2005-05-04
Youth Drug Use Survey
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
Why do you, as Chief Minister, support paying 16-year-old children $30 of taxpayers’ money to get them to take part in a survey about their drug usage? I refer you to the survey that has been put out under the auspices of the Northern Territory government. You could have your survey team visit schools and interview these children for nothing. If you do not support this style of survey, will you call for it to cease immediately, and if you do support it, will you at least acknowledge that the taxpayers’ $30 you are paying our kids could be used to buy more drugs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Opposition Leader for the question, however, I would like him to give me the information he is talking about because, at this stage, I do not know what he is talking about. It makes it very difficult to answer the question.
I can say we are very proudly standing on a record of dealing with drug use, which the Opposition Leader, when he was Chief Minister a few years ago, is on the record as saying was a ‘minuscule’ problem for the Territory. We had a direct link to property crime and drug use and we have been unrelenting in tackling that. Right across the Territory, we have got very tough on drug use. It is reflected now in the good work the police are doing in having property crime across the Territory reduced by 50%. Any questions raised about drug use by the opposition is hypocrisy because this is the man who said it was ‘minuscule’ when in fact it was nigh on out of control.
This is work being carried out by the Department of Health and Community Services …
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, I am responding to the question as I see what is involved. It is the Department of Health and Community Services conducting face-to-face interviews. The interviews ask about drugs that you have recently used, their price and purity, and the positive and negative things associated with their use.
From what I understand, this is the Health Department trying to understand drug use, and trying to make sure that we can further reduce, in stark contrast to the Country Liberal Party, drug use in our community. To tackle a problem, we have to understand it. This, obviously, from this detail, is doing that. I strongly support Health in tackling the use of party drugs. Absolutely!
Gross State Product – Outcome for 2004-05
Mr BONSON to TREASURER
Last year, when the Treasurer announced the budget parameters on economic growth, the CLP scornfully said we would not reach the predicted 5.8% growth rate. Can the Treasurer advise the House on the likely gross state product result for the year 2004-05?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Millner for his question because it does give me a chance to put on the record the accurate figures around outcomes for 2004-05, as opposed to the inaccurate detail offered by the Leader of the Opposition this morning in his reply to the budget. He and the CLP have poured scorn on government predictions.
At the outset of financial year 2004-05, when the budget went in, we predicted gross state product growth of around 5.8%, and the CLP said: ‘You will not get anywhere near that figure’. The Leader of the Opposition alleged that again this morning. The expected gross state product growth for 2004-05 is actually going to be around 7.2%, an over-achievement. It is a blunt measure of growth. It does not necessarily reflect what is happening in the Territory onshore economy. It is heavily influenced by offshore results so we need to look more closely inside the figures of onshore activity.
Yesterday, while I was here releasing Budget 2005-06, the ABS released figures showing building approvals had increased by 34.3%. The Territory is now leading the nation in these figures. Consumer spending on motor vehicles is now increasing by the highest rate in Australia, at around 9% year-on-year from March to March. It is a trend we expect to continue.
The tourism industry is continuing to recover; you only have to walk down the street to see that. The second weekly Ghan service will roll in shortly and forward hotel bookings are through the roof. Consumption is estimated to increase by 5.1% in 2004-05, private consumption growth of 6.1%. Business investment will be above $2bn in 2005-06, the third consecutive year and, again, continues to be heavily influenced by major works and resource projects.
This is a stark contrast from 1999 through to mid-2000 when the Leader of the Opposition had his chance to show what he could do. To sum up some of those issues I have mentioned, this is dated 3 December 2004: ‘Housing boom to last six years. NT growth leading the nation’. There is bit of back-up for the 34% housing growth over the last year that ABS released yesterday. If you did not see Samuel, there he is, lovely looking young fellow, our 200 000th citizen; ‘NT population passes milestone’. Well done, Samuel. You have a fair way to go on this. Here we are, Tuesday, 5 April 2005: ‘NT leading nation with economic …’, and I am not allowed say the last word, but it starts with ‘b’ and it ends with ‘m’. ‘NT leading nation with economic boom’ - sorry, I said it! ‘Territory economy continues to improve, figures released yesterday show’.
They are all available and on the public record. You should have seen them when the NT News came out.
Mr BURKE: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: I usually acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition first.
Mr ELFERINK: I just have a pure point of order, Madam Speaker. The document I just handed to the Chief Minister, before it leaves the room, I would ask that someone tables it. We can do it on this side, or they can do it.
Madam SPEAKER: Has it left the room?
Ms Lawrie: Yes, sent out for information.
Madam SPEAKER: It has already disappeared. I am quite sure it will re-appear. Before we go on, I did allow you some leeway yesterday, but I have had some bad feedback about people being able to hear questions during Question Time. At least yesterday, the lead-up to questions was not quite as lengthy as we have had in the past. Could we have short questions, short answers, and not too many interjections, particularly from the member for Drysdale?
Budget 2005-06 - Darwin City Waterfront
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
Budget Paper No 2 makes much of the waterfront project, however, the lock and the marina, two oft-boasted about items, are not mentioned in the budget. Can you confirm that a lock, and thus a marina, are still features of this proposal as you have promised in your glossy brochures, which show yachts floating past the convention centre, pontoons and yachts outside the high rise apartments, or has the marina, in fact, turned into a pond with fountains? Why are you now horse trading on this project at the 11th hour before financial close next week when your CEO gave a public undertaking that nothing would change from the model, so confident he was in the integrity of the model that it would be locked into the legislation?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, may I have the Opposition Leader repeat the final part of the question? I did not hear it, I am sorry.
Mr BURKE: It has been reported in the press that your CEO of the Chief Minister’s Department was so confident in the integrity of the model as presented to the public, which shows a lock and a marina, that he would lock it into the legislation for this project. Now I am told, at the 11th hour with financial closure next week, that that lock has now gone; the marina is now a pond. Is this true or not?
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, isn’t it interesting? This morning, our recycled Opposition Leader tried to pretend that he supports this wonderful project for Darwin, described in The Australian as ‘a massive project’ for Darwin, it really is a new dimension to the wonderful city of Darwin, and he tried to pretend that he actually supports it. We know the Country Liberal Party wants to scrap it. The former leader stood in here and said: ‘We will scrap it’, and not a protest from the faithful followers.
The now Opposition Leader said: ‘Don’t you worry. We will review it’. He said to the private sector: ‘We will review and go through this significant private sector investment’. He comes in here now and is talking it down. They cannot help themselves! They are talking it down.
We are moving towards financial close and all elements of the waterfront project will be in the project over the building period of 10 to 15 years. They are there, as we articulated, and it will be the most wonderful project for Darwin, for Territorians and tourists to be able to enjoy a new dimension of activity. The convention and exhibition centre will be an economic stimulator for Darwin. Our tourist industry wants it yesterday. We have an Opposition Leader who said: ‘You are going too fast; stop it’. First of all he said: ‘Do it now, just do it’. That was about two years ago. Then he said: ‘You are trying to move this project through too fast’. You had another Opposition Leader who said: ‘Scrap it’, and now they are asking: ‘Where is it?’
This is the flip-flop opposition policy. They do not want to support this project. It will all happen and it will be great.
Budget 2005-06 - Tax Reform
Mr McADAM to TREASURER
Yesterday, you advised the House that the Martin government was the most tax reforming government in the Territory’s history. Are you aware of the actions of other Territory governments in respect to their record on tax reform?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Barkly for his insightful question.
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: I am proud …
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, cease. We will wait for members to settle down. Now, continue.
Mr STIRLING: I am proud to be Treasurer in the Martin Labor government, which has clearly stamped itself as the most tax reforming government in a positive sense in Territory history. The Country Liberal Party opposition simply has no credibility when it comes to questions of tax reform.
The Leader of the Opposition announced his proposals here this morning in response to the 2005-06 Budget, but failed to do anything. The CLP failed to do anything in over 26-and-a-bit years in office. The Leader of the Opposition, in his two-and-a-half years as Chief Minister, failed to take anything to the Cabinet room by way of tax reform, so he is simply unbelievable when it comes to tax reform.
Let us go to the taxes and charges that he put up. In their final term of office, the CLP increased the following taxes and charges on Territorians and Territory business: they put superannuation and fringe benefits contribution into the payroll tax assessment, increasing, of course, the nett and the payroll tax received; increased domestic power prices by 7.2% then, again, by 9%; increased commercial power prices by 5.7%; increased water costs by 18.2%; and increased the hiring duty rate from 1.5% to 1.8%. I am not hearing any cuts here, any reductions or any reform in a positive sense.
They increased the general insurance duty rate from 8% to 10%; and, of course, in the last CLP government, MACA, which does come with a compulsory cost in terms of recovering its own costs, had increases of 48.5%.
The Opposition Leader’s record as Chief Minister is simply appalling, yet he comes in here and parades himself before the media as a genuine tax reformer. He is a tax reformer all right, but it is all one way: up.
Darwin City Waterfront – Design Status
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
Regarding the waterfront proposal, are you aware that your partners are now applying to the Development Consent Authority to have the lock taken out of the design? Are you aware that the glossy brochures you have distributed to the public that show boats inside a marina and anchored on pontoons outside a high rise development cannot possibly occur because you do not have a marina any more, you only have a pond because the lock is no longer there? Are you aware of that? Are you also aware, or be surprised to learn, that in response to a question about water quality in what is now a lagoon, the statement was made that they would –these are your partners – commence assessing water quality after financial close? Do you think Territorians will be satisfied that environmental issues are being dealt with in this cavalier way?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, can I assure the very negative Opposition Leader, who does not support the waterfront development or the building of a convention and exhibition centre, that the water quality will be up to the standard that Territorians will require. This is all part of the …
Mr Burke: Tell us if the lock is there or not.
Ms MARTIN: I say quite unequivocally there will be a lock. There will be lock. There will be a wonderful marina development, part of Stage 2 of the waterfront development. The water quality will be the type of water quality that every Territorian would expect, and that will be regularly and effectively monitored.
Mr Baldwin interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Daly, order!
Ms MARTIN: Again, we have the Opposition Leader trying to talk down this project, trying to talk down a more than $1bn investment in the future of Darwin. It is very sad. The opposition should just come out and say they do not support it; they want to actually build a car park. We saw the previous designs - a car park with a spire built by the public sector, funded by the public sector. We have much more confidence in the private sector. They have confidence in the future of Darwin, and are putting significant hundreds of millions of dollars into a 10 to 15 year investment for our future. This House should be cheering because this is a wonderful, visionary major project for the future of the Territory.
Budget 2005-06 – Opposition Response
Mr KIELY to TREASURER
This morning, the Treasurer heard the opposition’s response to the Martin government’s budget. Can the Treasurer advise the House whether there is any crossover between what the Leader of the Opposition says he would like to do and what the CLP actually did when it was in power for over 27 years? Can the Leader of the Opposition be believed?
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I believe that, under the rules of questions, an opinion cannot be sought of a minister and the question is obviously seeking an opinion on something for which the minister is not responsible.
Madam SPEAKER: He is responding to a statement made by the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr Dunham: So in regard to …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, I am speaking, thank you! It is my interpretation that on many occasions, questions have been asked by opposition members and the government that seek an opinion.
Mr Burke: You can give your opinion.
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, cease!
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Sanderson for his question. I was quite pleased to hear the Leader of the Opposition give me the floor to say I can give my opinion because simply, I say, along with the member for Sanderson, I do not believe he can be believed when it comes to his statement this morning.
I listened intently and in silence to the contribution by the Leader of the Opposition, and the words came to mind: a recycled speech by a recycled leader that all sounded a bit tired. In fact, I do not believe he delivered his budget reply as well as his predecessor, the member for Blain, did 12 months earlier. It is a good idea to always judge a person by actions rather than by what they say because then you get a little bit more of the measure of the man. That is why I say he is unbelievable, because he had two-and-a-half years as Chief Minister to bring about many of the things he was talking about this morning.
Let us have a look at the track record in the time of Chief Minister Burke’s CLP government. Total investment in the economy was minus 28% in 1999-2000, and if that was not bad enough, it slumped a further 1.4% in 2000-01. He talked about population growth this morning. He is going to lift it to whatever figure, again, an unbelievable figure he says he will get it to. When he was in government, he halved it. He took it under 1% and he wants us to believe that he can deliver 2.5% into the future. Unbelievable!
Business investment was minus 39.4% in 1999-2000. Bad enough? It slumped again, minus 2.1% throughout 2000-01.
Mr Baldwin interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Daly, cease!
Mr STIRLING: Investment in dwellings was minus 26.1% in 1999-2000 and minus 40.1% in 2000-01. In case the opposition forget the headlines of the day, 6 May 1999:
- Building industry faces slump in NT.
The Territory Construction Association is expected to confirm today what ABS figures already show, the building trade has slumped.
That was not long after he became Chief Minister, in fact, May 1999. If we go to 3 September 1999:
- NT business backs away from Burke.
The Burke government’s appeal among NT small business has slumped.
That is enough; we have heard enough of that one. If we go to 2 March 2000: ‘NT small business battles lean time’. If it all went bad in August 2001, I do not know how these headlines ever happened to appear in the NT News. These all pre-date August 2001. ‘NT small business battles lean time’. Still under Chief Minister Burke, 5 September 2000: ‘Real estate sales fall to six-year low’. They were good times, Denis, they were good times. The construction industry was out the door. He is unbelievable.
There is the record of his Chief Ministership, and the promises he made today are both uncosted, unfunded in a budgetary sense, and the only way he can get there is cuts to services and job losses throughout the public sector. He is unbelievable.
Darwin City Waterfront – Lagoon Status
Mr WOOD to CHIEF MINISTER
I also attended a Development Consent Authority meeting on the waterfront. What was stated is that the boating lagoon at the waterfront is to be reduced by 20%. Why has the government not advertised that the boating lagoon at the waterfront is to be reduced by 20%? Why has the government not advertised the variations in environment, waste, run-off, road management plans and utility plans, etcetera? Why are some of the design details, such as the pipeline which was replacing the lock across the sea wall, not available until financial closure, as was stated at the meeting? Are you not rushing this project at this late hour without proper public consultation?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, again, I welcome a question on the waterfront and am looking forward to financial close shortly. Every aspect of the waterfront development is being dealt with in great detail. Some elements are subject to the details of financial close, but all will be made public and accountable after that. We are working closely with Darwin City Council on some of the aspects you raised about roads and so on. We are working to make sure every element of what happens at the waterfront will be up to a very high standard. It is interesting that the member for Nelson reiterates what the opposition has been saying, and that is: slow this down.
If I listened to what was being said on that side of the House, I would be absolutely beaten up by our tourism industry. Our tourism industry wants that convention centre. It is the centrepiece of the waterfront. They know how important it is for the future of tourism in the Top End, and they want it. They are working with us to achieve financial close, they are encouraging us to reach financial close so that we will be able to start construction.
All the details will be dealt with effectively through the Development Consent Authority, through all the elements of government where approvals have to be given. It will be done accountably and effectively. I look forward, with much excitement and enthusiasm, to this project and reaching financial close, and I am sure Territorians do, too.
Darwin City Waterfront – Financial Details
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
I table the plans that have been presented to the Development Consent Authority by your partners in this $1.3bn development for our waterfront, which shows there is no lock, no marina, no facility even to match a private development such as Tipperary Waters or Bayview Haven. This is the waterfront development that Territorians are expected to sign off on when you achieve financial close. They have no knowledge of what is actually involved. You have departed from the model and they have no knowledge of the risks. Will you give an undertaking here today that the entire financial details of this project will be put to Territorians before you sign them up for the next 16 years? I table the plans presented today.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, when the Opposition Leader says no consultation, when the member for Nelson says no consultation, there has been significant public consultation.
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I did not say that, Madam Speaker. I said: ‘Why were not the details advertised as normal?’
Madam SPEAKER: You know that is not a point of order. If you wish to make a personal explanation, you may do so.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, there has been considerable public consultation on the master planning process, every single element …
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: You just do not want it to happen, do you? You just do not want this to happen: jobs for 10 to 15 years, economic flow-on to our economy.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, cease a moment. I am quite sure no one can hear what is going on because of the interjections. If this question is so important, I am sure Territorians out there listening would like to hear the answer, so how about fewer interjections? Give the Chief Minister the chance to respond.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, there has been considerable public consultation and there will continue to be. Every element of the waterfront, the convention and exhibition centre project will go through the Development Consent Authority. There will be the same public consultation as with any other development across the Territory. At the start of this project, that was made loud and clear.
As I said to the Opposition Leader in answer to a previous question, there will be a lock in the waterfront. It is part of Stage 2. The water areas will be wonderful areas for Territorians to enjoy. We will have safe swimming areas, we will have a wave pool and, I am delighted to be able to say to the people of Darwin and the Territory that we will have a new facility which was never offered under a previous government, one that we believe in, that our private sector believes in and cannot wait to start building.
Budget 2005-06 – NGO Service Providers
Ms LAWRIE to MINISTER for FAMILY and COMMUNITY SERVICES
The non-government sector performs a vital role in service delivery to Territory families. Can you advise the House on how the Martin government is backing non-government health and community service providers?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Karama for her important question. Yes, the Martin government is backing non-government organisations which provide vital health and community services to Territory families.
Since 2001, this government has substantially increased support to Health and Community Services. We have also substantially increased the proportion of funding flowing to non-government organisations, with 50% of the total Community Services budget going directly to that sector. We have increased funding to the non-government sector from $55m in 2001 to $80m in the 2005-06 budget.
Budget 2005 continues the support by building in grant indexation to meet the real costs of providing these important services. From 1 July 2005, grants will be indexed to take into account both inflation and standard CPI increases as well as wage movements in the Northern Territory public sector. This means an additional $1.1m to the non-government sector in 2005-06 and an automatic increase each year.
The previous government neglected community services. We inherited a system that had been unsupported and unfunded for many years and, despite staunch opposition from the CLP, we also committed $10m to tackling petrol sniffing, with this money already rolling out to the community sector. The Martin government knows there is more to be done and we will continue to build and support our community sector as we move the Territory ahead.
Budget 2005-06 – Payroll Tax
Mr BURKE to TREASURER
You said that my budget reply comments were unbelievable. Do I take it that you are making a statement today that you do not believe the Northern Territory can achieve a payroll tax regime better than Queensland? If not, why not?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Payroll tax, like all of the taxes and charges inside the Northern Territory budget, come under constant review and there is no closer scrutiny than when you are sitting down and formulating a budget because you have to look at what revenue you are going to accrue over a financial year and at your outgoings.
As a government, we have made great inroads into payroll tax. We have cut the rate twice, we have lifted the threshold; we will have lifted the threshold three times. I am not saying it is not possible to change our payroll tax rate because we have already done it. We have done it in every budget that the Chief Minister, as Treasurer, and I have brought into this House. You blokes had it up there at a $600 000 threshold and 6.5%. I am not saying what level you might eventually get to. The interesting thing is, as we have taken companies out of the payroll tax as a result of our reforms, we have continued to have increased receipts. That is growth in the economy. So if you continue to grow the economy, of course, in terms of getting revenue in, there is the opportunity to further tweak those margins.
Why the Leader of the Opposition is unbelievable is that he wants to do everything tomorrow. The day he is elected he is going to make all of these reforms in one hit – all of the IGA taxes: ‘I am not going to take four or five years to roll these out; I am going to do it overnight. I am not going stagger the payroll tax down; I am going to take it straight to 4.5%’.
Well, start adding up the cost of these promises: probably around $25m to $30m for the payroll tax cut alone; if you want to go further, $41m per year for the IGA taxes. If he wants to bring all those initiatives in, good luck to him, but he should have a look at the bottom line because there would be hundreds of jobs and service delivery cuts to the public sector on the other side to balance the ledger unless you are to drive the budget into unsustainable deficit, and why wouldn’t he? This is the bloke who left us with an unsustainable deficit position about which he misled Territorians and this parliament at budget time 2001-02, yet another reason why he is unbelievable.
Budget 2005-06 - Funding for Festivals
Mrs AAGAARD to MINISTER for ARTS and MUSEUMS
Last year, you provided increased funding to major festivals. Can you please advise what you are doing to assist the smaller festivals of the regional and remote communities of the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, that is a great question from the member for the Seabreeze Festival for Nightcliff. Territorians love festivals and, as Tourism Minister, I know that tourists love our festivals as well. They are something that supports our Territory lifestyle. They are fun, they create jobs across the Territory, bring dollars and generate economic activity. We have been very strong in supporting festivals wherever they are around the Territory, from north to south.
Last year, we increased funding to four big festivals: the Darwin Festival; the Alice Springs Festival; Garma; and the International Guitar Festival, which is biennial. We increased funding to those festivals by $350 000. If you look at the success of both Alice and Darwin last year, they were underpinned by that significant increase in funding.
However, there are other festivals around the Territory which also deserve significant funding. For example, they range from festivals at Merrepen in the Daly to the Jabiru Wind Festival, Desert Harmony in Tennant Creek, and the Flying Fox in Katherine. In fact, across the Territory, there are 26 festivals. The well-targeted and terrific budget that the Treasurer brought down yesterday had a $400 000 increase to our wonderful Territory festivals. That means over two years, to support festivals right across the Territory, a $750 000 increase on top of the funding that was there.
Certainly, it is about the arts and celebrating the arts. It is also about growing tourism. I can tell the House that arts and tourism work very closely together in making sure we are effectively marketing those festivals that are so different and unique across the Territory. It is targeted, terrific funding, supporting our lifestyle and moving this Territory ahead.
Budget 2005-06 – Errors in Budget Papers
Mr BURKE to TREASURER
I assume you can add up. Two plus two equals four. Yesterday, with reference to page 26 of Budget Paper No 2, I asked you why, within an hour of you delivering your budget, the opposition found four simple addition errors on that page of the budget, which are your budget initiatives for Territorians. Can you tell us how many other errors are in the budget papers, or do you expect us to find them for you?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Budget Paper No 2 in that table does have addition errors. There are six very comprehensive books here, full of tables, figures, charts, all the way through them. It would be an extraordinary budget that did not contain an arithmetical error somewhere in it. My staff says this about Treasury: they are very good at adding up and taking away - not always so good at telling the time, as sometimes they are late into the office.
It is disappointing to have an error such as that in the books. So what? It will be corrected. We will have a new table and addendum to correct those simple errors. That is all they are. What I would ask the Leader of the Opposition to do is read the tables properly and the headings at the top so he knows what they mean.
Traffic Study - Larapinta and Lovegrove Drives
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for TRANSPORT and INFRASTRUCTURE
Madam Speaker, I ask this question on your behalf as member for Braitling. Your department has indicated they were doing a traffic delay study at the corner of Larapinta and Lovegrove Drives. Could you advise whether you will put a roundabout, lights, or a dual highway at this intersection?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am aware of the traffic problems at that intersection. There is a traffic study going on. There is a bit of history to that intersection and an earlier commitment by an earlier government that there would be a dual highway through there. There is a study going on, and I am prepared to look at the intersection in the future.
Recreational Fishing
Mr KIELY to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY and FISHERIES
Fishing is the lure of the Territory, and many people in Sanderson love to fish. It is an important part of our great lifestyle. What is the government doing to strengthen recreational fishing opportunities for Territorians, and particularly for the people of Sanderson?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. It is true: fishing is one of the most favourite pastimes of Territorians.
Mr Burke: Go on, you say it: fishing is the lure.
Mr VATSKALIS: Unfortunately, member for Brennan, there are quite a few of us Territorians who come from somewhere else and do not have the pure accent that you have. That does not stop us from being good Territorians.
Territorians love fishing. One in two Territorians goes fishing every year, and one in four households in the Territory own a boat. This government is committed to recreational fishing and we have done a lot in the past. First, we promised we were going to close one river. We closed two: the McArthur River near Borroloola and the Adelaide River near Darwin. We also said to anglers that we are going to provide improved access to inland water and, of course, to the ocean, and we have done that. Soon, at Point Stuart, we are going to have a boat launching facility, and my department is working to improve access to Channel Point and the Peron Islands.
We have provided $1.5m to improve fishing infrastructure. We have upgraded the boat ramp at Buffalo Creek and provided a caretaker. We have redeveloped Dinah Beach. We upgraded Rocky Creek and Mule Creek. We have improved the facilities at Elizabeth River Bridge and we are providing funding to the Palmerston City Council to have a look at facilities at Elizabeth River. We also increased funding for AFANT to represent the recreational fishermen better and we established River Watch.
We also look to the future. We have stocked inland waters with barramundi fingerlings. We established a Fishing Access Working Group and we worked very hard to improve coastal and inland access for anglers.
The only thing that the Leader of the Opposition promised today in his budget response was improved access to inland waters. Well, it is already happening. We are already working to improve access to inland waters - for example, Katherine River within Manbulloo Station. We are leaders in Australia. I had people down at the Daly recently with the Barra National telling me that they were impressed with what this government is doing for recreational fishing. I had a person from the Fisheries Department in New South Wales saying that things like this do not happen in his own state and he wanted to take lessons from us.
In the future, we are providing $900 000 for recreational fishing within my department and we are developing a five-year plan and 10-year outlook for barramundi. This involves recreational fishermen, scientists and, certainly, commercial barramundi fishermen. Most of all, we are providing $2m over the next four years to further improve fishing infrastructure for Territorians.
Budget 2005-06 - Primary School Student Numbers
Dr LIM to MINISTER for EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION and TRAINING
In answer to a question yesterday about the loss of 1288 primary school students over the last four years in the Territory, you resorted to your old excuse of blaming the ABS. Will you now acknowledge that these figures have nothing to do with the ABS? They were actually derived from your own budget papers, and that these losses have actually occurred and you have done nothing about it.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex for his question. I am not sure where he gets that figure from, but page 90 of Budget Paper No 3 says, in total, primary school student enrolments at 19 851 - that is the 2004-05 estimate; 19 600 in 2005-06. If he is reading that, it is a difference of 251. There is a slight addition if you go across to total secondary student enrolments of 9639 to 9650. It does not make up for that nett fall as, obviously, school kids continue to grow and age, as the rest of the population does. That means some of them slip through into high school, and we will see continued growth in our high schools over time.
With that 1.2% population growth throughout 2004-05 and a conservative estimate of another 1% in 2005-06, we will see added population into our schools. I see it in my own electorate all the time. For many years, we were the largest primary school in the Northern Territory at Nhulunbuy, with over 700 kids. Then the Christian school came along, and it has probably 100 or a little more now, so the numbers in the primary school have come down. Now, you would think with 600 or 700 at the primary school, what size is the high school? The high school, at its height, has made about 250 or 260. That is a big difference. Where do these kids go? Some go interstate. Sometimes families move interstate. Some kids go to boarding schools and do not appear in these figures. You will never have the translation of the entire primary school cohort into the secondary schooling system.
That is one of the reasons, if you go back to late 2002 that the Chief Minister said: ‘We are going to have a look at our secondary schools and review the whole secondary system’. We will continue to work on that and strengthen those numbers, the retention, catchment and shift from primary into secondary schools. There are fewer in primary, more in secondary, and I would expect that primary figure to grow as we continue to grow the population.
Budget 2005-06 – Parks and Wildlife
Ms LAWRIE to MINISTER for PARKS and WILDLIFE
How will the substantial increase to operational funding for the Parks and Wildlife Service in Budget 2005 protect the Territory’s unique wildlife and continue to enhance our great lifestyle?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Karama for her question. In Budget 2005-06, there has been an increase of $1.2m to the base operational funding of the Parks service, going from $9m to $10.2m per annum, and that recurrent funding is ongoing. It might not seem very much, but it does represent a 13% increase in operational funding to our Parks service.
It will improve the capacity of the service to perform core park management functions to deliver weed, fire, feral animal, and visitor programs. The increase in funding means that the Parks and Wildlife Service will be able to allocate resources to progress the development of high visitation areas within our major Territory parks, reducing the pressure on existing infrastructure. It will mean more plant and equipment, walking tracks, signs and fences across the regions. Basically, the service will be able to deliver its land management programs on a wider scale.
I am very proud to be Minister for the Parks and Wildlife Service. Whenever I meet the officers, I commend them for the great work they do, often in very lonely circumstances. They are very committed people. It came to my notice that they have been doing it tough for a long time in terms of their base operational funding, so I went in hard and managed to get some extra funding for them. I am sure it will be greatly appreciated because they are looking after a major Territory asset: our parks.
Budget 2005-06 - Teachers EBA
Dr LIM to MINISTER for EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION and TRAINING
You were recently dragged, kicking and screaming, to settle the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement with the Australian Education Union NT. Over the course of six weeks, you were forced to partly meet the offer made by the Country Liberal Party to Territory teachers. You admitted that the EBA will cost you $70m, and I will read from the Centralian Advocate published yesterday:
- Education minister Syd Stirling said that the government’s new offer would cost an estimated $70m.
Nowhere in the papers of Budget 2005-06 have you shown where the $70m will come from. Is it the case that your education budget has a big hole because of your unfunded EBA settlement?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex for his question and his breathtaking boldness in climbing to his feet on this issue because he has form: he was caught telling porkies. He was caught out by Julia Christensen on ABC Radio telling big, fat porkies!
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: Telling big, fat porkies! She said: ‘But, Dr Lim, you said last night you didn’t have anything to do with this’. ‘No, I said the CLP didn’t have anything to do with it’. ‘Are you not the CLP?’ ‘No, I’m not the CLP’.
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: Goodness me! You have form, running around a discredited document that the AEU would not go within a mile of because it stunk and was full of inaccuracies. You clutched it to your little breast and ran around Alice Springs distributing it to as many households and letterboxes as you could, all designed - and it is not funny because this was a sinister, underhanded attempt to discredit the government and the AEU which were going through the proper process of an enterprise bargaining agreement to be undermined by this little grub here, and putting lies out and about the electorate in order to destabilise negotiations.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Madam Speaker, you have ruled that the word ‘grub’ is unparliamentary.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, withdraw that word.
Mr STIRLING: I withdraw, Madam Speaker. Sinister and underhanded remain, and the porkies!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Minster! Just settle down.
Mr STIRLING: You did hand out the document or you did not hand out the document? The evening before you did not, the next morning you did. I assume you did, along with your little helpers.
Madam Speaker, it is $55m - if I used $70m yesterday with the Centralian Advocate, my apologies - $55m over the next three years, and not …
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: If they understood budgets they would realise that it is not all additional to the budget. Now, why would it be all additional to the budget? Because any prudent government, maybe they did not used to do it because they were not very prudent when it came to financial management, but Treasury is well used to building into forward estimates a percentage to carry forward potential wage and salary increases arising out of EBAs. It is a modest figure. They inflate 3% for wages and salaries. To put any other figure may lead to an expectation that the wage or salary increase is going to be somewhat larger than is achieved through the enterprise bargaining agreement.
There is already funding there, so you have to drop that out of the extra cost as well. The additional cost to the budget is around $8m per annum and, of course, additional funding is set aside for that amount so there will be no black hole. It is in the forward estimates going forward for the life of this agreement.
I go back to the very unhealthy role played by the opposition in trying to undermine the proper negotiations of the day between the education union and the Public Service Commissioner as the employer: unhelpful in the extreme, especially when discredited documents full of inaccuracies are circulated by the shadow minister for Education for political gain. He did not care if schools were closed. He did not care that students might lose out on valuable days of education. He did not care about the potential disruption for parents in closing schools. They were out there, trying to incite the teachers to further industrial action when we were trying to settle with them.
I am delighted with the outcome we have and so are teachers. They have voted unanimously in Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek thus far, and I would expect further very healthy pro-votes in the process because teachers recognise it is an excellent outcome. They realise that this government recognises their value as teachers, and we are going to pay them accordingly as opposed to these blokes.
Budget 2005-06 – GST Revenue and Impost
Mr WOOD to TREASURER
At the Alice Springs sittings, it was shown that the government had received $166m in GST, which was $74.3m better than 2002-03 and $27.4m better than budgeted. If you really wanted to help families, why did you not use that money to reduce or cut stamp duty from things like house insurance, which already has a GST? Surely families do not need to be double taxed.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the way stamp duties were imposed at the time the Intergovernmental Agreement was struck in accord with state and territory governments of the day and the Commonwealth government, was the agreement to go forward. That is the way it had been treated under the old sales tax, sales duties and those sorts of taxation issues. There has been no change. That is the way the Intergovernmental Agreement is struck. Everyone is in that accord and agreement, and remains so at this stage, albeit there might be a question with Western Australia if they do not talk turkey with the federal Treasurer. However, everyone else is in that agreement.
This idea of not doing anything for families disturbs me. There is $3.7m in this budget to subsidise child care. That is directly taking down the cost of child care. There is over $40m going to the Power and Water Corporation to subsidise and keep down the level of power costs. If you put sewerage and water in there as well, that Community Service Obligation rises to above $50m. This is not a government that does not do anything for families because there are direct subsidies keeping the cost of living down. Petrol prices are in there at 1.01 per litre. That costs around $3.6m. The Jobs Plan is about families and parents worried about their young fellas and daughters and what they are going to do: 10 000 Territorians to be trained over the next four years. That is a huge boost for families. It is a wonderful thing for mum and dad to say: ‘This government is having a go at creating a spot in the work force for my young Johnny and my young Mary’. That is good news, I would have thought, for families. It is something this government is doing for families and their kids.
There is up to $500 for traditional trades apprentices to go towards their tool box, safety boots and clothes; $300 for the young trainee, perhaps straight out of school, who has not had money before and has to have a reasonable outfit to go to work in the retail shop or the office, or wherever they are off to. That is straight out assistance to help these young kids. The pensioner concession scheme keeps the costs of car registration, power and water down. The total cost of support for pensioners is $8.13m. That is support for families.
There are 100 more teaches, 100 more nurses, 120 more police to create safer communities in the Northern Territory. That is support for families. Of course, for hospitals there is $81.2m in Alice Springs, $8.1m in Tennant Creek, $20.3m for Katherine, $15.7m for Nhulunbuy, $156.4m for Royal Darwin, all money to help those hospitals tick over efficiently and effectively when families get sick.
We introduced maternity leave; we pay for it each year in the budget. That is money for families. We allow people to take family leave as sick leave and we pay for that in the budget. That is all support for families; hard dollars that this government spends. There is around $420m on our schools. We run the Darwin Bus Service that transports families around Darwin for $6.7m, and an increase of $140 000 to bring on those services to the seniors villages. I did not add up those figures as I went through, but it is an enormous spend, all in support of our families in the Territory.
Special Purpose Grants – Vehicles
Mr ELFERINK to MINISTER for COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The Department of Justice pursued an assault victim to the Supreme Court to extract $3000 from her for a clerical error in costs. Considering this example, what steps have you taken to recover $35 000 outstanding to the taxpayer for the erroneous delivery of a vehicle into private hands? Who will pay for the error? Is it you, the field officer you blamed, the council, or the recipient of the car? How many vehicles have you given away by way of special purpose grants since you have been minister, and will you table a full list for your whole ministry?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I do not know whether I could do the usual line and say that I welcome the question. It is a confusing question.
Mr Elferink: I bet you do not welcome it. It is pretty clear to us.
Mr AH KIT: No, hang on! You asked the question so you should listen to the answer because there are two parts to it. There is a part that is dealt with by my colleague, the Minister for Justice, and he can answer in regard to the $3000. I will be talking at 3 pm and responding to the Ombudsman’s report, so I do not think you should be …
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: I do not think Territorians would appreciate you trying to be half-smart with two questions rolled into one, which are totally different.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, members of the opposition!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: You cannot give a point of order when everyone is screaming.
Mr ELFERINK: That is right, Madam Speaker. We will wait.
Madam SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
Mr ELFERINK: It is actually a supplementary, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: No, not after that debacle.
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Speaker …
Madam SPEAKER: No. Resume your seat. I am not going to tolerate any more of it.
Mr Baldwin: We can put the question in two parts for you.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Daly, enough from you!
Budget 2005-06 - EnvironmeNT Grants
Mr McADAM to MINISTER for ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
We enjoy a great lifestyle and a wonderful environment. It is unique and very special. What assistance is government providing to Territorians who have great ideas for improving our environment?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Barkly for his question. Protecting our environment and enhancing our great lifestyle is certainly a priority for this government. Territory families love to be outdoors, whether it is kicking a soccer ball with the kids in the back yard, or taking the family to Litchfield or Kakadu, we all love our great lifestyle in the Territory. We want to keep it that way for our children, grandchildren, and their families.
It is why we put in place the EnvironmeNT Grants, a Territory first. EnvironmeNT Grants are part of the unprecedented $1m spend this government is investing in grass roots environment and heritage initiatives. This is an opportunity for community groups to get together and come up with great ideas to help protect our environment.
The first round of the EnvironmeNT Grants were very successful …
Members interjecting.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: You sound like a jealous bunch over there because you did not think of it.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! I am finding it hard to hear the minister with her soft voice. Please cease.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: That is right. There are actually people out there who are interested in this because this program has been successful.
I was pleased to see the projects coming from the across the Territory and from all types of organisations. In particular, the level of interest from schools was very pleasing, with some great projects funded. Driver Primary School is establishing a creek environment for early learning; Howard Springs Primary is conducting a cane toad frog pond; Wanguri Primary School, a cone tade proof …
Mr Kiely: Cane toad!
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Cane toad!
Mr Dunham: Like Jack.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Cane toad, over there, Bufo marinus.
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Withdraw that, member for Drysdale! That was a personal remark and you know it.
Mr DUNHAM: I withdraw it, Madam Speaker, notwithstanding I have been the butt of exactly the same joke from this man here.
Mr AH KIT: Madam Speaker, I might be slightly obese, but he will still be ugly when I lose weight.
Mr Dunham: When hell freezes over.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Why do I get the feeling that you are all getting very restless?
Mr Baldwin: It is getting close to an election, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: I think it must be; very intuitive of you, member for Daly. Minister, please continue.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Wanguri Primary School is cane toad proofing their biodiversity garden; Karama Primary School is upgrading their gardens for environmental awareness; the Milkwood Steiner School is establishing a native plant nursery; and Girraween Primary School is creating a bush tucker garden. These are all very worthy projects for our kids and Territory families.
Environment protection does begin with our kids, and it is often they who educate their families, whether it is telling mum or dad that we do not need another plastic bag at the shopping counter, or reminding us to switch off that light to save on greenhouse emissions.
Round two is now open and I encourage all Territorians with a great idea to help our environment to put in an application, and I look forward to seeing the applications. Government appreciates the efforts of Territorians who work hard to protect our environment and we are backing them in their efforts.
Madam SPEAKER: And you forgot to fund the most important environmental issue of all, CDL.
Special Purpose Grants - Vehicles
Mr ELFERINK to MINISTER for COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
For the sake of the Minister for Community Development, I will make the question much simpler: how many vehicles have you given away under special purpose grants, and will you now table a full list of all of those vehicles during the period of your ministry?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question. As the member for Macdonnell should know, the annual reports of departments are tabled each year in this parliament, so I would refer you to that. I would also refer you to the Estimates Committee process, which you never had when you were in government for 26 years, so if you can go and do some homework and stop being lazy you might find out the answers.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! That document we gave to the Chief Minister, which was squirreled away from the Chamber, I wonder if they would be kind enough to put it on the table for us, please.
Madam SPEAKER: I am sure we can have the attendant return the document. Question time is over.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016