Mr MITCHELL - 2001-02-28
In my electorate of Millner, I have quite a large number of seniors, particularly in the Coconut Grove area. This is further complemented by the opening last October of the Coconut Grove Seniors Village. I am happy to say that the people who live there are extremely happy with what they have and, importantly, so too are the people who live around that particular area.
Can the minister respond to the call by the Northern Territory branch of the Australia Labor Party to stop construction of the Leanyer Seniors Village?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, this project has an interesting history. As members would know, this government over the years has tried to address the needs of senior Territorians. One of the latest initiatives is the construction of a number of seniors villages to address their housing needs, and to provide them with safe and secure housing in the future.
When this project was proposed, the then candidate for the Wanguri by-election put out a flyer accusing the government, firstly, of proposing a high-density development, and also claiming that the location of senior Territorians along Leanyer Drive, in the then Drysdale electorate, would somehow impact upon the lifestyle of the residents surrounding that particular development.
In 17 years in this House, I have yet to come across senior Territorians holding loud parties late into the night with head-banging rap music. They don’t do it!
A member: You haven’t been to Palmerston.
Mr PALMER: They may in Palmerston. The Palmerston pensioners may be more modern than the ones around Darwin. But how you can tell the residents that somehow this development will seriously impact upon their lifestyle is beyond me.
On 14 February this year we called for tenders for the construction of a 46-unit development. We compressed the timetable of the construction of those units into packages that smaller subcontractors can take advantage of. 14 February is an important date. It is the anniversary of the introduction into Australia of decimal currency, and it is relevant to the member for Wanguri who needs to measure his IQ in fractions.
This Territory government has recognised the needs of the construction industry. The construction of this village in a compressed time frame is just one manifestation of that. We have heard much in recent days from the opposition about our capital works program, and how that program has been reduced. The cash spent on capital works has levelled out, but we have had self-government since 1978. Since then we have established a huge asset base. One of the problems experienced in other parts of the world is they have not spent money on the maintenance of those assets. In the last five years the repairs and maintenance budget has increased by $63m, and most of that money has been spent within the construction sector. The total program cash allocations have increased by $51m over the last five years.
This government is only too aware of the problems facing the construction industry today in the Northern Territory, but we have seen recently proposals for major constructions in Darwin. We do have the Defence White Paper and we do have the Minister for Resource Development, the Chief Minister, and the Treasurer working assiduously to bring gas onshore to Darwin.
The prospects for Darwin have never been better, but those prospects will fast disappear if this mob opposite are allowed into power. For example, look at Western Australia where the CFMEU are now running riot. They are running riot on construction projects in relation to workplace agreements. If there is one thing that will destroy the Northern Territory, it is the destruction of those workplace agreements that small business and the construction industry rely on.
Can the minister respond to the call by the Northern Territory branch of the Australia Labor Party to stop construction of the Leanyer Seniors Village?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, this project has an interesting history. As members would know, this government over the years has tried to address the needs of senior Territorians. One of the latest initiatives is the construction of a number of seniors villages to address their housing needs, and to provide them with safe and secure housing in the future.
When this project was proposed, the then candidate for the Wanguri by-election put out a flyer accusing the government, firstly, of proposing a high-density development, and also claiming that the location of senior Territorians along Leanyer Drive, in the then Drysdale electorate, would somehow impact upon the lifestyle of the residents surrounding that particular development.
In 17 years in this House, I have yet to come across senior Territorians holding loud parties late into the night with head-banging rap music. They don’t do it!
A member: You haven’t been to Palmerston.
Mr PALMER: They may in Palmerston. The Palmerston pensioners may be more modern than the ones around Darwin. But how you can tell the residents that somehow this development will seriously impact upon their lifestyle is beyond me.
On 14 February this year we called for tenders for the construction of a 46-unit development. We compressed the timetable of the construction of those units into packages that smaller subcontractors can take advantage of. 14 February is an important date. It is the anniversary of the introduction into Australia of decimal currency, and it is relevant to the member for Wanguri who needs to measure his IQ in fractions.
This Territory government has recognised the needs of the construction industry. The construction of this village in a compressed time frame is just one manifestation of that. We have heard much in recent days from the opposition about our capital works program, and how that program has been reduced. The cash spent on capital works has levelled out, but we have had self-government since 1978. Since then we have established a huge asset base. One of the problems experienced in other parts of the world is they have not spent money on the maintenance of those assets. In the last five years the repairs and maintenance budget has increased by $63m, and most of that money has been spent within the construction sector. The total program cash allocations have increased by $51m over the last five years.
This government is only too aware of the problems facing the construction industry today in the Northern Territory, but we have seen recently proposals for major constructions in Darwin. We do have the Defence White Paper and we do have the Minister for Resource Development, the Chief Minister, and the Treasurer working assiduously to bring gas onshore to Darwin.
The prospects for Darwin have never been better, but those prospects will fast disappear if this mob opposite are allowed into power. For example, look at Western Australia where the CFMEU are now running riot. They are running riot on construction projects in relation to workplace agreements. If there is one thing that will destroy the Northern Territory, it is the destruction of those workplace agreements that small business and the construction industry rely on.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016