2014-10-22
Tiwi Land Council –
Payment of $1m by Government
Payment of $1m by Government
Ms LAWRIE to CHIEF MINISTER
The Tiwi people have a connection to land you fail to understand. They want economic development, not your clumsy attempt at a land grab.
Yesterday you failed to explain to this parliament where the $1m is that should have been repaid by the Tiwi Land Council eight months ago.
The use of taxpayers’ funds must be transparent, accountable and consistent with good governance. FOI documents regarding the dodgy $1m deal show the CEO of the Land Development Corporation, John Coleman, advised his chief financial officer:
- We will get the decision when it is signed off by the secretary to cabinet.
This was a day after the payment was made. Who directed John Coleman to make this payment of $1m, and where is the $1m now?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the dog whistler who wants to run arguments against development on Aboriginal communities, rather than see change, is back. A $1m loan was provided to the Tiwi Islands in exchange for a lease. Consultations are continuing; we are very close to the lease being signed. I am quite happy the consultation continues. We will support development on Aboriginal land; you will not, you are embarrassed.
Public Assets – Government Ownership
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to CHIEF MINISTER
The government is currently considering whether the Territory Insurance Office and the port should be sold or leased to fund major infrastructure projects. Has the government received any advice from its expert economic panel about government ownership of these assets?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question. I appreciated the member for Nelson’s contribution to the MPI last night. Looking at what I said he might have misinterpreted some of the things or I probably spoke about the asset recycling component at length.
There is no doubt – I will get to that point – many people think TIO should be sold for economic purposes. I table a copy of the report by Doug McTaggart, Ian Smith and former Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, who recommended the sale of TIO and the port to help support investment and infrastructure.
It is very interesting the former Chief Minister can support the sale of TIO and the port. The former Labor government could support it, except they did not have the ticker, and now, when someone stands up here to make a change, you will not support it. Two shades of grey looking in the mirror.
Member for Nelson, in regard to points you made yesterday, there are structural difficulties in TIO itself. The ability for TIO to be able to spread risk is a challenge. At the moment, risk is spread across the Territory. The insurance industry, more broadly, will start to move the spread of risk to more of a location basis: Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin and so forth.
Ms Walker: ‘So forth’? That would be Nhulunbuy.
Mr GILES: I did not talk about Nhulunbuy because the Nhulunbuy level of TIO premiums is not as significant in TIO itself. That means there will be increased price pressure put on premiums under those location-based, specific points of view. That will create a problem for TIO to be able to compete on a more competitive basis.
When TIO started in 1979 there was only one insurance company. We now talk about there being 12; there is actually 15. All of them have cyclone insurance and all bar one have flood insurance, which means there is a more competitive environment.
You would have seen ads on television for companies like Compare the Market. When you do those sorts of things, there is a more competitive environment, and that is a challenge for TIO to be able to compete, given the Territory government underwrites government exposure in the Territory. There is a level of exposure to cyclones on a 40-year cycle, you compare the level of exposure, the element of reinsurance and how that works in the Northern Territory, and how we can expand in the future to release TIO from being held back in the way it currently is.
That is something we have to seriously look at. We have said the brand, support and sponsorship and flood and cyclone insurance must stay, and we have to protect jobs. These are all fundamental things. We have to support TIO going forward, otherwise there may not be a TIO in the future.
Tiwi Land Council –
Payment of $1m by Government
Payment of $1m by Government
Mr VOWLES to CHIEF MINISTER:
The Land Development Corporation is not a party to the agreement signed by your CEO, Gary Barnes, and John Hicks of the Tiwi Land Council for an up-front payment of $1m in return for 99-year leases. These are leases that do not exist, leases your government was advised would take years, at best, to secure. Explain to Territorians why the Land Development Corporation transferred $1m to Tiwi Resources Pty Ltd to cover an agreement it was not a signatory to? What was the decision of Cabinet? What was the date of that decision?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, for someone who has not been in government, I will explain. We do not talk about what happens in Cabinet. Everyone is aware we made a Cabinet decision that we will support Tiwi Islanders with a loan of $1m to help them in their forestry project. We are still negotiating that lease, and I do not see it as being far away from being signed.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was to explain to Territorians why the Land Development Corporation transferred $1m to Tiwi Resources Pty Ltd to cover an agreement it was not a signatory to.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, Opposition Leader, the Chief Minister has three minutes to answer the question.
Mr GILES: You are circling around a hole that has nothing in it. The argument is quite simple: $1m towards the Tiwi Islands to support them in economic development. We said we wanted to negotiate a lease, and the lease negotiation is taking longer than we thought. It will be signed very soon. Fundamentally, that is it.
The real issue here is the dog whistling from the Leader of the Opposition, who is on her last legs. When you are in the gutter like the Leader of the Opposition is right now, when your back is against the wall and when the member for Fannie Bay is chasing you with the knife to cut your leadership out from under you, this is where you go. You start to argue white versus black. That is the last roll of the dice for you, Leader of the Opposition.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Offensive; this is not a racial divide issue. Where is the $1m your government has paid for leases that do not exist?
Madam SPEAKER: There were no offensive comments, sit down.
Mr GILES: Let us put it into context, like I did yesterday. You are quite happy for a $5m block of land to go to an international company to try to drive down prices in the northern suburbs. We support intervention to bring petrol prices down, but heaven forbid giving $1m to black people on the Tiwi Islands to support development and jobs for them. Wave the dog whistle, and whistle it hard. You should be ashamed; your back is to the wall, you are in a corner. Michael Gunner is pursuing you, and now you are playing the race card.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The Chief Minister still has not explained to Territorians why …
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, he has three minutes. How the Chief Minister answers the question is his business. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: They can waste Question Time on this, because I will soon stop answering questions. I have answered them already, yesterday and today. You should be ashamed of dog whistling as a last gasp of breath in the dying days of your leadership, Opposition Leader.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. He has gone nowhere near the question about why …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fannie Bay, please be seated. He has time if he wants to answer the question. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: I look back at what happened in 1975. There was a by-election in the seat of Bass in Tasmania, at the same time Gough Whitlam was Prime Minister. I acknowledge his passing yesterday; Gough Whitlam …
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. I know there is latitude, but we asked about the Tiwi Islands, not Tasmania. Answer the question, Chief Minister. Where is the money?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Sit down, member for Fannie Bay. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: Prime Minister Gough Whitlam held a by-election for the safe Labor seat of Bass in 1975. He lost it by a 17% swing to the Liberal candidate; six months later he was no longer Prime Minister. I can smell something similar. There was a 17-point swing against Labor in Casuarina on the weekend. The smell of death on the Opposition Leader’s position is rank and vile. It has dog whistling written all over it; you are in a corner.
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! For heaven’s sake, a question – Standing Order 113: relevance. We have asked about $1m on the Tiwi Islands. The Chief Minister is talking about Tasmania, nothing to do with …
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: There is $2m for an economic development fund in Gove. Will you oppose that too? There is dog whistling over there, and you should be ashamed. It is nothing more than a disgrace.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! With nine seconds to go …
Madam SPEAKER: What is your point of order?
Ms LAWRIE: Standing Order 113: relevance. The question was quite specific. Explain to Territorians why the Land Development Corporation transferred $1m …
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, you have asked this of the Chief Minister. Please be seated, he knows your question. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: It is a sad day when the Opposition Leader dog whistles.
Fuel Price Competition
Mr HIGGINS to CHIEF MINISTER
Could you update the Assembly on recent movements in fuel prices across Darwin petrol stations since the government’s fuel price summit?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, that is a question relevant to all Territorians. It is not a dog whistling question; it is about what the government is doing about the price of fuel. Fuel prices are now lower than before the Opposition Leader, then Treasurer, was in her job. When prices went up in 2011, nothing was done. We do not only clean up your debt and crime issues, we do not only try to create development in places like the Tiwi Islands, we have also started to fix the fuel issue, something you did nothing about. I thank the member for his question. He has been working hard on the fuel issue, and he understands the importance of petrol to all Territorians
As you are aware, the government convened a fuel price summit earlier this month to try to get answers from fuel companies about their price structures. Many companies were not forthcoming, and the government has drafted a Fuel Price Disclosure Bill, aimed at forcing them to be transparent about their profits. Last week, we also opened an expression of interest process for prime land on Tiger Brennan Drive for a fuel stop with discounted prices. These levers have sent a clear message to fuel companies that we mean business and we will not mess around on this issue. We have given them a warning.
Together these measures have combined to put pressure on fuel prices, and I am pleased to report they are now on their way down from recent high levels at $1.74 and $1.75 to where they are this morning.
On the way in this morning you may have seen that United on Bagot Road has dropped its plus unleaded fuel to $1.57.9 regular unleaded. Regular unleaded is also at $1.64.9. At BP on Bagot Road and in the city, unleaded is $1.66.9. Coles Express on Daly Street is selling unleaded for $1.64.9, down to $1.60.9 with a discount voucher.
I am optimistic we are seeing the early seeds of a more competitive fuel market. United has even suggested this could be the start of a fuel price war; I thank David for his hard work with United. I hope he and they are right. Importantly, I encourage motorists to vote with their feet, but more importantly, vote with their cars. Support those trying to lead the price in the Northern Territory – those people who are now cutting prices to $1.57.9 for E10, a premium ethanol blend with a RON of 95. Support the price leaders, because if you do not support them you will not see competition. I thank United for doing that.
The number of levers pulled to date is starting to drive change and competition. We ask the community to support that change and competition, because that is when we will start to get the price war we need. That is when we will see higher turnover at some of those price-leading organisations and retailers, as well as longer-term support into the future.
I note these prices are the lowest we have seen since well before Delia became Treasurer all those years ago.
Ms Lawrie: No, they are not, they are higher. Misleading again.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Leader of the Opposition accused the Chief Minister of misleading the House. She knows she needs to do that by way of substantive motion or withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, if that is what you said, please withdraw.
Ms LAWRIE: I withdraw. You were wrong, they were 16 c a litre lower under Labor.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, sit down.
Tiwi Land Council – Payment of $1m by Government
Mr VOWLES to CHIEF MINISTER
Section 28 of the Land Development Corporation Act requires the money of the corporation only to be applied for the purposes of the corporation. In an interim report tabled in this parliament, the Auditor-General expressed concern that in making the payment of $1m the LDC did not act commercially, stating:
- It was unclear what future economic benefits will flow to the Corporation.
How can you possibly justify the payment from the LDC to Tiwi Resources Pty Ltd when the LDC has received nothing in return and was not a party to the agreement?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I can justify it because I support development on the Tiwi Islands, in the same way I support the same type of development in other parts of the Northern Territory. We have made an investment. We will stand by it and strongly support Tiwi Islanders and the Tiwi Land Council in what they are trying to do. It is something that has to be done in the Northern Territory to support economic expansion and job growth in the Territory.
LDC operated with full integrity and full commercial ideas and operation. They will be the signatories or the parties to the lease and the operation of that land. They will have the opportunity to support the Tiwi people in being able to develop their land. It is a good news story, and I cannot understand why you would not support it.
Fundamentally, I know Labor wants welfare; they would rather have Aboriginal people following on a chain, making them vote for them without having them develop in their own way …
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, withdraw the chain comment.
Ms Anderson interjecting.
Mr GILES: I withdraw, Madam Speaker. I can hear the now converted member for Namatjira carrying on like a pork chop in the corner. This is the member who had an opportunity to be a leader on this side of the Chamber and when she was part of Labor. Instead, there has been no change, no economic support. In government, as a minister, she supported changes for the development of land. Out of government, she does not support at all.
Following the line you are, I cannot believe how you would promote welfare and not jobs, welfare and not business. That is a disgrace, and I am horrified you continue to run a dog whistle campaign to support your position on the Opposition Leader’s job
Independent Schools – Update
Mr KURRUPUWU to MINISTER for EDUCATION
The government has been rolling out a number of policies to improve outcomes in Territory schools, especially through greater school autonomy. Can you update the House on where the selection process for the Territory’s first independent school is up to?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for a fantastic question. We started down the road of school autonomy with global budgeting, giving the power back to schools to make decisions that will affect them every day …
Ms Lawrie: Slashing.
Ms Fyles: Cutting budgets – not even CPI.
Mr CHANDLER: Listen to the rabble on the other side. They put us where we are at the moment, under their policies and procedures. If we are happy with the results in the Northern Territory let us keep doing things the way we have always done them. In the real world, where people talk to us about what is required in our schools, they want more control.
Today, we talk about school autonomy and independent public schools. A number of schools put forward applications to become independent public schools. I am glad to announce that Braitling Primary School in Alice Springs, Palmerston Secondary College, Darwin High School, Leanyer Primary School, Larrakeyah and Wulagi Primary Schools are the first six schools in the Northern Territory to get independent status.
A number of other schools …
Mr McCarthy: I do not think your sums add up, Pete. I think you are one short.
Mr CHANDLER: No, I think we have them all. Maybe you should go back to school, member for Barkly.
Mr McCarthy: You did not mention the Chief Minister – you did not mention Braitling, minister.
Mr CHANDLER: Yes, that was the first one, member for Barkly. Read Hansard, member for Barkly, and maybe go back to school. This is a great day.
Mr McCarthy interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause, minister. Member for Barkly, cease calling across the Chamber. You are on a warning. If you have a point of order rise for a point of order, otherwise cease interjecting.
Mr CHANDLER: This is a great day to offer schools not only the autonomy to provide decent education relevant to their particular schools, parents and students, it is also a great day for Territorians because it adds another layer of choice in our education system in the Northern Territory.
In WA there are more schools lining up to become independent public schools because they see the benefits in results for their students and for their schools. Independent public school status: I remind people they are still public schools. They are schools that remain within an industrial relations system that has been set up. They are still public schools, but they provide autonomy to the level where they can concentrate on their schools and do what is right in their schools.
The evidence is already there. Where people have gone down the route of independent public schools their results have improved and schools are lining up to get in. It is about time you …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Roads - Maintenance in Remote Areas
Ms LEE to MINISTER for INFRASTRUCTURE
On a recent trip through the electorate of Arnhem I heard from hundreds of community members and saw the appalling state of roads in the area. This government has said many times in the Chamber that it is dedicated to economic growth in the Northern Territory. This will not be possible in the electorate if the government continues to ignore growing problems with remote roads. I seek leave to table these photos.
Leave granted.
Ms LEE: Minister, could you please tell me what is being done to improve the state of roads in remote areas?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. Firstly, which roads are you referring to, and which photographs do you have? In the absence of that, perhaps I can answer the question generally.
The Giles government made the greatest contribution to roads in any budget in the history of the Northern Territory …
Ms Walker: All revoted works.
Mr STYLES: You can read that in the budget papers. This government is serious about delivering services in the bush. When you look at the roads recovery program there is $106m for six different roads across the Territory. I do not know which crossings and photos you are referring to. In fact, it would be really nice if I could have a copy of those photos. After Question Time I can organise a briefing for you so you can find out exactly what is happening.
I have no idea where that road is. It is a picture of a road; it could be anywhere in Australia or the world. Here is another picture of a road, and I do not know where that is. If you want me to answer the question could you bring these photos with you, get a briefing and find out exactly what is going on. Our doors are open. Anyone can get a briefing on anything at any time.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The member clearly stated where the roads were.
Madam SPEAKER: The minister has time to answer the question, and he is answering it.
Mr STYLES: As I said, I do not know where these roads are, but when you look at the bridges, we have finished the Goyder River crossing, the Donydji, Rocky Bottom Creek – there is work going on there. In fact, the Maningrida to Ramingining road is being graded as we speak, and there is a range of things happening.
It is about what is specific. On this side we understand roads and bridges are the enablers of economic development.
We know the Labor Party is not into economic development; they are not into economic development in Aboriginal seats because they will not support the Tiwi people. They will support stuff in the city where their union mates live, but they will not support things where you live. Perhaps ask the Labor Party where they will put their support.
Things like asset recycling are about getting money for infrastructure. Labor left the Coalition a $667bn debt, and there is not a great deal of money left in the piggy bank. It is bare and the MasterCards – plural – are full. The federal Coalition government said, ‘Let us recycle some assets so we can get some economic development happening’ – unfortunately, these people do not understand economic development.
In the budget, there were no cuts. In fact, there was an increase to make sure rural people in regional Australia can get the roads and bridges they need.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Business Support by Government
Mr BARRETT to CHIEF MINISTER
Given the 11 years of Labor – which neglected to support business in the Northern Territory – we have just had to endure, can the Chief Minister please outline what the government has already done to make it easier to do business in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain, who is also the parliamentary secretary for Business. He takes a very keen interest in business in the Northern Territory.
I also thank the former Ministers for Business who have led the way in driving change in the last two years we have been in government.
We have been aggressively attacking red tape and red tape removal to support business in the Northern Territory. After 11 years of Labor, the Opposition Leader has a lot to answer for as a former Minister for Business. As Treasurer, she brought in most of the red tape we are now getting rid of.
I will tell you, member for Blain, the Chamber and those listening, about some of the red tape we have removed since being in government, in areas such as construction, mining, the motor vehicle registry, licensing for trades, property conveyancing; building approvals; land titles, tourism and government procurement.
In construction and planning areas we have already introduced Australia’s first online integrated building approval lodgement system, introduced a private building certification system, shaved three months off rezoning approval titles, introduced a one-stop shop for development applications and are introducing a statutory 12-week time line for development approvals. Under the Giles government you can now lodge titles online, and from this month new developments only need one title clearance instead of the current two clearances for the same project.
We have just established a construction and development advisory committee to make recommendations about reducing red tape across the Territory. In tourism the Northern Territory government has abolished travel agent licences and made it easier for new commercial visitor accommodation registration in the Territory.
In the resources sector the Giles government has invested $23m to maximise exploration discovery and development of new mineral and petroleum licences. This is something Labor is opposed to.
We amended the Petroleum Act to allow multiple applications for exploration permits on the same title, and we have also worked with the federal government for a one-stop shop for environmental approvals.
One of the most important initiatives in red tape reduction has been the creation of a single civil administrative appeals tribunal which has already replaced 35 boards and committees across the Territory.
At a personal level, the government has made new vehicles under five years old exempt from registration inspections and created a range of online services to reduce paperwork and waiting times in government lines.
The government has just introduced a new service which is a great improvement for local businesses’ cash flow. InvoiceNTG is an online payment service which speeds up the processing of the government’s invoice payments
This is just the start of some of the red tape reduction we have implemented in government. All on this side of the Chamber, and within the support service of the bureaucracy, should be applauded for helping us remove red tape and support businesses in the Northern Territory.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Tiwi Resources – Payment of $1m by Government
Mr VOWLES to CHIEF MINISTER
Hopefully he will answer this question truthfully.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 112; inferences and imputations of that nature are unparliamentary.
Madam SPEAKER: Withdraw that comment, member for Johnston.
Mr VOWLES: Sorry, I withdraw.
Yesterday in this House you described the $1m payment to Tiwi Resources as a loan, but the agreement discovered under FOI describes the $1m as an up-front payment which must be returned within six months if no leases are signed. Which is it? Was it a loan, an up-front payment or has the money been used for some other purpose? Where is the $1m, and is there an additional $2.8m bank guarantee?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the $1m was a payment for the lease, and the lease is still being negotiated. If the lease is not signed, they will give the money back, but if it is they will keep the money. At the moment it is a loan, but it will become a payment once the lease is signed.
Live Export Industry – Success of
Mr HIGGINS to MINISTER for PRIMARY INDUSTRY and FISHERIES
The Northern Territory’s live export industry has well and truly recovered from the federal Labor government’s live export ban. Can you update the House on the success of the industry?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. He cares deeply about the pastoral sector. Like many of us, he would have been mortified when the former federal Labor government imposed the live export ban in response to a Four Corners report in 2011.
Financial year statistics released by Meat & Livestock Australia earlier this month show Darwin was Australia’s busiest port for live cattle exports in the year 2013-14. According to MLA, we shipped out a whopping 415 427 head of cattle; is that not amazing? This was valued in excess of $300m. Our nearest rival was Townsville at – I will not say paltry – a much lower 203 824 head, and then there was Fremantle with 140 932 head.
It is my privilege to inform the House that in terms of the calendar year, today, from our port of Darwin, we have exported over 392 000 head of cattle, smashing the previous calendar year record of 359 307. We anticipate that our export figures will continue to grow as the year goes on, and the Territory will export around 480 000 head of cattle this calendar year. This is at a time when reputable exporters are offering unprecedented prices of $2.45 per kilo for feeder cattle; about a year ago they were lucky to receive about $1.80. Those prices were much lower when the live cattle ban was in place.
Looking into the future, Indonesia has issued a staggering 260 000 head import permit for the fourth quarter of this year, showing its determination to buy a huge amount of beef. Other Asian nations are becoming increasingly competitive. We have Vietnam as a strong trading partner, and I am pleased to hear its newest ESCAS-approved facility, owned by the Red Star group, has opened, with 1700 head of Australian cattle, many from the Northern Territory, landing there a few months ago. I have met with this company a number of times, and I visited two of its facilities earlier this year.
On the horizon there is a new market in Cambodia, which I intend to visit as soon as possible to develop relations there. The live export market is back, bigger and better than ever, supported by a Northern Territory Country Liberals government and Australian federal Coalition government determined to make live exports work for the economy of this country and the Northern Territory.
Tiwi Resources – Payment of $1m by Government
Mr VOWLES to CHIEF MINISTER
In an e-mail from you to your CEO Gary Barnes on 16 August last year you asked:
- Will the project actually work in 2014 and get off the ground?
- I want to ensure we aren’t just going to prop up a bank demand and that we may never see the money again.
Has this funding propped up a bank demand? Do you have any idea where the $1m is? Did you also approve a bank guarantee of $2.8m?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the member for Johnston letting everybody know the level of work I am doing. I get my hands dirty and make sure we are not wasting money.
We will not just provide a bank guarantee. We want to see development, and we want to see it in 2014. You are singing the praises of this government to everybody. Well done! What an opportunity to work with the LDC, the Tiwis, the Tiwi Land Council and the member for Arafura in getting the job done. You have just showcased to Territorians the fact this Chief Minister likes to get down and dirty to make sure we see things through to fruition. Today is the 22nd …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance Has this funding propped up a bank demand? Do you have any idea where the $1m is? Did you also approve a bank guarantee of $2.8m?
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, Opposition Leader, it is not a second question.
Mr GILES: You have shown the level of work we do to try to make things happen in the communities. We will never find an e-mail from you mob when you were in government trying to do these sorts of things. We will never find the hands-on approach because you were a hands-off government that had no idea. Run by the unions, you had no idea what was going on.
Yes, I sent an e-mail. I said I wanted to make sure this was not just about the bank, and that we were going to support the Tiwis. Yes, I want it done in 2014, yes, today is 22 October 2014 and we have two months and about nine days to go until the end of the year. There is a bit of time, Leader of the Opposition, more time now than your leadership has. Yes, if we miss the deadline we will continue to work with the Tiwis because we want development. That is what it is all about …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The Chief Minister …
Madam SPEAKER: No, he has finished his answer.
Income Protection for Government Contractors
Mr BARRETT to MINISTER for INFRASTRUCTURE
Can the minister advise the House on steps the Northern Territory government is taking to ensure the income streams of contractors working on government jobs in the Territory are protected?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. He is very keen on the business environment and looking after businesses, including small business and subcontractors.
The Giles government is about reducing red tape. It is about making it cheaper to do business in the Northern Territory. As you heard from the last answer the Chief Minister gave, it is about cutting red tape and making sure the job is done.
As part of a contestability exercise this government has gone through to look at the waste we have located – we have located millions of dollars of waste. It is about doing business in an efficient and effective way and delivering government services under the best deal for the taxpayer.
Talking about the best deal for taxpayers, some of the subcontractors and businesses who work for the Northern Territory government are taxpayers, but they are also business people. We have looked at how the Department of Infrastructure does business. We looked at the Construction Division and absorbed the construction business back into the Department of Infrastructure. We saved ourselves a lot of money in people shuffling bills to one another within the department, and we made it better.
As part of that process, we looked at some of the issues of subcontractors not being paid. We looked at the contracts; this came to light with the PPP with the prison. We did not have the ability to implement what we now call project bank accounts. A project bank account is like a trust account where the government, in its contractual arrangements with head contractors, will say, ‘We will pay money into a bank account, and the only way you can spend that is for the payment of subcontractors. If you take it out, you are in breach of your contract and a range of issues.’ That is the head contractor.
You cannot, as head contractor, go on a holiday, buy a new car or pay your bills from a previous job. It has been a problem where some head contractors have been paying account bills from the last job they have done, hence, if they go under our Territory businesses suffer.
The Tiger Brennan Drive contract has project bank accounts in it to ensure Territory subcontractors are protected. We do not want them left high and dry. We want them to be secure. We want them to tender for these positions knowing the government is about securing their payment, livelihood and the future of their children.
Sadly, we saw this problem on the prison venture, and we have looked at it. We are about reducing red tape, but we are also about protecting the livelihoods of our subcontractors who live in the Northern Territory.
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Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to a group of people in the Chamber from Nightcliff and surrounding suburbs called the Nightcliff Evergreens. Welcome to Parliament House. I hope you enjoy your time here today.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Illegal Land Clearing in Berrimah
Illegal Land Clearing in Berrimah
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for LANDS, PLANNING and the ENVIRONMENT
On 17 April you were quoted in the NT News in relation to illegal land clearing on Boulter Road, Berrimah.
- Planning Minister Peter Chandler has confirmed the Development Consent Authority would pursue a legal case against the landowner.
‘I cannot ask the public to have faith in the government’s planning processes if they’re not enforced when there has been a clear breach’, he said. ‘We want to see sustainable development, that is why we’re looking at this area’s flood and drainage issues to see what development is appropriate’.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his excellent question. On 7 April 2014 it was reported to government that there had been some land clearing on Boulter Road. Officers from Development Assessment Services inspected the land immediately after being notified. It was revealed that no application for consent to clear the land had been lodged with the Development Consent Authority.
On 7 April Mr Grant Tambling, as the delegate of the Darwin division of the DCA, signed a notice to cease, to be served on the owner of the land. Notices to cease have been served on the landowner as well as a number of contractors and companies believed to have been involved in the clearing of native vegetation. The DCA has the power under section 78 of the Planning Act, as does the Minister for Lands, Planning and the Environment, to bring prosecution for offences against the Planning Act.
On 28 February 2014 an application to rezone the land from zone community purpose to zone MD, multiple dwelling, under the NT Planning Scheme was lodged by the owner of the land. I determined to defer the application. If the land was to be rezoned no consent would be required under the Planning Act to clear the land.
Development Assessment Services has concluded its investigation into the matter and has compiled all relevant information into a brief of evidence. The brief of evidence has been provided to the Solicitor for the Northern Territory in order to obtain formal legal advice to inform the prosecution process. The Solicitor for the Northern Territory will provide advice as to whether there is a viable case to proceed with prosecution. Once formal advice from the Solicitor for the Northern Territory has been provided the Development Consent Authority will determine whether or not to proceed with that prosecution. Rules were clearly broken, the evidence has been gathered and we determine whether or not there could be a successful prosecution.
Since that time there have been other matters of planning in the Boulter Road area, and we must ensure any future development in the area takes into consideration, quite seriously, any impacts that development will have downstream. We have all seen what can happen downstream when there is a 100-year flood event, and we need to ensure any development upstream from the area does not add unnecessarily to that area. That is where we are up to, member for Nelson.
System Black Power Failure – Lessons Learned
Mr HIGGINS to MINISTER for ESSENTIAL SERVICES
Following the system black power failure in March this year, what has Territory Generation done to ensure such incidents do not happen again? What has the government learned from the interruption of gas flow from ENI’s Blacktip gas field which led to rolling blackouts across the Top End in September this year?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. He would be aware that on 12 March 2014 a failure on the circuit breaker at the Hudson Creek substation triggered a cascade of automatic and manually operated commands which resulted in the loss of electricity supply, known as a system black, in the Darwin/Katherine grid.
Following this, external consultant AECOM has been engaged to review and manage the recommendations from the internal and external reports on the system black. AECOM will provide an independent and coordinated function across operational areas, provide external technical expertise and validate that actions are completed.
The recommendations and actions encompass generation, power networks, system control and corporate business units. Key achievements to date include the majority of the recommendations – that is 91% of them – having been completed, including the review of black start procedures for power stations, the replacement of major circuit breakers at the system control switch yard, works to install additional circuit breakers to further improve security of supply and the system control centre emergency generator, and main switchboard upgrades.
Altogether, corporate actions and recommendations are almost complete at 97%. This includes reviewing and updating the activation and operation of the crisis management response team and support groups, and an incident management framework being under development.
As for the rolling blackouts we experienced in September this year, we were let down by our gas supplier ENI. Our backup gas supply in ConocoPhillips was shut down for routine works, and the equipment the former Labor government purchased was not suitable for a quick transition from gas to diesel.
In fact, because the former government was so absent minded in managing the former Power and Water Corporation, they bought some generators that only run on diesel and some that only run on gas. This means if you have to change your energy source from gas to diesel, you have to stop both generators and start them again. That process is much more difficult than had you just been switching from one different fuel source within the same generator.
This flawed system subjected our grid to great risk, but the associated fuel cost with the substitution of diesel was around $500 000. This could have been reduced if we had the right equipment in place, but the Labor government let us down in so many ways with Power and Water, and we are now fixing those problems.
We have been left with a massive legacy right across government and the Power and Water Corporation, after the former Labor government had their hands on it, was one of them. But we are getting there; this goes to show the work that has been put in by this government supporting Power and Water to provide a better electricity supply for Territorians.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
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Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery on the west side of Year 7 students from Taminmin College – again, more bright and intelligent students with their lovely teachers. Welcome to Parliament House, and I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Land Development Corporation – Payment of $1m
Mr VOWLES to CHIEF MINISTER
Yesterday in this House you gleefully announced the abolition of the Land Development Corporation board, and you are pushing through legislative changes today. You are rushing to strip oversight from the Land Development Corporation to avoid commercial scrutiny of the use of taxpayers’ funds. This is extraordinary.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. The process that is being engaged in is quite a normal process; nothing is being pushed through.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Let us hear what the member’s question is, and then the Chief Minister can reply.
Mr VOWLES: Who directed the LDC to make a payment of $1m to honour an agreement it was not party to? Has the LDC been repaid the $1m? If not, where is it, and did the Land Development Corporation provide a further bank guarantee of $2.8m of taxpayers’ money?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, this question has been asked before, so you do not need to answer it.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am happy to give an educational lesson to the member for Johnston and those here.
When government wants to bring a bill into the Chamber, we give notice, and we did that during the last parliamentary sittings more than a month ago. The next day, we give the second reading speech, and the bill sits on the table for at least 30 days before it comes back for debate.
The Land Development Corporation Amendment Bill from six weeks ago, whenever the last sittings were – notice was given, it was introduced and it sat on the table for more than 30 days. No doubt after Question Time today, it will come back on the agenda for us to debate. It has not been rushed through – just the same process that goes for any bill.
Mr Vowles: You should sit up there and give parliamentary education.
Mr GILES: I know, member for Johnston, it is very hard for you to comprehend how parliament works and it is very hard for you to work in an iron lung, but that is how every bill in this House works. Every bill works that way, unless it is an emergency, when we seek to suspend standing orders with three days’ notice. That is how parliament works.
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question. Who directed the Land Development Corporation to make the $1m payment?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order.
Mr GILES: The lesson on passing legislation in this Chamber is nearly complete. The other very important part of passing legislation is that after the debate, we can go into the committee stage and negotiate certain clauses of a bill. We can change things either way. After that we hold a vote to see if we agree or not. A majority of votes see a bill pass or not pass. The Land Development Corporation Bill today …
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. There is a very direct question here that has not been answered. Nobody asked the Chief Minister to talk about parliamentary process.
Madam SPEAKER: What is your point of order, member for Nhulunbuy?
Ms WALKER: Standing Order 113: relevance. Answer the question, which was about the $1m payment.
Madam SPEAKER: Sit down, it is not a point of order. The Chief Minister has the call, and he has three minutes to answer the question.
Mr GILES: The insinuation in the question was that the LDC bill is being rushed through. It is following normal process; in fact it is longer than the normal process because it has been more than 30 days. The bill, which will come on after Question Time today, seeks to – for the member for Johnston’s purpose – remove the advisory board which sits above it.
The advisory board provided advice, but the CEO, under the current legislative framework, does not have to listen to it. The costs of the board were rising substantially, to the point they are now at $190 000 per annum to receive advice the government did not have to listen to.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. With 43 seconds left will you actually answer the question?
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, it is not a point of order. Sit down. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: We will debate whether we think there should be a board or not.
Ms Lawrie: He will not answer it.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, cease interjecting.
Mr GILES: We believe there should not be a board; I do not know what your position will be. I understood from your briefing you thought it was fairly straightforward.
Ms Lawrie interjecting.
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Suspension of Member
Member for Karama
Suspension of Member
Member for Karama
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, please pause. Opposition Leader, I asked you to cease interjecting. Leave the Chamber for one hour, pursuant to Standing Order 240A.
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Mr GILES: Moving on to the issue of the Tiwi Islands, I have said before we will support them. I want them to get jobs and develop businesses. The federal government, through the ABA, has provided, I think – check the figure – around $6m towards equipment and development opportunities to support the plantation. We are supporting the development of roads to bring the forestry product from the forest by truck to the port. There is a range of expenditure going on there, but we want to see development, business and jobs. That is how we get people off welfare and into work. It is a fundamental principle we support as a government.
October Business Month
Mrs FINOCCHIARO to CHIEF MINISTER
The Palmerston Regional Business Association held an event this month celebrating 20 years of business in Palmerston, as part of October Business Month. It was a very successful event, and I am proud to be a member of parliament representing the good people and businesses of Palmerston. Can you please update members of this House on the success of this year’s October Business Month?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale, a good, hard-working member from Palmerston, for her efforts with the Palmerston Regional Business Group and what she has been doing with October Business Month. It is important we support all members of our community and society, whether it is through social, cultural, environmental or economic purposes. Getting to the nub of this question, it is about October Business Month. Might we say happy birthday October Business Month, which is 20 years old this year. It has carried on good work under seven Chief Ministers, six Administrators …
Ms Fyles: It is a shame businesses are struggling under your government.
Mr GILES: Hang on a minute, the member for Nightcliff is screaming again. The work has happened under seven Chief Ministers, six Administrators and six Prime Ministers. October Business Month is considered by many NT small businesses as the NT’s premier month-long business event every year. As an annual program organised and hosted by the Territory government through the Department of Business, it encourages business owners, managers and staff to attend month-long programs of professional development and business networking opportunities.
Ms Fyles: What are you doing to support Territory businesses?
Mr Barrett: All kinds of stuff.
Mr GILES: The member for Nightcliff will not keep quiet.
Ms Walker: Sending the member for Blain to Gove.
Mr GILES: The member for Nhulunbuy is having a whinge now too.
When we started October Business Month 20 years ago the Territory was a very different place. Only weeks before the first October Business Month in 1994 we opened the grand building we are in today. Last year 6280 people attended OBM. With this year’s event just past the halfway point it is well on track to pass that number this year. From just eight keynote events held across the Territory so far, there has been close to 3000 attendees. This is a sure sign the business sector in the Northern Territory is supporting our red tape removal, our open for business approach and our no nonsense talk about creating jobs and economic development in all parts of the Territory, including the Tiwi Islands.
The total number of events across the regions completed so far is 100. There are currently 52 events to go in the nine days left in October. A wide range of national identities have been delivering leading edge advice to local business community members, bringing experts back to the Territory so we can develop ourselves. They include Mark Bouris, Michelle Bridges, Mark Beretta and Peter Blasina. I think Peter was in or is about to go to Tennant Creek for something.
October Business Month includes workshops, seminars, conferences and other events where businesses benefit from levels of expertise and up-to-date firsthand knowledge delivered by a wide range of national and internationally recognised speakers. Topics include leadership, finance, marketing and social media, human resources, staff motivation, inspiration and staff retention.
I recommend everybody get to the remaining OBM events. It is something that will drive growth and development in the Territory, and the level of expertise that can be achieved is quite substantial ...
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Foundation 51 – Alleged Criminal Behaviour
Mr GUNNER to CHIEF MINISTER
In an e-mail dated 26 March 2014, Foundation 51 director Graeme Lewis told CLP president Ross Connolly they had discussed Foundation 51 on many occasions with you, Chief Minister, and you are:
- … well disposed to having the Foundation continue its activity …
It is unbelievable you continue to deny the use of Foundation 51 as a CLP slush fund. The Leader of the Opposition has written to you, asking you to supply copies of leaked e-mails from Graeme Lewis that show Foundation 51 funds were used for the CLP’s 2012 election campaign and not declared, as required by law.
I seek leave to table the letter from the Leader of the Opposition.
Leave granted.
Mr GUNNER: This behaviour is corrupt and criminal, a clear breach of the NT Electoral Act …
Madam SPEAKER: Please withdraw those comments, member for Fannie Bay.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Bring on the censure. She full well knows that will get me to my feet to have the matter dealt with by way of substantive motion. Bring it on.
Mr GUNNER: Madam Speaker, I withdraw. This behaviour is a clear breach of the NT Electoral Act, yet you failed to stand down Terry Mills from the $750 000 taxpayer-funded job in Jakarta you appointed him to. Why do you continue to cover up this criminal behaviour?
Madam SPEAKER: Withdraw that accusation, please, member for Fannie Bay.
Mr GUNNER: I withdraw. Chief Minister, why do you continue to cover up this behaviour?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, let me correct a few inaccuracies there. One, Terry Mills is not paid $750 000 a year for a start. That is a flat out lie you have brought out. It is important for people to know; I said it yesterday and I will say it again with a different audience: my job is to employ the chief executive officers of each department. Who they employ is up to them. I might support the structure and policy of what we do as government, but the CEOs employ people. I will not get involved in the engagement or termination of employment of any individual within government.
You made accusations about Foundation 51. Again, Foundation 51 is a private company. It has nothing to do with us. The party is a matter that has nothing to do with us; we do not get involved in those operations.
Yesterday, you asked a question about Foundation 51. You said you had some sort of smoking gun e-mail; I told you there is currently a review under way by the Australian Electoral Commission and the NT Electoral Commission, and if you had information you were not happy with you should refer it to those two bodies, which are very senior organisations in the Australian democratic profile from the parliamentary point of view. If you have that information you should do that.
Yesterday you also alleged criminal activity. It was nonsense what you were alleging, but I said if you think there has been a breach of the law, you have a responsibility to refer that to those bodies, whether it is the AEC, the NTEC, police or whoever you think. You have not done that.
This morning, just before I walked into parliament, I received a letter from the Leader of the Opposition. I question again whether the Leader of the Opposition has referred this as she wants or is she now asking me to do that? She does not have the competence to do it herself if she thinks it is real …
Ms Fyles: Why will you not? You keep denying it. You have your head in the sand.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Nightcliff!
Mr GILES: Instead, what you are doing is playing politics with a matter that has nothing to do with government. It is a private company under federal law, but you want to keep raising it here from some political agenda point of view.
Let us stop and think what has happened today …
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: concise. Could the Chief Minister get to the point? Will he stand down Terry Mills?
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Fannie Bay. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: What you are asking me to do is illegal. You are asking me to go into an agency and terminate someone’s contract. You might like to politicise the public service when you are in government, but we do not ...
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 113: concise. Will he stand down Terry Mills while this is being investigated?
Madam SPEAKER: He has time to answer the question.
Mr GILES: I have just answered that. That would be an illegal activity. The Public Sector Employment and Management Act …
Mr Vowles: Get Jodeen to do it.
Mr GILES: Are you all there? Do you understand how government works? We are giving the member for Johnston instructions on how legislation passes through the Chamber, and now you are asking me to sack public servants individually. That is a disgrace, Michael. That is an embarrassment for the opposition in the Chamber.
Madam SPEAKER: Refer to the member by his electorate name, Chief Minister.
Mr GILES: It is an embarrassment. Let us look at what happened today. You bagged out Tiwi Islanders, you said you do not support investment on Aboriginal country, you are asking me to commit a crime and you have not spoken about one Labor Party policy during Question Time.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
There is a follow-up answer to a question from yesterday.
ANSWER TO QUESTION
Asbestos Exposure - Milingimbi
Asbestos Exposure - Milingimbi
Mrs PRICE (Community Services): Madam Speaker, I seek leave to provide additional information to my answer in the House yesterday to a question from the member for Arnhem regarding asbestos removal at Millingimbi.
Leave granted.
Mrs PRICE: My Department of Community Services is delivering a program for the removal of medium risk asbestos-containing material from non-Northern Territory government community buildings in 34 remote Indigenous communities, including Milingimbi. All asbestos containing materials removed from Milingimbi will be transported from the community for disposal at the nearest licensed asbestos disposal facility.
Asbestos removal from Milingimbi is in package four of the program. Hygienists’ inspections were completed in August 2014. Request for quotations are currently being prepared for the training of local Indigenous workers in asbestos removal and remediation works.
Tenderers for asbestos removal will be performing site inspections at Milingimbi on 27 October 2014. It is anticipated work will commence on 18 November 2014, with completion by 22 June 2015. The Wet Season will not affect the delivery of the removal works.
To date, 26 Indigenous workers have been employed under my department’s asbestos removal program. On average, 10 local Indigenous people have been selected for asbestos removal training in each community. Trainees receive accredited training in removal processes and the health risks associated with asbestos and asbestos removal. All trainees completing the courses are expected to be offered employment in asbestos removal and remediation works in their communities.
I hope this is clear for the member for Arnhem, because according to her Facebook page, I apparently stumbled while trying to give my response to her question yesterday.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016