2014-10-28
Madam Speaker Purick took the Chair at 10 am.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of two Year 6 classes from Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School accompanied by Mrs Gez Mulvahil and Ms Sarah Morrissey. On behalf of honourable members, welcome to Parliament House and I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also advise of the presence in the gallery of a class from Dripstone Middle School Henbury Outreach Centre accompanied by Ms Nicole Hennessey and Ms Rachel Fox. On behalf of honourable members, welcome to Parliament House. I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, during the last sitting week there was a noted increase in allegations of lying and deceit, resulting in the raising of numerous points of order. Members are reminded of Standing Order 62, which states that a member shall not attribute directly, or by innuendo, to another member, unbecoming conduct or motives and personal reflections on members which are highly disorderly.
To be absolutely clear, from this week and now on, to call another member a liar is highly disorderly. To attribute behaviour to a member which imputes they are a liar is also highly disorderly. To say a member is deceitful, misleading or dishonest is highly disorderly. Highly disorderly behaviour may result in a requirement to withdraw from the Chamber immediately, pursuant to Standing Order 240A.
I also remind members of Standing Order 106: the wording of a notice of motion must not offend against this principle. That gives me the power to amend such notices or decline them appearing on the Notice Paper. It is best to avoid this occurring at all.
Please look at page 515 of the House of Representatives Practice 6th Edition, which states that when expressing a charge against a member the charge shall not adopt unparliamentary language, therefore a motion should not directly claim a member is a liar.
Motions or language which alleges the government, the opposition or a political party has been somehow dishonest may be allowed when it is clear that the reflection is not on a member, but on a body.
However, I do urge caution even in that regard. It is the members of this Assembly who give it the dignity it deserves, and it is the same members who by their actions may take it away. With regard to this week’s proceedings I advise also as follows:
Any member who chooses to yell across the Chamber will be required to withdraw from the Chamber under Standing Order 240A.
Members who abuse Standing Order 113 may be asked to leave the Chamber under Standing Order 240A without a warning.
Constant interjecting may result in a warning, or it may result in being required to withdraw from the Chamber under 240A with no warning.
Honourable members, I am also aware that there has been an undercurrent of unparliamentary language and gesturing with hands. I advise members that I will monitoring the ambient microphone and the tapes that subsequently follow, and if there has been unparliamentary language used in this Chamber then that member, or members, will be spoken to in due course.
STATUTE LAW REVISION BILL
(Serial 95)
Continued from 28 August 2014.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, it will come as no surprise to the Attorney-General to hear me say we will be supporting this bill. This is a standard statute revision bill; they come before parliament quite regularly.
I believe the Attorney-General’s second reading speech, aside from reading out the names of the acts this bill relates to, lasted about one minute. My speech aspires to be of a similar length to the Attorney-General’s. It is a small ambition, but I think I can make it to a minute.
Statute revision bills are essentially cleanup bills. They clean up small problems with legislation such as updating superseded references or correcting typographical and grammatical errors and omissions. Nothing in this bill actually changes government policy or the operations of the legislation or government. We are not redebating how something should work, but trying to fix a small mistake that has come up in working through those acts.
Some of these cleanups are easily identifiable; if the title of a position changes, then obviously the legislation needs to change to reflect that. Similarly, if the name of an organisation changes then an act could require updating.
It is sometimes curious how things we fix are identified. With some of the other cleanups you wonder how an error or requirement for a correction was identified. We are pleased to see that the Commercial Passenger (Road) Transport Act will be amended so the word ‘affect’ will be replaced by the word ‘effect’.
I will not criticise the people who drafted the first legislation; it is a mistake that can occur in the English language. Obviously it passed this House and as lawmakers we missed that ‘affect’ should be ‘effect’. I congratulate whoever was flicking through the Commercial Passenger (Road) Transport Act, noticed this error, took a stand and said it has to change, we have to fix this, and brought it to the House for correction. If they are listening, well done, we appreciate the work you have done.
I had conversations over the weekend on a related, but separate, topic about the former member for MacDonnell in this House, Neil Bell, who as shadow Attorney-General apparently always spoke for 45 minutes in his second reading contributions.
I like to believe he had exceptions. A bill like this may be an exception, and perhaps he would not speak for 45 minutes.
Mr Elferink: No, it wasn’t.
Mr GUNNER: Another former member for MacDonnell, the current Attorney-General, may like to comment on Neil Bell’s attempts.
Mr Wood: The Attorney-General could speak for 45 minutes.
Mr Elferink: Challenge accepted.
Mr GUNNER: The challenge is accepted to talk for 45 minutes on the Statute Law Revision Bill.
Mr Elferink: Don’t worry about it. I would not do that to you.
In having taken a full minute, I thank the people who have brought this bill to the House. We support it.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I used to listen to Neil Bell, the former member for MacDonnell, and I enjoyed many of his speeches. Sometimes they were pretty long, but each year he ended up pulling out mistakes various speakers had made.
I have to be careful it is not a case of the pot calling the kettle black, because I release a newsletter every year which I attempt to proofread. But when I send it to someone else it is a disaster in both grammar and spelling. I am amazed someone has been brave enough to look at some of these mistakes. Without encouraging the minister to give us the historical difference between a comma and a semicolon and where they derived from – previous to the Magna Carta or an ancient Roman Emperor’s decision – I was surprised to see, under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act, someone had taken a magnifying glass and noticed a comma after the word ‘employment’, which had to be replaced with a semicolon.
I looked at that act. I thought this was serious stuff, but I found it was the only case where the comma had been used; in every other section of the act a semicolon was used. I wondered who had to look through this act to find that error.
I looked at the changes under the Gene Technology (Northern Territory) Act; under section 14(a) it said we are changing from ‘an offence against both’ to ‘both an offence against’. I knew what was meant under the old act and I do not know why it has been changed. It looked perfectly sensible as it was, but I am sure there is someone with a great legal background who can probably quote a case from 1937, Smith versus the Commonwealth, where that difference caused a major problem with the findings of that court. However, I cannot see the difference.
The other change was interesting. Sometimes when you listen to debate in this parliament it is relevant. It is under the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act, where there is a word I have mixed up before. Under Schedule 2, Part 1 section 2 and Part 2, sections 2 and 3 the change is from the word ‘sewerage’ to ‘sewage’, and there are times when I …
Mr Elferink: One is the pipe; the other is the thing that goes through the pipe.
Mr WOOD: Yes, I know; that was very good. It gave me an opportunity to talk for longer than a minute, because I checked Schedule 2. I probably do not get a chance to discuss such high matters, but I was talking to local government workers the other day – you can say I am irrelevant here, but I looked at the Schedule 2 activities that require approval or licence. This is the section where that is dealt with, and it talks about constructing, installing and carrying out works in relation to premises for disposal of waste by burial and premises other than sewerage treatment plants. Sewerage is not the correct word because although you are installing sewerage pipes, you are not installing sewerage treatment plants.
I had a complaint from local government. I did not know this, but Indigenous Essential Services looks after septic tanks on outstations and remote communities; they have now put the cost of that on local government. Local government now has to get a licence for transporting and dumping. I did not realise there were so many requirements for people operating in this area. I can see why some councils complain about the cost of doing all this. In a roundabout way, something that looked fairly innocuous – it probably did not smell innocuous – caused me to check this section of the act, and I realised what local government was talking about.
The number of activities that require licences in relation to this sort of thing is, I gather, causing a burden to local government, especially the cost of doing that. I will look into that a little – deeper is not quite the right word …
Mr Elferink: Fulsomely.
Mr WOOD: Yes. I will take this up with the Local Government Association and find out what it is costing them and whether Indigenous Essential Services is passing on costs to local government which they cannot afford.
As the member for Fannie Bay said, the opposition gives full support, and the Independent definitely gives full support.
I thank the people who wander through all these bits of legislation. I do not know if these changes are found by accident, or whether the government has a special committee on grammar and spelling to make sure all legislation is up to scratch. I do not know how we have come up with all these changes, but whoever did it is keen to make sure our legislation is correct. That is important as well. I thank them for all that work because that is not easy. When you go through this document you realise there has been quite a number of changes. That would not have taken five minutes; it would have taken a long time for that to happen.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing this Statute Law Revision Bill forward and I support it.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank honourable members for their support. Yes, this is one of those tidy-up pieces of legislation. One of the great mysteries that still exist in my ADD-affected world is the level of attention to detail of people who work in various parts of the public service in relation to matters like this. I find it incomprehensible. I do not mean that in a negative way. I have always been easily distracted by bright flashing lights and colourful things. To cautiously, carefully, and methodically go through legislative instruments is my idea of an exquisite hell. However, there are people who, in the course of their duties, find these things. We throw them into a bucket and, periodically, as that bucket fills up, we bring a Statute Law Revision Bill into this House. It is truly politically unsexy, but it is the natural and functional work of this House.
In answer to the member for Nelson’s questions in relation to the amendment under the Gene Technology (Northern Territory) Act 2004 where section 14(a) refers to an ‘offence against both’ and replaces it with the words ‘both an offence against’, without having asked the question; I suspect it is a stylistic change.
Believe it or not, I am told faithfully that there are styles of legislative drafting which change from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and evolve over time. If one looks at a bill from the 1950s and compares it to the way a bill is drafted today, one of the first things you will notice about a bill drafted today is it does not have marginal notes as they used to. If you go further back in history and look at something like Queen Anne’s legislation in relation to copyright laws in England, it was simply a printed document devoid of section numbers, paragraphs and anything that might distract the reader from the text itself.
I am guessing, but what you see here is not necessarily a change in substance, but a change in style that reflects changing styles over time. In more recent times it has been the wont of parliaments and legislative draftsfolk, here and in other jurisdictions, to adopt the concept of plain English. Therefore, you will see many words starting to be expunged from the statute book and replaced with ‘from now on’ and ‘because’.
One can also notice electro convulsive has been changed to electroconvulsive. The difference between the two is, I presume, somebody has taken the time to look up the words ‘electro’ and ‘convulsive and realised there is a single word ‘electroconvulsive’ and, for a stylistic reason as much as anything else, determined the single word of electroconvulsive is appropriate under the Mental Health and Related Services Act.
Once again, I heard the member for Nelson mention the difference between ‘sewage’ and ‘sewerage’. A sewer is the physical infrastructure, and I think the member for Nelson was aware of this from some of his concepts, and sewage is the goop that goes down the pipe. It is normally water mixed in with various human waste products, but also includes other products that find their way in to our various macerators. You would be quite mystified if you knew some of the products that turn up in those macerators in our sewerage systems.
Having made those observations again, I thank the parliamentary draftsmen. Sandra Markham does a remarkable job on behalf of the people of the Northern Territory. I continue to admire with awe, in the traditional sense of the word, the work done by legislative draftsmen because I genuinely still find it difficult to comprehend how people commit themselves to doing things like drafting legislation. By goodness I am grateful for them because without them all our jobs, the jobs of the court and the jobs of the civil society would be far more difficult, if not impossible.
The time has come to pass this bill into law and send it to the Administrator for her attention. Should she condescend to place her signature upon it these acts will be appropriately amended.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice) (by leave): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Whilst there is no question before the House I move, pursuant Standing Order 89, the reorder of the routine of business so at the conclusion of the consideration of Government Business Orders of the Day No 1, the bill we have just dealt with, the Assembly immediately considers ministerial statements and, at the conclusion of ministerial statements, the Assembly resumes consideration of Government Business. The effect of this motion is to enable the statement which was circulated earlier today to be debated forthwith, then we return to the Notice Paper.
Motion agreed to.
Mr GILES (Business): Mr Deputy Speaker, today I appraise the House of the continuing significance of October Business Month in 2014. The year 2014 is the 20th anniversary of October Business Month, an initiative of previous Country Liberals governments.
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Let me begin by tracing some of the history of what was originally known as Small Business Month. In 1994 the Business Services Group within the then Department of Industries and Development saw that, as part of their work with both established and prospective business operators, the promotion of an entire month for business people seeking to improve their operational skills, knowledge, competitiveness and networking opportunities could be highly beneficial in the context of the fast-growing Northern Territory economy.
It was a prescient move by the then Chief Minister, Marshall Perron, and the Minister for Asian Relations and Trade, Industries and Development, the Honourable Shane Stone. As noted by the minister in Hansard on 29 June 1994
In 1994, 699 people attended 12 organised events including the launch of International Business Week, leadership seminars and a weekend focusing on women in business. On 17 October 1995, the minister drew attention to the Northern Territory government’s support and said:
In November 1996 the Minister for Transport and Works, Hon Barry Coulter, stressed in a document entitled Darwin 2010: the Multi-Model Transport Logistics Hub, the need for, amongst other things: construction of Alice Springs-Darwin railway; timely investment in port infrastructure and facilities; service land at East Arm; a cruise ship terminal at Stokes Hill Wharf; and the use of Darwin as a supply base for the mining, oil and gas activity in the region.
Noting the emphasis on the need for a vital partnership between government and industry, and private enterprise, small- and medium-size businesses which play a significant role in our economy were to be encouraged to upskill, network, and learn more about the opportunities in the Territory. October Business Month swiftly became a very important cog in that wheel.
While the Labor Party at the time scoffed at our dream of a gas industry in the Northern Territory, rail infrastructure connecting Alice Springs to Darwin expanded tourism, which we are now doing again. The Country Liberal government of that day, as today, worked very hard to nurture a Territory environment that helped local businesses grow, something Labor does not support.
By October 1998, the renamed October Business Month had become a premier event. The theme that year was Growing the Territory, long before the ALP stole the title. Subjects included bidding for oil and gas business and, less importantly as it turned out, millennium bug management. More than 2750 attended the 1998 seminars and workshops and by 1999 this number had increased to more than 4000 people attending more than 100 events.
The value of October Business Month became even more widely known. New technology and electronic commerce came to the fore and seminars included youth in business as well as an introduction to the new tax system, the GST as we know it, which came into effect on 1 July 2000. On 10 October 2000, former Chief Minister, the Hon Denis Burke, stated in this House:
The Country Liberals have long been prepared to make the Northern Territory the focus for Defence. Unlike Labor, which turned its back on Defence, we are prepared to stand up for it. I was very keen, just two weeks ago, to open the very first business in the defence supply base near Robertson Barracks.
We are why the inaugural Northern Australia Defence Summit was established within the October Business Month last year, another Country Liberals’ initiative. This year, an impressive line-up of senior military and civilian leaders gave a very informative series of presentations to local businesses, entitled Building Sustainable and Productive Defence Industries in northern Australia.
There is no doubt that strategic priorities, operational commitments, construction capital expenditure, logistical requirements – not just for the ADF but also under the US Force Posture initiatives – mean that Defence will invest many millions of dollars into the Northern Territory, into our economy, creating jobs and other opportunities into the decades ahead. The Country Liberals, under the Giles government, are creating a long-lasting legacy for this Defence exposure and investment in the Territory
October Business Month, 20 years on from the original concept, has grown to more than 130 events over 31 days, attracting thousands of participants from across the Territory. OBM is considered by many NT small businesses to be the NT's premier business event in their annual calendar.
It is now a joint initiative with the Chamber of Commerce Northern Territory; many valued partners extend sponsorship support to that.
OBM includes workshops, seminars, conferences and other events where businesses benefit from up-to-date, firsthand knowledge delivered by a diverse range of nationally and internationally recognised figures.
Keynote speakers this year included Mark Bouris, Michelle Bridges, Mark Beretta and Peter Blasina. The top themes for OBM 2014 include leadership, finance, marketing and social media, human resources and staff retention, and motivation and inspiration.
There is no doubt this CLP initiative was visionary and has stood the test of time. It was based on the Liberal belief that businesses and individuals, not government, are the true creators of wealth and employment in the Northern Territory and around the world. Businesses, however small, are the drivers of the nation’s economy, underpinning growth and innovation, providing jobs for all Australians.
Developing the north has been a key theme for 2014, complementing the ongoing government policy of planning for the future of north Australia. The turn-out for these events has been quite astounding.
Highlight events include this week’s National Economic Development Conference, with its theme of managing population growth and regional assets for our economic sustainability. The national Chair of Economic Development Australia, Mr Stephen Chapple, sums it up perfectly in the program. In his introduction welcoming delegates to Darwin, he says:
That is something Labor does not support.
It is also good to note that a pre-conference tour is taking place at East Arm Wharf and Darwin Business Park, led by representatives of the Darwin Port Corporation and the Land Development Corporation. Luke Bowen, General Manager of the Northern Australia Development Office, is participating in the Australia 2040 panel discussion entitled Australia 2040.
There is no doubt that in the Territory we have a business community looking to the future, keen to define their own particular niche in society and business. It is a business community that wants to join this government to drive major projects, pursue improved infrastructure, and attract investors, not sit back and navel gaze like the Labor Party, and drive debt through the roof and claw back our economy.
They know there are many examples of how Country Liberal governments have put, and continue to put, runs on the board. They know we drive down crime. They know we drive down debt and drive up economies and jobs.
The construction of the Alice Springs to Darwin railway line was a project Labor said was a faded dream, but quite happily jumped on the first domestic freight train when it arrived. Domestic freight movements have now seen some 9% growth per year since the inception of this line.
Bulk minerals account for the major tonnage carried. As noted by Greg Pauline, Genesee & Wyoming Australia’s managing director, earlier this year:
He also mentioned the port. In order to expand our industries, the necessity for extensive port facilities was recognised decades ago under the Country Liberals, with planned development for East Arm, Middle Arm, and now, under our government, Glyde Point.
A priority for Country Liberals government has been to understand and underline the critical importance of strategic long-term planning. That is why the agenda for last week’s NT Major Projects Conference included a presentation exploring:
Natural gas has been the main source of primary energy in the Territory since 1986. Gas will be the biggest driver of the NT economy for the next 40 to 50 years. The Bayu-Undan offshore gas facility was a pioneering first for the Country Liberals which delivered outcomes for the Territory. On 15 October 1998, former Chief Minister, Hon Shane Stone, said in this House:
That is what Shane Stone said and it continues with the Country Liberals government of today implementing the INPEX project, the least of which was first provided under the Howard government administration in 1998. Here we are talking about a pipeline interconnector between the Territory and the eastern seaboard to drive gas sales interstate to establish a wholesale domestic gas market but, importantly, to develop stranded gas assets in the Northern Territory and promote the development of offshore assets again coming onshore into the Territory.
Since its first commissioning to the end of August 2014, there have been a total of 430 cargoes and the landscape of LNG projects in the Territory is almost infinite, both onshore and offshore.
I move on to tourism. One of this year’s presenters at the October Business Month, speaking at Yulara, Alice Springs and Darwin last week was Andrew McEvoy, former head of Tourism Australia, whose subject Reinvigorating Tourism in the NT, was no doubt a focus after the former Labor government’s neglect of tourism over those eleven-and-a-half fateful years.
The tide for tourism is beginning to turn backwards to positive news for our operators and their employees. It is a vital industry that supports more than 2000 businesses across the Territory, and employs 16 000 people directly and indirectly. One example is the cruise industry. On 12 February 1998, then Minister for Tourism, Hon Shane Stone, advised the House that the Darwin cruise strategy from 1998 to 2001 was being launched, saying:
This strategy has, over the intervening years, resulted in Fort Hill Wharf becoming Australia’s third-biggest cruise ship terminal in passenger numbers and, again, more jobs for the Top End. Let me reaffirm that: little old Darwin is now the third-biggest cruise ship passenger terminal in Australia.
I thank all those involved in the organisation and presentation of October Business Month over the past 20 years. This includes the hard-working public servants in the Department of Business, and others; the vast array of the presenters and keynote speakers; the attendees who showed up in their thousands; and the sponsors and venues that have hosted the events across the Territory.
October Business Month continues to deliver innovative ideas, educational business development options, and opportunities to meet others seeking to establish and grow their companies here. Our success in developing the north depends on all of the above. It gives me great confidence that we have a vibrant business community that is forward looking, which puts us in a great position for future growth. The only obstacle in our way is the Northern Territory Labor Party.
For our part, we will work hard to continue to stimulate the economy of the Northern Territory. That is the Country Liberals way: foresight; vision; good economic management; low crime; and low debt.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of this statement.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Mr Deputy Speaker, it never ceases to surprise me how incapable the Chief Minister is of being a statesman. He delivers a statement to this House and sprinkles it with political vindictiveness and rhetoric rather than sticking to the subject matter at hand. He cannot help himself.
It is a curious statement because it is very much a statement viewed through a rearview mirror. The majority of the statement is committed to discussions around – Mr Deputy Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells.
A quorum is present.
Ms LAWRIE: The Chief Minister provides a statement then walks out because he cannot hear the truth.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker!
Ms Lawrie: It is a convention
Mr ELFERINK: I understand it is a convention, one you like to breach ever so much …
Ms Lawrie: That you started to breach, Leader of Government Business.
Mr ELFERINK: We will get rid of the convention because I am more than happy to point out that none of the Labor Party – with the exception of the member for Nhulunbuy – are in this House. Talk about a disgraceful abandonment of the parliamentary process.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Leader of the Opposition, you have the call.
Ms LAWRIE: I call attention to the state of the House.
Mr Elferink: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. You have to learn to add up, former Treasurer.
Ms Lawrie: No, he was not in the House. He has only just stepped into the House.
Mr Elferink: You have to learn to add up, former Treasurer. This is why the books are in such a dreadful state.
Ms Lawrie: The member for Blain was not in the House; he just stepped in. Member for Blain, you have to be this side to be in the House.
Mr Elferink: Stop lecturing people and get on with your job.
Ms Lawrie: I am waiting for the call.
Mr Elferink: The reason so many of your colleagues despise you is because you condescendingly lecture them.
Ms Lawrie: Oh, really! How popular are you, John? How is that vote of one going?
Mr Elferink: We have a Leader of the Opposition who cannot count and a member for Nhulunbuy who just sits there sucking on lemons and being nasty.
Ms Lawrie: Are we are able to continue, Mr Deputy Speaker?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, when you called the state of the House the second time there were 10 members in the House and 11 if you counted the member for Blain.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, I appreciate that.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: In future can you ...
Mr Elferink: Your numeracy is once again challenged to the hilt.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of Government Business, the Leader of the Opposition has the call. The Speaker gave enough warnings this morning and I will enforce them immediately.
Ms LAWRIE: Mr Deputy Speaker, I had a quick glance of the House and it just got there with the now Deputy Chief Minister walking out. You are just on the numbers.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Whilst it is only a convention it is one that traditionally has been enforced, and I would remind honourable members that if we go down this path it will be a lose/lose situation, so I recommend we step away from breaching the convention and adhere to it.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: And what convention is that?
Mr ELFERINK: The convention of referring to people being in or out of this Chamber during the course of their duties as a member of parliament.
Mr Vowles: The Chief Minister did five times last Thursday.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, could you please refrain from that, thank you. Leader of the Opposition, you have the floor.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I note the interjection from one of my colleagues who pointed out that the Chief Minister did it five times the other day; I am sure that can be discussed at the Standing Orders Committee.
In terms of the statement, it is a look through the rearview mirror of the Territory, albeit with a biased perspective, because he does not, and cannot, bring himself to acknowledge that it was Labor that brought the major project of Ichthys, undertaken by INPEX and Total, to the Territory.
It was very much a rearview mirror statement. There was no framework for business growth in the Territory for the next five years and beyond, no articulation of the CLP’s business plans, how impetus would be given to the Territory after the INPEX/Total/Ichthys project winds down in 2017 into its operational phase from its current construction phase, and no articulation of what the next major project would be.
It was simply a rearview mirror call out to Shane Stone to try to support this very ailing Chief Minister. The business community has been watching with grave concern at the chaos and dysfunction of two years of CLP government. One of the things to occur in the Territory is that we now have a two-speed economy: the haves and the have nots. The haves are those businesses associated with the Ichthys major project, and they are doing well; they are businesses that position themselves extremely well, some of which bulked up with the multinationals and internationals.
The reality is that 80% of our business sector – this is not a statistic that would grace the pages of the Chief Minister’s statement – is small businesses. They are the have nots in the Territory. The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows some 340 small businesses have closed their doors since the CLP has been in government.
Of those 340 businesses, about 120 small businesses in Alice Springs have closed their doors. Whilst the retail sector data is holding up, anyone who understands retail business knows it is mainly through the large retail supermarket chains, and retailers who are benefiting from an increase in goods and services associated with the major project. The reality is that our small retailers are doing it extremely tough.
The tourism sector, alluded to in the statement, is not as rosy as the Chief Minister tried to pretend in his statement. If you listened directly to the tourism operators, whether it be in the Top End or in Central Australia, you would know they are all saying they have had a couple of very tough seasons. Depending on where they are located, they will talk about the different influences on that. All of them would point to the relatively high Australian dollar and the dramatic drop in the domestic tourism market, but in the Top End they attribute it to what they call the squeeze on the accommodation sector associated with the fly-in fly-out workforce and associated executive level workforce with the major project.
Affordable tourism product is what the sector is really looking to in terms of stimulus. It is interesting in the sense that we do not have a list from the Tourism minister of the grants handed out this year. Normally the tourism board signs off on grants, the minister announces those grants and we are all able to see who are the beneficiaries of the government’s taxpayers’ spend in the tourism sector. Instead, this year we see every now and again a grant amount announced. We have seen a pub get some money for a fit out and most recently we have seen an announcement of $300 000 to a casino in Alice Springs to support its convention business, yet many local tourism businesses are struggling.
You need look no further than the harbour cruise industry in Darwin. I pick up on the statement’s reference to the cruise ship industry. This is the large cruise ship industry in Darwin that the Territory has grown its business from. The point they would not make in this biased statement is that the cruise ship industry lifted dramatically as a result of the Labor initiative and project of constructing the cruise ship terminal at the wharf precinct. That took a handful of cruise ship visits through to over 50 visits a year.
The Chief Minister hangs CLP credibility on the cruise ship aspect in the tourism industry but it had nothing to do with the CLP. That is their form. They cannot accept there is a problem, and that is one of the genuine problems that business confronts. When you talk to the local tourism operators who have invested in the harbour cruise local tourism industry, they are desperate. They are facing closure of their businesses because the current government – both the Transport and Tourism ministers – are ignoring the very genuine issue they have with a government tender that went to a ferry service operator, SeaLink.
A tender went out for a ferry service for Mandorah and the Tiwi Islands. It did not go to the operation of a harbour cruise, yet SeaLink is now directly competing in the harbour cruise market in Darwin Harbour. Where that competition has occurred in the past – Kangaroo Island is the classic example – they went from approximately 10 cruise operators to one: SeaLink. An interstate company that has a large government subsidy is undercutting the current price of harbour cruises. It is a situation where the Tourism and Transport ministers are completely ignoring the genuine plight of local businesses in which families have invested. They face going to the wall.
One of the operators has already seen 80% of its lunchtime tourism business lost. It is extraordinary that a government which issues a business statement completely ignores the plight of local businesses in which families have invested. A large operator was brought in by a government subsidy to operate ferry services, and is now competing in the harbour cruise market. Local businesses are in dire straits and are being ignored by the CLP. Instead, the Chief Minister made a statement about all the things Shane Stone achieved. That is a call out to the business community, which has its back against this government because they know their businesses are hurting. In just under two years, very rapidly, the local economy has struggled. All economic data holds up and does so quite well, and that is because of this project.
There was no reference at all in the Chief Minister’s glowing media release to what was said by Deloitte Access Economics. In the economic commentary Deloitte said:
That is not recognised anywhere in this business statement, nor is there recognition of what the next major project to fill that big hole will be.
The Access Economics report says the Territory has superb natural resources, but was slow to join the global resources boom until Ichthys came along. This is not in the ministerial statement as it has the rearview mirror firmly fixed on Shane Stone. As we know, Ichthys was delivered to the Northern Territory as the result of the efforts of consecutive Labor Chief Ministers. In fact, it was a project the Country Liberals described as a 19th century project that did not belong in our harbour. That was in correspondence that the then Leader of the Opposition, Terry Mills, sent to all Palmerston residents.
The construction phase of this mega project is still going on, and it will for a while yet. Access Economics points out that in time there will also be an export dividend from the money being spent on construction and development. That means the Territory is still in the full flush of the second phase of the resources boom, the construction phase, with the potential for ‘transitional troubles’ as it moves out of construction and into exports.
It is the big major project of Ichthys that is holding up our economic data, but nowhere, of course, does the government want to talk about what is on the horizon. That is where the government simply misses the investment needs of local Northern Territory businesses. They need to know that horizon picture, and the statement should have been about looking forward for the next five years, not a rearview mirror of what Shane Stone achieved for the Country Liberals.
The reality is there are some very exciting prospects in what is going forward. You need to look no further than the Poseidon and Lasseter fields in the Browse Basin. ConocoPhillips has Poseidon, and Santos has the Lasseter field. There is a very genuine ability for those companies to work together to move to a second train at DLNG, with a time line of that construction kicking in as Ichthys is tapering off from 2017. That fits because all the major LNG projects in Queensland would have wound down by then, so there are good economies in the workforce mobilisation. These oil and gas companies are very aware of that. Because we have a genuine track record in delivering major projects in the Territory in the oil and gas sector, Labor understands that.
As Leader of the Opposition, I continue to meet with all the major oil and gas players to promote that second train and any decision of an interconnecting pipeline from Browse to the Bayu-Undan pipeline which would bring gas to shore into DLNG for the second train.
You do not hear our Chief Minister talking about that when he should. He should be going after that project with vigour, but instead he has his sight firmly fixed on the interconnecting gas pipeline from Central Australia to the eastern seaboard. There is nothing wrong with pursuing that pipeline interconnect project in Central Australia, and I have stated that on many occasions. The Chief Minister likes to pretend Labor is against it, even though the reality is that I continue to meet with APA, which is our nation’s gas pipeline operator. It is doing a feasibility study into which it is investing a few million dollars.
One of my concerns is that the Chief Minister is beating his chest and trying to intervene in what are sensible feasibility studies of the private sector, to the detriment of getting that project going. He behaves in a very foolish manner when dealing with multinational companies, and does the reputation of the Territory no good. You saw this in the way he wanted to beat his chest anti-Labor in a statement about business.
Consecutive governments help facilitate a business sector, whether they are CLP or Labor. At the moment – and I hear this from all across the industry sectors – this government is not engaging with the industry peak groups. It has a select few from the business sector it listens to and that is how business is done by this current CLP government. The problem is when you do that you miss out on a lot of good information and knowledge from people who have already invested and developed in the Territory.
One of the consistent areas of feedback I get from business is that the government has turned a blind eye to the businesses that have already been in, and invested in, the Territory for decades, and it has a penchant for pursing interstate and international companies. A classic example of that was the expression of interest in regard to Berrimah Farm and the master planning, where twice in his media release the minister for Planning and Lands referred to the need to attract international developers. Why go after international developers when our own Territory developers have more than enough capability to deliver a world-class project at Berrimah Farm?
Debate suspended.
The Assembly suspended.
Mr GILES (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, in accordance with section 9 of the Financial Management Act, I table the 2013-14 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement which has been issued with an unqualified audit opinion by the Auditor-General.
The statement forms part of a 2013-14 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report and represents the government fiscal performance for the financial year. The report also satisfies the requirements of the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act. This Country Liberals government has implemented a range of budget improvement measures since taking office in 2012, with the principle aim of reducing Labor’s debt and returning the budget to a balanced position by 2017-18.
I particularly compliment the members for Araluen and Fong Lim, both former Treasurers within the Country Liberals government.
I am pleased to report that our focus on fiscal restraint is paying dividends, as evidenced by the 2013-14 outcome. The fiscal position for the Northern Territory has improved significantly for all key measures when compared to the original 2013-14 budget and the final estimate in the May 2014 budget.
The fiscal balance deficit of $90m for the non-financial public sector is a $1.1bn improvement from that projected in May 2013. It is also a $304m improvement from the final estimate included in the May 2014 budget. The improved outcome indicates that eliminating the fiscal deficit by 2017-18 is achievable.
The key factors contributing to the improved fiscal balance outcome since the original budget are: increased revenues of $344m; the revised timing of the handover of the $521m Darwin Correctional Precinct; and around $230m in lower operational and capital spending.
The increased revenues of $344m largely comprise of the following: Territory taxation revenue of $81m reflective of the strong economic growth experienced in 2013-14; mining royalty income of $37m as a result of moderation of the Australian dollar, higher commodity prices and a strong Country Liberals government; GST of $23m primarily due to a $20m balancing adjustment related to 2012-13; Commonwealth-tied funding of $67m for new and expanded initiatives supported by the federal coalition government; an increased own-source revenue of $135m due to a one-off settlement; high interest on cash balances; a range of increases across agencies; and demand driven revenue increases in utility services.
In relation to the revised timing of the handover of the Darwin Correctional Precinct as foreshadowed in the May 2014 budget, this results in the recognition of the facility now being included in the 2014-15 financial year.
The lower operational and capital spending of around $230m largely compromises the following: continued focus on fiscal restraint with an emphasis on efficiency and service delivery improvements; enhanced budget monitoring and reducing debt rather than increasing expenditure; revised timing of Commonwealth funding expenditure with the effects of any timing differences to be included in the 2014-15 mid-year report; and lower capital spending across the government achieved through the reprioritisation and realignment of expenditure, as private sector investment increases, by the Power and Water Corporation, in line with the demand management initiatives.
In regard to the general government sector, the operational balance is in a surplus position of $119m, which is a $349m improvement when compared to the original 2013-14 budget. This surplus position means this element of the government’s fiscal strategy has been achieved a full three years ahead of the 2016-17 target budget.
We are not just driving down debt, driving down crime and driving up the economy and jobs, we are reaching fiscal targets years ahead.
I now turn to the Territory’s balance sheet. Some would recall that we came to government with a looming $5.5bn Labor debt legacy hanging over our heads like an ugly cloud. The improved operating outcomes have flowed through the net debt position.
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: They do not like the good news, Madam Speaker.
For the non-financial public sector, net debt is $3.1bn for 2013-14, $1.3bn lower than the original 2013-14 budget projection. The improvement is predominantly due to the better than expected fiscal balance outcome, combined with increased returns on government investments, reflective of current market conditions.
Net debt to revenue has declined to 53%, a 27 percentage point improvement from the 80% projected at the time of the 2013-14 budget. It is also a 5% improvement on the 2012-13 outcome and the May 2014 budget estimate, but importantly, it is much better than the 98% net debt to revenue element we had when we came in to government, thanks to Labor. The Leader of the Opposition, the former Treasurer, and the worst Treasurer the Territory has ever seen, left us with 98%. We are now down to 53% net debt to revenue and anyone who reads the books will know what sort of a success this is. They will look at the Leader of the Opposition and say, ‘Shame on you’, but good on us because we are fixing the books again. What else do we need to fix from your mess, Leader of the Opposition?
Let me tell you, member for Casuarina, a week is a long time in politics.
To put this into perspective, at the time of the pre-election fiscal outlook, Labor’s net debt to revenue for 2013-14, after adjusting for the timing of the Darwin Correctional Precinct, was projected to be 77%. As such, the 2013-14 figure of 53% represents a 24 percentage point improvement on Labor’s estimate. In addition, in terms of the quantum of net debt in excess …
Ms Lawrie interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr GILES: They do not like the good news. This is good news for Territorians. We can invest in capital, not interest rate payments.
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: Let me finish the line I was reading just before I was interrupted quite rudely by an upset Labor opposition, which could not add up before lunch or when they were in government.
Additionally, in terms of the quantum of debt, in excess of $1bn has already been wiped off Labor’s projected net debt since the CLP assumed office in August 2012. They were saying we would roll out the debt level of $5.5bn. We have already wiped off in excess of $1bn – congratulations! What is that on my shoulder? Is that the Leader of the Opposition patting us on the back? I am not sure.
The achievement of a general government operating balance surplus a full three years ahead of target and a significantly reduced fiscal balance deficit and net debt position is evidence this government is fiscally responsible. It also demonstrates that returning the budget to a balance position is possible, while at the same time being cognisant of the needs of the community and the Territory economy.
I again thank the members for Araluen and Fong Lim, both former Treasurers, for their hard work and fiscal restraint in the Treasury position.
Ms Walker: What about the member for Port Darwin? He was Treasurer for six days.
Mr GILES: I beg your pardon, screamer?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, withdraw, please.
Mr GILES: I withdraw. What was the interjection?
Ms Walker: I said, ‘What about the member for Port Darwin? He was Treasurer for six days.’
Mr GILES: I also thank colleagues on this side of the Chamber in Cabinet, and in the parliamentary wing, who have worked very hard in trying conditions, making tough decisions for the future of the Northern Territory to take us to the position we are now in: a full three years ahead of target with our general government operating balance surplus. We are on a steady curve to reach a position where Labor debt levels continue to improve every year we are in government.
I table the 2013-14 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report. I commend it to the House and tell Territorians that it makes fantastic reading. This is the report card of a sound government delivering outcomes for the Northern Territory and fixing Labor debt.
MOTION
Note Paper – Treasurer’s Annual
Financial Report
Mr GILES (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the paper.
Debate adjourned.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, pursuant to reporting requirements of the annual report and Budget Paper No.3, the Department of the Legislative Assembly conducts a survey to measure levels of satisfaction, which are publicly reported each year.
During the lunch suspension, Chamber attendants placed the 2014 members’ survey on your desks; when you have completed the survey, please press your attendant button for the survey to be collected.
MOTION
Note Statement –
October Business Month 20th Anniversary
Continued from earlier this day.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, this is an extraordinarily shameful government, in that the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report, which covers the audited accounts of the last financial year, has always sat on the books so it can be fully scrutinised and debated in the month between sittings, just like the Auditor-General’s report. Not with this government, because it wants to rush in and rush out of it quickly. Why? Because in this report we will see that you have ripped hundreds of millions of dollars out of government services, which is why you achieve an improvement in the bottom line. In this report we will see that you have ripped hundreds of millions of dollars out of the pockets of taxpayers. Territory families and businesses are bearing the brunt of this government …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This is anticipation of debate. This will be debated on Thursday. I am surprised she thinks she can debate a document she has not read.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, I believe you are responding to the ministerial statement on October Business Month.
Ms LAWRIE: Yes.
Madam SPEAKER: If you could keep your comments addressed to October Business Month.
Ms LAWRIE: Absolutely pertinent to every business in the Territory is what the government is doing to tax them out of their business. Little wonder 340 businesses have …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, please pause. Leader of Government Business, anticipation of debate is only when something is on the Notice Paper. This is not on the Notice Paper, so it is not a point of order. Opposition Leader, you have the call.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Little wonder the member for Port Darwin is trying to shut this down; every business in the Northern Territory is over the government putting its hands into their pockets and business books, ripping money out of them and sending them to the wall. The TAFR has that in it. It is extraordinary that you want to slip in and slip out quickly. If it is such a good news story, would you not want to spend a month talking about it, engaging with business and telling a good news story? No, because it is a shocker.
The audited accounts show how you ripped funding out of education and health, and have reneged on every promise you gave our police. This is a litany of woe for Territorians who expect from a government, as a priority, the provision of core services such as health, education and police. This statement of audited accounts will show where the money has been ripped out of our public sector.
Yes, by all means, we will have the debate on Thursday, but shame on you government! Shame on you for wanting to rush in and rush out in your slippery, tricky manner, which Territorians are heartily fed up with. You cannot be a good government; you do not follow the structures of a good government. You do not allow for the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report to sit for a month to be debated in the November sittings, as it always has. Why? Because this is a litany of woe for Territorians. This is a reduction in their services; a direct hit to the pocket of every Territorian.
There is $344m in increased revenue to the government – $344m ripped out of the pockets of Territory businesses and families. So you can do what? Cut education, health and police. Who benefits? The Department of the Chief Minister benefited. He put an extra $33m in that department so the glossy spin machine can ramp up several notches. That is no benefit to Territorians; it is all about supporting the spin of this government.
That is disgraceful behaviour! Little wonder businesses are turning off the CLP in droves. They are literally saying to Labor, ‘Can you not get these guys out sooner, because if I have to wait another two years my business will go to the wall?’ These are businesses across the tourism and construction sectors.
The CLP members beat their chests about how good they are at resources. What happened to the two projects you had your hands all over, CLP? Sherwin Iron closed and Western Desert Resources closed. The operating mines in the Territory were mines which were operating under Labor. The mines you had your hands all over have closed, owing local businesses millions of dollars. Try having an outstanding debt and waiting for Sherwin Iron to cough up tens of millions of dollars in outstanding debt when there is a conga line about outstanding debt. That is the litany of disaster this chaotic and dysfunctional CLP government has presided over for two years.
The construction sector – you can see it in the Deloitte report – will literally see investment halved from $8bn to $4bn over the next five years. Why? Because the major Ichthys project is going to tail down in its construction phase. Nowhere in the Chief Minister’s statement does he say, ‘This is the next major oil and gas project we are going after’.
The Chief Minister has completely failed in his responsibility to articulate where the investors and major projects are into the future, with the exception of his gas pipeline connection from Central Australia to the eastern seaboard, which will not, by the way, be delivered by the government; a private sector feasibility study is under way. What commitment has the Chief Minister leveraged for Commonwealth funding into a nation building infrastructure project? Zero.
He goes to Canberra, talks at COAG about the importance of an eastern seaboard connection to the gas pipeline and comes back empty-handed time and time again. He talks about a second port but there is nothing, not a cent in investment. There is no commitment from the Commonwealth for investment in a major infrastructure project of a second port. Where did they choose? Glyde Point, where we have serious environmental issues. The seagrass is home to the dugongs and turtles; it is a vibrant biodiverse aquatic environment, and you choose Glyde Point when Gunn Point stacks up.
Gunn Point would cost less to deliver but in your madness, in your headlong rush to do something different to Labor, you tear up a decade’s worth of studies and analysis to chase something that does not stack up; that is Glyde Point.
There is little wonder the Chief Minister’s business statement is a rearview look at what Shane Stone achieved, not Denis Burke; you have to question that. He lists former Chief Ministers, Marshall Perron and Barry Coulter – the luminaries all got a guernsey because this Chief Minister has not delivered anything to business. It has had to suffer is a major downturn in the small business sector across construction and tourism. It has been a disastrous two years for business, and what is really sticking in the craw is that when they try to get access through their industry bodies to meet with the relevant minister, to meet with the Chief Minister, they do not get it.
Quarterly meetings are not occurring with industry organisations because, as the member for Fong Lim advised us all last week, it is a cash for access system. If you have donated you get to have a meeting. That is how they operate in the CLP government and now we see them chasing privatisation – sell off the public assets as quick as they can because they want the funds to pork barrel their way to the next election, breaking a fundamental trust with the public. Why do I raise this in a business statement? Have you bothered to have a mature conversation – as the Chief Minister puts it – with the 100 businesses which do business at Darwin Port about what commercial rates would mean to them and their business, or the livestock trade you beat your chest about? Do you know the impact of higher fees on the livestock trade? You have already rolled over as the federal government increased fees on that industry, but a commercial rate across the port will cripple them.
What about vehicle traders? Have you found out what they have to say about increased commercial rates across the port? The small businesses operating in household goods, have you bothered to engage any of them? I suspect not because if you did – as ENI in its submission to developing the north said, do not privatise the port.
Business cannot handle the commercial rates that would occur as a result of privatisation. It is a disaster of this Chief Minister’s making because he gets a thought bubble and does not want to hear from anyone in industry that perhaps his thought bubble is the wrong direction to take the Territory.
He does not want to hear there have been long-standing businesses literally developing the north that he is ignoring. He does not want to acknowledge that 2% was shaved off GSP as a result of the curtailment of the refinery in Nhulunbuy. He does not want to acknowledge his failure to deliver a structural adjustment package for Nhulunbuy and northeast Arnhem Land. In any other major industrial downturn in a regional city in Australia there has been a structural adjustment package between the company, in this case Rio Tinto, the Commonwealth government, and the state government, in this case the Northern Territory government, but no, not under this Chief Minister’s watch. He has hung the business people of Nhulunbuy and northeast Arnhem Land out to dry. Their life investment in their business in that region has been trashed by this Chief Minister.
It has been nearly 12 months since the curtailment was announced, and the CLP all along have said they have a plan. Clearly they do not. The Chief Minister said the CLP would stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Nhulunbuy, but in reality he has abandoned them.
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I request an extension of time for the Leader of the Opposition.
Motion agreed to.
Ms LAWRIE: The Chief Minister slips into Nhulunbuy on charters, not the commercial service, and only attends carefully stage-managed events where the invitation list is carefully vetted and where opportunities for Q&A are slim. As Business minister, the Chief Minister could not even get to the Nhulunbuy October Business Month event. Instead he sent his parliamentary secretary, the member for Blain, who missed his Airnorth flight, hired a charter and arrived just before the end of the event. That is the chaos and dysfunction of this government.
Unless you are in the removalist business, businesses are really hurting in Nhulunbuy. Two months ago the local IGA supermarket and Mitre 10 stores closed their doors. The future looks very uncertain for other businesses, including the local newsagent, the butchers, Gove Tackle and Outdoors, and the Amcal Pharmacy. These and others are all businesses which invested with confidence in February 2013 when former Chief Minister, Terry Mills, had delivered gas to Gove.
The Chief Minister reneged on that deal just five months later. Furthermore, he did not even let Pacific Aluminium know he was making that announcement on a public holiday. He simply cannot be trusted. The Chief Minister is sending a message that you cannot do business in the NT. This glossy brochure is the East Arnhem Investment Guide. A development strategy report which was due in April and finally in August was dropped with a media release about tourism funding. This is all the Chief Minister has delivered: glossy brochures.
There was no Developing the North forum in Nhulunbuy; they were literally left off the government’s map. This is a disgrace. Not a single buffalo left from the port of Gove, but it warrants two short paragraphs in the strategy report. There is no sign of the $13m emergency department update to Gove hospital, which not only would have delivered long overdue modern treatment facilities – because the current facilities go back to the 1960s – but it would create significant construction stimulus.
The Health minister says it is not warranted with a reduced population. What about the 16 000 Aboriginal residents of northeast Arnhem Land, Health minister? In the same way the CLP let Rio Tinto walk away from its responsibility to operate the refinery, it also let Qantas walk away, but thank you to Airnorth for stepping up to the plate with regional air links to Nhulunbuy.
The only new jobs created have been in a prison camp, not consulted on, and in a location that residents are not okay with. This was done at the price of closing, without consultation, an important residential alcohol and other drug treatment facility which was opened in 2007.
There is no sign of the East Arnhem Development Corporation, which was supposed to be established and operating by June, four months ago. This is the entity which is supposed to facilitate future private sector investment and regional economic development.
There is no sign of any structural adjustment package to support the region’s economy to transition; there is no sign of any support from the CLP’s mates in Canberra, in spite of all the spin. They have delivered nothing other than directions to the Centrelink office and Senator Scullion’s suggestion that Nhulunbuy be targeted as a place for retirees, a notion literally scoffed at by local businessmen.
Now, in a cynical move, and a clear sign of a struggling local economy, the Commonwealth will put the licence to run Australia Post out to tender at the start of next year.
The CLP has done nothing to stop the population drain from Nhulunbuy. No consultancy can reinvigorate a depleting population and restore a customer base for local businesses. There are empty houses all throughout Nhulunbuy, easily identified with brown lawns and dying gardens. Yet all of Rio’s 250 houses being made available to the not yet ready development corporation are only for business entities. Why will the CLP not work on ensuring Territorians can rent these houses to help people who want to stay and work there? These include junior public servants and other people employed in local businesses who do not have an entitlement to housing. What certainty is there for our hard-working public servants who were put on notice on 29 November that their jobs were only safe until March 2014, and then extended to July? What is happening? How many public service jobs have gone so far, and how many more will be gone by the end of the year? We know the town will empty and the population of 4000 will be at least halved.
What impact will this have on services? What impact will it have on businesses struggling to stay afloat now? How many Northern Territory government traineeships and apprenticeships are being offered next year in Nhulunbuy? These are more important than ever now the major employer has suspended its intake.
Why has a federally-funded boarding facility for the Laynhapuy Homelands been dropped under this government’s watch, and a facility for Nhulunbuy planned in its place, without consultation with the communities affected? Is this economic driver also in the best interests of improving education outcomes for our Indigenous children? Families have made it very clear they do not want their children in compulsory boarding facilities in Nhulunbuy and will fiercely defend their right to have a choice about wanting to raise their children on country.
This Chief Minister and CLP government have done next to nothing to support business in Nhulunbuy. For them, Nhulunbuy has been out of sight and out of mind. Nhulunbuy, more than anywhere, screams about the complete and abject failure of the CLP to be a good government for Territorians. There can be little doubt about when you go to the Chief Minister’s rearview statement, which does not identify a framework and blueprint for the future of businesses across the Territory, but is fixed firmly in the rearview mirror.
The Chief Minister performs a major call out to Shane Stone, who in chapter 12 of his online book The Stone Family in Australia, had some pretty scathing things to say about the Giles government and the appointment of its advisers. I refer to chapter 12, where Shane Stone, as former Chief Minister, is scathing about the capacity of senior government adviser Stephen Dunham. He said:
The two major advisers they hang their hat on are slammed by Shane Stone, who was lauded in the Chief Minister’s business statement.
It is a rudderless ship. They have been more intent on taking care of themselves than understanding what it will take to facilitate significant business investment in the Territory. One of the things I find quite concerning is the manner in which they dismissively treat major investors who come to the Territory, as well as local developers who have brought those major investors here.
I constantly hear of local developers being incredibly embarrassed by the dismissive manner in which they are treated, as their investors sit alongside them in meetings with senior members of this government. You bring a great deal of disrepute to our business sector in the way you treat them. The fact you ignore the need to articulate very clear opportunities in going forward is a significant failure in your duties.
There is no doubt the foundations are strong in the Northern Territory. You can see that in the Deloitte Access Economics data, built off the back of the major Ichthys project. There is no doubt the decision the Labor government made to build the Marine Supply Base was a very sound and wise decision, and will ensure service and supply industry opportunities and business growth in the Territory. There is no doubt our partnerships with Charles Darwin University in the opportunities around international education bode well for future business investment. You can literally see the opportunities in international education. This government has dropped the ball and ripped funding out of Charles Darwin University, and sits back and rolls over while the Commonwealth government seeks to rip $50m out of Charles Darwin University as well.
The so-called three-hub economy has not eventuated. This government has tied up water licences in the hands of a few at the cost of an agricultural sector that needs access to that water. Your Ord Stage 3 has come to nought because you were foolish enough to tie up the water around Katherine and the Daly, which was the opportunity for our primary industry sector.
It has been two years of chaos and dysfunction while watching the CLP government take care of itself, rather than understanding the needs of the business sector of the Northern Territory. It has been a disgrace.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, the truth sits on the Leader of the Opposition’s tongue like the bitterest potion of all. Her incapacity to even acknowledge in the remotest possible way the advancing wealth of the Northern Territory demonstrates that she is retreating into an even more obscure hidey-hole of denial than she has ever lived. As she skulks out of the Chamber …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of Government Business, withdraw.
Mr ELFERINK: I withdraw it, Madam Speaker. Can I ask for guidance on a ruling?
Madam SPEAKER: In regard to what?
Mr ELFERINK: Prior to lunchtime, commenting on a member’s presence or otherwise in the Chamber was considered to be parliamentary in this House.
Madam SPEAKER: Well I was not in the Chair. I have asked you to withdraw what you just said, and you have withdrawn it. Continue.
Mr ELFERINK: I have withdrawn. I will leave it at that.
The squeals from the member opposite as she struggled to count to 10 prior to the lunchtime break demonstrated the void between her capacity as Treasurer and her capacity in numeracy. It was clear for all to see.
Of course, she comes from a class of Labor politicians who think the budget is just another issue that government has to deal with, and because so few people are interested in things like fiscal integrity, then it is a licence to be reckless with other people’s money. I am distraught to hear the alternative Chief Minister of the Northern Territory has, in the space of a few minutes, probably spent about $2bn of taxpayers’ money without indicating where one brass razoo of it was to be collected.
She pleads and bleats on behalf of the people of Nhulunbuy. Whilst I do not in any way seek to diminish what has occurred in Nhulunbuy, her answer is clearly that government should spend the money to rescue every job in Nhulunbuy. To what end? What mechanism does she describe? How many jobs does she intend to create? Does she intend to purchase all of those houses she described as lying abandoned so she might fill them up with other people who have jobs funded by the taxpayer? What credit card does all this go on?
She bleats incessantly about all of these things the government is not doing in the areas of spending, whilst we have struggled to deal with a $5.5bn projected debt, a legacy of her former government. Our debt to income ratio was perilously close to 100% and racing up the chart. Page 17 of the TAFR says we now have a debt to income ratio outcome for the year 2013-14 of 53%. Only a little over 12 months ago the projected budget debt to income ratio was 80%.
Through the good fiscal management of this government, we have been able to claw back the calamitous state of affairs which was left to us and the people of the Northern Territory as a legacy. Did we have to make difficult decisions? Yes, we did. These were decisions that, for too long, Labor governments one after another determined not necessary to make. It did not matter how much debt you racked up. That debt will still cost Territorians hundreds of millions of dollars every year in debt repayment.
To hear the Leader of the Opposition say there is some sort of skulduggery afoot because we wish to debate the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report this sittings is a clear demonstration of her lack of experience in this House. Under the former government, the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report would sit on the Notice Paper for months and they paid no attention to it because they had scant regard for the importance of the document and what it meant to the future of Territorians.
Of course, like all spending addicts armed with a credit card, from their perspective the only thing worth doing is to spend it all, spend it now, and to hell with the consequences. One of the problems with the public credit card is that the politicians who spend that money on the public credit card are rarely, if ever, the politicians who have to find a way to pay that money back. That is part of the profound selfishness of the people opposite. Whilst they say they care about the downtrodden, their fiscal irresponsibility indicates they are more concerned with getting a good result in the short term, to assuage their guilt-affected conscience, rather than understanding that the consequences of their action will cause more pain than they could possibly alleviate by purchasing their way out of it in the short term.
I am mystified that a former government would run the argument they were good for business after hearing the comments about the cattle industry and what was done to it by the Joe Ludwig cattle ban just a few years ago in this jurisdiction. They bleat that they are somehow the better government for the Northern Territory, when their failure to defend it at a time when it needed it most demonstrates their adherence to the Labor philosophy, and the Labor Party machine means that the Labor Party comes before the good burghers of the Northern Territory.
Their claim that they represent the interests of business evaporates as quickly as a snowflake in a blast furnace when the federal government tells them to jump. It is not a question of how high, but can I paint the ceiling while I am up there?
The Northern Territory government continues to make firm decisions with political courage because we know it is proper and right to do so for the good administration of the Northern Territory. We will always do that as the Northern Territory government, in the face of the criticism of the members opposite, because their recklessness is something so many people recognise in the community and continue to talk to me about.
I listened with interest to the legion of businesses beating their way to the Labor Party door, screaming that the CLP government should be removed. I find it hard to imagine she is telling a wholesome truth when she makes those utterances, because I talk to business every day and they congratulate the Northern Territory government on things like the proposed termination of the residential tenancies legislation, the quick decision to get rid of the vendor disclosure legislation which would bog down the process of title transfer in the Northern Territory.
There are a number of things this government has done to improve the business environment. Above all, we have seriously and substantially diminished the number of crimes being committed against businesses and their property. You only have to glance quickly at the property crime results in this jurisdiction over the last two years to know that not only has the 10% per year target been reached, or will be projected to be reached in the forward years, it is being reached now, today. We are way ahead of schedule, and if anything will support business confidence, it will be making sure their property is safe from some of the ratbags and thieves who would seek to steal and damage the property owned by businesses and, for that matter, other Territorians.
We know that the members opposite have scant regard for other people’s property because they are of the political philosophy where they consider personal property, and particularly its accumulation, as some sort of heinous, moral offence. Therefore, whilst they mouth platitudes towards the business community, in truth they would quite happily see people divested of their property in the name of social justice. How that is just I will never understand, but that is something the members opposite and people of their political stripe seem to think is quite acceptable.
People who generate wealth in the community also pay taxes to our community, and they do so, and have done so, under the former Labor government, as they continue to do under the current Northern Territory government. The former Labor government thought it could use that tax burden which many Territory businesses carry to obfuscate, and abandon responsibility for good fiscal management.
The tax environment of the former Labor government was awash with GST cash way beyond its wildest projections, and, in spite of that, over a period of 10 years it still managed to drive up the debt of this Territory. The government’s income went up and its debt went up all at the same time over that 10 year period. Still, the Leader of the Opposition, the former Treasurer of the Northern Territory, continues to lecture the Northern Territory government today about sound pro-fiscal management when her own fiscal management was disastrous.
Quite frankly, I cannot imagine how she can stand in this place and level a single criticism, considering the appalling record of the former Labor government, particularly under her watch as a Treasurer of the Northern Territory.
October Business Month has been, and continues to be, a firm recognition of this government’s support for the business community, particularly the SMEs in our community. I cannot remember the exact numbers, but it goes something like this; if you were to obliterate the stock market and all government spending from the Australian economy, the SME sector, the small to medium enterprise sector, would still account for some 37% of this nation’s GDP. If you were to remove all stock market listed company employees and government employees, 67% of this country would still have jobs because of the operation of SMEs.
There is a fire that drives businesses that is different to a fire that drives government. The ship of state is all well and good, and there are those of us who, albeit fleetingly, can stand on the bridge and in the wheelhouse of the ship of state. In truth, it is driven by the economy. The engines that drive our economy, and those people who live in the engine rooms, are the SMEs in our community. The heat and the fire that drives those SMEs can be found in the hearts of the people who own them. People who own small and medium-size businesses are the true hard workers of our community. I could not begin to imagine how a union would reconcile the work ethic of the person who owns their business because unions, with their anti-business focus and victim structure around the concept of an employee, could never imagine a person driving themselves as hard as somebody who owns a small business.
I do not see somebody who owns a business as somebody to be resented; I see them as somebody to be applauded. I do not see somebody who owns a business as somebody to be targeted, as the union movement would so happily do in this country, and continue to do; I see them as somebody who should be lauded for their capacity to generate the wealth that sustains not only them but their families and the families of those small groups of people who work for them. That is what October Business Month is about, and that is why we, as a government, started October Business Month many moons ago. Fortunately, the former Labor government tipped its hat to the month and continued to fund it, but we continue, in government, to see it grow from strength to strength.
The October Business Month event I went to was held at the convention centre, with Michelle Bridges, who is quite a well-known personality on commercial television. I think she has a role in The Biggest Loser, but I cannot say as I do not watch a great deal of commercial television. She is clearly a motivated human being. During the function I was fortunate enough to see her. Where she has ripples, I have jiggles, but that is what a motivated person looks like, and it demonstrates my mediocrity as somebody who should look after themselves. However, on top of that she runs a fine business, and has built an empire for herself and many other people in the process.
When I listened to her I was expecting to hear the usual motivational speaking voices, but her message was one of sobriety and consideration. It was about planning, forethought, consistency and more consistency. It was about demonstrating to people that if you work and try hard you will be rewarded. It was a pleasure to hear what she had to say, because what she had to say was poignant. I am glad to say it was listened to by an auditorium full to the gunnels of Territorians, both businessmen and otherwise. This demonstrates to me that people of commitment and drive who have passion for what they do go on to do great things in their community.
I contrast that to what I just listened to in this House, which was not commitment and drive. I listened to blame, anger, resentment and all of those things so commonly expressed by people whose whole political philosophy is guided by a single concept: envy. They will use any voice and any means, whether the truth or otherwise, to pursue that emotional response they have to envy, without examining it one jot, without ever holding it up to the light and asking themselves, ‘Why do I believe this to be the right thing?’ Invariably, if you start to ask those sorts of questions you do not like the conclusions you are inevitably drawn to. The conclusions you are drawn to mean you have to have some critical thoughts about the people you share your community with. Anybody who has is a villain and anybody who has not is a victim, through the lens of members opposite.
That is not a way to build a society. It is a way to condemn those who have to the burden of taxation indefinitely and to condemn those who have not to the belief it is somebody else’s responsibility to carry them forward.
I believe, as do members on this side of the House, the best possible outcome for people is an outcome where they drive themselves forward. Those people who are given the opportunity to do so step up in ways that surprise even those individuals themselves. It is the philosophy behind the Sentenced to a Job program, where we see increasing numbers of people going into the workplace and continuing to build a life for themselves even beyond the point where they leave custody.
In the footnotes of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement – a document the Leader of the Opposition will struggle to read in two days; I have managed to get to the point where I have at least checked my own departments – one of the things I take great heart in is that the expenditure projections in the department of Corrections have gone down in a number of areas, by virtue of the fact the prison population has not grown in line with expectations. That is because we do not treat our prison population as victims; we treat them as people who need to be responsible for their conduct. When made responsible for their conduct and given an opportunity to take that responsibility on, we discover a group of people who step up. That is what we should be doing in our community, encouraging people to step up.
Madam Speaker, that is what government does with October Business Month. I am more than happy, and proud, to endorse the Northern Territory governments and Chief Minister Giles’ position on October Business Month.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I will take up a few things the member for Port Darwin said. I used to be in small business. Not only did I work for small business for 16 years, but I had my own small business. Sometimes when people talk about the utopia of working hard and how wonderful small business is, they forget this world is not as simple as that.
You try to sell products to people like Coles and Woolworths. I sold eggs. A friend of mine, who had a much bigger farm than I did on Pioneer Drive, Humpty Doo, went out of business because the cost of production was high and because they had about one-tenth of the shelf space in Coles. Coles brought in Coles Brand, their own brand, and it was very hard for people to see my friend’s product. So not only was the cost of production high, but being able to sell that product was very difficult because it was a small business.
I agree when you say you hope people who work hard in the Northern Territory succeed. The reality is, in some cases there is big business which has clout and the ability to either make you a successful business or put you out of business. In balancing that, I was very happy this year to see businesses like Woolworths at Coolalinga – and I think they did it at Katherine – promoting much of the local produce, which in many cases is from small business.
Unfortunately, we have some disastrous news from the horticultural sector with banana freckle and cucumber mosaic virus, which might cause a loss of local production of fruit and vegetables in our supermarkets for at least a period of time.
Whilst it is good that the member for Port Darwin supports small business, you also have to keep your feet on the ground. The reality is it is a dog-eat-dog world, and sometimes small business gets wiped. When you get big projects coming to Darwin, such as the INPEX project, many small local companies that have been in the Territory for a long time get savaged because people come here and cut the guts out of the contracts, simply so they can get a foot in the door. In that process, many small businesses go out of business or have to reduce their labour force and have trouble.
The other thing that is forgotten is that small business wants to know its government is honest. It wants to know that if money is given to the party that represents the government, they will not have decisions made against them because they did not donate to that party. That is what concerns me. I heard the member for Fong Lim on the radio say the first in the door is the one who pays some money. I do not think that should be the approach at all. I know other members of the government have not said that, but for someone who has for a long time been a very powerful and forthcoming member in the CLP government to say on radio the people he sees first are generally those who have paid some money sends the wrong message, especially for small business. Does a bigger business with a few dollars get priority over a smaller business? That concerns me. There needs to be a lot more transparency in what happens in government.
Planning is a classic example. I criticised the minister for a particular development and I know he was not happy with me, but I felt there was a conflict of interest. I will not talk about that case now, but if a government minister makes a decision, knowing full well that a person is a donor to the party, should there not be a requirement for the minister to say, ‘I have a conflict of interest?’ Regardless of whether there is a conflict of interest, would it not be normal for the minister to say, ‘I have a conflict of interest’?
If I went to a meeting of the sports club and represented a shoe company, and offered the club $10 000 and the next minute the president says, ‘We should all buy our shoes from this company’, would you not say, ‘Hang on, I might have a conflict of interest here; they are giving us money. We need to make a decision based on not what is given but what is the best for the club.’ That should be the way government operates; it makes decisions on what is best for the people.
The member for Port Darwin mentioned how important small business is and derided Labor for saying it is about social justice. There is nothing wrong with social justice. The member for Port Darwin says he is a Catholic. The Bible, especially the New Testament, is all about social justice. Businesses can affect social justice. An example at the moment is the development in The Gardens. There is an application to build a nine-storey block of flats when all the flats in the area are two-storey.
The government has the right to make a decision about that. If you took the member for Port Darwin’s point of view, social justice is not something we should be too concerned about, but there is a real social justice issue because many people live there. If you develop something out of sync with what is there at present which could affect people who live there, it should be taken into consideration. We should not just consider the developer who wants to make a lot of money. There needs to be some consideration of other people when we are making these decisions.
Mr Elferink: It is still on foot. I do not think the DCA has made a decision yet, has it?
Mr WOOD: I am not commenting on that. You said social justice is not something we should be concerned about.
Mr Elferink: That is verballing me, but I do not think taxing people three times is just either. Do not quote the Bible at me, mate. I will defer to this bloke.
Mr WOOD: Are we having an ecumenical debate?
Mr Elferink: You started it.
Mr WOOD: The member for Port Darwin mentioned social justice. I was using the example that, yes, we need business, we need people to grow the economy, but we should be careful that it does not impinge on other people’s rights in the process. That is what I am talking about.
Mr Elferink: That is what I was talking about.
Mr WOOD: I did not get that impression.
The other thing I am concerned about is when the Stella Maris inquiry concluded a heap of recommendations were made. Once again there was an important recommendation about an integrity commissioner. On the night of that debate I said it was a great recommendation. What is one of the two recommendations the government did not agree with? The integrity commissioner. That is the classic example of where you might need one to check if the government’s decisions are proper. That was dropped.
The whole basis of Stella Maris was about whether the minister, or ministers, had done the right thing. Part of the recommendations to try to make sure that does not happen again was to bring in an integrity commissioner. That was scrapped. That really is an important part of how the Territory should go forward so government decisions, especially in relation to business, planning, policy, or whatever, can be at least scrutinised by an independent person.
There are many things said in this document, and by all means the government has every right to promote business; that is exactly what its job is. But on the other hand it needs to also say what is happening on the ground. I heard the Opposition Leader say that Sherwin Iron has gone bung, Western Desert Resources is in involuntary administration, the ilmenite mine is struggling and Frances Creek is about to close down. They might say that is not their fault, it is the world prices, and that is fair enough, but in the process, business is struggling. I will give you an example of this is because I had a little to do with these people indirectly.
The minister spoke about the Defence hub. It has taken an awful long time for that Defence hub to get off the ground and my understanding – I will stand corrected – is there is only one building that is truly a Defence hub building. There is a new building on Thorngate Road which is a multipurpose building; if it is not doing Defence it is doing other work. My understanding is that 2nd Cavalry is leaving town and going to Townsville. It concerns me that there is no mention of that. You would have seen a picture in the paper the other day of Courage the eagle. I am interested to know whether that is the case and what effect that will have on our local economy, not just from industry’s point of view but from a housing perspective. How many people will be moving from Robertson Barracks to Townsville? That is a fairly important issue.
The statement also mentions planning, and I could not miss an opportunity to say planning, to some extent, has gone out the door. We have planning not by design but by some people’s point of view. The way Darwin is being developed, I get the impression that it is higgledy piggledy – knock on the door, got a good idea, here we go. It is not the way we should be going. We have plans, and if we need to change those plans, make sure they are designed in such a way that lifestyles are not changed, as will happen, especially with the rural area of Darwin.
When someone talks about planning the future of Glyde Point port or about the Defence hub, they do not put Weddell in the same sentence. We are happy to plan for Murrumujuk and Glyde Point, but not for Weddell. Why not? It will not be cheap to build Glyde Point, and it will not be cheap to build Murrumujuk, but we have Weddell, which has facilities around it, and we are replacing it with a pseudo-city. Some people believe they can put that to the government; they own large amounts of land and the government will make a decision about that being the way we should go. That does not seem to be planning for the people; it seems to be planning for a group of people who have a vested interest in those changes. That is inappropriate.
The document is a government document. Naturally it has gone back in history and quoted various people about their vision for the future, and there is nothing wrong with that. I supported much of this, but if you do not belong to the group nobody wants to know you once supported most of this.
We all support mining and the railway, and we all support small business. I supported the Darwin regional structure plan that was published, and it is annoying when people think you are negative. All these things were good, but if we do not keep our feet on the ground and admit there are times when things are not so good – as the Deloitte report said, we are riding – it is not verballing them, it is summarising – on the back of Ichthys. Our growth is based on Ichthys. The Chief Minister said that is what we must to try to do, so when Ichthys goes, instead of going right down, as we used to do with our economy, how can we level that out so we do not all of a sudden have a big drop in our economy? That will have an effect on many small businesses, especially the service industry.
The service industry has been doing well in the Territory. The bakery at Howard Springs is filled with yellow and orange vests every day, looking for the best vanilla slice in the country. It is a great place. The pub, as much as I feel it has lost a bit of its local flavour, is certainly packed with people these days.
There are spin-offs that have been beneficial. There are some downsides too; as I said the pub does not quite feel like the old pub that was there for the locals, but as time moves on …
Mr Chandler: You are not singing there anymore?
Mr WOOD: No, they do not sing there. It has had its benefits, and small business has been benefiting from Ichthys, but what happens when Ichthys goes? Will those little pubs slowly go back to being the good old Howard Springs Tavern, etcetera? But you have to make hay while the sun shines and those businesses are doing well, such as the Howard Springs supermarket.
There have been little spin-offs, like the Howard Springs supermarket and Howard Springs Tavern buying mini-buses. Why? They go to the INPEX village and take people backwards and forwards. Toyota does not mind, as they have bought two of their mini-buses. These are spin-offs that keep going down the line; however, we should be aware that when Ichthys goes, as Deloitte has also highlighted in its report, of what will take its place. That will be the challenge for the government in power after the next election. How do you keep the economy going?
It is so sad we have two parts of our economy struggling at the moment, one being mining and the other horticulture.
As the member for Katherine said the other day, the demise of the watermelon industry, which I think is the second-largest industry in the Northern Territory, will have a downside effect on small business in Katherine – fertiliser, chemical and irrigation people. There will be fewer people employed on the farms, so fewer people buying goods and services in Katherine. Those are the things I hope government looks at.
There will be changes in what is sold in our markets with banana freckle. How many people sell bananas at the local market? That is a small industry, small business. There will be no local bananas sold for at least two years. Some hobby farmers who make some income are small businesses, and they have lost that opportunity for two years. Hopefully they might be able to grow some other crops in the meantime. One area the government should look at is the banana growers who are not in the big league and do not sign up for the national guidelines. The government should help those small businesses because they probably do not have many other options and will lose an income. When we are talking about being open for business and October Business Month, we should give some thought to those small businesses that, unfortunately, will be struggling because of these unfortunate diseases which have affected our horticultural crops.
Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for making this statement. There are some good things in it, but we need to keep our feet on the ground and look at some of the real issues that need to be addressed.
Mr BARRETT (Blain): Madam Speaker, I will talk about what the member for Nelson mentioned in relation to keeping your feet on the ground.
Having worked in business, consulted to business and worked in the stock market looking at the way businesses operate and the struggles they have, I know the important thing you must look at is what is government’s role in business is and what it is not.
Government should not, as much as possible, get in the way of the freedom of a person to make an investment decision. When somebody wants to start a business, they go in with all the good intentions. They believe there is a market, whether they do their research or not, and they enter into carrying out a business. My family has done this about three times.
Sometimes when businesses do not operate well and things are not working, there are a few issues you can address. Is the business not working well because there is something structurally wrong with the way it is being run, even if it is a very good business? Is there a problem with the business in that you are trying to operate in a market where there is not a market? These are two profoundly different problems.
Looking at the role of October Business Month and the Department of Business with businesses in the Northern Territory, it is very much the role of the government in this case to assist businesses which struggle with how to structure their businesses to achieve the best out of them.
It is not the government’s role to correct something if somebody has made a very bad investment decision, whether that is because external factors have changed around that business or just because they did not do their market research in the first place and have entered into a business venture which was never going to work.
Mark Bouris talked about this in the October Business Month. He talked about meeting with a very wealthy person who was financially backing him. The person asked him if he had ever failed at business. Mark Bouris was very nervous about this as he relayed the story. He did not know which way the bloke wanted to go. The individual who was backing him knew that, and said, ‘I want to know the answer to this because I need somebody who knows what it is like to not have things go their way, to fall over. Can you get up and go again? Can you drive something through to completion?’
These are the questions the Department of Business will ask. It is about people sometimes needing to let things go. When there is a situation where external factors have changed so much around a market, or where market research has not been done, it needs to encourage people. ‘What is the next step in your life now and how can we assist you in this transition to what you will do next? That is very important to remember.
Much of the information I have heard from the other side of the Chamber seems to be, ‘I heard that this business was really struggling and the government was not doing anything about it’. Often there is not a lot the government can do about some of the problems because they are investment decision-based problems not, ‘I am struggling in business because of the regulations’, or, ‘I am struggling in business because I cannot get my head around how to structure it’ or, ‘The business is going great and I am a fantastic upholsterer but I am no good at managing people.’ People can work with the things offered in October Business Month and the programs the Business department runs. These are the things we can correct.
The role of the government is to support businesses, refine regulations and be as little an impost to business operating in a regulation space as possible. It should also be able to help them if their business model is not working.
I often hear, ‘We need to socialise a loss’. When I worked in the stock market there were many times where I had people buy stock and before the stock settled it went into administration. This means that before they brought the cheque in and paid for the stock they were in a zero position where they had lost all that money.
Not once did I hear someone say, ‘It is the government’s fault I made this investment decision’. They made their own decision based on their information and made a decision right for them at the time which did not work out.
I support the October Business Month initiative. It addresses these issues beautifully. It goes to communities around the Northern Territory and addresses issues. Where can we improve regulations? Where are we in the way a bit? What things can we do to help around structure? What can we do to support you to do well in business? I did not have too many negative discussions through all the events I attended. I went to events in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Nhulunbuy and Darwin.
I know we are not allowed to say the ‘L’ word in the Chamber, but there seems to be a level of misinformation around a flight I took to Nhulunbuy. There was a mix up in booking a ticket and there was not a ticket for me when I was at the airport to catch my flight. That meant the plane left without me rather than the suggestion I did not care, showed up late and missed the flight. That is a gross misrepresentation of my attitude towards business and towards people doing business in the Northern Territory. I am revolted by anybody who would insinuate that.
As a result of being in Nhulunbuy and meeting fantastic people – I had a great trip – we investigated the proposal presented by the arts centre of reviewing licensing, due to conversations we had with other business owners. I listened to what people had to say about the effects of the curtailment. The Department of Business and this government sent people to Nhulunbuy to assist with that, and people are starting to move past, ‘This has all gone bad’, towards, ‘What can we do next?’ It is an incredibly hard decision to make and hard to talk about with business people, but once people start moving towards what they will do next they will start moving on with their life and the next positive thing to happen to them.
I was excited to see Department of Business staff there. They have been there in a lot of strength. The last data set I looked at on where small business grants were going showed a huge proportion of them are going to the Nhulunbuy area. That is brilliant because people in the area are taking advantage of these programs and looking for ways to be supported.
I disagree with much of the information from the other side of the Chamber about the anger people are feeling. People in Nhulunbuy are starting to move past that anger towards what they will do next. ‘What are the next business opportunities for us?’
During October Business Month I went to see Mark Bouris, who talked about attitude and hard work, and he talked about two coffee shops. He went into one coffee shop; it was early in the morning, 5.30 am. He wandered in because he was passing through a town, the front door was open and someone was in there. He went in and said he would really like a cup of coffee. The person said, ‘Yes, but we do not open for another 10 minutes. You will have to wait.’ He said, ‘Really? Can I just get one now? I am happy to pay extra’, and the guy said, ‘No, we are here but I am not opening the doors for another ten minutes, so bad luck’.
Instead he went across the road and there was another coffee shop, same scenario, the person was inside organising things. He went in and said he was on the run. ‘I cannot be here for long. I know it says on your door that you do not open for another 10 minutes but I would really love a cup of coffee.’ The person said, ‘We do not open for another 10 minutes. It is not something we normally do, we like to keep to our hours, but I will make you a cup of coffee.’ He made him a cup of coffee and that was fantastic. Mark Bouris began to spread this story via the Internet and many people have visited that caf since.
I heard a similar story from someone else; I believe it might have been Donald Trump. It was the same scenario and he went into the next coffee shop and said, ‘Will you make me a cup of coffee?’ The guy said yes, so he made him a deal. He said to the guy, ‘I will pay you $1m for this cup of coffee if you take a selfie with me paying $1m for it and then go across the road and show the person who would not sell me a cup of coffee that you just sold a cup of coffee for $1m’.
That kind of thing smacks to me of attitude, and it is about the way we approach business. It is about the way we approach our service delivery. October Business Month and the initiatives of the Department of Business say to me that we are starting to take on an attitude like this. We do not take on an attitude of, ‘We are not doing this for five more minutes’ or ‘You just do not quite cut the exact criteria of what we would like to do’. It is an attitude of sitting down with people and saying, ‘What can I do for you? What can we do together to improve your business and help you?’ It is about teamwork. It is about business and government working together as a team to get the best outcomes we can, to be as little impost in terms of regulations, and to create an environment where they can be assisted with some areas of their business in which they may be struggling.
I will talk about something in which we are a little behind. I was recently at the Tennant Creek OBM event, which sadly was not attended by the member for Barkly. I am not sure why, but it was a fantastic event and it was tons of fun to be there with the guys and …
Members interjecting.
Mr BARRETT: Sorry, I cannot hear myself think for the interjections. I was in Tennant Creek and had a great night talking about a committee that is working on economic development in the area, and there were some business ideas coming forward. Some people were talking about some small business options that were happening in that area. It was really exciting to be there and hear them talk like that.
If I may, with the member for Araluen, encourage her in that Peter Placina – he is the gadget guy and he talks about technology. He was talking to everybody about how fantastic this wonderful thing called Telehealth is and how these days you can do all these things in relation to Telehealth. There was somebody at the event who worked at the Tennant Creek Hospital and they said, ‘We already do that here’, and he was blown away. He said, ‘Really, you guys do that out here? I did not know. This is my idea of something that can happen in the future.’
It is great to see that in Tennant Creek the people are using cutting edge technology, and they are doing things to develop their own economy. It was exciting to be there and be part of seeing what people want to do when you just blow the doors open for them and say, ‘we are here as the Giles government. We are open for business and we want to help you.’ They really responded to that and they are starting to move forward. It was a great opportunity for me to get around the Northern Territory, meet some business people, help them at times, and see the Department of Business in action through October Business Month.
There were some great major sponsors, but it impressed me that there were small sponsors too. They were sponsors from local areas that would perhaps do a small thing like make a cake for the evening. That was fantastic to see, and it shows the business community, all the way from very large multinational organisations to the lady who runs the cake shop on the corner, all supporting October Business Month. It is an excellent initiative which the government runs; I fully support it and I thank the Chief Minister for bringing this statement to the House.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Health): Madam Speaker, I feel compelled this afternoon to talk about October Business Month. I am a business person. My husband and I opened a business in Alice Springs in 2000 and we have now been operating for over 14 years. It has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life to be fully financially independent from government, essentially. Ten years prior to becoming a member of parliament, money generated from our business was my income. It is a hard slog and there are many highs and lows. As the member for Blain suggested, many businesses go under, so you must be a risk taker. You must be vigilant. You have to network and be very resourceful when it comes to the survival of your business.
Having come from a family of business people, it was in my blood. My parents were small business operators, never dependent on one cent from government. When it comes to October Business Month, if there is one point that has been raised that has certainly gelled with me, it is the question of the role of government in business. Philosophically, the role of government in business is not that great. Apart from supporting business, we do not have a huge role. We work with business, we support business, but we should be standing back and watching people do business more and more throughout the community.
We are very fortunate in the Northern Territory in that business, by and large, prospers. There are some recent stories of failure, and I was very interested to hear the member for Nelson talk about the demise of a few significant mining ventures throughout the Northern Territory. That has not been spoken about widely in this Chamber but, on a personal note, it gives me the opportunity to acknowledge that many of my personal friends, and some of my family, were affected by Western Desert Resources recently entering administration. This has come as a huge blow to people throughout the Northern Territory; many people have been affected and many have lost their jobs, but as the member for Nelson said, to some extent, that is business.
Western Desert Resources, as an example, only came to government to assist them to move on their permits, to make sure they could get on with the job of mining as soon as possible. I hope as a government that is precisely what we did, that we assisted them merely to get on with the business they had chosen to do, that being mining. We assisted them and were no impediment to them. I acknowledge that over 300 people were employed by Western Desert Resources at Roper River, and that is a mine that has virtually closed down over the last couple of months.
Business can be brutal, but highly rewarding. Most people in Australia work within private enterprise; we work in businesses, and that is entirely refreshing. In the Northern Territory 20 000 people are public servants, and we partly work to support and assist business to survive and thrive in the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, that is my small contribution to this statement. I love business. People who venture into it are brave and generally not risk-averse; they would like to have a go. That is essentially what Australia is about: people having a go and being given every opportunity by government and the community to do as best as they can in the private ventures they choose.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Continued from 12 February 2014.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MOTION
Note Statement –
Developing Northern Australia
Continued from 18 February 2014.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MOTION
Note Statement –
Northern Territory Disability Services
Continued from 19 February 2014.
Mr CHANDLER (Education): Madam Speaker, I will only speak for a few more minutes because I had a little time the last time we spoke about this. I place on the record how this government has put a real and concerted effort into helping children with special needs, which fits squarely with what we are talking about today.
With the recent announcement to continue to build Henbury School, people will remember we estimated we could put about $10m into Henbury School. It was not anywhere near enough to build a new school. When I first approached Henbury School, I told them straight up we had approved $25m to build a new special needs school in Palmerston, and whilst I thought the need at Henbury was equal, the new facility in Palmerston would not only help the rural area and Palmerston, but also schools such as Nemarluk. Nemarluk is a fantastic school, but the reality is many of the students are transiting in every day from Palmerston, so a new special needs school in Palmerston was top priority.
I also told them that I did not want to promise them a brand-new school until I knew what our budgetary position was. At the end of the budgetary process, we knew we had $10m, so that is what we put into it. That is when I spoke to the Henbury School council and said, ‘Rather than make false promises, I told you I would see what funding I could get and, once we knew what that funding was, we could work on it’.
That is what we did. We secured $10m and the school council went to work on describing and designing how they could use it. I always saw that as the first step in building a school, and if I had to go back to Cabinet at a later stage to seek further funding I would if we could build a school over a couple of stages.
Along comes the Casuarina by-election and a wonderful opportunity for us to see if we could get additional funding. Of course, we will be accused of pork barrelling the electorate. I am not really interested in pork barrelling. It was an opportunity I took, and an opportunity through Dr Harry, our candidate in the by-election, who also spoke to the council about their needs, with his lobbying, then lobbied Cabinet to secure the additional money so we could build the school. At the end of the day we will have a school for children with special needs. We can all agree that is the most important thing. Accuse us of pork barrelling or whatever, but it secured the funding we need to build a new school.
The other thing people should consider is why we chose that location. We had the school on side – I am talking about Henbury School as well as the school site at Dripstone. It was very important to bring everyone along on this journey. One of the reasons Henbury wanted the site across the road is it felt, as we all know, children with special needs enjoy and prosper when they can be part of something consistent. The thought was that if we built a school across the road you could bring the students along with you. They could see the construction; they could see the building come out of the ground and know that is where they would be once the building had been constructed. It also allows us to bring much needed and more modern resources to cater for children with special needs. For the teachers, the assistants and staff who work in Henbury School this will be a marvellous facility.
The other thing that should be noted is something the member for Araluen, the Minister for Health, and I have spoken about time and time again which is often the elephant in the room. What will children with special needs do once they leave high school?
We had many cases where parents put in a special request to the Department of Education to approve Year 13 and, in some cases, even going into Year 14 or part-way into Year 14. We also know there are fabulous projects like Project 21, and the Minister for Health and I are proud to continue supporting the great work it does. What happens to these kids? Is it an educational issue? Is it a health issue? Is it a social services issue to help provide an effective pathway for these students? Should the world of business be part of the argument? Everyone plays a small part in what we can do and how we can help assist children with special needs once they get through their standard educational years up to Year 12.
Something in the front of my mind in design of the new Henbury School will be an area which caters for Year 13, and possibly Year 14, to provide an effective pathway for these students and help assist them to find employment and go on to other areas of their life.
It is really important to have the resources, backed by the Country Liberals government, backed by our Cabinet, for the new Henbury School. It lifts special needs, particularly in the Top End, to a new level. A new Nemarluk School was built by the previous government a few years ago which is a state-of-the-art modern facility, but lessons have been learned from that design which we can improve on. We have the new school at Palmerston catering for preschool to Year 9, and we have the special needs school at the secondary college being extended as we speak. I drove past there the other day and saw the new roof going on, the new extension, and it is exciting to see the additional infrastructure going in.
Before too long we will have to build on the new Nemarluk School, we will have a new special needs school in Palmerston, the extensions to the special needs unit at the secondary college, and a brand-new Henbury facility which will not only cater for the existing students but allow plenty of capacity into the years ahead. It will also be able to, for the first time, properly cater for children in Year 13, and possibly Year 14. In the end, from where we were only a few years ago with second-rate and very outdated equipment and resources in special needs, we have gone into a number of properly resourced, constructed and designed special needs facilities. These will go a long way to help those students and their families in doing all we can to help children with special needs in the Northern Territory.
We have come a long way. There is still a way to go, but I look forward to those two new schools being opened in the next couple of years. I know everyone is excited within the Department of Education. They are working hard. I know Leanne Taylor is pulling her hair out because quite a bit of design and construction work will happen in the next couple of years, but bring it on. It is much deserved and needed, and will go a long way to making the lives of these students a whole lot better than they are today.
Ms MOSS (Casuarina): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing this statement to the House. With 27 000 Territorians affected by disability, and their families and carers, the new role of the Minister for Disability Services is a positive one. I am sure it will not be without its challenges and, having read some of the debate, I know everybody acknowledges that.
Disability is something that could impact on any of us at any time and is a reality for so many Territorians. It is a very worthy cause of increased focus in parliament, and there are so many people we work with who may be carers for family members or loved ones. Often we do not even know they are fulfilling that carer role. For these Territorians it is part of their everyday life.
I was really happy to hear the Minister for Education talk about post-school options, as in early September, alongside the shadow minister for education, I met with a group of parents called the Family Transitions Network whose young adults are students at Henbury School. These young adults are coming to the end of their school life at the end of this year. Their parents are concerned about appropriate facilities and day programs for their young people with disabilities, to ensure they have access to ongoing lifelong learning, connection to the community and opportunities to continue to build their social networks outside of the school environment as they transition into adulthood.
For these young adults and parents, it is about their options for transitioning into the next stage of life, post-school, and increasing their training, access to training, employment and life skills. This leaves these families with a very difficult choice about what happens at the end of this year, whether they leave young people, 17 years old, at home alone or with a one-on-one carer without wider social interaction. These are real choices these families are facing right now.
The Family Transitions Network has investigated other models of service provision across the country, paying attention to best practice, and has compiled this information in a proposal it calls the Beach House. The Family Transitions Network told us at that gathering that it had requested meetings with the Minister for Health and the Minister for Education to discuss the proposal and post-school options, but to no avail. It would seem that the point was continually missed with the response heard from the CLP government only in relation to the school, when these parents would like an audience with ministers to discuss those post-school options for their students.
We hear more and more in our discussions with constituents that there is arrogance in this government, which does not want to meet with them and does not reply to their correspondence in a timely way. Perhaps they did not make a donation to the right place to open the right doors, in the method outlined by the member for Fong Lim. To use the minister’s words from the statement in February, this is a huge opportunity to blow away barriers.
Unfortunately, it would seem that even with a dedicated minister, these parents still face barriers to having the opportunity to discuss their work.
The Leader of the Opposition and I met these parents again a few weeks ago when they delivered a letter requesting a meeting to the Chief Minister. In nine months this group of passionate, driven parents has still been unable to meet with the minister about this work and their concerns. I hope the Minister for Education and the Minister for Health contact this group to hear their stories and discuss their concerns. One of the parents had to fight incredibly hard to ensure her student would have access to Year 13 at Henbury, while continuing to look at appropriate post-school options for her child. As the Minister for Disability Services you are the link to advocate for these families and increase focus in this area.
We understand there are capacity issues at Henbury School and welcomed the announcement, during the Casuarina by-election campaign, of the new school to be located at the Dripstone Middle School site, as was previously identified by Territory Labor. I acknowledge my colleague, the member for Wanguri, for her ongoing advocacy for the growth of the school, which sits within her electorate, including the tabling of a petition for its expansion earlier this year.
The Labor government committed to improving disability services for Territorians, reviewing services, partnerships and capacity across the sector. Territory 2030 identified a number of gaps which the Labor government was working to address. In 2009, funding was allocated to build and upgrade special schools across the Northern Territory. Nemarluk School, a purpose-built school in Alawa, is a brilliant result of this, and I was incredibly fortunate to visit the school yesterday and meet a number of its dedicated staff. It is an impressive school achieving wonderful outcomes for students; I am sure we will see the same from Henbury, as we do at the current Henbury School.
I ask the Minister for Education to provide time frames around the completion of the Henbury School upgrade. I also appeal to him and the Minister for Disability Services to advocate strongly in Cabinet to ensure the new Henbury School is developed with a reference group that includes representatives from the education and disability sectors, parents and, of course, those who will be accessing the school, the students themselves.
An appropriate reference group will see that the developed plans are responsive to the current and future needs of the student body, staff, families and carers, as well as the Dripstone School community and the residents of Tiwi adjacent to the construction site.
It is important to note the challenges that will be presented within disability services by a CLP government which continues to stand behind cuts to education. While doorknocking, a number of residents, many of them education workers or parents, told me of their concerns over the loss of support workers in mainstream schools, who work one-on-one to support their students. The Minister for Health was correct in her statement to say:
There is still much to be done to ensure Territorians have access to services and the ongoing support they need, particularly where illness may present barriers to accessing education and employment. These are distressing and difficult situations for Territorians and are often intertwined with unknowns. It is particularly timely, given federal changes to the disability pension this year, for us to watch closely and support Territorians of all abilities to actively participate in community work and education.
In addition to this it is a real challenge, for Territorians for who disability and mental illness co-exist, to ensure they do not fall through the cracks, and that we look at ways to strengthen services and resources within the sector to provide quality support.
With the roll-out of the NDIS trial in Barkly we look forward to hearing the outcomes from this, and it is equally important that focus is also maintained on the support and growth of other programs within the sector. Early intervention and assessment for children and young people with a disability can be essential in improving outcomes for them.
Access to paediatric assessment and occupational therapists is becoming increasingly difficult for families, with lengthening waiting periods; this is just in our urban areas. Access to these services and others, such as speech therapy, declines further in our remote localities, where the need is also considerable.
The announcement of the ministerial advisory council in this portfolio is also welcomed. I am keen to see how its work informs the development of the disability sector in the Northern Territory. It is a concern, however, that the council does not have information on the breakdown of department budgets, which would serve to inform its work.
Madam Speaker, there are many barriers we must overcome in the disability sector. I wish the minister every success and look forward to updates in this portfolio. I am passionate about this and will be watching and contributing to ongoing debate and policy development in this area. I thank the minister for making this statement.
Mrs FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, his statement came to the House a little while ago, and this new portfolio has been in place for around seven months. I commend the minister for being part of this initiative. It is a first, and I am sure these first seven months have been extremely rewarding, putting a focused spotlight on disability services in our community.
I am a huge supporter of this portfolio and this office. It is timely that we focus on disability services and those with a disability. It shows it is separate from health, which also highlights how serious we are, as a government, to not only support those with a disability but the some 30 000 carers who support them in our community.
The Ministerial Advisory Council for Disability Reform is an excellent initiative. I am sure it is kicking goals and providing sound advice to the minister so we can forge a truer way forward for disability services in the Northern Territory.
My colleague, the Minister for Education, spoke in his contribution about the $30m commitment to building a new Henbury School on the Dripstone Middle School site. This is fantastic, and with 120 new places for eligible students, it is needed in the northern suburbs and is an important part of our community.
In Palmerston we are very privileged and lucky to have the wonderful staff, team and outfit at the Palmerston Senior College special education centre. I know how much our community values that facility, and I can only imagine the new facility at Dripstone will be welcomed by the broader greater Darwin community.
Disability services and interaction with disability service providers is a frequent occurrence as a local member. You are always on the ground with people with families, NGOs and other providers of support. I thank Pastor Geoff from the Family Transition Network, who came to see me at the start of the year. He had also been dealing with the member for Wanguri and other members in this House, finding pathways for students transitioning out of Henbury School and the special education centres in Palmerston at that 17 or 18-year-old mark, into independent living, the workforce or a new style of education delivery. The Family Transition Network is working very hard at that and the minister has been facilitating their advice to look forward to future policies and the like.
Palmerston Senior College has undergone much transformation in the last couple of years. When I was first elected, we handed over two new classrooms from the mainstream campus to the special education centre, which was fantastic. They are amazing suites, fully suited for those teachers to deliver high-quality education, and independence lessons and training to the students at the Palmerston Special Education Centre.
A new building is being constructed, which is fantastic. It is coming along well. This will include a new general learning area, a hygiene room, a disabled access ramp, a path, a garden shed, associated fence and drainage, and other types of work. That facility should be ready for new students in the 2016 school year. That is another excellent investment in the special education area.
The minister is very fond of Project 21. Not many people in this Chamber may know Rachel Kroes, who is the founder of Project 21 and a tireless ambassador for the project. I had the opportunity to go to Project 21 recently, coming out of my neck of the woods in Palmerston to explore the greater northern suburbs area and had lunch …
Mr Vowles: You could pop in and say g’day.
Mrs FINOCCHIARO: I was going to but it made me uncomfortable just thinking about it, Kenny.
I had lunch with the team at Project 21. We shared some sushi, had some laughs and had a big chat about what was going on there. It was really fantastic to spend that hour or so with the team talking about the things they do and the projects they are working on. Project 21, amongst other things, has programs like Walking In My Shoes, Cash for Containers, Barista 21, Media 21, Graphics 21, Dance 21, Sign 21, Music 21, Sing 21 and Social 21. The Department of Health has recently extended some funding for Project 21 and it is doing marvellous things in our community.
I have seen tangible results come out of the Office of Disability Services for my constituents. I cannot go into the details due to privacy, but I have two success stories involving disabled people seeking to find employment that are a direct result of the assistance of the Office of Disability Services. I thank them very much for that; they are life-changing results. The office also assisted one of my constituents to get some medical assistance which has completely changed her quality of life. They are three amazing outcomes for my constituents, and I can only imagine what the office is doing at a broader Territory level.
I had the privilege of representing my good colleague, the Minister for Disability Services, at the Disability Services Awards in 2013. It was a privilege, and it was no surprise that Rachel Kroes from Project 21, the Down Syndrome Association, took out the Disability Sector Employees Award for the non-government sector. I will read a small part from the media release about Rachel:
I also had the privilege of representing the minister at the NT Young Achiever Awards last year where I presented Jauhari Wright with the Young Carers Award. He is an amazing young man and it was even more spectacular and fitting that he took out the Young Territorian of the Year Award.
The health services, carers and the disability sector have been well and truly highlighted over the last year, and I hope that continues into the future. I commend the Minister for Disability Services and want all my government colleagues to empower her to do the things and provide the services she needs for the greater good of all Territorians.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Disability Services): Madam Speaker, 2014 has been an exciting year. In February I was sworn in as the first Minister for Disability Services in the history of the Northern Territory. It was a great honour, and the whole year has been one of great activity. From the point in February when we created the portfolio, the highlight of the year for most people in the sector has been the launch of the trial of the NDIS, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, in the Barkly area. It has been a huge challenge.
We are the major funder, as 60% of the funding to this trial has been contributed by the Northern Territory government, the other 40% by the Commonwealth government. It is a unique trial in regard to what is happening around Australia; it is the only fully remote trial of the NDIS. South Australia covers some remote areas but this is the only 100% remote trial. All eyes are on us, and it has had its challenges and its critics. Some people have been feeding the media, trying to stir up all sorts of controversy around its success, or apparent failures. By and large it is travelling just as we expected.
The department identified 103 people who would be eligible to participate in this trial, and things are travelling as planned. The team, the National Disability Insurance Agency, has set up a very strong, professional office in the Barkly area and is systematically identifying these people and introducing them to the scheme. It is educating them on what it can offer, and assessing people who have significant and profound disability as to their requirements and suitability for this scheme. As time rolls on there are new children coming into the world who are, unfortunately, disabled and have become a part of this trial too.
It is a trial, and that is the most exciting thing about it. In a trial you cannot succeed or fail, it is about an experience. It is about seeing how things go, seeing what happens, being observant, collecting data, being open minded and frank about the challenges. There have been challenges. A piece of feedback came to me recently from the caseworkers who are part of the National Disability Insurance Agency in the Barkly. They are finding that many people with disabilities in the Barkly are Aboriginal people who are battling to meet their basic needs.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs consists of food, clothing and shelter; people in the Barkly with a disability battle to provide themselves, or be provided with, those basic needs. The case workers were a little surprised by the basic nature of those needs, but obviously if you are having accommodation issues and have a disability, it is really hard to think about podiatry, physiotherapy or speech therapy services because your basic needs have not been met.
That has been a revelation, an eye opener and an experience for the agency in the Barkly area with this new trial, but it is all good. It should not be judged. It is about seeing what happens, how this nationwide initiative will roll out and having some insight as to how it will roll out in 2016. Preparations are under way for the broader national roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. People are already bracing themselves for that.
I had the great privilege of attending the National Carers Awards yesterday in Parliament House with the Minister for Children and Families, the member for Port Darwin. That was a function hosted by Life Without Barriers. It is one of those functions where you are completely humbled by the selflessness, care and love people provide to children and adults, often family members.
A conversation I had with a parent of a child with a disability was about what his expectations were of the NDIS. Not a lot is really known or understood in this space, particularly outside areas where trials have commenced. This gentleman was quite pragmatic in terms of the availability of services for people with a disability and the fact there is not a great deal of choice, even in urban areas of the Northern Territory. He was quite pragmatic about how funds for his daughter would be managed through the NDIS – positive but realistic. By and large that is the general view of most people when it comes to the NDIS. Let us wait and see, but be quietly positive and expect that things will generally improve for people with a disability throughout the country.
Going back to the National Carers Awards; for people who work within this space, it struck me yesterday – this is a very personal view – that these are indeed very positive community initiatives to recognise people who do outstanding things in this space. What particularly struck me yesterday was the fact we choose one winner over another, because the profiles of the finalists were all so commendable and deserving. I felt quite awkward when one person was chosen over the other, but that is my problem. I am sure many of us have felt that same sense of awkwardness in situations like that – the onerous task of the judging panel to pick one carer over another and one amazing disability service over another. It is something I would prefer to refer to other people, because it is such a difficult thing.
This year has been one of great advancement when it comes to disability services in the Northern Territory. We set up the new portfolio. Why this had not been done before is quite beyond me, but with the National Disability Insurance Scheme looming it was plain and obvious we should do that to fall in line with other jurisdictions. This is a time of great reform within the sector, and the Northern Territory was lagging behind, as it did over the 11 years of Labor.
Labor generally, as I have said before in this Chamber, was not particularly vigilant. It was not on the ball when it came to so many things and this sort of social reform. Ironically, this area, one that Labor likes to pin its credit on, was yet another area in which they were negligent, taking their eye off the ball.
The member for Casuarina, a young woman, new to politics and to life in general, would not be aware of that. We are stepping forward in leaps and bounds as a Country Liberal government. We are heading up social reform and leadership in an area she is obviously very passionate about. I look forward to her analysis and critique, which she claims she will be providing me. I look forward to working with her if the opportunity arises.
Not only did we create a portfolio, we separated the budget. The $83m in 2014-15 for the Disability Services portfolio is a separate budget now, which means disability services will not be lost in Health, as they have in the past.
We set up new scholarships for disability service workers. For the first time, workers who would like to do more study in the area to pursue further skill development, develop their career opportunities and generally contribute to ways they can modernise the delivery of disability services, have the opportunity to apply for a scholarship of up to $2500. It might not sound much, but for people in the sector who want to do that, it is a great opportunity to recognise these largely unrecognised individuals who work so hard.
Talking about the new portfolio, hand-in-hand with that I formed the ministerial advisory council, which consists of a group of notable and highly-skilled people from the disability sector. The advisory council is headed by Vicky O’Halloran of the National Disability Services. We have a representative from Carpentaria Services, Greg McMahon, Joe Smith from Step Out in Katherine, Pat Brahim from Julalikari in Tennant Creek, Pat Braun from Tennant Creek CatholicCare, Edwina Marks of the Barkly Regional Council, Ian Campbell of the Central Australian Supported Accommodation Service, and Bruce Young-Smith a consumer and Suzanne Cavanagh, Liz Reid and Karen Stewart.
I set this up for no other reason than to ask these people, who are hands-on, grassroots, community-based people, to give me some guidance on how to execute this portfolio, particularly the National Disability Insurance Scheme trial in the Barkly. Most recently, I instructed them to tell me what they think my priority should be for this portfolio and what I should be turning my mind to first. That is exactly what they have done. They have done some work on what I should do, and I will listen to them because these are the experts.
I am no expert in this area. My background is in health and social work, but that was a long time ago. I need some guidance. I am not foolish enough to think I know everything. I look forward to their advice and guidance on how I should proceed.
This afternoon the Minister for Education talked about the support for the Henbury School. This is something we have been working on for a long time in this government. We knew it was a great area of need, as are the post-school options, and we took our time to formulate how we would proceed. We are very pleased to have made that announcement during the Casuarina by-election.
Post-school options are a great concern to people across the Northern Territory. For the information of the opposition, I gave one of the spokespeople and leaders from the Family Transition Network my personal mobile phone number probably four months ago. That person, Robyne Jhowry, knows she can contact me at any time. I told her that. This furphy that I am unavailable and do not talk to anyone is absolute rubbish. I have been unable to attend several of the meetings they have had, but to set me up as some sort of negligent, uncaring person is absolute rubbish. Robyne Jhowry knows, as one of the spokespersons of this group, she can call me any time. If you have lost my number, Robyne, I will be more than happy to give it to you. You have my ear. I reassured you of that months ago, and I reassure you now in the Chamber of the Northern Territory parliament.
One of the challenges of being a minister of the Northern Territory government and living with a family in Alice Springs is that I physically cannot be everywhere at once. The last meeting I was invited to was held on the Sunday of a long weekend. I explained to Robyne that I had family commitments during that weekend. For me to spend the whole weekend in Darwin to attend a meeting on the Sunday was not the best use of my time. I believe she understood.
I take exception to the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Casuarina deliberately digging up dirt around this. If there is a problem I would be more than happy to talk to the people concerned. This group has been politicised and used by the opposition, particularly during the Casuarina by-election. I heard the Leader of the Opposition talking about this during the by-election. It is political opportunism and it is very sad when you use people with disabilities to that effect. It is disgraceful.
Madam Speaker, it has been a great year. I have talked with schools that specialise and work with people with disabilities. In Alice Springs a few months ago I opened a $1.3m hydrotherapy pool at Acacia Hill School, which will bring so much joy, pleasure and benefit to children with disabilities across Central Australia. It was a delightful day and an event I will always remember.
To end on a positive note, probably one of the nicest things that has happened to me for several weeks – a week in politics feels like a year, as we all know – I was in Woolworths yesterday at lunchtime doing my shopping, and a lovely young woman with a disability said to me, ‘I know you, you are Robyn’, and gave me a hug. That is the wonderful thing about working in the disability services sector, the people who work in it are wonderful caring human beings. The clients of the services are wonderful caring human beings and it is a joy to be Minister for Disability Services.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Continued from 27 November 2013.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, I move that the statement be noted.
We support the Public Information Act. There is some history to this. It came before the House during the last term, essentially in a bipartisan manner between the member for Nelson and the then member for Blain. The then member for Blain pushed it quite strongly. People around at the time will remember there was a bit of back and forth between government and opposition but, essentially, this came forward in the spirit of bipartisanship to make sure politicians did not dip into taxpayers’ funds for propaganda purposes. We support the Public Information Act. We also accept the advice from the Solicitor-General around the fact the guidelines, as we understand it, overreached.
We have some concerns that rather than amending or editing the regulations, we are abolishing them. Obviously the act remains, but we feel we need to proceed with caution; we have some concerns around the revocation of the guidelines full stop. We think we should have the safeguards under the act and there should be amended and edited regulations. We have a trust deficit with this government, and I am sure they are surprised to hear that. Obviously, when first elected, they had a slightly more combative and aggressive approach and were taking up full page ads in the NT News which were in breach of the act. The act remains and they would still be in breach of the current act.
We are concerned, with the abolition of the guidelines and regulations, what might then follow. We have concerns on this side and we are flagging caution about what might happen once these guidelines are revoked, ahow much looser things will be and whether we will see a return to some of those practices. On both sides I think we are glad to see them gone.
It was something that happened on both sides in the past, but the ads in the paper and other uses of taxpayers’ money are now gone. We do not want to see to the replication of these regulations, a return to taxpayers’ money being spent on things like full page ads in breach of the act. We should not be breaching the act, and the guidelines help make sure we abide by what is quite a sensible law that came from both sides. On behalf of the Leader of the Opposition, I wanted to make sure we made those points in this debate about the concerns we have about taxpayers’ money being spent on propaganda, how and why this act came to be and the revocation we have before the House.
Motion agreed to; statement noted
Continued from 8 May 2014.
Mr VOWLES (Johnston): Madam Speaker, I thank the Minister for bringing this statement to the House. There is no doubt that the pastoral industry is important to the Northern Territory. It is important in terms of our regions, the many small businesses that support the pastoral sector and the key infrastructure and regional development, more generally. It includes our roads and communications, as well as the Port of Darwin.
The industry has no greater supporter and champion than our own member for Barkly, who made a great contribution to the debate on this statement, particularly in questioning government commitment and action in improving production and rangelands management, risk management around external factors affecting our markets, and our supply of cattle and buffalo to said markets.
As we have heard, the industry supports a wide herd of approximately two million cattle and turns off about half-a-million cattle every year, with about half of them going to export. The live cattle trade is central to the wellbeing of the NT pastoral sector, contributing over $330m in 2012-13 with 78% of live cattle exports to Indonesia, followed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. Live cattle exports to Indonesia have a strong future and the Territory is well positioned to take advantage of increasing demand from Indonesia’s rising middle class.
A key component of the Territory’s access to Indonesia’s market for live cattle and other exports will be our relationship with the new President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. We congratulate President Widodo on his election and wish his new government every success. Labor will continue to build a strong relationship of cooperation and trade with Indonesia. Sadly, the Territory’s relationship with the new government did not get off to a flying start when our $750 000 man, Jakarta-based diplomat, Terry Mills, predicted a loss for President Widodo in the recent presidential election. The following was mentioned in the media release:
I am sure the new president and his government will be generous enough not to hold Mr Mills’ gaffe against the Northern Territory, but I am concerned that Terry Mills’ lack of experience and problems with foot-in-mouth will not be helpful as we strive to build a better relationship and better trade relationship with Indonesia.
Today we have heard that some NT cattle producers and other affected business people are taking legal action, seeking redress for the financial impact on their businesses of the Commonwealth 2011 ban on the live export ban of Territory cattle, a ban imposed as part of the Commonwealth’s response to animal welfare concerns.
We support the right of Territorians to seek compensation, but it is telling that they have to resort to that action because of a lack of progress in pursuing those claims with the Coalition government in Canberra.
As part of the political debate we have also heard churlish criticism of former Chief Minister Paul Henderson in terms of the Northern Territory government’s response at that time. Let us correct that misrepresentation. My recollection is that the Chief Minister at the time, Mr Paul Henderson, and his government, stood side by side with the NT cattlemen as they took their case to Canberra.
We stood with them in making known the heavy impact of that decision on Territory cattle producers and lobbying for a quick resolution and recovery for the industry. Mr Henderson told Territorians of his deep concern about the impact of the decision on Territory families and an industry supporting 1700 jobs in the Northern Territory. Mr Luke Bowen, then of the NT Cattlemen’s Association, told Territorians in June 2011 that the NTCA was glad to see support from both sides of Territory politics for the industry as it struggled.
The NTCA also commended the Henderson government and then opposition for a single, strong and significant statement and commitment to the Northern Territory pastoral and cattle industry. There has been no acknowledgement by the current government of arrangements like a freeze on pastoral lease payments for properties with less than $10m turnover and other arrangements introduced by the then Chief Minister and his Treasurer, the now Leader of the Opposition, in recognition of the impact of the live export ban on Territory cattle producers.
It is sad that the current minister has such a short memory and seeks to use today’s news to denigrate the former Chief Minister and his stance on cattle exports. In his statement in May this year the minister spoke of changes made by his government that will have a positive and profound effect on the Northern Territory’s pastoral industry. He did not talk about where changes would be profound and impose potentially significant costs on the Territory cattle industry, namely the commercialisation of the Darwin port. In October this year the Chief Minister came clean on his plans for the commercialisation of the port. True to his form, he did not use the ‘s’ word. He talked instead about the potential long-term lease of this important public asset, or a cherry picking opportunity to put a critical, strategic asset in the hands of others.
On October 21 he said:
However, he is not talking about whether Territorians want this and other public assets sold. On this side we hear the community disquiet. We hear public concern about this government flogging off public assets, the property of all Territorians. We hear the call for government to go to an election on the sale of these public assets which are owned by Territorians.
This Chief Minister also told the Assembly:
Why does the Chief Minister think public assets have to be sold for this work that should be the obligation of government in its day-to-day business? Any sale of public assets is supposed to lead to value-adding investment, not repairs and maintenance.
The Chief Minister can find $33m for his own department to promote himself and his Developing the North agenda, but cannot find any money for flood mitigation in Millner. To rub our noses in it he also wants to sell TIO so flood damage insurance is harder and more expensive to obtain; we saw this happen during the Queensland floods.
The Chief Minister also said:
It was less than a year ago when you told the House:
Your real intentions are the sale or long-term lease of public assets to bankroll community infrastructure in the lead-up to the next election because of your single failure to win any infrastructure investment funds from your trips to Canberra. Every time the Chief Minister goes to Canberra, he bangs on about the new money he will win, the new commitments to infrastructure he will bring home, but on every trip he comes back empty-handed.
On 3 May this year the NT News reported you stressing to Territorians that there had been no government decision on any asset sales at all – classic CLP doublespeak that is becoming all too familiar, code for ‘plan afoot but no deal done yet’.
You also were reported saying in the same article:
How do you define good debate, a one-sided opportunity for more CLP doublespeak? Your real plans are to put this critical public asset into the hands of others to commercialise the port, with key risks around increasing costs for all our producers who use the port to transport their export commodities, including live cattle and buffalo, to overseas markets. It is your plan to find a better way to kick-start the development of a so-called dirty industrial port at a high environmental cost at Glyde Point.
This year we have witnessed hard times and an end to production at three Top End iron ore mines. I would like to hear the minister tell us of the industry forecast for mineral commodity prices and how that is affecting mining activity and plans for port development in the Northern Territory.
It is time for the CLP and this Chief Minister to walk the walk and talk the talk to fulfil their long-broken promises to be an open, transparent and accountable government. It is time for Territorians to say whether they want their property, important public assets like the Darwin port, sold or leased to commercial interests and out of their hands.
My leader, the member for Karama, summed it up brilliantly in a speech last week when she said:
Mrs FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I love the member for Johnston’s terminology of ‘my leader, my leader’. I have never heard you say that before; it gave me goose bumps.
I commend the minister for his statement, and make a small contribution to it. It is very reassuring to know we have a Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries who works hard for all stakeholders concerned, and goes the extra mile to vigorously promote our pastoral industry.
As the minister rightly stated, our cattle industry is truly iconic. Much of the Territory’s identity has been sourced and shaped by our pastoral heritage. This industry was one of the first to form during early non-Indigenous settlement. It served as a pillar of the Northern Territory economy until the 1960s, providing economic growth in the major regions and helping to keep many people employed. Indeed, this iconic industry has contributed much to the Territory’s culture and development. It is exciting to see that role in our society continue.
Our Asian neighbours have always been important to us in the Northern Territory, and any visit to the fifth floor will show you that on the walls of all the conference rooms. Every country in this region is linked through various networks of trade, as well as though business and strategic partnerships.
In November last year I was privileged to travel to Indonesia with the Chief Minister to attend the Indonesia Australia Business Conference to see firsthand the strong relationships we continue to build on. One such link we have with Asia is through the live export market, as the minister outlined in his statement.
A significant number of live cattle go to Indonesia every year, and it is thrilling to know that nearly 70 000 head of cattle made it to Vietnam in 2013. The Chief Minister and minister for Primary Industry have worked tirelessly with the Vietnamese government, and this relationship has been welcomed by many. Let us hope the relationship continues to grow as we do our best to send beef and buffalo overseas.
Part of this government’s effort in growing live export opportunities revolves around three key priorities the minister detailed in his statement. First we need to maintain our export into Indonesia, which took 454 000 head of cattle last year. This is a strengthening market and will hold us in good stead for the future.
The second is emerging markets, like the exciting developments with Vietnam, which need to be expanded and encouraged to thrive. Lastly, other markets in the Asian region should be explored and, where possible, Northern Territory pastoralists should be the ones providing the livestock through strategic trade links.
The Northern Territory’s live export and pastoral industries have faced many difficulties in recent years. Weight restrictions, export bans and poor rainfall have all worked against our pastoralists, but this government will always stand side by side with the hard workers of this important industry. Thanks to this great relationship and the hard work of our pastoralists, the Northern Territory live export industry has created a new export record we can all be proud of.
The previous record for the export of cattle from the Port of Darwin was in 2008, when just over 359 000 head of cattle was shipped out. The recent exciting news of the industry smashing this record by 32 000 head of cattle so far this year is truly phenomenal. It is a testament to the steely determination of Northern Territory pastoralists who are committed to providing the world the finest beef Australia has to offer.
The simple equation is our goal to find new markets while we grow existing ones. However, we also have to make sure those markets can be adequately serviced with the right product to ensure longevity and prosperity within the beef and buffalo industries.
It is important to pay special mention to Luke Bowen, who served as the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association Executive Director since 2008. Mr Bowen announced his decision to step down late last year, and I understand he is doing a very good job at the Northern Australia Development Office.
I commend the minister for bringing this statement to the House and for the work he is doing to ensure a bright future ahead for the pastoralist sector of our economy.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I appreciate the input from all members who have contributed to this debate. It is quite fortuitous that this debate comes back into the House on an important and poignant day for the cattle industry, as today it was announced that a class action has been commenced against the Commonwealth government by pastoralists of the Territory. I have not seen the list of plaintiffs, but I presume there are also members of the pastoral industry from Western Australia and Queensland.
It is much deeper than that. During Question Time this morning I specifically mentioned Northern Feed & Cube in Katherine which makes stock feed cubes specifically for the live export market. A bunch of hay growers provide hay into Northern Feed & Cube plus a few other things; they make cubes and pellets. That stock feed goes onto boats and feeds cattle on their journey to the various markets we have.
It is interesting to note the history of the feeding regimes in the live cattle industry. I remember years ago knowing quite well a fellow called Barry Gunson, who worked on the cattle ships. He told me one day many years ago that they were able to fatten cattle during the journey from here to the destination ports, and in those days it was largely Indonesia.
The point I am trying to make is the live cattle ban and the class action involves many more people than just those directly involved in the pastoral sector. You have the transport companies, helicopter pilots, hay growers, companies like Northern Feed & Cube, and all the local businesses that are affected by such a downturn. The cattle industry in general spends a lot of money in the Northern Territory.
As an example of what happened in Katherine in the wake of the ban in 2011, shops like the Bush Boutique had significant changes to their business. Talking to Geoff and Julie Newton who run that business, the change for them was quite stark. The change was the difference between a stockman ordering a new saddle against a stockman getting an old saddle repaired.
I assume a new saddle costs a couple of thousand dollars and a repair to a saddle probably not more than a couple of hundred dollars. In that instance what you saw was probably a reduction of one tenth the contribution by the cattle industry into local economies, and I know Katherine was hit particularly hard during that time.
I remember standing in front of the media and even in this Chamber in the period after the 2011 ban saying this would take years to recover from, and my prediction has been borne out. The cattle industry in the Northern Territory is still struggling in the wake of that live cattle ban.
Even though our numbers going through the port are excellent and prices have increased quite significantly, running at around $2.45 per kilo live weight at the moment, the damage was done to the psyche of the people who are on the land; those pastoral values still have not recovered fully.
A lot of confidence in the government was lost by pastoralists and the breeding and other programs, which, when joined together, make up the operational side of a pastoral piece of land, were stopped or postponed, put off, and stock numbers were reduced necessarily because the cattle properties could not sell them anymore.
They had to send a lot of stock to Queensland, so we also saw a destocking of the Territory’s pastoral estate. It takes some time to recover but we are in a relatively good place now, given where we were three years ago when this horrendous ban came into being.
There has been some deflection by the members opposite on their involvement, or their culpability, in the issues around the live cattle ban. The member for Johnston accused me of having a short memory, but the short memory lies with him, because I remember being in parliament and watching the then Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, standing beside Julia Gillard, nodding as she was making announcements on the live cattle ban.
If my memory serves me right, I might have even heard the former Chief Minister Paul Henderson, utter words along the lines of, ‘It was the circuit breaker that was needed’. The industry did not need a circuit breaker. Perhaps it did need one, but not to that extent. The circuit breaker might have been simply stopping Australian animals from going into particular abattoirs. Placing a blanket ban over the entire industry was crippling. I outlined some of the effects in the question I answered this morning.
It has taken a number of years to re-establish the good relationship we had with Indonesia …
Mr Elferink: Oversized animals starving in the paddocks is much better than being butchered in the abattoirs.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Absolutely right. I pick up on the interjection by the member for Port Darwin. There were cattle starving in the paddocks because they could not be sold. They could not go anywhere. This happened in June 2011, and at that stage the Wet Season growth had been largely consumed already; that is the cycle of things here with the cattle industry. There is the rainy season, where the feed grows, the cattle knock it down and then they must be supplemented later in the year. Of course, there was no money to supplement the cattle later in the year, because the live cattle ban came into effect and pastoralists could not sell their property.
Animal welfare issues arose out of this decision which was supposed to address animal welfare issues. It created, in Australia, a new animal welfare issue, and shows the short-sightedness of the then Minister for Agriculture, Joe Ludwig, and his fearless leader, Julia Gillard.
We are, as I say, in a much better place. This statement is about the recovery of the live export market. It is very pleasing that during 2013-14 415 427 head of cattle were shipped out through the Darwin port, making it the busiest live cattle port in Australia, which is fantastic. However, we are not resting on our laurels, because the other lesson learned from the live cattle suspension of 2011 was not to have all your eggs in one basket. Even though we had, at the time, a very small trade with a limited number of trading partners in Southeast Asia, it certainly was not enough to pick up the slack left in the wake of that ban.
We on this side of the House have worked hard to not only repair the relationship with Indonesia and get our live cattle trade to Indonesia back to where it should be, but have worked on new markets as well. Particularly pleasing is the new market we have with Vietnam. We are looking at, from memory, approximately 140 000 head going to Vietnam, which is fantastic.
I was asked a question recently about what the Australian government has done in the wake of this live cattle ban and repairing relationships with Southeast Asian countries. Not only has the current Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, been to Indonesia, but he has also secured a new market for us in Cambodia. That will help our ongoing recovery in the cattle sector. I am very pleased to report I intend to be in Cambodia before the end of the year to establish the much-needed relationship between our government and the government of Cambodia to make sure they realise that we, under this government, can be a trusted and reliable trading partner.
Things are looking reasonably bright for the cattle industry. David Warriner, who is the current President of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, would like to see cattle prices up around $3, which would represent a much better farm gate return for our pastoralists. I do not have a crystal ball, so I cannot predict exactly what that will look like into the future. If these markets come on, as I believe they will, $3 is quite possible and achievable, particularly if China comes on board.
Much work is still being done between the relevant authorities in the Australian government and the Chinese government to establish the health protocols required to allow the export of Australian live cattle into China, where those cattle are either from or have had to travel through areas affected by a disease known as blue tongue. I commend the Australian government and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the work they are doing in that space, and I trust they will continue to work hard on that issue.
I was quoted in The Australian today – if I was reading the right newspaper – as saying that if China comes on board, there probably will not be enough cattle in Australia to meet the demand anyway. In some ways that is a good thing, and in others it will make it tough on all our existing markets. It will put a lot of pressure on pastoralists across this country. In some ways it will be a good problem to have.
That leads me to one final point, which is where the demand is rising and we are at our supply levels, it is incumbent on industry to find ways to make itself more productive. As a very interested partner, this Northern Territory government is very keen to work closely with the industry to find ways we can do that. I would love to see our pastoral carrying capacity increase by 100%. We currently have two million cattle in the Northern Territory. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could set systems in place on pastoral properties that would allow for a carrying capacity of four million? I do not know if that is possible, but a 50% increase might well be achievable. That is something this government will strive for over the course of the next few years, working closely with the Chinese government.
The member for Drysdale mentioned a man by the name of Luke Bowen. During this entire debacle that was perpetrated by the then federal Labor government on the northern cattle industry, Luke Bowen was a stalwart. He was the Executive Officer of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, and I was impressed with the way he handled himself. He was an excellent conduit between industry here and the federal government, and achieved a great many things in what were very difficult and trying circumstances. I wish Luke all the best in his role with the North Australia Development Office.
I am sure the new CE of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, Tracey Hayes, will do a stellar job. She has already proved to be a strong advocate for the industry. She, like Luke Bowen, has a great relationship with the Northern Territory government. I am very keen to continue to partner with industry to make it more viable, to improve its lot in the Territory and increase its contribution to the Northern Territory’s economy.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mrs FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I wish to speak about the fantastic work being done by the Rotary Club of Litchfield Palmerston. The club only has 13 members. Although it is a very small club, it is very active within our community.
Rotary International is a worldwide humanitarian organisation which aims to assist local and international communities. The Rotary Club of Litchfield/Palmerston, or RCLP, is in District 9550, one of the most diverse districts in the world. It extends from the top of the east coast of Queensland, across to Timor-Leste and down to Tennant Creek. This district covers 1.5 million square kilometres and includes 50 clubs and 1300 members.
I mention Rotary Club of Litchfield/Palmerston’s place within this district because of the unbelievable news that it received a presidential citation from the Rotary International President, Ron Burton, this year. I am told these certificates are not given out lightly to Rotary clubs, rather they are earned. This is the first time the Litchfield/Palmerston club has received this award from Rotary International.
Essentially, the presidential citation recognises rotary clubs for achieving an array of accomplishments which help them become stronger, deliver more effective service and enhance their public image. This is a magnificent achievement considering there are 50 other clubs in District 9550 alone, and I am pleased to detail some of those great achievements tonight.
The first achievement is the 2014 Rotary Broads Barra Bash. This is a major event for the club which was held from 5 to 7 September this year and attracted a record 20 teams. This is a remarkable increase from 13 teams last year. The Litchfield/Palmerston club held the inaugural Rotary Broads Barra Bash in 2011. Since the club introduced the ladies only fishing competition four years ago the number of teams entering each year has grown. The fishing competition is a catch and release competition held annually in early September at Four Mile Billabong in Kakadu National Park. The club provides full catering for the weekend for all participants and support staff, and also provides toilets and showers at the billabong. This project has raised a staggering $30 000 over the past four years for the club, and all the funds are put back into the community through projects. Well done to the Litchfield/Palmerston club for putting on this great event.
The second event is the Day for Girls working bee. The club was very busy on 27 September when it arranged a working bee and assembled 15 Days for Girls feminine hygiene packs, which included five post-natal kits for the Miyalk Mala women’s group in Milingimbi. They aim to put together 100 kits to be distributed to Third World countries where they are needed, and are also sourcing any other communities in the Northern Territory which would benefit from receiving these kits.
Day for Girls is a global initiative to provide sanitary items to girls across the world from impoverished regions or areas of disadvantage. The aim is to enable girls to continue with their lives, get on with school or work, and reclaim those days that would have been lost if they were stuck at home due to not having sanitary products. It is such a worthwhile cause and the Litchfield Palmerston club should be commended for its work in this area.
The third project was introduced in 2013 and is Books for Babies. Each year Rotary International designates the month of March as Literacy Month, and Rotarians are called upon to increase their focus on literacy efforts in their community. This year the Litchfield/Palmerston club purchased 300 books and donated a book to each baby born at Royal Darwin Hospital and Darwin Private Hospital. The book titled Grandma’s Garden was written and illustrated by local Palmerston author, Amanda Huckin, which is amazing as it supports a Territory author. With each book, three brochures from the Department of Education were provided to give new parents the opportunity to provide their child with the best possible start by introducing them to books and encouraging parents to invest time each day reading to their children. We all know reading to children from an early age can foster positive attitudes and a love of reading. This is a great initiative which I can see expanding to Palmerston Regional Hospital when it is complete.
Another project is the Down Syndrome Association of the Northern Territory Barista 21 project. I spoke earlier today about Project 21. Recently the Litchfield/Palmerston club provided the Down Syndrome Association with $3500 which it used to purchase a barista coffee machine for Barista 21, another great scheme provided by Project 21.
The Howard Springs skate and bike path project is another example of a Palmerston Litchfield club project in the Howard Springs Nature Park. This is almost completed now thanks to the persistence of the club; the club’s current president, Eric Chalmers; and community effort, with this project having been going on for several years. Students at Taminmin College put together the framework for this project as part of their woodwork curriculum. This is another example of the Litchfield/Palmerston club working with the community to achieve results for the community.
It is important to recognise the members of committee who are the backbone of community-based clubs across the Territory. The Rotary Club of Litchfield/Palmerston’s current officers are president Eric Chalmers; secretary Sally-ann Lewis; president-elect Jeffrey Lewis; treasurer Roy Kingham; and Sue Nacey will be taking over shortly for web and Facebook information officer Thevi Chelliah; membership and public relations officer and Rota-rural editor Valerie Chalmers; Rotary Broads Barra Bash coordinator Roy Kingham; service projects Eric Chalmers; and new generations Ritchelle Lewis.
I encourage anyone who wants to give back to the community to seriously consider contacting the Rotary Club of Litchfield/Palmerston. You will meet new people, make new friends and make a real difference in the lives of others.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, it is with much sadness that I inform the House of the death of Ms Rose Hallett, the Director of Finance within the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services. Rose passed away suddenly following an accident while visiting her daughter and family in the United Kingdom.
Rose had a long, exemplary career in the Northern Territory Public Sector, joining in March 1997 and spending over 19 years with the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services.
In her position as Director of Finance, Rose was responsible for approximately 20 employees who provide essential financial support to the executive and operational areas of the tri-service.
Rose was awarded the Public Sector Financial Manager of the Year award in the Financial Review Chief Financial Officer Awards in 2008, becoming the first Territory CFO to win the prestigious award. She was awarded the tri-service 15 year clasp in 2011 and was nominated for the Australian Public Sector Medal in 2012.
Rose developed cost estimates for all financial aspects of the Closing the Gap on Indigenous Disadvantage program, including staffing, training, uniforms, vehicles, radios and other related equipment. She also managed the financial aspects of the Closing the Gap National Partnership Agreement and was actively involved in the administration and management of the major objectives of the 2001 Building Our Police Force program.
Rose was a valued member of the Northern Territory community and a well-known member of the Darwin sailing community. Rose spent many years as a member of the organising committee for the Darwin to Ambon yacht race and competed in this year’s event.
Rose had recently commenced long service leave and was looking forward to her well-deserved retirement. Rose was not only a valued colleague but a treasured friend to many within the tri-service and she will be sadly missed.
On behalf of the Northern Territory government and staff of the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services, I extend my sincere condolences, and the government’s sincere condolences, to her husband Brian, daughter Sarah, son-in-law Peter and granddaughter Tyler, family, friends and colleagues. Rest in peace.
Ms FYLES (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, I rise to speak about a new and inspiring community event: Run with Dad. Run with Dad, Father’s Day fun run is a community event aimed at raising money for and awareness of prostate cancer.
This year’s event was the inaugural run and was a great success, with an estimated 800 people participating, either running or walking, and more than 1000 people gathering at East Point on the morning of Father’s Day to celebrate the blokes in our lives and acknowledge the devastating illness that is prostate cancer.
It was clear early on that the fun run would be a success. The member for Fannie Bay and I hosted registration sessions at our electoral officers and I hosted my session – as did, I think, the member for Fannie Bay – on a market day, which proved very successful, with dozens of people signing up and registering on the day for the fun run.
I participated in the event along with my colleague, Michael Gunner, the member for Fannie Bay, by donating the items and cooking the barbeque, along with lots of volunteers, including the now member for Casuarina.
It was a great morning and we had a chance to meet hundreds of supporters who were keen to spread awareness about prostate cancer. Our stall alone raised approximately $1300 for this cause.
Cancer devastates lives and the founder of this event, Katie Woolf, and her family know this so well, having lost their father, husband, grandpa and dearly loved Rockin Rod earlier this year. I quote Katie:
Katie’s words sum up what this event was all about; raising awareness to help the men in our lives to take care of themselves, encouraging them to have regular health checks.
I also acknowledge the attendance at the event of the member for Drysdale and her Drysdale Dragons as well as the member for Solomon who attended and supported the event.
The Northern Territory government also supported this community event, which I know is much appreciated. It was great to see so many members of parliament getting out and getting behind this fledgling fun run. I also note the former member for Daly, Rob Knight, was on the Run with Dad committee, which he must be commended for.
I thank the remainder of the committee sincerely for all their hard work: Lesley Woolf; Lorraine Hook; Helen Deutrom; Danny Bourchier; Ness Cotton; Hannah McLure; Alice Burton; Beth Maley; and Nathan Marsh. This group donated its time to organise, collect entries, approach sponsors and set up the event, which was a huge task. They gave up countless hours to organise the event, including setting up in the hot sun on the Saturday before and a very early start on the day. Thankfully, there was a coffee stall.
Events such as this cannot happen without the support of sponsors. This group of volunteers did a wonderful job in reaching out to our business community, which responded by offering what it could. Run with Dad was supported by the Northern Territory government; the National Critical Care and Trauma Centre; Elders Real Estate in Darwin, Palmerston and Virginia; Nine News Darwin; Colin West; Zip Print; Storm Cell TV; EPrint; and Natasha Griggs MP. I sincerely thank all those Darwin businesses for getting on board with this new event, which hopefully means it will continue well into the future.
The amazing thing about Run with Dad was that our community came together. I know Rod, as a former athletics coach, would have been so proud of the day, everyone getting out and of what his daughter set out to achieve. The event raised over $20 000 through registrations, donations and sponsorship, and a huge amount of awareness regarding prostate cancer was also raised.
The organiser of Run with Dad, Katie Woolf, and the committee deserve much praise for their efforts in putting this event together. Katie’s passion and tireless efforts were what made this event a success. She is clearly passionate, with good reason, about this issue, and the work she has done in her father’s name is both moving and important. I was privileged enough to know Rod, and I know he would be so proud of Katie, Lesley, their whole family and everyone involved.
Congratulations to everyone involved with Run with Dad. I look forward to again being involved in this event next year.
I take a moment to acknowledge Rod, who was an outstanding father, grandpa and a great guy. Watching their family go through this illness was devastating. If this event and everyone’s awareness can encourage – particularly blokes who might be the last to go to the doctor. If you notice something is wrong speak to someone, seek help. The event set out to do that and did so. I congratulate everyone involved.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I pay tribute to the hard, tireless and often thankless work of Northern Territory paramedics. In particular, I congratulate Katherine paramedic Dean Featherstone, who was awarded the 2015 Northern Territory Paramedic of the Year Award. The awards are a way of acknowledging the outstanding performance of paramedics working in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Darwin. It helps provide much deserved recognition for the professional conduct of paramedics, who regularly perform their role under challenging circumstances.
Every year Northern Territory paramedics attend around 45 000 cases in our major centres. This is equal to around one out of six Territorians needing a St John Ambulance every year. During the course of each shift our paramedics encounter stress and trauma in tense environments.
The Northern Territory Paramedic of the Year Awards started in 2000 as an initiative of the Rotary Club of Darwin Sunrise. It was done to recognise, praise and honour the hard and tireless work of Northern Territory paramedics as they get on with the job of helping the sick and injured, and saving lives. Developed in partnership with St John Ambulance NT, these awards are also proudly supported by the Northern Territory government.
Nominations were received from those members of the public personally treated by paramedics, those who have witnessed and been comforted by the work of a paramedic, and from colleagues who nominated their peers. The Paramedic of the Year Award is awarded to the paramedic who displayed a combination of the following traits: an ongoing commitment to paramedical sciences learning; professionalism and rapport across all walks of life, from the general public and their patients, to their colleagues, and across broader NT health services; and care and compassion on a regular basis.
As the member for Katherine I was proud to learn that Katherine paramedic, Dean Featherstone, took out the top honour from a field of 32 nominated paramedics from across the Territory. Dean has been a part of St John Ambulance NT since July 2011. Dean is well liked. He is an integral member of the team in Katherine and his peers describe him as an extremely dedicated team player who is a genuine all-rounder. He is highly regarded by colleagues, management and those he deals with in the health industry in general.
Dean stood out this year for his ability to demonstrate care and compassion to patients and their loved ones, not only during treatment but in continuing to check on the patient once handing over to other health professionals. The year 2014 has been a busy year for Dean. He was also awarded Student Paramedic of the Year, and I understand he was also recently married.
These awards are now in their 15th year, and I hope they will continue for many more. In acknowledging the efforts of Dean Featherstone, I also acknowledge the efforts of all the other paramedics and St John Ambulance officers in Katherine and across the Northern Territory. It is an organisation that is well supported by volunteers and by young people coming in. It is heartening for me to see the junior ranks of St John NT – and I know that to be true in Katherine – swelling with new members. I wish those people all the very best.
I also pay tribute to a Katherine resident who recently passed away. John Reen MacNamara, who died on 13 September this year aged 80, was a true Territorian and a Katherine legend. Mac, as he was widely known, is fondly remembered and sadly missed by many Territorians. I will read the eulogy provided for the service for John at the Katherine Museum a few weeks ago:
I knew John, Iris and the South family quite well. There is no doubt in my mind that John MacNamara, on his passing, has left a very big hole in Katherine. He was extremely well respected throughout the community, a humble man who expected no accolade for the great community work he did. He did a great deal of community work over all the years he lived and raised his family in Katherine.
He will be sorely missed. I am a better man for having known John for the few years he and I managed to cross paths. I send my deepest condolences to Iris, Kevin, Gail and the South family. Whenever Mac’s name is mentioned around Katherine it will be remembered fondly, with great love and great affection.
Ms LAWRIE (Karama): Madam Speaker, the Minister for Community Services last year tried to force Whitegate residents in Alice Springs to move away from the camp where they have been living for many years. She was told in no uncertain terms by the residents to back off and, as early as February this year, the minister said:
The water, as we know, has now been turned off to the residents of Whitegate. Since August last year, traditional owners of Alice Springs have been subject to disgraceful tactics. The Minister for Community Services has unashamedly called these traditional owners squatters on more than one occasion. She tries to pretend they do not know how to speak for themselves and are being manipulated by some strange outside forces.
I met with Felicity, Basil and other members of the Hayes family at Whitegate a few weeks ago. They were very clear: they are not moving, they are not squatters and they want the water to Whitegate turned back on. They do not want to live in town or in another town camp.
The government has proved it can turn the water on to Indigenous communities. Recently it took the kudos for connecting water at Aileron Station and roadhouse, and Alyuen community. I congratulate it for that, but why water for Aileron and not Whitegate? The traditional owners of Whitegate town camp have urged the Territory government to work with them rather than trying to force them off their land.
What will the government do to help rather than the bully tactics people have experienced to date? In fact, Felicity Hayes raised an interesting scenario about what could be behind this government’s heavy handed attempts to force the families to move. It is not the Community Services minister’s pretence of being concerned about the welfare of residents. If welfare was the issue the government would not be turning off the water to the families at Whitegate.
Felicity Hayes told CAAMA radio:
Is that the real reason this government has turned off the water to Whitegate families? Does the government have plans to kick traditional owners out so it can get an exclusive residential enclave? Territorians want to know what is really going on. I call on the government to come clean and tell the people at Whitegate why it will not act on securing their land tenure and why it will not turn the water back on to the residents of Whitegate.
It was wonderful to attend the inaugural Tangentyere Community Day in Alice Springs earlier this month. The day was organised by the Tangentyere women’s committee to highlight the positive aspects of living in Alice Springs town camps. Too often all we hear is negative news about town camps, but they are vibrant communities where generations of local families live, work and raise their families. The event was a great success with hundreds of Alice Springs residents attending the event at Ross Park, sharing in the celebration with town campers.
Town camp women shared their stories on the day and it was great to hear from strong women like Shirleen Campbell, who told the remarkable story of how her camp, Hoppys Town Camp, has turned around from being a place with a pretty bad reputation to a camp that families are proud to call home. Shirleen was sick of Hoppys being unsafe. She said she had had enough of drunks, enough of people behaving badly and not respecting her home and the old people who live there. She spoke to the elders and got their support to become president of her town camp. Today Hoppys is a much better place to live in than it was 10 years ago. There is better housing, it is much safer and Shirleen said residents now look out for each other. They have mobile phone reception and Internet connections.
It has not been easy and it has taken time, but it has been well worth the work and effort. It involved a lot of speaking to people to get everyone working together and to see Hoppys could be a better place. Now Shirleen is passing on her passion to the younger women, getting them to think about standing up and speaking up for what they want to see happen in their town camps.
Many other women spoke about their passion for making town camps safer and about their pride in their community – women like Audrey McCormack, Barbara Shaw, Eileen Hoosan and Helen Gillen, so many strong women who are proud town campers who I was honoured to meet and speak with.
I congratulate the Tangentyere Women’s Committee for their work in increasing the safety of women and children, and promoting the positive aspects of living in Alice Springs town camps. I look forward to meeting with this great committee of women more frequently on my visits to Alice Springs and I look forward to attending the next Tangentyere Community Day.
Ms MANISON (Wanguri): Madam Speaker, I pay tribute to Mr Jim Macadam for his commitment and dedication to the Australian netball community, which spans some 64 years. Jim has recently retired from netball umpiring after 64 years and many of those have been with the Darwin Netball Association.
Sports cannot be played without the officials, and all sporting communities would fall over if they did not have the commitment of their volunteers. Jim is one of those tireless, dedicated people who have given a lifetime to netball, and we are so lucky for it.
Everyone who plays netball in Darwin knows Jim. He stands out. Not just because he is the oldest umpire in the association and is one of the few blokes umpiring, but because he has always umpired with good humour and always mentored players, umpires and coaches where he can.
In an interview with Charlie King on ABC radio recently where he discussed his umpiring career and time in netball, Jim said, ‘At the time there were not enough people participating and helping’, and that was how he got involved. Today most clubs and sporting associations would tell you things really have not changed much and it is people like Jim who help clubs and the sport to continue.
Jim’s netball umpiring career has taken him overseas to umpire, and he has gone to Hawaii to umpire. That was one of the greatest highlights of his career.
I first met Jim in 2006 when I started playing with the Waratah Netball Club, where he umpired for us every week. Most people who run clubs will tell you finding umpires is the hardest job and few people want to do it. It is tough, and the ladies on the netball court can get pretty fired up. Yet Jim has always done his job, always upholding the rules of the game with positivity and encouragement. It is not just the time Jim has taken on Thursday nights to umpire games for the club, but he would also come out at pre-season to help with trial matches and grading games. He would also be there to give players advice on their game.
As a coach, I have always valued Jim’s views and input. He would often have a chat to you about how the game was going, the strategy you have in place and give you a bit of advice about the players. He gave so much to our club and he has also given so much to the Darwin Netball Association.
Kate Warden who is a life member of the Waratah Netball Club and founder of the club, said about Jim:
His contribution to the club and the association will be missed. In recognition of Jim’s contribution, he was given life membership to the Waratah Netball Club and the Darwin Netball Association over time.
On grand final night in September the Darwin Netball Association also recognised Jim’s contribution there so all of the association could pay tribute to him. He has also received an Order of Australia honour with the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to netball and other sport. He was certainly a deserving recipient. His contribution went well beyond netball; it also went to football and basketball.
In recent years Jim has had to have some operations to help with his mobility, which really should be expected at his age. It was remarkable to see a man of his age umpiring each week. He is a true role model to show people what they can continue doing in their sport well into their older years. Jim is a hero for what he has given to the sport.
I look forward to seeing Jim every week at netball to make sure we keep receiving good tips and advice from him. He might be retiring from umpiring, but he will not be stopping his other work, from what I understand.
Jim is also a wedding celebrant. Some of the loveliest weddings I have ever been to have been the ones where Jim officiated. He also brings his very good sense of humour to those weddings. He is a justice of the peace too so you will often see him helping out at Casuarina shopping centre helping out.
Jim Macadam, you are a legend of Territory netball. We thank you for your contribution to netball in the Territory and wish you well in your retirement from umpiring, but we look forward to seeing you continue to mentor future umpires, coaches and players, as well as passing on your wisdom and passion for the game to other people. It is always appreciated. All the best, Jim.
I turn my attention to some wonderful things that have been happening in the Wanguri electorate. Firstly, I congratulate Mr Lim Boon Wai and his team on the newly re-opened Chemmart chemist at Hibiscus. Lim is a great guy; he is our local pharmacist. He is a businessman, but he is a guy who cares about the community and has a genuine interest in the care of his clients. He recently re-opened and re-launched the chemist at Hibiscus under the Chemmart brand, and it was a hugely well-attended event. All of the shop owners from Hibiscus went along, as well as five politicians, which was quite an achievement. We also had the acting Lord Mayor there; it was wonderful to see business leaders from the community. The opening finished with a blessing by the Chung Wah lion dancers. It was a great event.
I wish Lim and his team all success for the future. We are lucky to have Lim there, because he is a true community pharmacist. He is there looking out for locals and providing a high level of healthcare, support and service to the people of the electorate every week. I wish him all the very best of success with the business. I also congratulate him on the fact he won the 2014 Telstra Australian Business Award for the start-up business this year; it shows what an amazing business sense Lim has. We are expecting even better things from him in the future. He is a great guy and a great member of our community.
I also congratulate and thank Maria and Jade Albion. They held a morning tea to raise funds for breast cancer research and support this weekend at Kantillas. They got together as a mother and daughter team and decided they wanted to make a difference. They wanted to do something to raise some money for breast cancer research and support because they had friends who, unfortunately, had to battle breast cancer.
They got together and decided they would put on a high tea event at Kantillas. They were hoping to get about 50 people there on Saturday, but about 100 actually attended. It was a beautifully presented event. All the ladies, and some gentlemen, had a wonderful time. They were treated to a fashion parade, a great raffle, fabulous food, plenty of champers and Ali Burton as emcee.
Our own caterers in Parliament House, Karen Sheldon Catering, came on board as a sponsor. They did a terrific job. It was wonderful to see a mother and daughter get together, decide they want to make a difference and hold a truly genuine community event, where they tapped into their own networks of friends and brought everyone together for this great cause. Congratulations, well done Maria and Jade on such a fabulous event. Thank you very much and I hope you host another morning tea next year.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I wish to place on the record this evening some of the many achievements in my electorate of Nhulunbuy. I will start with the School Sports NT competition that was the Arnhem athletics, and will talk about the Arnhem athletics team that travelled to Darwin for the NT Cross Country and Track and Field Championships. This was held during Term 3, last school term. They competed at the 2014 combined NT Cross Country and Track and Field Championships.
The Arnhem team consisted of 33 athletes aged between 10 and 19 years old, from 12 different schools within the Arnhem region. Of the 33 athletes competing as part of the Arnhem region team, 30 received a medal of some colour. The Arnhem region came in second overall – which is a fantastic result – in the track and field championships, out of a total of six teams from Northern Territory regions. Arnhem also came second in the cross country and won the march past for the fifth year in a row.
Whilst not all the athletes are from my electorate, the team’s success was a result of the huge combined effort from the athletes, officials, and chaperones. The officials and parents who were involved and accompanied the students on the trip were: School Sports Coordinator for Arnhem, Jeremy Robinson, who is doing an awesome job in that role; team manager, Chris Parfitt, who is one of our fabulous teachers from the high school; assistant team manager, Jacqui Harbinson; student organiser, Josh Poidimen; catering manager, Susan Stiff; first aid and driver was Brett Parfitt; general official was Flynn; and the parent representative was Glen Hillam.
Amongst the chaperones, we had Arnold Mininqwuy from Milingimbi; Birritj Warnabi from Yirrikala; Evan Warranburr from Yirrkala Homeland School, Lazarus Mamarika from Umbakumba; Lois Warramarra from Angururu; and Justin Gaykamagu from Ramingining.
School Sport NT Arnhem identified the following as the stand-out results from the team: young Jayden Djerrkura, who is just 11 years old, from the Nhulunbuy Christian College, took out gold in the 800 m and 1500 m, and silver in the 400 m and cross country; Haley Hunt, 12 years old from Gapuwiyak School, took out the gold in discus, the silver in 100 m and shot put, and the bronze in 200 m; Levi Norseworthy in the Under 16 group from Nhulunbuy High School took out the gold in cross country and the bronze 3000 m. Very best wishes to Levi Norseworthy and his family, who have left Nhulunbuy in the last couple of weeks, sadly; yet another family were his dad worked for Rio Tinto and has moved on, taking with him Levi’s mum, Leesha, who was PE teacher at the high school from many years, and little sister Zali. Good luck to the Norseworthys.
Back to the results in the athletics, we had Bobby Gaykamagu in the Under 14 age group from Ramingining School who took out gold in the long jump, silver in the 200 m and high jump, and bronze in the 100 m. Lasty, Dwayne Munungurr, Under 18 from Gapuwiyak School, took gold in the high jump and long jump and bronze in the 200 m.
Congratulations to everybody who was involved. There is a lot of organising and effort and a bit of fundraising that goes in to round up these kids and bring them into Darwin for competitions, but it is a fantastic opportunity for these kids to participate in these competitions outside of their own communities.
I would also like to talk about the Showcase Dance Competition and the involvement of the Arafura Dance Association from Nhulunbuy. Arafura Dance Association, or ADA, competed in the Showcase regional championships held in Darwin over the weekend of 4 and 5 October. It was a very tough competition, and the ADA dancers made an impression, bringing home many awards. All acts which received a high silver award or above can progress to the national level Showcase competition, which will be held at the Gold Coast in January 2015.
Graded gold medals went to: Shelbie Francis for junior tap; Sarah Cruikshank for junior ballet – where she had a second place; Ella Seaniger in junior contemporary who took out first place; Olivia Machesi in junior jazz and contemporary along with a fourth overall in the top 10; Siena Stubbs, an absolutely beautiful dancer who does pre-teen student choreography and also placed sixth in the top 10; Ineke Wallis took out Pro-Am Solo Contemporary and is also one of our dance teachers; Emily Tankard, Senior Ballet, placed fifth in the top 10 with a gold medal first place; Ineke Wallis and Milika Blackie-Smith for their duo Pro-Am hip hop and contemporary, and Milika also won a platinum gold for his hip hop dance to the tune Happy that had everybody moving to the groove.
Graded high silver medals went to: Katelyn Rika, pre-teen ballet, where she took out a first place – apart from being an incredibly talented dancer, she is also a very talented young golfer who is going places; Mahlia Snowden, pre-teen ballet, took out a second place; Leila Dunn, also in pre-teen ballet, took out a third place – this is in the silver medal awards; Carly Seaniger in the junior jazz section took out a second place in the silver medal; Billie Francis and Ella Seaniger, in duo junior jazz, took out second place in the silver medals; Carly Seaniger and Charli Campbell, took out third place in duo junior jazz; Patrick Walker – related to me – got fourth place in pre-teen contemporary dance; Demi Slatter, who is relatively new to dance and a very talented young dancer, took out the pre-teen hip hop third place; and Tayla Edwards, in the senior jazz section, took out a third place in the silver medals.
Graded gold ribbon winners included Katelyn Rika for her pre-teen lyrical and Tegan Stiff for pre-teen tap. The graded high silver ribbon winners included Mollie Graham in senior lyrical; Denver Shine in pre-teen jazz; Hayley Dunn in pre-teen lyrical; Maddy Slatter in the senior student choreography; Ashleigh Ogg in the pre-teen contemporary; Billie Francis in the junior contemporary; and Charli Campbell in junior jazz.
In the duo category, second places were won by Maddy Slatter and Hayley Dunn in the pre-teen contemporary – two extraordinarily talented dancers – and Ashleigh Ogg and Patrick Walker also in the pre-teen contemporary. Their dance was amazing as well, as was the duo from Denver Shine and Hayley Dunn in the pre-teen hip hop funk category.
In the small group category, Arafura Dance Association won first place trophies for junior contemporary. This dance was titled ‘Song of Arnhem land’ and performed by Billie Francis, Ella Seaniger, Olivia Marchesi, Sarah Cruikshank, Mahlia Snowden, Leila Dunn and Siena Stubbs. They also won a first place trophy in the senior lyrical section to the beautiful dance they did to the tune of Say Something. Performing in that was Ashleigh Ogg, Danielle Even, Denver Shine, Hayley Dunne, Ineke Wallis, Maddy Slatter, Patrick Walker and Tayla Edwards. First place trophy for senior contemporary to the beautiful Gurrumul tune Bapa and performed by Ashleigh Ogg, Danielle Even, Denver Shine, Hayley Dunn, Ineke Wallis, Maddy Slatter, Tayla Edwards, Molly Graham, Patrick Walker and Milika Blackie-Smith.
Second place trophies for small group dances were won by the junior jazz section to the well-known twenties tune, the Charleston, performed by Billy Francis, Olivia Marchese, Ella Seneger, Mahlia Snowden, Sarah Cruikshank and Teagan Stiff. The second place trophy was also taken out by the senior jazz group to the tune, Born This Way and performing that was Ashley Ogg, Danielle Even, Denver Shine, Hayley Dunn, Ineke Wallis, Maddy Slatter and Tayla Edwards. Another dancer, Danielle Yunupingu, who danced in the petite category with a contemporary solo titled ‘Sunset’ – and as part of a small lyrical group, Small Dance – also deserves a special mention for her effort.
Showcase could not have been a success without the dedication, talent and guidance the dancers received from our awesome dance teachers, including principal dance teacher, Rachael Wallis, who is so incredibly talented having spent 10 years with ADA; Ms Sharlene Cardilini, who sadly has also left our community with her husband Peter – we wish Sharlene all the very best and thanks her for her dedication and efforts – Ineke Wallis, who teaches as well; Tayla Edwards, a high school student who teaches; and Danielle Even, another high school student who teaches the little ones.
I also acknowledge the really hard working volunteers who are part of the Arafura Dance Association Committee, as well as a number of parents who worked so hard to make this happen – to coordinate signing up to the competition and the fundraising.
I pay tribute to Maria Slatter, Chris Wallis Tracey Graham, Esther Rika, Susan Stiff, Rhoda Shine, and I apologise for others I may have overlooked. Arafura Dance is an absolutely outstanding dance group. It made up almost a third of the competitors at the competition and in spite of the downturn in our community I have a feeling we will be back next year.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I started wondering whether the member for Nhulunbuy named just about everybody in town. Unfortunately next year the list might be a lot shorter. I only say that jokingly. I have been to Gove recently and it is still a great place. The people there are still very passionate about their community. I congratulate them for that, and they won one of the Tidy Town Awards the other night. Yes, the member for Nhulunbuy forgot that but it is my job to pick up on those omissions.
I would like say a few things about rural athletics. The member for Goyder and I went there on the weekend for their presentations. I thought they had gone and I was very sad that I had missed them this year, but then I found out they put them on well clear of all grand finals, which was a good idea.
I thank people like Bushy, Cameron and Joanna and all the people who make rural athletics a very special place.
The member for Nhulunbuy just mentioned the Arnhem Club at the NT championships. She said they have won the march past five years in a row. I will check with my Rural Athletics Club because they were generally the world champions in the march past.
The rural athletics is a great club. It is very much a family orientated club and you only had to go to the presentation day to see what a great group of people turned up there: families, young people, older people. It is all done in a very relaxed and humorous atmosphere which reflects the type of club it is.
I do not have the names of all those who received awards because there were many of them. I do know there were some champions and many of those champions also competed in the NT championships – which I attended as well – and we, the Rural Athletics Club, did very well.
I also should mention Roger Chin who coaches many of the children; he has been doing so for many years. He is like many of the parents; they are doing the timekeeping, measuring the distances and taking all of the equipment out.
It is that sort of club and Roger is one of those people. Roger is going down to the Pan Pacific Masters Games at the Gold Coast very soon to compete and he will be competing on behalf of the Rusty Rurals; Rural Athletics has a section for older people. If you have seen the logo for rural athletics it is a windmill; the logo for Rusty Rurals is a windmill that has sort of fallen off to one side.
I also raise an issue that the member for Goyder just mentioned to me. She went on Facebook – because she is a bit cleverer than me – and it seems there has been some dog baiting in the Hillier Road area of Howard Springs. That is a terrible thing to do to dogs. It does not matter whether the dogs next door annoy you or not, if someone is baiting dogs it is certainly not the right way to sort out the problem.
You do not realise the cruelty you do to those animals. If anyone knows about the baiting of dogs in the Howard Springs area, if you have any information, I am sure the Palmerston police would like to hear from you.
The minister today mentioned the Summernats and how wonderful it is. Well rev-heads probably love it. What disappoints me is the minister will probably put a fair bit of money into making the Summernats some great annual or biannual event in Alice Springs.
I asked for some help in regard to, not rev-heads, but dickheads, who burn a lot of rubber in my area, who I get constant complaints about, and about the misuse of ATV bikes; unfortunately there are people who misuse them. For many people they are a great recreational vehicle, but I get constant complaints about the misuse of off-road vehicles and people doing burnouts around Whitewood park and Howard River park. You only have to travel around those areas –Girraween estate as well – and look at the amount of rubber on the roads. These people are not driving in a straight line.
Some time ago I asked the minister if we could get some CCTV cameras, and he said no. He said to dob them in, which is impractical. I will forward an e-mail from one of our chief scout people in the rural area that reflects exactly what many in the community think about the behaviour of some of these people on our roads.
If there is money for Summernats, there is money to have more police in the rural area and for putting in CCTV cameras. People are fed up with that sort of behaviour; it will only take one person to be killed and all hell will break loose.
Even though the police do their best they are very limited, and part of the limitation is because the government did not go ahead with its promise to put another 120 police on the books.
As you know, we debated the inquiry into political donations last week – extremely disappointing. What made it even more disappointing today was we heard the minister talking about slush funds from Harold Nelson Holdings of the Labor Party, which he repeated. If you say that and it is what you believe, the only way to find out whether that is true – because anyone can say anything in this place – is to take it to an inquiry. The argument against the inquiry was that Foundation 51 is being examined by the Australian Electoral Commission and the Northern Territory Electoral Commission. Big deal! The issue is whether Harold Nelson Holdings is a slush fund and whether unions have passed money through it illegally. If you want to put your money where your mouth is, hold an inquiry. If you think donations are being used for unions to gain a favour, hold an inquiry. Otherwise, all we are doing is making a lot of noise and throwing insults across the table because there are no facts behind it. People are fed up with that sort of stuff.
On Julia Christensen’s radio program the other day, the member for Fong Lim said, ‘I sincerely believe it is time to have a look at the whole system and see what we can do to fix it, rather than mulling over old things, and you do know we go back 10 years’.
He wants to fix things in the future, but he does not want to mull over things that have passed. Until we know whether things were wrong in the past we do not know what to fix. The other side of that is, ‘We have something to hide and we do not want you to look in there because it might be something you should not see’. In fact, I have been told that two members of parliament received vehicles from a private donor. I do not know whether that is true or not, but if it is true it should be declared. If there is an inquiry I can put that forward for investigation. I am sure I will not receive an answer here, but that is what I was told yesterday. The person who told me certainly knows, because he has had an affiliation with the party for a long time.
I am very disappointed; there was a chance for the government to clear up all these accusations we make continually in this parliament, and yet we do not have an opportunity to hold an independent inquiry to investigate the truth.
In relation to TIO, a couple of panel beaters came to see me on Friday; they wanted to know what they could do about the sale of TIO. We will hold a public meeting at Charles Darwin University in the Mal Nairn Auditorium on Thursday 6 November at 6pm. If people want to know what is happening with TIO and want to tell the government what they think about its sale, it is an opportunity to do it.
I have asked Richard Hardy from TIO to come along. Hopefully there will also be some people from insurance brokers, panel beaters and the Chamber of Commerce there, plus, more importantly, the public, the people who use it. There is an ad on TV that says, ‘It is our TIO’. When the Chief Minister stands in here and makes a statement about selling it, he has forgotten that is how people feel about it. He can talk about the economics and selling it off, but it is regarded by many Territorians – in fact 15 000 people in 2006 – as our TIO.
While the minister is only a relatively new person on the block in the Northern Territory, I do not think he understands that. Yes, he might be sweetened by Mr Abbott’s offer to give him plenty of money and give us the economic rationalism behind changing it, but I do not think he understands the people of the Northern Territory who regard TIO – an insurance company of all things – as their TIO, our TIO, and he should not forget that.
Mrs PRICE (Stuart): Madam Speaker, I note with interest that Delia chose to raise Whitegate in adjournment rather than in Question Time. She does not want to know the truth about Whitegate.
Repeatedly, it has been explained that Whitegate is not a town camp. Whitegate is a squatter camp, not an outstation or a town camp. The three residents and the goat had water provided by Tangentyere: the organisation that looks after them.
I am glad Delia raised this because it gives me an opportunity to clarify the record ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Stuart, could you refer to her by her electorate name please.
Mrs PRICE: I am glad the member for Karama raised this as it gives me the opportunity to clarify the record and correct the mistruths being peddled by those opposite.
For the benefit of the House, this matter did not happen overnight. I have had a number of meetings with the two occupants and Lhere Artepe, the representative native title body, about Whitegate to seek their views. I have made it clear that I would not forcibly remove them. They were advised at our meetings, and later in writing, that government could no longer provide services as Whitegate is not an established or recognised community or town camp, and the government is not funded to provide services.
During our meetings, I outlined my concerns about the lack of access to services such as power and sewerage, and that water would be disconnected soon due to construction works at the nearby Ilpiye-Ilpiye town camp. The Whitegate occupants were offered public housing with considerable tenancy support, thanks to my colleague, the Minister for Housing.
I am aware certain members, especially the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Namatjira, have been critical about me and the Chief Minister in the media. I am surprised at their hypocrisy, given both members were in positions to do something about this situation, yet both did absolutely nothing.
I want to talk about Alyuen community, 100 km down the road from Alice Springs. I stand by my answer given to the House about Whitegate.
While we are talking about water, I want to talk about how I am so proud, last week, to have officially turned on the new water supply to Alyuen. Those opposite go on about Whitegate, but forget that it is a couple of sheds that have been placed on vacant Crown land. Alyuen is a recognised outstation and has suffered without a viable water supply since 2007. Labor did nothing about getting those people water despite many requests.
However, when I was elected, I was determined to fix this issue. I am proud to stand before the House today and say this government brought water to the people of Alyuen. For the past few years, Alyuen has been receiving water from a rock aquifer. However, supply was limited and topped with water trucked in from Ti Tree, Pine Hill Station or Napperby Station about 80 km away, which was not sustainable in the long term.
The $680 000 new bore will deliver a consistent water supply to the Alyuen outstation, Aileron Roadhouse and the Aileron Station homestead. This project had a number of government local organisations working together. The station owners at Aileron Station have played an integral role in the project and cleared an 80 km corridor of land for the pipeline route, including access tracks for drilling. They also purchased a backup generator for extended cloudy periods, which will be transported to the site when required. This cooperative approach will also see both the roadhouse and the station benefit.
This project shows real benefits when organisations and governments work together for the benefit of the community. Alyuen people are really thankful and want to see lots of things happening now they have water to make sure the community is engaged. They want to set up gardens and fruit trees. We are in the process of getting someone to work with them to set up and beautify their houses because they know they now have plenty of water. It is amazing how long they had to wait.
I have been with the CLP for two-and-a-half years and it took me that long to get water to Alyuen. It is a great thing that this government has done; it cares about the bush and about people who really are on the bones of their backsides and not doing anything to get attention. These are the people we want to help. We are serious about helping the bush grow and bringing economic change. People need it and if the government is seen to be caring, listening and wanting to help they will jump on board.
Another community in my electorate, Lajamanu, was one of the Tidy Town winners on Friday night. It was great for me to see Lajamanu up there with the other communities, but I want to congratulate Titjikala because they have won the Territory Tidy Towns awards two times in a row. They won it last year and they won it this year. They were so happy to receive it and said they are dedicating it to one of the old fellows – who was in the hospital when I was – who died. It was good to see the community recognised his support and his value in helping Titjikala become a vibrant community. He picked up the award for Territory Tidy Towns last year but this year he could not so they dedicated it to him.
Titjikala have asked me to visit the community because they have been hanging onto a painting for me from last year which they expect me to pick up. I congratulate that community as well for a job well done.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of two Year 6 classes from Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School accompanied by Mrs Gez Mulvahil and Ms Sarah Morrissey. On behalf of honourable members, welcome to Parliament House and I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also advise of the presence in the gallery of a class from Dripstone Middle School Henbury Outreach Centre accompanied by Ms Nicole Hennessey and Ms Rachel Fox. On behalf of honourable members, welcome to Parliament House. I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Behaviour of Members –
Use of Language and Conduct of Debates
Behaviour of Members –
Use of Language and Conduct of Debates
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, during the last sitting week there was a noted increase in allegations of lying and deceit, resulting in the raising of numerous points of order. Members are reminded of Standing Order 62, which states that a member shall not attribute directly, or by innuendo, to another member, unbecoming conduct or motives and personal reflections on members which are highly disorderly.
To be absolutely clear, from this week and now on, to call another member a liar is highly disorderly. To attribute behaviour to a member which imputes they are a liar is also highly disorderly. To say a member is deceitful, misleading or dishonest is highly disorderly. Highly disorderly behaviour may result in a requirement to withdraw from the Chamber immediately, pursuant to Standing Order 240A.
I also remind members of Standing Order 106: the wording of a notice of motion must not offend against this principle. That gives me the power to amend such notices or decline them appearing on the Notice Paper. It is best to avoid this occurring at all.
Please look at page 515 of the House of Representatives Practice 6th Edition, which states that when expressing a charge against a member the charge shall not adopt unparliamentary language, therefore a motion should not directly claim a member is a liar.
Motions or language which alleges the government, the opposition or a political party has been somehow dishonest may be allowed when it is clear that the reflection is not on a member, but on a body.
However, I do urge caution even in that regard. It is the members of this Assembly who give it the dignity it deserves, and it is the same members who by their actions may take it away. With regard to this week’s proceedings I advise also as follows:
Any member who chooses to yell across the Chamber will be required to withdraw from the Chamber under Standing Order 240A.
Members who abuse Standing Order 113 may be asked to leave the Chamber under Standing Order 240A without a warning.
Constant interjecting may result in a warning, or it may result in being required to withdraw from the Chamber under 240A with no warning.
Honourable members, I am also aware that there has been an undercurrent of unparliamentary language and gesturing with hands. I advise members that I will monitoring the ambient microphone and the tapes that subsequently follow, and if there has been unparliamentary language used in this Chamber then that member, or members, will be spoken to in due course.
STATUTE LAW REVISION BILL
(Serial 95)
Continued from 28 August 2014.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, it will come as no surprise to the Attorney-General to hear me say we will be supporting this bill. This is a standard statute revision bill; they come before parliament quite regularly.
I believe the Attorney-General’s second reading speech, aside from reading out the names of the acts this bill relates to, lasted about one minute. My speech aspires to be of a similar length to the Attorney-General’s. It is a small ambition, but I think I can make it to a minute.
Statute revision bills are essentially cleanup bills. They clean up small problems with legislation such as updating superseded references or correcting typographical and grammatical errors and omissions. Nothing in this bill actually changes government policy or the operations of the legislation or government. We are not redebating how something should work, but trying to fix a small mistake that has come up in working through those acts.
Some of these cleanups are easily identifiable; if the title of a position changes, then obviously the legislation needs to change to reflect that. Similarly, if the name of an organisation changes then an act could require updating.
It is sometimes curious how things we fix are identified. With some of the other cleanups you wonder how an error or requirement for a correction was identified. We are pleased to see that the Commercial Passenger (Road) Transport Act will be amended so the word ‘affect’ will be replaced by the word ‘effect’.
I will not criticise the people who drafted the first legislation; it is a mistake that can occur in the English language. Obviously it passed this House and as lawmakers we missed that ‘affect’ should be ‘effect’. I congratulate whoever was flicking through the Commercial Passenger (Road) Transport Act, noticed this error, took a stand and said it has to change, we have to fix this, and brought it to the House for correction. If they are listening, well done, we appreciate the work you have done.
I had conversations over the weekend on a related, but separate, topic about the former member for MacDonnell in this House, Neil Bell, who as shadow Attorney-General apparently always spoke for 45 minutes in his second reading contributions.
I like to believe he had exceptions. A bill like this may be an exception, and perhaps he would not speak for 45 minutes.
Mr Elferink: No, it wasn’t.
Mr GUNNER: Another former member for MacDonnell, the current Attorney-General, may like to comment on Neil Bell’s attempts.
Mr Wood: The Attorney-General could speak for 45 minutes.
Mr Elferink: Challenge accepted.
Mr GUNNER: The challenge is accepted to talk for 45 minutes on the Statute Law Revision Bill.
Mr Elferink: Don’t worry about it. I would not do that to you.
In having taken a full minute, I thank the people who have brought this bill to the House. We support it.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I used to listen to Neil Bell, the former member for MacDonnell, and I enjoyed many of his speeches. Sometimes they were pretty long, but each year he ended up pulling out mistakes various speakers had made.
I have to be careful it is not a case of the pot calling the kettle black, because I release a newsletter every year which I attempt to proofread. But when I send it to someone else it is a disaster in both grammar and spelling. I am amazed someone has been brave enough to look at some of these mistakes. Without encouraging the minister to give us the historical difference between a comma and a semicolon and where they derived from – previous to the Magna Carta or an ancient Roman Emperor’s decision – I was surprised to see, under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act, someone had taken a magnifying glass and noticed a comma after the word ‘employment’, which had to be replaced with a semicolon.
I looked at that act. I thought this was serious stuff, but I found it was the only case where the comma had been used; in every other section of the act a semicolon was used. I wondered who had to look through this act to find that error.
I looked at the changes under the Gene Technology (Northern Territory) Act; under section 14(a) it said we are changing from ‘an offence against both’ to ‘both an offence against’. I knew what was meant under the old act and I do not know why it has been changed. It looked perfectly sensible as it was, but I am sure there is someone with a great legal background who can probably quote a case from 1937, Smith versus the Commonwealth, where that difference caused a major problem with the findings of that court. However, I cannot see the difference.
The other change was interesting. Sometimes when you listen to debate in this parliament it is relevant. It is under the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act, where there is a word I have mixed up before. Under Schedule 2, Part 1 section 2 and Part 2, sections 2 and 3 the change is from the word ‘sewerage’ to ‘sewage’, and there are times when I …
Mr Elferink: One is the pipe; the other is the thing that goes through the pipe.
Mr WOOD: Yes, I know; that was very good. It gave me an opportunity to talk for longer than a minute, because I checked Schedule 2. I probably do not get a chance to discuss such high matters, but I was talking to local government workers the other day – you can say I am irrelevant here, but I looked at the Schedule 2 activities that require approval or licence. This is the section where that is dealt with, and it talks about constructing, installing and carrying out works in relation to premises for disposal of waste by burial and premises other than sewerage treatment plants. Sewerage is not the correct word because although you are installing sewerage pipes, you are not installing sewerage treatment plants.
I had a complaint from local government. I did not know this, but Indigenous Essential Services looks after septic tanks on outstations and remote communities; they have now put the cost of that on local government. Local government now has to get a licence for transporting and dumping. I did not realise there were so many requirements for people operating in this area. I can see why some councils complain about the cost of doing all this. In a roundabout way, something that looked fairly innocuous – it probably did not smell innocuous – caused me to check this section of the act, and I realised what local government was talking about.
The number of activities that require licences in relation to this sort of thing is, I gather, causing a burden to local government, especially the cost of doing that. I will look into that a little – deeper is not quite the right word …
Mr Elferink: Fulsomely.
Mr WOOD: Yes. I will take this up with the Local Government Association and find out what it is costing them and whether Indigenous Essential Services is passing on costs to local government which they cannot afford.
As the member for Fannie Bay said, the opposition gives full support, and the Independent definitely gives full support.
I thank the people who wander through all these bits of legislation. I do not know if these changes are found by accident, or whether the government has a special committee on grammar and spelling to make sure all legislation is up to scratch. I do not know how we have come up with all these changes, but whoever did it is keen to make sure our legislation is correct. That is important as well. I thank them for all that work because that is not easy. When you go through this document you realise there has been quite a number of changes. That would not have taken five minutes; it would have taken a long time for that to happen.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing this Statute Law Revision Bill forward and I support it.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank honourable members for their support. Yes, this is one of those tidy-up pieces of legislation. One of the great mysteries that still exist in my ADD-affected world is the level of attention to detail of people who work in various parts of the public service in relation to matters like this. I find it incomprehensible. I do not mean that in a negative way. I have always been easily distracted by bright flashing lights and colourful things. To cautiously, carefully, and methodically go through legislative instruments is my idea of an exquisite hell. However, there are people who, in the course of their duties, find these things. We throw them into a bucket and, periodically, as that bucket fills up, we bring a Statute Law Revision Bill into this House. It is truly politically unsexy, but it is the natural and functional work of this House.
In answer to the member for Nelson’s questions in relation to the amendment under the Gene Technology (Northern Territory) Act 2004 where section 14(a) refers to an ‘offence against both’ and replaces it with the words ‘both an offence against’, without having asked the question; I suspect it is a stylistic change.
Believe it or not, I am told faithfully that there are styles of legislative drafting which change from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and evolve over time. If one looks at a bill from the 1950s and compares it to the way a bill is drafted today, one of the first things you will notice about a bill drafted today is it does not have marginal notes as they used to. If you go further back in history and look at something like Queen Anne’s legislation in relation to copyright laws in England, it was simply a printed document devoid of section numbers, paragraphs and anything that might distract the reader from the text itself.
I am guessing, but what you see here is not necessarily a change in substance, but a change in style that reflects changing styles over time. In more recent times it has been the wont of parliaments and legislative draftsfolk, here and in other jurisdictions, to adopt the concept of plain English. Therefore, you will see many words starting to be expunged from the statute book and replaced with ‘from now on’ and ‘because’.
One can also notice electro convulsive has been changed to electroconvulsive. The difference between the two is, I presume, somebody has taken the time to look up the words ‘electro’ and ‘convulsive and realised there is a single word ‘electroconvulsive’ and, for a stylistic reason as much as anything else, determined the single word of electroconvulsive is appropriate under the Mental Health and Related Services Act.
Once again, I heard the member for Nelson mention the difference between ‘sewage’ and ‘sewerage’. A sewer is the physical infrastructure, and I think the member for Nelson was aware of this from some of his concepts, and sewage is the goop that goes down the pipe. It is normally water mixed in with various human waste products, but also includes other products that find their way in to our various macerators. You would be quite mystified if you knew some of the products that turn up in those macerators in our sewerage systems.
Having made those observations again, I thank the parliamentary draftsmen. Sandra Markham does a remarkable job on behalf of the people of the Northern Territory. I continue to admire with awe, in the traditional sense of the word, the work done by legislative draftsmen because I genuinely still find it difficult to comprehend how people commit themselves to doing things like drafting legislation. By goodness I am grateful for them because without them all our jobs, the jobs of the court and the jobs of the civil society would be far more difficult, if not impossible.
The time has come to pass this bill into law and send it to the Administrator for her attention. Should she condescend to place her signature upon it these acts will be appropriately amended.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice) (by leave): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
REORDER OF BUSINESS
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Whilst there is no question before the House I move, pursuant Standing Order 89, the reorder of the routine of business so at the conclusion of the consideration of Government Business Orders of the Day No 1, the bill we have just dealt with, the Assembly immediately considers ministerial statements and, at the conclusion of ministerial statements, the Assembly resumes consideration of Government Business. The effect of this motion is to enable the statement which was circulated earlier today to be debated forthwith, then we return to the Notice Paper.
Motion agreed to.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
October Business Month 20th Anniversary
October Business Month 20th Anniversary
Mr GILES (Business): Mr Deputy Speaker, today I appraise the House of the continuing significance of October Business Month in 2014. The year 2014 is the 20th anniversary of October Business Month, an initiative of previous Country Liberals governments.
.
Let me begin by tracing some of the history of what was originally known as Small Business Month. In 1994 the Business Services Group within the then Department of Industries and Development saw that, as part of their work with both established and prospective business operators, the promotion of an entire month for business people seeking to improve their operational skills, knowledge, competitiveness and networking opportunities could be highly beneficial in the context of the fast-growing Northern Territory economy.
It was a prescient move by the then Chief Minister, Marshall Perron, and the Minister for Asian Relations and Trade, Industries and Development, the Honourable Shane Stone. As noted by the minister in Hansard on 29 June 1994
- October is small business month nationally and we will be heavily involved in the Northern Territory.
In 1994, 699 people attended 12 organised events including the launch of International Business Week, leadership seminars and a weekend focusing on women in business. On 17 October 1995, the minister drew attention to the Northern Territory government’s support and said:
- Last week was international business week and this month is small business month thus it is appropriate to consider, not only what the Northern Territory government is doing to help local businesses expand here and off-shore, but also what we are doing to expand investment from overseas.
In November 1996 the Minister for Transport and Works, Hon Barry Coulter, stressed in a document entitled Darwin 2010: the Multi-Model Transport Logistics Hub, the need for, amongst other things: construction of Alice Springs-Darwin railway; timely investment in port infrastructure and facilities; service land at East Arm; a cruise ship terminal at Stokes Hill Wharf; and the use of Darwin as a supply base for the mining, oil and gas activity in the region.
Noting the emphasis on the need for a vital partnership between government and industry, and private enterprise, small- and medium-size businesses which play a significant role in our economy were to be encouraged to upskill, network, and learn more about the opportunities in the Territory. October Business Month swiftly became a very important cog in that wheel.
While the Labor Party at the time scoffed at our dream of a gas industry in the Northern Territory, rail infrastructure connecting Alice Springs to Darwin expanded tourism, which we are now doing again. The Country Liberal government of that day, as today, worked very hard to nurture a Territory environment that helped local businesses grow, something Labor does not support.
By October 1998, the renamed October Business Month had become a premier event. The theme that year was Growing the Territory, long before the ALP stole the title. Subjects included bidding for oil and gas business and, less importantly as it turned out, millennium bug management. More than 2750 attended the 1998 seminars and workshops and by 1999 this number had increased to more than 4000 people attending more than 100 events.
The value of October Business Month became even more widely known. New technology and electronic commerce came to the fore and seminars included youth in business as well as an introduction to the new tax system, the GST as we know it, which came into effect on 1 July 2000. On 10 October 2000, former Chief Minister, the Hon Denis Burke, stated in this House:
- … the government advocates a much greater use of local industry capability to support the maintenance of the ADF presence in the Territory and the deployment of ADF personnel to operations in proximity to Darwin.
…
To establish a critical mass of demand, Defence should consider a planning process which takes account of private sector demands for similar skills and technologies and wherever possible combine their requirements. For example, the offshore oil and gas industry has similar requirements of its supplier as does Defence. By using this combined demand it may be possible to attract a significant presence in the Northern Territory by Defence prime contractors who could service their regional requirements from here.’
The Country Liberals have long been prepared to make the Northern Territory the focus for Defence. Unlike Labor, which turned its back on Defence, we are prepared to stand up for it. I was very keen, just two weeks ago, to open the very first business in the defence supply base near Robertson Barracks.
We are why the inaugural Northern Australia Defence Summit was established within the October Business Month last year, another Country Liberals’ initiative. This year, an impressive line-up of senior military and civilian leaders gave a very informative series of presentations to local businesses, entitled Building Sustainable and Productive Defence Industries in northern Australia.
There is no doubt that strategic priorities, operational commitments, construction capital expenditure, logistical requirements – not just for the ADF but also under the US Force Posture initiatives – mean that Defence will invest many millions of dollars into the Northern Territory, into our economy, creating jobs and other opportunities into the decades ahead. The Country Liberals, under the Giles government, are creating a long-lasting legacy for this Defence exposure and investment in the Territory
October Business Month, 20 years on from the original concept, has grown to more than 130 events over 31 days, attracting thousands of participants from across the Territory. OBM is considered by many NT small businesses to be the NT's premier business event in their annual calendar.
It is now a joint initiative with the Chamber of Commerce Northern Territory; many valued partners extend sponsorship support to that.
OBM includes workshops, seminars, conferences and other events where businesses benefit from up-to-date, firsthand knowledge delivered by a diverse range of nationally and internationally recognised figures.
Keynote speakers this year included Mark Bouris, Michelle Bridges, Mark Beretta and Peter Blasina. The top themes for OBM 2014 include leadership, finance, marketing and social media, human resources and staff retention, and motivation and inspiration.
There is no doubt this CLP initiative was visionary and has stood the test of time. It was based on the Liberal belief that businesses and individuals, not government, are the true creators of wealth and employment in the Northern Territory and around the world. Businesses, however small, are the drivers of the nation’s economy, underpinning growth and innovation, providing jobs for all Australians.
Developing the north has been a key theme for 2014, complementing the ongoing government policy of planning for the future of north Australia. The turn-out for these events has been quite astounding.
Highlight events include this week’s National Economic Development Conference, with its theme of managing population growth and regional assets for our economic sustainability. The national Chair of Economic Development Australia, Mr Stephen Chapple, sums it up perfectly in the program. In his introduction welcoming delegates to Darwin, he says:
- I feel I’m in the heart of the Australian government’s focus on developing northern Australia and on Asia’s doorstep.
That is something Labor does not support.
It is also good to note that a pre-conference tour is taking place at East Arm Wharf and Darwin Business Park, led by representatives of the Darwin Port Corporation and the Land Development Corporation. Luke Bowen, General Manager of the Northern Australia Development Office, is participating in the Australia 2040 panel discussion entitled Australia 2040.
There is no doubt that in the Territory we have a business community looking to the future, keen to define their own particular niche in society and business. It is a business community that wants to join this government to drive major projects, pursue improved infrastructure, and attract investors, not sit back and navel gaze like the Labor Party, and drive debt through the roof and claw back our economy.
They know there are many examples of how Country Liberal governments have put, and continue to put, runs on the board. They know we drive down crime. They know we drive down debt and drive up economies and jobs.
The construction of the Alice Springs to Darwin railway line was a project Labor said was a faded dream, but quite happily jumped on the first domestic freight train when it arrived. Domestic freight movements have now seen some 9% growth per year since the inception of this line.
Bulk minerals account for the major tonnage carried. As noted by Greg Pauline, Genesee & Wyoming Australia’s managing director, earlier this year:
Investment in rail infrastructure is the key to unlocking economic growth.
He also mentioned the port. In order to expand our industries, the necessity for extensive port facilities was recognised decades ago under the Country Liberals, with planned development for East Arm, Middle Arm, and now, under our government, Glyde Point.
A priority for Country Liberals government has been to understand and underline the critical importance of strategic long-term planning. That is why the agenda for last week’s NT Major Projects Conference included a presentation exploring:
- … the importance of managing growth in anticipation rather than in response.
Natural gas has been the main source of primary energy in the Territory since 1986. Gas will be the biggest driver of the NT economy for the next 40 to 50 years. The Bayu-Undan offshore gas facility was a pioneering first for the Country Liberals which delivered outcomes for the Territory. On 15 October 1998, former Chief Minister, Hon Shane Stone, said in this House:
- The Northern Territory is on the cusp of the biggest development in its history – a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Darwin. LNG represents one of the greatest resource-based opportunities for the Territory.
- …
- Successive Chief Ministers and Ministers for Mines and Energy have worked tirelessly to promote the LNG project. In many ways, there are parallels with the Alice Springs to Darwin railway line – false hope, disappointment and insurmountable obstacles. But like the Alice Springs to Darwin railway, successive CLP governments have not lost faith, or the vision, of one day securing the LNG project.
That is what Shane Stone said and it continues with the Country Liberals government of today implementing the INPEX project, the least of which was first provided under the Howard government administration in 1998. Here we are talking about a pipeline interconnector between the Territory and the eastern seaboard to drive gas sales interstate to establish a wholesale domestic gas market but, importantly, to develop stranded gas assets in the Northern Territory and promote the development of offshore assets again coming onshore into the Territory.
Since its first commissioning to the end of August 2014, there have been a total of 430 cargoes and the landscape of LNG projects in the Territory is almost infinite, both onshore and offshore.
I move on to tourism. One of this year’s presenters at the October Business Month, speaking at Yulara, Alice Springs and Darwin last week was Andrew McEvoy, former head of Tourism Australia, whose subject Reinvigorating Tourism in the NT, was no doubt a focus after the former Labor government’s neglect of tourism over those eleven-and-a-half fateful years.
The tide for tourism is beginning to turn backwards to positive news for our operators and their employees. It is a vital industry that supports more than 2000 businesses across the Territory, and employs 16 000 people directly and indirectly. One example is the cruise industry. On 12 February 1998, then Minister for Tourism, Hon Shane Stone, advised the House that the Darwin cruise strategy from 1998 to 2001 was being launched, saying:
- This strategy builds on the strong reputation that the Port of Darwin has been established as a friendly and efficient stopover for the new generation of cruise ships. By the end of this year, Darwin will have hosted 18 cruise liner visits including five maiden visits.
This strategy has, over the intervening years, resulted in Fort Hill Wharf becoming Australia’s third-biggest cruise ship terminal in passenger numbers and, again, more jobs for the Top End. Let me reaffirm that: little old Darwin is now the third-biggest cruise ship passenger terminal in Australia.
I thank all those involved in the organisation and presentation of October Business Month over the past 20 years. This includes the hard-working public servants in the Department of Business, and others; the vast array of the presenters and keynote speakers; the attendees who showed up in their thousands; and the sponsors and venues that have hosted the events across the Territory.
October Business Month continues to deliver innovative ideas, educational business development options, and opportunities to meet others seeking to establish and grow their companies here. Our success in developing the north depends on all of the above. It gives me great confidence that we have a vibrant business community that is forward looking, which puts us in a great position for future growth. The only obstacle in our way is the Northern Territory Labor Party.
For our part, we will work hard to continue to stimulate the economy of the Northern Territory. That is the Country Liberals way: foresight; vision; good economic management; low crime; and low debt.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of this statement.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Mr Deputy Speaker, it never ceases to surprise me how incapable the Chief Minister is of being a statesman. He delivers a statement to this House and sprinkles it with political vindictiveness and rhetoric rather than sticking to the subject matter at hand. He cannot help himself.
It is a curious statement because it is very much a statement viewed through a rearview mirror. The majority of the statement is committed to discussions around – Mr Deputy Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells.
A quorum is present.
Ms LAWRIE: The Chief Minister provides a statement then walks out because he cannot hear the truth.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker!
Ms Lawrie: It is a convention
Mr ELFERINK: I understand it is a convention, one you like to breach ever so much …
Ms Lawrie: That you started to breach, Leader of Government Business.
Mr ELFERINK: We will get rid of the convention because I am more than happy to point out that none of the Labor Party – with the exception of the member for Nhulunbuy – are in this House. Talk about a disgraceful abandonment of the parliamentary process.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Leader of the Opposition, you have the call.
Ms LAWRIE: I call attention to the state of the House.
Mr Elferink: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. You have to learn to add up, former Treasurer.
Ms Lawrie: No, he was not in the House. He has only just stepped into the House.
Mr Elferink: You have to learn to add up, former Treasurer. This is why the books are in such a dreadful state.
Ms Lawrie: The member for Blain was not in the House; he just stepped in. Member for Blain, you have to be this side to be in the House.
Mr Elferink: Stop lecturing people and get on with your job.
Ms Lawrie: I am waiting for the call.
Mr Elferink: The reason so many of your colleagues despise you is because you condescendingly lecture them.
Ms Lawrie: Oh, really! How popular are you, John? How is that vote of one going?
Mr Elferink: We have a Leader of the Opposition who cannot count and a member for Nhulunbuy who just sits there sucking on lemons and being nasty.
Ms Lawrie: Are we are able to continue, Mr Deputy Speaker?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, when you called the state of the House the second time there were 10 members in the House and 11 if you counted the member for Blain.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, I appreciate that.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: In future can you ...
Mr Elferink: Your numeracy is once again challenged to the hilt.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of Government Business, the Leader of the Opposition has the call. The Speaker gave enough warnings this morning and I will enforce them immediately.
Ms LAWRIE: Mr Deputy Speaker, I had a quick glance of the House and it just got there with the now Deputy Chief Minister walking out. You are just on the numbers.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Whilst it is only a convention it is one that traditionally has been enforced, and I would remind honourable members that if we go down this path it will be a lose/lose situation, so I recommend we step away from breaching the convention and adhere to it.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: And what convention is that?
Mr ELFERINK: The convention of referring to people being in or out of this Chamber during the course of their duties as a member of parliament.
Mr Vowles: The Chief Minister did five times last Thursday.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, could you please refrain from that, thank you. Leader of the Opposition, you have the floor.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I note the interjection from one of my colleagues who pointed out that the Chief Minister did it five times the other day; I am sure that can be discussed at the Standing Orders Committee.
In terms of the statement, it is a look through the rearview mirror of the Territory, albeit with a biased perspective, because he does not, and cannot, bring himself to acknowledge that it was Labor that brought the major project of Ichthys, undertaken by INPEX and Total, to the Territory.
It was very much a rearview mirror statement. There was no framework for business growth in the Territory for the next five years and beyond, no articulation of the CLP’s business plans, how impetus would be given to the Territory after the INPEX/Total/Ichthys project winds down in 2017 into its operational phase from its current construction phase, and no articulation of what the next major project would be.
It was simply a rearview mirror call out to Shane Stone to try to support this very ailing Chief Minister. The business community has been watching with grave concern at the chaos and dysfunction of two years of CLP government. One of the things to occur in the Territory is that we now have a two-speed economy: the haves and the have nots. The haves are those businesses associated with the Ichthys major project, and they are doing well; they are businesses that position themselves extremely well, some of which bulked up with the multinationals and internationals.
The reality is that 80% of our business sector – this is not a statistic that would grace the pages of the Chief Minister’s statement – is small businesses. They are the have nots in the Territory. The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows some 340 small businesses have closed their doors since the CLP has been in government.
Of those 340 businesses, about 120 small businesses in Alice Springs have closed their doors. Whilst the retail sector data is holding up, anyone who understands retail business knows it is mainly through the large retail supermarket chains, and retailers who are benefiting from an increase in goods and services associated with the major project. The reality is that our small retailers are doing it extremely tough.
The tourism sector, alluded to in the statement, is not as rosy as the Chief Minister tried to pretend in his statement. If you listened directly to the tourism operators, whether it be in the Top End or in Central Australia, you would know they are all saying they have had a couple of very tough seasons. Depending on where they are located, they will talk about the different influences on that. All of them would point to the relatively high Australian dollar and the dramatic drop in the domestic tourism market, but in the Top End they attribute it to what they call the squeeze on the accommodation sector associated with the fly-in fly-out workforce and associated executive level workforce with the major project.
Affordable tourism product is what the sector is really looking to in terms of stimulus. It is interesting in the sense that we do not have a list from the Tourism minister of the grants handed out this year. Normally the tourism board signs off on grants, the minister announces those grants and we are all able to see who are the beneficiaries of the government’s taxpayers’ spend in the tourism sector. Instead, this year we see every now and again a grant amount announced. We have seen a pub get some money for a fit out and most recently we have seen an announcement of $300 000 to a casino in Alice Springs to support its convention business, yet many local tourism businesses are struggling.
You need look no further than the harbour cruise industry in Darwin. I pick up on the statement’s reference to the cruise ship industry. This is the large cruise ship industry in Darwin that the Territory has grown its business from. The point they would not make in this biased statement is that the cruise ship industry lifted dramatically as a result of the Labor initiative and project of constructing the cruise ship terminal at the wharf precinct. That took a handful of cruise ship visits through to over 50 visits a year.
The Chief Minister hangs CLP credibility on the cruise ship aspect in the tourism industry but it had nothing to do with the CLP. That is their form. They cannot accept there is a problem, and that is one of the genuine problems that business confronts. When you talk to the local tourism operators who have invested in the harbour cruise local tourism industry, they are desperate. They are facing closure of their businesses because the current government – both the Transport and Tourism ministers – are ignoring the very genuine issue they have with a government tender that went to a ferry service operator, SeaLink.
A tender went out for a ferry service for Mandorah and the Tiwi Islands. It did not go to the operation of a harbour cruise, yet SeaLink is now directly competing in the harbour cruise market in Darwin Harbour. Where that competition has occurred in the past – Kangaroo Island is the classic example – they went from approximately 10 cruise operators to one: SeaLink. An interstate company that has a large government subsidy is undercutting the current price of harbour cruises. It is a situation where the Tourism and Transport ministers are completely ignoring the genuine plight of local businesses in which families have invested. They face going to the wall.
One of the operators has already seen 80% of its lunchtime tourism business lost. It is extraordinary that a government which issues a business statement completely ignores the plight of local businesses in which families have invested. A large operator was brought in by a government subsidy to operate ferry services, and is now competing in the harbour cruise market. Local businesses are in dire straits and are being ignored by the CLP. Instead, the Chief Minister made a statement about all the things Shane Stone achieved. That is a call out to the business community, which has its back against this government because they know their businesses are hurting. In just under two years, very rapidly, the local economy has struggled. All economic data holds up and does so quite well, and that is because of this project.
There was no reference at all in the Chief Minister’s glowing media release to what was said by Deloitte Access Economics. In the economic commentary Deloitte said:
- The Northern Territory’s economy is at the top of the state leader board. That is not a big surprise, as the huge Ichthys project is currently in its construction phase, yet that will not last forever and the sheer size of that project’s footprint will eventually leave a big hole to fill.
That is not recognised anywhere in this business statement, nor is there recognition of what the next major project to fill that big hole will be.
The Access Economics report says the Territory has superb natural resources, but was slow to join the global resources boom until Ichthys came along. This is not in the ministerial statement as it has the rearview mirror firmly fixed on Shane Stone. As we know, Ichthys was delivered to the Northern Territory as the result of the efforts of consecutive Labor Chief Ministers. In fact, it was a project the Country Liberals described as a 19th century project that did not belong in our harbour. That was in correspondence that the then Leader of the Opposition, Terry Mills, sent to all Palmerston residents.
The construction phase of this mega project is still going on, and it will for a while yet. Access Economics points out that in time there will also be an export dividend from the money being spent on construction and development. That means the Territory is still in the full flush of the second phase of the resources boom, the construction phase, with the potential for ‘transitional troubles’ as it moves out of construction and into exports.
It is the big major project of Ichthys that is holding up our economic data, but nowhere, of course, does the government want to talk about what is on the horizon. That is where the government simply misses the investment needs of local Northern Territory businesses. They need to know that horizon picture, and the statement should have been about looking forward for the next five years, not a rearview mirror of what Shane Stone achieved for the Country Liberals.
The reality is there are some very exciting prospects in what is going forward. You need to look no further than the Poseidon and Lasseter fields in the Browse Basin. ConocoPhillips has Poseidon, and Santos has the Lasseter field. There is a very genuine ability for those companies to work together to move to a second train at DLNG, with a time line of that construction kicking in as Ichthys is tapering off from 2017. That fits because all the major LNG projects in Queensland would have wound down by then, so there are good economies in the workforce mobilisation. These oil and gas companies are very aware of that. Because we have a genuine track record in delivering major projects in the Territory in the oil and gas sector, Labor understands that.
As Leader of the Opposition, I continue to meet with all the major oil and gas players to promote that second train and any decision of an interconnecting pipeline from Browse to the Bayu-Undan pipeline which would bring gas to shore into DLNG for the second train.
You do not hear our Chief Minister talking about that when he should. He should be going after that project with vigour, but instead he has his sight firmly fixed on the interconnecting gas pipeline from Central Australia to the eastern seaboard. There is nothing wrong with pursuing that pipeline interconnect project in Central Australia, and I have stated that on many occasions. The Chief Minister likes to pretend Labor is against it, even though the reality is that I continue to meet with APA, which is our nation’s gas pipeline operator. It is doing a feasibility study into which it is investing a few million dollars.
One of my concerns is that the Chief Minister is beating his chest and trying to intervene in what are sensible feasibility studies of the private sector, to the detriment of getting that project going. He behaves in a very foolish manner when dealing with multinational companies, and does the reputation of the Territory no good. You saw this in the way he wanted to beat his chest anti-Labor in a statement about business.
Consecutive governments help facilitate a business sector, whether they are CLP or Labor. At the moment – and I hear this from all across the industry sectors – this government is not engaging with the industry peak groups. It has a select few from the business sector it listens to and that is how business is done by this current CLP government. The problem is when you do that you miss out on a lot of good information and knowledge from people who have already invested and developed in the Territory.
One of the consistent areas of feedback I get from business is that the government has turned a blind eye to the businesses that have already been in, and invested in, the Territory for decades, and it has a penchant for pursing interstate and international companies. A classic example of that was the expression of interest in regard to Berrimah Farm and the master planning, where twice in his media release the minister for Planning and Lands referred to the need to attract international developers. Why go after international developers when our own Territory developers have more than enough capability to deliver a world-class project at Berrimah Farm?
Debate suspended.
The Assembly suspended.
TABLED PAPER
Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report
Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report
Mr GILES (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, in accordance with section 9 of the Financial Management Act, I table the 2013-14 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement which has been issued with an unqualified audit opinion by the Auditor-General.
The statement forms part of a 2013-14 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report and represents the government fiscal performance for the financial year. The report also satisfies the requirements of the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act. This Country Liberals government has implemented a range of budget improvement measures since taking office in 2012, with the principle aim of reducing Labor’s debt and returning the budget to a balanced position by 2017-18.
I particularly compliment the members for Araluen and Fong Lim, both former Treasurers within the Country Liberals government.
I am pleased to report that our focus on fiscal restraint is paying dividends, as evidenced by the 2013-14 outcome. The fiscal position for the Northern Territory has improved significantly for all key measures when compared to the original 2013-14 budget and the final estimate in the May 2014 budget.
The fiscal balance deficit of $90m for the non-financial public sector is a $1.1bn improvement from that projected in May 2013. It is also a $304m improvement from the final estimate included in the May 2014 budget. The improved outcome indicates that eliminating the fiscal deficit by 2017-18 is achievable.
The key factors contributing to the improved fiscal balance outcome since the original budget are: increased revenues of $344m; the revised timing of the handover of the $521m Darwin Correctional Precinct; and around $230m in lower operational and capital spending.
The increased revenues of $344m largely comprise of the following: Territory taxation revenue of $81m reflective of the strong economic growth experienced in 2013-14; mining royalty income of $37m as a result of moderation of the Australian dollar, higher commodity prices and a strong Country Liberals government; GST of $23m primarily due to a $20m balancing adjustment related to 2012-13; Commonwealth-tied funding of $67m for new and expanded initiatives supported by the federal coalition government; an increased own-source revenue of $135m due to a one-off settlement; high interest on cash balances; a range of increases across agencies; and demand driven revenue increases in utility services.
In relation to the revised timing of the handover of the Darwin Correctional Precinct as foreshadowed in the May 2014 budget, this results in the recognition of the facility now being included in the 2014-15 financial year.
The lower operational and capital spending of around $230m largely compromises the following: continued focus on fiscal restraint with an emphasis on efficiency and service delivery improvements; enhanced budget monitoring and reducing debt rather than increasing expenditure; revised timing of Commonwealth funding expenditure with the effects of any timing differences to be included in the 2014-15 mid-year report; and lower capital spending across the government achieved through the reprioritisation and realignment of expenditure, as private sector investment increases, by the Power and Water Corporation, in line with the demand management initiatives.
In regard to the general government sector, the operational balance is in a surplus position of $119m, which is a $349m improvement when compared to the original 2013-14 budget. This surplus position means this element of the government’s fiscal strategy has been achieved a full three years ahead of the 2016-17 target budget.
We are not just driving down debt, driving down crime and driving up the economy and jobs, we are reaching fiscal targets years ahead.
I now turn to the Territory’s balance sheet. Some would recall that we came to government with a looming $5.5bn Labor debt legacy hanging over our heads like an ugly cloud. The improved operating outcomes have flowed through the net debt position.
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: They do not like the good news, Madam Speaker.
For the non-financial public sector, net debt is $3.1bn for 2013-14, $1.3bn lower than the original 2013-14 budget projection. The improvement is predominantly due to the better than expected fiscal balance outcome, combined with increased returns on government investments, reflective of current market conditions.
Net debt to revenue has declined to 53%, a 27 percentage point improvement from the 80% projected at the time of the 2013-14 budget. It is also a 5% improvement on the 2012-13 outcome and the May 2014 budget estimate, but importantly, it is much better than the 98% net debt to revenue element we had when we came in to government, thanks to Labor. The Leader of the Opposition, the former Treasurer, and the worst Treasurer the Territory has ever seen, left us with 98%. We are now down to 53% net debt to revenue and anyone who reads the books will know what sort of a success this is. They will look at the Leader of the Opposition and say, ‘Shame on you’, but good on us because we are fixing the books again. What else do we need to fix from your mess, Leader of the Opposition?
Let me tell you, member for Casuarina, a week is a long time in politics.
To put this into perspective, at the time of the pre-election fiscal outlook, Labor’s net debt to revenue for 2013-14, after adjusting for the timing of the Darwin Correctional Precinct, was projected to be 77%. As such, the 2013-14 figure of 53% represents a 24 percentage point improvement on Labor’s estimate. In addition, in terms of the quantum of net debt in excess …
Ms Lawrie interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr GILES: They do not like the good news. This is good news for Territorians. We can invest in capital, not interest rate payments.
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: Let me finish the line I was reading just before I was interrupted quite rudely by an upset Labor opposition, which could not add up before lunch or when they were in government.
Additionally, in terms of the quantum of debt, in excess of $1bn has already been wiped off Labor’s projected net debt since the CLP assumed office in August 2012. They were saying we would roll out the debt level of $5.5bn. We have already wiped off in excess of $1bn – congratulations! What is that on my shoulder? Is that the Leader of the Opposition patting us on the back? I am not sure.
The achievement of a general government operating balance surplus a full three years ahead of target and a significantly reduced fiscal balance deficit and net debt position is evidence this government is fiscally responsible. It also demonstrates that returning the budget to a balance position is possible, while at the same time being cognisant of the needs of the community and the Territory economy.
I again thank the members for Araluen and Fong Lim, both former Treasurers, for their hard work and fiscal restraint in the Treasury position.
Ms Walker: What about the member for Port Darwin? He was Treasurer for six days.
Mr GILES: I beg your pardon, screamer?
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, withdraw, please.
Mr GILES: I withdraw. What was the interjection?
Ms Walker: I said, ‘What about the member for Port Darwin? He was Treasurer for six days.’
Mr GILES: I also thank colleagues on this side of the Chamber in Cabinet, and in the parliamentary wing, who have worked very hard in trying conditions, making tough decisions for the future of the Northern Territory to take us to the position we are now in: a full three years ahead of target with our general government operating balance surplus. We are on a steady curve to reach a position where Labor debt levels continue to improve every year we are in government.
I table the 2013-14 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report. I commend it to the House and tell Territorians that it makes fantastic reading. This is the report card of a sound government delivering outcomes for the Northern Territory and fixing Labor debt.
MOTION
Note Paper – Treasurer’s Annual
Financial Report
Mr GILES (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the paper.
Debate adjourned.
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Members’ Survey 2014
Members’ Survey 2014
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, pursuant to reporting requirements of the annual report and Budget Paper No.3, the Department of the Legislative Assembly conducts a survey to measure levels of satisfaction, which are publicly reported each year.
During the lunch suspension, Chamber attendants placed the 2014 members’ survey on your desks; when you have completed the survey, please press your attendant button for the survey to be collected.
MOTION
Note Statement –
October Business Month 20th Anniversary
Continued from earlier this day.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, this is an extraordinarily shameful government, in that the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report, which covers the audited accounts of the last financial year, has always sat on the books so it can be fully scrutinised and debated in the month between sittings, just like the Auditor-General’s report. Not with this government, because it wants to rush in and rush out of it quickly. Why? Because in this report we will see that you have ripped hundreds of millions of dollars out of government services, which is why you achieve an improvement in the bottom line. In this report we will see that you have ripped hundreds of millions of dollars out of the pockets of taxpayers. Territory families and businesses are bearing the brunt of this government …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This is anticipation of debate. This will be debated on Thursday. I am surprised she thinks she can debate a document she has not read.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, I believe you are responding to the ministerial statement on October Business Month.
Ms LAWRIE: Yes.
Madam SPEAKER: If you could keep your comments addressed to October Business Month.
Ms LAWRIE: Absolutely pertinent to every business in the Territory is what the government is doing to tax them out of their business. Little wonder 340 businesses have …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, please pause. Leader of Government Business, anticipation of debate is only when something is on the Notice Paper. This is not on the Notice Paper, so it is not a point of order. Opposition Leader, you have the call.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Little wonder the member for Port Darwin is trying to shut this down; every business in the Northern Territory is over the government putting its hands into their pockets and business books, ripping money out of them and sending them to the wall. The TAFR has that in it. It is extraordinary that you want to slip in and slip out quickly. If it is such a good news story, would you not want to spend a month talking about it, engaging with business and telling a good news story? No, because it is a shocker.
The audited accounts show how you ripped funding out of education and health, and have reneged on every promise you gave our police. This is a litany of woe for Territorians who expect from a government, as a priority, the provision of core services such as health, education and police. This statement of audited accounts will show where the money has been ripped out of our public sector.
Yes, by all means, we will have the debate on Thursday, but shame on you government! Shame on you for wanting to rush in and rush out in your slippery, tricky manner, which Territorians are heartily fed up with. You cannot be a good government; you do not follow the structures of a good government. You do not allow for the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report to sit for a month to be debated in the November sittings, as it always has. Why? Because this is a litany of woe for Territorians. This is a reduction in their services; a direct hit to the pocket of every Territorian.
There is $344m in increased revenue to the government – $344m ripped out of the pockets of Territory businesses and families. So you can do what? Cut education, health and police. Who benefits? The Department of the Chief Minister benefited. He put an extra $33m in that department so the glossy spin machine can ramp up several notches. That is no benefit to Territorians; it is all about supporting the spin of this government.
That is disgraceful behaviour! Little wonder businesses are turning off the CLP in droves. They are literally saying to Labor, ‘Can you not get these guys out sooner, because if I have to wait another two years my business will go to the wall?’ These are businesses across the tourism and construction sectors.
The CLP members beat their chests about how good they are at resources. What happened to the two projects you had your hands all over, CLP? Sherwin Iron closed and Western Desert Resources closed. The operating mines in the Territory were mines which were operating under Labor. The mines you had your hands all over have closed, owing local businesses millions of dollars. Try having an outstanding debt and waiting for Sherwin Iron to cough up tens of millions of dollars in outstanding debt when there is a conga line about outstanding debt. That is the litany of disaster this chaotic and dysfunctional CLP government has presided over for two years.
The construction sector – you can see it in the Deloitte report – will literally see investment halved from $8bn to $4bn over the next five years. Why? Because the major Ichthys project is going to tail down in its construction phase. Nowhere in the Chief Minister’s statement does he say, ‘This is the next major oil and gas project we are going after’.
The Chief Minister has completely failed in his responsibility to articulate where the investors and major projects are into the future, with the exception of his gas pipeline connection from Central Australia to the eastern seaboard, which will not, by the way, be delivered by the government; a private sector feasibility study is under way. What commitment has the Chief Minister leveraged for Commonwealth funding into a nation building infrastructure project? Zero.
He goes to Canberra, talks at COAG about the importance of an eastern seaboard connection to the gas pipeline and comes back empty-handed time and time again. He talks about a second port but there is nothing, not a cent in investment. There is no commitment from the Commonwealth for investment in a major infrastructure project of a second port. Where did they choose? Glyde Point, where we have serious environmental issues. The seagrass is home to the dugongs and turtles; it is a vibrant biodiverse aquatic environment, and you choose Glyde Point when Gunn Point stacks up.
Gunn Point would cost less to deliver but in your madness, in your headlong rush to do something different to Labor, you tear up a decade’s worth of studies and analysis to chase something that does not stack up; that is Glyde Point.
There is little wonder the Chief Minister’s business statement is a rearview look at what Shane Stone achieved, not Denis Burke; you have to question that. He lists former Chief Ministers, Marshall Perron and Barry Coulter – the luminaries all got a guernsey because this Chief Minister has not delivered anything to business. It has had to suffer is a major downturn in the small business sector across construction and tourism. It has been a disastrous two years for business, and what is really sticking in the craw is that when they try to get access through their industry bodies to meet with the relevant minister, to meet with the Chief Minister, they do not get it.
Quarterly meetings are not occurring with industry organisations because, as the member for Fong Lim advised us all last week, it is a cash for access system. If you have donated you get to have a meeting. That is how they operate in the CLP government and now we see them chasing privatisation – sell off the public assets as quick as they can because they want the funds to pork barrel their way to the next election, breaking a fundamental trust with the public. Why do I raise this in a business statement? Have you bothered to have a mature conversation – as the Chief Minister puts it – with the 100 businesses which do business at Darwin Port about what commercial rates would mean to them and their business, or the livestock trade you beat your chest about? Do you know the impact of higher fees on the livestock trade? You have already rolled over as the federal government increased fees on that industry, but a commercial rate across the port will cripple them.
What about vehicle traders? Have you found out what they have to say about increased commercial rates across the port? The small businesses operating in household goods, have you bothered to engage any of them? I suspect not because if you did – as ENI in its submission to developing the north said, do not privatise the port.
Business cannot handle the commercial rates that would occur as a result of privatisation. It is a disaster of this Chief Minister’s making because he gets a thought bubble and does not want to hear from anyone in industry that perhaps his thought bubble is the wrong direction to take the Territory.
He does not want to hear there have been long-standing businesses literally developing the north that he is ignoring. He does not want to acknowledge that 2% was shaved off GSP as a result of the curtailment of the refinery in Nhulunbuy. He does not want to acknowledge his failure to deliver a structural adjustment package for Nhulunbuy and northeast Arnhem Land. In any other major industrial downturn in a regional city in Australia there has been a structural adjustment package between the company, in this case Rio Tinto, the Commonwealth government, and the state government, in this case the Northern Territory government, but no, not under this Chief Minister’s watch. He has hung the business people of Nhulunbuy and northeast Arnhem Land out to dry. Their life investment in their business in that region has been trashed by this Chief Minister.
It has been nearly 12 months since the curtailment was announced, and the CLP all along have said they have a plan. Clearly they do not. The Chief Minister said the CLP would stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Nhulunbuy, but in reality he has abandoned them.
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I request an extension of time for the Leader of the Opposition.
Motion agreed to.
Ms LAWRIE: The Chief Minister slips into Nhulunbuy on charters, not the commercial service, and only attends carefully stage-managed events where the invitation list is carefully vetted and where opportunities for Q&A are slim. As Business minister, the Chief Minister could not even get to the Nhulunbuy October Business Month event. Instead he sent his parliamentary secretary, the member for Blain, who missed his Airnorth flight, hired a charter and arrived just before the end of the event. That is the chaos and dysfunction of this government.
Unless you are in the removalist business, businesses are really hurting in Nhulunbuy. Two months ago the local IGA supermarket and Mitre 10 stores closed their doors. The future looks very uncertain for other businesses, including the local newsagent, the butchers, Gove Tackle and Outdoors, and the Amcal Pharmacy. These and others are all businesses which invested with confidence in February 2013 when former Chief Minister, Terry Mills, had delivered gas to Gove.
The Chief Minister reneged on that deal just five months later. Furthermore, he did not even let Pacific Aluminium know he was making that announcement on a public holiday. He simply cannot be trusted. The Chief Minister is sending a message that you cannot do business in the NT. This glossy brochure is the East Arnhem Investment Guide. A development strategy report which was due in April and finally in August was dropped with a media release about tourism funding. This is all the Chief Minister has delivered: glossy brochures.
There was no Developing the North forum in Nhulunbuy; they were literally left off the government’s map. This is a disgrace. Not a single buffalo left from the port of Gove, but it warrants two short paragraphs in the strategy report. There is no sign of the $13m emergency department update to Gove hospital, which not only would have delivered long overdue modern treatment facilities – because the current facilities go back to the 1960s – but it would create significant construction stimulus.
The Health minister says it is not warranted with a reduced population. What about the 16 000 Aboriginal residents of northeast Arnhem Land, Health minister? In the same way the CLP let Rio Tinto walk away from its responsibility to operate the refinery, it also let Qantas walk away, but thank you to Airnorth for stepping up to the plate with regional air links to Nhulunbuy.
The only new jobs created have been in a prison camp, not consulted on, and in a location that residents are not okay with. This was done at the price of closing, without consultation, an important residential alcohol and other drug treatment facility which was opened in 2007.
There is no sign of the East Arnhem Development Corporation, which was supposed to be established and operating by June, four months ago. This is the entity which is supposed to facilitate future private sector investment and regional economic development.
There is no sign of any structural adjustment package to support the region’s economy to transition; there is no sign of any support from the CLP’s mates in Canberra, in spite of all the spin. They have delivered nothing other than directions to the Centrelink office and Senator Scullion’s suggestion that Nhulunbuy be targeted as a place for retirees, a notion literally scoffed at by local businessmen.
Now, in a cynical move, and a clear sign of a struggling local economy, the Commonwealth will put the licence to run Australia Post out to tender at the start of next year.
The CLP has done nothing to stop the population drain from Nhulunbuy. No consultancy can reinvigorate a depleting population and restore a customer base for local businesses. There are empty houses all throughout Nhulunbuy, easily identified with brown lawns and dying gardens. Yet all of Rio’s 250 houses being made available to the not yet ready development corporation are only for business entities. Why will the CLP not work on ensuring Territorians can rent these houses to help people who want to stay and work there? These include junior public servants and other people employed in local businesses who do not have an entitlement to housing. What certainty is there for our hard-working public servants who were put on notice on 29 November that their jobs were only safe until March 2014, and then extended to July? What is happening? How many public service jobs have gone so far, and how many more will be gone by the end of the year? We know the town will empty and the population of 4000 will be at least halved.
What impact will this have on services? What impact will it have on businesses struggling to stay afloat now? How many Northern Territory government traineeships and apprenticeships are being offered next year in Nhulunbuy? These are more important than ever now the major employer has suspended its intake.
Why has a federally-funded boarding facility for the Laynhapuy Homelands been dropped under this government’s watch, and a facility for Nhulunbuy planned in its place, without consultation with the communities affected? Is this economic driver also in the best interests of improving education outcomes for our Indigenous children? Families have made it very clear they do not want their children in compulsory boarding facilities in Nhulunbuy and will fiercely defend their right to have a choice about wanting to raise their children on country.
This Chief Minister and CLP government have done next to nothing to support business in Nhulunbuy. For them, Nhulunbuy has been out of sight and out of mind. Nhulunbuy, more than anywhere, screams about the complete and abject failure of the CLP to be a good government for Territorians. There can be little doubt about when you go to the Chief Minister’s rearview statement, which does not identify a framework and blueprint for the future of businesses across the Territory, but is fixed firmly in the rearview mirror.
The Chief Minister performs a major call out to Shane Stone, who in chapter 12 of his online book The Stone Family in Australia, had some pretty scathing things to say about the Giles government and the appointment of its advisers. I refer to chapter 12, where Shane Stone, as former Chief Minister, is scathing about the capacity of senior government adviser Stephen Dunham. He said:
- It beggars belief that Poole was pushed out of Cabinet to make way for Dunham.
- I was genuinely surprised by …
- … Baldwin’s appointment as a CLP ministerial advisor on the fifth floor, given he couldn’t step up as a minister.
The two major advisers they hang their hat on are slammed by Shane Stone, who was lauded in the Chief Minister’s business statement.
It is a rudderless ship. They have been more intent on taking care of themselves than understanding what it will take to facilitate significant business investment in the Territory. One of the things I find quite concerning is the manner in which they dismissively treat major investors who come to the Territory, as well as local developers who have brought those major investors here.
I constantly hear of local developers being incredibly embarrassed by the dismissive manner in which they are treated, as their investors sit alongside them in meetings with senior members of this government. You bring a great deal of disrepute to our business sector in the way you treat them. The fact you ignore the need to articulate very clear opportunities in going forward is a significant failure in your duties.
There is no doubt the foundations are strong in the Northern Territory. You can see that in the Deloitte Access Economics data, built off the back of the major Ichthys project. There is no doubt the decision the Labor government made to build the Marine Supply Base was a very sound and wise decision, and will ensure service and supply industry opportunities and business growth in the Territory. There is no doubt our partnerships with Charles Darwin University in the opportunities around international education bode well for future business investment. You can literally see the opportunities in international education. This government has dropped the ball and ripped funding out of Charles Darwin University, and sits back and rolls over while the Commonwealth government seeks to rip $50m out of Charles Darwin University as well.
The so-called three-hub economy has not eventuated. This government has tied up water licences in the hands of a few at the cost of an agricultural sector that needs access to that water. Your Ord Stage 3 has come to nought because you were foolish enough to tie up the water around Katherine and the Daly, which was the opportunity for our primary industry sector.
It has been two years of chaos and dysfunction while watching the CLP government take care of itself, rather than understanding the needs of the business sector of the Northern Territory. It has been a disgrace.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, the truth sits on the Leader of the Opposition’s tongue like the bitterest potion of all. Her incapacity to even acknowledge in the remotest possible way the advancing wealth of the Northern Territory demonstrates that she is retreating into an even more obscure hidey-hole of denial than she has ever lived. As she skulks out of the Chamber …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of Government Business, withdraw.
Mr ELFERINK: I withdraw it, Madam Speaker. Can I ask for guidance on a ruling?
Madam SPEAKER: In regard to what?
Mr ELFERINK: Prior to lunchtime, commenting on a member’s presence or otherwise in the Chamber was considered to be parliamentary in this House.
Madam SPEAKER: Well I was not in the Chair. I have asked you to withdraw what you just said, and you have withdrawn it. Continue.
Mr ELFERINK: I have withdrawn. I will leave it at that.
The squeals from the member opposite as she struggled to count to 10 prior to the lunchtime break demonstrated the void between her capacity as Treasurer and her capacity in numeracy. It was clear for all to see.
Of course, she comes from a class of Labor politicians who think the budget is just another issue that government has to deal with, and because so few people are interested in things like fiscal integrity, then it is a licence to be reckless with other people’s money. I am distraught to hear the alternative Chief Minister of the Northern Territory has, in the space of a few minutes, probably spent about $2bn of taxpayers’ money without indicating where one brass razoo of it was to be collected.
She pleads and bleats on behalf of the people of Nhulunbuy. Whilst I do not in any way seek to diminish what has occurred in Nhulunbuy, her answer is clearly that government should spend the money to rescue every job in Nhulunbuy. To what end? What mechanism does she describe? How many jobs does she intend to create? Does she intend to purchase all of those houses she described as lying abandoned so she might fill them up with other people who have jobs funded by the taxpayer? What credit card does all this go on?
She bleats incessantly about all of these things the government is not doing in the areas of spending, whilst we have struggled to deal with a $5.5bn projected debt, a legacy of her former government. Our debt to income ratio was perilously close to 100% and racing up the chart. Page 17 of the TAFR says we now have a debt to income ratio outcome for the year 2013-14 of 53%. Only a little over 12 months ago the projected budget debt to income ratio was 80%.
Through the good fiscal management of this government, we have been able to claw back the calamitous state of affairs which was left to us and the people of the Northern Territory as a legacy. Did we have to make difficult decisions? Yes, we did. These were decisions that, for too long, Labor governments one after another determined not necessary to make. It did not matter how much debt you racked up. That debt will still cost Territorians hundreds of millions of dollars every year in debt repayment.
To hear the Leader of the Opposition say there is some sort of skulduggery afoot because we wish to debate the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report this sittings is a clear demonstration of her lack of experience in this House. Under the former government, the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report would sit on the Notice Paper for months and they paid no attention to it because they had scant regard for the importance of the document and what it meant to the future of Territorians.
Of course, like all spending addicts armed with a credit card, from their perspective the only thing worth doing is to spend it all, spend it now, and to hell with the consequences. One of the problems with the public credit card is that the politicians who spend that money on the public credit card are rarely, if ever, the politicians who have to find a way to pay that money back. That is part of the profound selfishness of the people opposite. Whilst they say they care about the downtrodden, their fiscal irresponsibility indicates they are more concerned with getting a good result in the short term, to assuage their guilt-affected conscience, rather than understanding that the consequences of their action will cause more pain than they could possibly alleviate by purchasing their way out of it in the short term.
I am mystified that a former government would run the argument they were good for business after hearing the comments about the cattle industry and what was done to it by the Joe Ludwig cattle ban just a few years ago in this jurisdiction. They bleat that they are somehow the better government for the Northern Territory, when their failure to defend it at a time when it needed it most demonstrates their adherence to the Labor philosophy, and the Labor Party machine means that the Labor Party comes before the good burghers of the Northern Territory.
Their claim that they represent the interests of business evaporates as quickly as a snowflake in a blast furnace when the federal government tells them to jump. It is not a question of how high, but can I paint the ceiling while I am up there?
The Northern Territory government continues to make firm decisions with political courage because we know it is proper and right to do so for the good administration of the Northern Territory. We will always do that as the Northern Territory government, in the face of the criticism of the members opposite, because their recklessness is something so many people recognise in the community and continue to talk to me about.
I listened with interest to the legion of businesses beating their way to the Labor Party door, screaming that the CLP government should be removed. I find it hard to imagine she is telling a wholesome truth when she makes those utterances, because I talk to business every day and they congratulate the Northern Territory government on things like the proposed termination of the residential tenancies legislation, the quick decision to get rid of the vendor disclosure legislation which would bog down the process of title transfer in the Northern Territory.
There are a number of things this government has done to improve the business environment. Above all, we have seriously and substantially diminished the number of crimes being committed against businesses and their property. You only have to glance quickly at the property crime results in this jurisdiction over the last two years to know that not only has the 10% per year target been reached, or will be projected to be reached in the forward years, it is being reached now, today. We are way ahead of schedule, and if anything will support business confidence, it will be making sure their property is safe from some of the ratbags and thieves who would seek to steal and damage the property owned by businesses and, for that matter, other Territorians.
We know that the members opposite have scant regard for other people’s property because they are of the political philosophy where they consider personal property, and particularly its accumulation, as some sort of heinous, moral offence. Therefore, whilst they mouth platitudes towards the business community, in truth they would quite happily see people divested of their property in the name of social justice. How that is just I will never understand, but that is something the members opposite and people of their political stripe seem to think is quite acceptable.
People who generate wealth in the community also pay taxes to our community, and they do so, and have done so, under the former Labor government, as they continue to do under the current Northern Territory government. The former Labor government thought it could use that tax burden which many Territory businesses carry to obfuscate, and abandon responsibility for good fiscal management.
The tax environment of the former Labor government was awash with GST cash way beyond its wildest projections, and, in spite of that, over a period of 10 years it still managed to drive up the debt of this Territory. The government’s income went up and its debt went up all at the same time over that 10 year period. Still, the Leader of the Opposition, the former Treasurer of the Northern Territory, continues to lecture the Northern Territory government today about sound pro-fiscal management when her own fiscal management was disastrous.
Quite frankly, I cannot imagine how she can stand in this place and level a single criticism, considering the appalling record of the former Labor government, particularly under her watch as a Treasurer of the Northern Territory.
October Business Month has been, and continues to be, a firm recognition of this government’s support for the business community, particularly the SMEs in our community. I cannot remember the exact numbers, but it goes something like this; if you were to obliterate the stock market and all government spending from the Australian economy, the SME sector, the small to medium enterprise sector, would still account for some 37% of this nation’s GDP. If you were to remove all stock market listed company employees and government employees, 67% of this country would still have jobs because of the operation of SMEs.
There is a fire that drives businesses that is different to a fire that drives government. The ship of state is all well and good, and there are those of us who, albeit fleetingly, can stand on the bridge and in the wheelhouse of the ship of state. In truth, it is driven by the economy. The engines that drive our economy, and those people who live in the engine rooms, are the SMEs in our community. The heat and the fire that drives those SMEs can be found in the hearts of the people who own them. People who own small and medium-size businesses are the true hard workers of our community. I could not begin to imagine how a union would reconcile the work ethic of the person who owns their business because unions, with their anti-business focus and victim structure around the concept of an employee, could never imagine a person driving themselves as hard as somebody who owns a small business.
I do not see somebody who owns a business as somebody to be resented; I see them as somebody to be applauded. I do not see somebody who owns a business as somebody to be targeted, as the union movement would so happily do in this country, and continue to do; I see them as somebody who should be lauded for their capacity to generate the wealth that sustains not only them but their families and the families of those small groups of people who work for them. That is what October Business Month is about, and that is why we, as a government, started October Business Month many moons ago. Fortunately, the former Labor government tipped its hat to the month and continued to fund it, but we continue, in government, to see it grow from strength to strength.
The October Business Month event I went to was held at the convention centre, with Michelle Bridges, who is quite a well-known personality on commercial television. I think she has a role in The Biggest Loser, but I cannot say as I do not watch a great deal of commercial television. She is clearly a motivated human being. During the function I was fortunate enough to see her. Where she has ripples, I have jiggles, but that is what a motivated person looks like, and it demonstrates my mediocrity as somebody who should look after themselves. However, on top of that she runs a fine business, and has built an empire for herself and many other people in the process.
When I listened to her I was expecting to hear the usual motivational speaking voices, but her message was one of sobriety and consideration. It was about planning, forethought, consistency and more consistency. It was about demonstrating to people that if you work and try hard you will be rewarded. It was a pleasure to hear what she had to say, because what she had to say was poignant. I am glad to say it was listened to by an auditorium full to the gunnels of Territorians, both businessmen and otherwise. This demonstrates to me that people of commitment and drive who have passion for what they do go on to do great things in their community.
I contrast that to what I just listened to in this House, which was not commitment and drive. I listened to blame, anger, resentment and all of those things so commonly expressed by people whose whole political philosophy is guided by a single concept: envy. They will use any voice and any means, whether the truth or otherwise, to pursue that emotional response they have to envy, without examining it one jot, without ever holding it up to the light and asking themselves, ‘Why do I believe this to be the right thing?’ Invariably, if you start to ask those sorts of questions you do not like the conclusions you are inevitably drawn to. The conclusions you are drawn to mean you have to have some critical thoughts about the people you share your community with. Anybody who has is a villain and anybody who has not is a victim, through the lens of members opposite.
That is not a way to build a society. It is a way to condemn those who have to the burden of taxation indefinitely and to condemn those who have not to the belief it is somebody else’s responsibility to carry them forward.
I believe, as do members on this side of the House, the best possible outcome for people is an outcome where they drive themselves forward. Those people who are given the opportunity to do so step up in ways that surprise even those individuals themselves. It is the philosophy behind the Sentenced to a Job program, where we see increasing numbers of people going into the workplace and continuing to build a life for themselves even beyond the point where they leave custody.
In the footnotes of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement – a document the Leader of the Opposition will struggle to read in two days; I have managed to get to the point where I have at least checked my own departments – one of the things I take great heart in is that the expenditure projections in the department of Corrections have gone down in a number of areas, by virtue of the fact the prison population has not grown in line with expectations. That is because we do not treat our prison population as victims; we treat them as people who need to be responsible for their conduct. When made responsible for their conduct and given an opportunity to take that responsibility on, we discover a group of people who step up. That is what we should be doing in our community, encouraging people to step up.
Madam Speaker, that is what government does with October Business Month. I am more than happy, and proud, to endorse the Northern Territory governments and Chief Minister Giles’ position on October Business Month.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I will take up a few things the member for Port Darwin said. I used to be in small business. Not only did I work for small business for 16 years, but I had my own small business. Sometimes when people talk about the utopia of working hard and how wonderful small business is, they forget this world is not as simple as that.
You try to sell products to people like Coles and Woolworths. I sold eggs. A friend of mine, who had a much bigger farm than I did on Pioneer Drive, Humpty Doo, went out of business because the cost of production was high and because they had about one-tenth of the shelf space in Coles. Coles brought in Coles Brand, their own brand, and it was very hard for people to see my friend’s product. So not only was the cost of production high, but being able to sell that product was very difficult because it was a small business.
I agree when you say you hope people who work hard in the Northern Territory succeed. The reality is, in some cases there is big business which has clout and the ability to either make you a successful business or put you out of business. In balancing that, I was very happy this year to see businesses like Woolworths at Coolalinga – and I think they did it at Katherine – promoting much of the local produce, which in many cases is from small business.
Unfortunately, we have some disastrous news from the horticultural sector with banana freckle and cucumber mosaic virus, which might cause a loss of local production of fruit and vegetables in our supermarkets for at least a period of time.
Whilst it is good that the member for Port Darwin supports small business, you also have to keep your feet on the ground. The reality is it is a dog-eat-dog world, and sometimes small business gets wiped. When you get big projects coming to Darwin, such as the INPEX project, many small local companies that have been in the Territory for a long time get savaged because people come here and cut the guts out of the contracts, simply so they can get a foot in the door. In that process, many small businesses go out of business or have to reduce their labour force and have trouble.
The other thing that is forgotten is that small business wants to know its government is honest. It wants to know that if money is given to the party that represents the government, they will not have decisions made against them because they did not donate to that party. That is what concerns me. I heard the member for Fong Lim on the radio say the first in the door is the one who pays some money. I do not think that should be the approach at all. I know other members of the government have not said that, but for someone who has for a long time been a very powerful and forthcoming member in the CLP government to say on radio the people he sees first are generally those who have paid some money sends the wrong message, especially for small business. Does a bigger business with a few dollars get priority over a smaller business? That concerns me. There needs to be a lot more transparency in what happens in government.
Planning is a classic example. I criticised the minister for a particular development and I know he was not happy with me, but I felt there was a conflict of interest. I will not talk about that case now, but if a government minister makes a decision, knowing full well that a person is a donor to the party, should there not be a requirement for the minister to say, ‘I have a conflict of interest?’ Regardless of whether there is a conflict of interest, would it not be normal for the minister to say, ‘I have a conflict of interest’?
If I went to a meeting of the sports club and represented a shoe company, and offered the club $10 000 and the next minute the president says, ‘We should all buy our shoes from this company’, would you not say, ‘Hang on, I might have a conflict of interest here; they are giving us money. We need to make a decision based on not what is given but what is the best for the club.’ That should be the way government operates; it makes decisions on what is best for the people.
The member for Port Darwin mentioned how important small business is and derided Labor for saying it is about social justice. There is nothing wrong with social justice. The member for Port Darwin says he is a Catholic. The Bible, especially the New Testament, is all about social justice. Businesses can affect social justice. An example at the moment is the development in The Gardens. There is an application to build a nine-storey block of flats when all the flats in the area are two-storey.
The government has the right to make a decision about that. If you took the member for Port Darwin’s point of view, social justice is not something we should be too concerned about, but there is a real social justice issue because many people live there. If you develop something out of sync with what is there at present which could affect people who live there, it should be taken into consideration. We should not just consider the developer who wants to make a lot of money. There needs to be some consideration of other people when we are making these decisions.
Mr Elferink: It is still on foot. I do not think the DCA has made a decision yet, has it?
Mr WOOD: I am not commenting on that. You said social justice is not something we should be concerned about.
Mr Elferink: That is verballing me, but I do not think taxing people three times is just either. Do not quote the Bible at me, mate. I will defer to this bloke.
Mr WOOD: Are we having an ecumenical debate?
Mr Elferink: You started it.
Mr WOOD: The member for Port Darwin mentioned social justice. I was using the example that, yes, we need business, we need people to grow the economy, but we should be careful that it does not impinge on other people’s rights in the process. That is what I am talking about.
Mr Elferink: That is what I was talking about.
Mr WOOD: I did not get that impression.
The other thing I am concerned about is when the Stella Maris inquiry concluded a heap of recommendations were made. Once again there was an important recommendation about an integrity commissioner. On the night of that debate I said it was a great recommendation. What is one of the two recommendations the government did not agree with? The integrity commissioner. That is the classic example of where you might need one to check if the government’s decisions are proper. That was dropped.
The whole basis of Stella Maris was about whether the minister, or ministers, had done the right thing. Part of the recommendations to try to make sure that does not happen again was to bring in an integrity commissioner. That was scrapped. That really is an important part of how the Territory should go forward so government decisions, especially in relation to business, planning, policy, or whatever, can be at least scrutinised by an independent person.
There are many things said in this document, and by all means the government has every right to promote business; that is exactly what its job is. But on the other hand it needs to also say what is happening on the ground. I heard the Opposition Leader say that Sherwin Iron has gone bung, Western Desert Resources is in involuntary administration, the ilmenite mine is struggling and Frances Creek is about to close down. They might say that is not their fault, it is the world prices, and that is fair enough, but in the process, business is struggling. I will give you an example of this is because I had a little to do with these people indirectly.
- A multimillion dollar two day auction will see equipment from three defunct contractors go under the hammer in Darwin and Mataranka this week.
The $5.6m clearance will reportedly be one of the largest dollar value auctions to have ever been held in the Territory.
Mason Gray Strange auctioneers will sell road trains, earthmoving and transport equipment, grader extractors and more, under instructions from the receivers and managers of Balmoral Mining and Construction, Balmoral Transport and Heading Contractors.
All three South Australian companies were forced into liquidation following the collapse of the Sherwin Iron Ore mine site at Roper River in July.
The minister spoke about the Defence hub. It has taken an awful long time for that Defence hub to get off the ground and my understanding – I will stand corrected – is there is only one building that is truly a Defence hub building. There is a new building on Thorngate Road which is a multipurpose building; if it is not doing Defence it is doing other work. My understanding is that 2nd Cavalry is leaving town and going to Townsville. It concerns me that there is no mention of that. You would have seen a picture in the paper the other day of Courage the eagle. I am interested to know whether that is the case and what effect that will have on our local economy, not just from industry’s point of view but from a housing perspective. How many people will be moving from Robertson Barracks to Townsville? That is a fairly important issue.
The statement also mentions planning, and I could not miss an opportunity to say planning, to some extent, has gone out the door. We have planning not by design but by some people’s point of view. The way Darwin is being developed, I get the impression that it is higgledy piggledy – knock on the door, got a good idea, here we go. It is not the way we should be going. We have plans, and if we need to change those plans, make sure they are designed in such a way that lifestyles are not changed, as will happen, especially with the rural area of Darwin.
When someone talks about planning the future of Glyde Point port or about the Defence hub, they do not put Weddell in the same sentence. We are happy to plan for Murrumujuk and Glyde Point, but not for Weddell. Why not? It will not be cheap to build Glyde Point, and it will not be cheap to build Murrumujuk, but we have Weddell, which has facilities around it, and we are replacing it with a pseudo-city. Some people believe they can put that to the government; they own large amounts of land and the government will make a decision about that being the way we should go. That does not seem to be planning for the people; it seems to be planning for a group of people who have a vested interest in those changes. That is inappropriate.
The document is a government document. Naturally it has gone back in history and quoted various people about their vision for the future, and there is nothing wrong with that. I supported much of this, but if you do not belong to the group nobody wants to know you once supported most of this.
We all support mining and the railway, and we all support small business. I supported the Darwin regional structure plan that was published, and it is annoying when people think you are negative. All these things were good, but if we do not keep our feet on the ground and admit there are times when things are not so good – as the Deloitte report said, we are riding – it is not verballing them, it is summarising – on the back of Ichthys. Our growth is based on Ichthys. The Chief Minister said that is what we must to try to do, so when Ichthys goes, instead of going right down, as we used to do with our economy, how can we level that out so we do not all of a sudden have a big drop in our economy? That will have an effect on many small businesses, especially the service industry.
The service industry has been doing well in the Territory. The bakery at Howard Springs is filled with yellow and orange vests every day, looking for the best vanilla slice in the country. It is a great place. The pub, as much as I feel it has lost a bit of its local flavour, is certainly packed with people these days.
There are spin-offs that have been beneficial. There are some downsides too; as I said the pub does not quite feel like the old pub that was there for the locals, but as time moves on …
Mr Chandler: You are not singing there anymore?
Mr WOOD: No, they do not sing there. It has had its benefits, and small business has been benefiting from Ichthys, but what happens when Ichthys goes? Will those little pubs slowly go back to being the good old Howard Springs Tavern, etcetera? But you have to make hay while the sun shines and those businesses are doing well, such as the Howard Springs supermarket.
There have been little spin-offs, like the Howard Springs supermarket and Howard Springs Tavern buying mini-buses. Why? They go to the INPEX village and take people backwards and forwards. Toyota does not mind, as they have bought two of their mini-buses. These are spin-offs that keep going down the line; however, we should be aware that when Ichthys goes, as Deloitte has also highlighted in its report, of what will take its place. That will be the challenge for the government in power after the next election. How do you keep the economy going?
It is so sad we have two parts of our economy struggling at the moment, one being mining and the other horticulture.
As the member for Katherine said the other day, the demise of the watermelon industry, which I think is the second-largest industry in the Northern Territory, will have a downside effect on small business in Katherine – fertiliser, chemical and irrigation people. There will be fewer people employed on the farms, so fewer people buying goods and services in Katherine. Those are the things I hope government looks at.
There will be changes in what is sold in our markets with banana freckle. How many people sell bananas at the local market? That is a small industry, small business. There will be no local bananas sold for at least two years. Some hobby farmers who make some income are small businesses, and they have lost that opportunity for two years. Hopefully they might be able to grow some other crops in the meantime. One area the government should look at is the banana growers who are not in the big league and do not sign up for the national guidelines. The government should help those small businesses because they probably do not have many other options and will lose an income. When we are talking about being open for business and October Business Month, we should give some thought to those small businesses that, unfortunately, will be struggling because of these unfortunate diseases which have affected our horticultural crops.
Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for making this statement. There are some good things in it, but we need to keep our feet on the ground and look at some of the real issues that need to be addressed.
Mr BARRETT (Blain): Madam Speaker, I will talk about what the member for Nelson mentioned in relation to keeping your feet on the ground.
Having worked in business, consulted to business and worked in the stock market looking at the way businesses operate and the struggles they have, I know the important thing you must look at is what is government’s role in business is and what it is not.
Government should not, as much as possible, get in the way of the freedom of a person to make an investment decision. When somebody wants to start a business, they go in with all the good intentions. They believe there is a market, whether they do their research or not, and they enter into carrying out a business. My family has done this about three times.
Sometimes when businesses do not operate well and things are not working, there are a few issues you can address. Is the business not working well because there is something structurally wrong with the way it is being run, even if it is a very good business? Is there a problem with the business in that you are trying to operate in a market where there is not a market? These are two profoundly different problems.
Looking at the role of October Business Month and the Department of Business with businesses in the Northern Territory, it is very much the role of the government in this case to assist businesses which struggle with how to structure their businesses to achieve the best out of them.
It is not the government’s role to correct something if somebody has made a very bad investment decision, whether that is because external factors have changed around that business or just because they did not do their market research in the first place and have entered into a business venture which was never going to work.
Mark Bouris talked about this in the October Business Month. He talked about meeting with a very wealthy person who was financially backing him. The person asked him if he had ever failed at business. Mark Bouris was very nervous about this as he relayed the story. He did not know which way the bloke wanted to go. The individual who was backing him knew that, and said, ‘I want to know the answer to this because I need somebody who knows what it is like to not have things go their way, to fall over. Can you get up and go again? Can you drive something through to completion?’
These are the questions the Department of Business will ask. It is about people sometimes needing to let things go. When there is a situation where external factors have changed so much around a market, or where market research has not been done, it needs to encourage people. ‘What is the next step in your life now and how can we assist you in this transition to what you will do next? That is very important to remember.
Much of the information I have heard from the other side of the Chamber seems to be, ‘I heard that this business was really struggling and the government was not doing anything about it’. Often there is not a lot the government can do about some of the problems because they are investment decision-based problems not, ‘I am struggling in business because of the regulations’, or, ‘I am struggling in business because I cannot get my head around how to structure it’ or, ‘The business is going great and I am a fantastic upholsterer but I am no good at managing people.’ People can work with the things offered in October Business Month and the programs the Business department runs. These are the things we can correct.
The role of the government is to support businesses, refine regulations and be as little an impost to business operating in a regulation space as possible. It should also be able to help them if their business model is not working.
I often hear, ‘We need to socialise a loss’. When I worked in the stock market there were many times where I had people buy stock and before the stock settled it went into administration. This means that before they brought the cheque in and paid for the stock they were in a zero position where they had lost all that money.
Not once did I hear someone say, ‘It is the government’s fault I made this investment decision’. They made their own decision based on their information and made a decision right for them at the time which did not work out.
I support the October Business Month initiative. It addresses these issues beautifully. It goes to communities around the Northern Territory and addresses issues. Where can we improve regulations? Where are we in the way a bit? What things can we do to help around structure? What can we do to support you to do well in business? I did not have too many negative discussions through all the events I attended. I went to events in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Nhulunbuy and Darwin.
I know we are not allowed to say the ‘L’ word in the Chamber, but there seems to be a level of misinformation around a flight I took to Nhulunbuy. There was a mix up in booking a ticket and there was not a ticket for me when I was at the airport to catch my flight. That meant the plane left without me rather than the suggestion I did not care, showed up late and missed the flight. That is a gross misrepresentation of my attitude towards business and towards people doing business in the Northern Territory. I am revolted by anybody who would insinuate that.
As a result of being in Nhulunbuy and meeting fantastic people – I had a great trip – we investigated the proposal presented by the arts centre of reviewing licensing, due to conversations we had with other business owners. I listened to what people had to say about the effects of the curtailment. The Department of Business and this government sent people to Nhulunbuy to assist with that, and people are starting to move past, ‘This has all gone bad’, towards, ‘What can we do next?’ It is an incredibly hard decision to make and hard to talk about with business people, but once people start moving towards what they will do next they will start moving on with their life and the next positive thing to happen to them.
I was excited to see Department of Business staff there. They have been there in a lot of strength. The last data set I looked at on where small business grants were going showed a huge proportion of them are going to the Nhulunbuy area. That is brilliant because people in the area are taking advantage of these programs and looking for ways to be supported.
I disagree with much of the information from the other side of the Chamber about the anger people are feeling. People in Nhulunbuy are starting to move past that anger towards what they will do next. ‘What are the next business opportunities for us?’
During October Business Month I went to see Mark Bouris, who talked about attitude and hard work, and he talked about two coffee shops. He went into one coffee shop; it was early in the morning, 5.30 am. He wandered in because he was passing through a town, the front door was open and someone was in there. He went in and said he would really like a cup of coffee. The person said, ‘Yes, but we do not open for another 10 minutes. You will have to wait.’ He said, ‘Really? Can I just get one now? I am happy to pay extra’, and the guy said, ‘No, we are here but I am not opening the doors for another ten minutes, so bad luck’.
Instead he went across the road and there was another coffee shop, same scenario, the person was inside organising things. He went in and said he was on the run. ‘I cannot be here for long. I know it says on your door that you do not open for another 10 minutes but I would really love a cup of coffee.’ The person said, ‘We do not open for another 10 minutes. It is not something we normally do, we like to keep to our hours, but I will make you a cup of coffee.’ He made him a cup of coffee and that was fantastic. Mark Bouris began to spread this story via the Internet and many people have visited that caf since.
I heard a similar story from someone else; I believe it might have been Donald Trump. It was the same scenario and he went into the next coffee shop and said, ‘Will you make me a cup of coffee?’ The guy said yes, so he made him a deal. He said to the guy, ‘I will pay you $1m for this cup of coffee if you take a selfie with me paying $1m for it and then go across the road and show the person who would not sell me a cup of coffee that you just sold a cup of coffee for $1m’.
That kind of thing smacks to me of attitude, and it is about the way we approach business. It is about the way we approach our service delivery. October Business Month and the initiatives of the Department of Business say to me that we are starting to take on an attitude like this. We do not take on an attitude of, ‘We are not doing this for five more minutes’ or ‘You just do not quite cut the exact criteria of what we would like to do’. It is an attitude of sitting down with people and saying, ‘What can I do for you? What can we do together to improve your business and help you?’ It is about teamwork. It is about business and government working together as a team to get the best outcomes we can, to be as little impost in terms of regulations, and to create an environment where they can be assisted with some areas of their business in which they may be struggling.
I will talk about something in which we are a little behind. I was recently at the Tennant Creek OBM event, which sadly was not attended by the member for Barkly. I am not sure why, but it was a fantastic event and it was tons of fun to be there with the guys and …
Members interjecting.
Mr BARRETT: Sorry, I cannot hear myself think for the interjections. I was in Tennant Creek and had a great night talking about a committee that is working on economic development in the area, and there were some business ideas coming forward. Some people were talking about some small business options that were happening in that area. It was really exciting to be there and hear them talk like that.
If I may, with the member for Araluen, encourage her in that Peter Placina – he is the gadget guy and he talks about technology. He was talking to everybody about how fantastic this wonderful thing called Telehealth is and how these days you can do all these things in relation to Telehealth. There was somebody at the event who worked at the Tennant Creek Hospital and they said, ‘We already do that here’, and he was blown away. He said, ‘Really, you guys do that out here? I did not know. This is my idea of something that can happen in the future.’
It is great to see that in Tennant Creek the people are using cutting edge technology, and they are doing things to develop their own economy. It was exciting to be there and be part of seeing what people want to do when you just blow the doors open for them and say, ‘we are here as the Giles government. We are open for business and we want to help you.’ They really responded to that and they are starting to move forward. It was a great opportunity for me to get around the Northern Territory, meet some business people, help them at times, and see the Department of Business in action through October Business Month.
There were some great major sponsors, but it impressed me that there were small sponsors too. They were sponsors from local areas that would perhaps do a small thing like make a cake for the evening. That was fantastic to see, and it shows the business community, all the way from very large multinational organisations to the lady who runs the cake shop on the corner, all supporting October Business Month. It is an excellent initiative which the government runs; I fully support it and I thank the Chief Minister for bringing this statement to the House.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Health): Madam Speaker, I feel compelled this afternoon to talk about October Business Month. I am a business person. My husband and I opened a business in Alice Springs in 2000 and we have now been operating for over 14 years. It has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life to be fully financially independent from government, essentially. Ten years prior to becoming a member of parliament, money generated from our business was my income. It is a hard slog and there are many highs and lows. As the member for Blain suggested, many businesses go under, so you must be a risk taker. You must be vigilant. You have to network and be very resourceful when it comes to the survival of your business.
Having come from a family of business people, it was in my blood. My parents were small business operators, never dependent on one cent from government. When it comes to October Business Month, if there is one point that has been raised that has certainly gelled with me, it is the question of the role of government in business. Philosophically, the role of government in business is not that great. Apart from supporting business, we do not have a huge role. We work with business, we support business, but we should be standing back and watching people do business more and more throughout the community.
We are very fortunate in the Northern Territory in that business, by and large, prospers. There are some recent stories of failure, and I was very interested to hear the member for Nelson talk about the demise of a few significant mining ventures throughout the Northern Territory. That has not been spoken about widely in this Chamber but, on a personal note, it gives me the opportunity to acknowledge that many of my personal friends, and some of my family, were affected by Western Desert Resources recently entering administration. This has come as a huge blow to people throughout the Northern Territory; many people have been affected and many have lost their jobs, but as the member for Nelson said, to some extent, that is business.
Western Desert Resources, as an example, only came to government to assist them to move on their permits, to make sure they could get on with the job of mining as soon as possible. I hope as a government that is precisely what we did, that we assisted them merely to get on with the business they had chosen to do, that being mining. We assisted them and were no impediment to them. I acknowledge that over 300 people were employed by Western Desert Resources at Roper River, and that is a mine that has virtually closed down over the last couple of months.
Business can be brutal, but highly rewarding. Most people in Australia work within private enterprise; we work in businesses, and that is entirely refreshing. In the Northern Territory 20 000 people are public servants, and we partly work to support and assist business to survive and thrive in the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, that is my small contribution to this statement. I love business. People who venture into it are brave and generally not risk-averse; they would like to have a go. That is essentially what Australia is about: people having a go and being given every opportunity by government and the community to do as best as they can in the private ventures they choose.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MOTION
Note Statement –
Indigenous Economic Development
Note Statement –
Indigenous Economic Development
Continued from 12 February 2014.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MOTION
Note Statement –
Developing Northern Australia
Continued from 18 February 2014.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MOTION
Note Statement –
Northern Territory Disability Services
Continued from 19 February 2014.
Mr CHANDLER (Education): Madam Speaker, I will only speak for a few more minutes because I had a little time the last time we spoke about this. I place on the record how this government has put a real and concerted effort into helping children with special needs, which fits squarely with what we are talking about today.
With the recent announcement to continue to build Henbury School, people will remember we estimated we could put about $10m into Henbury School. It was not anywhere near enough to build a new school. When I first approached Henbury School, I told them straight up we had approved $25m to build a new special needs school in Palmerston, and whilst I thought the need at Henbury was equal, the new facility in Palmerston would not only help the rural area and Palmerston, but also schools such as Nemarluk. Nemarluk is a fantastic school, but the reality is many of the students are transiting in every day from Palmerston, so a new special needs school in Palmerston was top priority.
I also told them that I did not want to promise them a brand-new school until I knew what our budgetary position was. At the end of the budgetary process, we knew we had $10m, so that is what we put into it. That is when I spoke to the Henbury School council and said, ‘Rather than make false promises, I told you I would see what funding I could get and, once we knew what that funding was, we could work on it’.
That is what we did. We secured $10m and the school council went to work on describing and designing how they could use it. I always saw that as the first step in building a school, and if I had to go back to Cabinet at a later stage to seek further funding I would if we could build a school over a couple of stages.
Along comes the Casuarina by-election and a wonderful opportunity for us to see if we could get additional funding. Of course, we will be accused of pork barrelling the electorate. I am not really interested in pork barrelling. It was an opportunity I took, and an opportunity through Dr Harry, our candidate in the by-election, who also spoke to the council about their needs, with his lobbying, then lobbied Cabinet to secure the additional money so we could build the school. At the end of the day we will have a school for children with special needs. We can all agree that is the most important thing. Accuse us of pork barrelling or whatever, but it secured the funding we need to build a new school.
The other thing people should consider is why we chose that location. We had the school on side – I am talking about Henbury School as well as the school site at Dripstone. It was very important to bring everyone along on this journey. One of the reasons Henbury wanted the site across the road is it felt, as we all know, children with special needs enjoy and prosper when they can be part of something consistent. The thought was that if we built a school across the road you could bring the students along with you. They could see the construction; they could see the building come out of the ground and know that is where they would be once the building had been constructed. It also allows us to bring much needed and more modern resources to cater for children with special needs. For the teachers, the assistants and staff who work in Henbury School this will be a marvellous facility.
The other thing that should be noted is something the member for Araluen, the Minister for Health, and I have spoken about time and time again which is often the elephant in the room. What will children with special needs do once they leave high school?
We had many cases where parents put in a special request to the Department of Education to approve Year 13 and, in some cases, even going into Year 14 or part-way into Year 14. We also know there are fabulous projects like Project 21, and the Minister for Health and I are proud to continue supporting the great work it does. What happens to these kids? Is it an educational issue? Is it a health issue? Is it a social services issue to help provide an effective pathway for these students? Should the world of business be part of the argument? Everyone plays a small part in what we can do and how we can help assist children with special needs once they get through their standard educational years up to Year 12.
Something in the front of my mind in design of the new Henbury School will be an area which caters for Year 13, and possibly Year 14, to provide an effective pathway for these students and help assist them to find employment and go on to other areas of their life.
It is really important to have the resources, backed by the Country Liberals government, backed by our Cabinet, for the new Henbury School. It lifts special needs, particularly in the Top End, to a new level. A new Nemarluk School was built by the previous government a few years ago which is a state-of-the-art modern facility, but lessons have been learned from that design which we can improve on. We have the new school at Palmerston catering for preschool to Year 9, and we have the special needs school at the secondary college being extended as we speak. I drove past there the other day and saw the new roof going on, the new extension, and it is exciting to see the additional infrastructure going in.
Before too long we will have to build on the new Nemarluk School, we will have a new special needs school in Palmerston, the extensions to the special needs unit at the secondary college, and a brand-new Henbury facility which will not only cater for the existing students but allow plenty of capacity into the years ahead. It will also be able to, for the first time, properly cater for children in Year 13, and possibly Year 14. In the end, from where we were only a few years ago with second-rate and very outdated equipment and resources in special needs, we have gone into a number of properly resourced, constructed and designed special needs facilities. These will go a long way to help those students and their families in doing all we can to help children with special needs in the Northern Territory.
We have come a long way. There is still a way to go, but I look forward to those two new schools being opened in the next couple of years. I know everyone is excited within the Department of Education. They are working hard. I know Leanne Taylor is pulling her hair out because quite a bit of design and construction work will happen in the next couple of years, but bring it on. It is much deserved and needed, and will go a long way to making the lives of these students a whole lot better than they are today.
Ms MOSS (Casuarina): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing this statement to the House. With 27 000 Territorians affected by disability, and their families and carers, the new role of the Minister for Disability Services is a positive one. I am sure it will not be without its challenges and, having read some of the debate, I know everybody acknowledges that.
Disability is something that could impact on any of us at any time and is a reality for so many Territorians. It is a very worthy cause of increased focus in parliament, and there are so many people we work with who may be carers for family members or loved ones. Often we do not even know they are fulfilling that carer role. For these Territorians it is part of their everyday life.
I was really happy to hear the Minister for Education talk about post-school options, as in early September, alongside the shadow minister for education, I met with a group of parents called the Family Transitions Network whose young adults are students at Henbury School. These young adults are coming to the end of their school life at the end of this year. Their parents are concerned about appropriate facilities and day programs for their young people with disabilities, to ensure they have access to ongoing lifelong learning, connection to the community and opportunities to continue to build their social networks outside of the school environment as they transition into adulthood.
For these young adults and parents, it is about their options for transitioning into the next stage of life, post-school, and increasing their training, access to training, employment and life skills. This leaves these families with a very difficult choice about what happens at the end of this year, whether they leave young people, 17 years old, at home alone or with a one-on-one carer without wider social interaction. These are real choices these families are facing right now.
The Family Transitions Network has investigated other models of service provision across the country, paying attention to best practice, and has compiled this information in a proposal it calls the Beach House. The Family Transitions Network told us at that gathering that it had requested meetings with the Minister for Health and the Minister for Education to discuss the proposal and post-school options, but to no avail. It would seem that the point was continually missed with the response heard from the CLP government only in relation to the school, when these parents would like an audience with ministers to discuss those post-school options for their students.
We hear more and more in our discussions with constituents that there is arrogance in this government, which does not want to meet with them and does not reply to their correspondence in a timely way. Perhaps they did not make a donation to the right place to open the right doors, in the method outlined by the member for Fong Lim. To use the minister’s words from the statement in February, this is a huge opportunity to blow away barriers.
Unfortunately, it would seem that even with a dedicated minister, these parents still face barriers to having the opportunity to discuss their work.
The Leader of the Opposition and I met these parents again a few weeks ago when they delivered a letter requesting a meeting to the Chief Minister. In nine months this group of passionate, driven parents has still been unable to meet with the minister about this work and their concerns. I hope the Minister for Education and the Minister for Health contact this group to hear their stories and discuss their concerns. One of the parents had to fight incredibly hard to ensure her student would have access to Year 13 at Henbury, while continuing to look at appropriate post-school options for her child. As the Minister for Disability Services you are the link to advocate for these families and increase focus in this area.
We understand there are capacity issues at Henbury School and welcomed the announcement, during the Casuarina by-election campaign, of the new school to be located at the Dripstone Middle School site, as was previously identified by Territory Labor. I acknowledge my colleague, the member for Wanguri, for her ongoing advocacy for the growth of the school, which sits within her electorate, including the tabling of a petition for its expansion earlier this year.
The Labor government committed to improving disability services for Territorians, reviewing services, partnerships and capacity across the sector. Territory 2030 identified a number of gaps which the Labor government was working to address. In 2009, funding was allocated to build and upgrade special schools across the Northern Territory. Nemarluk School, a purpose-built school in Alawa, is a brilliant result of this, and I was incredibly fortunate to visit the school yesterday and meet a number of its dedicated staff. It is an impressive school achieving wonderful outcomes for students; I am sure we will see the same from Henbury, as we do at the current Henbury School.
I ask the Minister for Education to provide time frames around the completion of the Henbury School upgrade. I also appeal to him and the Minister for Disability Services to advocate strongly in Cabinet to ensure the new Henbury School is developed with a reference group that includes representatives from the education and disability sectors, parents and, of course, those who will be accessing the school, the students themselves.
An appropriate reference group will see that the developed plans are responsive to the current and future needs of the student body, staff, families and carers, as well as the Dripstone School community and the residents of Tiwi adjacent to the construction site.
It is important to note the challenges that will be presented within disability services by a CLP government which continues to stand behind cuts to education. While doorknocking, a number of residents, many of them education workers or parents, told me of their concerns over the loss of support workers in mainstream schools, who work one-on-one to support their students. The Minister for Health was correct in her statement to say:
It is a whole-of-government responsibility to ensure Territorians of mixed ability receive support and services, access and opportunities they need and deserve.
There is still much to be done to ensure Territorians have access to services and the ongoing support they need, particularly where illness may present barriers to accessing education and employment. These are distressing and difficult situations for Territorians and are often intertwined with unknowns. It is particularly timely, given federal changes to the disability pension this year, for us to watch closely and support Territorians of all abilities to actively participate in community work and education.
In addition to this it is a real challenge, for Territorians for who disability and mental illness co-exist, to ensure they do not fall through the cracks, and that we look at ways to strengthen services and resources within the sector to provide quality support.
With the roll-out of the NDIS trial in Barkly we look forward to hearing the outcomes from this, and it is equally important that focus is also maintained on the support and growth of other programs within the sector. Early intervention and assessment for children and young people with a disability can be essential in improving outcomes for them.
Access to paediatric assessment and occupational therapists is becoming increasingly difficult for families, with lengthening waiting periods; this is just in our urban areas. Access to these services and others, such as speech therapy, declines further in our remote localities, where the need is also considerable.
The announcement of the ministerial advisory council in this portfolio is also welcomed. I am keen to see how its work informs the development of the disability sector in the Northern Territory. It is a concern, however, that the council does not have information on the breakdown of department budgets, which would serve to inform its work.
Madam Speaker, there are many barriers we must overcome in the disability sector. I wish the minister every success and look forward to updates in this portfolio. I am passionate about this and will be watching and contributing to ongoing debate and policy development in this area. I thank the minister for making this statement.
Mrs FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, his statement came to the House a little while ago, and this new portfolio has been in place for around seven months. I commend the minister for being part of this initiative. It is a first, and I am sure these first seven months have been extremely rewarding, putting a focused spotlight on disability services in our community.
I am a huge supporter of this portfolio and this office. It is timely that we focus on disability services and those with a disability. It shows it is separate from health, which also highlights how serious we are, as a government, to not only support those with a disability but the some 30 000 carers who support them in our community.
The Ministerial Advisory Council for Disability Reform is an excellent initiative. I am sure it is kicking goals and providing sound advice to the minister so we can forge a truer way forward for disability services in the Northern Territory.
My colleague, the Minister for Education, spoke in his contribution about the $30m commitment to building a new Henbury School on the Dripstone Middle School site. This is fantastic, and with 120 new places for eligible students, it is needed in the northern suburbs and is an important part of our community.
In Palmerston we are very privileged and lucky to have the wonderful staff, team and outfit at the Palmerston Senior College special education centre. I know how much our community values that facility, and I can only imagine the new facility at Dripstone will be welcomed by the broader greater Darwin community.
Disability services and interaction with disability service providers is a frequent occurrence as a local member. You are always on the ground with people with families, NGOs and other providers of support. I thank Pastor Geoff from the Family Transition Network, who came to see me at the start of the year. He had also been dealing with the member for Wanguri and other members in this House, finding pathways for students transitioning out of Henbury School and the special education centres in Palmerston at that 17 or 18-year-old mark, into independent living, the workforce or a new style of education delivery. The Family Transition Network is working very hard at that and the minister has been facilitating their advice to look forward to future policies and the like.
Palmerston Senior College has undergone much transformation in the last couple of years. When I was first elected, we handed over two new classrooms from the mainstream campus to the special education centre, which was fantastic. They are amazing suites, fully suited for those teachers to deliver high-quality education, and independence lessons and training to the students at the Palmerston Special Education Centre.
A new building is being constructed, which is fantastic. It is coming along well. This will include a new general learning area, a hygiene room, a disabled access ramp, a path, a garden shed, associated fence and drainage, and other types of work. That facility should be ready for new students in the 2016 school year. That is another excellent investment in the special education area.
The minister is very fond of Project 21. Not many people in this Chamber may know Rachel Kroes, who is the founder of Project 21 and a tireless ambassador for the project. I had the opportunity to go to Project 21 recently, coming out of my neck of the woods in Palmerston to explore the greater northern suburbs area and had lunch …
Mr Vowles: You could pop in and say g’day.
Mrs FINOCCHIARO: I was going to but it made me uncomfortable just thinking about it, Kenny.
I had lunch with the team at Project 21. We shared some sushi, had some laughs and had a big chat about what was going on there. It was really fantastic to spend that hour or so with the team talking about the things they do and the projects they are working on. Project 21, amongst other things, has programs like Walking In My Shoes, Cash for Containers, Barista 21, Media 21, Graphics 21, Dance 21, Sign 21, Music 21, Sing 21 and Social 21. The Department of Health has recently extended some funding for Project 21 and it is doing marvellous things in our community.
I have seen tangible results come out of the Office of Disability Services for my constituents. I cannot go into the details due to privacy, but I have two success stories involving disabled people seeking to find employment that are a direct result of the assistance of the Office of Disability Services. I thank them very much for that; they are life-changing results. The office also assisted one of my constituents to get some medical assistance which has completely changed her quality of life. They are three amazing outcomes for my constituents, and I can only imagine what the office is doing at a broader Territory level.
I had the privilege of representing my good colleague, the Minister for Disability Services, at the Disability Services Awards in 2013. It was a privilege, and it was no surprise that Rachel Kroes from Project 21, the Down Syndrome Association, took out the Disability Sector Employees Award for the non-government sector. I will read a small part from the media release about Rachel:
- Rachel has shown great dedication to Project 21, a program that provides opportunities for young adults with Down Syndrome and other young people with an intellectual disability moving from school to the workplace.
I also had the privilege of representing the minister at the NT Young Achiever Awards last year where I presented Jauhari Wright with the Young Carers Award. He is an amazing young man and it was even more spectacular and fitting that he took out the Young Territorian of the Year Award.
The health services, carers and the disability sector have been well and truly highlighted over the last year, and I hope that continues into the future. I commend the Minister for Disability Services and want all my government colleagues to empower her to do the things and provide the services she needs for the greater good of all Territorians.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Disability Services): Madam Speaker, 2014 has been an exciting year. In February I was sworn in as the first Minister for Disability Services in the history of the Northern Territory. It was a great honour, and the whole year has been one of great activity. From the point in February when we created the portfolio, the highlight of the year for most people in the sector has been the launch of the trial of the NDIS, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, in the Barkly area. It has been a huge challenge.
We are the major funder, as 60% of the funding to this trial has been contributed by the Northern Territory government, the other 40% by the Commonwealth government. It is a unique trial in regard to what is happening around Australia; it is the only fully remote trial of the NDIS. South Australia covers some remote areas but this is the only 100% remote trial. All eyes are on us, and it has had its challenges and its critics. Some people have been feeding the media, trying to stir up all sorts of controversy around its success, or apparent failures. By and large it is travelling just as we expected.
The department identified 103 people who would be eligible to participate in this trial, and things are travelling as planned. The team, the National Disability Insurance Agency, has set up a very strong, professional office in the Barkly area and is systematically identifying these people and introducing them to the scheme. It is educating them on what it can offer, and assessing people who have significant and profound disability as to their requirements and suitability for this scheme. As time rolls on there are new children coming into the world who are, unfortunately, disabled and have become a part of this trial too.
It is a trial, and that is the most exciting thing about it. In a trial you cannot succeed or fail, it is about an experience. It is about seeing how things go, seeing what happens, being observant, collecting data, being open minded and frank about the challenges. There have been challenges. A piece of feedback came to me recently from the caseworkers who are part of the National Disability Insurance Agency in the Barkly. They are finding that many people with disabilities in the Barkly are Aboriginal people who are battling to meet their basic needs.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs consists of food, clothing and shelter; people in the Barkly with a disability battle to provide themselves, or be provided with, those basic needs. The case workers were a little surprised by the basic nature of those needs, but obviously if you are having accommodation issues and have a disability, it is really hard to think about podiatry, physiotherapy or speech therapy services because your basic needs have not been met.
That has been a revelation, an eye opener and an experience for the agency in the Barkly area with this new trial, but it is all good. It should not be judged. It is about seeing what happens, how this nationwide initiative will roll out and having some insight as to how it will roll out in 2016. Preparations are under way for the broader national roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. People are already bracing themselves for that.
I had the great privilege of attending the National Carers Awards yesterday in Parliament House with the Minister for Children and Families, the member for Port Darwin. That was a function hosted by Life Without Barriers. It is one of those functions where you are completely humbled by the selflessness, care and love people provide to children and adults, often family members.
A conversation I had with a parent of a child with a disability was about what his expectations were of the NDIS. Not a lot is really known or understood in this space, particularly outside areas where trials have commenced. This gentleman was quite pragmatic in terms of the availability of services for people with a disability and the fact there is not a great deal of choice, even in urban areas of the Northern Territory. He was quite pragmatic about how funds for his daughter would be managed through the NDIS – positive but realistic. By and large that is the general view of most people when it comes to the NDIS. Let us wait and see, but be quietly positive and expect that things will generally improve for people with a disability throughout the country.
Going back to the National Carers Awards; for people who work within this space, it struck me yesterday – this is a very personal view – that these are indeed very positive community initiatives to recognise people who do outstanding things in this space. What particularly struck me yesterday was the fact we choose one winner over another, because the profiles of the finalists were all so commendable and deserving. I felt quite awkward when one person was chosen over the other, but that is my problem. I am sure many of us have felt that same sense of awkwardness in situations like that – the onerous task of the judging panel to pick one carer over another and one amazing disability service over another. It is something I would prefer to refer to other people, because it is such a difficult thing.
This year has been one of great advancement when it comes to disability services in the Northern Territory. We set up the new portfolio. Why this had not been done before is quite beyond me, but with the National Disability Insurance Scheme looming it was plain and obvious we should do that to fall in line with other jurisdictions. This is a time of great reform within the sector, and the Northern Territory was lagging behind, as it did over the 11 years of Labor.
Labor generally, as I have said before in this Chamber, was not particularly vigilant. It was not on the ball when it came to so many things and this sort of social reform. Ironically, this area, one that Labor likes to pin its credit on, was yet another area in which they were negligent, taking their eye off the ball.
The member for Casuarina, a young woman, new to politics and to life in general, would not be aware of that. We are stepping forward in leaps and bounds as a Country Liberal government. We are heading up social reform and leadership in an area she is obviously very passionate about. I look forward to her analysis and critique, which she claims she will be providing me. I look forward to working with her if the opportunity arises.
Not only did we create a portfolio, we separated the budget. The $83m in 2014-15 for the Disability Services portfolio is a separate budget now, which means disability services will not be lost in Health, as they have in the past.
We set up new scholarships for disability service workers. For the first time, workers who would like to do more study in the area to pursue further skill development, develop their career opportunities and generally contribute to ways they can modernise the delivery of disability services, have the opportunity to apply for a scholarship of up to $2500. It might not sound much, but for people in the sector who want to do that, it is a great opportunity to recognise these largely unrecognised individuals who work so hard.
Talking about the new portfolio, hand-in-hand with that I formed the ministerial advisory council, which consists of a group of notable and highly-skilled people from the disability sector. The advisory council is headed by Vicky O’Halloran of the National Disability Services. We have a representative from Carpentaria Services, Greg McMahon, Joe Smith from Step Out in Katherine, Pat Brahim from Julalikari in Tennant Creek, Pat Braun from Tennant Creek CatholicCare, Edwina Marks of the Barkly Regional Council, Ian Campbell of the Central Australian Supported Accommodation Service, and Bruce Young-Smith a consumer and Suzanne Cavanagh, Liz Reid and Karen Stewart.
I set this up for no other reason than to ask these people, who are hands-on, grassroots, community-based people, to give me some guidance on how to execute this portfolio, particularly the National Disability Insurance Scheme trial in the Barkly. Most recently, I instructed them to tell me what they think my priority should be for this portfolio and what I should be turning my mind to first. That is exactly what they have done. They have done some work on what I should do, and I will listen to them because these are the experts.
I am no expert in this area. My background is in health and social work, but that was a long time ago. I need some guidance. I am not foolish enough to think I know everything. I look forward to their advice and guidance on how I should proceed.
This afternoon the Minister for Education talked about the support for the Henbury School. This is something we have been working on for a long time in this government. We knew it was a great area of need, as are the post-school options, and we took our time to formulate how we would proceed. We are very pleased to have made that announcement during the Casuarina by-election.
Post-school options are a great concern to people across the Northern Territory. For the information of the opposition, I gave one of the spokespeople and leaders from the Family Transition Network my personal mobile phone number probably four months ago. That person, Robyne Jhowry, knows she can contact me at any time. I told her that. This furphy that I am unavailable and do not talk to anyone is absolute rubbish. I have been unable to attend several of the meetings they have had, but to set me up as some sort of negligent, uncaring person is absolute rubbish. Robyne Jhowry knows, as one of the spokespersons of this group, she can call me any time. If you have lost my number, Robyne, I will be more than happy to give it to you. You have my ear. I reassured you of that months ago, and I reassure you now in the Chamber of the Northern Territory parliament.
One of the challenges of being a minister of the Northern Territory government and living with a family in Alice Springs is that I physically cannot be everywhere at once. The last meeting I was invited to was held on the Sunday of a long weekend. I explained to Robyne that I had family commitments during that weekend. For me to spend the whole weekend in Darwin to attend a meeting on the Sunday was not the best use of my time. I believe she understood.
I take exception to the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Casuarina deliberately digging up dirt around this. If there is a problem I would be more than happy to talk to the people concerned. This group has been politicised and used by the opposition, particularly during the Casuarina by-election. I heard the Leader of the Opposition talking about this during the by-election. It is political opportunism and it is very sad when you use people with disabilities to that effect. It is disgraceful.
Madam Speaker, it has been a great year. I have talked with schools that specialise and work with people with disabilities. In Alice Springs a few months ago I opened a $1.3m hydrotherapy pool at Acacia Hill School, which will bring so much joy, pleasure and benefit to children with disabilities across Central Australia. It was a delightful day and an event I will always remember.
To end on a positive note, probably one of the nicest things that has happened to me for several weeks – a week in politics feels like a year, as we all know – I was in Woolworths yesterday at lunchtime doing my shopping, and a lovely young woman with a disability said to me, ‘I know you, you are Robyn’, and gave me a hug. That is the wonderful thing about working in the disability services sector, the people who work in it are wonderful caring human beings. The clients of the services are wonderful caring human beings and it is a joy to be Minister for Disability Services.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MOTION
Note Paper – Revocation of Guidelines of the Public Information Act
Note Paper – Revocation of Guidelines of the Public Information Act
Continued from 27 November 2013.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, I move that the statement be noted.
We support the Public Information Act. There is some history to this. It came before the House during the last term, essentially in a bipartisan manner between the member for Nelson and the then member for Blain. The then member for Blain pushed it quite strongly. People around at the time will remember there was a bit of back and forth between government and opposition but, essentially, this came forward in the spirit of bipartisanship to make sure politicians did not dip into taxpayers’ funds for propaganda purposes. We support the Public Information Act. We also accept the advice from the Solicitor-General around the fact the guidelines, as we understand it, overreached.
We have some concerns that rather than amending or editing the regulations, we are abolishing them. Obviously the act remains, but we feel we need to proceed with caution; we have some concerns around the revocation of the guidelines full stop. We think we should have the safeguards under the act and there should be amended and edited regulations. We have a trust deficit with this government, and I am sure they are surprised to hear that. Obviously, when first elected, they had a slightly more combative and aggressive approach and were taking up full page ads in the NT News which were in breach of the act. The act remains and they would still be in breach of the current act.
We are concerned, with the abolition of the guidelines and regulations, what might then follow. We have concerns on this side and we are flagging caution about what might happen once these guidelines are revoked, ahow much looser things will be and whether we will see a return to some of those practices. On both sides I think we are glad to see them gone.
It was something that happened on both sides in the past, but the ads in the paper and other uses of taxpayers’ money are now gone. We do not want to see to the replication of these regulations, a return to taxpayers’ money being spent on things like full page ads in breach of the act. We should not be breaching the act, and the guidelines help make sure we abide by what is quite a sensible law that came from both sides. On behalf of the Leader of the Opposition, I wanted to make sure we made those points in this debate about the concerns we have about taxpayers’ money being spent on propaganda, how and why this act came to be and the revocation we have before the House.
Motion agreed to; statement noted
MOTION
Note Statement – Recovery of the Northern Territory Live Export Market
Note Statement – Recovery of the Northern Territory Live Export Market
Continued from 8 May 2014.
Mr VOWLES (Johnston): Madam Speaker, I thank the Minister for bringing this statement to the House. There is no doubt that the pastoral industry is important to the Northern Territory. It is important in terms of our regions, the many small businesses that support the pastoral sector and the key infrastructure and regional development, more generally. It includes our roads and communications, as well as the Port of Darwin.
The industry has no greater supporter and champion than our own member for Barkly, who made a great contribution to the debate on this statement, particularly in questioning government commitment and action in improving production and rangelands management, risk management around external factors affecting our markets, and our supply of cattle and buffalo to said markets.
As we have heard, the industry supports a wide herd of approximately two million cattle and turns off about half-a-million cattle every year, with about half of them going to export. The live cattle trade is central to the wellbeing of the NT pastoral sector, contributing over $330m in 2012-13 with 78% of live cattle exports to Indonesia, followed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. Live cattle exports to Indonesia have a strong future and the Territory is well positioned to take advantage of increasing demand from Indonesia’s rising middle class.
A key component of the Territory’s access to Indonesia’s market for live cattle and other exports will be our relationship with the new President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. We congratulate President Widodo on his election and wish his new government every success. Labor will continue to build a strong relationship of cooperation and trade with Indonesia. Sadly, the Territory’s relationship with the new government did not get off to a flying start when our $750 000 man, Jakarta-based diplomat, Terry Mills, predicted a loss for President Widodo in the recent presidential election. The following was mentioned in the media release:
- Mr Mills is predicting a swing towards presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in today’s Indonesian election. He says the other candidate, Joko Widodo, is popular but hasn’t run a very good campaign. ‘It’s been disorganised and his supporters have dropped away’, he said. ‘Prabowo on the other hand started fairly well behind, but has gained very strong support for a very focused campaign, particularly outside of Java.’
I am sure the new president and his government will be generous enough not to hold Mr Mills’ gaffe against the Northern Territory, but I am concerned that Terry Mills’ lack of experience and problems with foot-in-mouth will not be helpful as we strive to build a better relationship and better trade relationship with Indonesia.
Today we have heard that some NT cattle producers and other affected business people are taking legal action, seeking redress for the financial impact on their businesses of the Commonwealth 2011 ban on the live export ban of Territory cattle, a ban imposed as part of the Commonwealth’s response to animal welfare concerns.
We support the right of Territorians to seek compensation, but it is telling that they have to resort to that action because of a lack of progress in pursuing those claims with the Coalition government in Canberra.
As part of the political debate we have also heard churlish criticism of former Chief Minister Paul Henderson in terms of the Northern Territory government’s response at that time. Let us correct that misrepresentation. My recollection is that the Chief Minister at the time, Mr Paul Henderson, and his government, stood side by side with the NT cattlemen as they took their case to Canberra.
We stood with them in making known the heavy impact of that decision on Territory cattle producers and lobbying for a quick resolution and recovery for the industry. Mr Henderson told Territorians of his deep concern about the impact of the decision on Territory families and an industry supporting 1700 jobs in the Northern Territory. Mr Luke Bowen, then of the NT Cattlemen’s Association, told Territorians in June 2011 that the NTCA was glad to see support from both sides of Territory politics for the industry as it struggled.
The NTCA also commended the Henderson government and then opposition for a single, strong and significant statement and commitment to the Northern Territory pastoral and cattle industry. There has been no acknowledgement by the current government of arrangements like a freeze on pastoral lease payments for properties with less than $10m turnover and other arrangements introduced by the then Chief Minister and his Treasurer, the now Leader of the Opposition, in recognition of the impact of the live export ban on Territory cattle producers.
It is sad that the current minister has such a short memory and seeks to use today’s news to denigrate the former Chief Minister and his stance on cattle exports. In his statement in May this year the minister spoke of changes made by his government that will have a positive and profound effect on the Northern Territory’s pastoral industry. He did not talk about where changes would be profound and impose potentially significant costs on the Territory cattle industry, namely the commercialisation of the Darwin port. In October this year the Chief Minister came clean on his plans for the commercialisation of the port. True to his form, he did not use the ‘s’ word. He talked instead about the potential long-term lease of this important public asset, or a cherry picking opportunity to put a critical, strategic asset in the hands of others.
On October 21 he said:
- It is also part of our strategy to look at how we operate some of our major assets in the Northern Territory, including TIO and the Darwin port.
That is why we created a website yesterday asking for Territorians to suggest, should we realise the value of TIO and the port, what that should be spent on.
However, he is not talking about whether Territorians want this and other public assets sold. On this side we hear the community disquiet. We hear public concern about this government flogging off public assets, the property of all Territorians. We hear the call for government to go to an election on the sale of these public assets which are owned by Territorians.
This Chief Minister also told the Assembly:
- We are already receiving amazing information and ideas, not least the idea about rectifying some of the sewer issues in Rapid Creek and some of the storm water issues in Rapid Creek.
Why does the Chief Minister think public assets have to be sold for this work that should be the obligation of government in its day-to-day business? Any sale of public assets is supposed to lead to value-adding investment, not repairs and maintenance.
The Chief Minister can find $33m for his own department to promote himself and his Developing the North agenda, but cannot find any money for flood mitigation in Millner. To rub our noses in it he also wants to sell TIO so flood damage insurance is harder and more expensive to obtain; we saw this happen during the Queensland floods.
The Chief Minister also said:
- Yes, we are looking at a 99-year lease on our port. We are in market; we have been in market all year.
It was less than a year ago when you told the House:
- At the moment there is no consideration to sell the port. I have not had a discussion with anybody about selling the port, but we will look at the very best way to manage the port.
Your real intentions are the sale or long-term lease of public assets to bankroll community infrastructure in the lead-up to the next election because of your single failure to win any infrastructure investment funds from your trips to Canberra. Every time the Chief Minister goes to Canberra, he bangs on about the new money he will win, the new commitments to infrastructure he will bring home, but on every trip he comes back empty-handed.
On 3 May this year the NT News reported you stressing to Territorians that there had been no government decision on any asset sales at all – classic CLP doublespeak that is becoming all too familiar, code for ‘plan afoot but no deal done yet’.
You also were reported saying in the same article:
- This is an opportunity for a good debate about whether there are some assets we could sell.
How do you define good debate, a one-sided opportunity for more CLP doublespeak? Your real plans are to put this critical public asset into the hands of others to commercialise the port, with key risks around increasing costs for all our producers who use the port to transport their export commodities, including live cattle and buffalo, to overseas markets. It is your plan to find a better way to kick-start the development of a so-called dirty industrial port at a high environmental cost at Glyde Point.
This year we have witnessed hard times and an end to production at three Top End iron ore mines. I would like to hear the minister tell us of the industry forecast for mineral commodity prices and how that is affecting mining activity and plans for port development in the Northern Territory.
It is time for the CLP and this Chief Minister to walk the walk and talk the talk to fulfil their long-broken promises to be an open, transparent and accountable government. It is time for Territorians to say whether they want their property, important public assets like the Darwin port, sold or leased to commercial interests and out of their hands.
My leader, the member for Karama, summed it up brilliantly in a speech last week when she said:
- The oil and gas sector, a critical part of our economy, a key port user, has publicly called on the government not to sell or lease the port. Selling or leasing the port would be a quick cash grab which could cost Territorians into the future. Territorians have invested significantly in the port. It is making returns to our taxpayers. It makes no sense to sell the port now, at a point in our economic momentum where the oil and gas sector will bring greater returns in revenue. Why would you sell it now when the onshore resources sector has seen reduced yields going through the bulk minerals loader? It is insanity.
Mrs FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I love the member for Johnston’s terminology of ‘my leader, my leader’. I have never heard you say that before; it gave me goose bumps.
I commend the minister for his statement, and make a small contribution to it. It is very reassuring to know we have a Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries who works hard for all stakeholders concerned, and goes the extra mile to vigorously promote our pastoral industry.
As the minister rightly stated, our cattle industry is truly iconic. Much of the Territory’s identity has been sourced and shaped by our pastoral heritage. This industry was one of the first to form during early non-Indigenous settlement. It served as a pillar of the Northern Territory economy until the 1960s, providing economic growth in the major regions and helping to keep many people employed. Indeed, this iconic industry has contributed much to the Territory’s culture and development. It is exciting to see that role in our society continue.
Our Asian neighbours have always been important to us in the Northern Territory, and any visit to the fifth floor will show you that on the walls of all the conference rooms. Every country in this region is linked through various networks of trade, as well as though business and strategic partnerships.
In November last year I was privileged to travel to Indonesia with the Chief Minister to attend the Indonesia Australia Business Conference to see firsthand the strong relationships we continue to build on. One such link we have with Asia is through the live export market, as the minister outlined in his statement.
A significant number of live cattle go to Indonesia every year, and it is thrilling to know that nearly 70 000 head of cattle made it to Vietnam in 2013. The Chief Minister and minister for Primary Industry have worked tirelessly with the Vietnamese government, and this relationship has been welcomed by many. Let us hope the relationship continues to grow as we do our best to send beef and buffalo overseas.
Part of this government’s effort in growing live export opportunities revolves around three key priorities the minister detailed in his statement. First we need to maintain our export into Indonesia, which took 454 000 head of cattle last year. This is a strengthening market and will hold us in good stead for the future.
The second is emerging markets, like the exciting developments with Vietnam, which need to be expanded and encouraged to thrive. Lastly, other markets in the Asian region should be explored and, where possible, Northern Territory pastoralists should be the ones providing the livestock through strategic trade links.
The Northern Territory’s live export and pastoral industries have faced many difficulties in recent years. Weight restrictions, export bans and poor rainfall have all worked against our pastoralists, but this government will always stand side by side with the hard workers of this important industry. Thanks to this great relationship and the hard work of our pastoralists, the Northern Territory live export industry has created a new export record we can all be proud of.
The previous record for the export of cattle from the Port of Darwin was in 2008, when just over 359 000 head of cattle was shipped out. The recent exciting news of the industry smashing this record by 32 000 head of cattle so far this year is truly phenomenal. It is a testament to the steely determination of Northern Territory pastoralists who are committed to providing the world the finest beef Australia has to offer.
The simple equation is our goal to find new markets while we grow existing ones. However, we also have to make sure those markets can be adequately serviced with the right product to ensure longevity and prosperity within the beef and buffalo industries.
It is important to pay special mention to Luke Bowen, who served as the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association Executive Director since 2008. Mr Bowen announced his decision to step down late last year, and I understand he is doing a very good job at the Northern Australia Development Office.
I commend the minister for bringing this statement to the House and for the work he is doing to ensure a bright future ahead for the pastoralist sector of our economy.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I appreciate the input from all members who have contributed to this debate. It is quite fortuitous that this debate comes back into the House on an important and poignant day for the cattle industry, as today it was announced that a class action has been commenced against the Commonwealth government by pastoralists of the Territory. I have not seen the list of plaintiffs, but I presume there are also members of the pastoral industry from Western Australia and Queensland.
It is much deeper than that. During Question Time this morning I specifically mentioned Northern Feed & Cube in Katherine which makes stock feed cubes specifically for the live export market. A bunch of hay growers provide hay into Northern Feed & Cube plus a few other things; they make cubes and pellets. That stock feed goes onto boats and feeds cattle on their journey to the various markets we have.
It is interesting to note the history of the feeding regimes in the live cattle industry. I remember years ago knowing quite well a fellow called Barry Gunson, who worked on the cattle ships. He told me one day many years ago that they were able to fatten cattle during the journey from here to the destination ports, and in those days it was largely Indonesia.
The point I am trying to make is the live cattle ban and the class action involves many more people than just those directly involved in the pastoral sector. You have the transport companies, helicopter pilots, hay growers, companies like Northern Feed & Cube, and all the local businesses that are affected by such a downturn. The cattle industry in general spends a lot of money in the Northern Territory.
As an example of what happened in Katherine in the wake of the ban in 2011, shops like the Bush Boutique had significant changes to their business. Talking to Geoff and Julie Newton who run that business, the change for them was quite stark. The change was the difference between a stockman ordering a new saddle against a stockman getting an old saddle repaired.
I assume a new saddle costs a couple of thousand dollars and a repair to a saddle probably not more than a couple of hundred dollars. In that instance what you saw was probably a reduction of one tenth the contribution by the cattle industry into local economies, and I know Katherine was hit particularly hard during that time.
I remember standing in front of the media and even in this Chamber in the period after the 2011 ban saying this would take years to recover from, and my prediction has been borne out. The cattle industry in the Northern Territory is still struggling in the wake of that live cattle ban.
Even though our numbers going through the port are excellent and prices have increased quite significantly, running at around $2.45 per kilo live weight at the moment, the damage was done to the psyche of the people who are on the land; those pastoral values still have not recovered fully.
A lot of confidence in the government was lost by pastoralists and the breeding and other programs, which, when joined together, make up the operational side of a pastoral piece of land, were stopped or postponed, put off, and stock numbers were reduced necessarily because the cattle properties could not sell them anymore.
They had to send a lot of stock to Queensland, so we also saw a destocking of the Territory’s pastoral estate. It takes some time to recover but we are in a relatively good place now, given where we were three years ago when this horrendous ban came into being.
There has been some deflection by the members opposite on their involvement, or their culpability, in the issues around the live cattle ban. The member for Johnston accused me of having a short memory, but the short memory lies with him, because I remember being in parliament and watching the then Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, standing beside Julia Gillard, nodding as she was making announcements on the live cattle ban.
If my memory serves me right, I might have even heard the former Chief Minister Paul Henderson, utter words along the lines of, ‘It was the circuit breaker that was needed’. The industry did not need a circuit breaker. Perhaps it did need one, but not to that extent. The circuit breaker might have been simply stopping Australian animals from going into particular abattoirs. Placing a blanket ban over the entire industry was crippling. I outlined some of the effects in the question I answered this morning.
It has taken a number of years to re-establish the good relationship we had with Indonesia …
Mr Elferink: Oversized animals starving in the paddocks is much better than being butchered in the abattoirs.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Absolutely right. I pick up on the interjection by the member for Port Darwin. There were cattle starving in the paddocks because they could not be sold. They could not go anywhere. This happened in June 2011, and at that stage the Wet Season growth had been largely consumed already; that is the cycle of things here with the cattle industry. There is the rainy season, where the feed grows, the cattle knock it down and then they must be supplemented later in the year. Of course, there was no money to supplement the cattle later in the year, because the live cattle ban came into effect and pastoralists could not sell their property.
Animal welfare issues arose out of this decision which was supposed to address animal welfare issues. It created, in Australia, a new animal welfare issue, and shows the short-sightedness of the then Minister for Agriculture, Joe Ludwig, and his fearless leader, Julia Gillard.
We are, as I say, in a much better place. This statement is about the recovery of the live export market. It is very pleasing that during 2013-14 415 427 head of cattle were shipped out through the Darwin port, making it the busiest live cattle port in Australia, which is fantastic. However, we are not resting on our laurels, because the other lesson learned from the live cattle suspension of 2011 was not to have all your eggs in one basket. Even though we had, at the time, a very small trade with a limited number of trading partners in Southeast Asia, it certainly was not enough to pick up the slack left in the wake of that ban.
We on this side of the House have worked hard to not only repair the relationship with Indonesia and get our live cattle trade to Indonesia back to where it should be, but have worked on new markets as well. Particularly pleasing is the new market we have with Vietnam. We are looking at, from memory, approximately 140 000 head going to Vietnam, which is fantastic.
I was asked a question recently about what the Australian government has done in the wake of this live cattle ban and repairing relationships with Southeast Asian countries. Not only has the current Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, been to Indonesia, but he has also secured a new market for us in Cambodia. That will help our ongoing recovery in the cattle sector. I am very pleased to report I intend to be in Cambodia before the end of the year to establish the much-needed relationship between our government and the government of Cambodia to make sure they realise that we, under this government, can be a trusted and reliable trading partner.
Things are looking reasonably bright for the cattle industry. David Warriner, who is the current President of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, would like to see cattle prices up around $3, which would represent a much better farm gate return for our pastoralists. I do not have a crystal ball, so I cannot predict exactly what that will look like into the future. If these markets come on, as I believe they will, $3 is quite possible and achievable, particularly if China comes on board.
Much work is still being done between the relevant authorities in the Australian government and the Chinese government to establish the health protocols required to allow the export of Australian live cattle into China, where those cattle are either from or have had to travel through areas affected by a disease known as blue tongue. I commend the Australian government and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the work they are doing in that space, and I trust they will continue to work hard on that issue.
I was quoted in The Australian today – if I was reading the right newspaper – as saying that if China comes on board, there probably will not be enough cattle in Australia to meet the demand anyway. In some ways that is a good thing, and in others it will make it tough on all our existing markets. It will put a lot of pressure on pastoralists across this country. In some ways it will be a good problem to have.
That leads me to one final point, which is where the demand is rising and we are at our supply levels, it is incumbent on industry to find ways to make itself more productive. As a very interested partner, this Northern Territory government is very keen to work closely with the industry to find ways we can do that. I would love to see our pastoral carrying capacity increase by 100%. We currently have two million cattle in the Northern Territory. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could set systems in place on pastoral properties that would allow for a carrying capacity of four million? I do not know if that is possible, but a 50% increase might well be achievable. That is something this government will strive for over the course of the next few years, working closely with the Chinese government.
The member for Drysdale mentioned a man by the name of Luke Bowen. During this entire debacle that was perpetrated by the then federal Labor government on the northern cattle industry, Luke Bowen was a stalwart. He was the Executive Officer of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, and I was impressed with the way he handled himself. He was an excellent conduit between industry here and the federal government, and achieved a great many things in what were very difficult and trying circumstances. I wish Luke all the best in his role with the North Australia Development Office.
I am sure the new CE of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, Tracey Hayes, will do a stellar job. She has already proved to be a strong advocate for the industry. She, like Luke Bowen, has a great relationship with the Northern Territory government. I am very keen to continue to partner with industry to make it more viable, to improve its lot in the Territory and increase its contribution to the Northern Territory’s economy.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mrs FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I wish to speak about the fantastic work being done by the Rotary Club of Litchfield Palmerston. The club only has 13 members. Although it is a very small club, it is very active within our community.
Rotary International is a worldwide humanitarian organisation which aims to assist local and international communities. The Rotary Club of Litchfield/Palmerston, or RCLP, is in District 9550, one of the most diverse districts in the world. It extends from the top of the east coast of Queensland, across to Timor-Leste and down to Tennant Creek. This district covers 1.5 million square kilometres and includes 50 clubs and 1300 members.
I mention Rotary Club of Litchfield/Palmerston’s place within this district because of the unbelievable news that it received a presidential citation from the Rotary International President, Ron Burton, this year. I am told these certificates are not given out lightly to Rotary clubs, rather they are earned. This is the first time the Litchfield/Palmerston club has received this award from Rotary International.
Essentially, the presidential citation recognises rotary clubs for achieving an array of accomplishments which help them become stronger, deliver more effective service and enhance their public image. This is a magnificent achievement considering there are 50 other clubs in District 9550 alone, and I am pleased to detail some of those great achievements tonight.
The first achievement is the 2014 Rotary Broads Barra Bash. This is a major event for the club which was held from 5 to 7 September this year and attracted a record 20 teams. This is a remarkable increase from 13 teams last year. The Litchfield/Palmerston club held the inaugural Rotary Broads Barra Bash in 2011. Since the club introduced the ladies only fishing competition four years ago the number of teams entering each year has grown. The fishing competition is a catch and release competition held annually in early September at Four Mile Billabong in Kakadu National Park. The club provides full catering for the weekend for all participants and support staff, and also provides toilets and showers at the billabong. This project has raised a staggering $30 000 over the past four years for the club, and all the funds are put back into the community through projects. Well done to the Litchfield/Palmerston club for putting on this great event.
The second event is the Day for Girls working bee. The club was very busy on 27 September when it arranged a working bee and assembled 15 Days for Girls feminine hygiene packs, which included five post-natal kits for the Miyalk Mala women’s group in Milingimbi. They aim to put together 100 kits to be distributed to Third World countries where they are needed, and are also sourcing any other communities in the Northern Territory which would benefit from receiving these kits.
Day for Girls is a global initiative to provide sanitary items to girls across the world from impoverished regions or areas of disadvantage. The aim is to enable girls to continue with their lives, get on with school or work, and reclaim those days that would have been lost if they were stuck at home due to not having sanitary products. It is such a worthwhile cause and the Litchfield Palmerston club should be commended for its work in this area.
The third project was introduced in 2013 and is Books for Babies. Each year Rotary International designates the month of March as Literacy Month, and Rotarians are called upon to increase their focus on literacy efforts in their community. This year the Litchfield/Palmerston club purchased 300 books and donated a book to each baby born at Royal Darwin Hospital and Darwin Private Hospital. The book titled Grandma’s Garden was written and illustrated by local Palmerston author, Amanda Huckin, which is amazing as it supports a Territory author. With each book, three brochures from the Department of Education were provided to give new parents the opportunity to provide their child with the best possible start by introducing them to books and encouraging parents to invest time each day reading to their children. We all know reading to children from an early age can foster positive attitudes and a love of reading. This is a great initiative which I can see expanding to Palmerston Regional Hospital when it is complete.
Another project is the Down Syndrome Association of the Northern Territory Barista 21 project. I spoke earlier today about Project 21. Recently the Litchfield/Palmerston club provided the Down Syndrome Association with $3500 which it used to purchase a barista coffee machine for Barista 21, another great scheme provided by Project 21.
The Howard Springs skate and bike path project is another example of a Palmerston Litchfield club project in the Howard Springs Nature Park. This is almost completed now thanks to the persistence of the club; the club’s current president, Eric Chalmers; and community effort, with this project having been going on for several years. Students at Taminmin College put together the framework for this project as part of their woodwork curriculum. This is another example of the Litchfield/Palmerston club working with the community to achieve results for the community.
It is important to recognise the members of committee who are the backbone of community-based clubs across the Territory. The Rotary Club of Litchfield/Palmerston’s current officers are president Eric Chalmers; secretary Sally-ann Lewis; president-elect Jeffrey Lewis; treasurer Roy Kingham; and Sue Nacey will be taking over shortly for web and Facebook information officer Thevi Chelliah; membership and public relations officer and Rota-rural editor Valerie Chalmers; Rotary Broads Barra Bash coordinator Roy Kingham; service projects Eric Chalmers; and new generations Ritchelle Lewis.
I encourage anyone who wants to give back to the community to seriously consider contacting the Rotary Club of Litchfield/Palmerston. You will meet new people, make new friends and make a real difference in the lives of others.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, it is with much sadness that I inform the House of the death of Ms Rose Hallett, the Director of Finance within the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services. Rose passed away suddenly following an accident while visiting her daughter and family in the United Kingdom.
Rose had a long, exemplary career in the Northern Territory Public Sector, joining in March 1997 and spending over 19 years with the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services.
In her position as Director of Finance, Rose was responsible for approximately 20 employees who provide essential financial support to the executive and operational areas of the tri-service.
Rose was awarded the Public Sector Financial Manager of the Year award in the Financial Review Chief Financial Officer Awards in 2008, becoming the first Territory CFO to win the prestigious award. She was awarded the tri-service 15 year clasp in 2011 and was nominated for the Australian Public Sector Medal in 2012.
Rose developed cost estimates for all financial aspects of the Closing the Gap on Indigenous Disadvantage program, including staffing, training, uniforms, vehicles, radios and other related equipment. She also managed the financial aspects of the Closing the Gap National Partnership Agreement and was actively involved in the administration and management of the major objectives of the 2001 Building Our Police Force program.
Rose was a valued member of the Northern Territory community and a well-known member of the Darwin sailing community. Rose spent many years as a member of the organising committee for the Darwin to Ambon yacht race and competed in this year’s event.
Rose had recently commenced long service leave and was looking forward to her well-deserved retirement. Rose was not only a valued colleague but a treasured friend to many within the tri-service and she will be sadly missed.
On behalf of the Northern Territory government and staff of the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services, I extend my sincere condolences, and the government’s sincere condolences, to her husband Brian, daughter Sarah, son-in-law Peter and granddaughter Tyler, family, friends and colleagues. Rest in peace.
Ms FYLES (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, I rise to speak about a new and inspiring community event: Run with Dad. Run with Dad, Father’s Day fun run is a community event aimed at raising money for and awareness of prostate cancer.
This year’s event was the inaugural run and was a great success, with an estimated 800 people participating, either running or walking, and more than 1000 people gathering at East Point on the morning of Father’s Day to celebrate the blokes in our lives and acknowledge the devastating illness that is prostate cancer.
It was clear early on that the fun run would be a success. The member for Fannie Bay and I hosted registration sessions at our electoral officers and I hosted my session – as did, I think, the member for Fannie Bay – on a market day, which proved very successful, with dozens of people signing up and registering on the day for the fun run.
I participated in the event along with my colleague, Michael Gunner, the member for Fannie Bay, by donating the items and cooking the barbeque, along with lots of volunteers, including the now member for Casuarina.
It was a great morning and we had a chance to meet hundreds of supporters who were keen to spread awareness about prostate cancer. Our stall alone raised approximately $1300 for this cause.
Cancer devastates lives and the founder of this event, Katie Woolf, and her family know this so well, having lost their father, husband, grandpa and dearly loved Rockin Rod earlier this year. I quote Katie:
- Who will you be running for this Father’s Day? I will be running for my beautiful dad who I lost to prostate cancer in March after a heart breaking and aggressive 10 month battle. I will also be running for my husband, my brothers, my nephews, my son and all the other men I am blessed to have in my life. If I could prevent just one other family from going through what mine has been through by raising awareness I will feel very humbled.
Katie’s words sum up what this event was all about; raising awareness to help the men in our lives to take care of themselves, encouraging them to have regular health checks.
I also acknowledge the attendance at the event of the member for Drysdale and her Drysdale Dragons as well as the member for Solomon who attended and supported the event.
The Northern Territory government also supported this community event, which I know is much appreciated. It was great to see so many members of parliament getting out and getting behind this fledgling fun run. I also note the former member for Daly, Rob Knight, was on the Run with Dad committee, which he must be commended for.
I thank the remainder of the committee sincerely for all their hard work: Lesley Woolf; Lorraine Hook; Helen Deutrom; Danny Bourchier; Ness Cotton; Hannah McLure; Alice Burton; Beth Maley; and Nathan Marsh. This group donated its time to organise, collect entries, approach sponsors and set up the event, which was a huge task. They gave up countless hours to organise the event, including setting up in the hot sun on the Saturday before and a very early start on the day. Thankfully, there was a coffee stall.
Events such as this cannot happen without the support of sponsors. This group of volunteers did a wonderful job in reaching out to our business community, which responded by offering what it could. Run with Dad was supported by the Northern Territory government; the National Critical Care and Trauma Centre; Elders Real Estate in Darwin, Palmerston and Virginia; Nine News Darwin; Colin West; Zip Print; Storm Cell TV; EPrint; and Natasha Griggs MP. I sincerely thank all those Darwin businesses for getting on board with this new event, which hopefully means it will continue well into the future.
The amazing thing about Run with Dad was that our community came together. I know Rod, as a former athletics coach, would have been so proud of the day, everyone getting out and of what his daughter set out to achieve. The event raised over $20 000 through registrations, donations and sponsorship, and a huge amount of awareness regarding prostate cancer was also raised.
The organiser of Run with Dad, Katie Woolf, and the committee deserve much praise for their efforts in putting this event together. Katie’s passion and tireless efforts were what made this event a success. She is clearly passionate, with good reason, about this issue, and the work she has done in her father’s name is both moving and important. I was privileged enough to know Rod, and I know he would be so proud of Katie, Lesley, their whole family and everyone involved.
Congratulations to everyone involved with Run with Dad. I look forward to again being involved in this event next year.
I take a moment to acknowledge Rod, who was an outstanding father, grandpa and a great guy. Watching their family go through this illness was devastating. If this event and everyone’s awareness can encourage – particularly blokes who might be the last to go to the doctor. If you notice something is wrong speak to someone, seek help. The event set out to do that and did so. I congratulate everyone involved.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I pay tribute to the hard, tireless and often thankless work of Northern Territory paramedics. In particular, I congratulate Katherine paramedic Dean Featherstone, who was awarded the 2015 Northern Territory Paramedic of the Year Award. The awards are a way of acknowledging the outstanding performance of paramedics working in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Darwin. It helps provide much deserved recognition for the professional conduct of paramedics, who regularly perform their role under challenging circumstances.
Every year Northern Territory paramedics attend around 45 000 cases in our major centres. This is equal to around one out of six Territorians needing a St John Ambulance every year. During the course of each shift our paramedics encounter stress and trauma in tense environments.
The Northern Territory Paramedic of the Year Awards started in 2000 as an initiative of the Rotary Club of Darwin Sunrise. It was done to recognise, praise and honour the hard and tireless work of Northern Territory paramedics as they get on with the job of helping the sick and injured, and saving lives. Developed in partnership with St John Ambulance NT, these awards are also proudly supported by the Northern Territory government.
Nominations were received from those members of the public personally treated by paramedics, those who have witnessed and been comforted by the work of a paramedic, and from colleagues who nominated their peers. The Paramedic of the Year Award is awarded to the paramedic who displayed a combination of the following traits: an ongoing commitment to paramedical sciences learning; professionalism and rapport across all walks of life, from the general public and their patients, to their colleagues, and across broader NT health services; and care and compassion on a regular basis.
As the member for Katherine I was proud to learn that Katherine paramedic, Dean Featherstone, took out the top honour from a field of 32 nominated paramedics from across the Territory. Dean has been a part of St John Ambulance NT since July 2011. Dean is well liked. He is an integral member of the team in Katherine and his peers describe him as an extremely dedicated team player who is a genuine all-rounder. He is highly regarded by colleagues, management and those he deals with in the health industry in general.
Dean stood out this year for his ability to demonstrate care and compassion to patients and their loved ones, not only during treatment but in continuing to check on the patient once handing over to other health professionals. The year 2014 has been a busy year for Dean. He was also awarded Student Paramedic of the Year, and I understand he was also recently married.
These awards are now in their 15th year, and I hope they will continue for many more. In acknowledging the efforts of Dean Featherstone, I also acknowledge the efforts of all the other paramedics and St John Ambulance officers in Katherine and across the Northern Territory. It is an organisation that is well supported by volunteers and by young people coming in. It is heartening for me to see the junior ranks of St John NT – and I know that to be true in Katherine – swelling with new members. I wish those people all the very best.
I also pay tribute to a Katherine resident who recently passed away. John Reen MacNamara, who died on 13 September this year aged 80, was a true Territorian and a Katherine legend. Mac, as he was widely known, is fondly remembered and sadly missed by many Territorians. I will read the eulogy provided for the service for John at the Katherine Museum a few weeks ago:
- Mac was born in Townsville, Queensland, on 28 December 1934 and moved to Katherine in 1966 to work as a clerk for the Hickey brothers. Mac understood that you had to work hard for what you wanted in life and certainly he did not believe in handouts. He established a farm on the King River where he grew tomatoes and melons, and in the late 1970s he set up his own business Mac’s Hire. It was this business that later grew into a more successful and diverse business serving the Katherine area. This business grew to incorporate Mac’s Party Hire and also Mac’s Storage Sheds.
Mac was a friend to many. When he worked for Basil Hickey at BC Machinery on Fourth Street in Katherine, he met and became close friends with the South family who moved to Katherine in 1975. Indeed, John fell in love with Iris South and they married in January 1991.
John was humble and always seemed surprised by other people’s affection for him. He was greatly loved and admired by his family and was a great mate to many, though especially to his stepson Kevin South who he helped mentor. John was very proud when Kevin and his wife Gail were able to purchase Mac’s Hire when he finally retired.
Over the years, John demonstrated his strong community spirit and belief that we need to give back to our community and help others. He took great pleasure in seeing others grow and develop skills in their chosen sport. He was involved in many clubs and organisations including the Katherine Go Kart Club in the 1970s, and he was a great supporter of Katherine rugby league in general. Together with his wife, Iris, Mac was a founding member of the Katherine Junior Rugby League.
He was also very active with the Katherine Youth Development Association and also with the Katherine Museum. He spent time as Chairman of the Katherine Country Club and the YMCA and helped out at the Northern Territory friendship and support group.
John MacNamara displayed the true pioneering can-do Territory spirit and he will be fondly remembered by many.
I knew John, Iris and the South family quite well. There is no doubt in my mind that John MacNamara, on his passing, has left a very big hole in Katherine. He was extremely well respected throughout the community, a humble man who expected no accolade for the great community work he did. He did a great deal of community work over all the years he lived and raised his family in Katherine.
He will be sorely missed. I am a better man for having known John for the few years he and I managed to cross paths. I send my deepest condolences to Iris, Kevin, Gail and the South family. Whenever Mac’s name is mentioned around Katherine it will be remembered fondly, with great love and great affection.
Ms LAWRIE (Karama): Madam Speaker, the Minister for Community Services last year tried to force Whitegate residents in Alice Springs to move away from the camp where they have been living for many years. She was told in no uncertain terms by the residents to back off and, as early as February this year, the minister said:
- It was their decision to stay put and we said yes.
The water, as we know, has now been turned off to the residents of Whitegate. Since August last year, traditional owners of Alice Springs have been subject to disgraceful tactics. The Minister for Community Services has unashamedly called these traditional owners squatters on more than one occasion. She tries to pretend they do not know how to speak for themselves and are being manipulated by some strange outside forces.
I met with Felicity, Basil and other members of the Hayes family at Whitegate a few weeks ago. They were very clear: they are not moving, they are not squatters and they want the water to Whitegate turned back on. They do not want to live in town or in another town camp.
The government has proved it can turn the water on to Indigenous communities. Recently it took the kudos for connecting water at Aileron Station and roadhouse, and Alyuen community. I congratulate it for that, but why water for Aileron and not Whitegate? The traditional owners of Whitegate town camp have urged the Territory government to work with them rather than trying to force them off their land.
What will the government do to help rather than the bully tactics people have experienced to date? In fact, Felicity Hayes raised an interesting scenario about what could be behind this government’s heavy handed attempts to force the families to move. It is not the Community Services minister’s pretence of being concerned about the welfare of residents. If welfare was the issue the government would not be turning off the water to the families at Whitegate.
Felicity Hayes told CAAMA radio:
- I think they want to make a subdivision or something there.
Is that the real reason this government has turned off the water to Whitegate families? Does the government have plans to kick traditional owners out so it can get an exclusive residential enclave? Territorians want to know what is really going on. I call on the government to come clean and tell the people at Whitegate why it will not act on securing their land tenure and why it will not turn the water back on to the residents of Whitegate.
It was wonderful to attend the inaugural Tangentyere Community Day in Alice Springs earlier this month. The day was organised by the Tangentyere women’s committee to highlight the positive aspects of living in Alice Springs town camps. Too often all we hear is negative news about town camps, but they are vibrant communities where generations of local families live, work and raise their families. The event was a great success with hundreds of Alice Springs residents attending the event at Ross Park, sharing in the celebration with town campers.
Town camp women shared their stories on the day and it was great to hear from strong women like Shirleen Campbell, who told the remarkable story of how her camp, Hoppys Town Camp, has turned around from being a place with a pretty bad reputation to a camp that families are proud to call home. Shirleen was sick of Hoppys being unsafe. She said she had had enough of drunks, enough of people behaving badly and not respecting her home and the old people who live there. She spoke to the elders and got their support to become president of her town camp. Today Hoppys is a much better place to live in than it was 10 years ago. There is better housing, it is much safer and Shirleen said residents now look out for each other. They have mobile phone reception and Internet connections.
It has not been easy and it has taken time, but it has been well worth the work and effort. It involved a lot of speaking to people to get everyone working together and to see Hoppys could be a better place. Now Shirleen is passing on her passion to the younger women, getting them to think about standing up and speaking up for what they want to see happen in their town camps.
Many other women spoke about their passion for making town camps safer and about their pride in their community – women like Audrey McCormack, Barbara Shaw, Eileen Hoosan and Helen Gillen, so many strong women who are proud town campers who I was honoured to meet and speak with.
I congratulate the Tangentyere Women’s Committee for their work in increasing the safety of women and children, and promoting the positive aspects of living in Alice Springs town camps. I look forward to meeting with this great committee of women more frequently on my visits to Alice Springs and I look forward to attending the next Tangentyere Community Day.
Ms MANISON (Wanguri): Madam Speaker, I pay tribute to Mr Jim Macadam for his commitment and dedication to the Australian netball community, which spans some 64 years. Jim has recently retired from netball umpiring after 64 years and many of those have been with the Darwin Netball Association.
Sports cannot be played without the officials, and all sporting communities would fall over if they did not have the commitment of their volunteers. Jim is one of those tireless, dedicated people who have given a lifetime to netball, and we are so lucky for it.
Everyone who plays netball in Darwin knows Jim. He stands out. Not just because he is the oldest umpire in the association and is one of the few blokes umpiring, but because he has always umpired with good humour and always mentored players, umpires and coaches where he can.
In an interview with Charlie King on ABC radio recently where he discussed his umpiring career and time in netball, Jim said, ‘At the time there were not enough people participating and helping’, and that was how he got involved. Today most clubs and sporting associations would tell you things really have not changed much and it is people like Jim who help clubs and the sport to continue.
Jim’s netball umpiring career has taken him overseas to umpire, and he has gone to Hawaii to umpire. That was one of the greatest highlights of his career.
I first met Jim in 2006 when I started playing with the Waratah Netball Club, where he umpired for us every week. Most people who run clubs will tell you finding umpires is the hardest job and few people want to do it. It is tough, and the ladies on the netball court can get pretty fired up. Yet Jim has always done his job, always upholding the rules of the game with positivity and encouragement. It is not just the time Jim has taken on Thursday nights to umpire games for the club, but he would also come out at pre-season to help with trial matches and grading games. He would also be there to give players advice on their game.
As a coach, I have always valued Jim’s views and input. He would often have a chat to you about how the game was going, the strategy you have in place and give you a bit of advice about the players. He gave so much to our club and he has also given so much to the Darwin Netball Association.
Kate Warden who is a life member of the Waratah Netball Club and founder of the club, said about Jim:
- When the club first started out, it was hard to find people to donate time and energy but Jim came to us and offered to umpire from the very start in 1998. Not only that, but halfway through the year he told us to stop paying him his umpire fee and to keep the money towards presentation night.
We purchased the inaugural Jim Macadam Club Member of the Year trophy that year and it was not until this year that we finally filled it up and are having to consider extending the base to add more outstanding club people to the list. The only name missing is his.
Each year Jim has presented the trophy himself and continues to be the backbone of our club. The people that receive the reward show a stream of committed club volunteers like Jim. Jim is a person that is never down; he simply shows up each week and always asks how he can help.
For over 15 years he has become like a father to all the girls. He is one of a kind and as they say, ‘when they made Jim, they broke the mould’. Him and his wife, Renee will no doubt continue to be at the courts and support our club from the sidelines, but his umpiring skills will be missed.
His contribution to the club and the association will be missed. In recognition of Jim’s contribution, he was given life membership to the Waratah Netball Club and the Darwin Netball Association over time.
On grand final night in September the Darwin Netball Association also recognised Jim’s contribution there so all of the association could pay tribute to him. He has also received an Order of Australia honour with the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to netball and other sport. He was certainly a deserving recipient. His contribution went well beyond netball; it also went to football and basketball.
In recent years Jim has had to have some operations to help with his mobility, which really should be expected at his age. It was remarkable to see a man of his age umpiring each week. He is a true role model to show people what they can continue doing in their sport well into their older years. Jim is a hero for what he has given to the sport.
I look forward to seeing Jim every week at netball to make sure we keep receiving good tips and advice from him. He might be retiring from umpiring, but he will not be stopping his other work, from what I understand.
Jim is also a wedding celebrant. Some of the loveliest weddings I have ever been to have been the ones where Jim officiated. He also brings his very good sense of humour to those weddings. He is a justice of the peace too so you will often see him helping out at Casuarina shopping centre helping out.
Jim Macadam, you are a legend of Territory netball. We thank you for your contribution to netball in the Territory and wish you well in your retirement from umpiring, but we look forward to seeing you continue to mentor future umpires, coaches and players, as well as passing on your wisdom and passion for the game to other people. It is always appreciated. All the best, Jim.
I turn my attention to some wonderful things that have been happening in the Wanguri electorate. Firstly, I congratulate Mr Lim Boon Wai and his team on the newly re-opened Chemmart chemist at Hibiscus. Lim is a great guy; he is our local pharmacist. He is a businessman, but he is a guy who cares about the community and has a genuine interest in the care of his clients. He recently re-opened and re-launched the chemist at Hibiscus under the Chemmart brand, and it was a hugely well-attended event. All of the shop owners from Hibiscus went along, as well as five politicians, which was quite an achievement. We also had the acting Lord Mayor there; it was wonderful to see business leaders from the community. The opening finished with a blessing by the Chung Wah lion dancers. It was a great event.
I wish Lim and his team all success for the future. We are lucky to have Lim there, because he is a true community pharmacist. He is there looking out for locals and providing a high level of healthcare, support and service to the people of the electorate every week. I wish him all the very best of success with the business. I also congratulate him on the fact he won the 2014 Telstra Australian Business Award for the start-up business this year; it shows what an amazing business sense Lim has. We are expecting even better things from him in the future. He is a great guy and a great member of our community.
I also congratulate and thank Maria and Jade Albion. They held a morning tea to raise funds for breast cancer research and support this weekend at Kantillas. They got together as a mother and daughter team and decided they wanted to make a difference. They wanted to do something to raise some money for breast cancer research and support because they had friends who, unfortunately, had to battle breast cancer.
They got together and decided they would put on a high tea event at Kantillas. They were hoping to get about 50 people there on Saturday, but about 100 actually attended. It was a beautifully presented event. All the ladies, and some gentlemen, had a wonderful time. They were treated to a fashion parade, a great raffle, fabulous food, plenty of champers and Ali Burton as emcee.
Our own caterers in Parliament House, Karen Sheldon Catering, came on board as a sponsor. They did a terrific job. It was wonderful to see a mother and daughter get together, decide they want to make a difference and hold a truly genuine community event, where they tapped into their own networks of friends and brought everyone together for this great cause. Congratulations, well done Maria and Jade on such a fabulous event. Thank you very much and I hope you host another morning tea next year.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I wish to place on the record this evening some of the many achievements in my electorate of Nhulunbuy. I will start with the School Sports NT competition that was the Arnhem athletics, and will talk about the Arnhem athletics team that travelled to Darwin for the NT Cross Country and Track and Field Championships. This was held during Term 3, last school term. They competed at the 2014 combined NT Cross Country and Track and Field Championships.
The Arnhem team consisted of 33 athletes aged between 10 and 19 years old, from 12 different schools within the Arnhem region. Of the 33 athletes competing as part of the Arnhem region team, 30 received a medal of some colour. The Arnhem region came in second overall – which is a fantastic result – in the track and field championships, out of a total of six teams from Northern Territory regions. Arnhem also came second in the cross country and won the march past for the fifth year in a row.
Whilst not all the athletes are from my electorate, the team’s success was a result of the huge combined effort from the athletes, officials, and chaperones. The officials and parents who were involved and accompanied the students on the trip were: School Sports Coordinator for Arnhem, Jeremy Robinson, who is doing an awesome job in that role; team manager, Chris Parfitt, who is one of our fabulous teachers from the high school; assistant team manager, Jacqui Harbinson; student organiser, Josh Poidimen; catering manager, Susan Stiff; first aid and driver was Brett Parfitt; general official was Flynn; and the parent representative was Glen Hillam.
Amongst the chaperones, we had Arnold Mininqwuy from Milingimbi; Birritj Warnabi from Yirrikala; Evan Warranburr from Yirrkala Homeland School, Lazarus Mamarika from Umbakumba; Lois Warramarra from Angururu; and Justin Gaykamagu from Ramingining.
School Sport NT Arnhem identified the following as the stand-out results from the team: young Jayden Djerrkura, who is just 11 years old, from the Nhulunbuy Christian College, took out gold in the 800 m and 1500 m, and silver in the 400 m and cross country; Haley Hunt, 12 years old from Gapuwiyak School, took out the gold in discus, the silver in 100 m and shot put, and the bronze in 200 m; Levi Norseworthy in the Under 16 group from Nhulunbuy High School took out the gold in cross country and the bronze 3000 m. Very best wishes to Levi Norseworthy and his family, who have left Nhulunbuy in the last couple of weeks, sadly; yet another family were his dad worked for Rio Tinto and has moved on, taking with him Levi’s mum, Leesha, who was PE teacher at the high school from many years, and little sister Zali. Good luck to the Norseworthys.
Back to the results in the athletics, we had Bobby Gaykamagu in the Under 14 age group from Ramingining School who took out gold in the long jump, silver in the 200 m and high jump, and bronze in the 100 m. Lasty, Dwayne Munungurr, Under 18 from Gapuwiyak School, took gold in the high jump and long jump and bronze in the 200 m.
Congratulations to everybody who was involved. There is a lot of organising and effort and a bit of fundraising that goes in to round up these kids and bring them into Darwin for competitions, but it is a fantastic opportunity for these kids to participate in these competitions outside of their own communities.
I would also like to talk about the Showcase Dance Competition and the involvement of the Arafura Dance Association from Nhulunbuy. Arafura Dance Association, or ADA, competed in the Showcase regional championships held in Darwin over the weekend of 4 and 5 October. It was a very tough competition, and the ADA dancers made an impression, bringing home many awards. All acts which received a high silver award or above can progress to the national level Showcase competition, which will be held at the Gold Coast in January 2015.
Graded gold medals went to: Shelbie Francis for junior tap; Sarah Cruikshank for junior ballet – where she had a second place; Ella Seaniger in junior contemporary who took out first place; Olivia Machesi in junior jazz and contemporary along with a fourth overall in the top 10; Siena Stubbs, an absolutely beautiful dancer who does pre-teen student choreography and also placed sixth in the top 10; Ineke Wallis took out Pro-Am Solo Contemporary and is also one of our dance teachers; Emily Tankard, Senior Ballet, placed fifth in the top 10 with a gold medal first place; Ineke Wallis and Milika Blackie-Smith for their duo Pro-Am hip hop and contemporary, and Milika also won a platinum gold for his hip hop dance to the tune Happy that had everybody moving to the groove.
Graded high silver medals went to: Katelyn Rika, pre-teen ballet, where she took out a first place – apart from being an incredibly talented dancer, she is also a very talented young golfer who is going places; Mahlia Snowden, pre-teen ballet, took out a second place; Leila Dunn, also in pre-teen ballet, took out a third place – this is in the silver medal awards; Carly Seaniger in the junior jazz section took out a second place in the silver medal; Billie Francis and Ella Seaniger, in duo junior jazz, took out second place in the silver medals; Carly Seaniger and Charli Campbell, took out third place in duo junior jazz; Patrick Walker – related to me – got fourth place in pre-teen contemporary dance; Demi Slatter, who is relatively new to dance and a very talented young dancer, took out the pre-teen hip hop third place; and Tayla Edwards, in the senior jazz section, took out a third place in the silver medals.
Graded gold ribbon winners included Katelyn Rika for her pre-teen lyrical and Tegan Stiff for pre-teen tap. The graded high silver ribbon winners included Mollie Graham in senior lyrical; Denver Shine in pre-teen jazz; Hayley Dunn in pre-teen lyrical; Maddy Slatter in the senior student choreography; Ashleigh Ogg in the pre-teen contemporary; Billie Francis in the junior contemporary; and Charli Campbell in junior jazz.
In the duo category, second places were won by Maddy Slatter and Hayley Dunn in the pre-teen contemporary – two extraordinarily talented dancers – and Ashleigh Ogg and Patrick Walker also in the pre-teen contemporary. Their dance was amazing as well, as was the duo from Denver Shine and Hayley Dunn in the pre-teen hip hop funk category.
In the small group category, Arafura Dance Association won first place trophies for junior contemporary. This dance was titled ‘Song of Arnhem land’ and performed by Billie Francis, Ella Seaniger, Olivia Marchesi, Sarah Cruikshank, Mahlia Snowden, Leila Dunn and Siena Stubbs. They also won a first place trophy in the senior lyrical section to the beautiful dance they did to the tune of Say Something. Performing in that was Ashleigh Ogg, Danielle Even, Denver Shine, Hayley Dunne, Ineke Wallis, Maddy Slatter, Patrick Walker and Tayla Edwards. First place trophy for senior contemporary to the beautiful Gurrumul tune Bapa and performed by Ashleigh Ogg, Danielle Even, Denver Shine, Hayley Dunn, Ineke Wallis, Maddy Slatter, Tayla Edwards, Molly Graham, Patrick Walker and Milika Blackie-Smith.
Second place trophies for small group dances were won by the junior jazz section to the well-known twenties tune, the Charleston, performed by Billy Francis, Olivia Marchese, Ella Seneger, Mahlia Snowden, Sarah Cruikshank and Teagan Stiff. The second place trophy was also taken out by the senior jazz group to the tune, Born This Way and performing that was Ashley Ogg, Danielle Even, Denver Shine, Hayley Dunn, Ineke Wallis, Maddy Slatter and Tayla Edwards. Another dancer, Danielle Yunupingu, who danced in the petite category with a contemporary solo titled ‘Sunset’ – and as part of a small lyrical group, Small Dance – also deserves a special mention for her effort.
Showcase could not have been a success without the dedication, talent and guidance the dancers received from our awesome dance teachers, including principal dance teacher, Rachael Wallis, who is so incredibly talented having spent 10 years with ADA; Ms Sharlene Cardilini, who sadly has also left our community with her husband Peter – we wish Sharlene all the very best and thanks her for her dedication and efforts – Ineke Wallis, who teaches as well; Tayla Edwards, a high school student who teaches; and Danielle Even, another high school student who teaches the little ones.
I also acknowledge the really hard working volunteers who are part of the Arafura Dance Association Committee, as well as a number of parents who worked so hard to make this happen – to coordinate signing up to the competition and the fundraising.
I pay tribute to Maria Slatter, Chris Wallis Tracey Graham, Esther Rika, Susan Stiff, Rhoda Shine, and I apologise for others I may have overlooked. Arafura Dance is an absolutely outstanding dance group. It made up almost a third of the competitors at the competition and in spite of the downturn in our community I have a feeling we will be back next year.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I started wondering whether the member for Nhulunbuy named just about everybody in town. Unfortunately next year the list might be a lot shorter. I only say that jokingly. I have been to Gove recently and it is still a great place. The people there are still very passionate about their community. I congratulate them for that, and they won one of the Tidy Town Awards the other night. Yes, the member for Nhulunbuy forgot that but it is my job to pick up on those omissions.
I would like say a few things about rural athletics. The member for Goyder and I went there on the weekend for their presentations. I thought they had gone and I was very sad that I had missed them this year, but then I found out they put them on well clear of all grand finals, which was a good idea.
I thank people like Bushy, Cameron and Joanna and all the people who make rural athletics a very special place.
The member for Nhulunbuy just mentioned the Arnhem Club at the NT championships. She said they have won the march past five years in a row. I will check with my Rural Athletics Club because they were generally the world champions in the march past.
The rural athletics is a great club. It is very much a family orientated club and you only had to go to the presentation day to see what a great group of people turned up there: families, young people, older people. It is all done in a very relaxed and humorous atmosphere which reflects the type of club it is.
I do not have the names of all those who received awards because there were many of them. I do know there were some champions and many of those champions also competed in the NT championships – which I attended as well – and we, the Rural Athletics Club, did very well.
I also should mention Roger Chin who coaches many of the children; he has been doing so for many years. He is like many of the parents; they are doing the timekeeping, measuring the distances and taking all of the equipment out.
It is that sort of club and Roger is one of those people. Roger is going down to the Pan Pacific Masters Games at the Gold Coast very soon to compete and he will be competing on behalf of the Rusty Rurals; Rural Athletics has a section for older people. If you have seen the logo for rural athletics it is a windmill; the logo for Rusty Rurals is a windmill that has sort of fallen off to one side.
I also raise an issue that the member for Goyder just mentioned to me. She went on Facebook – because she is a bit cleverer than me – and it seems there has been some dog baiting in the Hillier Road area of Howard Springs. That is a terrible thing to do to dogs. It does not matter whether the dogs next door annoy you or not, if someone is baiting dogs it is certainly not the right way to sort out the problem.
You do not realise the cruelty you do to those animals. If anyone knows about the baiting of dogs in the Howard Springs area, if you have any information, I am sure the Palmerston police would like to hear from you.
The minister today mentioned the Summernats and how wonderful it is. Well rev-heads probably love it. What disappoints me is the minister will probably put a fair bit of money into making the Summernats some great annual or biannual event in Alice Springs.
I asked for some help in regard to, not rev-heads, but dickheads, who burn a lot of rubber in my area, who I get constant complaints about, and about the misuse of ATV bikes; unfortunately there are people who misuse them. For many people they are a great recreational vehicle, but I get constant complaints about the misuse of off-road vehicles and people doing burnouts around Whitewood park and Howard River park. You only have to travel around those areas –Girraween estate as well – and look at the amount of rubber on the roads. These people are not driving in a straight line.
Some time ago I asked the minister if we could get some CCTV cameras, and he said no. He said to dob them in, which is impractical. I will forward an e-mail from one of our chief scout people in the rural area that reflects exactly what many in the community think about the behaviour of some of these people on our roads.
If there is money for Summernats, there is money to have more police in the rural area and for putting in CCTV cameras. People are fed up with that sort of behaviour; it will only take one person to be killed and all hell will break loose.
Even though the police do their best they are very limited, and part of the limitation is because the government did not go ahead with its promise to put another 120 police on the books.
As you know, we debated the inquiry into political donations last week – extremely disappointing. What made it even more disappointing today was we heard the minister talking about slush funds from Harold Nelson Holdings of the Labor Party, which he repeated. If you say that and it is what you believe, the only way to find out whether that is true – because anyone can say anything in this place – is to take it to an inquiry. The argument against the inquiry was that Foundation 51 is being examined by the Australian Electoral Commission and the Northern Territory Electoral Commission. Big deal! The issue is whether Harold Nelson Holdings is a slush fund and whether unions have passed money through it illegally. If you want to put your money where your mouth is, hold an inquiry. If you think donations are being used for unions to gain a favour, hold an inquiry. Otherwise, all we are doing is making a lot of noise and throwing insults across the table because there are no facts behind it. People are fed up with that sort of stuff.
On Julia Christensen’s radio program the other day, the member for Fong Lim said, ‘I sincerely believe it is time to have a look at the whole system and see what we can do to fix it, rather than mulling over old things, and you do know we go back 10 years’.
He wants to fix things in the future, but he does not want to mull over things that have passed. Until we know whether things were wrong in the past we do not know what to fix. The other side of that is, ‘We have something to hide and we do not want you to look in there because it might be something you should not see’. In fact, I have been told that two members of parliament received vehicles from a private donor. I do not know whether that is true or not, but if it is true it should be declared. If there is an inquiry I can put that forward for investigation. I am sure I will not receive an answer here, but that is what I was told yesterday. The person who told me certainly knows, because he has had an affiliation with the party for a long time.
I am very disappointed; there was a chance for the government to clear up all these accusations we make continually in this parliament, and yet we do not have an opportunity to hold an independent inquiry to investigate the truth.
In relation to TIO, a couple of panel beaters came to see me on Friday; they wanted to know what they could do about the sale of TIO. We will hold a public meeting at Charles Darwin University in the Mal Nairn Auditorium on Thursday 6 November at 6pm. If people want to know what is happening with TIO and want to tell the government what they think about its sale, it is an opportunity to do it.
I have asked Richard Hardy from TIO to come along. Hopefully there will also be some people from insurance brokers, panel beaters and the Chamber of Commerce there, plus, more importantly, the public, the people who use it. There is an ad on TV that says, ‘It is our TIO’. When the Chief Minister stands in here and makes a statement about selling it, he has forgotten that is how people feel about it. He can talk about the economics and selling it off, but it is regarded by many Territorians – in fact 15 000 people in 2006 – as our TIO.
While the minister is only a relatively new person on the block in the Northern Territory, I do not think he understands that. Yes, he might be sweetened by Mr Abbott’s offer to give him plenty of money and give us the economic rationalism behind changing it, but I do not think he understands the people of the Northern Territory who regard TIO – an insurance company of all things – as their TIO, our TIO, and he should not forget that.
Mrs PRICE (Stuart): Madam Speaker, I note with interest that Delia chose to raise Whitegate in adjournment rather than in Question Time. She does not want to know the truth about Whitegate.
Repeatedly, it has been explained that Whitegate is not a town camp. Whitegate is a squatter camp, not an outstation or a town camp. The three residents and the goat had water provided by Tangentyere: the organisation that looks after them.
I am glad Delia raised this because it gives me an opportunity to clarify the record ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Stuart, could you refer to her by her electorate name please.
Mrs PRICE: I am glad the member for Karama raised this as it gives me the opportunity to clarify the record and correct the mistruths being peddled by those opposite.
For the benefit of the House, this matter did not happen overnight. I have had a number of meetings with the two occupants and Lhere Artepe, the representative native title body, about Whitegate to seek their views. I have made it clear that I would not forcibly remove them. They were advised at our meetings, and later in writing, that government could no longer provide services as Whitegate is not an established or recognised community or town camp, and the government is not funded to provide services.
During our meetings, I outlined my concerns about the lack of access to services such as power and sewerage, and that water would be disconnected soon due to construction works at the nearby Ilpiye-Ilpiye town camp. The Whitegate occupants were offered public housing with considerable tenancy support, thanks to my colleague, the Minister for Housing.
I am aware certain members, especially the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Namatjira, have been critical about me and the Chief Minister in the media. I am surprised at their hypocrisy, given both members were in positions to do something about this situation, yet both did absolutely nothing.
I want to talk about Alyuen community, 100 km down the road from Alice Springs. I stand by my answer given to the House about Whitegate.
While we are talking about water, I want to talk about how I am so proud, last week, to have officially turned on the new water supply to Alyuen. Those opposite go on about Whitegate, but forget that it is a couple of sheds that have been placed on vacant Crown land. Alyuen is a recognised outstation and has suffered without a viable water supply since 2007. Labor did nothing about getting those people water despite many requests.
However, when I was elected, I was determined to fix this issue. I am proud to stand before the House today and say this government brought water to the people of Alyuen. For the past few years, Alyuen has been receiving water from a rock aquifer. However, supply was limited and topped with water trucked in from Ti Tree, Pine Hill Station or Napperby Station about 80 km away, which was not sustainable in the long term.
The $680 000 new bore will deliver a consistent water supply to the Alyuen outstation, Aileron Roadhouse and the Aileron Station homestead. This project had a number of government local organisations working together. The station owners at Aileron Station have played an integral role in the project and cleared an 80 km corridor of land for the pipeline route, including access tracks for drilling. They also purchased a backup generator for extended cloudy periods, which will be transported to the site when required. This cooperative approach will also see both the roadhouse and the station benefit.
This project shows real benefits when organisations and governments work together for the benefit of the community. Alyuen people are really thankful and want to see lots of things happening now they have water to make sure the community is engaged. They want to set up gardens and fruit trees. We are in the process of getting someone to work with them to set up and beautify their houses because they know they now have plenty of water. It is amazing how long they had to wait.
I have been with the CLP for two-and-a-half years and it took me that long to get water to Alyuen. It is a great thing that this government has done; it cares about the bush and about people who really are on the bones of their backsides and not doing anything to get attention. These are the people we want to help. We are serious about helping the bush grow and bringing economic change. People need it and if the government is seen to be caring, listening and wanting to help they will jump on board.
Another community in my electorate, Lajamanu, was one of the Tidy Town winners on Friday night. It was great for me to see Lajamanu up there with the other communities, but I want to congratulate Titjikala because they have won the Territory Tidy Towns awards two times in a row. They won it last year and they won it this year. They were so happy to receive it and said they are dedicating it to one of the old fellows – who was in the hospital when I was – who died. It was good to see the community recognised his support and his value in helping Titjikala become a vibrant community. He picked up the award for Territory Tidy Towns last year but this year he could not so they dedicated it to him.
Titjikala have asked me to visit the community because they have been hanging onto a painting for me from last year which they expect me to pick up. I congratulate that community as well for a job well done.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016