2009-10-21
Power and Water Corporation –
Gas from Blacktip
Gas from Blacktip
Mr ELFERINK to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES
Delays in the delivery of gas from the Blacktip field by ENI have resulted in substantial increases in the cost of fuel used by Power and Water. Is the Blacktip gas field currently in full production and supplying Power and Water with its contracted gas supplies?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we have been receiving gas from Blacktip since September. It will not impact on tariff prices. That is something which has been rumoured and scaremongered on the other side. Gas is flowing from Blacktip, and has been flowing since September.
Protection of Native Plants and Animals
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for PARKS and WILDLIFE
Our unique wildlife is what sets the Territory apart. How is the Henderson government helping to protect our plants and animals?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his very important question on our environment. At the last election, this government put forward a very bold vision and plan for the 21st century conservation of the Northern Territory. Territory Eco-link is a 2000 km conservation corridor which will protect our unique animals and plants.
I put on the record of this House my acknowledgement and respect to the many pastoralists, and to the many Indigenous rangers who are out there every day on country systematically managing vast tracts of the Territory. These efforts should be recognised and we need to grasp new opportunities. Territory Eco-link is about forging new conservation partnerships with these landholders.
Today, I announce an important first milestone in the Territory’s Eco-link. It is the Fish River Gorge Block, which will be managed under a new conservation formal agreement under the Parks legislation. This is a new, major conservation area. It is about four-fifths the size of Litchfield Park. It contains many species found only in the Northern Territory, and it will help connect Litchfield to the Gregory National Park.
Since announcing the Territory’s Eco-link initiative, new Indigenous protected areas have also been declared within the corridor in the region of West Arnhem. The government has also secured $600 000 from the federal government, and this is, no doubt, a project of national and global significance.
I finish with a quote that perhaps the member for Fong Lim would be interested in. It is a quote I came across during a recent visit to the Pigeon Hole School in my electorate:
- We do not inherit the land from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.
Power and Water Corporation –
Gas from Blacktip
Gas from Blacktip
Mr ELFERINK to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES
Is ENI providing the full amount contracted for of gas to Power and Water?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, as I have said, gas has been flowing from Blacktip since September. As members would be aware, we have an interconnect with Darwin LNG. That is as a back up …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It requires a yes or no answer. Is the full amount contracted for being supplied?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, resume your seat. As you are aware, you cannot ask a yes or no question to a minister. Minister, please come to the point soon.
Mr KNIGHT: I have found the member for Port Darwin’s behaviour in this House very weird ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr KNIGHT: It is very strange behaviour. As I said, gas has been flowing from Blacktip since September, and we have a contract for 25 years. We are using green fuel now, something we have been chasing for a while. Again, we have had gas flowing since September.
Power and Water Corporation –
Usage Reduction Strategies
Usage Reduction Strategies
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES
Can you outline the progress of strategies to help Power and Water customers reduce their usage of power and water?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her sensible question. This government wants to help Territorians become more green in their use of energy sources, and we want to make those sources more sustainable.
Power and Water recently developed a Virtual Energy Audit, which I have talked about it in the House, and also a water saving strategy to help customers reduce their environmental footprint. I know customers do want to move into that area. That also enables them to reduce their power and water bills. The objective of the audit is to show Territorians how to do it. Through a simple online process, they can look at their electricity or water usage, and there are some simple ways they can reduce that.
The Virtual Energy Audit was launched in May this year. Since the introduction, there have been some 6800 hits on the website. This is great news; and there was certainly great work done through the show circuit. The website includes a wealth of information about reducing energy and water usage. Territorians do use a lot of water up here - more than twice the national average - so it is a significant amount of money they use out of their own budget. Much of that water goes on the gardens, and there are ways to reduce that. We need to change the way we use water here, and that helps us reduce the water and power bills. Territorians use 55 buckets of water per day, per head - we want to reduce that. In Alice Springs, they are using 70 buckets per day. The campaign has been launched.
There are also other initiatives the Minister for Business has running. The ecoBiz, which has been running on television - great news for business - and, in partnership with the minister for Natural Resources, The COOLmob energy and water audits are certainly providing green alternatives and there are publications available for those. Power and Water is doing its bit to stay green.
Power and Water Corporation – Fuel Usage
Mr ELFERINK to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES
How much did Power and Water spend on all fuel sources in 2008-09? Within that overall figure, how much did Power and Water spend on diesel in 2008-09?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I will be able to get those figures for the member. Over that period of time we used diesel, which was an unfortunate process. We entered into a gas sales agreement with one of the largest companies in the world. ENI has a …
Mr Elferink: Are they supplying the contracted amount?
Mr KNIGHT: Well, listen to me. … market capitalisation of $US138bn; that was 12 months ago. This is an extremely credible company that we entered into a gas sales agreement with to supply gas from 1 January this year. Obviously, that date was not reached. There were some contingencies within the gas sales agreement for compensation to be paid to the Northern Territory, and that is being sought. Some money has been recovered as of 30 June, which has been reported in the annual financial statement. More has been recovered since then, and we are pursuing more of the liquidated damages.
Pinelands – Sewerage Infrastructure
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for HEALTH
After seven industrial sheds were built in Deviney Road, Pinelands recently, the builder found out there was no sewerage infrastructure. A normal septic system was not possible because of the lack of available land and the soil type. If one could have been installed, it would mean a 3000 litre septic tank and 30 m of absorption drain for each unit. The alternative was either to install holding tanks, or install an aerobic waste treatment plant.
Why did your department approve only one standard septic tank and 18 m of drain for all seven units? Was this approval given against the advice of both the department’s own Environmental Health Officer and the Building Advisory Services? Was there pressure applied to anyone with a connection to this development so as to obtain an exemption from the normal requirements? Was the Environmental Health Officer sacked because of his objections to this exemption?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Gee, that brings back memories, I used to do things like that …
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, please pause, minister. Someone has a mobile phone on. I am hoping it is not the media people. If you could please turn it off, or if you are in the galleries and you have a mobile phone, can you please turn it off as it affects the Hansard recording.
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Speaker, the Department of Health and Families does not approve standard septic tanks for installation within building areas. These kinds of installations are approved by a certified plumber and take the final tick from the Department of Planning and Infrastructure’s Building Advisory Services. If there are some issues, the Building Advisory Services will do an assessment and will seek approval from the Environmental Health section.
The Chief Health Officer or her delegate approves septic tanks. An approved variation to conditions of installation in this particular case was requested by the Building Advisory Services from Environmental Health Services. The officer who inspected it sought advice from a senior officer from the department. The senior officer inspected the facility and approved the facility, as you stated. Of course, following the approval by the Senior Environmental Health Officer, Building Advisory Services issued the final approval.
I advise that no Environmental Health officer was sacked over this issue. My advice is, the process was followed, and final approval was provided by Building Advisory Services on the advice of the senior officer at the time.
Power and Water Corporation – Cost of Alternative Energy Sources
Mr ELFERINK to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES referred to TREASURER
On page 57 of the Annual Report, the Director and Chairman report:
- Delays in gas delivery required the Corporation to use higher cost alternative energy sources, including distillate, which has a detrimental impact on the cash flow to the extent that higher costs are not covered by damages received from ENI.
What is the extent of damages that will not flow from ENI in relation to money spent on distillate?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I will partially answer this question. The report was provided to the shareholding minister. My advice, as I said before, is that there are liquidated damages within the gas sales agreement, they are commercial-in-confidence …
Mr Elferink: Ah!
Mr KNIGHT: Well, it is not a new thing, member for Port Darwin.
Mr Elferink: Well, it is when taxpayers are paying the bill.
Mr KNIGHT: Some money has been recovered as of 30 June. As of today, over $13m has been recovered. We are still progressing recovering the rest of that money. We are pursuing our contractual arrangements, and I will pass to the responsible minister for Power and Water as well.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question.
Mr Bohlin: Is this the second Power and Water minister?
Ms LAWRIE: If he understood the structures - I am the shareholding minister for Power and Water - operational issues, of course, are appropriately dealt by the Minister for Essential Services, but when you go to the financials in Power and Water, by all means, ask me those questions. I am happy to provide a response because, as shareholding minister, I have that responsibility. That is clearly the distinction, and I am hoping to lay that distinction out to you.
In terms of Power and Water, there has been a lot of scaremongering, and reckless scaremongering, by the member for Port Darwin in terms of the delays in ENI …
Members interjecting..
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: … and what that does to the financials of the Power and Water Corporation. In terms of the financial report, page 55 of that Annual Report shows that the energy costs for Power and Water for the 2008-09 year was $60m higher than the previous year, and that the distillate cost accounted for $53m of that.
Appropriately so, there are penalties in the contract between Power and Water and ENI, and Power and Water, appropriately, is pursuing the liquidated damages in terms of the delay in the production coming from the ENI Blacktip project. That being said, ENI has incurred delays. At the time they were getting plant and sourcing plant equipment, there was a big call on that sort of equipment worldwide, and those delays were there. That being said, ENI has been working well with Power and Water to meet contractual obligations. They reasonably recognised, fairly early in the process, and I thanked them when I met with them for this, their contractual obligations in terms of liquidated damages.
As the minister quite appropriately said, already around $30m has been recovered from ENI by Power and Water, and they are continuing to pursue liquidated damages. There is an amount within the agreement - I am not going to go into matters that are commercial-in-confidence at this stage, nor am I going to go into matters which would obviously affect the legal positioning of the company and the Power and Water Corporation. That would be reckless.
I can categorically say, to put a kybosh on the ridiculous and reckless scaremongering of the member for Port Darwin, that as the shareholding minister, I requested an industry expert, Andrew Reeves, to undertake an analysis of the financial sustainability of Power and Water. This does go to the question, absolutely. That comprehensive …
A member: Coming from a long way out.
Ms LAWRIE: It might be a long answer, but it is a detailed, informative answer, and you could learn a little bit out of it.
As I said, the Reeves review was a comprehensive review of the financial sustainability of Power and Water. They looked at a range of factors, including replacing ageing assets, building redundancy into the supply, meeting the growing demand, delivering on higher environmental standards, revenues, and it also considered, at that time, the Blacktip gas delays. All those financial issues were actually a part of the Reeves review. The review focused on achieving financial sustainability for the Power and Water Corporation so it can deliver reliable services and meet growing demand across the Territory.
As members of this House will recall, the Reeves review recommended significant tariff increases to get Power and Water on to that financial sustainability path. As members will also recall, the government accepted the report, accepted the recommendations, but did not implement the full extent of the tariff increases.
Madam Speaker, they are simply scaremongering. The issue was captured in terms of financial sustainability by the Reeves review and it is being implemented.
Public Transport – Initiatives for Improvement
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for TRANSPORT
Can you update the House on what actions the Henderson government is taking to improve our public transport system for helping Territory families and, just as importantly, how is this helping the environment?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question and her interest in what the Henderson government is doing to improve public transport for all Territory families.
Last year, our buses travelled over five million kilometres, they made 200 000 trips, and they moved around four-and-a–half million Territorians to where they wanted to go. Buses make it easier and safer for people to move around; they provide an alternative travel mode; and they reduce adverse environmental conditions. We can go right across the board to, not only traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, but parking issues at the end of the journey.
The Henderson government was the first government in Australia to give free travel to all seniors, carers, pensioners, and students.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr McCARTHY: I am proud to report to the House that there has been a very big uptake in the use of this fabulous government initiative for all Territorians who receive that benefit and, once again, reducing greenhouse emissions, and solving many issues in terms of this rapid growth, in the beautiful city of Darwin, the city of Alice Springs, and right throughout.
In April this year, we introduced new bus services to Cullen Bay, Bayview, Tipperary Waters, the Convention Centre, and a good link, if I could outline to the House, is with the Mandorah Ferry. Not only are we looking after the commuters, member for Daly, we are also looking after the tourists. Once again, I have been advised there has been a very good uptake in that service. I have used that service myself, and the Mandorah area and the Cox Peninsula are fascinating.
Members interjecting.
Mr McCARTHY: The COOLmob applauded the Henderson government’s initiative to introduce public transport to the Mindil Beach Markets and, once again, that is a very reputable environmental organisation that gave us a big pat on the back, one I was very proud to take.
The park and ride facilities in the rural area will also be established in the financial year, and rural buses are expected to provide for that ever increasing population in the rural area. This will deliver on an election commitment, member for Nelson, and you will hold me to that.
In 2010, rural bus services will be coordinated into a new orbital bus service, which will coordinate Palmerston, Casuarina and the city exchange – a new greener system for public transport in this great city.
The Henderson government is about taking action to help the environment by providing free public transport to the Territory’s many major events. I have a list here, and if I may read this, because I have participated in a few of these. The events the Henderson government has applied the public transport model to, with more than 70 000 people enjoying the services, include: Starlight Special; World Super 7s; AFL and Rugby games; Victorian Bushfire Concert; Seniors Easter lunch; Powercruise; Anzac Day; Arafura Games; Freds Pass Show; Bombing of Darwin; Breathe Easy; BassintheGrass; V8 Supercars; Royal Darwin Show; Palmerston Sprint Day; Darwin Cup Carnival; Darwin Rodeo; and the Retta Dixon Reunion. That is to name a few …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr McCARTHY: … and well done to the Darwin Bus Service.
This Henderson government will give even better public transport options to Territory families next year when we start to roll out the Integrated Regional Transport Strategy, putting a whole-of-Territory feel on public transport options to deliver better services to impact on delivering better education, health and social outcomes for all Territorians.
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Can I ask you to ask the minister to table the document he was reading from?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, is it a public document that you were reading from, or is it notes or confidential?
Mr McCARTHY: No, Madam Speaker. May I say once again, this is detailed work in progress …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Minister, is it a document you are willing to table? Is it a public document, or is it personal notes?
Mr McCARTHY: My private notes, Madam Speaker.
Power and Water Corporation - Recovery of Outstanding Money from ENI
Mr ELFERINK to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES referred to TREASURER
In response to your last answers in relation to Blacktip and ENI, I ask you: how much are you seeking to recover? Will you rule out ending up in court over the issue, and when do you expect to recover the outstanding money?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the question was directed to me, but it is the responsibility of the shareholding minister …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Minister for Essential Services, resume your seat. I call the Treasurer.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, as shareholding minister, it is appropriate that I should be answering this question.
As I have explained, Power and Water is pursuing the full extent of the liquidated damages as exist in the contract between Power and Water and ENI - appropriately so. As I said in my previous response, ENI has acknowledged the payment of liquidated damages. If you want to look for evidence, they are already paying liquidated damages, and they are being recovered by Power and Water to an extent of around $13m to date.
As I said, to make it clear, Power and Water is pursuing the full extent of the liquidated damages. Very clearly, I also said I will not divulge commercial-in-confidence information nor say anything in this Chamber, or publicly, that will in any way provide legal difficulties for either Power and Water or ENI as they are stepping through this. We will not jeopardise the recovery of damages by having a political football and a political stoush with the opposition.
What we have achieved - and this should be recognised - is 25 years of gas supply to the Territory, being produced from a plant at Wadeye, which has developed regional economic opportunities for the people of Wadeye. We have had a major project undertaken there by ENI. We have had a major project undertaken and completed with the Bonaparte gas pipeline. We have had gas flowing and providing all of our Power and Water gas needs since September. We have gas supply guaranteed for 25 years. Two major projects, the ENI Blacktip gas plant, the Bonaparte gas pipeline, and 25 years of gas supply.
As I said in my previous response, all the gas Power and Water requires from ENI is flowing now. If they require more, ENI will supply more. There is more than enough gas for our needs.
Madam Speaker, the scaremongering the member for Port Darwin is pursuing is reckless. If they did not understand my previous answer, it clearly identified that the Reeves review captured all of the financial sustainability of Power and Water. One detail within that was the ENI Blacktip gas delay. It was no fault of Power and Water, or this government, and recognition of liquidated damages being paid is a recognition of the delays. I explained the plant delays ENI experienced in terms of a broader issue. So, if they do not understand that, they simply do not want to understand.
Shooter’s Permits for Rural Properties
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
Recently, a farmer was refused a shooter’s licence because his rural block of 1600 acres was regarded as not big enough. The regulations say permission for a shooter’s licence is only allowed on rural land of a suitable size, but the police information sheet has interpreted rural land as being large pastoral properties away from major population centres and towns. Surely someone who owns a 1600 acre farm near Lake Bennett should be able to obtain a shooter’s licence for use on his own property? Has the interpretation of the regulations changed in recent times? Is this part of a policy by police to make it harder for farmers to obtain a shooter’s permit?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. Without knowing the specific details of this case, it is hard to give a specific answer. The fact is, our firearms laws are strong; they aim to protect the lives and the safety of the community - including shooters and non-shooters. Licences are granted by the Commissioner of Police under the Firearms Act and its associated regulations.
There are a number of different categories of licences, and there are a number of different reasons where the police can authorise a licence, or not. I am advised, member for Nelson, that each and every application is taken on its merits. There is no specific template that police put over applications for a licence. Of course, those applications, and either the authorisation or non-authorisation of the licence, are independent of the minister.
It is difficult to answer a question as to why a person had been refused, or had been granted, a licence without knowing the specific details of the application. I have been advised by police in the past that given the variables involved, it is not possible to arbitrarily approve a specific size of land as being large enough for safe shooting or hunting. Rather, each set of circumstances needs to be examined and determined on a case-by-case basis. Foremost in the decision is: will a shooter be safe and will other members of the public, such as neighbouring residents, be safe if the licence was granted?
I am more than happy to arrange a briefing by police on the administration of the legislation for the member for Nelson. I am not sure whether they can go into the specific details of this case for privacy reasons, but I am more than happy to arrange a briefing from police on the procedures they use to assess applications.
Climate Change –
Threats to Northern Territory
Threats to Northern Territory
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you please inform the House of any threats the Territory may face from climate change?
Members interjecting.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is interesting that the member for Fong Lim chuckles in the back row.
Climate change is a global challenge, and one that everyone on the planet needs to take seriously.
My government, and the Australian government, are working through a range of policy responses to the threats that climate change poses to Australia and the Northern Territory. It is a very detailed piece of work. I acknowledge it has taken a long time, but the response to climate change, when issued by government, will be detailed. It is a policy response which has been widely consulted with the community, both industry and also the conservation side. We are pretty close to releasing the final policy position, but there is a lot of detailed work happening.
There is a major threat to climate change, and that is one of denial. That is one of sticking your head in the sand and saying that it does not exist and have a do nothing policy approach. To address the issues of climate change requires leadership. It requires leadership from people in positions of authority: governments, business, individuals – it requires leadership and people to change their behaviour in acknowledgment that we all have a role to play.
Where does the opposition sit on this? Well, you have, in the Senate at the moment, the CLP Senator Nigel Scullion lined up with the climate change deniers in the National Party. The CLP has lined up with climate change deniers, and Nigel Scullion is leading the charge with Warren Truss in Canberra. They said, even in total opposition to their support base, the National Farmers Federation: ‘We are going to vote down the ETS’, and are climate change deniers.
Of course, you then have the member for Fong Lim who tabled this dissenting report in the federal parliament - an amazing report, authored by Mr David Tollner and three other people, who do not believe the evidence unequivocally supports the hypothesis of anthropogenic global warming. It goes on to say, in this wonderful academic piece that was tabled in the federal parliament that:
- ‘… it is anthropogenic greenhouse gases that have caused warming is that warming has also been observed on Mars, Jupiter, Triton, Pluto, Neptune and others’.
So it is happening on Triton and Neptune, therefore we do not have to worry about it here in Australia.
Madam Speaker, do you believe the member for Fong Lim and the Senator; or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body of the most revered scientists from around the world, who reported just last year to the United Nations; Lord Nicholas Stern, who reported to Tony Blair and the British government, a seminal a piece of work; or do you listen to the member for Fong Lim and his denial and assertion that …
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I do not mind the Chief Minister quoting from dissenting reports and the like, but at least he can put things into context.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. The Chief Minister has the call.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, there is a dissenting report and total denial that climate change exists. In debate in the House last night, you had the member for Katherine, another climate change denier and the member for Sanderson, another climate change denier, all arguing against government policy responses to climate change.
We have a number of the opposition who are absolutely climate change deniers, but we had silence from the Leader of the Opposition. Not one word from the Leader of the Opposition about it. What is his position on climate change, Madam Speaker …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Honourable members.
Mr HENDERSON: … the member for Fong Lim. You either agree with the member for Fong Lim, Leader of the Opposition, or you are not showing any leadership and you cannot reconcile a position. You are trying to duck the issue by not commenting on it.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: The Leader of the Opposition has his much lauded 32 dot point policy up on the Internet at the moment. Thirty two dot points - not one dot point on the environment, not one. Nothing on the environment in his 32 dot points. That leads me to believe that the CLP and the Leader of the Opposition are climate change deniers, because he has said nothing on this particular issue. There is no policy response currently available in his 32 dot points when you click on those dot points; there is nothing underneath them. There is not even a dot point on the environment.
The challenge for the Leader of the Opposition is to lead, is to determine what is position on climate change, and to tell Territorians.
Power and Water Corporation – Cost of Diesel and Recovery of Costs from ENI
Mr ELFERINK to TREASURER
My question is now to the shareholding minister of the Power and Water Corporation, as the Essential Services minister has given up. Last year, $53m-worth of Power and Water clients’ money was spent on distillate. Can you inform me how much was spent this year, the current financial year, on burning diesel in our power stations, and what is the dollar amount you are seeking to recover from ENI?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Port Darwin for his question. As I have said in previous answers, Power and Water is very clearly pursuing liquidated damages in terms of the costs attributed to the delay in the ENI Blacktip gas plant. This is a complex legal matter. I will not jeopardise the outcome of the pursuit of liquidated damages by playing reckless political football in this Chamber.
I can state, categorically, because the member for Port Darwin refuses to understand it, but for Territorians listening, that it will not impact on power prices.
An Energy Smart Territory
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
How is the Henderson government helping Territorians to be energy smart?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. It is great to see some young Territorians in the House today for Question Time, and particularly listening to the great initiatives of the Henderson government when it comes to climate change and the environment.
I am sure they would be interested to know that, through the Energy Smart Rebate NT scheme, the Henderson government is showing real leadership and is giving all Territorians a chance to do their bit by using less power, by saving money, and by helping to respond to climate change.
Territorians can get up to 50% off the purchase price of energy smart appliances up to the value of $200. What appliances are eligible for the rebate? I can inform the House that appliances such as energy efficient light bulbs, timers, fridge seals and power meters are all available under this rebate scheme. Rebates are being taken up. Over the coming months, I will be telling Territorians more about this scheme. It is practical, inexpensive, and it is a way we can all do our bit for the environment.
Gunn Point Beach –
Permanent Ranger Presence
Permanent Ranger Presence
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for PLANNING and LANDS
Some time ago, there was a letter to the editor if the NT News highlighting concerns about the Gunn Point beach area, which is a popular spot for campers and day visitors. Unfortunately, there seems to be little or no controls in place over the use of the beach, and no permanent presence by the owners of the land, which is Parks and Wildlife and the Land Development Corporation. I asked this at estimates this year: will your government, in conjunction with the Land Development Corporation and Parks and Wildlife, place a permanent ranger presence in the area and enforce some short-term controls over the area before it is ruined?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. As Lands minister, I had to seek advice from the Environment minister, as it crosses over into Parks and Wildlife. I am happy, on behalf of the collective agency advice, to provide that advice to you, member for Nelson.
The advice I have received is that there is a mix of land tenures at Tree Point. Some of it is managed by Parks and some of it is Northern Territory Land Development Corporation land. I am advised that the patrols by Parks and Wildlife rangers at Tree Point Conservation Reserve have been increased. Rangers are trying to educate the beach users. Fences and barriers have been improved to prevent damage to the dunes.
At low tide, it is a very wide beach, so signage can be difficult to see and access restrictions are more difficult to manage, and, of course, vehicles do not always stop when requested.
Member for Nelson, I am advised that patrols by those Parks and Wildlife rangers at Tree Point Conservation Reserve have been increased. They are trying to educate the beach users, and fences and barriers have been improved to prevent damage to the dunes. I am sure further discussions between yourself and the Environment minister will be welcomed.
Power and Water Corporation - Gas Supply - Margin and Cost Underestimation
Mr ELFERINK to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES
The 2008-09 Annual Report of the Utilities Commission says, on page 22:
- The Commission estimated that projected gas requirements would marginally exceed the contract quantities available under the Blacktip agreement, under both the high and low growth scenarios.
How large is that margin of underestimation of gas supply and, more obviously, can you tell us how much the extra gas you now have to buy is going to cost?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr KNIGHT: I mean the real Leader of the Opposition. The contract with ENI is for a period of 25 years. Power and Water’s entitlement under that contract is for an amount of up to 860 petajoules. Simple maths – and I know you have trouble with calculators, member for Port Darwin – would conclude that the average Power and Water annual entitlement is 34.4 petajoules. Power and Water’s current use is about 22 petajoules per annum. Now, if you …
Mr Elferink: So the commissioner is wrong?
Mr KNIGHT: No, listen to me, you want the answer. With just normal growth, we are actually well within our demand and our access to that gas hub. We have substantial amounts of gas to be used. I do not why you keep knocking this gas line. It has been a great success for the Territory, and we have plenty of gas for Territorians.
ecoBiz NT Program - Progress
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for BUSINESS
ecoBiz NT is a government initiative that supports business. Would you update the Assembly on the ecoBiz NT program?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. Over the last two weeks in these sittings of parliament, I have outlined to the House the range of programs this government offers to business in the Territory. The uptake of those programs is fantastic, and I know business deeply appreciates it.
ecoBiz NT is all about eco-efficiency. It is all about providing improved goods and services, while decreasing resource use, waste and pollution. Not only is that good for the environment, but it can be good for the bottom line of companies.
It is a very important program. It is principally for small and medium enterprises in the Northern Territory. Those small and medium enterprises can apply for a grant and part of that grant is a site survey undertaken by experts to give advice about how they might run their business in a more ecologically-efficient manner.
Essentially, it involves the retrofit of existing infrastructure. The main criteria of the program are as follows: that the proponent is a Territory-based small to medium enterprise; that the upgrades are to existing infrastructure; that a minimum of 20% reduction in energy, water and/or waste is achieved through this retrofit; and upgrades mean a payback of three to five years in terms of savings and implementation costs. These grants are offered up to a maximum of $20 000, on a dollar-for-dollar basis with businesses which participate. In the 2008-09 financial year, $314 000 was offered in rebates to participating businesses.
I have illustrated, particularly over the last couple of weeks of these sittings, there is a range of programs offered, particularly by the Department of Business, to support businesses in the running of their business, in developing and expanding their business, in businesses entering the export market and now, today, I am outlining the success of another program, which is ecoBiz.
Power and Water Corporation – Fall in Profits
Mr ELFERINK to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES referred to TREASURER
Did the failure of ENI to deliver the contracted gas supply from 1 January 2009 contribute to the $47.3m plunge in Power and Water Corporation’s profits? If so, by how much?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this is in relation to …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr KNIGHT: The annual report is provided to the shareholding minister, in accordance with the Government Owned Corporations Act, under section 44 …
Mr Elferink: Why are you the Essential Services Minister?
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The opposition seems to be deliberately ignoring the fact of portfolio responsibilities within Power and Water. The Treasurer has made it very plain that she is shareholding minister, yet the opposition persists in putting questions to the operational side of the business as if they were financial questions. The opposition really needs to wake up and direct their questions to the relevant minister …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Minister, are you saying you do not have responsibility for that aspect of the portfolio? Is that correct?
Mr KNIGHT: Madam Speaker, clearly …
Madam SPEAKER: I call the Treasurer to answer the question.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, we welcome these questions. The Power and Water Corporation has been managing well through a tough scenario where they were expected to get gas from ENI on 1 January. They had a contract for that gas supply from 1 January - okay? Through no fault of Power and Water - and I put on the record my thanks to the hard-working team at Power and Water, whom I know have worked very hard to manage through what has been a difficult time. We had declining gas supplies from Central Australia, we had a delay in the Blacktip gas flowing from 1 January …
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! These are all operational matters the Treasurer is referring to. Surely the minister should be able to answer these questions as well?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Member for Fong Lim, there is no point of order. The Treasurer has the responsibility for this portfolio.
Mr Tollner: Not for operational matters.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: I know that the management team at the Power and Water Corporation has been working very hard, and that the board oversighting the Power and Water Corporation has also been paying very close attention to that. Equally, I know that Treasury has been very focused and are scrutinising the cost pressures in the Power and Water Corporation as a result of the delay from Blacktip. That is through the need to burn diesel because we had diminishing supplies of gas from Central Australia.
At no stage has this government denied that. We have been out the door and regularly talked on this issue. It was the subject of the Reeves review. We took people through that; we provided extensive briefings to the opposition …
Mr Elferink: No, you provided us with the summary.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: You turned up, you asked plenty of questions …
Mr Elferink: Yes, when you gave us a summary. I turned up expecting a briefing; all I got was a snow job.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: At no stage has this government said that there has not been a cost impost on the Power and Water Corporation as a result of the delays in the Blacktip gas supply. In fact, laid out in the annual report, it shows that energy costs are $60m higher than the previous year - that is partly energy increased use - and that distillate costs accounted for $53m of that increase. It is laid out in the annual report. We have also talked about it publicly. We have shown the opposition the executive summary of the Reeves report. It talks about financial sustainability going forward …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Ms LAWRIE: What I have said, very clearly, is that there is a provision within the contract to reclaim those costs. The Power and Water Corporation has already started to recover costs - about $13m-worth to date. Further, liquidated damages are being pursued, with costs attributed to the delay to be recovered from ENI …
Mr Mills: What are you hiding?
Ms LAWRIE: I find that interjection obnoxious.
Mr Mills: Is that right? Well, show us the report then.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Honourable members! Minister, please direct your comments through the Chair.
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, we had an independent expert go through, with a fine tooth comb, the books of Power and Water Corporation to report to government on the financial sustainability of the Power and Water Corporation. That was the most significant body of work the government has done to ensure the financial sustainability of the Power and Water Corporation.
It is not an easy task to do, because we saw the resultant recommendations in terms of tariff increases, and no government wanted to be in that picture. Can I say, …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale!
Ms LAWRIE: … that review showed decades of neglect.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Fong Lim! Member for Drysdale! Cease interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: I am happy to again send them the executive summary. I am happy to give them yet another briefing on the Reeves review. Very clearly, at the briefing, it was explained to them, there are commercial-in-confidence aspects within the body of the report. As I have said, this government recognises its responsibility in terms of commercial-in-confidence. We will not breach that. We will provide all information; we have done that. We have done the Reeves review, they have gone through, with a fine tooth comb, the financials of the Power and Water Corporation. We have the annual report that has been tabled in parliament in terms of Power and Water Corporation’s finances for the 2008-09 financial year. We are not hiding anything.
In stark contrast, the opposition is simply scaremongering. I have made it absolutely clear that government is pursuing costs, the Power and Water Corporation is pursuing those costs, and that it will not impact on power prices. Stop scaremongering.
Cycle Path Program
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for INFRASTRUCTURE
Following the recent Ride to Work day, can you please update the House on the cycle path program, and how it is contributing to the greening of the Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this year, the government is spending more than $2m to improve cycle paths. We understand how important this is in terms of our greening the Territory strategy.
Mr Giles: Did you ride to work?
Ms LAWRIE: Encouraging more cycling - I pick up on the interjection. No, I do not ride to work. I am a single mother of three children. What I do is, I get my children to school first, okay? So there you go. I cannot fit the three kids on a bicycle. Is that all right? Are you happy with that?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: I am not sure that the teenagers would want to be on the bike with a four-year-old; I am not sure about that. He has his own bike; it still has the training wheels.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, Order! Honourable members, order!
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, we want to encourage more cycling. We believe, not only is it good in terms of recreational pursuits, clearly …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson! Member for Drysdale!
Ms LAWRIE: They are a rabble. Clearly, cycling is also good for a person’s health. Delivering new paths and upgrading existing paths across the arterial network is what we have been focused on doing. The new cycle path at Berrimah Road, which is a link to the Stuart Highway, is now complete. The new cycle path under the Daly Street Bridge, linking Mirambeena Street to Harvey Street, providing safer access into the city for our cyclists, is now complete. The new cycle path along Frances Bay Drive, linking Dinah Beach Road to Bennett Street, is under way; it is going gangbusters out there. The new cycle path along McMinn Street to the Waterfront is under way; that is part of our road duplication project. The new cycle path along Roystonea Avenue from University Avenue to Buscall Avenue at Palmerston will go out to tender tomorrow.
Design is under way for a new cycle path from Palmerston to the Howard Springs Nature Reserve, and there is also $200 000 for minor repairs to existing paths, like the recent repairs to the McMillans Road shared pedestrian and cycle path.
The recent Ride to Work day, which I did not participate in, highlights the benefits of cycling to our environment. This government is absolutely committed to continuing to improve our cycle path network. We are developing a five-year cycle path plan. We are doing that in conjunction with Local Government as well, and we are consulting with both the public and cycling groups in terms of that strategic five-year cycle path plan. I expect the recommendations from that plan to be available to me early next year.
Power and Water Corporation - Annual Report
Mr ELFERINK to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES
On ABC radio in July, you said: ‘The contract was fairly solid from our behalf and there are some measures in there to protect us financially’.
Your answers today, and the candid Director’s statement in the Power and Water Corporation’s Annual Report, have demonstrated very clearly that you have misled the parliament …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: A point or order, Madam Speaker! The member for Port Darwin knows full well he can only do that by way of substantive motion.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
Move Proposed Motion of Censure
Move Proposed Motion of Censure
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I move to suspend so much of standing orders …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Can we just hear it first, minister?
Mr ELFERINK: … that would prevent me from censuring the Minister for Essential Services, and the shareholding minister, for lying to Territorians about the extent to which the Power and Water Corporation’s contract with ENI provides for damages for non-delivery of gas ….
Members interjecting.
Mr ELFERINK: … the impact on electricity prices and the …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, please pause.
The Leader of Government Business is indicating that the government will accept the censure. We will wait for the cameras to go as this is the end of Question Time.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016