Dr LIM - 1995-05-18
I understand that the honourable minister met with the federal Minister for Human Services and Health, Carmen Lawrence, earlier this year in an effort to improve coordination of the delivery of Aboriginal health programs. Has the Territory's federal member, Hon Warren Snowdon, played any role in these discussions?
Mrs Hickey: Why?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the member for Barkly is gasping. I do not know what she has to be so surprised about when the member for Greatorex is simply suggesting that the federal member for the Northern Territory, Hon Warren Snowdon, should be participating with his Labor colleagues in approaching ministers in the federal government to obtain the best deal for Territorians. I would have thought that that is why Territorians put him there.
In relation to discussions that I have had with Carmen Lawrence, particularly over Aboriginal health but also on broader issues concerning the delivery of health services to Territorians ...
Mr Ede: I have had meetings with her on it.
Mr REED: I will pick up the interjection.
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Mr Ede: I was hoping to get a decent deal.
Mr REED: I must say that the experience which I have had and the responses which I have received from some people, with whom the Leader of the Opposition has met, have not been of great assistance to Territorians. I would thank him to stay at home because he has not been a help to us at all. He should save us the air fares and the accommodation costs. He should stay in Darwin or Alice Springs. I ask him not speak to federal ministers because his performance in the past has not helped us at all.
Hon Warren Snowdon was elected by Territorians to represent them in the federal parliament, to obtain the best deal for them in a budgetary context and, of course, to represent them by other means that may be available to him. From that point of view, he is a dismal failure, particularly in relation to health. There was no better example of that than last week when he was on ABC radio extolling the virtues of the federal government's 1995-96 budget. It was interesting to note that. An election must be coming up because we seldom hear from him unless something of that kind is about to happen. He has become a little more public in recent times and, bearing in mind his keen support of the federal government, I believe it is a clear indication that something is about to happen.
Mrs Hickey: Yes!
Mr Ede: Why don't you be the CLP's candidate, and make us all happy.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: It might be useful if you could display a few manners.
In relation to what the member for the Northern Territory was able to provide last week concerning the health budget and its benefits for Territorians, his advice was very brief and the detail was virtually non-existent. He was asked to expand on what the $5m that might accrue to the Northern Territory government ...
Mr Bailey: During debate on the Appropriation Bill, you were asked how much money we would spend, or will it be different this year?
Mr REED: You and your leader should both take classes in better manners.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: The honourable member for the Northern Territory was unable to supply any detail on the $5m that might accrue to Territory health services from the federal budget, and I think there are pretty good reasons for that. When we look at the total figure, an extra $103m is to be provided in the federal budget for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, but I invite honourable members to listen closely to the qualification that follows from the federal government. The announcement was `an extra $103m for Aboriginal health - over 4 years'. Listen to the whisper after the announcement - `over 4 years'. We are really talking
Page 550
about only an extra $25m per year, and that is not simply for the Northern Territory, but for the whole of Australia.
That is what the member for the Northern Territory supported, and that is what the Leader of the Opposition supported. He went to the media saying that it was a wonderful budget with more money for Aboriginal health. He told us that we could all be pleased with the federal budget. The fact is that there will be just an extra $25m for Aboriginal health over the next year and a total of $103m over 4 years.
Mr Bailey: Health is a Territory government responsibility.
Mr REED: Why is the federal government getting involved with it then?
Mr Bailey: Because you do not do your job.
Mr REED: We do not do our job. The federal government will spend an extra $103m over the next 4 years. To put the federal government's money into context, with the money that has been extracted from ATSIC and provided now to the Department of Human Services and Health, a total of $482m will be spent over the next 4 years on Aboriginal health by the federal government. How much will the Northern Territory government spend in that time on Aboriginal health? It will spend in the order of $640m.
Mr Bailey: It is your responsibility. You are the ones who say you want the responsibility.
Mr REED: Our $640m is for Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory, but the $482m from the Commonwealth will be for Aboriginal health nationally.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I remind the member for Wanguri that, on each of these 3 sitting days, I have told him that his constant mindless prattle across the Chamber is unacceptable to the Chair.
Mr Bell: Good grief!
Mr REED: It is indeed our responsibility, and that is why, over the next 4 years, we will be spending $640m to provide health services to Aboriginal people. That is why we will hear from the Treasurer in the budget speech today that we will be expending substantial additional funding in 1995-96 on Aboriginal health.
Past Commonwealth health ministers have recognised the need, and I refer members to the comments of previous Senator Richardson who called on the federal government to spend an extra $1000m on Aboriginal health because he thought it was a Commonwealth responsibility that the Commonwealth had shirked over the last decade. He stated quite clearly that the Territory's small population base did not provide a reasonable taxation opportunity for the Territory to raise sufficient funds to meet the needs of Aboriginal health, notwithstanding that this government was doing a pretty good job.
Page 551
If it is our responsibility, why did the Prime Minister trot off to Geneva and say that Australia has a problem with Aboriginal health and it has to do something about it, because we are ashamed of it as a nation? However, when it came to crunch time and the preparation of the federal budget, when all the difficult decisions had to be made, what did Aboriginal health get? It got an extra $103m - over 4 years. Don't forget the whisper after the announcement!
That is the lesson. Listen to what Warren Snowdon says after he has delivered the principal message. Listen to the whisper, because that is where the real facts are. He is an irrelevance. I hope I can be proven wrong on this count, but he has never once stood and used, as an example, some of the marvellous programs that have been developed in the Northern Territory to address the health concerns and problems facing Aboriginal communities.
Mr Ede: With what results?
Mr REED: With what results? What about the `Strong Women, Strong Babies, Strong Culture' program? That is an innovative program established in the Northern Territory. Why was it established? It was established because of the low birth weights among Aboriginal children. What has that program succeeded in doing during its trial period? It has raised birth weights for Aboriginal children. It has improved their health profile from the day that they are born. We are not worried about Aboriginal health only for those people who are sick. We are concerned with putting kids on the right track right from the day that they are born. The `Strong Women, Strong Babies, Strong Culture' program is an excellent example of how we can achieve that, and improve the lot of Aboriginal babies from the time they are born, and improve the health and lifestyle of their mothers. It is the kind of program Hon Warren Snowdon should be seeking funding for to apply right across Australia, not simply across the Northern Territory.
Let us bear in mind that, quite apart from the responsibility he has to pursue benefits for Territorians, he has a responsibility also to recognise the hard work that is put in, on behalf of his constituents, by the people who are working on these issues. I refer there to the staff of the Department of Health and Community Services who are developing these innovative programs, finding solutions to the problems and overcoming them. If the Commonwealth will work together with the Territory government, as I have proposed to Carmen Lawrence that it do, and which she has thankfully accepted to do, I think that we will make up considerably more ground. We would make up further ground if we could only have the support of our federal member but, in that area, he is an irrelevance.
Page 552
Mrs Hickey: Why?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the member for Barkly is gasping. I do not know what she has to be so surprised about when the member for Greatorex is simply suggesting that the federal member for the Northern Territory, Hon Warren Snowdon, should be participating with his Labor colleagues in approaching ministers in the federal government to obtain the best deal for Territorians. I would have thought that that is why Territorians put him there.
In relation to discussions that I have had with Carmen Lawrence, particularly over Aboriginal health but also on broader issues concerning the delivery of health services to Territorians ...
Mr Ede: I have had meetings with her on it.
Mr REED: I will pick up the interjection.
Page 549
Mr Ede: I was hoping to get a decent deal.
Mr REED: I must say that the experience which I have had and the responses which I have received from some people, with whom the Leader of the Opposition has met, have not been of great assistance to Territorians. I would thank him to stay at home because he has not been a help to us at all. He should save us the air fares and the accommodation costs. He should stay in Darwin or Alice Springs. I ask him not speak to federal ministers because his performance in the past has not helped us at all.
Hon Warren Snowdon was elected by Territorians to represent them in the federal parliament, to obtain the best deal for them in a budgetary context and, of course, to represent them by other means that may be available to him. From that point of view, he is a dismal failure, particularly in relation to health. There was no better example of that than last week when he was on ABC radio extolling the virtues of the federal government's 1995-96 budget. It was interesting to note that. An election must be coming up because we seldom hear from him unless something of that kind is about to happen. He has become a little more public in recent times and, bearing in mind his keen support of the federal government, I believe it is a clear indication that something is about to happen.
Mrs Hickey: Yes!
Mr Ede: Why don't you be the CLP's candidate, and make us all happy.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: It might be useful if you could display a few manners.
In relation to what the member for the Northern Territory was able to provide last week concerning the health budget and its benefits for Territorians, his advice was very brief and the detail was virtually non-existent. He was asked to expand on what the $5m that might accrue to the Northern Territory government ...
Mr Bailey: During debate on the Appropriation Bill, you were asked how much money we would spend, or will it be different this year?
Mr REED: You and your leader should both take classes in better manners.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: The honourable member for the Northern Territory was unable to supply any detail on the $5m that might accrue to Territory health services from the federal budget, and I think there are pretty good reasons for that. When we look at the total figure, an extra $103m is to be provided in the federal budget for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, but I invite honourable members to listen closely to the qualification that follows from the federal government. The announcement was `an extra $103m for Aboriginal health - over 4 years'. Listen to the whisper after the announcement - `over 4 years'. We are really talking
Page 550
about only an extra $25m per year, and that is not simply for the Northern Territory, but for the whole of Australia.
That is what the member for the Northern Territory supported, and that is what the Leader of the Opposition supported. He went to the media saying that it was a wonderful budget with more money for Aboriginal health. He told us that we could all be pleased with the federal budget. The fact is that there will be just an extra $25m for Aboriginal health over the next year and a total of $103m over 4 years.
Mr Bailey: Health is a Territory government responsibility.
Mr REED: Why is the federal government getting involved with it then?
Mr Bailey: Because you do not do your job.
Mr REED: We do not do our job. The federal government will spend an extra $103m over the next 4 years. To put the federal government's money into context, with the money that has been extracted from ATSIC and provided now to the Department of Human Services and Health, a total of $482m will be spent over the next 4 years on Aboriginal health by the federal government. How much will the Northern Territory government spend in that time on Aboriginal health? It will spend in the order of $640m.
Mr Bailey: It is your responsibility. You are the ones who say you want the responsibility.
Mr REED: Our $640m is for Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory, but the $482m from the Commonwealth will be for Aboriginal health nationally.
Mr Bailey interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I remind the member for Wanguri that, on each of these 3 sitting days, I have told him that his constant mindless prattle across the Chamber is unacceptable to the Chair.
Mr Bell: Good grief!
Mr REED: It is indeed our responsibility, and that is why, over the next 4 years, we will be spending $640m to provide health services to Aboriginal people. That is why we will hear from the Treasurer in the budget speech today that we will be expending substantial additional funding in 1995-96 on Aboriginal health.
Past Commonwealth health ministers have recognised the need, and I refer members to the comments of previous Senator Richardson who called on the federal government to spend an extra $1000m on Aboriginal health because he thought it was a Commonwealth responsibility that the Commonwealth had shirked over the last decade. He stated quite clearly that the Territory's small population base did not provide a reasonable taxation opportunity for the Territory to raise sufficient funds to meet the needs of Aboriginal health, notwithstanding that this government was doing a pretty good job.
Page 551
If it is our responsibility, why did the Prime Minister trot off to Geneva and say that Australia has a problem with Aboriginal health and it has to do something about it, because we are ashamed of it as a nation? However, when it came to crunch time and the preparation of the federal budget, when all the difficult decisions had to be made, what did Aboriginal health get? It got an extra $103m - over 4 years. Don't forget the whisper after the announcement!
That is the lesson. Listen to what Warren Snowdon says after he has delivered the principal message. Listen to the whisper, because that is where the real facts are. He is an irrelevance. I hope I can be proven wrong on this count, but he has never once stood and used, as an example, some of the marvellous programs that have been developed in the Northern Territory to address the health concerns and problems facing Aboriginal communities.
Mr Ede: With what results?
Mr REED: With what results? What about the `Strong Women, Strong Babies, Strong Culture' program? That is an innovative program established in the Northern Territory. Why was it established? It was established because of the low birth weights among Aboriginal children. What has that program succeeded in doing during its trial period? It has raised birth weights for Aboriginal children. It has improved their health profile from the day that they are born. We are not worried about Aboriginal health only for those people who are sick. We are concerned with putting kids on the right track right from the day that they are born. The `Strong Women, Strong Babies, Strong Culture' program is an excellent example of how we can achieve that, and improve the lot of Aboriginal babies from the time they are born, and improve the health and lifestyle of their mothers. It is the kind of program Hon Warren Snowdon should be seeking funding for to apply right across Australia, not simply across the Northern Territory.
Let us bear in mind that, quite apart from the responsibility he has to pursue benefits for Territorians, he has a responsibility also to recognise the hard work that is put in, on behalf of his constituents, by the people who are working on these issues. I refer there to the staff of the Department of Health and Community Services who are developing these innovative programs, finding solutions to the problems and overcoming them. If the Commonwealth will work together with the Territory government, as I have proposed to Carmen Lawrence that it do, and which she has thankfully accepted to do, I think that we will make up considerably more ground. We would make up further ground if we could only have the support of our federal member but, in that area, he is an irrelevance.
Page 552
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016