2014-08-20
Magistrate Maley – NT Bar Association’s Call
for Inquiry into Appointment
for Inquiry into Appointment
Ms LAWRIE to CHIEF MINISTER
There was a test of your leadership, and yesterday you were found wanting. The vitriol you meted out in this Chamber on the Bar Association was appalling and I challenge you to make those statements outside this House. The Bar Association president, John Lawrence, pointed out that ignoring the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government has grave consequences. I quote Mr Lawrence:
- The Chief Minister has told the community now, in August of 2014, that there is no longer an independent judiciary, rule of law or democracy …
Vitriol and arrogance are not leadership. If you have nothing to hide, if you can grasp the sanctity of the separation of powers, will you now stand aside your Attorney-General and hold an independent inquiry into the conduct of magistrate Peter Maley? What do you have to hide?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, John, my mate, has my full support, as do the other members of the Country Liberals team on this side of the Chamber. Everybody has my full support and we support each other. We are a team which is doing a fantastic job in driving crime and debt down, and driving the economy up. There is a long way to go in fixing eleven-and-a-half years of Labor neglect. Labor showed there are some very serious questions the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition must answer about why they have not conformed to the principles of parliament in adhering to put in place, on their conflict of interest register, the work provided pro bono by two Labor apparatchiks in the legal profession.
As I said yesterday, what you have done in trying to manipulate the Bar Association is seek to politicise parts of the judiciary and the legal profession, which is a disgrace. You talk about the separation of powers, leaving the legal profession, the Bar Association and the judiciary to do their job without fear of political interference, such as that of you, the Labor Party and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, which is abhorrent. It is not what is expected.
In regard to transparency, openness and accountability, congratulations to Peter Maley, who has told people he was a member of the CLP. If you tell your Labor friends within the legal or judiciary system - I have no interest in knowing who they are - that you would like to see me and government perform an inquiry into everybody else’s political allegiance, tell them that. I will not be running an inquiry into anybody’s political allegiance, membership-based or otherwise. We live in a democracy, and people have an opportunity to express their political freedoms. It is against Anti-Discrimination Act principles of people being able to express their political freedoms. Peter Maley has done that. Everyone in the Northern Territory is free to do that. I support that and the principles and democracy …
Mr McCarthy: Hold an inquiry. What do you have to hide?
Mr GILES: What do I have to hide? Why did you not put it on your register of interest? You and the Leader of the Opposition are the ones with serious questions to answer. You are taking benefits from mates over a stinky, dodgy deal, doubling up with another stinky, dodgy deal and not being honest and transparent to Territorians. Explain why you did not put it on your register of interest.
South East Asia Australia Offshore and Onshore Conference
Mr HIGGINS to CHIEF MINISTER
This morning you opened the South East Asia Australia Offshore and Onshore Conference. Can you outline the opportunities being discussed at this conference for investors in the Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. As the Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia Development he has a keen interest in the expansion of oil and gas as an industry for creating jobs, an economy, business and all those future demand opportunities for Territorians.
This morning I delivered a keynote address to SEAAOC, the South East Asia Australia Offshore and Onshore Conference. Movers and shakers from the international oil and gas industry have descended on Darwin once again for this, the 20th event, which is northern Australia’s largest and oldest petroleum conference.
It runs parallel with the Mining the Territory Conference, as well as the inaugural Building the Territory conference at the Darwin Convention Centre. Together these events form NT Resources Week. More than 1000 industry representatives will be present from around the globe, boosting local economic opportunities and attracting the kind of trade and investment we need in developing northern Australia, being led by the Northern Territory.
Interest in the Territory was such that the NT Resources Week organisers had to increase the number of available exhibition spaces to cater for the increased demand. This interest reflects the strength of the Territory economy and is a sign of the current confidence local, interstate and international investors have in the Territory as a business destination.
The Territory has cemented its place on the international stage and it is great to see many oil and gas players coming to Darwin to discuss the opportunities on offer.
All eyes are now on the Territory and how we lead the diversification of our economy, particularly through oil and gas, what we do through the natural gas sector onshore and how we work to establish greater offshore gas opportunities to brownfield and greenfield sites in the Northern Territory.
I congratulate the minister for Mining and Resources for his attendance today. His leadership and stewardship towards the industry is providing a positive investment framework environment which will create jobs across the Northern Territory into the future.
It will not just create jobs, it will lead to extra and additional infrastructure investment, whether that is in roads, bridges or telecommunications. This will provide long-lasting opportunities for the Northern Territory. It is about creating jobs, getting business investment, business confidence, financial investment and creating jobs for the Northern Territory. This is what it is all about and this is what it comes down to.
Madam Speaker, it was fantastic to give the keynote address. The view in the room was positive, as with the speech at the cocktail party last night. I expect to see bigger and better investments in the Northern Territory in the future.
Magistrate Maley – CLP Link
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER referred to ATTORNEY-GENERAL and MINISTER for JUSTICE
Yesterday in parliament, you said:
- We are proud of the fact we have a competent man as a member of the CLP, and he happens to be a magistrate.
You are out of touch and do not understand the independence of the judiciary. The Guide to Judicial Conduct and ethics clearly states that magistrates must not be involved with political parties in any way. The Australian Bar Association said magistrate Peter Maley should:
- … terminate his on-going participation in Country Liberal Party affairs, immediately, before he does irreparable harm to public confidence in the independence of the local judiciary ...
and he should have joined the Northern Territory Bar Association in calls for a judicial inquiry.
Your first law officer, the Attorney-General, will not do his job. Will you hold an independent inquiry into magistrate Maley’s conduct to uphold the integrity of the judiciary?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, before you speak - member for Fannie Bay, that question was asked yesterday and I believe the Chief Minister answered the question when he said no.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! It directly references the Australian Bar Association. There was no mention of the Australian Bar Association yesterday.
Madam SPEAKER: The crux of the question was, ‘Will you have an inquiry?’ The rest was preamble. The Chief Minister answered the question yesterday and the answer was no. You may wish to rephrase it, member for Fannie Bay.
Mr GUNNER: Chief Minister, the Australian Bar Association and the Northern Territory Bar Association have called for an independent inquiry into the conduct of magistrate Maley. You clearly do not understand the code of conduct and the code of ethics for the judiciary. Will you meet the NT Bar Association and the Australian Bar Association to discuss their calls for an independent inquiry, so you can understand the importance of the separation of powers?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I will not be meeting with the Northern Territory Bar Association, partly because you have politicised the Bar Association.
Let me remind you of one important fact. I am advised by the Country Liberals president that the magistrate in question, Peter Maley, resigned from the CLP three-and-a-half months ago, so he is no longer a member of the CLP. He proudly supports Country Liberals philosophical principles and is a former member of this Chamber. He stands with integrity, as outlined in detail by Russell Goldflam.
As I said yesterday, there will not be a judicial inquiry. As I asked yesterday, what do you want an inquiry into, whether he was a member? He was and proudly so. I am proud to say he was, as I would be proud to say there are, potentially, members of the judiciary and the legal environment who are members of Labor, The Greens or whoever. That is not a concern of mine. You politicised the Bar Association.
I will now ask my friend the Attorney-General, someone who I fully support, to respond to the remainder of your question.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, the document I presume the member opposite is referring to is the Australian Bar Association media release of 12 August 2014, which said:
- A Northern Territory magistrate, Mr Peter Maley, should terminate his on-going participation in Country Liberal Party affairs, immediately, before he does irreparable harm to public confidence in the independence of the local judiciary …
I telephoned Fiona McLeod SC and asked her about her information. She told me she was still under the impression Mr Maley was a current member of the CLP and should resign. I informed her that was not the case and he had resigned. She said, ‘Oh, okay’. I asked where she received her information. She received it from Mr Wyvill SC, who has been providing free and undeclared legal advice to the Leader of the Opposition in the Stella Maris inquiry. She used the words, if memory serves me, that she ‘was misinformed’. I will allow sufficient doubt to believe it was an accident. I explained to her that Mr Maley had severed any ties with the Country Liberal Party. She seemed, on the basis of that conversation, satisfied. It will be up to her to make any further statements as she so chooses.
I heard the end-of-democracy quote from Mr Lawrence SC. Mr Lawrence will probably go to the courtroom today and file an application of some sort, as he always does, because - guess what? The courts are still working, democracy is still working and the judicial system works perfectly fine ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Correctional Services – Electronic Monitoring
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to MINISTER for CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
Can you please update the House about the roll-out of electronic monitoring in the Northern Territory and how it will assist to keep the community safe?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we as a government take the corrections environment very seriously.
I have reported to this House on a number of occasions on the importance of running a corrections system not only based on the buildings, but what you do inside those buildings. As a consequence, we have enjoyed a substantial reduction in the projected numbers of prisoners in the corrections system.
We continue to find a balance between protecting Territorians and correcting those people who find their way, as prisoners, into our corrections system. The Sentenced to a Job program needs no further description in this House; suffice to say it is proving successful beyond expectations.
The public expect people in the corrections system to be properly monitored. As a consequence, we have now rolled out the promise Labor failed to fulfil and have introduced into the Northern Territory an electronic monitoring system. We have tested it; it is now working sufficiently well. Soon prisoners in the Barkly Work Camp will be placed on electronic monitoring. Electronic monitoring is a vehicle with which we can track people in the community. The technology has changed enormously in the last few years. As people in the Barkly Work Camp go into town, we can monitor them as they move around our community.
In the fullness of time - and I hope it is not too far into the future - electronic monitoring will also be a way we can offer alternatives to the courts in relation to remand, and to police as alternatives to custody in relation to setting the terms of bail. Electronic monitoring is one of a number of processes used to monitor people in the custodial or post-custodial environment. As a government, we are proud to say we are rolling this out in the Northern Territory. It will be supplied by G4S, an organisation with a great deal of experience in this field.
This shows the stark difference between us and the Labor Party. I remember when it was announced by the Labor Party, four or five years ago, they were going down this path. That is the difference – no one has ever been monitored by a Labor media release.
Cost of Living Rally
Ms LAWRIE to CHIEF MINISTER referred to MINISTER for PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
We see by your actions of appointing mates to plum roles – Peter Maley as magistrate, Denis Burke as Chair of the Development Consent Authority – that you have failed the basic test of good governance. You are so out of touch …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! We have been fairly patient in this space …
Madam SPEAKER: What is your standing order?
Mr ELFERINK: Standing Order 62 refers to disparaging remarks against the judiciary. Up until now, they have avoided it, but this is now a direct attack on a member of the judiciary. I point out Standing Order 62(1).
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order, Attorney-General.
Ms LAWRIE: You are so out of touch that later today Territorians will be rallying outside parliament to protest your treatment of them. Families are hurting under the skyrocketing cost of living pressures, while you are cutting their pay in real terms by offering inadequate EBAs. You also attack conditions of work within the enterprise bargaining agreements you are offering. At the same time, you see fit to put $33m into your own Department of the Chief Minister. Will you address the rally and explain why you are attacking the wages and conditions of Territory workers while under your watch the cost of living skyrockets?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am not aware of any rally occurring today. I am aware the government has been working in good faith, negotiating EBAs with a range of sectors across government. The best person to provide an update of where the EBA status is up to is the Minister for Public Employment …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question: will he address Territory workers outside this parliament today?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The Chief Minister has three minutes to answer the question.
Mr GILES: We have been conducting good-faith negotiations with a range of industry sectors about the EBA process. Fundamentally, we have been offering a 3% pay rise across all sectors. Most of those sectors have signed off and we believe those good-faith negotiations are going well.
In regard to the cost of living, we know it is higher in the Northern Territory than other parts of the country. We are doing our best to reduce some of those costs. One of the things which must be remembered in the debate about the cost of living is that we are exercising our program of reform in the Northern Territory to take down some of the challenges left to us by you – least of all, high levels of government debt.
The roll-out of $130m-plus towards the release of 6500 blocks of land starts to drive some of that change.
The question of petrol prices has been raised a number of times in the Northern Territory. No doubt we all suffer the high cost of petrol prices put onto us by petrol companies in the Northern Territory. We are disappointed the ACCC has not taken action in regard to those fuel companies reducing the price of petrol in the Northern Territory. We are fighting as hard as possible to see action taken to bring down the price of petrol in the Northern Territory.
In regard to the EBA process, I ask the Minister for Public Employment to further update about outstanding EBAs.
Mr ELFERINK (Public Employment): Madam Speaker, the general public service signed up to the 3% EBA – the police, the waterfront workers and the sparkies at the Power and Water Corporation have. As far as I know there are only four outstanding EBAs to be negotiated. There are the chalkies, which we all know about, and the nurses, which we hope to bring to a successful resolution. We also hope to bring the prison officers to a successful resolution whilst negotiations continue. Finally, the firies, who are …
Ms Lawrie: Ignore the paramedics!
Mr ELFERINK: I pick up on ‘ignore the paramedics’. We will offer 3% to every paramedic we employ, which is none. We do not employ paramedics. These people drive the ambulances and we contract the St John Ambulance service of the Northern Territory.
This demonstrates how disconnected these people are …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Education – Staffing Cuts
Ms FYLES to CHIEF MINISTER
You are so out of touch. Your government has maintained for months that only 35 teaching positions have been cut. The true figure revealed during estimates was 125 teachers and 60 support staff are gone from our schools. Student learning outcomes and behaviour management in schools need these 185 positions reinstated. Why are you risking the future of our children while bolstering your department by $33m to provide you with advice? Why is your government continuing to cut teacher numbers from our schools?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, you can keep trying to peddle the $33m argument, but a range of functional areas have come back into the Department of the Chief Minister through portfolio changes, not the least including the Office of Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment, which was with the Department of Business and is now with the Department of the Chief Minister.
With regard to education, we unashamedly are working towards improving education standards and outcomes in the Northern Territory. We have taken on three important reviews on new ideas to improving educational outcomes for our kids.
We heard a statement from the Minister for Education yesterday, or the day before, about the participation rates and outcomes in NAPLAN testing. There has been an increase in the participation rate of NAPLAN - and Pete would be the best person to give you those exact figures. But the NAPLAN outcomes show the Northern Territory is a long way behind the rest of the country. We need to identify ways to do things much better to ensure kids in the Territory get better outcomes and we are not afraid of doing that.
You talk about resources going in; we need resources to deliver the core curriculum and the components around educating students. Fundamentally, we need new ways of doing business because there are kids who are not achieving educational outcomes.
For instance, take the first question about SEAAOC. We talk about developing jobs, enterprises and business opportunities in all parts of the Northern Territory. Those jobs will not be useful if we do not have kids coming out of the education system capable of taking the jobs. Fundamentally, that is what we have to work towards. It is a pathway or a life cycle for these people, to ensure the best opportunities of health, housing, telecommunications and infrastructure.
We are trying to build a new paradigm for people in the Northern Territory and education is part of that. The model of education being delivered is not quite right. I am thankful the Minister for Education and other ministers have spent time looking at our education models from around the country. One model they are looking at is Direct Instruction, seeing how we can get a single platform of education modelling, particularly in remote areas of the Northern Territory ...
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question. Why are you continuing to cut teachers and support staff from our schools?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Chief Minister, get to the point.
Mr GILES: I am keen to learn about the investigations around Direct Instruction and how we can provide a linear model of education, particularly in remote areas, to ensure when kids change schools they can keep up with that education model. What is happening at the moment is not delivering the education outcomes our budget wants, we as individuals want or the community expects. That is why we need fundamental reform.
Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation
Act – Presumptive Legislation
Act – Presumptive Legislation
Mr BARRETT to MINISTER for BUSINESS
I understand a report into the review of the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act is close to being finalised. Are you in a position to comment on presumptive legislation for firefighters?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. I appreciate his interest in this area.
The government will adopt presumptive legislation for firefighters. This is great news for firefighters and is something they have campaigned hard for. We value firefighters and the commitment they have to our community. We appreciate the fact they put their lives on the line at times and we are now recognising that by putting presumptive legislation in place for career firefighters with any of 12 work-related cancers that are covered by other jurisdictions in their presumptive legislation.
The member for Blain referred to the review into the workers compensation and rehabilitation scheme. First, thank you very much to George Roussos and Mark Crossin for the work they have put into conducting that review. It has taken a bit longer than I thought, but it has been thorough and has covered all bases.
The difference between this government and the Labor Party is the Labor Party members look at one specific little aspect of a total scheme; we are in this for all workers. That is what this side of parliament is about - looking at all workers.
The job has been done. I received that report yesterday. I can inform the House it will be going on the NT WorkSafe website today, or as soon as possible. It will be available for public comment. It contains 58 recommendations. In the main, government will pick up those recommendations. Cabinet has not had a chance to discuss them.
It is a very good report. It covers the full gamut of concerns people have with the Workers Compensation Scheme and goes into a range of different issues that affect workers and employers across the board. It is the first time in a very long time this scheme has been reviewed in the Northern Territory. Rather than dealing with things in isolation, as the other team is wont to do, we have taken a more holistic approach and made sure the scheme is there for everyone.
I announce today we will be supporting the presumptive legislation for career firefighters who have any of 12 work-related cancers - great news! I hope the opposition pay tribute to the government for this move ...
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Can the minister advise if it will be retrospective for firefighters?
Madam SPEAKER: No, it is not a point of order.
Health Minister – Helicopter Travel
and Rural Development
and Rural Development
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for HEALTH
Last week, unbeknown to local residents on Wallaby Holtze Road, and the local member, you held a limited media conference where you launched a D9 bulldozer into the bush and a helicopter to fly over and look at this historic and momentous occasion.
Can you say how much this non-event cost the taxpayer? Why did you not inform the residents of Wallaby Holtze Road of what you were doing as a matter of courtesy? Can you say what the reason was for knocking over trees, when there have been no rezoning applications, development applications, plans released for the hospital or for the new intersection of the Stuart Highway and Temple Terrace?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question because it gives me the opportunity to talk about something we should all be celebrating in this Chamber: the building of the Palmerston Regional Hospital. Unlike the members of the opposition, we celebrate this being the largest public project of its kind the Northern Territory has seen for many years. It is the first hospital to be built in the Northern Territory in approximately 40 years.
Last week, I hired a helicopter for the price of $948, for my own education. As the primary person involved in making sure this project is successful, I needed to check out the site from an aerial perspective.
If you have not seen a 45 ha block from the air, if you do not get an orientation of where the urban settlements and roads are, what the topography is, where the rural residents are and which way the traffic flows, how can you say you understand the enormity and complexity of this project?
I make no apology for the work which has commenced in building the Palmerston Regional Hospital. We are in the throes of completing the design work for the intersection. In order to build the intersection, we needed to make an access road through the bush. We had to knock over trees and make way so people can start the construction of the intersection. It is necessary. You can claim that, through some miraculous means, you can fly across the bush and build an intersection without doing that, but most developers would tell you otherwise. We had to make the clearing and do it in a timely fashion.
The construction of the new intersection will commence in about six weeks’ time. I know it is disappointing for members of the opposition to hear that the Palmerston Regional Hospital is going ahead, but it is a fact. We are getting on with the job, the largest public project of its kind.
We have informed the public through various means over the last 12 months of what we are doing. The public wants to know what we are doing. That is why I went out last week in a helicopter and held a media conference on-site, to let them know we have commenced construction of the Palmerston Regional Hospital.
It seems you are damned if you do and damned if you do not. We will continue to get on with the job and build this hospital, which we have been given a mandate to do by the people of the Northern Territory.
Sport Facility Upgrades in the Bush
Mr HIGGINS to MINISTER for COMMUNITY SERVICES
Can you please update the House on sporting facility upgrades in the bush?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. I am proud to be part of a government that continues to support the bush, unlike those opposite, who only talk about what they would do. They printed thousands of glossy brochures and delivered nothing, and the member for Namatjira, who keeps running away from responsibility, has betrayed her people in the seat of Namatjira. This includes roads, the infrastructure and services. We are the only party that has a plan for all Territorians, not just our union mates.
Sport plays a vital role in our communities. I am sure my colleague, the member for Greatorex, who is the minister for fun - I mean the minister for Sport and Recreation - would agree with me. Sports give bush people an opportunity to get together as a community, compete against each other, keep fit and celebrate their achievements. It also helps get rid of some of the boredom they face.
This government, through my Department of Community Services, has invested more than $1.5m into facility upgrades of the Lajamanu and Yuendumu ovals, which I have done since being in government in the last two years ...
Ms Anderson interjecting.
Mrs PRICE: That is better than what you have done for Papunya; you have done nothing for Papunya.
Some of the new facilities include the installation of the grandstand, the bench seats, a new score board, the refurbishment of existing and addition of new change rooms, an upgraded football oval boundary fence and the connection of water and sewerage services ...
Ms Anderson: Stop reading and speak off the cuff.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Namatjira!
Mrs PRICE: You have done nothing for Papunya. What have you done for Papunya?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, please direct your comments through the Chair.
Mrs PRICE: We put in new permanent lights which will be working for the sports weekends from now on. We have carried out major upgrades of the Yuendumu softball field. We have built new shelters for the women’s softball as well; they went up this year. It was a great sports weekend, and I am sure Japanangka, who is sitting up there, would agree with that. Yuendumu was so proud to have this sports weekend this year with those new facilities. It should have happened years ago but Labor did nothing for them.
The Central Desert Regional Council has been contracted to undertake the works. This is employment for local people. Work will continue. Work will start in Lajamanu to upgrade their facilities. This is what the communities needed and Labor did nothing for them.
I was honoured, as a local member, to open the new Yuendumu upgrades in time for the sports carnival. I am happy to announce ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Health Crisis
Ms MANISON to CHIEF MINISTER
Paramedics have been waiting almost a year for their EBA to be finalised, while you continue to hide behind St John Ambulance. Meanwhile, RDH is in crisis with bed block. The Palmerston hospital continues to be delayed and will not be opening its doors until at least the end of 2018. That is four years away. The medi-hotel at RDH will initially offer only 30 beds, not the 100 it has been designed for. Each day, we hear stories of long wait times and double bunking in the ED. What are you doing to tackle the crisis in health?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Wanguri for the question, and I wish her all the best with her health in coming weeks. I hope that goes well for you ...
Ms Fyles interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr GILES: Member for Nightcliff, I was wishing the member for Wanguri the best of luck.
Anyone can see we are trying to free up some of the bed block concerns which arise from time to time. We are moving mandatory alcohol treatment from the medi-hotel out to Berrimah prison, which will soon be vacated, opening up 30 beds for the step-down approach for recovery and recuperation for patients at RDH. The Palmerston Regional Hospital in the suburb of Holtze can put that forward, as opposed to Labor, which only built a fence and put a big sign out the front of the block of land. There was a little flyer, a fence and a sign, with nothing else built.
We are going ahead with the Palmerston hospital. It is funny when you hear complaints about how we are going ahead now. People want to see it stopped. The Minister for Health said you are damned if you do and you are damned if you do not. I find that amusing.
I was happy the other day to see the member for Nelson complaining about us getting on with building the Palmerston Regional Hospital. I thought, ‘How good is this? Free publicity!’ He is letting everybody know we are doing what Labor could not do.
Look at the Palmerston Regional Hospital, the 30 new beds for the step-down approach at the medi-hotel, and the extra money we put into 400-plus additional elective surgery positions to start freeing up the elective surgery list. These are fundamental changes we are making in investment in the health sector. It is a positive side of health investment in the Northern Territory.
Labor wants to argue against what we are doing: the building of the Palmerston hospital, the 30 new beds at the medi-hotel so people can have greater levels of recuperation and recovery through a step-down model, greater levels of elective surgery and the greatest health reform in the Northern Territory by creating the Top End health service and the Central Australia health service.
This is giving localised decision-making back to health professionals so they can determine the way hospitals should be run. It is the same model we are rolling out with local government, giving it back to the people. Those principles are what we stand for, letting people have a say in the way they make decisions in their lives or how decisions are made. That is what it is all about, giving people responsibility. It is a reform process in health. It is about getting the resources for the new hospital, additional elective surgery, 30 extra beds at RDH, reducing the pressure, and supporting staff in the health sector who need it the most.
Tourism Investment
Mr HIGGINS to MINISTER for TOURISM
The Country Liberals government has been growing our tourism industry as a priority over the past two years. Can you please inform the House how our commitment and increased investment in this important sector is starting to pay off?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. I wish the opposition would show some enthusiasm about tourism. Very few questions have come from the opposition in the last two years regarding tourism. But I am more than happy to take it from the member for Daly and also talk about the great achievements the Giles Country Liberals government has made in tourism.
We are determined to turn this industry around and create more jobs for Territorians. The latest data shows a 2.3% increase in international visitor numbers and slightly under a 1% increase in domestic visitation for the year ending March 2014. While these numbers are small, they represent the first increases after many years of decline and show the Do the NT campaign is cutting through domestically and internationally.
I will run through some of the activities and initiatives. Since forming government a couple of years ago, we brought in the Tourism NT Act in 2012 and reconstituted the Northern Territory Tourist Commission to establish the strategic direction of Tourism NT. Hats off to them, they are doing a fantastic job. We have successfully delivered and revitalised Tourism NT headquarters in Alice Springs, which has dual occupancy with Tourism Central Australia in the mall at the old Jalistan House, or the TAA/Qantas building.
We have launched the brand-new Do the NT campaign, which is starting to cut through and we are seeing some increases. The second phase of the campaign was delivered in February last year, on the back of the first phase in September last year. The third burst of the campaign is currently in action and will run through until September.
We have secured an additional $16m investment over the last two years into tourism marketing activity, a stark contrast to the former government - an extra $8m in last year’s budget and an extra $8m in this year’s budget.
We have brought the colour back to the iconic brolga logo, which some marketing whiz kids stripped of all colour. We have brought it back; it is a Territory icon and has been well received.
We have released NT Tourism Vision 2020, which is returning the Northern Territory tourism strategy for growth, bringing it to a $2.2bn industry by 2020. There is now free WiFi in the mall. We delivered the world first Darwin Symphony Orchestra concert at Uluru. Our new focus on business events has seen the NT Convention Bureau bring 70 events to the table with an economic impact of $64.9m.
The achievements are endless …
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. I understand the minister is answering the question about tourism in the Northern Territory. I am hoping in the next 20 seconds he will talk about northeast Arnhem Land and why he has not been there.
Madam SPEAKER: That is not a point of order.
Mr CONLAN: If I had a bit longer I could. There are plenty of achievements; they go on and on. It has only been two years; wait to see what happens in the next couple of years. We are having a red hot crack, unlike the former government, which presided over 11 years of decline. The Opposition Leader publicly stated she hates tourists. We have a bumbling shadow Tourism minister who can string a bizarre 25 minutes together in estimates ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Nuclear Waste Facility Sites in the
Northern Territory
Northern Territory
Ms ANDERSON to CHIEF MINISTER
Have you, or any other Northern Territory government minister, been actively looking for sites for a national nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory, including visiting in person or sending departmental representatives to look at possible sites with traditional owners or non-traditional owners?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Namatjira for her question. I can advise the member, the House and the Territory that I have received a number of phone calls from a range of traditional owners over the last couple of months asking about potential nuclear waste sites in the Northern Territory. People have wanted to nominate their sites. I have taken the opportunity to talk to them at length on the telephone or had them visit me in my office to explain the process around nuclear waste.
I clarified the process around nuclear waste and what that means for Australia with the federal minister for Resources, Ian Macfarlane. Until 30 September the land councils have an opportunity to submit potential sites, after thorough consultation with traditional owners, to the federal government. Following that, there will be a period where jurisdictions from around Australia can provide a submission. A site should nowhere be deemed to be successful or suitable from land council submissions. Following that, should there be no satisfactory jurisdictional nomination it will be opened up for other landowners from around Australia.
The conversations I have had with traditional owners have explained that. I explained the Northern Territory government has no role in nuclear waste. We have a moral role in ensuring people are well informed, and I am keen to ensure people know what nuclear waste is and how they can get more information, such as by visiting Lucas Heights and getting in touch with ANSTO, and how they can do more research.
I have also encouraged them to talk to the representatives of the two land councils, whether that is David Ross or Joe Morrison in the NLC. I have not spoken to anyone from the Tiwi Islands or the Anindilyakwa Land Council regions, but I have held a range of telephone conversations. Even as late as this morning – late last night or this morning – I received telephone calls from people who want a site. I am unsure how people got my mobile number, but I have traditional owners ringing me, asking to nominate a site for nuclear waste.
As I go to great lengths to tell people, it is not up to the Northern Territory government to approve or nominate a site; they have to go through land councils. The land councils then have to go through a thorough consultation process and take it from there. It is a matter between the TOs, land councils, and the federal government. I am happy to provide as much information and knowledge as I can about nuclear waste and provide direction so people can identify as much as they can.
Mining the Territory Conference –
Message to Investors
Message to Investors
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to MINISTER for MINES and ENERGY
We all know how important the mining industry is to the Northern Territory. It is not an old industry to us and has been taking place in the Territory since the 1800s.
You are due to deliver a keynote address to the Mining the Territory Conference later today. What will your message be to investors?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question because, as one of the younger people in this Chamber, she will be around longer than the rest of us to see the benefits the mining industry will bring to the Northern Territory for generations to come. That is something the Country Liberals are driving very hard.
The Mining the Territory Conference brings together mining explorers and mining investors who can provide the capital to turn exploration sites into production mining.
This year, NT Resources Week sees a record number of delegates attending our three major conferences. We have in excess of 1000 mining and energy industry professionals from around the globe – national and international guests – now, which benefits business tourism, as the Minister for Tourism would know.
My message to those people is that the Northern Territory government wants their business. In 2013-14, our mineral production was worth in excess of $3.5bn. That figure is up 12% on the previous year, which is remarkable. Despite the mining downturn in some states, our mineral production continues to increase and we are bucking the national trend. Interestingly, much of that increase is due to an increase in gold production, which last year totalled a whopping 14 tonnes, which is outstanding.
We are no longer in the background of contemplation for mining companies; we are at the forefront of consideration. Across our great Northern Territory there are currently 19 mining projects in construction or in approvals processes. These future mines represent a potential capital investment in the order of $4bn, which equates to 3000 jobs during the construction phase and 2000 jobs for operations. These are jobs for Territorians across regional and remote parts of the Northern Territory.
We are attracting miners and investors to the Northern Territory because we are a good place to do business. We have potential, which means companies will not only be here for one project; we have many brownfield sites, and overall we are largely underexplored.
In this time of global commodity price uncertainty, the Northern Territory government is being competitive, pushing for business. We are attracting business within our borders for two reasons: we have the resources, and this government is working hard to bring mining to the Territory to support those miners and provide an environment which is safe and conducive to investment. Whilst we remain resolute in our commitment to the environment, we are trying to ensure government reduces red tape so we can get out of the way and let companies go about their business.
Madam Speaker, this is an exciting time to be in the mining sector in the Northern Territory and I am proud to be part of a government which is driving the mining sector hard.
Affordable Housing – Land Release
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for LANDS, PLANNING and the ENVIRONMENT
Territorians are struggling under crippling rises in the cost of living. Rises in housing costs are driving people out of the Territory. You have dropped the ball on land release with not one new block released which was not already part of Labor’s land release program.
This week, you told Territorians that new houses starting at $495 000 are affordable. In 2010, you criticised the Labor government for delivering housing product at $375 000, saying people ‘could not afford mortgages like that’. Now you are telling Territorians $500 000 is affordable housing. You are completely out of touch with Territorians. After two years in government, can you place a date on the next new land release to ease the burdens on families?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question as an opportunity to put this information on the record. I note the excitement in the voice of the member for Nhulunbuy, who whines about everything this government does.
There are a few facts that need to be put on the record: the speed of the economy in the Northern Territory and the lack of land release by the former government, which led to the prices of land and housing in the Northern Territory going through the roof.
Add that to a government coming into power with the budget situation we had of a projected debt of $5.5bn. We have to be very careful about where and what the focus is on. The reality is we have a record land release program this year and have budgeted for more than any previous government has ever done before.
I will show you this little graph; it just appeared from under my desk. It shows quite clearly the rents paid by Territorians from 2004 to the election. You can see that it just went up and up under Labor. All of a sudden there is a correction in the market. Why is there a correction in the market? It is not about the economy slowing down, we know the economy is going through the roof. We are seeing a correction in the market because of the policies of this government and the fact we are getting on with releasing land quickly enough to restore balance to the market.
Since May 2013 we have released four residential greenfield sites to the market, with potential yield for approximately 1350 residential lots. In Kilgariff, 1 ha in Alice Springs will yield 33 lots.
Those on the other side …
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Standing Order 113: relevance. We have given the minister certain latitude. The question was very specific: can you place a date on the next new land release to ease the burden on families?
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, Madam Speaker. There was a long preamble which needs to be addressed. If they want answers to specific questions, they should ask them.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order.
Mr CHANDLER: The other side will talk a lot about the plans they had. They had plans to print glossy documents and put out a perception they were doing something in the areas of land release. You only have to look, when you take over a department, at how little planning there was.
In Katherine, Stage 1 of a 19 ha site is expected to yield over 100 lots in Katherine. The Labor government of the day might have talked a lot about it, but did not deliver anything. Zuccoli Stage 2 — another 600 lots. Zuccoli Stage 3 and Stage 4 closed on 28 July this year, and are expected to be awarded in late September – another 750 lots. Rather than talk about it, this government is putting its money where its mouth is, backing what we are saying by releasing land quickly to restore balance to the market, unlike the former government, which sat on its hands and did nothing ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired. Order!
Palmerston – New Development
Mr BARRETT to MINISTER for LANDS, PLANNING and the ENVIRONMENT
Recently you announced a new hotel for Palmerston, which is greatly needed. It is fantastic it is being built. What will this and the overall Maluka Views development mean for the greater Darwin economy?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. I was at the announcement with local developer and identity, Foxy Robinson. That hotel will cost in the vicinity of $53m and shows we have developers willing to back the Northern Territory, this economy and the government by doing what they can do, that is, develop the Territory.
Governments cannot do everything, but we can provide the right policies and framework to provide a level of confidence for private developers to come here and do what we need them to do - develop the Territory.
Palmerston is in desperate need of new holiday accommodation and construction like this. It will fix one of the worst planning initiatives that ever happened, the Hub complex. If anyone is familiar with the area, you cannot get in and out of that place at night time, and have not been able to for years. Nobody had done anything in 11 years to correct it. This hotel, and the plans behind the scenes, will provide another two, possibly three, exits and entries into that complex. Not only will it provide a heart to the city, it provides valuable jobs for the Palmerston economy and those who live there, and faith in government and an area which is growing.
As the crow flies, it is about 3 km from the new Palmerston Regional Hospital being constructed in Holtze. If you look at the CBD of Palmerston and put a ring around it, you can see there is a lot of valuable land there, which will help ease the cost of living on Territorians when the area is developed.
My vision for the Holtze area, around the Palmerston hospital, will be a mixture of 1 ha blocks, through to more dense blocks closer to the hospital. That is what we should be looking at. The quicker we can get more land released there will ease the cost of living pressure on Territorians.
With this hotel being constructed in Palmerston, it holds true that the economy is moving ahead and the developers - private investors using their own money - have faith in this government and the Northern Territory. They are ready to back it with their own money, unlike the thinking of the former Labor government that everything must happen with money from the government. That is wrong ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper. I understand that under Standing Order 119A, the Minister for Transport has further information from a question yesterday.
ANSWER TO QUESTION
Taxi Rank in Mitchell Street
Taxi Rank in Mitchell Street
Mr STYLES (Transport): Madam Speaker, I provide an answer to a question the member for Nelson asked yesterday in Question Time in relation to taxis parking in Mitchell Street.
It is an offence for taxis to park with the ‘available for hire’ signage switched on outside a taxi rank. The Department of Transport regulates the industry and issues fines to drivers found in breach of their obligations.
The rank outside Shenannigans has changed its hours of operation. Previously, taxis had 24-hour access to this rank. It is currently restricted to running between 6 am and 9 pm to encourage the use of the Mitchell Street secure rank later in the evening and in the early hours of the morning.
The City of Darwin undertook a consultation process regarding this change, and the rank was established to provide a safe, late night pick-up point for drivers and passengers. Information received after the recent regulatory process indicates some taxi drivers chose to continue to park in breach of the ranking requirements. By using the Shenannigans rank outside the operating hours and parking in the general parking bays on Mitchell Street they are breaching the requirements in place.
The Taxi Council agreed to this change in order to encourage Mitchell Street patrons and taxis to use the secure rank outside the cinema, in the interest of public and driver safety.
The Australian Hoteliers Association supports the use of the secure rank on Mitchell Street, and the Taxi Council participated in the negotiations surrounding the changes. The Department of Transport advised the networks of those changes.
Changes to the Shenannigans rank hours were implemented at least two months prior to any Department of Transport enforcement operation. The changes are strictly enforced and the Department of Transport will continue to monitor and enforce ranking requirements in the Mitchell Street precinct, issuing fines to drivers found in breach.
My understanding, through the Taxi Council, is that most taxi drivers are complying but some refuse to comply with the requirements and, as such, Department of Transport officers will police current requirements.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016