2013-10-16
Member for Arnhem - Jawoyn Association Funding
Mr McCARTHY to CHIEF MINISTER
Yesterday you were asked a question about a police investigation into allegations of serious fraud involving the Jawoyn Association, the CLP member for Arnhem and her brother. You told this House yesterday, in reference to the police:
- They were asked to do a few things, but I will have a further look at it.
What were the few things police were asked to do and who asked them to do them?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition for his question. As I understand, some people asked police to conduct an investigation. It was not undertaken by the government, but there were people who made some complaints. Those matters were looked at by the police. The Assistant Police Commissioner, Shayne Maines, was just outside talking to the media providing an update. He also advised that the Police Commissioner will be making a statement later today about the outcomes of any analysis or investigation that took place.
I am yet to receive a formal briefing on the matter because, as you can imagine, I do not want to get involved in operational requirements, but the Police Commissioner will be making a statement today.
However, much of this conversation around the member for Arnhem, the Jawoyn Association and Preston Lee, without talking of him in a derogatory fashion, is not a matter for the Northern Territory parliament. The Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act) has a governance arrangement through the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC), which is the overall regulator for those Indigenous organisations. There is quite a number of organisations around the country that ORIC oversees in a regulatory role. It has a strong role in seeking to improve corporate governance and governance arrangements in Aboriginal organisations.
We all know there are issues with a range of organisations around the country and the Territory, and ORIC and others always seek to improve the governance arrangements in that regard.
Responding particularly to some of the issues which have been raised, people are asking why certain things are not happening. ORIC is, for want of a better term, the police in this regard and has the job of investigating concerns and requests that may be raised. It looked at the Jawoyn Association and the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Anthony Beven, issued a media release on 29 July 2013, which was under the then governance of former Labor government Indigenous Affairs minister, Jenny Macklin. He announced the conclusion of investigations into the affairs of the Jawoyn Association …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The second part of the question was: who asked the police to look at it?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, it is not a point of order. The Chief Minister has three minutes to answer the question. He was answering the question, as I see it, appropriately. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: The investigation was commenced by the registrar after complaints were made earlier this year about a number of officers and employees of Jawoyn. The complaints were reported to the media. The registrar determined that no criminal or civil action would be taken in relation to the complaints. These are the people who determine whether there should be anything undertaken and they have made a determination …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Alcohol-fuelled Violence – Police Tools
Mr HIGGINS to CHIEF MINISTER
Could you please tell this House about new tools being given to police to tackle alcohol-fuelled crime?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly. He is a person who firmly wants to see a reduction in crime across the Northern Territory, not just in the seat of Daly. He is active in his electorate about these issues, particularly around discussing law and order matters.
Today I have unveiled a new system of alcohol protection orders which should give the people of Daly and the rest of the Territory peace of mind. The new orders are designed to help police in their fight against alcohol-related crime. Alcohol protection orders are the latest in a suite of measures the government is pursuing to reduce crime and antisocial behaviour associated with alcohol abuse in the Northern Territory. About 60% of offences against the person and about 70% of domestic violence order breaches are alcohol-related. The new police powers are aimed at reducing these worrying statistics.
An order can be issued to an adult who is charged with committing a serious offence under the influence of alcohol. It bans them from consuming or possessing alcohol, or going to any licensed premises. The orders can be issued to anyone charged with an offence while under the influence of alcohol, attracting a possible gaol term of at least six months. The orders can run for a period of three, six or 12 months depending on a person’s criminal history. The orders are issued by police when the person is charged.
Police are extremely positive about these new orders which could attract a possible gaol term of up to three months if they are breached. The orders will complement the government’s pioneering Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Program. Where mandatory alcohol treatment is targeted at antisocial behaviour, alcohol protection orders are aimed at tackling the dangerous cocktail of alcohol consumption and serious crime.
Unlike Labor’s failed Banned Drinker Register, which did not work and was a blanket annoyance for everybody at the bottle shop, these alcohol protection orders will directly target the problem drinker who commits the crime.
On our side of the Chamber we talk about the scourge of domestic violence in the Northern Territory and the relevance of alcohol as it is associated with domestic violence. We have to work to penetrate this. I have asked police if they can have a heavy focus on serious assaults and domestic violence. You will continue to see, in the next few months, a ramp up in the statistics in that regard.
One of the challenges in this frame is the role alcohol plays in domestic violence and serious assaults. This is just another tool to try to assist those people not to consume alcohol. If any woman escapes an incident of domestic violence, any measure is a good measure. We have to do more to protect women and men in the Northern Territory. We have to do what we can to assist those people to escape the scourge of domestic violence which is a blight on the Northern Territory.
Power and Water – Cost of Submission
Ms LAWRIE to TREASURER
Power and Water has been working for a year on their submission arguing a 58% network price hike is required because the CLP changed the policy on them and said they must operate commercially. Industry resources indicate the cost of preparing this complex submission would conservatively exceed an eye-watering $500 000 – $0.5m – in addition to the cost incurred by the Utility Commissioner that is paid by taxpayers. If you have no intention of implementing anything the Utilities Commissioner has to say about the network charge submission, how do you justify wasting $0.5m of taxpayers’ funds?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the Opposition Leader continues to lead with her chin, making wild assertions.
There was very little in that question that had any basis of fact at all. It reminds me of yesterday’s censure motion when the Opposition Leader put the member for Nightcliff up to censuring the Minister for Land Resource Management ...
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. We are talking about the CLP putting power costs up.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nightcliff, that is bordering on misuse of Standing Order 113. The Deputy Chief Minister has three minutes to answer the question as he sees fit. Minister.
Mr TOLLNER: In relation to this question, it contains very little fact whatsoever. As I was saying …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The minister referred to the Minister for Land Resource Management but it was the Minister for Parks and Wildlife, when we are talking about facts!
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause. That was not a correct use of Standing Order 113. You are on a warning, member for Barkly.
Mr TOLLNER: The member for Barkly made a relevant point in all of that mess. It is the Minister for Parks and Wildlife I am referring to, and I apologise in that regard.
Yesterday, we saw the censure motion where they said it was fact there was not a mutual agreement to defund FrogWatch. We sat and copped it. We heard the opposition call the minister a liar, misrepresenting facts to the parliament, then there in black and white in a Deed of Termination, a legally-binding contract, it is written that it is mutually agreed.
We have an opposition with little or no facts which creates wide hysteria in the public. We saw it last week, where the Opposition Leader deliberately and wilfully confused not only the media, but the entire Northern Territory with concerns about a 58% increase to power prices. That is disgraceful, and not the way opposition is supposed to function. We have no problem at all with opposition questioning us about policy, but to cause undue concern across the Northern Territory, for no good reason at all, is disgraceful!
We have not heard an apology from the Leader of the Opposition to the Minister for Parks and Wildlife about the allegations and slurs they made on her good name yesterday. We certainly have not heard an apology from the Opposition Leader to Territorians about scaring them unnecessarily about power increases across the Northern Territory.
It needs to be remembered that the mess Power and Water is in is fundamentally due to the inaction and the mismanagement by the Leader of the Opposition when she was Treasurer of the Northern Territory. She is the architect of the problems that occurred at Power and Water and now she is bleating when we are trying to fix it ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Public Service – Corrupt Practices
Ms FINOCCHIARO to ATTORNEY-GENERAL and MINISTER for JUSTICE
Can you please advise the House on the Territory government’s efforts to address corrupt practices in the public service?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question. Members will recall that in November last year I presented to this House an annual report from the Office of the Information Commissioner that highlighted certain corrupt practices which have been allowed to continue to grow.
I gave a clear signal at that time, as did the whole government, that where we find corrupt practices we will root them out and get rid of them. Since that time, the media will be aware of a number of charges that have been laid against public servants. The media will also be aware of charges that have been laid in the area of prisons, police officers and other parts of the public service.
Today, I can also report to the House that there have also been a number of dismissals and resignations in that time. More recently, in the area of Power and Water Corporation, there have been four separations, one person determined to resign and three others were sacked for circumstances that would have, and did, amount to theft.
I understand that further investigations are continuing in the Power and Water Corporation. Yes, there have been charges laid in some instances. In other instances, charges have not been laid by virtue of the fact that evidence collected by the Office of the Information Commissioner is not admissible evidence, and we will be looking at those rules in due course.
Nevertheless, the signal should be clearly received by public servants that if you are a good, honest and hard-working public servant who acts in good faith, then we will create an environment for you …
Members interjecting.
Mr ELFERINK: I am surprised the Labor Party is laughing and giggling about this and interjecting because it is their deaf ears they turned repeatedly to complaints about the procurement process which were repeatedly raised in other forums with them while in government that has enabled this culture to start growing in the Northern Territory public service.
Fortunately, it is not an endemic culture, it is sporadic, and we have taken action. Unfortunately, when complaints were made to their ministers, they failed to follow up and these things started to grow under their management. If you look at the Obeids of the world, you can understand the Labor Party’s attitude to these things is reflected in the way they conduct themselves in government.
Teacher Numbers – Cuts
Ms FYLES to MINISTER for EDUCATION
Parents and teachers at Nightcliff Middle School in our community are very concerned that the savage teacher cuts you are making for budget purposes are impacting on us. Nightcliff Middle School is particularly affected as we are experiencing a growth spurt with extra classes required in 2014. How does cutting eight teachers from a growing school deliver better education outcomes?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from the member for Nightcliff. The reality in growing schools under the model we have introduced to staff schools appropriately to the student numbers would mean you would have additional teachers in schools. That is the way it will work. When schools grow, you will see an increase in teachers into schools. Unfortunately, where schools are reducing in numbers, there will be a reduction in teacher numbers.
There is a great deal of angst in the community at the moment because of misinformation being spread across the community by the Labor Party, the very architects who grew the education department by some 790 positions over the last five years when student numbers increased by 178. The architects who spent an additional $200m on education with no improvement in results sit opposite.
As a responsible Country Liberals government we will not say we will continue to do things the way they did, because it does not make sense.
We are reviewing the way we roll out, introduce and manage education in our remote communities. That is essential ...
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was: how does cutting eight teachers at Nightcliff Middle School help a growing population? It was not about the rural and remote areas.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, you have the call. Please get to the point.
Mr CHANDLER: Over the last few sittings we have gone through this a number of times. We have said repeatedly there would be no more than 35 frontline teachers taken from our schools across the Northern Territory ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was very specific to Nightcliff Middle School, not all the broader ratios. On Friday, teachers were advised eight teacher positions would be lost from the school. You are the Minister for Education, give us an answer to this direct question ...
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, Madam Speaker …
Madam SPEAKER: Please wait. There is no point of order. The minister has three minutes to answer the question. Minister, if you could get to the point with regard to the question, following your preamble.
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, we have debated this up hill and down dale for the last few sittings. The reality is there will not be a nett loss of more than 35 teachers across the Northern Territory for next year. That misinformation has already been rectified. Frontline teachers in our classrooms are important.
For years we had a government, the architects across there, who put on 790 positions, many of them not funded by NTG funds but by the federal government. Every year you relied on federal money to come into the Territory. We are now left with the position that there are no funds left to continue the contracts of many of these contracted teachers. That is the reality. The previous government grew education spending in the Territory with no improvement in education ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Property Crime – Reduction under
CLP Government
CLP Government
Mr KURRUPUWU to ATTORNEY-GENERAL and MINISTER for JUSTICE
The Country Liberal government has taken a tough approach to law and order in our community. In the most recent quarterly crime statistics it was revealed that property-related crime in Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs has significantly reduced. Can you please explain to the House what this government is doing to create such a significant drop in this crime?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. These statistics I am about to refer to are not the product of an accident, but the product of hard work by the police, our courts and a collective government which cares about crime in our community and believes in protecting victims before we protect offenders.
Operation Trident and Operation Strike Force Vega have been operating in different parts of the Northern Territory, and we have seen substantial decreases in crime. The total number of house break-ins in Darwin has reduced by 49%. The total number of house break-ins in Palmerston has reduced by 58%. We went to the last election promising a 10% reduction in crime per year and, in the first year of operation, we have achieved our four-year target, something we are abundantly proud of ...
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The minister has not explained the increase in violence across the Northern Territory when he talks about crime.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Attorney-General, you have the call.
Mr ELFERINK: I know the Labor Party really struggles with good news. We made a commitment and we are proud of achieving those results. They do not even have the courage to say, ‘Goodness, good result’.
Part of the reason for this is our mandatory alcohol treatment. The people who broke into people’s houses to sidestep the BDR are now in custody receiving mandatory alcohol treatment. That is one of the reasons we have this. We also have things like the Sentenced to a Job initiative, which is seeing prisoners in our system becoming taxpayers, paying rent for their cells and learning personal responsibility.
We have introduced a raft of legislative instruments: misuse of drugs legislation, child abuse material destruction legislation, female genital mutilation laws, one punch homicide laws, mandatory minimum sentencing for assaults, serious sex offender laws, national uniform evidence legislation, and we are advancing the amendments to the Criminal Code Act to introduce the model Criminal Code started and lost by the members opposite.
Today, the Chief Minister has announced we are taking a further step with the introduction of alcohol protection orders. I say to the Chief Minister, good on you. It is about time we started making the people who commit offences and break the law accountable for their actions, not making the whole of society accountable for the actions of a few which is the hallmark, the trademark and the solution of members opposite.
Aboriginal Health Workers
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for HEALTH
I have been informed that the government is retrenching Aboriginal Health Workers. In fact, 143 is the number mentioned. Could you say if this is correct and, if so, how many people are being retrenched? What is the government’s intention regarding the Aboriginal Health Worker program, and what communities will be affected?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. I can confirm we are not retrenching any Aboriginal Health Workers or Aboriginal Health Practitioners in the Northern Territory. I am quite mystified how this information has come to the member for Nelson. There are some changes happening within the health system ...
Members interjecting.
Mrs LAMBLEY: People are interested in health, but clearly the people on the other side of the Chamber are not interested in anything to do with health, otherwise they would listen to what I am saying.
We are about to roll out a new services framework for health. That will involve many changes in how we go about providing health throughout the Northern Territory.
There will be a Top End Health Service and a Central Australian Health Service. There is some anxiety within the health system around changes associated with the implementation of that new health services framework. However, we are not going to be axing Aboriginal Health Worker positions.
I checked the facts fairly recently, because, having worked in the health system on and off for the last 20 years, I was astounded at how few Aboriginal Health Workers were on the ground under Labor, particularly in remote areas. I dragged up some figures recently. There has been a 20% drop in the number of Aboriginal Health Workers - now they are called Aboriginal Health Practitioners - employed in the Department of Health over the last 10 years.
What have these people been doing over the other side of the Chamber? Labor has, somehow, allowed the Aboriginal Health Worker system to disintegrate. Why were they not attracting people to these positions? The positions still exist. They have not been taken away. They are not being axed, as the member for Nelson questioned. Those positions are still there, but we cannot fill them. That is the legacy we inherited from the former Labor government. Why did they take their eye off the ball when it came to Aboriginal Health Workers? Why did they allow this important, critical part of the health workforce to disintegrate?
The answer to that is they had obviously taken their eye off the ball and not followed what was happening with these workers in encouraging the continuing education of Aboriginal people, allowing those gateways and pathways into Aboriginal Health Worker positions or professions ...
Ms Walker: Absolute rubbish! Have you ever stayed in VIQs on community? Stay overnight with Aboriginal Health Workers, people from Batchelor who train them. You would not know.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mrs LAMBLEY: I cannot bear the interjections from the other side of the room; they are completely hypocritical and do not achieve anything. The bottom line is we are going to correct the situation.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Teacher Numbers – Cuts
Ms MANISON to MINISTER for EDUCATION
Dripstone Middle School sits in the middle of the northern suburbs and has a growing population with new housing and a growing enrolment. We have been told 13 teachers will be cut from that school next year. Everyone knows these cuts are all about budget and nothing about education. How do you justify cutting 13 teachers out of a school with an expanding population and growth in enrolment?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question. What are we up to now, 21 teachers? In fact, the commitment is no more than 35. The question before was in regard to Nightcliff. Now, we have another school involved. If we use the tools the Education department has, if there is increased attendance at these schools, you will see an increase in teachers ...
Ms Fyles: No, it is your formulation that is cutting teachers.
Mr CHANDLER: Member for Nightcliff, I will tell you straight up that the teacher numbers for Nightcliff will drop by 2.56 teachers based on their effective enrolment for next year ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. When we say teachers we say real people in classrooms. They are contractors as well as permanents. The 2.5 are the permanents. You add the rest, then the contractors ...
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, Opposition Leader. Minister, you have the call.
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, I will pick up on one part of the injection. We talk about contract teachers. Under the former Labor government, 30% of our teachers were under contracts. Now 14% of teachers are on contracts compared to 30% under Labor. We have turned more contracted teacher positions into permanent teacher positions.
I put it to you again regarding the question of the member for Wanguri. You said, ‘We have heard’. There are many rumours, and much speculation and information being spread by you. Just today I learnt of a survey going around the northern suburbs that makes accusations about the member for Sanderson which are totally wrong. That side is not adverse …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question. How does cutting teachers improve education?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, you have the call.
Mr CHANDLER: Again, I call on the member for Wanguri to have a briefing on teacher numbers. The reality is we have a set of numbers that come from the Education department which tell us no school will lose more than five teachers. There will be 35 fewer teachers this time next year across the Northern Territory. That is what the numbers are telling us.
Ms Walker: You are dishonest!
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause. Member for Nhulunbuy, withdraw that comment about dishonesty.
Ms WALKER: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, you have the call.
Mr CHANDLER: I have said before that the very architects of the growth in education, particularly when it comes to positions - 790 in the last five years when our student numbers grew by 178 - who spent $200m extra and did not provide any improvement in education should be ashamed of themselves.
Members interjecting.
Mr CHANDLER: We are a government that has the courage to mop up the mess created by the former Labor government. We have the mop and are trying to clean up the mess left to us by the former Labor government.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I was barely able to hear the minister and I …
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. Sit down.
Alcohol Mandatory Treatment
Ms LEE to MINISTER for ALCOHOL REHABILITATION
It has now been three months since the establishment of alcohol mandatory treatment in the Territory. Can you provide the House with an update on the number of people the Territory has committed to helping address their drinking problems and details on the new quarterly reporting measures?
Ms Walker: Not one assessment for Nhulunbuy. Why would that be?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, please pause.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Sit down, member for Port Darwin!
Opposition, you are all on warnings. I would like to hear the answers and I would also like to hear the questions properly. All of you are on warnings!
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arnhem for her question. She is very interested in this issue of alcohol mandatory treatment. It affects many of her people in the Arnhem electorate and was an important election commitment. She went to her campaign over 12 months ago with this in mind, selling it to the people of Arnhem. Indeed, we have delivered. Just over three months after implementing this new alcohol mandatory treatment policy across the Northern Territory, we are starting to see real results.
Yes, we provided people of the Northern Territory with an annual report on how we are travelling. That annual report was released last week. It told the people of the Territory that over 100 people have been taken from the revolving door of police protective custody and referred to a health system focusing on supporting them with their particular needs around alcoholism.
It has been a good news story, despite what you hear from the other side of the Chamber. Over 100 people have been given an opportunity to change their lives. These figures have been received remarkably well.
The first person to come out of mandatory treatment is due any day now, so we are looking at the next phase of alcohol mandatory treatment which is the aftercare. It is not compulsory; we cannot make people undergo aftercare. Once they are released from mandatory treatment it is all about self-determination. However, those aftercare plans are in place for these people, ready to assist them in their transition from mandatory rehabilitation into the community. We are hopeful they will take up that offer. After 12 weeks in mandatory treatment we hope they will be assisted to keep off the grog when they get to their community.
One piece of good news I can share with you today is that Congress in Alice Springs, as part of their Safe and Sober Program, has offered to provide aftercare services to people based in Alice Springs. That is a good news story: services working together to provide the best outcomes for people with these chronic alcohol problems. And they are chronic problems; these people are some of the most disadvantaged and sick people in our community.
Madam Speaker, this is a good news story. We will be reviewing the program after six months. By mid-January, a full review will be well under way.
Teachers Numbers - Cuts
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for EDUCATION
Tomorrow afternoon outside this House, hundreds of parents, teachers and students will rally together, united in their concern at your broken election promise guaranteeing frontline worker’s jobs were safe, and rallying against school cuts. You are cutting 12 teacher numbers from the schools in my electorate. Parents, teachers and students are upset that, in addition, contract teachers are losing their jobs at the end of the year.
How do you justify saying one thing to teachers before the election and doing the exact opposite after? What do you say to parents who are upset that 12 teacher numbers are being cut from schools in my electorate and that experienced teachers are being lost?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we went through the last sittings answering the same questions in regard to education, and rightfully so. However, in all of this there will be parents, teachers, and a number of people on the steps of Parliament House tomorrow, including students.
As a father of four children - one having left school and gone on as an apprentice – who have all gone through the education system in the NT, there is no one person in this Chamber who is more passionate about education than I am.
The reality is we have a situation which we did not create; that is, the fiscal position the Northern Territory government was left in. It is not an easy decision. We have all, time and time again, discussed how we can improve education in the Northern Territory, given our fiscal position. No one across any department likes savings measures that have to be implemented because of the fiscal position left to us by the former government ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr CHANDLER: With the interjections it is difficult, but I can tell you – and there is not a Cabinet member here who would tell you anything different - when I go into Cabinet I fight for education, like every other minister fights for their areas of concern.
The reality is – I said this before – in the last five years, to see 790 additional employees in education when our student numbers grew by 178, with no improvements in education …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question. What will he say to the parents who are losing 12 teachers from schools within the electorate of Fannie Bay?
Madam SPEAKER: The minister has the call. He has time to answer the question as he sees fit.
Mr CHANDLER: Again I will say that this government has given a commitment that there would be no more than 35 teachers from the entire Northern Territory who will not have positions, remembering that across the Northern Territory we have an attrition rate of 120-odd teachers every year. That is the reality. It is time we look at how we deliver education in the Northern Territory differently. It is why we need to look at how we deliver education in the bush and in classrooms in our urban environment.
The reality is, with the teacher staffing ratio changes we will still have some of the best teacher staff ratios in Australia. Given that, we need to find different ways of delivering education in the Northern Territory. We need to support teachers, but we must have the resources to support them. An Education department that had 790 additional positions when our student numbers went up by 178 is not sustainable. We do not want to steal from the future ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Alcohol Mandatory Treatment –
Effect of Change of Federal Government
Effect of Change of Federal Government
Mr KURRUPUWU to MINISTER for ALCOHOL REHABILITATION
We have heard of early success being achieved in our alcohol mandatory treatment system. How has the change of government in Canberra helped matters?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. The recent change in the federal government has meant a marked difference to how we roll out and manage our alcohol mandatory treatment program. One of the great disappointments over the last six months for me has been dealing with the former minister Jenny Macklin, trying to get income management as part of our Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Program.
Most people in this Chamber will remember, with the former government’s Banned Drinker Register and Alcohol Court, the federal government minister Macklin allowed the use of income management. This meant people could be placed on up to 70% income management, or 70% of their income being placed on a BasicsCard.
We felt it was perfectly rational and reasonable to expect minister Macklin would provide our system, our policy, our Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Program, with the same income management provision. I had many conversations with minister Macklin around this and she denied us the use of it. She would not acknowledge we are a new government with a new direction, new policies and new priorities. For that, I feel extremely disappointed. Minister Macklin played politics with the people of the Northern Territory. She used this as a way of trying to diminish and set this new system up to fail for the new Country Liberals government. That was a milestone to me in realising not everyone plays ball nicely.
However, with a new Coalition government we have a new federal Minister for Social Services, Kevin Andrews, who is allowing our Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Tribunal to use income management. I have negotiated that, and he confirmed it was fine for us to use it last week. I am yet to have a direct conversation with him; probably within the next couple of days I will do so. He did not hesitate to say yes.
At the moment, once these people leave alcohol mandatory treatment, they will have several thousand dollars in their bank account at their disposal that is not income managed at all. These people have chronic alcohol problems and could spend it all on alcohol. The temptation for some people will be too much. Under income management, 70% will be quarantined on the BasicsCard and not available for them to buy alcohol.
Teacher Numbers – Cuts
Mr VOWLES to MINISTER for EDUCATION
Thanks to your budget cuts, Casuarina Senior College has imposed 12 changes in timetabling, meaning teachers have no free periods to liaise with students or parents and only five minutes between classes. You are slashing 12 teacher numbers from this college in my electorate of Johnston. Please advise the House how slashing 12 teachers will improve education outcomes at this college? In a cruel twist, how do you justify terminating teachers at CSC on World Teachers’ Day?
Ms Lawrie: Shame on you! Next Friday they will be told which ones do not have jobs.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Johnston for his question. If the opposition would give me the courtesy of listening to the answer, but you will get the same answers time again because the questions are becoming repetitive.
The reality is we have committed that no school will lose more than five teachers next year. That is no classroom teacher …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It is very real. Casuarina Senior College is losing 12 teachers and you have to answer the question.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. There are no speeches in points of order. Minister, you have the call.
Mr CHANDLER: Again, we have given a commitment that no school will lose more than five teachers from …
Ms Lawrie: Casuarina is losing 12. Call the principal, ask her!
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, cease interjecting.
Mr CHANDLER: I have the figures from the Department of Education that will spell it out for every school across the Northern Territory. It tells you no school will lose more than five teachers.
Again, I put to you that the rationale behind some of these changes includes that we have gone to a far better way of measuring what resources schools need by calculating the students who turn up. It is far fairer than what occurred under the former government.
They will not tell you, but in the former formula used by the Labor government, there were 50 fewer teachers the last time the Labor government was in power – 50 teachers lost in one year. Did we hear the human outcry at that time? Did you see the ramping up of getting the unions, community groups and school councils on board? There were 50 fewer teachers under the formula applied by the then Labor government …
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 255: documents relating to public affairs. The minister said he had figures relating to all schools in the Northern Territory. I am asking they be tabled, please.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, are the documents you are referring to confidential?
Mr CHANDLER: No, Madam Speaker, they are departmental documents. I have an electronic version. I would be happy to give you a copy, member for Nelson, of the numbers of teachers in each of the schools …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Table them! Not just for the member for Nelson, but all of us.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader!
Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, I had a direct question from the member for Nelson, I am happy to give him a copy. If the member for Nelson chooses to …
Members interjecting.
Mr CHANDLER: It was the member for Nelson. I have offered briefings to any one of the members of the opposition. They will be given documents if they are warranted.
I am telling you these documents will clearly show what schools and where they are affected. There is a commitment there will be five fewer teachers in some schools. Some schools which will end up with more teachers.
Let us look at primary schools. We are strengthening the numbers in primary schools. We have 66 additional teachers going into the primary sector. You do not hear the opposition praising this government.
For years, the experts have been saying we need to strengthen early years. Do we hear the opposition saying, ‘Well done, government, for focusing on where the resources should be?’ No, you just hear an absolute rabble. At the moment, they are ramping up through community groups, councils, misinformation, without stating the truth.
We have been up front. We have said there will be 35 fewer teachers next year. Did you hear anything from the former government about the 50 teachers lost under their formula? No! Because they were never up front and honest …
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The minister may not like it, but he was in government last year and they were 50 teachers he cut, not us! You were in government!
Mr CHANDLER: Under your formula!
Mr Gunner: It was your decision!
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Suspension of Member
Member for Fannie Bay
Suspension of Member
Member for Fannie Bay
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, please pause. Member for Fannie Bay, leave the Chamber for one hour pursuant to Standing Order 240A.
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Mr CHANDLER: Madam Speaker, we had to change the formula to ensure schools were resourced adequately for the student numbers. Where student numbers rise, the Education Department will ensure the resources follow those areas. Where they drop, of course, the resources will come out of those schools. We cannot keep doing things the way they did it. We need to change ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Sentenced to a Job
Ms LEE to MINISTER for CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
Of late, there has been a great deal of positive coverage in the media about your Sentenced to a Job program. Can you please update the House on the progress of this initiative and tell us the types of jobs these prisoners are sentenced to?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I recently had the pleasure of standing in front of all of Australia’s Attorneys-General who specifically wanted a briefing on what we are doing in the Northern Territory in our Sentenced to a Job program.
The best form of welfare you can ever give any person is a job. Unfortunately, too many people come into our custodial environment, not because of anything other than, in my opinion, they are unemployed and welfare dependent. As a government, we are using the custodial environment to bring about a change in attitude because we are giving those people, for the first time in their lives in many instances, something they have never had, which is something to lose.
When they take the job they are given through the Sentenced to a Job program and leave custody, many of those people do not come back. My official recidivism rate is a little over 50%. In actual fact, recidivism is much higher but it is limited by virtue of the fact the recidivism rate is essentially calculated as a return to prison for a same or similar offence within two years. I am happy to announce that some initial figures that are now coming out of the Sentenced to a Job program are as follows: of 84 prisoners who have left in Darwin, 11 have returned; of 19 prisoners who have left in Alice Springs, six have returned; and of 17 prisoners who have left in Barkly, five have returned.
This totals 120 in paid employment with a return to prison rate of 18.3%. That is a very encouraging number. Having made that observation, it is still too early to get excited. These numbers are not huge, but I can say this morning that 87 prisoners, as it was a few days ago, left custody to go to work and become taxpayers or get training to become taxpayers in the Northern Territory.
The classification system which sits at the heart of this scheme ensures we will do everything we can to protect Territorians. However, the most important thing we can do to protect Territorians is give these people something they have never had in their lives when they leave prison: that is, something to lose.
Fish Possession and Vessel
Limits – Changes
Limits – Changes
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY and FISHERIES
You recently announced the government’s intention to introduce personal possession limits for reef fish and a new vessel limit. Can you explain what personal possession limits will mean for fishers and what the new vessel limit means, especially for charter operators? Have you discussed these changes with AFANT and charter boat operators and what feedback have you received? What part of the fishing industry, commercial charter or recreational, do you believe is the cause of the depletion of the fishing stocks to a point where these changes were needed to be introduced?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. As the responsible minister, I will do whatever it takes to ensure our fish stocks are protected well into the future. I am an avid fisherman. I do not get out as often as I would like, but I have many friends who are fishermen, and my children like to fish. I would like to know that in the future my children and their children will be able to go into the reefs off Darwin and catch a good feed of decent fish. That is why we are now moving to protect these reef stocks.
Going to the nub of the question by the member for Nelson, I can explain that currently there is a reef fish personal possession limit of 30 fish per person. It is just a proposal, and a discussion paper has gone out to the broader general public to have their views. The proposal is that the personal possession limit be reduced to 15, which in my view would still be a reasonable number of fish for anyone to bring home after a day of fishing.
The impacts that will have on fishing tour operators is there will be a sliding scale of the total number of fish that can be brought back on any given boat, given the number of fishermen on board.
There are a number of publications available which will give all the information for you and anyone else who is interested. They are all available through the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries’ website.
The other part of your question was around whether AFANT or the charter boat operators had been consulted and what the feedback was. This government decided we would form a Recreational Fishing Advisory Committee, a board of people who are well-respected and well-regarded in the fishing industry. The acronym is RFAC, and it is comprised of, amongst other people, representation from AFANT and the fishing tour operators.
The proposal, as it stands at the moment, has gone through that RFAC process, and it has endorsed this discussion paper to go out amongst the broader public so we can receive feedback.
Madam Speaker, bearing in mind the consultation is open until 15 November, the feedback directly to me has been limited but, of course, there will be plenty of feedback through the department. By and large, what I have heard is this proposal is generally supported because most fishermen understand the need to protect our reef stocks well into the future. There has been some feedback from fishing tour operators who are not particularly happy, but we will continue to take all of the feedback on board before a decision is made.
Open Speed Limits – Release of Reports
Mr McCARTHY to MINISTER for TRANSPORT
Yesterday, you refused to release publicly the multiple reports you have spent taxpayers’ money on which you claim were the expert evidence you relied upon to return to an open speed limit trial. AANT said you were playing with people’s lives and there is no science or data in the world that says going faster is less risk. The reality is the increase of speed increases the risk associated with accidents and deaths. The Police Association said:
- Our view would be based on expert opinion and my understanding is that the open limit was reduced to 130 km/h based on expert advice that there should be a reduction in speed limit.
Territorians have the right to know what the expert reports said, as you are playing with their lives. Will you table the four reports, and if not, why not?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Barkly for the question. The reports you refer to are audits and assessments, and they build on one another. The first audit has done certain things, and that has given rise to certain questions, so there have been more audits and assessments. The process is still ongoing and the trial is part of the audits and assessments.
We identified, from information that was coming to hand – it is ongoing information that is coming to hand. The previous minister for Transport reduced speed limits on the Arnhem Highway. He looked at roadhouses and reduced speed limits around certain roadhouses. That is ongoing, and we have since identified more.
The trial period was on a road where there have been no speed-related deaths. I will just repeat that: no speed related deaths on that highway. There have been a number of deaths, sadly, that have been related to seatbelts and alcohol.
The sad thing is, the member for Barkly, just like the member for Nightcliff who accused the Minister for Parks and Wildlife of lying to parliament – I will read a little quote – ‘came in here on a wing and prayer’. The definition from the Cambridge Dictionary is if you do something on a wing and a prayer, you do it hoping you will succeed, although you are not prepared enough for it ...
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question from my colleague and I would like to hear the answer.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The minister can use quotes in his answer if he sees fit. Minister, you have the call.
Mr STYLES: From yesterday’s paper, if you bothered to read it, I quote from the second paragraph on page four ‘Open speed limits back on Stuart’:
- The NT News can reveal Cabinet has agreed to remove the 130 km/h speed limit on a section of road, from about 35 km south of Barrow Creek to 10 km north of Alice Springs.
Mr STYLES: The member for Barkly was on the radio yesterday between 9 am and 10 am – I do not have the exact time – and I quote him:
- Now, about 30 km south of Barrow Creek is a major jump up with a restricted vision and some very challenging corners.
Mr STYLES: This trial does not start …
Mr McCarthy: And the four Aboriginal communities, the Stirling Swamp, and the road infrastructure.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Barkly, you are on a warning, remember! Please continue, minister.
Mr STYLES: Basically, the member has his facts wrong again. The opposition members are getting their facts wrong and quoting incorrect information and scaring people ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. We are trying to get to the facts. Table the four reports as they are …
Madam SPEAKER: Sit down. It is not a point of order. Minister, you have the call.
Mr STYLES: I have answered that question, but I will answer it again for the benefit of the Leader of the Opposition. They are audits and assessments which are ongoing and the trial is part of the audit and assessment. What part of that do you not understand?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Department of Housing –
Award for Webpage Case Management SystemMs ANDERSON to MINISTER for HOUSING
Can you please inform the House about a recent award the Department of Housing won for the Webpage Case Management System it has in place to tackle antisocial behaviour and urban drift issues in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Namatjira for her question. She has had an interest in housing for many years since she has been in this parliament. I am not surprised by her interest in this matter.
It is with great pride I offer congratulations to the Department of Housing for its great work and innovation in improving safety in public housing ...
Members interjecting.
Mr CONLAN: There is a little more criticism about this I see. We know they do not like Marines, tourists, homelands and gardening competitions, and now they do not like award winning government departments. The list is endless. We even have the member for Barkly who does not trust Territorians to drive responsibly, as he said on the radio yesterday ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr CONLAN: The list is endless. They are the party of haters. This is a pretty simple thing.
Once again, it is an award winning government department that has won a national award. It is pretty good and worthy of at least three minutes in parliamentary Question Time. Let us have a look ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. I congratulate minister Burns for setting that up.
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Suspension of Member
Member for Karama
Suspension of Member
Member for Karama
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, that was a frivolous point of order. Leave the Chamber for one hour pursuant to Standing Order 240A.
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Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, let us thank the Department of Housing before we start thanking individuals. I am happy to give Bungles the credit where it is due, but I am happy to give the department more credit because it is a wonderful initiative.
It is called Web EOC. Web EOC allows safety officers to build an electronic diary about a property which is used to assist our tenants to recognise and change their behaviour. If they do not change their behaviour or are unwilling to change, it supports our case to the Commissioner for Tenancies for an eviction.
NT Police can also access Web EOC to inform safety officers if they note issues which they consider should be known to the Department of Housing. This is helping to reduce the need for NT Police responses to housing complaints and keeping our police in their primary role of policing.
In recognition of the use of this technology to better the lives of Territorians, the Department of Housing recently received a leading innovation award from the Australasian Housing Institute. Hear, hear, a great initiative and a wonderful achievement by the Department of Housing!
To be recognised across Australia and New Zealand as an innovative agency with the social housing industry is true testament to the Department of Housing’s commitment in delivering the best service possible for all Territorians. I congratulate them on their wonderful achievement.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016