Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE - 2012-02-22
Aboriginal land is not rateable; however, once Aboriginal land is leased to a third party, the provisions of the Local Government Act allow for that land to be rated. Your government has agreed to lease the land upon which government assets sit, which will make that land rateable. First, can you confirm that the lease payments will cost Territory taxpayers around $6m; and, second, have you done any modelling to establish the rates value of that leased Aboriginal land, and what that will cost Territory taxpayers?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Katherine for his question. It is good to see the opposition is showing some interest in this, given that it has had no interest whatsoever in wanting to grow the regions of the Northern Territory, and to work with the Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory to uncover the fact that these areas can grow once there is mutual respect and a shared process in doing so. That is what our government is doing.
Of course, when we talk about rental for the regions of the Northern Territory, we are talking about nearly half the Northern Territory land mass. We recognise that the assets on these lands need to have security of land tenure. It is security of land tenure that the Henderson Labor government has worked through in a very difficult situation ...
Mr Tollner interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms McCARTHY: It is clear, from the objections on the other side of the House, that they have had no intention whatsoever to work with Indigenous people of the lands across the Northern Territory ...
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance: the member asked a very specific question in relation to rates and leases. That is what we are trying to get an answer to. I ask you to ask the minister to be relevant.
Madam SPEAKER: Resume your seat, member for Fong Lim. Minister, can you come to the question, please.
Ms McCARTHY: I am coming to the point, Madam Speaker. Our government has agreed to pay rent to the traditional owners across the Northern Territory in order to have the security of land tenure for government agencies, for housing, and for all the facilities that come under the Northern Territory government. We are growing the regions of the Northern Territory and we recognise, even through local government, that we must look at the rates. This is …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I have been pretty patient, but I am calling the minister on relevance. The questions were fairly specific. Can the minister confirm that the lease money will be around $6m, and has she done any modelling? How much is it going to cost Territorians for the rates payable on that land? Fairly specific questions.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Katherine, I do not remember mention of $6m in your question.
Ms McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, I am coming to my response. This is a very lengthy response because it is a complex situation. The member for Katherine well knows that we are growing the regions through our A Working Future policy. We know that in order to grow these regions we need the security of land tenure, which then takes us to next step of being able to negotiate directly with the land councils. We have hundreds and hundreds of traditional owners across the Northern Territory ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired. Resume your seat, minister.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! That was the most hopeless answer to a question I have ever heard in this House.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, resume your seat. That is not a point of order.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Katherine for his question. It is good to see the opposition is showing some interest in this, given that it has had no interest whatsoever in wanting to grow the regions of the Northern Territory, and to work with the Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory to uncover the fact that these areas can grow once there is mutual respect and a shared process in doing so. That is what our government is doing.
Of course, when we talk about rental for the regions of the Northern Territory, we are talking about nearly half the Northern Territory land mass. We recognise that the assets on these lands need to have security of land tenure. It is security of land tenure that the Henderson Labor government has worked through in a very difficult situation ...
Mr Tollner interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms McCARTHY: It is clear, from the objections on the other side of the House, that they have had no intention whatsoever to work with Indigenous people of the lands across the Northern Territory ...
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance: the member asked a very specific question in relation to rates and leases. That is what we are trying to get an answer to. I ask you to ask the minister to be relevant.
Madam SPEAKER: Resume your seat, member for Fong Lim. Minister, can you come to the question, please.
Ms McCARTHY: I am coming to the point, Madam Speaker. Our government has agreed to pay rent to the traditional owners across the Northern Territory in order to have the security of land tenure for government agencies, for housing, and for all the facilities that come under the Northern Territory government. We are growing the regions of the Northern Territory and we recognise, even through local government, that we must look at the rates. This is …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I have been pretty patient, but I am calling the minister on relevance. The questions were fairly specific. Can the minister confirm that the lease money will be around $6m, and has she done any modelling? How much is it going to cost Territorians for the rates payable on that land? Fairly specific questions.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Katherine, I do not remember mention of $6m in your question.
Ms McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, I am coming to my response. This is a very lengthy response because it is a complex situation. The member for Katherine well knows that we are growing the regions through our A Working Future policy. We know that in order to grow these regions we need the security of land tenure, which then takes us to next step of being able to negotiate directly with the land councils. We have hundreds and hundreds of traditional owners across the Northern Territory ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired. Resume your seat, minister.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! That was the most hopeless answer to a question I have ever heard in this House.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, resume your seat. That is not a point of order.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016