2002-08-15
Fees and Charges - Water and Sewerage
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
In the 12 months you have been in government, the average Territory family has lost almost $300 from its pay packet from increases in fees and charges your government alone has introduced. On top of that, pay packets have dwindled further with increases in mortgage rates, council rates, medical fees and others.
Today, Territorians have been told that your government intends to take yet more money out of their pay packets by way of a 2.5% increase in water and sewerage charges. Since coming to government, you have increased water and sewerage charges by more than 7.5%. Can the Chief Minister tell Territorians why you are taking this money from them when PowerWater says it will make a $26m profit this financial year?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question because it is an important question. The details of what is happening with PowerWater are very important. Charges are there to be able to deliver, at cost recovery, the best services to Territorians which, sadly, in the past has not been the case. When it comes to our essential services, to make sure that the power supply is reliable, that it is expanded, and to ensure our water and sewerage services are the best delivered to Territorians, then this is something I am proud to stand on my feet and explain.
Yesterday there was an announcement - yes, it is happening - of a 2.5% increase in water and sewerage charges. They will start from 1 January next year. What it means to the average Territorian is 40 a week extra in the cost of water and sewerage. Over a year that is $21, or for a quarterly bill it is $5.
It is very important that water and sewerage, as part of what PowerWater does, is able to deliver services that Territorians need. The cost of delivering those services does rise, and this is a modest increase. It is a CPI increase in that service. The 2.5% increase that was announced today is one that will enable PowerWater to deliver those services to Territorians. Balance that together with a commitment from this government that the cost of electricity will not rise over this term of government - that is a commitment from this - then in terms of our essential services – and put that together with something that the CLP promised forever but would never do which is the undergrounding of power for Darwin’s older suburbs - then we are have significantly increased services for consumers for power and water and sewerage. Exciting times moving ahead for PowerWater. The announcement today is one that, when you balance against the small increase we will see in water and sewerage charges, the benefits that will go hand in hand with that for Territorians are significant.
I would like to talk about some of those because moving PowerWater onto government owned corporation status is saying to PowerWater: ‘You are on a commercial footing now’. As with all major Territory businesses, its conduct will closely align with private sector compliances and outputs.
What we will see over the next year from PowerWater is their debtors paid much more quickly. Payments will be more timely. They have set a target of 30 days. This is very significant, to be able to behave more like a private business and be able to deal with Territory businesses, their suppliers, those they are working with, to actually halve the time it is taking to pay those bills. That is very important.
Also, PowerWater, over this next year, will be significantly lifting its spending on repairs and maintenance, which includes Aboriginal essential services to $49m and spending $42m on capital spending. So, that is over $90m this year to reduce the incidence of blackouts. Tell me, members on that side of the House, is this something we should not be aspiring to do? Silence.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: Improve the delivery of services, and it is not just undergrounding. It is making more reliable the services in our rural area, it is expanding those services over this term of government to areas like Dundee, Woolianna, to making sure the generation services are more effective right across the Territory. We recognise, as a government, the importance of being able to deliver those essential services. If you look at those numbers for this year, that is very significant. A great boost for local business, $49m on repairs and maintenance and $42m on capital spending. That is a really responsible attitude from PowerWater to tackling the neglect that we as a government were left with after 27 years of the CLP.
Just to add to that, PowerWater made it very clear today that there will be no late fees for overdue bills. We heard some grumblings and rumblings coming from the opposition, trying to do the henny penny act. Well, the statement was very clearly made today by PowerWater that there will be no late fees. The henny pennies around are saying: ‘The sky is falling in, the sky is falling in’. As far as we are concerned, the sky is not falling in with PowerWater. We will see a vastly improved performance this year underpinned by the fact that PowerWater has now moved to government owned corporation status.
I welcome the new Managing Director, Kim Wood, on board. I thank Richard Galton for his work. I say to Territorians: it is a modest impact on the water and sewerage bills we will be paying, but it comes down to $5 per quarterly bill.
Yugul Mangi Community Government Council – Involvement in Air Ngukurr
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for LOCAL GOVERNMENT
There has been some recent publicity on the activities of the Council Clerk at Ngukurr who was instrumental in advising Yugul Mangi Community Government Council to set up a separate company to run an airline.
Can the minister tell the House what he knows about this situation, and what he has done about it to ensure the council and the community are not exposed to financial problems?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. I am aware that the Yugul Mangi Community Government Council has set up a company called Yugul Mangi Clan Development Pty Ltd, and that company runs an airline called Air Ngukurr. They also have, I believe, a transport agency which is called, I think, Ngukurr Transport. I have been informed by my department that a number of serious issues have arisen with respect to the lack of financial transparency between the council and the company. Inspectors of local government from my department have been conducting an investigation into these serious matters. A number of meetings have been held with the council and the Town Clerk in an endeavour to establish the truth of the financial relationship between the two.
The matters being raised and reported are, in my view, very serious, and I am awaiting further recommendations from my department on actions required to protect the interests of the community. If that report recommends the suspension of the Ngukurr Council while further investigation proceeds, then I want to assure the House that I will have no hesitation in taking that action.
I have said from the outset that, as the Minister for Local Government, I want to ensure that Territorians who live in remote communities under local government schemes are not continually exposed to maladministration.
Ngukurr is a major community in my electorate, and I have no doubt that if the council is suspended, then many community members will not be too happy with me. I want to assure the Ngukurr community that while I have their best interests at heart, I must act in accordance with the law and move to protect their interests.
As the Minister for Local Government, I have a duty to operate in accordance with the legislation and in a transparent and proper manner. The investigation to date has been conducted in accordance with my direction that the inspectors of local government carry out their statutory obligations. If the department reports to me that the situation has deteriorated, I will have no hesitation, as I said, in acting in accordance with the legislation, and I will suspend the council and put financial controllers in place immediately.
I would remind members that this is a serious and complex matter with potential ramifications beyond simply the operations of a council. Madam Speaker, all of these matters will be taken into account when I make the final decision.
Fees and Charges - Increases
Mr REED to TREASURER
The Treasurer promised that any further increase in fees and charges would be kept to the CPI. The CPI is 2.1%, I remind the Treasurer. You recently increased third party insurance for motor vehicles by another 3.8%. Water and sewerage charges have now climbed by over 7.5% as a result of your government’s activities. Why have you broken your promise to Territorians that you would not increase fees and charges by more than the CPI? 2.1%, not 2.5%.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Chief Minister - and please could we have silence while the question is being asked so the minister concerned can be heard.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is interesting to hear the former Treasurer lead with his chin and get the figures wrong. CPI is 2.5%, and it depends how you determine that. You can choose a figure that doesn’t suit your purposes. 2.5% it is. I would like to say to Territorians it is always unfortunate when water and sewerage, for example, has to go up. However, when you compare that - and just take my electorate of Fannie Bay. When we have bad Wet Seasons, because the infrastructure is older in some of our older areas, quite naturally, then we have enormous problems. I cannot tell you how many constituents in Fannie Bay have come to me over my seven years in parliament and said: ‘We have raw sewage in the back yard; we have raw sewage in the kitchen, in the bathroom’. We have to be able to have water and sewerage to be able to provide the infrastructure to make sure those services are working well, and I think Territorians understand that.
Let me just refer to the second part of the former Treasurer’s question, and that was MACA, and the 3.2% increase. Let me remind the former Cabinet of what you didn’t do last year. Let me remind the former Cabinet of what they didn’t do last year. Remember about this time last year we had an election? The previous Cabinet had made a commitment that there would be CPI increases in those MACA premiums, quite natural. But do you know what happened in 2001? They decided not to do it. I wonder why!
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: It put the MACA scheme, that looks after Territorians if they have been in a car accident, under considerable pressure. It was just coincidental, then, that the Cabinet couldn’t make this decision, had no spine in an election year. So what we had to do to make sure that MACA would survive - and we have an Opposition Leader who thinks to have Territory schemes, particularly when it comes to public liability, he wants to see the MACA concept expanded yet you made decisions last year that could undermine MACA. So a 3.2% increase was more than justified…
Mr Reed: I think it was 3.8.
Ms MARTIN: 3.2%. That is equivalent to 1.6% - way below the CPI - over two years, but only had to be done because of the spinelessness of the previous administration.
Cotton Industry
Mr McADAM to MINISTER for BUSINESS, INDUSTRY and RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Can the minister inform the House of the government’s position on the cotton industry in the Northern Territory.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Barkly for this very important and timely question. May I say that this government is committed to building and diversifying the economic base of the Northern Territory across all industry sectors. As such, we will look at all potential industries for the Northern Territory but in doing that, we will research all aspects of those industries, their viability and, particularly, their environmental sustainability.
Members will be aware that my department is working in conjunction with both the CSIRO Plant Division and the Australian Cotton Cooperative Research Council to trial cotton at Katherine Research Station. That trial has now been running for four years. It should also be noted that these trials occur under a licence approved by the federal Office of the Gene Technology Regulator and are conducted in full accordance with their terms and conditions. I think members will agree that in terms of putting such a trial together that a broad, collaborative group such as this is the ideal way to research the potential of these new industries, and looking at all the environmental and sustainability issues.
Our government’s pre-election position on genetically modified organisms was that we currently oppose any commercial development, but support ongoing experimentation and testing. In accordance with this, our position is that current research should be completed before any commercial cotton industry is even considered. The government also believes that the community of the Northern Territory should have a full public debate on this before any commercial operation is considered.
The Monsanto company has written to the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator seeking approval for a licence for the commercial release of its GM cotton variety, Bollgard II, into 80 regional areas of Australia, and one of the areas in which they have asked for the release is Katherine. It should be stressed that Monsanto’s application is to sell GM cotton seed, not to grow it. Under the Commonwealth Gene Technology Act, any such licence is subject to a full review into the health, safety and environmental risks associated with such a release.
I can inform the House that I have written to the Gene Technology Regulator saying that a full review must take place before the granting of any such licence is considered. In that letter I stated:
- The Northern Territory government’s position is that unless and until the research currently being undertaken demonstrates the environmental sustainability of such an industry, and the conditions under which this might proceed are determined, the government does not support a commercial GM cotton industry in the Northern Territory.
I suggested earlier that I believe the community needs to debate this issue before any GM cotton industry in the Territory is considered. Regardless of the debate in relation to genetically modified organisms, there are other environmental sustainability aspects that must be looked into and openly discussed in relation to cotton. Land use and water use particularly – the government will not support any commercial industry that is not compatible with protecting our land and water ways.
I am sure members are aware that there is a public forum being held in Katherine on 21 August, and due to Parliamentary sittings, obviously I won’t be able to attend. Appropriate representatives of my department will be on hand to explain the current research and to take questions. Hopefully, this forum can be the start of a mature and constructive debate that is based on fact and science.
There is already a degree of misinformation being perpetrated. On radio last week, it was suggested that the Northern Territory government has caved in to lobbying from commercial cotton growers. I can state categorically to this House that I have not been approached by or met with any commercial operator looking to grow cotton in the Northern Territory. As far as I and my department are aware, there is no organisation before government expressing any interest in commercially growing cotton in the Northern Territory.
I look forward to further consultation with the community on this issue, particularly the people in the Katherine region, I can say to the member for Katherine and other stakeholders. I also look forward to working with the community and other industry groups to further examine, to help build and diversify the economy of the Northern Territory.
Fees and Charges – Effect on Tourism
Ms CARNEY to MINISTER for TOURISM
Minister, hotels, motels and resorts are now paying up to an extra $12 000 each year because of your government’s 7.5% increase in water and sewerage charges. What are you going to say to the ailing tourism industry to explain these astronomical increases in costs, taxes and charges that your government has imposed since it came to office 12 months ago?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is wonderful to hear again the shadow Minister for Tourism opposite talking down the tourism industry and talking about the ‘ailing tourism industry’ in the Northern Territory.
Again, I do not walk away from the fact that the tourism industry has had a pretty tough time in the global environment post-September 11 and Ansett last year. However, I do not believe that the industry in the Northern Territory is ailing. I do believe that the industry in the Northern Territory is, in fact, robust and expanding. Certainly the initiatives that this government has put in place have been warmly applauded by the tourism industry - I have had a number of e-mails and phone calls from individual operators in the tourism industry. This government is working in partnership with the industry to grow the industry in the Northern Territory.
If the member opposite believes that this industry is ailing, then I really do not know who she has been talking to because the industry is confident that it is on the rebound. Let us all hope common sense prevails and we are able to reach a diplomatic settlement internationally to the issue of Iraq, and we do not have a further outbreak of warfare in the Middle East which is probably the biggest threat to the tourism industry in Australia and in the Northern Territory. If those events do not transpire, the tourism industry is on the way back.
The initiatives that this government has put in place - and again, I looked at the member for Araluen’s web site last night to see if there was a press release congratulating the government on the $0.5m, this year, of new money going into marketing the tourism industry in the Northern Territory. Guess what? It is not there. $1m over two years, and it is not there. And guess what? The press releases saying that we were going to cut the Tourist Commission’s budget and gut the Regional Tourism Associations are still up there. I say to the member for Araluen that I might be reporting her to the ACCC for false and misleading information because she really cannot get it right.
Again, the opposition is going to have a chance in the budget debate next week to explain how they - if in the most awful case that they were returned to government on 18 August last year, and Territorians are still thanking the Lord above that they were not –if they were returned how they would have repaired the appalling fiscal legacy, the unsustainable budget position that they left behind …
Mr Dunham: Easy! We would have sold NT Fleet. You have the list.
Mr HENDERSON: I do not know where the member for Drysdale has been. Selling NT Fleet was an absolute furphy; that was going to go nowhere. It was the [inaudible] with the thimble and the pea trick: watch the money, where is it going to go? But members opposite …
Members interjecting.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Just a moment. Minister, if you would cease. Government members, there is no way anyone listening to this broadcast can hear your minister’s answer, and you should remember that. What is your point of order?
Mr ELFERINK: Pretty much that, Madam Speaker. I am having trouble hearing the minister’s abuse over everybody else’s.
Madam SPEAKER: I am quite sure everybody in the Chamber is having trouble hearing the answer, so a little less noise, please.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, those members opposite will have their opportunity to state how they would put the budget back into surplus. I know they did not believe in surplus budgets. It was many, many years before they achieved a surplus budget, unlike their ideological hero in Canberra, the federal Treasurer, Mr Costello, who is wandering around the bush in a three-piece suit. They do not believe in surplus, but this government does because, in the long term, that is going to give us the capacity to wind back those taxes and charges.
This is about a government that is going to be providing water, sewerage and electricity services to commercial operators and householders in the Northern Territory. To maintain that infrastructure, about $40m worth of capital works this year is being put out by PowerWater. I do not hear members opposite saying that PowerWater should not put out those capital or infrastructure works that are going to provide jobs for Territorians.
This government is committed to the tourism industry. We have put the money there, we have secured Virgin Airlines to the Northern Territory. We have a 10% increase on their marketing budget last year. Everybody is saying that this government has a shoulder to the wheel behind the tourism industry, apart from the member for Araluen opposite.
Land Clearing Guidelines
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for LANDS and PLANNING
You some time ago announced land clearing guidelines. In the Building a Better Future document, there is also a mention of rules for clearing land. Recently, large tracts of land have been cleared just outside of Batchelor – no approval required. At Oolloo – no approvals required, and you have approved the possible subdivision of 700 blocks of land in the Finniss River region – no approval is required for clearing.
Will you, as a matter of urgency, make the clearing guidelines law for all freehold land before wetlands are destroyed, erosion has begun, habitat is decimated, and we have to pay to repair the mistakes caused by a lack of firm and decisive action by the government, or are you the same as the previous government?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, thank you very much to the member for his comments. Yes, I announced guidelines for land clearing. You probably received a copy of that. We said we were also going to incorporate the clearing of land into our Planning Act. The Planning Act currently is under review, and the reason it is under review is because we identified a number of areas in the Planning Act that need special attention and we need to amend the legislation severely. So we are looking into it and it is going to come back.
We are going to put out a white paper and we are going into wide consultation with all people affected so we actually have a Planning Act that is at last going to work. I have said before that we have problems with land clearing because there were no controls. Not only are we going to put controls into place, but my department now is prosecuting people for clearing their land illegally. You probably saw in the newspaper recently a couple who actually cleared their land illegally 100% went to court and were fined a large amount of money. We are going to continue that. My department is going to prosecute anybody who breaks even this current legislation which is totally ineffective.
Indigenous Summit Communique
Dr BURNS to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Can the minister report to parliament about the 1997 Indigenous Summit Communiqu which the previous government refused to sign?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for the question. It is a very important issue. As the member noted, in October 1997, a ministerial summit was conducted to review the progress made on the recommendations of the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Report. At that meeting, there was a communiqu drawn up to commit governments to coordinated action to take on the continuing problem of over-representation of indigenous people in our justice system, and the other under-resolved areas of the recommendations of that Deaths in Custody Report – a very important national event, and a very important recommitment of state, territory and federal governments to the recommendations and of critical importance to indigenous people.
At that meeting, and subsequent to that meeting, every single jurisdiction in Australia signed that communiqu committing to coordinated action, reporting of outcomes towards the implementation of those recommendations except [inaudible], and the previous Territory government was the only one that refused to sign it. The previous Attorney-General got up and, on the basis of some criticism of mandatory sentencing or some other pretext, decided that this was all unacceptable to the Territory government. Well, what shame that brought to this jurisdiction. We are going to do something about that. We are making arrangements immediately to sign that communiqu. We will take coordinated action with the federal government and with other state and territory governments around this country. We are going to get the representation of indigenous people in our justice system reduced. We are going to give them a more constructive part in Territory life than they have enjoyed under the previous government.
Fees and Charges - Power and Water
Mr DUNHAM to TREASURER
What massive increase to the cost of providing power and water services to Territorians could possibly justify a whopping 7.5% increase in less than a year? Isn’t it a fact that you are conning Territorians in relation to your promise to freeze electricity prices by doing it through the back door with this second jump in water in less than a year?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is an interesting question coming from the member who used to be the minister responsible for the Power and Water Authority, now called PowerWater, and from a man who should know the details of just how far repairs and maintenance have been run down and how capital spending had been neglected in those essential services areas. It is with great pride I stand here today and commend PowerWater for putting $49m into repairs and maintenance over this year, not indulgences. This is repairs and maintenance to make sure our essential services work, to make sure that power can be delivered reliably, that the service can be expanded, to make sure that our water and sewerage is getting where it needs to go and not raw sewage being pumped into people’s back yards and houses. $49m over this year into repairs and maintenance. How many jobs for Territorians is that? How many subcontractors can get real work and continuity out of that money being spent around the Territory?
You would have thought there would be cheers for PowerWater from that side of the House. You would have thought there would be cheers. Put that together with $42m being spent on capital. We are going to make sure that our essential services - run down disgracefully under the previous government, and you are still in part sitting there and pretending you had nothing to do with it. Well, we know the state of where the repairs and maintenance and capital spending was at, and we have to turn it around. We cannot grow the Territory economy unless the fundamentals are in place, and we cannot grow it unless the essential services are working. Power charges are frozen. That is our commitment because our power charges are among the highest in the country, and that is exactly why we need to be united in making sure that Timor Sea gas is coming onshore. That is why we have to be united.
Our water and sewerage will be well delivered, there will be repairs and maintenance, there will be capital spending, and I think it is a bit of a cheek that the member who used to be the responsible minister for - well ‘responsible’ is an ironic description …
Mr Stirling: Loosely used.
Ms MARTIN: Loosely used! The man who used to be the minister would even have the cheek to stand up and ask a question like that.
Promotion of Indigenous Tourism
Mr McADAM to MINISTER for TOURISM
What are the government and the tourism industry doing to promote indigenous tourism in the Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Barkly for his question. This shows how the government, in partnership with industry, is looking to grow one of the key competitive advantages we have in the national and international tourism markets which is indigenous and cultural tourism in the Northern Territory.
The government has dedicated $115 000 to a review of the Aboriginal Tourism Strategy which the previous government produced a glossy brochure about but never really implemented. The responsibility for that review has been returned to the Tourist Commission from the Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs. That means that we now have back in the Tourist Commission all the responsibilities for developing strategies for tourism infrastructure and tourism planning under the one agency, which is really where it needs to be.
The funding will see the employment of an Indigenous Tourism Development Officer at a senior level whose major role will be the review I just mentioned, but will also encompass a raft of other responsibilities. These are: building and maintaining a sustainable cultural product, working with other agencies that also have an interest in developing Aboriginal products, such as the land councils and ATSIC and Indigenous Business Australia, and also increasing Internet access to Aboriginal tourism providers so they can do business over the Internet.
I have spoken about this before, but it is still a statistic that astounds me in terms of our international visitors who come to the Northern Territory every year and contribute about $303m to our economy, that 30% of those international visitors make a conscious decision when they purchase their holiday that they want to come to the Northern Territory to meet with Aboriginal people, to experience indigenous culture, and this is without any real focus on this. This whole industry has emerged and now is the time for us to grasp these opportunities to work with business and traditional owners to really grow a unique niche in the market that only the Northern Territory can provide.
What I can say today is that there is no doubt there is a great deal of potential. Only this week, AAT Kings has provided a prime example of Aboriginal tourism product that can maximise the benefits of this market and this sector. They are organising an innovative product called Saltwater Fella Tours. This is a 10 day tour in the Northern Territory, predominantly in the Borroloola and Arnhem Land region. They are selling these tours internationally at $US14 000 per head. The tour will only be available in the international market and obviously will provide tourists with a very intimate and cultural experience. For the money, those clients get an unequalled cultural experience in areas not generally accessible to tourists, as well as close contact with the providers, and that provides those visitors with a very meaningful experience.
I had the pleasure of hosting a reception in Parliament House on Sunday with a number of international journalists who had gone out and experienced that tour for themselves. They are going to be writing about this particular tour in very prestigious journals in Europe, America and Japan. Also, in terms of the mainstream press, the feedback from those tourists is that they think it is an absolutely magnificent product and it is going to achieve very significant press.
The clients will be guided by Mr John Moriarty, who would be well known to most people in this House. He is a co-owner of Balarinji Designs, whose most famous canvas works are the Qantas jumbos painted in indigenous designs. Also, a well respected Borroloola traditional owner, Roy Hammer, who is the Liaison Officer for Borroloola Government Council. He used to be a stock camp manager at Bohemia. I met Roy for the first time on Sunday. He was absolutely delighted to be participating in this tour and sharing his culture and the community’s culture at Borroloola. He was very enthusiastic about the future that it holds. Mr Moriarty is also a member of the NTTC Board and is assisting with the review of our Aboriginal strategy.
The research is showing that we do have a unique opportunity to grow this particular sector of the market. We are committed to doing that with Aboriginal people. We are committed to doing that with the industry. I am absolutely certain that we can grow that market. It is a magnificent opportunity for the tourism industry, for Aboriginal people in terms of protecting and developing economic opportunities from their culture, and I hope that this initiative has the full support of all members.
Fees and Charges - Power and Water
Mr MALEY to TREASURER
Having regard to the increase to the power and water costs in both the mini-budget and the cumulative increases you announced today, how much of the 7.5% increase will be paid back to the government by way of a dividend by PowerWater and, secondly, isn’t it a fact that these increases are just another way to tax Territorians?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is good to see the member for Goyder engaged in a Parliamentary debate.
There are two parts to the question. As shadow Attorney-General - and I certainly hope the member is across the details of the government owned corporation legislation – he would understand, yes, there is a dividend that is returned to government. That is the arrangement under the government owned corporation legislation. Those figures are, at this stage, confidential and we will be making them public at the end of next financial year, as is quite appropriate.
Mr Reed: When will you make them public?
Ms MARTIN: The question from the member for Goyder gives me another opportunity to say how much the infrastructure in the Territory had been run down under the previous government, and how important it is …
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This also affords the Treasurer an opportunity to answer the question fully so that people listening can know the full impost of the 7.5% increase in power and water charges, and what the dividend to government will be from the Power and Water Corporation next year.
Madam SPEAKER: Now you all know that I cannot direct the Chief Minister in her answer, but I am sure the Chief Minister is answering the question in a relevant manner.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, I hope that the former Treasurer does understand the nature of government owned corporation legislation, and the importance of establishing PowerWater on a commercial basis, there are things that are commercial and they will be properly documented under our legislation at the right time. But the important thing for Territorians is to know that this organisation will be well run, and that the focus of this organisation, as announced so effectively today by its new Managing Director, Kim Wood, will be on providing services for Territorians, providing these essential services that work. When you look across the board at how our charges, in the commercial area for domestic water and sewerage are at the bottom end of charges around the Australian states.
That is as our situation stands now, and we are to be congratulated on that. But not the state of our essential services. Why do you think $49m for repairs and maintenance needs to be spent this year - because those services have been well looked after in the past? No, not at all! Why do you think …
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Chief Minister and Treasurer is the minister responsible, and the shareholding minister for Territorians for the Power and Water Corporation. As such, she should know what the dividend will be. How much is it? Why can’t she tell Territorians? Why can’t she be truthful and honest with them in relation to this 7.5% increase, and just how much the government is going to rip out in a dividend from the corporation?
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order, as you well know.
Ms MARTIN: The point of order simply demonstrates the lack of understanding on the part of the member for Katherine of what this is all about. It will be reported appropriately. The importance for Territorians is having essential services that work. To make sure that our water and sewerage works, to make sure the power is reliable, is what PowerWater is all about. The hypocrisy of hearing these questions from the opposition, who did not look after those services, is simply that: it is hypocrisy.
Mr Baldwin: So you are casting aspersions on all the Power and Water workers from the past? All the good work that …
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Daly.
Ms Martin: The funds you didn’t pay.
Mr Baldwin: That’s disgraceful.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Do not start yet until we have quiet. That is enough cross-Chamber chat. Order! Do not start until they stop.
Assistance for School Leavers
Mr BONSON to MINISTER for EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION and TRAINING
Many young people face uncertain and difficult times when they make the move from school to the world of work. Minister, can you outline to the House what steps you are taking to assist young people in this important stage of their life?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Millner for his question on this issue of transition to work for young people. He is much closer to youth than I, and he does have a real interest in this. He was with me at the Croc Festival in Nhulunbuy a few weeks ago, where a part of the government strategy was on show for the first time.
School to work transition and the difficulties for young people is not new. I recall when I was with the Commonwealth Department of Employment, Education and Training, as far back as the early and mid-1980s, there were different programs at the Commonwealth level entitled School to Work Transition in order to facilitate and ease young people through the relative comfort and security of the school student life into the world of work. Some do it very well, as we all know, some get through it with a bit of difficulty and some, unfortunately, never quite get there at all.
We come to the whole question of transition to work with a focus on two issues as a government. The first is to provide the broadest possible range of employment training and further education for these young people. The second stage of that process is the provision of advice. It is one thing to have the avenues and the pathways to work, but it is not much help if they do not know about it and do not know how to access it. So to assist students, young people and their parents to understand the full range of options that government is working with industry to deliver, and to give them the information to make these vital life choice and career decisions, DEET, the Department of Employment, Education and Training, has organised this program of Futures Expos. They are a cooperative effort between schools, universities, training providers, indigenous organisations, government agencies, and industry and business to assist people to see, at first hand, their future pathways and what might apply to them.
In 2002, the Futures Expo programs will be extended to all regional centres. One was recently conducted in Nhulunbuy, as I mentioned, and the member for Millner was there. I am sure he was as impressed as I was with the display and the ability of the people on the ground with those displays to work people through their particular industry and focus.
The Darwin Futures Expo included the Top End launch of the myfuture.edu.au, Australia’s new online career exploration service. Futures Expos will also be held in Tennant Creek, Katherine, Jabiru and Alice Springs. The Alice Springs Futures Expo, 24-26 August, will run in conjunction with the Youth Muster, a Year of the Outback event, and will include the launch of the Central Australian website.
We see these Futures Expos as complementing the work that is already done in schools by vocational guidance and careers counselling, and I commend the work they have done. Over the last few years, probably going back 10 years or more, it was probably done fairly ordinarily, you would have to say. Over the last 10 years there has been a marked improvement in the ability of high school vocational careers guidance teachers to impart the information they have to students. We see this as another step in an enhanced effort which complements the very good work done by those teachers.
A lot of effort goes into organising these expos; 40 exhibitor organisations were at the Darwin Expo, and I want to take this opportunity to thank all those exhibitors, the sponsors, the organising committees at each of the expos for their support and their commitment to helping our young students in those very early but critical life-decision choices that they are faced with.
Northern Territory Car Rental Council - Exemption from Registration Levy
Ms CARNEY to MINISTER for TOURISM
Are you aware of attempts by the Northern Territory Car Rental Council seeking an exemption from paying the $90 tax on each of their vehicles? Are you also aware of a letter dated 17 May sent to the Treasurer outlining the costs and job losses that they think will result from the tax?
Madam Speaker, I seek leave to table that letter.
Leave granted.
Ms CARNEY: The Treasurer has refused to grant an exemption. Will you support the Territory’s tourism industry by urging the Treasurer to reconsider her position so that the hire car industry is not forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars towards this new and unnecessary tax?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am sure when you work the sums out that those hire car operators will not be paying, if I heard it correctly, ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’ of tax in relation to this. Again, members opposite are really leading with their chins on this issue. It was the previous government that for four previous budgets were increasing government expenditure at 10% when government revenue was increasing at 5%. Now, anybody who has done elementary high school economics would know that that type of fiscal regime is absolutely and totally unsustainable. We had debt going up like that and revenue barely matching it, hence the crocodile jaws, hence a totally unsustainable budget.
These people opposite purport to be a conservative party. Well, I don’t know; they must have gone to a different school of budget management from their colleagues in the Liberal and National parties elsewhere because most governments today recognise that, in the broadest interests of the economy, and the best interests of securing investment and growth in the economy, governments have to have a positive budget surplus regime where dividends can be returned to the community by way of lower taxes and charges.
Those members opposite will have a chance in the budget debate next week to explain to Territorians how they would put the budget in surplus because all we have heard from those opposite - and the Leader of the Opposition was quick out of the blocks post-August last year where he was nearly in tears on the radio saying that government had to spend, spend, spend. This was the only way out of it: government had to spend, spend, spend, not take the tough decisions in terms of putting the budget back into surplus, but to spend, spend, spend.
What have we seen since then? We have seen, time after time, sittings after sittings, scrutiny of government, and that is what we are here for and we accept that. But they were not to put off one public servant, so we weren’t going to cut government expenditure at all. We were going to spend, spend, spend and we were not going to raise revenue anywhere in the budget …
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I think everyone has been more than tolerant. The question was specifically in relation to rental car companies and the impost of this government’s taxes, and I would ask you to consider directing the minister to give some detail in that regard.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your answer should be relevant to the question.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, I thank you for that. Speaking to the point of order, the whole structure of government taxes and charges is related to the fiscal position of government which I am outlining.
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! You have ruled.
Madam SPEAKER: I have ruled. I said keep your answer relevant to the question, so you can’t then speak to the ruling. Back to your answer.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, in regards to the increased charges in the motor vehicle levy, that is within the parameter of the overall budget of the government that we handed down in the mini-budget. We believe that we will be handing down a very responsible budget next week. We stand united on this side of the House in terms of that budget. We believe it will deliver for Territorians and it will deliver for the tourism industry. We will see those tourists returning to the Northern Territory despite all the running down of the industry that we have from members opposite.
Members interjecting.
Mr ELFERINK: Five minutes to say get nicked.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! I think that should be withdrawn.
Mr ELFERINK: I withdraw that, unreservedly, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, I think that you should withdraw the remark I heard you make during that speech. I won’t repeat it.
Mr DUNHAM: I cannot recall, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: I will speak to you about it later.
Ranger Staffing Levels – Darwin Parks District
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for PARKS and WILDLIFE
I refer you to the Parks and Wildlife and Natural Resources restructure intranet site which shows that in the Darwin parks district there are a total of 15 rangers for the area. Minister, I have been told there is only one wildlife ranger employed to cover the following reserves: Howard Springs Nature Park, Howard Springs Shooting Reserve, Shoal Bay Conservation Reserve, Malacca Swamp, Tree Point Reserve and the Palm Reserve at the end of Whitewood Road in Howard Springs. Is one ranger enough to do the job, considering we are in the tourist season, and the shooting season is soon to start - no connection implied?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. Certainly not, it is not enough. One ranger is not enough, I agree with you. That is why we have a patrol of six rangers patrolling the Darwin area. These rangers are patrolling the Casuarina Coastal Reserve, the Charles Darwin Reserve, the Howard Springs Reserve and all the other reserves.
I would like to point out that following the restructuring, and having a look at the web site myself after the invitation of the member for Macdonnell, I found out there are some vacancies, not 56 as the member for Macdonnell claimed, but 26 vacancies. Some of these vacancies are part-time employees of the Desert Park and Territory Wildlife Park. I was really worried about it, 26 vacancies. I went back and looked, and there were 50 vacancies before the election.
Because we want to address the problem, we advertised for rangers. On 13 July 2002, we advertised and we received 170 applications. We have not gutted the department. People know what they are doing and they still want to work for us, member for Macdonnell, because we are a department that has focus, we have a purpose, and we do our job very well. Following my announcement today, you will see how we are going to improve the department, and how we are going to be one level above any other department in Australia.
I agree with you, one ranger is not enough. We have a patrol of six rangers, plus we are recruiting more rangers to address the vacant positions - the 26 vacant positions, not 56.
Fees and Charges - Power and Water
Mr REED: Madam Speaker, the Chief Minister and Treasurer formerly rejected my suggestion of the CPI being at 2.1% …
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker. We are not aware on this side of the House who this question is being directed to.
Mr REED: In addressing my question, Madam Speaker, if the minister would be a little bit more patient …
Madam SPEAKER: It is good to direct the question to the person first so they know it is coming to them.
Mr REED to TREASURER
The Chief Minister and Treasurer previously rejected any suggestion of a 2.1% increase in the CPI and trying to justify a 2.5% increase in power and water charges, taking these charges to a 7.5% increase within less than a year. I point out to the Chief Minister and ask her why she cannot accept the ABS figures of the analysis of capital city comparison costs whereby Sydney was 2.8% to the June quarter over the last year; 2.9% in Melbourne; Adelaide 3%, to give a few examples, and the CPI weighted average, that is the All Groups Index in Darwin, 2.1%. How can the Chief Minister justify breaking her promise that inflation would be a factor in the process when in fact she has increased it by more than that?
Ms Carney: Get your notes.
ANSWER
I welcome these questions, and would like to have as much information as is possible to make sure that my information to the House is as accurate as possible.
Mr Reed: Yes, because you don’t know.
Ms Carney: Always best to be accurate.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: No, I am very confident that 2.5% is an appropriate CPI and, as with many figures, there are different calculations on it. 2.5% is an appropriate assessment of CPI but, more importantly, is what this CPI will be able to achieve. From the CPI increase for water and sewerage charges, we will be able to see that our infrastructure in the Territory …
Mr Reed: Oh, you’ve chosen 2.5% because it is higher than 2.1%.
Ms MARTIN: I think it is only a courtesy once you have asked the question to listen to the answer.
Madam Speaker, I am confident that we will see much more effective infrastructure to underpin the Territory’s development. The neglect that we have seen over many years from the CLP when they were in government has had a significant effect on our ability to deliver effective water and sewerage services, and the number of blackouts that we have in our delivery of electricity. There is no question about it. This is a justifiable increase. It works out at $21 over a year for a customer and $4 for a bill.
If I am going to trade that off against having sewerage, water and power services that work, that I know that my bill, apart from my own personal usage, is not going to go up. If my usage changes, it will change, but those power costs will be constant over the next three years, I will congratulate this government that has its focus on delivering those essential services to Territorians.
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016