2010-11-23
Yuendumu – Return of Residents
Mr GILES to CHIEF MINISTER
On 4 November, in relation to the dozens of people who fled Yuendumu, you said police could guarantee their safety if they were moved back to the community. This was after you, and your Minister for Central Australia, convinced the residents of Yuendumu, who fled the Territory to Adelaide seeking asylum, to return home. So far, there have been at least eight people taken to hospital with head injuries and broken bones, and 10 others arrested, including at least one teenager. A cache of weapons has been confiscated and countless hard-working Northern Territory police officers putting their lives at risk trying to control the violence.
Did not you get these people to return home too soon? Why have you not been able to protect the people at Yuendumu?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I will say, first and foremost, that this government and this parliament should condemn violence in all its forms. Violence is absolutely unacceptable. As I said to the media today, it is unacceptable in Yuendumu, it is unacceptable in Darwin, it is unacceptable in Alice Springs, it is unacceptable in Elliott; it is unacceptable anywhere in the Northern Territory. I commend police for their actions in restoring order to Yuendumu and this has been a very difficult situation.
The member for Braitling still has some explaining to do about his role in this whole sorry affair. He encouraged these people from Yuendumu to go to Adelaide in the first instance. That was in express defiance of the position of the police at the time. The police wanted people to stay in that community so there could be an attempt to mediate and resolve the issues. It is very hard to mediate and resolve the issues when a significant party to those issues has left the Northern Territory. I say that the member for Braitling acted foolishly and in haste without any reference to police who were trying to handle a very difficult and sensitive situation. To seek to provide advice to people in difficult circumstances without any …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Braitling! Order! Member for Drysdale!
Mr HENDERSON: … attempt to contact police who were trying to manage the situation, just off his own bat, was totally and recklessly irresponsible.
The offer and the attempt is still there to mediate what is a very difficult situation. Acts of violence are to be condemned wherever they occur in the Northern Territory.
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Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of three opposition members’ electorate officers. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Employment Figures
Ms SCRYMGOUR to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you update the House on the latest job figures in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the honourable member for her question. The most important indicator for a Labor government of the economy is jobs: how many jobs have been created. The member for Arafura was talking to me earlier today about the excitement in Maningrida and on the Tiwi Islands about the number of jobs being created through SIHIP.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Braitling!
Mr HENDERSON: It was great to be with the minister for Business today at a business in Berrimah, Gold Medal Services, to meet some of the new apprentices in our workforce, including a young fellow called David, who is doing the fourth year of his apprenticeship. I pay tribute to Gold Medal Services. As a small business, they have a great track record in taking on apprentices.
2010 will go down as a record year in the Northern Territory for the lowest unemployment rates since records began. At the time of the global financial crisis, it is a significant achievement to see unemployment has crashed from 7.4% when we came to government to 3.1% today – 26 600 new jobs have been created by this government.
This a very important chart which shows that when we came to government there was 7.4% unemployment in the Northern Territory, a workforce of 97 000 people and, in 2010, an unemployment rate of 3.1% and a workforce of 123 000 people. That is 26 600 people employed in our economy, taking money home to their families, establishing lives for themselves in the Northern Territory - a significant achievement. Workforce participation is high at 74.1%, the highest in the nation.
We know there is still a very long way to go with our Indigenous Territorians. Even there, we have seen the number of jobs increase by 6% between 2008 and 2009. This has not happened by accident. We had the global financial crisis last year. We saw a year where global financial markets were in absolute freefall and turmoil, and around the world millions of people lost their jobs, but not in the Northern Territory where 5000 new jobs were created last year.
Contributing to this strong performance has been our strong financial management, providing confidence for business to invest; the lowest business taxes in the country; record infrastructure spending; aggressive and targeted investment attraction strategies; and training and education programs, all with the private sector, to support strong jobs growth in the Territory …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Child Protection Services – Failure of System
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Four Corners recently reprised some of your government’s most damning failures in the area of child protection including the preventable death of a baby who starved to death and Deborah Melville. When asked by the ABC reporter, Quentin McDermott, who was responsible for these failures, you washed your hands of any blame, preferring instead to blame the system.
Ms Lawrie: The question is?
Mr MILLS: How dare you! The baby starved to death in 2005, yet you did not change the system. Deborah Melville died in July 2007, yet you did not change the system. In 2007, the Bath Inquiry detailed a child protection system in crisis, yet you did not change the system. In 2008, there was a 68% increase in notifications of suspected child abuse and neglect; still you did not change the system. Chief Minister, if it is not you, who is responsible?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, of course everyone cannot help but be touched by the tragic circumstances of those children alluded to by the Leader of the Opposition. At all times, this is a government which has significantly increased investment in child protective services since 2001.
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: This is a very serious and sensitive issue. The Leader of the Opposition has asked his question; I respectfully ask for them to hear the answer in silence.
Mr Mills: What about the interjection when I was asking the question respectfully?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: We are talking about the tragic circumstances where some children have lost their lives in the Northern Territory, and too many children today still have lives where they are neglected. Since 2001, this government has significantly invested in additional resources for child protection.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Braitling!
Mr HENDERSON: In regard to every single report that has been provided to government over this time, regarding recommendations around the system, those recommendations have been funded and implemented.
This latest report was the most comprehensive report in terms of all aspects of child protection - not just the intake system, not just allegations of sexual abuse of children - about the whole system. Howard Bath and his colleagues very clearly advised me when they presented me with the report that the system was the wrong system for the Northern Territory. Those were not my words. They were the words of the people who undertook the inquiry and gave the report to government.
We are acting on all those recommendations. We have increased the budget allocation to the agency by an additional $130m over five years. As I said in debate in this House last week, this is not just about funding for families and children’s services. This is about our A Working Future policy. This is about investing in those towns across the Northern Territory …
Mr Mills: It is about protecting children, not covering yourselves up.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has had his - I do not know, he has had some red pills at lunchtime today. It is the most animated we have seen him in months. Madam Speaker, I can say that …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Drysdale!
Mr HENDERSON: … we are recruiting additional child protection workers. We are working very quickly to reduce the backlog.
Members interjecting
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: We are the government which had the commitment to have the most wide-ranging inquiry in the Territory’s history, and we are a government that has accepted the recommendations and is implementing them …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Employment Growth – Government Plans
Ms WALKER to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you update the House on the plans the government is putting in place to ensure our strong employment growth continues?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. Creating economies and creating jobs around the Northern Territory will, in the future, lead to better opportunities for all Territory children. Whilst 2010 has been such a successful year for jobs growth in the Territory, 2011 and the years ahead bring new challenges. Access Economics has predicted that the Northern Territory will have the strongest economic growth in the country over the next five years. That is not the government saying that; Access Economics are independent forecasters.
In the same way the 26 600 new jobs in the last nine years were not created by accident, Access Economics’ forecast will not automatically be realised. We will continue to commit to strong infrastructure spending; this year we will spend $1.8bn. We will maintain our status as the lowest-taxing jurisdiction in the country for small business. Small businesses recognise that they do not pay the taxes here they would pay elsewhere in Australia.
Last week, the CLP accused the minister for Resources of swanning around China; well, I know how hard the minister for Resources works when he is overseas. The China Minerals Investment Attraction Strategy he is implementing at the moment is seeing significant investment in the Northern Territory, generating new jobs. We are leading the nation with our relationship with China and how important China will be to the economic future of Australia. It goes to show how narrow-minded and petty the opposition is when it makes accusations like that. Talk to the business community! It is very supportive of the work we are doing in the region.
We will continue to work with INPEX on the biggest job-creating project in the history of the Northern Territory. One of the great challenges for the Territory, and one we are working very hard on - I spoke to the Prime Minister about it in Canberra last week - is the critical importance of creating real jobs and developing real economies in our towns throughout the Northern Territory. A significant amount of work needs to be done but we are making progress.
We have seen a 6% increase in Indigenous employment in the last two years. The member for Arafura was urging me to get back to Maningrida and see the work on the new subdivision which is occurring there and all the jobs occurring out in the bush on the SIHIP, which members opposite continue to try to tear down. It is building houses; it is providing jobs, and the people I have spoken to who have jobs as a result of that project are very happy about it and cannot understand why the opposition keeps nitpicking.
Child Protection Services – Closure of Cases
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER referred to MINISTER for CHILDREN and FAMILIES
The Sunday Territorian of 14 November reported that NT Families and Children cooked the books on up to 500 child protection cases. This is just the latest example of the culture of cover-up which pervades your failed government. Do you accept responsibility for putting these children at risk; or does responsibility lie with the minister you sacked from the portfolio last year?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition is going to quote from the NT News, then I suggest he quotes from the NT News, because the words he used, to my memory, did not appear in that article. There were very sound reasons at the time with regard to those particular issues. My understanding is that in all those cases he mentioned initial assessments were made that the children involved were not at risk. I will hand over to my colleague, the minister for Families, for further details.
Mr VATSKALIS (Children and Families): Madam Speaker, I concur with my colleague, the Chief Minister. Those words were not published in the NT News, despite the best efforts of a very well-known person who worked for the CLP for many years and will write anything for the CLP.
The reality is, every single …
Ms Scrymgour: Was it Murphy, then?
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes, Mr Murphy, quite right. And if you believe what Mr Murphy says, you may as well believe that aliens landed in Palmerston.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr VATSALIS: Every time the department receives …
A member interjecting.
Mr VATSKALIS: I will wait until the interjections cease.
Every time an investigation is made by the department, that investigation is assessed by professionals. For an investigation to commence, it has to meet certain criteria. I have been advised that all these 500 notifications were assessed by professionals and were found not to meet the threshold criteria for investigation to commence.
We are the only government that is seriously addressing the issue of child protection. You cannot create and run a system with $7m a year. We are spending $135m a year. A few days ago, the Leader of the Opposition announced a new policy to address the issues of child protection with $9m. Today, I announced $9.5m for the next six months of this financial year to meet urgent needs. That is the first down payment of the $130m, on top of the existing budget, for the next five years. We mean business regarding child protection. The system is wrong and we are going to fix it.
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance: this is about the 500 which have been covered from view - children’s cases being hidden.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, have you finished your answer, or are you continuing?
Mr VATSKALIS: It is absolutely relevant. Our government is putting in the money and the effort to fix the system.
Power Outages - Humpty Doo Area
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES
Last Sunday night at the Humpty Doo shopping centre I was approached by two friends who told me the power in the area where they live had gone off between four to seven times that day. They live in or near the Woodlands Road subdivision at Humpty Doo. They also said there have been many outages over the last two months. Surely this cannot be all down to bats. Could you explain why people in the rural area are suffering from so many outages, especially last Sunday. What plans do you have in place to reduce or stop these outages before the Wet Season is in full swing? Are there different standards for city versus rural when it comes to reliability of power supply?
Mr Westra van Holthe: Good question, Gerry. You could ask that of Mataranka as well.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. Obviously, a rural area is a different type of network structure than the urban areas and poses more problems with reliability.
The issues we have been facing in the rural area of late have been animals, storms coming through, and trees coming across the power lines. We have crews out there, but because of the network in the rural area, it takes longer to fix the problem, especially if it is a solid fault. We have reclosers, and they are used, however, when we get a solid fault, whether it is a snake, a tree branch, or whatever it might be, crews have to go along all the power lines and find them. We also have a program of replacement of cross arms and replacement of the insulators, and that work is happening at the moment.
We could not have done this without an expanded budget, which is what has happened under this government. We have increased our repairs and maintenance budget, and we have increased our capital budget. We are about rebuilding Power and Water. It has been neglected, and we are about ensuring it is better in the future.
The crews do a very good job. Many of them are local residents who understand the difficulties. We are happy to work with you, and perhaps I can ask Power and Water to give you a better understanding of what they are doing out there and the difficulties they face.
Jobs Growth – Global Financial Crisis Impact
Mr GUNNER to TREASURER
Can you please update the House on how the Henderson government has delivered more new jobs against the challenges of the global financial crisis?
Mr Tollner: There is a statement on this, this afternoon.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I know the member for Fong Lim does not want to hear it; however, for our government - a Labor government - protecting jobs and creating new jobs is one of the most important economic indicators. Our jobs growth and unemployment rate are the envy of the nation. We have created around 5000 new jobs in the past year; that is 5000 new jobs created when other countries have seen dramatic increases in unemployment as a result of the global financial crisis.
We took a responsible fiscal approach to our 2009-10 and 2010-11 budgets to work against the effects of the global financial crisis to ensure record infrastructure investment supported and protected the jobs that were there, and also securing and creating new jobs. We have shouldered the construction sector in the Territory with this public spend against the slowing down we saw in private investment.
When we announced the record $1.8bn infrastructure budget, the Master Builders Association stated - and I will quote from the Master Builders spokesperson:
- … introduced 3600 extra jobs, but it will actually save existing jobs that are already here and we need that for future projects.
Unlike the CLP, which is opposed to the strategy, industry gets it. They understand the importance of our stimulus, coupled with the national stimulus from the Commonwealth Labor government. The CLP lack credibility when it comes to the economy. We have demonstrated fiscal restraint by limiting expenditure growth last financial year in 2009-10 to just 3%, compared to an average expenditure growth previously of 12%. In stark contrast, the CLP want to slash about 700 jobs across the public service.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Ms LAWRIE: We know they do not want to hear the facts because they stand alone in wanting to slash jobs while industry understands the importance of saving and creating jobs.
GSP data for 2009-10 released last week clearly shows that, without the significant lift we undertook in public expenditure in infrastructure, the Territory economy faced contraction. Over this period, our economy actually strengthened by 1.3% above our growth forecast of 0.4%. It is a 56% boost in public expenditure in infrastructure that was underpinning the economic growth of the 2009-10 financial year. It is our strong financial management that has ensured Territorians have kept their jobs, and new jobs have been created for those Territorians who are school leavers.
Child Protection Services – Closure of Cases and Report by Ombudsman
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
The Treasurer just accused the opposition of lacking credibility. You lack credibility, and you also owe an apology to Mr Murphy and Alyssa Betts. I quote from the NT News:
- The Ombudsman is investigating whether the NT Families and Children cooked the books in up to 500 child protection cases so they could say they were completed.
How can you be believed when you will stop at nothing to deceive, evade, and to abdicate yourself from responsibility?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this is a report from the Ombudsman that no one has seen yet. No one has seen the report, so I do not know what is in the report, because I have not seen it.
When I met with the Ombudsman - and this is on the public record - I said if she were to call an inquiry using her own motion powers into these issues, then she would have the full access to information government could provide.
This government has said all along that we need to see significant improvements. We called an independent inquiry by the best experts this nation could muster. We accepted the recommendations in that report. We have funded $130m to implement those recommendations. We have a much broader policy agenda to provide for safe lives for children across the Territory through our A Working Future policy.
It is not just additional frontline child protection workers who are going to make the lives of children significantly better in the Territory. It is improvements to housing - new housing throughout the Northern Territory. It is about more police on communities. It is about better schools, and access to secondary education in the Territory that was denied for so many years to people under a CLP government. It is about addressing the grog issues in the Northern Territory, not like the CLP policy to pour more grog onto the dysfunction of the Northern Territory.
It is about working to create jobs for Indigenous people throughout the Northern Territory. It is about investing in our 20 towns across the Northern Territory, to the tune of $900m last year …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The question was quite succinct. I am wondering if the minister could abide by Standing Order 113, in which the answer should be succinct, concise, and directly relevant to the question – otherwise, sit down.
Madam SPEAKER: The question was not succinct. Chief Minister, you have the call; come to the point.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, this is an opposition that is attempting to grandstand on a very serious and important issue. Anyone who understands the complexities of the issues here …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Mr HENDERSON: They are not interested in hearing the answers, Madam Speaker.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Indigenous Employment
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for INDIGENOUS DEVELOPMENT
Can you outline …
A member interjecting.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: You do not like good news or truth.
Can you outline the actions the Territory Labor government is taking to create more jobs for Indigenous Territorians …
A member interjecting.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: And you hate Aboriginal people having jobs, don’t you?
… for Indigenous Territorians through A Working Future?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. The Territory Labor government is going where no CLP government has gone in the history of the Northern Territory in committing to our remote growth towns across the Northern Territory, extending our growth economy from the major towns and cities to the bush. This government has no higher priority than making sure all families of the Northern Territory have a future. Our key Indigenous development policy, A Working Future, is predicated on this very principle, and we are working in a coordinated way with the federal government to improve infrastructure, to improve services, to grow local economies and, in partnership with the private sector, to ensure there are real jobs into the future.
We are investing nearly $1bn into the regions. We are reviewing and reshaping our procurement policies to maximise Indigenous training and employment outcomes from government investments.
Members interjecting.
Ms McCARTHY: You see, the CLP has never been interested in jobs for Indigenous people in the bush, never, ever been interested. We are the government that is reaching out to every single family across the Northern Territory.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Opposition members!
Ms McCARTHY: It shows that they are not interested. They do not care that nearly $1bn is going into a region where none of them in their previous time ever committed to the Indigenous people of the Northern Territory.
We are working with land councils on land leasing to facilitate business investments on Aboriginal land, including investment by traditional owners and their trading companies. We continue to support our shires to transition CDEP workers to mainstream jobs in local government. Collectively, our eight regional shires employ more than 2500 people, with Indigenous Territorians comprising 75% of this workforce.
Mr Mills: You had better go and help them then. Go and help them, do something real.
Ms McCARTHY: The Leader of the Opposition, no mention of any policies for Indigenous people in the bush, no mention of jobs for Indigenous people in the bush. That is the clear difference between the Australian Labor Party and the CLP - they do not care about the people in the regions.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms McCARTHY: Our vision for the Northern Territory is that all Territorians, no matter where they live …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Ms McCARTHY: … have the opportunity and capacity to participate in the workforce, unlike the CLP.
Tiger Brennan Drive – Entry Ramps
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for TRANSPORT
The recent safety audit showed a number of safety concerns with the entry ramps onto Tiger Brennan Drive. Considering that the original design was required to allow for road trains, why, according to the safety audit, has it been shown that three of the entry ramps have bends which could cause a truck to turn over. Will the faults with the entry ramps be rectified, and who will foot the repair bill: the engineering design company, the construction company, or the government?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. It is correct: there are additional works to be done on the Tiger Brennan Drive extension, and safety is the top priority. We are undertaking additional works on this project. Last night, I was discussing with businesses in Pinelands the scope of the additional works that will be undertaken. I congratulate Macmahon, which is very proactive in its part in this process and was acknowledged last night as well.
Through negotiation, and working with department staff and the contractor, we will be able to undertake the majority of the works within the existing project budget. Some of these, however, will be outside that scope and we will ensure that the Northern Territory government will fund those additional elements. We will keep safety as a top priority; that is the bottom line. It is worth highlighting that, with a project of this size and scope, over quite a number of years, that safety audits have shifted, they have changed. The most recent audit …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Drysdale!
Mr McCARTHY: … and I thank the member for his question and his attendance …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson!
Mr McCARTHY: … at the meeting yesterday, highlighted …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale!
Mr McCARTHY: … those initiatives which need to be addressed immediately, and we are addressing them. We will ensure accessibility and sustainability for those businesses, and the final costs of the additional works will be tabled at the completion of that project …
Members interjecting.
Mr McCARTHY: A lot of chit chat today.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Opposition members! Order! Order! Member for Brennan! Member for Katherine!
Mr McCARTHY: Thank you, Madam Speaker. As I said, the final costs of these additional works will be known in the final designs of this project.
Child Protection Services – Closure of Cases
Mrs LAMBLEY to MINISTER for CHILD PROTECTION
Who was responsible for the scandalous decision by NT Families and Children to close 500 child protection cases without an investigation? When was that outrageous decision taken? What steps have you taken to ascertain whether the children denied the protection of your department have come to harm?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, one of the things the inquiry said was to please not use this report as a political weapon to fight each other; work together to get some results for Territorians.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr VATSKALIS: This is a very good example that they will use the inquiry as a political weapon to benefit themselves. Do I believe they are genuine? No, I do not, for the simple reason I get very angry when the Leader of the Opposition preaches about child protection, the same person who was going to deny child protection to underage Aboriginal girls who had sex with older men under the defence of traditional marriage.
In November 2003, when we introduced legislation to remove the defence of traditional marriage from old men who had sex with underage girls, this is the same person - here is the transcript of what he said on television, ABC and Channel 9:
- When I was asked would I consider repealing, I was asked that question and I said yes. Yes, I would consider repealing it.
He was prepared to change the legislation in order for older men to have sex with underage girls and he is talking about child protection?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: There are far too many interjections, honourable members. What is your point of order, member for Port Darwin?
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Speaker, Standing Order 113. He was asked a specific question; will he answer it?
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the point, please?
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Speaker, I spent quite a bit of time in my early days studying Latin. The Ancient Romans said: ‘What is written remains forever and ever’. The Leader of the Opposition will stand condemned …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! You have given the minister an instruction; I ask that he abide by it.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, if you can come to the point. There were comments in the preamble.
Mr VATSKALIS: This is the statement of the Leader of the Opposition, and he comes here to talk about child protection? He is the last person to talk about …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! You have given the minister an instruction; I ask that he abide by it.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, can you come to the point about the question, please?
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Speaker, we have been asked the question and we have answered it three times. The answer is: all these cases were assessed by experts - not pretend experts; by experts - and the experts decided they did not meet the threshold to be further investigated. The department relies on the advice of the experts to make decisions.
Taxation Assistance to Small and Medium Business
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for BUSINESS and EMPLOYMENT
How has maintaining the lowest level of taxes on businesses in the nation assisted the Territory’s small and medium business sector?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this government is committed to economic growth, supporting Territory businesses, and creating jobs. In doing that, we are about cutting business expenses and maintaining the lowest level of taxation in Australia. We know the small to medium businesses are important to our economy. They make up 99% of all businesses in our economy; they are vital and employ a range of people, from the apprentices the Chief Minister and I saw today, through to professional and technical people.
How does the Henderson government deliver assistance to these vital groups, especially in a period of economic crisis with the global financial crisis? We did that through having the lowest taxes in the nation for these SMEs. I have a graph which shows that we have the lowest taxes in the nation by a mile. That is how we help small to medium businesses. We are a pro-business government. The Leader of the Opposition …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr KNIGHT: … is the most anti-business leader I have seen in the history of this parliament. In the time he has been the shadow I have not received one question about business – not a single question. He is not very interested …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Honourable members! Order! Opposition members! Leader of the Opposition! Order!
Mr KNIGHT: He is the worst CLP leader they have ever had. We are delighted on this side.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr KNIGHT: How does this affect the bottom line of these businesses? Accumulative savings over the period of this government for lower taxes for small to medium businesses have been $291m, which they have not had to pay. That has gone in their pockets to reinvest in their business. The solution of the opposition is to raise company taxes. We voted for lowering company tax; they voted for raising company tax. They are a disgrace. The worst CLP leader in their history.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Honourable members, there are far too many interjections. I remind you of Standing Order 51:
- No Member may converse aloud or make any noise or disturbance, which in the opinion of the Speaker is designed to interrupt or has the effect of interrupting a Member speaking.
Child Protection Services – Closure of Cases
Mrs LAMBLEY to MINISTER for CHILD PROTECTION
What were the professional qualifications of the NT Families and Children staff who closed cases without an investigation? I ask you again: can you assure the House none of the children who were part of this scandalous cover-up have come to harm?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I have to admit the new member for Araluen is a good storyteller. She makes up stories. There was no cover-up. The people employed by the department are qualified university graduate social workers. The people who assess these notifications are fully-qualified. They are not people like me; I have no qualifications in social work, and I would be unable to make an assessment. They are properly qualified and are employed as such.
Today, I launched a new web page to recruit more university-qualified people, not only from Australia, but from overseas as well. People can apply online. This is in order to attract 42 new people, on top of the 76 we previously promised. In 2001, the CLP had just over 100 people, not all of them qualified; qualified and supported. We now have 500 – 362 of them are frontline people, most of them university qualified.
These people assessed every investigation, and they decided the cases did not meet the threshold to initiate investigation and, as such, none of these children were considered to be at risk or in danger. If we detect a person is at risk or in danger, or even neglected, we react immediately. For these people …
Mr Bohlin: One minute you have 500, the next minute they are all gone.
Mr VATSKALIS: If you want a job, and you are qualified, please apply. We would love to hear from you …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Drysdale!
Mr VATSKALIS: As I said before, every decision the department makes is not made haphazardly. We are talking about kids’ lives here. We are not talking about buying a product and throwing it away. We are talking about kids’ lives.
Contrary to the CLP, we really mean business. We have done a great deal of work. In 1993, the CLP’s policy was to have a full-time northern branch for child protection, and a part-time unit for Central Australia. The CLP did not even have a child protection minister. In 1994, they came out with a highlight: they employed five more people for child protection – five! When they appointed a child protection minister, it was the most junior MLA in the ranks of the CLP.
They come to us with ideas they hijacked from us. We first had the idea of splitting the department. Surprise, surprise! They came up with the idea of splitting the department and, with $9m, are going to fix the system.
Mr Conlan: You were dragged kicking and screaming to it by the opposition.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Conlan: The former member for Araluen dragged you kicking and screaming to this inquiry. You could not give a stuff about it!
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Greatorex!
Mr VATSKALIS: I have to say that none of our ministers ever made such a shocking statement as the Leader of the Opposition to repeal a law to remove protection for underage Aboriginal girls.
Shooters’ Licences - Renewal
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
Last Saturday, I was asked by a constituent about renewal of a Category H Sport Shooter’s licence. The constituent forgot to renew his licence – and they are only annual licences - by 14 days, and now he has to go through the whole process of starting again to obtain a licence, meaning he will now not be able to compete in national titles or maybe even the Arafura Games.
Considering the MVR sends out renewal notices for car and truck licences, why can the police not do the same when it comes to shooters’ licences? Why does an experienced competition shooter have to start all over again to get a licence just because he was 14 days late, even when he had the correct number of competitive shoots? Is there no room for common sense?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. He really is a good local member. This is a good …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Opposition members!
Mr HENDERSON: They are an embarrassment, Madam Speaker.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Arafura!
Mr HENDERSON: If the members opposite do not want to hear the answer, I will have a chat to the member for Nelson behind the Chair and try to fix this problem.
Under the Firearms Act, if a shooter fails to renew a licence that expires, then they must apply for a new licence. This is a long-standing legislative requirement. I will have my office work with the Firearms Policy and Recording Unit to ensure licences are renewed in a timely manner.
I am advised this issue should not prevent these shooters from competing at the Arafura Games. I am happy to work with the member for Nelson to ensure his constituent is not disadvantaged.
It is also worth noting the business practices of the Firearms Policy and Recording Unit are currently being reviewed, including the Firearms Policy Manual and legislative reform to assist with licence and permit processing. Groups like the Darwin Pistol Club and other key stakeholders will be involved in the consultative process relating to the review.
It is not the intention to disallow people to compete in national and international sporting competitions. My advice is this issue should not prevent these shooters from competing at the Arafura Games. I am happy to work with the member for Nelson to ensure his constituent can compete.
Commonwealth Electoral Act - Bribery Laws
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for JUSTICE and ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Can you please inform the House of the laws relating to bribery under the Commonwealth Electoral Act?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his important question. Under the Commonwealth Electoral Act, a person can face up to two years gaol, or a $5000 fine, or both, if found guilty of trying to influence a person’s candidature by offering a benefit of any kind. I table a copy of the relevant section of the Commonwealth legislation for members.
Section 326(1)(b) of the Commonwealth act states that a person shall not offer any benefit of any kind to another person on the understanding that the person’s candidature will in any manner be affected or influenced.
Under section 326(2)(b):
- A person shall not, with the intention of influencing or affecting:
…
(b) any candidature of another person; …
…
give or confer, or promise or offer to give or confer, any property or benefit of any kind to that other person …
A media report in Alice Springs, and I will table a copy of that, suggests that the Leader of the Opposition may have broken these laws with allegations he offered Mr Leo Abbott a job to induce Mr Abbott to pull out of the CLP candidacy for the seat of Lingiari following allegations of domestic violence against Mr Abbott.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, this is a very serious allegation that the Leader of the Opposition has failed to deny. The Leader of the Opposition needs to assure this House that he did not break the law by trying to influence a person’s candidature by offering a benefit of any kind. Did you break the law and offer a job to a candidate you tried to disendorse? Come clean!
Ms Purick: On that whoopee weed.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Goyder, I would ask you to withdraw that interjection.
Ms Purick: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you very much.
Government Action on Claims of Bullying
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Your failure to implement an investigation into claims of bullying by hospital social worker, Susan Mansfield, speaks volumes of your government’s approach to whistleblowers. If you are a public servant, and you tell the truth in the Northern Territory, you can be bullied and the government will not protect you.
In a recent survey of public servants, and this should be of concern to you, 43% believe there is bullying and harassment in the workplace, and 22% said they had been bullied in the past 12 months.
Why have you not acted on the bullying claims made by Susan Mansfield? Why does your government condone public servants being bullied and intimidated by superiors?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
ANSWER
Dear, oh dear, Madam Speaker. First of all, there are very clear processes under the Public Sector Employment and Management Act where, if people do feel they are being mistreated in the workplace, they can access those provisions.
Of course we do not support bullying in the workplace.
In regard to the issues, in particular around that lady, it is my understanding that she has had an opportunity to raise those concerns with the new chief executive of the department, and also the acting chief executive of the department of Families. It is not up to me to inquire into the results of those discussions, but I am advised that she was offered the opportunity to relay her concerns. It is certainly something that I encouraged; it was going to happen anyway.
In regard to the broader issues surrounding this issue, it is this government which introduced whistleblowers legislation to provide an avenue for people who believed there was a significant failure in public administration for those people to go to a whistleblowers’ commissioner.
It is something the CLP refused to do in the 27 years that they were in government, as they refused to implement freedom of information legislation and a whole heap of other governance reforms that we have introduced as a government.
I say to our public servants that bullying in the workplace is to be condemned. There are processes that people can follow through the Public Sector Employment and Management Act, and the whistleblower commissioner is there as a backstop in the event that people feel they are not getting heard in the workplace.
That is the answer to the Leader of the Opposition’s question. As I have said, the particular person concerned has been given an opportunity to raise her concerns with the new chief executive of the department.
Child Protection Services – Failure of System
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Less than a month after the inquiry into child protection detailed the catastrophic failure of child protection services in the Northern Territory, we have the same old evasion, denial and duplicity that has characterised Labor’s approach to child protection. All the way through it …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr MILLS: … we have seen it through this Question Time. Your government’s responses to these questions today have been totally unacceptable. Chief Minister, you blame the system and you call it a wrong system. In fact …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Is this a censure motion?
Madam SPEAKER: This is a question at the moment.
Mr MILLS: Stay in your seat and you will find out …
Ms Lawrie: Is it a censure motion?
Madam SPEAKER: It is a question at the moment. Order!
Mr MILLS: Stay in your seat! In fact, Chief Minister, it is the wrong government, and it is, in fact, the worst government in the history of the Northern Territory …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr MILLS: Labor has disastrously failed the Territory’s most vulnerable and it cannot be allowed to continue.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, your time has expired.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
Move Proposed Motion of Censure
Move Proposed Motion of Censure
Mr MILLS: Madam Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent me from censuring the government on its management of child protection.
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Resume your seat please!
Honourable members, it is far too noisy to even hear what is going on. I believe the Leader of the Opposition moved a suspension of standing orders to move a censure motion. Is that correct?
Mr MILLS: That is correct, Madam Speaker.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): I will accept the censure, Madam Speaker. I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016