2002-02-28
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I point out that the Chief Minister’s laryngitis unfortunately has not fully gone away. I ask that questions that would have been directed to the Chief Minister be directed to me.
Mr BURKE to MINISTER for COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Given the revelations on page 3 of today’s NT News - and I table that extract for the benefit of honourable members - can the minister give this House a categorical assurance that no member of your staff ever sought to have prisoners removed from the transfer list by contacting, not the Commissioner for Corrections, but line officers and, further, that no member of his staff, with or without his knowledge, ever told prison officers that two Aboriginal prisoners should not be transferred to Alice Springs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it would be nice to be addressed by my proper title, instead of minister for Community Relations.
I welcome the question from the Leader of the Opposition, because I have been briefed by the current minister for Corrections. Let me from the outset, once again, categorically deny that I, at no time, have given any instructions. If you read that article properly you will see from this anonymous person who spoke to the NT News, that there is no substance to my involvement. There are two matters here - whether I gave the direction, which I was accused of on Tuesday; or whether one of my staff gave the direction, which was also an accusation on Tuesday. We have had no evidence substantiated by the member for Goyder, and through the questioning of the opposition this week. In actual fact, I recall that I stated that they were grasping at straws - and they truly are.
I received, from the current minister’s department, a briefing from the superintendent who was named in the paper this morning. He advised, in regards to the transfer of prisoners: the allegations are that Minister Ah Kit’s staff requested two Top End Aboriginals be removed from a flight to Alice Springs, and Prison Superintendent Rodney Williams refused.
That was the point that was being made by the opposition. There is absolutely no truth to these allegations whatsoever.
The former minister for Corrections - who was me - had spoken to ministerial staff and I was informed that no such call was ever made to the prison. The prison superintendent, Rodney Williams, said: ‘It’s rubbish to suggest I refused to halt the transfer of Aboriginal prisoners to the Alice Springs Correctional Centre following an approach by staff of Minister Ah Kit’s office’. He went on and said: ‘No approach was ever made to me from any minister’s office or from any member of my staff to halt the transfer of prisoners’. What’s more, the NT News did not contact Mr Williams to confirm the accuracy of the report.
We have this anonymous person, obviously the same anonymous person who has gone to the legal eagle member for Goyder, the person who is anonymous, does not wish to be named - and we respect that. So, that is very clear - no approach ever.
This story has been baseless and mischievous from the start. The opposition started the week saying the former minister - referring to me - had interfered in the transfer of prisoners. That was false. Today’s story proves that to be false. Now they have turned their attention to my staff and, as I have said, I am informed that allegations against the staff are also false. The opposition has decided its tactics will be to run on rumour and innuendo. It is a low standard and it is a tactic without moral integrity. They should raise real issues of concern to Territorians.
In this allegation, which is unsubstantiated, I gave a letter to the member for Goyder yesterday. He owes me a public apology. I have 180 immediate family members who are concerned. My kids are concerned. I have a good reputation. I have worked hard all my life, and I will not stand in this House or anywhere else and have somebody from the opposition slur me in the manner in which they have. I will await the outcome of the apology from the member for Goyder in this House, and at a press conference, and also on ABC radio.
Ms SCRYMGOUR to DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER
The Auditor-General has highlighted the increasing cost to taxpayers of the Territory’s Parliamentary Superannuation Scheme. What action is the Labor government taking on this front?
ANSWER
I thank the member for Arafura for her question, Madam Speaker. It is quite clear, in the Auditor-General’s report, the indication that taxpayers are going to be required to contribute further funds to the Parliamentary Members Superannuation Scheme and this is a matter of concern to this government. We recognise that superannuation is a complex matter but the increase in the call on taxpayers goes back to two matters. It is related to the changes to the scheme made in 1998, which applied retrospectively to all members, which lifted the benefits payable to among the highest in the country in these types of schemes. The second contributing factor to this extra call on taxpayers funds goes to the large number of members leaving the scheme after the last election with qualifications.
I will go back a step, though, to outline what we as members would all know but the public might not, that, under the Territory scheme, members are entitled to a pension or to take a lump sum after three terms and eight years service. The pension entitlement is 50% of salary, increasing by 3% a year up to a maximum of 80% after 18 years service. Two other jurisdictions, Victoria and the Commonwealth, reach the maximum pension level at the same time, after 18 years service, but in both those cases, Victoria and the Commonwealth, the ceiling is held at 75% of salary, not 80%, as is the case in the Territory.
Following last year’s August election, and the result and retirements following that election time, 11 former members became entitled to benefits under the scheme. As a result of the combination of those two factors, on the one hand, the more generous benefits that were brought into effect those years ago and the greater take-up of pension entitlements under the scheme following the election, the Auditor-General’s report highlights that Territorians will now be required to contribute the equivalent of 7% of members’ salaries to keep the scheme viable. This means the current contribution of $1.3m a year would rise to around $2m per year, or around $80 000 per member per year. The government is disturbed at the level of contributions being asked of Territorians to the Parliamentary Superannuation Scheme because, in the current fiscal climate that we have, all Territorians and government as well are being asked to tighten their belts as a result of the financial inheritance that the CLP bequeathed us post election.
The fact is that we do have one of the most generous parliamentary superannuation schemes in the country and this side of the House has, for some time, criticised the current scheme. The government believes that while parliamentarians have a quite difficult job indeed, their superannuation arrangements should be more in line with those in other jurisdictions and more in line with community expectations.
The government has instructed Treasury to gather further information on the Northern Territory scheme in relation to those other jurisdictions to assist in providing input for a review of the Northern Territory Parliamentary Members Superannuation Scheme. When that information is received, the government will further develop terms of reference for an independent review of parliamentary superannuation arrangements in the Northern Territory as they apply now. We would seek from this side of the House, Madam Speaker, genuine bipartisan support for the review and would therefore develop the terms of reference for the review in full consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and the Independents in this Chamber. It is certainly the government’s intention that details of the review and the terms of reference would then be given to the House at the May sittings. The government believes that this would provide an opportunity for all sides of politics, Independents included, to raise the level of esteem by which they are held in the community.
In this Chamber, we have the unique privilege in the community of making laws, including those which, of course, govern our own superannuation benefits, and we should not set standards of benefits for ourselves substantially beyond those who elect us, but that is the situation which confronts us today. The terms of reference, as I said, will be developed in a bipartisan fashion to make sure all views are gained and represented in those terms of reference, and they will come before the House at the next sittings.
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for TRANSPORT and INFRASTRUCTURE
At the moment if you happen to live on the other side of Humpty Doo, you might have to go through somewhere between 15 and 17 sets of traffic lights to get to Darwin which requires a cut lunch and spare fuel. You have to travel along 6 km of the Arnhem Highway at 60 km an hour, and on the way home you also have to travel a section of the Stuart Highway at 80 km an hour, and these speed limits have been in place for nearly a month. Could the minister please explain to rural motorists why there is such a speed limit at the present time? When will the limit return to normal and, because this is an unusual length of time for these roads to have a reduced speed limit, could I ask: has the department explained to the public by advertisement as to why these speed limits have been in place for so long, and if it hasn’t, will it?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. Thank you for your comments, I appreciate them. I heard the member the other day on the radio commenting on exactly the same matter and also, after him, I heard comments from a representative of my department. The reason we have actually lowered the speed limit of the roads in question is because, a few months ago, the department awarded the contract to reseal the surface of the road. However, the wet weather played havoc with resealing the road and many stones became unstuck. As a result, a number of car windscreens were hit by flying stones.
The department received a number of complaints from motorists and considering the fact that you are only entitled to one free windscreen under your insurance policy, I thought it was appropriate to put some lower speed limits in the area, mark the road appropriately and put some explanatory boards in place so the public is aware of the danger. They would be warned to lower their speed and avoid any unfortunate incidents.
Hopefully, with the end of the wet weather, the road is going to be resealed, and everything is going to be rectified. The department is sweeping the road regularly, and very soon I hope it will go back to the 80 and 100 km per hour that the member is used to when travelling home.
As for the traffic lights, I am happy that they are there. I do not want to see any more photographs like the photos at the beginning of the week of this unfortunate and tragic accident on the Stuart Highway, and certainly I want to make sure that the member arrives in parliament safe and well.
Mr MALEY to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Given the allegations that have been raised in this place and the revelations in today’s NT News, have you, your CEO, or the Commissioner ever sought or received written denials from the prison officers involved in transfers that they never received any instruction, advice, argument from your predecessor or his staff that particular Aboriginal prisoners should not be transferred to Alice? And further, and very specifically, that the issue has never been raised by prison officers with you or specifically your new CEO, the CEO of the Justice Department, or the Commissioner?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there is no end to their cheek in trying to troll through this. I mean, not only have they failed to produce anything in writing from their supposed sources in this case, but now they want me to go back to the public servants who work in our gaol system and troll through there until they get the bit of paper that they are after.
We have to chase it for you now, do we? I thought you had these very deep and loyal relationships with the prison officers. If they have a problem, if they really think that the incident that you continue to pursue in here – which is a fairytale in my view - then why aren’t they giving you, in writing, the assertions that you are making in this House? I am not going to do your dirty work for you. If you think that there is some substance to these allegations, you come and prove it in here with some documents that we can actually trust.
Mr KIELY to DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER
The Auditor-General has made damning findings about the former CLP government’s abuse of the Community Benefit Fund. What were those findings and what has the Labor government set in train to ensure such abuse does not occur again?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Sanderson for his question. There were questions around this for quite some time prior to the last election, and try as I might as shadow minister for Racing and Gaming, whose ministry held responsibility for the Community Benefit Fund, it was never possible to get an answer from the then minister for Racing and Gaming, and certainly harder than trying to get blood out of a stone to get anything from the former Treasurer.
The Auditor-General has had a look at this whole question of the Community Benefit Fund, and his investigations have laid bare several quite serious concerns about the use of public monies under the former government. The Community Benefit Fund, for those who do not know, accumulated as a result of additional taxation levels on hotel poker machines following their introduction on 1 January 1996. Yet, barely 18 months after those machines were introduced into the community in July 1997, disbursements from the fund to community groups ceased - bearing in mind this was a fund for community benefit, that was its title, Community Benefit Fund - but disbursements ceased pending a review of the gaming industry. A small number of payments each year continue to be made to services involved in the delivery of services for addict gamblers and problem gamblers. They continue to be made to Amity Community Services and Anglicare in providing those gambling amelioration programs. But the rest of the fund, the balance of the fund, was frozen from July 1997.
Despite the review results being delivered in 1998, disbursements from the fund remained frozen. It was probably in that space of time that I raised several questions: where is the review? What is happening with the review? What is happening with the Community Benefit Fund? They were locked up, worse than Fort Knox, no one could get to it. Then suddenly, in March 2001, the former government decided to use part of the accumulated fund to make grants under the Small Grants Program to bona fide grassroots community groups. While the Auditor-General does not mention this fact, I will; the fact is the money just started to flow in an election year. And this is no coincidence, surely. It has been frozen all of this time, but suddenly someone has found the key. Someone has found the key and I do not believe that that is a coincidence.
Responsibility for determining grants, and no specific level on these grants were set, passed from the minister responsible at the time, the member for Daly, who had responsibility for Racing, Gaming and Licensing, to the Deputy Chief Minister, the member for Katherine and former Treasurer. The Auditor-General, unfortunately, did not report on why that decision was made. I remember asking that question in here, but to no avail. Now it is pretty fair, I think, to assume that in an election year the responsibility was passed to a more senior operative within the parliamentary wing of the CLP.
What else did the Auditor-General find? That, after initially setting the pool of grants to be distributed at $1m in March, on 16 July, barely a fortnight from the day the election was called, the former Treasurer upped the amount to close to $1.6m. You have to have some sympathy for the public servants who are left with carriage of this massive last ditch attempt to win votes prior to the election, because they had to process, in a short space of time, over 520 applications for grants with very few specific criteria. The Auditor-General states that there was a haste to process payments during July which meant, of course, the proper controls were not followed. There was a haste. So, there we are, a month to the election, the Country Liberal Party falling over themselves to process these payments and get ministers and sitting members out in the community, cheque in hand, of course.
According to the Auditor-General, they were so eager they overpaid some recipients. They even managed to pay five recipients twice. Five different groups were paid twice. Even more damning than that, two payments totalling $9000 were made to the Casuarina Security Association Inc, an organisation that was dormant and had a then government minister as its public officer. So, here we have the Country Liberal Party using taxpayers’ funds to pay a private organisation for which a government minister was the person to acquit the funds if ever such an acquittal was ever required. The Auditor-General goes on to say:
There was no indication that any check was made to ensure that the purpose of the grant was in accord with the basic objectives of the Association.
Now, who authorised the grant? Who authorised the grant here? The same man, of course, who looked after the budget books. Or was it his senior ministerial officer who could authorise the payment of the money, as the member for Katherine, presumably, was too busy handing out cheques around about this time.
Mr BURKE to MINISTER for COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
To borrow a favourite phrase of the member for Arnhem: ‘If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen’. You have said it enough in this Chamber. Notwithstanding that, given your previous answer, I ask: would you table the briefing or statement that you have received from Rod Williams? I also ask you, minister, from your response to the last question: do both you and Rod Williams believe that the prison officers who have made these allegations, both to the media and to the opposition, are liars?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, once again, it appears that the Leader of the Opposition finds it hard to address me by my appropriate title.
Mr Burke: Answer the question.
Mr AH KIT: I will answer the question. There are people, no doubt, at the Correctional Services centre listening to the broadcast. The Leader of the Opposition is asking me to table matters that I raised in a briefing from the minister for Justice’s staff, and I do not wish to table that. I spoke from notes and I was not quoting …
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: What we have to try to get through to the opposition is that the story in today’s newspaper, like the rest of the garbage peddled out by the opposition this week, is anonymous and false. The prison superintendent had made it quite clear that no phone call from his staff occurred. We had the CEO coming out the other day saying nobody got in touch with them: ‘The minister didn’t ring my office, nor did any of his staff’. We now have the superintendent coming out saying: ‘No, not right’.
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Okay, let’s go to the source who rang the NT News. That’s all right, his identity can be protected, and we understand that. Let’s go to the last paragraph in that.
Mr Burke: We don’t want to know you are a good bloke. Are they liars or not?
Mr AH KIT: Well, you don’t want to know whether I am a good bloke. This is what you are trolling for. You are trolling for something that did not happen, and now you are still grasping at the last few little straws.
Mr Burke: You are supposed to know what is going on in your office.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, calm down.
Mr AH KIT: Let’s go to the former senior prison officer, and the article on page three by Nigel Adlam says:
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker. It seems that the minister thinks the whole of the article in the NT News is a lie except the last paragraph. He was asked specifically whether he thought that prison officers who are behind this story and who have contacted the media are liars. He has not addressed that question at all.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order, and we all know the minister has the licence to answer the question.
Mr AH KIT: Thank you, Madam Speaker. What we now have is a situation where the members opposite had worked out - in fact, it was spoken about in Kitty O’Shea’s last Friday over a couple of beers, where the member for Goyder was skiting about the minister for Justice and the minister for Community Development, ‘They’re going to get rolled; we’re going to put the big king hit on them.’ You would want to be careful having a beer around the place and talking with your big mouth, because there are people listening. But anyway, that is something for the new member to learn.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Government members, I cannot hear the minister.
Mr AH KIT: They came in here, they had their targets, they missed their targets, they are now still trolling further. It is like the members opposite are in quicksand trying to grab for the limb, but the more they reach out, the further they are sinking. They should get on with asking questions about business and the economy which Territorians are interested in.
Mr McADAM to MINISTER for BUSINESS, INDUSTRY and RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Can the minister advise the House of the current status of exploration licence applications being processed under the Commonwealth Native Title Act?
ANSWER
Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I would like to thank my colleague, the member for Barkly, for his question. He is vitally interested in getting exploration activity and mining happening in his electorate, and a couple of fairly decent sized mines in his electorate.
Exploration licence applications are in the main being processed through the expedited procedure of the Native Title Act which focusses on exploration as a low impact activity. It is activity that happens on land that is generally non-disturbing. Priority has been given to exploration licences since they comprise the majority of the outstanding applications and because it is the bleeding obvious - if we are going to find any new deposits, we have to get out on to the land and explore. This is what this government is about. It is about working with the mining companies, working with the land councils, through my department, the great officers of my department, and getting people out on to land and exploring.
To date, some 406 exploration licence applications have been advertised, with a further 300 licences yet to be advertised. Let’s contrast those numbers. If we go back about 18 months ago, the previous government, the purely ideological politically-motivated divide and rule politics, had 900 exploration licence applications piled up, upstairs here on the 5th floor on the previous Minister for Resource Development’s desk, and they sat there for years. Nothing happening, nobody on the ground, we were not going to find any new mineral deposits, we were not going to develop any new mines because nobody was out there exploring. And we have to ask the question, why. The question, why - and it was purely going back to the old divisive politics over the last 20 years, and it was a failure of the previous government to actually sit down and negotiate with the stakeholders and find a path through this.
Since we have come to government I am glad to say that those days are gone. We are being proactive, we are working with the land councils and the mining companies to get people onto the ground.
The advertising period has closed now for some 312 exploration licences; 178 of these licences have not attracted objections and they are clear for grant. These licences are predominantly in the Central Land Council region, and total a massive in excess of 100 000 km, so this is another 40 000 km ready to be granted on top of the 60 000 km that have been granted in that region since this government came to office.
Madam Speaker, I do not have a total figure for the exploration budgets for these applications, but I can say that they would be in the order of several million dollars. Activity, economic activity, lots of small companies in the northern suburbs, in Berrimah, millions of dollars going into exploration activity in the Northern Territory that sat dormant for so many years under the previous regime.
The remaining 134 licences have attracted objections, and have been scheduled for determination hearings by the Native Title Tribunal.
A further recent positive development is that Rio Tinto, which has an extensive portfolio of exploration licence applications in the Northern Territory, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Northern Land Council concerning the grant of exploration licences on land in the NLC area - a significant breakthrough, and one that everybody in this House should applaud in terms of Rio Tinto, one of the biggest mining companies in Australia, sitting down with the NLC, working through and signing off on this MOU. Rio Tinto is currently rationalising its applications, but the area involved is in the vicinity of a further 31 000 km of land.
So here we are, we are in the process within six months of coming to government, and companies were working with the land councils before, but the tone of the debate has changed. People are working together and we are on the verge, in the very near future, of about 150 000 km of land across the Northern Territory being opened up for exploration activity, and very exciting prospective lands that people are going to be out on.
Clearly, Madam Speaker, we are seeing significant advances in the grant of exploration licences on Northern Territory land that may be affected by native title. These breakthroughs have not happened by chance; they have been made in the spirit of respect and cooperation, and not under the fear and loathing of the previous administration.
Mr REED to MINISTER for TRANSPORT and INFRASTRUCTURE:
My question relates to a life-threatening matter for communities in Arnhem Land and other parts of the Top End, and will interest the member for Arnhem. The situation in these communities is that they are entirely dependant at this time of the year on their airstrips to gain access for Airmed aircraft for emergency medical treatment, and of course to get supplies in if roads are cut. The minister’s department has had thrust upon it by the minister a 20% cut in airstrip maintenance funding, and from that point of view, the Gulin Gulin community has been waiting for funding since November - approval to undertake essential works for their airstrip identified by the airstrip maintenance inspectors. They have written to the minister, and I seek leave to table a copy of the letter to him.
Leave granted.
Mr REED: The letter seeks urgent attention in relation to this matter, immediate approval for the minister to issue funding so that this life-threatening situation can be removed from all Aboriginal communities, including those at Gulin Gulin and Weemol.
ANSWER
I thank the member for Katherine for his comments. I have to remind the House that the member for Macdonnell also brought that fact to the attention of the Chamber. I invited the member for Macdonnell to work together with me so we can approach CASA, have a look at the whole situation with airstrips because they are not only airstrips to the north or to the south, it is all over the Territory. We rely on air travel in the Territory because of the long distances, and this is not the only airstrip that needs upgrading. For your information, we have had a serious look at the airstrips and we are preparing to seal and upgrade a number of airstrips.
If the member for Katherine would like a list of the airstrips that are going to be upgraded in the next few years, I am prepared to give it to him as soon as possible.
Mr BONSON to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES
Will the minister detail how funds have been allocated to develop better central services to Aboriginal communities?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister for Essential Services, could you perhaps speak a bit slower for me?
ANSWER
Mr VATSKALIS: My apologies, Madam Speaker, sometimes I get excited. I thank the member for Millner for this question. The Martin government has already allocated $2m for beneficial projects in many Aboriginal communities, and much of this work is already in progress. In Areyonga, a new $420 000 water system is to be constructed, including chlorination, pipeworks, extension of the existing system. The tenders closed on 6 February 2002. $437 000 has been allocated for the upgrading of fuel storage bunding at Lajamanu, Yuendemu, Laramba, Kintore and Areyonga. A new $100 000 diesel engine has been ordered for Gapuwiyak and will replace a 500kW generator which failed just prior to Christmas. At Yuendumu, $235 000 will be spent this financial year on upgrading the switchboard and control systems in the powerhouse. In Pirlangimpi, $100 000 will be spent to upgrade the water storage facility. In Maningrida, a new bore will be equipped for $100 000, and $158 000 has been allocated for works and upgrades right across the Territory.
This is some of the money allocated by this government for upgrading of essential services in the Aboriginal communities, on top of the $4.5m allocated for minor works which is going to be spent by the Territory.
Yesterday, the member for Katherine pointed out, quite rightly, if I may say so, that he does not like things to be repeated, and that is the ruling of the House. I have some news about the $4.5m the government has allocated for minor works. The news comes from David Malone, general manager of the Territory Construction Association, who said that the boost of $4.5m was great news for Territory business. Mr Malone said, ‘It is great news. It will keep doors open and that’s very positive’. These are statements he made to an officer from my office and Mr Malone was very happy for me to repeat his statements in parliament. It is not only Mr Malone, Mr Steven Huntingford, President of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, NT Chapter, said: ‘We’re very encouraged by it; it is welcome news indeed’. Mr Tony Cox, Chair of the Australian Council of Building Design Professionals, said:
These comments are not made by Labor politicians. These comments are not made by politicians. They are made by members of the construction industry and people who know what really happened in the past two years in the construction industry.
Mr DUNHAM to MINISTER for HEALTH and COMMUNITY SERVICES
There are now reports of many people at Alice Springs Hospital queuing up for unacceptably long periods, with at least one reported case of a person who was forced to remain on a trolley for three days. We understand this also may be a phenomenon in the Top End. I seek leave to read into Hansard, and to table a letter that came to my colleague, the Opposition Leader, Denis Burke.
Madam SPEAKER: Is leave granted? No, leave was not granted. There was a no - you said no? Standing order 96, leave of the Assembly must be granted without any dissenting voices, so leave was not granted.
Members interjecting.
Mr Stirling: I didn’t hear a no, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Look, I take it back. I thought there was a no, so leave is granted.
Mr DUNHAM: I am happy not to table it, in fact, I would prefer not to table it. I was only tabling it as something that might be helpful. I will read it into Hansard.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I think there has been some confusion here. Members on this side are quite happy for the member for Drysdale to table the letter.
Mr DUNHAM: Thank you. The letter is:
Dear Mr Burke,
My question to the minister is: are you aware of what is happening in our hospitals and, if so, how many cases like this have occurred since Christmas, particularly given your claim that you have turned the system around?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for the question. The Royal Darwin Hospital has actually been working at 104% capacity. This is a big strain on the hospital; I will admit that. You may not be aware that the Accident and Emergency department was accredited in November 2001. The national performance indicators have set time limits in which patients must be seen, and Royal Darwin Hospital is consistently exceeding every performance indicator. For example, for triage category 1, the national performance indicators indicate that 100% of patients should be seen immediately. Royal Darwin Hospital consistently meets this standard. For triage category 2, the national guideline indicates that 75% of patients should be seen within 10 minutes. At Royal Darwin Hospital over the period of August 2001 to January 2002 …
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister has totally misunderstood what I said. This man was seen very quickly and he thanked the staff for that. The difficulty was that, having been seen, he needed to be admitted and was kept in A&E for a day. He was seen.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Members of the opposition are well aware that ministers can answer the question on a very broad range of topics.
Mrs AAGAARD: Madam Speaker, I have been advised by the hospital that it is not uncommon for people to actually wait in Accident and Emergency for some time, while they are being observed, before they are taken to a bed. I have already said that the hospital has been running at 104% capacity.
I will continue. For triage category 2, the national guideline indicates that 75% of patients should be seen within 10 minutes. At Royal Darwin Hospital over the period of August 2001 to January 2002, 70% to 78% of patients were seen within the 10 minute time frame.
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This particular person, who was moved sufficiently because of their medical condition, to seek advice and assistance on this matter, is not interested in some historic document. He is interested in what the minister is going to do to ensure that he does not find himself, or other patients do not find themselves, in those circumstances again.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, minister, I would ask you to direct your remarks to the question. We have had this over and over again. Get to the point, keep your answer short. We should not have had that letter read at length in the question. Now we do not want a great lengthy document read as an answer. So, could you get on with your answer.
Mrs AAGAARD: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I find it a bit difficult to actually discuss a particular case. Perhaps I would advise the member for Drysdale that he should bring up the issue with my office, and I would be happy to deal with it.
Ms LAWRIE to MINISTER assisting the CHIEF MINISTER on INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Can the minister explain the effectiveness of the Aboriginal Law and Justice Strategy that has been introduced at the Lajamanu and Ali Curung communities?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to inform this House that law and order concerns at Ali Curung have decreased significantly over the past six years, especially in the area of family and community violence. My Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs continues to assist the community in implementing local strategies to address law and order concerns, as outlined in the Lajamanu Law and Justice Plan which commenced in November 2000.
A grant of $40 000 has also been provided by the Northern Territory government to help establish a women’s safe house at Lajamanu and, given the support for your motion in the House last night, Madam Speaker, I am sure this initiative will be welcomed by all, although we get some heckling from the members opposite. The establishment of the safe house is one of a number of strategies being developed by the community as part of its community law and order plan. Lajamanu has also been chosen by the Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs working group on family violence as the Territory pilot community for the national indigenous family violence strategy. This support and recognition from the Commonwealth government is welcomed by the Northern Territory government and we look forward to the outcomes of this initiative.
My Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs, and indeed the whole of this government, will continue to enhance empowerment of community decision-making and dispute resolution systems. It is only with the involvement of this kind of whole-of-government/whole-of-community approach that we can work towards resolving these issues.
In conclusion, a pat on the back to Peter Ryan and Jackie Antoun, who are to be congratulated for the hard work they put in over the years on this project to ensure its success. Congratulations should also be extended to the Ali Curung and Lajamanu Councils and their members who have worked very hard to obtain, at this stage, excellent results. We certainly hope that that success will continue.
Ms CARTER to MINISTER for HEALTH and COMMUNITY SERVICES
In this Assembly over the last few days, you have espoused an interest in the Palmerston Community Health Centre and the private service that is there as well. Can you detail to us how many patients are being seen by the doctors there between 5 pm and 10 pm at night? Of those patients, what number are being transferred to Royal Darwin Hospital?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, you would be aware that this was a private GP service. I do not have access to that kind of detail. I am sorry, I am unable to answer this question.
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for SPORT and RECREATION
Recently you were speaking to a constituent of mine at a Palmerston activity community network about the possibility of a swimming pool in the rural area. The construction of a swimming pool, I believe, was one of Labor’s promises and I might say one of the CLP promises, at the last election. I believe the Labor Party has said that it would fulfil all its promises. Minister, could you say when the pool is going to be built; where it is going to be built; how much it is going to cost; who will pay the ongoing maintenance costs, the Litchfield Shire Council or the government; and has the government approached the Litchfield Shire Council on this matter?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it does me proud in a sense that this government is addressing the need for a swimming pool in the rural area. We have understood for quite some time that people in the rural area have wanted to have a swimming pool in their particular area because, with the thousands of people living in the rural area, the closest swimming pool to them is at Palmerston. So it was something that I talked to candidates about. And our candidates raised at pre-election time that this could be an election promise. I understand it was, and we are working towards delivering a swimming pool as an election promise in the term of this government.
The details have not been worked out yet. Obviously people do understand we have inherited a budget concern - if I could get away from those other two words - a budget concern of a large measure attributed to the former Treasurer and the member for Katherine, and the person who is now leading the opposition.
We certainly will be talking to the Litchfield Shire Council. We will be talking to people in the rural area and we will ensure that the swimming pool is delivered in the first term of this government and that the ongoing maintenance, etcetera, all those things that need to be in order so that it can be run effectively and maintained effectively, will definitely happen.
Dr BURNS to MINISTER for ETHNIC AFFAIRS
The financial year 2002-03 is the 10th anniversary of the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program. Can the minister advise the Assembly on improvements to the program implemented by the government for this 10th anniversary?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Johnston for his question. It is true; it is the 10th year of the introduction of the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program which commenced in 1993-94. In recognition of the success of the program, the Martin government recognises and supports multi-culturalism in the Northern Territory. We have increased funds available through the Office of Ethnic Affairs by $250 000 per annum. This is going to commence at the 2002-03 financial year and the Sponsorship Program will increase from $447 000 to $697 000. In dollar terms, our program is the fourth largest in Australia after New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland; however, it is the most generous one per capita. We allocate $4 per person in the Territory and the next most generous program, which is the Australian Capital Territory, allocates only 35 cents per person.
To date, the program has listed 370 projects and would have spent $2.4m. It is a very successful program. We have helped many ethnic communities and we have helped many ethnic activities and projects, including the Greek Glenti, India at Mindil, the Tamil Association movies, and a number of other activities. All sides of parliament have supported people of non-English background in the Territory and the previous government has generally provided funds to communities. We will continue this because we also recognise the value of multiculturalism in the Northern Territory.
We are going to have two rounds of applications, and for projects commencing after 1 July 2002, the closing date for applications is 15 March 2002. For projects commencing after 1 February 2003, the closing date will be 15 October. We have made this information public through the web site of the Office of Ethnic Affairs, through advertisements in the NT News and Centralian Advocate, and with personal mail to all ethnic associations. On top of the $250 000 allocated per year for the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program, the Martin government is allocating $150 000 per annum for cultural and linguistic scholarships.
We have also advised the ethnic communities of this funding and we are now drafting the program, the guidelines, and will invite ethnic communities to apply for the cultural and linguistic scholarships. We intend to provide the funds to the communities so they can bring people from overseas or interstate who will provide, not only the communities but also the general NT community, information about culture and about language that will certainly enrich the lifestyle of all Territorians.
Mr BALDWIN to MINISTER for HEALTH and COMMUNITY SERVICES
The minister would be aware that in the last couple of days an urgent health warning has been issued by the Health Department as the mosquito numbers in Katherine have reached pest proportions. You would also be aware, minister, that mosquito-borne diseases of encephalitis and Ross River are common when the mosquito proportions reach these numbers. In recent weeks, there has been local flooding in the rural area of Katherine. Can the minister please advise this House and the residents of Katherine, who I hope are listening, when the spraying program for these mosquitoes will begin?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I will have to take that question on notice so that I can get back to you as soon as possible.
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Question Paper.
Mr VATSKALIS (Transport and Infrastructure): I thank the member for Katherine for tabling this document. This document was actually received by my office last night. It is dated 27 February 2002. It makes allegations that the Town Clerk of the Gulin Gulin/Weemol community was advised there was no further funding for airstrips. I have been advised that all the available funding has now been exhausted because of flood damage. However, the department is seeking new funding. But I want to advise the member for Katherine and the Town Clerk, through the Chamber, that I will approve immediately the expenditure to repair the airstrip, $43 000 government dollars. And I will make sure the approval is given.
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Mr BURKE to MINISTER for COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Given the revelations on page 3 of today’s NT News - and I table that extract for the benefit of honourable members - can the minister give this House a categorical assurance that no member of your staff ever sought to have prisoners removed from the transfer list by contacting, not the Commissioner for Corrections, but line officers and, further, that no member of his staff, with or without his knowledge, ever told prison officers that two Aboriginal prisoners should not be transferred to Alice Springs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it would be nice to be addressed by my proper title, instead of minister for Community Relations.
I welcome the question from the Leader of the Opposition, because I have been briefed by the current minister for Corrections. Let me from the outset, once again, categorically deny that I, at no time, have given any instructions. If you read that article properly you will see from this anonymous person who spoke to the NT News, that there is no substance to my involvement. There are two matters here - whether I gave the direction, which I was accused of on Tuesday; or whether one of my staff gave the direction, which was also an accusation on Tuesday. We have had no evidence substantiated by the member for Goyder, and through the questioning of the opposition this week. In actual fact, I recall that I stated that they were grasping at straws - and they truly are.
I received, from the current minister’s department, a briefing from the superintendent who was named in the paper this morning. He advised, in regards to the transfer of prisoners: the allegations are that Minister Ah Kit’s staff requested two Top End Aboriginals be removed from a flight to Alice Springs, and Prison Superintendent Rodney Williams refused.
That was the point that was being made by the opposition. There is absolutely no truth to these allegations whatsoever.
The former minister for Corrections - who was me - had spoken to ministerial staff and I was informed that no such call was ever made to the prison. The prison superintendent, Rodney Williams, said: ‘It’s rubbish to suggest I refused to halt the transfer of Aboriginal prisoners to the Alice Springs Correctional Centre following an approach by staff of Minister Ah Kit’s office’. He went on and said: ‘No approach was ever made to me from any minister’s office or from any member of my staff to halt the transfer of prisoners’. What’s more, the NT News did not contact Mr Williams to confirm the accuracy of the report.
We have this anonymous person, obviously the same anonymous person who has gone to the legal eagle member for Goyder, the person who is anonymous, does not wish to be named - and we respect that. So, that is very clear - no approach ever.
This story has been baseless and mischievous from the start. The opposition started the week saying the former minister - referring to me - had interfered in the transfer of prisoners. That was false. Today’s story proves that to be false. Now they have turned their attention to my staff and, as I have said, I am informed that allegations against the staff are also false. The opposition has decided its tactics will be to run on rumour and innuendo. It is a low standard and it is a tactic without moral integrity. They should raise real issues of concern to Territorians.
In this allegation, which is unsubstantiated, I gave a letter to the member for Goyder yesterday. He owes me a public apology. I have 180 immediate family members who are concerned. My kids are concerned. I have a good reputation. I have worked hard all my life, and I will not stand in this House or anywhere else and have somebody from the opposition slur me in the manner in which they have. I will await the outcome of the apology from the member for Goyder in this House, and at a press conference, and also on ABC radio.
Parliamentary Members Superannuation Scheme – Cost to Taxpayer
Ms SCRYMGOUR to DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER
The Auditor-General has highlighted the increasing cost to taxpayers of the Territory’s Parliamentary Superannuation Scheme. What action is the Labor government taking on this front?
ANSWER
I thank the member for Arafura for her question, Madam Speaker. It is quite clear, in the Auditor-General’s report, the indication that taxpayers are going to be required to contribute further funds to the Parliamentary Members Superannuation Scheme and this is a matter of concern to this government. We recognise that superannuation is a complex matter but the increase in the call on taxpayers goes back to two matters. It is related to the changes to the scheme made in 1998, which applied retrospectively to all members, which lifted the benefits payable to among the highest in the country in these types of schemes. The second contributing factor to this extra call on taxpayers funds goes to the large number of members leaving the scheme after the last election with qualifications.
I will go back a step, though, to outline what we as members would all know but the public might not, that, under the Territory scheme, members are entitled to a pension or to take a lump sum after three terms and eight years service. The pension entitlement is 50% of salary, increasing by 3% a year up to a maximum of 80% after 18 years service. Two other jurisdictions, Victoria and the Commonwealth, reach the maximum pension level at the same time, after 18 years service, but in both those cases, Victoria and the Commonwealth, the ceiling is held at 75% of salary, not 80%, as is the case in the Territory.
Following last year’s August election, and the result and retirements following that election time, 11 former members became entitled to benefits under the scheme. As a result of the combination of those two factors, on the one hand, the more generous benefits that were brought into effect those years ago and the greater take-up of pension entitlements under the scheme following the election, the Auditor-General’s report highlights that Territorians will now be required to contribute the equivalent of 7% of members’ salaries to keep the scheme viable. This means the current contribution of $1.3m a year would rise to around $2m per year, or around $80 000 per member per year. The government is disturbed at the level of contributions being asked of Territorians to the Parliamentary Superannuation Scheme because, in the current fiscal climate that we have, all Territorians and government as well are being asked to tighten their belts as a result of the financial inheritance that the CLP bequeathed us post election.
The fact is that we do have one of the most generous parliamentary superannuation schemes in the country and this side of the House has, for some time, criticised the current scheme. The government believes that while parliamentarians have a quite difficult job indeed, their superannuation arrangements should be more in line with those in other jurisdictions and more in line with community expectations.
The government has instructed Treasury to gather further information on the Northern Territory scheme in relation to those other jurisdictions to assist in providing input for a review of the Northern Territory Parliamentary Members Superannuation Scheme. When that information is received, the government will further develop terms of reference for an independent review of parliamentary superannuation arrangements in the Northern Territory as they apply now. We would seek from this side of the House, Madam Speaker, genuine bipartisan support for the review and would therefore develop the terms of reference for the review in full consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and the Independents in this Chamber. It is certainly the government’s intention that details of the review and the terms of reference would then be given to the House at the May sittings. The government believes that this would provide an opportunity for all sides of politics, Independents included, to raise the level of esteem by which they are held in the community.
In this Chamber, we have the unique privilege in the community of making laws, including those which, of course, govern our own superannuation benefits, and we should not set standards of benefits for ourselves substantially beyond those who elect us, but that is the situation which confronts us today. The terms of reference, as I said, will be developed in a bipartisan fashion to make sure all views are gained and represented in those terms of reference, and they will come before the House at the next sittings.
Humpty Doo Area - Traffic Restrictions
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for TRANSPORT and INFRASTRUCTURE
At the moment if you happen to live on the other side of Humpty Doo, you might have to go through somewhere between 15 and 17 sets of traffic lights to get to Darwin which requires a cut lunch and spare fuel. You have to travel along 6 km of the Arnhem Highway at 60 km an hour, and on the way home you also have to travel a section of the Stuart Highway at 80 km an hour, and these speed limits have been in place for nearly a month. Could the minister please explain to rural motorists why there is such a speed limit at the present time? When will the limit return to normal and, because this is an unusual length of time for these roads to have a reduced speed limit, could I ask: has the department explained to the public by advertisement as to why these speed limits have been in place for so long, and if it hasn’t, will it?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. Thank you for your comments, I appreciate them. I heard the member the other day on the radio commenting on exactly the same matter and also, after him, I heard comments from a representative of my department. The reason we have actually lowered the speed limit of the roads in question is because, a few months ago, the department awarded the contract to reseal the surface of the road. However, the wet weather played havoc with resealing the road and many stones became unstuck. As a result, a number of car windscreens were hit by flying stones.
The department received a number of complaints from motorists and considering the fact that you are only entitled to one free windscreen under your insurance policy, I thought it was appropriate to put some lower speed limits in the area, mark the road appropriately and put some explanatory boards in place so the public is aware of the danger. They would be warned to lower their speed and avoid any unfortunate incidents.
Hopefully, with the end of the wet weather, the road is going to be resealed, and everything is going to be rectified. The department is sweeping the road regularly, and very soon I hope it will go back to the 80 and 100 km per hour that the member is used to when travelling home.
As for the traffic lights, I am happy that they are there. I do not want to see any more photographs like the photos at the beginning of the week of this unfortunate and tragic accident on the Stuart Highway, and certainly I want to make sure that the member arrives in parliament safe and well.
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Mr MALEY to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Given the allegations that have been raised in this place and the revelations in today’s NT News, have you, your CEO, or the Commissioner ever sought or received written denials from the prison officers involved in transfers that they never received any instruction, advice, argument from your predecessor or his staff that particular Aboriginal prisoners should not be transferred to Alice? And further, and very specifically, that the issue has never been raised by prison officers with you or specifically your new CEO, the CEO of the Justice Department, or the Commissioner?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there is no end to their cheek in trying to troll through this. I mean, not only have they failed to produce anything in writing from their supposed sources in this case, but now they want me to go back to the public servants who work in our gaol system and troll through there until they get the bit of paper that they are after.
We have to chase it for you now, do we? I thought you had these very deep and loyal relationships with the prison officers. If they have a problem, if they really think that the incident that you continue to pursue in here – which is a fairytale in my view - then why aren’t they giving you, in writing, the assertions that you are making in this House? I am not going to do your dirty work for you. If you think that there is some substance to these allegations, you come and prove it in here with some documents that we can actually trust.
Community Benefit Fund
Mr KIELY to DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER
The Auditor-General has made damning findings about the former CLP government’s abuse of the Community Benefit Fund. What were those findings and what has the Labor government set in train to ensure such abuse does not occur again?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Sanderson for his question. There were questions around this for quite some time prior to the last election, and try as I might as shadow minister for Racing and Gaming, whose ministry held responsibility for the Community Benefit Fund, it was never possible to get an answer from the then minister for Racing and Gaming, and certainly harder than trying to get blood out of a stone to get anything from the former Treasurer.
The Auditor-General has had a look at this whole question of the Community Benefit Fund, and his investigations have laid bare several quite serious concerns about the use of public monies under the former government. The Community Benefit Fund, for those who do not know, accumulated as a result of additional taxation levels on hotel poker machines following their introduction on 1 January 1996. Yet, barely 18 months after those machines were introduced into the community in July 1997, disbursements from the fund to community groups ceased - bearing in mind this was a fund for community benefit, that was its title, Community Benefit Fund - but disbursements ceased pending a review of the gaming industry. A small number of payments each year continue to be made to services involved in the delivery of services for addict gamblers and problem gamblers. They continue to be made to Amity Community Services and Anglicare in providing those gambling amelioration programs. But the rest of the fund, the balance of the fund, was frozen from July 1997.
Despite the review results being delivered in 1998, disbursements from the fund remained frozen. It was probably in that space of time that I raised several questions: where is the review? What is happening with the review? What is happening with the Community Benefit Fund? They were locked up, worse than Fort Knox, no one could get to it. Then suddenly, in March 2001, the former government decided to use part of the accumulated fund to make grants under the Small Grants Program to bona fide grassroots community groups. While the Auditor-General does not mention this fact, I will; the fact is the money just started to flow in an election year. And this is no coincidence, surely. It has been frozen all of this time, but suddenly someone has found the key. Someone has found the key and I do not believe that that is a coincidence.
Responsibility for determining grants, and no specific level on these grants were set, passed from the minister responsible at the time, the member for Daly, who had responsibility for Racing, Gaming and Licensing, to the Deputy Chief Minister, the member for Katherine and former Treasurer. The Auditor-General, unfortunately, did not report on why that decision was made. I remember asking that question in here, but to no avail. Now it is pretty fair, I think, to assume that in an election year the responsibility was passed to a more senior operative within the parliamentary wing of the CLP.
What else did the Auditor-General find? That, after initially setting the pool of grants to be distributed at $1m in March, on 16 July, barely a fortnight from the day the election was called, the former Treasurer upped the amount to close to $1.6m. You have to have some sympathy for the public servants who are left with carriage of this massive last ditch attempt to win votes prior to the election, because they had to process, in a short space of time, over 520 applications for grants with very few specific criteria. The Auditor-General states that there was a haste to process payments during July which meant, of course, the proper controls were not followed. There was a haste. So, there we are, a month to the election, the Country Liberal Party falling over themselves to process these payments and get ministers and sitting members out in the community, cheque in hand, of course.
According to the Auditor-General, they were so eager they overpaid some recipients. They even managed to pay five recipients twice. Five different groups were paid twice. Even more damning than that, two payments totalling $9000 were made to the Casuarina Security Association Inc, an organisation that was dormant and had a then government minister as its public officer. So, here we have the Country Liberal Party using taxpayers’ funds to pay a private organisation for which a government minister was the person to acquit the funds if ever such an acquittal was ever required. The Auditor-General goes on to say:
There was no indication that any check was made to ensure that the purpose of the grant was in accord with the basic objectives of the Association.
Now, who authorised the grant? Who authorised the grant here? The same man, of course, who looked after the budget books. Or was it his senior ministerial officer who could authorise the payment of the money, as the member for Katherine, presumably, was too busy handing out cheques around about this time.
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Mr BURKE to MINISTER for COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
To borrow a favourite phrase of the member for Arnhem: ‘If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen’. You have said it enough in this Chamber. Notwithstanding that, given your previous answer, I ask: would you table the briefing or statement that you have received from Rod Williams? I also ask you, minister, from your response to the last question: do both you and Rod Williams believe that the prison officers who have made these allegations, both to the media and to the opposition, are liars?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, once again, it appears that the Leader of the Opposition finds it hard to address me by my appropriate title.
Mr Burke: Answer the question.
Mr AH KIT: I will answer the question. There are people, no doubt, at the Correctional Services centre listening to the broadcast. The Leader of the Opposition is asking me to table matters that I raised in a briefing from the minister for Justice’s staff, and I do not wish to table that. I spoke from notes and I was not quoting …
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: What we have to try to get through to the opposition is that the story in today’s newspaper, like the rest of the garbage peddled out by the opposition this week, is anonymous and false. The prison superintendent had made it quite clear that no phone call from his staff occurred. We had the CEO coming out the other day saying nobody got in touch with them: ‘The minister didn’t ring my office, nor did any of his staff’. We now have the superintendent coming out saying: ‘No, not right’.
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Okay, let’s go to the source who rang the NT News. That’s all right, his identity can be protected, and we understand that. Let’s go to the last paragraph in that.
Mr Burke: We don’t want to know you are a good bloke. Are they liars or not?
Mr AH KIT: Well, you don’t want to know whether I am a good bloke. This is what you are trolling for. You are trolling for something that did not happen, and now you are still grasping at the last few little straws.
Mr Burke: You are supposed to know what is going on in your office.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, calm down.
Mr AH KIT: Let’s go to the former senior prison officer, and the article on page three by Nigel Adlam says:
- ‘Former prisons minister, John Ah Kit, did not personally try to stop Aboriginal inmates being transferred from Darwin to Alice Springs’, a senior prison officer said last night.
- The prison officer, who said he would be sacked if he was caught talking to the press, told the Northern Territory News: ‘John Ah Kit is a decent man who is liked by prison staff’.
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker. It seems that the minister thinks the whole of the article in the NT News is a lie except the last paragraph. He was asked specifically whether he thought that prison officers who are behind this story and who have contacted the media are liars. He has not addressed that question at all.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order, and we all know the minister has the licence to answer the question.
Mr AH KIT: Thank you, Madam Speaker. What we now have is a situation where the members opposite had worked out - in fact, it was spoken about in Kitty O’Shea’s last Friday over a couple of beers, where the member for Goyder was skiting about the minister for Justice and the minister for Community Development, ‘They’re going to get rolled; we’re going to put the big king hit on them.’ You would want to be careful having a beer around the place and talking with your big mouth, because there are people listening. But anyway, that is something for the new member to learn.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Government members, I cannot hear the minister.
Mr AH KIT: They came in here, they had their targets, they missed their targets, they are now still trolling further. It is like the members opposite are in quicksand trying to grab for the limb, but the more they reach out, the further they are sinking. They should get on with asking questions about business and the economy which Territorians are interested in.
Exploration Licence Applications - Status
Mr McADAM to MINISTER for BUSINESS, INDUSTRY and RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Can the minister advise the House of the current status of exploration licence applications being processed under the Commonwealth Native Title Act?
ANSWER
Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I would like to thank my colleague, the member for Barkly, for his question. He is vitally interested in getting exploration activity and mining happening in his electorate, and a couple of fairly decent sized mines in his electorate.
Exploration licence applications are in the main being processed through the expedited procedure of the Native Title Act which focusses on exploration as a low impact activity. It is activity that happens on land that is generally non-disturbing. Priority has been given to exploration licences since they comprise the majority of the outstanding applications and because it is the bleeding obvious - if we are going to find any new deposits, we have to get out on to the land and explore. This is what this government is about. It is about working with the mining companies, working with the land councils, through my department, the great officers of my department, and getting people out on to land and exploring.
To date, some 406 exploration licence applications have been advertised, with a further 300 licences yet to be advertised. Let’s contrast those numbers. If we go back about 18 months ago, the previous government, the purely ideological politically-motivated divide and rule politics, had 900 exploration licence applications piled up, upstairs here on the 5th floor on the previous Minister for Resource Development’s desk, and they sat there for years. Nothing happening, nobody on the ground, we were not going to find any new mineral deposits, we were not going to develop any new mines because nobody was out there exploring. And we have to ask the question, why. The question, why - and it was purely going back to the old divisive politics over the last 20 years, and it was a failure of the previous government to actually sit down and negotiate with the stakeholders and find a path through this.
Since we have come to government I am glad to say that those days are gone. We are being proactive, we are working with the land councils and the mining companies to get people onto the ground.
The advertising period has closed now for some 312 exploration licences; 178 of these licences have not attracted objections and they are clear for grant. These licences are predominantly in the Central Land Council region, and total a massive in excess of 100 000 km, so this is another 40 000 km ready to be granted on top of the 60 000 km that have been granted in that region since this government came to office.
Madam Speaker, I do not have a total figure for the exploration budgets for these applications, but I can say that they would be in the order of several million dollars. Activity, economic activity, lots of small companies in the northern suburbs, in Berrimah, millions of dollars going into exploration activity in the Northern Territory that sat dormant for so many years under the previous regime.
The remaining 134 licences have attracted objections, and have been scheduled for determination hearings by the Native Title Tribunal.
A further recent positive development is that Rio Tinto, which has an extensive portfolio of exploration licence applications in the Northern Territory, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Northern Land Council concerning the grant of exploration licences on land in the NLC area - a significant breakthrough, and one that everybody in this House should applaud in terms of Rio Tinto, one of the biggest mining companies in Australia, sitting down with the NLC, working through and signing off on this MOU. Rio Tinto is currently rationalising its applications, but the area involved is in the vicinity of a further 31 000 km of land.
So here we are, we are in the process within six months of coming to government, and companies were working with the land councils before, but the tone of the debate has changed. People are working together and we are on the verge, in the very near future, of about 150 000 km of land across the Northern Territory being opened up for exploration activity, and very exciting prospective lands that people are going to be out on.
Clearly, Madam Speaker, we are seeing significant advances in the grant of exploration licences on Northern Territory land that may be affected by native title. These breakthroughs have not happened by chance; they have been made in the spirit of respect and cooperation, and not under the fear and loathing of the previous administration.
Funding for Air Strip Maintenance
Mr REED to MINISTER for TRANSPORT and INFRASTRUCTURE:
My question relates to a life-threatening matter for communities in Arnhem Land and other parts of the Top End, and will interest the member for Arnhem. The situation in these communities is that they are entirely dependant at this time of the year on their airstrips to gain access for Airmed aircraft for emergency medical treatment, and of course to get supplies in if roads are cut. The minister’s department has had thrust upon it by the minister a 20% cut in airstrip maintenance funding, and from that point of view, the Gulin Gulin community has been waiting for funding since November - approval to undertake essential works for their airstrip identified by the airstrip maintenance inspectors. They have written to the minister, and I seek leave to table a copy of the letter to him.
Leave granted.
Mr REED: The letter seeks urgent attention in relation to this matter, immediate approval for the minister to issue funding so that this life-threatening situation can be removed from all Aboriginal communities, including those at Gulin Gulin and Weemol.
ANSWER
I thank the member for Katherine for his comments. I have to remind the House that the member for Macdonnell also brought that fact to the attention of the Chamber. I invited the member for Macdonnell to work together with me so we can approach CASA, have a look at the whole situation with airstrips because they are not only airstrips to the north or to the south, it is all over the Territory. We rely on air travel in the Territory because of the long distances, and this is not the only airstrip that needs upgrading. For your information, we have had a serious look at the airstrips and we are preparing to seal and upgrade a number of airstrips.
If the member for Katherine would like a list of the airstrips that are going to be upgraded in the next few years, I am prepared to give it to him as soon as possible.
Essential Service Delivery to Aboriginal Communities
Mr BONSON to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES
Will the minister detail how funds have been allocated to develop better central services to Aboriginal communities?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister for Essential Services, could you perhaps speak a bit slower for me?
ANSWER
Mr VATSKALIS: My apologies, Madam Speaker, sometimes I get excited. I thank the member for Millner for this question. The Martin government has already allocated $2m for beneficial projects in many Aboriginal communities, and much of this work is already in progress. In Areyonga, a new $420 000 water system is to be constructed, including chlorination, pipeworks, extension of the existing system. The tenders closed on 6 February 2002. $437 000 has been allocated for the upgrading of fuel storage bunding at Lajamanu, Yuendemu, Laramba, Kintore and Areyonga. A new $100 000 diesel engine has been ordered for Gapuwiyak and will replace a 500kW generator which failed just prior to Christmas. At Yuendumu, $235 000 will be spent this financial year on upgrading the switchboard and control systems in the powerhouse. In Pirlangimpi, $100 000 will be spent to upgrade the water storage facility. In Maningrida, a new bore will be equipped for $100 000, and $158 000 has been allocated for works and upgrades right across the Territory.
This is some of the money allocated by this government for upgrading of essential services in the Aboriginal communities, on top of the $4.5m allocated for minor works which is going to be spent by the Territory.
Yesterday, the member for Katherine pointed out, quite rightly, if I may say so, that he does not like things to be repeated, and that is the ruling of the House. I have some news about the $4.5m the government has allocated for minor works. The news comes from David Malone, general manager of the Territory Construction Association, who said that the boost of $4.5m was great news for Territory business. Mr Malone said, ‘It is great news. It will keep doors open and that’s very positive’. These are statements he made to an officer from my office and Mr Malone was very happy for me to repeat his statements in parliament. It is not only Mr Malone, Mr Steven Huntingford, President of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, NT Chapter, said: ‘We’re very encouraged by it; it is welcome news indeed’. Mr Tony Cox, Chair of the Australian Council of Building Design Professionals, said:
- It will bring good cheer for smaller operators and is a potential boon for some companies. This will help what they have noticed as a shift up in the general outlook since Christmas with the oil and gas and the Access Economic announcement. But most importantly this boost will allow smaller companies to plan effectively for upcoming jobs.
These comments are not made by Labor politicians. These comments are not made by politicians. They are made by members of the construction industry and people who know what really happened in the past two years in the construction industry.
Alice Springs Hospital – Waiting Times
Mr DUNHAM to MINISTER for HEALTH and COMMUNITY SERVICES
There are now reports of many people at Alice Springs Hospital queuing up for unacceptably long periods, with at least one reported case of a person who was forced to remain on a trolley for three days. We understand this also may be a phenomenon in the Top End. I seek leave to read into Hansard, and to table a letter that came to my colleague, the Opposition Leader, Denis Burke.
Madam SPEAKER: Is leave granted? No, leave was not granted. There was a no - you said no? Standing order 96, leave of the Assembly must be granted without any dissenting voices, so leave was not granted.
Members interjecting.
Mr Stirling: I didn’t hear a no, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Look, I take it back. I thought there was a no, so leave is granted.
Mr DUNHAM: I am happy not to table it, in fact, I would prefer not to table it. I was only tabling it as something that might be helpful. I will read it into Hansard.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I think there has been some confusion here. Members on this side are quite happy for the member for Drysdale to table the letter.
Mr DUNHAM: Thank you. The letter is:
Dear Mr Burke,
- I am writing to you in the hope that telling you of my bad experience at Royal Darwin Hospital can eliminate other people finding themselves in the same situation. Firstly, I was picked up by an ambulance at 5.30 pm after a misdiagnosis attending the Palmerston Medical Clinic, and arrived at 6.15 pm in the A&E on 13 December 2001.
- As soon as I arrived, I was quickly seen by the wonderful attending staff. They made a quick diagnosis and I was left on the ambulance bed in the Casualty Ward. I was told I had to stay there as there were no beds available upstairs. I wasn’t happy about this as I suffer from osteoarthritis in the left and right hip, lower back and left shoulder and upper vertebrae. The staff were sympathetic, but there were no beds available.
- At around about 3.30 pm on the 14th (this is the next day) a caring sister found me a recliner chair to help with my pain of being on a trolley bed for such a long time. They couldn’t prescribe any pain relief until I was properly admitted. After more than 24 hours in A&E I was finally taken to Ward 4A. It was great to be in a bed away from the noise of fights and the usual hustle of the A&E. I couldn’t sleep at all in those dreadful conditions.
- On 18 December, around lunchtime, I was asked if I could discharge myself so that the bed could be made available for someone else. I am 66, and of course I was happy to help out someone else but I really wasn’t feeling all that well and was in bed for another four days at home. My temperature and blood pressure were still fluctuating but I felt this other person that needed my bed must have been worse off than me.
I believe that the long wait in A&E contributed to my longer stay in hospital. I was suffering from blood poisoning, bronchial pneumonia and dehydration. I am now on blood pressure tables and have been told by my physician that it is the stress caused by the hospital stay.
I’d appreciate anything you could do to get the government to work for more beds for the people of the Northern Territory.
Regards
My question to the minister is: are you aware of what is happening in our hospitals and, if so, how many cases like this have occurred since Christmas, particularly given your claim that you have turned the system around?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for the question. The Royal Darwin Hospital has actually been working at 104% capacity. This is a big strain on the hospital; I will admit that. You may not be aware that the Accident and Emergency department was accredited in November 2001. The national performance indicators have set time limits in which patients must be seen, and Royal Darwin Hospital is consistently exceeding every performance indicator. For example, for triage category 1, the national performance indicators indicate that 100% of patients should be seen immediately. Royal Darwin Hospital consistently meets this standard. For triage category 2, the national guideline indicates that 75% of patients should be seen within 10 minutes. At Royal Darwin Hospital over the period of August 2001 to January 2002 …
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister has totally misunderstood what I said. This man was seen very quickly and he thanked the staff for that. The difficulty was that, having been seen, he needed to be admitted and was kept in A&E for a day. He was seen.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Members of the opposition are well aware that ministers can answer the question on a very broad range of topics.
Mrs AAGAARD: Madam Speaker, I have been advised by the hospital that it is not uncommon for people to actually wait in Accident and Emergency for some time, while they are being observed, before they are taken to a bed. I have already said that the hospital has been running at 104% capacity.
I will continue. For triage category 2, the national guideline indicates that 75% of patients should be seen within 10 minutes. At Royal Darwin Hospital over the period of August 2001 to January 2002, 70% to 78% of patients were seen within the 10 minute time frame.
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This particular person, who was moved sufficiently because of their medical condition, to seek advice and assistance on this matter, is not interested in some historic document. He is interested in what the minister is going to do to ensure that he does not find himself, or other patients do not find themselves, in those circumstances again.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, minister, I would ask you to direct your remarks to the question. We have had this over and over again. Get to the point, keep your answer short. We should not have had that letter read at length in the question. Now we do not want a great lengthy document read as an answer. So, could you get on with your answer.
Mrs AAGAARD: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I find it a bit difficult to actually discuss a particular case. Perhaps I would advise the member for Drysdale that he should bring up the issue with my office, and I would be happy to deal with it.
Aboriginal Law and Justice Strategy
Ms LAWRIE to MINISTER assisting the CHIEF MINISTER on INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Can the minister explain the effectiveness of the Aboriginal Law and Justice Strategy that has been introduced at the Lajamanu and Ali Curung communities?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to inform this House that law and order concerns at Ali Curung have decreased significantly over the past six years, especially in the area of family and community violence. My Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs continues to assist the community in implementing local strategies to address law and order concerns, as outlined in the Lajamanu Law and Justice Plan which commenced in November 2000.
A grant of $40 000 has also been provided by the Northern Territory government to help establish a women’s safe house at Lajamanu and, given the support for your motion in the House last night, Madam Speaker, I am sure this initiative will be welcomed by all, although we get some heckling from the members opposite. The establishment of the safe house is one of a number of strategies being developed by the community as part of its community law and order plan. Lajamanu has also been chosen by the Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs working group on family violence as the Territory pilot community for the national indigenous family violence strategy. This support and recognition from the Commonwealth government is welcomed by the Northern Territory government and we look forward to the outcomes of this initiative.
My Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs, and indeed the whole of this government, will continue to enhance empowerment of community decision-making and dispute resolution systems. It is only with the involvement of this kind of whole-of-government/whole-of-community approach that we can work towards resolving these issues.
In conclusion, a pat on the back to Peter Ryan and Jackie Antoun, who are to be congratulated for the hard work they put in over the years on this project to ensure its success. Congratulations should also be extended to the Ali Curung and Lajamanu Councils and their members who have worked very hard to obtain, at this stage, excellent results. We certainly hope that that success will continue.
Palmerston Community Health Centre
Ms CARTER to MINISTER for HEALTH and COMMUNITY SERVICES
In this Assembly over the last few days, you have espoused an interest in the Palmerston Community Health Centre and the private service that is there as well. Can you detail to us how many patients are being seen by the doctors there between 5 pm and 10 pm at night? Of those patients, what number are being transferred to Royal Darwin Hospital?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, you would be aware that this was a private GP service. I do not have access to that kind of detail. I am sorry, I am unable to answer this question.
Swimming Pool for the Rural Area
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for SPORT and RECREATION
Recently you were speaking to a constituent of mine at a Palmerston activity community network about the possibility of a swimming pool in the rural area. The construction of a swimming pool, I believe, was one of Labor’s promises and I might say one of the CLP promises, at the last election. I believe the Labor Party has said that it would fulfil all its promises. Minister, could you say when the pool is going to be built; where it is going to be built; how much it is going to cost; who will pay the ongoing maintenance costs, the Litchfield Shire Council or the government; and has the government approached the Litchfield Shire Council on this matter?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it does me proud in a sense that this government is addressing the need for a swimming pool in the rural area. We have understood for quite some time that people in the rural area have wanted to have a swimming pool in their particular area because, with the thousands of people living in the rural area, the closest swimming pool to them is at Palmerston. So it was something that I talked to candidates about. And our candidates raised at pre-election time that this could be an election promise. I understand it was, and we are working towards delivering a swimming pool as an election promise in the term of this government.
The details have not been worked out yet. Obviously people do understand we have inherited a budget concern - if I could get away from those other two words - a budget concern of a large measure attributed to the former Treasurer and the member for Katherine, and the person who is now leading the opposition.
We certainly will be talking to the Litchfield Shire Council. We will be talking to people in the rural area and we will ensure that the swimming pool is delivered in the first term of this government and that the ongoing maintenance, etcetera, all those things that need to be in order so that it can be run effectively and maintained effectively, will definitely happen.
Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program
Dr BURNS to MINISTER for ETHNIC AFFAIRS
The financial year 2002-03 is the 10th anniversary of the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program. Can the minister advise the Assembly on improvements to the program implemented by the government for this 10th anniversary?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Johnston for his question. It is true; it is the 10th year of the introduction of the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program which commenced in 1993-94. In recognition of the success of the program, the Martin government recognises and supports multi-culturalism in the Northern Territory. We have increased funds available through the Office of Ethnic Affairs by $250 000 per annum. This is going to commence at the 2002-03 financial year and the Sponsorship Program will increase from $447 000 to $697 000. In dollar terms, our program is the fourth largest in Australia after New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland; however, it is the most generous one per capita. We allocate $4 per person in the Territory and the next most generous program, which is the Australian Capital Territory, allocates only 35 cents per person.
To date, the program has listed 370 projects and would have spent $2.4m. It is a very successful program. We have helped many ethnic communities and we have helped many ethnic activities and projects, including the Greek Glenti, India at Mindil, the Tamil Association movies, and a number of other activities. All sides of parliament have supported people of non-English background in the Territory and the previous government has generally provided funds to communities. We will continue this because we also recognise the value of multiculturalism in the Northern Territory.
We are going to have two rounds of applications, and for projects commencing after 1 July 2002, the closing date for applications is 15 March 2002. For projects commencing after 1 February 2003, the closing date will be 15 October. We have made this information public through the web site of the Office of Ethnic Affairs, through advertisements in the NT News and Centralian Advocate, and with personal mail to all ethnic associations. On top of the $250 000 allocated per year for the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program, the Martin government is allocating $150 000 per annum for cultural and linguistic scholarships.
We have also advised the ethnic communities of this funding and we are now drafting the program, the guidelines, and will invite ethnic communities to apply for the cultural and linguistic scholarships. We intend to provide the funds to the communities so they can bring people from overseas or interstate who will provide, not only the communities but also the general NT community, information about culture and about language that will certainly enrich the lifestyle of all Territorians.
Katherine - Spraying Program for Mosquitoes
Mr BALDWIN to MINISTER for HEALTH and COMMUNITY SERVICES
The minister would be aware that in the last couple of days an urgent health warning has been issued by the Health Department as the mosquito numbers in Katherine have reached pest proportions. You would also be aware, minister, that mosquito-borne diseases of encephalitis and Ross River are common when the mosquito proportions reach these numbers. In recent weeks, there has been local flooding in the rural area of Katherine. Can the minister please advise this House and the residents of Katherine, who I hope are listening, when the spraying program for these mosquitoes will begin?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I will have to take that question on notice so that I can get back to you as soon as possible.
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Question Paper.
ANSWER TO QUESTION
Funding for Air Strip Maintenance
Funding for Air Strip Maintenance
Mr VATSKALIS (Transport and Infrastructure): I thank the member for Katherine for tabling this document. This document was actually received by my office last night. It is dated 27 February 2002. It makes allegations that the Town Clerk of the Gulin Gulin/Weemol community was advised there was no further funding for airstrips. I have been advised that all the available funding has now been exhausted because of flood damage. However, the department is seeking new funding. But I want to advise the member for Katherine and the Town Clerk, through the Chamber, that I will approve immediately the expenditure to repair the airstrip, $43 000 government dollars. And I will make sure the approval is given.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016