from 2007. The AMA does exactly the same. It goes back to data in 2007-08. Things since 2007-08 have changed. For example, we have had significant income provided to the Territory Health Department to address the issue of the backlog of waiting lists. We have upgraded a number of theatres …
Mr CONLAN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Can I please clarify, is the Minister for Health accusing the Australian Medical Association of being liars? Is that what you are saying?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! It is not a point of order.
Mr VATSKALIS: Since 2007, this government has invested money and, together with the Rudd federal government, because the previous Howard federal government took money out of every single state health department – the Rudd federal government has invested money, and we have now upgraded seven operational theatres in the Territory. We have seven operating theatres. We had swine flu; we were forced to stop every elective surgery to address the epidemic that hit the Territory and hit every other state. Of course, numbers are going to increase, but the department, with Alan Wilson, the head of the department, is working to develop a strategy to upgrade the waiting list.
We are not afraid to say how many people. It was reported in the NT News, Nick Calacouras, my mate, according to the Leader of the Opposition, wrote in the NT News that there were 1800 waiting. Yes, there are, and there are good reasons for that. One is, in the Northern Territory, there are only two major hospitals that perform these kind of operations, that is the RDH and the Alice Springs Hospital, and we rely heavily on people coming from outside the Territory.
As every other health minister in Australia would say this report is not accurate. It is totally inaccurate. I am not saying that they are lying. I am saying that they did not …
Mr Conlan: They would say it. They want to distance themselves as much as possible, because it is a damning report on you and your government.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr VATSKALIS: … talk to us and discuss with us and get accurate information, then the picture would be totally different.
Police Force - Expansion
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
This government has made a concerted effort to increase the size of the Northern Territory Police Force. Can you please advise the House on what progress has been made and what the current size of the police force is?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. Policing is a very significant issue in the Northern Territory and one that this government has worked hard over many years now to improve. There is absolutely no doubt that, when we came to government, the recruitment freeze that occurred under the previous government, for four years, when not one single officer was recruited to our police force, actually left the police force we inherited demoralised and under-funded.
If you do not believe my words on that, when Paul White, our previous Police Commissioner retired, in his last press conference, opening the Casuarina Police Station, said he was leaving the Territory with a … ‘modern police force’, they are his words, and I quote:
- When I came to the police force, it is a fact that the police force was understaffed and underfunded.
What a turnaround we have seen since then. We have increased the police force by an additional 339 funded positions since 2001. A police staffing report of 30 September 2009 shows there are now 1267 paid police officers serving in our force. Morale has significantly improved …
Ms Carney: What nonsense. You know that is wrong.
Mr HENDERSON: … I talk to police officers around the Territory all the time …
Mr Styles: Not the right ones, obviously.
Mr HENDERSON: … the separation rates for constables and above, excluding deaths, retirements, and dismissals, at the end of September, was 1.21%, just over 1% of people leaving the force outside of deaths, retirement, and dismissals.
We have seen a progressive budget allocation, 363 more police in the force than in 2003, including 38 more auxiliaries, 29 more Aboriginal Community Police Officers, and 296 more constables and above in those ranks. That is why we were able to deliver our Safer Streets police program, with additional police patrols in Darwin, Palmerston, Casuarina, and Alice Springs.
We are mid-way in establishing our Police Beats across the Northern Territory, which the opposition would close if they were ever to get into government, and the Police College has eight training squads scheduled to graduate over the remainder of this financial year. When I came to the portfolio in 2001, we were lucky to have one graduation squad per year out of the Peter McAulay Centre, now we have eight before the end of the year.
We have a modern police force, which is well funded and resourced. Like every government agency, more could always be done with more. We have police officers in the bush to an extent that we have never had before, and just the other day, more signs of collaboration between the Australian government and the Territory government, a joint announcement that five new permanent police stations would be built in the bush, funded by infrastructure funding from the Commonwealth; we will pick up the recurrent with the police and the operational funding. This is a significant investment in our police force, compared to a police force we inherited, which was underfunded and understaffed.
Hospital Waiting Lists
Mr CONLAN to MINISTER for HEALTH
In your 2001 Building Healthy Hospitals policy, you promised a Labor government would reduce hospital waiting lists. You have had 2979 days to keep this promise, but the situation is only getting worse. The AMA, in their report today, have indicated that. You have accused the AMA of being liars; you have discredited them. Also, in the State of Our Public Hospitals you dispute …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! You have ruled in the past in regard to members of this parliament making assertions to organisations and people outside of this parliament. My colleague did not say - never said - the AMA were liars. I ask the member for Greatorex to withdraw that allegation, because he did not say so.
Madam SPEAKER: I have to say, I had a lot of trouble actually hearing the question. I will seek some advice on this.
Member for Greatorex, neither the Clerk nor I were able to hear what was actually said because of the level of interjections. Could you repeat the question, but bear in mind the comments the Chief Minister has made and, if necessary, I will ask you to reword.
Mr CONLAN: Thank you, Madam Speaker. In 2001, in the Building Healthy Hospitals policy, the Labor government promised they would reduce waiting lists. They have had 2979 days in office to keep that promise, but they have not kept that promise. It is very clear that hospital waiting lists are the worst in the country. We are dragging the chain in all levels of hospital waiting lists - elective and emergency surgery. That is backed up today by the AMA, which the minister has indicated that they may be lying …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr CONLAN: He clearly does not believe a bunch of professionals – the Australian Medical Association – which says that we have the worst hospital waiting lists in the country …
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Greatorex, this is not a question. Can you just ask a very simple question?
Mr CONLAN: I am getting to the question.
Madam SPEAKER: No, it is out of order.
Mr CONLAN: It is very clear, Madam Speaker, I need a preamble for the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Can you ask a very short question? Just get to the point very quickly, please, member for Greatorex.
Mr CONLAN: He also disputes The State of Our Public Hospitals Report, which was released earlier this year, which also states that the Territory is dragging the chain in hospital waiting lists - right across the board. He refuses to believe it …
Mr Henderson: And the question is?
Mr CONLAN: The question is: will the minister ever be able to keep his promise, or does the Labor government simply do or say anything to stay in government? How can we believe anything you say?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the member for Greatorex is missing his position as a radio announcer at a country radio station …
Mr CONLAN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I believe all the Labor government need a little radio training.
Madam SPEAKER: That is not a point of order.
Mr VATSKALIS: He likes the sound of his own voice, as do quite a few of them on the other side.
However, let me tell you something else; this is the AMA that comes out with a statement every year bagging the states. Other ministers in Australia claim their report is inaccurate. This is the AMA that quotes the number of beds in the Territory incorrectly. This is the AMA report that states that we closed wards when we did not close wards. This is the AMA report that says that workloads result in a backlog of 700 to 900 people waiting for colonoscopies and endoscopies, ignoring the fact that the Territory has difficulties employing specialists, and ignoring the fact that, at the time, there was a bowel cancer screening program throughout Australia.
As at 14 October 2009, there were 564 patients on the waiting list for endoscopies, 233 of them have already received a date for their procedure. We are addressing the issue of the waiting list. It is difficult. We have half the number of GPs in the Territory than anywhere in Australia. We expect people to come …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr VATSKALIS: Says the person who could not even deliver an oncology unit, and he claimed he delivered it.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr VATSKALIS: The same person who was sacked by the people of Solomon.
Waiting lists have significant numbers throughout Australia. People live longer, they undergo many operations. In the Territory, we have the added pressure of lack of specialists and significant demand by a significant number of our population which requires emergency or elective surgery. We are not going to solve the problem tomorrow. We are not going to solve the problem in a month or six months. However, we are working to resolve the issue of waiting lists. We have opened extra operation theatres and we are going to address it.
For the member for Greatorex to come in here and play political games, belonging to a party that actually got rid of 200 nurses; belonging to a party that did not invest in the Territory; belonging to a party that, if you were living out of Darwin, you did not count, especially if you were black. Now, that is disgusting.
Glen Huitson Park– Truck Parking Bay
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for INFRASTRUCTURE
Recently, in the NT News, there was a report that residents of Adelaide River were unhappy that your department intended to construct a truck parking bay on the Glen Huitson Park. Did your department talk to the local councillor or the local community of Adelaide River about this proposal? Who authorised the chopping down of about 100 trees that shaded the existing truck parking bay on the railway side of the highway, and what was the reason for chopping those trees down? If the government is now not going to spend $2m on constructing a truck parking bay at Adelaide River, would they consider using that money at the new truck stop at Emerald Springs, where I had breakfast last Saturday, as it is now becoming popular with truckies?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. The Department of Planning and Infrastructure is looking at locations for those heavy vehicle stops, the truck parking bays. Adelaide River was a location it was looking at. My advice is, they are going to continue to provide an appropriate level facility truck parking bay on the Darwin inbound side of Adelaide River.
In terms of the proposal for a truck parking bay where the memorial to Constable Huitson is, I have made it very clear to my department that it is a totally inappropriate site. I have been very clear on that. I have asked them to look at alternative truck parking bay sites in Adelaide River for the outbound Darwin traffic, the Katherine bound traffic. That, granted, will be difficult, because we know Adelaide River is on that bend and we know we have the river there as well.
That being said, it is important to the safety of all drivers. Heavy vehicle fatigue is a significant issue in the Territory as they are driving long distances. We are very pleased to be working with the Commonwealth government to bring this funding to the Territory to provide additional stops.
I did get the e-mail from Emerald Springs, and I have passed that on for consideration by the department in terms of a location of the truck parking bay. I recognise the strong arguments that they have put. No decision has been made on that yet, but I certainly have provided that information.
I am aware that trucks are currently parking in the road reserve along the park. In the interests of safety, and for tourists, we need to have an alternative site rather than that park. I am aware there is a bit of dirt there. I will certainly look into the trees, if they were removed. Part of what we have been doing is appropriate landscaping and tree scaping, and I will be asking for appropriate landscaping in that area if, indeed, there was a reason for the tree removal.
If it is on the Darwin inbound side, it would be easy, because we are going to upgrade the truck parking bay facilities on that side. If it was on the Adelaide River Hotel side, I will ask for appropriate landscaping to go back in.
Sexual Assault Referral Centres - Upgrade
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for CHILDREN and FAMILIES
Can you please inform the House of the upgrade of the Sexual Assault Referral Centres throughout the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. The Sexual Assault Referral Centres provide a 24 hour response to acute cases of sexual assault. The response can include general and forensic medical examinations, as well as counselling to children and adults. Counselling services are also provided to adult survivors of sexual abuse. I take this opportunity to acknowledge, in the gallery, Geoff Bahnert, from ASCA, the Adult Survivors of Child Abuse.
I am very pleased to advise that, as a result of the government’s investment of $1.3m, the Sexual Assault Referral Centres in Darwin, Alice Springs, and Tennant Creek are now operating out of new facilities. The SARC office in Katherine is currently being fitted out. I recently visited the new Darwin SARC office and had the pleasure of meeting with the staff there. I take the opportunity to acknowledge Dr Tracey Johns, the Medical Coordinator at the Darwin SARC; also the SARC Manager, Barbara Kelly; and the Director of Family and Individual Support Services, Fran O’Toole.
Between January and August this year, Darwin SARC alone has accepted 391 new referrals and conducted 86 medical examinations; 44 of these examinations were on children. Speaking with the staff emphasised to me that this is not just about providing a new office: it is about providing a facility which assists to deliver sensitive, confidential and professional services to adults, children and families who are coping with the impact of sexual assault.
Expansion of the counselling and medical capacity of staff is continuing. An extra counsellor has been recruited in Tennant Creek. In Alice Springs, the recruitment process is under way for a medical coordinator and a counsellor. Australian government funding has been confirmed for the expansion of a mobile outreach service beyond therapeutic services related to sexual assault. The MOS will provide therapeutic services to children in remote areas suffering trauma related to all forms of abuse and neglect. In addition, the Australian government has committed funding for a further three years for the provision of a mobile forensic service, so that children in remote communities do not need to travel to Alice Springs or Darwin for a forensic medical examination.
Members Hear, hear!
Royal Darwin Hospital – Elective Surgery
Mr CONLAN to MINISTER for HEALTH
Today’s AMA report coverage - you clearly discredit, you do not think the AMA are a bunch of professionals who can compile a decent accurate report. Even your own department of Health and ageing, you do not seem to believe that. The Commonwealth department …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Member for Greatorex, you have the call, but could you please make the question rather shorter, and if you could direct the question through the Chair, please? Direct the question through the Chair, it may be a bit shorter that way.
Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, the report identifies waiting times for elective surgery have reached crisis point in the Northern Territory. The minister disputes this, I know. He discredits the AMA and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing in The State of Our Public Hospitals Report. In his own media release on 17 June, headed, ‘Elective surgery blitz benefits Territorians’, $5.3m of that was from the Commonwealth to try to address the bottleneck created under Labor, and you made no mention of that in your media release. The AMA has come clean and they have enlightened Territorians on the state of …
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I think it is Standing Order 114, I stand to be corrected, but a question, once fully asked and fully answered, cannot be repeated. The member for Greatorex has asked this question at least three times …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, Madam Speaker. It is a little bit incongruous of government members to, on one hand say, ask the question, and then the Chief Minister to say he has asked this question before. It is just ridiculous. They are just trying to avoid this issue. That is what this is really about.
Madam SPEAKER: Resume your seat member for Port Darwin.
Before I call you again, member for Greatorex, I remind you of the general rules in relation to questions. Standing Order 112. General Rules:
The following rules shall apply to questions –
(1) Questions cannot be debated.
(2) Questions should not contain –
- (a) statements of facts or names of persons unless they are strictly necessary to render the question intelligible and can be authenticated;
(b) arguments;
(c) inferences;
(d) imputations;
(e) epithets;
(f) ironical expressions; or
(g) hypothetical matter.
- (3) Questions should not ask Ministers –
- (b) to announce new policy of the government, but may seek an explanation regarding the policy of the government and its application; or
(c) for a legal opinion.
- (4) Questions should not refer to proceedings in committee not reported to the Assembly.
Member for Greatorex, I would have to say that a significant number of those items are in that question. It has always been my position that I allow a lot of latitude, but we are getting to a bit of a silly situation here. If you could make the question shorter, then the minister can have a chance of answering it.
Mr CONLAN: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am sure my question will conform with standing orders. In the public hospital report card by the Australian Medical Association, they have had the guts to tell Territorians the truth about the state of their hospitals, as has the federal Labor government Department of Health and Ageing told Territorians the truth of the state of their hospitals.
Minister, when will you have the guts and the gumption to tell Territorians the truth about the state of their hospitals?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the member for Greatorex actually lives on another planet. If he was living on this planet and was reading the newspapers from this city, he would have found out about our waiting list levels. It was published a couple of days ago, 1800 people on the waiting list, but he chooses selectively what he is going to report.
He asked what the Labor Party has done since 2001. I will tell you. We have put on an extra 627 nurses and 175 more doctors, and this year we will have 95 extra nurses and 17 doctors.
Mr Giles: And we still have the worst hospitals.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr VATSKALIS: We will be addressing this but the AMA report recognises that it is a report that is not always referring to facts, because in occupancy rates, it says ‘it is very difficult to obtain any accurate statistics, so we rely on information provided by the doctors’, subjective information.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr VATSKALIS: The Territory is geographically isolated, with the nearest bypass hospital possibly 3000 km away, so every person who presents at the hospital must be admitted to that hospital. The AMA did not recognise that we have the highest admittance rate in our emergency hospital. These people who come to the emergency departments, most of them have to be operated on. Every single person we have to operate on urgently puts extra pressure on waiting lists, because people who are not in an urgent situation have to wait.
I am not saying the AMA is lying, but certainly this report is not based on facts, and it is clear when you look at the information it contains, it is not accurate. I told you before, not only have we not closed wards, we have opened wards. The member for Greatorex should know that we even opened a 12-bed short stay unit in Alice Springs Hospital in 2009. We also reopened Ward 3B to have extra beds, and the RAPU in Darwin with 24 extra beds. We have not closed wards, as the AMA report erroneously states; we have opened them up.
How can I take a report seriously that is not relying on facts and figures, a report that does not even get the facts right with regard to our beds, a report that says we closed a ward in Gove when we have not, and a report that does not recognise the challenges of the Territory.
My question is: in the past year, I have argued with the federal minister for Health to change the situation and the registration of doctors in rural and remote, and I have succeeded. Where has the AMA been all these years to encourage doctors to get out of Melbourne and Sydney and Perth to go to rural and remote areas? Nowhere to be seen. Many people refer to the AMA as the doctors union …
Mr Mills: That is rubbish.
Mr VATSKALIS: Unfortunately, it looks like that is what is - a doctors union.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016