2006-02-14
Territory Insurance Office – Apology to Staff
Ms CARNEY to CHIEF MINISTER
Over the last four months, you and your Cabinet were planning to sell the Territory Insurance Office. During those months, 250 staff believed their jobs were in danger and an environment of fear washed through the Territory Insurance Office. Your office, or perhaps the Treasurer’s office, used strategic leaks to media over the Christmas period in an attempt to soften the electorate for the government’s plan to raise money by selling the TIO, and you know that this created fear and uncertainty among the staff. Will you now apologise to the workers of TIO for the months of anxiety you and your government have caused them and their families?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is an important question and certainly one that, in investigating the future of the TIO, we took very seriously. The government does not apologise for ensuring that the TIO, an important organisation for the Territory, is in a fit and healthy condition.
Over the last four years, we have conducted a number of investigations into the TIO and brought legislation into this House to ensure that the TIO was fit and healthy. We have had a number of reports. Those reports that came to government were from diverse organisations such as Trowbridge Deloitte in 2002. In 2003, we tasked Ferrier Hodgson with looking at another aspect of the sustainability of the TIO. We also put significant capital into the TIO. Finally, we asked Rothschild to give us a view of where TIO sat in a national, international and very competitive insurance market, which is very important. That work is not unique to this Labor government, it was done by previous CLP governments.
The sustainability of an organisation such as the TIO is one that government should be looking at, and I do not make any apology for that. In terms of the health and fitness of an organisation for which we are ultimately responsible, that is important work to do.
On a personal level, I am sorry that did affect the 250 staff of the TIO, however, that work was done for their future and I do not make any apologies for that. We can say now that we have balanced the risks, looked at the options for and against the sale of the TIO and decided that we want to keep the TIO. We want to keep those workers working for the TIO in the Northern Territory. I say to those who work for the TIO: you do a valuable job. We have worked hard over the last four years to ensure that your organisation is fit and healthy, that it is a an organisation that can survive as a very small organisation in a very tough insurance market. We are committed to that. I would like that message to be clear. The Treasurer has given that message to the staff of the TIO and I give it again today. That is a very clear position, and any line that the CLP is running that somehow or other we were after the money is simply rubbish.
Access Economics – Report on Northern Territory Economy
Mr NATT to CHIEF MINISTER
The recent report by leading independent national economic forecaster, Access Economics, paints a glowing picture of the state of the Northern Territory economy. Amongst other things, it describes the Northern Territory economy as ‘turbocharged’. Could the Chief Minister inform the House what else is contained in this positive assessment of our economy?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I would have thought this was probably the most important thing the House would like to hear: a third party endorsement of where our Northern Territory economy is. As Chief Minister, and probably the Treasurer as well, if we were casting around for words to describe the economy, we would not have gone as far as ‘turbocharged’. However, when you have a careful organisation like Access Economics stating: ‘How do you best describe the Territory economy – turbocharged’, then it is a great description. When you look at that Access report …
Dr Lim: Thanks to John Howard.
Members interjecting.
Dr Lim: You laugh, that is where you got your GST from.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Greatorex!
Ms MARTIN: There is really no comment that you could make about such a silly comment as that.
Access Economics predicts that we are turbocharged, and the figures they are putting against that are 4.4% per year growth over the next five years. That compares with the national average of 3.5%, so it sits very well with where we are over the next four years. It sits so well that we are expected to lead the nation, and that is against the very competitive states of Western Australia and Tasmania.
They are very positive figures. However, you would have to say, given the size of our economy, they can be volatile, so you can maybe take a little of the ‘turbocharged’ out for that, but they are very strong indicators of where this Territory economy is at.
Let us look at why Access Economics said that. It is good to quote them because third party endorsement of where we are going is very important. We can hear the dynamic four over there saying that the economy and your budget is in strife. Access Economics is a third party. Access Economics is hard to convince. Access Economics does not put their credibility on the line for nothing. They have said we are in good shape, we are turbocharged and we are moving ahead. Now, why do they say it? I will quote them:
- The resource boom has substantially strengthened population inflows, housing prices are still rising strongly while residential vacancy rates are through the floor. Unemployment at below national rates, strong business confidence and a brilliant business investment spend.
‘Brilliant’ is the word used by Access Economics. And for good measure they say, and we are a bit embarrassed about this as well: ‘Current conditions are almost as good as you can get and economic indicators suggest further to come’.
If you look at the figures supporting this, you have employment growth at 2.4%, which is only second to Western Australia growing a bit stronger in employment growth. Population growth is around 1.7%, and that is second only to Queensland, who is still getting something like 1500 new arrivals every week. That is in a context where national population growth is about 1.1%.
Access Economics also points to several major resource projects which will continue to support that important area of engineering construction. Only last week, we heard the proposal to build a condensate plant in Darwin. That is a very significant investment of $450m.
We have the biodiesel, and we have LNG II on the cards, the future of which ConocoPhillips is very confident about. We have the pipeline from Blacktip with gas coming into Darwin.
Then, of course, the Darwin City Waterfront, which Access Economics says will be a ‘mainstay of commercial construction for some time to come’. There is no point in talking down the economy against these factors. You can understand why the opposition does that, however, this is about where Territorians are positioned now. It is about job opportunities and business opportunities. We should be applauding together the fact that our economy is in good shape and all working together to keep it there.
Territory Insurance Office - Proposed Sale
Ms CARNEY to CHIEF MINISTER
On 16 January this year, in an interview on Channel 9, you said and I quote: ‘Over the last couple of years we’, meaning government, ‘have put $27.5m of taxpayers money into sustaining TIO’. Is it not the case that $10m of that money was a once-off loan to MACA which the TIO has repaid to the government in full and with interest? Is it not the case that the remaining $16m, or thereabouts, was an operational grant to MACA and not to the TIO? And, is it not also the case that your statements had the effect of misleading the public into thinking that the TIO was in financial trouble when, in fact, that was not the case and it had been returning a profit?
Will you now clarify your statement and work towards the restoration of public confidence in the TIO, confidence your government attempted to damage as part of your botched plan to sell TIO?
Mr Mills: Shame on you.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, it was a very long question. If you could keep them a bit shorter.
Mr Mills: And the answers too, Madam Speaker?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, as I have said many times over the last few weeks, there was no agenda for this government to sell TIO and in my answer to the last question I talked about the process we had gone through. Q uite honestly, TIO was in very poor shape in 2001. That is the organisation that we inherited. As we moved forward we did a lot of work to make sure that TIO was going to be in good shape.
Yes, we lent MACA $10m. No, we did not lend MACA another $16.5m. That was equity into the TIO that went on the debt level of the Territory budget. That was an equity into TIO that was then reflected in our debt, so it was a capital injection. We made no apology about doing that. We wanted to ensure that TIO was sustainable. We will continue to do that. We have taken a good hard look at TIO, we have been very careful about that, and we have made a decision that TIO will stay in public hands. We will work further with TIO to make sure that they sustain that position. We are very committed to that.
I would like to think the CLP was on side with us as well. Previous CLP governments took a look at the sustainability and the health of TIO. We have done the proper job of government. We have made a decision. Let us move on.
Liquor Outlets in CBD
Ms SACILOTTO to MINISTER for RACING, GAMING AND LICENSING
Concerns have been expressed regarding the number of liquor outlets and licensed premises in the CBD. Can the minister advise what action is being taken to address these concerns?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Port Darwin for her question because, as local member, it is an area of some concern to her. I welcome the decision in the announcement last night by the Licensing Commission that they are going to have a close look at the number of outlets in the CBD, in particular the entertainment strip of Mitchell Street. The government is equally concerned about the future of Mitchell Street and the Darwin CBD, both as entertainment precincts, and also as major centres of tourism for our capital city.
The Hotels Associations is one body that has been out there for some time saying the number of outlets has reached saturation point, and that damage could be inflicted if there were more outlets allowed. In light of that, I believe it is a very welcome decision by the Licensing Commission to take a step back and say let us have a look at this whole situation.
We believe, and obviously the Licensing Commission is of the same view, that allowing further licensed outlets could lead to a cut-price alcohol war and downgrading of premises because investment dries up under those circumstances and, of course, subsequent social problems as you get a greater availability and supply of cheap alcohol.
Therefore, from that point of view, we are supportive of the announcement last night that they will undertake these studies on the number of licensed premises in Mitchell Street and the CBD as a whole.
To support those efforts, I have also announced that the government will set in place a local area alcohol management plan for the future of this area. That body of work will be undertaken by Racing, Gaming and Licensing within Treasury. It will be developed in consultation with industry and all stakeholders and, indeed, the community. It is a good outcome. It is so refreshing to see the Licensing Commission step out on the front foot and really take firm action in this light. It is a good outcome which will be welcomed by industry, tourism groups and all those concerned with the future of the CBD and the social outcomes contained.
Territory Insurance Office – Proposed Sale – Effect on Debt Levels
Mr MILLS to TREASURER
By your own admission, the sale of TIO was aimed at retiring debt. Territory debt continues to increase. Government continues to run deficit budgets and will continue to do so until at least 2008-09. Through an unprecedented public outcry, the cash from the sale of TIO is no longer available. What measures are you considering to address your growing debt problem? Will you guarantee there will be no cuts to the public service? Will you guarantee that there will be no new taxes? Will you guarantee there will be no new or increased charges?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. He has been out in the media over the past week or so - long after the event, I have to add. There were plenty of people who had plenty to say about TIO except for one little group. One little group that was missing in the debate right from the start, of course, was the CLP opposition. We had Friends of the TIO, the Territory Construction Association, the Chamber of Commerce and any number of community groups coming up to my office, coming in to see the Chief Minister, and telling us how bad it was that we might sell the Territory Insurance Office.
However, we did not hear anything from the opposition at all until the decision was made. Clearly, they missed jumping onto the bandwagon of opposition. However, now they are saying: ‘You are in strife now because you are not going to realise any money because there is no sale’. I say to the member for Blain and members opposite that, right from the outset it was a scoping study into the future management arrangements for TIO, including the sale of part or all. It was just one part of an overall scoping study in which we needed to understand the risk involved in going forward.
It is based on a false premise to say that we wanted to sell TIO, or that was the sole agenda and we were going to use it to retire debt. I believe the question was put to me at some stage: ‘What would you do with a one-off injection?’. Well, you can only use it in very limited ways because it is not there next year. It is a one-off, so you can only use it in a one-off fashion, that is, retire debt or cash up further your capital works programs, which is one-off expenditure. It cannot be used in any other fashion because it cannot be relied on.
Of course, that was a pretty telling point in the whole debate, and it weighed heavily on Cabinet’s mind when it came to the final decision that, yes, whatever you might get for TIO would be a welcome one-off injection, but it is one-off and, of course, next year there would be no more revenue coming forward, but there would be no TIO on the landscape either, and what all that meant. I thought that was pretty sobering when you looked at it in those terms.
Regarding the budget - the member for Blain is, of course, the shadow Treasurer - he should have a look at the mid-year report because it shows that when we brought the budget down in May we were aiming for a $68m deficit for financial year 2005-06. I refer him to the mid-year report, on page 4 at the bottom, where it says in a table that with all the expenditure and variations that have gone on in the first half of financial year 2005-06, the projected deficit for 2005-06, at the mid-year point, is $68.2m. When we started out, Treasury said $68.1m. There have been any number of changes: revenue in, increased expenditure, but the projection at the half-year mark was $68.2m. So, tell me how this budget is out of track with what was put down in May, $100 000 extra, we might add to that for the year.
The potential sale of TIO never impacted on the budget, not for a second. The forward estimates remain as they were printed at budget time in May 2005, and the budget is on track - $68.1m deficit predicted in May at the time we put the budget into this Chamber; $68.2m, a whole extra $100 000 on the half-year mark. There was never going to be an impact on this particular budget unless, of course, the sale had gone ahead and that money could have been used, as I said, either to retire debt or to further cash up capital works.
The fact is, the decision is behind us. I believe the opposition should move on, as has everyone else in this debate.
Defence Spending in the Northern Territory
Mr BURKE to MINISTER for DEFENCE SUPPORT
Defence spending injects approximately $828m into the Territory economy each year, but many Through Life Support contracts have historically gone south to prime contractors interstate. Please update the House on what the government is doing to see Territory businesses secure more Defence-related work by attracting prime contractors to set up in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Brennan for his important question which relates to a very important component of our economy. Picking up on an answer given a moment ago, the Chief Minister said the economy is in good shape and we are working hard to keep it there. This is an example of what we are trying to do to attract new investment in the Territory.
Today, I was pleased to announce a proposal for the development of the Defence Support Hub, and an industrial park close to Robertson Barracks. It is 60 ha of land on Thorngate Road near the barracks which is being made available through the Land Development Corporation for prime contractors to establish in the Northern Territory. The real spin-off to this is not only significant investment from the prime Defence contractors, but the capacity for Territory small business to secure partnerships with those contractors’ Through Life Support activities in the Northern Territory.
The Land Development Corporation will promote the industrial park and Defence Support Hub in the same way that it currently promotes land at East Arm. The land will be available on commercial terms. The types of activity that we are looking to attract and establish are major multinational companies into the Territory. Currently, there are 1100 armoured and non-armoured vehicles based at Robertson Barracks. Historically, many of these vehicles are transported south for maintenance, to Bandiana in Victoria and, increasingly, to South Australia. As a government, we believe that it makes a lot of sense not only for the Army but also for those prime contractors for that work to be carried out adjacent to Robertson Barracks where those vehicles are based. Indeed, the Land Sector Development Plan released by the Defence Materiel Organisation last year argued that the most strategic solution for the repair, maintenance and refurbishment of equipment is to do the work as close as possible to where the equipment is based. That is why we are pitching this land fairly and squarely to those prime contractors.
The immediate opportunity is that the Commonwealth government is about to go to tender for the maintenance of 41 new Abrams tanks which are coming to Robertson Barracks from 2007. We believe the value of that activity is worth approximately $17m a year for the next 15 years, and the potential for an additional 100 jobs to be developed in the Northern Territory – it must make sense for the Army to have those tanks maintained and supported here, close to Robertson Barracks, rather than take them to Victoria or South Australia.
We believe that construction of this facility would also generate in the order of 80 new jobs and, very importantly, create opportunities for small Territory business to partner with those prime contractors.
I will be meeting with each of these prime contractors which are going to be tendering for the tanks over the course of the next few weeks, putting this opportunity very firmly and squarely to them. We have to give this our best shot. These companies have large, vested interests, and capital and infrastructure in Victoria and South Australia. We believe it makes sense for the Army; it should make sense commercially. We are making the land available, we are going to give this a red-hot go, and that $828m spend in the Northern Territory is only going to increase as a result of these types of initiatives. We will keep working with Defence and those prime contractors to get as much of that work in the Northern Territory as possible.
Territory Insurance Office – Proposed Sale
Mr WOOD to TREASURER
Madam Speaker, I do hope the minister will keep the local member in the loop.
Mr Henderson: Absolutely. We will give you a briefing.
Mr WOOD: On ABC radio on 8 February, you said Rothschild made a recommendation to sell TIO, but on the day petitions with 14 000 signatures were presented to the member for Blain and me, the minister for DBERD said that government makes decisions based on sound principles rather than petitions. If it was not the people who made you decide not to sell TIO, why did you go against the recommendations of the Rothschild report?
ANSWER
That is a good question, Madam Speaker, and I thank the member for Nelson for it. At least he comes forward with a genuine inquiry as to the thinking of the government on this. It was always our intent, and a responsibility that I felt quite heavily as Treasurer to understand the full risk profile for government going forward, holding on to a very small insurance and banking business in this cutthroat, highly competitive and increasingly complex game that it is today, and also a responsibility to ensure that Cabinet and government and, of course, the insurance office itself, fully understood the risks contained in holding on to it for the future. Having done all that work and made a decision to retain it, does not mean those risks go away. Those risks are as real today as they were when those reports were written and when we considered all the information.
However, we do believe with the stronger management we have in place and the work that will be done into the future between the Territory Insurance Office and the government, the close working relationship with Treasury - we are going to import added expertise of a level beyond that which Treasury can provide, the highest level competence in terms of expert guidance, support and advice for TIO that the market can produce, to ensure that those risks are managed into the future. We have a view that they can be.
Fourteen thousand signatures on a petition is not a bad effort at all. What did that say to the government? That said to the government something I already understood: that the Territory Insurance Office is held in high regard by Territorians, not just for the products and services it sells, not just for the part it plays in the Northern Territory economy, but has a life beyond that as a Territory institution doing battle against the big southern evil giants that would put up premiums. This is iconic stuff. When you have 14 000 people prepared to sign a petition to say ‘Do not sell our TIO’, that represents to me, and to the government, one of the greatest marketing opportunities that a bank or an insurance company could ever have.
Banks and insurance companies around the world are not held in high regard. I cannot imagine 14 000 people tearing off to suggest that we should be saving QBE or Suncorp or any of those. That is the fact in the Northern Territory. The 14 000 signatures were no surprise. What surprised me …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order, opposition members, member for Braitling!
Mr STIRLING: When I went away on 7 January, there had been two letters to the paper. I thought, if the TIO is supported that will have to manifest soon, and sure enough, within a few days of leaving the Territory, the letters of support started and the petition and away it went. Of course, it really had a life of its own.
The other part of the study which was very interesting for government and for TIO was the fact that some 40% of all privately-owned homes and units in the Northern Territory do not carry one cent of insurance. We are not talking under-insurance, we are talking uninsured. That means, if you are living across the northern suburbs, Palmerston and urban centres - these are not Aboriginal communities - these are urban centres of the Northern Territory, your neighbour on one side, if not both, is not insured for home and contents.
That is an awful risk for those home owners and government will be undertaking its own awareness campaign on this, and I can bet the Territory Insurance Office will be running a very heavy marketing campaign aimed at that 40% of the privately-owned homes and units in the Northern Territory that are not insured at all.
That was one of the questions before us: ‘In a small market, how does it grow?’ Go do it TIO, there is your market.
Territory Insurance Office - Proposed Sale – Effect on Budget
Mr MILLS to TREASURER
Last week, within hours after your decision not to sell TIO, it is very well understood that there was a meeting with Treasury to decide how to now deal with the ballooning budgetary problems without the TIO cash injection.
Members interjecting.
Mr MILLS: You laugh. It is well understood.
Did not your razor gang meet again to resharpen their razors and plan future cuts and tax increases? What were the results of this razor gang meeting? What areas did you decide to cut? How many public service jobs will be lost? What taxes are going to be increased and what other assets are you now considering to sell?
Mr Henderson: And the question is?
Ms Carney: There were a number of them there, did you not listen? Should we start again Leader of Government Business?
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the Opposition!
Mr Henderson: It is your Question Time.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. The other day, the ABC apparently suggested that the government had decided not to sell the Treasurer - maybe there was a misunderstanding - when, in fact, they meant TIO.
If I thought there was even so much as a dollar in some of the opposition we would pay it, let me tell you. However, I am not convinced anyone would offer 25 per capita for the honourable opposition.
There is no razor gang, as such, in government so there was no meeting of any razor gang last week, although the Chief Minister did look at me and say: ‘You did not have a meeting without me, did you?’
There is a priority review going on into all aspects of government expenditure. That is something that will be built into the normal budget process. It is actually a precursor to the formation of the budget, and that is how to understand how the current financial year is going and what is needed in order to keep the budget on track. As I said, $68.1m in the budget forecast as a deficit for this financial year; $68.2m Treasury is recording that we may achieve as the final outcome for 2005-06.
In relation to any part of fees, taxes and charges, all taxes come under review each year at the time we go to work on the budget, and revenue works through all manner of taxes, fees and charges from the point of view of equity across the whole gamut of them, from the point of view of the impact they have on the economy, and recommend changes inside that budget process.
In relation to staffing, there will be no sackings, there will be no redundancies, there will be no wholesale slaughter within the public sector. However, it is true to say that numbers are higher across the public sector in general than have been the historic levels. It is also true that government carries a pretty healthy attrition rate, no doubt about that. I would have thought that, over time, this wave of increase that we have in the public sector will wash through and it will not be necessary to tap people on the shoulder, it will not be necessary to march people out the door or sack them or any other such thing. It will simply be a question of attrition washing through the system and more historic levels of numbers in the public service being restored over time.
Now, the opposition can run out the door and say there will be wholesale sackings. There will be no such thing. It is simply a matter of, over time, agencies returning to the more historic levels they have had before.
First Home Owners - Strong Growth in Housing Prices
Mr KIELY to TREASURER
Can the Treasurer advise the House if the strong growth in housing prices includes first home owners? Can the Treasurer also advise, what has the government done to help first home owners or those who are on lower incomes?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. It is a particularly apt question when the strength of the economy is so well reflected in the increased demand for homes and units, and, of course, the increased prices they are demanding in the market. It is terrific news if you are a home owner, a unit owner or an investor. However, you have to look at the other side as well. If you are a first home owner attempting to break into the market, that can be an insurmountable barrier. That is why this government has set in place extraordinarily generous arrangements for first home buyers and those buying the place they are going to live in, their principal place of residence.
We increased the stamp duty concession threshold for first home buyers. It was $80 000 when we came to office, it will now be $225 000, so you only pay stamp duty above the first $225 000 of the purchase price of your home if you are a first home buyer. We also introduced the principal place of residence concession for those buying their home, a stamp duty rebate of $2500. So far, 10 642 Territorians have accessed those benefits available under the concessions and rebates. In total, that is more than $27m that this government has put back into the pockets of Territorians buying their home since we came to power. To close that deposit gap, the government introduced the HomeNorth scheme, which has been enormously successful. It has put more Territorians into their own homes than ever before: 868 Territory households have accessed HomeNorth, with a total value of $158m. Importantly, 86% of those are loans to first home buyers.
Of all new entries to the housing market, first home buyers in the Territory account for a significantly larger share of the market than nationally. In 2005, the Territory’s first home buyers segment grew by an impressive 31.3% and also, of course, what that indicates and demonstrates is that home affordability in the Territory remains the best in Australia. Home affordability in the Northern Territory is rated at 54.4% in the home loan affordability index, which is 2.8% higher than the corresponding quarter last year. The national average is 31.3%. At this stage of the cycle at least we have been able to bring off both factors of the equation which were somewhat at odds with each other, and that is, in a rising, strong market we have been able to hold on to affordability as the best in the country but, at the same time, give that very necessary assistance to those first home owners struggling to get into the market.
Of course, that $27m which has gone back into the pockets of Territorians has all been spent on furnishings, fittings and fitting out, so that has been a great retail spend out of the government coffers and back into the hands of Territorians.
Northern Territory Economy – Debt Levels
Ms CARNEY to CHIEF MINISTER
I am sure the Chief Minister will recall the commissioning of Professor Percy Allan not long after Labor came to office in 2001. On 12 September 2001, Professor Allan said that, by June 2005, nett debt including employee liabilities would rise to $3.2bn. On 27 November 2001, in this place, did you not say that that level of debt was unsustainable? Is it not the case that, on your watch, debt has not only reached this unsustainable $3.2bn, but has passed it by millions and millions of dollars, now being over $3.6bn? Is it also not the case that the Treasury forecast this figure to be close to $4bn in only a couple of years?
By your standard, Labor’s position with respect to the budget is unsustainable. Are you a hypocrite, or are you just incompetent when it comes to managing the Territory’s money?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we are a developing jurisdiction and we will carry a level of debt. I have stood in this place, as the Treasurer has, and said, over the next two financial years we will add to our debt through manageable deficits because we are building a convention centre and infrastructure at the waterfront. Now, I do not back off that. It is a very specific target and it is manageable because in 2008-09 we will be back to a balanced budget.
The Opposition Leader can protest all she likes but she should include a few facts in her questions rather than suppositions. We have had supposition after supposition in opposition questions today.
The member for Blain, in his question, said we had some sort of secretive meeting last week. How can we take your questions seriously when you are dealing in paranoia?
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: The opposition is trying to prosecute a case that says our budget is in trouble. Our budget is not in trouble. In the last 12 months there were superannuation liabilities that have been reflected through accrual accounting in our budget. They are there. They need to be addressed over time, and we will do that. However, our budget is healthy. We have had three surplus budgets in a row, and the budget for this year is a $51m surplus. How can the opposition imply that somehow we are broke and in trouble, when we have surplus budgets, three in a row …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, would you please pause? I remind members of Standing Order 51, and I will be ensuring members are reminded of this. I will look at warnings in the future.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, 51 is a good standing order. $51m is the surplus for this year – Standing Order 51!
The Territory economy has just been assessed by Access Economics which takes a very good look at your spending, at your liabilities, and are saying to us, ‘Your economy is in good shape, it is about as good as it can get’. It is their reputation on the line. They are saying that about our economy. We have a balance between all the factors that impact on that budget and we are moving ahead. The only people you can find who are talking our budget down are those four in the opposition – the only ones we can find – we have scoured the Territory to find others, but all we can find is this four.
Ms CARNEY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Chief Minister well knows that she should not mislead this House. I refer her to page 7 of her mid-year financial report, detailing the increasing nett debt of the Northern Territory.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, there is no point of order.
Ms MARTIN: How can the Opposition Leader listen to my answer and say there are specifics about that increasing nett debt, which I have explained …
Mr Mills: Not very well, we do not understand.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Blain!
Ms MARTIN: … and that we will bring the budget into surplus by 2008-09, which we will do, and, over time, we will see that overall debt come down. It has gone up and down over the last few years, and we have strategically put money into the waterfront.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: I am proud of that.
I say, get your facts right, opposition, get your facts right. Understand budgets, understand accrual budgets. I know they are a bit tricky, but understand them, …
Ms Carney: No, they are in there in table form.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition!
Ms MARTIN: … and understand also that the economy is in good shape. And that is not me standing here saying it, it is our community, it is Access Economics. Talk to our community, if you can find time, because our businesses are busy being part of that expanding economy.
HomeNorth Extra Scheme – Regional Areas
Mr KNIGHT to MINISTER for HOUSING
Owning your own home in the Northern Territory is a dream of many Territorians, and also Australians. The HomeNorth Extra scheme has helped many Territorians achieve that goal. Can you advise the Chamber how the Martin Labor government is letting people living in regional areas know about the HomeNorth Extra scheme?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. I am happy to inform the House that the HomeNorth scheme is doing very well. It is very much alive and doing well south of the Berrimah Line. For the interests of people in Alice Springs, particularly the members for Braitling, Araluen and Greatorex, it is very significant to understand that the figures are up 33% on last year. I encourage people in Alice Springs and that area to increase that figure over time.
In regard to Katherine, there has been a significant doubling of those figures over the last 12 months. For the members for Nelson and Goyder, there has been a very significant 68% increase, which is very much a tribute to the scheme. As you will be aware, as a commitment as a result of the last election, we promised to raise the profile of HomeNorth and to extend that program into the regions, and we have started that. We started yesterday at Batchelor. Representatives of TIO and Territory Housing jointly will be visiting that community, and other communities throughout the Northern Territory, including Adelaide River, Pine Creek, Timber Creek, Mataranka, Katherine, Borroloola, Elliott, Tennant Creek, Ti Tree and Alice Springs.
In the 17 months since HomeNorth Extra has been revamped, and the Treasurer has already indicated the success of the program, there have been around 868 Territory homes being purchased through this scheme. Those people who live in the remote regions of the Northern Territory should avail themselves of this opportunity. Accordingly, we will be advertising the fact that they are visiting these communities in the local papers, the Northern Territory News, regional papers, libraries, school councils and television stations.
I believe it is a wonderful scheme. It is something which can enhance and grow the Territory, particularly those remote regions. I urge all Territorians to visit these seminars and promotional days. Most importantly, I ask all members of parliament throughout the Northern Territory to publicise this and, where possible, get on board and let us grow the Territory in the bush.
Youth Truancy Measures
Mrs BRAHAM to MINISTER for EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION and TRAINING
School has commenced for 2006, however, there are still a large number of children who have not returned to school, particularly in remote communities and on our town streets. Other states run campaigns. This notice is from Port Augusta: ‘The police will be called if school-aged youths enter this store and are unsupervised during school hours’. This one is from Kalgoorlie: ‘Truancy Patrol Notice – school-aged students in this store during school hours - the police will be called’. Your act says that a police officer or unauthorised person may escort a truant child back to school. Could you please advise who are the authorised persons under this act seeing as we no longer have an attendance officer, and will you run a campaign to get students back to school?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Braitling for her question. She does keep an eye on these issues. I also heard part of the debate over the last few days on radio around the Western Australian experience, where local shopkeepers were encouraged to, I suppose, hold the truant somehow until police or someone could be called to deal with it. It was rejected by a local shopkeeper here on the basis that they had plenty to do without undertaking the role of truant officer or police officer.
The School Attendance Officer program is undergoing some redesign. We had eight at one stage, they have not all gone. In fact, those that were proving most successful are still in place. We should have put a little more work into the design in the first place before we sent those eight attendance officers out. It really did not deliver across the board what we had hoped for, notwithstanding there were pockets of real success and, in some cases, they are still in place.
We also need to ensure that our schools are equipped and able to deal with these disengaged students coming back in, either from a very chequered background of education or no background at all. Schools must provide for all of the student cohort, including those who have had a very chequered educational career.
Under section 31 of the Education Act, it is currently police who are authorised persons by the CEO. The CEO, under that act, has not previously authorised any others in the community other than police. I imagine attendance officers would have been authorised by virtue of their position without that authority of the CEO.
However, there are a number of staff within the department who do connect the community with schools - alternative education programs, home liaison officers, Aboriginal Resource Officers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Workers, and it is a fair call, I believe, that the CEO could look upon the delegation or the authorisation under section 31 of the act for those sorts of people who are already in those positions employed by the department to carry that type of role, along with the attendance officers.
Mrs Braham: Who are they? Tell us.
Mr STIRLING: Who are they? Those sorts of people that might be authorised, as I just said. They could be the Aboriginal Resource Officer employed by the local school, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Worker, the home liaison officer, the …
Mrs Braham: What about remote communities?
Mr STIRLING: One or the other are all part of remote communities – the alternative education program people – all of those could well be deemed suitable to be authorised under that section 31. In addition to that consideration going on right now is the redesign of the attendance officer program. That will probably be completed by midyear to ensure we get the integration of the services not only to get the students to school, but we have more than half a chance keeping them there to receive a meaningful education. It might work in Port Augusta, it might work in Kalgoorlie.
However, I do not think the department or this government is looking to recruit many others in the community, whether they are storekeepers or whatever, to do this sort of work when there are probably enough people out there already, and it is simply a matter of the chief executive considering it and deciding whether they ought to be so delegated.
Antisocial Behaviour - NT Police Efforts
Ms ANDERSON to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
The rate of alcohol abuse, alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour has, historically, been too high across the Northern Territory. Can the minister please update the House on Northern Territory Police efforts to tackle this issue in Darwin and Alice Springs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Macdonnell for her question. Everybody in this House would recognise that the problem with alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour across the Northern Territory has been a big issue for many, many years. It is not just an issue for the Northern Territory Police. We all know there are many difficult, complex and underlying causes to this problem.
I would like to talk about the success the police have been having with a couple of operations recently because, as a government, we are attempting to tackle this problem with extra resources, new programs, stronger legislation, and this is all aimed at breaking the cycle of alcohol abuse, violence and antisocial behaviour. Too many of the perpetrators of this violence are repeat offenders with chronic problems with alcohol, and the new package of measures that the government is introducing is all aimed at breaking that cycle. The police are in the front-line of this campaign and they do a very difficult and dangerous job at all times.
In Darwin, patrolling the antisocial behaviour hot spots is best done by specially trained and equipped police officers. Government has announced we will spend $2.4m over the next four years to fund new public place patrols. These patrols are made up of 10 new Aboriginal Community Police Officers and new vehicles. Overall, this has boosted resources available to police to run dedicated and proactive patrols of public spaces.
In the first six weeks of the operation in Darwin, these new Aboriginal Community Police Officers, working with other general duties officers, are starting to make a significant impact. Here are the results in the first six weeks – more than 2700 people have been taken into protective custody to both the sobering-up shelters and the watch-house; more than 3000 litres of alcohol have been tipped out; and more than 7000 people have been moved on before offences were committed. We would all stand here aghast and horrified at those numbers. That is the extent of the underlying problem that has been there for many years, but now the police have the resources to be able to get in there and do the best they can with the legislation and resources they have available.
In Alice Springs, the rates of assaults and violent crime have been too high. It continues to be a major issue, and has been a major issue for many years when you look at the figures. As a result of our Building our Police Force plan, we have an extra 20 officers on the beat in Alice Springs, and a new a 10-member Personal and Domestic Violence Protection Unit was established in March last year as part of our Violent Crime Reduction Strategy. Those officers focus on repeat offenders and victims, and support families with a range of problems.
These units are in all the major centres and early results from Territory-wide figures show that since March 2005 there has been an increase of almost 70% in the number of domestic violence orders issues, and a 40.5% increase in charges against those who breach these orders. This is not an increase in activity; this is a dedicated focus of police resources attacking this issue which was pretty much untouched for many years.
The Territory Response Section officers are also being deployed to Alice Springs to work with local officers on targeted operations. The capacity for the TRS to get out across the Northern Territory is there because of the new extra 150-odd police officers in our police force as a result of the Building our Police Force program. The first operation with the TRS over the Christmas period achieved significant results in Alice Springs, including an 88% increase in the number of people taken into protective custody; a 47% drop in the reports of drunks on the streets; a 37% decrease in general disturbances; a 32% decrease in domestic disturbances; and 1330 litres of alcohol tipped out.
Police are going to run a further campaign with the TRS in March in Alice Springs to coincide with the football season. Police are also considering their campaign against the trafficking, supply and abuse of alcohol, drugs and other substances, including petrol. The newly-formed Substance Abuse Intelligence Desk in Alice Springs, which has only been up and running a few weeks, has already achieved four arrests, one summons, 17 drug-related charges laid, four drug infringement notices issued, 985 grams of cannabis seized; $2500 in cash; and one motor vehicle restrained.
We should all remember that the police are at the front-line of a very difficult job across the Northern Territory. They have been given the extra resources, the additional legislation, and they are starting to make a difference. However, we all know that this issue is much more than a police issue, but we are working on those and other areas. I commend police officers for doing a magnificent job across the Northern Territory.
Budget Position
Ms CARNEY to CHIEF MINISTER
I ask, in the first instance, could she be honest, just for a moment.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, withdraw those comments.
Ms CARNEY: I will withdraw that, Madam Speaker.
Is it not the case, and will you admit, that debt in the Northern Territory is at unprecedented levels, and that your aborted attempts to sell the TIO was an attempt - a desperate attempt at that - to grab some cash? Is it not also the case, that your Treasurer - that bloke on your right - has publicly admitted that the budget will remain in deficit until 2008-09, with the budget deficit ballooning to over $4bn?
Ms Martin: What is the question, Madam Speaker?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, government members!
Ms CARNEY: Chief Minister, you have lied to Territorians ...
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, you will withdraw.
Ms CARNEY: Madam Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent this House from censuring the government for:
- (1) its chronic mismanagement of the Territory’s budget and finances in times of plenty,
- (2) irresponsibly amplifying an economic …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, can we just find out whether the Leader of Government Business is going to accept the censure motion. While that is happening, I would like the cameras to stop filming at this point.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, because this is a censure motion, we look forward to participating in the debate because, to try to run a conspiracy theory about numbers that are in the budget papers - bring it on. We will take this censure motion on, and look forward to putting the arguments against the opposition because, really, they are clutching at straws.
[Editor’s Note: Question Time ceased due to the moving of a censure motion.]
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016