2011-11-22
Police, Fire and Emergency Services Annual Report – Table of False Fire Alarm Call Outs
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
The Police annual report was finally released yesterday. Here is a table on unwanted false fire alarms contained in this year’s document, and here is the table on the same call outs from last year’s Police annual report. The figures are exactly the same. The table has been cut from last year’s document and pasted in this year’s document ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: Chief Minister, this is a cut and paste job. As Chief Minister and Police minister, how did you allow this to happen?
ANSWER
Dear, oh dear …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Opposition members! Cease interjecting, opposition members!
Mr HENDERSON: First, I would like the Leader of the Opposition to table those documents.
Mr Mills: By all means.
Madam SPEAKER: Seek leave to table those, thank you. Leader of the Opposition, seek leave, thank you.
Mr MILLS: I seek leave to table these two identical documents from two different places.
Leave granted.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Obviously, I will take advice.
I point out to the Leader of the Opposition that the Police, Fire and Emergency Services Annual Report is an annual report by the Police Commissioner to this parliament. It is not a report of government. It is a report of the Police Commissioner who heads up the tri-service. It is his report to this parliament.
The Leader of the Opposition has made a serious allegation. We will get advice on that. The report has been tabled here as soon as it was provided to my office. The opposition has form in bodgying statistics. I will never forget the day the very tricky member for Port Darwin came in with bodgied police roster statistics. He was caught red-handed fabricating those. I point out …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! He well knows that if he wants to make an allegation of that nature he can do so by way of substantive motion.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, I do not believe he made a proper allegation. Chief Minister, keep to the standing orders, please.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! He made an allegation that I had falsified documents and an allegation that I was misleading the House. It is not true, and he can do so by substantive motion.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, you can resume your seat. Chief Minister, if you can just reword, thank you.
Dr Burns interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of Government Business, cease interjecting!
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. History is history and we all know what happened. If the member is feeling aggrieved, I will withdraw, but I urge anyone to go back to the Hansard for that particular debate.
In regard to this annual report, I will take advice. It is the report of the Police Commissioner to this parliament; it is not a government report.
____________________
Distinguished Visitor
Hon Syd Stirling
Hon Syd Stirling
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Hon Syd Stirling, former member for Nhulunbuy and former Deputy Chief Minister. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
____________________
Mr Conlan interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, cease interjecting!
Statehood for the Northern Territory - Progress
Ms SCRYMGOUR to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you please advise the House on progress towards statehood for the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is with a degree of sadness that I stand up and answer this question today, given the amazing contribution in debate prior to Question Time where the member for Fong Lim comprehensively rolled the Leader of the Opposition on the issue of statehood …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: We did have clear and bipartisan support for the roadmap to statehood. That had come through the Constitutional Convention Committee, through the Statehood Steering Committee and the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee of this parliament that comprises the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Brennan.
At every stage we had agreement on the time frame, the pathway, and the mechanisms to achieve a Constitutional Convention next year and an election for that. Today, the member for Fong Lim, came in here with venom and vitriol and trashed what had been a bipartisan and agreed position on a pathway towards statehood.
The Leader of the Opposition has been very supportive. At a media conference I held with the Leader of the Opposition and the Statehood Minister in June this year, after we debated the report in this House and the recommendations from the Statehood Steering Committee and the Legal Constitutional Affairs Committee, the Leader of the Opposition said:
- I am encouraging anyone out there to recognise the importance of this moment and be part of this. Make that decision, put your hand up and step forward and be part of history so that we become the seventh state.
A total commitment rolled by the Leader of the Opposition in terms of the time frame. Leader of the Opposition, you have been rolled by the member for Fong Lim …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … on Angela Pamela, you have been rolled by the member for Fong Lim on climate change, you have been rolled by the member for Fong Lim now …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Opposition members will cease interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: … on statehood. Leader of the Opposition, you are weak, weak, weak. You need to go back into that party room, get commitment to the pathway, to the roadmap, and stand by your commitment that you have made to the hundreds of people who have been working so hard and for so long to determine this pathway, to determine this roadmap …
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Could the honourable member direct his intimidating comments through the Chair?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, this is a very serious moment in the juncture of moving towards statehood. The Leader of the Opposition needs to stand by his commitment to the people of the Northern Territory, stand by his commitment to …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Mr HENDERSON: … the Statehood Steering Committee and stand by his commitment to Territorians …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Police, Fire and Emergency Services Annual Report – Protective Custody Numbers
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Your Police annual report records a reduction in the number of people taken into protective custody from 35 000 to 20 000. Considering that we have seen year-on-year increases in the previous five years, how do you explain a drop of 15 000 cases last financial year? Despite this significant drop, your report contains no footnote or further explanation. Are the figures a mistake, a typo, or have the numbers simply been made up?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, that is an outrageous allegation …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Drysdale!
Mr HENDERSON: … against the Police Commissioner. This is his report. It is not my report, Leader of the Opposition ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition members will cease interjecting! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: It is an outrageous allegation that the Police Commissioner would falsify numbers in his annual report. It just shows the lack of respect the Leader of the Opposition has for our public service, and our police and our Police Commissioner.
If the Leader of the Opposition had any capacity to follow public debate, he would recognise that some time ago the Ombudsman had concerns regarding the numbers of people taken into protective custody and the authority of the police to do so. The Police Commissioner obviously took those issues into account and, as a government, we amended legislation in this parliament to provide certainty for police in terms of taking people into protective custody. That debate has been through this parliament. The Ombudsman has raised these issues, and that would explain, in part, the discrepancy year-on-year.
What I can say is that our alcohol reforms are working. Our Enough Is Enough alcohol reforms are starting to make a difference around the Northern Territory, and ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Opposition members!
Mr HENDERSON: ... we know that, tragically, so many people taken into protective custody night after night are gripped by the demon of drink, and now so many of those people are not able to access alcohol. The opposition would scrap these reforms, which would directly lead to more and more people being taken into protective custody.
The Leader of the Opposition is being too cute by half. I stand by the Police Commissioner and the accuracy of those statistics in his report. It is an outrageous allegation to assert they had been made up. If the Leader of the Opposition had any capacity to follow debate in this area, he would understand concerns were raised by the Ombudsman, they were responded to by police, government legislated to give police certainty in the powers they have, and that is the reason for the change in numbers year-on-year.
Those numbers will be driven down because people who are taken into protective custody night after night are now off tap and have an opportunity to get their lives back together.
Increased Rights for Territorians – Effect of Federal Legislation
Ms WALKER to LEADER of GOVERNMENT BUSINESS
Can you please advise the House on the increased rights for Territorians and this parliament as a result of legislation passed in Canberra earlier this month?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. Indeed, before legislation was recently passed in the Commonwealth parliaments, a Commonwealth minister, at the stroke of a pen, could overturn Northern Territory legislation. The situation now, as we heard earlier today, is there has to be a decision of both parliaments of Australia before Northern Territory legislation can be overturned.
It was very interesting to go through the Hansard of that debate and read what Senator Scullion had to say when trying to defend his opposition to this bill which actually accords more rights to this parliament and the people of the Territory. He started talking about issues such as the fact that we could start our own navy; we could have our own currency, taxation and immigration. It is really quite bizarre as a defence to oppose something ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: ... that would give more rights to Territorians. I was particularly interested to hear what Marshall Perron had to say about this. He included the member for Solomon, Natasha Griggs, when he said:
- Natasha is clutching at straws to try and find some justification for her stance.
He then goes on to talk about Tony Abbott’s pigheaded policies, and that he was opposing this just because it was presented by the Greens.
It was very interesting to read the member for Fong Lim’s defence of this measure also, where he says:
- Well, I think, Kate, you have to understand that people in the federal parliament are there to represent the national interests. I mean, here in the Northern Territory we represent Northern Territory interests, and that is the way it should be.
There it is in plain daylight for people to see. The member for Fong Lim says our federal representatives are not here to represent Territorians. Well, I utterly reject that. I believe the last word ...
A member interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: ... should go to Marshall Perron. The member for Fong Lim said:
- So I disagree with Marshall Perron. I sent a message to Marshall Perron this morning that he needs to get a briefing on it; he needs to understand some of the detail that is being put forward ...
And the reporter said:
- And he sent a message back saying the CLP needs to get a briefing on it.
It is plain to Marshall Perron and plain to everyone that this party opposes rights for Territorians and is blocking the way to statehood.
Banned Drinker Register – Police Lockup
Mr STYLES to CHIEF MINISTER
Problem drinkers are placed on the Banned Drinker Register by being taken to the police lockup, not sobering-up shelters or driven home. If the BDR is so effective, why not take problem drinkers to the police lockup and put them on the register?
ANSWER
Dear, oh dear, Madam Speaker, these questions really are quite bizarre. Of course, we have just had the Leader of the Opposition say the Police annual report shows that on 20 000 occasions last year people were taken to the lockup, then we have the genius member for Sanderson say they are not being taken to the lockup. Get your acts together.
Mr Bohlin: Answer the question!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: Who is coordinating your Question Time strategy?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: Who is coordinating? Either they are being taken to the lockup 20 000 times or 30 000 times …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Drysdale! Order
Mr HENDERSON: … or they are not being taken to the lockup at all and they are being taken home.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Sanderson! Member for Greatorex!
Mr HENDERSON: What a ridiculous assertion! The tragedy of this is so many people being picked up out of the gutter, night after night after night, because of their addiction to alcohol. That is what we are addressing through these reforms, putting people off tap so they cannot get access to alcohol, establishing the alcohol tribunals to get people into rehab. Over 1700 people who were living an existence in the grip of alcohol - many of whom were being picked up night after night after night and taken to the lockup - now have the opportunity to get their lives back together.
Our police say these new laws are the best tools they have to combat crime ...
Mr Styles: How many beds do you have?
Mr HENDERSON: If the member for Sanderson, who once was a police officer, has any mates left in the police force, talk to them about how effective this legislation is. Every copper I talk to says these are the best tools they have ever had …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Drysdale!
Mr HENDERSON: … and the opposition would scrap these tools, 1800-plus people would be back on the grog filling up our lockups and our police stations ...
Mr Westra van Holthe interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine!
Mr HENDERSON: Shame on the opposition. I believe it is an absolute tragedy that so many people are taken into the sobering-up shelters and the lockup night after night. We are giving those people an opportunity, through these reforms, of breaking the cycle of their access to alcohol - reforms the CLP would scrap, and those 1800 people who are now off tap would be back on the grog, across the Northern Territory, drinking and driving, committing assaults and domestic violence, filling up our lockups night after night because they have no policy …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine!
Mr HENDERSON: … and they would turn the tap back on to 1800 problem drinkers.
Royal Darwin Hospital – Bulkbilling Paediatric Patients
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for HEALTH
In July 2008, a new item, No 135, was introduced by Medicare which was designed to help families with children diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders to access allied health services. For public-employed paediatricians, a problem arises with the necessity to bill the patient in order to register the item 135 with Medicare. They are seen to be double dipping if they are employed by the government but also bulkbilling Medicare. In other jurisdictions, this has been overcome by the establishment of a trust fund. Funds collected in the trust fund then belong to the department, not to individual doctors.
Is your department disadvantaging families by instructing the paediatric department at Royal Darwin Hospital not to pursue any form of bulkbilling because of legal implications, something which is actively preventing many families from accessing care to which they are entitled?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. It is a very important question, especially for kids who suffer these types of diseases. No, it was not a departmental instruction to the paediatricians not to bulkbill under the Medicare item; it was actually the paediatricians themselves, because they felt they were double dipping and they thought they might find themselves in some trouble with the taxation department. Under interim arrangements now, the department and the doctors charge properly; they bulkbill the patients, or their parents, with the item 135. We are progressing to a long-term solution of the problem in order to avoid any problems, both with the ATO and Medicare.
The revenue generated by the paediatricians by item 135 is considered to be taxable income, for the doctors and for the hospital.
I reiterate: it was not the department instructing the paediatricians not to do it; it was the paediatricians themselves, as they felt they were double dipping and that could create some problems with the Taxation department and Medicare. This problem will be resolved by January 2012.
Angela Pamela Uranium Mine - Update
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
Can you please update the House on the proposed Angela Pamela uranium mine near Alice Springs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her very important question for Territorians and Central Australians.
During the Araluen by-election last year, the member for Araluen ran her election campaign on the basis of not supporting the Angela Pamela uranium mine 30 km south of Alice Springs ...
Ms Scrymgour: Lies!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Arafura!
Mr HAMPTON: Even Country Liberal Party campaign ads in the local paper …
Mr CHANDLER: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Mr HAMPTON: … opposing the Angela Pamela uranium mine, and what a huge backflip that was for the member for Araluen …
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause, minister!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Arafura, would you mind withdrawing that comment, thank you.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: What the bit that she lied …
Madam SPEAKER: Just withdraw, thank you. Minister, you have the call.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: I withdraw.
Mr CHANDLER: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
Ms Scrymgour: I withdrew, member.
Mr CHANDLER: That is not my point of order.
Ms Scrymgour: Oh sit down, you …
Madam SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
Mr CHANDLER: The member for Arafura asked a question, an update on Angela Pamela. It has nothing to do with the Araluen by-election.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Brennan, resume your seat.
Mr HAMPTON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. We know the opposition is truly divided on this issue.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Arafura!
Mr HAMPTON: The Angela Pamela uranium mine issue in Alice Springs is very important. We know the opposition is divided. We know at the time of the by-election the Opposition Leader came out ranting and raving that he also opposes Angela Pamela. However, we know that the member for Fong Lim actually supports Angela Pamela, and we know who has the power over there. The member for Fong Lim again rolled the Leader of the Opposition on the policy of Angela Pamela.
It is a sad day for Territorians in terms of statehood and the motion they spoke to today …
Mr CHANDLER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Again, the member for Arafura asked for an update on Angela Pamela. I would like the minister to answer the question.
Madam SPEAKER: Resume your seat. Minister, if you could come to the point?
Mr HAMPTON: They are very twitchy over there about Angela Pamela. We know they are divided, we know there is no leadership over there, they are a divided party on policy, divided on leadership. Who is the real leader over there? The bloke ranting and raving now, the member for Fong Lim.
Mr Conlan: Oh God, is that it.
Mr Henderson: Put him out of his misery, Dave.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, there has been a ridiculous number of interjections such that I cannot hear whoever the minister is who has the call. 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.
I remind members that there are people trying to listen to this broadcast, and I am sure they would like to hear the answers as well as the questions. Minister, you have 20 seconds.
Mr HAMPTON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will continue regarding the opposition. It is divided on policy, divided on leadership, and is the worst opposition in the Territory’s parliamentary history …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order.
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! As the member for Brennan said, it would have been good to get an update on what is happening with Angela Pamela. That was the question, Madam Speaker ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, that is not a point of order, resume your seat.
Banned Drinker Register – Increased Break-ins at Licensed Premises
Mr STYLES to MINISTER for ALCOHOL POLICY
Last week, machete-wielding youths robbed the bottle shop at Hidden Valley, taking numerous bottles of spirits. The owner says there has been an increase in thefts since the introduction of the Banned Drinker Register, and female staff are no longer able to work nights at the bottle shop. Why are ordinary Territorians being made victims of your flawed policy?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Braitling, member for Greatorex, member for Brennan!
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question. It goes to show how out of touch the member for Sanderson really is on this subject. I held a meeting with 40 licensees to discuss what they are seeing with the roll-out of the Banned Drinker Register. I particularly talked to the licensee of Hidden Valley Tavern because he was in the media reporting concerns and complaints around break-ins at the premise. I pointed out to him that they have been very effective. Work has taken place between police and licensees to harden premises, to work effectively with licensees who have any concerns. I offered him the opportunity of following up and getting the police to do the crime prevention through environmental design to harden up the premises. He has not followed up on that offer ...
Mr Chandler: It should not be necessary.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Brennan!
Ms LAWRIE: Interesting in that discussion though, the other licensees have said: ‘Let’s get real’. Licensed premises have always been broken into. They went on to talk about ram raids that have occurred in bottle shops in and around the town in the past. None of the licensees were sitting there saying that the break-ins at commercial premises are a direct result of turning the problem drinker off tap. They all recognise that, through the years, there have always been people who break-in, or attempt to ram raid and break-in to licensed premises.
I will give you a few anecdotes around the extent that licensees have gone to in the past to harden their premises, including using forklifts against roller shutter doors, all prior to the Enough is Enough reforms.
You are chasing rabbits down burrows because, to your eternal shame, against the advice of the entire health sector, against the advice of the licensees who have been constructive partners in our Enough is Enough reforms, the AHA and the liquor stores who all recognise that turning the problem drinker off tap to drive down crime is actually the sensible response.
What are we seeing? A 15% reduction in alcohol-related assaults across the Territory in the first three months of the reforms. We are seeing a 22% reduction in alcohol-related incidents in the first three months of the reforms.
You bury your head in the sand and want to think it is not working. I will listen to the licensees. The feedback I am getting from them has been positive and constructive. There is a genuine offer from the government for the police to work with individual licensed premises if they want to harden up their premises, if they want to carry out undercover operations which have been very effective in capturing people. At the end of the day there will be criminal behaviour which goes after bottle shops. That has happened prior to the reforms, and it will happen in the future.
Leader of the Opposition – Plans to Sack Scientists
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for CLIMATE CHANGE
We know the Leader of the Opposition is on the record with plans to sack 800 Territory public servants. Are you aware of any plans to sack any scientists?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Fannie Bay for his very important question. There would be many public servants listening to this broadcast and they will be very interested in the answer, unlike the member for Greatorex.
In less than six months since their election win in New South Wales, the Liberal government has embarked on its first round of public service job cuts. They have decided to slash by more than one-third the number of scientist jobs in a forestry unit in New South Wales within the Department of Primary Industries. In fact, the Sydney Morning Herald …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HAMPTON: … had a source there say they are very stunned that they targeted a large group of scientists in a science unit.
This comes as no surprise to this side of parliament. We know what the member for Brennan said recently about scientists in the Northern Territory, in particular in relation to climate change. This is what the member for Brennan said:
- Those who are playing the climate change game are scientists who are making a dollar. They are the ones who are making a dollar out of governments and businesses around the world because they see a dollar in it.
That is the opposition’s member for Brennan. Yet, the CLP’s climate change policy on its website states that:
- Preserving the Territory’s environment and tackling climate change are very high policy priorities for the Country Liberals.
Watermelon Industry – Threat of Disease
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES and RESOURCES
Watermelons are an important crop in the Northern Territory, but a local Lambells Lagoon grower recently told me that his crop was now affected by Fusarium wilt, which reduces production severely. Could you explain how this Fusarium wilt has been introduced into the Northern Territory? What has your department done about restricting the spread of this disease? What will be the effect on the watermelon industry in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his important question. The watermelon industry in the Territory has grown significantly in the past few years, with the result that producers are now leaving the Ord River to establish farms in the Territory. Mr Kenny Younghusband, who has a watermelon farm in Mataranka, recently told me that he is doubling his production area because watermelons grow so well in the area.
It is true that, in June 2011, Fusarium wilt was identified at one of the farms. The department investigated all other major producers in the Territory and found that all five major producers were infected with Fusarium wilt. We are working with the producers to implement a strict barrier security plan. We know if the spores of Fusarium stay on the ground it can stay for more than 10 years. We know there are ways to counteract the effect. In Queensland, where all properties are infected, they have reduced the impact by finding new innovative techniques to graft melons to resistant rootstock varieties.
The department has worked very closely with the producers. We have produced a biosecurity information leaflet which I seek leave to table Madam Speaker, providing information ...
Madam SPEAKER: You do not need to seek leave minister, just table it.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim!
Mr VATSKALIS: We are providing information and the department is working to find other resistant varieties from other places in Australia. Our government is supportive of the industry in the Territory. We have opened new areas to introduce new varieties. We have seen the results of people moving from other states and jurisdictions in Australia, and the Ord River, to the Territory because they know they have a supportive government which is prepared to work with them to achieve good results.
Climate Change Scientists - Employment by NT Government
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
Could you please tell me how many climate change scientists the Northern Territory government employs?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, what an unusual question from the member for Brennan. We know what he really thinks about scientists; if he was in government he would sack them all, so I find that question very disturbing ...
Mr CHANDLER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I do not believe I have asked a simpler question in this House. Just a number please, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Brennan, resume your seat. Minister, come to the point.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Speaker, if I get a chance to answer it, I will. I am happy to take that question on notice and get back to the member. What I can say is that it is many more than what the opposition would have if they were in government …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, you are on a warning!
Honourable members, the level of interjections is ludicrous. Minister, have you completed your answer?
Mr HAMPTON: I have, Madam Speaker.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: I did not actually ask the rest of the parliament whether they were wishing to speak. That is not the way it works. This is Question Time.
Mr Chandler: It is the climate we operate in, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Brennan, you are on a warning!
NT Public Service – Value to Government
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
Can you please update the House on the value the Henderson government places on the public service?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. There are approximately 19 000 public servants and we value the work they do very highly. Indeed, it was my privilege last week to attend the public sector awards. There were some wonderful projects and public servants working across the Territory who received awards. There was a very good spirit amongst the public servants from all over the Territory and there were some great nominations.
As a government, we value the work of public servants. Since we came to government in 2001, we have employed 700 extra nurses, 200 extra doctors, 400 teachers and 400 extra police ...
Mr CHANDLER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I am wondering whether the minister for Employment knows how many climate change scientists …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Brennan, you will resume your seat. Member for Brennan, that was your second warning!
Dr BURNS: Over the last year or so we have negotiated a number of EBAs in quite tight financial circumstances. I commend the unions for …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling!
Dr BURNS: … the way they have negotiated in good faith. We support our public servants.
What does the future hold for our public servants in the Northern Territory? If we look interstate, we can see a template emerging. We have seen Mr O’Farrell in New South Wales sticking to his target of culling 5000 jobs within the New South Wales public service. We have had Joe Hockey federally say if Tony Abbott was to come to power there would be 12 000 public servants axed.
What would happen after an election if the CLP was to win? Well, its policy is quite plain. I have the policy document here - the 2008 election. In black and white it says: ‘The Country Liberals have allowed for a general reduction in the service of 700 positions’. We have the Leader of the Opposition on record saying: ‘CLP takes aim at fat public sector’. He is going to cut $50m from the public sector in the first year - a pledge to cut public service jobs. We have also had the Leader of the Opposition on the record calling public servants ‘carpet strollers’. This is their attitude towards the public service.
I really believe all those public servants listening today should take note of what has happened interstate and take note of existing CLP policy and the pledge to cut right into the public service. Territorians should also be aware of cuts to services. If I am wrong, someone can get up on the other side and give a personal explanation, but somehow I do not think it will be forthcoming …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! He is wrong.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, that is not a point or order.
Alice Springs Law and Order Issues – Chief Minister’s Response
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
People in Alice Springs have used every method possible to raise awareness about crime in their town, through television advertising and even public protests outside of parliamentary sittings which you failed to attend to hear their concerns. The Police annual report shows, in black and white, that break-ins at people’s homes have jumped by a massive 76.5% on your watch. Why do you not listen and respond to those concerns?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, we have listened and police have responded. Property crime figures in the annual report provided to this parliament reflect the spike in break and enters that occurred around Christmas/New Year last year.
We have debated this up hill and down dale. Police have admitted, in public forums I attended and other public forums, that they took their eye off the ball around that period last year. Police resources have been strengthened in Alice Springs. There has been a very significant series of arrests of repeat property offenders in Alice Springs. We now have a police dog unit and CCTV has been rolled out all through the CBD area of Alice Springs. Since last year, a number of targeted operations in Alice Springs has seen a reduction in property crime that will be reflected in next year’s annual report.
The one thing we do know about crime and the issues around Alice Springs is that the vast majority of the level of offending we see is alcohol related. Over 80% of all police work in Alice Springs is alcohol related. If you are not getting tough on grog, you are not getting tough on crime.
Not only would the CLP scrap the Banned Drinker Register, the best tool police have to deal with crime, it would also open the bottle shops in Alice Springs for an extra two hours trading a day. They would pour grog onto the problems and onto the streets of Alice Springs. That is their policy.
Leader of the Opposition, I acknowledge the pain Alice Springs went through around Christmas/New Year last year. Police have responded, and we have responded in a range of ways. What we will not do is pour alcohol onto the problem. That is the policy position of the opposition.
Unemployment – Government Policies
Ms SCRYMGOUR to TREASURER
Since the global financial crisis, Territorians have enjoyed historic low levels of unemployment. This is thanks in part to this government being focused on protecting and creating jobs. Can you please explain how successive budgets have kept Territorians working, and whether there are any alternative policies?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. There is no doubt, in this tough global economic condition which, of course, has impacted on the Territory, we made the sensible and deliberate decision to go into deficit to maintain jobs, keep growth in the economy, and ensure Territorians are not thrown onto the unemployment scrapheap.
We did this by having eight budget surpluses in a row, slicing debt by $582m. Quite simply, to have a ninth surplus would have cost jobs. Over the last three budgets we have allocated more than $4.6bn into infrastructure investment to provide legacy infrastructure, and to supply around 15 000 jobs into the sector.
To achieve this, we have also made significant savings within the public sector, working with our public service, through the efficiency dividend staffing cap. The CLP, on the other hand, like the Liberal parties in other jurisdictions, would pursue a surplus at any cost and the public service is squarely in their sights. The current Leader of the Opposition has a track record here. He describes public servants as carpet strollers. The next Leader of the Opposition, the member for Fong Lim, says he wants to put the ‘service’ back into public service. This is a direct attack on the Territory’s hard-working public service and shows the CLP’s attitude. We know the CLP would slash infrastructure spending, cut thousands of jobs across the public service and private sectors, causing unemployment to soar.
The IMF has warned constantly against pursuit of surplus at any cost. The ratings agency, Moody’s, has rated us as ‘stable’ and understand our fiscal position is manageable; however, in their bizarre business policy, the CLP has put the boot into departmental staff, claiming:
- The current department seems to operate more in the interests of bureaucrats than in the interests of the businesses it was established to serve.
This is an absolute insult to the staff of the Department of Business and Employment. The CLP has also promised to cut through Health and Education. Since 2001, we have employed 400 extra teachers, 400 extra police, 200 extra doctors, and 700 extra nurses; all of these now face the CLP chopping block. With the toe cutter back in the Opposition Leader’s office, they have set up their waste watch website and they are taking aim; they are coming after the public service. They are laying the groundwork to slash jobs in the public service. Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey wants to slash 12 000 jobs. New South Wales is slashing 5000 jobs. We know your register is already up to 1000 jobs. How many more are you aiming to slash above 1000?
Alice Springs – Protective Custody Numbers and House Break-ins
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
How do you explain the drop in the number of people taken into protective custody and the large spike in house break-ins in Alice Springs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, he obviously did not listen to previous answers. They must have run out of questions on this issue. The increase in break-ins and property crimes around Christmas and New Year, very clearly - we have been up hill and down dale on this since that occurred last year - was directly attributed to, and police have acknowledged the fact, that they took their eye off the ball in regard to repeat offenders in Alice Springs. That has been acknowledged and rectified. There are more police in Alice Springs. They have had a series of targeted operations and there has been a reduction in property crime since then. That is issue one dealt with.
Issue two - the reduction of people taken into protective custody over a similar period. I answered earlier that if the Leader of the Opposition had any interest in what was happening in this area, and following debate, would have understood that the Ombudsman did raise concerns about police legal powers to take people into protective custody. That issue was resolved when our government, this parliament - I do not know whether the Leader of the Opposition understood what was going on in that passage of legislation – very clearly defined those powers that would allow police to take people into protective custody.
That is something I do not want to see on the size and scale that is happening across the Northern Territory. We want to see fewer people in protective custody, we want to see fewer people across the Territory have their lives ruined by alcohol. We are doing that through our reforms, which means people who are in the grip of alcohol, who night after night are taken into protective custody, are cut off from alcohol; that they are given the opportunity to wake up sober and make some choices and decisions about how they are living their lives.
That is what we are doing as a government. The opposition would scrap those reforms, the best tool the police have ever had to reduce crime. In Alice Springs, against all the evidence and the advice, they cannot find anyone with any credibility at all to stand up and say that opening the bottle shops for an extra two hours a day ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: ... is actually going to improve the situation in Alice Springs. More grog is the CLP’s answer to crime and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs. More grog is the answer to the domestic violence situation in Alice Springs. More grog is the CLP’s answer to child neglect in Alice Springs. It is a shame on the CLP ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Araluen!
Mr HENDERSON: ... and I strongly suggest that the Leader of the Opposition walk away from an absurd policy ...
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Country Liberals – Plans to Cut Police Numbers
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for POLICE, FIRE and EMERGENCY SERVICES
Before the last New South Wales election, the then Liberal opposition denied it would cut police numbers if elected. It has now been reported that the O’Farrell Liberal government is, in fact, cutting police numbers. Does the Chief Minister have concerns that a future CLP government might do the same?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is a very timely question. We have seen today on our television screens ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Yesterday, you ruled a question out of order on the assertion that it asked for a hypothetical. This question asks for nothing more than a hypothetical.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fannie Bay, I would like you to reword the question, otherwise it will be out of order. Chief Minister, if you could resume your seat.
Mr GUNNER: The Henderson Labor government has increased police numbers during our term, going up by over 400 since 2001. Is the Chief Minister aware of any other plans around police numbers?
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, that is a timely question because today on our television screens we have seen thousands of angry New South Wales police officers protesting about the O’Farrell Liberal government’s plans to cut numbers and cut their entitlements. We know the CLP wants to take the chainsaw to the public service. That is its policy, a stated policy taken to the last election ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The issue is relevance. There was no question about the CLP’s policy.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Chief Minister, come to the point, thank you.
Mr HENDERSON: We know they want to take the chainsaw to public service numbers in their helter skelter policy to have a surplus at any cost. We know it is in the Liberal Party’s DNA to cut services and to slash public service jobs. The CLP has policy on that which it took to the last election. The policy is the same today, given its pursuit of a surplus budget. A surplus budget can only be achieved by sacking thousands of public servants, and some of us have long memories. Some of us remember previous times where the CLP slashed public service numbers. It significantly slashed the number of nurses at Royal Darwin Hospital. The recruitment freeze was for four long years, with not one extra police officer recruited into our police force. Police were leaving, police were retiring. For four long years ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Member for Katherine!
Mr HENDERSON: ... not one extra police officer was recruited under the CLP in the Northern Territory ...
Mr Styles interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson!
Mr HENDERSON: We have had to completely rebuild our police force since we came to government, from a demoralised police force with very high attrition rates, to a police force today which has low attrition rates and high morale. It is in their DNA to slash the number of public servants, to slash conditions, and to reduce services to Territorians. That is what Liberal Parties do, that is what Liberal governments do, and that is what the CLP would do if it wins the election next year.
Police Call Outs – Response Times
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE to CHIEF MINISTER
A caller to ABC radio this morning told how he recently called Katherine Police Station to report an incident of illegal grog running, no doubt someone from your Banned Drinker Register, but the call was diverted to a police officer in Darwin. After another phone call, police officers finally arrived 35 minutes after the initial call. You know this is an ongoing problem because I have written to you about this, and you would also be aware that the Ombudsman has had several complaints. When the business owner asked why police had taken so long, they said they had only just been notified of the incident.
Do you think 35 minutes is an acceptable police response time? Why are calls from Katherine, and for that matter Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, being answered in Darwin?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, this is a very old debate. The police record every call that goes into the desk, and I am not saying this is not the case here, but quite often allegations are made about the timeliness of response and what was said during the call, and when police check those calls, the facts are not the same as what has been portrayed.
I am happy to take that on board. Of course, the police response time depends on what else is happening at the time. There is no guarantee police will be there at the drop of a hat because it all depends on what is happening, what other calls are being attended to by police at the time and the severity of those calls.
We know police are responding much faster to calls for assistance today in the Northern Territory than they were when the CLP was in government, because there are 400 more police …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! If the Chief Minister is going to make that assertion, he should back it up with some facts. Where are the facts?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, that is not a point of order.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Chief Minister will cease interjecting!
Mr HENDERSON: It stands as the test of reason, with 400 more police across the Territory, the ability to respond is greatly enhanced.
If the member is prepared to give me the time and date that call took place - if there is any issue with that I am sure police will respond appropriately. What we will not have is highly trained police officers sitting behind desks waiting for the phone to ring in Tennant Creek, Katherine and Alice Springs. I want those police officers out from behind the desk, not sitting there waiting for the phone to ring, and for those calls to be answered and despatched at a modern call centre by police auxiliaries in Darwin. It is working well. The opposition is nitpicking. If the opposition wants police officers back on chairs waiting for the phone to ring instead of on the streets responding to calls for assistance from Territorians, they can go to the election with that policy.
We have rebuilt our police from the ground up, a police force that had been decimated …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … and demoralised under the previous CLP government, that had the highest attrition rate in the nation to a modern, responsive police force doing a great job across the Territory on behalf of Territorians.
Building the Territory’s Nursing Workforce
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for HEALTH
The Liberal government in Victoria plans to cut nurses in hospitals and replace them with low-skilled health assistants. Can you please update the House on how the Henderson Labor government continues to build the Territory’s nursing workforce?
ANSWER
With great pleasure, Madam Speaker, because we know very well you cannot trust the Liberals with the health system - they have history. Let us remember what the then minister for Health in the Howard government did with the health budget. He took $1bn out of public hospitals in Australia. He restricted training positions for doctors and nurses so …
Ms Lawrie: What was his name?
Mr VATSKALIS: Tony Abbott. The CLP has history here. I worked here when the CLP took away 200 nursing positions from the system. The CLP closed a 30-bed ward at Royal Darwin Hospital. What does the CLP want to do now? It wants to downgrade Royal Darwin Hospital and they want to close all the super clinics. They do not support the super clinics. You cannot trust them with the health system for Territorians.
Since they want to know how many people are employed in different departments, I can give some really good statistics ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale!
Mr VATSKALIS: In 2001, the Health Department employed 3700 people. In 2011, the Health Department employed 5400 people. This includes nurses and doctors. To give you an example of what we have done in the past 10 years, when we took over government there were 1300 nurses working in our system; there are now 2060 nurses. When we took over government there were around 272 doctors working in our system; there are now 396.
Madam Speaker, you were the Minister for Health when we took over government, and you will remember that there were 100 specialists; there are now more than 130. In the past 10 years, we have been building up the health system in the Territory, not only in the urban centres, but in rural and remote communities. In the past 10 years, we have seen some of the health indicators in the Territory increase, not only in the urban system but also in the bush.
Do I have to remind members opposite who refused to put any haemodialysis machines anywhere outside the urban centres? Do I have to remind them that in the past few years since we have put a great deal of money into renal dialysis we have seen the lifespan of people with renal problems increase to match that of other Australians? Do I have to remind them that the anaemia rates in Indigenous kids have collapsed? Do I have to remind them that the lifespan of Indigenous women has now increased significantly?
In the past 10 years, we have put our money where our mouth is and we have built up the health system.
Carbon Tax – Effect on Public Bus Service
Mr WOOD to TREASURER
As a means of reducing carbon emissions, the government should be promoting use of public transport. I note there is a slow increase in the number of people catching the express bus service from the rural area. Buses emit carbon emissions and are subject to the carbon tax. That being the case, what effect will the carbon tax have on the cost of running our public bus service?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. According to Commonwealth Treasury modelling, a price on carbon is expected to deliver an expected increase of around 0.5 in the dollar for public transport, far less than daily fluctuations on the pump price, and a small fraction of the GST impact.
The Northern Territory government accepts and believes that action has to be taken to address climate change and will continue to work to ensure this is done without Territorians being worse off. We are committed to greening the public transport direction in the Territory. We were the first place in the nation to make public transport free for seniors, pensioners, students and carers. Thirteen of our Buslink buses on the school routes and 11 on the urban network are low-emission vehicles, making it even greener to catch the bus to work and school.
We have delivered on our election commitment to roll out the orbital bus routes in peak periods, connecting Palmerston, Casuarina and the CBD with a semi-express route in peak periods. That means you only have to wait 20 minutes for those critical connections.
My colleagues, the members for Barkly and Daly, recently opened the new $1.8m Coolalinga Park and Ride facility. A similar facility will be rolled out for Humpty Doo. The environmentally-friendly facility is a Territory first. It gives commuters the option of leaving the car or bike behind, taking advantage of public transport into Palmerston or the Darwin CBD from the rural area. Not only is this an important move to take more cars off the road, but it gives rural residents a less expensive option of getting to and from work, saving money in that household budget.
The government continues to invest in a network of cycle paths across Darwin and Palmerston and into the rural area, as you would be aware. This is all about getting people off the road, reducing those greenhouse gas emissions.
We have not just a vision for a greener, cleaner future in the Territory; we are investing in it already. We have a very modern, clean, efficient, low-emission public transport service. We have invested in expanding that service, making it more efficient with the orbital service, putting in those important park and ride facilities, complementing the free public transport service with an encouragement for people to get active and get onto our cycle paths.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016