Ms LAWRIE - 2003-05-01
Chief Minister, I know you have a passion for increasing the knowledge of the Northern Territory, and just this morning, you introduced a bill into parliament to establish the Desert Knowledge Corporation. Can you please advise what support your government is providing to support the development of a Desert Knowledge Precinct?
ANSWER
Of all the issues we are discussing in this parliament today, I believe this is the most important. The introduction this morning of the Desert Knowledge Australia Bill to establish a statutory corporation is a really significant step forward when this House - and I believe there will be strong support from this House for passing the bill – really moves forward what is a most visionary, community-driven and exciting project for Central Australia.
The Desert Knowledge project sprang from this community and, with a lot of work from community and government, we have seen this project move forward. In terms of the benefits it can bring in a new economy sense to Central Australia, I believe the possibilities are boundless. So to introduce the Desert Knowledge Australia Bill into the House means that what we have set up is the framework for Desert Knowledge moving ahead.
Out there, on the way to the airport at the Arid Zone Farm area, you will see the start, fairly shortly, of earthworks to start building the Desert Peoples Precinct. In that precinct, a number of entities will be setting up. The first one will be the Desert Peoples Centre, made up of the Centre for Appropriate Technology and the Batchelor Institute. They will be relocating there. They will form the Desert Peoples Centre, and that is all about training and skills transfer. The work that they do now can only be expanded when they move to the Desert Peoples Centre.
Also at that precinct, we hope will be the headquarters of Desert Knowledge Australia, the organisation that will run the precinct. It will be both the landlord and an innovator; it will oversee the development of all the elements of Desert Knowledge. Hopefully, we will set up the headquarters of the Cooperative Research Centre for Desert Knowledge there also. The CRC received funding from the Commonwealth, in what is a very competitive process, last December. From the Commonwealth, the CRC received, over seven years, $20m. All together it is a program of $94m over seven years, another exciting component of the Desert Peoples Precinct. In time, a cultural centre and an innovation centre - and who knows what else - will go towards building the capacity of Desert Knowledge in Central Australia.
In the submission that went to the Commonwealth, talking about what Desert Knowledge is, it was described as ‘the skills of living in extreme conditions’. There is a lot of scientific knowledge in the centre about how we do that, but also a lot of home-grown knowledge; those tacit knowledge skills. They are the combination that come together with Desert Knowledge. It is in things like service delivery, the built environment, land management, technology and communications. The skills that have grown in desert Australia, centred around Central Australia, are certainly the ones that will be developed and marketed, and I believe there is strong commercial potential for many of those. So it was a very exciting moment in the parliament this morning, and I was thrilled that many of the stakeholders were present to hear that second reading speech.
The announcement today, though, that makes this move ahead in a way that will see tangible results, is of $2.2m into the headworks at the site. That means power, water reticulation and road works. That work will start in a few months time. What it means is jobs for Alice Springs in construction, and jobs in the long term. But this is, I say to the people of Central Australia, a most exciting project. The Central Australian economy has been built on tourism, mining and pastoralism. This is the new economy, the knowledge industries, and I believe that Central Australia has much to offer both Australia and the world. So it was a very exciting announcement this morning, Madam Speaker.
ANSWER
Of all the issues we are discussing in this parliament today, I believe this is the most important. The introduction this morning of the Desert Knowledge Australia Bill to establish a statutory corporation is a really significant step forward when this House - and I believe there will be strong support from this House for passing the bill – really moves forward what is a most visionary, community-driven and exciting project for Central Australia.
The Desert Knowledge project sprang from this community and, with a lot of work from community and government, we have seen this project move forward. In terms of the benefits it can bring in a new economy sense to Central Australia, I believe the possibilities are boundless. So to introduce the Desert Knowledge Australia Bill into the House means that what we have set up is the framework for Desert Knowledge moving ahead.
Out there, on the way to the airport at the Arid Zone Farm area, you will see the start, fairly shortly, of earthworks to start building the Desert Peoples Precinct. In that precinct, a number of entities will be setting up. The first one will be the Desert Peoples Centre, made up of the Centre for Appropriate Technology and the Batchelor Institute. They will be relocating there. They will form the Desert Peoples Centre, and that is all about training and skills transfer. The work that they do now can only be expanded when they move to the Desert Peoples Centre.
Also at that precinct, we hope will be the headquarters of Desert Knowledge Australia, the organisation that will run the precinct. It will be both the landlord and an innovator; it will oversee the development of all the elements of Desert Knowledge. Hopefully, we will set up the headquarters of the Cooperative Research Centre for Desert Knowledge there also. The CRC received funding from the Commonwealth, in what is a very competitive process, last December. From the Commonwealth, the CRC received, over seven years, $20m. All together it is a program of $94m over seven years, another exciting component of the Desert Peoples Precinct. In time, a cultural centre and an innovation centre - and who knows what else - will go towards building the capacity of Desert Knowledge in Central Australia.
In the submission that went to the Commonwealth, talking about what Desert Knowledge is, it was described as ‘the skills of living in extreme conditions’. There is a lot of scientific knowledge in the centre about how we do that, but also a lot of home-grown knowledge; those tacit knowledge skills. They are the combination that come together with Desert Knowledge. It is in things like service delivery, the built environment, land management, technology and communications. The skills that have grown in desert Australia, centred around Central Australia, are certainly the ones that will be developed and marketed, and I believe there is strong commercial potential for many of those. So it was a very exciting moment in the parliament this morning, and I was thrilled that many of the stakeholders were present to hear that second reading speech.
The announcement today, though, that makes this move ahead in a way that will see tangible results, is of $2.2m into the headworks at the site. That means power, water reticulation and road works. That work will start in a few months time. What it means is jobs for Alice Springs in construction, and jobs in the long term. But this is, I say to the people of Central Australia, a most exciting project. The Central Australian economy has been built on tourism, mining and pastoralism. This is the new economy, the knowledge industries, and I believe that Central Australia has much to offer both Australia and the world. So it was a very exciting announcement this morning, Madam Speaker.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016