2003-04-30
Alice Springs - Community Safety
Dr LIM to MINISTER for CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
Minister, your government claims the CLP is not properly representing the interests of the people of Alice Springs by raising their concerns about crime in this town. In fact, you say that the crime problem is actually a misconception. What do you say to the 200 people who just attended the rally on the steps of this parliament concerned about crime in their own town? What do you say to the victims of crime who have just related their first-hand experiences about the crime position? Do you believe these people have a misconception about crime in their town?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. We have made it very clear that we do care about victims. In fact, one of the things I took away from the rally that happened outside the House just now, is talking to some of the victims who were present there. I have never said that victims are not important and that government should not support them wherever possible. However, we have to separate two things off, and we have been making this point so far in these sittings: that individual crimes have to be dealt with by support for the victims, action by the police, and the prosecution of the offenders in those individual crimes. That can, should, and must happen if we are to control crime in our community.
To take, from those individual offences, a picture of what crime is doing in the whole community, is quite dishonest on the part of the CLP. I have said before that, if you want to talk about trends of crime in our community, we have had the courage as a government to put out comprehensive figures, drawn directly from our police, the courts and our Correctional Services.
The CLP does not want to believe those figures because the figures are showing that our policies are starting to have an early impact on the key areas of crime that I know Territorians are concerned about, particularly house break-ins, assaults and other forms of property crime. We are very encouraged by these early successes of our policies. We will continue to share the information with the general public of the Northern Territory, with the Territorians we both represent and care about. People can make up their own minds about the situation of crime in the community, and it is not going to be helped by the antics that have been carried on by the opposition, where they are deliberately misleading and spreading hysteria about crime areas in our community.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Macdonnell!
Dr TOYNE: The other thing I took away from the gathering today is that people of Alice Springs are actually quite proud of their town, and they believe that it is a very good place to live. They are not impressed by the scaremongering and talking down of Alice Springs that the CLP members have been indulging in. They want …
Dr Lim: Scaremongering! That is scaremongering?
Members interjecting.
Dr TOYNE: I am just wondering if we could have a bit of quiet here, Madam Speaker, for me to complete my answer.
Madam SPEAKER: The minister has the floor, member for Greatorex.
Dr TOYNE: The people of Alice Springs are proud of, and care a lot about their town. We will be working with the people of Alice Springs - not manipulating them, working with them - with a respectful partnership. We will resource their ideas on how to work on these issues within our town. But we are not going to go around telling the rest of the world that Alice Springs is like a crime zone. We are going to be telling the world that this is a great place to live and that there are great people who have lots of ideas about what to do about these problems.
Traeger Park - Upgrade
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for SPORT and RECREATION
The Northern Territory government made an election commitment to provide significant financial assistance towards the upgrade of Traeger Park for the benefit of the people of Central Australia. Could the minister please advise the House on the progress made in honouring the government’s commitment?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the honourable member for the question and for her continuing commitment to improving our regional sporting facilities. The Martin government has an election commitment to ensure that the people of Alice Springs have access to high quality sporting facilities. The government is committed to a total of $5m contribution to the upgrading of facilities at the Alice Springs Traeger Park sporting complex.
The first instalment on this commitment was made last year with the upgrade of the Alice Springs hockey centre. This upgrade was completed in time for the Alice Springs Masters Games in October last year at a cost of $800 000. Might I add, reading a report that crossed my table, it showed that, in Alice Springs throughout the Masters Games and at the conclusion, there was an injection of $7m into the Alice Springs Central Australian economy.
Mr Dunham: Another good CLP initiative.
Mr Burke: Another great CLP initiative!
Mr AH KIT: Well, the members on my right continue to live in the past, and we always hear about these good CLP initiatives and policies. What they need to understand is that they are on that side of the House; they are not in government and are not doing much hard work trying to wrest the government off the ALP.
However, I digress. The Alice Springs Town Council, as owner of the Traeger Park, has developed a master plan in order to identify priorities for capital works that can be funded through the use of the balance of the government’s commitment. This plan was developed through extensive community consultation with user groups and the broader community. The master plan has identified the nature of the development that is proposed for Traeger Park over the next 10 years.
Traeger Park is used for a wide range of sporting and community activities, with a number of facilities being shared by different clubs in alternate winter and summer seasons. Principal user groups include: Australian Rules football, baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer, cricket and hockey. The park recently hosted some 4000 spectators for the Australian Football Lightning Carnival.
The plan identifies a range of short, medium, and long-term priority actions to ensure maximum community benefit and usage of the improved facility. The short-term items identified include the staged construction of a new grandstand for the main oval at an estimated cost of $2.4m. Other high priority items include an upgrade to the lighting on the main oval at an estimated cost of $1.1m.
In December 2002, I endorsed the master plan as the basis for my department’s planning and funding allocations in the short and long term. At its completion, I am confident the complex will achieve the vision articulated in the master plan. I believe it will be recognised as a leading Australian venue for major national and international sporting events, capitalising on Alice Springs’ unique location and its worldwide reputation, resulting in new opportunities to attract major sporting events to the Centre.
I am aware of the national interest that is already being generated through the commitment to the upgrading of Traeger Park. The government will deliver on its election commitments, despite the smoking ruin of a budget left behind by the opposition. I look forward to the future when we are able to announce national and international events that will be, hopefully, secured for Traeger Park.
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Distinguished Visitor
Madam SPEAKER: While the member for Katherine is walking to the podium, I acknowledge the presence in the Gallery of Anthony Albanese, who is the federal member for Grayndler and shadow minister for employment services and training. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you a warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Alice Springs Hospital - Staff Safety
Mr REED to MINISTER for HEALTH and COMMUNITY SERVICES
I preface the question with a memorandum, which reads:
- As the Christmas period is upon us and celebrations are occurring we need to remember to be conscious of our safety. Catch a taxi to and from your destination, walk in groups when leaving and returning to the hospital grounds. Report any suspicious behaviour or concerns to the police and/or security. Security are available to escort staff to their vehicles if required.
People could be forgiven for thinking this memo was issued to the people of Baghdad but, in fact, it was issued to the staff of Alice Springs Hospital. So, minister, are you satisfied that hospital staff have to go about their workplace as if living in a war zone?
Madam Speaker, I seek leave to table the memo and advise honourable members that I have obscured the name of the person who signed it.
Leave granted.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, as you will hear from my voice, I have laryngitis so I will speak as loudly as I can.
I am not familiar with the memo which the member for Katherine is showing to the House. I would have to say that it is a sensible memorandum, as it would be for any workplace. Any workplace would want its staff to be looked after properly and, if there were people going after hours to their cars - men and women – it is quite reasonable for them to seek the assistance of security guards in those circumstances.
I do not think there is anything even remotely strange about this. I can remember when I was at university in the 1970s and 1980s that, in fact, this kind of thing happened then. So, why should it be surprising now, in the year 2003, that there would be people seeking security after hours? This is quite common, and very normal practice. I would like to congratulate the member of staff who gave this memo to the staff in my hospital. So, thank you to that person.
Barkly Region - Education and Training Outcomes
Mr McADAM to MINISTER for EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION and TRAINING
The minister would be aware that jobs are very important in the Barkly. Can he advise people in my electorate of initiatives to improve education and training outcomes?
ANSWER
I thank the member for Barkly for his question, because he shares the passion, as I do, for matters related to employment, training and education. I know he was very concerned, earlier this year, by reports of bus loads of Tennant Creek students being bussed out of Tennant Creek to a boarding school, Shalom Christian College, in Townsville. He was not the only one who was concerned; there were many in Tennant Creek and throughout the Territory.
It is not unusual for some parents to have their students attend school interstate. We, as a government, accept our responsibility to provide education and training opportunities here in the Territory, in the communities where these students live, and we want to provide opportunities so that families are less inclined to send their children away, whether to the big cities or, indeed, interstate. We want to ensure that all young people have access to appropriate, flexible and innovative programs in their own communities that will address their real needs. We want to develop strategies that provide and engage youth in a meaningful and appropriate way for them, and we have taken action in a number of areas already.
An alternative provision initiative, now being developed in Tennant Creek, is targeting youth at risk. These are juvenile offenders, disengaged students and chronic non-attendants at school, are non-enrollees in the main. At the moment, there are between 15 and 30 of these young people engaged in the program, not all indigenous. It has been set up as a partnership between any Anyinginyi Congress and Tennant Creek High School, and a memorandum of understanding is being drawn up between those two groups and is awaiting the return of the CEO from congress to ratify it.
Under that program, each student will have an individually tailored program, education or training, to suit their individual specific needs. We have allocated a teacher to the program, out of the 40 that we have already put on - coming out of the commitment of an extra 100 teachers that this government is providing the system in this term of government. Congress, on its part, has provided an off-campus training room, computers, transport and two youth workers to assist with literacy and numeracy support.
We believe this is a project that shows what can be achieved when you have real partnerships between government and communities working together, and we hope that it will serve as a pilot for other remote areas and regional centres throughout the Territory which have a similar cohort of students.
Another initiative for Tennant Creek students is that we are funding the installation of a state of the art broadband interactive vocational education and training delivery in the Tennant Creek Training Centre. This deployment complements the Northern Territory government’s $3.6m investment in the roll-out of the Interactive Distance e-Learning project throughout the NT. The training centre will be equipped with the necessary hardware to receive full video interactive instructions from studios in Darwin and Alice Springs, as well as from TAFE providers throughout the Territory. It will be installed in the centre’s open learning area and will be capable of operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week for registered users. It is one of the first sites to undertake this type of group and team learning, instead of one-to-one connection. That is just one part of a major upgrade of the training centre’s information and communications technology. The current computing facilities are also being completely replaced with 30 new student computers. These new resources are part of government’s IT provision to training centres, and will be kept up to industry standard through regular hardware and software updates. As part of the Territory-wide program …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, would you wind up your answer? This is a very long answer.
Mr STIRLING: I certainly will, Madam Speaker. It is an important story for the Barkly. As part of that program, Tennant Creek Training Centre ICT infrastructure will also be upgraded so students, training organisations and centre staff can take advantage of both Northern Territory Education Network and the Department of Employment, Education and Training’s corporate network.
We have a responsibility to these kids. We want to engage them back into the system; we do not want their parents sending them interstate. That is the level of commitment we are making in the Barkly. We hope it will all come together, and we will apply those same sorts of ideas right throughout the Territory where we think necessary.
Madam SPEAKER: While the member for Port Darwin is walking to the podium, can I ask anyone in the gallery if they have a Toyota, registration No 620 381? I feel like I am in the casino or something, but you have left your lights on and, if it is yours, I suggest you go and turn them off.
SARS Virus – NT Preparedness
Ms CARTER to MINISTER for HEALTH and COMMUNITY SERVICES
Minister, yesterday in this Chamber, the Chief Minister informed Territorians that nurses from the Communicable Diseases Unit are meeting all flights from Asia, many of which arrive in the very early hours of the morning at Darwin Airport, to screen for SARS. I have learnt that these nurses are being asked to provide their services for free; that there is no money in the budget to pay them. How long do you expect the goodwill of these nurses to continue?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Port Darwin for her question. I do not believe that is, in fact, what the Chief Minister said yesterday at all. As I understand it, people are screened on the planes in the countries before they leave and, when they come to Darwin, if there are people who are feeling unwell, or who are suspected to be unwell at that point, the medical staff are contacted.
In relation to payment, I am not at all sure what the member for Port Darwin could possibly be talking about. This is actually a Commonwealth responsibility. It is a quarantine matter which, of course, I am sure the opposition would be aware is a federal matter. Thank you for the question. If we have further updates on this, I would be happy to give the honourable member a briefing.
Alice Springs High School –Airconditioning
Mr KIELY to MINISTER for TRANSPORT and INFRASTRUCTURE
Minister, prior to becoming an MLA, I was an officer with the NT Department of Education and I travelled around the Territory to quite a number of schools. As an MLA, I also had the pleasure to travel the highway up and down and even visit the local schools in Alice Springs. It really became quite clear to me …
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale!
Mr KIELY: … members of the opposition, that the previous government had a terrible track record of neglecting school infrastructure. Can the minister please update the House on the progress of airconditioning for the Alice Springs High School?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Sanderson for his question. I am aware of the track record of the previous government; I do not have to highlight it. The reality is that we are going to spend nearly $2m on Alice Springs High School to provide a new refrigerated airconditioner.
When I first come to government and became minister, I was advised that the Alice Springs High School airconditioning needed repair, if not replacement, for the simple reason it was an evaporative unit which had passed its use-by date, and money had to be found to replace it. My question was: ‘How long has it been like that?’ ‘For a long time, minister’. ‘Why was it not fixed?’ ‘There was no money, minister’. It was like a ‘Yes, Minister’ show.
Members interjecting.
Mr VATSKALIS: Unfortunately, you were the government at the time.
The initial funding of $400 000 was allocated for 2001-02, and that money was spent to upgrade the electrical reticulation of the high school to provide the new unit. $1.2m is going to be spent this financial year to completely upgrade the airconditioning unit from an evaporative to a refrigerated system.
A local company, Condition Air, won the contract. They agreed to work and install the new airconditioner without disrupting the classes. They worked very closely with the school and my department, and this has happened. Very soon the airconditioning contract will be completed and the Alice Springs High School will have a state-of-the-art airconditioner.
Yulara - Local Government
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Madam Speaker, firstly, may I apologise for my long question yesterday. If the government had agreed to my proposal at the last sittings to review Question Time, I would have known at least what the maximum time was allowed for a question.
Madam SPEAKER: Can we have your question?
Mr WOOD: Sorry, Madam Speaker. Last year, the Minister for Central Australia raised the notion of local government for Yulara, which Yulara people, as we all know, once had. Recently, it was reported that the owners of Yulara were looking at some form of association for the people of Yulara. Is the government considering reintroducing local government at Yulara which, I believe, as I often said when I was involved in local government, should never have been taken away from them in the first place?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Minister, do not start until they are quiet.
Mr AH KIT: Good to see you have taken your tablets.
Madam Speaker, a very good question from the member for Nelson, and I welcome it. Members of the House will recall the former government abolished local government at Yulara and left residents of the community without a voice. Residents raised this …
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: The member for Drysdale interjects, and takes it as a big joke. There are many people out there who are not happy with what you did when you were in government, so if you want to sit down …
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Well, if you want to talk about Ngukurr, I bit the bullet. You blokes did not know how! You did not know how, and I am continuing to show you. What you will need to do is learn from me, because you can learn a lot. You can learn a lot. We are looking after taxpayers’ money.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr AH KIT: It is taxpayer’s money, regardless of whether it is the Mataranka Council or Ngukurr. I will go there and I will straighten things out, rather than dillydally around like the former government.
I should get back to answering the question, which is very important. Residents raised this matter as a significant issue with both the Minister for Central Australia, my colleague Dr Peter Toyne, and myself as Minister for Local Government, during our visit to Yulara, when we were both there at community Cabinet last year.
We would like to reassure members of this House that our Martin Labor government listened to their concerns and is committed to ensuring the best outcome is achieved for the residents of Yulara. Members of my department have been working with the residents of Yulara and Voyages Hotels and Resorts management to establish better mechanisms for bringing issues of concern to residents to the attention of management, and having those concerns acted upon.
The resort general manager advised, on 31 March 2003 that, in response to our raising of this issue, an advisory committee has been established and that committee first met in the first week of April. Membership of this committee consists of six resort positions, four non-resort positions and two tour operator positions. The tour and non-resort members will choose two members for the tour operators’ nominations. The role of this committee is still evolving, but includes providing advice on infrastructure and planning; events management, including the broad social calendar that does exist in the resort; and management of social issues. There may also be room to participate on social issues with the nearby Mutitjulu community.
For example, the committee may to decide to fundraise to purchase equipment or fund tours to metropolitan centres to see sporting events. Although there is no representation on the advisory committee from the Mutitjulu community or the park rangers, resort management is meeting with both these parties on a regular basis to discuss matters of mutual concern.
I am delighted that Voyages’ management has taken the initiative and agreed to set up a structure to improve the two-way dialogue between Ayers Rock Resort and the residents, and I congratulate them for this. Whatever the final role of the committee evolves to be, it is vital that it provides a way for Yulara residents to engage in shaping their own community.
I will be monitoring the effectiveness of this committee in addressing community concerns, and look forward to hearing the views of all parties over the next few months.
SARS Virus – NT Preparedness
Ms CARTER to MINISTER for HEALTH and COMMUNITY SERVICES
Minister, I do not believe you are across your portfolio on the important issue of SARS screening. From yesterday’s Hansard of Question Time, I quote from the Chief Minister:
- Our Health Department has complied with all these Commonwealth recommendations, and have either Disease Control Centre staff, doctors or nurses, at Darwin airport to meet all planes coming in from Singapore or Brunei and, as of this week, from Denpasar in Bali.
Minister, I put it to you again: how long do you expect nurses to provide this service for free? I know, because I am in contact with them ...
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The honourable member has asked that question - how long? Now, she is going on to elaborate.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order, but questions are far too long tonight. Get on with it, and the answers. Do not repeat your question.
Ms CARTER: I know from staff in the area that they are being asked to fill a roster and to work for free.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker …
Member interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Before you start, at least give the minister a chance; she does have laryngitis. Let us all hear the answer.
Mrs AAGAARD: Thank you, Madam Speaker, I have not done this much speaking for the last couple of days. SARS is a very serious disease, and one which Australia is fighting very hard to stop it coming in to the country. At this stage we have been very successful.
The Centre for Disease Control, which is run out of the Royal Darwin Hospital, is an excellent centre. Let me say, on the record, that Dr Vicki Krause is doing a fantastic job there. The staff who are also working there are doing an excellent job, and they have been putting in place excellent quarantine measures. It involves doctors and nurses, and other staff as well.
The member for Port Darwin has said that these staff are not paid. I have received an item which says that, in fact, there are only three flights a week that come into Darwin which are from SARS-affected countries. On those flights, yes, there are some nurses and doctors who are scheduled to go to those flights if they are, in fact, called. It is not that they are there all the time, it is only if there is somebody who is suspect on those flights.
Apparently, the flexibility of the management allows staff doing that to either come in late the next day or the next time they are rostered on, or they are able to take time in lieu. This is quite a normal form of management practice, certainly throughout the public service. I thank those nurses and doctors who have been involved. I know Dr Vicki Krause, who I know very well, has been to meet a number of those flights in the middle of the night as well. I thank those nurses for their commitment to the people of the Northern Territory and to maintaining excellent public health standards in the Northern Territory.
Tennant Creek - Community Policing
Mr McADAM to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
Minister, you were in Tennant Creek recently. Can you please outline results being achieved by the police in our community?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Barkly for his question. Yes, I was in Tennant Creek a couple of weeks ago to meet with many of the business community in Tennant Creek, looking at the future mining operations that are coming on stream in Tennant Creek - which is great for the community - and also having a Business Round Table there.
What came out of that was that we have in Tennant Creek a very strong community that is certainly very ably led and assisted by the member for Barkly, who decided that they have had enough of crime in their community and that, as a community, were going to do something about it. We can see that, by taking a constructive approach with the community coming together and working with a very strong police presence in Tennant Creek, that runs really can be put on the board and significant results achieved. To sit at that Business Round Table 12 months on from where we were at a previous Business Round Table, where the business community in Tennant Creek were up in arms about antisocial behaviour and crime in Tennant Creek - there was a very, very different mood around that table.
There has been a significant improvement in relationships and communications between the police and the key community groups, being youth groups, indigenous groups and the business community in Tennant Creek. A community crime council has come together, and they have devised strategies to get on top of these issues in Tennant Creek. I will get to some statistics in a moment.
One of the key issues to be adopted by the police was a zero tolerance to public drinking in Tennant Creek, and moving a lot of the problems on. A dedicated town control, consisting of two Aboriginal community police officers, and supported by another patrol, have been patrolling actively in Tennant Creek and moving people on and dealing with public drunkenness. Let us look at some of the successes.
These statistics, year on year, back to back, show that social order incidents have been reduced from 911 in 2001-02, to 646 in 2002-03, a 30% decrease; reported unlawful entry to businesses have been reduced from 115 to 47 in 12 months, a decrease of over 50%; unlawful entries to private residences have been reduced from 109 to 54; and criminal damage incidents were 140 last year, compared to 130 this year. This is a huge difference, when a community comes together and local members are working with the community to put strategies in place.
I would like to congratulate the police - in particular, Superintendent Steve Edgington, who has done a fantastic job in Tennant Creek - the community, the youth groups, the indigenous groups, and the local member for the work they have put in.
Let us contrast that to the activities of the local members in Alice Springs, who are not interested in constructive solutions to crime and antisocial behaviour in this town. All they are interested in is cheap political capital. We can see this in terms of it is great to have the parliament in Alice Springs. However, in 312 questions that we received in parliament in Darwin in the 21 months that we have been in office, I remind the House that we have only had six questions from the member for Greatorex about Central Australia …
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: … only six questions from the member for Araluen on Central Australia, and 10, the record, is held by the member for Macdonnell. But none of those questions have been about crime or law and order in Alice Springs - not one. So concerned are these local members about crime in Alice Springs, they have to wait until we come down here to ask questions.
We have just seen the very deceptive member for Greatorex organise a rally outside. He has been advertising this rally outside of his electorate office; it was run from his electorate office. He did not have the honesty in this community to promote the rally as a CLP-motivated rally, to talk down this community and what is happening in this community. The facts are that the community is coming together. Crime is too high in Alice Springs, we make no bones about that. However, the trends are coming down.
We have produced the statistics from the police database. Those statistics have been audited. They are not just government statistics, they have been audited by Ernst & Young who, on a statistical basis, have stated that they are accurate. There has been no evidence put forward by the member for Greatorex or other local members to counter those statistics.
What we need in Alice Springs is leadership from those local members, such as the leadership we have seen from the member for Barkly in working with community groups, the police, and indigenous organisations to help drive down crime in Alice Springs. If we do that as a community, and local members get behind it, instead of whipping up fear in this community, we will see similar results, because we have a fantastic police force in the Northern Territory who are doing an absolutely great job.
We will not tolerate antisocial behaviour and crime in the Northern Territory, but this is a community issue. The community needs to get behind the police and, more importantly, the elected representatives of this town need to get behind the police in the community instead of whipping up political campaigns that, at the end of the day, do this town absolutely no good whatsoever.
Madam SPEAKER: Of course, minister, you did not mean all the members from Alice Springs, did you?
Mr HENDERSON: Not all, Madam Speaker.
Alice Springs Hospital – Surgical Staff
Ms CARTER to MINISTER for HEALTH and COMMUNITY SERVICES
Minister, as a result of your cost cutting, surgery generally at Alice Springs Hospital has been reduced, and I have heard that elective surgery has now been cancelled until the end of June. By reducing the availability of surgery at the hospital, the result is that the surgical ward is now full of people waiting for operations. I was told by a patient earlier this week that patients are being fasted day after day in preparation for operations that are cancelled time and time again because of a lack of operating theatre staff. When are you going to staff your operating theatres at Alice Springs so that Centralians do not have to suffer?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I do hope my voice will last for the whole of Question Time. Around three weeks ago, I announced that there would be a slowdown in elective surgery at Alice Springs Hospital. It is a slowdown which, I would have to say, is not something that any Health minister would want to happen in any of the hospitals in the Northern Territory. However, when you are faced with the position that you do not have sufficient anaesthetists in Alice Springs to undertake the surgery, you obviously cannot have that kind of surgery.
We were faced with the situation where we have had to slow down elective surgery. Now, by saying that, all urgent surgery and all urgent elective surgery has continued, and that has essentially been a clinical decision.
There have been a lot of strange stories put about by the opposition regarding these anaesthetists. In fact, there has been a story that they are simply on long service leave. The little part of the equation they left out was that, yes, there were two anaesthetists on long service leave, but they were also leaving, so we had to advertise their positions.
I am very pleased to be able to tell the people of Alice Springs that we have been able to secure two anaesthetists for Alice Springs. I have to say, in getting specialists for remote areas, this is a fantastic result, one that indicates that the Alice Springs Hospital is, in fact, a very good hospital.
I have noticed that in the gallery tonight is the Chairperson of the Alice Springs Hospital Management Board, Mrs Margaret Wait. She has been very enthusiastic about the Alice Springs Hospital for many years. I would like to congratulate the Alice Springs Hospital because, very recently, they were accredited. This is the first time this hospital has been accredited, and it is a fantastic effort for the whole of Alice Springs, and particularly the very hard working staff of the Alice Springs Hospital.
I would also like to put on the record that there is another big furphy going around about ophthalmological surgery, and that this does not require any form of anaesthetic. The clinical view of the ophthalmologist at the Alice Springs Hospital is (a) that no surgery was cancelled of that type because there was none scheduled, because this was the time when the ophthalmologist did his regular tour to Tennant Creek, so there was none cancelled at all; and (b) that although he does the general block for that kind of surgery, it is generally considered the most clinically sensible thing. In fact, what he wishes to happen, is that there is always an anaesthetist on hand in case there is some kind of problem, and that they need an anaesthetist to come in and sort out that problem.
So, Madam Speaker, (a) the surgery was not cancelled; but (b) you do definitely need an anaesthetist around if you are having eye surgery.
Central Australia - Horticulture Potential
Ms LAWRIE to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY and FISHERIES
Horticulture is rapidly becoming an industry of significant importance to Central Australia. Could you please inform the House of any potential for growth in this sector.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Karama for her question. As the member for Katherine observed yesterday, certainly horticulture is not a new industry in Central Australia. There is a substantial table grape …
Mr Burke interjecting.
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I would ask that the Leader of the Opposition afford some respect here.
Madam SPEAKER: I will ask him if it is necessary. You just give us the answer.
Mr Burke interjecting.
Dr BURNS: I can get on with it, but there is no need for this sort of sniping.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, get on with it. Leader of the Opposition, give him a go.
Dr BURNS: The member for Katherine observed yesterday that horticulture in Central Australia is not a new industry, but in its development in Central Australia, this government is right behind the measures that need to be taken for the further development of horticulture here. Most people in this place tonight would have tasted the tremendous table grapes that come from this region and, indeed, are exported and enjoyed by many Australians. It is a $20m a year industry in the Ti Tree district.
As a government, we are looking to the expansion of this industry, particularly in the Alice Springs area. This will require market development. There are important native title issues to be resolved, as well as natural resource management issues, environmental protection and the development of infrastructure. Although this question was asked of me as Minister for Primary Industry, I see my other portfolio areas of the Environmentand Essential Services, as coming together to support the development of the horticulture industry in Central Australia.
It was my privilege, quite soon after I became Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries, to visit Ti Tree to meet with the growers and others there, to hear what their concerns and issues are, and what is needed for the development of the horticulture industry within the Centre. Certainly, the issue of fruit fly came up, and I will be talking about developments around the Alice Springs area. In the medium term, I have been speaking with them about the eradication of fruit fly within this area which forms a basis, if you like, for the development of the horticulture industry, particularly around Alice Springs. I am heartened that the industry is very keen to further the discussion and, possibly, contribute to the eradication of fruit fly in the area in a number of ways.
Horticulture will provide a basis for new opportunities and jobs for Territorians. Around the Alice Springs area, most people would be aware of developments at Rocky Hill, 25 km east of the town, and a substantial development of 300 hectares on Undoolya Station and, as I announced the other day, a $6.2m investment by PowerWater for the re-use of effluent from the settling ponds within Alice Springs.
I see this as a very positive development, because Ilparpa Swamp, for many years, had provided a problem for residents around it regarding the stench coming from the settlement ponds, overflow coming on to the road at certain times of the year, and the environmental damage that it was doing to the Ilparpa Swamp. My predecessor, the minister, actually put a limit on PowerWater, that there would be no more effluent discharge in the dry weather past December 2005. This announcement of $6.2m to upgrade the infrastructure within the settlement ponds, to provide a pipeline through to the Arid Zone Research Institute, and to start the trial horticulture developments there, I believe, is a very substantial investment. It is turning an environmental negative into a positive. I see this development around Alice Springs as being very positive, and I am hopeful that, in the medium term, that there will be a development around AZRI that will equal what is going on in the Ti Tree area.
However, at the bottom of a lot of these things are native title issues, and most people in the room would be aware that, soon after we came to government, we negotiated with the native title holders about a culvert to take effluent overflow away from the Ilparpa Swamp into St Mary’s Creek as a temporary measure. Similarly, with the opening up of horticultural land, it is very important that native title issues be recognised and resolved. As a government, we are all about negotiation, not litigation. We will prove the fruits of those labours. The CLC is involved in the Centre horticulture project …
Madam SPEAKER: This is very long, minister.
Dr BURNS: I am winding up, Madam Speaker. This government is proud. Yes, there is a very strong existing horticulture industry in Central Australia, but we have plans to develop it further, particularly in the Alice Springs region.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, while you are fixing up the fruit fly, how about the bush fly?
Criminal Prosecution – No-Drop Policy
Mr WOOD to CHIEF MINISTER
My question is on behalf of yourself, Madam Speaker, as member for Braitling. In the Legislative Assembly 15 months ago, during a debate on violence against Aboriginal women, you said a review was being carried out of the no-drop policy and it would be finished soon. This policy ensures that a prosecution is not dropped because a victim withdraws a complaint. Can the Chief Minister outline the results of that review, and tell the House what changes, if any, have been made to the no-drop policy?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, thank you for your question.
Madam SPEAKER: I advise people in the gallery that, as the Speaker, I do not get to ask questions from the Chair, so I pass them on to other members to do so on my behalf.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, in 2002 a review was conducted by a consultant for the Department of Justice on the no-drop policy. The no-drop policy is a policy adopted by prosecution agencies to ensure that criminal charges that arise out of a domestic or family violence incident are pursued despite any requests from the victim for the withdrawal of those charges.
It is an important issue and one that needed review, and it was raised in that debate. The review was conducted by a consultant last year. Copies of the review were made available to the public and a range of stakeholder groups. After those copies were made available, further submissions were called for. A number of submissions on the review were received late in 2002 and early this year. These came from a range of government and non-government agencies involved in the criminal justice process.
The review raised a whole range of issues in relation to the prosecution of offences - not just the no-drop policy, but a range of issues arising out of domestic and family violence incidents. Subsequent submissions to the review further elaborated on that. The issues, as I said, were not simply confined to the no-drop or the pro-arrest policies. The Department of Justice is in the process of developing a policy advice document, which covers those two policies as well as this wider range of issues.
The review found that there is a need for a more comprehensive policy concerning the prosecution of criminal offences relating to domestic and family violence, and that it was more important to have a coordinated response to that violence than just deal with a no-drop or pro-arrest policy.
We will be moving further on that, Madam Speaker, and I will be keeping the House informed, and thank you for the question.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
Move Motion of Censure
Move Motion of Censure
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I notice that Question Time is rapidly drawing to a close. I have not been satisfied with the answers I have received this evening from the Minister for Health and Community Services. Therefore, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent me from moving a censure motion.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, the government will take this censure motion on board. It is the most important motion that can be brought before this House, so we will accept the censure.
Madam SPEAKER: Could I ask media crews to cease broadcasting and filming. To inform the gallery, the media have permission to film Question Time but, once a censure motion is raised, that filming is to cease, and we go into the censure motion. We will not be going on with normal business until we have debated out the censure motion.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016