2002-02-26
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Mr BURKE to MINISTER assisting the CHIEF MINISTER on INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Minister, this question concerns the conduct of this government, its interference with the public service and its treatment of Territorians equitably and without bias. Minister, during your time as the Minister for Correctional Services, did you or anyone from your office ever attempt to direct prison staff not to transfer Aboriginal prisoners from Darwin to Alice Springs, instructing them that only Asians and whites could be transferred, and does that policy, based on racial grounds, continue to operate and affect decisions in your current portfolios?
ANSWER
To answer, Madam Speaker, the last part of the question, definitely no. It is not in this government’s interests to have any hint of racial policies whatsoever. I have provided no direction to the department at all. If he can show proof otherwise, I would ask the opposition leader to present that.
The matter to which the opposition leader refers, when I was the minister for Corrections, was discussions held with the CEO at the time about the prisons’ population rates, both in Berrimah and the Alice Springs Gaol. But at no time did I ever give an instruction to, or put in writing, that Aboriginal prisoners were not to be transferred to the Alice Springs Correctional Centre.
Timor Sea - Developments in Onshore Gas
Mr KIELY to CHIEF MINISTER
Will the Chief Minister update the House on any recent developments connected with the effort to get gas onshore to Darwin?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to inform the House that the next stage of the $3bn Bayu-Undan liquid gas recycle project will get underway - and I am sure it will be welcomed by everyone in this House and all Territorians - tomorrow with the installation vessel for the infield pipelines sailing from Singapore to the Bayu-Undan field.
The initial installation work has been undertaken by McDermotts, who are under contract to Phillips Petroleum. The major work with that project will start in March and April as part of an installation contract expected to take approximately five months.
During April, a new drilling rig, the Chiles Discovery will be located on the site of the unmanned wellhead platform and will commence drilling by the beginning of May. I am sure everyone in the House is aware that the first stage of this Bayu-Undan project will produce gas, extract condensate and LPG and then recycle the dry gas back into the reservoir. The reserves are approximately 400 million barrels of condensate and LPG, and that means an expected production rate of around 105 000 barrels per day.
Of course, the development phase of the Bayu-Undan field will offer significant opportunities for Territory business. The offshore installation and commissioning will be largely supported from Darwin, and that is great for Darwin businesses.
Mr Burke: The contract has already been let.
Ms MARTIN: Toll Logistics - and I ask the opposition to join us in the fact that this is actually happening and we should feel very pleased for the future of the Territory, and I would certainly expect support from the Leader of the Opposition for this project and an end to his eternal whinging, and for him to be positive about the future of the Territory because this is a very positive move that is happening tomorrow.
Toll Logistics has been awarded a three year supply base contract from Phillips, and will be the focus of much of this support. They have just established a new facility at Berrimah, which is where this will happen. The Toll supply base will also support the drilling campaign and carry out the various supplies such as tubulars, drilling consumables and other equipment for this project.
The Bayu-Undan liquids project will have an operation spend of around $100m a year for 20 to 25 years. What a great boost in confidence for Territory businesses. This work is now underway; it is a reality. The liquids project is a reality, it is happening and it is great news for Darwin.
The next phase, as we all know and are all hoping to see come to fruition, is to get gas onshore in Darwin. We have been working with the Commonwealth, with the gas producers, with the new nation of East Timor, with potential customers and the local private sector to ensure we have done everything we can to facilitate the early arrival of gas to shore from the Timor Sea.
Six months ago, Phillips had indefinitely deferred the pipeline to shore from Bayu-Undan because of the taxation difficulties with the East Timorese administration, and the floating LNG proposal for the Sunrise field had emerged to threaten plans for a gas manufacturing industry in Darwin. I am very pleased to say that we worked quietly behind the scenes to assist with the ongoing negotiations.
Madam Speaker, we worked quietly behind the scenes, in a direct contrast to our predecessors, to assist with the ongoing negotiations between the East Timorese and Phillips, a point, I would say, acknowledged very clearly by the Chief Minister of the East Timor, Dr Mari Alkatiri. He said he could not have done it with you mob. He said quite clearly. Phillips and the East Timorese have subsequently agreed on taxation arrangements, which they want ratified by both governments as part of the new Timor Gap Treaty proposed for finalisation before East Timorese independence in May.
The obvious need for Australia and East Timor to satisfactorily conclude the Timor Gap Treaty has also been raised with the Commonwealth so that Phillips are in a position to commit to bring gas onshore from Bayu-Undan. The important part here is that this is a bipartisan project. I say to the former Chief Minister and now opposition leader, before you run off to Canberra, would you ask for a briefing? Would you actually know what is the strategy? Would you be part of it? Ignorance is bliss, but in this case it is dangerous for the Territory’s future. We are happy to have the opposition leader briefed, but you know what he has to do first? He has to ask for the briefing. We know he worries about his office expenditure, we know he worries about how much he can whinge and whine …
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Ms MARTIN: Now, Madam Speaker, I look …
Madam SPEAKER: Order, Chief Minister.
Mr REED: The Chief Minister is answering a question which was asked by one of her members and is digressing somewhat widely in terms of now talking about the Leader of the Opposition rather than the substance of the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, would you please answer the question? Keep your answer relevant to the question.
Ms MARTIN: I am pleased to answer the question, and to pick up where I was, the important thing is that this is a bipartisan project to bring gas onshore to the Territory. The enormous benefits it has for Territory industry and for job creation is recognised by every single member of this House. If we are going to achieve that outcome for all of us, it is not going to be done by the grandstanding we saw from the opposition leader; it is not going to be done by ignorantly running off to Canberra on the first plane he can book and having discussions that he has not been briefed about. So I say to him: get the briefings and be part of the bipartisan push. We are not repeating the kind of action we saw from him over the beginning of last year, for the first six months, which actually brought the negotiations to a stalemate. We are not going to do that and we will not have that happen. I say to the opposition leader: get briefed, get informed and be part of this rather than standing carping and whinging on the sidelines.
It is such an important project. We are working closely with the Commonwealth and I am confident that if the Territory as a whole can present the important arguments of the national interest in bringing gas to Darwin, both for the Territory and for supply to the south-east network, then we will achieve the outcome we want for the Territory. We are working hard behind the scenes. I would like to say that tomorrow we should all be celebrating that we are seeing the first stage of Bayu-Undan actually coming to fruition.
Changes to School Bus Services
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for TRANSPORT and INFRASTRUCTURE
Minister, as you are aware, the start of the school year in the rural area was disrupted by changes to the bus services. Much of this related to a lack of consultation by your department with parents and teachers. In fact, the first day they knew of the changes was on the first day of school. Whilst I realise you certainly, personally, intervened to straighten out these problems - and I am most appreciative of that - could you please answer the following questions about the press statement you released on 28 January.
It said that your department had: ‘… met with parents and teachers on Friday …’ - that is the Friday before school started - ‘… to explain necessary changes to arrangements caused by the new Girraween School’. Was this statement true? Who wrote this statement? What is being done to make sure such statements are accurate, and what directives have you given your department to make sure the lack of consultation and the autocratic way the first meeting on 25 January was held with the principals and one teacher parent, is not repeated?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, first of all, I want to acknowledge that I apologised publicly to the parents, principals and the students. I found the department had acted inappropriately and I made sure they knew about it.
They consulted with people, but they consulted with a very small number of people. They did not conduct extensive consultations. Yes, I recognise that they did not act the way they should, but I am prepared to stand up here and admit that one. I also made sure that they knew about it, and they will act immediately to rectify the situation.
I also thank the member for Nelson, who was the only member of parliament who contacted me repeatedly with information and requested I resolve the problem. For that reason, I invited him to be with me when I visited the interchange area to have a personal view of what was happening. Following my visit, the problem was rectified. There is a new interchange at St Francis of Assisi School, and we have agreed to help the school erect some shelter for the children. We have now resolved the situation to the satisfaction of all members involved.
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Mr MALEY to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Minister, given the answer from your predecessor that he had no knowledge of a direction which was purported to be given by him or his office, are you aware of any occasion when the previous minister directed staff at the Darwin Correctional Centre that they could transfer only Asians and whites, but not Aboriginal prisoners, to Alice Springs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the answer is a categorical no. There has been absolutely no suggestion from any member of Correctional Services, from the CEO downwards whom I have spoken to, to that extent. What I can say is that we have instigated some action regarding the placement of prisoners between Alice Springs and Darwin.
I was very aware, when I came into the portfolio, of the large numbers of letters I was getting from prisoners requesting transfers back to one or another of the two gaols. With my CEO, we have put in place a number of initiatives now to try to give us more flexibility on where prisoners are placed including the recommissioning of the Wildman River Camp as being a place for both juvenile and adult offenders to be kept. That will provide a bit of a safety valve.
In addition, since November last year, the prisoner numbers have gone from 702 down to 650. This is largely because of the start of the impact of the law reforms that were brought in late last year. That in itself has relieved the pressure on the gaols in that the main reason for prisoner transfers was the overcrowding in the Berrimah Gaol above its capacity which was causing Correctional Services to have to relocate prisoners.
That is the extent of my knowledge of it and there certainly has been no suggestion of any of the criteria that the opposition is putting forward.
Northern Territory Budget Minor New Works - Funding
Dr BURNS to MINISTER for TRANSPORT and INFRASTRUCTURE
This morning, the Chief Minister announced a boost in money for minor new works. Will the minister give details of the impact this will have?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I can only sum up in one word – jobs. More jobs for Territorians, more jobs for plumbers, brickies, carpenters, concreters. A job for those people who in the past years have been forgotten by the previous government and now opposition, and all of a sudden they find out it is our fault that there have been no jobs out there in the past six months. Well, $4.5m for minor building works. They have been asking for it and we are prepared to give it to them. We are giving money. We have tried in the past six months to provide more money for these kind of works and here we are again, more money. $0.5m for design work, for architects, quality surveyors, building surveyors; $0.5m for environmental and engineering studies for the Glyde Point area to prepare for the oncoming gas industry. $900 000 repair works for Territory Housing to renovate and repair their housing stock.
At the same time, we provide jobs through renovations and minor works in the museum - $33 000; Territory Wildlife Park - $38 000; Litchfield Park - for the supply and installation of camp ground facilities - $40 000; Centralian College - modification to works - $20 000; and the Oenpelli Health Clinic building modification - $55 000. And there are going to be more announcements like that, more money, more jobs.
What are we doing? We are helping the people who need our help. We help the people who have been ignored in the past and who we cannot afford to ignore anymore. We are not going to lose more skills. We are going to keep them here because they are going to help us develop the Territory.
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Mr REED to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
In relation to the matters that he has been asked about by the member for Goyder, and he has stated that he is not aware of any occurrence whereby the former minister directed the staff of the Correctional Services Department to transfer only Asian or white prisoners to Alice Springs and not Aboriginal people, did the minister have a meeting during January this year with the Northern Territory Prison Officers Association?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am assuming it is not a trick question so I will say yes, I have. I had a meeting with them some three or four weeks ago, from memory, and I think some 14 of them attended. We canvassed a very wide range of issues mainly to do with the Labor Party policy on Corrections.
Health and Community Services Tennant Creek
Mr McADAM to MINISTER for HEALTH and COMMUNITY SERVICES
Minister, could you please advise the House what steps the government has taken since coming to office to improve the provision of health and community services in Tennant Creek?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, our government promised to provide a local haemodialysis unit in Tennant Creek. This has already been announced in this House with $400 000 of recurrent funding. I am happy to say today that staff from my department, in consultation with key stakeholders, are developing an implementation plan for the establishment and delivery of a haemodialysis service for this coming financial year. This is really great news for the approximately 10 Tennant Creek dialysis patients who, in the next financial year, will be able to move back to the Barkly and receive dialysis treatment much closer to their community and families. The service will be managed in a partnership arrangement between the Tennant Creek community and my department.
In addition, I am also pleased to advise that I recently approved $114 000 to upgrade the Tennant Creek Sobering Up Shelter building, and $36 789 additional operational funds for the Sobering Up Shelter. The Tennant Creek Sobering Up Shelter is operated by the Barkly Region Alcohol and Drug Abuse Advisory Group, which is funded to operate 15 beds. This is a very important service for the Tennant Creek community. The current building is a 50 year-old timber house with newer extensions. The much needed works will include upgrading the roof, walls and ceiling, floor and floor coverings, airconditioning, electrical, plumbing and fire alarm systems overhaul and painting and replacement of windows. This upgrade is long overdue and will commence as soon as possible.
Darwin Youth Night Patrol
Ms LAWRIE to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Will the minister tell the House about the Labor government’s initiative to constructively address the problem of youth on our streets at night?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it gave us great pleasure yesterday to announce the establishment of a Youth Night Patrol in Darwin. We are putting $320 000 into this initiative. With all the debate that there has been in recent times about the problem of juveniles on the streets of Darwin late at night, and with some of the fairly ill-considered ideas that have been mooted in the media, it is important to say that to tackle this problem you need quite a rounded out set of initiatives on the part of government and on behalf of the community.
The Night Patrol is the first link in what will be a series of initiatives that we will be applying to this particular problem in our community. We will follow on in later stages with action taken by School Attendance Officers, as announced in our education policies, so that you will see a 24 hour program applied to young people who are in this position.
The hallmark of what we are trying to do is not to cut across what the police are already able to do in terms of enforcement, but to add to the enforcement effort of police the ability to engage these young people and their family or community situations, and start to try to change the dynamics of what is causing them to behave the way they are behaving. In some cases, we realise and recognise that some of these young people are pretty hard bitten and will not be responding to softer treatment, if you want to see it as that, and in those cases the enforcement measures are still there.
The overwhelming evidence from both Australia and overseas is that you need to add these mediated processes to enforcement if you are going to have any impact on juvenile behaviour and juvenile involvement in crime. You cannot do part of that and expect to succeed in it. The evidence is very clear in our community that we are having increasing problems of this type and for a government not to launch into a concerted campaign to turn back these trends would be negligent on our part.
I am very happy that we are making a start through the Office of Crime Prevention as we announced yesterday. You will be seeing - stepwise - other initiatives coming in beside the Youth Night Patrol to give us a very broad campaign to alter the behaviour of this group of people.
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Mr MALEY to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Minister, in one of your previous answers you talked about a meeting with prison officers which, incidentally, occurred on 23 January this year. Can you give a solemn assurance to the members of this House that there was no discussion between you and those prison officers about political interference in relation to the transfer of prisoners between Darwin and Alice Springs on racial grounds? Can you give that solemn assurance?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am not sure where it is heading but, in the absence of the transcript, I cannot say every word that occurred in that session. But I can certainly say this: I have absolutely no recollection of that topic being included in the discussion that we did have. The discussion we did have was about the ongoing issue of prisoner transfers and the unpopularity with some prisoners of being put into one or the other of the two gaols.
I certainly cannot recall any reference to the previous minister or a position he may have put. I can certainly say that there was no presentation on my part along those lines to the prison officers. In fact, if we look at what has actually happened on the ground, if there was something of that sort said, it is very hard to see. Obviously it has not been taken up by Correctional Services because from October to November, over a five week period last year when my colleague was in the ministry, 78 prisoners were transferred to the Alice Springs Correctional Centre from Berrimah because of overcrowding in the Berrimah Gaol. Of these, 47 were Indonesian, nine were Caucasian, 22 were Aboriginal and eight were volunteer transferees. Obviously they are not listening to the ministry if that is what he had to say to them.
Further to that, since November when these figures terminated, there have been no transfers from one prison to the other because we are now below the capacity of each of the prisons. If you are alleging that that sort of assertion was made by my colleague, or that it was restated in some way in that session, I have no recollection whatsoever of that. There was certainly no assertion made from my part along those lines and clearly it is not being reflected in the actions of Correctional Services.
Arafura Games
Mr BONSON to MINISTER for SPORT and RECREATION
Will the minister outline to the House the commitment the Labor government has to the Arafura Games?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I can say unequivocally that the 7th Arafura Games will be held in 2003 from 17 to 24 May, and the program will include a record of 32 sports, up from 29 in 2001. In fact, BMX racing will enter the Arafura Games for the first time, baseball also, and there will be a revised rugby union competition that will return and this will also be added to the sports that were contested at the 2001 Arafura Games.
Officers from Sport and Recreation are well into an 18 month campaign to attract athletes, particularly from overseas, to the 2003 Arafura Games, and it is expected that in excess of 5500 athletes and officials will take part in those games next year.
It is also worth pointing out that the event makes a substantial contribution to the Territory’s economy. In fact, the economic impact assessment carried out for the 2001 games estimated that $3.95m of additional expenditure was attributed to the Arafura Games resulting in a total economic impact of $5.13m.
It also has to be acknowledged that the issue of public liability insurance is creating difficulties for the organisers just as it is an issue causing problems right across the community. Nevertheless, recognising the importance of the Arafura Games, both as a sporting event and as a contributor to the Northern Territory economy, it is a problem that we will overcome. I can assure the parliament, the member for Millner and the community that there is no question mark, none at all, over the 2003 Arafura Games.
I also take this opportunity to encourage those Territorians who have creative ideas for the opening ceremony to submit their ideas to my department for judging as a part of the design competition.
For the organisational aspects and preparation for the Arafura Games, I will be calling on my colleagues, and also public servants from their departments, who wish to once again participate and volunteer their time for the Arafura Games. We will be seeking 300 or 400 volunteers to help out with the games. We have had, in the past, public servants who have actually taken recreation leave so that they could volunteer their time for the games. It is in that spirit we want to continue to ensure that the Arafura Games is bigger and better in 2003.
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Mr MALEY to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Madam Speaker, for the sake of fairness and perhaps to jolt the independent memory of the minister for Justice, I seek to place before the House minutes of a meeting which occurred on 23 January 2002 between representatives from Correctional Services and the minister, in which a number of matters were addressed, including - on the second page - specifically, ministerial interference in an operational matter, and the fact that this interference is based upon racial grounds …
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I would like the minutes tabled.
Members interjecting.
Mr Stirling: Send a copy across!
Mr MALEY: Well, if you just wait …
Mr Stirling: Well, if you want the minister to address it, give him the decency of seeing it.
Mr MALEY: Madam Speaker, if I could finish …
Mr Stirling: Seek leave to table.
Mr MALEY: I am seeking leave …
Madam SPEAKER: The member for Goyder has the floor and it is up to the member for Goyder if he wishes to table that paper or not. I do remind members of the opposition that these questions are becoming very repetitive, so please get on with it.
Mr MALEY: Madam Speaker, I seek leave to table this document.
Leave granted.
Mr MALEY: I ask the minister for Justice to peruse that second page, and I ask him once again, after he has looked at that document, the minutes of that meeting, does he now have a recollection of that issue being raised, and what is his response to the prison officers who are listening to today’s questions, when their clear instructions are that the matter was raised, what sort of assurance can he give that it will not occur in the future?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this is the first time I have seen these minutes. In fact, the normal protocol for a meeting, if such minutes have been produced, would be to present them to the other parties who had been present at the meeting to have them confirmed as accurate or not accurate. I have never seen these minutes since the meeting in question. I have no recollection of that matter being discussed let alone of putting that point of view in any way to the prison officers.
I can only say that these minutes are the version of the meeting, presumably - I mean, we have to take it on trust that they have actually been produced by the people I met with. I have no idea who produced them. All I am saying is that the only minutes, or any written record of a meeting, that I would allow is accurate to me, is one that has been presented to me for checking. I can very much say that I do not recall that being discussed and I do not recall the position you are trying to put here today.
Policy on Tender System Projects
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Recently I was approached by a constituent who had concerns about the tender system. In November last year, I believe the government signed off on the tenders for the dental clinic at Casuarina. I think it was won by a company called Woodbridge. Is it true that no work has commenced on this dental clinic yet because the government has a policy that every minister must sign off on the project? If it is the policy, why do you have every minister sign off on the project, and do ministers whose portfolios have nothing to do with the dental clinic sign off the project as well? Why does this policy not apply earlier in the stage before the tender is approved, and is the policy delaying the start of important work which is needed to give a much needed boost to a sluggish economy?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I will try to bring you up to date on where this process has got to, and how it is being conducted. With the NT Property Section, of which I recently took up carriage, we certainly have a process whereby the tenders in the case of the re-establishment of the dental clinic were assessed by a working party comprised of representatives of NT Property Management, the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment and the Department of Health and Community Services. Of the seven submissions that were lodged at the start of this process, four would-be developers were shortlisted. At no stage up to that point was there any ministerial involvement in the process.
The only point at which there is involvement on my part is where the property management section has reached a decision on the preferred developer. I can report that that point has now been reached and that there has been a preferred developer identified. But because that group has not yet been contacted by Property Management, nor the unsuccessful tenderers, I would prefer not to mention that name today. I can say though that there is no reason why the development at Casuarina cannot proceed very quickly because we are through the process of identifying the developer and there are no further constraints on them beginning work. I hope that answers your question.
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Mr BURKE to MINISTER assisting the CHIEF MINISTER on INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
I refer to the tabled minutes of a meeting held between the minister for Justice and the Prison Officers Association.
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I would be very careful referring to this document as a set of minutes. At the first look this is an itinerary or agenda taken by the prisoner officers to the meeting. These are not minutes. These are issues they wanted to raise with the minister. Have a look at it. Have a look at it, dill. If you are relying on him up the back I would be a bit careful because he has just misled the House.
Madam SPEAKER: Would you like to rephrase your question?
Mr BURKE: Madam Speaker, I am sure the deputy …
Ms Martin interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Chief Minister!
Mr BURKE: Madam Speaker, I am sure the Deputy Chief Minister will have ample opportunity for a spirited defence of one of his ministerial colleagues.
In reference to the tabled document, if that is how they would like to refer to it, which points clearly in those officers’ opinion that an incident occurred, I ask the minister once again this - will you confirm or deny that you bypassed the Commissioner for Corrections and directly ordered his staff not to transfer a number of particular Aboriginal prisoners from Darwin Prison to Alice Springs Gaol even …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister has already answered this repetitious question. Standing order 114 is against repetition.
Madam SPEAKER: I believe this question is different from the previous ones. Continue.
Mr BURKE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am trying to get to the heart of a serious matter.
Minister, will you confirm or deny that you bypassed the Commissioner for Corrections and directly ordered his staff not to transfer a number of particular Aboriginal prisoners from Darwin Prison to Alice Springs Gaol even as the plane was waiting at Darwin Airport on the tarmac to transfer them? Were the prison staff given orders that only the Asians and whites were to be transferred and the Aboriginal prisoners were to stay in Darwin, and did you later confirm those direct orders when senior corrections officers protested against your decision?
ANSWER
Not at all, and let’s get something clear here. These are not the minutes, this is the agenda. So that is one thing I would like people who are listening to this broadcast to understand, especially the prison officers. And let’s also be clear: I thought your question, Leader of the Opposition, asked about my staff giving directions to the staff of Corrections at the gaol. Is that correct?
Mr Burke: Or you?
Mr AH KIT: Well, it definitely was not me and I did not give any instructions of that sort. So, I would like you to start giving us some names of who has given this stuff to you rather than approach the minister or myself because you do not want to do that.
What we have is a situation where you are accusing me of verifying an instruction to one of my staff to stop the plane and stop the Aboriginal prisoners getting on it. Well, that did not happen. That did not happen. I gave no instructions to any of my staff whatsoever.
Mr Reed: Did you do it personally?
Mr AH KIT: Well, here we go. The member for Katherine. He is trying to lecture us about good governance. Next it will be about financial responsibility. All the member for Katherine says is he did not do anything dishonest with the budget. He certainly lacked moral conviction.
But coming back to the question, and trying not to digress because of the interjections, I gave no instruction to any of my staff to hold up any plane whatsoever. I do not know who is feeding him this information, but I welcome the opportunity if you wish to go into a censure on this matter because I did not verify to any staff any instructions to stop that plane and stop putting Aboriginal prisoners on that, nor did I confirm after, as you say in your question, that that was to be the case. Totally incorrect and you are clutching at straws. So if this is the real issue that you want to pursue us on in terms of good governance and issues Territorians are really concerned about, you really deserve your time in opposition.
Northern Territory Police Service Productivity Commission Findings
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
The Productivity Commission recently released results of its review into government services around Australia. Will the minister outline what the Productivity Commissioner found in relation to the esteem in which Territorians hold the Territory’s police force?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we get used to seeing, from time to time, in our local print media criticism, generally unwarranted, of our police force. Certainly, as members of parliament, we have people raise issues of concern and sometimes criticism of the police force in our day to day jobs.
We have the motion that has been put forward by the Leader of the Opposition for tomorrow telling us that there is an appalling low morale, or a morale problem, or difficulty with the police force at the moment. But when Territorians are actually asked to put forward an opinion on how they rate police services, a very, very different picture emerges. The Report on Government Services 2002 by the Productivity Commission, which the member for Arafura referred to, was released last month. Territorians surveyed have an outstanding satisfaction with Northern Territory police services to the extent that 72.6% of Territorians asked this question were either satisfied or very satisfied with the service provided by police. Compare this 72.6% with a national average of 67.2%.
In addition to that, the same report went on to make the finding that Northern Territory police are considered to be courteous, approachable and professional when dealing with Territorians. I share these views. I believe that the Northern Territory police do a great job under very trying and often very difficult circumstances, not helped by these clowns opposite when they get in here telling us that morale in our police force is shot; not helped when they come out with bits of paper that they claim to - God knows where they got them, they do not say where they got them, of course - but come out six weeks later and say, ‘I found this document’ or ‘this document came to me’.
Mr BURKE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Deputy Chief Minister is making an allegation that documents were doctored by the opposition in terms of the police. I am asking you that he withdraw that allegation.
Madam SPEAKER: I think you should rephrase that comment.
Mr STIRLING: Look, if he is offended in any way - and I certainly did not use the word ‘doctored’.
Madam SPEAKER: Withdraw it.
Mr STIRLING: I did not use it, but I withdraw whatever it was that was offending the Leader of the Opposition.
What I did say was: he came out recently trying to further undermine the police force with some sort of leak that he was referring to in relation to a matter in Alice Springs. That is the level of support that our police force, which does a great job, gets from members opposite.
The report also stated last financial year that the Northern Territory government spent $483 per head of population on police services, more than any state or territory. This financial year, following a further injection in the November mini-budget, the police have an increase of $4.9m from last year’s expenditure. I will table these papers that might inform the Leader of the Opposition ahead of tomorrow’s debate, because it is the budget papers that clearly show that Police, Fire and Emergency Services last year spent $126 600 000, and in the November mini-budget figure for this financial year, we are looking at $131 491 000 - $4.9m more this financial year than last. This is the level of support that we give our Police, Fire and Emergency Services because we respect them for the job they do, we respect that they need the resources to do the job they do, and we will continue to support them despite your carping criticism and undermining of those who are out there doing a very difficult job.
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Mr BURKE to MINISTER assisting the CHIEF MINISTER on INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
I remind the minister that the first question I asked him today was whether he, or anyone from his office, ever attempted to direct prison staff not to transfer Aboriginal prisoners from Darwin to Alice Springs, and only Asians or whites were to be transferred. I have further given evidence that representations have been made on this particular incident.
You, yourself, have now referred to that particular claim and, I assume, that particular incident. I give you another opportunity, minister, to explain clearly to this House what happened on that day, what directions were given, who gave them and what representations were made to you by senior Corrections officers or other staff.
Madam SPEAKER: I thought the minister had answered it before. But, minister, you might like to take the opportunity to reconfirm.
ANSWER
I did answer it, Madam Speaker, but it seems they want to play funny little games here and try to catch us slipping up on something. There were no instructions given by me and, as far as I am aware, by any of my departmental people talking to senior officers at the Correctional Services department or at the correctional centre.
There may be some sour grapes at the senior level there somewhere …
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: No, just thinking back there was …
A member interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Well, you can be quiet and allow Territorians to listen to my response. Your Leader of the Opposition asked for a response. There was approval given to a senior bureaucrat to go overseas to a conference, I think it was in Thailand, and to take his wife. The former minister of your CLP government gave the approval so I knocked that ill-founded exercise on the head.
Madam Speaker, I thought, rightly at the time, we cannot go into another exercise of having taxpayers’ dollars spent on another junket - if you go, you are going off your own bat. So, I do not have a problem with that sort of sour grapes situation.
I repeat: I gave no instructions to any of my staff, nor did I give any instructions to stop Aboriginal people being transferred to the Correctional Services centre in Alice Springs, none whatsoever. If staff, as you say, Leader of the Opposition, pulled up a plane and told senior Correctional staff that there were not to be any Aboriginal people loaded onto that plane, then trot out the evidence. Trot out the evidence because I gave no instructions of the sort. You are fishing here without any bait on your hook. As I said, you really deserve to be in opposition because you are grasping and clutching at straws.
Labor’s Focus on Crime Prevention
Mr McADAM to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Will the minister give details of the Labor government’s injection of funds into and focus on crime prevention?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, yesterday was a great day for me in my new responsibilities because, while ministers always have to deal with many day-to-day matters that clearly need decisions, we are in government, in any government, setting out on the campaign to bring the big things in, bring the things in that you want to be remembered for as a government.
In the case of this Labor government, we have made it very clear what our priorities are going to be. Crime prevention is right up there, employment is right up there, and health and education. They are our four great pillars of this government, and we want to be known to have done a good job on all four of them.
Yesterday was the launch of one of those major campaigns to set up the whole-of-government structure for the pursuit of crime prevention. I was particularly pleased yesterday that such a large number of the police turned up. I can say they were in a very buoyant mood, did not look demoralised to me at all, and it was good to have them there because what we were able to say is that they are still the frontline troops of crime prevention. Enforcement will always be the cornerstone of any action by a community against crime, and the police are the enforcers of the law.
Having said that, we are now going to start building, on a whole-of-government basis, a large range of complementary measures to the action of the police, aimed not at enforcement entirely, although there will be law reforms that will do that, but aimed at all the other things you have to be doing in your community to effectively combat crime. In fact, you cannot combat crime without mobilising your community. The Office of Crime Prevention and its structure - leading down to regional and local advisory groups - with its strong enhanced program of community grants will bring forward ideas and initiatives from the community which can then be turned by the office into the core business of this government.
We are going to build action against crime into all of our government departments where it is appropriate. That is a complete departure from earlier approaches by the previous government, in that they talked a lot about whole-of-government processes. But we are going to be able to get up here in this House and quite clearly identify, through the Office of Crime Prevention, the areas throughout government where crime prevention work is going on, is being budgeted for, and supported with personnel.
We will also be able to go to the community at large with a set of agreed information about crime in our community. That is going to really cramp your style over there because we have had years of figures being trotted out, coming from nowhere and going nowhere, particularly the member for Katherine in the recent debate over the Neighbourhood Watch figures - that was an absolute revelation in how to misuse statistics. We are going to put out statistics that people can trust, we are going to put them out regularly, they are going to be consistent, and they are going to be analysed so that we can start with the facts. Then let’s have an informed debate in this community about what to do about our crime levels.
We are going to bring people with us on this, and we are going to be working right down to neighbourhoods, to households, to remote communities, on what ideas people are bringing to government to combat crime in their own situation. We are going to work with people on this and we are very serious about it. I am very proud of what we announced yesterday.
Chief Minister’s Criticism of Northern Territory Police
Mr BURKE to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
I refer to the response the minister gave about his opinion of Territory police. I ask the minister, is he aware that his Chief Minister recently on national television publicly criticised the Territory police by failing to refute allegations that police had missed vital evidence in the first few days of the investigation into the disappearance of British tourist, Peter Falconio? Instead, she told Australians: ‘You can be caught by hindsight on issues like this. Maybe police have learnt from things that might have been missed’.
I ask the minister: does he share the belief of the Chief Minister that our Territory police missed vital evidence in the Falconio investigation, and will he tell Territorians what things were missed by Territory police?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, everyone is an expert after the event. Everyone is an expert after the event and this man here wants to be in the front row, undermining the work of our police force again. This has been an extraordinarily long investigation requiring and tying up the resources of many of our officers, and running up quite a bill in overseeing this investigation. If the opposition leader wants to get on the bandwagon of the NT News he is welcome to it, because that is all they are out there doing. If they think there is a headline in bagging our police they are on to it. This bloke ought to hang his head in shame for getting on their bandwagon.
Everybody wants to tell the police how they should have done it. They called it as they saw it on the day. I would not see - and where the Leader of the Opposition has made a real blue here is he should have kept the member for Katherine as shadow minister for police. I will tell you why: this bloke had an understanding of the difficulties of police and the job they do. He had respect for the police and the job they do and, as Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, he had a very close and good, positive working relationship with them, unlike this bloke. Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who simply wants to climb on the back of the NT News and everybody else who wants to climb into the police.
Madam Speaker, everyone knows, don’t they - everyone knows the answers and the facts after the event and he is just showing how shallow he is in getting into the criticism of the police force, number one. Undermining - he talks about morale! It is the attitude of the Leader of the Opposition getting in here with the carping little criticisms like that, that are deliberately working to undermine the morale that he says is plummeting right now.
We have a class act in our new Commissioner, Commissioner White. He is doing a fine job, as is the force. I am just sorry that it is not the member for Katherine who is the shadow minister for police because we would not have tripe like this now and we would not have rubbish put forward in this House like this motion that we are going to deal with tomorrow.
Madam Speaker, I would ask that further questions be placed on the Question Paper.
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It has been a long established practice in this House for the 15 years that I have been in it, that Question Time lasts an hour. Question Time did not start until almost 2.15 pm because we had Notices, as you will recall. I would ask, as Speaker, as an independent and fair Speaker, that you give that matter consideration because the democratic processes of this House depend on a fair and appropriate timed Question Time.
Madam SPEAKER: I have been informed by the Deputy Clerk that Question Time did, in fact, start at 2.07 pm, so the hour is up.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Question Time is complete.
SUPPLEMENTARY ANSWER
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Alleged Ministerial Interference in Operation of Correctional Services
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, could I quickly clarify that my secretary has looked at the transcripts of the meeting that was referred to and has confirmed that there was no discussion of the matters that were raised by the opposition.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: I advise members Question Time is complete.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016