Mr HENDERSON - 1999-10-14
Yesterday the minister failed to answer my question on the lack of accommodation for homeless youth in Palmerston. This time I refer him to a survey conducted by the Palmerston YMCA Youth Outreach Service in August this year. That survey reveals that: the majority of youth felt that youth homelessness is an issue in Palmerston; more than half of the youth consulted knew of somebody who needs crisis accommodation; the majority also knew somebody who is accommodating young people other than their own family; nearly all of the youth interviewed believed there should be a youth housing facility in Palmerston. I seek leave to table this survey.
Leave granted.
Mr HENDERSON: Young people themselves are clearly sending a message to this government to act. Will the minister now tell this House whether he intends to respond to this call by providing crisis accommodation to the youth of Palmerston?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I start with an apology to the seniors in the Gallery. As the minister for seniors, I do apologise for the unruly nature of Question Time thus far. I hope that from here on the responses of ministers will be heard in silence.
The member for Wanguri stands up and brandishes a report and says: ‘Look, here is an answer. Why haven’t you grabbed it?’ We have a range of initiatives under way on the vexed issue of children at risk, children who cannot for a variety of reasons live in safety in their own family home. One of them is youth refuges, but it is not the primary one.
We will look at the paper that has been tabled. I will make sure that I look at it closely, because the opposition has tabled a variety of papers which, when you scrutinise them, have been abridged, doctored and altered.
I take this opportunity to mention another youth facility, Aranda House. The Labor Party has been absolutely deafening in its silence about ATSIC’s withdrawal of funds for this facility. The Northern Territory government is a substantial provider to it through my department and Aboriginal Hostels is also a provider. The premises are provided rent-free. For some months now, that facility has been in crisis because ATSIC, notwithstanding its rhetoric about the Stolen Generations and deaths in custody, has seen fit not to deem it as suitable for funding by an Aboriginal organisation such as ATSIC. It withdrew funding unilaterally.
If the Labor Party is keen on funding facilities of this type – and yes, they do exist – I hope they will join with me in lobbying for the reinstatement of funding by ATSIC. I visited Aranda House only last week and I was told that perhaps $60 000 would be provided out of those coffers. I hope that will eventuate.
The difficulty I have with responding to the Labor rhetoric on this matter is that we can’t juxtapose their rhetoric with their policy, because they are totally devoid of policy.
Mr Toyne: Nonsense!
Mr DUNHAM: ‘Nonsense’ is the interjection. We found yesterday that a search of their website failed to yield one policy. We could go back to their previous policies and attempt to make assumptions that these are still in place. But the Labor Party have paraded these policies on several election outings and they’ve been roundly rejected by the people. I think they really should have another look at them. The height of arrogance is to continue to place policies before …
Mrs HICKEY: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The minister is not addressing the question. He is speculating on matters that are completely irrelevant to the question. I ask you to ask him to conclude.
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Comments have been made about policy and the minister is responding to that point. I ask him, though, to stay as close as possible to a direct answer to the question.
Mr DUNHAM: I am left with no option but to speculate. In the absence of any written policy coming for those opposite, one must speculate as to what their position is. It becomes increasingly difficult when their policy waxes and wanes to such an extent that one could use the word ‘hypocrite’, but I’m afraid that would be unparliamentary. The difficulty we have is that often the Labor Party assumes one position and then another. In the absence of a policy overview to see whether they are adhering to their own policy statement, ministers are left with very little option but to speculate.
Leave granted.
Mr HENDERSON: Young people themselves are clearly sending a message to this government to act. Will the minister now tell this House whether he intends to respond to this call by providing crisis accommodation to the youth of Palmerston?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I start with an apology to the seniors in the Gallery. As the minister for seniors, I do apologise for the unruly nature of Question Time thus far. I hope that from here on the responses of ministers will be heard in silence.
The member for Wanguri stands up and brandishes a report and says: ‘Look, here is an answer. Why haven’t you grabbed it?’ We have a range of initiatives under way on the vexed issue of children at risk, children who cannot for a variety of reasons live in safety in their own family home. One of them is youth refuges, but it is not the primary one.
We will look at the paper that has been tabled. I will make sure that I look at it closely, because the opposition has tabled a variety of papers which, when you scrutinise them, have been abridged, doctored and altered.
I take this opportunity to mention another youth facility, Aranda House. The Labor Party has been absolutely deafening in its silence about ATSIC’s withdrawal of funds for this facility. The Northern Territory government is a substantial provider to it through my department and Aboriginal Hostels is also a provider. The premises are provided rent-free. For some months now, that facility has been in crisis because ATSIC, notwithstanding its rhetoric about the Stolen Generations and deaths in custody, has seen fit not to deem it as suitable for funding by an Aboriginal organisation such as ATSIC. It withdrew funding unilaterally.
If the Labor Party is keen on funding facilities of this type – and yes, they do exist – I hope they will join with me in lobbying for the reinstatement of funding by ATSIC. I visited Aranda House only last week and I was told that perhaps $60 000 would be provided out of those coffers. I hope that will eventuate.
The difficulty I have with responding to the Labor rhetoric on this matter is that we can’t juxtapose their rhetoric with their policy, because they are totally devoid of policy.
Mr Toyne: Nonsense!
Mr DUNHAM: ‘Nonsense’ is the interjection. We found yesterday that a search of their website failed to yield one policy. We could go back to their previous policies and attempt to make assumptions that these are still in place. But the Labor Party have paraded these policies on several election outings and they’ve been roundly rejected by the people. I think they really should have another look at them. The height of arrogance is to continue to place policies before …
Mrs HICKEY: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The minister is not addressing the question. He is speculating on matters that are completely irrelevant to the question. I ask you to ask him to conclude.
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Comments have been made about policy and the minister is responding to that point. I ask him, though, to stay as close as possible to a direct answer to the question.
Mr DUNHAM: I am left with no option but to speculate. In the absence of any written policy coming for those opposite, one must speculate as to what their position is. It becomes increasingly difficult when their policy waxes and wanes to such an extent that one could use the word ‘hypocrite’, but I’m afraid that would be unparliamentary. The difficulty we have is that often the Labor Party assumes one position and then another. In the absence of a policy overview to see whether they are adhering to their own policy statement, ministers are left with very little option but to speculate.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016