Mrs HICKEY - 1996-08-20
In the May sittings, the minister defended the failure of the former Speaker, Nick Dondas, to declare a beneficial interest obtained through the North Australian Film Corporation, a company in receipt of an $82 000 grant from the Northern Territory government and a company owned by the wife of Nick Dondas. Was this $82 000 gift the only taxpayers' money provided to the North Australian Film Corporation for the Jalan Kita project? If not, what other funds were provided? If so, why did the minister fail to provide this information to the Assembly in the May sittings when this matter was debated?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, obviously, the Leader of the Opposition knew the answer to her question long before she asked it. We all know that the Jalan Kita project was an Indonesian children's television program that was produced by the North Australian Film Corporation (NAFC) in a joint venture with the International Project Management Unit (IPMU) which is now attached to the Department of Asian Relations, Trade and Industry. However, at that time, it was an arm of the Department of Education. It involved a number of local production houses and local companies including Allura Productions, The Production House, Complete Sounds and 5 interstate consultants in development and production aspects of the program.
In the years 1991-92, Cabinet approved a grant of $261 361 to NAFC to produce the pilot program which was completed in 1992. That grant was paid out of profits made by IPMU on the Indonesian-Australian technical and vocational education project (IATVEP). It was paid from the Northern Territory Education Department's Indonesian Education Assistance Project. The attitude of government at the time was that, when the Northern Territory government obtained revenue from overseas aid projects that were paid for in effect by AusAid moneys, we would reinvest that. It shows quite clearly that the ...
Mr Bailey: That $0.25m was put into the company owned by the then Speaker's wife.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!.
Mr POOLE: It proves that the honourable member did not know what he was talking about.
This project was an initiative of the North Australian Film Corporation and, accordingly, its project. It was put to IPMU as a project to be conducted in Indonesia to train Indonesians. It was accepted by the government at the time and it turned out to be a very successful project.
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Mr Bailey: The total in the press release said $0.25m.
Mr POOLE: The member for Wanguri really is a rude man. The Leader of the Opposition has asked a question, and I am sure that some members would like to hear the answer. Certainly, the general public is interested in the answer.
Jalan Kita was viewed as a complementary activity to the major aid project that the IPMU was managing, and as a potential partnership with an Indonesian educational television station, TPI, at that time. In effect, the IPMU reinvested its profits in this venture. We are not talking about government moneys, but about profits that were made by the department in conducting its business in Asia. It supported the policy of this government at the time that, when profits were made from ventures that were essentially aid projects, that money would be reinvested for the betterment of the country concerned. NAFC recommended a project to the department and, in effect, the department agreed to that project. The IPMU had the financial delegation to commit the funds. At the end of the day, the initial pilot program was well received. It led to a request for interim training of Indonesian television staff in order to meet production requirements. The Department of Industries and Development
provided a grant of $82 000 to NAFC in May 1992 for the training program associated with the production of Jalan Kita. NAFC supplied the training personnel and managed the project, and Northern Territory University provided an officer to conduct a training needs analysis. The $82 000 was provided for interim training while waiting for a decision on an aid project application to AIDAP, now AusAid, for a more extensive training program. That would be a multimillion-dollar program.
As previously stated, the Jalan Kita project was supported by the department because it was a cooperative venture between the Northern Territory and Indonesian businesses. The then recently-signed Memorandum of Understanding with Indonesia, in 1992, provided formal Indonesian and Northern Territory government support for this type of activity. It had the potential to provide a commercial return through a joint venture with a private Indonesian television station, and enhance the Northern Territory government's relationship with Indonesia. The completed programs are now a valuable teaching resource in Northern Territory schools for the teaching of Indonesian language and, of course, the series has already been rerun on Indonesian television.
The idea that the former Speaker's wife could not conduct business in her own right, and the suggestion by honourable members opposite that the former Miss Ferguson - a very successful television production house manager in her own right - should suddenly cease doing business, simply because she married a member of parliament, is a totally nonsensical argument. I am sure most women in the Northern Territory would bitterly resent the Leader of the Opposition's implication that, simply because a woman is a woman and is married to a parliamentarian, she should not continue to carry on her own business. Such a suggestion is absolute nonsense.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, obviously, the Leader of the Opposition knew the answer to her question long before she asked it. We all know that the Jalan Kita project was an Indonesian children's television program that was produced by the North Australian Film Corporation (NAFC) in a joint venture with the International Project Management Unit (IPMU) which is now attached to the Department of Asian Relations, Trade and Industry. However, at that time, it was an arm of the Department of Education. It involved a number of local production houses and local companies including Allura Productions, The Production House, Complete Sounds and 5 interstate consultants in development and production aspects of the program.
In the years 1991-92, Cabinet approved a grant of $261 361 to NAFC to produce the pilot program which was completed in 1992. That grant was paid out of profits made by IPMU on the Indonesian-Australian technical and vocational education project (IATVEP). It was paid from the Northern Territory Education Department's Indonesian Education Assistance Project. The attitude of government at the time was that, when the Northern Territory government obtained revenue from overseas aid projects that were paid for in effect by AusAid moneys, we would reinvest that. It shows quite clearly that the ...
Mr Bailey: That $0.25m was put into the company owned by the then Speaker's wife.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!.
Mr POOLE: It proves that the honourable member did not know what he was talking about.
This project was an initiative of the North Australian Film Corporation and, accordingly, its project. It was put to IPMU as a project to be conducted in Indonesia to train Indonesians. It was accepted by the government at the time and it turned out to be a very successful project.
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Mr Bailey: The total in the press release said $0.25m.
Mr POOLE: The member for Wanguri really is a rude man. The Leader of the Opposition has asked a question, and I am sure that some members would like to hear the answer. Certainly, the general public is interested in the answer.
Jalan Kita was viewed as a complementary activity to the major aid project that the IPMU was managing, and as a potential partnership with an Indonesian educational television station, TPI, at that time. In effect, the IPMU reinvested its profits in this venture. We are not talking about government moneys, but about profits that were made by the department in conducting its business in Asia. It supported the policy of this government at the time that, when profits were made from ventures that were essentially aid projects, that money would be reinvested for the betterment of the country concerned. NAFC recommended a project to the department and, in effect, the department agreed to that project. The IPMU had the financial delegation to commit the funds. At the end of the day, the initial pilot program was well received. It led to a request for interim training of Indonesian television staff in order to meet production requirements. The Department of Industries and Development
provided a grant of $82 000 to NAFC in May 1992 for the training program associated with the production of Jalan Kita. NAFC supplied the training personnel and managed the project, and Northern Territory University provided an officer to conduct a training needs analysis. The $82 000 was provided for interim training while waiting for a decision on an aid project application to AIDAP, now AusAid, for a more extensive training program. That would be a multimillion-dollar program.
As previously stated, the Jalan Kita project was supported by the department because it was a cooperative venture between the Northern Territory and Indonesian businesses. The then recently-signed Memorandum of Understanding with Indonesia, in 1992, provided formal Indonesian and Northern Territory government support for this type of activity. It had the potential to provide a commercial return through a joint venture with a private Indonesian television station, and enhance the Northern Territory government's relationship with Indonesia. The completed programs are now a valuable teaching resource in Northern Territory schools for the teaching of Indonesian language and, of course, the series has already been rerun on Indonesian television.
The idea that the former Speaker's wife could not conduct business in her own right, and the suggestion by honourable members opposite that the former Miss Ferguson - a very successful television production house manager in her own right - should suddenly cease doing business, simply because she married a member of parliament, is a totally nonsensical argument. I am sure most women in the Northern Territory would bitterly resent the Leader of the Opposition's implication that, simply because a woman is a woman and is married to a parliamentarian, she should not continue to carry on her own business. Such a suggestion is absolute nonsense.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016