2012-12-04
Madam Speaker Purick took the Chair at 10 am.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received from Her Honour the Administrator Message No 3 notifying assent to bills passed in the November sitting of the Assembly.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the routine of business of the Assembly, Government Business Notices and Orders of the Day, be arranged or suspended if a question or debate is before the Chair so as to permit the Treasurer to deliver the Mini-Budget 2012-13 at 11 am this day.
Mr GUNNER (Opposition Whip): Madam Speaker, today’s motion conforms with ordinary budget practice with the Treasurer delivering her budget speech and the Leader of the Opposition being granted permission to be the second speaker tomorrow at 11 am. However, opposition requested that Question Time come on after the budget speech today at 2 o’clock. That request has been denied by the government. This is a mini-budget. We hope that in May next year that request might be considered and Question Time will come on after the budget is delivered, allowing us to scrutinise the budget on what is probably the biggest item for many Territorians.
Mr ELFERINK: We will look at it.
Motion agreed to.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the routine of business of the Assembly, Government Business, Notices and Orders of the Day, be arranged or suspended if a question or debate is before the Chair so as to permit a response to the Mini-Budget 2012-13 by the Leader of the Opposition at 11 am on Wednesday 5 December 2012, which is tomorrow.
Motion agreed to.
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members that I have given permission for the Northern Territory News to take still photographs and the Australian Broadcasting Commission and Sky News to film the presentation of the mini-budget.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I table the Mini-Budget 2012-13.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I present the Mini-Budget 2012-13. It is now a well established fact that my government inherited an appalling fiscal position from the previous Labor government. The Territory’s nett debt has been allowed to grow, or had been pushed, to $2.7bn at the start of this financial year.
Even worse, the forward estimates issued by my predecessor at budget time showed a prospective increase in nett debt to over $5.5bn in less than four years’ time. Whether that prospective increase was due to political opportunism, incompetence, indifference, or simply lack of understanding is now beside the point. The stark reality is that such a debt burden is not sustainable and something must be done about it.
This mini-budget, therefore, has several purposes:
1. to establish precisely the extent of the deterioration in the Territory’s budget for 2012-13, between its presentation to this House in May and the election of the Mills government on 25 August of this year
In the pre-election fiscal outlook, the fiscal imbalance was forecast to be $867m in 2012-13, increasing to $1197m in 2013-14, before declining to $561m in 2014-15, and $475m in 2015-16. Subsequently, there were further adjustments to the overall position facing the Territory, which, despite higher estimates of GST receipts, added well over $100m each year to the projected imbalance.
To put this in perspective, interest payable on borrowings to meet the pre-mini-budget fiscal imbalance of $981m in 2012-13 would have cost taxpayers close to $60m per year. That is more than the Tourism budget, an area that is vital to the long-term sustainability of the Territory. By way of further example, $60m per year spent on interest would employ another 600 nurses, not just for one year but for every year indefinitely; and that is just one year’s fiscal imbalance. We were facing fiscal imbalances accumulating by a further $3.7bn over the next four years, a clearly untenable situation.
By far the biggest single issue facing the Territory was the parlous financial state of the Power and Water Corporation. Power and Water requires an ongoing improvement of at least $200m per annum to operate as a sustainable government-owned corporation. There are three broad choices: bigger subsidies from the taxpayer; reduced costs of generation and transmission; or increased tariffs charged to consumers for electricity, water and sewerage services. When faced with the fact that Power and Water Corporation had for years been denied the ability to cover its costs through its charges, the government was faced with the prospect of paying even bigger taxpayer subsidies to the struggling enterprise.
A $200m subsidy is equivalent to the cost of employing 2000 public servants. It is a sum equal to the combined budgets of Tourism, Primary Industry and Fisheries, Mines and Energy, Arts and Museums, and Sport and Recreation. There is no alternative or Labor magic pudding to call upon. The burden of keeping Power and Water Corporation viable has to be borne by the Territory taxpayer or by the users of Power and Water products in the Territory. One way or the other the money comes out of the pockets of Territorians.
There is no doubt in my mind the fairer way is, barring substantial cost cutting, that the users of the product meet the cost. It should not be overlooked that, even after the tariff increases, Territorians will only pay prices close to the average of those paid by other Australians.
We have uncovered substantial unfunded commitments made by the previous government, many of which we had no other choice than to fund. None stand out more than in the Department of Children and Families, where the Chief Executive has advised she was instructed by the then minister to hire over 90 staff in the last month of the 2011-12 financial year, despite the fact there were no budget provisions in Budget 2012-13.
Sadly, this was just the tip of the iceberg. We have been left with a legacy of expenditure commitments with a cost estimated by agencies of over $600m over the forward estimates period. We have now considered them in the context of our government’s priorities and have funded over half, including the following provisions in the mini-budget and over the forward estimates:
over $50m for Police, Fire and Emergency Services covering items such as overtime, police housing and technology
The government has incorporated the Country Liberals’ commitments made in the lead-up to the election in the mini-budget. Key commitments include the area of policing: 100 more frontline police officers will be recruited in the Top End and more in Alice Springs. The recruitment campaign commenced in the first few days of the new government’s term in office and the annual cost will be $27.5m per annum when fully implemented by July 2014. Nightcliff Police Station will be upgraded at a cost of $2m, and the Alice Springs Youth Centre will receive a $2.5m capital grant to upgrade and transform to a Police and Citizens Youth Club.
As promised in the election campaign, the Back to School Bonus will double in value next year from $75 to $150 per student, assisting families with the cost of a range of school supplies and services.
An additional $6.5m a year will enhance cardiac outreach services and cardiac rehabilitation services to make them more accessible to regional and remote Territorians and commence low-risk angioplasty services at Royal Darwin Hospital. Waiting lists will be reduced with an annual boost of $4.46m to provide 400 additional elective surgeries every year across the Territory.
The increased funding to peak sport and recreation bodies is included in the mini-budget at $1.75m a year, increasing grants by 50%. An additional $4m a year is provided for the sports voucher scheme, providing a $75 sports registration voucher for every child involved in a sport where fees are paid. This will commence at the start of the 2013 school year.
Homeland housing and municipal and essential services will be boosted with funding of $40m over the next four years in addition to the current funding committed in the mini-budget for these services. This funding will improve housing standards for remote Indigenous families and will be conditional on observing compulsory school attendance and residents participating in the homelands economy.
The mini-budget sets out this government’s strategy for starting to return the Territory budget to a sustainable position. I hope every Territorian understands the extent and nature of the task which confronted this government and why we have made the hard decisions.
Notwithstanding those decisions to rein in expenditure and pursue additional revenue, our nett debt will continue to grow, albeit more slowly, because it will take time for expenditure to match available revenue.
The fiscal target is simple to state: we will remove the fiscal imbalance by 2015-16. In that year we will live within our means. Total expenditures will not exceed total revenues. We have made a big start in this mini-budget and are within striking distance of the target.
I turn to expenditure savings. A key item contributing to our high expenditure growth has been the rapid build-up in public service staff numbers. This government is committed to providing and supporting the delivery of effective outcomes for frontline services. This means we will continue to search for better and more efficient ways to achieve the results required.
We have paid close attention to setting the funding basis for the major spending agencies with a high emphasis on frontline output such as Health, Education, Police and other agencies that provide critical services to Territorians. It has been important to get these major expenditure areas settled.
I now outline some of the specific savings measures in this mini-budget:
The Chief Minister’s offices in Palmerston and Katherine have been closed and the Alice Springs office will move to more modest accommodation.
The no longer required Council of Territory Cooperation, a creature of the special agreement with the Independent member for Nelson which kept the Henderson team so tenuously in government, will realise $600 000 a year in savings.
Civilianising positions currently occupied by police officers and returning them to the front line will achieve savings reaching $10.9m per year by 2015-16.
Higher-paid positions are being reviewed across the board to make agency management structures leaner and more strategically focused.
We will focus on capitalising on benefits and efficiencies available from the centralised shared services model that provides cross-government services.
Resource allocations in the arrangements with non-government organisations and other bodies providing services on behalf of government will be directed to meeting greater demand pressures and to adopting more cost-effective options for providing services.
The SMART Court and the Alcohol and Other Drugs Tribunal are to be abolished, saving more than $9m over the next four years.
Special arrangements funded by the previous government in the Gerry Wood agreement will not proceed further, including the Litchfield swimming pool and later stages of grants for sporting facilities at Freds Pass.
A late decision by the former government to add an additional $500 000 per year to existing funding for the build schools program will not proceed.
Agencies are rationalising their use of travel, consultancies, vehicle fleets and other discretionary expenditures, instead making better use of videoconferencing and other technologies in their day-to-day operations.
The high cost of housing in the Territory is one of the unforgivable legacies left to this government to sort out, with Territorians bearing the burden of excessively high rents and with purchase prices weighing heavily on the cost of living. Unlike the previous government, we have a plan. We have already outlined the Real Housing for Growth strategy which will produce 2000 homes for working Territorians over this term of government through private sector investment.
We have already outlined the two HomeBuild Access products to facilitate home ownership and the lower end of the market by assisting low- to middle-income earners with subsidised interest loans and other new homeowners with low-deposit loans. It is worth noting that although the Territory has the most generous housing assistance schemes in Australia, they have been poorly targeted.
Also as part of the mini-budget, we will change the approach to first homeowner assistance schemes to encourage construction of new housing. We will discontinue the current stamp duty first homeowner concession while increasing the First Home Owner Grant. For homes in the Darwin, Palmerston and Darwin rural areas, assistance to eligible first homeowners will be $25 000 for new homes and $12 000 for existing homes. Assistance of $25 000 will be offered in regional parts of the Territory for new and existing homes, recognising the current constraints of new housing development compared with the Top End.
We will reduce eligibility for the First Home Owner Grant from $750 000 to homes valued up to $600 000. The stamp duty principal place of residence rebate will be targeted to new homes only and will be increased to $7000 from the current $3500. These measures will come into effect today.
There are various revenue sources available to the government, including taxes and fees and charges for services. The Territory’s revenue effort is assessed by the Commonwealth Grants Commission, which recommends the level of GST payments to the states and territories.
In the most recent assessment, the Commonwealth Grants Commission assessed that the Northern Territory was raising only 78% of the revenue it would raise if taxes and charges were at state average levels. This means Territory taxes and charges are 22% lower than the average of the states. This is unreasonable. If the Territory is to provide the same standard of services as elsewhere in the country then Territorians should pay similar charges as those in other states.
Make no mistake, when assessing our need for GST funds, the Grants Commission assumes we are making a reasonable revenue effort given that we receive several times more per capita GST allocation than the states.
I will now outline the major revenue changes. Total motor vehicle registration costs are among the lowest in the country. Aside from recent CPI increases, fees have not increased for 16 years and are significantly lower than the states’ average. Motor vehicle registration fees will rise from 1 January 2013. When considered as part of total registration costs, the increases will vary between 4% and 18%, or $11 for a motorcycle or small box trailer, $67 for a small vehicle - not $37 as printed in your books - and $105 for a large four-wheel-drive.
Bus fares in the Territory are, overall, much lower than in other jurisdictions. From 1 January 2013, bus fares will rise by around $1 per ticket, raising approximately $2.5m per annum. Students under 18, vision impaired passengers and veterans will continue to travel for free.
With effect from the middle of next year, the number of taxis will be increased providing another 35 taxis in Darwin and Alice Springs and $620 000 in revenue per annum.
Public housing rents will increase by 1%, raising around $300 000 per annum.
Revenue increases are being contained to measures where the Territory sits towards the lowest end of the scale among the states and where there have been few increases in recent times.
We have being able to reprioritise infrastructure spending to better balance expenditure over the forward estimates. An additional $100m cash will be reallocated over four years towards the backlog in repairs and maintenance. This is good news for small businesses across the Territory.
In conclusion, we should be under no illusion that today marks the end of the trail, that everything will be fine with the Territory’s finances once this mini-budget is in place. Today is the beginning of a long process of restoring our finances to a sustainable condition where we can set about doing the things we know need to be done to assist in realising the Territory’s great future.
We need cash in the bank and credibility in the eyes of investors and other governments to make that happen. I am confident this mini-budget will be a significant step along the way. Although our initial goal is to stop the deterioration in the Territory’s fiscal position, it will not remove the huge debt mountain. We will be working on strategies to address this matter in the 2013-14 budget.
In the next phase, moving towards the 2013-14 budget, we will focus on the areas that drive the economy, such as Mines and Energy, Tourism and Primary Industry. Once the path is set in the 2013-14 budget towards eliminating the last of the fiscal imbalance by 2015-16, we will be in a better position to ramp up the activities in those wealth-creating areas. This mini-budget will take the fiscal imbalance in 2015-16 to $53m, or very close to living within our means.
There will be a modest adjustment in 2012-13 but significant reduction in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16. These measures will also effect a reduction of almost $1.2bn in the projected $5.5bn in nett debt for 2015-16.
Madam Speaker, I note that, aside from outlining adjustments to the budget, the 2012-13 mini-budget satisfies the Territory obligations to publish a mid-year report.
I move that the statement and paper be noted.
Debate adjourned.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Treasurer)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time and seek leave to deliver my second reading speech at a later hour.
Leave granted; debate adjourned.
Bill presented and read a first time. Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
This bill creates the new offence of assault on a worker in the new section 188 of the Criminal Code. Members will recall that on 8 July 2012, Darwin taxi drivers called a snap strike as a result of an alleged assault upon a fellow taxi driver. The taxi drivers were reacting to what had become an intolerable level of violent behaviour toward them, particularly at night whilst they were trying to go about their business. It is not only taxi drivers who face this violence when going about their duties at work.
The Chief Minister, then Leader of the Opposition, responded to this incident by releasing a media statement promising that, if elected, a Country Liberals’ government would impose a mandatory minimum prison sentence of three months for anyone convicted of assaulting a person who provides a public service in the Northern Territory and causes them harm.
The Country Liberal Party’s election commitment was to introduce an offence into the Criminal Code which carries a minimum three-month prison sentence for an assault with circumstances of aggravation against anyone who serves the public.
This bill, along with the Sentencing Amendment (Mandatory Minimum Sentences) Bill 2012, which I introduced into the Assembly last week, fulfils that election commitment. It also fulfils a Country Liberal Party commitment of some years standing.
In 2009, when he was the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Minister introduced the Criminal Code Amendment (Mandatory Sentences for Certain Assaults) Bill 2009. That bill sought to amend section 188(2) of the Criminal Code to insert a circumstance of aggravated assault where a person assaulted a prescribed person whilst that person was acting in the execution of his or her duty. A prescribed person was defined to include a public sector employee, a health practitioner, an ambulance officer, a paramedic, or a driver of a commercial passenger vehicle.
The bill contained a clear and straightforward message to would-be violent criminals that the Country Liberals valued the contribution made by people who provide a service to the public and violent people who lash out at those who are merely doing their duty will not be tolerated. Unfortunately, the former Labor government did not support the 2009 bill and it was defeated.
The offence of assault on a worker I introduce today goes further than the 2009 bill as it states it is a crime to unlawfully assault any worker who is performing his or her duties. The definition is broad and captures all people who engage in lawful employment in any capacity, people appointed under law in force in the Northern Territory to carry out functions or to hold an office, for example, a Justice of the Peace, and people who volunteer their time in not-for-profit organisations or workplaces. It obviously does not extend to workers who carry out unlawful or illegal activities.
I turn now to the provisions contained in the bill. The new offence will be inserted into section 88A in Part 6 of Division 5 of the Criminal Code alongside common assault and assaults on police. The term ‘assault’ has the same meaning as the existing definition in section 187 of the Criminal Code, and means an application of force without consent, or a threatened application of force.
The term ‘worker’ is defined as a person who carries out employment-related activities in any lawful capacity including: an employee, a contractor or sub-contractor, an apprentice or trainee, a student gaining work experience, a volunteer, a self-employed person, or a person appointed under the law in force in the Northern Territory to carry out functions or hold an office.
This definition of ‘worker’ extends further than people who provide a service to the public such as taxi drivers, paramedics and hospitality workers. It builds upon the 2009 bill and extends protection to all types of lawful workers, recognising that many workers are faced with situations where they are at the mercy of violent people. Work is a fundamental cornerstone of many people’s lives and all Territorians should be assured that when they go to work they will be protected by the law. The definition of ‘worker’ will expressly exclude a police officer because section 189A of the Criminal Code already operates in situations involving assault on a police officer in the execution of his or her duties.
For the offence to be made out, the worker must be working in the performance of his or her duties at the time of the assault. That is, the activity the worker is undertaking at the time of the assault must be connected to the course of their employment. For example, if a correctional services officer is required to sit with prisoners during his or her meal break to continue to monitor and supervise prisoners and they are assaulted during the meal break, the offence will apply. However, this offence will not apply, for example, when a worker is travelling to their workplace prior to the commencement of their shift.
The offence of assault on a worker carries the following serious penalty: a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment if the victim suffers harm or, upon being found guilty summarily, a maximum of three years’ imprisonment, and a maximum of five years’ imprisonment if the victim does not suffer harm, or upon being found guilty summarily, two years’ imprisonment. The maximum penalty for an assault under section 188(2) of the Criminal Code is five years’ imprisonment or, upon being found guilty summarily, two years imprisonment.
The new offence of assault on a worker carries a higher maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment in circumstances where the victim suffers harm. This is consistent with assaulting a police officer under section 189A of the Criminal Code. Additionally, the offence will also be prescribed as a ‘violent offence’ in Schedule 2 of the Sentencing Act so an actual term of imprisonment must be imposed if the offence is the offender’s second or subsequent finding of guilt for a violent offence.
The Sentencing Amendment (Mandatory Minimum Sentences) Bill 2012 I introduced last week will ensure offenders who are convicted of the crime of assault on workers will be sentenced to an actual term of imprisonment of at least three months in circumstances where the victim suffers harm - that is, a physical injury - that interferes with the victim’s health.
The bill also amends the Bail Act and Justices Act. The purpose of the amendment to the Bail Act is to insert cross-references to the new offence of assault on a worker and an offence of assault on a police officer into section 8(1)(aa)(ii) of that act. This has the effect of removing the presumption of bail for offenders charged with specified offences in that subsection, such as causing serious harm, if they have a previous finding of guilt for those offences in the last 10 years.
It should be noted that an assault on a worker offence will also be considered a serious violence offence under the Bail Act as the offence falls under Part 6 Division 5 of the Criminal Code and carries a maximum penalty of at least five years. A cross-reference to the new offence of assault on a worker is inserted into section 131A(1) of the Justices Act to allow a court constituted by a magistrate to have jurisdiction to hear and determine the charge of assaults on workers in a summary matter unless the court considers the charge should proceed on an indictment. The government is committed to combating violent crime in the Northern Territory.
Mr Deputy Speaker, this bill is part of the commitment to deliver to Territorians a safer community. It will go some way to assure all workers in the Northern Territory that they should feel safe and protected when they go to work each day or each night.
I commend the bill to honourable members and I table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
CLASSIFICATION OF PUBLICATIONS, FILMS AND COMPUTER GAMES AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 2)
Continued from 1 November 2012.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Bill before the House. It is a bill the opposition has no issues with. I note it was introduced on urgency in the last sittings. The urgency, as the Attorney-General explained, was on a technicality because 30 days had not lapsed, as would be the normal process, and, as both the members for Fannie Bay and Nelson said, the urgency was recognised and supported.
We are aware this is part of a national reform and, given the Commonwealth parliament has passed the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment (R 18+ Computer Games) Act 2012 which is due to commence on 1 January 2013, the Commonwealth act is the mechanism by which the R 18+ category is activated in relation to computer games for all other states and Territories.
However, let me reiterate on the matter of urgency when it comes to bills before this House. The opposition does not accept urgency on a whim as we saw in the last sittings with the performance of the Tourism minister in this Chamber. If it were not enough that there was no real need for urgency, we saw the minister treat members on this side with contempt, behaviour which was hostile, aggressive and churlish, and he showed unwillingness to answer questions.
The passage of a bill through this House is a process which requires an opportunity for elected members, as well as members of the public and stakeholders - in this case those in the tourism industry - to examine and scrutinise legislation and provide feedback. Sadly, the new government was not interested in that process because this government is not especially interested in transparency or accountability. The more we hear from them the more this becomes apparent.
That said, the bill before us today has had ample time for community consultation and clearly the amendment bill is something the wider community has been waiting for. Anything which protects the most vulnerable members of our community – children - from harm is to be applauded, and this includes this new classification of R 18+ for computer games.
The further intent of the bill is to allow adults to legally access R 18+ computer games in Australia as they do in all other Western countries including the United Kingdom, the USA, New Zealand and all member countries of the European Union.
I understand this bill has been about 10 years in coming to fruition, but it has received overwhelming community support. As the Attorney-General mentioned, of the more than 58 000 respondents to the federal Attorney-General’s 2009 consultation, 98% agreed this classification needed to be introduced for computer games.
It is a strange anomaly. I am not entirely sure why, perhaps the Attorney-General can enlighten me, that the classification categories which have existed for many years for films have not been aligned with the classification of games to have a uniform regime. Though, of course, this bill will amend and fix that.
The classification system is important. It allows parents to make informed choices about what their children are watching, but it also allows adults to make informed choices about the films or games they watch and, with the passing of this bill, will allow them to watch and play computer games, should they choose, that are classified as R 18+ material.
I am not a gamer but I am aware that many adults are. I am not part of the statistics that show around 50% of gamers are women, the average age of the Australian gamer is 32, and that 75% of Aussie gamers are over the age of 18.
My research also tells me it was in 1970 that the Australian Classification Board came into being with the purpose of rating all films that came into Australia as well as those made in Australia. This was followed by the introduction of the Office of Film and Literature Classification in 1994, to be more inclusive, followed by its dissolution in 2005 with the ACB handed over to the federal Attorney-General’s department.
Initially there were just four ratings, G for general exhibition, namely content which is very mild; NRC not recommended for children; M for mature audiences, meaning that it contains material that may require a mature perspective but is not deemed too strong for younger viewers - M was the highest unrestricted rating - the fourth was R for restricted exhibition.
The NRC rating later became PG, or parental guidance, which means that it:
R then became R 18+ for content which is described as high-impact, due, perhaps, to overt behaviour which is violent or sexual, nudity, profane language and may also include drug usage. While the G and M ratings were kept, in 1993 the Australian Classification Board introduced the MA 15+ rating as a means of flagging content that was too strong for the M or mature, classification, and, I quote:
These classifications also apply to computer games, but it was not until 1994 that games were included in the classification system. There is one more classification, RC, which stands for refused classification, which speaks for itself.
Apparently the Australian computer games industry exports around $120m worth of product annually. While this may be the case, it is an industry which is in decline due to the parity with the US dollar. The local industry thrived in the 1990s when the Australian dollar was around 50 cents to the US dollar and, therefore, Australia was far more competitive in games development. But there is no doubt that the games industry remains big in the retail sector. According to an ABC online news report on 19 October 2011:
Australians spent $1.7bn on video games - a huge sum - in 2010 according to NPD Group Australia, and in that year more than 15 000 gamers attended the first annual EB weekend expo on the Gold Coast, making it the largest video game expo in the country.
Those figures are staggering but I guess not surprising. Within the Northern Territory, now that R 18+ games will become available next year for sale, those sale figures will no doubt grow. Although I might suggest that sales in the Territory will be cautious given the mini-budget that has been handed down today and the massive utilities price increases to hit from 1 January - which will mean consumers will be spending less which will hurt retailers. Another consequence of this could see people heading to the internet for their games as well as pirated illegal copies of games.
There are some interesting statistics which support the widespread use of computer games in people’s homes in our nation. Findings from Digital Australia 2012 cite that, as I mentioned a moment ago, 95% of homes with children under the age of 18 have a device for playing computer games. Game consoles are in 63% of game households, dedicated handheld consoles are in 13%. Mobile phones are used to play games in 43% of game households and tablet computers in 13%.
It highlights that access to gaming devices is not difficult, and I include my household in that. I have tried over the years to resist my kids’ calls for gaming devices with limited success. Educational, interactive games, when they were younger, where allowed on our home PC but my husband and I have always managed to resist Play Station and Xbox. That said, we acquiesced to Nintendo hand-held devices because they proved very popular for keeping our kids entertained on long trips and because of their portability. Then we acquiesced to Wii because of the physical element of the entertainment and the interaction between two players or more as opposed to isolated activity. This is notwithstanding the fact that every other kid at school and in the street seemed to have these devices and eventually we caved into pressure from kids who are the quintessential ‘must have’ consumers.
It is funny that Scrabble and Monopoly and a good old pack of cards simply do not hold the same appeal as they did when I was a kid. We still have those games in our household and they are pulled out from time-to-time, I am pleased to say.
Like the Attorney-General, as a parent I take some comfort in knowing my children are protected to a degree from viewing material intended for adults only. I recall occasions where my kids have returned from the local DVD or video shop disappointed that the person behind the counter would not allow them to borrow something on our family card which was MA 15+ unless they brought their mum or dad with them. Good on them for doing that, they are doing their job and adhering to the law.
The introduction of the new rating R 18+ in addition to the MA 15+ provides a very good guide to parents as to what is or is not an appropriate game, and while the amendments to the act endeavour to provide a level of protection to those under 18 and penalties to act as deterrents, it is clearly easier to do this in public places like game stores than in private homes, though private homes are also covered under this bill.
But as we know, access to the internet is almost unfettered and therefore individuals – let us say a 14-year-old - could access a game and other material which would normally be illegal because it is MA 15+ or R 18+. There are no barriers, or limited barriers, or scrutiny which might prevent that young person from accessing that game other than parental supervision 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
There has been much research into whether exposure to and immersion in, particularly violent, computer games correlates with aggressive tendencies and behaviours, and there is evidence to suggest that well-adjusted adults can deal with this material.
The Attorney-General is right when he referred in his second reading speech to the principles that underpin the national classification scheme:
The Attorney-General went on to say that the scheme:
This is not the subject of the bill, though I note in transcripts I have read from other parliamentary debates as recent as three or so weeks ago in the Western Australian parliament, that the matter of why our society needs games which contain violence, extreme or otherwise has been raised. It is as much as a lament, I guess, at how society accepts these games.
While this bill provides an increased level of protection for the vulnerable, we will, in this digital age, forever be up against leakage of this material into our community.
The opposition supports this bill and commends it to the House.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): I thank the Attorney-General for bringing the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Bill 2012 to the House and the member for Nhulunbuy for contributing to this debate.
There has being wide support from the gaming industry for the proposed reforms to games classifications in Australia. I understand from my research that this is an industry-equalising reform that is long overdue. I also understand that in the past this reform has been the subject of controversy; however, in recent times all state and territory Attorneys-General have agreed to the reform and for good reason. Although media has reported that industry, retail and gamers support this reform, to better inform myself of the support for these reforms, I spoke to a local business in the electorate of Drysdale.
EB Games is a large retail gaming outlet in Palmerston Shopping Centre. During my visit to EB Games I spoke with Krystal and Ashley and asked them for their views and experiences with regard to a lack of an R 18+ classification and the proposal to introduce one.
I was heartened by the immediate engagement of Krystal and Ashley with this topic. It indicated to me that widespread consultation has taken place and those affected by the reform are engaged with it. Both Krystal and Ashleigh were in support of the proposed reform and felt it was a very good thing, particularly for parents.
When I probed into why an R 18+ category would be good for parents, they explained that currently many games fall within the MA 15+ category which, unfortunately, is all too often considered a suitable category for children. Because of the current prohibition on games over MA 15+ classification, game developers who front classifiers with their product will often, at first instance, be refused classification due to levels of violence, language, themes or sex. Developers wanting to sell their product in Australia will then edit the explicit parts of the game to achieve the lesser MA 15+ classification.
This does not represent a true or proper system of classification, particularly given the system applying to films. If a game title is truly inappropriate for any audience in Australia, it should be refused classification. If it is only suitable for adults over the age of 18, who make up the majority of Australia’s gamers, as the member for Nhulunbuy has pointed out, it should be classified R 18+ and sale and demonstration should be heavily restricted.
Other types of content do and should have the applicable classifications of MA 15+, M, PG and G. Krystal and Ashleigh from EB Games felt a complete set of classifications for games as now proposed will empower parents to better understand the content of the games their children are playing. This new system of classification, complete once the R 18+ classification is included, will allow parents to properly understand the gaming industry and the range of content available for purchase.
I am no expert in this area. Once upon a time I was a huge fan of the game Alex the Kid which my sister and I used to play on our Sega Mega System, but those days are long gone. More recently, I have gained limited experience at Wii tennis and Wii bowling, which are family-friendly themes which easily lull one into a belief that the gaming industry is focused on kids and is, ultimately, for kids. Well, it is not. It is a multibillion dollar industry which, year in, year out, out-earns the Hollywood films and caters for all ages, but all titles are most certainly not for all ages.
A new approach to game titles has to be the same as that to films. A consistent classification system avoids confusion, complacency, and mitigates the risk children will be exposed to content which is completely unacceptable for them.
I am not yet a mother, but most responsible parents go to the local video store for a film for the kids to watch on the weekend and are supremely mindful of the classification of films. They would not hire a title that is rated R like Pulp Fiction for younger ones because they have probably seen it and know it is unsuitable and is rated so.
Because fewer parents have played these game titles and there is a mistaken belief that all games are for kids, this same connection and caution is often not as easily exercised at the game store. This harmonisation of ratings will go a long way to change this. In addition, I understand the Commonwealth government has undertaken to launch an education campaign on these new classifications and the new system as a whole.
Whilst at EB Games, I asked Krystal about the demographics of who purchased games in her store. As I was standing at the counter I saw games were being marked down to around the $47 mark. Krystal and Ashley agreed that a large portion of their market was 30+, which accords with the national average, and new games are released at around the $100 mark, which is usually outside the reach of school-aged children.
I queried whether reforms would cause any problems for the way the store operates. Krystal explained they have an interactive TV on which they put games and people who come into the store can play the games as a demo. She said they would have to be cautious about what games were played on the interactive TV, but noted that at present MA 15+ games are not played on it to protect under-15s from that vision.
Krystal expects that if the reforms come into place EB Games will run training for staff on how to deal with the reform. She did not give me any indication it would be arduous, expensive or a difficult process.
Ashley spent some time explaining the problem with the current classification regime in that at the moment people freely access R 18+ games on eBay and even smuggle them illegally into the country. Ashley explained that Customs has a long list of games which are banned and are not to be brought into Australia, but both Ashley and Krystal have been approached by customers wishing to trade R 18+ games that have circumvented the Customs system. Apparently, people are becoming more and more clever about how they bring games into the country. Ashley has heard of instances where people put the CD in one suitcase, the manual to the game in another piece of luggage, and the case and case cover in other pieces of luggage.
Now gamers will legally purchase the titles in Australia where they are of appropriate age. They will be brought out of the black market and back into the regulated and robust title sales industry. Retailers can profit from these titles, and the industry will be recognised for what it is now. These reforms will regulate the sale and supply of such titles, and will bring them into line with the existing and well-understood classification of films. I am pleased there are strong penalties for breaching the display, sale, and supply provisions of R 18+ games to children. Naturally, enforcement is still problematic but I am confident, should a retailer act inappropriately, parents and other consumers will be quick to report them, and action will be taken.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend this bill to the House.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the members for Drysdale and Nhulunbuy for their contributions. I agree with everything they said. In the end, what we are talking about is an industry. When you look at the section on R 18+, in the categories for what is permitted, you have to ask where we are going as a society. The stuff in here is obviously promoted by big industry. There are virtually no restrictions on the treatment of themes.
But you can have all other sorts of violence.
There are virtually no restrictions on language.
Nudity is permitted.
Generally speaking, it is material that should be legally restricted to adults. I take on the concerns of both the members for Nhulunbuy and Drysdale. The problem is - and it is a problem with R-rated and X-rated movies - you can put in here that it is an offence to leave those where someone underage can access them; however, who will police that? It is unfortunate; we are talking about an industry, as the member for Nhulunbuy said, of $1.7bn. If you really want to get to the bottom line, that is, what it is really about, it is about making money out of games that are violent, depict sex, bad language, and drug use. They are not the sort of things you think we would like to promote in our society, but that is the way society is, unfortunately.
There will always be industries that see a chance to make a buck, and they do it here. Of course they will say there is a demand, but they feed the demand, not because of some great higher ideals of helping the community but because they know people will like these types of video games and they will make money out of them. That is the bottom line.
Governments doing their best to restrict it - and the member for Drysdale showed that sometimes we are dealing with issues today that are practically unenforceable. You can buy all sorts of RC material. I know it exists. I have heard people bragging about some of the material they got from Holland. I will not repeat what is in them, but it is not real good. They are coming to Australia freely; people get them in. Once they are here people can copy them and they get around the black market. I am not making that an argument for getting rid of classification or for trying to enforce this legislation, but we live in the real world where material can be imported through the Internet or smuggled in and no one is the wiser.
To me it reflects on the state of where we are as a society when this is the sort of stuff we must bring into the country. This is the sort of stuff that is our entertainment and there are companies that make a fortune out of it. I am not speaking from much experience; my experience is more about Crash Bandicoot. I do note, which is one little positive thing, that in the Sydney Morning Herald there was an article by Jeremy Fenton, the Acting Deputy of the Classification Board, who said that in 2008-09 the board classified 1068 commercial computer games. Of these, five were classified RC, 69 MA 15+, 113 M, 256 PG and the vast majority, 625, were classified G.
So there is some hope that there are people who realise you can fun on computer games and can produce wholesome games that people can enjoy. Families can enjoy them and parents do not have to be worried about the material being put forward. I have grandchildren. I have seen the MA 15+ games and even in those you have to admit the violence is pretty realistic. The difference between games and movies is that games are two dimensional as compared to movies which are one dimensional.
You are partaking in the violence. You are partaking in drug taking, car crashing, or robbery. You are part of what is happening on the television screen because you have control over it. If I am playing Crash Bandicoot I know I can jump in the water and have to start again or I can try to get through all the different traps on the way. I have control. My skills get better as I go along. I shoot more people. I wipe them out and blow them up against the wall, which is what you see in these things. I know we compare them with movies but there is a different element to these than in movies which needs to be taken into consideration.
I have a few questions. If they need clarification I will raise them in the committee stage. I will not oppose this legislation. Obviously it has been through a lot of work. Through the states there has been a great deal of discussion. I have some of the Senate debates on it. It is a matter of reality that we need to have this extra category. Having seen MA 15+ computer games, it concerns me where are we are with an R computer game. What sort of violence will I see on that? Maybe I will have to get a couple and see what they are like. It is pretty realistic at MA 15+. On the ABC - I think it is ABC2 - there is a gaming half hour where two people compare the latest games. Obviously it is a very popular industry.
It is something that people who are expert in enjoy and I have no intention of stopping that. I am just saying there are plenty of games people can enjoy but it seems we now have to classify a group of games that are in the R rating because they are about violence, sex, drugs and bad language. It should be said that is not really something that promotes a society which is trying to uphold values. I suppose we can say we are trying to protect those values by limiting who can see them. On the other hand, we are basically making this classification because we think we should allow those sorts of values to be seen by people who are old enough to see them.
We can argue the toss over that. Freedom in Australia is very broad and people believe they have the right to see what they like, within limits, but it does not stop the argument that whilst that may be the case, is what we are trying to defend something worth defending? I doubt that. People might say there is no effect on young people. I agree with the member for Nhulunbuy that some of these shows not only could mentally affect people, but look at all the wasted time.
I know just from my side of the family the hours spent playing games. What wasted time! All right, there is an enjoyment point of view. I played tennis but I never played it 24 hours a day. I bet some kids play computer games for nearly 24 hours a day. There was a gentleman who is supposed to have died recently - I think in Korea - from playing non-stop computer games for I do not know how many days. Hopefully that does not happen, but I have no doubt there are people whose spare time does not exist unless they are playing a computer game.
There are other issues in relation to where we are going in our society. I hope young people can spend a little more time in the fresh air playing some active sport, enjoying the smell of the flowers and doing other things so they have a balanced look at life, not just playing MA 15+ or R-rated videos all the time. I would like to continue my remarks afterwards if you were intending to pause for lunch, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Debate suspended.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise that the sitting dates for next year have been determined by government. Some of you, I understand, may not have received them, but as a matter of priority you will receive them by mid-afternoon this day.
Continued from earlier today.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I will continue from where we were before lunch in relation to the bill before us, which is the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Bill 2012. I have probably gone over enough of the issues in relation to the classification of computer games.
Whether this goes into committee I will decide by the answers I receive to the questions I have about amending section 68 under clause 7 in the bill. With the amendment, section 68 of the act would read:
Private demonstration of unclassified, RC or R 18+ computer games in presence of child
(1) A person must not demonstrate a computer game in a private place if:
The question I have is whilst that might be a fine thing to have in the legislation, how do you police that law? It is probably the same issue you have with X-rated and R-rated videos. What are the practical implications of that? How do you protect children in reality if they do not have parents who are concerned about this sort of material being around? It is an offence but it seems to be an unenforceable offence. It is in the legislation but it seems it will not happen.
My other question is related to section 71(1) of the act. I have amendments written into the existing act so I can follow it through. Under 71(1):
(1) A person must not sell or deliver a computer game to a child if the game is:
It says, ‘must not sell or deliver a computer game to a child’. I presume that means a child under 18.
Clause 8, section 2(A) of the bill says:
What does it matter if the child’s parent or guardian is the person delivering or selling that game to the child? Where the first part of this bill says it is an offence if you sell it to someone who is under 18, the next stage says it is okay as long as it is your parent or guardian. I thought R 18+ would be no good for a child regardless of who is the child’s parent or otherwise.
My other slightly technical question is related to the classifications of computer games. Under ‘refused classification’ in the crime or violence section of the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games – these are the games that are not allowed to be sold - it says:
I thought most violence was criminal and that is one of the reasons you cannot have an RC classification. In R 18+ violence is permitted. Generally violence is a criminal activity so how does it sneak into R 18+? MA 15 + says:
The RC classification clearly says you cannot sell these videos if they have detailed instruction or promotion in matters of crime or violence. Then for R 18+ there are virtually no restrictions on the treatment of these things, violence is permitted.
So we deal with the issue of violence, to some extent, as it suits us because some of the violence I have seen on MA 15+ certainly looks like it is promoting criminal activity; they shoot people, blow them up and splatter them all over the place. We say that is not allowed in RC but I think we split hairs a little when it comes to the other classifications.
Madam Speaker, I am interested in the minister’s comments on those issues, thank you.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, I thank the honourable members for their contributions and thank the opposition for its support of this legislative package. As they quite rightly pointed out, it predates the current government. It is something the former government signed up to but it is something we would have supported on this side of the House in any instance, were we in opposition.
I thank honourable members for their efforts. Clearly a lot of work has gone into this bill by all honourable members, which I find gratifying because these are the sorts of things we do not take lightly. Since becoming a parent for the first time seven years ago, I have become a lot more attendant to these sorts of issues than I was in the past. It is funny how parenthood appraises you, and highlights in your mind matters of how you bring up children and what children are exposed to, which is what this is about.
Let us start with an observation; this is not about censorship, it is not about preventing this material coming into the community, and indeed, with the new classification of R 18+ one could argue there is less censorship involved, but there is some regulatory control over who purchases this material based exclusively on their age. I am a great believer that people, particularly adults, should be able to make up their minds as to what they view. I listened to what the member for Nelson said is in the MA 15+ games etcetera, and the material in these R 18+ games is hardly the sort of thing I would spend my hard-earned dollars on.
However, we live in a free society and in a free society if people want to be amused by such things, that is a matter for them and far be it for me to be the moral guide or judge over what people determine is necessarily for them a form of entertainment or otherwise. This is essentially what this bill captures, and whilst we still have the restricted classification in place, having seen some of the games referred to in this sort of legislation, I find it hard to imagine what qualifies for a restricted classification.
I imagine there are unseemly things which are of such a nature that we do not want people to witness them even in a form such as a storyboard, which is essentially what a game of this nature is. Such matters may be dealing with things like child pornography and offences against children, and I certainly expect and hope that censorship boards would cast a very grim eye over that sort of thing and impose a restriction. I would be surprised if there were many people who would have the courage or temerity to go in front of a classification board with material like that. I certainly hope not.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, if I could just interrupt to acknowledge and welcome a former minister and Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory parliament, the Hon Mike Reed. Welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr ELFERINK: Welcome Mike, it is good to see you.
Those are some of the matters that would find themselves RC, refused classification, and should not go on sale. I also pick up on the comments made by other members in this place, that this will be hard to police. If I get onto the Internet now, I suspect that without too much trouble, especially at home, I would be able to download much of the material without having to secrete it into a suitcase, or I could pay somebody in California or the Ukraine some money through my Visa card and they could supply it online.
I am not saying this will be some form of absolute legislation that will prevent this material from entering the country; however, by taking it out of the domain of the unlawful and the contraband and placing most of this material back into the domain of the respectable vendor, then at least we have the capacity to cast an eye over this material should it come into this country.
That would be an advantage. Added to that, of course, is that people ultimately have the final veto over this sort of material simply by saying, ‘No, I am not going to buy it’. Having made those observations I turn my attention, and hopefully avoid going into the committee stage, to the three questions posed by the member for Nelson.
The first one was in relation to policing. I am not going to say we will now have a classification squad actively pursuing the implementation of this legislation. But there are many offences on the statute book where that is the truth. Without going into it in any detail, those offences rely on complaint; an obvious one is the Summary Offences Act. The offences listed in the Summary Offences Act rely on something occurring before the police generally take any action, and that is, often they will rely on a complainant. That means a person offended by the material in the Summary Offences Act now - yes a police officer may be offended by a breach of the Summary Offences Act, but as often as not, a police officer will respond to a complaint.
Assaults fall into the same category in the sense that if a person is unlawfully assaulted they will make a complaint if they choose to. The vast majority of assaults - I am talking about unlawful assaults - go unrecorded and unreported. If you look at the crime statistics produced quarterly for many years, until recently, in the back there are some ABS numbers about the number of assaults not reported. They are the majority of assaults. I cannot remember the exact figure. Nothing happens when that occurs. A bloke walks into a pub, smacks another bloke in the mouth and the bloke who was smacked in the mouth decides not to make a complaint and that is pretty much the end of the matter, unless it is a domestic violence dispute, where different complications come in.
The same applies to this legislation. Where I expect there would be a response is where the police receive the complaint. A parent, for argument’s sake, who saw 12-year-old Johnny come into the room with an R 18+ game and mum says, ‘Where did you get that?’ ‘I bought it from the XYZ computer game shop. They sell it to anybody who walks in the door.’ Mum then confronts XYZ shop, which says, ‘Yes, we do not really care about that legislation, nobody polices it’.
The police can then receive the complaint and respond, in which case there is a breach of the legislation, a court determines the facts and, should the facts reveal the offence was committed, then a finding of guilt will be handed and XYZ Amusements will find themselves on the receiving end of the fine. That is generally how these things work. However, in relation to the active policing of this, it may occur from time to time, but, generally, you would be waiting for a complaint from a member of the public. It takes somebody to be offended to generate the offence, if you understand what I mean.
The second complainant dealt with capacity for a parent to allow a child to see material that otherwise the child would not be able to see under normal circumstances. Do I understand you correctly on this, member for Nelson? This is from clause 71?
Mr Wood: I am wondering why it is an offence to show a child who is under 18 when there is a parent ...
Mr ELFERINK: That is fine. The answer is this: my understanding is that a third person may not show this material to a child. However, the clause contemplated in the other circumstance a parent who exposes the children to this material, and I will give you an example on how this works. We trust parents. We believe parents are the best people to determine what their children do and does not see. I do it in my own home. My children - one is seven and one is five - are permitted to see programs which would be classified PG and, for various reasons, that classification is in place. That is something I do as a matter of discretion and because occasionally on these programs there is something sufficiently meritorious for my children to be exposed to.
I do not want the state dictating to me how or what I show to my children. I like to believe, as a responsible parent, I am capable of making a determination which says my kids should be allowed to see this PG-rated item. You then go up the scale. We are talking about MA 15+ material and R 18+ material being shown, and there is a role for a parent to determine what is appropriate and what is not appropriate, but we cannot do that as a legislative instrument.
If we try to cast this fishing net into the future and capture one type of fish through a legislative measure of this nature without knowing all the factual details the parent may consider in allowing their child to see this material or not, then that would be pushing our luck to an extreme degree.
What we are saying, essentially, is parents are in a position to make a judgment which we will rely on them to do. I do not think we, as a parliament, have a capacity - certainly in this instance - to become ex-officio parents. We trust parents and believe they should be trusted ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, if I could interrupt again please. Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Year 9 Kormilda College students accompanied by their teachers. On behalf of honourable members I express a warm welcome to you and hope you enjoy your tour and visit to Parliament House.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr ELFERINK: The third point the member made was not entirely dissimilar to his first point on how this stuff is policed. Once again, there is a series of processes involved. If a police officer receives a complaint from a parent where a child has purchased a video or a video game, the police respond by interviewing the games shop and the owner. There is an escalation of things that can occur; it depends on the circumstances of the case.
There are many, if you like, switches to throw, in order to escalate to the court case. The first switch to throw is how anxious the parent is to have the matter seen to. Some parents will say it was just wrong that Johnny came home with this game. ‘All right, what do you want us to do about it?’, says the police officer to the parent. The parent replies that they give them a warning as they are not that serious about it; they just did not think it should happen. At which point, the police officer can speak to XYZ Amusements and say they have received a complaint, there is an issue, remind them of the law and do not do it again otherwise there will be trouble.
That is an exercise of the police officer’s discretion, long established in common law. Indeed, it is expected by the courts that police officers use this discretionary power in dealing with these day-to-day mechanical things that happen at that level. Police, simply because they receive a complaint, are not automatically obliged to go through a process of instigating a trial and ramping it up.
However, let us say a police officer does receive a complaint and mum is a little more adamant than just giving them a warning. The police officer then has the capacity to put together a file. The next filter it goes through is the DPP, or the Summary Prosecutions as it probably would be in this case. They would determine whether or not there was sufficient evidence to support an action.
Then it goes to a court and the court has to go through all the steps of determining guilt or innocence. Even at that stage, if you have arrived at that point there is still a capacity for the court to deal with the matter in a very mild fashion. The court may choose, in certain circumstances, to find the offence proven but not enter a finding of guilt. Or they may enter a finding of guilt but not enter a conviction. Or they may enter a conviction but not proceed to sentence. Or they may proceed to sentence which might be a small fine.
There is a bunch of potential actions available to the authorities to deal with these matters. Much of it comes down to something quite simple: how bad was the offence in the first place? You know this stuff almost instinctively; you do not have to be a lawyer or a policeman to figure this out. If the purchaser is a 17-and-a-half-year-old kid who sneaks into a shop and buys an R 18+ game and the person selling the game may have had a suspicion he was not quite 18, but what the hey, it was not that serious, then you would find it would be very unlikely the thing would escalate to the degree of a conviction and serious sentence.
However, if the child was five and purchased a game called - let us pull a name out of the air - Death Race Murder Mayhem Disembowelment Sex Crime Game - clearly the response from the police would be different to the circumstances I just described. So, you have this escalation of reasonableness. That is how you deal with these sorts of things. The law will accommodate all of these variations in possibilities. The overall test - the one that really works well and is applied by the courts ad nauseam - is to step back from the case, look at it and ask if what is going on is reasonable. In the answer to that question is where you get many of your solutions. It is very hard for me to say yes, no, absolutely, absolutely not. The legislation is drafted in absolute terms but it is never policed in absolute terms. I hope that addresses the issues you have been trying to raise. If not, if we go into committee and if you want to explore it further, then we will.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Continued from earlier today.
Mr MILLS (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, on 25 August 2012, Territorians gave us a mandate to cut waste and to tackle the mismanagement of the former Labor government. Knowing we were facing a grave financial problem immediately upon assuming government, we set about gaining a full and detailed understanding of the Northern Territory’s fiscal’s position.
A first step was to establish the Renewal Management Board whose task was to fully examine the detail and recommend a way forward. This board, in conjunction with the Department of Treasury and Finance, all ministers and agency chief executives, has completed a detailed review of agency programs and finances.
This examination identified the legacy commitments inherited from the former Labor government, agency costings for our election commitments, and revenue and savings options and alternatives. These have been considered by my government and form the basis of this mini-budget.
Forward estimates indicated a prospective increase in nett debt from $2.7bn at the start of this financial year to more than $5.5bn by 2016. That debt level, as a percentage of the Northern Territory’s total revenue, amounted to almost 100%. The debt ratio is unsustainable, as is the interest to income ratio. Having that level of growing debt is like driving a car with your handbrake on. The sad reality is the Territory cannot afford such a widening gap between expenditure and revenue. The Territory cannot afford to be in a position where we constantly apply the brakes to our economy.
Territorians are witnessing the genesis of an exciting future for our resources industries, no wonder the confusion when, instead of emphasising the stepping stones toward a sustainable future, my government is recounting a tale of past incompetence.
It is quite simple, you do not max out your credit card in November in the hope you might receive a bonus to cover the debt in the New Year. This is the naivety of immaturity. The previous government had an obligation to govern properly but it did not. It did not live within its means, and I am not talking about changes at the margin. There was a massive build-up in debt as a result of the strategy of overspending and undercharging. It was a classic example of short-term gain for long-term pain with no plan in place to get out of debt, only to rely on a cheque in the mail from a GST handout.
Let me focus on my ministerial portfolios, commencing with Police, Fire and Emergency Services where our goals are to address the major crime problem - the appalling crime rates which under the Labor government soared to amongst the worst in the country - and to ensure our police force is properly resourced. Measures outlined in this mini-budget include $27.5m ongoing from 2014 to fund an additional 120 police officers, 20 of whom will be based in Alice Springs, and a fulfilment of a 2012 election commitment. Importantly, these are funded police positions. Unlike the members opposite when they were in government, we are delivering increases in police numbers over the forward estimates that are actually funded. We are not borrowing to pay public service wages, instead a program has been developed that will deliver and fund our additional police resources.
An additional $50m has been allocated over the next four years for increased police overtime, housing and information technology costs, all of which were never recognised or accounted for by the previous Labor government. There will be $2m for the upgrade of the Nightcliff Police Station, honouring our election commitment. We will spend $0.5m on the installation of CCTV cameras in Katherine. This is a significant improvement to security in the Katherine community. Security cameras will be installed in known hotspots around the town by the middle of next year and will operate as a 24-hour deterrent, sending a clear message that there is no tolerance of crime and antisocial behaviour.
There is approved funding of $1.8m in 2012-13 and $2.78m ongoing from 2013-14 for additional monitoring support in Katherine and Alice Springs, plus funding of $300 000 to conduct a safe streets audit. In 2012-13 there will be $2.5m to upgrade and transition the Alice Springs Youth Centre into a Police and Citizens Youth Club which will help keep children safe and off the streets. We will also improve security on public transport with the function of transport safety to transfer to police. This move will strengthen perception and confidence in public transport and encourage more Territorians to use our bus system.
On the other side of the coin, cost savings will total $5.6m in 2012-13, increasing to $23m a year from 2015-16, and will include: civilianising 100 positions; releasing trained police officers back to frontline roles on the beat; ceasing the Blue Light Disco program; reducing ground maintenance contractors at the Peter McAulay Centre and administrative and operational efficiencies across the agency; ceasing the first-response patrol over time as other programs overtake its service in addressing antisocial behaviour among itinerants; transitioning the Humpty Doo Fire Station to volunteer status with the current permanent fire fighters to be reassigned to other fire stations; decommissioning the Palmerston Fire Station Rescue tender as it has been replaced with a composite firefighting and rescue appliance.
To bring the Territory in line with other jurisdictions, firearms fees and charges will increase from 2013-14, providing $345 000 in increased revenue. Current charges have not changed significantly since 1996 and do not reflect the cost of providing the service. From 1 July a five-year category A or B firearm licence will rise from $35 to $105, a three-year category C firearm licence will rise from $35 to $105, a club junior licence will rise from $24 to $52.50, a three-month firearm purchase permit will increase from $17 to $52.50, and registration fees for each firearm will increase from $6 to $10.50.
The mini-budget will also provide a renewed focus on the important portfolio of Lands, Planning and the Environment. Proper strategic planning is of utmost importance to ensure the long-term future of the Northern Territory. To secure the protection of the environment is paramount.
Allocated in the mini-budget is $800 000 ongoing on an annual basis from 2012-13 to establish and operate the Planning Commission of the Northern Territory and $500 000 ongoing on an annual basis from 2012-13 to establish an independent board for the new Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NTEPA). In order to streamline the planning process and bring charges in line with other jurisdictions and the cost of delivery, development application charges will increase by an average of 35% in 2013 resulting in $140 000 in increased annual revenue in 2012-13 and $280 000 ongoing in 2013-14.
Fee increases will be applied on a graduated scale with application costs being increased more for larger developments and less for smaller developments. This new fee structure will be implemented on 1 January 2013 and is designed to increase revenue in line with the scale of development, thereby minimising the impact of increased costs to families and small businesses.
An annual subscription fee will also be implemented for major users of the Territory’s aerial imagery data, which will increase revenue by an estimated $200 000 a year from 2013-14. The mini-budget has also allocated an additional $750 000 in 2012-13 to further investigate flood mitigation measures in Rapid Creek.
This information is required before an appropriate solution can be determined which will benefit the community. There will be ongoing funding for the Department of Lands, Planning and the Environment of $190 000 per annum from 2012-13 to 2014-15 for the secondment of a Charles Darwin University demographer and economist, and additional research work.
Bushfires pose a constant threat throughout the Territory. Land resource management commitments include the following: my government will increase funding by $1m to enable Bushfires NT to increase wildfire suppression activities. My thanks go to staff and volunteers who run this valuable service.
There will be funding allocated on an annual ongoing basis to support pastoralists. The previous Labor government starved the Pastoral Land Board of adequate resources to fund the rangeland program and pastoralists were left to suffer. Better access to land condition reports will improve future decision-making with regard to pastoral leases, paddock management, and rectifying potential areas of erosion and degradation. There will be $400 000 to recruit three new rangeland monitoring officers, and $100 000 to support Pastoral Land Board operations.
As Minister for Asian Engagement, I am pleased to advise we are taking action to rejuvenate and strengthen the important relationship between the Northern Territory and Indonesia. An amount of $500 000 a year until 2015-16 has been allocated for the AusIndo Forum being established by the government working with Charles Darwin University. This is a forum where leaders from both countries will have an opportunity to liaise, share knowledge and set foundations for joint projects.
In addition, $516 000 has been allocated in the mini-budget to establish the Office of Asian Engagement this year, with $291 000 ongoing from 2013-14. This is important as there is a strong desire, both here and in Asia, to cement our links for business and trade. We have already seen significant growth in major projects in the Territory with investment from several sizeable Asian economies.
In another of my portfolio responsibilities, Public Employment, a key item contributing to the high expenditure growth of the previous Labor government was the rapid build-up in public service staff numbers. These had remained stable for many years at around 14 000 under the Country Liberals. Efficiencies in technology over the past decade should have aided the process of backroom administration, leaving frontline staff well-positioned to provide good outcomes to the community and delivering on efficiency dividends.
Instead we watched as the public service became self-perpetuating. It was like a biology text book example of an amoeba rapidly reproducing due to conditions ideal for multiplication. The Northern Territory public service slowly increased in numbers to around 16 000 and then, in 2008, there was an explosion in staff numbers when the current Leader of the Opposition, the member for Karama, became Treasurer. There can be no better summary of this failure than the ABC news report in May 2011 which read:
This is profoundly untrue because by June 2012 staff numbers were up by 25% from 2008 to nearly 20 000 and the budget deficit was almost $1bn. That is why there was an 8% growth in the Territory population, yet a 25% growth in the public sector numbers and a 50% growth in executive contract numbers.
No wonder the budget was in trouble with wages growth of around $0.5bn a year without a matching increase in revenue and no surety the increased public service was being responsive and accountable, that roles were being clearly defined and outcomes strictly measured.
Let me stress that no one questions the energy, commitment and enthusiasm of the majority of the Territory’s public servants, but efficiency of outcome and service delivery, together with the need for such rapidly increasing numbers, was questioned as the cost hit the public purse hard. This was questioned not only by the public as a whole, but also by members of the NTPS who wanted an opportunity to put forward their views and suggestions on progressing their agencies, embracing new methodologies and better efficiencies.
Similarly with capital works, despite the massive increase in federally-funded capital programs, the Territory increased its capital expenditure, further exacerbating an already precarious budget position. To top it all off, the previous Labor government financed the new position off-budget in a highly questionable and costly financial deal that will see tens of millions of dollars a year, which would have otherwise been spent in the Territory, leaving the Territory for the next 30 years.
Much of the debt was accrued through vain, self-serving political pursuits that did nothing to serve the interests of Territorians, such as the cost of maintaining Chief Minister’s offices in Palmerston and Katherine, which were nothing but expensive shopfronts. The closure of these offices and the scrapping of the Council of Territory Cooperation will contribute significant savings to Territorians.
This council was an idea that was developed by the member for Nelson, Gerry Wood, as a part of his deal to keep Paul Henderson in power. It was an expensive white elephant that failed to achieve any real outcomes for Territorians; instead, tabled reports compiled by the council at huge costs were met with minimal responses and no action from the previous government. Savings will amount to $400 000 in 2012-13, $900 000 ongoing from 2013-14 for the closure of the two offices, and $550 000 in 2012-13 and $600 000 ongoing from 2013-14 for the cessation of the Council of Territory Cooperation.
Our parliamentary colleagues are angry to find the Territory is in this situation. We are angry that the former Labor government’s unwillingness to adjust to its financial circumstances has left us in a very difficult position. Just as all the woes of lack of planning for homes for our Territorians were all blamed on one factor - the banks - instead of the many factors the former Labor government could have resolved. In the case of the Territory’s budget, the former Treasurer incessantly used the catchcry of the global financial crisis to justify her leading the Territory headlong into deficit to fund a record investment in infrastructure.
Absolutely, there was a need for careful fiscal management during the GFC. As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on 5 May 2009, the former NT Treasurer, now Leader of the Opposition, said she:
I have no idea which maths formula the former Treasurer and her advisors used that saw the Territory reverse from that claim three-and-a-half years ago to a debt predicted to exceed $5.5bn by 2016. By no definition can she still claim that, ‘A temporary cash deficit will result’. Instead, we now have a slow train wreck which we all have to survive. Had the former Treasurer and Labor government had an iota of fiscal responsibility we would have been set up financially for the future. Instead we have a huge debt to service and repay.
Last week in parliament, we heard the Leader of the Opposition’s plan to get the Territory back on track: hope and pray the GST recovers. Her exact words in Hansard dated 27 November were:
The next day, the former Treasurer continued to pin her hopes on GST revenue and said:
Just in case, the former Treasurer also noted:
That mindset is typical of the Leader of the Opposition and goes a long way to explaining the mess we are in. What about reducing the expenses rather than solely hoping for extra income? Rather than dealing with the fanciful, it is incumbent on this government or any responsible administrator to deal with the actual, real-life situation we find ourselves in.
Fact: pre-global financial crisis, the GST pool grew, on average, 8.3%. Fact: post-global financial crisis, the GST pool grew, on average, 2.7%. All projections show a long-term shift in consumer behaviour, meaning the GST rivers of gold have largely dried up. But, Labor still has not woken up to the fact that the GST party is over and all the Territory has been left with is a massive debt hangover. However, this is not a story of just one person’s capacity to properly manage the Territory. What about the former leader of the Labor government, that very silent member for Wanguri?
On election day 25 August 2012, the Financial Review reported:
Well he did not win and we now have had 100 days in office to uncover the depth of the economic debt he and his Labor government have purposely left us with. Territorians should be in no doubt there is a difficult journey ahead, and I want to make it very clear that we are in financial trouble. This statement cannot be reinterpreted to suit as opposition is loudly claiming along the lines of, ‘Oh well, we are a little in debt’ or ‘We are in debt because of a deliberate strategy. It is the debt we had to have’, or, ‘We are not in debt at all, it is the fault of the Renewal Management Board. They have used a different set of figures in their investigations. They are using their own set of figures.’
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move that the Chief Minister be granted an extension of time, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr MILLS: I thank honourable members. There is no justification for the former Labor government’s incompetence. In the corporate world the rule is that you have a positive duty to prevent your company trading if it is insolvent and before you incur a new debt you must consider whether you have reasonable grounds to suspect that the company will become insolvent as a result of incurring the debt.
The responsibility of a good government is to make tough decisions on behalf of the community to provide frontline services and continue job-creating investments. Not to impact on a fragile economy but to build that economy into a stronger position.
Although our initial goal is to stop the deterioration in the Territory’s fiscal position, that alone will not remove the huge debt mountain. I apologise to my fellow Territorians. We have been left in a position where there is no choice but to do these things, although we fully understand these actions will impact on the community. We will, therefore, be working with a strong focus on strategies to address returning the Northern Territory to prosperity in the 2013-14 budget and onwards.
There is no alternative. We must live within our means. Even in Parliament House considerable savings can be made by ceasing redundant practices and improving efficiency. For example, measures such as:
cost efficiencies in security to save $12 000 in 2012-13, $47 000 ongoing from 2013-14, noting that no jobs will be lost
It has been illuminating to find, as we approach this distressing task of bringing the budget back under control, that virtually every public service chief executive has said they knew this had to happen. Those entrusted with spending the money knew the Territory was in trouble but their warnings went unheeded as the previous Labor government did nothing about fixing the problem.
Therefore, this government has been required to make a range of very significant decisions in a relatively short period of time which are all directed at overcoming the financial mess we have inherited. An important aspect of the future budget strategy will be for all agencies - with particular attention to the major frontline output agencies - to undertake a process of continual improvement to ensure services are being efficiently delivered at the lowest cost whilst maintaining required standards.
The Department of Health is a particular case in point as this agency has the largest budget. Being predominantly frontline in nature, the only way savings can be affected is by finding different ways to perform necessary functions. As announced in the House last week, the department has already embarked on the extensive program of review.
Let me stress some of the significant resolutions made by my government. In 2012-13 we are committed to:
developing the Palmerston hospital with $10m that is earmarked this financial year for stage 1, and we will work with that
This is a deeply thought-out, well-considered mini-budget. It has the objective of bringing the budget back into balance rather than relying on the GST in uncertain times. Any recovery will work in our favour to reduce debt.
I commend the Treasurer on her leadership on these very difficult issues and commend the statement to the House.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I am delighted to stand in this parliament to contribute to the debate on the Treasurer’s statement regarding the mini-budget, the first budget for the Mills government since its election just over three months ago.
In highlighting the fact we have been in government for such a short time, I take the opportunity to offer my congratulations to the Treasurer, the member for Araluen, for producing this budget in such good time and under very difficult circumstances, including the very difficult financial circumstances we find ourselves in here in the Northern Territory.
There is no doubt in my mind that we have uncovered a most shocking fiscal position in the Northern Territory, the legacy of the former Labor government. There is a debt of some $2.7bn at the end of 2011-12 with the real prospect of that debt doubling and blowing out to $5.5bn in just a few years’ time ...
Ms Walker: Rubbish!
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: ... had nothing changed on 25 August. That equates collectively, at present, to every Territorian forking out $750 000 every day just to pay the interest bill.
Unchecked and in the hands of the former Treasurer, who was the worst Treasurer the Northern Territory had seen since self-government, that interest repayment would have blown out to somewhere in the vicinity of $1.1m every day 2015-16. That is $1.1m of interest every day that we would have been paying had nothing changed on 25 August and the former Treasurer had her way with the Territory finances.
Ordinary Territorians have asked, and have the right to ask, what better things that interest payment could be spent on. They are also asking why they are only now finding out the true state of affairs. These are very fair questions.
But that is not the worst of it. It is not really that we, as the new government, have inherited this fiscal position, we have but inherited the responsibility to make the tough decisions to fix the mess left behind by Labor. That is what we have inherited as stewards of the Territory’s finances. But the worst of it is that now Territorians actually own this mess. They own the debt, they own the deficit, they own those interest payments.
Can you imagine buying your dream home and finding the joists and bearers have been eaten out by white ants? You invested your life savings into your dream home only to start a few renovations and find that the structure has been eaten out. That is what the former government left behind: a structure that had been eaten out and needs immediate attention and remediation. Hard decisions have to be made to replace those joists and bearers, at significant cost mind you, so we can fix the structure and make the house solid again.
That is what the new government must now do: repair the financial structure of the Territory, find ways to reduce the long-term impost on Territorians, and fix the house. That is the job we take on seriously and with dogged determination. With that in mind the wisdom of government comes from allocating its resources as an enabler to create wealth and grow the economy. The Mills government is creating a three-hub economy as we speak. I am delighted to have ministerial responsibilities for two of those three hubs. Mining and energy, and food production and export are two of the critical areas to growing the Territory’s economy and creating wealth.
Our primary industry and fisheries generated $513m towards the NT economy in 2011-12, including cattle at about $287m and horticulture at about $139m. In addition, expenditure on recreational and charter fishing is estimated at some $90m, and the number of fishing tourists in the NT has doubled in the past decade.
Significantly, our primary industry and fisheries have capacity for further development and growth. That is why these industries are integral to the government’s three-hub economy. Importantly, they can support growth in regional areas and improve opportunities for Indigenous Territorians.
The Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries programs are about growing the Territory: about industries, jobs, food security, regional development and creating real Indigenous opportunity. They are also about maintaining our social and lifestyle values with fishing and tourism as a vital part of that whole. My Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries performs a range of essential regulatory functions and biosecurity services, and delivers a range of fundamental research, development, and industry support and extension programs. This government recognises the significance of these industries and their real capacity for further development and growth. That is why we are committed to funding core services that support our growing cattle, agriculture and fishing industries.
In addition to maintaining these services, I am pleased to announce funding for a number of new initiatives, including Ord Stage 3.
The Chief Minister has announced the Ord development work has been raised to major project status. The Western Australian government has invested over $300m from its Royalties for Regions program to extend the irrigation channel to within 6 km of the NT border. This leading infrastructure investment by the WA government, and the Australian government’s contribution of $195m to social infrastructure in Kununurra, has created an opportunity.
The opportunity focuses on the development of new agricultural land and the establishment of a new industry in the north. The Territory government will work with the WA and Commonwealth governments under a newly signed - on 23 November this year - memorandum of understanding to facilitate investment in the development of agriculture in this region.
The WA government has completed a rigorous process to select its preferred proponent, Kimberley Agricultural Investment. It will now enter a period of one-on-one negotiations with KAI to finalise the development agreement. There is much work to be done in consulting with the native title holders, environmental approvals, and working through the commerciality of the development.
Selection of a proponent is still some time off for the Territory and there will be more announcements to come in this regard. However, this government will work hard to facilitate the development of this area and to realise the benefit for the local people, regional stakeholders and the NT economy as a whole.
This government has allocated $400 000 of new money to establish an Ord Development Unit within the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries to undertake this work. A cross-agency task force will also be established and shared by the Chief Executive of the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries.
Food is one of the three hubs of our economic development plan and our investment in this project demonstrates we are serious about agricultural development in the Northern Territory. The Ord is just the start as we grow that sector, and I am excited about the future of agriculture in the Territory under a government that cares. We care about the land and the people on it. We recognise the values they espouse and the value of their collective contribution to the Northern Territory.
When I compare the work being done by the new government in pushing this project and having its development come along, I think about the work done by the former government, which amounted to four-fifths of very little. An article in The Australian this morning reported a meeting between the Chief Minister and Simon Crean, the federal Minister for Regional Australia. He said he supports the project. Obviously he does, he is the one who was able to facilitate so much money being spent in Kununurra. He also supports the concept of a railway line between Kununurra. The article says Darwin but it is Katherine because the one to Darwin already exists.
In three months of being in government, we have managed to secure funding for an Ord Development Unit, set the Territory on the right path and obtained commitments from the federal government over this, at least in providing their support. Yet, I do not recall seeing any media releases issued by the former government with respect to the Ord, which is shameful.
Moving on to Fisheries, this government will provide funding to support a number of major requirements identified under the Recreational Fishing Development Plan. Regional fishing surveys are a very important part of this. A significant injection of funding has been provided to improve information on recreational fishing to ensure the Territory’s most iconic pastime can be maintained and developed strategically into the future.
Ongoing funding of $220 000 will be provided from 2013-14 to undertake regular and more detailed surveys of recreational fishing catch and effort. This information will also support Blue Mud Bay negotiations. These surveys will provide us with much of the very important information and data which will contribute to the making of decisions around our fisheries for the future of Territory fishers and those who would visit the Territory and our pristine environments.
Also essential to the future sustainability and health of our fisheries is fishing and boating safety education. There will be funding of $50 000 in 2012-13 and $20 000 ongoing from 2013-14 to develop a comprehensive awareness and education program. This will include matters such as sustainability, fish handling, environmental stewardship, and boating safety to improve community awareness and guide behaviour.
Ongoing renewal and new fishing infrastructure is an important part of making the Territory fisheries easier to access. That is why we have allocated funding of $4.5m in 2013-14 for construction of a new recreational fishing boat ramp facility. Dundee Beach has been identified as the potential location. However, we will be consulting with the Amateur Fishermen’s Association and the recreational fishing advisory committee for the best use of those funds.
In addition, government has approved funding of $80 000 in 2013-14 to undertake a comprehensive study to identify potential new areas for a boat ramp site at Shady Camp. A further $50 000 will be made available in 2014-15 for a review of potential new ramp sites in the Darwin suburban area ...
Ms Walker: Do you have $1.5m for Gove? It was promised.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: $1.5m for Gove? Tell me about that one, I do not know about that.
In recognition of the significance of recreational fishing as an iconic part of the NT lifestyle, this government has approved $30 000 ongoing from 2012-13 to establish and support a recreational fishing ministerial advisory council to provide strategic advice on management and development of our recreational fisheries. The advisory council will be a conduit directly to the minister and will provide strategic-level advice on the future direction of the fisheries of the NT, something which is vital to ensuring fishing in the Territory is as good in 100 years as it is today.
This government will also establish an awards program for recreational fishing to recognise outstanding contributions to that sector. This program will be developed in consultation with AFANT and the newly-approved recreational fishing ministerial advisory council.
On the commercial fishing front, this government has approved funding to cover the cost of buying back commercial fishing licences required to appropriately adjust the commercial barramundi fishery with respect to the closure of Finke, Chambers and Adam Bays and the northern part of Fog Bay. The funding will also provide for appropriate offsets for the impact of historic closures in that fishery, something the previous government failed to do.
In addition, this government will work with the commercial sector to develop their industry and give it the professional status it deserves. The commercial sector, including the fisheries around barramundi, threadfin salmon and the many important reef species, is an important component of the overall fishing picture in the Northern Territory. We commit to working closely with the commercial sector to help it become more efficient and effective.
This government has also endorsed negotiating access outcomes with traditional owners, and three agreements covering waters in the Daly, McArthur and part of Anson Bay will commence on 1 January 2013. The Northern Land Council and Anindilyakwa Land Council have also extended the interim access arrangements until 30 June 2013 to allow negotiations with traditional owners to continue.
With respect to Blue Mud Bay, we, like the relevant land councils, enter and continue negotiations in good faith. I am looking forward to working with the TLC, the Northern Land Council and the Anindilyakawa Land Council on this very important matter.
At the same time, government provides a wide range of animal and plant biosecurity services across primary industry and fisheries areas. Fees will be introduced on 1 January 2013 for a range of animal and plant biosecurity services, making the Territory the last jurisdiction in Australia to introduce these types of fees. These include:
animal - tick inspections and horse spraying for ticks
plant - authorising, certifying or providing inspections to growers for interstate market access
fishing - inspections of vehicles for marine pests.
For this reason, mining and energy forms an integral part of the government’s plan for a three-hub economy. Despite the critical importance of this industry to the Territory economy, the Department of Mines and Energy has been required to implement significant efficiencies and reductions in staff and service in recent years due to budget cuts by the previous government.
Just last week I told this House that while the general public service numbers from 2005 until now grew by around 25%, the collective Department of Resources full time equivalents fell by around 16% ,with individual agencies, including Mines and Energy, falling by similar figures.
I find it astonishing that a department that supports such a significant and important part of the Territory’s economy was so raped and pillaged by the former Labor government. They should hang their heads in shame. This has led to the department being under resourced to appropriately regulate the mining and petroleum industries. I wonder if the former minister and the former government really did learn the lessons from Montara.
This underfunding of the Department of Mines and Energy has also decreased the opportunities to grow the industry’s contribution to the Territory economy by diverting money away from programs to increase exploration investment such as the Bringing Forward Discovery exploration initiative.
The department has identified $1.7m in ongoing commitments that are currently unfunded, which is disgraceful. Worse still, many of these are non-discretionary activities relating to the regulation and development of the mining and petroleum sectors.
You asked for it last week, member for Karama, Opposition Leader, so I am pleased to announce that these unfunded commitments have been included as additional funding in DME’s budget allocation on an ongoing basis to provide a more appropriate level of ongoing funding for the department to regulate and grow our largest industry.
In addition, the department is investigating a range of innovative measures to raise additional revenue without significantly impacting on the Territory’s competitiveness in attracting resources investment. These revenue measures can assist in offsetting budget increases for the DME and contributing to the broader Northern Territory government budget savings.
A process of planning and industry consultation will occur prior to the implementation of any new revenue measures. The Territory is currently undergoing an unprecedented level of interest in on-shore petroleum activity, particularly for unconventional petroleum such as shale gas. A large proportion of the regulation of on-shore petroleum is currently unfunded, as under the previous government the cost of on-shore petroleum regulation was off-set by Commonwealth funding for off-shore petroleum regulation which was withdrawn at the beginning of this calendar year.
Mrs LAMBLEY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I request an extension of time for the member, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and honourable members.
Shamefully, the former government did nothing to address this shortfall. They allowed on-shore petroleum regulation to remain unfunded. But from this financial year the new government, the Mills government, will fund an additional $0.68m ongoing to allow for best practice regulation of this important emerging industry. This additional funding will ensure that DME is appropriately funded to implement best practice regulation of new drilling technologies, including fracking, to ensure any community concerns around the application of these new technologies are addressed.
This government is also committing an additional $0.45m ongoing to address unfunded commitments in the environmental regulation of mineral exploration and mining in the Northern Territory. This is a commitment to the safety and integrity of the environment, backed by something real. A funding commitment that gives credence to the words I have used for the past few months: that the Territory is open for business, that we want to streamline processes, but not at the expense of the environment. This will include ensuring that mine sites are appropriately audited, and that the department is resourced to ensure environmental approvals occur within acceptable time frames. Ensuring best practice regulation is a priority of this government, but it is equally important to implement programs to stimulate and grow the Northern Territory’s largest industry.
In a globally competitive environment, the Territory government needs to ensure the Northern Territory is an attractive destination for minerals and petroleum investment, especially for exploration which will find the Territory’s next generation of mines. Notwithstanding his veneer-thin rhetoric, the former minister was either unable or unwilling to have important investment programs such as this funded discretely. In recognition of the importance of the stimulus effect investment programs have, this new government is providing additional ongoing funding of $0.15m for unfunded commitments for the pre-competitive geoscience initiative, and another $0.15m in ongoing funding for the international mineral investment strategy.
Mr Vatskalis: Why do you not say $150 000?
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Well, whatever you like. I pick up on the interjection from the member for Casuarina. It does not matter whether I say $150 000 or $0.15m, you did not fund it. The former minister did not have the capacity to convince his Cabinet colleagues to put aside some additional funding in the budget so the Mines and Energy department could be funded appropriately.
It is disappointing, from my perspective, to see and hear from my department how the morale had been devastated because they have had to work on these programs - great brainstorms from the other side. I acknowledge that having an international investment strategy is a great idea. Having a strategy that assists with pre-competitive geoscience is also a great idea, but it came at the cost of environmental regulation.
The Labor party is supposed to be, along with their green mates, the steward of the environment, yet this former minister allowed his department to fall into such a state of disrepair that they were unable to meet all those requirements. So this former minister can interject all he likes, but at the end of the day he was an ineffectual minister and did not have the ticker or the capacity to be able to convince his Cabinet to fund his department properly. You should be ashamed of yourself.
An additional $280 000 will be dedicated to cover unfunded commitments relating to the grant and administration of mineral titles and the administration of the department. The additional ongoing funding for the Department of Mines and Energy reflects this government’s commitment to growing the industry as a key hub of the Territory’s economy into the future.
I am proud of the work done across the Primary Industry and Fisheries and Mines and Energy departments. Those working in the departments are dedicated and hard-working. Having met so many of them in the past few months, I have come to realise many of them live to come to work to be involved in such an important part of the Territory’s fabric and want to contribute to supporting the growth of the economy. The neglect and damage inflicted on my departments over the last 11 years is visible for all to see. This mini-budget is the start of the work of the new executive government to redress those matters. This is an exciting time for the Territory and the future is even brighter.
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased I am working with my departments in such a meaningful way to be a big part of that bright shiny future for the Territory.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, I will make a few comments about the mini-budget because, needless to say, it also reflects on my portfolio areas. Before I do however, I listened with interest to something the Minister for Mines and Energy said and an interjection from the member for Nhulunbuy. The Minister for Mines and Energy talked about the $5.8bn debt situation and there was a gruff retort from the member for Nhulunbuy saying, ‘Rubbish, bah, humbug’, or words to that effect; I am verballing her a little. It was rubbish; however, I want to draw the member for Nhulunbuy’s attention to a couple of documents.
The first is the pre-election fiscal outlook report where, in the non-financial public sector balance sheet, there is a debt situation described in the Northern Territory of nearly $5.6bn - $5.5bn if you do the roundings - and the RMB has subsequently reported that the situation in the forward projections is worse than that, upon which I presume the minister places his comments in relation to the $5.8bn.
The great tragedy is that part of the previous government’s attitude up until now has been this ‘bah, humbug’ attitude. You get these retorts all the time saying, ‘You are full of nonsense and waffle’. That they sit there and snort and grumpily dismiss the comments made by the Treasurer, the Chief Minister and other ministers on this side of the House, indicates they do not believe the numbers. I draw the member for Nhulunbuy’s attention to the pre-election financial fiscal outlook prepared by Treasury prior to the last election. There for all to see in the non-financial public sector balance sheet are the numbers the minister for Mines was pointing out.
The great tragedy of all this pain is that when I look at the mini-budget and go to the non-financial public sector balance sheet I see that for the financial year 2015-16 the debt situation for the non-financial public sector will be $4.35bn. That is a great tragedy because that is a worse situation than we have now. This reveals that we will increase debt as the government, even after all the pain we have inflicted. Why? Because we cannot inflict any more pain. We have reached the threshold of what is tolerable yet we will still be increasing debt because we have to meet the obligations carried over to us by the former government.
I cannot begin to imagine how a government could, with a straight face, say it was all under control when we, as a government, have to make tough decisions which inflict so much pain only to find ourselves in a situation where our debt will still increase by $900m over the forward estimates. The difference is, what it will not do is increase by several billion dollars over the forward estimates. We are trying to trade our way out of a situation we have inherited. I cannot begin to imagine how government members can sit there with straight faces and say we do not have to cause all this pain, it will all do it by itself. Even when we cause the pain, we still have not stopped the haemorrhage. That is the part I find astonishing.
For the general government sector the story is pretty much the same in the mini-budget; we will still end up with more debt than we have today, but it will be contained. The only thing that gives me comfort about the decisions we have had to make is to be found in the cash flow statements. The general government sector cash flow statement finally says, outside the forward estimates, in the year 2015-16 we will have a small, modest cash surplus of $9.7m because it will take us four years just to stop the debt from growing.
I cannot fathom, no matter how I hold the opposition’s arguments up to the light, particularly in the light of the difficult and tough decisions we have had to make on behalf of Territorians, how the government can assert setting the debt up by billions into the forward estimates based on their own documents, their own future projections. I find it incomprehensible that they can say it will sort itself out and is all cruising, and in the next statement say we have been too tough.
If we were being really tough and trying to haul in the debt situation legacy in one or two years then we would have had to apply an unacceptable level of pain to the people of the Northern Territory, something they probably would not have been able to tolerate. As it is, it is difficult enough for them to tolerate, and I understand and appreciate that. However, we, as a responsible government, have to avoid what is proposed for the future. If you go back to the government’s budget for 2012-13 of only a few months ago, the debt situation in the non-financial public sector balance sheet goes from the 2011-12 estimate of $2.8bn to $5.6bn. They were doubling the debt and saying it was all under control. That is in their budget papers.
They complain about something they knew about. What really bothers me is when you point this out to them they just say: ‘Phh! Huh! Humbug! Nonsense! Never happening!’ Well, it was happening, it is happening, it is very real. The former government is one of two things: they either knew they would have to make the same decisions we have had to make and they are not being honest about it, or they were so thunderously incompetent they did not see what should have been as plain as the noses on their faces.
Getting on with the matters pertaining to my departments, the first thing I will say about my department, the former Department of Justice, when it was inherited by this government is that it was unwieldy to say the least. I ask honourable members to picture this: the former department would have had a CEO, a boss. That CEO would have been answerable to a minister which, of course, would have been the minister in charge of the Department of Justice. However, I looked at the organisation chart of the former Department of Justice and noted that the CEO was answerable to five ministers: Hon Karl Hampton, Hon Delia Lawrie, Hon Rob Knight, Hon Gerry McCarthy and Hon Kon Vatskalis.
I am trying to imagine in what space a CEO of a department could conceivably be expected to report to five bosses, which is precisely how the organisation chart operated. Small wonder that when we came into government we did something that should not be rocket science, but apparently for the members opposite it was.
This is the proposed organisation chart. It is one I pulled out of a book recently and it is my October version. We are still working on refining it, but the outstanding thing is, the CEO is answerable to one minister, Hon John Elferink. That makes, I imagine, the CEO’s life much more simple, but not only that, it makes governance of the matters of justice in the Northern Territory much more straightforward. I regularly speak to my CEO. The CEO responds to my requests, comments on a regular basis, and there is no confusion. He knows what I expect of him. I know what he expects of me. We talk to each other and communicate without having to worry about what other ministers are saying. If there is a problem in my department that the Chief Minister or other ministers wish to raise with me, they talk to me, I talk to my CEO, and we take it from there.
In the past, if there was a problem in the department and the Chief Minister of the day needed to talk to one of the ministers, it was a lucky dip. Who do I talk to about this issue? I imagine there would have been crossed lines everywhere. What surprises me most about this is that with all of those ministers so little seems to have been done. I heard the response from the member for Barkly during Question Time today, and I apologise to the member for Barkly for getting short with him but it did drive an irritation with me when I outlined the amount of legislation being advanced and he, by way of a frivolous interjection, suggested it was leftover stuff from the former government.
Why on earth was I trying to pass a bill in this House a few weeks ago on enabled legislation which had been passed in this House in 2011? Why was that still being done by me? Why was there no pool of magistrates upon which I could draw to put relieving magistrates in place? Why was there no pool of magistrates in Alice Springs where I could do the same thing?
There was no shortage of administrative shortcomings I had to attend to on day one. They were legacy items from a former government which seemed – with the attention of five ministers - to have forgotten that the primary function of the Department of Justice, as it was at the time, was to make sure the administration of justice operated effectively in the Northern Territory.
I have taken steps to ensure the administration of justice is being performed effectively in the Territory, as is demanded of me by the legislation that establishes my office. Moreover, not only have I done so, but I have ensured we deal with the core elements of the administration of justice first. When you are busy trying to run a three-ring circus under a big top like that organisational chart – I am referring to the prior one for the Hansard record – then small wonder things get missed, like making sure there are effective amounts of money available for the administration of justice in the Northern Territory.
That is one of the reasons the government chose to remove Correctional Services from under the Justice banner and make it its own freestanding department so that: (1) the Commissioner for Correctional Services could report directly to the Minister for Correctional Services, and (2) Correctional Services was removed from the function of the Attorney-General, because they are fundamentally different functions.
On page 41 of the mini-budget document you can see there are variations to the budget of the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice. We are making some tough calls in the area of the Attorney-General’s department, and I appreciate that, but unfortunately these are matters we have to attend to. The disbanding of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Tribunal and the Substance Misuse Assessment and Referral for Treatment - or SMART Court, as it is known - and the court clinicians, is a decision that was not taken lightly. But according to the last annual report from the Department of Justice, in the lower courts there were 10 450 matters heard. The $2m that goes on the SMART Court budget and the associated clinician budget has to be put into context. Bearing in mind that with 10 500-odd criminal matters going before the courts last financial year, the SMART Court, with an expenditure in the order of about $2m, had 230 referrals to it, of which only 146 were accepted. Of the 146 some are still on track. Fifty-two people were graduated and 37 of those discontinued.
At the moment we have 10 450 matters going before the lower courts and the SMART Court, which consumes a substantial amount of income, graduates 52 people through its program. I understand what is being attempted with therapeutic jurisprudence, but in reality it is insufficient bang for buck in these fiscal times to enable the Northern Territory government to continue down this path.
Sad as that will be to the Chief Magistrate, I am sure, that is the truth of the matter. We are obliged to also look at how we can fix the court cells to look after juvenile prisoners and that costs money. To run the lower courts costs money. To run courts like the SMART Court costs money. The increasing paperwork demands placed on police by the court system mean we have to employ more police officers, which costs money.
At some point, when there are insufficient funds in the kick, tough decisions have to be made, and this is one of them. To put it into context, I notice in the mini-budget that of the overall budget of $25.5m, the 52 graduated people from the SMART Court - the court which consumes about $2m - consumed 10% of the courts’ income. That probably gives us a reasonable position or a reasonable understanding, if you like, of the fiscal reality behind the decision we have made.
The other ministerial portfolio for which I have responsibility and carriage has not done badly in the mini-budget process. I note that the Correctional Services overall budget for the year budgeted 2012-13 was $139m and for Correctional Services in the mini-budget is $144m, which is an increase of $5m.
We intend, on this side of the House, to start lobbying as soon as possible, the federal government in particular, to pursue a few ideas which are valuable in changing the way we deal with prisoners. I know some initial work was done by the former government and I would have been anxious to see them ramp that work up; however, and what concerned me most, Stronger Futures seemed to have completely passed by the former minister as a source of funding through which some of this work could be done. Nevertheless, we will persevere on this side of the House. I had the opportunity to lobby Simon Crean, literally in the lobby of this building, recently about some of the ideas I and this government would like to pursue. He seemed interested, so I am trying to get into see other federal ministers to demonstrate the value of some of the ideas we have.
Should the federal government condescend to cast a benevolent eye upon our lobbying, perhaps some of the programs that should be run under the department of Corrections banner could be ramped up even more quickly. Should the federal government see the wisdom of this approach and support what we are trying to do in the Northern Territory, particularly with outcomes for Indigenous people and Indigenous prisoners, I would congratulate it.
I thank minister Crean for taking the time to speak to me, unexpected as the conversation was, and I look forward to meeting with other federal ministers shortly. I hope they open their diaries to me because I am anxious to use this precious opportunity - a ministry - for the good and betterment of the people of the Northern Territory and, for what we all pray for every morning Madam Speaker, the true welfare of the people of the Northern Territory.
Mr CHANDLER (Business): Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I describe the tough but necessary actions this government is taking to tackle the legacy of a crippling debt left by the former Labor government.
We have heard the Treasurer speak about the unsustainable level of debt burden and the need to take action to rectify the Territory’s fiscal position. This government has worked tirelessly to prepare the mini-budget and ensure the Territory remains an attractive place to invest and create jobs. Savings will be achieved by reviewing delivery of a range of programs to increase efficiencies, as well as careful examination of recruitment practices. No frontline services will be impacted upon.
The department will also ensure, where staff or resources are required to deliver Australian government funded programs, the costs are apportioned appropriately. General operational efficiencies in the department will save $670 000 ongoing from 2012-13.
Prime Minister Thatcher put it well when she said:
That was not demonstrated in recent times by the opposition. We have all heard the ill-informed hysteria Labor that has been whipping up since becoming the opposition. I would prefer to hear practical solutions which can help Territory families and businesses.
The Department of Housing provides housing-related services to many of the most vulnerable Territorians, and it is fair to say that identifying savings measures was difficult. Nevertheless, the department has identified a range of cost saving measures and revenue options starting in 2012-13 through to 2015-16. Savings will be achieved by reviewing delivery of a range of programs to increase efficiencies as well as careful examination of recruitment practices. As I said, no frontline services will be impacted upon.
General operation efficiencies in the department will save $670 000 ongoing through 2012-13. A more efficient Department of Housing with improved rent structures and appraisals to our public housing stock will ensure Territorians in need will have better access to housing services.
The Country Liberals government has reviewed government employee housing and public housing to maximise the efficient use of assets. In 2012-13, an estimated $2.3m will be returned to the government from sales of employee housing. The sale of employee housing will occur in locations only where there is sufficient supply of good private rental houses that staff can have access to, primarily in Darwin and Alice Springs. It makes good business sense for the government to allow the private rental market to meet demand and is also in accordance with policy. Employees who are entitled to subsidised rental accommodation through their enterprise bargaining agreement will continue to be honoured by the private rental market.
Essential workers will be able to be supported through the Real Housing for Growth plan which will offer better accommodation with improved amenities. We will support an additional 2000 affordable homes with the Real Housing for Growth plan. The Real Housing for Growth plan will make public housing subsidies go further while enabling developers to target support where it is most needed.
It will see the construction of 2000 affordable and industry homes across the Territory over the next four years. It will enable developers and investors to build, own and manage new housing by the government’s guarantee to headlease properties for up to 15 years. It will include potential for government land contribution. It will be targeted at essential workers to keep them in the Territory by providing a 30% discount on the median area market rent.
As I previously described, essential workers include the caring nurses at our hospital, the apprentice mechanic repairing our cars, the young teacher educating our children, the person making our morning coffee, and those serving us a cold beverage at the end of the day. They are young families and others who are being squeezed out of the rental market but who contribute to our growing local economy.
It is estimated that in 2013-14 sales of government employee housing will bring in around $3.45m. The Department of Housing will work with agencies and their employees to help identify appropriate private rental accommodation. Some properties will be offered to employees currently residing in them at an agreed Australian Valuation Office valuation. The sales of these properties will also reduce any ongoing maintenance liability.
Public housing rents will be increased in 2014 for tenants with incomes over their eligibility limit. Approximately 10% of current urban public housing tenants are ineligible for public housing due to their household income. Current public housing rent setting results in a revenue loss around $4m per annum which the Northern Territory government effectively subsidises. Ten percent of people living in our homes today earn more than they should for living in Territory Housing properties. It is a good news story because these people really should be the ones moving on to the private rental market. We can and will be working with those people.
The bottom line is though, when we have lists as long as our arm of genuine people in need of public housing, we need to be far better in the way we manage the existing stock. This revenue strategy involves public housing tenants who are no longer eligible for public housing and are paying public housing market rent.
In 1998, it was determined that public housing market rents would be based on annual advice from the Australian Valuation Office. On average, the public housing market rent derived by the AVO is around 25% less than private rental dwellings. In 2006, a decision was made by the former Labor government that market rent increases for ineligible tenants would be capped at no more than $20 per annum.
The result of an ill-conceived decision means, in some instances, that ineligible housing tenants are now paying less a proportion of their income in weekly rent than low-income eligible tenants. This is clearly inequitable. It also means public housing market rents have been kept artificially low and have not kept pace with market rents which have risen in the private sector.
Not keeping pace has resulted in a disincentive for ineligible public housing tenants to enter the private market. There are currently 432 ineligible tenants living in public housing today. If all of these tenants were required to pay full market rent based on a rent valuation by the Australian Valuation Office, the increased revenue would have been estimated at around $4.1m per annum. It is recognised that some ineligible tenants may not be able to afford a full market rent charge, and that is why the cap has been set at 30% of weekly income or AVO market rent, whichever is the lower.
The rent revenue increase is estimated to be around $2.5m per annum, while ineligible tenants remain in public housing. This is $2.5m per annum that could be used to improve ageing public housing stock. No doubt, this decision will not be popular with ineligible tenants who have enjoyed artificially low market rents for a number of years. Currently, statistics show that 14% of people are over the limit by between $300 and $499 per week; 9% of people are over the limit by between $500 and $999 per week; and 4% of people are over the limit by over $1000 per week.
The difference between the average public housing rent per week and Australian average Valuation Office market rent per week for a three-bedroom property is $88 per week in the Arnhem district, $110 per week in Katherine, $120 per week in Alice Springs, and $205 per week in the Darwin region. It is hard to justify subsidising households that can afford to pay a reasonable rent while there are 3000 eligible applicants on the waiting list.
Tenants who do not pay AVO market rent could elect to move into the private sector or register for accommodation with the Venture Housing Company. Public housing rents charged as a percentage of income in the Territory are the lowest in the nation: between 14% and 23%. However, the costs of providing public housing services are increasing. The lower the cost of rent, the fewer funds there are to undertake essential maintenance works. That is a fact. A minor increase of 1% in urban, remote and town camps will be implemented from 2013 and will be aligned with other jurisdictions across Australia. This will bring in an additional $150 000 in 2012-13 and $300 000 ongoing from 2014.
The impact of an increase of 1% for remote and urban tenants currently paying a rebated rent will result in an increase of rent of around $1 per week for seniors, singles and couples on a Centrelink benefit. The increase would also be $1 per week for a single parent with one child on a Centrelink benefit and a couple with two children would experience a rent increase of around $1.50 per week. The $300 000 of additional revenue in rent per annum will assist in meeting repairs and maintenance costs. We are facing increasing maintenance costs and other expenditure in our public housing dwellings. While rents have lagged behind in the Territory our expenses have increased. We will keep the same spending level on our public housing and will look at measures to improve our stock and sell costly ageing homes.
I have previously spoken of my intention to improve all aspects of remote housing delivery, including providing local community-based solutions aimed at increasing the involvement of community residents and reducing the inefficiencies in heavy bureaucracy, administration and expensive travel costs associated with servicing our important remote communities. Work is underway to improve the delivery and management of remote housing in the Northern Territory. The additional $14m the Treasurer announced will be welcome over the next four years to improve homeland housing and municipal and essential services. This is in addition to the current funding committed for those services.
While this funding will improve remote housing standards, it will be conditional on local community members sending their kids to school and participating in homelands economy. This government wants to ensure improved opportunities exist for local Indigenous business enterprises and the employment of Indigenous workers. We look to develop the capacity for local people in remote communities to deliver more of the housing works, both in construction, and in repairs and maintenance.
I previously spoke of the successful negotiations with the Australian government and a commitment under the Stronger Futures National Partnership Agreement to a further $230m in Australian government funding to bring all remote houses in the Territory to a safe and habitable standard. The work under this government will also include replacing remote housing in poor condition across the Territory, including smaller communities that have not seen new houses under SIHIP. I will work with the Australian government to ensure the proposed next stage of works delivers a better standard of amenity and durability in remote houses achieved under the Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program, commonly referred to as SIHIP.
This government has also examined existing housing assistance loans and will be realigning some loan interest rates, adding $376 000 to revenue in 2012-13 and $752 000 ongoing from 2013-14.
The Country Liberals’ government has moved to reform the assistance given to first homebuyers to better support first homebuyers at the lower end of the market and to create the right market conditions to ensure housing construction increases at an affordable rate. These measures are about better targeting the Northern Territory government’s programs to ensure they are supporting would-be new homebuyers.
The reforms announced as part of the mini-budget will stimulate building and make homes more affordable for Territorians. As of today, the following changes apply:
the first homebuyers grant will be increased to $25 000 for new homes in the greater Darwin, Palmerston, and Darwin rural areas
These changes will stimulate building activity, particularly in the more affordable part of the market, which we desperately need to ensure people can afford to live here.
Before the Leader of the Opposition can shout across the Chamber that the cap is too low, let me tell you about 15 house and land packages that Territorians bought this financial year, all of which are under the $550 000 cap. The 15 homes are stand-alone houses, not apartments, and one of the house and land packages was in Muirhead. The Leader of the Opposition said on radio recently that the cap we had was precluding Territorians from entering the market at Muirhead. Maybe she should become better informed about the market.
The 15 house and land packages range in price from as low as $307 000 up to $530 000, which clearly demonstrates that the Mills government knows the Territory market. As of September, the cost of an average two-bedroom unit is $425 000, so these reforms are targeted at the right level and will help dampen further unaffordable house prices and the growth in that area. When taken alongside our already announced HomeBuild Access and Real Housing for Growth plans, the Northern Territory government is delivering more affordable housing for Territorians.
Moving onto business, this government recognises the need to invest in strategic programs that develop and broaden the Territory’s economy, in particular, supporting the industry and businesses to grow industry capability and business competiveness. To this end, the Mills government has taken action in the mini-budget to rejuvenate the important relationship between the Northern Territory and Indonesia.
In the mini-budget, $500 000 a year has been allocated to the Minister for Business for the AusIndo Forum from 2012-13 to 2015-16. The forum is being established by the government, working with Charles Darwin University, and we will be creating a meeting place where leaders of business, academia, health, and the arts can share views. It will host regular events and this foundation builds on the relationship established by previous CLP governments. As the Chief Minister stated recently:
Unfortunately, the connection between Australia and Indonesia has been neglected. Through the forum we can restore it, and put together and build on strong ties and make sure they are back solidly in place.
It is with great delight that I announce the continuing funding of October Business Month, an initiative of the former CLP government. October Business Month is, and not surprisingly, a month-long program put together to inspire and motivate the Northern Territory business community with new business management ideas, and opportunities for professional development.
This year’s themes were leadership, motivation, and performing under pressure; eco-sustainability and reducing your bottom line; human resources; attraction, recruitment and retention of staff; work-life balance; information technology; social media marketing; and finance. The seven keynote speakers arranged by the department were of a very high calibre, and provided useful information on the range of topics as well as some inspirational stories.
OBM also went high-tech, using a web-based delivery system to live-stream several keynote events to regional centres, providing a simultaneous delivery of events, including the official opening with Glenn McGrath, and 790 people across the Northern Territory watching the event. This is an increase from 382 attendees in 2011. The October Business Month official closing event was held on 29 October 2012 and attracted 79 attendees.
As the Minister for Business, I co-hosted the event with the Lord Mayor of Darwin, Ms Katrina Fong Lim. The event featured a presentation by internationally acclaimed advertising consultant Sean Cummins from Cummins Ross. Mr Cummins announced at the event that Cummins Ross would be opening an agency in Darwin, further demonstrating business confidence in the Northern Territory economy.
I am pleased to inform the House the Alice Springs Golf Club will receive $300 000 to develop its business plan and undertake minor works. This financial support in the mini-budget will help the club maintain its facilities so it benefits the town and the region. Under the Territory Business Growth Program the club will receive $50 000 for its business plan. It will also receive $250 000 as a capital grant through the Department of Sport and Recreation for maintenance and minor works.
Ms FINOCCHIARO: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I seek an extension of time for my colleague, the minister.
Motion agreed to.
Mr CHANDLER: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and member for Drysdale. This year’s theme was leadership; I have already mentioned that and will not go over it again. October Business Month and the closing was co-hosted by Ms Katrina Fong Lim, our good Lord Mayor of Darwin.
The grant for the business plan will assist the club to return to a sustainable trading situation. We are happy we can honour our election commitment, allowing the club to return its facilities to an appropriate standard for community players and Australian and international visitors. The course is currently ranked in the top ten best desert golf courses in the world. However, the costs of managing the club are increasing. The clubhouse needs maintenance, the irrigation equipment needs replacing, and the car park needs repair.
Business and industry grant programs will also receive $1m in 2012-13 and $858 000 ongoing from 2013-14 in additional funds. More detail on grant recipient types will be added.
Moving to power and water, like the rest of my colleagues on this side of the House, I deeply regret the unavoidable necessary reasons for raising power, water and sewerage costs to Territorians already doing it tough under high cost of living pressures. Believe me, no one is comfortable making these hard decisions, but it would be irresponsible of this government not to. I am aware of the effect the price increases will have on business, not only on the immediate cost, but increased costs that may cascade through the local supply chains.
It was interesting to read a Northern Territory News article the other day by Mr Nigel Adlam. He raised the point of two lists, one being a public list the Country Liberals had with election commitments and promises for the first 100 days in office. He also talked about a private list, which did or did not exist. There is much speculation that it was always in our plans to put up power prices to set the Power and Water Corporation up so it could be sold.
If anyone wants a truer or clearer understanding of the truth behind that, in his article Mr Adlam talked about a public list and a private list of promises and things we were going to do. The reality is there was no discussion in the public list - you might expect you would not see it in a public list - however, the most telling point is it does not exist in the private list. If it was truthful, that is the list you would find it in. The fact it did not exist in either is a clear indication the Mills government had no intention of putting up power and water prices prior to the election.
The opposition can say all it wants about that point but we all know they were going to increase prices anyway. It did not matter who was elected on 25 August this year, power prices would have gone up, that is a fact. However, there was no plan prior to the election for the Mills government to do anything with power and water prices. This is all about what we found coming into government and the fiscal position we find ourselves in.
Business is doing it tough, courtesy of the previous Northern Territory Labor government’s inability to make necessary decisions when it was recommended in the 2009 Reeves review. I have taken immediate steps to assist Northern Territory businesses to reduce the impact the price rises will have on their businesses. I have doubled the grants budget for ecoBiz NT from $220 000 to $440 000. The ecoBiz NT program is a simple but effective six-step program that offers advice, assistance and guidance to small-to-medium enterprises to identify and adopt resource efficiency practices that are good for the bottom line as well as, of course, the environment. I am advised by the department that as a rule of thumb a site survey can identify savings of between 10% and 20% to a business through minor behavioural changes. Businesses which have gone through the program report an average annual saving of $7043 on their energy bills.
The ecoBiz NT program was a Labor party initiative, but in 2011-12 they chose to slash the program funding from $700 000 per year to a budget of $350 000, and halved the operational staff. The former Labor government’s decision to slash ecoBiz in 2011-12 has resulted in a program labouring under the demands of Northern Territory businesses - great timing by the former Labor government, particularly when we have correspondence from the Leader of the Opposition to the Board of the Power and Water Corporation agreeing to put up the price of power by a massive 50% but, of course, only after the election. Once again, this demonstrates irresponsible decision-making by the former Labor government in slashing a program at a time of increasing need for businesses.
The Mills government realises increased charges will be tough on businesses and that is why we are doubling ecoBiz NT’s funding. The commitment will double the number of Northern Territory businesses able to gain financial support, and reduce the use and cost of power and water within their businesses. I have asked the department to allocate additional staff to ecoBiz NT so businesses can take advantage of the expanded grant funding opportunity.
This government is not shirking its responsibilities and will continue to work with small businesses to help them manage their utility and other costs and remain competitive in what is a challenging global environment.
The mini-budget has set aside $1.32m in 2012-13 for the marine supply base advice, monitoring and operation costs. The $110m base is one of several large-scale items for which the ongoing support works were not budgeted by the Labor team - another unfunded legacy left behind. The costs are $846 000 in 2013-14 and $421 000 ongoing from 2014-15.
As the Department of Business beds down its new organisational structure, the Chief Executive Officer, Peter Carew, is confident synergies and savings will be found which will streamline staffing and deliver better outcomes for businesses. Savings of $1.8m are expected in 2012-13, $2.6m in 2013-14, $2.4m in 2014-15 and $2.6m in 2015-16. The government’s policy regarding natural attrition will be applied across the department, with staff being moved when required to ensure service delivery is not affected.
The department is reviewing its fees and charges to bring them in line with other jurisdictions. As an example, the government will be recovering costs from regulating fireworks. We will be consulting industry to create a detailed model and look at ways we can increase licence fees to better reflect the cost of regulating fireworks.
A decision has been made to end the publication of the Territory Quarterly magazine. This will save $80 000 in 2012-13 and $165 000 from 2013-14. This is a very cost-intensive publication that has been distributed free of charge. The reality is there may be ways we can work to keep that magazine, as long as we look at ways of, perhaps, allowing advertising and other initiatives to continue with the magazine without affecting the bottom line.
We will discontinue funding consultancies for economic appraisals of major projects, which are generally one or two years. The Department of Business will use in-house expertise, consulting with industry and other relevant stakeholders where required. This will offer up savings of $63 000 recurrent from 2012-13.
A further $500 000 of savings per annum will be realised by maintaining the current level of funding to the Build Skills program, and by not increasing the last-minute funding committed by the former Labor government and adding further to the Territory debt.
We will discontinue the second stage development of the Northern Territory jobs portal saving $154 000 in 2012-13. Not only is this a costly exercise, but there have been design concerns identified. We will not continue with a system that could result in pouring good money after bad when there is an existing national jobs website that can be used instead.
The Research and Innovation Board, which oversees grant funding and scholarships, is coming to an end, but the NT Research and Innovation fund and awards are being retained with administration by the department.
Indigenous workforce development will return from a temporary increase of $1.7m to $1m. Other Australian government employment funding already supports workforce development in the regions. A further $400 000 will be saved from the Indigenous Responsive Program funding.
Madam Speaker, in conclusion, in recognition of the task ahead and the need to stop the decay of the Territory’s fiscal position and begin to remove the mountain of debt, I will paraphrase John F Kennedy in his 1961 inaugural address: All of this will not be finished in the first 100 days, nor will it be finished in the first 1000 days, maybe not even in the lifetime of this government, but let us begin. Let us both sides, for the first time, explore what problems unite us instead of belabouring those problems which divide us. Thank you.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, the Minister for Children and Families has given me authority to respond on her behalf to the mini-budget statement as it relates to her Children and Families portfolio. Accordingly, I rise to advise the House of the work being undertaken by the Office of Children and Families, which is focused on strengthening the provision of services to Northern Territory families.
This government has already made significant decisions to ensure services provided by government agencies are responsive to community needs, to prioritise direct service delivery and make efficient and effective use of resources. We have, without apology, expected government agencies to be accountable for the budget provided to them and to reduce expenditure wherever possible.
One of these decisions has been to affectively strengthen the collaboration between the Department of Education and Children’s Services and the Office of Children and Families. The Minister for Children and Families recognised the natural connections between delivering effective education services to children from early childhood that is continued through their schooling, and supporting children and families with family support and child protection services.
This collaboration will not only provide an increased focus on the safety, wellbeing and education of children across the Territory, it will enable both agencies to combine resources and exploit opportunities to deliver holistic and effective services. In addition, this collaboration will, for the first time, enable the staff of the Office of Children and Families to access Department of Education and Children’s Services infrastructure in remote areas to more efficiently deliver the services.
The Office of Children and Families and the Department of Education and Children’s Services are working together to develop six lighthouse sites across the Territory, which will allow the office and the department to focus on developing effective models of service delivery with the potential for these models to be expanded to further sites in the future.
The initial sites are proposed to be Galiwinku, Maningrida, Papunya and Tennant Creek, as well as Moulden Park Primary School, and Gray in Palmerston. The development of the models will focus on an improved service system through increasing the number of children accessing early childhood learning, improved school attendance and educational outcomes for children in care, improved prevention and early intervention to reduce the need for statutory child protection intervention, and better use of existing infrastructure and resources, particularly in remote communities, to meet shared outcomes.
The requirement for child protection services in the Northern Territory continues to grow. Over the last five years the number of cases of substantiated abuse or neglect has increased by almost 18% per annum from 750 in 2007 to 1705 in 2012. The increase in substantiations illustrates the increased workload impact of undertaking increasing numbers of investigations.
Since 2011, the child protection substantiation rate for Indigenous children of the Northern Territory has increased by two-and-a-half times from 16.8 per thousand children in 2006-07 to 43.3 in 2010-11. This is a rapid increase in a relatively short time frame. Similarly there has being an ongoing increase in demand for out-of-home care services. On 30 June 2002 there were 173 Northern Territory children who were in out-of-home care compared to 700 in out-of-home care on 30 June 2012. This is more than a tripling of the children in care over a 10-year period.
Most of the increase in substantiations in the Northern Territory from 2006 to 2007 occurred in remote areas. It is recognised there is a significant increase in cost associated with providing services in remote communities.
The close working relationship between the Department of Education and Children’s Services and the Office of Children and Families presents a significant opportunity for the Office of Children and Families to take advantage of established infrastructure and presence of schools within remote communities to ensure more effective and efficient service delivery to vulnerable children and their families.
The budget handed down by the Treasurer today has recognised the additional cost pressures in the area of child protection and out-of-home care and builds on the capacity of the system. The Office of Children and Families published budget for 2012-13 was $177m. The continued increase for child protection services and the costs associated with providing these services need to be appropriately acknowledged and incorporated into the budget. For the 2012-13 financial year the government has contributed a further $10m specifically to fund the expenses associated with the increase in demand in child protection and out-of-home care. As a result of this injection of funds the budget for the current Office of Children and Families for 2012-13 has increased to $188.5m.
The need to meet this demand has also resulted in careful consideration of the use of Office of Children and Families resourcing, including financial and personnel. The Chief Executive of the Office of Children and Families has acted to ensure all possible resources have been identified and redirected to support direct service delivery. Overall, the government and the office have worked together to identify $14.2m in 2012-13 and $25.1m ongoing that could be redirected. This represents a significant boost to services delivered directly to the community. The funds being redirected have been found through redirecting board of inquiry funding, reducing the number of staff contracts, including executive contracts, and through initiatives such as a recruitment freeze on non-direct service delivery positions.
This government has been placed in the difficult position of having to make hard decisions regarding the use of funding. These decisions have impacted not only on government agencies but also on the non-government sector. It is essential that the government ensures there is capacity across the child protection system and targeted programs are funded to meet the needs of vulnerable Territory children and families. As a result, the government has undertaken a review of all funding to non-government organisations provided by the Office of Children and Families and determined that $4.8m is to be redirected to fund services to children and families involved in the child protection system.
During 2012-13 an additional $2m will be provided to Somerville to expand its Palmerston Community Centre and the provision of services to align to new government priorities. To ensure the focus of funding provided to non-government organisations is based on value for money and the capacity to deliver real outcomes for children and families in the child protection and out-of-home care system, all future funding to the non-government sector will be based on a competitive grants process.
The government has a strong commitment to remote service delivery. As part of our election commitments, $0.7m has been committed to 2013-14 and $0.2m ongoing from 2014-15 for the Office of Children and Families to expand the capacity of existing family support providers in the Barkly region, delivered out of Tennant Creek.
Since the Growing them Strong, Together board of inquiry report was handed down in 2010, a significant amount of work has been undertaken by the Office of Children and Families to meet the 147 recommendations and to address the serious deficiencies that existed in the system. As the Minister for Children and Families outlined in her statement to the House on 28 November 2012, a period of consolidation is required. This will allow the Office of Children and Families the time to focus on what is really important: the effective delivery of direct services to children and families. We also need to be realistic and prioritise reforms within available resources.
A review of the recommendations has been undertaken and advice has been provided that 56 recommendations have been finalised and 91 recommendations have commenced. Of these 91 recommendations, 69 will be progressed as intended by the inquiry, with 14 to be completed by early 2013. Eleven have been superseded. However, the intent of the recommendations will still be implemented. Two are at the discretion of the court, and nine will not be implemented.
The benefits of the closer collaboration between the Department of Education and Children’s Services and the Office of Children and Families has allowed for efficiencies that have enabled a reshaping of child protection policy away from micro-recommendations and towards identified priorities, including:
an improved out-of-home care system
maintaining direct service staff and ensuring caseloads are manageable
In addition to the creation of the new Department of Education and Children’s Services and the Office of Children and Families for the purpose of ensuring the focus on early childhood, child protection and family support, decisions have been made to transfer programs to agencies which more closely relate to the services provided. A number of program areas have transferred out of the Office of Children and Families.
In recognition of the need for input across whole-of-government in relation to issues relevant to youth and women, the Office of Youth Affairs and the Office of Women’s Policy have transferred to the Department of the Chief Minister. This transfer has resulted in $1.4m moving from the Office of Children and Families to the Department of the Chief Minister.
The Office of Children and Families previously provided programs directly related to youth justice, homelessness and sexual assault. These functions have now been transferred to the department of Corrections with $5.5m in funding, the Department of Housing with $8.8m, and the Department of Health with $3.4m. While these programs have moved out of the Office of Children and Families, the office has gained programs more closely aligned with the delivery of family support and early intervention services.
Early childhood policy and regulation have transferred from the Department of Education and Children’s Services to the Office of Children and Families, resulting in the transfer of $18.3m to the Office of Children and Families. Early childhood policy and regulation is responsible for a number of programs with natural links to family support and child protection. These programs include Families as First Teachers, which I will herein refer to as FAFT. They engage approximately 1700 remote Indigenous children and their families in an early learning and parent support program focused on parent capacity-building, transition to preschools, literacy and numeracy at home, and early learning. FAFT has been established in 21 large remote communities. FAFT also accesses a further 24 small remote communities through a mobile program. Exciting results are emerging and parents are showing a strong desire to engage in their children’s learning.
Community consultation for the development of Palmerston integrated family services has concluded with several potential service delivery models identified which will suit the community context, including early learning, child and maternal health, integrated learning and family engagement programs.
The National Quality Framework commenced in 2012 and included the establishment of a new regulatory authority for education and care services: Quality Education and Care NT. This framework, for the first time, includes outside school hours care and family daycare services into the education and care regulatory framework.
Quality Education and Care NT has assessed and rated the quality of 22 long daycare services against the national quality standard, with a further 16 services in the process of having their rating determined. There is growing evidence children who experience a positive early childhood and are given the best possible start are more likely to succeed in life. In recognition of this, our government has committed to work with services and ensure services are well-positioned to meet the workforce requirements and ensure best outcomes for children.
Our government is providing scholarships to educators working in the education and care service sector to upgrade their qualifications from diploma to four-year-trained early childhood teacher qualifications. There are currently 30 scholarship holders from the long daycare sector working to upgrade their qualifications, with a further 20 or so expected to commence in Semester 1 next year. Up to 70 scholarships will be offered.
In addition to undertaking a regulatory role, Quality Education and Care NT administers the Northern Territory Early Childhood Services Subsidy. The subsidy aims to assist operators of approved education and care services to contain the cost of care for families by keeping fees at an acceptable level. In June 2012, a survey conducted by United Voice, which is the union representing the childcare industry, found the jurisdiction with the highest average daily cost of childcare is the Australian Capital Territory at $82.43, and the lowest is Queensland at $67.76.
In response to these findings, Quality Education and Care NT surveyed several Northern Territory long daycare services and found the average daily rate is $72.72. This currently places the Northern Territory in a comparable position with other jurisdictions. The Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction to provide a subsidy to long daycare services to help offset the cost of care being passed on to families. During 2011-12, $4.3m was paid to long daycare centres and $2.2m has been provided so far in 2012-13.
The Northern Territory government has made a commitment to support early learning centres and childcare centres. This support will focus on appropriate regulation of services and working with services to meet workforce needs. The government has committed $150 000 to establish grants for long daycare centres to purchase play equipment and educational toys and games. The grants will benefit approximately 4200 children across the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, this government has taken a strong stance to ensure a positive future for the Northern Territory. The Office of Children and Families has been provided with an increased budget of $188.5m to continue to provide child protection, family support, early childhood and out-of-home care services. This increase, along with the redirection of funds from central office to areas of direct service delivery will ensure Territorians receive the services necessary to meet the needs of vulnerable children and families.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, it is with great delight that I support the mini-budget statement by the Treasurer. In response to the statement from the Treasurer, I inform the House of the benefits and opportunities of the mini-budget process for the portfolio of Education. The Minister for Education has given me the authority to make the following statement on her behalf.
Improving the education, safety and wellbeing outcomes of all Territorian children through a strong focus upon frontline service delivery is the key priority for the government. Through the mini-budget process, the government has provided an additional $3.3m ongoing from 2012-13 to increase the Back to School voucher from $75 to $150 for students in Territory schools, from January 2013.
The Back to School payment can be redeemed for educational items provided by the school, and can be used to offset the costs of textbooks, stationery, uniforms, excursions, expenses and travel costs. This improved entitlement is for parents or guardians of students enrolled in government or non-government schools to offset the educational expenses parents are expected to meet.
The department has also been working closely with the Department of Sport and Recreation to support the distribution of the Sports Voucher Scheme. This will be done by utilising efficiencies and existing systems, and combining some aspects of the Back to School payment scheme and the Sports Voucher Scheme.
In addition to supporting parents, we are also supporting our teachers in their frontline service delivery role. This is illustrated with the minister’s announcement on 20 September this year, enabling 188 Territory teachers to become permanent employees. There are approximately 2130 active classroom teachers employed by the Department of Education and Children’s Services. About 600, or 28%, were on temporary contracts when we came to government. As a result of this government’s direction, that has reduced to about 443 with further permanencies expected. This articulates to 188 more Territorians having the security of permanent employment.
Under the new arrangements, the department is offering permanent employment to all teachers recruited to remote schools and vacancies in urban, middle, and senior secondary schools from the 2013 school year onwards. This is in contrast to the complex arrangements previously in place, which meant that, to secure permanency, a teacher had to have completed a minimum of six months’ continuous service in a Territory school, have at least 12 months’ employment or have been recruited to a ‘hard to fill’ position. Teachers are the foundation of a quality education system and this new arrangement will provide teachers, parents, students and school communities with greater certainty and allow teachers to put down roots in the community.
Another immediate action of the government has been the establishment of an expert panel for numeracy and literacy. This expert panel, which will begin work in 2013, is comprised of national and Northern Territory literacy and numeracy experts. The panel will oversee a renewed focus on teaching and assessing the core competencies of reading, writing and mathematics including a review of current literacy and numeracy practice. It will also lead to the development of clear guidelines for literacy and numeracy teaching in our Territory schools. An announcement regarding this initiative will be made shortly.
In the first 100 days of government, the department has also progressed significant work with the establishment of an English as an additional language unit. In line with government priorities, this unit has developed an English as an additional language action plan 2012-14, updated the Framework for Learning English as an Additional Language policy and is reviewing the existing English as an Additional Language resources. Through the agency restructure, the department has also established a community driven school support unit. This unit will provide planning establishment, governance and professional development to support elders committed to taking more responsibility for remote education. This unit will support improved input from the community and provide Aboriginal people with the opportunity for a greater voice in the education of their children.
An example of the government moving the focus from the department to schools is the strong focus the department has on teacher professional development. The minister recently launched the 2013 prospectus for the Centre for School Leadership, Learning and Development. The centre is focused on building the capacity of principals, school leaders and teachers to drive school improvement and support improved outcomes for students. This commitment to professional development is focused on building the capacity of frontline staff in all government and non-government schools. The centre is also focused upon improving the induction process for our teachers, especially in remote locations, and orientation dates for new teachers have been set for 2013.
I am happy to report to the House that in addition to this focus upon professional development induction, the department is committed to rewarding our great teachers. The Territory’s Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers program is structured professional learning whereby teacher applicants are mentored by experienced school leaders to advance each career progression point in the National Professional Standards for Teachers. Under this arrangement, which will be delivered in the context of the next enterprise bargaining agreement, teachers who are successfully monitored and become certified at the highest levels of the standards will be rewarded with $7500 for Highly Accomplished teachers and $10 000 for teachers who achieve the Lead teacher level. These initiatives support us to keep our most experienced educators delivering quality frontline services in classrooms across the Territory.
Another example of the government focusing upon improved education outcomes is through the introduction of a nationally aligned principal appraisal process. A Northern Territory principal performance and development review framework has been developed in alignment with the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership National Professional Standards. The policy and guidelines have been written and extensive consultation has been undertaken with the Association of Northern Territory School Educational Leaders and individual principals. We will trial the implementation of the tool in 2013. This process builds upon the highly successful systemic approach to undertaking school reviews in the Territory. This approach has been guided by the findings and recommendations of Professor Geoff Masters from the Australian Council for Educational Research.
The review is focused upon identifying strengths and weaknesses in our schools and will inform the schools improvement agenda. School reviews are undertaken in all Northern Territory schools in a four-year cycle with recommendations forming the basis for the individual school’s School Improvement Plan and its annual operational plan.
In the 100 days since the government was elected, the department has also made significant progress around making secondary school performance information available to parents. This is an important step and there is a growing recognition that the proper and prescribed release of information guides education practice and improvements. In all jurisdictions this information is released by the relevant curriculum assessment and certification authority. In the Northern Territory this is the Northern Territory Board of Studies.
The department is working closely with the Northern Territory Board of Studies to progress this important commitment for 2013 regarding the release of the 2012 Year 12 achievement data. In addition to this focus upon teaching and learning, we are ensuring our school facilities are maintained to high standards, conducive to supporting educational outcomes. With this in mind an additional $5.8m in 2012-13 for essential repairs and maintenance for government schools is provided in this mini-budget.
It is also great to see an additional $2.3m being provided to the department for 2012-13 to assist schools with the cost of rising utility rates. In addition to this the Power and Water Corporation is working with schools to undertake water audits and provide recommendations to reduce usage and save on water bills.
Power and Water Corporation is also undertaking energy audits in six trial sites in remote locations with the schools included in the scope. The advice and strategies to reduce fossil fuel energy consumption and conserve water resulting from these audits will be used as templates for other communities.
Finally, I finish by illustrating the progress being made in transitioning to the new Education and Children’s services portfolio. Since the announcement of the Office of Children and Families becoming part of the Department of Education and Children’s Services, a transition steering committee has been meeting weekly to progress arrangements.
One of the first pieces of work has been the drafting of the joint strategic plan that outlines priorities and actions along with performance measures to guide an integrated approach for the agencies. Following in-principle endorsement of the strategic plan, further consultation with staff and stakeholders will occur early in 2013.
There has also been significant work to achieve the key outcomes of the new agency around an improved service system through integration to improve school attendance; educational outcomes for children in care; improved prevention and early intervention to reduce the need for statutory child protection; and better use of existing infrastructure and resources, particularly in remote communities, to meet shared outcomes.
Agency services and facilities across the Territory are currently being mapped with an emphasis on the 0-4-year age group. Planning is also underway for delivery of a pilot program in five schools and service centre lighthouse sites from the commencement of 2013.
Through the funding of Stronger Futures we believe these sites will demonstrate the significant benefits of the new agency structure and the strong commitment to improved outcomes for Territory children and families.
The examples I have outlined are indicative of the government’s strong focus on moving from the department to schools to strengthen frontline service delivery in education and children’s services.
I congratulate the Treasurer on the mini-budget in these tough times where a disastrous legacy has been left by the previous government. One only had to look at the previous government when it was squealing in 2001 after taking over from the CLP. If one extrapolates out what the budget was then and what it screamed from the highest hills was a deficit - it was a debatable deficit - if you double the income and the debt, what we have been left with is almost a five-fold increase in that figure. The opposition, then in government, wonders why we are pointing out some of the deficiencies in its management style of the Northern Territory.
It is good to see someone in the Northern Territory is prepared to make the tough decisions so my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to come will be able to enjoy what most of us in this room have enjoyed for many years: a fabulous place to live. There were many issues the previous government had to face and made a bit of a mess of. All in this House have heard, over many periods of time, some of the issues and problems, from police, health, and education to alcohol policy; a wide range of things did not seem to work.
We will be required to fix so many of those issues; however, fortunately on this side of the House we are committed to making the tough decisions. Sure, there will be some hardship. My understanding, from reading the mini-budget so far, is the current government has had to make some very difficult decisions so we can put the Territory back into a fiscally responsible situation.
I looked through some of the issues and saw, in relation to issues affecting me and my electorate in the northern suburbs, Police, Fire and Emergency Services. I am very glad to see the mini-budget allocates $27.5m ongoing from 2014-15 to fund 120 additional police positions on the beat, including 20 officers in Alice Springs. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to know Alice Springs is a basket case. We told the previous government time and time again about the issues confronting the people of Alice Springs.
Those issues are faced by people in the northern suburbs - in my own electorate - but not to the same extent. I am glad to see Alice Springs will have an increased number of police officers and I am sure my colleagues from Alice Springs are very pleased to hear that. As an ex-police officer, I have had two phone calls from people in Alice Springs already saying, ‘Fantastic! Terrific!. Thanks very much. We were wondering whether that would be in the budget.’ That is because without law and order you do not have a great deal else.
Mr Tollner: You have chaos.
Mr STYLES: Not the type Maxwell Smart had either.
It is a terrible situation and we are addressing it. I am pleased to report to the House, in relation to the northern suburbs - and this is backed up by things occurring in the northern suburbs, and we will be making it even better - there seems to be a change in direction in what is happening. People are reporting to me that it seems to be a better place. That is indicative of the leadership shown by this government and the discussions between the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services and the Commissioner of Police.
Over the last couple of nights I have been stopped twice at random breath testing stations. It is fabulous to see …
Mr Giles: Sober Bob?
Mr STYLES: Absolutely. It is terrific and I congratulated the police officers on being there. In some instances it is a single vehicle and they were stopping people all over the place to give the motoring public the confidence the police were trying to catch anyone who tries to get away with drink-driving. As we know, driving a car whilst under the influence of alcohol or any other drug is a terrible thing. I am grateful the police are moving into this area. I am grateful to see patrols, and there seems to be an increase.
I do not know what has transpired between the minister and the Commissioner of Police. There is an improvement in the number of police officers I am seeing though, and the traffic work, which is being done very successfully.
I am also very happy to see that $300 000 has been allocated in 2012-13 to conduct a safe streets audit. In my capacity as the Parliamentary Secretary for seniors and youth, I get a stream of people contacting me in relation to personal safety. One of their major concerns is that young people who do not know how to handle some of these situations get a little frightened because of the groups which are active around the place, and because of the general attitude that has been allowed to prevail, not only in the community around our shopping centres but also on our public transport, etcetera.
It is terrific that we see this audit because it is so important. It does not matter what side of the House you are on, everyone in the Northern Territory needs to feel safe. So, it is ...
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extension of time for my good colleague, the member for Sanderson.
Motion agreed to.
Mr STYLES: Thank you, member for Braitling, I really appreciate that. It is very nice of you.
Mr Giles: I could not let you get away without having an extra 10 minutes.
Mr STYLES: Absolutely. It is so important when the older people in my community – 44% of northern suburb residents are now classified as seniors. There are so many people who are in late middle age and, when they get older, they need to be able to feel safe.
This government is committed to making those people feel safe by actually doing something about it. First of all we conduct the audit, put the additional police resources in place, and then we fix things.
It is great on our side because there was not much argument in our discussions and deliberations on law and order. We have three ex-police officers on this side of the House. Interestingly, they do not seem to have any on the other side. Perhaps that is part of the problem the previous government had with the debates they were having within their Caucus or the allocation of resources to law and order and people’s safety. It is very important to us on this side of the House, and it is evident by this mini-budget that it is an extremely high priority.
What we also see is improved security on public transport. I have a few people who are almost like my deputies. I asked them to take note of what happens on public transport. They tell me the poor old bus drivers are under the pump all the time, there does not seem to be a great deal of authority left to the bus drivers, as they had in my day and even 10 years ago, where they can stop the bus and tell people who are misbehaving to get off. Now if the driver stops the bus, instead of the bus driver telling them to get off, they tell the driver where to get off. That is not fair on the bus drivers or on anyone.
I am really pleased to see in the mini-budget the improvement in security on public transport and that the function or responsibility of transport safety is being transferred to the NT Police from transport safety officers.
I recall reading some media releases from the Northern Territory Police Association. My understanding is they were a bit concerned. I cannot quote it exactly, but the whole concept of it was the Police Association was questioning how these people would work. I believe we are better off having that area under the auspices of the Police department so they can monitor it.
This move is also about strengthening the perceptions and confidence in public transport and encouraging more Territorians to use our public buses. That is a good idea. The trouble is in recent years people have not been able to do that and are a bit worried about some of the people who get on the buses. Drivers say, ‘Do not get on’; they push past them. The transport safety officers, I am sure, have been trying to do a very good job. One can never knock anyone for being out there. They were given a job to do but they generally had one hand tied behind their back.
It is important to shift that responsibility across to the police. Police officers have far more authority and perhaps a far higher level of training than transport safety officers have had. One of my spies spoke to me about the transport safety officers and he said, ‘It is great’. He used to see them travelling behind the bus. He did not see them do much. The standard of behaviour on buses continued to deteriorate. This is a guy who is not afraid of a much; he would give me written reports about what happened on the bus. I used to read the little notes he would write me and I was appalled. I would not put my mother on a bus to put up with the sort of stuff he was reporting.
That was backed up by a number of other people who are seniors who want to travel on buses. They like to not have to drive a car, if they have one. A couple of these people do not have cars; they rely wholly on public transport. So it is imperative that if we want to get more people onto public transport to reduce the carbon footprint, and given that carbon tax is around again adding to the cost - people are looking at a more economical and perhaps greener alternative. But if we cannot put people on a bus where they feel safe and secure in an environment where they can relax on the way to work or the way home then people will not do it.
Elderly women especially do not feel safe. The other thing that has been noted to me in my capacity as Parliamentary Secretary for seniors is that some of these older people say they get on a bus and have to stand up all the way to town when there are young people and kids sitting down. This is a terrible situation. My mother would roll over in her grave if she knew I was sitting down and there was an elderly lady or man forced to stand. We have a problem on buses where elderly people have said, ‘Would you mind, could I sit down there?’ and they have been told where to go, and not in a polite manner.
Two millions dollars for the upgrade of the Nightcliff Police Station will make a real difference in the northern suburbs, and I note that in Katherine and Alice Springs there is money allocated to improve people’s safety.
I move on to another issue that is close to my heart: jobs for young people. It is so important that we create good, interesting jobs and keep our young people here by facilitating them to have good interesting jobs. Sadly, of course, many young people have been forced to leave the Territory due to the previous government’s housing policies and land release policies; they simply cannot afford to stay. What a crying shame that my kids find themselves in a position where they are saying, ‘What do we do?’ They struggle. They do not want to leave the Territory. Their family is here; we are not going anywhere. Yet, one of my kids the other day asked me, ‘How are we going to get over this, Dad?’ I say, ‘It was the previous government; this is what they did’. They say, ‘We know that, but what do we do now?’ Fortunately, we have some great housing initiatives, but I go back to jobs.
One of the interesting things I found - and it is an area of interest to me - was that the previous government dropped the ball on engaging with Asia. They looked inwardly, did a lot of navel gazing and dropped the ball on Asian engagement. One of the things I talk about and people talk to me about is there is nothing that the southern part of Australia needs from us except our early mangoes. They love them and we get great prices for our early trays. What else do they need? Nothing. Where is our future? Our future is to the north and that is where we should be focusing. But where did the previous government focus? On their navel; they did a lot of navel gazing and a lot of hand wringing and saying, ‘Oh, you know, I don’t know about this’. We have so many people to our immediate north where we can export a whole range of products to, including our education, and we need to build on that.
I am pleased to say I met with the Vice-Chancellor of the university the other day, Barney Glover, to see what I can do in my capacity as Parliamentary Secretary for youth in engaging people from Asia to utilise our educational facilities here. There is some exciting stuff in the pipeline that, in times to come, a not so distant future, we will be able to release through the Minister for Education. Fantastic stuff, but for 11 years the Territory turned its back on Asia, while southern states strengthened their engagement in the region. I remember when the CLP was in government previously, we were the leaders in that. We led Asian engagement. The federal government used to come to the Northern Territory and ask if we could set up meetings with these people in relation to particular issues.
We used to lead the way in so many different things. I have talked to people in education where we used to be the leaders, but it slipped in the last decade. We used to be the leaders in Asian engagement, but it slipped. We used to be the leaders in so many other different things that were all allowed to slip. I have heard the term used by people on this side that the previous government was asleep at the wheel. It has let all of these things go. It has let the budget go, it has let it overrun, nobody kept an eye on where it was going, and we are saddled with an enormous debt which will make the job of trying to give our young people in the Territory a good future even harder.
Mr TOLLNER (Health): Madam Speaker, I congratulate the member for Araluen; what a great job she has done under some very big circumstances. It is worth reflecting on the job the Treasurer has done because it is not that long ago that the Treasurer was first elected as the member for Araluen. I do not think it was even two years ago. So the member for Araluen has been on a rather sharp learning curve getting across the issues of the parliament, her electorate and now of government; and what a dreadful situation to find yourself in. When we were in opposition we fought hard at the election campaign, we knew things were bad, but we had no idea just how bad.
The member for Araluen came into the job initially pumped up and very keen and was awarded the magnificent job as Deputy Chief Minister and Treasurer. What a wonderful moment for the member for Araluen. I really felt sad for her on learning of the dire circumstances we find ourselves in. I do not think anyone predicted that things would be so bad. For the member for Araluen to get across the entire Northern Territory government budget, digest the major problems this Territory faces, and then frame a mini-budget in the circumstances she has, is amazing. I have enormous regard for our Treasurer and much sympathy for the circumstances she finds herself in.
It goes without saying that the former government completely dropped the ball. As I have said a couple of times in this place, going into the Health portfolio and finding just how badly we have been done over by the Commonwealth in relation to Commonwealth funding into the Territory health system has been a very difficult pill for me to swallow. The national average of Commonwealth funding into state and territory health systems is 62% of the Health budgets. Here in the Northern Territory it is 43% of the Health budget, the lowest in the nation by far. When you look at the disadvantage of people in the Northern Territory, the remoteness, the sickness and illness of our citizens, to see we are getting the lowest percentage rate in the nation flies in the face of everything everyone is talking about.
You hear Jenny Macklin and the federal government banging on about closing the gap of Indigenous disadvantage, backed up by a chorus of true believers in the Labor party in the Northern Territory about the wonderful work it was doing with Indigenous people and our health system. To find out it has all been a complete and utter sham is very difficult to swallow.
We are not talking about chicken feed here! Even Australia’s largest state would seriously struggle to make ends meet on the funding rate the Commonwealth is giving the Northern Territory. It is estimated that the difference between the rate we are currently receiving and the national average is 62% and is in the order of $600m. That is a mind-bogglingly large number we are being done out of in the Northern Territory. It is amazing to think Labor politicians in Canberra can lie straight in bed at night, that they can sleep at night knowing they are short changing the Northern Territory health system by $600m: an enormous figure.
What really irks me is that the Commonwealth will try to diddle any of the states if it possibly can. However, you would expect it would be kept in line by the state and territory governments they are funding, but not a peep out of the former Territory government. There was a $600m shortfall in Commonwealth funding into our health system and not a single peep. You would not have known there was any shortfall in the funding levels of our health system. There was not a peep and, to top it all off, the money we received from the Commonwealth came with strings attached. It seemed the former government could not comprehend.
The Alice Springs emergency department you would think was a no-brainer. Of course we want an Alice Springs emergency department, but to not budget for the operational costs of that emergency department, to figure that, ‘Oh well, millions of dollars will fall out of the sky and somehow we will get by; somehow we will make ends meet, we always do’, to me is just madness when you are running government finances. We often do that at home; we spend on things without any regard to how we are going to pay for it. Quite often that is the case with a family budget. However, with a government budget and all the rules around prudence and fiduciary duties and the like, to think you can say yes to something and magically the money will appear is crazy.
The medi-hotels - building hotels for long-grassers at hospitals - the one at the Royal Darwin Hospital, a $28m commitment, already built, ready to go but with a $5.5m ongoing cost. Every year we have to stump up $5.5m which is not budgeted for. We have managed to put a stop to the ones in Katherine, Gove, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. Goodness me, we would have medi-hotels all over the Territory for long-grassers and all be paying the room rates for them. Words fail me when it comes to the way the former Labor government in the Territory dealt with their federal Labor masters. ‘Masters’ is obviously the right term because these guys were never going to make a peep about any of the deals they did with the federal government that did not necessary fall in line with Territory expectations.
It is not hard when you look around and see some of the things which were done. In all that largesse with the global financial crisis when Kevin Rudd and his comrades in Canberra were throwing money around left, right, and centre - we had to spend. That was the secret to our success evidently, that we spent harder than anyone else in the world. Australians were big spenders. That is how you deal with a global financial crisis evidently: you spend your way out of it. That is what the federal Labor government did in Australia.
You think when they were throwing around all that largesse it would have been a perfect opportunity for a Territory Labor government to get in on the act and start making some demands in the Northern Territory. However, it is almost impossible to point to a single thing they did. The former Education minister, the former member for Johnston use to bang on about school halls and how we never had any school hall fiascos in the Northern Territory, and Kevin Rudd’ s money for school halls was all well spent. Well, he did not spend too much time in my electorate because I remember a hall that was built at Nemarluk School. Nemarluk School, of course, has been struggling for years and years. Things got so bad at Nemarluk School that they put toilets in the shower cubicles because there was simply no room ...
Mr Giles: That is true.
Mr TOLLNER: I heard the member for Braitling laughing, but it is a fact. When they opened this new school hall I took a couple of the people and told them to go and check it out. I took them into the toilets and said they used to be shower cubicles until they stuck a toilet bowl in them and now they could have a shower while they were going to the toilet. Evidently that is okay for people with disabilities - out of sight, out of mind for the former Labor government.
In any case, they accepted Kevin Rudd’s offer of a new school hall at Nemarluk and a few months later they moved the school. With a brand spanking new school hall built on it, the school has moved to Alawa. They upped the stumps on the school hall and moved it out to Alawa. I wonder if that spending had been delayed for a couple of months if there would have been a need to have installation costs at Ludmilla and transport costs to take it from Ludmilla to Alawa. These things were just madness.
My good friend, the member for Braitling, never ceases to remind me about the former Labor government’s dealing with SIHIP, the Indigenous housing program. Over $1bn was spent and still we have major housing problems in the bush; $1bn just disappeared like that. The former government saw no problems at all with that program. It originally started as a component of the Northern Territory Emergency Response, part of the intervention which recognised many of the problems going on in remote communities were because of a handful of reasons: (1) was access to alcohol; (2) was the lack of law and order in those communities; and (3) was the fact that people were living in extraordinarily cramped conditions, sometimes 20 to 30 people to a house. The lack of housing was one of the major problems and the emergency response was all about getting houses and shelter into those communities as a matter of urgency.
Here we are in 2012, five years after the emergency intervention was enacted, and so few of those places have been built. Originally, we said we would not be building million dollar houses or expensive houses, that we were looking around for cheap and sustainable housing options that could be erected quickly to deal with this urgent crisis that was happening in remote communities. Five years later we have spent $1bn and are still searching for much of that money.
It seemed nothing could upset the former Territory government enough to raise even the slightest murmur of discontent with their federal counterparts. It did not matter what it was. Banning the live cattle export - the former Chief Minister said it was a circuit breaker we needed to have. How shameful. The backbone of the Northern Territory economy, a longstanding industry that served the Territory well, part of the fabric of Territory life, and the Chief Minister says, ‘Oh well, so what, it was a circuit breaker we needed to have’.
There were so many instances like that - the carbon tax. We sit in this parliament. We are all proud to be parliamentarians. We are all proud to represent our electorates. We believe that what we do in this place matters and then when you put a motion forward, which is passed, stating that the parliament, the representatives of the people, do not want a bar of this new carbon tax. The former Chief Minister, in his arrogance, says, ‘Well, I do not care what the parliament thinks. I do not care what the people think. We think Julia Gillard and the carbon tax is the right way to go. So, stuff you all, we are going with them.’ On no occasion I can ever remember did the former government stand up for the Territory. They always put politics ahead of people, principle and prudence. It was shameful.
The troubles we find ourselves in now seem to be all around us. Every aspect of Territory life seems not to have escaped the stain of the previous Labor administration. It is a difficult thing to put right. It is an extraordinarily difficult thing to put right. Tough decisions have to be made. I am proud to be a part of making those tough decisions and I will go back to it again. I do not envy for a second the job the member for Araluen has to do with this budget process, but she has certainly warmed to the task. She is all over it and has framed a mini-budget that at least puts us in the right direction. There is still much work to be done, still many tough decisions to be made and reforms to be implemented but this first foray of the Treasurer with this mini-budget clearly sets a direction for a prudent government to take.
I listen to the opposition, the people who largely are to blame for the circumstances we find ourselves in.
Mr Giles: There is no opposition here.
Mr TOLLNER: Not one of them. That is the sort of regard they have for this parliament, member for Braitling. Not one of them is in this place. What a shame.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, you know the standing orders are not to reflect on members who are not in the Chamber.
Mr TOLLNER: I am sorry, Madam Speaker. I expected to be pulled up by one of them, but lo and behold, they are not here.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim!
Mr TOLLNER: I appreciate you stepping in on their behalf.
That is the regard they have for this parliament. Some of the decisions that have had to be made were very difficult. The Opposition Leader finds herself in a new role, a role she has warmed to well and is excelling in, and that is the role of Chicken Little, running around letting everyone know the sky is about to fall in. She is doing her best to convince us that it is all doom and gloom, the world is about to end, the sky is about to fall in, and it is all our fault. She knows better and she knows disaster when she sees it.
The fact is, she did not see the disaster she was creating when she was the Treasurer. She did not see it then, she still does not see it; she does not acknowledge any involvement in the dire state the Territory government finds itself in. But needless to say she is quite happy to run around trying to convince people the sky is falling in, that nobody should be paying for power. I heard the most bizarre thing come out of her mouth the other day. She said electricity, water and sewerage were essential services and, as such, people should not have to pay for them, and that the Power and Water Corporation was not a business but an essential service.
It is a funny thing because we refer to the Power and Water Corporation as a GOC, a Government Owned Corporation. GOCs were created with the GOC act, the Government Owned Corporations Act. Guess who created the Government Owned Corporations Act?
Ms LEE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I request extra time for the member for Fong Lim.
Motion agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you Madam Speaker, good job the member for Jingili is here ...
Mr Vowles: Get it right!
Mr TOLLNER: Johnston, the lone warrior in here to take up the cudgels against the government which is going to cause the sky to fall in on us all.
As I was saying, Power and Water Corporation, the opposition now suggests it is less a business and more an essential service and something that has to be supported by the taxpayer rather than people paying for the services they receive. It is an interesting thing because the government created the GOC Act and in creating the GOC Act they made Power and Water Corporation a business.
They think we are fattening this business up so we can sell it. I have spent a considerable amount of time speaking about Labor and the way the former Labor government would never say a bad word about their federal masters and would never buck federal Labor policy. I have to think that the Opposition Leader might be crying crocodile tears in relation to Power and Water because it is now federal Labor policy that all states and territories get rid of or privatise their utility assets. Martin Ferguson came out with that in his white paper and I could not imagine for the life of me the former Chief Minister, the current Opposition Leader, or for that matter any of the members on the other side of the Chamber saying ‘boo’ when it comes to trying to distance themselves from the federal Labor government.
It is bizarre that they sit there saying Power and Water Corporation should be treated as some sort of charity and is not really a business, because they are the ones who made it a business.
There are fewer than 20 customers in the Northern Territory paying the right price for electricity. Everyone else is subsidised. You have to ask how long any business can go on selling a product for less than it costs to make it.
That is what Power and Water Corporation has been forced to do over the last few years. The former Treasurer knows exactly that because she has been spoken to by the Power and Water Corporation which asked to have it tariffs raised to at least meet the cost of producing the product it supplies to Territorians. It was rejected on several occasions. It is getting to the point now that if urgent remedial and deep change is not made to those tariffs the Power and Water Corporation will literally go to the wall. If the Power and Water Corporation goes to the wall it will not be electricity tariffs Territorians are complaining of. Territorians would not give a fig when it came to tariffs if the Power and Water Corporation goes belly up, and that is a real possibility when the Power and Water Corporation has been forced to sell electricity for less than it can produce it.
Of course tariffs have to rise, and it is a difficult argument with Territorians. People budget and at this time, coming up to Christmas, I imagine it has been a rude shock to Territorians, no matter where they live, that power prices will increase. It was a rude shock for me to find out exactly how deep in hot water the Power and Water Corporation was and still is. However, if action is not taken people will not be talking about tariffs, they will be talking about the right to purchase electricity. I can imagine how quickly Bunnings will sell out of generators if Power and Water Corporation falls over.
It is a good budget, a tough budget. There have been some wins across the board, certainly in my portfolio. I am thrilled to see we have put money towards the Alice Springs emergency department so it can open and operate. It is a much-needed service in Alice Springs. People there should not have to suffer the long waiting periods in ED they currently do and this new extension will go a long way to reducing them.
Similarly, I have had a great desire for a long time to see greater cardiac services provided in the Northern Territory. I am thrilled that in the mini-budget there is $6.5m for expanded cardiac services in the Northern Territory. We have the worst rate of cardiac disease in the world. It is a growing problem and, at the moment, the vast majority of people who suffer a cardiac episode are flown interstate. Whilst their stay interstate is not like when people are flown interstate for cancer treatment - people go interstate for months at a time to deal with cancer whereas the majority of cardiac episodes require a couple of weeks. However, all in all, one would expect those major illnesses, ailments and problems people have with their health could be dealt with locally. I am thrilled with the expansion of cardiac services in the Northern Territory.
There is a range of things in this mini-budget I could reflect on for quite some time. I have already received an extension. I thank the member for Braitling and the other members in this Chamber for that. All in all, it is a very good mini-budget. It has been a very difficult time to frame a mini-budget because there are still so many unknowns and it seems every day we are uncovering another failure of the previous administration. It changes the direction of the Territory government in a big way, something we had to do and which is the required action.
Again, I congratulate the Treasurer, the Deputy Chief Minister, for doing this big job in very tough circumstances.
Madam Speaker, I commend the Treasurer’s statement to the House.
Ms LEE (Arnhem): Madam Speaker, I strongly support the mini-budget presented by the Treasurer. Coming into government, we were left with a major financial mess by the opposition. At least out of all the mess it has left us we have a competent government that has been able to salvage some priorities that are needed in remote areas and the rest of the Territory. We have a great government which is listening to the people and working alongside them to find solutions to improve the lives and wellbeing of the people in the bush.
The $5200 per dwelling on the homelands will be a major boost for the people in the bush, particularly taking them back to their homelands where they belong and where they are most comfortable. I am happy it is tied to giving them the incentives to get children to school. I am happy to support the announcements that benefit my electorate.
A major issue for all of us in the bush is local government reform. There is money in the budget now to support it. This is a long cry from the situation of the people in the bush during the duration of the former Labor government.
Announced in the mini-budget are quite a few things that will benefit my people:
$2.6m for the repairs and maintenance to the health centres
construction of a new health centre in Milingimbi
an additional $3.3m ongoing to increase the Back to School vouchers from $75 to $150 for students in the Northern Territory from 1 January 2013
an additional $2.3m to assist schools with rising utility rates
an additional $5.8m for repairs and maintenance to government schools
$1m for Commonwealth programs in government schools including empowering local schools, investing in focus schools, and rewards for great teachers
capital works for the childcare centre in Ngukurr, a child and family centre in Ngukurr and a childcare centre in Umbakumba which people have been waiting for, for a very long time - thanks to this government which is actually listening to the people
$10m to meet demands, pressure in child protection and out-of-home care which is a big cry from our people out in the bush, especially with regard to child protection
$3m Commonwealth funding for job packages to deliver up to 100 employment-based trainees in the Northern Territory
$111.5m for remote Indigenous housing which will benefit the people in the bush, since two-thirds of houses in the remote communities have asbestos; we all know what asbestos does to you
$14m across four years including an additional $2m for homelands. The increase in the Indigenous essential services output of $29.1m relates to the $14m Commonwealth funding for the critical infrastructure project in remote service delivery in communities
$7.4m carried forward for finishing off fencing within remote communities
an increase to $1.3m for interpreter services; these are jobs our people can benefit from.
This is a positive move for our government in the right direction. The bush has lost its voice and integrity with the former Labor government.
This was a commitment made by the Chief Minister and that is what the bush wanted. The people in the bush are pleased with our Chief Minister for his kind and generous attitude towards the bush when he is out there. He is listening to them; he is talking to them, and he plays country music with them, Christian songs, unlike the former Chief Minister. He never came and sat on my verandah or talked to me about anything.
Madam Speaker, that is what they wanted, someone who is fair dinkum and listens patiently. I look forward to the coming years and the achievements of a great government.
Mrs PRICE (Stuart): Madam Speaker, I support the Treasurer’s announcement of the mini-budget. We have a government which has been able to salvage priorities out of the mess Labor has left us, and ensure Territorians do not miss out.
This mini-budget will benefit some of the communities in my electorate. At Kalkaringi School there is $1.8m for a classroom block.
This has given the Warlpiri people, and many more, an opportunity to feel part of the Territory and be acknowledged as important people who help build the Territory together. The main issue has been the sealing of the Tanami Road. This road has been used since the 1980s because of the gold mine in the Granites. I have seen 10 trucks travelling on that road, big huge road trains, every day. I have been there and have sat behind six major road trains and six trucks carrying fuel to and from the mine. People from Yuendumu and those communities, even the pastoral stations in the area, have been asking to have the Tanami Road sealed. It is great to hear our Treasurer inform us that within her mini-budget there is funding made available, which I am sure my people and the people in that part of the electorate will be pleased to hear.
Alice Springs rehabilitation program for youth in trouble - the ones who sniff petrol and do crime and drugs - will receive $570 000 in 2012-13 and another $940 000 a year from 2013-14. As we all know, we need to look after our youth. We expect them to be our next leaders. We expect them to be able to hold their ground, to become young adults and to be able to live the lifestyle that is required. The youth have always been carefree, which is what gets them into trouble. In our part of the Territory, and in Alice Springs, this is very important because we have many youth who go into Alice Springs to use it as a base to do what other young people do. It is good to hear we have funding available for the next couple of years.
Minister Tollner said:
That is what we would like to see. We want to see more of our youth being engaged, being a part of the Territory, becoming adults to be parents, and to be able to share all that experience with everyone else.
Breast screening is very important for the whole Northern Territory. I have had many family members who have passed on with breast cancer. Women would like to see breast screening done in remote areas. This is vital for everyone because we all know of someone who has breast cancer. In the mini-budget there is $725 000 for 2014-15 that will help make it easier for women in remote areas to access this service. That is good news, to be able to go to those women in remote communities and say this service will be available and they can access it.
Of no small significance is the $6m for the regional cardiac service program, because currently there is nothing in Alice Springs. Today I heard funding has been made available through the mini-budget. As minister Tollner mentioned, in Alice Springs we have many people who have heart failure, who do not have healthy hearts and the health of our people is getting worse every day as we speak. In the meantime, it has been such great news for me and my family members to hear that funding has been made available in the mini-budget to make those services become a reality for us.
Madam Speaker, I look forward to working with the Treasurer and this government to ensure all Territorians have a better outcome.
Debate adjourned.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I seek leave to bring on item 6 on the Notice Paper which is the Local Government statement standing in the name of Mr Giles. He has only about ten minutes remaining to close off that speech and after that I think we will be adjourning the House.
Leave granted.
Continued from 29 November 2012.
Mr GILES (Minister for Local Government): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of Government Business and the opposition for their indulgence. I am sure the member for Nhulunbuy, who is the shadow minister for Local Government, would appreciate an update on local government reform. As many members and constituents in the Northern Territory would be well aware, a key item in the Country Liberals’ general policy statement for the Territory election was to look at shire councils or ‘Labor shires’ as we like to call them. As the Minister for Local Government, I have already begun addressing the concerns raised about our shires, the structure they are formatted in, and the level of representation and general discontent of many constituents in regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory.
The need to review the shire structure is borne out of necessity, as highlighted in the former Labor government’s Review of Councils’ Financial Sustainability report which concluded that in the longer term the shires are unsustainable in that they do not have sufficient income to maintain their current asset base.
I have said before, in and outside of this Chamber, that there is a disconnect. To a large degree, the brand of shire as we know it is tarnished. That is not to reflect negatively on anyone who works in the shires, for the shires or represents the shires. It is just the outcome that has come about as a result of Labor’s reforms in 2008 and the disconnect in the model they presented to the electorate. As a proactive minister, I want to seek solutions to this inherited problem foisted upon us by Labor.
Last week I announced the formation of a Regional Governance Working Group which will provide advice on local government reform or the potential thereof. That Regional Governance Working Group, as I advised the Chamber last Thursday, met for the first time on Friday, and I thank those members for their attendance. It is made up of 21 members who I invited from across the Territory, representing land councils, community elders, some shire councils, industry, such as the Minerals Council and the Cattlemen’s Association. I also invited Fred Chaney from Desert Knowledge Australia to come on board.
The objectives of the Regional Governance Working Group are to develop an options paper for the way forward which will identify opportunities for regional and remote governance in the Northern Territory. That options paper, I anticipate, will be ready in the next couple of months. I am not being prescriptive about the time frame but I suggest probably mid-February would be an average time frame. I am anticipating that options paper will probably go out for a two-month consultation period. I will travel to as many places as I can within that two-month time frame, depending on the time allowances of parliament and other duties we have. I have also invited members of that working group to participate in the consultation phase whether collectively or individually, and I am happy to support them if they would like to do that. Tomorrow I will be talking a little more in my mini-budget reply about the funding commitments and how we will resource this process. There has been an increase in resources.
At the end of that consultation phase we will come back together as a government. I will work with Cabinet to identify what model or models we may move forward with and whether there will be change or not. The purpose of finalising this statement today is to advise the Chamber on where things are. In a minute I will read through the members of the working group so the Chamber is aware. There is a shortage of time for this statement, but if the shadow minister or the member for Nelson want to interject with a question I will try to answer in on the spot.
Excuse my pronunciation on some people’s names as I work through this. I have Marie Ellis from Amoonguna, Alison Hunt from Mutitjulu, Bunduk Marika from Yirrkala, Tobias Nganbe from Wadeye, Nelson Hall from Ngukurr, Samuel Evans from Borroloola, Bobby Wurrugmurra from Gapuwiyak, Harold Wilson from Peppimenarti, Bobby Nunggumajbarr from Ngukurr, Tom Kairupan from Canteen Creek, Norbert Patrick from Central Desert Shire, Gibson Farmer from Tiwi Land Council, Lionel Jaragba from Anindilyakawa Land Council, Matthew Ryan from Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, Tony Wurrumarrba from Anindilyakawa Land Council, Sam Bush-Blanasi from the Northern Land Council, Lindsay Bookie from the Central Land Council, Luke Bowen from the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, Drew Wagner from the Minerals Council NT and, as I said before, Fred Chaney from Desert Knowledge Australia. I have given permission for Fred to send a delegate if he cannot make it. He could not make it on Friday, but he had a delegate there by the name of Bruce Walker.
Damien Ryan accepted my invitation to be chair of the group. Damien is Mayor of Alice Springs and the president of LGANT. I advised the executive of LGANT in a recent meeting that I would be inviting Damien to be part of that.
As I said, the first meeting was on Friday. It was a positive discussion. It was somewhat structured, but all members provided an active contribution through a free forum about what they thought needed to change. There was general consensus, without any leading, that people wanted change. I provided an opening address, had to head off for a meeting and came back later, but the general consensus was there needed to be change.
At the meeting it was debated what services people in regional and remote communities believe local government should deliver, who should deliver these services, and what possible models for the future would look like.
There were no prescriptives because it was the first meeting. We believe there should be three or possibly four meetings before this options paper comes out. There will be much work done by the department and me in the meantime to get these things ready without leading people but by providing a framework for the coordination of those meetings.
There is another meeting scheduled for next week where we will take this ahead. There is a great deal of work to go on between now and then to pull together not only the minutes but a framework of that discussion, and to provide more options for discussion in that next meeting. Also, this allows for those 21 members to have discussions with their stakeholders, communities, and networks between now and the following meeting, which will be in the new year, to come back for a more solid discussion in starting to draft the options paper.
I have not had any interjections so far, so I can consider there is nothing pressing on the minds of the members for Nhulunbuy and Nelson, or any other member, that they want addressed right now. I am happy to have a discussion with either of those two members out of session and see if they would like any more information or guidance, or to provide input or feedback.
Ms Walker: That would be more fruitful than across the Chamber.
Mr GILES: Yes, thank you very much. I will leave it there. It is a positive way forward in an approach to regional governance. It is a very topical subject. I look forward to working with the 21-member group. I hope there are no politics of a large degree in this consultation phase. If there are, I will put my political hat back on and keep fighting but, otherwise, we need to move forward in this regard in a positive frame, as members collectively discussed the other day. There can be good outcomes for regional governance in the Northern Territory.
This is a positive way to move forward in an era of political debate in this country which is quite often toxic, if I could use that term. I note the member for Nhulunbuy is covering her eyes, but we often have a very toxic conversation in politics and the general public wants better from our politicians in the level of debate. I am quite prepared to take that approach through local government reform in a regional governance context in this regard. However, I am also prepared to get down in the gutter if I need to, thank you Madam Speaker.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, at this early hour, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, tonight I explore the September 2012 quarterly crime statistics which were released at noon on 23 November 2012. At the time of our taking government some 15 weeks ago, we were faced with what we knew were escalating crime rates. We knew this because it was evident in Drysdale, and my constituents were screaming from the rafters for something to be done. I know the people of Drysdale were concerned with the lack of law and order, in all of its forms, as being unacceptable. I have heard from residents of Drysdale on many occasions that they are concerned about break-ins. They wanted to know whether it was too much to ask to be safe in their own homes. Was it too much to ask to have our parks free of graffiti and broken glass and to live free from fear? The answer is no, it is not too much to ask.
Drysdale residents have also described numerous instances of antisocial behaviour to me. I refer to my contribution to the statement on alcohol made in the last sittings. In that speech, I described disgusting behaviour witnessed by a young mum and her son in Reg Hillier Park – behaviour which should not be condoned by our society.
During the 2012 general election campaign, the Country Liberals said, time and time again, we will tackle law and order head on, restore a standard of behaviour in our communities, and punish those who do the wrong thing.
The day after our election victory, our Chief Minister held a meeting with the Commissioner of Police and gave a directive that police be immediately redirected to the front line: be pulled out of the administrative wings to which they had been sent by the former Labor government to where they belong, on our streets.
We promised to dismantle the Banned Drinker Register, and dismantle it we did. We promised to bring in ‘one punch’ legislation, and we have. We promised to amend the Police Administration Act to allow drug testing of people apprehended for violent and antisocial behaviour in our streets, and we did so. We promised to increase support for victims of crime, the mechanism for greater levy collection from those who do the wrong thing to support those who do the right thing in our community - this has been introduced. We promised to bring in minimum mandatory sentences for assaults and legislation to protect workers while working – both have been introduced these sittings.
I said in my maiden speech:
I went on to say:
I have a global concern for these rises in offences, but I confine the remainder of my debate points to Palmerston for the benefit of my constituents and the constituents of my colleagues, the members for Brennan and Blain. Very recently I was informed by businesses in the clutch of shops on Woodlake Boulevard in Durack that break-ins had occurred on a Sunday night.
I attended the shops and spoke with businesses about the impact of these break-ins. The message that was clear was that the break-ins were senseless; petty cash and Minties were the only acquisitions of the thieves, yet the damage caused to broken windows and doors equalled thousands. That is not to mention the expense for at least one of those businesses now that they are going to install a security system.
I am also aware of recent break-ins to Yarrawonga businesses: laptops, iPods, watches - none were taken, just $30 in petty cash. Yet again, we see such disruption to, and invasion of, business, as well as senseless cost to business.
Worse still are the increases in domestic household break-ins. In the 12 months to September 2012, Palmerston has seen an increase of 85% in domestic house break-ins. This is shocking. I was interested to hear that the Attorney-General received intelligence from police that a large number of domestic house break-ins were committed by people seeking alcohol from the easiest source, another failing of the Banned Drinker Register. The few people who were actually restricted, and I stress, actually restricted, went from buying it at the bottle shop to breaking into someone’s home and stealing it, thereby, spreading the misery of alcohol abuse beyond the drunks.
The people of Drysdale want real action on crime and on alcohol-related crime. Fifty-one percent of all violence in Palmerston over the last 12 months was alcohol-related. I suspect a large percentage of the property-related offending is due to the same. I continue to report to the people of Drysdale that through new offences that will see people serve real time in gaol through our determination to tackle the endemic alcohol problems, rather than ‘look and feel-good’ bandaid measures, and through our commitment to police, this government is focused on these problems and these disgraceful figures.
But at least we have them. They were released to the public, which is a great start. I will ensure that our focus as a government remains on the fundamental concept that people should be able to feel safe in their homes, streets, parks and at work. The people of Drysdale, indeed all Territorians, deserve that and much more.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): I know the member for Drysdale is new in the job. This is the last sittings of the year and usually we tend to wish each other a happy and merry Christmas. I know she is very keen and I congratulate her on that. I also point out that it is very good to bring some of the issues in your electorate to the surface and comment on that, but I could not help noticing she complained in the beginning of antisocial behaviour and then very soon she mentioned that the CLP canned the Banned Drinker Register. She gave her constituents a bit more to complain about so I suppose it will keep her busy for the next few months.
However, it is the last sittings before Christmas and I believe it is the time to wish a Merry Christmas to ourselves, our families, our colleagues, the people opposite, who we might be separated from by political ideology but who I believe we all stay united with on some issues. I know the member for Brennan took the wrong turn and turned right instead of turning left; otherwise, he would be sitting on this side of the Chamber, but there is still hope, member for Brennan, that you will see the light.
Madam Speaker, I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year, as I wish the same for all my colleagues, the Leader of the Opposition, and my dear good friends. Spend it with your family. Being a parliamentarian is a tough job but my advice is that the best job is being a parent and a family person.
A big thank you to all the people who have to put up with us every sittings, the staff of the Legislative Assembly, and a very big thank you to the Hansard staff, who I know sometimes have great difficulty getting my accent right. Farewell to some of the staff who have moved to greener pastures. I believe Ms Helen Allmich has moved to Tasmania, taking up a senior position. We will miss you and I know someone else will follow her soon to enjoy the cool weather and the wonderful wines of Tasmania.
Merry Christmas to my constituents in the electorate of Casuarina. I believe I served them faithfully for the past 12 years and I am looking forward to the next four years. A big thank you to all of you for your unconditional support. A lot of people come to my office, not everyone voted for me, and I do not expect that in a democracy, but everybody is very friendly and hospitable and I am there to serve every constituent in Casuarina, irrespective of their political preferences.
I extend a big thank you to the Casuarina Police Station staff and the officer in charge, Mr Crispin Gargan. They have been working really hard, and they have had to put up with petty crime most of the time. Unfortunately, in the last few months their workload has increased significantly because now we have to remove from different areas all the people who have found it easy to come to Darwin and have a big party as access to alcohol is unrestricted. But the police are very good and very quick to respond to the needs of the community. I hope they will turn up to my Christmas party, share a few drinks with us and exchange some jokes and stories.
I extend a big thank you to all the people who worked in my ministerial office before the election. They have done a tremendous job, are a tremendous support, and I hope they have a break and a good rest and can continue with their careers. I also thank very much the staff, tenants and Ben Gill from the Casuarina Shopping Centre for their continuous support. Tony Miaoudis and the tenants of Casuarina Village, Chris Voudouris and the tenants of Casuarina Convenience Centre, and, of course, all of the small shopping centres and small shops in the Casuarina area. They are there to serve the community and they do an excellent job.
Special thanks and wishes to a person who put up with me for nine years and she wants four more, my electorate officer Debbie Liddy. She has been there for a long time; she is more than just a person who works with me, she is a person who now has to put up with me every day but always serves me and customers with a big smile. She is a wonderful person. She said she will retire when I do. I do not think her husband is very happy about that because he keeps telling me to go for another term.
To all my supporters and friends, thank you very much for your support during the election campaign and your support and good words after the election. In a democracy, parties win, parties lose, but friends stay forever.
I send special wishes to a special person who has been a teacher in Nakara for 30 years, Mr Gugliotta, known as Mr G to all his students and staff. Happy 30th anniversary! I know he will continue to work, is enjoying working, and many of his students are very fond of him. Thank you, Mr G for your dedication to the education of our young children.
To my schools, the Nakara and Alawa Primary Schools, Dripstone Middle School, and now the Nemarluk School, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. You are doing a tremendous job. I say that because I have seen the results. I see the results every year from Nakara and Alawa in the Tournament of Minds, and of course the education of the kids with disabilities at the Nemarluk School.
I take the opportunity to thank very much all the friends who attended my wedding on Saturday. It was a great celebration, a small one by Greek standards. Not a ‘big fat Greek wedding’, just a few friends, but it was great to share that joyful moment with my friends. Some people asked why not my family. Well my family lives in Greece and my wife’s family lives in China, it was difficult for them to come here. At the end of the day, my family is all the people I live with and with whom I have spent the past 12 years in this Chamber or worked with. So a big thank you to them, and of course my wife, Ai Hong, and to Kevin and my sons, Alexander and Michael. Alexander had to come from Perth, and today was a big goodbye to Michael who has decided to go to Perth to study at university. That is the beginning of a new life for him and people say, ‘lucky, nobody at home’. We have Kevin, 12 years old, so I have to pull my sleeves up and be a father to Kevin. I have told him he has everything to himself: the lawnmower, walking the dog, taking the bins out in the afternoon. He was not very impressed but he has to be trained. Merry Christmas to all of you, and I look forward to seeing you refreshed and rested in the new year.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I would like to report on my trip to the Cook Islands for the 31st Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Australia and Pacific Regional Conference. I will quickly read out the role of the CPA. I am reading from a CPA publication:
That is exactly what the conference in the Cook Islands was about. The Cook Islands is a long way away. It is 8000 km from Darwin and it takes a long time to get there. You have to fly from Sydney to Auckland, although there is a direct flight now to Rarotonga. As someone who had not been in the Pacific and seen one of these islands, it certainly was a trip I took in trepidation, but I came back loving the place and the people.
Because of the time, I will quickly go through a day-by-day description of what happened. I went with the Deputy Clerk, Mr Michael Tatham. I left on Sunday and arrived there on Saturday. You have to realise they are on the other side of the date line. When I rang home I would say, ‘good tomorrow, dear’, and she would say, ‘good yesterday, dear. It is a very interesting place in which to discuss where you are in the time zones.
We arrived late at night. Air New Zealand got in at about 11.00 pm that night and there were people waiting for us. Again, this was all brand new to me. Before I knew it, I was wearing necklaces.
A member: Lei.
Mr WOOD: They do not call it a lei; that is a Hawaiian name. Ei Tiare against artaki, which is the headband and there is also the necklace, made up of gardenias and frangipanis. Straightaway I knew I was in a place which was magic and different. They were so friendly and so welcoming, especially after a long flight. It was fantastic.
Next morning we were organised to go to church. The Cook Islanders are certainly religious people but they do not give you that feeling that is anything extraordinary. That is part of the way of life. Everything they do is about relating to being thankful to God for what gifts they have. When we went on a trip they always prayed. When you have a meal they always pray, and it is done in such a way it makes you think about the way we live in our society compared to the way they live in theirs.
I went to the Catholic church, a beautiful cathedral with the mountains at the back, and there was a first communion and a confirmation and the singing was something I had not heard before. There were guitars, ukuleles and people singing in harmony. It was a beautiful occasion. The women were dressed in white, generally, with a hat with flowers on it.
Poor Michael Tatham decided to go to the Cook Island Christian church, which is the dominant church in the area. Somehow he got on the wrong bus and says in his notes he spent three hours in that church and missed lunch. I am sure Michael can tell you what happened there. However, we had a beautiful lunch, and I can tell you, lunch is a feast.
Next day we had the official opening, an official photograph, and in the first session Kiribati and Tuvalu spoke about climate change and rises in sea levels, which is an important thing for not only the Pacific, but all those coastal areas, especially the north of Australia. Again, it was good to hear what they were saying. The problem is, you really needed to have a full conference on rising sea levels and climatic change.
Dr Nick Smith from New Zealand spoke about ocean risk and opportunities. He was very well versed in matters regarding the sea. New Zealand, of course, was part of the conference. He raised the issue that any country which deals with cargo ships constantly coming into its ports should ensure it has ratified the relevant compensatory conventions. He was talking about the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, which relates to oil spills. I gather if countries have signed up to that, if they need to be compensated for an oil spill, this will allow them higher rates of compensation than if they had to go through the courts. He referred to the ship which landed on a reef in the Bay of Plenty and the cost of having to clean that up. He went on about various issues, but he did say – and it applies to our country as well – to ensure we have signed up to these international conventions.
He spoke about quotas for fishing and about the ship which was shipwrecked in New Zealand. The inventory was not accurate and he said we need to ensure there are accurate inventories because there were 30 containers of dangerous goods on that ship and there was no inventory to say so. You are handling these materials without knowing they are there. We need to ensure that what boats are carrying to and from Australia is on the inventory.
There was talk about seabed mining, which pricked up my ears because we have been discussing some of this in local media and in parliament. This is in relation to seabed mining in the Cook Islands. I do not think it is the same as what we are talking about in the Groote Eylandt area. What is interesting is it appears, from the Antarctic, that there are balls of minerals that are rolled along the sea from the Antarctic by the currents. These golf ball-size resources are formed in the deep water of the Antarctic and are loaded with minerals. They eventually move into the Cook Island areas. They are developing big suction pipes that go down to nearly 5 km, which they think will be able to pull these things up. It will be like a bulldozer going along which will just pluck them up. They are worth, theoretically, millions and millions of dollars. However, there are environmental and cost issues, and many other issues. One of them is who wants those minerals. One of those countries, of course, is China.
When you go to Raratonga, youl notice the court house has been built by the People’s Republic of China, as has the police station. The funny thing is, the parliament’s little car that runs around to help people get around the place has been sponsored by the People’s Republic of China. People are a little suspicious of what is going on.
We also had an address by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Secretary-General, Dr William Shija who spoke about the role of the CPA. I asked him questions about the outcomes of what he does, because one of the outcomes they say they are achieving is promoting human rights and democracy. With all due respect to the Secretary-General, the answers were a bit hazy, but it was still worth asking a question, considering they have $2m in the bank account.
There was also, from Western Australia, discussion on a Public Accounts Committee and a Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption. It is very interesting to see this organisation. Each parliament should look at it to see whether it would be suitable. GOPAC, as it is called, promotes parliamentary oversight of aspects of government including government administration, sport, business, humanitarian aid, procurement and local government, amongst other things. If people wish to look that up they can do so on the website.
Mr Graeme Sturges from Tasmania spoke about the effects of the global financial crisis. Senator Anne Urquhart discussed women in parliament, especially in the South Pacific where the number of female members is very low. The Solomon Islands has one, Papua New Guinea has three, Cook Islands has two, and the Speaker is a woman. There are areas where women in parliaments could be promoted.
We had a session on the role of the opposition with Hon Wilkie Rasmussen, who is the Leader of the Opposition. He gave us a history of the Cook Islands parliament and offered a few words about what he thought of the government. Because the prime minister did not attend - he was overseas in China and a few other places - I suppose it gave an opportunity for him to have a say.
One of the other sessions was ‘The Political Landscape’ by Hon Norman George, who is a parliamentarian in the Cook Islands. He gave a frank view of how things were going in relation to the Cook Islands democracy. Session 10 was by Miss Janice Spalding who is in charge of the Commonwealth Pacific Government Facility which keeps an eye on governance in the Pacific. Session 11 was ‘Pacific Legislators for Population and Governments’, and Session 12 was ‘Managing the Media’. This was done by Hon Fiona Simpson MP in the Queensland parliament. I have not been able to get through everything. The last one was Session 13, ‘The Committee Systems’, by Moana Mackey from New Zealand. If I get a chance tomorrow night, I will expand on some of those sessions and give you an idea of what the Cook Islands are really like outside the conference. Thank you.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): I rise to speak on a couple of issues. The first is to pay tribute to who I believe is the best principal the Northern Territory has to offer, June Wessels, who is retiring after many years. I believe June started in 1971 as a teacher, and she has been at the Bakewell Primary School for nearly 12 years. I have a close association with June. Being present at her farewell last Friday evening, it was an absolute privilege to listen to what others had to say about June. You could seriously see the compassion and passion she not only has for the job but for her staff. I know she will be sorely missed. June was probably instrumental in some way in me getting into politics. As chair of Bakewell I had many issues and arguments with Syd Stirling who was the Education minister at the time. So I blame Syd and June for me being in the Chamber today. Both have had much to do with it, and trying to find some common sense in this world we live in.
Some statistics about June: She has been a teacher and principal in NT government schools since 1982; that is 30 years. She has spent the past 11 years as the principal at Bakewell Primary School, as I have said, and prior to that, June worked in a range of schools in Darwin, the rural area and, of course, Palmerston. Peers in schools and within the Department of Education and Children’s Services have a high opinion of June as an educator, as do I. In all the schools where she has had a leadership role she has built the school community’s investment in the school by ensuring parents and students are engaged.
June is a dedicated, quiet achiever who supports the development of staff at Bakewell through a learning community approach that is focused on student outcomes. Bakewell is the largest government primary school in the Northern Territory and June has overseen an expansion program that includes a large new classroom block and huge outdoor and stage area. June has also spent her time at Bakewell building attendance rates and, of course, the NAPLAN results, which we all know have improved in recent years.
In 2010, June was named School Principal of the Year in recognition of her strong leadership. She has worked damn hard and has had an enormous impact on the lives of students and their families. It is now time for family for June. Her agenda for her retirement is that she and her partner will buy a caravan and spend some well-earned time travelling around Australia. To someone who has done so much for so many students and teachers in the Northern Territory, I wish all the very best in retirement. It is time for ‘June time’. Well done June and thank you very much on behalf of the Northern Territory.
Seeing that we are in the last week of parliament for the year I will thank a few people. Firstly, to my electoral officer, Marlise, and her husband, Henrique who have been an absolute support for me in everything I do, through a very hard campaign for this year’s election, but also in the everyday issues that occur in an electorate office, which we all know about. So thank you, Marlise. To the Calder Branch of the Country Liberal Party, I thank you again for showing your resolve in me being the member for Brennan again, and for your support; that goes right across the Country Liberal Party. To all the residents of Brennan, I hope you have a safe and merry Christmas this year. To my friends and family, particularly those who helped in the election this year, a big thank you. It was a huge job and there is not a person in this room who is not thankful for the help they receive during election campaigns; in fact, at any time during the year in this job.
To Noelene, Ian who has recently left, Kerry, Maggie, Roxanne, David and Wayne, the core group who make up the ministerial office upstairs, you guys have worked so hard in the last couple of months to bring some order to that office. There is no manual you can go to, when you take over a new office, that tells you what has to be done; so to you guys, thank you very much.
To Peter Carew, to Lou, Doug, Brian and so many people I can name in the Department of Business; John Baskerville, Michelle in the Department of Housing, again so many people I could mention who have been rock-solid in their support, particularly in the first few months of setting up government. To the Business and Housing staff across the Northern Territory, thank you very much for your patience as a new government takes over and as we bed down the new structures. Your work and dedication is highly regarded. Thank you very much.
Thank you to all the Legislative Assembly staff, to you Mr Deputy Speaker and Madam Speaker, and the previous Madam Speaker, the former member for Nightcliff, Jane Aagaard. She did a terrific job and thank her for her efforts over the past 12 months. To the media team upstairs, thank you very much for your guidance and support. Every one up there, except Cam, does a wonderful job. No, he does a good job, he will understand, he will get that. I will not go any further, he does a good job. And, of course, the Hansard staff upstairs who do a remarkable job. It must be pretty difficult to listen to us waffle on for so many hours over so many sitting days. To all my colleagues in the House, on the government benches as well as in opposition, we do fight hard from time to time and we can tear strips off each other, but the wonderful thing is that outside this House, I think in most circumstances, we are friends.
A member: No.
Mr CHANDLER: No, we are not friends, okay. Sorry, but we try to be friendly. We are all human beings, and we are all here trying to do the right thing by Territorians. We may be parted by ideology, by the philosophies of the different parties on the way, but I do not care what even my friends tell me, even the people on the Labor team have their hearts in the right place; we are all trying to do the right thing for Territorians. We just have a division from time to time on the way we think about things and the way we go about them.
To my beautiful family, to Robyn, Brandon, Jackson, Gabrielle and Harrison, thank you so much for your understanding of Dad’s job. It is tough being away so often, and I think, like most of us here, that our families are the most important things, and many of us are in this place because of our families and because of how important they are to us. On that note, I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Please stay safe over the festive season and we will see you here next year.
Thank you.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Mr Deputy Speaker, I wish to speak about the Arafura Dance Association end-of-year concert, which is an annual event. It is always a spectacular event and there were three performances last Friday night, Saturday night and a matinee performance on the Sunday. It is not called an end-of-year extravaganza for nothing. What they pull of each year is nothing short of amazing. I believe it is the biggest dance school in the Northern Territory and the biggest dance school in Australia that is in the not-for-profit sector and does not have premises of its own.
A couple of hundred students are enrolled, an entire volunteer committee runs it, and the culmination of the year’s work with the dance teachers, students, boys and girls ranging in ages from three to about 40, if not more, was amazing - the costumes, music, the choreography across the entire gamut of dance genres from ballet, jazz, and tap, to hip hop, contemporary, and highland. The program presented 31 items, which is incredible.
The end-of-year extravaganza is the opportunity to present awards to dancers. I will read through that list this evening and congratulate each of the dancers who were recognised for their efforts.
The Encouragement Award for 2012 - these awards were a medal for each of the dancers who had been nominated and agreed upon by their teachers:
Dance Diversity - Lara Phelps
Further to that, there were some Outstanding Achievement awards, again across the different dance genres. I will mention who sponsored these awards as well: the Ballet Junior award went to Eva Staude and was presented and donated by Kelly Murray from Gove Tackle and Outdoors; the Contemporary Junior Outstanding Achievement award was won by Siena Stubbs. Siena has probably won that for the last few years in a row; she is a beautiful little dancer. Her award was presented and donated by Dave Miegel Plumber and Gas Fitter; the Contemporary Senior award went to Tayla Edwards, presented and awarded also by Dave Miegel; the Tap Junior Outstanding Achievement award went to Tahli Stimpson, presented and donated by the Hill family.
The remaining awards were sponsored by me as the local member. They included: the Ballet Senior award to Charlotte Piper; the Jazz Junior award to Tiahne Brett; the Jazz Senior award to Maddi Slatter; the Tap Senior award to Melissa Kennedy, who is also the teacher of hip hop. I understand on the evening it was announced that Melissa had received the highest tap score ever in her tap exams, a significant achievement. The Hip Hop Junior award went to Kiara Foggin; the Hip Hop Senior award went to Danielle Even; the Highland Junior Award went to Hannah Devon; the Highland Senior Award went to Alicia Wong; and the Most Outstanding Dance Student of 2012 went to Tayla Miegel. She is thoroughly deserving of that award. She is an outstanding dancer across a number of genres, there is no doubt about that.
I acknowledge the teachers at Arafura Dance. The principal dance teacher, Miss Rachael Wallis, is incredibly talented. What she has brought to Arafura Dance is incredible in the many years she has been there. It must be nudging 10 years for Miss Rachael. She is incredibly dedicated. She is an Indigenous woman and brings with her that unique contemporary dance that goes with Indigenous dance. Her talent has been recognised nationally and internationally. She danced at the opening of the Olympic Games in Sydney, and more recently was invited to perform for the Queen in London as part of a small delegation of Indigenous dancers from Australia for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
I acknowledge Ms Sharlene Cardilini who teaches highland, ballet, jazz and tap. You would not find a more dedicated teacher, particularly of highland dancing. She is devoted to her students and has grown the love of highland dancing within Arafura Dance. Miss Melissa Kennedy, as I said, teaches hip hop and is assisted by Alix Betts and Shauna Keogh. I also make note of the younger helpers who assist the teachers: Cassy Rogers, and Ashley Verrall.
I also acknowledge the incredibly hard work the Arafura Dance committee takes on. They are all volunteers. With the exception of teachers being on contracts, everything else about the organisation is not-for-profit. Lesley Tankard has served in the role of president for many years; Belinda Verrall is the vice president and also looks after the big job of the dance wear sales; Glenda Birch is the secretary and fundraising officer and also works incredibly hard. Glenda sent out a record number of e-mails in the last few weeks communicating with parents about the many things they needed to know in the lead-up to the dance concert; Jenny Glover has worked hard as the Treasurer; and the executive is well supported by Sue Devon, Judy Miegel, Wendy Allen and Sue Colquhoun.
At the performance they made sure they thanked all of the parents who supported the concert, and their students and kids, throughout the year, and all those who put up their hands to be costume coordinators. There were many parents who put up their hands to be volunteers at the concert.
I also need to acknowledge Daniel Hick from Dhalinbuy who performed at the concert, Richard Mann who assisted with, I think it might have been some platform and electrical work, Jason Dyson - and I wish I had the names of the other young men who were with Jason. I cannot remember the name of it, but it is like Tae Kwon Do. No, it was not Tai Chi, it was a bit more aggressive than that, member for Goyder. Also, for MC and music, Libby Baulch; sound and lighting technicians, Michael Stimpson and Sean from Gove FM, and for recording the performance, Josh McKeogh from the high school.
At the conclusion of each concert they always make available for next to nothing a CD that captures the concert, which I know people always look forward to getting hold of and keeping as a record.
Mr Deputy Speaker, well done to Arafura Dance; it is an incredible organisation and will be lining up again for next year. My association with Arafura Dance has spanned about 15 years. I had a gap there for a couple of years when my now 19-year-old daughter had moved away, but was delighted to see my son, Patrick, put his hand up for hip hop classes this year, and he has thoroughly enjoyed it. It is great to see boys taking on dance. I wish them all a Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2013.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Mr Deputy Speaker, given the time of year, I place on the record my thanks to my staff, Trish O’Hehir in the electorate office who is the full-time Electorate Officer, also Carol Lynch who fills in when Trish is away, and Jynx Smith. They all work well in the electorate; they relate well to the constituents and for that I am eternally grateful. I also place on the records my thanks to Martine Smith, my executive officer and also Cheryl Owens, both newly-appointed into the Office of the Speaker. Both are doing a great job working with me in this new role as Speaker.
I place on the record my best wishes to all of my parliamentary colleagues: members of my government, members of the opposition and, of course, the member for Nelson - that they all, with their families, friends and loved ones, have a very safe and prosperous New Year and enjoy themselves.
I also place on the Parliamentary Record and commend one of the Department of Legislative Assembly staff who will be leaving, possibly late this year or in the new year, Mr Graham Gadd, who we know works in the Table Office.
Graham and his family came from New South Wales in about 1965 when they moved to Darwin. I am not sure exactly from where, but I think it was Sydney. As happened in those days, someone got an appointment in Darwin. His father was appointed as the government dentist and it was his job to design the government clinic in Mitchell Street, which was roughly where Wisdom Caf is now. I recall this dental clinic because as children we all had to go there to get our teeth done. Mr Stokes might also remember this dental clinic. If I had known Mr Gadd’s father was responsible for all that pain I had as a child I might have viewed him differently in my working relationship. However, that is why sometimes these Commonwealth people came to Darwin, and good on them.
Graham went to Darwin High School where he completed all his schooling. From around that time he had a strong interest in a multitude of sports. As I found through my research, he was a very young, active, physically enthusiastic fellow with his sports. Cycling was one of the areas he excelled in. Clearly he was a dash rider because he won road races: Adelaide River to Darwin in particular, and Pine Creek to Darwin in the late 1960s. It is probably two hours drive by car from Darwin to Pine Creek, so probably a couple of hundred kilometres. That is an enormous event. He took these races out, so clearly he had talent. He also competed in velodrome events and took out many prizes in that as well.
Apart from cycling, he was involved in the hockey club at that time. It is called East Darwin now but it was called Norths when he was involved with the club. He played hockey at all levels, obviously working up until he competed and played at the A Grade level for many years. He also went on to become an umpire and did a lot of coaching with the juniors. He played representative sides on behalf of the Territory, played veterans, and played and competed in interstate trips, mainly to Western Australia.
As if that was not enough, he was also involved in sailing. I find it remarkable for someone to be good at sailing and at land-based sports. He sailed with the Darwin Sailing Club from the early times: 1965 onward. One of his notable achievements was to be selected to compete in the world Hobie 18s in Toronto, Canada. I had to do a little research on Hobie 18s. I understand it is an 18-foot catamaran-type sailing boat manned by two people.
I am not sure how training in Darwin in the tropics compares to training and competing in Toronto, Canada, but I know Canada is a very cold place. To go there and compete and do well was a remarkable achievement. He has many trophies and awards at the Darwin Sailing Club with his name on them.
He was also involved in water polo, squash, and played cricket. He was a medium-fast bowler, and his best was five for 25 in six overs. Perhaps he needs to give the Australian cricket side some coaching and tips on how it could improve performance.
In his younger days, when he went to Newington College in Sydney, he played Rugby Union. He played Aussie Rules as well. Graham Gadd has had a remarkable sporting career.
In regard to his employment, he started work in the public sector in about 1971. He worked for the Navy as an assistant to Commodore Johnston, which is interesting because when the Commodore was Administrator of the Northern Territory, I was appointed as his aide. I was in that job for about three years and the late Commodore Eric Johnston was a very good man and a good naval career officer. Graham also worked at the 2 Mile depot for Transport of Works.
Graham started work with the Legislative Assembly in July 1975 as the Staff Clerk. He then worked in Hansard as monitor during the sittings in the original building where he sat at a glass wall which overlooked the Chamber. He acted as Serjeant-at-Arms, then became Clerk Assistant when Norm Gleeson retired, and had charge of Hansard and the Table Office which was housed in the library of the original Legislative Assembly complex.
He was also Acting Deputy Clerk before the appointment of Mr Ian McNeill as Deputy Clerk. He has worked with five clerks going back as far as Fred Walker, Ray Chin, Keith Thompson, Guy Smith and, of course, Ian McNeill. Again, for ceremonial occasions, Graham has worked with many Speakers up to and including the recent Speaker, Jane Aagaard, and, of course, for a short period of time with me.
As with Helen Allmich, he also had ceremonial roles with the various Administrators when the Address-in-Reply was taken to Government House.
In the course of his work with the parliament and the Legislative Assembly, he has worked on a number of large committees such as the Select Committee on Communications Technology; the New Parliament House Committee, for the building we are now housed in, which commenced under Guy Smith; the Environment Committee which looked at the Ranger mine, the Mary River saltwater intrusion and the cane toad problem; the Subordinate Legislation and Tabled Papers Committee; the Standing Orders Committee, in fact, most of the standing committees this parliament has known.
He organised the National Public Works Committee conference when it was held in Darwin.
To a certain extent, Graham commenced the revolution of Hansard going from the original 8100 computer system to the AS400 and then the digital system we have today. Graham was responsible for arranging computerised templates for production of the Chairman’s notes for Committee of the Whole, and for minutes of proceedings and streamlining the system.
You can see, apart from his private activities and sporting career and being an all round good guy, he has had a long history with the Department of the Legislative Assembly and of working with the parliament.
I extend my personal thanks to Graham for the support he has given me over the last four years from when I became an elected member. He has helped me a lot trying to work out where to find questions on notice, helping with my petitions and getting the wording right, helping me work through the Hansard on the computer and finding what I wanted to find, and recently, with the opening of parliament, in his role as Serjeant-at-Arms. It has been much appreciated to have someone there with that depth of experience and knowledge and it gave me great comfort when people like him were around. I have always found him highly professional in his work and his endeavours and exemplary in his knowledge of parliament and parliamentary procedures. He knows what he is talking about and is well-versed in many things to do with the Northern Territory parliament and the history of the Northern Territory parliament.
Graham leaving the Northern Territory and going to Tasmania will be the Territory’s loss, but clearly it will be Tasmania’s gain. I also pass on the best wishes of my mother, Noel Padgham, because she too worked with Mr Gadd when she was in the parliament and she asked me to put on the record her personal thanks to Graham Gadd and to wish him all the best in his future endeavours. I am sure he will be doing something very enjoyable in Tasmania, probably sailing and watching the Sydney to Hobart come in at the end of January next year. So my best wishes to him and best wishes from my family.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
MESSAGE FROM ADMINISTRATOR
Message No 3
Message No 3
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received from Her Honour the Administrator Message No 3 notifying assent to bills passed in the November sitting of the Assembly.
MOTION
Routine of Business – Treasurer’s
Mini-Budget 2012-13
Routine of Business – Treasurer’s
Mini-Budget 2012-13
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the routine of business of the Assembly, Government Business Notices and Orders of the Day, be arranged or suspended if a question or debate is before the Chair so as to permit the Treasurer to deliver the Mini-Budget 2012-13 at 11 am this day.
Mr GUNNER (Opposition Whip): Madam Speaker, today’s motion conforms with ordinary budget practice with the Treasurer delivering her budget speech and the Leader of the Opposition being granted permission to be the second speaker tomorrow at 11 am. However, opposition requested that Question Time come on after the budget speech today at 2 o’clock. That request has been denied by the government. This is a mini-budget. We hope that in May next year that request might be considered and Question Time will come on after the budget is delivered, allowing us to scrutinise the budget on what is probably the biggest item for many Territorians.
Mr ELFERINK: We will look at it.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Routine of Business – Response to
Mini-Budget 2012-13
Routine of Business – Response to
Mini-Budget 2012-13
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the routine of business of the Assembly, Government Business, Notices and Orders of the Day, be arranged or suspended if a question or debate is before the Chair so as to permit a response to the Mini-Budget 2012-13 by the Leader of the Opposition at 11 am on Wednesday 5 December 2012, which is tomorrow.
Motion agreed to.
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Media Coverage of Mini-Budget 2012-13
Media Coverage of Mini-Budget 2012-13
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members that I have given permission for the Northern Territory News to take still photographs and the Australian Broadcasting Commission and Sky News to film the presentation of the mini-budget.
TABLED PAPER
Mini-Budget 2012-13
Mini-Budget 2012-13
Mrs LAMBLEY (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I table the Mini-Budget 2012-13.
MOTION
Note Paper - Mini-Budget 2012-13
Note Paper - Mini-Budget 2012-13
Mrs LAMBLEY (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I present the Mini-Budget 2012-13. It is now a well established fact that my government inherited an appalling fiscal position from the previous Labor government. The Territory’s nett debt has been allowed to grow, or had been pushed, to $2.7bn at the start of this financial year.
Even worse, the forward estimates issued by my predecessor at budget time showed a prospective increase in nett debt to over $5.5bn in less than four years’ time. Whether that prospective increase was due to political opportunism, incompetence, indifference, or simply lack of understanding is now beside the point. The stark reality is that such a debt burden is not sustainable and something must be done about it.
This mini-budget, therefore, has several purposes:
1. to establish precisely the extent of the deterioration in the Territory’s budget for 2012-13, between its presentation to this House in May and the election of the Mills government on 25 August of this year
In the pre-election fiscal outlook, the fiscal imbalance was forecast to be $867m in 2012-13, increasing to $1197m in 2013-14, before declining to $561m in 2014-15, and $475m in 2015-16. Subsequently, there were further adjustments to the overall position facing the Territory, which, despite higher estimates of GST receipts, added well over $100m each year to the projected imbalance.
To put this in perspective, interest payable on borrowings to meet the pre-mini-budget fiscal imbalance of $981m in 2012-13 would have cost taxpayers close to $60m per year. That is more than the Tourism budget, an area that is vital to the long-term sustainability of the Territory. By way of further example, $60m per year spent on interest would employ another 600 nurses, not just for one year but for every year indefinitely; and that is just one year’s fiscal imbalance. We were facing fiscal imbalances accumulating by a further $3.7bn over the next four years, a clearly untenable situation.
By far the biggest single issue facing the Territory was the parlous financial state of the Power and Water Corporation. Power and Water requires an ongoing improvement of at least $200m per annum to operate as a sustainable government-owned corporation. There are three broad choices: bigger subsidies from the taxpayer; reduced costs of generation and transmission; or increased tariffs charged to consumers for electricity, water and sewerage services. When faced with the fact that Power and Water Corporation had for years been denied the ability to cover its costs through its charges, the government was faced with the prospect of paying even bigger taxpayer subsidies to the struggling enterprise.
A $200m subsidy is equivalent to the cost of employing 2000 public servants. It is a sum equal to the combined budgets of Tourism, Primary Industry and Fisheries, Mines and Energy, Arts and Museums, and Sport and Recreation. There is no alternative or Labor magic pudding to call upon. The burden of keeping Power and Water Corporation viable has to be borne by the Territory taxpayer or by the users of Power and Water products in the Territory. One way or the other the money comes out of the pockets of Territorians.
There is no doubt in my mind the fairer way is, barring substantial cost cutting, that the users of the product meet the cost. It should not be overlooked that, even after the tariff increases, Territorians will only pay prices close to the average of those paid by other Australians.
We have uncovered substantial unfunded commitments made by the previous government, many of which we had no other choice than to fund. None stand out more than in the Department of Children and Families, where the Chief Executive has advised she was instructed by the then minister to hire over 90 staff in the last month of the 2011-12 financial year, despite the fact there were no budget provisions in Budget 2012-13.
Sadly, this was just the tip of the iceberg. We have been left with a legacy of expenditure commitments with a cost estimated by agencies of over $600m over the forward estimates period. We have now considered them in the context of our government’s priorities and have funded over half, including the following provisions in the mini-budget and over the forward estimates:
over $50m for Police, Fire and Emergency Services covering items such as overtime, police housing and technology
The government has incorporated the Country Liberals’ commitments made in the lead-up to the election in the mini-budget. Key commitments include the area of policing: 100 more frontline police officers will be recruited in the Top End and more in Alice Springs. The recruitment campaign commenced in the first few days of the new government’s term in office and the annual cost will be $27.5m per annum when fully implemented by July 2014. Nightcliff Police Station will be upgraded at a cost of $2m, and the Alice Springs Youth Centre will receive a $2.5m capital grant to upgrade and transform to a Police and Citizens Youth Club.
As promised in the election campaign, the Back to School Bonus will double in value next year from $75 to $150 per student, assisting families with the cost of a range of school supplies and services.
An additional $6.5m a year will enhance cardiac outreach services and cardiac rehabilitation services to make them more accessible to regional and remote Territorians and commence low-risk angioplasty services at Royal Darwin Hospital. Waiting lists will be reduced with an annual boost of $4.46m to provide 400 additional elective surgeries every year across the Territory.
The increased funding to peak sport and recreation bodies is included in the mini-budget at $1.75m a year, increasing grants by 50%. An additional $4m a year is provided for the sports voucher scheme, providing a $75 sports registration voucher for every child involved in a sport where fees are paid. This will commence at the start of the 2013 school year.
Homeland housing and municipal and essential services will be boosted with funding of $40m over the next four years in addition to the current funding committed in the mini-budget for these services. This funding will improve housing standards for remote Indigenous families and will be conditional on observing compulsory school attendance and residents participating in the homelands economy.
The mini-budget sets out this government’s strategy for starting to return the Territory budget to a sustainable position. I hope every Territorian understands the extent and nature of the task which confronted this government and why we have made the hard decisions.
Notwithstanding those decisions to rein in expenditure and pursue additional revenue, our nett debt will continue to grow, albeit more slowly, because it will take time for expenditure to match available revenue.
The fiscal target is simple to state: we will remove the fiscal imbalance by 2015-16. In that year we will live within our means. Total expenditures will not exceed total revenues. We have made a big start in this mini-budget and are within striking distance of the target.
I turn to expenditure savings. A key item contributing to our high expenditure growth has been the rapid build-up in public service staff numbers. This government is committed to providing and supporting the delivery of effective outcomes for frontline services. This means we will continue to search for better and more efficient ways to achieve the results required.
We have paid close attention to setting the funding basis for the major spending agencies with a high emphasis on frontline output such as Health, Education, Police and other agencies that provide critical services to Territorians. It has been important to get these major expenditure areas settled.
I now outline some of the specific savings measures in this mini-budget:
The Chief Minister’s offices in Palmerston and Katherine have been closed and the Alice Springs office will move to more modest accommodation.
The no longer required Council of Territory Cooperation, a creature of the special agreement with the Independent member for Nelson which kept the Henderson team so tenuously in government, will realise $600 000 a year in savings.
Civilianising positions currently occupied by police officers and returning them to the front line will achieve savings reaching $10.9m per year by 2015-16.
Higher-paid positions are being reviewed across the board to make agency management structures leaner and more strategically focused.
We will focus on capitalising on benefits and efficiencies available from the centralised shared services model that provides cross-government services.
Resource allocations in the arrangements with non-government organisations and other bodies providing services on behalf of government will be directed to meeting greater demand pressures and to adopting more cost-effective options for providing services.
The SMART Court and the Alcohol and Other Drugs Tribunal are to be abolished, saving more than $9m over the next four years.
Special arrangements funded by the previous government in the Gerry Wood agreement will not proceed further, including the Litchfield swimming pool and later stages of grants for sporting facilities at Freds Pass.
A late decision by the former government to add an additional $500 000 per year to existing funding for the build schools program will not proceed.
Agencies are rationalising their use of travel, consultancies, vehicle fleets and other discretionary expenditures, instead making better use of videoconferencing and other technologies in their day-to-day operations.
The high cost of housing in the Territory is one of the unforgivable legacies left to this government to sort out, with Territorians bearing the burden of excessively high rents and with purchase prices weighing heavily on the cost of living. Unlike the previous government, we have a plan. We have already outlined the Real Housing for Growth strategy which will produce 2000 homes for working Territorians over this term of government through private sector investment.
We have already outlined the two HomeBuild Access products to facilitate home ownership and the lower end of the market by assisting low- to middle-income earners with subsidised interest loans and other new homeowners with low-deposit loans. It is worth noting that although the Territory has the most generous housing assistance schemes in Australia, they have been poorly targeted.
Also as part of the mini-budget, we will change the approach to first homeowner assistance schemes to encourage construction of new housing. We will discontinue the current stamp duty first homeowner concession while increasing the First Home Owner Grant. For homes in the Darwin, Palmerston and Darwin rural areas, assistance to eligible first homeowners will be $25 000 for new homes and $12 000 for existing homes. Assistance of $25 000 will be offered in regional parts of the Territory for new and existing homes, recognising the current constraints of new housing development compared with the Top End.
We will reduce eligibility for the First Home Owner Grant from $750 000 to homes valued up to $600 000. The stamp duty principal place of residence rebate will be targeted to new homes only and will be increased to $7000 from the current $3500. These measures will come into effect today.
There are various revenue sources available to the government, including taxes and fees and charges for services. The Territory’s revenue effort is assessed by the Commonwealth Grants Commission, which recommends the level of GST payments to the states and territories.
In the most recent assessment, the Commonwealth Grants Commission assessed that the Northern Territory was raising only 78% of the revenue it would raise if taxes and charges were at state average levels. This means Territory taxes and charges are 22% lower than the average of the states. This is unreasonable. If the Territory is to provide the same standard of services as elsewhere in the country then Territorians should pay similar charges as those in other states.
Make no mistake, when assessing our need for GST funds, the Grants Commission assumes we are making a reasonable revenue effort given that we receive several times more per capita GST allocation than the states.
I will now outline the major revenue changes. Total motor vehicle registration costs are among the lowest in the country. Aside from recent CPI increases, fees have not increased for 16 years and are significantly lower than the states’ average. Motor vehicle registration fees will rise from 1 January 2013. When considered as part of total registration costs, the increases will vary between 4% and 18%, or $11 for a motorcycle or small box trailer, $67 for a small vehicle - not $37 as printed in your books - and $105 for a large four-wheel-drive.
Bus fares in the Territory are, overall, much lower than in other jurisdictions. From 1 January 2013, bus fares will rise by around $1 per ticket, raising approximately $2.5m per annum. Students under 18, vision impaired passengers and veterans will continue to travel for free.
With effect from the middle of next year, the number of taxis will be increased providing another 35 taxis in Darwin and Alice Springs and $620 000 in revenue per annum.
Public housing rents will increase by 1%, raising around $300 000 per annum.
Revenue increases are being contained to measures where the Territory sits towards the lowest end of the scale among the states and where there have been few increases in recent times.
We have being able to reprioritise infrastructure spending to better balance expenditure over the forward estimates. An additional $100m cash will be reallocated over four years towards the backlog in repairs and maintenance. This is good news for small businesses across the Territory.
In conclusion, we should be under no illusion that today marks the end of the trail, that everything will be fine with the Territory’s finances once this mini-budget is in place. Today is the beginning of a long process of restoring our finances to a sustainable condition where we can set about doing the things we know need to be done to assist in realising the Territory’s great future.
We need cash in the bank and credibility in the eyes of investors and other governments to make that happen. I am confident this mini-budget will be a significant step along the way. Although our initial goal is to stop the deterioration in the Territory’s fiscal position, it will not remove the huge debt mountain. We will be working on strategies to address this matter in the 2013-14 budget.
In the next phase, moving towards the 2013-14 budget, we will focus on the areas that drive the economy, such as Mines and Energy, Tourism and Primary Industry. Once the path is set in the 2013-14 budget towards eliminating the last of the fiscal imbalance by 2015-16, we will be in a better position to ramp up the activities in those wealth-creating areas. This mini-budget will take the fiscal imbalance in 2015-16 to $53m, or very close to living within our means.
There will be a modest adjustment in 2012-13 but significant reduction in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16. These measures will also effect a reduction of almost $1.2bn in the projected $5.5bn in nett debt for 2015-16.
Madam Speaker, I note that, aside from outlining adjustments to the budget, the 2012-13 mini-budget satisfies the Territory obligations to publish a mid-year report.
I move that the statement and paper be noted.
Debate adjourned.
REVENUE AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 17)
(Serial 17)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Treasurer)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time and seek leave to deliver my second reading speech at a later hour.
Leave granted; debate adjourned.
CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT (ASSAULTS ON WORKERS) BILL
(Serial 11)
(Serial 11)
Bill presented and read a first time. Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
This bill creates the new offence of assault on a worker in the new section 188 of the Criminal Code. Members will recall that on 8 July 2012, Darwin taxi drivers called a snap strike as a result of an alleged assault upon a fellow taxi driver. The taxi drivers were reacting to what had become an intolerable level of violent behaviour toward them, particularly at night whilst they were trying to go about their business. It is not only taxi drivers who face this violence when going about their duties at work.
The Chief Minister, then Leader of the Opposition, responded to this incident by releasing a media statement promising that, if elected, a Country Liberals’ government would impose a mandatory minimum prison sentence of three months for anyone convicted of assaulting a person who provides a public service in the Northern Territory and causes them harm.
The Country Liberal Party’s election commitment was to introduce an offence into the Criminal Code which carries a minimum three-month prison sentence for an assault with circumstances of aggravation against anyone who serves the public.
This bill, along with the Sentencing Amendment (Mandatory Minimum Sentences) Bill 2012, which I introduced into the Assembly last week, fulfils that election commitment. It also fulfils a Country Liberal Party commitment of some years standing.
In 2009, when he was the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Minister introduced the Criminal Code Amendment (Mandatory Sentences for Certain Assaults) Bill 2009. That bill sought to amend section 188(2) of the Criminal Code to insert a circumstance of aggravated assault where a person assaulted a prescribed person whilst that person was acting in the execution of his or her duty. A prescribed person was defined to include a public sector employee, a health practitioner, an ambulance officer, a paramedic, or a driver of a commercial passenger vehicle.
The bill contained a clear and straightforward message to would-be violent criminals that the Country Liberals valued the contribution made by people who provide a service to the public and violent people who lash out at those who are merely doing their duty will not be tolerated. Unfortunately, the former Labor government did not support the 2009 bill and it was defeated.
The offence of assault on a worker I introduce today goes further than the 2009 bill as it states it is a crime to unlawfully assault any worker who is performing his or her duties. The definition is broad and captures all people who engage in lawful employment in any capacity, people appointed under law in force in the Northern Territory to carry out functions or to hold an office, for example, a Justice of the Peace, and people who volunteer their time in not-for-profit organisations or workplaces. It obviously does not extend to workers who carry out unlawful or illegal activities.
I turn now to the provisions contained in the bill. The new offence will be inserted into section 88A in Part 6 of Division 5 of the Criminal Code alongside common assault and assaults on police. The term ‘assault’ has the same meaning as the existing definition in section 187 of the Criminal Code, and means an application of force without consent, or a threatened application of force.
The term ‘worker’ is defined as a person who carries out employment-related activities in any lawful capacity including: an employee, a contractor or sub-contractor, an apprentice or trainee, a student gaining work experience, a volunteer, a self-employed person, or a person appointed under the law in force in the Northern Territory to carry out functions or hold an office.
This definition of ‘worker’ extends further than people who provide a service to the public such as taxi drivers, paramedics and hospitality workers. It builds upon the 2009 bill and extends protection to all types of lawful workers, recognising that many workers are faced with situations where they are at the mercy of violent people. Work is a fundamental cornerstone of many people’s lives and all Territorians should be assured that when they go to work they will be protected by the law. The definition of ‘worker’ will expressly exclude a police officer because section 189A of the Criminal Code already operates in situations involving assault on a police officer in the execution of his or her duties.
For the offence to be made out, the worker must be working in the performance of his or her duties at the time of the assault. That is, the activity the worker is undertaking at the time of the assault must be connected to the course of their employment. For example, if a correctional services officer is required to sit with prisoners during his or her meal break to continue to monitor and supervise prisoners and they are assaulted during the meal break, the offence will apply. However, this offence will not apply, for example, when a worker is travelling to their workplace prior to the commencement of their shift.
The offence of assault on a worker carries the following serious penalty: a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment if the victim suffers harm or, upon being found guilty summarily, a maximum of three years’ imprisonment, and a maximum of five years’ imprisonment if the victim does not suffer harm, or upon being found guilty summarily, two years’ imprisonment. The maximum penalty for an assault under section 188(2) of the Criminal Code is five years’ imprisonment or, upon being found guilty summarily, two years imprisonment.
The new offence of assault on a worker carries a higher maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment in circumstances where the victim suffers harm. This is consistent with assaulting a police officer under section 189A of the Criminal Code. Additionally, the offence will also be prescribed as a ‘violent offence’ in Schedule 2 of the Sentencing Act so an actual term of imprisonment must be imposed if the offence is the offender’s second or subsequent finding of guilt for a violent offence.
The Sentencing Amendment (Mandatory Minimum Sentences) Bill 2012 I introduced last week will ensure offenders who are convicted of the crime of assault on workers will be sentenced to an actual term of imprisonment of at least three months in circumstances where the victim suffers harm - that is, a physical injury - that interferes with the victim’s health.
The bill also amends the Bail Act and Justices Act. The purpose of the amendment to the Bail Act is to insert cross-references to the new offence of assault on a worker and an offence of assault on a police officer into section 8(1)(aa)(ii) of that act. This has the effect of removing the presumption of bail for offenders charged with specified offences in that subsection, such as causing serious harm, if they have a previous finding of guilt for those offences in the last 10 years.
It should be noted that an assault on a worker offence will also be considered a serious violence offence under the Bail Act as the offence falls under Part 6 Division 5 of the Criminal Code and carries a maximum penalty of at least five years. A cross-reference to the new offence of assault on a worker is inserted into section 131A(1) of the Justices Act to allow a court constituted by a magistrate to have jurisdiction to hear and determine the charge of assaults on workers in a summary matter unless the court considers the charge should proceed on an indictment. The government is committed to combating violent crime in the Northern Territory.
Mr Deputy Speaker, this bill is part of the commitment to deliver to Territorians a safer community. It will go some way to assure all workers in the Northern Territory that they should feel safe and protected when they go to work each day or each night.
I commend the bill to honourable members and I table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
CLASSIFICATION OF PUBLICATIONS, FILMS AND COMPUTER GAMES AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 2)
Continued from 1 November 2012.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Bill before the House. It is a bill the opposition has no issues with. I note it was introduced on urgency in the last sittings. The urgency, as the Attorney-General explained, was on a technicality because 30 days had not lapsed, as would be the normal process, and, as both the members for Fannie Bay and Nelson said, the urgency was recognised and supported.
We are aware this is part of a national reform and, given the Commonwealth parliament has passed the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment (R 18+ Computer Games) Act 2012 which is due to commence on 1 January 2013, the Commonwealth act is the mechanism by which the R 18+ category is activated in relation to computer games for all other states and Territories.
However, let me reiterate on the matter of urgency when it comes to bills before this House. The opposition does not accept urgency on a whim as we saw in the last sittings with the performance of the Tourism minister in this Chamber. If it were not enough that there was no real need for urgency, we saw the minister treat members on this side with contempt, behaviour which was hostile, aggressive and churlish, and he showed unwillingness to answer questions.
The passage of a bill through this House is a process which requires an opportunity for elected members, as well as members of the public and stakeholders - in this case those in the tourism industry - to examine and scrutinise legislation and provide feedback. Sadly, the new government was not interested in that process because this government is not especially interested in transparency or accountability. The more we hear from them the more this becomes apparent.
That said, the bill before us today has had ample time for community consultation and clearly the amendment bill is something the wider community has been waiting for. Anything which protects the most vulnerable members of our community – children - from harm is to be applauded, and this includes this new classification of R 18+ for computer games.
The further intent of the bill is to allow adults to legally access R 18+ computer games in Australia as they do in all other Western countries including the United Kingdom, the USA, New Zealand and all member countries of the European Union.
I understand this bill has been about 10 years in coming to fruition, but it has received overwhelming community support. As the Attorney-General mentioned, of the more than 58 000 respondents to the federal Attorney-General’s 2009 consultation, 98% agreed this classification needed to be introduced for computer games.
It is a strange anomaly. I am not entirely sure why, perhaps the Attorney-General can enlighten me, that the classification categories which have existed for many years for films have not been aligned with the classification of games to have a uniform regime. Though, of course, this bill will amend and fix that.
The classification system is important. It allows parents to make informed choices about what their children are watching, but it also allows adults to make informed choices about the films or games they watch and, with the passing of this bill, will allow them to watch and play computer games, should they choose, that are classified as R 18+ material.
I am not a gamer but I am aware that many adults are. I am not part of the statistics that show around 50% of gamers are women, the average age of the Australian gamer is 32, and that 75% of Aussie gamers are over the age of 18.
My research also tells me it was in 1970 that the Australian Classification Board came into being with the purpose of rating all films that came into Australia as well as those made in Australia. This was followed by the introduction of the Office of Film and Literature Classification in 1994, to be more inclusive, followed by its dissolution in 2005 with the ACB handed over to the federal Attorney-General’s department.
Initially there were just four ratings, G for general exhibition, namely content which is very mild; NRC not recommended for children; M for mature audiences, meaning that it contains material that may require a mature perspective but is not deemed too strong for younger viewers - M was the highest unrestricted rating - the fourth was R for restricted exhibition.
The NRC rating later became PG, or parental guidance, which means that it:
- ... may contain content that children find confusing or upsetting and may require the guidance of parents or gardens.
R then became R 18+ for content which is described as high-impact, due, perhaps, to overt behaviour which is violent or sexual, nudity, profane language and may also include drug usage. While the G and M ratings were kept, in 1993 the Australian Classification Board introduced the MA 15+ rating as a means of flagging content that was too strong for the M or mature, classification, and, I quote:
- ... it contains material that is considered unsuitable for exhibition by persons under the age of 15. Persons under the age of 15 may only legally purchase, rent, exhibit or view MA 15+ rated content under the supervision of an adult guardian.
These classifications also apply to computer games, but it was not until 1994 that games were included in the classification system. There is one more classification, RC, which stands for refused classification, which speaks for itself.
Apparently the Australian computer games industry exports around $120m worth of product annually. While this may be the case, it is an industry which is in decline due to the parity with the US dollar. The local industry thrived in the 1990s when the Australian dollar was around 50 cents to the US dollar and, therefore, Australia was far more competitive in games development. But there is no doubt that the games industry remains big in the retail sector. According to an ABC online news report on 19 October 2011:
- The Interactive Games and Entertainments Association’s (IGEA) Digital Australia 2012 report ... says 92% of Australian households have devices for playing video games, up from 88% last year.
Australians spent $1.7bn on video games - a huge sum - in 2010 according to NPD Group Australia, and in that year more than 15 000 gamers attended the first annual EB weekend expo on the Gold Coast, making it the largest video game expo in the country.
Those figures are staggering but I guess not surprising. Within the Northern Territory, now that R 18+ games will become available next year for sale, those sale figures will no doubt grow. Although I might suggest that sales in the Territory will be cautious given the mini-budget that has been handed down today and the massive utilities price increases to hit from 1 January - which will mean consumers will be spending less which will hurt retailers. Another consequence of this could see people heading to the internet for their games as well as pirated illegal copies of games.
There are some interesting statistics which support the widespread use of computer games in people’s homes in our nation. Findings from Digital Australia 2012 cite that, as I mentioned a moment ago, 95% of homes with children under the age of 18 have a device for playing computer games. Game consoles are in 63% of game households, dedicated handheld consoles are in 13%. Mobile phones are used to play games in 43% of game households and tablet computers in 13%.
It highlights that access to gaming devices is not difficult, and I include my household in that. I have tried over the years to resist my kids’ calls for gaming devices with limited success. Educational, interactive games, when they were younger, where allowed on our home PC but my husband and I have always managed to resist Play Station and Xbox. That said, we acquiesced to Nintendo hand-held devices because they proved very popular for keeping our kids entertained on long trips and because of their portability. Then we acquiesced to Wii because of the physical element of the entertainment and the interaction between two players or more as opposed to isolated activity. This is notwithstanding the fact that every other kid at school and in the street seemed to have these devices and eventually we caved into pressure from kids who are the quintessential ‘must have’ consumers.
It is funny that Scrabble and Monopoly and a good old pack of cards simply do not hold the same appeal as they did when I was a kid. We still have those games in our household and they are pulled out from time-to-time, I am pleased to say.
Like the Attorney-General, as a parent I take some comfort in knowing my children are protected to a degree from viewing material intended for adults only. I recall occasions where my kids have returned from the local DVD or video shop disappointed that the person behind the counter would not allow them to borrow something on our family card which was MA 15+ unless they brought their mum or dad with them. Good on them for doing that, they are doing their job and adhering to the law.
The introduction of the new rating R 18+ in addition to the MA 15+ provides a very good guide to parents as to what is or is not an appropriate game, and while the amendments to the act endeavour to provide a level of protection to those under 18 and penalties to act as deterrents, it is clearly easier to do this in public places like game stores than in private homes, though private homes are also covered under this bill.
But as we know, access to the internet is almost unfettered and therefore individuals – let us say a 14-year-old - could access a game and other material which would normally be illegal because it is MA 15+ or R 18+. There are no barriers, or limited barriers, or scrutiny which might prevent that young person from accessing that game other than parental supervision 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
There has been much research into whether exposure to and immersion in, particularly violent, computer games correlates with aggressive tendencies and behaviours, and there is evidence to suggest that well-adjusted adults can deal with this material.
The Attorney-General is right when he referred in his second reading speech to the principles that underpin the national classification scheme:
- ... that adults should be able to read, hear and see what they want while protecting minors from material likely to harm or disturb them.
The Attorney-General went on to say that the scheme:
- ... takes account of community concerns about the content that condones or incites violence - particularly sexual violence - or portrays people in a demeaning manner, and it will protect adults from being unwittingly exposed to unsolicited material that may offend them.
This is not the subject of the bill, though I note in transcripts I have read from other parliamentary debates as recent as three or so weeks ago in the Western Australian parliament, that the matter of why our society needs games which contain violence, extreme or otherwise has been raised. It is as much as a lament, I guess, at how society accepts these games.
While this bill provides an increased level of protection for the vulnerable, we will, in this digital age, forever be up against leakage of this material into our community.
The opposition supports this bill and commends it to the House.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): I thank the Attorney-General for bringing the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Bill 2012 to the House and the member for Nhulunbuy for contributing to this debate.
There has being wide support from the gaming industry for the proposed reforms to games classifications in Australia. I understand from my research that this is an industry-equalising reform that is long overdue. I also understand that in the past this reform has been the subject of controversy; however, in recent times all state and territory Attorneys-General have agreed to the reform and for good reason. Although media has reported that industry, retail and gamers support this reform, to better inform myself of the support for these reforms, I spoke to a local business in the electorate of Drysdale.
EB Games is a large retail gaming outlet in Palmerston Shopping Centre. During my visit to EB Games I spoke with Krystal and Ashley and asked them for their views and experiences with regard to a lack of an R 18+ classification and the proposal to introduce one.
I was heartened by the immediate engagement of Krystal and Ashley with this topic. It indicated to me that widespread consultation has taken place and those affected by the reform are engaged with it. Both Krystal and Ashleigh were in support of the proposed reform and felt it was a very good thing, particularly for parents.
When I probed into why an R 18+ category would be good for parents, they explained that currently many games fall within the MA 15+ category which, unfortunately, is all too often considered a suitable category for children. Because of the current prohibition on games over MA 15+ classification, game developers who front classifiers with their product will often, at first instance, be refused classification due to levels of violence, language, themes or sex. Developers wanting to sell their product in Australia will then edit the explicit parts of the game to achieve the lesser MA 15+ classification.
This does not represent a true or proper system of classification, particularly given the system applying to films. If a game title is truly inappropriate for any audience in Australia, it should be refused classification. If it is only suitable for adults over the age of 18, who make up the majority of Australia’s gamers, as the member for Nhulunbuy has pointed out, it should be classified R 18+ and sale and demonstration should be heavily restricted.
Other types of content do and should have the applicable classifications of MA 15+, M, PG and G. Krystal and Ashleigh from EB Games felt a complete set of classifications for games as now proposed will empower parents to better understand the content of the games their children are playing. This new system of classification, complete once the R 18+ classification is included, will allow parents to properly understand the gaming industry and the range of content available for purchase.
I am no expert in this area. Once upon a time I was a huge fan of the game Alex the Kid which my sister and I used to play on our Sega Mega System, but those days are long gone. More recently, I have gained limited experience at Wii tennis and Wii bowling, which are family-friendly themes which easily lull one into a belief that the gaming industry is focused on kids and is, ultimately, for kids. Well, it is not. It is a multibillion dollar industry which, year in, year out, out-earns the Hollywood films and caters for all ages, but all titles are most certainly not for all ages.
A new approach to game titles has to be the same as that to films. A consistent classification system avoids confusion, complacency, and mitigates the risk children will be exposed to content which is completely unacceptable for them.
I am not yet a mother, but most responsible parents go to the local video store for a film for the kids to watch on the weekend and are supremely mindful of the classification of films. They would not hire a title that is rated R like Pulp Fiction for younger ones because they have probably seen it and know it is unsuitable and is rated so.
Because fewer parents have played these game titles and there is a mistaken belief that all games are for kids, this same connection and caution is often not as easily exercised at the game store. This harmonisation of ratings will go a long way to change this. In addition, I understand the Commonwealth government has undertaken to launch an education campaign on these new classifications and the new system as a whole.
Whilst at EB Games, I asked Krystal about the demographics of who purchased games in her store. As I was standing at the counter I saw games were being marked down to around the $47 mark. Krystal and Ashley agreed that a large portion of their market was 30+, which accords with the national average, and new games are released at around the $100 mark, which is usually outside the reach of school-aged children.
I queried whether reforms would cause any problems for the way the store operates. Krystal explained they have an interactive TV on which they put games and people who come into the store can play the games as a demo. She said they would have to be cautious about what games were played on the interactive TV, but noted that at present MA 15+ games are not played on it to protect under-15s from that vision.
Krystal expects that if the reforms come into place EB Games will run training for staff on how to deal with the reform. She did not give me any indication it would be arduous, expensive or a difficult process.
Ashley spent some time explaining the problem with the current classification regime in that at the moment people freely access R 18+ games on eBay and even smuggle them illegally into the country. Ashley explained that Customs has a long list of games which are banned and are not to be brought into Australia, but both Ashley and Krystal have been approached by customers wishing to trade R 18+ games that have circumvented the Customs system. Apparently, people are becoming more and more clever about how they bring games into the country. Ashley has heard of instances where people put the CD in one suitcase, the manual to the game in another piece of luggage, and the case and case cover in other pieces of luggage.
Now gamers will legally purchase the titles in Australia where they are of appropriate age. They will be brought out of the black market and back into the regulated and robust title sales industry. Retailers can profit from these titles, and the industry will be recognised for what it is now. These reforms will regulate the sale and supply of such titles, and will bring them into line with the existing and well-understood classification of films. I am pleased there are strong penalties for breaching the display, sale, and supply provisions of R 18+ games to children. Naturally, enforcement is still problematic but I am confident, should a retailer act inappropriately, parents and other consumers will be quick to report them, and action will be taken.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend this bill to the House.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the members for Drysdale and Nhulunbuy for their contributions. I agree with everything they said. In the end, what we are talking about is an industry. When you look at the section on R 18+, in the categories for what is permitted, you have to ask where we are going as a society. The stuff in here is obviously promoted by big industry. There are virtually no restrictions on the treatment of themes.
- Violence is permitted. High-impact violence that is, in context, frequently gratuitous, exploitative and offensive to a reasonable adult will not be permitted. Actual sexual violence is not permitted. Implied sexual violence that is visually depicted interactive, not justified by context or related to incentives or rewards is not permitted.
But you can have all other sorts of violence.
- Depictions of actual sexual activity are not permitted. Depictions of simulated sexual activity may be permitted.
There are virtually no restrictions on language.
- Drug use is permitted. Drug use related to incentives or rewards is not permitted.
Nudity is permitted.
Generally speaking, it is material that should be legally restricted to adults. I take on the concerns of both the members for Nhulunbuy and Drysdale. The problem is - and it is a problem with R-rated and X-rated movies - you can put in here that it is an offence to leave those where someone underage can access them; however, who will police that? It is unfortunate; we are talking about an industry, as the member for Nhulunbuy said, of $1.7bn. If you really want to get to the bottom line, that is, what it is really about, it is about making money out of games that are violent, depict sex, bad language, and drug use. They are not the sort of things you think we would like to promote in our society, but that is the way society is, unfortunately.
There will always be industries that see a chance to make a buck, and they do it here. Of course they will say there is a demand, but they feed the demand, not because of some great higher ideals of helping the community but because they know people will like these types of video games and they will make money out of them. That is the bottom line.
Governments doing their best to restrict it - and the member for Drysdale showed that sometimes we are dealing with issues today that are practically unenforceable. You can buy all sorts of RC material. I know it exists. I have heard people bragging about some of the material they got from Holland. I will not repeat what is in them, but it is not real good. They are coming to Australia freely; people get them in. Once they are here people can copy them and they get around the black market. I am not making that an argument for getting rid of classification or for trying to enforce this legislation, but we live in the real world where material can be imported through the Internet or smuggled in and no one is the wiser.
To me it reflects on the state of where we are as a society when this is the sort of stuff we must bring into the country. This is the sort of stuff that is our entertainment and there are companies that make a fortune out of it. I am not speaking from much experience; my experience is more about Crash Bandicoot. I do note, which is one little positive thing, that in the Sydney Morning Herald there was an article by Jeremy Fenton, the Acting Deputy of the Classification Board, who said that in 2008-09 the board classified 1068 commercial computer games. Of these, five were classified RC, 69 MA 15+, 113 M, 256 PG and the vast majority, 625, were classified G.
So there is some hope that there are people who realise you can fun on computer games and can produce wholesome games that people can enjoy. Families can enjoy them and parents do not have to be worried about the material being put forward. I have grandchildren. I have seen the MA 15+ games and even in those you have to admit the violence is pretty realistic. The difference between games and movies is that games are two dimensional as compared to movies which are one dimensional.
You are partaking in the violence. You are partaking in drug taking, car crashing, or robbery. You are part of what is happening on the television screen because you have control over it. If I am playing Crash Bandicoot I know I can jump in the water and have to start again or I can try to get through all the different traps on the way. I have control. My skills get better as I go along. I shoot more people. I wipe them out and blow them up against the wall, which is what you see in these things. I know we compare them with movies but there is a different element to these than in movies which needs to be taken into consideration.
I have a few questions. If they need clarification I will raise them in the committee stage. I will not oppose this legislation. Obviously it has been through a lot of work. Through the states there has been a great deal of discussion. I have some of the Senate debates on it. It is a matter of reality that we need to have this extra category. Having seen MA 15+ computer games, it concerns me where are we are with an R computer game. What sort of violence will I see on that? Maybe I will have to get a couple and see what they are like. It is pretty realistic at MA 15+. On the ABC - I think it is ABC2 - there is a gaming half hour where two people compare the latest games. Obviously it is a very popular industry.
It is something that people who are expert in enjoy and I have no intention of stopping that. I am just saying there are plenty of games people can enjoy but it seems we now have to classify a group of games that are in the R rating because they are about violence, sex, drugs and bad language. It should be said that is not really something that promotes a society which is trying to uphold values. I suppose we can say we are trying to protect those values by limiting who can see them. On the other hand, we are basically making this classification because we think we should allow those sorts of values to be seen by people who are old enough to see them.
We can argue the toss over that. Freedom in Australia is very broad and people believe they have the right to see what they like, within limits, but it does not stop the argument that whilst that may be the case, is what we are trying to defend something worth defending? I doubt that. People might say there is no effect on young people. I agree with the member for Nhulunbuy that some of these shows not only could mentally affect people, but look at all the wasted time.
I know just from my side of the family the hours spent playing games. What wasted time! All right, there is an enjoyment point of view. I played tennis but I never played it 24 hours a day. I bet some kids play computer games for nearly 24 hours a day. There was a gentleman who is supposed to have died recently - I think in Korea - from playing non-stop computer games for I do not know how many days. Hopefully that does not happen, but I have no doubt there are people whose spare time does not exist unless they are playing a computer game.
There are other issues in relation to where we are going in our society. I hope young people can spend a little more time in the fresh air playing some active sport, enjoying the smell of the flowers and doing other things so they have a balanced look at life, not just playing MA 15+ or R-rated videos all the time. I would like to continue my remarks afterwards if you were intending to pause for lunch, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Debate suspended.
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Sitting Dates for 2013
Sitting Dates for 2013
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise that the sitting dates for next year have been determined by government. Some of you, I understand, may not have received them, but as a matter of priority you will receive them by mid-afternoon this day.
CLASSIFICATION OF PUBLICATIONS, FILMS AND COMPUTER GAMES AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 11)
(Serial 11)
Continued from earlier today.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I will continue from where we were before lunch in relation to the bill before us, which is the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Bill 2012. I have probably gone over enough of the issues in relation to the classification of computer games.
Whether this goes into committee I will decide by the answers I receive to the questions I have about amending section 68 under clause 7 in the bill. With the amendment, section 68 of the act would read:
Private demonstration of unclassified, RC or R 18+ computer games in presence of child
(1) A person must not demonstrate a computer game in a private place if:
- (a) the game is:
- (i) classified RC or R 18+; or
(ii) unclassified but would, if classified, be classified RC or R 18+; and
- (b) a child is present during any part of the demonstration.
The question I have is whilst that might be a fine thing to have in the legislation, how do you police that law? It is probably the same issue you have with X-rated and R-rated videos. What are the practical implications of that? How do you protect children in reality if they do not have parents who are concerned about this sort of material being around? It is an offence but it seems to be an unenforceable offence. It is in the legislation but it seems it will not happen.
My other question is related to section 71(1) of the act. I have amendments written into the existing act so I can follow it through. Under 71(1):
(1) A person must not sell or deliver a computer game to a child if the game is:
- (a) classified RC or R 18+, or
(b) unclassified but would, if classified, be classified RC or R 18+
It says, ‘must not sell or deliver a computer game to a child’. I presume that means a child under 18.
Clause 8, section 2(A) of the bill says:
- Subsection (1) does not apply if:
(a) the game is classified R 18+, or is an unclassified game that would, if classified, be classified R 18+; and
What does it matter if the child’s parent or guardian is the person delivering or selling that game to the child? Where the first part of this bill says it is an offence if you sell it to someone who is under 18, the next stage says it is okay as long as it is your parent or guardian. I thought R 18+ would be no good for a child regardless of who is the child’s parent or otherwise.
My other slightly technical question is related to the classifications of computer games. Under ‘refused classification’ in the crime or violence section of the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games – these are the games that are not allowed to be sold - it says:
- Detailed instruction or promotion in matters of crime or violence.
I thought most violence was criminal and that is one of the reasons you cannot have an RC classification. In R 18+ violence is permitted. Generally violence is a criminal activity so how does it sneak into R 18+? MA 15 + says:
- Violence should be justified by context.
The RC classification clearly says you cannot sell these videos if they have detailed instruction or promotion in matters of crime or violence. Then for R 18+ there are virtually no restrictions on the treatment of these things, violence is permitted.
So we deal with the issue of violence, to some extent, as it suits us because some of the violence I have seen on MA 15+ certainly looks like it is promoting criminal activity; they shoot people, blow them up and splatter them all over the place. We say that is not allowed in RC but I think we split hairs a little when it comes to the other classifications.
Madam Speaker, I am interested in the minister’s comments on those issues, thank you.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, I thank the honourable members for their contributions and thank the opposition for its support of this legislative package. As they quite rightly pointed out, it predates the current government. It is something the former government signed up to but it is something we would have supported on this side of the House in any instance, were we in opposition.
I thank honourable members for their efforts. Clearly a lot of work has gone into this bill by all honourable members, which I find gratifying because these are the sorts of things we do not take lightly. Since becoming a parent for the first time seven years ago, I have become a lot more attendant to these sorts of issues than I was in the past. It is funny how parenthood appraises you, and highlights in your mind matters of how you bring up children and what children are exposed to, which is what this is about.
Let us start with an observation; this is not about censorship, it is not about preventing this material coming into the community, and indeed, with the new classification of R 18+ one could argue there is less censorship involved, but there is some regulatory control over who purchases this material based exclusively on their age. I am a great believer that people, particularly adults, should be able to make up their minds as to what they view. I listened to what the member for Nelson said is in the MA 15+ games etcetera, and the material in these R 18+ games is hardly the sort of thing I would spend my hard-earned dollars on.
However, we live in a free society and in a free society if people want to be amused by such things, that is a matter for them and far be it for me to be the moral guide or judge over what people determine is necessarily for them a form of entertainment or otherwise. This is essentially what this bill captures, and whilst we still have the restricted classification in place, having seen some of the games referred to in this sort of legislation, I find it hard to imagine what qualifies for a restricted classification.
I imagine there are unseemly things which are of such a nature that we do not want people to witness them even in a form such as a storyboard, which is essentially what a game of this nature is. Such matters may be dealing with things like child pornography and offences against children, and I certainly expect and hope that censorship boards would cast a very grim eye over that sort of thing and impose a restriction. I would be surprised if there were many people who would have the courage or temerity to go in front of a classification board with material like that. I certainly hope not.
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Distinguished Visitor
Mr Mike Reed
Mr Mike Reed
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, if I could just interrupt to acknowledge and welcome a former minister and Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory parliament, the Hon Mike Reed. Welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Mr ELFERINK: Welcome Mike, it is good to see you.
Those are some of the matters that would find themselves RC, refused classification, and should not go on sale. I also pick up on the comments made by other members in this place, that this will be hard to police. If I get onto the Internet now, I suspect that without too much trouble, especially at home, I would be able to download much of the material without having to secrete it into a suitcase, or I could pay somebody in California or the Ukraine some money through my Visa card and they could supply it online.
I am not saying this will be some form of absolute legislation that will prevent this material from entering the country; however, by taking it out of the domain of the unlawful and the contraband and placing most of this material back into the domain of the respectable vendor, then at least we have the capacity to cast an eye over this material should it come into this country.
That would be an advantage. Added to that, of course, is that people ultimately have the final veto over this sort of material simply by saying, ‘No, I am not going to buy it’. Having made those observations I turn my attention, and hopefully avoid going into the committee stage, to the three questions posed by the member for Nelson.
The first one was in relation to policing. I am not going to say we will now have a classification squad actively pursuing the implementation of this legislation. But there are many offences on the statute book where that is the truth. Without going into it in any detail, those offences rely on complaint; an obvious one is the Summary Offences Act. The offences listed in the Summary Offences Act rely on something occurring before the police generally take any action, and that is, often they will rely on a complainant. That means a person offended by the material in the Summary Offences Act now - yes a police officer may be offended by a breach of the Summary Offences Act, but as often as not, a police officer will respond to a complaint.
Assaults fall into the same category in the sense that if a person is unlawfully assaulted they will make a complaint if they choose to. The vast majority of assaults - I am talking about unlawful assaults - go unrecorded and unreported. If you look at the crime statistics produced quarterly for many years, until recently, in the back there are some ABS numbers about the number of assaults not reported. They are the majority of assaults. I cannot remember the exact figure. Nothing happens when that occurs. A bloke walks into a pub, smacks another bloke in the mouth and the bloke who was smacked in the mouth decides not to make a complaint and that is pretty much the end of the matter, unless it is a domestic violence dispute, where different complications come in.
The same applies to this legislation. Where I expect there would be a response is where the police receive the complaint. A parent, for argument’s sake, who saw 12-year-old Johnny come into the room with an R 18+ game and mum says, ‘Where did you get that?’ ‘I bought it from the XYZ computer game shop. They sell it to anybody who walks in the door.’ Mum then confronts XYZ shop, which says, ‘Yes, we do not really care about that legislation, nobody polices it’.
The police can then receive the complaint and respond, in which case there is a breach of the legislation, a court determines the facts and, should the facts reveal the offence was committed, then a finding of guilt will be handed and XYZ Amusements will find themselves on the receiving end of the fine. That is generally how these things work. However, in relation to the active policing of this, it may occur from time to time, but, generally, you would be waiting for a complaint from a member of the public. It takes somebody to be offended to generate the offence, if you understand what I mean.
The second complainant dealt with capacity for a parent to allow a child to see material that otherwise the child would not be able to see under normal circumstances. Do I understand you correctly on this, member for Nelson? This is from clause 71?
Mr Wood: I am wondering why it is an offence to show a child who is under 18 when there is a parent ...
Mr ELFERINK: That is fine. The answer is this: my understanding is that a third person may not show this material to a child. However, the clause contemplated in the other circumstance a parent who exposes the children to this material, and I will give you an example on how this works. We trust parents. We believe parents are the best people to determine what their children do and does not see. I do it in my own home. My children - one is seven and one is five - are permitted to see programs which would be classified PG and, for various reasons, that classification is in place. That is something I do as a matter of discretion and because occasionally on these programs there is something sufficiently meritorious for my children to be exposed to.
I do not want the state dictating to me how or what I show to my children. I like to believe, as a responsible parent, I am capable of making a determination which says my kids should be allowed to see this PG-rated item. You then go up the scale. We are talking about MA 15+ material and R 18+ material being shown, and there is a role for a parent to determine what is appropriate and what is not appropriate, but we cannot do that as a legislative instrument.
If we try to cast this fishing net into the future and capture one type of fish through a legislative measure of this nature without knowing all the factual details the parent may consider in allowing their child to see this material or not, then that would be pushing our luck to an extreme degree.
What we are saying, essentially, is parents are in a position to make a judgment which we will rely on them to do. I do not think we, as a parliament, have a capacity - certainly in this instance - to become ex-officio parents. We trust parents and believe they should be trusted ...
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Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, if I could interrupt again please. Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Year 9 Kormilda College students accompanied by their teachers. On behalf of honourable members I express a warm welcome to you and hope you enjoy your tour and visit to Parliament House.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Mr ELFERINK: The third point the member made was not entirely dissimilar to his first point on how this stuff is policed. Once again, there is a series of processes involved. If a police officer receives a complaint from a parent where a child has purchased a video or a video game, the police respond by interviewing the games shop and the owner. There is an escalation of things that can occur; it depends on the circumstances of the case.
There are many, if you like, switches to throw, in order to escalate to the court case. The first switch to throw is how anxious the parent is to have the matter seen to. Some parents will say it was just wrong that Johnny came home with this game. ‘All right, what do you want us to do about it?’, says the police officer to the parent. The parent replies that they give them a warning as they are not that serious about it; they just did not think it should happen. At which point, the police officer can speak to XYZ Amusements and say they have received a complaint, there is an issue, remind them of the law and do not do it again otherwise there will be trouble.
That is an exercise of the police officer’s discretion, long established in common law. Indeed, it is expected by the courts that police officers use this discretionary power in dealing with these day-to-day mechanical things that happen at that level. Police, simply because they receive a complaint, are not automatically obliged to go through a process of instigating a trial and ramping it up.
However, let us say a police officer does receive a complaint and mum is a little more adamant than just giving them a warning. The police officer then has the capacity to put together a file. The next filter it goes through is the DPP, or the Summary Prosecutions as it probably would be in this case. They would determine whether or not there was sufficient evidence to support an action.
Then it goes to a court and the court has to go through all the steps of determining guilt or innocence. Even at that stage, if you have arrived at that point there is still a capacity for the court to deal with the matter in a very mild fashion. The court may choose, in certain circumstances, to find the offence proven but not enter a finding of guilt. Or they may enter a finding of guilt but not enter a conviction. Or they may enter a conviction but not proceed to sentence. Or they may proceed to sentence which might be a small fine.
There is a bunch of potential actions available to the authorities to deal with these matters. Much of it comes down to something quite simple: how bad was the offence in the first place? You know this stuff almost instinctively; you do not have to be a lawyer or a policeman to figure this out. If the purchaser is a 17-and-a-half-year-old kid who sneaks into a shop and buys an R 18+ game and the person selling the game may have had a suspicion he was not quite 18, but what the hey, it was not that serious, then you would find it would be very unlikely the thing would escalate to the degree of a conviction and serious sentence.
However, if the child was five and purchased a game called - let us pull a name out of the air - Death Race Murder Mayhem Disembowelment Sex Crime Game - clearly the response from the police would be different to the circumstances I just described. So, you have this escalation of reasonableness. That is how you deal with these sorts of things. The law will accommodate all of these variations in possibilities. The overall test - the one that really works well and is applied by the courts ad nauseam - is to step back from the case, look at it and ask if what is going on is reasonable. In the answer to that question is where you get many of your solutions. It is very hard for me to say yes, no, absolutely, absolutely not. The legislation is drafted in absolute terms but it is never policed in absolute terms. I hope that addresses the issues you have been trying to raise. If not, if we go into committee and if you want to explore it further, then we will.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
MOTION
Note Paper - Mini-Budget 2012-13
Note Paper - Mini-Budget 2012-13
Continued from earlier today.
Mr MILLS (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, on 25 August 2012, Territorians gave us a mandate to cut waste and to tackle the mismanagement of the former Labor government. Knowing we were facing a grave financial problem immediately upon assuming government, we set about gaining a full and detailed understanding of the Northern Territory’s fiscal’s position.
A first step was to establish the Renewal Management Board whose task was to fully examine the detail and recommend a way forward. This board, in conjunction with the Department of Treasury and Finance, all ministers and agency chief executives, has completed a detailed review of agency programs and finances.
This examination identified the legacy commitments inherited from the former Labor government, agency costings for our election commitments, and revenue and savings options and alternatives. These have been considered by my government and form the basis of this mini-budget.
Forward estimates indicated a prospective increase in nett debt from $2.7bn at the start of this financial year to more than $5.5bn by 2016. That debt level, as a percentage of the Northern Territory’s total revenue, amounted to almost 100%. The debt ratio is unsustainable, as is the interest to income ratio. Having that level of growing debt is like driving a car with your handbrake on. The sad reality is the Territory cannot afford such a widening gap between expenditure and revenue. The Territory cannot afford to be in a position where we constantly apply the brakes to our economy.
Territorians are witnessing the genesis of an exciting future for our resources industries, no wonder the confusion when, instead of emphasising the stepping stones toward a sustainable future, my government is recounting a tale of past incompetence.
It is quite simple, you do not max out your credit card in November in the hope you might receive a bonus to cover the debt in the New Year. This is the naivety of immaturity. The previous government had an obligation to govern properly but it did not. It did not live within its means, and I am not talking about changes at the margin. There was a massive build-up in debt as a result of the strategy of overspending and undercharging. It was a classic example of short-term gain for long-term pain with no plan in place to get out of debt, only to rely on a cheque in the mail from a GST handout.
Let me focus on my ministerial portfolios, commencing with Police, Fire and Emergency Services where our goals are to address the major crime problem - the appalling crime rates which under the Labor government soared to amongst the worst in the country - and to ensure our police force is properly resourced. Measures outlined in this mini-budget include $27.5m ongoing from 2014 to fund an additional 120 police officers, 20 of whom will be based in Alice Springs, and a fulfilment of a 2012 election commitment. Importantly, these are funded police positions. Unlike the members opposite when they were in government, we are delivering increases in police numbers over the forward estimates that are actually funded. We are not borrowing to pay public service wages, instead a program has been developed that will deliver and fund our additional police resources.
An additional $50m has been allocated over the next four years for increased police overtime, housing and information technology costs, all of which were never recognised or accounted for by the previous Labor government. There will be $2m for the upgrade of the Nightcliff Police Station, honouring our election commitment. We will spend $0.5m on the installation of CCTV cameras in Katherine. This is a significant improvement to security in the Katherine community. Security cameras will be installed in known hotspots around the town by the middle of next year and will operate as a 24-hour deterrent, sending a clear message that there is no tolerance of crime and antisocial behaviour.
There is approved funding of $1.8m in 2012-13 and $2.78m ongoing from 2013-14 for additional monitoring support in Katherine and Alice Springs, plus funding of $300 000 to conduct a safe streets audit. In 2012-13 there will be $2.5m to upgrade and transition the Alice Springs Youth Centre into a Police and Citizens Youth Club which will help keep children safe and off the streets. We will also improve security on public transport with the function of transport safety to transfer to police. This move will strengthen perception and confidence in public transport and encourage more Territorians to use our bus system.
On the other side of the coin, cost savings will total $5.6m in 2012-13, increasing to $23m a year from 2015-16, and will include: civilianising 100 positions; releasing trained police officers back to frontline roles on the beat; ceasing the Blue Light Disco program; reducing ground maintenance contractors at the Peter McAulay Centre and administrative and operational efficiencies across the agency; ceasing the first-response patrol over time as other programs overtake its service in addressing antisocial behaviour among itinerants; transitioning the Humpty Doo Fire Station to volunteer status with the current permanent fire fighters to be reassigned to other fire stations; decommissioning the Palmerston Fire Station Rescue tender as it has been replaced with a composite firefighting and rescue appliance.
To bring the Territory in line with other jurisdictions, firearms fees and charges will increase from 2013-14, providing $345 000 in increased revenue. Current charges have not changed significantly since 1996 and do not reflect the cost of providing the service. From 1 July a five-year category A or B firearm licence will rise from $35 to $105, a three-year category C firearm licence will rise from $35 to $105, a club junior licence will rise from $24 to $52.50, a three-month firearm purchase permit will increase from $17 to $52.50, and registration fees for each firearm will increase from $6 to $10.50.
The mini-budget will also provide a renewed focus on the important portfolio of Lands, Planning and the Environment. Proper strategic planning is of utmost importance to ensure the long-term future of the Northern Territory. To secure the protection of the environment is paramount.
Allocated in the mini-budget is $800 000 ongoing on an annual basis from 2012-13 to establish and operate the Planning Commission of the Northern Territory and $500 000 ongoing on an annual basis from 2012-13 to establish an independent board for the new Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NTEPA). In order to streamline the planning process and bring charges in line with other jurisdictions and the cost of delivery, development application charges will increase by an average of 35% in 2013 resulting in $140 000 in increased annual revenue in 2012-13 and $280 000 ongoing in 2013-14.
Fee increases will be applied on a graduated scale with application costs being increased more for larger developments and less for smaller developments. This new fee structure will be implemented on 1 January 2013 and is designed to increase revenue in line with the scale of development, thereby minimising the impact of increased costs to families and small businesses.
An annual subscription fee will also be implemented for major users of the Territory’s aerial imagery data, which will increase revenue by an estimated $200 000 a year from 2013-14. The mini-budget has also allocated an additional $750 000 in 2012-13 to further investigate flood mitigation measures in Rapid Creek.
This information is required before an appropriate solution can be determined which will benefit the community. There will be ongoing funding for the Department of Lands, Planning and the Environment of $190 000 per annum from 2012-13 to 2014-15 for the secondment of a Charles Darwin University demographer and economist, and additional research work.
Bushfires pose a constant threat throughout the Territory. Land resource management commitments include the following: my government will increase funding by $1m to enable Bushfires NT to increase wildfire suppression activities. My thanks go to staff and volunteers who run this valuable service.
There will be funding allocated on an annual ongoing basis to support pastoralists. The previous Labor government starved the Pastoral Land Board of adequate resources to fund the rangeland program and pastoralists were left to suffer. Better access to land condition reports will improve future decision-making with regard to pastoral leases, paddock management, and rectifying potential areas of erosion and degradation. There will be $400 000 to recruit three new rangeland monitoring officers, and $100 000 to support Pastoral Land Board operations.
As Minister for Asian Engagement, I am pleased to advise we are taking action to rejuvenate and strengthen the important relationship between the Northern Territory and Indonesia. An amount of $500 000 a year until 2015-16 has been allocated for the AusIndo Forum being established by the government working with Charles Darwin University. This is a forum where leaders from both countries will have an opportunity to liaise, share knowledge and set foundations for joint projects.
In addition, $516 000 has been allocated in the mini-budget to establish the Office of Asian Engagement this year, with $291 000 ongoing from 2013-14. This is important as there is a strong desire, both here and in Asia, to cement our links for business and trade. We have already seen significant growth in major projects in the Territory with investment from several sizeable Asian economies.
In another of my portfolio responsibilities, Public Employment, a key item contributing to the high expenditure growth of the previous Labor government was the rapid build-up in public service staff numbers. These had remained stable for many years at around 14 000 under the Country Liberals. Efficiencies in technology over the past decade should have aided the process of backroom administration, leaving frontline staff well-positioned to provide good outcomes to the community and delivering on efficiency dividends.
Instead we watched as the public service became self-perpetuating. It was like a biology text book example of an amoeba rapidly reproducing due to conditions ideal for multiplication. The Northern Territory public service slowly increased in numbers to around 16 000 and then, in 2008, there was an explosion in staff numbers when the current Leader of the Opposition, the member for Karama, became Treasurer. There can be no better summary of this failure than the ABC news report in May 2011 which read:
- The Country Liberal leader, Terry Mills has described this as a budget of deficit, debt and deceit. $387m of debt and no surplus date in sight ...
- It was a very tight budget. We’ve got restrictions across the public service; we are tightening our belt.
This is profoundly untrue because by June 2012 staff numbers were up by 25% from 2008 to nearly 20 000 and the budget deficit was almost $1bn. That is why there was an 8% growth in the Territory population, yet a 25% growth in the public sector numbers and a 50% growth in executive contract numbers.
No wonder the budget was in trouble with wages growth of around $0.5bn a year without a matching increase in revenue and no surety the increased public service was being responsive and accountable, that roles were being clearly defined and outcomes strictly measured.
Let me stress that no one questions the energy, commitment and enthusiasm of the majority of the Territory’s public servants, but efficiency of outcome and service delivery, together with the need for such rapidly increasing numbers, was questioned as the cost hit the public purse hard. This was questioned not only by the public as a whole, but also by members of the NTPS who wanted an opportunity to put forward their views and suggestions on progressing their agencies, embracing new methodologies and better efficiencies.
Similarly with capital works, despite the massive increase in federally-funded capital programs, the Territory increased its capital expenditure, further exacerbating an already precarious budget position. To top it all off, the previous Labor government financed the new position off-budget in a highly questionable and costly financial deal that will see tens of millions of dollars a year, which would have otherwise been spent in the Territory, leaving the Territory for the next 30 years.
Much of the debt was accrued through vain, self-serving political pursuits that did nothing to serve the interests of Territorians, such as the cost of maintaining Chief Minister’s offices in Palmerston and Katherine, which were nothing but expensive shopfronts. The closure of these offices and the scrapping of the Council of Territory Cooperation will contribute significant savings to Territorians.
This council was an idea that was developed by the member for Nelson, Gerry Wood, as a part of his deal to keep Paul Henderson in power. It was an expensive white elephant that failed to achieve any real outcomes for Territorians; instead, tabled reports compiled by the council at huge costs were met with minimal responses and no action from the previous government. Savings will amount to $400 000 in 2012-13, $900 000 ongoing from 2013-14 for the closure of the two offices, and $550 000 in 2012-13 and $600 000 ongoing from 2013-14 for the cessation of the Council of Territory Cooperation.
Our parliamentary colleagues are angry to find the Territory is in this situation. We are angry that the former Labor government’s unwillingness to adjust to its financial circumstances has left us in a very difficult position. Just as all the woes of lack of planning for homes for our Territorians were all blamed on one factor - the banks - instead of the many factors the former Labor government could have resolved. In the case of the Territory’s budget, the former Treasurer incessantly used the catchcry of the global financial crisis to justify her leading the Territory headlong into deficit to fund a record investment in infrastructure.
Absolutely, there was a need for careful fiscal management during the GFC. As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on 5 May 2009, the former NT Treasurer, now Leader of the Opposition, said she:
- ... expected to return a balanced budget within five years.
I have no idea which maths formula the former Treasurer and her advisors used that saw the Territory reverse from that claim three-and-a-half years ago to a debt predicted to exceed $5.5bn by 2016. By no definition can she still claim that, ‘A temporary cash deficit will result’. Instead, we now have a slow train wreck which we all have to survive. Had the former Treasurer and Labor government had an iota of fiscal responsibility we would have been set up financially for the future. Instead we have a huge debt to service and repay.
Last week in parliament, we heard the Leader of the Opposition’s plan to get the Territory back on track: hope and pray the GST recovers. Her exact words in Hansard dated 27 November were:
- We made it clear in our financial statements that we would use additional GST revenue to pay down the deficit.
The next day, the former Treasurer continued to pin her hopes on GST revenue and said:
- What that will mean in GST, of course, is you will see strengthening growth through population adjustments in future GST periods.
Just in case, the former Treasurer also noted:
- ... we have continued to be in the depressed GST scenario.
That mindset is typical of the Leader of the Opposition and goes a long way to explaining the mess we are in. What about reducing the expenses rather than solely hoping for extra income? Rather than dealing with the fanciful, it is incumbent on this government or any responsible administrator to deal with the actual, real-life situation we find ourselves in.
Fact: pre-global financial crisis, the GST pool grew, on average, 8.3%. Fact: post-global financial crisis, the GST pool grew, on average, 2.7%. All projections show a long-term shift in consumer behaviour, meaning the GST rivers of gold have largely dried up. But, Labor still has not woken up to the fact that the GST party is over and all the Territory has been left with is a massive debt hangover. However, this is not a story of just one person’s capacity to properly manage the Territory. What about the former leader of the Labor government, that very silent member for Wanguri?
On election day 25 August 2012, the Financial Review reported:
- Labor’s brand put to the test in NT elections.
Henderson’s big selling point is the economy, which is poised to grow at 4% next year.
...
If Henderson wins, federal Labor will perhaps look for lessons on how he won credit for the success of the economy.
Well he did not win and we now have had 100 days in office to uncover the depth of the economic debt he and his Labor government have purposely left us with. Territorians should be in no doubt there is a difficult journey ahead, and I want to make it very clear that we are in financial trouble. This statement cannot be reinterpreted to suit as opposition is loudly claiming along the lines of, ‘Oh well, we are a little in debt’ or ‘We are in debt because of a deliberate strategy. It is the debt we had to have’, or, ‘We are not in debt at all, it is the fault of the Renewal Management Board. They have used a different set of figures in their investigations. They are using their own set of figures.’
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move that the Chief Minister be granted an extension of time, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr MILLS: I thank honourable members. There is no justification for the former Labor government’s incompetence. In the corporate world the rule is that you have a positive duty to prevent your company trading if it is insolvent and before you incur a new debt you must consider whether you have reasonable grounds to suspect that the company will become insolvent as a result of incurring the debt.
The responsibility of a good government is to make tough decisions on behalf of the community to provide frontline services and continue job-creating investments. Not to impact on a fragile economy but to build that economy into a stronger position.
Although our initial goal is to stop the deterioration in the Territory’s fiscal position, that alone will not remove the huge debt mountain. I apologise to my fellow Territorians. We have been left in a position where there is no choice but to do these things, although we fully understand these actions will impact on the community. We will, therefore, be working with a strong focus on strategies to address returning the Northern Territory to prosperity in the 2013-14 budget and onwards.
There is no alternative. We must live within our means. Even in Parliament House considerable savings can be made by ceasing redundant practices and improving efficiency. For example, measures such as:
cost efficiencies in security to save $12 000 in 2012-13, $47 000 ongoing from 2013-14, noting that no jobs will be lost
It has been illuminating to find, as we approach this distressing task of bringing the budget back under control, that virtually every public service chief executive has said they knew this had to happen. Those entrusted with spending the money knew the Territory was in trouble but their warnings went unheeded as the previous Labor government did nothing about fixing the problem.
Therefore, this government has been required to make a range of very significant decisions in a relatively short period of time which are all directed at overcoming the financial mess we have inherited. An important aspect of the future budget strategy will be for all agencies - with particular attention to the major frontline output agencies - to undertake a process of continual improvement to ensure services are being efficiently delivered at the lowest cost whilst maintaining required standards.
The Department of Health is a particular case in point as this agency has the largest budget. Being predominantly frontline in nature, the only way savings can be affected is by finding different ways to perform necessary functions. As announced in the House last week, the department has already embarked on the extensive program of review.
Let me stress some of the significant resolutions made by my government. In 2012-13 we are committed to:
developing the Palmerston hospital with $10m that is earmarked this financial year for stage 1, and we will work with that
This is a deeply thought-out, well-considered mini-budget. It has the objective of bringing the budget back into balance rather than relying on the GST in uncertain times. Any recovery will work in our favour to reduce debt.
I commend the Treasurer on her leadership on these very difficult issues and commend the statement to the House.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I am delighted to stand in this parliament to contribute to the debate on the Treasurer’s statement regarding the mini-budget, the first budget for the Mills government since its election just over three months ago.
In highlighting the fact we have been in government for such a short time, I take the opportunity to offer my congratulations to the Treasurer, the member for Araluen, for producing this budget in such good time and under very difficult circumstances, including the very difficult financial circumstances we find ourselves in here in the Northern Territory.
There is no doubt in my mind that we have uncovered a most shocking fiscal position in the Northern Territory, the legacy of the former Labor government. There is a debt of some $2.7bn at the end of 2011-12 with the real prospect of that debt doubling and blowing out to $5.5bn in just a few years’ time ...
Ms Walker: Rubbish!
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: ... had nothing changed on 25 August. That equates collectively, at present, to every Territorian forking out $750 000 every day just to pay the interest bill.
Unchecked and in the hands of the former Treasurer, who was the worst Treasurer the Northern Territory had seen since self-government, that interest repayment would have blown out to somewhere in the vicinity of $1.1m every day 2015-16. That is $1.1m of interest every day that we would have been paying had nothing changed on 25 August and the former Treasurer had her way with the Territory finances.
Ordinary Territorians have asked, and have the right to ask, what better things that interest payment could be spent on. They are also asking why they are only now finding out the true state of affairs. These are very fair questions.
But that is not the worst of it. It is not really that we, as the new government, have inherited this fiscal position, we have but inherited the responsibility to make the tough decisions to fix the mess left behind by Labor. That is what we have inherited as stewards of the Territory’s finances. But the worst of it is that now Territorians actually own this mess. They own the debt, they own the deficit, they own those interest payments.
Can you imagine buying your dream home and finding the joists and bearers have been eaten out by white ants? You invested your life savings into your dream home only to start a few renovations and find that the structure has been eaten out. That is what the former government left behind: a structure that had been eaten out and needs immediate attention and remediation. Hard decisions have to be made to replace those joists and bearers, at significant cost mind you, so we can fix the structure and make the house solid again.
That is what the new government must now do: repair the financial structure of the Territory, find ways to reduce the long-term impost on Territorians, and fix the house. That is the job we take on seriously and with dogged determination. With that in mind the wisdom of government comes from allocating its resources as an enabler to create wealth and grow the economy. The Mills government is creating a three-hub economy as we speak. I am delighted to have ministerial responsibilities for two of those three hubs. Mining and energy, and food production and export are two of the critical areas to growing the Territory’s economy and creating wealth.
Our primary industry and fisheries generated $513m towards the NT economy in 2011-12, including cattle at about $287m and horticulture at about $139m. In addition, expenditure on recreational and charter fishing is estimated at some $90m, and the number of fishing tourists in the NT has doubled in the past decade.
Significantly, our primary industry and fisheries have capacity for further development and growth. That is why these industries are integral to the government’s three-hub economy. Importantly, they can support growth in regional areas and improve opportunities for Indigenous Territorians.
The Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries programs are about growing the Territory: about industries, jobs, food security, regional development and creating real Indigenous opportunity. They are also about maintaining our social and lifestyle values with fishing and tourism as a vital part of that whole. My Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries performs a range of essential regulatory functions and biosecurity services, and delivers a range of fundamental research, development, and industry support and extension programs. This government recognises the significance of these industries and their real capacity for further development and growth. That is why we are committed to funding core services that support our growing cattle, agriculture and fishing industries.
In addition to maintaining these services, I am pleased to announce funding for a number of new initiatives, including Ord Stage 3.
The Chief Minister has announced the Ord development work has been raised to major project status. The Western Australian government has invested over $300m from its Royalties for Regions program to extend the irrigation channel to within 6 km of the NT border. This leading infrastructure investment by the WA government, and the Australian government’s contribution of $195m to social infrastructure in Kununurra, has created an opportunity.
The opportunity focuses on the development of new agricultural land and the establishment of a new industry in the north. The Territory government will work with the WA and Commonwealth governments under a newly signed - on 23 November this year - memorandum of understanding to facilitate investment in the development of agriculture in this region.
The WA government has completed a rigorous process to select its preferred proponent, Kimberley Agricultural Investment. It will now enter a period of one-on-one negotiations with KAI to finalise the development agreement. There is much work to be done in consulting with the native title holders, environmental approvals, and working through the commerciality of the development.
Selection of a proponent is still some time off for the Territory and there will be more announcements to come in this regard. However, this government will work hard to facilitate the development of this area and to realise the benefit for the local people, regional stakeholders and the NT economy as a whole.
This government has allocated $400 000 of new money to establish an Ord Development Unit within the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries to undertake this work. A cross-agency task force will also be established and shared by the Chief Executive of the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries.
Food is one of the three hubs of our economic development plan and our investment in this project demonstrates we are serious about agricultural development in the Northern Territory. The Ord is just the start as we grow that sector, and I am excited about the future of agriculture in the Territory under a government that cares. We care about the land and the people on it. We recognise the values they espouse and the value of their collective contribution to the Northern Territory.
When I compare the work being done by the new government in pushing this project and having its development come along, I think about the work done by the former government, which amounted to four-fifths of very little. An article in The Australian this morning reported a meeting between the Chief Minister and Simon Crean, the federal Minister for Regional Australia. He said he supports the project. Obviously he does, he is the one who was able to facilitate so much money being spent in Kununurra. He also supports the concept of a railway line between Kununurra. The article says Darwin but it is Katherine because the one to Darwin already exists.
In three months of being in government, we have managed to secure funding for an Ord Development Unit, set the Territory on the right path and obtained commitments from the federal government over this, at least in providing their support. Yet, I do not recall seeing any media releases issued by the former government with respect to the Ord, which is shameful.
Moving on to Fisheries, this government will provide funding to support a number of major requirements identified under the Recreational Fishing Development Plan. Regional fishing surveys are a very important part of this. A significant injection of funding has been provided to improve information on recreational fishing to ensure the Territory’s most iconic pastime can be maintained and developed strategically into the future.
Ongoing funding of $220 000 will be provided from 2013-14 to undertake regular and more detailed surveys of recreational fishing catch and effort. This information will also support Blue Mud Bay negotiations. These surveys will provide us with much of the very important information and data which will contribute to the making of decisions around our fisheries for the future of Territory fishers and those who would visit the Territory and our pristine environments.
Also essential to the future sustainability and health of our fisheries is fishing and boating safety education. There will be funding of $50 000 in 2012-13 and $20 000 ongoing from 2013-14 to develop a comprehensive awareness and education program. This will include matters such as sustainability, fish handling, environmental stewardship, and boating safety to improve community awareness and guide behaviour.
Ongoing renewal and new fishing infrastructure is an important part of making the Territory fisheries easier to access. That is why we have allocated funding of $4.5m in 2013-14 for construction of a new recreational fishing boat ramp facility. Dundee Beach has been identified as the potential location. However, we will be consulting with the Amateur Fishermen’s Association and the recreational fishing advisory committee for the best use of those funds.
In addition, government has approved funding of $80 000 in 2013-14 to undertake a comprehensive study to identify potential new areas for a boat ramp site at Shady Camp. A further $50 000 will be made available in 2014-15 for a review of potential new ramp sites in the Darwin suburban area ...
Ms Walker: Do you have $1.5m for Gove? It was promised.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: $1.5m for Gove? Tell me about that one, I do not know about that.
In recognition of the significance of recreational fishing as an iconic part of the NT lifestyle, this government has approved $30 000 ongoing from 2012-13 to establish and support a recreational fishing ministerial advisory council to provide strategic advice on management and development of our recreational fisheries. The advisory council will be a conduit directly to the minister and will provide strategic-level advice on the future direction of the fisheries of the NT, something which is vital to ensuring fishing in the Territory is as good in 100 years as it is today.
This government will also establish an awards program for recreational fishing to recognise outstanding contributions to that sector. This program will be developed in consultation with AFANT and the newly-approved recreational fishing ministerial advisory council.
On the commercial fishing front, this government has approved funding to cover the cost of buying back commercial fishing licences required to appropriately adjust the commercial barramundi fishery with respect to the closure of Finke, Chambers and Adam Bays and the northern part of Fog Bay. The funding will also provide for appropriate offsets for the impact of historic closures in that fishery, something the previous government failed to do.
In addition, this government will work with the commercial sector to develop their industry and give it the professional status it deserves. The commercial sector, including the fisheries around barramundi, threadfin salmon and the many important reef species, is an important component of the overall fishing picture in the Northern Territory. We commit to working closely with the commercial sector to help it become more efficient and effective.
This government has also endorsed negotiating access outcomes with traditional owners, and three agreements covering waters in the Daly, McArthur and part of Anson Bay will commence on 1 January 2013. The Northern Land Council and Anindilyakwa Land Council have also extended the interim access arrangements until 30 June 2013 to allow negotiations with traditional owners to continue.
With respect to Blue Mud Bay, we, like the relevant land councils, enter and continue negotiations in good faith. I am looking forward to working with the TLC, the Northern Land Council and the Anindilyakawa Land Council on this very important matter.
At the same time, government provides a wide range of animal and plant biosecurity services across primary industry and fisheries areas. Fees will be introduced on 1 January 2013 for a range of animal and plant biosecurity services, making the Territory the last jurisdiction in Australia to introduce these types of fees. These include:
animal - tick inspections and horse spraying for ticks
plant - authorising, certifying or providing inspections to growers for interstate market access
fishing - inspections of vehicles for marine pests.
For this reason, mining and energy forms an integral part of the government’s plan for a three-hub economy. Despite the critical importance of this industry to the Territory economy, the Department of Mines and Energy has been required to implement significant efficiencies and reductions in staff and service in recent years due to budget cuts by the previous government.
Just last week I told this House that while the general public service numbers from 2005 until now grew by around 25%, the collective Department of Resources full time equivalents fell by around 16% ,with individual agencies, including Mines and Energy, falling by similar figures.
I find it astonishing that a department that supports such a significant and important part of the Territory’s economy was so raped and pillaged by the former Labor government. They should hang their heads in shame. This has led to the department being under resourced to appropriately regulate the mining and petroleum industries. I wonder if the former minister and the former government really did learn the lessons from Montara.
This underfunding of the Department of Mines and Energy has also decreased the opportunities to grow the industry’s contribution to the Territory economy by diverting money away from programs to increase exploration investment such as the Bringing Forward Discovery exploration initiative.
The department has identified $1.7m in ongoing commitments that are currently unfunded, which is disgraceful. Worse still, many of these are non-discretionary activities relating to the regulation and development of the mining and petroleum sectors.
You asked for it last week, member for Karama, Opposition Leader, so I am pleased to announce that these unfunded commitments have been included as additional funding in DME’s budget allocation on an ongoing basis to provide a more appropriate level of ongoing funding for the department to regulate and grow our largest industry.
In addition, the department is investigating a range of innovative measures to raise additional revenue without significantly impacting on the Territory’s competitiveness in attracting resources investment. These revenue measures can assist in offsetting budget increases for the DME and contributing to the broader Northern Territory government budget savings.
A process of planning and industry consultation will occur prior to the implementation of any new revenue measures. The Territory is currently undergoing an unprecedented level of interest in on-shore petroleum activity, particularly for unconventional petroleum such as shale gas. A large proportion of the regulation of on-shore petroleum is currently unfunded, as under the previous government the cost of on-shore petroleum regulation was off-set by Commonwealth funding for off-shore petroleum regulation which was withdrawn at the beginning of this calendar year.
Mrs LAMBLEY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I request an extension of time for the member, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and honourable members.
Shamefully, the former government did nothing to address this shortfall. They allowed on-shore petroleum regulation to remain unfunded. But from this financial year the new government, the Mills government, will fund an additional $0.68m ongoing to allow for best practice regulation of this important emerging industry. This additional funding will ensure that DME is appropriately funded to implement best practice regulation of new drilling technologies, including fracking, to ensure any community concerns around the application of these new technologies are addressed.
This government is also committing an additional $0.45m ongoing to address unfunded commitments in the environmental regulation of mineral exploration and mining in the Northern Territory. This is a commitment to the safety and integrity of the environment, backed by something real. A funding commitment that gives credence to the words I have used for the past few months: that the Territory is open for business, that we want to streamline processes, but not at the expense of the environment. This will include ensuring that mine sites are appropriately audited, and that the department is resourced to ensure environmental approvals occur within acceptable time frames. Ensuring best practice regulation is a priority of this government, but it is equally important to implement programs to stimulate and grow the Northern Territory’s largest industry.
In a globally competitive environment, the Territory government needs to ensure the Northern Territory is an attractive destination for minerals and petroleum investment, especially for exploration which will find the Territory’s next generation of mines. Notwithstanding his veneer-thin rhetoric, the former minister was either unable or unwilling to have important investment programs such as this funded discretely. In recognition of the importance of the stimulus effect investment programs have, this new government is providing additional ongoing funding of $0.15m for unfunded commitments for the pre-competitive geoscience initiative, and another $0.15m in ongoing funding for the international mineral investment strategy.
Mr Vatskalis: Why do you not say $150 000?
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Well, whatever you like. I pick up on the interjection from the member for Casuarina. It does not matter whether I say $150 000 or $0.15m, you did not fund it. The former minister did not have the capacity to convince his Cabinet colleagues to put aside some additional funding in the budget so the Mines and Energy department could be funded appropriately.
It is disappointing, from my perspective, to see and hear from my department how the morale had been devastated because they have had to work on these programs - great brainstorms from the other side. I acknowledge that having an international investment strategy is a great idea. Having a strategy that assists with pre-competitive geoscience is also a great idea, but it came at the cost of environmental regulation.
The Labor party is supposed to be, along with their green mates, the steward of the environment, yet this former minister allowed his department to fall into such a state of disrepair that they were unable to meet all those requirements. So this former minister can interject all he likes, but at the end of the day he was an ineffectual minister and did not have the ticker or the capacity to be able to convince his Cabinet to fund his department properly. You should be ashamed of yourself.
An additional $280 000 will be dedicated to cover unfunded commitments relating to the grant and administration of mineral titles and the administration of the department. The additional ongoing funding for the Department of Mines and Energy reflects this government’s commitment to growing the industry as a key hub of the Territory’s economy into the future.
I am proud of the work done across the Primary Industry and Fisheries and Mines and Energy departments. Those working in the departments are dedicated and hard-working. Having met so many of them in the past few months, I have come to realise many of them live to come to work to be involved in such an important part of the Territory’s fabric and want to contribute to supporting the growth of the economy. The neglect and damage inflicted on my departments over the last 11 years is visible for all to see. This mini-budget is the start of the work of the new executive government to redress those matters. This is an exciting time for the Territory and the future is even brighter.
Madam Speaker, I am very pleased I am working with my departments in such a meaningful way to be a big part of that bright shiny future for the Territory.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, I will make a few comments about the mini-budget because, needless to say, it also reflects on my portfolio areas. Before I do however, I listened with interest to something the Minister for Mines and Energy said and an interjection from the member for Nhulunbuy. The Minister for Mines and Energy talked about the $5.8bn debt situation and there was a gruff retort from the member for Nhulunbuy saying, ‘Rubbish, bah, humbug’, or words to that effect; I am verballing her a little. It was rubbish; however, I want to draw the member for Nhulunbuy’s attention to a couple of documents.
The first is the pre-election fiscal outlook report where, in the non-financial public sector balance sheet, there is a debt situation described in the Northern Territory of nearly $5.6bn - $5.5bn if you do the roundings - and the RMB has subsequently reported that the situation in the forward projections is worse than that, upon which I presume the minister places his comments in relation to the $5.8bn.
The great tragedy is that part of the previous government’s attitude up until now has been this ‘bah, humbug’ attitude. You get these retorts all the time saying, ‘You are full of nonsense and waffle’. That they sit there and snort and grumpily dismiss the comments made by the Treasurer, the Chief Minister and other ministers on this side of the House, indicates they do not believe the numbers. I draw the member for Nhulunbuy’s attention to the pre-election financial fiscal outlook prepared by Treasury prior to the last election. There for all to see in the non-financial public sector balance sheet are the numbers the minister for Mines was pointing out.
The great tragedy of all this pain is that when I look at the mini-budget and go to the non-financial public sector balance sheet I see that for the financial year 2015-16 the debt situation for the non-financial public sector will be $4.35bn. That is a great tragedy because that is a worse situation than we have now. This reveals that we will increase debt as the government, even after all the pain we have inflicted. Why? Because we cannot inflict any more pain. We have reached the threshold of what is tolerable yet we will still be increasing debt because we have to meet the obligations carried over to us by the former government.
I cannot begin to imagine how a government could, with a straight face, say it was all under control when we, as a government, have to make tough decisions which inflict so much pain only to find ourselves in a situation where our debt will still increase by $900m over the forward estimates. The difference is, what it will not do is increase by several billion dollars over the forward estimates. We are trying to trade our way out of a situation we have inherited. I cannot begin to imagine how government members can sit there with straight faces and say we do not have to cause all this pain, it will all do it by itself. Even when we cause the pain, we still have not stopped the haemorrhage. That is the part I find astonishing.
For the general government sector the story is pretty much the same in the mini-budget; we will still end up with more debt than we have today, but it will be contained. The only thing that gives me comfort about the decisions we have had to make is to be found in the cash flow statements. The general government sector cash flow statement finally says, outside the forward estimates, in the year 2015-16 we will have a small, modest cash surplus of $9.7m because it will take us four years just to stop the debt from growing.
I cannot fathom, no matter how I hold the opposition’s arguments up to the light, particularly in the light of the difficult and tough decisions we have had to make on behalf of Territorians, how the government can assert setting the debt up by billions into the forward estimates based on their own documents, their own future projections. I find it incomprehensible that they can say it will sort itself out and is all cruising, and in the next statement say we have been too tough.
If we were being really tough and trying to haul in the debt situation legacy in one or two years then we would have had to apply an unacceptable level of pain to the people of the Northern Territory, something they probably would not have been able to tolerate. As it is, it is difficult enough for them to tolerate, and I understand and appreciate that. However, we, as a responsible government, have to avoid what is proposed for the future. If you go back to the government’s budget for 2012-13 of only a few months ago, the debt situation in the non-financial public sector balance sheet goes from the 2011-12 estimate of $2.8bn to $5.6bn. They were doubling the debt and saying it was all under control. That is in their budget papers.
They complain about something they knew about. What really bothers me is when you point this out to them they just say: ‘Phh! Huh! Humbug! Nonsense! Never happening!’ Well, it was happening, it is happening, it is very real. The former government is one of two things: they either knew they would have to make the same decisions we have had to make and they are not being honest about it, or they were so thunderously incompetent they did not see what should have been as plain as the noses on their faces.
Getting on with the matters pertaining to my departments, the first thing I will say about my department, the former Department of Justice, when it was inherited by this government is that it was unwieldy to say the least. I ask honourable members to picture this: the former department would have had a CEO, a boss. That CEO would have been answerable to a minister which, of course, would have been the minister in charge of the Department of Justice. However, I looked at the organisation chart of the former Department of Justice and noted that the CEO was answerable to five ministers: Hon Karl Hampton, Hon Delia Lawrie, Hon Rob Knight, Hon Gerry McCarthy and Hon Kon Vatskalis.
I am trying to imagine in what space a CEO of a department could conceivably be expected to report to five bosses, which is precisely how the organisation chart operated. Small wonder that when we came into government we did something that should not be rocket science, but apparently for the members opposite it was.
This is the proposed organisation chart. It is one I pulled out of a book recently and it is my October version. We are still working on refining it, but the outstanding thing is, the CEO is answerable to one minister, Hon John Elferink. That makes, I imagine, the CEO’s life much more simple, but not only that, it makes governance of the matters of justice in the Northern Territory much more straightforward. I regularly speak to my CEO. The CEO responds to my requests, comments on a regular basis, and there is no confusion. He knows what I expect of him. I know what he expects of me. We talk to each other and communicate without having to worry about what other ministers are saying. If there is a problem in my department that the Chief Minister or other ministers wish to raise with me, they talk to me, I talk to my CEO, and we take it from there.
In the past, if there was a problem in the department and the Chief Minister of the day needed to talk to one of the ministers, it was a lucky dip. Who do I talk to about this issue? I imagine there would have been crossed lines everywhere. What surprises me most about this is that with all of those ministers so little seems to have been done. I heard the response from the member for Barkly during Question Time today, and I apologise to the member for Barkly for getting short with him but it did drive an irritation with me when I outlined the amount of legislation being advanced and he, by way of a frivolous interjection, suggested it was leftover stuff from the former government.
Why on earth was I trying to pass a bill in this House a few weeks ago on enabled legislation which had been passed in this House in 2011? Why was that still being done by me? Why was there no pool of magistrates upon which I could draw to put relieving magistrates in place? Why was there no pool of magistrates in Alice Springs where I could do the same thing?
There was no shortage of administrative shortcomings I had to attend to on day one. They were legacy items from a former government which seemed – with the attention of five ministers - to have forgotten that the primary function of the Department of Justice, as it was at the time, was to make sure the administration of justice operated effectively in the Northern Territory.
I have taken steps to ensure the administration of justice is being performed effectively in the Territory, as is demanded of me by the legislation that establishes my office. Moreover, not only have I done so, but I have ensured we deal with the core elements of the administration of justice first. When you are busy trying to run a three-ring circus under a big top like that organisational chart – I am referring to the prior one for the Hansard record – then small wonder things get missed, like making sure there are effective amounts of money available for the administration of justice in the Northern Territory.
That is one of the reasons the government chose to remove Correctional Services from under the Justice banner and make it its own freestanding department so that: (1) the Commissioner for Correctional Services could report directly to the Minister for Correctional Services, and (2) Correctional Services was removed from the function of the Attorney-General, because they are fundamentally different functions.
On page 41 of the mini-budget document you can see there are variations to the budget of the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice. We are making some tough calls in the area of the Attorney-General’s department, and I appreciate that, but unfortunately these are matters we have to attend to. The disbanding of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Tribunal and the Substance Misuse Assessment and Referral for Treatment - or SMART Court, as it is known - and the court clinicians, is a decision that was not taken lightly. But according to the last annual report from the Department of Justice, in the lower courts there were 10 450 matters heard. The $2m that goes on the SMART Court budget and the associated clinician budget has to be put into context. Bearing in mind that with 10 500-odd criminal matters going before the courts last financial year, the SMART Court, with an expenditure in the order of about $2m, had 230 referrals to it, of which only 146 were accepted. Of the 146 some are still on track. Fifty-two people were graduated and 37 of those discontinued.
At the moment we have 10 450 matters going before the lower courts and the SMART Court, which consumes a substantial amount of income, graduates 52 people through its program. I understand what is being attempted with therapeutic jurisprudence, but in reality it is insufficient bang for buck in these fiscal times to enable the Northern Territory government to continue down this path.
Sad as that will be to the Chief Magistrate, I am sure, that is the truth of the matter. We are obliged to also look at how we can fix the court cells to look after juvenile prisoners and that costs money. To run the lower courts costs money. To run courts like the SMART Court costs money. The increasing paperwork demands placed on police by the court system mean we have to employ more police officers, which costs money.
At some point, when there are insufficient funds in the kick, tough decisions have to be made, and this is one of them. To put it into context, I notice in the mini-budget that of the overall budget of $25.5m, the 52 graduated people from the SMART Court - the court which consumes about $2m - consumed 10% of the courts’ income. That probably gives us a reasonable position or a reasonable understanding, if you like, of the fiscal reality behind the decision we have made.
The other ministerial portfolio for which I have responsibility and carriage has not done badly in the mini-budget process. I note that the Correctional Services overall budget for the year budgeted 2012-13 was $139m and for Correctional Services in the mini-budget is $144m, which is an increase of $5m.
We intend, on this side of the House, to start lobbying as soon as possible, the federal government in particular, to pursue a few ideas which are valuable in changing the way we deal with prisoners. I know some initial work was done by the former government and I would have been anxious to see them ramp that work up; however, and what concerned me most, Stronger Futures seemed to have completely passed by the former minister as a source of funding through which some of this work could be done. Nevertheless, we will persevere on this side of the House. I had the opportunity to lobby Simon Crean, literally in the lobby of this building, recently about some of the ideas I and this government would like to pursue. He seemed interested, so I am trying to get into see other federal ministers to demonstrate the value of some of the ideas we have.
Should the federal government condescend to cast a benevolent eye upon our lobbying, perhaps some of the programs that should be run under the department of Corrections banner could be ramped up even more quickly. Should the federal government see the wisdom of this approach and support what we are trying to do in the Northern Territory, particularly with outcomes for Indigenous people and Indigenous prisoners, I would congratulate it.
I thank minister Crean for taking the time to speak to me, unexpected as the conversation was, and I look forward to meeting with other federal ministers shortly. I hope they open their diaries to me because I am anxious to use this precious opportunity - a ministry - for the good and betterment of the people of the Northern Territory and, for what we all pray for every morning Madam Speaker, the true welfare of the people of the Northern Territory.
Mr CHANDLER (Business): Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I describe the tough but necessary actions this government is taking to tackle the legacy of a crippling debt left by the former Labor government.
We have heard the Treasurer speak about the unsustainable level of debt burden and the need to take action to rectify the Territory’s fiscal position. This government has worked tirelessly to prepare the mini-budget and ensure the Territory remains an attractive place to invest and create jobs. Savings will be achieved by reviewing delivery of a range of programs to increase efficiencies, as well as careful examination of recruitment practices. No frontline services will be impacted upon.
The department will also ensure, where staff or resources are required to deliver Australian government funded programs, the costs are apportioned appropriately. General operational efficiencies in the department will save $670 000 ongoing from 2012-13.
Prime Minister Thatcher put it well when she said:
- This week has demonstrated that we are a party united in purpose, strategy and resolve.
That was not demonstrated in recent times by the opposition. We have all heard the ill-informed hysteria Labor that has been whipping up since becoming the opposition. I would prefer to hear practical solutions which can help Territory families and businesses.
The Department of Housing provides housing-related services to many of the most vulnerable Territorians, and it is fair to say that identifying savings measures was difficult. Nevertheless, the department has identified a range of cost saving measures and revenue options starting in 2012-13 through to 2015-16. Savings will be achieved by reviewing delivery of a range of programs to increase efficiencies as well as careful examination of recruitment practices. As I said, no frontline services will be impacted upon.
General operation efficiencies in the department will save $670 000 ongoing through 2012-13. A more efficient Department of Housing with improved rent structures and appraisals to our public housing stock will ensure Territorians in need will have better access to housing services.
The Country Liberals government has reviewed government employee housing and public housing to maximise the efficient use of assets. In 2012-13, an estimated $2.3m will be returned to the government from sales of employee housing. The sale of employee housing will occur in locations only where there is sufficient supply of good private rental houses that staff can have access to, primarily in Darwin and Alice Springs. It makes good business sense for the government to allow the private rental market to meet demand and is also in accordance with policy. Employees who are entitled to subsidised rental accommodation through their enterprise bargaining agreement will continue to be honoured by the private rental market.
Essential workers will be able to be supported through the Real Housing for Growth plan which will offer better accommodation with improved amenities. We will support an additional 2000 affordable homes with the Real Housing for Growth plan. The Real Housing for Growth plan will make public housing subsidies go further while enabling developers to target support where it is most needed.
It will see the construction of 2000 affordable and industry homes across the Territory over the next four years. It will enable developers and investors to build, own and manage new housing by the government’s guarantee to headlease properties for up to 15 years. It will include potential for government land contribution. It will be targeted at essential workers to keep them in the Territory by providing a 30% discount on the median area market rent.
As I previously described, essential workers include the caring nurses at our hospital, the apprentice mechanic repairing our cars, the young teacher educating our children, the person making our morning coffee, and those serving us a cold beverage at the end of the day. They are young families and others who are being squeezed out of the rental market but who contribute to our growing local economy.
It is estimated that in 2013-14 sales of government employee housing will bring in around $3.45m. The Department of Housing will work with agencies and their employees to help identify appropriate private rental accommodation. Some properties will be offered to employees currently residing in them at an agreed Australian Valuation Office valuation. The sales of these properties will also reduce any ongoing maintenance liability.
Public housing rents will be increased in 2014 for tenants with incomes over their eligibility limit. Approximately 10% of current urban public housing tenants are ineligible for public housing due to their household income. Current public housing rent setting results in a revenue loss around $4m per annum which the Northern Territory government effectively subsidises. Ten percent of people living in our homes today earn more than they should for living in Territory Housing properties. It is a good news story because these people really should be the ones moving on to the private rental market. We can and will be working with those people.
The bottom line is though, when we have lists as long as our arm of genuine people in need of public housing, we need to be far better in the way we manage the existing stock. This revenue strategy involves public housing tenants who are no longer eligible for public housing and are paying public housing market rent.
In 1998, it was determined that public housing market rents would be based on annual advice from the Australian Valuation Office. On average, the public housing market rent derived by the AVO is around 25% less than private rental dwellings. In 2006, a decision was made by the former Labor government that market rent increases for ineligible tenants would be capped at no more than $20 per annum.
The result of an ill-conceived decision means, in some instances, that ineligible housing tenants are now paying less a proportion of their income in weekly rent than low-income eligible tenants. This is clearly inequitable. It also means public housing market rents have been kept artificially low and have not kept pace with market rents which have risen in the private sector.
Not keeping pace has resulted in a disincentive for ineligible public housing tenants to enter the private market. There are currently 432 ineligible tenants living in public housing today. If all of these tenants were required to pay full market rent based on a rent valuation by the Australian Valuation Office, the increased revenue would have been estimated at around $4.1m per annum. It is recognised that some ineligible tenants may not be able to afford a full market rent charge, and that is why the cap has been set at 30% of weekly income or AVO market rent, whichever is the lower.
The rent revenue increase is estimated to be around $2.5m per annum, while ineligible tenants remain in public housing. This is $2.5m per annum that could be used to improve ageing public housing stock. No doubt, this decision will not be popular with ineligible tenants who have enjoyed artificially low market rents for a number of years. Currently, statistics show that 14% of people are over the limit by between $300 and $499 per week; 9% of people are over the limit by between $500 and $999 per week; and 4% of people are over the limit by over $1000 per week.
The difference between the average public housing rent per week and Australian average Valuation Office market rent per week for a three-bedroom property is $88 per week in the Arnhem district, $110 per week in Katherine, $120 per week in Alice Springs, and $205 per week in the Darwin region. It is hard to justify subsidising households that can afford to pay a reasonable rent while there are 3000 eligible applicants on the waiting list.
Tenants who do not pay AVO market rent could elect to move into the private sector or register for accommodation with the Venture Housing Company. Public housing rents charged as a percentage of income in the Territory are the lowest in the nation: between 14% and 23%. However, the costs of providing public housing services are increasing. The lower the cost of rent, the fewer funds there are to undertake essential maintenance works. That is a fact. A minor increase of 1% in urban, remote and town camps will be implemented from 2013 and will be aligned with other jurisdictions across Australia. This will bring in an additional $150 000 in 2012-13 and $300 000 ongoing from 2014.
The impact of an increase of 1% for remote and urban tenants currently paying a rebated rent will result in an increase of rent of around $1 per week for seniors, singles and couples on a Centrelink benefit. The increase would also be $1 per week for a single parent with one child on a Centrelink benefit and a couple with two children would experience a rent increase of around $1.50 per week. The $300 000 of additional revenue in rent per annum will assist in meeting repairs and maintenance costs. We are facing increasing maintenance costs and other expenditure in our public housing dwellings. While rents have lagged behind in the Territory our expenses have increased. We will keep the same spending level on our public housing and will look at measures to improve our stock and sell costly ageing homes.
I have previously spoken of my intention to improve all aspects of remote housing delivery, including providing local community-based solutions aimed at increasing the involvement of community residents and reducing the inefficiencies in heavy bureaucracy, administration and expensive travel costs associated with servicing our important remote communities. Work is underway to improve the delivery and management of remote housing in the Northern Territory. The additional $14m the Treasurer announced will be welcome over the next four years to improve homeland housing and municipal and essential services. This is in addition to the current funding committed for those services.
While this funding will improve remote housing standards, it will be conditional on local community members sending their kids to school and participating in homelands economy. This government wants to ensure improved opportunities exist for local Indigenous business enterprises and the employment of Indigenous workers. We look to develop the capacity for local people in remote communities to deliver more of the housing works, both in construction, and in repairs and maintenance.
I previously spoke of the successful negotiations with the Australian government and a commitment under the Stronger Futures National Partnership Agreement to a further $230m in Australian government funding to bring all remote houses in the Territory to a safe and habitable standard. The work under this government will also include replacing remote housing in poor condition across the Territory, including smaller communities that have not seen new houses under SIHIP. I will work with the Australian government to ensure the proposed next stage of works delivers a better standard of amenity and durability in remote houses achieved under the Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program, commonly referred to as SIHIP.
This government has also examined existing housing assistance loans and will be realigning some loan interest rates, adding $376 000 to revenue in 2012-13 and $752 000 ongoing from 2013-14.
The Country Liberals’ government has moved to reform the assistance given to first homebuyers to better support first homebuyers at the lower end of the market and to create the right market conditions to ensure housing construction increases at an affordable rate. These measures are about better targeting the Northern Territory government’s programs to ensure they are supporting would-be new homebuyers.
The reforms announced as part of the mini-budget will stimulate building and make homes more affordable for Territorians. As of today, the following changes apply:
the first homebuyers grant will be increased to $25 000 for new homes in the greater Darwin, Palmerston, and Darwin rural areas
These changes will stimulate building activity, particularly in the more affordable part of the market, which we desperately need to ensure people can afford to live here.
Before the Leader of the Opposition can shout across the Chamber that the cap is too low, let me tell you about 15 house and land packages that Territorians bought this financial year, all of which are under the $550 000 cap. The 15 homes are stand-alone houses, not apartments, and one of the house and land packages was in Muirhead. The Leader of the Opposition said on radio recently that the cap we had was precluding Territorians from entering the market at Muirhead. Maybe she should become better informed about the market.
The 15 house and land packages range in price from as low as $307 000 up to $530 000, which clearly demonstrates that the Mills government knows the Territory market. As of September, the cost of an average two-bedroom unit is $425 000, so these reforms are targeted at the right level and will help dampen further unaffordable house prices and the growth in that area. When taken alongside our already announced HomeBuild Access and Real Housing for Growth plans, the Northern Territory government is delivering more affordable housing for Territorians.
Moving onto business, this government recognises the need to invest in strategic programs that develop and broaden the Territory’s economy, in particular, supporting the industry and businesses to grow industry capability and business competiveness. To this end, the Mills government has taken action in the mini-budget to rejuvenate the important relationship between the Northern Territory and Indonesia.
In the mini-budget, $500 000 a year has been allocated to the Minister for Business for the AusIndo Forum from 2012-13 to 2015-16. The forum is being established by the government, working with Charles Darwin University, and we will be creating a meeting place where leaders of business, academia, health, and the arts can share views. It will host regular events and this foundation builds on the relationship established by previous CLP governments. As the Chief Minister stated recently:
- Indonesia is our neighbour, we are close to them geographically, it is important we have respect for each other and build friendly and strong links.
Unfortunately, the connection between Australia and Indonesia has been neglected. Through the forum we can restore it, and put together and build on strong ties and make sure they are back solidly in place.
It is with great delight that I announce the continuing funding of October Business Month, an initiative of the former CLP government. October Business Month is, and not surprisingly, a month-long program put together to inspire and motivate the Northern Territory business community with new business management ideas, and opportunities for professional development.
This year’s themes were leadership, motivation, and performing under pressure; eco-sustainability and reducing your bottom line; human resources; attraction, recruitment and retention of staff; work-life balance; information technology; social media marketing; and finance. The seven keynote speakers arranged by the department were of a very high calibre, and provided useful information on the range of topics as well as some inspirational stories.
OBM also went high-tech, using a web-based delivery system to live-stream several keynote events to regional centres, providing a simultaneous delivery of events, including the official opening with Glenn McGrath, and 790 people across the Northern Territory watching the event. This is an increase from 382 attendees in 2011. The October Business Month official closing event was held on 29 October 2012 and attracted 79 attendees.
As the Minister for Business, I co-hosted the event with the Lord Mayor of Darwin, Ms Katrina Fong Lim. The event featured a presentation by internationally acclaimed advertising consultant Sean Cummins from Cummins Ross. Mr Cummins announced at the event that Cummins Ross would be opening an agency in Darwin, further demonstrating business confidence in the Northern Territory economy.
I am pleased to inform the House the Alice Springs Golf Club will receive $300 000 to develop its business plan and undertake minor works. This financial support in the mini-budget will help the club maintain its facilities so it benefits the town and the region. Under the Territory Business Growth Program the club will receive $50 000 for its business plan. It will also receive $250 000 as a capital grant through the Department of Sport and Recreation for maintenance and minor works.
Ms FINOCCHIARO: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I seek an extension of time for my colleague, the minister.
Motion agreed to.
Mr CHANDLER: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and member for Drysdale. This year’s theme was leadership; I have already mentioned that and will not go over it again. October Business Month and the closing was co-hosted by Ms Katrina Fong Lim, our good Lord Mayor of Darwin.
The grant for the business plan will assist the club to return to a sustainable trading situation. We are happy we can honour our election commitment, allowing the club to return its facilities to an appropriate standard for community players and Australian and international visitors. The course is currently ranked in the top ten best desert golf courses in the world. However, the costs of managing the club are increasing. The clubhouse needs maintenance, the irrigation equipment needs replacing, and the car park needs repair.
Business and industry grant programs will also receive $1m in 2012-13 and $858 000 ongoing from 2013-14 in additional funds. More detail on grant recipient types will be added.
Moving to power and water, like the rest of my colleagues on this side of the House, I deeply regret the unavoidable necessary reasons for raising power, water and sewerage costs to Territorians already doing it tough under high cost of living pressures. Believe me, no one is comfortable making these hard decisions, but it would be irresponsible of this government not to. I am aware of the effect the price increases will have on business, not only on the immediate cost, but increased costs that may cascade through the local supply chains.
It was interesting to read a Northern Territory News article the other day by Mr Nigel Adlam. He raised the point of two lists, one being a public list the Country Liberals had with election commitments and promises for the first 100 days in office. He also talked about a private list, which did or did not exist. There is much speculation that it was always in our plans to put up power prices to set the Power and Water Corporation up so it could be sold.
If anyone wants a truer or clearer understanding of the truth behind that, in his article Mr Adlam talked about a public list and a private list of promises and things we were going to do. The reality is there was no discussion in the public list - you might expect you would not see it in a public list - however, the most telling point is it does not exist in the private list. If it was truthful, that is the list you would find it in. The fact it did not exist in either is a clear indication the Mills government had no intention of putting up power and water prices prior to the election.
The opposition can say all it wants about that point but we all know they were going to increase prices anyway. It did not matter who was elected on 25 August this year, power prices would have gone up, that is a fact. However, there was no plan prior to the election for the Mills government to do anything with power and water prices. This is all about what we found coming into government and the fiscal position we find ourselves in.
Business is doing it tough, courtesy of the previous Northern Territory Labor government’s inability to make necessary decisions when it was recommended in the 2009 Reeves review. I have taken immediate steps to assist Northern Territory businesses to reduce the impact the price rises will have on their businesses. I have doubled the grants budget for ecoBiz NT from $220 000 to $440 000. The ecoBiz NT program is a simple but effective six-step program that offers advice, assistance and guidance to small-to-medium enterprises to identify and adopt resource efficiency practices that are good for the bottom line as well as, of course, the environment. I am advised by the department that as a rule of thumb a site survey can identify savings of between 10% and 20% to a business through minor behavioural changes. Businesses which have gone through the program report an average annual saving of $7043 on their energy bills.
The ecoBiz NT program was a Labor party initiative, but in 2011-12 they chose to slash the program funding from $700 000 per year to a budget of $350 000, and halved the operational staff. The former Labor government’s decision to slash ecoBiz in 2011-12 has resulted in a program labouring under the demands of Northern Territory businesses - great timing by the former Labor government, particularly when we have correspondence from the Leader of the Opposition to the Board of the Power and Water Corporation agreeing to put up the price of power by a massive 50% but, of course, only after the election. Once again, this demonstrates irresponsible decision-making by the former Labor government in slashing a program at a time of increasing need for businesses.
The Mills government realises increased charges will be tough on businesses and that is why we are doubling ecoBiz NT’s funding. The commitment will double the number of Northern Territory businesses able to gain financial support, and reduce the use and cost of power and water within their businesses. I have asked the department to allocate additional staff to ecoBiz NT so businesses can take advantage of the expanded grant funding opportunity.
This government is not shirking its responsibilities and will continue to work with small businesses to help them manage their utility and other costs and remain competitive in what is a challenging global environment.
The mini-budget has set aside $1.32m in 2012-13 for the marine supply base advice, monitoring and operation costs. The $110m base is one of several large-scale items for which the ongoing support works were not budgeted by the Labor team - another unfunded legacy left behind. The costs are $846 000 in 2013-14 and $421 000 ongoing from 2014-15.
As the Department of Business beds down its new organisational structure, the Chief Executive Officer, Peter Carew, is confident synergies and savings will be found which will streamline staffing and deliver better outcomes for businesses. Savings of $1.8m are expected in 2012-13, $2.6m in 2013-14, $2.4m in 2014-15 and $2.6m in 2015-16. The government’s policy regarding natural attrition will be applied across the department, with staff being moved when required to ensure service delivery is not affected.
The department is reviewing its fees and charges to bring them in line with other jurisdictions. As an example, the government will be recovering costs from regulating fireworks. We will be consulting industry to create a detailed model and look at ways we can increase licence fees to better reflect the cost of regulating fireworks.
A decision has been made to end the publication of the Territory Quarterly magazine. This will save $80 000 in 2012-13 and $165 000 from 2013-14. This is a very cost-intensive publication that has been distributed free of charge. The reality is there may be ways we can work to keep that magazine, as long as we look at ways of, perhaps, allowing advertising and other initiatives to continue with the magazine without affecting the bottom line.
We will discontinue funding consultancies for economic appraisals of major projects, which are generally one or two years. The Department of Business will use in-house expertise, consulting with industry and other relevant stakeholders where required. This will offer up savings of $63 000 recurrent from 2012-13.
A further $500 000 of savings per annum will be realised by maintaining the current level of funding to the Build Skills program, and by not increasing the last-minute funding committed by the former Labor government and adding further to the Territory debt.
We will discontinue the second stage development of the Northern Territory jobs portal saving $154 000 in 2012-13. Not only is this a costly exercise, but there have been design concerns identified. We will not continue with a system that could result in pouring good money after bad when there is an existing national jobs website that can be used instead.
The Research and Innovation Board, which oversees grant funding and scholarships, is coming to an end, but the NT Research and Innovation fund and awards are being retained with administration by the department.
Indigenous workforce development will return from a temporary increase of $1.7m to $1m. Other Australian government employment funding already supports workforce development in the regions. A further $400 000 will be saved from the Indigenous Responsive Program funding.
Madam Speaker, in conclusion, in recognition of the task ahead and the need to stop the decay of the Territory’s fiscal position and begin to remove the mountain of debt, I will paraphrase John F Kennedy in his 1961 inaugural address: All of this will not be finished in the first 100 days, nor will it be finished in the first 1000 days, maybe not even in the lifetime of this government, but let us begin. Let us both sides, for the first time, explore what problems unite us instead of belabouring those problems which divide us. Thank you.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, the Minister for Children and Families has given me authority to respond on her behalf to the mini-budget statement as it relates to her Children and Families portfolio. Accordingly, I rise to advise the House of the work being undertaken by the Office of Children and Families, which is focused on strengthening the provision of services to Northern Territory families.
This government has already made significant decisions to ensure services provided by government agencies are responsive to community needs, to prioritise direct service delivery and make efficient and effective use of resources. We have, without apology, expected government agencies to be accountable for the budget provided to them and to reduce expenditure wherever possible.
One of these decisions has been to affectively strengthen the collaboration between the Department of Education and Children’s Services and the Office of Children and Families. The Minister for Children and Families recognised the natural connections between delivering effective education services to children from early childhood that is continued through their schooling, and supporting children and families with family support and child protection services.
This collaboration will not only provide an increased focus on the safety, wellbeing and education of children across the Territory, it will enable both agencies to combine resources and exploit opportunities to deliver holistic and effective services. In addition, this collaboration will, for the first time, enable the staff of the Office of Children and Families to access Department of Education and Children’s Services infrastructure in remote areas to more efficiently deliver the services.
The Office of Children and Families and the Department of Education and Children’s Services are working together to develop six lighthouse sites across the Territory, which will allow the office and the department to focus on developing effective models of service delivery with the potential for these models to be expanded to further sites in the future.
The initial sites are proposed to be Galiwinku, Maningrida, Papunya and Tennant Creek, as well as Moulden Park Primary School, and Gray in Palmerston. The development of the models will focus on an improved service system through increasing the number of children accessing early childhood learning, improved school attendance and educational outcomes for children in care, improved prevention and early intervention to reduce the need for statutory child protection intervention, and better use of existing infrastructure and resources, particularly in remote communities, to meet shared outcomes.
The requirement for child protection services in the Northern Territory continues to grow. Over the last five years the number of cases of substantiated abuse or neglect has increased by almost 18% per annum from 750 in 2007 to 1705 in 2012. The increase in substantiations illustrates the increased workload impact of undertaking increasing numbers of investigations.
Since 2011, the child protection substantiation rate for Indigenous children of the Northern Territory has increased by two-and-a-half times from 16.8 per thousand children in 2006-07 to 43.3 in 2010-11. This is a rapid increase in a relatively short time frame. Similarly there has being an ongoing increase in demand for out-of-home care services. On 30 June 2002 there were 173 Northern Territory children who were in out-of-home care compared to 700 in out-of-home care on 30 June 2012. This is more than a tripling of the children in care over a 10-year period.
Most of the increase in substantiations in the Northern Territory from 2006 to 2007 occurred in remote areas. It is recognised there is a significant increase in cost associated with providing services in remote communities.
The close working relationship between the Department of Education and Children’s Services and the Office of Children and Families presents a significant opportunity for the Office of Children and Families to take advantage of established infrastructure and presence of schools within remote communities to ensure more effective and efficient service delivery to vulnerable children and their families.
The budget handed down by the Treasurer today has recognised the additional cost pressures in the area of child protection and out-of-home care and builds on the capacity of the system. The Office of Children and Families published budget for 2012-13 was $177m. The continued increase for child protection services and the costs associated with providing these services need to be appropriately acknowledged and incorporated into the budget. For the 2012-13 financial year the government has contributed a further $10m specifically to fund the expenses associated with the increase in demand in child protection and out-of-home care. As a result of this injection of funds the budget for the current Office of Children and Families for 2012-13 has increased to $188.5m.
The need to meet this demand has also resulted in careful consideration of the use of Office of Children and Families resourcing, including financial and personnel. The Chief Executive of the Office of Children and Families has acted to ensure all possible resources have been identified and redirected to support direct service delivery. Overall, the government and the office have worked together to identify $14.2m in 2012-13 and $25.1m ongoing that could be redirected. This represents a significant boost to services delivered directly to the community. The funds being redirected have been found through redirecting board of inquiry funding, reducing the number of staff contracts, including executive contracts, and through initiatives such as a recruitment freeze on non-direct service delivery positions.
This government has been placed in the difficult position of having to make hard decisions regarding the use of funding. These decisions have impacted not only on government agencies but also on the non-government sector. It is essential that the government ensures there is capacity across the child protection system and targeted programs are funded to meet the needs of vulnerable Territory children and families. As a result, the government has undertaken a review of all funding to non-government organisations provided by the Office of Children and Families and determined that $4.8m is to be redirected to fund services to children and families involved in the child protection system.
During 2012-13 an additional $2m will be provided to Somerville to expand its Palmerston Community Centre and the provision of services to align to new government priorities. To ensure the focus of funding provided to non-government organisations is based on value for money and the capacity to deliver real outcomes for children and families in the child protection and out-of-home care system, all future funding to the non-government sector will be based on a competitive grants process.
The government has a strong commitment to remote service delivery. As part of our election commitments, $0.7m has been committed to 2013-14 and $0.2m ongoing from 2014-15 for the Office of Children and Families to expand the capacity of existing family support providers in the Barkly region, delivered out of Tennant Creek.
Since the Growing them Strong, Together board of inquiry report was handed down in 2010, a significant amount of work has been undertaken by the Office of Children and Families to meet the 147 recommendations and to address the serious deficiencies that existed in the system. As the Minister for Children and Families outlined in her statement to the House on 28 November 2012, a period of consolidation is required. This will allow the Office of Children and Families the time to focus on what is really important: the effective delivery of direct services to children and families. We also need to be realistic and prioritise reforms within available resources.
A review of the recommendations has been undertaken and advice has been provided that 56 recommendations have been finalised and 91 recommendations have commenced. Of these 91 recommendations, 69 will be progressed as intended by the inquiry, with 14 to be completed by early 2013. Eleven have been superseded. However, the intent of the recommendations will still be implemented. Two are at the discretion of the court, and nine will not be implemented.
The benefits of the closer collaboration between the Department of Education and Children’s Services and the Office of Children and Families has allowed for efficiencies that have enabled a reshaping of child protection policy away from micro-recommendations and towards identified priorities, including:
an improved out-of-home care system
maintaining direct service staff and ensuring caseloads are manageable
In addition to the creation of the new Department of Education and Children’s Services and the Office of Children and Families for the purpose of ensuring the focus on early childhood, child protection and family support, decisions have been made to transfer programs to agencies which more closely relate to the services provided. A number of program areas have transferred out of the Office of Children and Families.
In recognition of the need for input across whole-of-government in relation to issues relevant to youth and women, the Office of Youth Affairs and the Office of Women’s Policy have transferred to the Department of the Chief Minister. This transfer has resulted in $1.4m moving from the Office of Children and Families to the Department of the Chief Minister.
The Office of Children and Families previously provided programs directly related to youth justice, homelessness and sexual assault. These functions have now been transferred to the department of Corrections with $5.5m in funding, the Department of Housing with $8.8m, and the Department of Health with $3.4m. While these programs have moved out of the Office of Children and Families, the office has gained programs more closely aligned with the delivery of family support and early intervention services.
Early childhood policy and regulation have transferred from the Department of Education and Children’s Services to the Office of Children and Families, resulting in the transfer of $18.3m to the Office of Children and Families. Early childhood policy and regulation is responsible for a number of programs with natural links to family support and child protection. These programs include Families as First Teachers, which I will herein refer to as FAFT. They engage approximately 1700 remote Indigenous children and their families in an early learning and parent support program focused on parent capacity-building, transition to preschools, literacy and numeracy at home, and early learning. FAFT has been established in 21 large remote communities. FAFT also accesses a further 24 small remote communities through a mobile program. Exciting results are emerging and parents are showing a strong desire to engage in their children’s learning.
Community consultation for the development of Palmerston integrated family services has concluded with several potential service delivery models identified which will suit the community context, including early learning, child and maternal health, integrated learning and family engagement programs.
The National Quality Framework commenced in 2012 and included the establishment of a new regulatory authority for education and care services: Quality Education and Care NT. This framework, for the first time, includes outside school hours care and family daycare services into the education and care regulatory framework.
Quality Education and Care NT has assessed and rated the quality of 22 long daycare services against the national quality standard, with a further 16 services in the process of having their rating determined. There is growing evidence children who experience a positive early childhood and are given the best possible start are more likely to succeed in life. In recognition of this, our government has committed to work with services and ensure services are well-positioned to meet the workforce requirements and ensure best outcomes for children.
Our government is providing scholarships to educators working in the education and care service sector to upgrade their qualifications from diploma to four-year-trained early childhood teacher qualifications. There are currently 30 scholarship holders from the long daycare sector working to upgrade their qualifications, with a further 20 or so expected to commence in Semester 1 next year. Up to 70 scholarships will be offered.
In addition to undertaking a regulatory role, Quality Education and Care NT administers the Northern Territory Early Childhood Services Subsidy. The subsidy aims to assist operators of approved education and care services to contain the cost of care for families by keeping fees at an acceptable level. In June 2012, a survey conducted by United Voice, which is the union representing the childcare industry, found the jurisdiction with the highest average daily cost of childcare is the Australian Capital Territory at $82.43, and the lowest is Queensland at $67.76.
In response to these findings, Quality Education and Care NT surveyed several Northern Territory long daycare services and found the average daily rate is $72.72. This currently places the Northern Territory in a comparable position with other jurisdictions. The Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction to provide a subsidy to long daycare services to help offset the cost of care being passed on to families. During 2011-12, $4.3m was paid to long daycare centres and $2.2m has been provided so far in 2012-13.
The Northern Territory government has made a commitment to support early learning centres and childcare centres. This support will focus on appropriate regulation of services and working with services to meet workforce needs. The government has committed $150 000 to establish grants for long daycare centres to purchase play equipment and educational toys and games. The grants will benefit approximately 4200 children across the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, this government has taken a strong stance to ensure a positive future for the Northern Territory. The Office of Children and Families has been provided with an increased budget of $188.5m to continue to provide child protection, family support, early childhood and out-of-home care services. This increase, along with the redirection of funds from central office to areas of direct service delivery will ensure Territorians receive the services necessary to meet the needs of vulnerable children and families.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, it is with great delight that I support the mini-budget statement by the Treasurer. In response to the statement from the Treasurer, I inform the House of the benefits and opportunities of the mini-budget process for the portfolio of Education. The Minister for Education has given me the authority to make the following statement on her behalf.
Improving the education, safety and wellbeing outcomes of all Territorian children through a strong focus upon frontline service delivery is the key priority for the government. Through the mini-budget process, the government has provided an additional $3.3m ongoing from 2012-13 to increase the Back to School voucher from $75 to $150 for students in Territory schools, from January 2013.
The Back to School payment can be redeemed for educational items provided by the school, and can be used to offset the costs of textbooks, stationery, uniforms, excursions, expenses and travel costs. This improved entitlement is for parents or guardians of students enrolled in government or non-government schools to offset the educational expenses parents are expected to meet.
The department has also been working closely with the Department of Sport and Recreation to support the distribution of the Sports Voucher Scheme. This will be done by utilising efficiencies and existing systems, and combining some aspects of the Back to School payment scheme and the Sports Voucher Scheme.
In addition to supporting parents, we are also supporting our teachers in their frontline service delivery role. This is illustrated with the minister’s announcement on 20 September this year, enabling 188 Territory teachers to become permanent employees. There are approximately 2130 active classroom teachers employed by the Department of Education and Children’s Services. About 600, or 28%, were on temporary contracts when we came to government. As a result of this government’s direction, that has reduced to about 443 with further permanencies expected. This articulates to 188 more Territorians having the security of permanent employment.
Under the new arrangements, the department is offering permanent employment to all teachers recruited to remote schools and vacancies in urban, middle, and senior secondary schools from the 2013 school year onwards. This is in contrast to the complex arrangements previously in place, which meant that, to secure permanency, a teacher had to have completed a minimum of six months’ continuous service in a Territory school, have at least 12 months’ employment or have been recruited to a ‘hard to fill’ position. Teachers are the foundation of a quality education system and this new arrangement will provide teachers, parents, students and school communities with greater certainty and allow teachers to put down roots in the community.
Another immediate action of the government has been the establishment of an expert panel for numeracy and literacy. This expert panel, which will begin work in 2013, is comprised of national and Northern Territory literacy and numeracy experts. The panel will oversee a renewed focus on teaching and assessing the core competencies of reading, writing and mathematics including a review of current literacy and numeracy practice. It will also lead to the development of clear guidelines for literacy and numeracy teaching in our Territory schools. An announcement regarding this initiative will be made shortly.
In the first 100 days of government, the department has also progressed significant work with the establishment of an English as an additional language unit. In line with government priorities, this unit has developed an English as an additional language action plan 2012-14, updated the Framework for Learning English as an Additional Language policy and is reviewing the existing English as an Additional Language resources. Through the agency restructure, the department has also established a community driven school support unit. This unit will provide planning establishment, governance and professional development to support elders committed to taking more responsibility for remote education. This unit will support improved input from the community and provide Aboriginal people with the opportunity for a greater voice in the education of their children.
An example of the government moving the focus from the department to schools is the strong focus the department has on teacher professional development. The minister recently launched the 2013 prospectus for the Centre for School Leadership, Learning and Development. The centre is focused on building the capacity of principals, school leaders and teachers to drive school improvement and support improved outcomes for students. This commitment to professional development is focused on building the capacity of frontline staff in all government and non-government schools. The centre is also focused upon improving the induction process for our teachers, especially in remote locations, and orientation dates for new teachers have been set for 2013.
I am happy to report to the House that in addition to this focus upon professional development induction, the department is committed to rewarding our great teachers. The Territory’s Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers program is structured professional learning whereby teacher applicants are mentored by experienced school leaders to advance each career progression point in the National Professional Standards for Teachers. Under this arrangement, which will be delivered in the context of the next enterprise bargaining agreement, teachers who are successfully monitored and become certified at the highest levels of the standards will be rewarded with $7500 for Highly Accomplished teachers and $10 000 for teachers who achieve the Lead teacher level. These initiatives support us to keep our most experienced educators delivering quality frontline services in classrooms across the Territory.
Another example of the government focusing upon improved education outcomes is through the introduction of a nationally aligned principal appraisal process. A Northern Territory principal performance and development review framework has been developed in alignment with the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership National Professional Standards. The policy and guidelines have been written and extensive consultation has been undertaken with the Association of Northern Territory School Educational Leaders and individual principals. We will trial the implementation of the tool in 2013. This process builds upon the highly successful systemic approach to undertaking school reviews in the Territory. This approach has been guided by the findings and recommendations of Professor Geoff Masters from the Australian Council for Educational Research.
The review is focused upon identifying strengths and weaknesses in our schools and will inform the schools improvement agenda. School reviews are undertaken in all Northern Territory schools in a four-year cycle with recommendations forming the basis for the individual school’s School Improvement Plan and its annual operational plan.
In the 100 days since the government was elected, the department has also made significant progress around making secondary school performance information available to parents. This is an important step and there is a growing recognition that the proper and prescribed release of information guides education practice and improvements. In all jurisdictions this information is released by the relevant curriculum assessment and certification authority. In the Northern Territory this is the Northern Territory Board of Studies.
The department is working closely with the Northern Territory Board of Studies to progress this important commitment for 2013 regarding the release of the 2012 Year 12 achievement data. In addition to this focus upon teaching and learning, we are ensuring our school facilities are maintained to high standards, conducive to supporting educational outcomes. With this in mind an additional $5.8m in 2012-13 for essential repairs and maintenance for government schools is provided in this mini-budget.
It is also great to see an additional $2.3m being provided to the department for 2012-13 to assist schools with the cost of rising utility rates. In addition to this the Power and Water Corporation is working with schools to undertake water audits and provide recommendations to reduce usage and save on water bills.
Power and Water Corporation is also undertaking energy audits in six trial sites in remote locations with the schools included in the scope. The advice and strategies to reduce fossil fuel energy consumption and conserve water resulting from these audits will be used as templates for other communities.
Finally, I finish by illustrating the progress being made in transitioning to the new Education and Children’s services portfolio. Since the announcement of the Office of Children and Families becoming part of the Department of Education and Children’s Services, a transition steering committee has been meeting weekly to progress arrangements.
One of the first pieces of work has been the drafting of the joint strategic plan that outlines priorities and actions along with performance measures to guide an integrated approach for the agencies. Following in-principle endorsement of the strategic plan, further consultation with staff and stakeholders will occur early in 2013.
There has also been significant work to achieve the key outcomes of the new agency around an improved service system through integration to improve school attendance; educational outcomes for children in care; improved prevention and early intervention to reduce the need for statutory child protection; and better use of existing infrastructure and resources, particularly in remote communities, to meet shared outcomes.
Agency services and facilities across the Territory are currently being mapped with an emphasis on the 0-4-year age group. Planning is also underway for delivery of a pilot program in five schools and service centre lighthouse sites from the commencement of 2013.
Through the funding of Stronger Futures we believe these sites will demonstrate the significant benefits of the new agency structure and the strong commitment to improved outcomes for Territory children and families.
The examples I have outlined are indicative of the government’s strong focus on moving from the department to schools to strengthen frontline service delivery in education and children’s services.
I congratulate the Treasurer on the mini-budget in these tough times where a disastrous legacy has been left by the previous government. One only had to look at the previous government when it was squealing in 2001 after taking over from the CLP. If one extrapolates out what the budget was then and what it screamed from the highest hills was a deficit - it was a debatable deficit - if you double the income and the debt, what we have been left with is almost a five-fold increase in that figure. The opposition, then in government, wonders why we are pointing out some of the deficiencies in its management style of the Northern Territory.
It is good to see someone in the Northern Territory is prepared to make the tough decisions so my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to come will be able to enjoy what most of us in this room have enjoyed for many years: a fabulous place to live. There were many issues the previous government had to face and made a bit of a mess of. All in this House have heard, over many periods of time, some of the issues and problems, from police, health, and education to alcohol policy; a wide range of things did not seem to work.
We will be required to fix so many of those issues; however, fortunately on this side of the House we are committed to making the tough decisions. Sure, there will be some hardship. My understanding, from reading the mini-budget so far, is the current government has had to make some very difficult decisions so we can put the Territory back into a fiscally responsible situation.
I looked through some of the issues and saw, in relation to issues affecting me and my electorate in the northern suburbs, Police, Fire and Emergency Services. I am very glad to see the mini-budget allocates $27.5m ongoing from 2014-15 to fund 120 additional police positions on the beat, including 20 officers in Alice Springs. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to know Alice Springs is a basket case. We told the previous government time and time again about the issues confronting the people of Alice Springs.
Those issues are faced by people in the northern suburbs - in my own electorate - but not to the same extent. I am glad to see Alice Springs will have an increased number of police officers and I am sure my colleagues from Alice Springs are very pleased to hear that. As an ex-police officer, I have had two phone calls from people in Alice Springs already saying, ‘Fantastic! Terrific!. Thanks very much. We were wondering whether that would be in the budget.’ That is because without law and order you do not have a great deal else.
Mr Tollner: You have chaos.
Mr STYLES: Not the type Maxwell Smart had either.
It is a terrible situation and we are addressing it. I am pleased to report to the House, in relation to the northern suburbs - and this is backed up by things occurring in the northern suburbs, and we will be making it even better - there seems to be a change in direction in what is happening. People are reporting to me that it seems to be a better place. That is indicative of the leadership shown by this government and the discussions between the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services and the Commissioner of Police.
Over the last couple of nights I have been stopped twice at random breath testing stations. It is fabulous to see …
Mr Giles: Sober Bob?
Mr STYLES: Absolutely. It is terrific and I congratulated the police officers on being there. In some instances it is a single vehicle and they were stopping people all over the place to give the motoring public the confidence the police were trying to catch anyone who tries to get away with drink-driving. As we know, driving a car whilst under the influence of alcohol or any other drug is a terrible thing. I am grateful the police are moving into this area. I am grateful to see patrols, and there seems to be an increase.
I do not know what has transpired between the minister and the Commissioner of Police. There is an improvement in the number of police officers I am seeing though, and the traffic work, which is being done very successfully.
I am also very happy to see that $300 000 has been allocated in 2012-13 to conduct a safe streets audit. In my capacity as the Parliamentary Secretary for seniors and youth, I get a stream of people contacting me in relation to personal safety. One of their major concerns is that young people who do not know how to handle some of these situations get a little frightened because of the groups which are active around the place, and because of the general attitude that has been allowed to prevail, not only in the community around our shopping centres but also on our public transport, etcetera.
It is terrific that we see this audit because it is so important. It does not matter what side of the House you are on, everyone in the Northern Territory needs to feel safe. So, it is ...
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extension of time for my good colleague, the member for Sanderson.
Motion agreed to.
Mr STYLES: Thank you, member for Braitling, I really appreciate that. It is very nice of you.
Mr Giles: I could not let you get away without having an extra 10 minutes.
Mr STYLES: Absolutely. It is so important when the older people in my community – 44% of northern suburb residents are now classified as seniors. There are so many people who are in late middle age and, when they get older, they need to be able to feel safe.
This government is committed to making those people feel safe by actually doing something about it. First of all we conduct the audit, put the additional police resources in place, and then we fix things.
It is great on our side because there was not much argument in our discussions and deliberations on law and order. We have three ex-police officers on this side of the House. Interestingly, they do not seem to have any on the other side. Perhaps that is part of the problem the previous government had with the debates they were having within their Caucus or the allocation of resources to law and order and people’s safety. It is very important to us on this side of the House, and it is evident by this mini-budget that it is an extremely high priority.
What we also see is improved security on public transport. I have a few people who are almost like my deputies. I asked them to take note of what happens on public transport. They tell me the poor old bus drivers are under the pump all the time, there does not seem to be a great deal of authority left to the bus drivers, as they had in my day and even 10 years ago, where they can stop the bus and tell people who are misbehaving to get off. Now if the driver stops the bus, instead of the bus driver telling them to get off, they tell the driver where to get off. That is not fair on the bus drivers or on anyone.
I am really pleased to see in the mini-budget the improvement in security on public transport and that the function or responsibility of transport safety is being transferred to the NT Police from transport safety officers.
I recall reading some media releases from the Northern Territory Police Association. My understanding is they were a bit concerned. I cannot quote it exactly, but the whole concept of it was the Police Association was questioning how these people would work. I believe we are better off having that area under the auspices of the Police department so they can monitor it.
This move is also about strengthening the perceptions and confidence in public transport and encouraging more Territorians to use our public buses. That is a good idea. The trouble is in recent years people have not been able to do that and are a bit worried about some of the people who get on the buses. Drivers say, ‘Do not get on’; they push past them. The transport safety officers, I am sure, have been trying to do a very good job. One can never knock anyone for being out there. They were given a job to do but they generally had one hand tied behind their back.
It is important to shift that responsibility across to the police. Police officers have far more authority and perhaps a far higher level of training than transport safety officers have had. One of my spies spoke to me about the transport safety officers and he said, ‘It is great’. He used to see them travelling behind the bus. He did not see them do much. The standard of behaviour on buses continued to deteriorate. This is a guy who is not afraid of a much; he would give me written reports about what happened on the bus. I used to read the little notes he would write me and I was appalled. I would not put my mother on a bus to put up with the sort of stuff he was reporting.
That was backed up by a number of other people who are seniors who want to travel on buses. They like to not have to drive a car, if they have one. A couple of these people do not have cars; they rely wholly on public transport. So it is imperative that if we want to get more people onto public transport to reduce the carbon footprint, and given that carbon tax is around again adding to the cost - people are looking at a more economical and perhaps greener alternative. But if we cannot put people on a bus where they feel safe and secure in an environment where they can relax on the way to work or the way home then people will not do it.
Elderly women especially do not feel safe. The other thing that has been noted to me in my capacity as Parliamentary Secretary for seniors is that some of these older people say they get on a bus and have to stand up all the way to town when there are young people and kids sitting down. This is a terrible situation. My mother would roll over in her grave if she knew I was sitting down and there was an elderly lady or man forced to stand. We have a problem on buses where elderly people have said, ‘Would you mind, could I sit down there?’ and they have been told where to go, and not in a polite manner.
Two millions dollars for the upgrade of the Nightcliff Police Station will make a real difference in the northern suburbs, and I note that in Katherine and Alice Springs there is money allocated to improve people’s safety.
I move on to another issue that is close to my heart: jobs for young people. It is so important that we create good, interesting jobs and keep our young people here by facilitating them to have good interesting jobs. Sadly, of course, many young people have been forced to leave the Territory due to the previous government’s housing policies and land release policies; they simply cannot afford to stay. What a crying shame that my kids find themselves in a position where they are saying, ‘What do we do?’ They struggle. They do not want to leave the Territory. Their family is here; we are not going anywhere. Yet, one of my kids the other day asked me, ‘How are we going to get over this, Dad?’ I say, ‘It was the previous government; this is what they did’. They say, ‘We know that, but what do we do now?’ Fortunately, we have some great housing initiatives, but I go back to jobs.
One of the interesting things I found - and it is an area of interest to me - was that the previous government dropped the ball on engaging with Asia. They looked inwardly, did a lot of navel gazing and dropped the ball on Asian engagement. One of the things I talk about and people talk to me about is there is nothing that the southern part of Australia needs from us except our early mangoes. They love them and we get great prices for our early trays. What else do they need? Nothing. Where is our future? Our future is to the north and that is where we should be focusing. But where did the previous government focus? On their navel; they did a lot of navel gazing and a lot of hand wringing and saying, ‘Oh, you know, I don’t know about this’. We have so many people to our immediate north where we can export a whole range of products to, including our education, and we need to build on that.
I am pleased to say I met with the Vice-Chancellor of the university the other day, Barney Glover, to see what I can do in my capacity as Parliamentary Secretary for youth in engaging people from Asia to utilise our educational facilities here. There is some exciting stuff in the pipeline that, in times to come, a not so distant future, we will be able to release through the Minister for Education. Fantastic stuff, but for 11 years the Territory turned its back on Asia, while southern states strengthened their engagement in the region. I remember when the CLP was in government previously, we were the leaders in that. We led Asian engagement. The federal government used to come to the Northern Territory and ask if we could set up meetings with these people in relation to particular issues.
We used to lead the way in so many different things. I have talked to people in education where we used to be the leaders, but it slipped in the last decade. We used to be the leaders in Asian engagement, but it slipped. We used to be the leaders in so many other different things that were all allowed to slip. I have heard the term used by people on this side that the previous government was asleep at the wheel. It has let all of these things go. It has let the budget go, it has let it overrun, nobody kept an eye on where it was going, and we are saddled with an enormous debt which will make the job of trying to give our young people in the Territory a good future even harder.
Mr TOLLNER (Health): Madam Speaker, I congratulate the member for Araluen; what a great job she has done under some very big circumstances. It is worth reflecting on the job the Treasurer has done because it is not that long ago that the Treasurer was first elected as the member for Araluen. I do not think it was even two years ago. So the member for Araluen has been on a rather sharp learning curve getting across the issues of the parliament, her electorate and now of government; and what a dreadful situation to find yourself in. When we were in opposition we fought hard at the election campaign, we knew things were bad, but we had no idea just how bad.
The member for Araluen came into the job initially pumped up and very keen and was awarded the magnificent job as Deputy Chief Minister and Treasurer. What a wonderful moment for the member for Araluen. I really felt sad for her on learning of the dire circumstances we find ourselves in. I do not think anyone predicted that things would be so bad. For the member for Araluen to get across the entire Northern Territory government budget, digest the major problems this Territory faces, and then frame a mini-budget in the circumstances she has, is amazing. I have enormous regard for our Treasurer and much sympathy for the circumstances she finds herself in.
It goes without saying that the former government completely dropped the ball. As I have said a couple of times in this place, going into the Health portfolio and finding just how badly we have been done over by the Commonwealth in relation to Commonwealth funding into the Territory health system has been a very difficult pill for me to swallow. The national average of Commonwealth funding into state and territory health systems is 62% of the Health budgets. Here in the Northern Territory it is 43% of the Health budget, the lowest in the nation by far. When you look at the disadvantage of people in the Northern Territory, the remoteness, the sickness and illness of our citizens, to see we are getting the lowest percentage rate in the nation flies in the face of everything everyone is talking about.
You hear Jenny Macklin and the federal government banging on about closing the gap of Indigenous disadvantage, backed up by a chorus of true believers in the Labor party in the Northern Territory about the wonderful work it was doing with Indigenous people and our health system. To find out it has all been a complete and utter sham is very difficult to swallow.
We are not talking about chicken feed here! Even Australia’s largest state would seriously struggle to make ends meet on the funding rate the Commonwealth is giving the Northern Territory. It is estimated that the difference between the rate we are currently receiving and the national average is 62% and is in the order of $600m. That is a mind-bogglingly large number we are being done out of in the Northern Territory. It is amazing to think Labor politicians in Canberra can lie straight in bed at night, that they can sleep at night knowing they are short changing the Northern Territory health system by $600m: an enormous figure.
What really irks me is that the Commonwealth will try to diddle any of the states if it possibly can. However, you would expect it would be kept in line by the state and territory governments they are funding, but not a peep out of the former Territory government. There was a $600m shortfall in Commonwealth funding into our health system and not a single peep. You would not have known there was any shortfall in the funding levels of our health system. There was not a peep and, to top it all off, the money we received from the Commonwealth came with strings attached. It seemed the former government could not comprehend.
The Alice Springs emergency department you would think was a no-brainer. Of course we want an Alice Springs emergency department, but to not budget for the operational costs of that emergency department, to figure that, ‘Oh well, millions of dollars will fall out of the sky and somehow we will get by; somehow we will make ends meet, we always do’, to me is just madness when you are running government finances. We often do that at home; we spend on things without any regard to how we are going to pay for it. Quite often that is the case with a family budget. However, with a government budget and all the rules around prudence and fiduciary duties and the like, to think you can say yes to something and magically the money will appear is crazy.
The medi-hotels - building hotels for long-grassers at hospitals - the one at the Royal Darwin Hospital, a $28m commitment, already built, ready to go but with a $5.5m ongoing cost. Every year we have to stump up $5.5m which is not budgeted for. We have managed to put a stop to the ones in Katherine, Gove, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. Goodness me, we would have medi-hotels all over the Territory for long-grassers and all be paying the room rates for them. Words fail me when it comes to the way the former Labor government in the Territory dealt with their federal Labor masters. ‘Masters’ is obviously the right term because these guys were never going to make a peep about any of the deals they did with the federal government that did not necessary fall in line with Territory expectations.
It is not hard when you look around and see some of the things which were done. In all that largesse with the global financial crisis when Kevin Rudd and his comrades in Canberra were throwing money around left, right, and centre - we had to spend. That was the secret to our success evidently, that we spent harder than anyone else in the world. Australians were big spenders. That is how you deal with a global financial crisis evidently: you spend your way out of it. That is what the federal Labor government did in Australia.
You think when they were throwing around all that largesse it would have been a perfect opportunity for a Territory Labor government to get in on the act and start making some demands in the Northern Territory. However, it is almost impossible to point to a single thing they did. The former Education minister, the former member for Johnston use to bang on about school halls and how we never had any school hall fiascos in the Northern Territory, and Kevin Rudd’ s money for school halls was all well spent. Well, he did not spend too much time in my electorate because I remember a hall that was built at Nemarluk School. Nemarluk School, of course, has been struggling for years and years. Things got so bad at Nemarluk School that they put toilets in the shower cubicles because there was simply no room ...
Mr Giles: That is true.
Mr TOLLNER: I heard the member for Braitling laughing, but it is a fact. When they opened this new school hall I took a couple of the people and told them to go and check it out. I took them into the toilets and said they used to be shower cubicles until they stuck a toilet bowl in them and now they could have a shower while they were going to the toilet. Evidently that is okay for people with disabilities - out of sight, out of mind for the former Labor government.
In any case, they accepted Kevin Rudd’s offer of a new school hall at Nemarluk and a few months later they moved the school. With a brand spanking new school hall built on it, the school has moved to Alawa. They upped the stumps on the school hall and moved it out to Alawa. I wonder if that spending had been delayed for a couple of months if there would have been a need to have installation costs at Ludmilla and transport costs to take it from Ludmilla to Alawa. These things were just madness.
My good friend, the member for Braitling, never ceases to remind me about the former Labor government’s dealing with SIHIP, the Indigenous housing program. Over $1bn was spent and still we have major housing problems in the bush; $1bn just disappeared like that. The former government saw no problems at all with that program. It originally started as a component of the Northern Territory Emergency Response, part of the intervention which recognised many of the problems going on in remote communities were because of a handful of reasons: (1) was access to alcohol; (2) was the lack of law and order in those communities; and (3) was the fact that people were living in extraordinarily cramped conditions, sometimes 20 to 30 people to a house. The lack of housing was one of the major problems and the emergency response was all about getting houses and shelter into those communities as a matter of urgency.
Here we are in 2012, five years after the emergency intervention was enacted, and so few of those places have been built. Originally, we said we would not be building million dollar houses or expensive houses, that we were looking around for cheap and sustainable housing options that could be erected quickly to deal with this urgent crisis that was happening in remote communities. Five years later we have spent $1bn and are still searching for much of that money.
It seemed nothing could upset the former Territory government enough to raise even the slightest murmur of discontent with their federal counterparts. It did not matter what it was. Banning the live cattle export - the former Chief Minister said it was a circuit breaker we needed to have. How shameful. The backbone of the Northern Territory economy, a longstanding industry that served the Territory well, part of the fabric of Territory life, and the Chief Minister says, ‘Oh well, so what, it was a circuit breaker we needed to have’.
There were so many instances like that - the carbon tax. We sit in this parliament. We are all proud to be parliamentarians. We are all proud to represent our electorates. We believe that what we do in this place matters and then when you put a motion forward, which is passed, stating that the parliament, the representatives of the people, do not want a bar of this new carbon tax. The former Chief Minister, in his arrogance, says, ‘Well, I do not care what the parliament thinks. I do not care what the people think. We think Julia Gillard and the carbon tax is the right way to go. So, stuff you all, we are going with them.’ On no occasion I can ever remember did the former government stand up for the Territory. They always put politics ahead of people, principle and prudence. It was shameful.
The troubles we find ourselves in now seem to be all around us. Every aspect of Territory life seems not to have escaped the stain of the previous Labor administration. It is a difficult thing to put right. It is an extraordinarily difficult thing to put right. Tough decisions have to be made. I am proud to be a part of making those tough decisions and I will go back to it again. I do not envy for a second the job the member for Araluen has to do with this budget process, but she has certainly warmed to the task. She is all over it and has framed a mini-budget that at least puts us in the right direction. There is still much work to be done, still many tough decisions to be made and reforms to be implemented but this first foray of the Treasurer with this mini-budget clearly sets a direction for a prudent government to take.
I listen to the opposition, the people who largely are to blame for the circumstances we find ourselves in.
Mr Giles: There is no opposition here.
Mr TOLLNER: Not one of them. That is the sort of regard they have for this parliament, member for Braitling. Not one of them is in this place. What a shame.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, you know the standing orders are not to reflect on members who are not in the Chamber.
Mr TOLLNER: I am sorry, Madam Speaker. I expected to be pulled up by one of them, but lo and behold, they are not here.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim!
Mr TOLLNER: I appreciate you stepping in on their behalf.
That is the regard they have for this parliament. Some of the decisions that have had to be made were very difficult. The Opposition Leader finds herself in a new role, a role she has warmed to well and is excelling in, and that is the role of Chicken Little, running around letting everyone know the sky is about to fall in. She is doing her best to convince us that it is all doom and gloom, the world is about to end, the sky is about to fall in, and it is all our fault. She knows better and she knows disaster when she sees it.
The fact is, she did not see the disaster she was creating when she was the Treasurer. She did not see it then, she still does not see it; she does not acknowledge any involvement in the dire state the Territory government finds itself in. But needless to say she is quite happy to run around trying to convince people the sky is falling in, that nobody should be paying for power. I heard the most bizarre thing come out of her mouth the other day. She said electricity, water and sewerage were essential services and, as such, people should not have to pay for them, and that the Power and Water Corporation was not a business but an essential service.
It is a funny thing because we refer to the Power and Water Corporation as a GOC, a Government Owned Corporation. GOCs were created with the GOC act, the Government Owned Corporations Act. Guess who created the Government Owned Corporations Act?
Ms LEE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I request extra time for the member for Fong Lim.
Motion agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you Madam Speaker, good job the member for Jingili is here ...
Mr Vowles: Get it right!
Mr TOLLNER: Johnston, the lone warrior in here to take up the cudgels against the government which is going to cause the sky to fall in on us all.
As I was saying, Power and Water Corporation, the opposition now suggests it is less a business and more an essential service and something that has to be supported by the taxpayer rather than people paying for the services they receive. It is an interesting thing because the government created the GOC Act and in creating the GOC Act they made Power and Water Corporation a business.
They think we are fattening this business up so we can sell it. I have spent a considerable amount of time speaking about Labor and the way the former Labor government would never say a bad word about their federal masters and would never buck federal Labor policy. I have to think that the Opposition Leader might be crying crocodile tears in relation to Power and Water because it is now federal Labor policy that all states and territories get rid of or privatise their utility assets. Martin Ferguson came out with that in his white paper and I could not imagine for the life of me the former Chief Minister, the current Opposition Leader, or for that matter any of the members on the other side of the Chamber saying ‘boo’ when it comes to trying to distance themselves from the federal Labor government.
It is bizarre that they sit there saying Power and Water Corporation should be treated as some sort of charity and is not really a business, because they are the ones who made it a business.
There are fewer than 20 customers in the Northern Territory paying the right price for electricity. Everyone else is subsidised. You have to ask how long any business can go on selling a product for less than it costs to make it.
That is what Power and Water Corporation has been forced to do over the last few years. The former Treasurer knows exactly that because she has been spoken to by the Power and Water Corporation which asked to have it tariffs raised to at least meet the cost of producing the product it supplies to Territorians. It was rejected on several occasions. It is getting to the point now that if urgent remedial and deep change is not made to those tariffs the Power and Water Corporation will literally go to the wall. If the Power and Water Corporation goes to the wall it will not be electricity tariffs Territorians are complaining of. Territorians would not give a fig when it came to tariffs if the Power and Water Corporation goes belly up, and that is a real possibility when the Power and Water Corporation has been forced to sell electricity for less than it can produce it.
Of course tariffs have to rise, and it is a difficult argument with Territorians. People budget and at this time, coming up to Christmas, I imagine it has been a rude shock to Territorians, no matter where they live, that power prices will increase. It was a rude shock for me to find out exactly how deep in hot water the Power and Water Corporation was and still is. However, if action is not taken people will not be talking about tariffs, they will be talking about the right to purchase electricity. I can imagine how quickly Bunnings will sell out of generators if Power and Water Corporation falls over.
It is a good budget, a tough budget. There have been some wins across the board, certainly in my portfolio. I am thrilled to see we have put money towards the Alice Springs emergency department so it can open and operate. It is a much-needed service in Alice Springs. People there should not have to suffer the long waiting periods in ED they currently do and this new extension will go a long way to reducing them.
Similarly, I have had a great desire for a long time to see greater cardiac services provided in the Northern Territory. I am thrilled that in the mini-budget there is $6.5m for expanded cardiac services in the Northern Territory. We have the worst rate of cardiac disease in the world. It is a growing problem and, at the moment, the vast majority of people who suffer a cardiac episode are flown interstate. Whilst their stay interstate is not like when people are flown interstate for cancer treatment - people go interstate for months at a time to deal with cancer whereas the majority of cardiac episodes require a couple of weeks. However, all in all, one would expect those major illnesses, ailments and problems people have with their health could be dealt with locally. I am thrilled with the expansion of cardiac services in the Northern Territory.
There is a range of things in this mini-budget I could reflect on for quite some time. I have already received an extension. I thank the member for Braitling and the other members in this Chamber for that. All in all, it is a very good mini-budget. It has been a very difficult time to frame a mini-budget because there are still so many unknowns and it seems every day we are uncovering another failure of the previous administration. It changes the direction of the Territory government in a big way, something we had to do and which is the required action.
Again, I congratulate the Treasurer, the Deputy Chief Minister, for doing this big job in very tough circumstances.
Madam Speaker, I commend the Treasurer’s statement to the House.
Ms LEE (Arnhem): Madam Speaker, I strongly support the mini-budget presented by the Treasurer. Coming into government, we were left with a major financial mess by the opposition. At least out of all the mess it has left us we have a competent government that has been able to salvage some priorities that are needed in remote areas and the rest of the Territory. We have a great government which is listening to the people and working alongside them to find solutions to improve the lives and wellbeing of the people in the bush.
The $5200 per dwelling on the homelands will be a major boost for the people in the bush, particularly taking them back to their homelands where they belong and where they are most comfortable. I am happy it is tied to giving them the incentives to get children to school. I am happy to support the announcements that benefit my electorate.
A major issue for all of us in the bush is local government reform. There is money in the budget now to support it. This is a long cry from the situation of the people in the bush during the duration of the former Labor government.
Announced in the mini-budget are quite a few things that will benefit my people:
$2.6m for the repairs and maintenance to the health centres
construction of a new health centre in Milingimbi
an additional $3.3m ongoing to increase the Back to School vouchers from $75 to $150 for students in the Northern Territory from 1 January 2013
an additional $2.3m to assist schools with rising utility rates
an additional $5.8m for repairs and maintenance to government schools
$1m for Commonwealth programs in government schools including empowering local schools, investing in focus schools, and rewards for great teachers
capital works for the childcare centre in Ngukurr, a child and family centre in Ngukurr and a childcare centre in Umbakumba which people have been waiting for, for a very long time - thanks to this government which is actually listening to the people
$10m to meet demands, pressure in child protection and out-of-home care which is a big cry from our people out in the bush, especially with regard to child protection
$3m Commonwealth funding for job packages to deliver up to 100 employment-based trainees in the Northern Territory
$111.5m for remote Indigenous housing which will benefit the people in the bush, since two-thirds of houses in the remote communities have asbestos; we all know what asbestos does to you
$14m across four years including an additional $2m for homelands. The increase in the Indigenous essential services output of $29.1m relates to the $14m Commonwealth funding for the critical infrastructure project in remote service delivery in communities
$7.4m carried forward for finishing off fencing within remote communities
an increase to $1.3m for interpreter services; these are jobs our people can benefit from.
This is a positive move for our government in the right direction. The bush has lost its voice and integrity with the former Labor government.
This was a commitment made by the Chief Minister and that is what the bush wanted. The people in the bush are pleased with our Chief Minister for his kind and generous attitude towards the bush when he is out there. He is listening to them; he is talking to them, and he plays country music with them, Christian songs, unlike the former Chief Minister. He never came and sat on my verandah or talked to me about anything.
Madam Speaker, that is what they wanted, someone who is fair dinkum and listens patiently. I look forward to the coming years and the achievements of a great government.
Mrs PRICE (Stuart): Madam Speaker, I support the Treasurer’s announcement of the mini-budget. We have a government which has been able to salvage priorities out of the mess Labor has left us, and ensure Territorians do not miss out.
This mini-budget will benefit some of the communities in my electorate. At Kalkaringi School there is $1.8m for a classroom block.
This has given the Warlpiri people, and many more, an opportunity to feel part of the Territory and be acknowledged as important people who help build the Territory together. The main issue has been the sealing of the Tanami Road. This road has been used since the 1980s because of the gold mine in the Granites. I have seen 10 trucks travelling on that road, big huge road trains, every day. I have been there and have sat behind six major road trains and six trucks carrying fuel to and from the mine. People from Yuendumu and those communities, even the pastoral stations in the area, have been asking to have the Tanami Road sealed. It is great to hear our Treasurer inform us that within her mini-budget there is funding made available, which I am sure my people and the people in that part of the electorate will be pleased to hear.
Alice Springs rehabilitation program for youth in trouble - the ones who sniff petrol and do crime and drugs - will receive $570 000 in 2012-13 and another $940 000 a year from 2013-14. As we all know, we need to look after our youth. We expect them to be our next leaders. We expect them to be able to hold their ground, to become young adults and to be able to live the lifestyle that is required. The youth have always been carefree, which is what gets them into trouble. In our part of the Territory, and in Alice Springs, this is very important because we have many youth who go into Alice Springs to use it as a base to do what other young people do. It is good to hear we have funding available for the next couple of years.
Minister Tollner said:
- The Bush Mob youth residential rehabilitation service is a critical program, giving youth bush skills and getting them work ready.
That is what we would like to see. We want to see more of our youth being engaged, being a part of the Territory, becoming adults to be parents, and to be able to share all that experience with everyone else.
Breast screening is very important for the whole Northern Territory. I have had many family members who have passed on with breast cancer. Women would like to see breast screening done in remote areas. This is vital for everyone because we all know of someone who has breast cancer. In the mini-budget there is $725 000 for 2014-15 that will help make it easier for women in remote areas to access this service. That is good news, to be able to go to those women in remote communities and say this service will be available and they can access it.
Of no small significance is the $6m for the regional cardiac service program, because currently there is nothing in Alice Springs. Today I heard funding has been made available through the mini-budget. As minister Tollner mentioned, in Alice Springs we have many people who have heart failure, who do not have healthy hearts and the health of our people is getting worse every day as we speak. In the meantime, it has been such great news for me and my family members to hear that funding has been made available in the mini-budget to make those services become a reality for us.
Madam Speaker, I look forward to working with the Treasurer and this government to ensure all Territorians have a better outcome.
Debate adjourned.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Local Government
Local Government
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I seek leave to bring on item 6 on the Notice Paper which is the Local Government statement standing in the name of Mr Giles. He has only about ten minutes remaining to close off that speech and after that I think we will be adjourning the House.
Leave granted.
Continued from 29 November 2012.
Mr GILES (Minister for Local Government): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of Government Business and the opposition for their indulgence. I am sure the member for Nhulunbuy, who is the shadow minister for Local Government, would appreciate an update on local government reform. As many members and constituents in the Northern Territory would be well aware, a key item in the Country Liberals’ general policy statement for the Territory election was to look at shire councils or ‘Labor shires’ as we like to call them. As the Minister for Local Government, I have already begun addressing the concerns raised about our shires, the structure they are formatted in, and the level of representation and general discontent of many constituents in regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory.
The need to review the shire structure is borne out of necessity, as highlighted in the former Labor government’s Review of Councils’ Financial Sustainability report which concluded that in the longer term the shires are unsustainable in that they do not have sufficient income to maintain their current asset base.
I have said before, in and outside of this Chamber, that there is a disconnect. To a large degree, the brand of shire as we know it is tarnished. That is not to reflect negatively on anyone who works in the shires, for the shires or represents the shires. It is just the outcome that has come about as a result of Labor’s reforms in 2008 and the disconnect in the model they presented to the electorate. As a proactive minister, I want to seek solutions to this inherited problem foisted upon us by Labor.
Last week I announced the formation of a Regional Governance Working Group which will provide advice on local government reform or the potential thereof. That Regional Governance Working Group, as I advised the Chamber last Thursday, met for the first time on Friday, and I thank those members for their attendance. It is made up of 21 members who I invited from across the Territory, representing land councils, community elders, some shire councils, industry, such as the Minerals Council and the Cattlemen’s Association. I also invited Fred Chaney from Desert Knowledge Australia to come on board.
The objectives of the Regional Governance Working Group are to develop an options paper for the way forward which will identify opportunities for regional and remote governance in the Northern Territory. That options paper, I anticipate, will be ready in the next couple of months. I am not being prescriptive about the time frame but I suggest probably mid-February would be an average time frame. I am anticipating that options paper will probably go out for a two-month consultation period. I will travel to as many places as I can within that two-month time frame, depending on the time allowances of parliament and other duties we have. I have also invited members of that working group to participate in the consultation phase whether collectively or individually, and I am happy to support them if they would like to do that. Tomorrow I will be talking a little more in my mini-budget reply about the funding commitments and how we will resource this process. There has been an increase in resources.
At the end of that consultation phase we will come back together as a government. I will work with Cabinet to identify what model or models we may move forward with and whether there will be change or not. The purpose of finalising this statement today is to advise the Chamber on where things are. In a minute I will read through the members of the working group so the Chamber is aware. There is a shortage of time for this statement, but if the shadow minister or the member for Nelson want to interject with a question I will try to answer in on the spot.
Excuse my pronunciation on some people’s names as I work through this. I have Marie Ellis from Amoonguna, Alison Hunt from Mutitjulu, Bunduk Marika from Yirrkala, Tobias Nganbe from Wadeye, Nelson Hall from Ngukurr, Samuel Evans from Borroloola, Bobby Wurrugmurra from Gapuwiyak, Harold Wilson from Peppimenarti, Bobby Nunggumajbarr from Ngukurr, Tom Kairupan from Canteen Creek, Norbert Patrick from Central Desert Shire, Gibson Farmer from Tiwi Land Council, Lionel Jaragba from Anindilyakawa Land Council, Matthew Ryan from Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, Tony Wurrumarrba from Anindilyakawa Land Council, Sam Bush-Blanasi from the Northern Land Council, Lindsay Bookie from the Central Land Council, Luke Bowen from the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, Drew Wagner from the Minerals Council NT and, as I said before, Fred Chaney from Desert Knowledge Australia. I have given permission for Fred to send a delegate if he cannot make it. He could not make it on Friday, but he had a delegate there by the name of Bruce Walker.
Damien Ryan accepted my invitation to be chair of the group. Damien is Mayor of Alice Springs and the president of LGANT. I advised the executive of LGANT in a recent meeting that I would be inviting Damien to be part of that.
As I said, the first meeting was on Friday. It was a positive discussion. It was somewhat structured, but all members provided an active contribution through a free forum about what they thought needed to change. There was general consensus, without any leading, that people wanted change. I provided an opening address, had to head off for a meeting and came back later, but the general consensus was there needed to be change.
At the meeting it was debated what services people in regional and remote communities believe local government should deliver, who should deliver these services, and what possible models for the future would look like.
There were no prescriptives because it was the first meeting. We believe there should be three or possibly four meetings before this options paper comes out. There will be much work done by the department and me in the meantime to get these things ready without leading people but by providing a framework for the coordination of those meetings.
There is another meeting scheduled for next week where we will take this ahead. There is a great deal of work to go on between now and then to pull together not only the minutes but a framework of that discussion, and to provide more options for discussion in that next meeting. Also, this allows for those 21 members to have discussions with their stakeholders, communities, and networks between now and the following meeting, which will be in the new year, to come back for a more solid discussion in starting to draft the options paper.
I have not had any interjections so far, so I can consider there is nothing pressing on the minds of the members for Nhulunbuy and Nelson, or any other member, that they want addressed right now. I am happy to have a discussion with either of those two members out of session and see if they would like any more information or guidance, or to provide input or feedback.
Ms Walker: That would be more fruitful than across the Chamber.
Mr GILES: Yes, thank you very much. I will leave it there. It is a positive way forward in an approach to regional governance. It is a very topical subject. I look forward to working with the 21-member group. I hope there are no politics of a large degree in this consultation phase. If there are, I will put my political hat back on and keep fighting but, otherwise, we need to move forward in this regard in a positive frame, as members collectively discussed the other day. There can be good outcomes for regional governance in the Northern Territory.
This is a positive way to move forward in an era of political debate in this country which is quite often toxic, if I could use that term. I note the member for Nhulunbuy is covering her eyes, but we often have a very toxic conversation in politics and the general public wants better from our politicians in the level of debate. I am quite prepared to take that approach through local government reform in a regional governance context in this regard. However, I am also prepared to get down in the gutter if I need to, thank you Madam Speaker.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, at this early hour, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, tonight I explore the September 2012 quarterly crime statistics which were released at noon on 23 November 2012. At the time of our taking government some 15 weeks ago, we were faced with what we knew were escalating crime rates. We knew this because it was evident in Drysdale, and my constituents were screaming from the rafters for something to be done. I know the people of Drysdale were concerned with the lack of law and order, in all of its forms, as being unacceptable. I have heard from residents of Drysdale on many occasions that they are concerned about break-ins. They wanted to know whether it was too much to ask to be safe in their own homes. Was it too much to ask to have our parks free of graffiti and broken glass and to live free from fear? The answer is no, it is not too much to ask.
Drysdale residents have also described numerous instances of antisocial behaviour to me. I refer to my contribution to the statement on alcohol made in the last sittings. In that speech, I described disgusting behaviour witnessed by a young mum and her son in Reg Hillier Park – behaviour which should not be condoned by our society.
During the 2012 general election campaign, the Country Liberals said, time and time again, we will tackle law and order head on, restore a standard of behaviour in our communities, and punish those who do the wrong thing.
The day after our election victory, our Chief Minister held a meeting with the Commissioner of Police and gave a directive that police be immediately redirected to the front line: be pulled out of the administrative wings to which they had been sent by the former Labor government to where they belong, on our streets.
We promised to dismantle the Banned Drinker Register, and dismantle it we did. We promised to bring in ‘one punch’ legislation, and we have. We promised to amend the Police Administration Act to allow drug testing of people apprehended for violent and antisocial behaviour in our streets, and we did so. We promised to increase support for victims of crime, the mechanism for greater levy collection from those who do the wrong thing to support those who do the right thing in our community - this has been introduced. We promised to bring in minimum mandatory sentences for assaults and legislation to protect workers while working – both have been introduced these sittings.
I said in my maiden speech:
- In 2011-12, there were 4428 female victims of assault in the Northern Territory, which is almost twice the assault rate for males. In the same year, Indigenous women made up over half of all assault victims.
I went on to say:
- Looking to the June 2012 crime statistics, domestic violence assaults in Palmerston are up 62% compared with five years ago. Alcohol-fuelled assaults in Palmerston are up 76% compared to five years ago. House break-ins, commercial break-ins, motor vehicle thefts, property damage and other theft are up 16%, 4%, 15%, 31% and 33% respectively. These trends have to be turned around and I am looking forward to engaging with our local community, the City of Palmerston, and government agencies to make our community a safer place.
I have a global concern for these rises in offences, but I confine the remainder of my debate points to Palmerston for the benefit of my constituents and the constituents of my colleagues, the members for Brennan and Blain. Very recently I was informed by businesses in the clutch of shops on Woodlake Boulevard in Durack that break-ins had occurred on a Sunday night.
I attended the shops and spoke with businesses about the impact of these break-ins. The message that was clear was that the break-ins were senseless; petty cash and Minties were the only acquisitions of the thieves, yet the damage caused to broken windows and doors equalled thousands. That is not to mention the expense for at least one of those businesses now that they are going to install a security system.
I am also aware of recent break-ins to Yarrawonga businesses: laptops, iPods, watches - none were taken, just $30 in petty cash. Yet again, we see such disruption to, and invasion of, business, as well as senseless cost to business.
Worse still are the increases in domestic household break-ins. In the 12 months to September 2012, Palmerston has seen an increase of 85% in domestic house break-ins. This is shocking. I was interested to hear that the Attorney-General received intelligence from police that a large number of domestic house break-ins were committed by people seeking alcohol from the easiest source, another failing of the Banned Drinker Register. The few people who were actually restricted, and I stress, actually restricted, went from buying it at the bottle shop to breaking into someone’s home and stealing it, thereby, spreading the misery of alcohol abuse beyond the drunks.
The people of Drysdale want real action on crime and on alcohol-related crime. Fifty-one percent of all violence in Palmerston over the last 12 months was alcohol-related. I suspect a large percentage of the property-related offending is due to the same. I continue to report to the people of Drysdale that through new offences that will see people serve real time in gaol through our determination to tackle the endemic alcohol problems, rather than ‘look and feel-good’ bandaid measures, and through our commitment to police, this government is focused on these problems and these disgraceful figures.
But at least we have them. They were released to the public, which is a great start. I will ensure that our focus as a government remains on the fundamental concept that people should be able to feel safe in their homes, streets, parks and at work. The people of Drysdale, indeed all Territorians, deserve that and much more.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): I know the member for Drysdale is new in the job. This is the last sittings of the year and usually we tend to wish each other a happy and merry Christmas. I know she is very keen and I congratulate her on that. I also point out that it is very good to bring some of the issues in your electorate to the surface and comment on that, but I could not help noticing she complained in the beginning of antisocial behaviour and then very soon she mentioned that the CLP canned the Banned Drinker Register. She gave her constituents a bit more to complain about so I suppose it will keep her busy for the next few months.
However, it is the last sittings before Christmas and I believe it is the time to wish a Merry Christmas to ourselves, our families, our colleagues, the people opposite, who we might be separated from by political ideology but who I believe we all stay united with on some issues. I know the member for Brennan took the wrong turn and turned right instead of turning left; otherwise, he would be sitting on this side of the Chamber, but there is still hope, member for Brennan, that you will see the light.
Madam Speaker, I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year, as I wish the same for all my colleagues, the Leader of the Opposition, and my dear good friends. Spend it with your family. Being a parliamentarian is a tough job but my advice is that the best job is being a parent and a family person.
A big thank you to all the people who have to put up with us every sittings, the staff of the Legislative Assembly, and a very big thank you to the Hansard staff, who I know sometimes have great difficulty getting my accent right. Farewell to some of the staff who have moved to greener pastures. I believe Ms Helen Allmich has moved to Tasmania, taking up a senior position. We will miss you and I know someone else will follow her soon to enjoy the cool weather and the wonderful wines of Tasmania.
Merry Christmas to my constituents in the electorate of Casuarina. I believe I served them faithfully for the past 12 years and I am looking forward to the next four years. A big thank you to all of you for your unconditional support. A lot of people come to my office, not everyone voted for me, and I do not expect that in a democracy, but everybody is very friendly and hospitable and I am there to serve every constituent in Casuarina, irrespective of their political preferences.
I extend a big thank you to the Casuarina Police Station staff and the officer in charge, Mr Crispin Gargan. They have been working really hard, and they have had to put up with petty crime most of the time. Unfortunately, in the last few months their workload has increased significantly because now we have to remove from different areas all the people who have found it easy to come to Darwin and have a big party as access to alcohol is unrestricted. But the police are very good and very quick to respond to the needs of the community. I hope they will turn up to my Christmas party, share a few drinks with us and exchange some jokes and stories.
I extend a big thank you to all the people who worked in my ministerial office before the election. They have done a tremendous job, are a tremendous support, and I hope they have a break and a good rest and can continue with their careers. I also thank very much the staff, tenants and Ben Gill from the Casuarina Shopping Centre for their continuous support. Tony Miaoudis and the tenants of Casuarina Village, Chris Voudouris and the tenants of Casuarina Convenience Centre, and, of course, all of the small shopping centres and small shops in the Casuarina area. They are there to serve the community and they do an excellent job.
Special thanks and wishes to a person who put up with me for nine years and she wants four more, my electorate officer Debbie Liddy. She has been there for a long time; she is more than just a person who works with me, she is a person who now has to put up with me every day but always serves me and customers with a big smile. She is a wonderful person. She said she will retire when I do. I do not think her husband is very happy about that because he keeps telling me to go for another term.
To all my supporters and friends, thank you very much for your support during the election campaign and your support and good words after the election. In a democracy, parties win, parties lose, but friends stay forever.
I send special wishes to a special person who has been a teacher in Nakara for 30 years, Mr Gugliotta, known as Mr G to all his students and staff. Happy 30th anniversary! I know he will continue to work, is enjoying working, and many of his students are very fond of him. Thank you, Mr G for your dedication to the education of our young children.
To my schools, the Nakara and Alawa Primary Schools, Dripstone Middle School, and now the Nemarluk School, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. You are doing a tremendous job. I say that because I have seen the results. I see the results every year from Nakara and Alawa in the Tournament of Minds, and of course the education of the kids with disabilities at the Nemarluk School.
I take the opportunity to thank very much all the friends who attended my wedding on Saturday. It was a great celebration, a small one by Greek standards. Not a ‘big fat Greek wedding’, just a few friends, but it was great to share that joyful moment with my friends. Some people asked why not my family. Well my family lives in Greece and my wife’s family lives in China, it was difficult for them to come here. At the end of the day, my family is all the people I live with and with whom I have spent the past 12 years in this Chamber or worked with. So a big thank you to them, and of course my wife, Ai Hong, and to Kevin and my sons, Alexander and Michael. Alexander had to come from Perth, and today was a big goodbye to Michael who has decided to go to Perth to study at university. That is the beginning of a new life for him and people say, ‘lucky, nobody at home’. We have Kevin, 12 years old, so I have to pull my sleeves up and be a father to Kevin. I have told him he has everything to himself: the lawnmower, walking the dog, taking the bins out in the afternoon. He was not very impressed but he has to be trained. Merry Christmas to all of you, and I look forward to seeing you refreshed and rested in the new year.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I would like to report on my trip to the Cook Islands for the 31st Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Australia and Pacific Regional Conference. I will quickly read out the role of the CPA. I am reading from a CPA publication:
- In its work to promote parliamentary democracy and good governance, the CPA carries out an extensive range of programs and activities with parliaments and other organisations ... This includes conferences, seminars and workshops, expert groups and study groups, as well as its publications, the Parliamentary Information and Reference Centre and the CPA website ... CPA aims to provide members and parliamentary officials a range of core functions to promote parliamentary knowledge and Commonwealth parliamentary cooperation.
... aims to provide both established and newly elected parliamentarians and parliamentary staff with continuing professional development, and also to share experiences and knowledge with other parliaments.
That is exactly what the conference in the Cook Islands was about. The Cook Islands is a long way away. It is 8000 km from Darwin and it takes a long time to get there. You have to fly from Sydney to Auckland, although there is a direct flight now to Rarotonga. As someone who had not been in the Pacific and seen one of these islands, it certainly was a trip I took in trepidation, but I came back loving the place and the people.
Because of the time, I will quickly go through a day-by-day description of what happened. I went with the Deputy Clerk, Mr Michael Tatham. I left on Sunday and arrived there on Saturday. You have to realise they are on the other side of the date line. When I rang home I would say, ‘good tomorrow, dear’, and she would say, ‘good yesterday, dear. It is a very interesting place in which to discuss where you are in the time zones.
We arrived late at night. Air New Zealand got in at about 11.00 pm that night and there were people waiting for us. Again, this was all brand new to me. Before I knew it, I was wearing necklaces.
A member: Lei.
Mr WOOD: They do not call it a lei; that is a Hawaiian name. Ei Tiare against artaki, which is the headband and there is also the necklace, made up of gardenias and frangipanis. Straightaway I knew I was in a place which was magic and different. They were so friendly and so welcoming, especially after a long flight. It was fantastic.
Next morning we were organised to go to church. The Cook Islanders are certainly religious people but they do not give you that feeling that is anything extraordinary. That is part of the way of life. Everything they do is about relating to being thankful to God for what gifts they have. When we went on a trip they always prayed. When you have a meal they always pray, and it is done in such a way it makes you think about the way we live in our society compared to the way they live in theirs.
I went to the Catholic church, a beautiful cathedral with the mountains at the back, and there was a first communion and a confirmation and the singing was something I had not heard before. There were guitars, ukuleles and people singing in harmony. It was a beautiful occasion. The women were dressed in white, generally, with a hat with flowers on it.
Poor Michael Tatham decided to go to the Cook Island Christian church, which is the dominant church in the area. Somehow he got on the wrong bus and says in his notes he spent three hours in that church and missed lunch. I am sure Michael can tell you what happened there. However, we had a beautiful lunch, and I can tell you, lunch is a feast.
Next day we had the official opening, an official photograph, and in the first session Kiribati and Tuvalu spoke about climate change and rises in sea levels, which is an important thing for not only the Pacific, but all those coastal areas, especially the north of Australia. Again, it was good to hear what they were saying. The problem is, you really needed to have a full conference on rising sea levels and climatic change.
Dr Nick Smith from New Zealand spoke about ocean risk and opportunities. He was very well versed in matters regarding the sea. New Zealand, of course, was part of the conference. He raised the issue that any country which deals with cargo ships constantly coming into its ports should ensure it has ratified the relevant compensatory conventions. He was talking about the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, which relates to oil spills. I gather if countries have signed up to that, if they need to be compensated for an oil spill, this will allow them higher rates of compensation than if they had to go through the courts. He referred to the ship which landed on a reef in the Bay of Plenty and the cost of having to clean that up. He went on about various issues, but he did say – and it applies to our country as well – to ensure we have signed up to these international conventions.
He spoke about quotas for fishing and about the ship which was shipwrecked in New Zealand. The inventory was not accurate and he said we need to ensure there are accurate inventories because there were 30 containers of dangerous goods on that ship and there was no inventory to say so. You are handling these materials without knowing they are there. We need to ensure that what boats are carrying to and from Australia is on the inventory.
There was talk about seabed mining, which pricked up my ears because we have been discussing some of this in local media and in parliament. This is in relation to seabed mining in the Cook Islands. I do not think it is the same as what we are talking about in the Groote Eylandt area. What is interesting is it appears, from the Antarctic, that there are balls of minerals that are rolled along the sea from the Antarctic by the currents. These golf ball-size resources are formed in the deep water of the Antarctic and are loaded with minerals. They eventually move into the Cook Island areas. They are developing big suction pipes that go down to nearly 5 km, which they think will be able to pull these things up. It will be like a bulldozer going along which will just pluck them up. They are worth, theoretically, millions and millions of dollars. However, there are environmental and cost issues, and many other issues. One of them is who wants those minerals. One of those countries, of course, is China.
When you go to Raratonga, youl notice the court house has been built by the People’s Republic of China, as has the police station. The funny thing is, the parliament’s little car that runs around to help people get around the place has been sponsored by the People’s Republic of China. People are a little suspicious of what is going on.
We also had an address by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Secretary-General, Dr William Shija who spoke about the role of the CPA. I asked him questions about the outcomes of what he does, because one of the outcomes they say they are achieving is promoting human rights and democracy. With all due respect to the Secretary-General, the answers were a bit hazy, but it was still worth asking a question, considering they have $2m in the bank account.
There was also, from Western Australia, discussion on a Public Accounts Committee and a Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption. It is very interesting to see this organisation. Each parliament should look at it to see whether it would be suitable. GOPAC, as it is called, promotes parliamentary oversight of aspects of government including government administration, sport, business, humanitarian aid, procurement and local government, amongst other things. If people wish to look that up they can do so on the website.
Mr Graeme Sturges from Tasmania spoke about the effects of the global financial crisis. Senator Anne Urquhart discussed women in parliament, especially in the South Pacific where the number of female members is very low. The Solomon Islands has one, Papua New Guinea has three, Cook Islands has two, and the Speaker is a woman. There are areas where women in parliaments could be promoted.
We had a session on the role of the opposition with Hon Wilkie Rasmussen, who is the Leader of the Opposition. He gave us a history of the Cook Islands parliament and offered a few words about what he thought of the government. Because the prime minister did not attend - he was overseas in China and a few other places - I suppose it gave an opportunity for him to have a say.
One of the other sessions was ‘The Political Landscape’ by Hon Norman George, who is a parliamentarian in the Cook Islands. He gave a frank view of how things were going in relation to the Cook Islands democracy. Session 10 was by Miss Janice Spalding who is in charge of the Commonwealth Pacific Government Facility which keeps an eye on governance in the Pacific. Session 11 was ‘Pacific Legislators for Population and Governments’, and Session 12 was ‘Managing the Media’. This was done by Hon Fiona Simpson MP in the Queensland parliament. I have not been able to get through everything. The last one was Session 13, ‘The Committee Systems’, by Moana Mackey from New Zealand. If I get a chance tomorrow night, I will expand on some of those sessions and give you an idea of what the Cook Islands are really like outside the conference. Thank you.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): I rise to speak on a couple of issues. The first is to pay tribute to who I believe is the best principal the Northern Territory has to offer, June Wessels, who is retiring after many years. I believe June started in 1971 as a teacher, and she has been at the Bakewell Primary School for nearly 12 years. I have a close association with June. Being present at her farewell last Friday evening, it was an absolute privilege to listen to what others had to say about June. You could seriously see the compassion and passion she not only has for the job but for her staff. I know she will be sorely missed. June was probably instrumental in some way in me getting into politics. As chair of Bakewell I had many issues and arguments with Syd Stirling who was the Education minister at the time. So I blame Syd and June for me being in the Chamber today. Both have had much to do with it, and trying to find some common sense in this world we live in.
Some statistics about June: She has been a teacher and principal in NT government schools since 1982; that is 30 years. She has spent the past 11 years as the principal at Bakewell Primary School, as I have said, and prior to that, June worked in a range of schools in Darwin, the rural area and, of course, Palmerston. Peers in schools and within the Department of Education and Children’s Services have a high opinion of June as an educator, as do I. In all the schools where she has had a leadership role she has built the school community’s investment in the school by ensuring parents and students are engaged.
June is a dedicated, quiet achiever who supports the development of staff at Bakewell through a learning community approach that is focused on student outcomes. Bakewell is the largest government primary school in the Northern Territory and June has overseen an expansion program that includes a large new classroom block and huge outdoor and stage area. June has also spent her time at Bakewell building attendance rates and, of course, the NAPLAN results, which we all know have improved in recent years.
In 2010, June was named School Principal of the Year in recognition of her strong leadership. She has worked damn hard and has had an enormous impact on the lives of students and their families. It is now time for family for June. Her agenda for her retirement is that she and her partner will buy a caravan and spend some well-earned time travelling around Australia. To someone who has done so much for so many students and teachers in the Northern Territory, I wish all the very best in retirement. It is time for ‘June time’. Well done June and thank you very much on behalf of the Northern Territory.
Seeing that we are in the last week of parliament for the year I will thank a few people. Firstly, to my electoral officer, Marlise, and her husband, Henrique who have been an absolute support for me in everything I do, through a very hard campaign for this year’s election, but also in the everyday issues that occur in an electorate office, which we all know about. So thank you, Marlise. To the Calder Branch of the Country Liberal Party, I thank you again for showing your resolve in me being the member for Brennan again, and for your support; that goes right across the Country Liberal Party. To all the residents of Brennan, I hope you have a safe and merry Christmas this year. To my friends and family, particularly those who helped in the election this year, a big thank you. It was a huge job and there is not a person in this room who is not thankful for the help they receive during election campaigns; in fact, at any time during the year in this job.
To Noelene, Ian who has recently left, Kerry, Maggie, Roxanne, David and Wayne, the core group who make up the ministerial office upstairs, you guys have worked so hard in the last couple of months to bring some order to that office. There is no manual you can go to, when you take over a new office, that tells you what has to be done; so to you guys, thank you very much.
To Peter Carew, to Lou, Doug, Brian and so many people I can name in the Department of Business; John Baskerville, Michelle in the Department of Housing, again so many people I could mention who have been rock-solid in their support, particularly in the first few months of setting up government. To the Business and Housing staff across the Northern Territory, thank you very much for your patience as a new government takes over and as we bed down the new structures. Your work and dedication is highly regarded. Thank you very much.
Thank you to all the Legislative Assembly staff, to you Mr Deputy Speaker and Madam Speaker, and the previous Madam Speaker, the former member for Nightcliff, Jane Aagaard. She did a terrific job and thank her for her efforts over the past 12 months. To the media team upstairs, thank you very much for your guidance and support. Every one up there, except Cam, does a wonderful job. No, he does a good job, he will understand, he will get that. I will not go any further, he does a good job. And, of course, the Hansard staff upstairs who do a remarkable job. It must be pretty difficult to listen to us waffle on for so many hours over so many sitting days. To all my colleagues in the House, on the government benches as well as in opposition, we do fight hard from time to time and we can tear strips off each other, but the wonderful thing is that outside this House, I think in most circumstances, we are friends.
A member: No.
Mr CHANDLER: No, we are not friends, okay. Sorry, but we try to be friendly. We are all human beings, and we are all here trying to do the right thing by Territorians. We may be parted by ideology, by the philosophies of the different parties on the way, but I do not care what even my friends tell me, even the people on the Labor team have their hearts in the right place; we are all trying to do the right thing for Territorians. We just have a division from time to time on the way we think about things and the way we go about them.
To my beautiful family, to Robyn, Brandon, Jackson, Gabrielle and Harrison, thank you so much for your understanding of Dad’s job. It is tough being away so often, and I think, like most of us here, that our families are the most important things, and many of us are in this place because of our families and because of how important they are to us. On that note, I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Please stay safe over the festive season and we will see you here next year.
Thank you.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Mr Deputy Speaker, I wish to speak about the Arafura Dance Association end-of-year concert, which is an annual event. It is always a spectacular event and there were three performances last Friday night, Saturday night and a matinee performance on the Sunday. It is not called an end-of-year extravaganza for nothing. What they pull of each year is nothing short of amazing. I believe it is the biggest dance school in the Northern Territory and the biggest dance school in Australia that is in the not-for-profit sector and does not have premises of its own.
A couple of hundred students are enrolled, an entire volunteer committee runs it, and the culmination of the year’s work with the dance teachers, students, boys and girls ranging in ages from three to about 40, if not more, was amazing - the costumes, music, the choreography across the entire gamut of dance genres from ballet, jazz, and tap, to hip hop, contemporary, and highland. The program presented 31 items, which is incredible.
The end-of-year extravaganza is the opportunity to present awards to dancers. I will read through that list this evening and congratulate each of the dancers who were recognised for their efforts.
The Encouragement Award for 2012 - these awards were a medal for each of the dancers who had been nominated and agreed upon by their teachers:
Dance Diversity - Lara Phelps
Further to that, there were some Outstanding Achievement awards, again across the different dance genres. I will mention who sponsored these awards as well: the Ballet Junior award went to Eva Staude and was presented and donated by Kelly Murray from Gove Tackle and Outdoors; the Contemporary Junior Outstanding Achievement award was won by Siena Stubbs. Siena has probably won that for the last few years in a row; she is a beautiful little dancer. Her award was presented and donated by Dave Miegel Plumber and Gas Fitter; the Contemporary Senior award went to Tayla Edwards, presented and awarded also by Dave Miegel; the Tap Junior Outstanding Achievement award went to Tahli Stimpson, presented and donated by the Hill family.
The remaining awards were sponsored by me as the local member. They included: the Ballet Senior award to Charlotte Piper; the Jazz Junior award to Tiahne Brett; the Jazz Senior award to Maddi Slatter; the Tap Senior award to Melissa Kennedy, who is also the teacher of hip hop. I understand on the evening it was announced that Melissa had received the highest tap score ever in her tap exams, a significant achievement. The Hip Hop Junior award went to Kiara Foggin; the Hip Hop Senior award went to Danielle Even; the Highland Junior Award went to Hannah Devon; the Highland Senior Award went to Alicia Wong; and the Most Outstanding Dance Student of 2012 went to Tayla Miegel. She is thoroughly deserving of that award. She is an outstanding dancer across a number of genres, there is no doubt about that.
I acknowledge the teachers at Arafura Dance. The principal dance teacher, Miss Rachael Wallis, is incredibly talented. What she has brought to Arafura Dance is incredible in the many years she has been there. It must be nudging 10 years for Miss Rachael. She is incredibly dedicated. She is an Indigenous woman and brings with her that unique contemporary dance that goes with Indigenous dance. Her talent has been recognised nationally and internationally. She danced at the opening of the Olympic Games in Sydney, and more recently was invited to perform for the Queen in London as part of a small delegation of Indigenous dancers from Australia for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
I acknowledge Ms Sharlene Cardilini who teaches highland, ballet, jazz and tap. You would not find a more dedicated teacher, particularly of highland dancing. She is devoted to her students and has grown the love of highland dancing within Arafura Dance. Miss Melissa Kennedy, as I said, teaches hip hop and is assisted by Alix Betts and Shauna Keogh. I also make note of the younger helpers who assist the teachers: Cassy Rogers, and Ashley Verrall.
I also acknowledge the incredibly hard work the Arafura Dance committee takes on. They are all volunteers. With the exception of teachers being on contracts, everything else about the organisation is not-for-profit. Lesley Tankard has served in the role of president for many years; Belinda Verrall is the vice president and also looks after the big job of the dance wear sales; Glenda Birch is the secretary and fundraising officer and also works incredibly hard. Glenda sent out a record number of e-mails in the last few weeks communicating with parents about the many things they needed to know in the lead-up to the dance concert; Jenny Glover has worked hard as the Treasurer; and the executive is well supported by Sue Devon, Judy Miegel, Wendy Allen and Sue Colquhoun.
At the performance they made sure they thanked all of the parents who supported the concert, and their students and kids, throughout the year, and all those who put up their hands to be costume coordinators. There were many parents who put up their hands to be volunteers at the concert.
I also need to acknowledge Daniel Hick from Dhalinbuy who performed at the concert, Richard Mann who assisted with, I think it might have been some platform and electrical work, Jason Dyson - and I wish I had the names of the other young men who were with Jason. I cannot remember the name of it, but it is like Tae Kwon Do. No, it was not Tai Chi, it was a bit more aggressive than that, member for Goyder. Also, for MC and music, Libby Baulch; sound and lighting technicians, Michael Stimpson and Sean from Gove FM, and for recording the performance, Josh McKeogh from the high school.
At the conclusion of each concert they always make available for next to nothing a CD that captures the concert, which I know people always look forward to getting hold of and keeping as a record.
Mr Deputy Speaker, well done to Arafura Dance; it is an incredible organisation and will be lining up again for next year. My association with Arafura Dance has spanned about 15 years. I had a gap there for a couple of years when my now 19-year-old daughter had moved away, but was delighted to see my son, Patrick, put his hand up for hip hop classes this year, and he has thoroughly enjoyed it. It is great to see boys taking on dance. I wish them all a Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2013.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Mr Deputy Speaker, given the time of year, I place on the record my thanks to my staff, Trish O’Hehir in the electorate office who is the full-time Electorate Officer, also Carol Lynch who fills in when Trish is away, and Jynx Smith. They all work well in the electorate; they relate well to the constituents and for that I am eternally grateful. I also place on the records my thanks to Martine Smith, my executive officer and also Cheryl Owens, both newly-appointed into the Office of the Speaker. Both are doing a great job working with me in this new role as Speaker.
I place on the record my best wishes to all of my parliamentary colleagues: members of my government, members of the opposition and, of course, the member for Nelson - that they all, with their families, friends and loved ones, have a very safe and prosperous New Year and enjoy themselves.
I also place on the Parliamentary Record and commend one of the Department of Legislative Assembly staff who will be leaving, possibly late this year or in the new year, Mr Graham Gadd, who we know works in the Table Office.
Graham and his family came from New South Wales in about 1965 when they moved to Darwin. I am not sure exactly from where, but I think it was Sydney. As happened in those days, someone got an appointment in Darwin. His father was appointed as the government dentist and it was his job to design the government clinic in Mitchell Street, which was roughly where Wisdom Caf is now. I recall this dental clinic because as children we all had to go there to get our teeth done. Mr Stokes might also remember this dental clinic. If I had known Mr Gadd’s father was responsible for all that pain I had as a child I might have viewed him differently in my working relationship. However, that is why sometimes these Commonwealth people came to Darwin, and good on them.
Graham went to Darwin High School where he completed all his schooling. From around that time he had a strong interest in a multitude of sports. As I found through my research, he was a very young, active, physically enthusiastic fellow with his sports. Cycling was one of the areas he excelled in. Clearly he was a dash rider because he won road races: Adelaide River to Darwin in particular, and Pine Creek to Darwin in the late 1960s. It is probably two hours drive by car from Darwin to Pine Creek, so probably a couple of hundred kilometres. That is an enormous event. He took these races out, so clearly he had talent. He also competed in velodrome events and took out many prizes in that as well.
Apart from cycling, he was involved in the hockey club at that time. It is called East Darwin now but it was called Norths when he was involved with the club. He played hockey at all levels, obviously working up until he competed and played at the A Grade level for many years. He also went on to become an umpire and did a lot of coaching with the juniors. He played representative sides on behalf of the Territory, played veterans, and played and competed in interstate trips, mainly to Western Australia.
As if that was not enough, he was also involved in sailing. I find it remarkable for someone to be good at sailing and at land-based sports. He sailed with the Darwin Sailing Club from the early times: 1965 onward. One of his notable achievements was to be selected to compete in the world Hobie 18s in Toronto, Canada. I had to do a little research on Hobie 18s. I understand it is an 18-foot catamaran-type sailing boat manned by two people.
I am not sure how training in Darwin in the tropics compares to training and competing in Toronto, Canada, but I know Canada is a very cold place. To go there and compete and do well was a remarkable achievement. He has many trophies and awards at the Darwin Sailing Club with his name on them.
He was also involved in water polo, squash, and played cricket. He was a medium-fast bowler, and his best was five for 25 in six overs. Perhaps he needs to give the Australian cricket side some coaching and tips on how it could improve performance.
In his younger days, when he went to Newington College in Sydney, he played Rugby Union. He played Aussie Rules as well. Graham Gadd has had a remarkable sporting career.
In regard to his employment, he started work in the public sector in about 1971. He worked for the Navy as an assistant to Commodore Johnston, which is interesting because when the Commodore was Administrator of the Northern Territory, I was appointed as his aide. I was in that job for about three years and the late Commodore Eric Johnston was a very good man and a good naval career officer. Graham also worked at the 2 Mile depot for Transport of Works.
Graham started work with the Legislative Assembly in July 1975 as the Staff Clerk. He then worked in Hansard as monitor during the sittings in the original building where he sat at a glass wall which overlooked the Chamber. He acted as Serjeant-at-Arms, then became Clerk Assistant when Norm Gleeson retired, and had charge of Hansard and the Table Office which was housed in the library of the original Legislative Assembly complex.
He was also Acting Deputy Clerk before the appointment of Mr Ian McNeill as Deputy Clerk. He has worked with five clerks going back as far as Fred Walker, Ray Chin, Keith Thompson, Guy Smith and, of course, Ian McNeill. Again, for ceremonial occasions, Graham has worked with many Speakers up to and including the recent Speaker, Jane Aagaard, and, of course, for a short period of time with me.
As with Helen Allmich, he also had ceremonial roles with the various Administrators when the Address-in-Reply was taken to Government House.
In the course of his work with the parliament and the Legislative Assembly, he has worked on a number of large committees such as the Select Committee on Communications Technology; the New Parliament House Committee, for the building we are now housed in, which commenced under Guy Smith; the Environment Committee which looked at the Ranger mine, the Mary River saltwater intrusion and the cane toad problem; the Subordinate Legislation and Tabled Papers Committee; the Standing Orders Committee, in fact, most of the standing committees this parliament has known.
He organised the National Public Works Committee conference when it was held in Darwin.
To a certain extent, Graham commenced the revolution of Hansard going from the original 8100 computer system to the AS400 and then the digital system we have today. Graham was responsible for arranging computerised templates for production of the Chairman’s notes for Committee of the Whole, and for minutes of proceedings and streamlining the system.
You can see, apart from his private activities and sporting career and being an all round good guy, he has had a long history with the Department of the Legislative Assembly and of working with the parliament.
I extend my personal thanks to Graham for the support he has given me over the last four years from when I became an elected member. He has helped me a lot trying to work out where to find questions on notice, helping with my petitions and getting the wording right, helping me work through the Hansard on the computer and finding what I wanted to find, and recently, with the opening of parliament, in his role as Serjeant-at-Arms. It has been much appreciated to have someone there with that depth of experience and knowledge and it gave me great comfort when people like him were around. I have always found him highly professional in his work and his endeavours and exemplary in his knowledge of parliament and parliamentary procedures. He knows what he is talking about and is well-versed in many things to do with the Northern Territory parliament and the history of the Northern Territory parliament.
Graham leaving the Northern Territory and going to Tasmania will be the Territory’s loss, but clearly it will be Tasmania’s gain. I also pass on the best wishes of my mother, Noel Padgham, because she too worked with Mr Gadd when she was in the parliament and she asked me to put on the record her personal thanks to Graham Gadd and to wish him all the best in his future endeavours. I am sure he will be doing something very enjoyable in Tasmania, probably sailing and watching the Sydney to Hobart come in at the end of January next year. So my best wishes to him and best wishes from my family.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016