2010-02-16
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Question Time – New Arrangements
Question Time – New Arrangements
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, before calling questions today, all members will be aware that we are working under new rules for Question Time.
I first draw your attention to Chapter 12 of the Standing Orders relating to questions.
Standing Order 109(3)(a) indicates that questions shall be succinct, concise and direct, and shall not exceed one minute. In relation to answers, Standing Order 109(3)(b) indicates that an answer shall not exceed three minutes; and Standing Order 113, that the answer shall be succinct, concise and directly relevant to the question.
To time the member asking a question, a small timer will be used and operated by the Deputy Clerk. Unfortunately, this will not be able to be seen by members. At 45 seconds into the question, if the question is still continuing, a bell will be sounded indicating 15 seconds is still available. At 60 seconds, a bell will sound to indicate the time for the question has expired.
In relation to answers, the Chamber clocks will be set at three minutes, and a warning bell will be sounded at two minutes and 45 seconds if the minister is still on their feet. A further bell will sound at three minutes to indicate the time for the answer has expired.
In relation to the single supplementary question allowed for the Leader of the Opposition, the small timer will be allowed for the 30 second question, with a warning bell at 15 seconds and a final bell at 30 seconds. The responding answer will be timed by the Chamber clocks with bells at 45 seconds and 60 seconds.
It is worth noting these times are inclusive of points of order. However, should I need to seek the advice of the Clerk during Question Time, the clocks will be stopped for that period of time.
I would be happy to remind you, honourable members, that we will review the procedures at the end of the sittings in case we need to change them somewhat.
We now move to Question Time.
QUESTIONS
My School Website - Performance of
Territory Students
Territory Students
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
You have been Education minister for a substantial period of Labor’s time in office. On 30 January 2009, you issued a media release about education in the Territory, which I table. In that media release you stated: ‘… our students in urban areas are performing on par with students from around the country’. That is, Territory students in urban schools were performing at the national average.
In light of that claim, how do you explain the fact that the My School website shows a vast percentage of government schools across the Territory failed, by a significant margin, to achieve the national average?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. His question is not true. The vast majority of kids in our schools actually do achieve the national average. I am very proud that this government has signed up with the Australian government and all the states to put transparency into this system of accountability back to parents. It was something the conservatives would never do when they were in office.
I am proud of our teachers and our schools across the Northern Territory, and I am proud of our students. The Leader of the Opposition is to be condemned for his comments about the My School website when he talked about systemic failure in Territory schools. That was a direct attack on each and every teacher in our schools in the Northern Territory …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … and each and every principal in our schools in the Northern Territory, and it was blatantly not true.
The vast majority of our kids do get to benchmark. Of course, we can always do better, and the recipe for doing better is threefold. It is a commitment by parents to get their kids to school every day. The schools cannot teach the kids if the kids are not at school. We need an absolute commitment from parents. We also need quality principals.
The Leader of the Opposition was out again on the weekend bagging the Education department because there were 17 vacant jobs for principals. In part, that is because we will not take second best; we want the best principals for our schools. If that means we have to advertise two or three times to get the best person for the job, then we will. We will not accept second best.
The last part is quality teachers. We will be talking about legislation during this parliament to strengthen the role of professional development for teachers. We are committed to doing that. Our schools can be proud of the success they achieve with the vast number of Territory students. The Leader of the Opposition is to be condemned for saying there is systemic failure in Territory schools because there is not.
Territory 2030 – Long-term Goals
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER
Last year, the government launched Territory 2030. In 2010, what will the government do to achieve the long-term goals of Territory 2030?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his question. 2010 will be an exciting year for the Northern Territory. There are many great things happening around the Northern Territory. There are many innovative Territorians with their shoulders to the wheel, building businesses, creating jobs, and creating opportunities. We have thousands of people coming to the Territory looking for the employment opportunities and the lifestyle we have.
In 2010, we will be continuing to deliver for Territorians as the government. First and foremost, we will be delivering more land and housing. An exciting five new suburbs are under way this year which are going to deliver thousands of new homes over the next two years.
More land will be developed in Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, and Katherine. I heard at lunchtime today, member for Barkly, houses are selling in minutes when they are put on the market in Tennant Creek, such are the things happening in Tennant Creek ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr HENDERSON: Planning for the new city of Weddell - no other government in Australia is planning for a new city, such is the confidence in the Northern Territory and the economic growth we are receiving.
Not only will we grow Palmerston, we will work with the city of Palmerston and the people of Palmerston, to develop it into a city of choice.
We will build more houses. We have committed to 150 houses under SIHIP this year, and hundreds of upgrades and rebuilds right across the Northern Territory are taking place now, with 100 Indigenous people employed.
The Wirrina project will be under way, Bellamack Gardens will have been completed, new public and emergency housing funded from the stimulus package will be …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr HENDERSON: It was a stimulus package the opposition voted against - delivering houses, delivering schools, delivering roads – and they voted against it.
We will be developing 20 new towns across the Northern Territory under the A Working Future policy – a really exciting, cutting edge, innovative policy we will be working on this year.
We will be greening the Territory. We will be reducing carbon emissions from …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr HENDERSON: For the carbon and climate change sceptics on the other side - we will be reducing emissions. We will be introducing …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr HENDERSON: They do not like good news, Madam Speaker. They are the members for doom and gloom over there, but they do not like good news.
We will introduce native vegetation legislation and launch more protection initiatives to add to our eco-ring. We will be building a safer Territory - more police, new legislation, such as the Mitchell Street initiative to prevent violent crime, and work to address the underlying causes of crime.
Mr Giles: What are you going to do in Alice Springs?
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: What we will not be doing is pour more grog on the problem, as the CLP would do in Alice Springs. Their answer to violent crime is more alcohol; ours is an increased police presence and attacking the causes of crime.
So, 2010 will be an exciting year for the Territory, and a year when the government will continue to deliver.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Territory Schools – Performance
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
In the same media release I tabled earlier, you claim: ‘Our urban students are doing well …’. Again, I present a chart for the performance of our urban schools compared with the national average. This is the urban schools themselves compared against the national average. The sea of pink indicates systemic under-achievement in Darwin, Palmerston, Katherine, Tennant Creek, Nhulunbuy, and Alice Springs - systemic under-achievement for our students. Why did you mislead Territory families about the performance of our Territory schools?
Members interjecting.
Dr Burns: You are the one who is misleading.
Mr MILLS: It is right there, mate.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Leader of Government Business!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Honourable members, I remind you that only one member has the call at a time. The Leader of the Opposition has completed his question and this level of interruption is not acceptable. Chief Minister, you have the call.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Again, he gets it wrong, absolutely gets it wrong. Eighty-six per cent of students in Darwin, Palmerston and rural schools perform at or above the national benchmark. When you have a class of 30-odd kids, that means two or three kids in the class are not getting to benchmark. We want to move those kids up to ensure they do reach the benchmark, but 86% of them do.
That is not systemic failure. That is the Leader of the Opposition talking our schools down, talking the Territory down, walking around with a big black cloud over his head …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … seeing negativity at every turn. I am committed to transparency, because I think this is good …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: I believe this is good because, in New South Wales, for instance, the Liberal Party - that is the party these guys belong to - was instrumental in making it illegal to publish school league tables. In fact, the Opposition Leader could have been fined. If the Leader of the Opposition had been in New South Wales, under proposed Liberal Party legislation, where it is legislation, they would have been fined over $5000 for his antics a couple of weeks ago.
We are about openness and transparency. This is fantastic, because I have been to too many school council meetings where the last thing on the agenda is actually talking about the educational performance at that school. What this will now do is enable debate, at a school level, a classroom level, and the lunchroom level, with parents engaging with their schools about lifting school performance. As I have said, those educational outcomes can only be attained with parents getting their kids to school every day.
Quality principals - we make no excuses at all in looking for the best at every turn, and in recruiting and retaining quality teachers in the Territory, not attacking teachers. The Leader of the Opposition leaped up with his sea of red. We can produce a sea of green! That is easy enough to do, with the 86% of students who either are at or above national benchmarks.
The Leader of the Opposition relishes trashing Territory schools, trashing Territory teachers. He is to be condemned for doing that. Eighty-six percent of our schools in urban areas are doing well. They could all do better. That is what this My School website is all about. It is having a fair dinkum, honest debate about education, everyone pulling together, not the politics of fear and scare the Leader of the Opposition is entering into.
Alcohol-fuelled Violence in
Entertainment Precincts
Entertainment Precincts
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Can you update the House on how the government is cracking down on alcohol-fuelled violence in entertainment precincts?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. We recognise every week people go out to have a good time, enjoy themselves and, on the whole, most of them are doing the right thing. However, there are a few troublemakers out there who are ruining it for everyone else. This government has worked with the police and the licensees to come forward with a raft of new measures - not re-hashing what already exists - new measures that do not currently exist to crack down on the troublemakers. These are measures which have been very much welcomed by the police and by the licensees. They say it goes to the heart of dealing with the troublemakers.
The tough new measures include new powers for police to provide bans for individuals who are doing the wrong thing, causing the trouble in the pubs, banning them from the precinct. Precincts will be designed and identified – Mitchell Street is an obvious one – but equally this legislation applies to Palmerston, Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Alice Springs. So they can be banned from the pubs, from the precincts; they can get on-the-spot fines - which did not exist before - for refusing to leave, or trying to re-enter when they have been evicted from these premises.
We are also going to the heart of people’s behaviour. We are targeting people’s behaviour with an advertising blitz. We have picked up on the Championship Moves advertising campaign that has run successfully in Victoria. We have tailored it to Territory content with Territory actors. It will be an advertising blitz across television, radio, print and web-based, clearly going to the heart of, ‘step in if your mate is starting to cause trouble’, preventing violence from happening, ‘step in and get your mate to do the right thing’.
The precinct bans are for 48 hours; they are on-the-spot bans, but if you are a repeat offender, you face going before the courts for up to a 12 month ban.
The message is clear: violence is unacceptable; alcohol-fueled violence is unacceptable. We are giving the police and the licensee the power to tackle this head on. We recognise that 51% of all assaults in the Territory are alcohol-related, which is too high. We are going after the people who cause the trouble, not the people who are drinking responsibly, doing the right thing, having a good time with their mates.
Mr Elferink: Window dressing!
Ms LAWRIE: We will absolutely cut down – I will pick up on the interjection from the member for Port Darwin. He calls it window dressing. The police say these are exactly the tools they need.
Mr Elferink: They already have them. They have had them for years.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: The licensees who are at the coalface say this is exactly what they need.
Mr Elferink: They have had these powers for years. How about a government with the courage to arrest drunks, and tell the coppers to go and do it?
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Port Darwin!
Ms LAWRIE: On his own, the member for Port Darwin is out there trashing it – no point in doing it. We make no apology for going hard after the troublemakers. The police and licensees agree with us.
My School Website – Urban Schools’ Education Standards
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
The My School website shows amongst urban schools in the Territory there was only one year in one school where the result was substantially above the national average. By way of contrast, 313 results in urban Territory schools were substantially below the national average. One year, one school substantially above the national average, 313 substantially below the national average. Why are education standards at our urban schools so low under Labor?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition. Once again, he continues his attack on Territory teachers and on Territory schools.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: He should be ashamed of himself. What the My School website shows is that 86% of students in Darwin, Palmerston and rural schools perform at or above the national benchmarks. That is what the My School website shows.
My three children are in public schools in the Northern Territory. I am very happy with the education they receive. Occasionally, they get a teacher who could do better, but that happens in every school, private or public.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: That is why we are introducing legislation to increase professional development for teachers. I expect we will have fulsome support from the opposition for that.
Given the opportunity to talk down and trash the Northern Territory, that is what the Leader of the Opposition will do. To talk about systemic failure is an absolute insult to every principal, teacher, and school council in the Northern Territory. Certainly, our schools could do better. That is why I have supported the introduction of the My School website. Not to become some sort of political football, but to enable parents, school councils, teachers, and school communities to have a conversation internally on how they can lift performance; how they can benchmark themselves with similar schools, whether they be in the Northern Territory or the rest of Australia; and how they can replicate good practice to the advancement of the educational outcomes of their students. Not to insult and denigrate every school in Darwin, Palmerston, Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Nhulunbuy and say there is systemic failure - because there is not. Eighty-six percent of our students reach at or above the national benchmarks.
If we look at Indigenous education, we are starting to get kids back into school. There is still a long way to go, but there has been an increase in Indigenous enrolment by 1248 over the last five years. There have been increased participation rates in the national testing by 14.5%. Kids who were not tested before - they were certainly never tested when the CLP was in government; it was out of sight, out of mind. We are now shining the light on all these issues. Parents have to get kids to school. We need to have the best principals we possibly can, and the best teachers. We are working to that end. Territory kids are doing well in Territory schools but, of course, they can always do better.
Territory Insurance Office - Fire Bombing of Premises – Review of Procedures
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
In light of the terrible fire bombing of the Darwin branch of the Territory Insurance Office, will your government be holding a public inquiry into all the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the tragic events on that date?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question from the member for Nelson. The fire bombing incident at TIO was shocking, and it was an extremely serious event. We know we have a person charged and before the courts. I will not be going too far into that aspect of it.
The TIO is undertaking an independent review of its security protocols, its crisis management, and its business continuity plans to examine how TIO responded to this crisis. The review will be undertaken by an independent expert. The TIO will also examine their workers compensation processes. A review of this nature must maintain the privacy of individuals. The TIO is a commercial entity and, to this end, the TIO board will respond to the review and its recommendations.
In respect to security issues, there is a need to ensure that any disclosure of these would not compromise the security plans and arrangements put in place at the TIO. The incident that occurred is absolutely unacceptable, and is being dealt with through the courts. Any public disclosure will be sensitive to the fact that a person is before the courts, and that process must not be compromised.
Indigenous Education and Attendance
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Prior to the My School website exposing the systemic underperformance of the Territory education system, you repeatedly claimed it was the poor performance of Indigenous students in remote schools that was dragging down the overall results. On Channel 9 television news on 2 February you changed your tune. That night you claimed it was truancy by Indigenous kids throughout the Territory that was dragging down the results.
I call upon you to apologise for stigmatising the thousands of hardworking Indigenous Territorians who ensure that their kids go to school every day, like at my school in Moulden.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his convoluted question. He just does not get it. What he is trying to do is turn a piece of very transparent information that I and this government have supported to have a debate about schools, into some sort of convoluted attack on our schools for underperformance and systemic underperformance.
Anyone who understands education in the Northern Territory knows our schools have a unique set of demographic circumstances where teachers are teaching. They are not easily replicated in any other school interstate. Certainly, anyone who is involved in education knows, and this is an absolute fact, that, tragically, there is an underperformance by Indigenous kids in Territory schools. That is a fact; it is not fiction. It is a tragic fact, and it is a fact that needs to be tackled absolutely head on.
Everyone I talk to, whether they are principals, teachers or educational professionals, say the single largest contribution to Indigenous kids failing at school is poor attendance. If the Leader of Opposition has not been out there talking to principals, teachers and education experts in the Northern Territory, and if he has not heard this message, I do not know who he has been talking to.
What the My School website enables us to do is to have an honest conversation about education. An honest conversation in every staff room, at every school council, with every parent. Look at the millions of parents who have accessed this website. It enables an honest conversation about education, how to improve our own children’s education, and how to lift the education outcomes of a school, and of a system.
It is not about scaremongering and driving parents away from schools like the Leader of the Opposition is trying to do. The fact is, 86% of kids in our urban schools in Darwin, Palmerston, and the rural schools perform at or above the national benchmarks. Tragically, the further you move out from major urban centres, the higher the cohort of Indigenous kids, the worst-performing; the schools do not perform, and that is because, to a very significant degree, the kids are not going to school often enough.
If the Leader of Opposition does not get that, he is obviously not talking to the right people. I do know he did a tour of the all the schools in the northern suburbs of Darwin, I believe it was just before Christmas. I am sure he had this issue raised time and again. My advice is, in getting around all those schools in Darwin and Palmerston, he was very complimentary of all the schools and the great efforts they were going to, and the great results they were achieving.
That is what he says to principals and teachers face-to-face, but he hides behind the media release and his sea of red to attack them. It was cowardly, it was absolutely untrue and …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Chief Minister has just accused the Leader of the Opposition of being a coward. I believe that is unparliamentary. It has been ruled to be unparliamentary in the past.
Madam SPEAKER: He said ‘cowardly’.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition is offended by the remark, I will withdraw it.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
My School Website –
Improving Education Outcomes
Improving Education Outcomes
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
Can you please advise the House how the information from the My School website will be used to improve education outcomes in the Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his question. We are a government with a systematic approach to improving student outcomes and performance in the Northern Territory. Only last week, a partnership with the Commonwealth government was announced, with $132m to go to 130 Northern Territory schools, with a real focus on literacy and numeracy.
I only have three minutes, but there is a whole range of programs and strategies this government is implementing around meeting the challenges within our education system in the Northern Territory. I was amazed, yesterday, at the assertions made by the Leader of the Opposition about systemic failures in the education system in the Northern Territory. The window-dressing, lightweight policy he released the other day is absolutely meaningless, as is his analysis of the My School website.
The My School website is all about the comparison of like schools. He has turned that upside down and published a league table. Why is that wrong? Why is that ridiculous? Because you are comparing averages, Leader of the Opposition, which is statistically, and every other way, a very dishonest way to attack it.
As the Chief Minister said, 86% of children in Northern Territory schools are achieving the benchmarks. That is the measure of individual performance, not an average. As the Chief Minister alluded to before – not that we are going to go down this path – but the Liberal Party in New South Wales had a law passed through their upper House to make it illegal for such league tables …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Dr BURNS: I will quote what a prominent Liberal said in New South Wales during this debate:
- Simplistic league tables do not provide a measure of how good or bad a school is. They can be highly misleading. They only serve to stigmatise the great many teachers and students who attend these schools.
That is from a Liberal – your Coalition mate in New South Wales, really shining a light on what you have been …
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance, Madam Speaker. I do not support that policy; it is a load of rubbish.
Madam SPEAKER: I believe the minister is answering the question.
Dr BURNS: It is very relevant, Madam Speaker. As a government, we have a plan, a strategy, to address the challenges that present themselves to our education system in the Northern Territory. All the Opposition Leader can do is to put it down, stigmatise, and use data that was meant for like schools in a completely meaningless and misleading way for Territorians – the schools, the teachers, and the parents. Scaremongering is his game, and I deplore it.
Madam SPEAKER: The time for the question has expired.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I remind ministers of Standing Order 113, something you pointed out to them before we started Questions today.
Madam SPEAKER: In relation to relevance?
Mr ELFERINK: ‘Succinct, concise and directly related to the question’. None of that was available in that question.
Madam SPEAKER: And in three minutes, okay.
School System – Government Responsibility
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
The My School website exposes your cynical attempt to blame Indigenous families for your government’s policy failure. Our results are poor because - and I quote you – ‘… Indigenous kids are missing school and that is dragging down the results right across the system’. That is how it is.
Alawa Primary School, with 35% Indigenous students, has an attendance rate of 91%; Anula, with 15% Indigenous students, has 93% attendance rate; and Stuart Park, with just 6% Indigenous students, also has a 93% attendance rate.
When are you going to stop stigmatising Indigenous Territorians and accept responsibility for the poor performance of the government school system in the Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I go back to the Leader of the Opposition’s convoluted, confused question. He made the point precisely. In our urban schools, the schools are performing well; 86% of students are getting to benchmark. That is a fact – at or above the national benchmark in our urban schools where we do have high attendance rates. The reality is, the further you move out of our urban centres, the worse the attendance rates become, and the worse the outcomes are. So, in his question, the Leader of the Opposition has made my point for me. The real precursor to kids achieving at school is attendance. The higher the attendance rate, the more opportunity the kids have to get to benchmark, and 86% of our kids get to benchmark.
If those kids in remote schools were going to school 91% of the time, there would be 86% of them getting to benchmark in remote schools. He made my point absolutely entirely. I am very confident, if we had 90% sustained attendance, year on year on year in our remote and regional schools, we would be seeing success rates of 86%. We would love to get to 100%. We would love every child to get to benchmark, and all of our teachers work hard to do that.
However, the Leader of the Opposition has made the point. He is doing nothing here apart from trashing and stigmatising our schools, blaming our parents, and blaming our teachers. As I have said, we, on this side of the House, have embraced transparency. We have embraced this transparency knowing there would be a debate. We are not afraid of the debate that is coming.
I ask the Leader of the Opposition to be honest in regard to this debate, and to stop scaremongering.
Taminmin College - Facilities
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
When Darwin Middle School was built, lockers and refrigerators were included for the use of the students. When our rural Taminmin Middle School was built, none of these items were included. Why the difference between a rural school and a city school, and when can we expect that difference to be rectified so students at Taminmin College can have lockers to store their books, and fridges to store their lunches?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. In relation to Taminmin College, $4.6m was allocated for the upgrading of existing services and new facilities, and a further allocation of approximately $985 000 was allocated to the school for furniture, fit-out and equipment. As I am advised …
Mr Tollner: What about the swimming pool you promised them? Hey, Bungles, what about the swimming pool?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Tollner: Where is that at Taminmin?
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Fong Lim!
Dr BURNS: As I am advised, member for Nelson, a decision was made …
Mr Tollner interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Fong Lim! Please pause, minister. Member for Fong Lim, cease interjecting!
Dr BURNS: As I am advised, member for Nelson, there was a decision taken by the school principal, in collaboration with the chairman of the school council, that that money should be spent on a range of furniture, IT equipment, and other items. A bank of lockers was purchased at a cost of $9900. I remind you, member for Nelson, that schools do have the capacity, within the budget allocation of minor new works, to make application for various things every year. If that is what Taminmin College Council and the school would want, it is something that could be added in future years. I thank you for your question.
Police Beats - Implementation
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
Police Beats are one of the ways we are tackling crime and antisocial behaviour. Can the minister please update the Assembly on the implementation of Police Beats?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his question. Tackling crime and antisocial behaviour is an absolute commitment from my government. A highly visible police presence throughout the Northern Territory is a goal, particularly through our shopping centres in the Northern Territory, and our Police Beats have been a significant success.
We made a commitment for five Police Beats by 2012, but they have been so popular, we have expanded it to seven. All Police Beats are now to be completed by 2010. The first Police Beat opened in Casuarina Shopping Centre in December 2008. Since that has opened – I know the opposition does not like these Police Beats, because it is about good news and successful outcomes.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: There has been a 38% decrease - the Leader of the Opposition said he would close them - in the number of reported incidents at Casuarina, including a 91% reduction in the number of general disturbances.
The Police Beat located in the Todd Mall in Alice Springs was opened by me and the member for Central Australia in July last year, and a year-on-year comparison shows an overall reduction of 18%. The Nightcliff Police Beat opened in December 2009. More than 40 infringement notices in relation to drinking in restricted areas and other antisocial offending have been issued to date. A site has been secured at Palmerston Shopping Centre, and an interim Police Beat has been operating out of the newly-refurbished mobile police station. I have had nothing but positive feedback from the people of Palmerston, particularly the retailers.
The Katherine Police Beat will be open by the end of April and …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … the business community and the member for Katherine - he has been a good local member working with his constituents to help establish a Police Beat, not helped by the Leader of the Opposition, who said he will close them. They have to get some sort of conversation going there. We will have the Katherine Police Beat by the end of April, and police beats in Karama and Parap are scheduled to commence by the end of June this year.
We are delivering on our election commitments. They are on time, and delivering a safer Territory in our major urban shopping areas.
Education – National Benchmarks
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
As a part of your ministerial merry-go-round, the member for Johnston, and the failed Health minister, has now responsibility for Education, and his start has been no less auspicious. The new Education minister only responded to the My School website after the opposition highlighted the widespread failure of Territory schools to achieve the national average. A simple question: do you agree with your Education minister that the national minimum standard is the benchmark our urban schools should aspire to? The national most basic minimum standard is the point of aspiration.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his confused, convoluted question.
As parents, all of us want our children to succeed to the absolute capability of each and every student. If the Leader of the Opposition wants to have some vanilla-flavoured line in the sand which says that is the optimum for success well, it is not an education system I would be part of in the Territory.
What our schools should be doing is encouraging, motivating, and inspiring each and every one of our students to be the best they possibly can be. We have all had experiences of great teachers who have inspired us as individuals. I commend all our teachers in the Northern Territory because they work day in, day out to inspire our students.
The question from the Leader of the Opposition is really a semantic one. A benchmark is a benchmark. Eighty-six percent of our students in our urban areas - Darwin, Palmerston and rural schools - perform at or above those benchmarks. I have said in the past that one of the highlights of my year in the privileged position I hold is the Board of Studies awards held in Parliament House every year, where we acknowledge Territory kids who have done all their education in the Northern Territory. The vast majority are from within our public school system - and certainly our private and non-government school system does a great job - but those students are achieving, through the public system in the Northern Territory, TER scores of 98, 99, and 100 from time to time. These are TER scores which will get them into any university in the country, any university in the world, and have been achieved through our public system in the Northern Territory.
Our system can produce the very best of the very best. That is not systemic failure. The Leader of the Opposition likes to pour vitriol and scorn on all our principals and teachers in the Northern Territory. He wants to scaremonger parents. I can assure parents of the Northern Territory that our public schools are good schools. If our kids go to school every day, the vast majority of them will at least get to benchmark, and many more will get above benchmark. We all know, the better support a child has at home regarding their learning, and getting them to school everyday, supporting kids to go to school, encouraging them; motivating them about school; assisting them with their homework; being engaged with the school; a school led by a great principal with a great teacher - kids can fly, and they do fly in the Northern Territory.
Alice Springs Youth Action Plan –
Impact on Antisocial Behaviour
Impact on Antisocial Behaviour
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
Can you outline to the House the impact the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan is having on antisocial behaviour in the town?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. I welcome the debate we have had in Alice Springs over the last few weeks.
Mr Giles: You said there was no problem in Alice Springs, you would not engage in the debate.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.
Mr HAMPTON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. As I said, I certainly welcome the debate we have had in Alice Springs over the last few weeks in relation to youth issues, because there are probably no more important issues than those affecting our young people in the Northern Territory, and in Alice Springs.
Mr Giles: You said there was no problem in Alice Springs.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, you do not have the call.
Mr HAMPTON: The Youth Action Plan this government launched 12 months ago is about addressing the issue on two fronts. The first front is helping those young people and their families who need help to avoid getting into trouble. The other front is tackling those kids who find themselves in trouble, and the consequences they have to put up with.
The plan has achieved much in the last 12 months in Alice Springs, with the Police Beat in Todd Mall, as the Chief Minister announced again today. That was up and running in July last year, well ahead of schedule. It has been well received by businesses, particularly those in the Todd Mall.
The Centralian Middle School, something I know the opposition members in Alice Springs were certainly working against, is up and running. It is an historic school, with some 350 students now attending. I had the privilege of visiting in the first week of its opening to see for myself how successful it will be, and some of the infrastructure that has been approved there.
There is a ‘no school, no service’ campaign, which we launched last year, with 120 businesses on board making sure that kids are attending school and not out and about during school hours.
Mr Giles: And it is still not safe to walk the streets at night, is it? Still not safe. No problem.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr Giles: We have the police van out now, there was no problem.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling!
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, the government is absolutely committed to Alice Springs, and we are showing that through the Youth Action Plan. As I said, over $15m over four years to implement the action plan, as well as transforming our town camps in Alice Springs. We are also turning down the tap on grog in Alice Springs, in complete contrast to the opposition.
The member for Greatorex can talk here in the House, but he is very silent on the issue in Alice Springs, absolutely silent …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HAMPTON: He has not said one word about youth issues in Alice Springs. We know what the CLP’s youth action plan is …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Member for Drysdale, member for Braitling, member for Greatorex, cease interjecting!
Mr HAMPTON: The CLP’s plan for Alice Springs, and the youth issues, is a two shot in the locker …
Mr Giles: Oh, this is what you are going to talk about, grog again.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling!
Mr HAMPTON: … one is the youth curfew, and one is to pour more grog on the streets.
The government is absolutely committed to the Youth Action Plan and transforming the town camps, and we will continue to see more initiatives roll out in our Youth Action Plan.
Mr Giles: When are you going to stop parents giving kids grog on the streets? When are you going to stop kids fighting on the streets?
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 51. I purposely have not interrupted either a question or an answer but, really, the opposition called for changes to this Question Time about being concise, succinct, one minute and three minutes. We are abiding by that, but obviously the opposition is still interjecting, a low level of interjection designed to spoil the answer, designed to spoil Question Time for people who are listening to these broadcasts. I call on them to have the right spirit in Question Time to allow those answers to be heard.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I 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 or has the effect of interrupting a member speaking.
Howard Springs Nature Park –
Feral Animal Control
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
In a statement on your department’s website on 12 February this year, the public was informed that results of water testing at the newly cleaned-out Howard Springs Nature Park pool showed the water quality was not suitable for swimming. The statement also said:
- Mr Scott said readings were highest near the run in, which indicates that the bats and other wildlife in the rainforest are influencing the water quality in the pool.
If this is the case, why has the department taken so long to either shoot or trap all the pigs in the park, which are also part of the problem, and something that has been known about for many years?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. I know he is a strong advocate of the Howard Springs Nature Park. We are absolutely committed to the Howard Springs Nature Park. We will be investing over $3m into that park over the next few years.
The Parks and Wildlife Service has a feral animal control action plan …
A member interjecting.
Mr HAMPTON: So rude!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HAMPTON: The Parks and Wildlife Service has a feral animal control program, and feral pigs at Howard Springs reserve are managed according to that plan. Because the reserve has many visitors and is close to residential areas, shooting pigs is not viewed as an acceptable option. Four pig traps are currently deployed at the reserve. Two pigs have been removed over the last two years. During the Wet Season, pig activity is dispersed over a wide area, not concentrated around waterholes. I am advised that the pigs are unlikely to be significantly affecting anyone in the swimming area …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Braitling!
Mr HAMPTON: They are so rude and arrogant, aren’t they? I hope the member for Nelson can hear the answer. It is difficult with the crowd over that side.
As I said, pigs are part of the feral animal control action plan. The advice I have received is it will not pose any significant issues to the water quality.
Mr Wood: I will have to take you down there.
Mr HAMPTON: Sorry, that is the best I could do with that crowd over there.
Territory Education –
Failure to Meet National Standards
Failure to Meet National Standards
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Your latest Education minister, the failed former Health Minister, released his own chart of the My School website, and scored an embarrassing own goal – his own league table. One is good; one is not. One is a league table; this is a league table if you want to have it that way. Despite restricting his chart to Darwin, Palmerston and rural area schools, the Education minister confirmed that thousands of students across those primary schools have failed to obtain the minimum standard in the NAPLAN tests - that is, thousands of students have not reached the basic minimum for reading, writing and maths. Will you confirm the Education minister’s chart indicates more than 700 Year 5 students in Darwin, Palmerston and the rural area failed to achieve the national minimum standard in reading?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his continued attack on Territory schools, principals and teachers. It is offensive …
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: It is absolutely offensive. A couple of days after the My School website was launched, the Leader of the Opposition gleefully appeared in front of the media with, once again, a doom and gloom interpretation of our education system in the Territory and said there was systemic failure. By systemic failure, he is saying that every single school in the Northern Territory has failed – every principal and every teacher has failed. That was the attack launched on Territory principals and teachers …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Cease interjecting, opposition members.
Mr HENDERSON: That was the attack the Leader of the Opposition launched. He has been roundly condemned by the Principals Association, the teachers union and, as I understand it, by COGSO, in the Northern Territory. Everyone has condemned his simplistic, opportunistic and dishonest attack in his interpretation of the My School website.
What that website shows is 86% of students, the vast majority of students – I would love it to be closer to 95% or 99% or 100% - are at or above the national benchmark. As I said, on the wall in my office in Parliament House there are examples of artwork by students who achieved an NTCE of over 99% last year. I personally know of students in the Northern Territory who are going on to medical school at the most elite universities in Australia, who have done their entire education in the public system in Darwin. That is not systemic failure.
When you are talking about class sizes of around 27 in primary school, maybe 10% of those kids not getting to benchmark - that is two to three kids out of 27 not getting to benchmark. In any classroom in any school in Australia, there are going to be two to three kids in that classroom who are struggling. These are the numbers the Leader of the Opposition is pointing to and saying there is systemic failure.
I want all our kids to achieve. They will achieve if they go to school every day. If they are supported by their parents taking a real interest in their education, if they have the best possible principal in the school and great teachers, every kid, whether they are in the bush or in town, will get to benchmark, and will thrive. The Leader of the Opposition is doing nothing other than trashing our schools …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
National Action Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for WOMEN’S POLICY
Can you provide an update on the development of a national action plan to reduce violence against women and their children, and how that will reduce violence affecting women and families in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. Our government is absolutely committed to work to reduce violence against any person across the Northern Territory, but in particular, in this case, women. Our government has taken the lead in very bold steps within this parliament to ensure the attitudinal and social changes are made in regard to respecting the family. We introduced the mandatory reporting of domestic violence in this parliament last year and, at the national level, we are working with all the states and the Commonwealth to implement a national strategy to ensure there is a reduction in violence against women across the country.
We know one in three Australian women experience violence. Even here in the Northern Territory, our statistics have shown - which is what led to the legislation of mandatory reporting of domestic violence - that over 50% of assaults in the Northern Territory are DV-related. It is these statistics we want to see reduced at the local level. It is these statistics we want to see reduced at the national level.
In my role as Minister for Indigenous Development, one thing I am incredibly passionate about is to ensure that, within our 20 growth towns across the Northern Territory, the focus is on our families, the focus is on responsibility, the focus is on growing our Territory where people are respected. I look forward to reporting further on how the national action plan will benefit the Territory after COAG has endorsed our plan later this year.
Education – Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Yesterday, the new Education minister claimed the opposition’s $27m Education Policy has no substance.
Dr Burns: Absolutely.
Mr MILLS: You rule by your own standard, mate.
Do you support the opposition’s plan to utilise tutors to improve the Territory’s woeful literacy and numeracy performance? Just how much additional money are you going to invest in tackling the systemic under-performance in literacy and numeracy in Territory schools? That is additional money.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Obviously, he is not paying attention to the national debate on education at the moment, the announcement the minister has made, and the statement he just made in the House.
We have entered into a partnership agreement with the Australian government in regard to under-performing schools in literacy and numeracy to the tune of $120m. That is the additional funding going into it in the Northern Territory to over 130 schools.
For the Leader of the Opposition, who is also the shadow Education minister, not to be aware of such a significant announcement, not to be following the national debate in regard to the My School website, the focus of the Australian government working with the states and territories to put additional investment into under-performing schools, is nothing short of breathtaking. To stand up in here and ask: ‘What are you doing about underperforming schools?’ when you are the shadow Education minister, and you have missed out on $120m commitment to over 130 schools in the Northern Territory, shows you are not paying a great deal of attention to that portfolio.
What I can say of the lightweight policy released by the Leader of the Opposition recently, my advice is, there is no mention of our Indigenous students, there is no commitment to our remote schools - none whatsoever. Going back to the past: out of sight, out of mind. No mention of Indigenous students, no mention of remote schools, and the very specific and different challenges those schools have.
Running a school at Maningrida is not the same as running a school in Parap. There is a totally different social context in which that school operates that is very real, it is challenging, and there needs to be specific work done regarding students in our bush schools. To release an education policy which does not tackle those challenges goes to show how lightweight the opposition is, and what great neglect he has of this national debate. All he is interested in is a cheap political headline.
___________________
Supplementary Question
Supplementary Question
Mr MILLS: Chief Minister, do you support the employment of tutors in our classes to support teachers with literacy and numeracy programs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the answer is yes, and we already have them in our classrooms.
__________________
Alice Springs Correctional Centre – Infrastructure Work
Alice Springs Correctional Centre – Infrastructure Work
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
Can you please update the House on the infrastructure work being done at the Alice Springs prison?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his question. The Henderson government is about keeping our community safe, and about keeping our streets safer. One of the initiatives which delivers that is increased numbers of police. The other side of increased police is the apprehension of offenders, and therefore the need for correctional services in the Northern Territory.
One of the key points to delivering the new era in corrections is infrastructure. Infrastructure is imperative to delivering education and rehabilitation programs within our Correctional Services system in the Northern Territory. I am proud to announce to the House that the Alice Springs Correctional Centre will have 24 new beds for female accommodation by the end of this week. This relates to an investment of $12.3m in the expansion of prison accommodation. The female block in Alice Springs will be available on Friday, and will represent a movement out of older accommodation into new accommodation for our female prisoners.
The older accommodation will become education and training space; important infrastructure which will address the need for education and rehabilitation programs to address the cycle of reoffending. This is a very important part of our Correctional Services system, and this is what the Henderson government is delivering. At the end of the day, it is education, once again, that we are talking about.
Ladwig and Sarra Report
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
The Ladwig and Sarra report into education in the Territory identified that a culture of low expectations was damaging the Territory’s education system. You have spent the entire Question Time confirming the culture of low expectations for Territory education starts with you. Admit the low expectations and your support for such, and to challenge anyone who will dare raise the honest question as someone who is attacking someone else – we are talking about the standards, and the standards are low, and you are accepting those, supporting those and excusing those.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
Proposed Censure of Chief Minister
Proposed Censure of Chief Minister
Mr MILLS: Madam Speaker, I move that the Chief Minister be censured for his failure to defend standards in the Northern Territory, and for deceiving the families of the Northern Territory.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause. Order!
Is it your intention to seek to move a suspension of standing orders? Is that correct? You did not actually say that.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr MILLS: Yes, Madam Speaker. I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent me from moving the following …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of Government Business, will the government accept this censure motion?
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Weak as it is, the government will accept this censure motion.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! We will wait for the cameras to be removed and then the Leader of the Opposition may continue.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016