2012-03-27
QUESTIONS – Tuesday 27 March 2012
Cash for Containers – Advertising Costs
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Your government’s Cash for Containers scheme is clearly in great trouble, with two collection sites closed and legal actions pending over the whole sorry affair. I would like you to inform the House how much you have spent on advertisements like these that tell Territorians that your scheme is a success when it clearly is not. How much are you spending on advertising?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition. The biggest risk to the collection depots and Cash for Containers in the Northern Territory is the CLP ...
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: They are the biggest risk to the scheme because, in August ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Digression from the subject. The question is quite straightforward: how much are the ads costing?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, digression is in debates.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The hypocrisy of those members opposite knows no bounds. They want to scrap the scheme ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: the answer needs to be succinct and directly relevant to the question. How much is it costing?
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, indeed. The member for Port Darwin will resume his seat.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, I am happy to get the numbers in terms of the cost of the advertising for the Leader of the Opposition, because we have a responsibility as a government to inform Territorians as to where they can redeem their cans, and across most parts of the Northern Territory you can.
Today, if you have cans collected in Darwin and Palmerston, you can go to any one of four places, Veolia Environmental Services at Beaton Road, Berrimah; Envirobank Recycling at McKinnon Road, Pinelands; and Envirobank recycling reverse vending machines at Charles Darwin University. There is another recycling machine opening in Parap on 3 April. Collection depots are established in Katherine, Elliott, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Finke, and there is a mobile depot coming soon to the Darwin region. So, as some depots have closed, others are starting to open. These are commercial issues being played out in the commercial marketplace. The advertising is totally legitimate ...
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It is to do with relevance. The Chief Minister has acknowledged that he is going to provide some information. I only hope that in this digression we still have full disclosure of all the costs related to advertising.
Mr HENDERSON: I am advised a full page ad on Saturday is worth $5600, to inform Territorians where you can redeem your cans, and you can in Darwin, in Palmerston, Madam Speaker ...
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question is: how much is spent - total?
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Minister is responding to the question.
Mr HENDERSON: I have only had one ad and I have answered the question, it was $5600.
Mr Mills: I actually held up four ads.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, I have answered the question. Do the sums: if the ad is run four times do the sums, Leader of the Opposition, it should not be beyond you.
Madam Speaker, the scheme is obviously ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: ... undergoing some commercial testing ...
Mr Tollner: You do the sums. What sort of a dropkick are you?
Mr HENDERSON: ... in the commercial marketplace. That is what is happening.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Fong Lim, you will withdraw that comment. Member for Fong Lim, I ask you to withdraw, please.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr HENDERSON: The only threat to Cash for Containers is the CLP, because they would roll over to the beverage companies and scrap the scheme ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you please advise this House on the government’s plan to grow our economy, how we are gearing up for that growth, and are you aware of any alternative plans?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. North Australia is on the wave of an economic boom. The capital of north Australia is Darwin and that economic boom will benefit all Territorians.
We are preparing for growth across government with plans under the banner of Territory 2030, the most comprehensive economic, environment and social plan the Territory has ever seen. We have strategies right across government.
Our economic strategies include the Northern Territory and Darwin being the nation’s oil and gas hub, we have plans with INPEX and the Marine Supply Base locked in, and we are now talking to Woodside.
Our mining strategies, including Bringing Forward Discovery and the China Minerals Investment Attraction Strategy, and Japan as well, have seen record investment in exploration. Independent commentators say the Northern Territory is the best place in Australia to explore.
Our tourism plans include an aviation strategy. Yesterday, we saw SilkAir arrive in the Northern Territory. We have a cruise ship strategy which has delivered 61 cruise ships this year, including the Queen Mary. We have comprehensive 10-year infrastructure, roads and transport plans; a Greater Darwin Region Land Use Plan; and plans to train 10 000 apprentices and trainees across the Northern Territory.
We have not only gone out and succeeded in getting the investment for the Northern Territory, we have very specific plans in place to accommodate and manage that growth to ensure all Territorians benefit and are provided opportunities. We can point to a whole raft of plans about creating jobs in the Northern Territory, seeking investment in the Northern Territory, and training and jobs for Territorians.
At the last sittings of parliament, I challenged the Leader of the Opposition to come up with any policy at all in relation to economic policy, and I congratulate him because he has. Buried away on the Country Liberal Party’s new website is an economy policy - an economy policy, Territorians, of one page. A one-page policy. To be taken seriously, Leader of the Opposition, you have to do better than this. This policy does not create one job. The only initiative in this policy is to bring the budget back to surplus by the end of the first term. That will slash jobs and services across the Northern Territory. It is a job cutting policy, not a jobs growth policy.
They have had three-and-a-half years to put together a vision for the Northern Territory, and it is a very sad vision. It is on one page. It does not create one job and it will see thousands of jobs slashed across the Northern Territory.
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
Can you explain to Territory families in very simple terms how your Cash for Containers legislation works, particularly when it comes to how collectors are paid for their efforts, and how Territorians are paid for theirs? Can you explain how legislation will fix the problems currently plaguing the scheme?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to take the question from the member for Brennan on Cash for Containers. As I have travelled around the Territory one thing is very clear: Territorians want cash for their containers. We know that if we were unfortunate enough to have a CLP government come August they would scrap Cash for Containers and put a few bins around the streets. That is their preferred model for Cash for Containers ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister was simply asked how this scheme works. We would like him to start answering the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the point, please.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, it is quite a simple scheme based on the South Australian model. We know it works in South Australia.
When we passed the Environment Protection bill in the House over 12 months ago, the empty vessels on that side of the House supported it. They said: ‘Cash for Containers, we want it. We agree with you, minister, and the Labor government. We support a Cash for Containers scheme ...’.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113. The minister was asked how does his system work. Can he please explain it?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Minister, can you please come to the point, or I will ask you to resume your seat.
Mr HAMPTON: I will, Madam Speaker; however, there are many interjections from that side of the House.
It is a very simple model. You collect your containers, take them to the depot, and you get 10
back - very simple. I do not know what the member for Port Darwin does not understand about it. The point is, he does not support it. He does not support Cash for Containers. We know Territorians support it. Ten cents for every container you take back. If it was under the CLP they would scrap it. Their option is to put bins around the streets. We have had six million containers collected to date …
Mr CHANDLER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The second part of the question was: can you please explain how legislation will fix the problems currently plaguing your scheme?
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, it is quite clear what government has been doing. We have been getting people around the table to talk. We put in the right legislation and the framework to get Cash for Containers happening. There are many commercial issues between depots and coordinators. Government does not get involved in pricing and the marketplace. It is a commercial operation. They are the conservative party. They talk about business - I do not think they quite get it. It is up to the marketplace to dictate pricing on containers, handling fees and these sorts of things. Government is not going to get involved. What we are going to do is get people to talk, and that is what government has been doing to date.
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
Why will you not back your own regulations? Why will you not take on whoever is in breach of these regulations? Why do you not back your regulations?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I would like to throw it back at you, member for Brennan. Why do you not get out of your air-conditioned office and out of your suit and talk to some of the depots around the Territory as I have and find out what the real issues are?
I have been out and about. I have talked to people at many of the depots and I have heard some of the great stories about the Cash for Containers scheme that you want to scrap, member for Brennan. You want to scrap it. You want to take that opportunity away from families in your electorate who are getting 10 for every container, member for Brennan. You should be ashamed of yourself and ashamed of your party’s policy.
Madam Speaker, we have the right legislation in place. It is about getting depots and coordinators to speak to each other to sort out their commercial arrangements, and that is what we have been doing. We support Cash for Containers; it is quite clear the opposition does not support it.
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for ALCOHOL POLICY
The Enough is Enough alcohol reforms are the most comprehensive alcohol reforms in the nation. Can you please inform the House how you propose to expand these reforms by further targeting antisocial behaviour and strengthening the powers of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Tribunal?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy. She has been an ardent supporter and understands what these reforms are about, going to the heart of tackling the problem drinker. We have seen the reforms progressing well in the first six months. We have more than 2100 people on the Banned Drinker Register. That is 2100 people who committed alcohol-related crimes, or continuously wound up in police protective custody. They have been turned off tap at our bottle shops.
Police believe the BDR is the best tool they have to fight antisocial behaviour and crime and it is showing in the data coming through. In this first six months, we saw a 12% reduction in alcohol-related assaults in Darwin; a 13% reduction ...
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Maybe the member for Karama might want to walk outside this place and check out some of the parks around and see how many drunks are still there …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim!
Mr TOLLNER: … and tell us how well it is going.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, I would like you to leave the Chamber, thank you. It is a frivolous point of order. Leave the Chamber for one hour pursuant to Standing Order 240A.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Unlike the waffle of the member for Fong Lim who does not understand the reforms and does not read legislation - he has form - the data is clear. In the first six months alone there has been a 12% reduction in alcohol-related assaults in Darwin. There has been a 13% reduction in alcohol-related assaults in Palmerston, an 11% reduction in Katherine, and an 8% reduction in Alice Springs. Rehabilitation is being boosted with extra beds and treatment across the Territory. Treatment times for withdrawal have dropped from eight days to less than three hours.
We will build on this success by introducing the Liquor and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2012. It will give police and the tribunal additional tools to get problem drinkers into rehab. Police will have the power to issue an on-the-spot infringement fine of $70 to people drinking in a public place within 2 km of licensed premises and causing a nuisance to other people. Three infringement notices in 12 months and the problem drinker goes on the Banned Drinker Register. As well as tipping out grog, police will have this infringement notice linked to the BDR, increasing their ability to break the drinking cycle, target repeat offenders and direct them into treatment.
The legislation also increases the power of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Tribunal, forcing problem drinkers into rehab. The tribunal can make orders so that a problem drinker is subjected to income management, including making ex parte orders in the absence of the problem drinker before the tribunal. This means welfare recipients on the Banned Drinker Register can have up to 70% of their income managed until they complete treatment orders by the tribunal. By targeting drinking in public places, and giving the tribunal more powers to force problem drinkers into rehab, we will reduce antisocial behaviour.
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
In dollar terms, can you quantify how much extra Territorians have paid for containers they have purchased since the beginning of the CDL scheme, and compare that with the amount in dollar terms returned to Territorians in redeemed deposits?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question from the member for Brennan on Cash for Containers. We know how popular it is in the Northern Territory, and we know that Territorians want cash for their containers, unlike the opposition’s scheme of more empty bins ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: I believe he is coming to the point here, member for Port Darwin. Minister, keep going.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, with the scheme we have put in the right framework through the legislation which was unanimously supported in this House over 12 months ago. That scheme clearly puts a price on containers - 10 for every container and that goes into the pockets of Territory families. That is the simple model we have come up with based on the South Australian model.
In terms of those other issues …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question is succinct: how much has been collected? How much has been paid out? Can he provide those figures in dollar terms?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the specific point, please.
Mr HAMPTON: In terms of how many containers have been collected, there have been around six million, which equates to about $600 000 in the pockets of Territory families ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! In dollar terms, how much has been collected in deposits and how much has been paid out? I mean, can you answer the question?
Madam SPEAKER: Have you finished your answer, minister?
Mr HAMPTON: No, I have not, but what i will do, Madam Speaker ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you please come to the point, specifically.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, I am quite happy to take that question on notice. This scheme is only around two months old. There is a lot of data being collected through various depots and coordinators. I am quite happy to take that question on notice. Six million containers have been collected, which equates to $600 000 that will go into the pockets of Territory families. Under the opposition, that money would not go back to Territory families.
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Recently, I produced figures which show beer drinkers are being ripped off by $5 to $11 for a carton of 30 VB cans above the maximum increase caused by the Cash for Containers deposit and a handling fee. Has the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs looked into the blatant price gouging to see who is ripping off the consumer - the retailer or the manufacturer? If the commissioner has not done this, can you please explain why?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. The important thing here is the claims by retailers that these increases are attributed to the Cash for Containers scheme. If they do that, they are guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law. That is the important ...
Mr Elferink interjecting.
Mr KNIGHT: Well, you are not a lawyer, member for Port Darwin, so you would not know.
That is the important point here: it is about the retailer making that claim. Consumer Affairs has a hotline, and consumers who have concerns about deceptive claims should call the hotline.
To date, Consumer Affairs has received fewer than 20 inquiries about this behaviour and only one of these was actually a formal complaint. There has been an investigation of one retailer, but there was insufficient evidence to attribute the claims to deceptive behaviour. Consumer Affairs has ongoing random audits, so they are keeping an eye on it.
I have collected some newspaper articles over the last few years and the prices are volatile. You might get a big purchase. One particular retail outlet may want to run a special on their particular product. Generally, prices for alcohol have been going up over many years. When we think back to when we first started our early drinking careers they were very cheap. Prices generally go up, but there are specials and prices fluctuate considerably.
Where consumers have a legitimate complaint they should call the hotline and Consumer Affairs will investigate that claim. Also, if people feel that prices are high at one outlet, shop around, don’t shop there. The message goes out to all our liquor outlets that it is a competitive market and people should shop around for the best possible deal.
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for HEALTH
It is important that our health facilities keep pace with the growth of the Northern Territory. Can you please update the House on the delivery of expanded health facilities for quality care and treatment for Territory families?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. In the past few months, I have heard CLP members often accusing our government of wasting money received from the Commonwealth. The truth is, what the CLP call waste we call an investment. The way we invested this money has given us the best health facilities we have ever had in the Territory. We have a new emergency department, new triage and fast-track unit, which opened last month; a short-stay unit that we will double the size of over the coming year; the critical care wing will expand with two new operating theatres providing more capacity for elective and emergency surgery; a 12-unit Indigenous mother’s unit; a 50-unit medi-hotel that will open this year; and, of course, the new medical school building and a new Menzies building; not to mention the 60-bed Palmerston hospital that is currently under design with the functional plans to be finalised soon. The 60-bed hospital will have an emergency department and wards to provide facilities for Palmerston and the rural area.
We not only spend money in the urban areas, in Darwin and the northern suburbs. We spend money in other areas. The $24m emergency department in Alice Springs is currently under construction; 44 people will be treated at anytime in 31 treatment spaces. There will be a paediatric room, two secure assessment rooms and three resuscitation areas; and a new 10-bed short-stay unit will be incorporated in the design. A $13m emergency department in Gove; a $3.7m upgrade for the emergency department in Tennant Creek; and there is patient accommodation under way in Gove, Katherine and Darwin.
Madam Speaker, this is expenditure; it is not a waste of money. We do not think it is a waste of money when we spend money on rural dialysis machines in rural and remote areas so that the life expectancy of people with renal problems will be the same as in the rest of Australia. We do not see it as a waste of money when there is a dramatic decline in mortality from cervical cancer, falling by 92% for Aboriginal women. We do not see it as a waste of money spending money providing clinics in remote communities. We see it as an investment in the future of all Territorians and the health of Territorians. We do not see it as a waste of money. The CLP does and that is probably why there is nothing in their manifesto about remote communities and about health or education.
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Deny it if you will, but your Cash for Containers scheme is in disarray. It is not the opposition that says that; it is the Territory community, and the Territory community is laughing at you. Your minister was paraded as a joke in last Friday’s paper for his ludicrous comments on the scheme, saying the Cash for Containers in the Northern Territory has been a huge success – bit like the Iraqi information minister saying the war is going very well. Do you have confidence in your minister, or will you remove him from his post and save you all from this embarrassment?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the only embarrassment that I have seen over this last term of parliament was when the Leader of the Opposition hid in a restaurant for seven hours from the media. That is the only embarrassment I have seen over the last four years in this House ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! You have made it abundantly clear that you are going to preside over this parliament with a rod of iron in terms of the rules. The rules surrounding Standing Order 113 are quite clear. The answers need to be ...
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Port Darwin.
Mr ELFERINK: ... succinct, concise and directly relevant to the question ...
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you. I do not think I need your advice.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I think we should look at the preceding point of order and consider whether that particular question was even in order, because it contained ironical expressions, epithets, and a whole range of things. I believe the Chief Minister is answering the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, if you can come to the point, please.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The question was about embarrassment, and I was just reminding the Leader of the Opposition’s colleagues what an embarrassment he is as a Leader of the Opposition in hiding in a restaurant from the media for seven hours because he could not answer difficult questions.
Yes, this scheme is going through a difficult patch at the moment. I do not resile from that whatsoever. But it is a good scheme and Territorians do want it. Ian Kiernan, who is probably the most well-known Australian in regard to cleaning up litter, came out the other day in total support of the minister and said what a great minister and what great courage the government had in taking on the beverage industry which has said it is hell-bent on bringing down this scheme. With some depots we are seeing very difficult negotiations with coordinators in getting to a commercial arrangement for a reasonable handling cost.
I say to Territorians that, today, here in Darwin, if you want to redeem your containers you can. This afternoon you can go to Berrimah, to Pinelands, to CDU, to Parap very soon, a mobile depot, and we have had mediation to try to get those other places open: Katherine, Elliott, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Finke.
This scheme will take time to mature. The commercial marketplace will eventually sort this out. We are seeing commercial issues at play at the moment. We know that the opposition is hell-bent on scrapping the scheme. The only thing people have to fear from this scheme is the opposition saying it will scrap it. The opposition will roll over to the beverage industry, which does not want to see this scheme expand anywhere else in Australia. We will not let them get away with it. Those depots that are operating are operating well. This afternoon, if people in Darwin and Palmerston want to get their 10 back, they can.
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
Can you please inform the House of the Henderson government’s investment in schools to cater for future economic growth?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. This year, there is record expenditure in education of over $900m. If I recall, when we came into government in 2001 - I might stand corrected on this – the education budget was around $350m. That represents somewhere around a 250% to 300% increase on the budget for education that we inherited. I believe we have invested well. We have invested in 400 new teachers. There is a range of specialities: counsellors, behaviour management specialists, English as a Second Language specialists, PE and health specialists, and ICT support. We are investing in recurrent programs for literacy and numeracy and we are seeing results there. They are moderate successes and we will build on that.
We are also spending money on attendance and truancy officers and we are seeing some successes there which we will build on.
We are also creating Centres for Excellence within our high schools. Darwin High School: maths, science and engineering; Casuarina Senior College: health sciences; Centralian Senior College: sustainable futures; Palmerston Senior College: Centre for Excellence for The Arts; and, in the future, Taminmin College to be a Centre for Excellence for business.
Our record is very good in gearing up for growth, with 2000 students in 191 VET courses in 60 schools across the Territory. We are looking to build our trades with apprentices and trainees. We have also invested very heavily in infrastructure. In schools, I have talked about our teacher training and excellence.
Over four years, we have invested $246m in infrastructure within Northern Territory schools and through the Building the Education Revolution which, of course, was a Commonwealth initiative - $270m is $270m the Coalition in Canberra and the CLP locally did not want.
We have built new schools: Darwin Middle School and Rosebery - $57m at Rosebery. There has been a suite of upgrades: Palmerston Senior College, Taminmin College, and $300 000 in upgrades to all primary schools. That was an election commitment we have come through on and it has made those schools very happy.
Special needs schools: the new Nemarluk School will be opening soon. I could go on. There is much to say about the achievements of this government, gearing up for growth, serving the Territory, investing in the Territory and investing in Territorians.
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
My question relates to the Cash for Containers handling fee. Yesterday, talking to one of the Darwin collectors who is not a coordinator, he said he has to do 24 separations, supply his own bins, and transport his materials to the local coordinator representative. He says in South Australia they have seven separations, the coordinators supply the bins, and they pick up the materials. He asked why this handling fee is, on average, the same as in South Australia - which is the reason he has pulled out of the scheme - and why does the government not legislate a minimum handling fee so this dispute over the handling fee can be sorted - to use a recycling term? If that cannot happen, what is the government doing to force companies to pay a reasonable handling fee, such as withdrawing their right to sell their product in the Northern Territory instead of just threatening to do it?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his important question. As the Chief Minister has already said, government has taken a bold reform; we have taken it on head on. We have made no illusions that it is going to be a very tough reform to bring in. As the Henderson Labor government, we are taking on the beverage industry because they are the ones who are going to be running the scheme. We are about vision. We are about making some of the tough reforms happen …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The point of order relates to Standing Order 113. The question was very specific: will you impose an amount?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the point of the question, please.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Port Darwin for the frivolous interjections and trying to gag me.
Regarding the issue of fixing a handling fee, that power does not exist in the current legislation as we have a market-based model. Member for Nelson, you were part of the working group that came up with the model we now have. I sought legal advice on whether it is possible, and the advice I have received is it would not necessarily assist in resolving the dispute some depots have with scheme coordinators.
As I said, it is a market-based …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Will the minister table the advice he has received?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, do you have the advice and are you willing to table it?
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, I do not have that advice in front of me. What I am saying is, if the member for Port Darwin wants to hear that advice he can always ask for a briefing.
Mr Chandler: I have asked for one. I am still waiting!
Mr HAMPTON: Member for Brennan, I will ensure you get that briefing, as long as you bring a pen and paper along to the next briefing because, at the first briefing you had, you did not bring a pen and paper, so ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Mr HAMPTON: ... I am quite happy to organise another one, member for Brennan.
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause. Order! Minister, resume your seat.
Mr WOOD: Madam Speaker, digression. I also asked whether the government was intending to withdraw the right of companies to sell their product in the Northern Territory to force a reasonable handling fee to be negotiated.
Madam SPEAKER: I remind honourable members that digression relates to debates. I think you are talking about relevance. Minister, can you please come to the point or I will ask you to resume your seat.
Mr HAMPTON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The other question asked was regarding the sorts and splits. That has been an issue I picked up around the place as I have toured the Territory. I am continuing to work with my department to work with depots and coordinators to try to reduce those splits.
You are right, South Australia has had a long time to do this. It is based around volumes. We have had two-and-a-half months to get this scheme up and running; South Australia has had 30 years. Over those 30 years, the splits and sorts have reduced. We have had two-and-a-half months and I am confident that that will reduce in time ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
According to the recent Property Council survey, Darwin’s liveability rating has hit rock bottom. Can you tell the House why violent assaults in the Territory are at record highs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I love Darwin. I think this is the greatest place to live in the world, and there are over 100 000 other people who live here who believe that as well. I will defend Darwin and the Northern Territory and its liveability with everything I have. As a citizen of this great place, and as a resident, as someone who has chosen to live here, had three children born here, I love this place.
Leader of the Opposition, all you want to do is talk the Territory down. At all times, at all stages, it is about talking the Territory down. You have no vision for the Northern Territory. You have no plans for the Northern Territory. Your economic policy has a one-page document …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113. Chief Minister, can you tell the House why violent assaults in the Territory are at record highs? That is the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, there was also a preamble to which the Chief Minister is responding.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Darwin is a great place to live, it is a safe place to live, and the Territory is a great place to live.
My colleague, the Health Minister - and I will not use the language he used in the media conference the other day. The NT News had it today: ‘Darwin fights back’. The survey really was a crock of proverbial when you base a sample size on 100 people. I point out that the Lonely Planet guide said Darwin was one of the top 10 must see cities of the world in 2012. That reputable organisation, the backpacker’s bible, is saying that Darwin is one of the top 10 cities of the world to visit and is out there promoting it.
In regard to the comments about assaults, since the Banned Drinker Register was put in place, assaults in Darwin and Palmerston are down by around 20%. Scrapping this scheme, as you want to, would drive the number of assaults back up across Darwin and Palmerston. This is a Leader of the Opposition who has no vision and no plans for the Northern Territory. All he wants to do is talk the Territory down at every single opportunity he gets. Every single opportunity he has, he wants to talk the Territory down and drive fear into the minds of Territorians. He has no vision and no plans. His economic policy is a one-page policy. Shame on the Leader of the Opposition.
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for LOCAL GOVERNMENT
This government has committed to building a strong system of local government across the Territory. Can you please update the House on what is being done to support strong local government in the Northern Territory and some of the key challenges for our municipal and shire councils over the next four years?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. I congratulate those people who nominated and were successful in the municipal and shire council elections. The Electoral Commission is still counting the votes, so there is a bit of waiting still. However, we look forward to the official declaration on Monday next week.
There are more than 100 000 Territorians who are eligible to vote, and we need to look at what the effect of this voting has been once all that information comes in. It is very pleasing to note, and from reports from Bill Shepheard in his radio interviews in the lead-up to this, regarding mobile polling, we know we will examine all these things once the information comes through.
There were 156 positions up for grabs, so to speak, in this very important third tier of government in the Australian system of democracy. To all those people, and those who were unsuccessful in standing, I thank you for being out there, lobbying to improve the lives of your area, your wards and your regions.
I make special mention of the former Lord Mayor of Darwin, Graeme Sawyer, and thank him for his efforts and his work over the past four years, and also to Anne Shepherd in Katherine. It is a new era for both Darwin and Katherine, but that is what democracy is all about: the people have spoken. I also mention Mary Walshe, President of the Litchfield Council, who represented the people of that region for a considerable amount of time. Again, democracy is wonderful and the people have spoken. I thank all those members for the work they have done in their capacity as mayors and as the Lord Mayor, and the work I have been able to do with them over the last couple of years in my role as Minister for Local Government.
To the new councillors who will be coming in, we are excited about the next four years, and the growth and maturity in particular of the shires. There are a number of things we want to achieve across our regions and we need our councillors on board in these places. The local boards are already up and running. As soon as these councillors are set in place, the boards will continue the work that has been going on. I look forward to catching up with all of them when they come to Darwin in May.
Ms PURICK to MINISTER for LANDS and PLANNING referred to MINISTER for PUBLIC and AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Can you inform the House of the average rent in Darwin for a three-bedroom house? How does that compare with the average rent for a three-bedroom house in the other capital cities?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I find that a very interesting question in relation to Lands. I would like to explain about our rapid land release programs and what we are doing ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113. We are not interested in that. We are asking a very specific question. How are our rents going?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, it is not about land release. It is about rental.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! That question probably should have been directed to me rather than the minister for Lands. I am more than happy to take that question.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister for Housing, I think ...
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, I was going to get to that ...
Madam SPEAKER: I do not think it is in your portfolio area, minister, so resume your seat. I call the Minister for Public and Affordable Housing.
Dr BURNS (Public and Affordable Housing): Madam Speaker, I do not have that data with me in the House today. That data is readily accessible and available. Of course, rents vary across every capital city within Australia. There is no doubt there are rental pressures within Darwin and that is why we have formed the affordable rental housing company. I sat in on the board meeting the other day. The Parap Wirrina development is coming online ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order Madam Speaker!
Dr BURNS: I am coming to it. ... and they will be offering rental at 20% below market rates, With the land release the Minister for Lands and Planning alluded to before, there is a lot of stock coming onto the market ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order Madam Speaker! We could not have made the question more specific and more succinct. We ask that you instruct the minister to answer the question asked.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the specifics, please.
Dr BURNS: I have answered the question as best I can. I have said I do not have the data with me in this House. I have said that the data is readily available. As the member for Goyder is always on her computer, she could have dragged it out and asked some specific questions ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, if you do not have the information, can you please resume your seat.
Dr BURNS: That is right, Madam Speaker, I have answered the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, resume your seat.
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for BUSINESS and EMPLOYMENT
Across the Territory, industry and government are gearing up for major projects. Can you please explain to the House how we are gearing up to take advantage of INPEX and other major projects?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his question. Delivering on the final investment decision for the INPEX/ Total/Ichthys project has certainly focused on the benefits that can be delivered to Territorians. We established the Gearing Up of Local Business for Major Projects task force in June last year, forming a solid partnership between industry, the peak bodies, unions and government to gear up for the opportunities of this major project.
The task force is co-chaired by the Chamber of Commerce and my CEO of the Department of Business and Employment. It includes representatives from INPEX, their prime contractor JKC, Master Builders Northern Territory, Civil Contractors Federation, NT Road Transport Association, manufacturers, engineers, unions, CDU, BIITE, Industry Capability Network, and both the NT and federal governments have reps there. It is about government and industry working together to grow our local labour workforce, to literally gear up to take advantage of the opportunities of this exciting Ichthys project.
Training our own is our first priority when it comes to filling the labour force demands. We have had more than 24 000 Territorians in training in the past three years and more than 3000 of those have been Indigenous. We have put together consecutive jobs plans, trained 10 000 trainees and apprentices across four years, and increased our training effort to over $24m. The investment has positioned us to take up job opportunities for Territorians in these major projects. From January last year to this month, we have had some 3215 apprenticeship and traineeship commencements. We are ...
Mr Elferink: How many finished?
Ms LAWRIE: ... on track to meet the four-year target of 10 000. In terms of commencements ...
Mr Elferink: What about completions? How many finished?
Ms LAWRIE: ... we are currently at 9253. There are ...
Mr Elferink: Commencements, how many finished?
Ms LAWRIE: ... currently around 4160 apprentices and trainees in training ...
Mr Elferink: How many finished?
Ms LAWRIE: ... with local companies - you missed it – in terms of the commencements, were 9253 ...
Mr Elferink: Yes, and you lose about half?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: In relation to local companies picking up on the INPEX work on the major project, we have seen Macmahon and John Holland get that all-important $340m civil contract for the works. They are huge supporters of our apprentices and trainees. Talking with Macmahon last week, they had 10 new Indigenous trainees in their boardroom at 7 am ready to start work.
Sitzler, which is part of the consortium working on construction of our prison, is also looking at doubling its apprenticeship workforce in the coming weeks alone.
These are real benefits being delivered to Territorians as a result of our government’s investment in the major capital works and gearing up for the major project being delivered by INPEX and Total. It is great news for opportunities for our young Territorians, but also Territorians looking to change trades and skill up and get into that all-important construction sector workforce through those apprenticeships and traineeships. I thank all our training providers and the partnership approach taken at the gearing up task force ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr CONLAN to MINISTER for HEALTH
Can you explain to Territorians why the Northern Territory has some of the longest elective surgery waiting lists in the country?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, sometimes we ask each other dorothy dixers. Today, I am glad to respond to a dorothy dixer from the opposition, because I have some very good news for the member for Greatorex about elective surgery.
More patients are receiving their elective surgery within the recommended time. In December 2011, for Category 1 patients, 90% had their surgery in the recommended time. In Category 2, 71% had their surgery within the recommended time, and for Category 3, 86% had their surgery in the recommended time ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question was: how does it compare with the rest of the country?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, the minister is answering the question. Order!
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Speaker, I am coming to that.
In Category 1, 50% of patients had their surgery within nine days, when the national average is 11 days. In Category 2, 50% of patients had their surgery within 55 days, when the national average is 50 days. That is how we compare with the national average, member for Port Darwin. To think, in 2001, we had 4783 admissions, and in 2011 we had 7791 admissions. In 10 years, the number of people admitted for elective surgery has doubled.
The waiting list and the percentage overdue is going down, down, down. Despite what the opposition says, the investment we made in our health system pays dividends. Our elective surgery list is going down, down, down and, under the Labor government, will continue to go down because we invest money. We mean business. We do not call spending money on health a waste of money like the CLP does.
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for SPORT and RECREATION
As the Territory gears up for growth, one of the Henderson government’s priorities is supporting our great Territory lifestyle. Can you please provide an update to the House on the sports infrastructure being constructed in Palmerston?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is a great question, particularly for the people of Palmerston. Over the years, this government has been proud to put in some very good social infrastructure including great sporting infrastructure, with netball and Rugby League to name a few of the sports that will benefit from some of that.
The water park is another great example of this government delivering on its 2008 election commitments. That includes investing over $16m into the Palmerston water park which will be a magnificent facility for families. The water park is well under way, with the slides going up fairly soon, and all done by a local company. Gratis Pty Ltd is doing a great job constructing this highly anticipated and much-awaited facility.
The Henderson Labor government has always been committed to the people of Palmerston and we have already delivered some great sporting facilities there. The Palmerston water park will be another example of great social infrastructure for the people of Palmerston.
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
Madam Speaker, I promise there will be no imputations, and no preamble. Why is it that 30% of Territory students in Year 3 are below the national minimum standard in reading?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we have debated this up hill and down dale in this place. It comes back to attendance, basically. If a kid goes to school every day they will receive a great education in the Territory. There is no doubt the more often children attend school the gap closes. It is as simple as that, member for Brennan.
I am disappointed. You are hanging off the NAPLAN and My School results. You are pointing to negatives. Really, if kids attend 90% of the time, 90% of those kids will reach national benchmarks and above. That is the fact of the matter.
It is disappointing. We have been waiting so long now for your education policy. You really teased us in the last sittings when you waved it around. From memory, I think it had an orange cover, but you still have not released it ...
Mr Chandler: We want to get it right, unlike CDL.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: We have had the manifesto released at the wonderful campaign launch ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: succinct, concise and directly relevant to the question. We just want him to answer a question - just one, just answer one.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin …
Dr BURNS: Well, Madam Speaker …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the point, please.
Dr BURNS: … I understand the manifesto was written by Karl Marx from Port Darwin …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you please just come to the point.
Dr BURNS: … and the gang of four had a big part in it as well ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister! Come to the …
Dr BURNS: But I digress.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, come to the point!
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I think I have answered the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Dr BURNS: The member for Brennan is always trying to talk down our schools. I have given the example of the results that students can get when they attend school every day ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister has said himself he has answered the question. You know what to do next.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, I do not need your advice, thank you very much. Minister, are you nearing the end of your answer? I sincerely hope so.
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I have answered the question.
Madam SPEAKER: You have finished. Thank you.
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for PUBLIC and AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Can you please advise the House of initiatives undertaken by the Henderson government to deliver more affordable housing to Territorians?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we are investing very heavily in affordable housing for Territorians. As I mentioned before, I met with the principals of the affordable rental housing company we have established in Darwin. They are looking at, of course, the project at Wirrina which is nearing completion. That will be complete within a very short time. Of the around 100 units, approximately half of those are for social and affordable housing. The rents will be at least 20% below market rent.
They are also examining quite a large block - well, more than examining; they will be moving forward on a large block at Driver and further developments there.
There has been considerable investment into social housing across the Territory by the Commonwealth government, particularly within Alice Springs. I commend the federal government; it invested approximately $45m to $50m for over 200 dwellings. That has been a welcome addition. We have also undertaken to have 150 dwellings over three years with $50m as part of our housing budget.
We recognise it is difficult within the Territory. We recognise the pressures on families with rent and purchasing houses, but we are opening up land at record rates in Palmerston. I urge members opposite to take a drive around Johnston, Bellamack and beyond. This is a government that is investing in infrastructure.
The disappointing thing for me is that the opposition members are quick to criticise, but they are slow on solutions. As I mentioned before, their manifesto has a skimming reference to housing, but no detail or costings. To get housing, you have to put headworks in; you have to invest. Until the opposition has a credible policy for housing and costings against what they want to do, it is just fairly empty. It is very thin on details. There was much polemic and political ideology in there, as you would expect in a manifesto ...
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: Oh, comrade?
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: Karl Marx from Port Darwin.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, we are serious about housing. The opposition just wants to criticise. It has no alternate policies. We are a government which is doing things in that area.
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
Your department is constructing a waterfall, rock pool and adventure playground at Howard Springs Nature Park. Is this project on schedule? When will it be completed? Could you also advise if the adventure playground has been scrapped as there appears to be no sign of its construction at the park?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his very good question about his electorate. I have been to Howard Springs a couple of times. I thank the rangers, and the local committee, who do a fantastic job.
You are right about the project. It includes eight shallow rock pools 40 m in length, which begin at a waterfall and cascade down to each rock pool. The design includes the construction of two viewing platforms to be located at the northern end of the waterhole, with one platform located on each side to allow visitors easy access to view the fish and turtles. The tender for Stage 2 works was awarded to the construction company, Goodline, at approximately $1.4m. Construction of the shallow rock pools and viewing platforms is almost complete.
Design work for Stage 3 has commenced. The development concept for Stage 3, playscape, has been awarded to a consultant, Clouston Associates. Preliminary concept designs were prepared and presented to the local management committee for their approval.
You can see the stages those three works are at. Stage 3, the design works, has been awarded to a contractor and will be commencing very shortly.
Mr ELFERINK to TREASURER referred to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you tell this House how much Territory taxpayers will have to pay following negotiations to resolve the Blue Mud Bay decision affecting the Daly River?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, unlike the CLP opposite, this government believes in negotiating to get positive outcomes for the recreational fishing people of the Territory. The Blue Mud Bay negotiations have ensured that we are continuing to open up that beautiful recreational fishing area of the Daly River which provides opportunities for recreational fishermen. They will be assured of not having a permit system, which would have erupted under the CLP because it wanted to challenge the Indigenous owners. Under the CLP, recreational fishing people in the Territory would have had to have these permits …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question could not have been more succinct. We seek a succinct answer in accordance with standing orders.
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, can you come to the point, please.
Ms LAWRIE: It is very important to understand what is being asked regarding the outcome of the Blue Mud Bay negotiations. As has been previously said in this Chamber, the Chief Minister has absolute carriage of the outcome of the Blue Mud Bay negotiations. I will provide the Chief Minister an opportunity. Under you, there would have been permits.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have said on the public record that we are negotiating a win/win outcome for recreational fishermen and for traditional owners across the Northern Territory ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, the Chief Minister is responding.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, once an agreement has been reached across all the coastline areas of the Northern Territory, I will then be able to advise this House and Territorians the cost of the agreement. Until the entire agreement has been concluded I am unable to advise ...
Mr Elferink interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: I can say very clearly that the CLP has a policy, and its policy is …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Mr HENDERSON: … recreational fishing permits for all Territory fishers ....
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause, Chief Minister.
Mr ELFERINK: The question was succinct specifically so we could get a succinct answer. If he does not have an answer, then that is fine and that is the end of it. At the moment he is not answering the question. He is on a frivolous …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, you can resume your seat now.
Chief Minister, if you have no more to add I will ask you to resume your seat.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, I do have a little more to add because this is about policy. Our policy was to negotiate a win/win outcome, and we will do that, which will see no requirements for fishing permits ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Mr HENDERSON: The opposition’s policy would mandate fishing permits ...
Mr Elferink: The question was not about policy. The question was about how much.
Mr HENDERSON: ... for all Territorians who want to recreationally fish.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, have you completed your response?
Mr HENDERSON: I have advised that once the agreement is concluded I will advise the members of the cost of the agreement.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Dr BURNS (Public and Affordable Housing): Madam Speaker, I have some information in relation to the question asked of me by the member for Goyder.
Madam Speaker, regarding rents, I am advised that, for the December quarter 2011, unit rents, there was a 2% rise in Darwin; median weekly rent at $460 for units. For house rents for the same quarter, I am assuming it is for a three-bedroom house, average weekly house rents remain flat at $550 per week.
Mr Elferink: It is still not the answer.
A member: Yes, it is the answer.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! No, it was not the answer to the question we asked which was how it compared nationally.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minster for the Environment also gave an undertaking to get back to us during Question Time. I am wondering if he has an answer yet.
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, speaking to the point of order. The member for Port Darwin just misled the Chamber. The minister said he would take it on notice. He did not say he would report back at the end of Question Time. Do not mislead the Chamber.
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, resume your seat.
Mr Elferink: All of a sudden taking a question on notice means that you do not have to answer the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms Lawrie: Not all of a sudden, forever.
Mr Elferink: You guys are hopeless.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Honourable members!
Cash for Containers – Advertising Costs
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Your government’s Cash for Containers scheme is clearly in great trouble, with two collection sites closed and legal actions pending over the whole sorry affair. I would like you to inform the House how much you have spent on advertisements like these that tell Territorians that your scheme is a success when it clearly is not. How much are you spending on advertising?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition. The biggest risk to the collection depots and Cash for Containers in the Northern Territory is the CLP ...
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: They are the biggest risk to the scheme because, in August ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Digression from the subject. The question is quite straightforward: how much are the ads costing?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, digression is in debates.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The hypocrisy of those members opposite knows no bounds. They want to scrap the scheme ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: the answer needs to be succinct and directly relevant to the question. How much is it costing?
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, indeed. The member for Port Darwin will resume his seat.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, I am happy to get the numbers in terms of the cost of the advertising for the Leader of the Opposition, because we have a responsibility as a government to inform Territorians as to where they can redeem their cans, and across most parts of the Northern Territory you can.
Today, if you have cans collected in Darwin and Palmerston, you can go to any one of four places, Veolia Environmental Services at Beaton Road, Berrimah; Envirobank Recycling at McKinnon Road, Pinelands; and Envirobank recycling reverse vending machines at Charles Darwin University. There is another recycling machine opening in Parap on 3 April. Collection depots are established in Katherine, Elliott, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Finke, and there is a mobile depot coming soon to the Darwin region. So, as some depots have closed, others are starting to open. These are commercial issues being played out in the commercial marketplace. The advertising is totally legitimate ...
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It is to do with relevance. The Chief Minister has acknowledged that he is going to provide some information. I only hope that in this digression we still have full disclosure of all the costs related to advertising.
Mr HENDERSON: I am advised a full page ad on Saturday is worth $5600, to inform Territorians where you can redeem your cans, and you can in Darwin, in Palmerston, Madam Speaker ...
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question is: how much is spent - total?
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Minister is responding to the question.
Mr HENDERSON: I have only had one ad and I have answered the question, it was $5600.
Mr Mills: I actually held up four ads.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, I have answered the question. Do the sums: if the ad is run four times do the sums, Leader of the Opposition, it should not be beyond you.
Madam Speaker, the scheme is obviously ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: ... undergoing some commercial testing ...
Mr Tollner: You do the sums. What sort of a dropkick are you?
Mr HENDERSON: ... in the commercial marketplace. That is what is happening.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Fong Lim, you will withdraw that comment. Member for Fong Lim, I ask you to withdraw, please.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr HENDERSON: The only threat to Cash for Containers is the CLP, because they would roll over to the beverage companies and scrap the scheme ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Economy – Government’s Plan for Growth
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you please advise this House on the government’s plan to grow our economy, how we are gearing up for that growth, and are you aware of any alternative plans?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. North Australia is on the wave of an economic boom. The capital of north Australia is Darwin and that economic boom will benefit all Territorians.
We are preparing for growth across government with plans under the banner of Territory 2030, the most comprehensive economic, environment and social plan the Territory has ever seen. We have strategies right across government.
Our economic strategies include the Northern Territory and Darwin being the nation’s oil and gas hub, we have plans with INPEX and the Marine Supply Base locked in, and we are now talking to Woodside.
Our mining strategies, including Bringing Forward Discovery and the China Minerals Investment Attraction Strategy, and Japan as well, have seen record investment in exploration. Independent commentators say the Northern Territory is the best place in Australia to explore.
Our tourism plans include an aviation strategy. Yesterday, we saw SilkAir arrive in the Northern Territory. We have a cruise ship strategy which has delivered 61 cruise ships this year, including the Queen Mary. We have comprehensive 10-year infrastructure, roads and transport plans; a Greater Darwin Region Land Use Plan; and plans to train 10 000 apprentices and trainees across the Northern Territory.
We have not only gone out and succeeded in getting the investment for the Northern Territory, we have very specific plans in place to accommodate and manage that growth to ensure all Territorians benefit and are provided opportunities. We can point to a whole raft of plans about creating jobs in the Northern Territory, seeking investment in the Northern Territory, and training and jobs for Territorians.
At the last sittings of parliament, I challenged the Leader of the Opposition to come up with any policy at all in relation to economic policy, and I congratulate him because he has. Buried away on the Country Liberal Party’s new website is an economy policy - an economy policy, Territorians, of one page. A one-page policy. To be taken seriously, Leader of the Opposition, you have to do better than this. This policy does not create one job. The only initiative in this policy is to bring the budget back to surplus by the end of the first term. That will slash jobs and services across the Northern Territory. It is a job cutting policy, not a jobs growth policy.
They have had three-and-a-half years to put together a vision for the Northern Territory, and it is a very sad vision. It is on one page. It does not create one job and it will see thousands of jobs slashed across the Northern Territory.
Cash for Containers – Problems
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
Can you explain to Territory families in very simple terms how your Cash for Containers legislation works, particularly when it comes to how collectors are paid for their efforts, and how Territorians are paid for theirs? Can you explain how legislation will fix the problems currently plaguing the scheme?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to take the question from the member for Brennan on Cash for Containers. As I have travelled around the Territory one thing is very clear: Territorians want cash for their containers. We know that if we were unfortunate enough to have a CLP government come August they would scrap Cash for Containers and put a few bins around the streets. That is their preferred model for Cash for Containers ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister was simply asked how this scheme works. We would like him to start answering the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the point, please.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, it is quite a simple scheme based on the South Australian model. We know it works in South Australia.
When we passed the Environment Protection bill in the House over 12 months ago, the empty vessels on that side of the House supported it. They said: ‘Cash for Containers, we want it. We agree with you, minister, and the Labor government. We support a Cash for Containers scheme ...’.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113. The minister was asked how does his system work. Can he please explain it?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Minister, can you please come to the point, or I will ask you to resume your seat.
Mr HAMPTON: I will, Madam Speaker; however, there are many interjections from that side of the House.
It is a very simple model. You collect your containers, take them to the depot, and you get 10
back - very simple. I do not know what the member for Port Darwin does not understand about it. The point is, he does not support it. He does not support Cash for Containers. We know Territorians support it. Ten cents for every container you take back. If it was under the CLP they would scrap it. Their option is to put bins around the streets. We have had six million containers collected to date …Mr CHANDLER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The second part of the question was: can you please explain how legislation will fix the problems currently plaguing your scheme?
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, it is quite clear what government has been doing. We have been getting people around the table to talk. We put in the right legislation and the framework to get Cash for Containers happening. There are many commercial issues between depots and coordinators. Government does not get involved in pricing and the marketplace. It is a commercial operation. They are the conservative party. They talk about business - I do not think they quite get it. It is up to the marketplace to dictate pricing on containers, handling fees and these sorts of things. Government is not going to get involved. What we are going to do is get people to talk, and that is what government has been doing to date.
Supplementary Question
Cash for Containers - Problems
Cash for Containers - Problems
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
Why will you not back your own regulations? Why will you not take on whoever is in breach of these regulations? Why do you not back your regulations?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I would like to throw it back at you, member for Brennan. Why do you not get out of your air-conditioned office and out of your suit and talk to some of the depots around the Territory as I have and find out what the real issues are?
I have been out and about. I have talked to people at many of the depots and I have heard some of the great stories about the Cash for Containers scheme that you want to scrap, member for Brennan. You want to scrap it. You want to take that opportunity away from families in your electorate who are getting 10 for every container, member for Brennan. You should be ashamed of yourself and ashamed of your party’s policy.
Madam Speaker, we have the right legislation in place. It is about getting depots and coordinators to speak to each other to sort out their commercial arrangements, and that is what we have been doing. We support Cash for Containers; it is quite clear the opposition does not support it.
Alcohol Reforms - Expansion
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for ALCOHOL POLICY
The Enough is Enough alcohol reforms are the most comprehensive alcohol reforms in the nation. Can you please inform the House how you propose to expand these reforms by further targeting antisocial behaviour and strengthening the powers of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Tribunal?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy. She has been an ardent supporter and understands what these reforms are about, going to the heart of tackling the problem drinker. We have seen the reforms progressing well in the first six months. We have more than 2100 people on the Banned Drinker Register. That is 2100 people who committed alcohol-related crimes, or continuously wound up in police protective custody. They have been turned off tap at our bottle shops.
Police believe the BDR is the best tool they have to fight antisocial behaviour and crime and it is showing in the data coming through. In this first six months, we saw a 12% reduction in alcohol-related assaults in Darwin; a 13% reduction ...
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Maybe the member for Karama might want to walk outside this place and check out some of the parks around and see how many drunks are still there …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim!
Mr TOLLNER: … and tell us how well it is going.
_____________________
Suspension of Member
Member for Fong Lim
Suspension of Member
Member for Fong Lim
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, I would like you to leave the Chamber, thank you. It is a frivolous point of order. Leave the Chamber for one hour pursuant to Standing Order 240A.
_____________________
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Unlike the waffle of the member for Fong Lim who does not understand the reforms and does not read legislation - he has form - the data is clear. In the first six months alone there has been a 12% reduction in alcohol-related assaults in Darwin. There has been a 13% reduction in alcohol-related assaults in Palmerston, an 11% reduction in Katherine, and an 8% reduction in Alice Springs. Rehabilitation is being boosted with extra beds and treatment across the Territory. Treatment times for withdrawal have dropped from eight days to less than three hours.
We will build on this success by introducing the Liquor and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2012. It will give police and the tribunal additional tools to get problem drinkers into rehab. Police will have the power to issue an on-the-spot infringement fine of $70 to people drinking in a public place within 2 km of licensed premises and causing a nuisance to other people. Three infringement notices in 12 months and the problem drinker goes on the Banned Drinker Register. As well as tipping out grog, police will have this infringement notice linked to the BDR, increasing their ability to break the drinking cycle, target repeat offenders and direct them into treatment.
The legislation also increases the power of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Tribunal, forcing problem drinkers into rehab. The tribunal can make orders so that a problem drinker is subjected to income management, including making ex parte orders in the absence of the problem drinker before the tribunal. This means welfare recipients on the Banned Drinker Register can have up to 70% of their income managed until they complete treatment orders by the tribunal. By targeting drinking in public places, and giving the tribunal more powers to force problem drinkers into rehab, we will reduce antisocial behaviour.
Cash for Containers – Costs to Territorians
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
In dollar terms, can you quantify how much extra Territorians have paid for containers they have purchased since the beginning of the CDL scheme, and compare that with the amount in dollar terms returned to Territorians in redeemed deposits?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question from the member for Brennan on Cash for Containers. We know how popular it is in the Northern Territory, and we know that Territorians want cash for their containers, unlike the opposition’s scheme of more empty bins ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: I believe he is coming to the point here, member for Port Darwin. Minister, keep going.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, with the scheme we have put in the right framework through the legislation which was unanimously supported in this House over 12 months ago. That scheme clearly puts a price on containers - 10 for every container and that goes into the pockets of Territory families. That is the simple model we have come up with based on the South Australian model.
In terms of those other issues …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question is succinct: how much has been collected? How much has been paid out? Can he provide those figures in dollar terms?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the specific point, please.
Mr HAMPTON: In terms of how many containers have been collected, there have been around six million, which equates to about $600 000 in the pockets of Territory families ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! In dollar terms, how much has been collected in deposits and how much has been paid out? I mean, can you answer the question?
Madam SPEAKER: Have you finished your answer, minister?
Mr HAMPTON: No, I have not, but what i will do, Madam Speaker ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you please come to the point, specifically.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, I am quite happy to take that question on notice. This scheme is only around two months old. There is a lot of data being collected through various depots and coordinators. I am quite happy to take that question on notice. Six million containers have been collected, which equates to $600 000 that will go into the pockets of Territory families. Under the opposition, that money would not go back to Territory families.
Cash for Containers – Alleged Price Gouging by Retailers
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Recently, I produced figures which show beer drinkers are being ripped off by $5 to $11 for a carton of 30 VB cans above the maximum increase caused by the Cash for Containers deposit and a handling fee. Has the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs looked into the blatant price gouging to see who is ripping off the consumer - the retailer or the manufacturer? If the commissioner has not done this, can you please explain why?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. The important thing here is the claims by retailers that these increases are attributed to the Cash for Containers scheme. If they do that, they are guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law. That is the important ...
Mr Elferink interjecting.
Mr KNIGHT: Well, you are not a lawyer, member for Port Darwin, so you would not know.
That is the important point here: it is about the retailer making that claim. Consumer Affairs has a hotline, and consumers who have concerns about deceptive claims should call the hotline.
To date, Consumer Affairs has received fewer than 20 inquiries about this behaviour and only one of these was actually a formal complaint. There has been an investigation of one retailer, but there was insufficient evidence to attribute the claims to deceptive behaviour. Consumer Affairs has ongoing random audits, so they are keeping an eye on it.
I have collected some newspaper articles over the last few years and the prices are volatile. You might get a big purchase. One particular retail outlet may want to run a special on their particular product. Generally, prices for alcohol have been going up over many years. When we think back to when we first started our early drinking careers they were very cheap. Prices generally go up, but there are specials and prices fluctuate considerably.
Where consumers have a legitimate complaint they should call the hotline and Consumer Affairs will investigate that claim. Also, if people feel that prices are high at one outlet, shop around, don’t shop there. The message goes out to all our liquor outlets that it is a competitive market and people should shop around for the best possible deal.
Health Facilities – Quality Care and Treatment
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for HEALTH
It is important that our health facilities keep pace with the growth of the Northern Territory. Can you please update the House on the delivery of expanded health facilities for quality care and treatment for Territory families?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. In the past few months, I have heard CLP members often accusing our government of wasting money received from the Commonwealth. The truth is, what the CLP call waste we call an investment. The way we invested this money has given us the best health facilities we have ever had in the Territory. We have a new emergency department, new triage and fast-track unit, which opened last month; a short-stay unit that we will double the size of over the coming year; the critical care wing will expand with two new operating theatres providing more capacity for elective and emergency surgery; a 12-unit Indigenous mother’s unit; a 50-unit medi-hotel that will open this year; and, of course, the new medical school building and a new Menzies building; not to mention the 60-bed Palmerston hospital that is currently under design with the functional plans to be finalised soon. The 60-bed hospital will have an emergency department and wards to provide facilities for Palmerston and the rural area.
We not only spend money in the urban areas, in Darwin and the northern suburbs. We spend money in other areas. The $24m emergency department in Alice Springs is currently under construction; 44 people will be treated at anytime in 31 treatment spaces. There will be a paediatric room, two secure assessment rooms and three resuscitation areas; and a new 10-bed short-stay unit will be incorporated in the design. A $13m emergency department in Gove; a $3.7m upgrade for the emergency department in Tennant Creek; and there is patient accommodation under way in Gove, Katherine and Darwin.
Madam Speaker, this is expenditure; it is not a waste of money. We do not think it is a waste of money when we spend money on rural dialysis machines in rural and remote areas so that the life expectancy of people with renal problems will be the same as in the rest of Australia. We do not see it as a waste of money when there is a dramatic decline in mortality from cervical cancer, falling by 92% for Aboriginal women. We do not see it as a waste of money spending money providing clinics in remote communities. We see it as an investment in the future of all Territorians and the health of Territorians. We do not see it as a waste of money. The CLP does and that is probably why there is nothing in their manifesto about remote communities and about health or education.
Cash for Containers – Failure of Scheme
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Deny it if you will, but your Cash for Containers scheme is in disarray. It is not the opposition that says that; it is the Territory community, and the Territory community is laughing at you. Your minister was paraded as a joke in last Friday’s paper for his ludicrous comments on the scheme, saying the Cash for Containers in the Northern Territory has been a huge success – bit like the Iraqi information minister saying the war is going very well. Do you have confidence in your minister, or will you remove him from his post and save you all from this embarrassment?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the only embarrassment that I have seen over this last term of parliament was when the Leader of the Opposition hid in a restaurant for seven hours from the media. That is the only embarrassment I have seen over the last four years in this House ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! You have made it abundantly clear that you are going to preside over this parliament with a rod of iron in terms of the rules. The rules surrounding Standing Order 113 are quite clear. The answers need to be ...
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Port Darwin.
Mr ELFERINK: ... succinct, concise and directly relevant to the question ...
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you. I do not think I need your advice.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I think we should look at the preceding point of order and consider whether that particular question was even in order, because it contained ironical expressions, epithets, and a whole range of things. I believe the Chief Minister is answering the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, if you can come to the point, please.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The question was about embarrassment, and I was just reminding the Leader of the Opposition’s colleagues what an embarrassment he is as a Leader of the Opposition in hiding in a restaurant from the media for seven hours because he could not answer difficult questions.
Yes, this scheme is going through a difficult patch at the moment. I do not resile from that whatsoever. But it is a good scheme and Territorians do want it. Ian Kiernan, who is probably the most well-known Australian in regard to cleaning up litter, came out the other day in total support of the minister and said what a great minister and what great courage the government had in taking on the beverage industry which has said it is hell-bent on bringing down this scheme. With some depots we are seeing very difficult negotiations with coordinators in getting to a commercial arrangement for a reasonable handling cost.
I say to Territorians that, today, here in Darwin, if you want to redeem your containers you can. This afternoon you can go to Berrimah, to Pinelands, to CDU, to Parap very soon, a mobile depot, and we have had mediation to try to get those other places open: Katherine, Elliott, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Finke.
This scheme will take time to mature. The commercial marketplace will eventually sort this out. We are seeing commercial issues at play at the moment. We know that the opposition is hell-bent on scrapping the scheme. The only thing people have to fear from this scheme is the opposition saying it will scrap it. The opposition will roll over to the beverage industry, which does not want to see this scheme expand anywhere else in Australia. We will not let them get away with it. Those depots that are operating are operating well. This afternoon, if people in Darwin and Palmerston want to get their 10 back, they can.
Economic Growth - Investment in Schools
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
Can you please inform the House of the Henderson government’s investment in schools to cater for future economic growth?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. This year, there is record expenditure in education of over $900m. If I recall, when we came into government in 2001 - I might stand corrected on this – the education budget was around $350m. That represents somewhere around a 250% to 300% increase on the budget for education that we inherited. I believe we have invested well. We have invested in 400 new teachers. There is a range of specialities: counsellors, behaviour management specialists, English as a Second Language specialists, PE and health specialists, and ICT support. We are investing in recurrent programs for literacy and numeracy and we are seeing results there. They are moderate successes and we will build on that.
We are also spending money on attendance and truancy officers and we are seeing some successes there which we will build on.
We are also creating Centres for Excellence within our high schools. Darwin High School: maths, science and engineering; Casuarina Senior College: health sciences; Centralian Senior College: sustainable futures; Palmerston Senior College: Centre for Excellence for The Arts; and, in the future, Taminmin College to be a Centre for Excellence for business.
Our record is very good in gearing up for growth, with 2000 students in 191 VET courses in 60 schools across the Territory. We are looking to build our trades with apprentices and trainees. We have also invested very heavily in infrastructure. In schools, I have talked about our teacher training and excellence.
Over four years, we have invested $246m in infrastructure within Northern Territory schools and through the Building the Education Revolution which, of course, was a Commonwealth initiative - $270m is $270m the Coalition in Canberra and the CLP locally did not want.
We have built new schools: Darwin Middle School and Rosebery - $57m at Rosebery. There has been a suite of upgrades: Palmerston Senior College, Taminmin College, and $300 000 in upgrades to all primary schools. That was an election commitment we have come through on and it has made those schools very happy.
Special needs schools: the new Nemarluk School will be opening soon. I could go on. There is much to say about the achievements of this government, gearing up for growth, serving the Territory, investing in the Territory and investing in Territorians.
Cash for Containers - Handling Fee
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
My question relates to the Cash for Containers handling fee. Yesterday, talking to one of the Darwin collectors who is not a coordinator, he said he has to do 24 separations, supply his own bins, and transport his materials to the local coordinator representative. He says in South Australia they have seven separations, the coordinators supply the bins, and they pick up the materials. He asked why this handling fee is, on average, the same as in South Australia - which is the reason he has pulled out of the scheme - and why does the government not legislate a minimum handling fee so this dispute over the handling fee can be sorted - to use a recycling term? If that cannot happen, what is the government doing to force companies to pay a reasonable handling fee, such as withdrawing their right to sell their product in the Northern Territory instead of just threatening to do it?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his important question. As the Chief Minister has already said, government has taken a bold reform; we have taken it on head on. We have made no illusions that it is going to be a very tough reform to bring in. As the Henderson Labor government, we are taking on the beverage industry because they are the ones who are going to be running the scheme. We are about vision. We are about making some of the tough reforms happen …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The point of order relates to Standing Order 113. The question was very specific: will you impose an amount?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the point of the question, please.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Port Darwin for the frivolous interjections and trying to gag me.
Regarding the issue of fixing a handling fee, that power does not exist in the current legislation as we have a market-based model. Member for Nelson, you were part of the working group that came up with the model we now have. I sought legal advice on whether it is possible, and the advice I have received is it would not necessarily assist in resolving the dispute some depots have with scheme coordinators.
As I said, it is a market-based …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Will the minister table the advice he has received?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, do you have the advice and are you willing to table it?
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, I do not have that advice in front of me. What I am saying is, if the member for Port Darwin wants to hear that advice he can always ask for a briefing.
Mr Chandler: I have asked for one. I am still waiting!
Mr HAMPTON: Member for Brennan, I will ensure you get that briefing, as long as you bring a pen and paper along to the next briefing because, at the first briefing you had, you did not bring a pen and paper, so ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Mr HAMPTON: ... I am quite happy to organise another one, member for Brennan.
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause. Order! Minister, resume your seat.
Mr WOOD: Madam Speaker, digression. I also asked whether the government was intending to withdraw the right of companies to sell their product in the Northern Territory to force a reasonable handling fee to be negotiated.
Madam SPEAKER: I remind honourable members that digression relates to debates. I think you are talking about relevance. Minister, can you please come to the point or I will ask you to resume your seat.
Mr HAMPTON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The other question asked was regarding the sorts and splits. That has been an issue I picked up around the place as I have toured the Territory. I am continuing to work with my department to work with depots and coordinators to try to reduce those splits.
You are right, South Australia has had a long time to do this. It is based around volumes. We have had two-and-a-half months to get this scheme up and running; South Australia has had 30 years. Over those 30 years, the splits and sorts have reduced. We have had two-and-a-half months and I am confident that that will reduce in time ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Violent Assaults – Record Levels
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
According to the recent Property Council survey, Darwin’s liveability rating has hit rock bottom. Can you tell the House why violent assaults in the Territory are at record highs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I love Darwin. I think this is the greatest place to live in the world, and there are over 100 000 other people who live here who believe that as well. I will defend Darwin and the Northern Territory and its liveability with everything I have. As a citizen of this great place, and as a resident, as someone who has chosen to live here, had three children born here, I love this place.
Leader of the Opposition, all you want to do is talk the Territory down. At all times, at all stages, it is about talking the Territory down. You have no vision for the Northern Territory. You have no plans for the Northern Territory. Your economic policy has a one-page document …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113. Chief Minister, can you tell the House why violent assaults in the Territory are at record highs? That is the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, there was also a preamble to which the Chief Minister is responding.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Darwin is a great place to live, it is a safe place to live, and the Territory is a great place to live.
My colleague, the Health Minister - and I will not use the language he used in the media conference the other day. The NT News had it today: ‘Darwin fights back’. The survey really was a crock of proverbial when you base a sample size on 100 people. I point out that the Lonely Planet guide said Darwin was one of the top 10 must see cities of the world in 2012. That reputable organisation, the backpacker’s bible, is saying that Darwin is one of the top 10 cities of the world to visit and is out there promoting it.
In regard to the comments about assaults, since the Banned Drinker Register was put in place, assaults in Darwin and Palmerston are down by around 20%. Scrapping this scheme, as you want to, would drive the number of assaults back up across Darwin and Palmerston. This is a Leader of the Opposition who has no vision and no plans for the Northern Territory. All he wants to do is talk the Territory down at every single opportunity he gets. Every single opportunity he has, he wants to talk the Territory down and drive fear into the minds of Territorians. He has no vision and no plans. His economic policy is a one-page policy. Shame on the Leader of the Opposition.
Local Government – Support and Challenges
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for LOCAL GOVERNMENT
This government has committed to building a strong system of local government across the Territory. Can you please update the House on what is being done to support strong local government in the Northern Territory and some of the key challenges for our municipal and shire councils over the next four years?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. I congratulate those people who nominated and were successful in the municipal and shire council elections. The Electoral Commission is still counting the votes, so there is a bit of waiting still. However, we look forward to the official declaration on Monday next week.
There are more than 100 000 Territorians who are eligible to vote, and we need to look at what the effect of this voting has been once all that information comes in. It is very pleasing to note, and from reports from Bill Shepheard in his radio interviews in the lead-up to this, regarding mobile polling, we know we will examine all these things once the information comes through.
There were 156 positions up for grabs, so to speak, in this very important third tier of government in the Australian system of democracy. To all those people, and those who were unsuccessful in standing, I thank you for being out there, lobbying to improve the lives of your area, your wards and your regions.
I make special mention of the former Lord Mayor of Darwin, Graeme Sawyer, and thank him for his efforts and his work over the past four years, and also to Anne Shepherd in Katherine. It is a new era for both Darwin and Katherine, but that is what democracy is all about: the people have spoken. I also mention Mary Walshe, President of the Litchfield Council, who represented the people of that region for a considerable amount of time. Again, democracy is wonderful and the people have spoken. I thank all those members for the work they have done in their capacity as mayors and as the Lord Mayor, and the work I have been able to do with them over the last couple of years in my role as Minister for Local Government.
To the new councillors who will be coming in, we are excited about the next four years, and the growth and maturity in particular of the shires. There are a number of things we want to achieve across our regions and we need our councillors on board in these places. The local boards are already up and running. As soon as these councillors are set in place, the boards will continue the work that has been going on. I look forward to catching up with all of them when they come to Darwin in May.
Darwin – House Rental Prices
Ms PURICK to MINISTER for LANDS and PLANNING referred to MINISTER for PUBLIC and AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Can you inform the House of the average rent in Darwin for a three-bedroom house? How does that compare with the average rent for a three-bedroom house in the other capital cities?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I find that a very interesting question in relation to Lands. I would like to explain about our rapid land release programs and what we are doing ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113. We are not interested in that. We are asking a very specific question. How are our rents going?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, it is not about land release. It is about rental.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! That question probably should have been directed to me rather than the minister for Lands. I am more than happy to take that question.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister for Housing, I think ...
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, I was going to get to that ...
Madam SPEAKER: I do not think it is in your portfolio area, minister, so resume your seat. I call the Minister for Public and Affordable Housing.
Dr BURNS (Public and Affordable Housing): Madam Speaker, I do not have that data with me in the House today. That data is readily accessible and available. Of course, rents vary across every capital city within Australia. There is no doubt there are rental pressures within Darwin and that is why we have formed the affordable rental housing company. I sat in on the board meeting the other day. The Parap Wirrina development is coming online ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order Madam Speaker!
Dr BURNS: I am coming to it. ... and they will be offering rental at 20% below market rates, With the land release the Minister for Lands and Planning alluded to before, there is a lot of stock coming onto the market ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order Madam Speaker! We could not have made the question more specific and more succinct. We ask that you instruct the minister to answer the question asked.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the specifics, please.
Dr BURNS: I have answered the question as best I can. I have said I do not have the data with me in this House. I have said that the data is readily available. As the member for Goyder is always on her computer, she could have dragged it out and asked some specific questions ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, if you do not have the information, can you please resume your seat.
Dr BURNS: That is right, Madam Speaker, I have answered the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, resume your seat.
Major Projects – Benefits for Territorians
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for BUSINESS and EMPLOYMENT
Across the Territory, industry and government are gearing up for major projects. Can you please explain to the House how we are gearing up to take advantage of INPEX and other major projects?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his question. Delivering on the final investment decision for the INPEX/ Total/Ichthys project has certainly focused on the benefits that can be delivered to Territorians. We established the Gearing Up of Local Business for Major Projects task force in June last year, forming a solid partnership between industry, the peak bodies, unions and government to gear up for the opportunities of this major project.
The task force is co-chaired by the Chamber of Commerce and my CEO of the Department of Business and Employment. It includes representatives from INPEX, their prime contractor JKC, Master Builders Northern Territory, Civil Contractors Federation, NT Road Transport Association, manufacturers, engineers, unions, CDU, BIITE, Industry Capability Network, and both the NT and federal governments have reps there. It is about government and industry working together to grow our local labour workforce, to literally gear up to take advantage of the opportunities of this exciting Ichthys project.
Training our own is our first priority when it comes to filling the labour force demands. We have had more than 24 000 Territorians in training in the past three years and more than 3000 of those have been Indigenous. We have put together consecutive jobs plans, trained 10 000 trainees and apprentices across four years, and increased our training effort to over $24m. The investment has positioned us to take up job opportunities for Territorians in these major projects. From January last year to this month, we have had some 3215 apprenticeship and traineeship commencements. We are ...
Mr Elferink: How many finished?
Ms LAWRIE: ... on track to meet the four-year target of 10 000. In terms of commencements ...
Mr Elferink: What about completions? How many finished?
Ms LAWRIE: ... we are currently at 9253. There are ...
Mr Elferink: Commencements, how many finished?
Ms LAWRIE: ... currently around 4160 apprentices and trainees in training ...
Mr Elferink: How many finished?
Ms LAWRIE: ... with local companies - you missed it – in terms of the commencements, were 9253 ...
Mr Elferink: Yes, and you lose about half?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: In relation to local companies picking up on the INPEX work on the major project, we have seen Macmahon and John Holland get that all-important $340m civil contract for the works. They are huge supporters of our apprentices and trainees. Talking with Macmahon last week, they had 10 new Indigenous trainees in their boardroom at 7 am ready to start work.
Sitzler, which is part of the consortium working on construction of our prison, is also looking at doubling its apprenticeship workforce in the coming weeks alone.
These are real benefits being delivered to Territorians as a result of our government’s investment in the major capital works and gearing up for the major project being delivered by INPEX and Total. It is great news for opportunities for our young Territorians, but also Territorians looking to change trades and skill up and get into that all-important construction sector workforce through those apprenticeships and traineeships. I thank all our training providers and the partnership approach taken at the gearing up task force ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Elective Surgery Waiting List
Mr CONLAN to MINISTER for HEALTH
Can you explain to Territorians why the Northern Territory has some of the longest elective surgery waiting lists in the country?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, sometimes we ask each other dorothy dixers. Today, I am glad to respond to a dorothy dixer from the opposition, because I have some very good news for the member for Greatorex about elective surgery.
More patients are receiving their elective surgery within the recommended time. In December 2011, for Category 1 patients, 90% had their surgery in the recommended time. In Category 2, 71% had their surgery within the recommended time, and for Category 3, 86% had their surgery in the recommended time ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question was: how does it compare with the rest of the country?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, the minister is answering the question. Order!
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Speaker, I am coming to that.
In Category 1, 50% of patients had their surgery within nine days, when the national average is 11 days. In Category 2, 50% of patients had their surgery within 55 days, when the national average is 50 days. That is how we compare with the national average, member for Port Darwin. To think, in 2001, we had 4783 admissions, and in 2011 we had 7791 admissions. In 10 years, the number of people admitted for elective surgery has doubled.
The waiting list and the percentage overdue is going down, down, down. Despite what the opposition says, the investment we made in our health system pays dividends. Our elective surgery list is going down, down, down and, under the Labor government, will continue to go down because we invest money. We mean business. We do not call spending money on health a waste of money like the CLP does.
Palmerston Sports Infrastructure
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for SPORT and RECREATION
As the Territory gears up for growth, one of the Henderson government’s priorities is supporting our great Territory lifestyle. Can you please provide an update to the House on the sports infrastructure being constructed in Palmerston?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is a great question, particularly for the people of Palmerston. Over the years, this government has been proud to put in some very good social infrastructure including great sporting infrastructure, with netball and Rugby League to name a few of the sports that will benefit from some of that.
The water park is another great example of this government delivering on its 2008 election commitments. That includes investing over $16m into the Palmerston water park which will be a magnificent facility for families. The water park is well under way, with the slides going up fairly soon, and all done by a local company. Gratis Pty Ltd is doing a great job constructing this highly anticipated and much-awaited facility.
The Henderson Labor government has always been committed to the people of Palmerston and we have already delivered some great sporting facilities there. The Palmerston water park will be another example of great social infrastructure for the people of Palmerston.
Students - Reading Standards
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
Madam Speaker, I promise there will be no imputations, and no preamble. Why is it that 30% of Territory students in Year 3 are below the national minimum standard in reading?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we have debated this up hill and down dale in this place. It comes back to attendance, basically. If a kid goes to school every day they will receive a great education in the Territory. There is no doubt the more often children attend school the gap closes. It is as simple as that, member for Brennan.
I am disappointed. You are hanging off the NAPLAN and My School results. You are pointing to negatives. Really, if kids attend 90% of the time, 90% of those kids will reach national benchmarks and above. That is the fact of the matter.
It is disappointing. We have been waiting so long now for your education policy. You really teased us in the last sittings when you waved it around. From memory, I think it had an orange cover, but you still have not released it ...
Mr Chandler: We want to get it right, unlike CDL.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: We have had the manifesto released at the wonderful campaign launch ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: succinct, concise and directly relevant to the question. We just want him to answer a question - just one, just answer one.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin …
Dr BURNS: Well, Madam Speaker …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the point, please.
Dr BURNS: … I understand the manifesto was written by Karl Marx from Port Darwin …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you please just come to the point.
Dr BURNS: … and the gang of four had a big part in it as well ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister! Come to the …
Dr BURNS: But I digress.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, come to the point!
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I think I have answered the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Dr BURNS: The member for Brennan is always trying to talk down our schools. I have given the example of the results that students can get when they attend school every day ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister has said himself he has answered the question. You know what to do next.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, I do not need your advice, thank you very much. Minister, are you nearing the end of your answer? I sincerely hope so.
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I have answered the question.
Madam SPEAKER: You have finished. Thank you.
Affordable Housing – Initiatives by Government
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for PUBLIC and AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Can you please advise the House of initiatives undertaken by the Henderson government to deliver more affordable housing to Territorians?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we are investing very heavily in affordable housing for Territorians. As I mentioned before, I met with the principals of the affordable rental housing company we have established in Darwin. They are looking at, of course, the project at Wirrina which is nearing completion. That will be complete within a very short time. Of the around 100 units, approximately half of those are for social and affordable housing. The rents will be at least 20% below market rent.
They are also examining quite a large block - well, more than examining; they will be moving forward on a large block at Driver and further developments there.
There has been considerable investment into social housing across the Territory by the Commonwealth government, particularly within Alice Springs. I commend the federal government; it invested approximately $45m to $50m for over 200 dwellings. That has been a welcome addition. We have also undertaken to have 150 dwellings over three years with $50m as part of our housing budget.
We recognise it is difficult within the Territory. We recognise the pressures on families with rent and purchasing houses, but we are opening up land at record rates in Palmerston. I urge members opposite to take a drive around Johnston, Bellamack and beyond. This is a government that is investing in infrastructure.
The disappointing thing for me is that the opposition members are quick to criticise, but they are slow on solutions. As I mentioned before, their manifesto has a skimming reference to housing, but no detail or costings. To get housing, you have to put headworks in; you have to invest. Until the opposition has a credible policy for housing and costings against what they want to do, it is just fairly empty. It is very thin on details. There was much polemic and political ideology in there, as you would expect in a manifesto ...
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: Oh, comrade?
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: Karl Marx from Port Darwin.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, we are serious about housing. The opposition just wants to criticise. It has no alternate policies. We are a government which is doing things in that area.
Howard Springs Nature Park – Development
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
Your department is constructing a waterfall, rock pool and adventure playground at Howard Springs Nature Park. Is this project on schedule? When will it be completed? Could you also advise if the adventure playground has been scrapped as there appears to be no sign of its construction at the park?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his very good question about his electorate. I have been to Howard Springs a couple of times. I thank the rangers, and the local committee, who do a fantastic job.
You are right about the project. It includes eight shallow rock pools 40 m in length, which begin at a waterfall and cascade down to each rock pool. The design includes the construction of two viewing platforms to be located at the northern end of the waterhole, with one platform located on each side to allow visitors easy access to view the fish and turtles. The tender for Stage 2 works was awarded to the construction company, Goodline, at approximately $1.4m. Construction of the shallow rock pools and viewing platforms is almost complete.
Design work for Stage 3 has commenced. The development concept for Stage 3, playscape, has been awarded to a consultant, Clouston Associates. Preliminary concept designs were prepared and presented to the local management committee for their approval.
You can see the stages those three works are at. Stage 3, the design works, has been awarded to a contractor and will be commencing very shortly.
Daly River – Effect of Blue Mud Bay Decision
Mr ELFERINK to TREASURER referred to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you tell this House how much Territory taxpayers will have to pay following negotiations to resolve the Blue Mud Bay decision affecting the Daly River?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, unlike the CLP opposite, this government believes in negotiating to get positive outcomes for the recreational fishing people of the Territory. The Blue Mud Bay negotiations have ensured that we are continuing to open up that beautiful recreational fishing area of the Daly River which provides opportunities for recreational fishermen. They will be assured of not having a permit system, which would have erupted under the CLP because it wanted to challenge the Indigenous owners. Under the CLP, recreational fishing people in the Territory would have had to have these permits …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question could not have been more succinct. We seek a succinct answer in accordance with standing orders.
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, can you come to the point, please.
Ms LAWRIE: It is very important to understand what is being asked regarding the outcome of the Blue Mud Bay negotiations. As has been previously said in this Chamber, the Chief Minister has absolute carriage of the outcome of the Blue Mud Bay negotiations. I will provide the Chief Minister an opportunity. Under you, there would have been permits.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have said on the public record that we are negotiating a win/win outcome for recreational fishermen and for traditional owners across the Northern Territory ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, the Chief Minister is responding.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, once an agreement has been reached across all the coastline areas of the Northern Territory, I will then be able to advise this House and Territorians the cost of the agreement. Until the entire agreement has been concluded I am unable to advise ...
Mr Elferink interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: I can say very clearly that the CLP has a policy, and its policy is …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Mr HENDERSON: … recreational fishing permits for all Territory fishers ....
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause, Chief Minister.
Mr ELFERINK: The question was succinct specifically so we could get a succinct answer. If he does not have an answer, then that is fine and that is the end of it. At the moment he is not answering the question. He is on a frivolous …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, you can resume your seat now.
Chief Minister, if you have no more to add I will ask you to resume your seat.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, I do have a little more to add because this is about policy. Our policy was to negotiate a win/win outcome, and we will do that, which will see no requirements for fishing permits ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Mr HENDERSON: The opposition’s policy would mandate fishing permits ...
Mr Elferink: The question was not about policy. The question was about how much.
Mr HENDERSON: ... for all Territorians who want to recreationally fish.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, have you completed your response?
Mr HENDERSON: I have advised that once the agreement is concluded I will advise the members of the cost of the agreement.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Supplementary Answer
Darwin – House Rental Prices
Darwin – House Rental Prices
Dr BURNS (Public and Affordable Housing): Madam Speaker, I have some information in relation to the question asked of me by the member for Goyder.
Madam Speaker, regarding rents, I am advised that, for the December quarter 2011, unit rents, there was a 2% rise in Darwin; median weekly rent at $460 for units. For house rents for the same quarter, I am assuming it is for a three-bedroom house, average weekly house rents remain flat at $550 per week.
Mr Elferink: It is still not the answer.
A member: Yes, it is the answer.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! No, it was not the answer to the question we asked which was how it compared nationally.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minster for the Environment also gave an undertaking to get back to us during Question Time. I am wondering if he has an answer yet.
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, speaking to the point of order. The member for Port Darwin just misled the Chamber. The minister said he would take it on notice. He did not say he would report back at the end of Question Time. Do not mislead the Chamber.
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, resume your seat.
Mr Elferink: All of a sudden taking a question on notice means that you do not have to answer the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms Lawrie: Not all of a sudden, forever.
Mr Elferink: You guys are hopeless.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Honourable members!
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016