Ms CARNEY - 2006-08-22
Labor Party President and member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon, said in federal parliament on 19 June 2006 in relation to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act: ‘The failure of both the Northern Territory government and the Commonwealth government to seek informed consent for these and other proposals …’. He described it as an ‘… indictment of the approach of both governments’. Chief Minister, it appears as though your Labor Party President is suggesting that you knew what was happening to the land rights legislation, but you just did not tell your colleagues. The member for Millner wrote his now famous memo …
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause, Leader of the Opposition.
Mr HENDERSON: This is Question Time and these questions are getting longer and longer. It is not an opportunity for the Leader of the Opposition to make statements. I urge you to counsel the Leader of the Opposition to get to the point of her question.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, it is quite a long question. Is it nearly at the end?
Ms CARNEY: It is, Madam Speaker, but the quote was both useful and a little lengthier than the tolerance levels of the member for Wanguri.
Madam SPEAKER: If you just continue with the question.
Ms CARNEY: Chief Minister, the member for Millner wrote his now famous memo and, as reported by the Centralian Advocate, it was reportedly leaked by the member for Macdonnell, both because of their frustration with you in the portfolio of indigenous affairs.
Mr Henderson: And the question is?
Ms CARNEY: The question, Chief Minister, is, will you now do as your colleagues want you to do, and that is hand over the portfolio of indigenous affairs, or will you arrogantly bat on?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is interesting; the member for Lingiari and I have a good relationship though, at times, a volatile relationship. He is a very good performer. To say that there was a failure from the Northern Territory government over federal government legislation is a bit of a long bow. The ALRA changes were in the hands of the federal government. The federal government chose not to consult with stakeholders, including this government, because of their own political strategy. I do not know why. We had good consultation in the early days. The rest of it was pretty much a mystery. We did not know what they had in terms of amendments.
As I said, we do not disagree with all the amendments, but there was no chance to have those discussions. With those ALRA changes, as I said in the answer to the last question, there is no one Aboriginal view on this. There is no one land council view on this. There are a variety of views depending on where you are in the Territory and what your aspirations are. You have a difference between the land councils in response to the variety of amendments. There is agreement over the first draft to do with Part IV because we worked through that slowly, but systematically. It is difficult legislation and the federal government has not consulted all stakeholders adequately. Certainly, the member for Lingiari and Party President, Warren Snowdon, recognises that all too clearly.
The issue of indigenous affairs and indigenous policy for the Northern Territory is probably one of the biggest challenges in Australia. It is a tough area. One of the hallmarks of this government is that there is no area or department that deals with indigenous affairs. Do you know why? Aboriginal Territorians are Territorians, so when it comes to education, we do not say, ‘Aboriginal Territorians will be treated differently’. We have the same expectation running through education.
Ms Carney interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Ms MARTIN: When it comes to health, when it comes to justice, the needs of Aboriginal Territorians are part of how we deal with governing this Territory, and it is a tough area. Every indicator we have for Aboriginal Territorians is below non-Aboriginal Territorians. Aboriginal Territorians, in the majority, live in remote areas of the Territory. Service delivery is difficult and job sustainability is difficult as well. We were bequeathed very, very low literacy and numeracy levels from 27 years of the CLP government which did not insist that Aboriginal children in the Territory went to school. We are facing a great deficit with Aboriginal Territorians …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: … and I do not back off it. It is the toughest job facing this government, and we will have our ups and downs. I will have my ups and downs with members of this government, too, but we are determined to make change, to work with Aboriginal Territorians to make their lives better, and to put them in a better position to contribute both to the development of the Territory and their own lives and the success of them, no matter where they live in the Territory. I proudly hold the position. I am happy to coordinate a level of indigenous policy, but I have ministers who, each and every one of them, have the concerns of Aboriginal Territorians at heart every day in their job.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause, Leader of the Opposition.
Mr HENDERSON: This is Question Time and these questions are getting longer and longer. It is not an opportunity for the Leader of the Opposition to make statements. I urge you to counsel the Leader of the Opposition to get to the point of her question.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, it is quite a long question. Is it nearly at the end?
Ms CARNEY: It is, Madam Speaker, but the quote was both useful and a little lengthier than the tolerance levels of the member for Wanguri.
Madam SPEAKER: If you just continue with the question.
Ms CARNEY: Chief Minister, the member for Millner wrote his now famous memo and, as reported by the Centralian Advocate, it was reportedly leaked by the member for Macdonnell, both because of their frustration with you in the portfolio of indigenous affairs.
Mr Henderson: And the question is?
Ms CARNEY: The question, Chief Minister, is, will you now do as your colleagues want you to do, and that is hand over the portfolio of indigenous affairs, or will you arrogantly bat on?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is interesting; the member for Lingiari and I have a good relationship though, at times, a volatile relationship. He is a very good performer. To say that there was a failure from the Northern Territory government over federal government legislation is a bit of a long bow. The ALRA changes were in the hands of the federal government. The federal government chose not to consult with stakeholders, including this government, because of their own political strategy. I do not know why. We had good consultation in the early days. The rest of it was pretty much a mystery. We did not know what they had in terms of amendments.
As I said, we do not disagree with all the amendments, but there was no chance to have those discussions. With those ALRA changes, as I said in the answer to the last question, there is no one Aboriginal view on this. There is no one land council view on this. There are a variety of views depending on where you are in the Territory and what your aspirations are. You have a difference between the land councils in response to the variety of amendments. There is agreement over the first draft to do with Part IV because we worked through that slowly, but systematically. It is difficult legislation and the federal government has not consulted all stakeholders adequately. Certainly, the member for Lingiari and Party President, Warren Snowdon, recognises that all too clearly.
The issue of indigenous affairs and indigenous policy for the Northern Territory is probably one of the biggest challenges in Australia. It is a tough area. One of the hallmarks of this government is that there is no area or department that deals with indigenous affairs. Do you know why? Aboriginal Territorians are Territorians, so when it comes to education, we do not say, ‘Aboriginal Territorians will be treated differently’. We have the same expectation running through education.
Ms Carney interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Ms MARTIN: When it comes to health, when it comes to justice, the needs of Aboriginal Territorians are part of how we deal with governing this Territory, and it is a tough area. Every indicator we have for Aboriginal Territorians is below non-Aboriginal Territorians. Aboriginal Territorians, in the majority, live in remote areas of the Territory. Service delivery is difficult and job sustainability is difficult as well. We were bequeathed very, very low literacy and numeracy levels from 27 years of the CLP government which did not insist that Aboriginal children in the Territory went to school. We are facing a great deficit with Aboriginal Territorians …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: … and I do not back off it. It is the toughest job facing this government, and we will have our ups and downs. I will have my ups and downs with members of this government, too, but we are determined to make change, to work with Aboriginal Territorians to make their lives better, and to put them in a better position to contribute both to the development of the Territory and their own lives and the success of them, no matter where they live in the Territory. I proudly hold the position. I am happy to coordinate a level of indigenous policy, but I have ministers who, each and every one of them, have the concerns of Aboriginal Territorians at heart every day in their job.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016