Mrs PADGHAM-PURICH - 1995-02-21
At what stage are negotiations between his government and the federal Department of Administrative Services in relation to federal financial compensation to the Northern Territory government, similar to that provided to the states, for services extended by the Northern Territory Fire Service to defence force installations in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, an interesting set of circumstances surrounds this matter. It is an issue on which we hope to reach a satisfactory conclusion. I was very disappointed to find that the Department of Defence had decided to withdraw its firefighting capability on the RAAF base. This does not involve fire protection of aircraft and the operation of the runway, but protection of RAAFand Commonwealth property on the RAAF base.
The situation has been that defence forces throughout the country have bases with personnel and property similar to the RAAFbase and other residential areas. Equipment is stored in hangars or industrial sheds and usually a fire service operates on that Commonwealth property to protect that property. There have always been problems in relation to local jurisdiction over Commonwealth property. It takes little effort to think of instances of that. An example is that taxing powers of a government in relation to, say, alcohol cannot be enforced on Commonwealth property. There are many instances that members would be aware of.
The firefighting staff at the RAAFBase in Darwin comprised 12 people and we are told that they are to be relocated. I was advised by my department that the local fire service has been informed that it will take over the operations. However, where the defence force has withdrawn its firefighting capacity in other areas, the procedure has been to engage the local firefighting industry under an arrangement whereby appropriate funds are provided to cover the extra staff and equipment required. No such arrangement exists in the Territory. I wrote to the federal Minister for Defence asking for the Territory to be treated in the same manner as the states where this has occurred. The minister replied more or less to the effect that the RAAF has decided to do this and it is a matter for it.
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We have since begun negotiations with the federal Department of Administrative Services, involving Treasury and our fire people, in an attempt to secure some satisfactory funding arrangement. At present, we have a situation where the Territory fire services are, to all intents and purposes, now providing a protection to Commonwealth property that previously was provided by the RAAF fire contingent. We certainly have not received any funding to cover that extra task and we have not determined what powers we have to operate on Commonwealth property. Hopefully, that can be sorted out. If this cannot be satisfactorily resolved, I will inform the House at a later stage and we will have to deal with that matter. I suppose there are not many precedents set by the federal Labor government, but at present I am hoping that, in this case, we in the Territory will be treated in the same way that Australians in the states are treated.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, an interesting set of circumstances surrounds this matter. It is an issue on which we hope to reach a satisfactory conclusion. I was very disappointed to find that the Department of Defence had decided to withdraw its firefighting capability on the RAAF base. This does not involve fire protection of aircraft and the operation of the runway, but protection of RAAFand Commonwealth property on the RAAF base.
The situation has been that defence forces throughout the country have bases with personnel and property similar to the RAAFbase and other residential areas. Equipment is stored in hangars or industrial sheds and usually a fire service operates on that Commonwealth property to protect that property. There have always been problems in relation to local jurisdiction over Commonwealth property. It takes little effort to think of instances of that. An example is that taxing powers of a government in relation to, say, alcohol cannot be enforced on Commonwealth property. There are many instances that members would be aware of.
The firefighting staff at the RAAFBase in Darwin comprised 12 people and we are told that they are to be relocated. I was advised by my department that the local fire service has been informed that it will take over the operations. However, where the defence force has withdrawn its firefighting capacity in other areas, the procedure has been to engage the local firefighting industry under an arrangement whereby appropriate funds are provided to cover the extra staff and equipment required. No such arrangement exists in the Territory. I wrote to the federal Minister for Defence asking for the Territory to be treated in the same manner as the states where this has occurred. The minister replied more or less to the effect that the RAAF has decided to do this and it is a matter for it.
Page 416
We have since begun negotiations with the federal Department of Administrative Services, involving Treasury and our fire people, in an attempt to secure some satisfactory funding arrangement. At present, we have a situation where the Territory fire services are, to all intents and purposes, now providing a protection to Commonwealth property that previously was provided by the RAAF fire contingent. We certainly have not received any funding to cover that extra task and we have not determined what powers we have to operate on Commonwealth property. Hopefully, that can be sorted out. If this cannot be satisfactorily resolved, I will inform the House at a later stage and we will have to deal with that matter. I suppose there are not many precedents set by the federal Labor government, but at present I am hoping that, in this case, we in the Territory will be treated in the same way that Australians in the states are treated.
Page 417
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016