Mr AH KIT - 1998-02-25
Is it a fact that Northern Territory University has suffered a drop in enrolment of 10%? Is it also a fact that this drop in enrolment is a direct result of the policies of the minister's political masters in Canberra? Is it also a fact that the minister has done nothing to oppose these attacks on our university? Is it a fact that these cuts coincide with the abolition of the Northern Territory government's subsidy to the university, worth millions of dollars, which the minister has refused to reinstate?
Mr Stone: It was not a subsidy. We were paying the bills!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The minister is on his feet.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am always happy to address these situations. I am not happy with many things that have happened federally. The reality is that we have never had any friends in Canberra in relation to Northern Territory University, in this administration or the previous ones. We fought tooth and nail with the ALP, both federally and in the Territory, over the establishment of the university. It is a fact that there would be no Northern Territory University were it not for the CLP government.
Members interjecting.
Mr ADAMSON: Do you deny that, at the time, the ALP in the Northern Territory opposed the creation and establishment of Northern Territory University?
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr ADAMSON: Deny that that is a fact. The ALP in the Northern Territory ...
Mrs Hickey: And what are you doing?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: I am more than happy to tell you. I will come to that. Fact one is that we established Northern Territory University against all the odds. Those odds were created by the opposition in the Northern Territory, the bureaucracy in Canberra and our 'political masters', as the Leader of the Opposition put it, on both sides of the political fence. Neither side was warm towards the idea. The member for Wanguri shakes his head, but the reality is that Canberra opposed it at the time. It has never been very keen over the whole idea. However, it was the opposition in this Assembly that argued against the university.
Mr Stone: Territory Labor argued against NTU.
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: The funding was not a subsidy.
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Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr ADAMSON: May I please explain?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: For the benefit of both honourable members, others in the Chamber and people listening to this broadcast, I will explain how the arrangement began and how it is currently. In Australia, universities are funded by the federal government. However, to set up Northern Territory University, those federal funds ...
Ms Martin interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fannie Bay, you are interjecting again.
Mr ADAMSON: The member for Fannie Bay does not want to hear the answer.
To set up the university, the Territory government had to put in ...
Mr Bailey: Not one person here ...
Mr ADAMSON: The member for Wanguri also does not like the answer. I am trying to address the issue of a supposed subsidy which has been raised by the opposition. I am trying to explain where they are wrong, but members of the opposition do not want to hear the answer. It was not a subsidy. Federal funds were not made available. The federal government was not prepared to fund the Territory for a university. In effect, the Northern Territory government provided the start-up funding that established Northern Territory University.
Mr Stone: Over $65m.
Mr ADAMSON: As the Chief Minister correctly points out, the Territory government provided $65m that, in any other jurisdiction, would have been paid by the federal government. That was $65m that, in any other jurisdiction, would not have been the responsibility of the state government.
To obtain increased funding over the years, an arrangement was required whereby the Northern Territory funding dropped off as federal funding increased, to a level that we hoped would be the same as the entitlement paid anywhere else in Australia. It was not a case of the Territory government turning off the drip or removing its support for Northern Territory University. It was simply a matter of maintaining the funding at an acceptable level compared with the rest of Australia. We were not withdrawing a subsidy. We were simply taking back our cash injection in proportions similar to the federal government's funding contributions. It is the federal government's responsibility to take that over in that way.
I say to the members of the opposition that they are on shaky ground when they try to argue this ...
Mr Stirling: You will not match the federal funding. That is what you are saying.
Mr ADAMSON: What I am saying is ...
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: I am saying that we do not seem to have too many friends in Canberra on either side of the political fence. We paid full tote odds under Labor before.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
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Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Nhulunbuy.
Mr ADAMSON: Members of the opposition cannot deny the fact that the opposition in the Northern Territory and the ALP in Canberra opposed the establishment of Northern Territory University. The ALP in Canberra is no friend to Northern Territory University.
As for of enrolment figures, I am advised by the university that it is too early to determine the final figures. I am advised that, after ...
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr ADAMSON: I am happy to discuss that, but I am simply ...
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: The member for Stuart demonstrated the other day that he can actually speak up and be heard when it suits him, but he seems to be quite happy simply to mumble under his breath for the greater part of the time. He seems to lack the guts to interject volubly in a way that we can hear.
I am told by the university that it will be able to release an accurate figure for enrolments after 31 March. At this stage, I can tell members that the most recent figures for applications for admission are 1997 - 2877; and 1998 - 3023. These are Northern Territory University figures, not mine. Admissions, first offers to higher education: 1997 - 2421; and 1998 - 2769.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr ADAMSON: I am not saying that. Members of the opposition have asked for some figures and some facts, and I am simply providing them with that information.
There are some areas - I am not trying to gloss over it - for which it appears at this stage that the numbers are down. I do not deny that. There are some areas on the VET side where numbers appear to be down also. I do not deny that either. I am happy to go through that. We are doing a number of things about that, and I am more than happy to put on the record exactly what we are doing. We are continuing to fight with Canberra. We are continuing to discuss the matter. Unfortunately, Canberra is where the battle will be fought in terms of funding in the future. We are talking and discussing a few strategies in that area with the Vice-Chancellor. We are working in cooperation with the Vice-Chancellor on this matter. I believe we are working in a common cause. We have, I believe, a common strategy for what we intend to do. If the opposition wants to take issue with the Vice-Chancellor and the hierarchy of the university as well, I will be more than happy to defend the leadership of the university. I shall continue to work with that leadership.
It would be a more helpful debate if members opposite could acknowledge at least that we have always battled against Canberra. We have battled with the bureaucracy and the politicians in this current administration and the previous administration. Members opposite should have the honesty and commitment to education in the Northern Territory to admit that we have an asset in Northern Territory University that we have nurtured and encouraged. Unfortunately, members opposite and their colleagues in Canberra stand even more condemned than the current administration. There is enough guilt to go around on both sides of the fence in Canberra. If the opposition members do not have the honesty to admit to that, they are really cloistered and obviously do not have
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the interests of Territorians at heart.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: That answer was very long. I would like ministers to keep their answers much shorter. However, we will not continue in the face of continuous interjections from the opposition. Members have been warned. If they ask a question, they should give the minister a chance to answer. I expect interjections to be short and not so many all at once.
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Mr Stone: It was not a subsidy. We were paying the bills!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The minister is on his feet.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am always happy to address these situations. I am not happy with many things that have happened federally. The reality is that we have never had any friends in Canberra in relation to Northern Territory University, in this administration or the previous ones. We fought tooth and nail with the ALP, both federally and in the Territory, over the establishment of the university. It is a fact that there would be no Northern Territory University were it not for the CLP government.
Members interjecting.
Mr ADAMSON: Do you deny that, at the time, the ALP in the Northern Territory opposed the creation and establishment of Northern Territory University?
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr ADAMSON: Deny that that is a fact. The ALP in the Northern Territory ...
Mrs Hickey: And what are you doing?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: I am more than happy to tell you. I will come to that. Fact one is that we established Northern Territory University against all the odds. Those odds were created by the opposition in the Northern Territory, the bureaucracy in Canberra and our 'political masters', as the Leader of the Opposition put it, on both sides of the political fence. Neither side was warm towards the idea. The member for Wanguri shakes his head, but the reality is that Canberra opposed it at the time. It has never been very keen over the whole idea. However, it was the opposition in this Assembly that argued against the university.
Mr Stone: Territory Labor argued against NTU.
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: The funding was not a subsidy.
Page 7
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr ADAMSON: May I please explain?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: For the benefit of both honourable members, others in the Chamber and people listening to this broadcast, I will explain how the arrangement began and how it is currently. In Australia, universities are funded by the federal government. However, to set up Northern Territory University, those federal funds ...
Ms Martin interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fannie Bay, you are interjecting again.
Mr ADAMSON: The member for Fannie Bay does not want to hear the answer.
To set up the university, the Territory government had to put in ...
Mr Bailey: Not one person here ...
Mr ADAMSON: The member for Wanguri also does not like the answer. I am trying to address the issue of a supposed subsidy which has been raised by the opposition. I am trying to explain where they are wrong, but members of the opposition do not want to hear the answer. It was not a subsidy. Federal funds were not made available. The federal government was not prepared to fund the Territory for a university. In effect, the Northern Territory government provided the start-up funding that established Northern Territory University.
Mr Stone: Over $65m.
Mr ADAMSON: As the Chief Minister correctly points out, the Territory government provided $65m that, in any other jurisdiction, would have been paid by the federal government. That was $65m that, in any other jurisdiction, would not have been the responsibility of the state government.
To obtain increased funding over the years, an arrangement was required whereby the Northern Territory funding dropped off as federal funding increased, to a level that we hoped would be the same as the entitlement paid anywhere else in Australia. It was not a case of the Territory government turning off the drip or removing its support for Northern Territory University. It was simply a matter of maintaining the funding at an acceptable level compared with the rest of Australia. We were not withdrawing a subsidy. We were simply taking back our cash injection in proportions similar to the federal government's funding contributions. It is the federal government's responsibility to take that over in that way.
I say to the members of the opposition that they are on shaky ground when they try to argue this ...
Mr Stirling: You will not match the federal funding. That is what you are saying.
Mr ADAMSON: What I am saying is ...
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: I am saying that we do not seem to have too many friends in Canberra on either side of the political fence. We paid full tote odds under Labor before.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Page 8
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Nhulunbuy.
Mr ADAMSON: Members of the opposition cannot deny the fact that the opposition in the Northern Territory and the ALP in Canberra opposed the establishment of Northern Territory University. The ALP in Canberra is no friend to Northern Territory University.
As for of enrolment figures, I am advised by the university that it is too early to determine the final figures. I am advised that, after ...
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr ADAMSON: I am happy to discuss that, but I am simply ...
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ADAMSON: The member for Stuart demonstrated the other day that he can actually speak up and be heard when it suits him, but he seems to be quite happy simply to mumble under his breath for the greater part of the time. He seems to lack the guts to interject volubly in a way that we can hear.
I am told by the university that it will be able to release an accurate figure for enrolments after 31 March. At this stage, I can tell members that the most recent figures for applications for admission are 1997 - 2877; and 1998 - 3023. These are Northern Territory University figures, not mine. Admissions, first offers to higher education: 1997 - 2421; and 1998 - 2769.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr ADAMSON: I am not saying that. Members of the opposition have asked for some figures and some facts, and I am simply providing them with that information.
There are some areas - I am not trying to gloss over it - for which it appears at this stage that the numbers are down. I do not deny that. There are some areas on the VET side where numbers appear to be down also. I do not deny that either. I am happy to go through that. We are doing a number of things about that, and I am more than happy to put on the record exactly what we are doing. We are continuing to fight with Canberra. We are continuing to discuss the matter. Unfortunately, Canberra is where the battle will be fought in terms of funding in the future. We are talking and discussing a few strategies in that area with the Vice-Chancellor. We are working in cooperation with the Vice-Chancellor on this matter. I believe we are working in a common cause. We have, I believe, a common strategy for what we intend to do. If the opposition wants to take issue with the Vice-Chancellor and the hierarchy of the university as well, I will be more than happy to defend the leadership of the university. I shall continue to work with that leadership.
It would be a more helpful debate if members opposite could acknowledge at least that we have always battled against Canberra. We have battled with the bureaucracy and the politicians in this current administration and the previous administration. Members opposite should have the honesty and commitment to education in the Northern Territory to admit that we have an asset in Northern Territory University that we have nurtured and encouraged. Unfortunately, members opposite and their colleagues in Canberra stand even more condemned than the current administration. There is enough guilt to go around on both sides of the fence in Canberra. If the opposition members do not have the honesty to admit to that, they are really cloistered and obviously do not have
Page 9
the interests of Territorians at heart.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: That answer was very long. I would like ministers to keep their answers much shorter. However, we will not continue in the face of continuous interjections from the opposition. Members have been warned. If they ask a question, they should give the minister a chance to answer. I expect interjections to be short and not so many all at once.
Page 10
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016