2015-08-25
Travel – Ministerial Staff
Ms MANISON to MINISTER for WOMEN’S POLICY
Your senior adviser was charged with corruption in July. In April and June you defended him in this House on questions relating to his travel to New York. In the NT News in June, you said the reason for his extended leave …
Mr Elferink: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: No, it is not a point of order. It goes to the heart of the minister’s portfolio of Women’s Policy, which was the reason she took the travel.
Mr Elferink: I want to raise the issue that these matters are currently before a court …
Madam SPEAKER: No, Attorney-General, I want to hear the question.
Ms MANISON: In the NT News in June, you said the reason for his extended leave was to spend time with his family and that he was not forced to take leave. When did you learn that Mr Mossman was under investigation by Northern Territory Police and what did you do upon learning that information?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for the question. It would be inappropriate for me to comment as this matter is before the courts. It is important to note that I had no involvement in booking this travel.
When I became aware of my alleged wrongdoing, a senior staff member was immediately stood down.
The Giles government supports police investigations into travel rorts.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The minister said ‘not forced to take leave’, but now she is saying she immediately stood him down. Did she mislead the House?
Mrs PRICE: I did not mislead the House. It would be inappropriate to comment any further as this is a matter before the courts.
China-Australia Free Trade Agreement – Labor Attack on Chinese
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you please outline what role the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement will have in creating a prosperous Territory economy, and whether there are any threats to the international investment that would flow from this agreement?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question. Like her, I support foreign investment and jobs in the Northern Territory. In June this year we saw a signature to the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which would secure better market access for Northern Territory products and services to be provided and exchanged with our second-largest trading partner, and a primary market for the export of minerals.
The agreement provides an opportunity for two-way investment, including the exports of goods and an increased level of Chinese investment in the Northern Territory.
What amazes me is how low people will go, and the levels that Labor and the unions will reach, to strike a campaign of fear, loathing and xenophobic behaviour towards Chinese people within the Northern Territory, Australia and around the world.
The campaign has been waged by Labor and the unions against Chinese nationals and investors, waged through letterboxes, electronic media and at public rallies, such as last Sunday in Darwin where I understand the member for Karama was, along with other Labor members ...
Ms Lawrie: Proudly!
Mr GILES: The member for Karama says she proudly presented herself at a rally to fight against working with Chinese investment and Chinese jobs.
Ms Fyles: How many jobs have gone under your watch? It was 1100 in Nhulunbuy.
Mr GILES: That was an Australian company.
The Chinese have been part of the social fabric of the Northern Territory for over 150 years. There are some 4800 Territorians with Chinese ancestry who would be disgusted with the way Labor is treating Chinese nationals, the Chinese government, Chinese investment and local Chinese people in the Northern Territory, in response to the FTA.
Where will Labor and the unions stop? Will they start attacking the Koreans for the Korean gas interests around the Northern Territory? Will they attack the Italians for Eni, a state-owned enterprise which owns the gas that powers Parliament House and the top half of the Northern Territory? Will they attack the Malaysians because they have an interest in the Alice Springs casino, or the New Zealanders because of their interests in the Darwin casino? Where will the list end?
It is appalling that Labor and the unions attack the Chinese. They are fantastic investors, our second-largest trading partner in the Northern Territory ...
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Travel – Police Investigation
Ms FYLES to MINISTER for WOMEN’S POLICY
Have you been interviewed by police in relation to the investigation into ministerial travel, and if so, when?
ANSWER
No.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Is it a question? The minister has answered the question.
Mr ELFERINK: Page 508 of House of Representatives Practice counsels Speakers to be particularly cautious in relation to criminal matters and allowing matters to proceed to debate.
Also, the Attorney-General is suggested in House of Representatives Practice, on the same page, as assisting the Speaker in these matters.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, Leader of Government Business.
Trade Mission to Indonesia and Thailand
Mr BARRETT to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY and FISHERIES
Coming back to matters of economic importance, can the minister please update the House on his most recent trade mission to Indonesia and Thailand?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question, which goes to the nub of growing the economy, which is what this government is all about.
It gives me a great deal of pleasure to update the House on this very important matter. Earlier this month I was joined by a trade delegation on a bipartisan mission to Indonesia, and then I went on to Thailand. The purpose of the trip was to visit key livestock markets in Southeast Asia, and further develop relationships with our trading partners, including Indonesia. I was joined by the Queensland Agriculture minister, Bill Byrne. Together we promoted northern Australia as the supplier of choice for the live cattle export and boxed beef trade.
I am thrilled to inform the House that this was an extremely fruitful and productive trip. Whilst we were there the Indonesian government announced an increase in the live cattle quota by 50 000 head. It was most welcome news. The news of a further 300 000 head for this year was also great to hear and is testament to what can happen as a result of respectful and reasoned discussions. During those discussions I also advocated for an annual quota to give industry and the Indonesian consumer more certainty into the future.
We will also see more certainty through the expansion of new and emerging markets. That is why the Northern Territory Livestock Exporters Association and I undertook a field trip into Thailand to promote the NT as a place to source disease-free quality cattle. I am pleased to report there is also potential for buffalo to be exported to Thailand in the future. I applaud the federal government for allowing this to happen through its hard work in opening trade to Thailand.
Unfortunately, counterproductive to all of this is the union/Labor scaremongering and dishonest campaign around free trade. It is shameful. Trade relationships are founded on respect and trust. Labor’s position to rail against the FTA can do nothing more than damage relationships between us, China, Korea and Japan. It is very short-sighted for the sake of attempting to gain cheap political points.
The Country Liberal government has worked hard to bring the industry back from the brink of despair following the catastrophic Labor live cattle ban. You simply cannot trust Labor. Only conservative governments across Australia can be trusted to do the right thing. We have stood side by side with industry to create growth and, I am proud to say, the live cattle export industry is worth over $230m annually to the Territory economy. Under the Country Liberals that figure is surely set to grow.
Pensioner and Carer Concession Scheme – Alleged Rorting
Ms MANISON to ATTORNEY-GENERAL and JUSTICE
You told the NT News on 4 August that you attended a Cabinet meeting in 2013 that discussed an Ernst & Young report into widespread rorting of the pensioner and carers travel scheme by Darwin and Palmerston-based Flight Centre travel agents. You said that you:
- … walked out of Cabinet fully convinced the matter was to be handed to the police for investigation.
According to the Police Commissioner no such referral occurred. Why, as the first law officer of the Northern Territory, did you not take this matter to the police for a full and thorough investigation?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, talk about come in spinner. Let us start with one thing we must understand about this. The investigation into the pensioner concession scheme was launched in October 2012 by this government. I stood up in parliament and said, ‘Where we find corruption we will sniff it out, hunt it down and go after it’. We have done that. We have shaken the tree and some things have landed close to the tree. But have we shirked our responsibility? Have we shown any absence of fibre? No, we have not.
Let us talk about the period of investigation, which was January 2011 through to January 2013, if I remember correctly. That is the time you were in government; you must have known what was going on in the PenCon scheme. It is much more appropriate to ask what you did about it. When did any of your government members refer the matter to police in any way?
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question. As the first law officer of the Northern Territory, did you not take this matter to the police for a full and thorough investigation? What did you do?
Mr ELFERINK: It was referred and dealt with. But what did you do? The proof we did something is that there are criminal matters before the courts under hearing. It has led to the establishment of a task force which is recovering monies …
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The Police Commissioner said no such referral occurred.
Mr ELFERINK: No, that is not quite what he said. That is by the by. The matter is being investigated. If there is any doubt from the members opposite that it is being investigated then they have not been reading the newspaper closely. There are matters before the court right now. We had the courage to look because the matters were referred and dealt with. How did the matters currently before the court end up there? The police investigated. The matter had been referred to the police and dealt with. Not like, in any way, what the former Labor government members did. They were not busy looking at things like the PenCon scheme; they were too busy setting things up like the Stella Maris deal. The Stella Maris deal hangs over the members opposite like odium.
It is a stench; they worked with the unions of the Northern Territory to defraud Territory taxpayers of future income related to the Stella Maris site to the advantage of the Labor Party and Northern Territory unions.
To hear that question from the members opposite demonstrates that, first, they were not in any way inclined to report the PenCon scheme to authorities; that was up to us to do. Second, they are happy to turn a blind eye to shonky dealings. And third, they were involved in shonky dealings over the Stella Maris site every step of the way.
Chinese Investment in the Territory
Mr CONLAN to MINISTER for ASIAN ENGAGEMENT and TRADE
As we know the Country Liberals government has been working hard since being elected in 2012 to bring a new international economy to the Territory. We saw as recently as Sunday Territory Labor’s opposition to Chinese investment in the Northern Territory. It is a real shame that Territory Labor does not support Chinese investment.
What threat to our international investment does Territory Labor’s opposition represent?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex for his question. This is a serious threat. The Labor Party and the unions have embarked on a campaign of fear and loathing towards Chinese. I am stunned at what they are talking about. The joint union and ALP attack on Asian engagement strategies are demonstrated by the member for Karama, who was front and centre on social media with the unions saying, ‘We are union and we are proud. Stop Abbott giving away Australian jobs in the China free trade agreement.’ Sadly, I do not think they have read it.
The message from the Labor Party and the unions to Australia is, ‘Do no let Chinese take jobs from our kids’. What jobs? We are looking to generate jobs in the Northern Territory. Given the mess the Labor Party left, we need to create economic development. In Darwin we have an unemployment rate of less than 1%, so you cannot find people to fill jobs.
If you attack the Chinese and create this yellow peril fear, as you are trying to do, this will affect what happens in the investment part of the Northern Territory. This is about jobs. You need investment to create jobs. It is economics 101. Sadly, they do not understand that, as evidenced by the mess they left the Territory in when we came into government.
In three years the Giles government has managed to turn it around. All the economic indicators show we are leading the country in four out of the six economic objectives every government seeks to achieve.
Let us look at their side. In the middle of Mark Latham’s book he talks about getting people from overseas to fill jobs we cannot fill.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a direct question, not a book review.
Mr STYLES: That is a classic example of how ignorant the other side is. ‘This is not about a book review.’ You are right; this is about the Northern Territory. This is about jobs for our kids, grandkids and those who come after. You want to read some of your own members’ books and what they say about direct foreign investment. This country was built on foreign investment and joint ventures from overseas. Read your history books.
You are a school teacher, member for Nightcliff. You should understand this because, hopefully, you were teaching people in schools about this very issue. I have kids and grandkids, and I am sure most of you on the other side have kids. What will they do for a job?
Since my last trip to China there have been eight delegations here, and the first question they ask is, ‘What about the Labor Party and the free trade agreement?’ This goes wider than China. This goes to Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. All of these people will question investment in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Travel – Spousal
Ms ANDERSON to CHIEF MINISTER
Documents obtained through FOI state that your wife, Mrs Tamara Giles, travelled from Alice Springs to Darwin as your spouse from 17 to 22 December 2014, and from 2 to 9 January, 2015. However, according to your statement in a Sunday Territorian article of 14 June 2015, your girlfriend, Phoebe Stewart, fell pregnant with your child in early January 2015, at the same time Tamara was travelling as your spouse.
In another statement you gave the NT News on 5 December 2014, you said you had formally separated from your wife, Tamara Giles. At that time, was Tamara Giles your spouse or was your pregnant girlfriend, Phoebe Stewart, your spouse? Therefore, who was entitled to your ministerial spousal travel benefit?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Namatjira, if your question is about the Remuneration Tribunal entitlements of members, that is what you should stick to, not anything personal about a member’s family. Please withdraw the last part of the question.
Ms ANDERSON: I withdraw the last part. Who was entitled to your ministerial spousal travel benefits, Tamara or Phoebe?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, you can answer the question if you so desire but only in regard to RTD and entitlements of a member.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is good to see nothing changes for the member for Namatjira. I will get to the question, but some other questions have been raised about how we will govern since we are now a minority government, and about whether we need an agreement.
I believe we do not need an agreement. There are 25 people in this Chamber who can work independently in the best interests of Territorians. I still stand by that. I am, however, happy to negotiate an agreement.
Over the last few days I was surprised to see the five Independents working together as a team, and I know others share that same position. I would be surprised if all five members supported the position the member for Namatjira is taking in this question.
In relation to your question, as much as it is within my rights to not answer, as politicians we nominate who our spouse or partner is as at any point of time, as part of the RTD regarding who may or may not travel.
Yes, it is a fact that my wife and I separated. It should not be discussed in this Chamber. And yes, I have a new partner who is having a baby in five weeks and five days, which I am looking forward to.
At that time, my former partner was still allowed to travel within the RTD – the entitled traveller or whatever the title is. She still travelled up until that point in time, nobody else did. My new partner was not down as the entitled traveller. My step-daughter may still travel from Alice Springs to Darwin on official business twice a year. I will consider doing that maybe this weekend or next for official purposes of travel. It is within the entitlements and it is conducted fairly.
The way you have sought to bring my personal life into this Chamber is reflective of your character. To see the five Independents working together with the level of propriety you have shown as people, not as politicians – I find it offensive to participate in this within this Chamber. I can handle the knives in the back and the personal slurs, but to bring partners into this is one of the most offensive things that can be done.
China-Australia Free Trade Agreement – Opportunities
Mr BARRETT to TREASURER
Does the minister agree with the Labor Party that the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement is a threat to Territorians?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank member for Blain for the question. The quick answer is no. I do not agree with the Labor Party and the position they have taken on the free trade agreement with China.
Foreign workers are the backbone of the Northern Territory in many ways. I visit the northern suburbs and I reckon half of the population there was born somewhere else in the world; there is a marvellous multicultural community in the Northern Territory. Free trade agreements have worked extraordinarily well for Australia in the past. This free trade agreement with China offers enormous opportunities to Territorians across the board.
Julia Gillard said the 21st century was the Asian century. China is the dominant economic power in our region and some suggest it will soon be the largest economy. Demand from China for our resources, food and services is enormous. Businesses across the Territory have benefited from this demand for decades. We are fantastically placed geographically to seize the opportunities this free trade agreement with China delivers for Australia in general.
I am somewhat offended by the Labor Party’s position on this free trade agreement. They will quite happily tell everyone who will listen that they believe in multiculturalism, but the minute there is a suggestion that Chinese people might come to Australia to work they suddenly have a desire to stop that. That is disgraceful. It is like their opposition to 457 visas. We all know Labor and the unions oppose 457 visas. These guys tend to walk very easily on both sides of the street.
I was in Canberra last week and heard a bit of the debate in parliament there. The highest intake ever of people on 457 visas was under the Gillard government. The current Coalition government has reduced the number of 457 visas by more than 9000 since coming to government. It is interesting that 41 of these 457 visas were for union jobs. Guess what the most common job was? Workplace relations adviser.
Whilst they say they do not like Asian people coming here and taking our jobs, when in government they are quite happy to back it to the hilt.
Pensioner and Carer Concession Scheme – Police Investigation
Ms FYLES to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES referred to TREASURER
Can you explain why the Attorney-General left a Cabinet meeting with a clear impression that serious allegations contained in an Ernst & Young report of the Pensioner and Carer Concession Scheme would be thoroughly investigated by police, yet this did not occur? Why did the Police minister not take this matter to police?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am trying to mind read to find out what was going through – what a silly question! Maybe you should ask the minister what was going through his mind at the time. This has been investigated. Police are investigating …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a direct question; why did you, as Police minister, not take this matter to police?
Mr CHANDLER: First of all, it is clear that this matter has been investigated by police. I do not know what more can be said in regard to this.
I did muck up, member for Port Darwin. It was not you I was trying to mind read; it should have been my good colleague, Dave Tollner. He was the minister at the time.
I do not know what was going through the Minister for Health’s mind when he left that Cabinet meeting. But at the end of the day ...
Ms Fyles: But as minister for Police, why did you not take it to them?
Mr CHANDLER: I do not think I was even the minister for Police at the time. You are talking about a different minister. Clearly I do not know what was going through the Minister for Health’s mind as he walked out of a Cabinet meeting.
However, this matter has been investigated by police. I do not know what more you want or need. If you would like I can get the member for Fong Lim to answer the question, if that is helpful.
Mr TOLLNER (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for Police for passing this on to me. I am quite happy to provide a bit of background to members opposite. I was the Health minister at the time. We had received this damning report that showed all sorts of irregularities had been occurring for a seriously long time under the former Labor government.
I was provided that report by the then CE of the Health department who came to me and said, ‘This is what we have uncovered. There are irregularities.’ We took it to a Cabinet meeting. Cabinet was quite shocked and it was immediately referred to the police. Once something is referred to the police, it is then a matter for police ...
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. Which minister referred it to police?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order.
Mr TOLLNER: I did, as the Health minister at the time. I took it to Cabinet, shared the views and, based on information I had from Cabinet, as well as my personal views, it was referred to police. Then guess what …
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The Police Commissioner said police did not launch a formal investigation into Flight Centre because it was never referred to them for formal investigation.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The minister is answering the question.
Mr TOLLNER: That is probably a question for Police ministers, but I do not know that Police ministers follow police step by step through every single investigation. As a government we hand something on to police to investigate and we trust it will be investigated. We are now seeing the results of that investigation.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Cost of Living
Mr CONLAN to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you outline what the Country Liberals government is doing to reduce cost of living pressures?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex for his question, which goes to the heart of cost of living and our interventions to support reducing those pressures. We hear a lot about the price of petrol in Darwin. Today it is 134.9c, which is, roughly speaking, about 17c per litre less than what it is in Brisbane. That is the lowest in the country. We do not hear people talking about the cost of fuel in other parts of the Northern Territory. I know in Alice Springs it is about $1.38 at the Shell service station on Larapinta Drive. Maybe the member for Katherine and others could tell us about other parts of the country.
In regard to cost of living we have taken an approach on five key areas – petrol or fuel, airfares, groceries, electricity and housing. What we are seeing in regard to fuel is obvious. We ran a fuel summit plus a range of other things, and we came up with a bill for fuel price disclosure. We are now in a position, after being heavily criticised for the things we have done, where we have the lowest fuel price in the nation.
Those critics follow the example that indicates success has many champions and everyone seems to own the success, but failure is an orphan. We have been successful to date.
In regard to housing, I think the proof is in the reduction in housing and unit prices across the Northern Territory, with the biggest land release strategy we have seen. There will be 6500 new dwellings over the next 10 years. Katherine East, Muirhead, Kilgariff, and Zuccoli stages three and four, with 1700 new homes, new schools and commercial centres, social housing and parks. All of this is driving down the cost of housing in the Northern Territory.
We have been particularly focused on airfares, which is not regularly spoken about, and our ability to bring new airlines to the Northern Territory, most notably Virgin between Darwin, Alice and Adelaide but also the complementary services. The competition from Qantas, Airnorth and others has seen a slight reduction in airfare prices and we believe that will continue to apply downward pressure.
We have done a high degree of analysis on the price of groceries in the Territory. Without pointing to specific reports in regard to groceries, we estimate about 80% of groceries are on par with unit prices across Australia, with the two major chains being Coles and Woolworths. There is around 5% less in grocery prices and about 15% where we are up to approximately a 2% margin. We are competing fairly well with grocery prices given the logistical challenges of the Territory.
With regard to electricity, our structural separation is continuing to provide massive downward pressure on commercial tariffs. By the end of the year you will see commercial competition in the retail sector which will continue to provide downward pressure.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Judicial Review Panel – Changes
Ms WALKER to ATTORNEY-GENERAL and JUSTICE
The Chief Minister commissioned a review of judicial appointments In August 2014. The judicial review panel was scathing in its report on your actions. It found that:
- The processes were subject to changes in 2012, in that the usual composition of the panels was changed and the Attorney-General assumed a direct role in the initial assessment process.
Can you please explain to the House why you made this change?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I find it astonishing that the members opposite are able to quote so selectively from the system. It was not scathing; it was not close to scathing. It did not attack or reach any conclusions other than to make the recommendations which have subsequently been followed. This is …
Ms Walker: The legal fraternity is highly critical of you, John, and you know it.
Mr ELFERINK: I understand people like Mr Wyvill may have been highly critical of me, but I do not put a great deal of weight behind those types of comments. Members of the legal fraternity are always arguing amongst themselves. In fact, if you put two lawyers into a room I guarantee you will get three opinions because that is the way these things work.
Ms Walker: They are scathing of you.
Mr ELFERINK: I understand Labor lawyers are scathing of me and I do not take that as a criticism; I take it as a compliment. They are critical of such things as paperless arrests, which we on this side of the House are rightly proud of, because it is helping to clean up the streets of the Northern Territory.
Paperless arrests, amongst other steps taken by this government, have made certain that places like Mitchell Street are safer for people who go there. When was the last time you heard of a serious assault in Mitchell Street? It is because we are using police powers to arrest people and take them out of commission before they move on to committing more serious crimes. Surely that is a good thing. Do I hear for one second that the members opposite will repeal paperless arrests? Is that what they are planning to do?
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing order 113: relevance. We did not ask a question about paperless arrests, although it is a very interesting question and we will wait to see the decision handed down by the High Court very soon.
Please explain to the House why you made the change and why you involved yourself directly in judicial appointments?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you get to the point please?
Mr ELFERINK: I was provoked by a highly provocative interjection in relation to how the Labor Party is more than happy to threaten the safety of Territorians by taking political pot shots at good powers that protect police.
Getting back to the question, despite the fact I refute completely that the report was highly scathing …
Ms Walker: And despite the fact you did not want to release the report. The Chief Minister released it.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, cease interjecting.
Ms Fyles: You did not answer the question.
Mr ELFERINK: I am trying to but you keep calling out over the top of me.
Economy of the NT – Performance
Mr KURRUPUWU to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you outline how the Northern Territory economy is performing and what the Country Liberal government is doing to ensure the economy stays on track?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, what we are doing to ensure the economy stays on track is continuing to govern. The member for Arafura would know what economic activity means for his people in Maningrida, Gunbalanya, Goulburn Island and the length and breadth of his electorate.
We were having a good chat this morning and the member for Arafura, just like everyone in this Chamber and everyone I was talking to at the Chamber of Commerce lunch yesterday, including the PRBA, is happy to hear the Northern Territory is leading the nation across all levels. The business confidence index is the highest in the country, and the labour force participation rate is 76.3%, the highest number in the country of people in a job, looking for a job or undertaking training. That is against 62% nationwide. We are at 76%, but not only are that many people participating in the economy, we have the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 4.2%.
Normally what happens when you have a low unemployment rate with a high participation rate is significant inflation. Do we have significant inflation? No. We had an inflation rate increase of 0.2% released a month ago; that is the lowest in the country. We have the highest growth, the highest confidence, the lowest unemployment and the lowest inflation. It explains why, when I sit around the COAG table, every jurisdiction wants to be like the Northern Territory.
I was not overly surprised when I saw an article in a South Australian newspaper last week, which was replicated in the NT News on Saturday, which says that South Australia wants to merge with the Northern Territory. Is there any wonder? I get along pretty well with Jay Weatherill, Premier of South Australia. He is doing quite a good job and we work closely, but I can understand why South Australia wants to merge with us. It is because of our low unemployment and our high growth rate. Things are happening; we are building things, such as the port and pipeline infrastructure. It is happening here; land is being developed, houses are being put forward and house and petrol prices are coming down.
What do they have in South Australia? Holden is closing, we do not know what is happening with ship building and the unemployment rate continues to rise to well over 8%. They are difficult times in South Australia and Jay, as good an operator as he is and as good a relationship I have with him, is from the Labor mould.
It is interesting to look at Labor governments; their jurisdictions are all going backwards. To those people living in Queensland, I feel for you. We will not merge with Queensland, I say to Anna Palaszczuk, but I can see that Queensland will go backwards like South Australia. Member for Arafura, this is the best place to be economically, socially and culturally.
Z Special Unit – Heritage
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for LANDS, PLANNING and the ENVIRONMENT
Z Special Unit established a secret base at East Arm near Darwin in the Northern Territory in 1942. In 1943, in what was regarded by many as the most successful clandestine military operation, a team of 14 special unit commandos paddled into Singapore’s harbour in kayaks and attached mines to Japanese enemy shipping.
The stealthy raiders sank seven ships, or 39 000 tonnes, before escaping home. In a subsequent mission the raiding party was detected, hunted down and executed, and 17 of those people are buried in graves in Singapore.
World War II heritage is a reason why many people visit the Top End. Why have you decided not to give protection to at least some of the remaining Z Special Unit sites at East Arm by declaring them heritage sites? Have you spoken to the Navy about your decision, and what is its response if so? Is it not important we remember those who gave their lives by preserving the very sites in which these brave soldiers lived and, in many cases, never returned to?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for the question; I appreciate it. I think everybody in this Chamber shares your support for the Z Special Unit. It makes us very proud as Territorians and as Australians, and we should do everything we can to preserve its memory and legacy, and acknowledge the great role it played in the history of this wonderful nation. I cannot say enough about the Z Special Unit.
The question is in relation to the sliprails at the port. That site is extraordinarily sea damaged; the railway skids are very damaged by salt and the like. Irrespective of that, I have said to people interested in preserving it that we as government would be very keen to assist in uplifting that, moving it to a location where it can be shared amongst all Territorians. I suggested possibly on the waterfront pointing toward the old Catalina site.
Similar things have occurred all over Australia. Most notably is at Garden Island in New South Wales, a very historic site where many things have happened. In that location governments have preserved what they have been able to, moved what they can to museums and other places where the public can see it, as well as placing interpretive plaques at the locations. I am very keen to see how that port develops. It is not only past Defence people we must think about, it is those in future as well.
Darwin is set to become a major maintenance facility for Defence ships to assist the Army and all our Defence forces, and that piece of land will be critical to that. It is important to recognise the memory of those who were there, but at the same time do what we can for those who will defend Australia in the future. This government is committed to seeing our port develop further. Like I said, we will honour the memory of those who were there, but the concerns of people in the future, using Darwin as a base, are in the front of our minds.
Indigenous Employment Opportunities
Mr KURRUPUWU to MINISTER for EMPLOYMENT and TRAINING
Can you tell Territorians and members of this House what the Country Liberal Party is doing to increase employment opportunities for Indigenous Australians?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. Good news comes from this side of the House. It is with great pleasure that I talk about some of the initiatives that have come from this government in relation to employing Aboriginal Australians.
This Country Liberal government is working hard to create these programs and opportunities for Aboriginal Territorians by investing in a large range of programs to deliver economic employment and development opportunities. These are not false programs; they have jobs attached to them.
We are focused on creating specific, sustainable job outcomes for Indigenous Territorians and have awarded more than $600 000 in grants to support initiatives that increase employment opportunities, retention and career progression for Aboriginal Territorians.
A prime example of this is the initiative driven by this government on the Indigenous Workforce Participation Initiatives Program. This is a $1.1m annual program providing funding initiatives that result in more Aboriginal Territorians entering and, more importantly, remaining in the workforce, as well as developing careers within the workforce.
One of the fantastic initiatives in the Indigenous workforce program is the partnership between local Indigenous employment company ie.project and construction company Probuild NT.
The Chief Minister and I went to a site at lunchtime today at the new Darwin High School, visiting 12 Aboriginal trainees who are undertaking a 10-week Probuild NT program which provides training and paid work in the construction of the new NT Open Education Centre, a fantastic new state-of-the-art training facility that will deliver across the Territory.
The program directly employs 14 Aboriginal people, which includes two Aboriginal tradesmen who provide training and mentoring to the 12 trainees. At the end of the course the trainees will receive a Certificate II in Construction from Batchelor Institute. Many of them already have jobs. Probuild NT provided a classroom to ensure these people can remain on-site whilst not only getting the practical aspects of their training, but also the theoretical side.
This fantastic program is now in its third week and it is already demonstrating successful outcomes with one of the trainees moving into a potential apprenticeship of one of the subcontractors on the project. The subcontractors there are starting to poach these people already. That is not a good situation for Probuild NT, but it is great for these people because other people value what their training has resulted in.
Our young Territorians are our future, and these career development pathways will help build a future for all Territorians. The government is proud of its record of creating opportunities for Aboriginal Territorians and we will continue to do so with these great initiatives.
Flight Centre – Police Investigation
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER
In this House today your Attorney-General, Police minister and Treasurer claimed that on receiving a report from Ernst & Young which informed them of alleged travel rorts by Flight Centre travel agents it was referred to police. However, in the NT News on 14 August this year, the Police Commissioner said police did not launch an investigation into Flight Centre because the matter was never referred to them for formal investigation. Who is telling the truth, your ministers or the Police Commissioner?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, all ministers in this Chamber have made it quite clear today that there was a report. I will go back a step to what the Treasurer was saying earlier in his answer. We came to government and the Health minister identified there was an issue with the PenCon scheme, then a report was done. I recollect Jeff Moffet was the CE at the time. It came to the minister who referred it straight to the police. Within that report there are a number of travel agents. I do not have it in front of me so I will use data off the top of my head. Excuse me if I get one or two wrong.
There were about 29 travel agents in the Northern Territory. Of the 29 travel agents, roughly speaking, 26 are identified as having some irregularity. About 650 pensioners were identified with irregularities in their travel. We have referred the whole report to police. A couple of the arrests that occurred and the procedures to date have been displayed in the public sphere. Police investigations and court proceedings are continuing on foot and it would be wrong to talk about the intricate details of those things. Was there a referral about Flight Centre? No, there was not. Was there a referral about a report which contained Flight Centre? Yes, there was.
I think there is probably three or four, maybe five Flight Centres in the Territory and they form part of the 29. The report was about the whole PenCon scheme with all 29 travel agents. About 26 were identified with irregularities – however, that is not to say that all 26 have done the wrong thing – and 650 pensioners. I remember holding many briefings where we talked about how we will deal with some of these issues. How do we carefully talk about the 650 pensioners because we did not want to scare all the other pensioners who may not have shown irregularities? The irregularities may not be seriously wrong, but the police are investigating them. As politicians, we must provide confidence in the police to undertake those investigations.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! As of 14 August, which was not that long ago, it had not been referred and $600 000 is not a small amount. Who is telling the truth, your ministers or the Police Commissioner?
Mr GILES: I have just laid out exactly what occurred. Whether or not the report in the paper is accurate, I have not read it, what I know is that is the process. We have changed the process to date for a range of reasons. Now we use 100% a corporate travel system for government travel. We have changed the process as a result of the findings of a report into travel which was undertaken under the Labor government. This is not the travel that was part of the PenCon scheme under our government; it is what we identified as a problem. We have not politicised it; we have been trying to fix it. There are court processes and procedures on foot. Let us wait and see what happens with that.
I have no idea what rabbit you are trying to chase down a hole, but this was all conducted under your former government.
Speaker Appointed as Statutory Officer
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to ATTORNEY-GENERAL and JUSTICE
Can you please inform the House whether the government might consider supporting the Labor opposition in its recent proposal that consideration should be given that the Speaker of the House might be appointed as a statutory officer of the parliament?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I stand dismayed that this is the alternative government after this Question Time today. I do not know how you can possibly get to a point where police officers are arresting people, placing them into vans and pursuing these matters in courtrooms and say the matter was not referred to police. It strikes me as bizarre. Part of the problem is that clearly the people opposite, the alternative government in the Northern Territory, are quite beyond understanding even the basic and fundamental principles of the system of government under which we operate, namely the Westminster system.
I draw honourable members’ attention to the parliamentary reform paper. In the section titled Opening up Parliament to the People, the following option is suggested by the shadow Attorney-General:
The position of Speaker could be made that of a Statutory Officer and independent of all Members of the Legislative Assembly. The position could be appointed by the Administrator on the recommendation of a Committee made up of the Chief Minister, the Opposition Leader, a representative of each Party represented in the Parliament, a representative of independent MLAs and the Clerk.
Let us start with the first thing: that is against the law. The constitutional instrument that constitutes the Northern Territory, believe it or not, is the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act. I draw honourable members’ attention to section 24 of the act which says the Speaker should be drawn from the parliament. The self-government act is of the Commonwealth parliament – if I need to get some butcher’s paper and some crayons I will for the members opposite. The Commonwealth parliament passed the act which created the body politic of the Northern Territory.
In spite of that, this paper suggests the Chief Minister, the Opposition Leader, a representative of each party representing parliament and a representative of the Independent MLAs and the Clerk should form that committee. The Clerk should never be placed in such an invidious situation as to even contemplate adding them. The way we select a Speaker at the moment is at the first order of business after an election, when we all get together and ask who wants the job? We then elect somebody and make that person the first amongst equals. Madam Speaker, the reason we defer to your wisdom is because you are a popularly elected member of this House.
Appointing people off the street to pick up the role of oversighting the parliamentary Westminster system shows a fundamental, critical and complete misunderstanding of how the Westminster system works. Frankly, those people opposite are not fit to govern on the basis of their crass lack of education about our system of government.
Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Given we had three notices for introduction, two of which were very lengthy, we have definitely not had an hour for Question Time.
Madam SPEAKER: The call is with the government.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016