2005-11-30
REDIRECTION OF QUESTIONS
Minister For Housing
Minister For Housing
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, the Minister for Local Government, the member for Barkly, will be absent for the rest of the day as he has to attend a very important funeral in his electorate. I advise the House that I will be taking questions directed to the Minister for Housing, and Local Government.
Public Service Numbers
Ms CARNEY to CHIEF MINISTER
The Public Service Commissioner has traditionally reported fortnightly on details as to the total number of Territory public servants. The report details public service numbers including those on limited tenure or contract on a department-by-department basis. Is the Public Service Commissioner still providing this report and, if not, why not? If the Public Service Commissioner is still providing this service, can you provide the House with copies of those reports for the past 12 months up to last week?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the question is probably more appropriately put to the minister with carriage, which is the Minister for Public Employment. As far as I know, the Public Service Commissioner’s Office was supplying regular updates on numbers in the public sector, full-time equivalents, FTEs. If the minister has anything further to add on that, I would be happy to pass the question to him. I can certainly get the answer for you during Question Time.
Dr BURNS (Public Employment): Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition’s question might relate to a news report that a newsagency rang the commissioner seeking numbers that were not forthcoming at that particular time. I am not sure of the reason for that. However, as far as I am aware, those numbers are still regularly published and I will endeavour to get them for the Leader of the Opposition.
National Nuclear Waste Facility
Mr KNIGHT to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you inform the House of the latest developments regarding the federal government’s national nuclear dump being forced on to the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, a most relevant question today because, as the member for Daly well knows, there were three sites in the Northern Territory arbitrarily chosen by the federal government for a nuclear waste facility. The member for Daly has recently visited one of those at Fisher’s Ridge, which is in the Katherine region. He went with the landowners, Mr and Mrs Utley. It is very possible that the Utleys, without realising it was ever going to happen, might have a nuclear waste facility on the small piece of Defence land on their property. This has happened without consultation and without any scientific basis to the choice of that piece of land.
The Fisher’s Ridge site is geologically unstable. As the member for Daly told me, it has great big sink holes in it the size of basketball stadium. This is the arbitrary decision that the federal government has made to say ‘that is a piece of land that we could put a nuclear waste facility on’, with large sink holes that you could put a basketball stadium in.
We have the committee report from the Senate on this particular bill which they released yesterday. I would just like to, with the House’s forbearance, give you an example of how that land was actually chosen. There is a grab in here from a minority report about the conversation Senator Crossin had with an official from the Department of Defence. She was arguing hard and standing up for the Territory, and asked the official:
- Senator Crossin: Are you saying that the site selection was done with advisors? Are you saying that it is predominantly Department of Defence officials?
The official: It is mainly officials, yes.
Senator Crossin: Mainly officials from the Department of Defence?
The official: Yes.
Senator Crossin: So there was no one else with a nuclear science or an environmental science background?
The official: My section have credentials in those areas.
Senator Crossin: I take it from that, that it might have been external advice from outside your department?
The official: No, we did not have a panel of external advisors.
This is the rubbish decision that we have seen the federal government take about selecting sites in the Northern Territory. An example is Fisher’s Ridge and the Utley’s property, geologically unstable, and with great big sink holes in it.
Going to the Senate committee just demonstrated how absurd this whole process was. We made a very strong submission to the Senate committee and based that on science not politics, and that Territorians should be treated equally with those in other States of Australia. A total of 13 000 Territorians put their name to either slips or a petition arguing very strongly that this should not just be dumped on the Northern Territory, and that there should be science not politics, and we should not be treated as second-class citizens.
It is interesting when you look at the government Senators’ report. They actually had these recommendations at the end of their report. They did say ‘pass the bill’ but let me say what they recommended before they said ‘pass the bill’. They said that the process of selecting of a site was ‘Not the usual way of proceeding’. Too right! Not the usual way of proceeding. It did not take a rocket scientist to work that out. Even the government majority report says it is not the usual way of going about this. It is not as though we are selecting the site for a clothesline. We have the federal government selecting the site for a nuclear waste facility for low-level and intermediate nuclear waste. The Senate committee said it is not the usual way. They also said: ‘Well, the federal government had been frustrated by the states and they had no other course of action’. No other course of action except to pick on a constitutionally weak part of Australia and tell the Territory we could possibly have a nuclear waste facility on geologically unstable land.
Their next point says Australia needs a radioactive waste repository. That is a fact of life; yes, we do. However, in the final one, the committee called on the states to urgently reconsider their positions. It really admits, in relation to a nuclear waste facility, that this whole process has been a joke. The minority report also said that: ‘Go back to square one; look at the science. Do not do the politics of this; look at the science and let us all work together to do it’.
I thank the minority report writers. They made sense; they truly reflected the kind of arguments put before them. I thank Senator Trish Crossin for all her work, and the other members of the Democrats and the Greens for their support as well.
As a final point, Madam Speaker, I thank the members of the Territory community who went to Canberra and made that effort to put in submissions and appeared before the inquiry. However, in stark contrast was the Country Liberal Party. Senator Scullion did not even turn up; he was in Brisbane. There were no submissions from the parliamentary wing of the CLP or the CLP itself ...
Ms Carney: Give us some more resources and we might have got to it. Give us some more money!
Ms MARTIN: Not a submission! Not even three lines saying: ‘We do not support this dump’ - nothing. I say to the CLP there is one last test here ...
Ms Carney: Give us better resources and we will do it; we will do everything you want.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: One last test. The only way we can see this piece of legislation that totally wipes out what we do here in this parliament fail is for Nigel Scullion, as a Senator for the Northern Territory, to cross the floor and vote this bill down. That is the challenge for the Country Liberal Party in the Territory.
Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment – Failure to Submit Annual Report
Ms CARNEY to MINISTER for PLANNING and LANDS
Last year, your department blew its budget by around $60m. Your department, of course, is responsible for the waterfront development, as well as the hand back of the Territory’s parks estate. Your major department still has not handed down its annual report, unlike the dozens of others which have been in the last few days as, indeed, others were towards the end of the last parliamentary sittings. Does your department have a nasty shock in store for Territorians and is this why you are delaying the release of your annual report until the last possible moment? What are you hiding?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question. The report has been printed; it is on its way to this Assembly. No, there is nothing to hide within that report. I endorse that report. The Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment is a very hardworking department and has a lot of responsibilities. I endorse the hard work done by the members of that department - hardworking public servants.
The member for Araluen, the Opposition Leader, talked about a budget blow-out. I presume she is referring to what is contained in the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report 2004-05. Indeed, there was a variation of $41m in the May published estimate and the final pre-budget. That was approximately $41m. If she turns to page 112 of this particular document, she will see laid out in detail exactly where these variations came from.
Whilst there are some ins and outs in there, from one side of the ledger to the other, the main elements that comprise this $41m are, firstly, strategic asset planning fund to assist agencies to develop long-term asset plans. There is $2m as an investment in the infrastructure spend we have as a government, which has been at record levels both in the total infrastructure spend and the cash behind it. This is all about gearing up departments to be able to effectively spend and plan for that infrastructure spending.
The Leader of the Opposition talked about public servants before. Does she want us to do away with the $1.2m, 2004 Public Sector EBA? There was nearly $3.8m in a legal settlement. We have $6m-plus for capital funding for beef roads - quite defensible. I hope that she would be talking to Stuart Kenny about that $6m invested in beef roads being some sort of an unnecessary blow-out. Also, there is an $18m increase in capital works funding to progress capital projects. These are very important funding initiatives.
Whilst the member for Araluen talked about the waterfront project, I happened to be at a meeting today of business people who have an interest in doing work on the waterfront project. I am sure they would appreciate if the member for Araluen stopped knocking that particular project, with over $100m of investment ...
Members interjecting.
Ms CARNEY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister knows that he should not lie to this parliament. We are on the Parliamentary Record as fully supporting the project.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Leader of the Opposition well knows she cannot accuse any member of this parliament of lying without doing so by way of substantive motion. I call on her to retract that offensive remark.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I ask you to withdraw that last comment.
Ms CARNEY: I do withdraw it, Madam Speaker, and say that the minister should stop telling mistruths.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, if you believe you have been misrepresented, you may approach me to make a personal explanation. Please continue.
Dr BURNS: Anyway, Madam Speaker, I will wrap up the answer. I believe I have demonstrated amply, through the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report, there has been no budget blow-out. This is $40m that has been well invested. The Leader of the Opposition has been talking about a $100m blow-out. This is all part of budgetary processes. It is money well spent and invested in the development of the Northern Territory.
Northern Territory Economy
Mr BONSON to TREASURER
Yesterday, the opposition tried to talk down the Territory economy. They said that the economy was in decline, the budget in trouble, and the wolves were gathering at the door. In short, they said that the Territory’s sky is falling in. Has the Treasurer seen today’s figures which confirm the opposition’s view, or has the Treasurer received information that proves the opposition does not know what is happening in the Territory today?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Honourable members, I would really like you to stop interjecting. I remind you of the comments I made in the previous sittings regarding interjections.
ANSWER
Mr STIRLING: Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Millner for his question. It is a pity the Leader of the Opposition was not at the economic summit because she would have shared some of the great news stories that are circulating around the Territory at the moment, that is alluded to by my colleague.
Yesterday, the opposition again chose to attack the Territory government’s handling of the economy on the very day that the Sensis Yellow Pages demonstrated the Territory’s small business is the most confident in the whole of Australia. That is a spectacular piece of timing. That is a spectacular piece of timing by the opposition to attack the government on the same day that the Sensis comes forward with such great news.
They are continuing these arguments again today, on the very day that the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals strong growth in retail trade and continuing historically high levels of construction work right across the Northern Territory. The ABS stats reveal, in the year to October 2005, retail trade up 4.9%. This compares to 2.7% nationally. Who is doing well here? That is the growth rates coming off an already very high level of growth throughout the previous year to October 2004, and it is still growing.
In addition, the ABS today has published the construction work done to September series, and it shows what really can only be described as a stunning result for the Northern Territory. Year-on-year result to September 2005: residential work done increased by 24.2%; non-residential work increased 19.8%; total building done, 22.5%; total engineering done, 13.6%; total construction up by 15.5%. A great result across the board.
If you add the known figures of 9.9% growth in motor vehicle sales to the year September 2005 off a very high and increasing high base since 2002, and a population growth showing positive interstate migration into the Territory first time in six years, you can see just how off the mark the CLP is. I urge the Leader of the Opposition that next time there is an opportunity such as an economic summit she should be there; she might learn some of this.
Irrkerlantye Learning Centre – Closure
Mr MILLS to MINISTER for EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION and TRAINING
You recently announced the closure of Irrkerlantye Learning Centre because, according to you, students were not meeting benchmarks in reading and mathematics. As the education union has pointed out, this is nonsense and, if it was true, and based on your criteria, more than 100 Territory schools will also be closed. Is it not true that these children are, in fact, victims of your government mismanagement of the economy and this is simply a disgraceful attempt at saving a few dollars?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question - woefully misdirected though it is, and the claims therein. This is not a school, as I said before; it is a learning program that has existed since about 1997 in one form or another. As I went through earlier today, it was originally entitled ‘Detour’ which implies a detour from the mainstream, and then you rejoined the mainstream. That is exactly the way the member for Greatorex described it this morning, and apparently supported as a policy by the CLP when they were in government in 1997 - one of their few attempts at an alternative provision of education for indigenous students.
Much as been made of the failure to reach our benchmarks by the students at Irrkerlantye. That is only part of the reason. These are woefully inadequate facilities in which to educate our young children, our future leaders for those people of Central Australia. In fact, when you look at the cohort there, they are some of the most disadvantaged children in the whole of the Alice Springs region. This government has a responsibility for all kids right across the Territory, whether they are government or non-government. We have an even greater responsibility to do whatever we can when those kids come from such a disadvantaged background as they do. We are failing in our responsibility, and would have continued to fail in our responsibility, to provide the absolute best possible education we can as long as Irrkerlantye remained.
Recruitment of Nurses to the Territory
Mr NATT to MINISTER for HEALTH
We know there is a worldwide shortage of nurses. Can you tell the House what this government is doing to attract nurses in the Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I had great pleasure in going out to the Royal Darwin Hospital - in fact, to the hospice - to announce the successful recruitment of some 90 graduate nurses from courses within the CDU and other courses here in the Northern Territory. Out of a total of 90 nurses, 60 are going to Darwin, 20 to Alice Springs Hospital, and the others to Tennant Creek and Katherine.
That is a fantastic sign that our nursing training courses here in the Northern Territory are maturing and starting to produce nurses on a scale that is going to make a big difference to actual maintenance of our nursing numbers here in the Northern Territory. If we can get that scale of nurses off our undergraduate courses, then we will more than keep up with the loss of nurses year by year that is intrinsic to that particular profession. Many nurses like to travel with their professional qualification, so there is a turnover.
Additional to those graduate nurses, we are also now getting the results of the overseas recruitment drive that saw two of our health professional go to London and Ireland. Forty-six nurses have now been offered jobs in our system; 25 of them are going to Alice Springs. Alice Springs now has 45 nurses of which 25 are experienced nurses with specialist qualifications. That is a pretty good output from recruitment efforts. There are 13 of those experienced nurses going into Darwin, and the rest will find a job within the other hospitals in our hospital system.
It is a difficult challenge for us to keep up the numbers as nurses leave our system. They are not leaving, by and large, because of the conditions that we offer; because our EBA is very competitive. However, nurses leave for different reasons and they do so every year and have for the last 20 to 30 years - well before we came to power. What we have to do is to keep the recruitment effort up so that we are making up the numbers up to our establishment positions within the health system. This year, with over 130 nurses recruited, we are well on the way to maintaining our nurse numbers.
Licensing Commission - Alice Springs Representation
Mrs BRAHAM to the MINISTER for RACING, GAMING and LICENCING
As you know, the question of liquor licence applications is always of great interest to the general public; particularly the citizens of the Centre. Could you explain to the people of Alice Springs why there is only one representative from Alice Springs on the Licensing Commission that has a membership of eight? Does this mean that decisions for Alice Springs will be made by a panel, the majority of whom will not live in the town?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Braitling for her question. The Licensing Commission has undergone somewhat of a restructure recently. One of the issues we have in Alice Springs is a difficulty in people putting up their hand for tasks such as that. Given that there is only one member from Alice Springs and that sometimes there are one-person hearings and at other times three-person hearings, I would imagine if there was just one person from Alice Springs on the commission, then there would be others from other parts of the Territory.
Mrs Braham: If they were all from Alice Springs and only one from Darwin ...
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mrs Braham: … you would get the same complaint, minister!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling! The minister is trying to answer your question!
Mrs Braham: Is he? Oh, okay.
Mr Kiely: Some of us want to hear!
Mr STIRLING: The commission does not work quite like the High Court in terms of majority decision. They work through the issues …
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: This is all true, too.
They work through the issues and seek to arrive at a consensus decision on the merits of the argument before them. Therefore, it is not: ‘Oh those Darwin people are outvoting Alice Springs and telling us what to do’. It does not operate in that fashion. Whether it is a Katherine, Nhulunbuy or a Tiwi Island issue, it is treated on its merits and the arguments for and against on the issue that is before them. I support the member for Braitling’s position in putting this forward. I would like to see more people from Alice Springs on the commission and, in time, perhaps we can achieve that. However, it has been difficult to attract quality people with a good background in Alice Springs to put their hand up. We have a good one now. If we can increase that in the future, we will.
Irrkerlantye Learning Centre - Closure
Mr MILLS to the MINISTER for EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT and TRAINING
You closed Irrkerlantye Learning Centre without consultation or a review. A comprehensive report done by the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health completed in September 2005 just before your decision described the Learning Centre as: ‘A revolutionary model for indigenous empowerment’. The evaluation found that the Irrkerlantye Learning Centre was making significant contribution to the employment and wellbeing of the Eastern and Central Arrernte people. This centre has attracted national support. I seek leave, Madam Speaker, to table this report for the benefit of all honourable members.
Leave granted.
Mr MILLS: Minister, have you read this report? How many of your colleagues have been provided with this report and have read it? Have you instructed Senator Crossin and Warren Snowdon to silence their criticism and support your decision?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. If only I could, Madam Speaker! However, I do not tell either of the federal Senators or the member for Lingiari what they should think on a particular aspect such as this one we have before us.
I have not read that report but, if the report is talking about Irrkerlantye, there are a whole range of programs - some with terrific outcomes- at that centre. However, to say that in the learning centre - that is, the 15 to 16 primary school kids who go on a daily basis – there is a lack of learning and it is contributing to employment outcomes, ain’t true. It ain’t true! They are talking, I would imagine, about the centre overall, and the sorts of programs such as the art that goes on there - there are some fabulous artworks there – is and would have a direct impact on employment and incomes for those people. However, to put such a grandiose claim that the learning centre activity - that is, those primary school children - is contributing to their future employment is a long bow. In fact, I have been very distressed at the learning outcomes. That is, in fact, part of the reason for my decision to transfer these students across.
Mrs Braham: Are you going to produce those outcomes for us to see?
Mr STIRLING: As I said this morning, the program has undergone a number of changes over the years since it was introduced in 1997. However, it was very clear that it was set up as a secondary program in its initial stages in 1997, as an alternative education provision for secondary kids who were either disengaged or had not been at school, as a way of getting them back into secondary schooling and training en route to vocational training and employment. A claim such as leading to employment outcomes may - may - have been factual up to about 2002-03 when the secondary kids stopped coming and it became a primary learning unit. Such claims around employment are simply not based on fact. As I said, that may relate to other programs that operate through the centre, none of which are impacted upon by this decision to close the learning centre, which is only one element of what occurs at Irrkerlantye, and affects those 15 to 18 kids directly.
Avian Influenza Outbreak Simulation
Mr KNIGHT to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY and FISHERIES
Earlier today, you announced the national simulation of the avian influenza outbreak in Australia has commenced. Can you outline how this simulation will assist in testing the Territory’s preparedness to deal with a major animal disease outbreak, should it ever occur in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. As members are aware, in the past 12 months we have seen an epidemic of avian influenza in Asia with thousands of birds being infected and the infection spreading to Europe. We have seen about 64 people die in Asia from the avian influenza. However, that was not the first time that avian influenza was detected. The first time it was detected was in 1997 when 18 people were infected in Hong Kong and six of them died.
Of course, our proximity to Asia makes us very vulnerable, and the Territory is taking part in Exercise Eleusis to test our preparedness should the disease reach our shores. We are part of a national table top exercise simulating an outbreak of avian influenza. While the Territory is not infected, according to the exercise, we have a number of scenarios. Yesterday, we had a freight plane with 16 000 chickens that we had to deal with because, under the exercise, the Territory was quarantined. Today we had to deal with a number of dead birds in Kakadu.
Such exercises are very important, because we can test and prepare ourselves for what can happen, and also learn from our counterparts in other states, and also teach our counterparts a few lessons. This morning, I found out that nobody in the southern states has actually considered disseminating information about the avian influenza to people of non-English speaking backgrounds, or dealing with the Aboriginal communities that live up north. Our department identified that issue and notified their counterparts in other states.
We participate in many other exercises. Exercise Minotaur was another one that took place. For the record, I have to say that, even though Exercise Eleusis is a Greek name, it had nothing to do with me; it was selected by a bureaucrat in Canberra. Eleusis or Elefsis is the name of a city in Greece, one of the oldest cities in the world - 3000 years old. It has the temple of Goddess Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, so it was very appropriate for an agricultural-based exercise to have such a name.
The reality is that we have been fortunate. We do not have an outbreak or an infection in the Northern Territory. The department has tested a number of dead poultry provided by residents, none of which was infected by the avian influenza virus.
During this exercise, we also provided training for overseas visitors. We were very fortunate to have two doctors from Sabah, Malaysia. They were here to attend a microbiology course, and they attended the exercise as observers and were very happy they were here at this particular time because they can take this expertise back to Malaysia.
Accountable Officers’ Trust Account
Ms CARNEY to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
The Auditor-General undertook a compliance audit of the Department of Justice, as detailed in page 20 in your department’s annual report which was tabled during the last sittings. Is it not true that over $6000 from the Accountable Officers’ Trust Account was unreconciled; in other words, it went missing? Do you know what happened to that money? Also, why where there no fraud control arrangements in place for that trust account?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, if the member is referring to the Auditor-General’s end of year Agency Compliance Audit, page 20 - is that what you said? I presume so, from your silence. The Auditor-General’s Compliance Audit found that the department’s accounting and control systems were satisfactory, with the exception of an unreconciled item in the Accountable Officer’s Trust Account and in debt collection.
Regarding the unreconciled item, which I believe is the one you are referring to, it refers to a discrepancy between the Prisoner Money Management System, or PMMS, and the Government Accounting System. The PMMS is a database that records income and expenditure for the prisoners who are held in custody in Darwin and Alice Springs Correctional Centres, and it was first installed in November 1999. Since its installation, the system has not been able to be reconciled due to several technical problems. There are in excess of 5000 transactions per month at each site, and a majority of these transactions are processed by manual data entry.
In January 2005, an upgrade to the system was effected, and at this point it was identified that the prisoners’ balances report from PMMS was providing incorrect data. In short, this means that the department has been attempting to match an incorrect PMMS figure with the Government Accounting System, or GAS.
Recently, an officer was taken off-line for a period of four weeks to reconcile the system. The officer was able to complete a fully reconciled statement between PMMS and GAS from the period 1 July 2005 to 31 July 2005. It is possible that some prisoners may have been adversely affected by the problems; however it is also possible that some prisoners might have received more money than they should have. A number of refinements have been identified and are currently being scoped within the system programmers to stage an implementation resolution to the problem over the next three months or so.
Industrial Relations Reforms
Mr BURKE to MINISTER for PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
The industrial relations debate is occurring right across the country. In a recent advertisement in the Northern Territory News, the federal government claimed that it would enshrine in law minimum conditions of employment. How accurate is this claim and how is the new legislation likely to affect ordinary hardworking Territorians?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Brennan for his question. I know he maintains very active interests in industrial relations matters.
Before I answer that particular question, I would like to give some information to the Opposition Leader on the question that she asked earlier today of the Chief Minister which was then was given to me about full-time equivalent positions in the Northern Territory Public Sector. I have been advised the current but unpublished figures show an average full-time equivalent, or FTE, in the Northern Territory Public Sector staffing for the September quarter 2005 at 15 815, an increase of 61 since the previous quarter, and of 591 in the 12 months since the September quarter 2004. I hope that answers the question for the member for Araluen.
Turning to the question from the member for Brennan, yes, there have been newspaper advertisements running in the Northern Territory News placed by the federal government. It is fair to say that those advertisements are not completely truthful. The bill currently before the federal parliament sets out five minimum conditions: an hourly rate of $12.75 per hour for adults; 38 ordinary hours; annual leave with no loading; personal leave or carers leave requiring a certificate for every absence; and unpaid parental leave. There is not a single entitlement or right in the package that did not already exist. These minimum conditions are well below those currently enjoyed by the vast majority of Territory workers.
Where this legislation is heading is taking away the powers from the independent umpire, which is the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. The federal government also claims that its legislation will protect award conditions such as the following: rest breaks; incentive-based payments and bonuses; annual leave loading; public holidays; allowances; weekend and shiftwork loadings; penalty rates; and outworker conditions.
The reality is quite different. The bill prescribes that these conditions that I have just mentioned are taken to form part of an agreement, and I quote:
- … subject to any terms of the workplace agreement that expressly exclude or modify all or part of them.
That is the nub of it because, in other words, an agreement only needs to contain a clause that removes the so-called protected award entitlements that I have just mentioned and they disappear. What do they disappear from? An Australian Workplace Agreement. I had a bit to say about them yesterday. Anything above the minimum standards will prove almost impossible for Territory workers on these AWAs to retain. That is why the Prime Minister refuses to guarantee that workers’ pay and conditions will not be reduced.
Madam Speaker, I believe these proposed changes are unAustralian and they are certainly anti-worker. Once again, I call on CLP’s Senator Scullion to oppose them in the Senate.
Government Architect – Retainer and Consultation
Mr WOOD to CHIEF MINISTER
Your government has employed a so-called NT Architect on a retainer, originally to work on the waterfront project. What has he been doing for this retainer and how much is the retainer? Could you also say what consultation he has had with the community - not just the business community.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I will answer part of this question but, as the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport has carriage of this position, I will pass the rest of the question to him.
We appointed the government architect after a lot of consultation with the community – when was that? About 18 months ago, two years ago. His name is Bob Nation and his task is to be involved, in both a pubic and private sense, in looking at the architectural qualities of what we are building. Quite conveniently, the waterfront came up and he has played a crucial role in being part of the assessment of the waterfront proposals, giving advice to those doing the architecture of various sections of that, and in the final result that we are seeing emerge. Bob Nation’s contribution has been terrific. He also does public lectures and is a much respected architect, both in Australian and internationally. I am confident in saying that Territory architects are delighted to have him on board.
Regarding what he is paid, I do not know whether the minister can add to this. He is paid on a daily rate. I cannot remember what the sum is at this stage, but we can get that sum for you. We were the only part of Australia who did not have a government architect. We were heavily lobbied, particularly by the architectural community, to say we need one. It certainly can offer that expertise to the debate about what we are building and how we are building which is really important. We appointed an architect after an expressions of interest process and were delighted that we have the man we call colloquially ‘Bob the Builder’ on board.
Capital Works Program – Territory Economy
Mr MILLS to TREASURER
Prior to the election you promised to seal the Mereenie Loop Road, construct the Desert Knowledge Project, build a high school in Palmerston, and a number of other things. The Desert Knowledge Project has been shelved; the Mereenie has stalled; and you will not be building the high school in Palmerston in the immediate future. Please convince us that the holding back of these projects has nothing to do with the problem with cash in the Territory economy through your administration.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. We certainly dealt, in part, with the Palmerston School this morning. I explained how we had made a commitment well in advanced of any commitment, or even any thought at that time when we made that commitment, that we would commission a major review of secondary education. We did not, of course, know at that time that that review would come back with such a strong focus on middle schools approach. Nor did we know that the community was so strongly concerned about middle schools years they identified as those Years 7, 8 and 9, and nor could we know that the consultative process has allowed us to discover that the school community and parents are very strongly engaged and supportive around a middle schools approach.
Having done all of that work, been given a direction forward supported by the community, it did not seem to make sense then to go on with the commitment to a high school which was not going to fit very well with a middle school’s approach, with the structural changes that are going to be required in order to get a proper middle schooling process in place which is so strongly supported by the community.
Nonetheless, having made the decision that we would not proceed with the new secondary school in Palmerston, we committed immediately to the expenditure of that $10m which was against that proposed school on the capital works. We committed every cent of that to Palmerston schools. Okay, they are not getting the high school which had been a commitment, but they are getting $10m worth of necessary expenditure, I would have thought, right across Palmerston schools - $2m that we have already talked about committed to Woodroffe and Durack. That leaves $8m, and discussion with the school communities in and around Palmerston will take place to ensure that the very necessary infrastructure spend is spent where it is most needed and where it will drive the dollar for value in educational outcomes.
There is no loss of commitment for the Desert People’s Centre. I think it stands at $27m or $28m ...
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: $32.5m I think was the last …
Dr Toyne: No, $30m.
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: We will stop at $30m. I accept $30m; the bid is closed. The commitment is there to spend that $30m. There has been some back to stakeholders and further work and refinements in and around design but that commitment is there and that project will go ahead. Government is a strong believer in the value of the Desert People’s Centre going forward.
The work continues to roll out on the Mereenie Loop Road. My colleague would be able to give a more complete answer in and around that. I understand it has a $10m commitment against it for this next financial year.
None of these projects, with the exception of the Palmerston school, are off. They are all continuing, albeit with some delays and some design changes around the fringes.
NT Police Force – Violent Crime Reduction Strategy
Ms ANDERSON to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
The government has increased its investment in the police force. Can you tell the House whether NT Police is using the extra funding to tackle crime in our community?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Macdonnell for her question. All of us in this Assembly are interested in seeing a safer Northern Territory community. As I have said many times here, this government has made a great commitment to building a safer Northern Territory community over the last term of office, and that commitment will continue over the next term.
We have invested an extra $75m over the last four years to see an extra 200 police employed across the Northern Territory. That commitment continues to roll out. We have an extra 137 police on the beat with 63 more on the way. What that has done, in conjunction with the work our commissioner has done, has seen a 50% reduction in property crime figures across the Northern Territory, the greatest reduction of any state in Australia.
There is always more to be done. One of the concerns of the government was that we were not seeing similar decreases in violent crime. To strengthen that response, police launched a violent crime reduction strategy in November last year. Domestic Violence Units in Darwin and Alice Springs were restructured, and new Domestic and Personal Violence Protection Units were set up in Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. These are dedicated police officers to this particular task. Under the intelligence-led policing model endorsed and implemented by the commissioner, these units were responsible for targeting repeat and recidivous offenders.
The Darwin and Alice Springs units are staffed with 10 investigators and one lawyer each, whilst the Tennant Creek and Katherine units have two dedicated investigators each. These are detectives, senior police officers, backed up by lawyers who are working full-time to reduce the incidence of domestic violence and targeting repeat offenders. These units also liaise with other government agencies with a precipitative aim of reducing breaches of domestic violence orders and related violence.
I also advise that one of the results that we have had to date is that every single incident is audited and applied to evidence-related strategies. One year on, we have seen some early success. There has been a 70% increase in breaches of domestic violence orders between January and September 2005, compared to the same period in 2004. What that is saying is that the women who are the victims of this repeat offence across the Territory are showing their confidence in the police being able to deal with perpetrators by actually reporting the breaches whereas, previously, sadly on many occasions, there was not that confidence to report those breaches. Now, they know the police will take action so they are able to do that with confidence.
Last sittings as well, the government amended the Domestic Violence Act to give authorised police officers the power to issue domestic violence restraining orders in certain circumstances. The police are also being proactive in recognising the delay inherent in the legal system on occasions in being able to access those orders. We have responded with legislation. This is a government and a police force that is absolutely committed to reducing the incidence of domestic violence and abuse of women and children across the Northern Territory.
Compare the actions of this government in giving the police the resources and the legislative tools to do their job with the gutter politics and cheap grandstanding from the Leader of the Opposition on this particular issue. In debate earlier here today, she made an outrageous, contentious allegation against the entire indigenous male population of the Northern Territory on a very sensitive issue. I will read the quote from the Leader of the Opposition because it is probably one of the most extreme things that I have ever heard stated in this particular parliament ...
Ms Carney: Is this the best you have? This is the best you have for not standing for women and children. Unbelievable. You are truly pathetic!
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … and an extremely offensive quote from the Leader of the Opposition. This is what the Leader of the Opposition had to say earlier this morning.
Ms Carney: And you were the one who politicised domestic violence last sittings.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition does not like it.
Ms Carney: No, it is just that we do not like you because you are such a grub!
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: If she is proud of these words …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition! Minister, please resume your seat. Leader of the Opposition, I ask you to withdraw.
Ms CARNEY: I withdraw ‘grub’, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I also ask you that you cease interjecting.
Ms Carney: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, if she is proud of these words she will not mind me repeating them. She quoted this morning and these are from the Hansard rushes:
- You know what indigenous men say to violence? They say: ‘Rip into it and we will beat our women, and we will rape our women, because nothing is being done, we are protected by the law’. This mob does not even care about it.
This was not a targeted statement; this was a generic slur on the entire male indigenous population of the Northern Territory. If the Leader of the Opposition had any decency, she would correct the record. She would correct the record and …
Ms Carney: Yes, and you would support the legislation, you lot.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … actually apologise to the tens of thousands of decent Aboriginal men out there who do not commit acts of domestic violence, or violence of any kind.
This is an issue that we are all absolutely concerned about, and all of us, as legislators and parliamentarians, should be doing our best to work effectively to improve the circumstances of victims of domestic violence. Cheap political stunts as portrayed by the Leader of the Opposition this morning do not embellish that cause whatsoever. If the Leader of the Opposition has any credibility at all, she will retract that statement and make the apology.
In the meantime, we will continue getting on with the job of getting our police force the resources to do the job across the Northern Territory and see those incidences of violet crime reduced across the Territory.
Araluen and Katherine Cultural Precincts
Mrs MILLER to TREASURER
The Araluen Cultural Precinct is forced to close on Sundays. Next year’s theatre season has been halved and other programming is at risk, and the airconditioning needs attention. The minister said that she would intervene if necessary. Treasurer, it is necessary. Will you confirm that additional funds will be made available to Araluen? Will you also guarantee that your government will adequately cover and fund the Katherine Cultural Precinct? Or are these cultural precincts, which play such an important role in regional areas, to suffer as a result of your mismanagement of the Territory’s finances?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, Treasurer I am, and very proud to be Treasurer of the Northern Territory. However, these relate to a range of matters in the Arts portfolio. I refer them to the minister responsible for Natural Resources, Environment and The Arts, fondly referred to NRETA.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I thank the Treasurer for giving me this question. I pick up on the first point that the member for Katherine talked about, the proposed closure for Sundays. There has been authorisation, and there will be closures beginning from 24 December 2005 through to 9 January 2006. That has been agreed as that is the time when visitor numbers are quite low and a lot of those staff members - there are casual and full-time staff - are on holidays. There is that agreed closure.
Regarding Sunday - and I notice the member for Araluen did an adjournment on this last night and said that I was not aware of it - something in relation to the closure that was not authorised and that has not been agreed to is the Sunday closure. We are working with management. It is something that is an issue within the department for which we are looking at our priorities. Funding levels are, as always - as the member for Katherine is well aware of - a matter of balancing competing priorities. As I said, I am working with my department to look at the ongoing funding and planning, not just for Araluen, but the whole of the Arts and Museums area, in a more strategic way - which the CLP did not do in all the years that they were looking after this centre - to get better leverage from available funding.
Adelaide River Railway Station Pedestrian Crossing
Mr WOOD to CHIEF MINISTER
You recently responded to a petition from the member for Daly in the negative to a simple request to allow for a pedestrian crossing at the Adelaide River Railway Station. You said it was not supported by the owner of the railway and it would encourage vehicles to stop on the highway side of the railway. Considering that a pedestrian crossing has possibly been at that spot since 1888, at least 1941 and, surely, in 1976, considering this is a straight stretch of rail and slow speed section, that coaches cannot park anywhere else, there are at least two other pedestrian crossings along that stretch of line, and you had a petition of 500 people asking for a change, will you not reconsider you refusal to approve the simple and sensible request for a pedestrian crossing?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this has been an impassioned issue. I pay tribute to those who are in the Adelaide River region who actually run the Adelaide River Precinct. They do a great job. What they have on display there and the way they are using the old station is certainly of great tourism benefit and the local people are very proud of it.
The issue of how tourists and visitors access the precinct has been one that has been there ever since the railway line was built. There has been quite a lot of discussion and correspondence, and I have had my relevant agency and the operator of the rail, FreightLink, look at the issue. It seemed like a sensible thing to have that access but, when you look at some of the technical aspects of it, the gradient, the curve - there is probably another technical term here - of the track as it comes into that area, my best advice is - and I have tested this a number of times - it is not appropriate to have a crossing at that point. It is not appropriate.
Let me assure the member that I have tested this a number of times. The response has come back, both from FreightLink and my rail people, that it is not the place to have it. The solution is - and this is what we are working with the precinct people on - to look at better ways of getting tourist access and making it obvious how to get access to the railway station. That is going to be the best solution.
I am sorry to all of those who thought we were going to have to access across the track. I am disappointed that, currently, we have people in danger because they are breaking down the temporary fencing and wandering across, but it is not an optimum place to be crossing the track. What we will do is have signage. We have landscaping that makes what is a very attractive facility now even more attractive to tourists.
Cane Toad Management
Mr KIELY to MINISTER for PARKS AND WILDLIFE
During the election, you announced the subsidy for cane toad traps. Could you please update the House on the status of our cane toad management techniques?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Sanderson for his question. Unfortunately, cane toads are expected, with the Wet Season encroaching on us, to reach Darwin in significant numbers by the end of this Wet Season. As part of our commitment to the whole environment program and to looking at the issue of cane toads, I was pleased to recently launched the Cane Toad Trap Rebate. The government is providing a $30 rebate for each approved trap purchased up to the total value of $100 000 over the next two years. Based on current trap prices, this rebate is between 20% and 45% of the cost of the most common of the approved trap designs, making the traps significantly more affordable for everyone.
We know that these traps certainly will not eradicate cane toads, but they will help in the reduction of the numbers locally, and allow our native wildlife to thrive.
The traps can be purchased at various locations across the Top End, such as pet shops and hardware stores, and FrogWatch is also selling their traps. People are starting to apply for the rebate, and I am sure the numbers will increase as the Wet Season develops and the toads advance.
As I said, Christmas is looming and, if we are looking at a gift for a family or a friend - something different - then what a great gift. Why not buy your friends or family a trap? There, that is promoting the cane toad trap.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016