2005-02-10
Paedophile Activity – Suppression Order by Court
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
It has now been revealed that you were speaking to the Commissioner of Police the day before a prominent Territorian was charged with child sex offences. That name mysteriously dropped off the court list at the initial hearing. Only a very select few knew this was going to happen. Yesterday, you protected a rumourmonger with your silence. Will you now detail the sequence of events that led to you making your call to the Commissioner for Police, including the names of all people involved?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, just to set the record straight, I do not know the day that I had a very brief chat with the Police Commissioner, and I have never indicated that date. I would not know.
Mr Burke: You said the day before in Question Time. We will get the rushes.
Ms MARTIN: No. It was not the day before, and I have never said that.
Mr Burke: So you are going to correct what you said?
Ms MARTIN: Well, I am just saying that the accuracy is that it was not the day before. Let us establish that quite clearly. What the Opposition Leader is trying to establish here - and he should come out, as I said yesterday, and clearly say what he is implicating here - through innuendo and trying to connect disparate facts, is that there was some kind of corruption of our judicial system. As I said yesterday, quite clearly, you are trying to say there was some kind of improper behaviour, some kind of undue influence …
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: That is exactly what the Opposition Leader is saying and, as I said yesterday, ‘Put up or shut up’. It is a term that we often use and I believe this one should seriously be addressed by the Opposition Leader.
If there has been come corruption of our judicial system, if anything improper was found, if any wrongful action was taken - put up or shut up. Was there somehow undue influence placed, as you indicated yesterday, on the Police Commissioner, on the Director of Public Prosecutions, on the magistrate in question? I say, come in here with a substantiative motion, put charges, do something other than make innuendo and muckraking. That is what this is about. The Police Commissioner said nothing inappropriate happened. That is what I put on the record.
Mr Burke: He should not even be dragged into it.
Ms MARTIN: Are you saying the Police Commissioner is a liar?
Mr Burke: No. You have dragged him into it. You have put the Police Commissioner in a very embarrassing position.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: Either put up or shut up.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! I have tolerated that expression enough times, Chief Minister.
Darwin City Waterfront Project – Environmental Remediation Processes
Ms LAWRIE to CHIEF MINISTER
The new convention centre and waterfront development will provide jobs for Territorians and drive growth in our economy. Could you please outline the environmental remediation processes being undertaken as part of this very exciting new project?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question …
Mr Burke: We are in recovery mode, are we? You are on the back foot.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the Opposition.
Ms MARTIN: I welcome the question from the member for Karama, as the Darwin City Waterfront is a most exciting project. It is about turning 25 ha of industrial wasteland into a wonderful waterfront development for Territorians and tourists; to create jobs and business opportunities.
In recognition that it is an old industrial site, an extraordinary level of environmental work has been done, and will be done. I will put on the record what the process is. It is 25 ha of land which has been subject to the most extensive site investigation studies for an urban development in recent Territory history. It is a very complex environmental process - nobody disputes that - and we recognised that from the outset 18 months ago.
This is what has happened so far. I did refer to this yesterday, however, I thought it important to go through in detail what has taken place. Between September 2003 - 18 months ago - and May last year, there was the preparation of a draft environmental impact statement. Therefore, to say there has been undue rush, no. September 2003 was when this process started.
In the middle of last year there was extensive public consultation. In August last year, there was a supplementary environmental impact statement produced in July last year, and the preparation of the Environmental Assessment Report by the Office of Environment and Heritage, based on the draft EIS and the public comment. The minister made a determination on the basis of Environmental Assessment Report No 43 and the EIS in August 2004 ...
Mr Dunham: They said it could not be adequately assessed. Turn to page 4.
Ms MARTIN: It is interesting that the member for Drysdale does not want to hear this, because he does oppose the project.
Extensive work has been undertaken on contamination investigations, including three phases of field investigations; in excess of 200 test pits; soil sampling and analysis; and groundwater monitoring 76 times. In parallel, extensive field studies and reports have been prepared, including those on marine, water quality traffic, and dredging investigations.
Furthermore, as there is this vast suspicion from the opposition that this is somehow being done in a dodgy way, we have an independent auditor for contaminated land appointed; most highly accredited under the Victorian legislation, which is the most stringent in the country. The project team conducted workshops with the auditor to determine the most appropriate processes for clean up of the site. Those workshops led to the preparation of an environmental management framework. That framework includes - and I do not apologise for going into the details, so please bear with me – a remediation action plan which identifies all contaminants found and their potential impact on both human health and the environment; a site management plan, which governs the long-term work practices to be adopted on the site; and construction environmental management plans, which detail how individual contractors perform works in accordance with those two previous plans. There is also an operational environment management plan which controls post-construction. This is very detailed and has a substantial process to it, which we are following.
Work to be done and already commenced is as follows: the Territory is about to commence the clean-up of the iron ore contamination on Fort Hill, and has commenced clean up of hydrocarbon contamination on Stokes Hill. The remaining contamination will be dealt with by the developer, as required under the environmental framework, including adherence to the remediation action plan. All of this will be policed by the environmental auditor to ensure the work is done at the highest standards.
All this goes before the Development Consent Authority. The authority has to tick off - as they do with all projects - whether every aspect of environmental management has been put in place or will be put in place. If they do not think it is adequate, the DCA will ask for more.
How can you suggest that this process is too rushed? It is a complex one; we do not dispute that. However, we have worked for 18 months to this date, and we are committed to the best environmental practice. The cost, at this stage, we say, over the life of the project, is probably …
Mr Mills: This is a very long answer.
Madam SPEAKER: It is a very long answer, Chief Minister.
Ms MARTIN: … something in the vicinity of $10m, which is, over the life of the project, about $1m a year.
Paedophile Activity – Alleged Briefings on Operational Matters
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
We know that you have received more than one briefing about the investigation and charges laid about a prominent Territorian now charged with child sex offences. Why did you have briefings on an operational investigation? Why did you seek those briefings?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the Opposition Leader says that I have received more than one briefing …
Mr Burke: Yes, I know you have.
Ms MARTIN: The Opposition Leader is wrong.
Employment in the Territory
Mr BONSON to TREASURER
Can the Treasurer update the House on the employment picture in the Territory?
Members interjecting.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Millner for his question, and I would appreciate the opportunity to answer it without the nonsense from the other side.
In the last two months, we have had quite a considerable amount of information coming out about the labour market in the Northern Territory and the employment picture overall. It is important to look at the whole picture to get an accurate take one what is happening in the Northern Territory. At about 10 am today, ABS came out with their figures, and it is well known in this House, and publicly, that the government does have some concerns with the methodology of ABS. I will take you through some of those concerns, as to how narrow a picture ABS shows, which is all to do with methodology. I absolutely trust ABS but, in relation to the Northern Territory, its methodology leaves gaps.
This morning unemployment is shown to have dropped from 6.5% to 6.2%, and we would expect a further revision on that before the next monthly figures come out because, if we look back at the preceding months, each time the figures have been revised downwards before the next monthly figure is out.
Employment increased from 94 800 to 95 200. I will go to why I believe that is a drastic understatement of the number of jobs that have come into the labour market in the Northern Territory. I had a good session with ABS; I walked around and met the staff, from the director down, in each of the divisions. For example, we have always known that labour force figures do not count Defence personnel anywhere in Australia, so we suffer the same effect as anywhere else. That puts us out by many thousands of people for a start.
They do not take into account the work camp at Palmerston or the massive work camp that is under construction at Nhulunbuy and will soon be filled by an able-bodied work force, because they do not show people who put their principal place of residence as somewhere else. Therefore, the fly-in fly-out workers, coming into the Northern Territory in their hundreds as they are, are not picked up.
Seasonal workers in the hospitality industry during the big time of the tourist market in the Northern Territory who fill those flats in Mitchell Street are not counted. If they put their principal place of residence as Adelaide or Townsville, that is where the number goes.
However, regarding the jobs here in the Northern Territory - do you want to know why we have some doubts about the graphs and figures? These figures are not picked up and are not included. It is a very narrow picture of the totality of what is going on in the labour market at any time. You have to look at other data; for example, ANZ Job Advertisement Index - not this one. This simply counts all of the advertisements that appear in the NT News month to month, as it does through the dailies throughout all of the states. The year to year, December 2003 to 2004, shows a 22.4% increase, and the Australian average, 5.4%. The year on year result for January 2003-04 in ANZ monthly figures of job advertisements is 28.8%. That indicates a very strong demand for employment in the Northern Territory.
Then we have Drake International’s quarterly employment forecast, reported earlier, where they are saying that the Territory will have 1064 new jobs coming in over the quarter to March, or an increase of 1.3% in employment - a pretty healthy growth rate. In particular, they point to tourism and construction industries as having rebounded very strongly in 2004, and expected to continue to perform strongly throughout 2005. Another indicator is the Access Economics five-year forecast, December quarter update, showing strong recovery in employment at 2.4% and above 3%, predicting 2.7% growth in 2005-06 and beyond. They demonstrate an expanding and robust economy.
I will go to a graph that snaps the job advertisement series, going back from 1996 through to 2005. If we look at this graph - I put a red line here because this was August 2001 – rock bottom. You do not get any lower than that on the graph anywhere. August 2001 was the election, and there was an immediate rise, a little slump here, and then a steady increase. It stands in contrast to the narrow picture. I am not criticising ABS, they have a job to do against the methodology that is applied nation-wide. However, as there are weaknesses with their population statistics methodology that discriminate against the Northern Territory, so there are weaknesses with their labour market data. When you see a graph like this, I believe that is instructive. Rock bottom was the former Chief Minister, who come in about here - oops, rock bottom. One ski downhill, Keating would have called that, look out at the bottom, because that is where we were heading. August 2001, up she comes! I will table that graph for the benefit of the Opposition Leader because he might reflect on his time as Chief Minister.
Paedophile Activity – Alleged Personal Interest of Chief Minister
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
You have just misled this House - quite a serious offence – regarding …
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, Leader of the Opposition, you cannot accuse the Chief Minister of misleading the House unless you do so by a substantive motion. You know the rules. Rephrase your question.
Mr BURKE: Chief Minister, I know you have had more than one briefing regarding child sex charges against a prominent Territorian. Those other briefings also included the Police Commissioner, so you need to come clean with Territorians. You are also refusing to take action about a leak that made you aware of the police operational issue regarding these child sex offences, which demonstrates your interest in the man charged exceeds your interest in due process. Why did you step outside of due process, and engage in behaviour that the Northern Territory News correctly described today as a ‘dangerous thing to do’. What was so special about this prominent Territorian that made you do this?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the Opposition Leader comes in here alleging that I have had X number of briefings. There is no substance for his claim at all. I believe it was important, if he was going to say, ‘You have had a briefing’, to demonstrate that I had - something on the public record, something that I had said that indicated a briefing. It is very important, before the Opposition Leader comes in alleging things, that he actually has some substance to his allegations.
When I said, clearly, that I had had a brief chat - after the summons had been laid in this particular case - to confirm what had happened, it has nothing to do with an operational leak. It was after the public process had happened, where the legal process had started and been established. A simple confirmation was all that the discussion was about.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: Again, the Opposition Leader has said that I have had briefings. Are you saying I have had briefings from the Police Commissioner? Is that what you are saying?
Mr Maley: From you colleague, from the Police Commissioner.
Ms MARTIN: No.
Mr Elferink: Yes.
Ms MARTIN: You are saying I had briefings from the Police Commissioner?
Mr Elferink: Yes.
Ms MARTIN: Let me say that I know that members of the opposition have had briefings. However, on the particular issue which was the subject of the briefings for the opposition, I have not had a briefing.
Mr Elferink: We were in possession of evidence and, quite rightly, gave it to the police.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: I have not had a briefing from the Police Commissioner. That is the absolute fact of the matter, and there is no reason why I would say any different. That is the fact of the matter. My entire contact has been a very brief conversation, post the legal process being in place, for confirmation. The opposition is trying to muddy something that is very straightforward. There was no wrongdoing …
Mr Elferink: You rang the commissioner.
Mr Burke: Pretty unusual.
Ms MARTIN: They are trying to make a link between a brief conversation and, somehow or other, I managed to have a suppression order put on. This is a great leap - an extraordinary leap …
Mr Elferink: Did you? We never thought of that. There is a new angle.
Ms MARTIN: If you can substantiate any element of that – which is in fantasy land – then bring it forward. It is a very serious charge, bring it forward. You are just making it up.
Mr Henderson: You asked for it!
Mr Elferink: You were there too, Hendo, same briefing.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, stop your cross-Chamber chatter. I will not say it again. Minister, Treasurer!
Wooliana Road Area Update
Mrs AAGAARD to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES
This year’s budget included an announcement to relocate the power house at Daly River and to extend the power supply to the Wooliana Road area, something which residents have been requesting for many years. Can you please update the House on progress for this initiative?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nightcliff for her question. Certainly, this is something which residents along Wooliana Road in the Daly have been asking for some time. In fact, it was an election commitment which was made, I believe, in the last election, by our candidate for the seat of Daly, Mr Robert Knight. I am pleased that we are delivering on this promise, and I am pleased to report on progress.
Those who may have driven up and down that road, as I have, in recent times, would have noticed the construction of a new elevated power house that takes it out of flood prone areas, and construction of the powerlines beginning both to the community and along Wooliana Road. This is a very important project. The Minister for Community Development and I inspected that site and saw the excavations when we had Community Cabinet last year.
I can assure the House that residents along Wooliana Road are very excited about this development, and they have complimented the government on it. Under the previous CLP regime of 27 years - nothing. We have been able to deliver on an election promise, and the 11 kV distribution system will be connected.
I am hoping, weather permitting, that there will be power to Banyan Farm by the end of April - it is a race against the weather. We all know that the mighty Barra Nationals and Barra Classic events are going to be held there. I am sure the contestants are going to be pleased, along with residents, about a government that delivers on its election promises in places such as this. I am sure it is going to be a great fillip for the development of that area, and the amenity and lifestyle of residents. I will be going there in and around the time when the power is put on to celebrate with the residents.
Darwin City Waterfront Project – Effect on East Arm Port
Mr WOOD to CHIEF MINISTER
In this just released volume, one of about 12 great whopping books we received the other day, called Supplementary Information Supporting the Development Application for Marine Infrastructure Works, Darwin City Waterfront, I asked about the removal of contaminated mud from Kitchener Bay. In reply, the authors say that it is proposed to dump the mud from Kitchener Bay into the East Arm Port sediment retention ponds.
Will this mean that any proposed development of that area at the East Arm Port will now not go ahead? If so, how long will this area of the port be out of action? Will this reduction in the use of the port have any financial implications, and has that been costed in as part of the government’s contribution to the waterfront project?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. There is a lot of detail in that question and maybe I will have to get back to you on some parts of it. With regard to the part of the question about general issue of dredging of the Kitchener Bay mud and its disposal at East Arm Port, I can answer. As you understand, dredging is necessary for the construction of the sea wall and some of the other associated features of the waterfront project. It is an important part of the development, and will allow things like the permanent water body and some of those water sport activities to take place. It was first covered by the all-encompassing environmental impact study, which was completed by URS on behalf of government and, subsequent to that, further work has been done to take into account the specific proposals offered by the Darwin Cove Consortium. This has led to an ecological risk assessment being made of the method proposed for both dredging and soil disposal.
There is about 630 000 m3 of mainly silt and clay to be excavated. The turbidity and sediment re-suspension will be limited to the vicinity of the cut ahead and when the dredge anchors. After mixing to dilute any surface level contaminants, the slurry will be pumped, via a pipeline, to a contaminant area at East Arm Port, with discharge into an array of settlement ponds. This disposal method is similar to the already proven and environmentally acceptable practice used for the disposal of dredged material for Stage 2A of the East Arm Port. The sediment will be allowed to settle, followed by release of tail water to Darwin Harbour. Water quality will be monitored and discharged in accordance with the turbidity criteria that was adopted for the East Arm Port Stage 2A development.
A detailed site contamination investigation and field geo-technic investigation examined the potential for acid generation from the shallow marine sediments at Kitchener Bay, and no environmental concerns regarding acid sulphate soils are foreseen. The environmental risk assessment concluded that the ecological impact on Darwin Harbour of the proposed dredging and spoil disposal is low. Dredging is expected to be completed about six months after financial close. I will let you know some of those other details as soon as possible.
Paedophile Activity – Alleged Personal Interest of Chief Minister
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
You have been side-stepping due process because of your interest in a particular person charged with child sex offences. Your answers have been evasive and secretive. This issue is not going to go away; there is more to come and your hands are right over it.
Madam SPEAKER: Your question?
Mr BURKE: Do you want to use this opportunity in Question Time to clarify or detract any of the comments you have made so far, including what your relationship is to the prominent Territorian involved?
Madam SPEAKER: I am not quite sure whether you are getting very repetitious in your questions. Chief Minister, I will allow this one but, Leader of the Opposition, remember, repetitious questions are not allowed.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this is the opposition down in the gutter. This is the opposition which said: ‘We have a new leader. We are on a new task for the Territory. It is a reinvigorated CLP’. And where are they? In the gutter with no facts, just making up the most sorry innuendo that we have heard in this parliament for a long time. The basis of what they are saying is that there has been some kind of corruption in the system. I have said, in response to your questions, bring it on! If you have allegations, if you have facts, about corruption in the system, where is the evidence?
Mr Burke: Well, we have a bit so far. We did not know you had a police briefing the other day. We know about secret conversations between you and the Police Commissioner.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the Opposition.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, the Police Commissioner said what occurred between me and him was totally appropriate. We had the Opposition Leader then casting aspersions on our Police Commissioner. He followed that through with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The man who called our entire judiciary corrupt is now saying our judiciary is corrupt again. This is a man with serious form, and he has no evidence to make any of the aspersions he is making. It is very grubby behaviour ...
Mr Burke: How come 80 paedophiles have been exposed all over Australia and not in the Northern Territory?
Ms MARTIN: He is down in the gutter …
Mr BURKE: How come every other newspaper in Australia can report it and Territorians do not know what is going on?
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the Opposition! You had your chance to ask questions, not by interjection.
Law Enforcement – Success of Strategies
Mr KIELY to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
What strategies has the Martin Labor government employed to fulfil its election commitment to attack the causes of crime? Can the minister inform the Assembly of successes so far?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the honourable member for his question. Three-and-a-half years ago, we went to the community in the Northern Territory with a very clear commitment to tackle drug-related crime and drugs in our community. Subsequently, we have had a very clear mandate from the people of the Territory to enact that policy. If we compare that with the previous Chief Minister, now Leader of the Opposition, and his on-the-record statement that drug-related property crime in the Northern Territory was ‘minuscule’, you can really see the differences in approach and commitment by this government to deal with this very clear issue.
That is why, in 2002, we amended the Misuse of Drugs Act to give police tough new powers to declare drug premises and close them down. Since the enactment of that legislation, to date, the Northern Territory police have issued 208 drug house notices across the Northern Territory, leading to 78 arrests, 25 summonses and 52 summary infringement notices for the possession, cultivation, manufacture or supply of drugs at drug houses. That is the sign of the commitment of this government to deal with this scourge in the Northern Territory. Those notices have been issued in every major centre across the Territory. These figures are quite alarming: police have seized drugs worth an estimated $953 000 at these drug premises since we came to government.
In opposition, time after time, we raised that this was a significant problem. We had the then government declaring it was not an issue; it was a ‘minuscule’ problem – 208 drug notices across the Northern Territory and seizures of $953 000 worth of drugs, including 18.23 kg of cannabis, 668.5 gm of amphetamine, 67 cannabis plants …
Ms Carney: It is in your statement, we know.
Mr HENDERSON: The member for Araluen says: ‘We know’. However, I want to let Territorians know, because they said it was a ‘minuscule’ problem. They did not want to know about it. They had their eyes and ears closed to a problem that was growing out of control in the Northern Territory under the noses of the CLP government.
This is a great success by the police. Two premises have been declared drug houses - one in Darwin, one in Alice Springs. I know, from the feedback that we have had from our community, that the community at large has been very thankful that these drug dens have been closed down.
The government’s tough-on-drugs attack is working. So far this year, the Drug Squad has dismantled 13 operational clandestine drug labs. We have a new Drug Dog Detection Squad in the Northern Territory which has seen significant success already after about six weeks in operation.
Territorians have a very clear choice between a previous government which believed drug-related crime was ‘minuscule’ in the Northern Territory, compared with this government, which has taken the issue head-on.
If we look at property crime across the Northern Territory since we came to government, it is on a significant decline – in no small part due to the hard work of our police officers in the Northern Territory, the new, tough laws that we have given them and the increases in resources. Drug-related crime is down, and the war on drugs goes on.
Mr BALDWIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask the minister to table that graph, please.
Mr HENDERSON: I am happy to table it, you might learn something.
Chief Minister – Political Comment by Staff Member
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
In a recent letter to The Australian newspaper, your speech writer and senior staffer, Dennis Schulz, accused the Indonesian government of being the world leader in government corruption. Do your political advisors and key staff members have your approval to make public accusations that the Indonesian government is the world leader in corruption? Do you think it appropriate for a member of your personal staff to be making political comment of this kind? Also, do you agree with his opinion?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, no, I do not agree with his opinion. That letter was done in a personal capacity. I suppose, in this world, it is a democracy, it is a free speech world. Maybe the Opposition Leader does not agree with that. Maybe it is the kind letter that, when I saw it in the paper, I thought, I do not agree with that, but I respect the fact that somebody has an opinion. As Chief minister, I value very highly our relationship with Indonesia. I do not agree with the sentiments in that letter.
Mr Burke: Does he still work for you?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: I suppose the Opposition Leader is saying that, if you do not agree with people then you sack them or you get rid of them. As I say, it was done in a personal capacity; it does not reflect on the approach of this government at all. The warm relationship that we hold with Indonesia is a strong one, and testament to that is that the Minister for Asian Relations and Trade will be in Indonesia in a couple of weeks time.
Health Budget
Mr McADAM to MINISTER for HEALTH
According to the member for Brennan, this is a government that has almost doubled the health budget. How do you respond to such a claim?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is not often we get praise heaped on us by the Leader of the Opposition, although probably the praise was a tiny bit exaggerated. We have not actually doubled health funding, but we have put another $150m into our health and hospital system. We promised, and delivered, 100 extra nurses using that money. We have nine additional medical specialists employed in our hospitals, providing better health care and better access to health services in the Territory.
We have put in place comprehensive maternity services, a package that offers safety, support and greater birthing choice for Territory women and their families - $350 000 this year will see home birthing services in Darwin and Alice Springs, more training for midwives and obstetricians, and additional remote area support.
We are building better health services for all Territorians, with a hospice and birthing centre under way in the Royal Darwin Hospital, and an $11m investment into the Alice Springs Hospital critical care area. We have spent $15m on the redevelopment of the Royal Darwin Hospital Emergency Department and High Dependency Unit, and increased specialist training.
Not only are we working harder, but we are also working smarter. Our employment initiative in the UK, where we sent two senior staff over to a medical congress in London, resulted in the successful recruitment of up to 20 medical practitioners. The direct recruitment of only two medical practitioners, rather than paying agency fees, would have made this cost neutral. The recruitment of 20 medical officers means we have made a major cost saving into the future; savings that can be directed to other key aspects of our recruitment and retention strategies.
We have been addressing the serious deficiencies of service provision inherited from the CLP, including remote health. We have dialysis facilities occurring in more areas around the Territory than what was ever allowable under the previous minister. We have committed funding to phase out single nurse posts. We have increased child health workers under a comprehensive child maternity health strategy.
I am sure the Minister for Family and Community Services will be more than happy to talk about an additional $53m that has been put into child protection, and additional funding into mental health.
The results of our work have been recognised nationally, the first time all five Northern Territory hospitals have been accredited, with a leading role, as I was said earlier today, in remote renal care and in maternity and child health as a national initiative.
This government is providing care to all Territorians, no matter where we live. I plead guilty to putting more money into health and I am proud of it.
Darwin City Waterfront Project – Wave Pool Entry Fee
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
This week, you were completely unable to name one major project that was initiated and completed by your government. Let us look at some of the initiatives you have promised. In April last year, you announced the construction of a facility to house 4000 Chinese students. Where is it? Over 12 months ago, you told Territorians of plans by a Chinese developer for 300 shops to be built at Palmerston. Where are they? Have you turned one brick? A year ago, you told Territorians that Jetstar would begin services to the Territory in November 2004. They have not.
Now, let us look at your promise to build a wave pool on the front page today’s Northern Territory News. Can you give a guarantee that Territorians will be able to use this facility free of charge, or does it need an entry fee to make it viable? If so, how much will that entry fee be?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there are many different elements to that question. The proposal for a facility for Chinese students is a private one that was proposed to government. We get such proposals all the time. I have not had one letter from the member for Brennan asking where it is.
The 300 shops at Palmerston - again, a private proposal. If the Opposition Leader had been on his game this morning, he would have heard the extraordinary number of projects that are under way in the Territory. We are very proud of them. This is a government with a lot of economic activity happening. We have plans and vision for the Territory’s future. It is about enterprises, job opportunities, and an economy that has come off its knees - where yesterday’s man left it - and is starting to really provide opportunities for Territorians.
When the Opposition Leader asks what we have done, where is he looking? There are a number of new jobs right across the Territory. If there is one complaint that business has, it is that they cannot get enough skilled workers. We are working on that. That is a sign of economic activity and an economy that has left the CLP a long way behind.
Let me specifically address the wave pool. If the Opposition Leader had chosen to have a briefing and had, perhaps, listened to some of the things that have been said since we announced his superb waterfront redevelopment project, he would have heard me say that there will be a charge for the wave pool ...
Ms Carter: How much?
Ms MARTIN: At this stage, I do not know; it is a private operation. However, let us look at the logic. If it is too expensive, nobody will use it, so it will be an accessible cost to use it. The other swimming areas will be free. Let us get this straight: the general swimming areas at the waterfront will be free, and the wave pool, quite reasonably, will have a cost. I am sure it will be a cost that we can afford because, otherwise, Territorians will not be able to use it. It is a superb facility.
Sometimes, when I was looking at the model, either in the mall or at Casuarina, I get a little disheartened, because there is a convention and exhibition centre - all this public amenity - and the only thing many people - particularly if they are under about 15 - wanted to talk about was this fantastic wave pool.
Alice Springs Short-term Housing Accommodation
Mrs AAGAARD to MINISTER for HOUSING
What is Territory Housing doing about increasing the availability of short-term accommodation in Alice Springs?
Mr Elferink: Ah!
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, obviously, the member for Macdonnell could not help himself from saying: ‘Ah’. He says that even when I deliver good news stories for Central Australia.
I thank the honourable member for Nightcliff for her important question. The Community Harmony Strategy, through its networks across government and communities, is helping to identify the need for different forms of accommodation, infrastructure and services. In Alice Springs, the redevelopment of Stuart Lodge was identified as an important response to the needs of mostly indigenous people who come into town for all sorts of reasons. With 34 bedrooms, a kitchen and a dining room, the facility will make a real difference to these visitors. This redevelopment will cost the Northern Territory government a total of $2.2m and the Indigenous Housing Authority of the Northern Territory (IHANT) will put in $250 000 for the fit-out.
The redevelopment of Stuart Lodge is an example of some good commonsense thinking. We all know about the issues relating to land in Alice Springs, and they are issues that government is continuing to work with the native title owners on. In the meantime, we know there is a need out there for short-term accommodation.
Using an existing facility is an efficient and cost-effective way of working through to a timely solution. Stuart Lodge is well located, close to key community facilities, including the hospital. The design work for the redevelopment of Stuart Lodge is almost complete, and tenders are going to be called in March, with a contract to be let in May. The redevelopment of Stuart Lodge is recognition of the pathways that need to be bridged between remote communities and urban lifestyles. When people come into town, for whatever reason, they need to be accommodated so they can visit their friends and family, get their treatment, go to court, whatever, and enjoy a stable, clean and comfortable living environment and then go back home.
This movement of people from communities to town and then back again is something that the Labor government recognises and is responding to intelligently. We also recognise the element that will make projects like Stuart Lodge work is partnership. The Northern Territory government and its individual agencies are not the sole experts on any issue, and certainly not issues as complex as mobility, antisocial behaviour and overcrowding. That is why the work between our agencies, together with IHANT and a range of other community organisations, is so vital.
The Accommodation Action Group, as a subgroup of Community Harmony Group, and the Quality of Life Group that has worked to progress this project has involved a range of organisations including NT Shelter, NTCOSS, Aboriginal Hostels Limited, ATSIC, Salvation Army, Tangentyere Council, Territory Housing, Anglicare, Office of Centre Australia, Centacare, KAAPU, the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, the NPY Women’s Council, the Alice Springs Aboriginal Urban Housing Association, Centrelink, the Drug and Alcohol Services Association, Reconnect the Alice Springs Youth Support Services, the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services, the Department of Justice and the Lhere Artepe native title holders.
Madam Speaker, as you can tell from the list, the Northern Territory government is quite exhaustively ensuring that we get the best advice on projects like Stuart Lodge.
Channel Point Road - Status
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for TRANSPORT and INFRASTUCTURE
The new Channel Point Road was declared in the Government Gazette on 28 January this year. What will be the status of this road? Will it be a public road? Who will be able to use the road? If the government intends to limit the numbers of people who can use the new park at Channel Point, does that mean only a limited number of people will be able to use the road? If so, how will that be policed and who will police it? What will be the status of the section of road through the Delissaville Wagait Larrakia Aboriginal Land Trust land?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I hope I can pick up on all the elements of the member for Nelson’s question. To preface my answer, when I first took on this portfolio area a little over a year ago, this was one of the more difficult issues that I was confronted with. I made a commitment to try to solve it. I will not go into all the elements of what is involved in the issues. There has certainly been some conflict, and some of what I am about to talk about is subject to some legal proceedings within the court from the pastoral lessees. I will endeavour to answer the member for Nelson’s question as best as I can.
The member for Nelson is right; there is a public road that has been gazetted along the boundary of the pastoral property. In relation to the land that goes through Aboriginal trust land, we have entered into a deed with the Northern Land Council about use of that particular road. Basically, the long and short of it is that those residents at Bulgul, obviously, have free access through the Aboriginal Land Trust land. Residents of Channel Point also have access through that land. It is proposed there be a limited number of people who will be using it. Also, a conservation zone of 250 ha has been declared closer to the coast. That will take some time to establish. However, it is proposed that a limited number of recreational anglers use that road and facility. It will be a system similar to what currently operates at Cobourg Peninsula. Government has had a mind to the fishing pressures and the pristine nature of the area.
It will be a special area. It has been a tortuous process. However, both Aboriginal and Channel Point residents have been grateful of the steps which government has taken to try and solve the access issues they have experienced. Along the way, government has been able to fulfil its election commitments of opening up more coast to recreational fishermen. These are issues that I will be detailing at the AFANT meeting on Sunday week. Generally, AFANT will find that government has met its election commitments, both in closure of rivers and increasing recreational access.
Madam Speaker, we are a government that meets our promises and we are moving the Territory ahead. We are right behind that great Territory lifestyle of recreational fishing.
Darwin City Waterfront Project – Capacity of Wave Pool
Mr BURKE to CHIEF MINISTER
I will pick up on the member for Johnston’s comments that government meets its promises. This week, you were completely unable to name one major project that was initiated and completed by your government. You promised to bring Sunrise gas onshore by 2007, forgot your promise, and have now admitted it will not happen. Over 12 months ago, you told Territorians that Cathay Pacific was looking to the Territory as a destination and agreed to a feasibility study. Where is the study, and where are they? Two years ago, you told Territorians you would save hundreds of thousands of dollars by replacing the entire Northern Territory government fleet with electric cars. Where are they?
Let us look at your promise to build a wave pool on the front page of today’s Northern Territory News. Can you inform Territorians listening to this broadcast, particularly Darwinites, how many people will be able to ride the wave in the wave pool at any one time? Is it, as stated in the paper, only one, or is it, as shown in the photo, three? Which is it? How many people can ride the wave pool at one time?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, in response to the negative attitude about the current state of economic activity in the Territory, I am proud to say we have a number of major projects that have been initiated in the last three years, and are under way, creating jobs and business.
We are proud of this. They are initiatives that we have worked with the private sector over and initiatives which have come from government. This is an economy and a Territory that is too busy to listen to the half-baked, half-truth ramblings of the new Opposition Leader. He says he is yesterday’s man, and his facts are way past yesterday.
The fact that, somehow or other, I promised that the entire government fleet would go electric? I do not even know what he is talking about. We have not seen a serious grasp on reality through any of the questions of this Question Time. We have been down in the gutter, we have been up in the air, we have been in fantasy land …
Dr Burns: We have been on a wave!
Ms MARTIN: Possibly, as the member for Johnston said, on a wave.
When we talk about getting new airlines to the Territory, we are working up business cases and conducting feasibility studies with a number of different airlines. If the Opposition Leader had any kind of reality check about the time it takes to get new airlines into the Territory, he would understand that a lot of work needs to be done. We are doing that work with airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Silk, Malaysia - a number of different airlines to our north. We have been working with Japanese Airlines, which will have their first two charters, big jumbos, coming to Alice Springs at the end of April, early May.
I do not believe the Opposition Leader or the opposition actually understands tourism and the capacity to build tourism and how you do it. Ask for a briefing any time ...
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: I am glad that you are pleased about the wave pool. You must be the only group in the Territory who is talking it down. You are saying: ‘Yes, we have a wave pool, but, but, but’. This is part of the waterfront redevelopment that you would scrap for a car park. It is a sad day for Territorians.
Teacher Registration
Mr BONSON to MINISTER for EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION and TRAINING
The member for Greatorex predicted chaos in the education system as a result of the teacher registration process. Can the minister advise whether there was chaos on 1 February, the sign-up day, or did that day come and go without a hitch?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Millner for his question. Something strange happens to members opposite when they get to be opposition spokesperson for education, because this member has followed the same path as the member for Blain when we were going to take away school-based police constables some three years ago. ‘Come Christmas, they will not be there’. He went around the Territory telling them we were going to sack them. Of course, it was never government’s plan, and it did not happen. This one ran around the Territory telling anyone who listened that there would be hundreds of teachers not registered come 1 February; we could not possibly do it; we were going to have classrooms right across the Territory without teachers in them’ and we had to have a moratorium for three months - absolutely extend the time for three months. He demanded we extend that period out. He tried to whip up the scenario, right through the Territory, of teachers being dismissed because they failed to register, and classes with no teachers. What he was trying to do was deliberately undermine the great work that was being done by staff and by the Teachers Registration Board, hard working public servants, who absolutely did put in the hours to get these teachers registered.
When 1 February came, the truth was somewhat different from the story being spun by this member for Greatorex. He is starting to develop form here. I have picked him up three times these sittings on …
Dr Lim interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Greatorex!
Mr STIRLING: … untruths that he runs around the community with, but never comes back with an apology. He never comes back and says: ‘Sorry, guys, about all the hard work you did. Sorry I got it wrong’. He does owe the system an apology for this one.
All teachers had applied for registration come 1 February. The vast majority have had it granted. There are some in the system because they have to await ratification of the board. The next board meeting is not until 16 February, then they will be ticked off. There would be some that were quite late in the system that will be ticked off at the subsequent board meeting. These are teachers in the government system, non-government system, relief teachers, and teachers who are working in office-based staff positions with teaching qualifications who wish to retain their registration. There are over 3000 teachers in the whole system. It was a pretty immense task, and yet it was achieved by the staff and by the board. It is an achievement I am very proud of, and board members and staff who worked with them are, indeed, very proud of it. I was happy to go and commend them and thank them for the work that they did. They were very appreciative I popped in and had morning tea.
The member for Greatorex ought apologise for what he was trying to do here, because the registration process itself was complex, but it was brought about by long-term requests from teachers themselves, and put in a commitment by my colleague, the member for Stuart, when he was opposition spokesperson on education. It protects the professional interests and integrity of teachers. It provides a solid base for qualifications, ensuring that people before our Territory students are qualified to be there, and it allows for a ready transfer between New Zealand and all other states in Australia, with the exception, strangely enough, of New South Wales and ACT.
We value teachers. We saw the Teacher Registration Board as a way of ensuring that professional standards of teachers are maintained and that their integrity is beyond doubt. It has been a successful exercise and the completion of another election commitment.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Mr BURKE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! We have gone less than one hour in Question Time …
Madam SPEAKER: We started at 2.10 pm.
Mr Henderson: It is 10 past.
Mr BURKE: We did not come into the room. We waited a number of minutes, Madam Speaker. This is a government that will not take questions.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Resume your seat.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Several minutes of Question Time were taken up acknowledging people in the gallery, and I believe that the …
Madam SPEAKER: Sit down. Resume your seat. The Leader of Government Business has closed Question Time.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016