2013-08-28
Madam Speaker Purick took the Chair at 10 am.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that a leave of absence for today and tomorrow be granted to the member for Sanderson due to illness. By way of explanation to the House, the member for Sanderson was taken to hospital yesterday as a result of abdominal pains. It now appears he has an inflamed appendix and has undergone an appendectomy. As a consequence, he will be unable to attend the House today or tomorrow. Of course, whilst it is by modern standards a minor operation, I am sure all members in this House wish him well.
Members: Hear, hear!
Leave granted.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, Leader of Government Business, if you could pass our thoughts on to the member for Sanderson in due course that would be good.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Hon Neville Perkins, a previous member of the Legislative Assembly. On behalf of honourable members, I welcome you again to the Northern Territory parliament.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Year 9 students from MacKillop Catholic College accompanied by their teacher, Daniel Yore. On behalf of honourable members, I welcome to parliament and I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to expand the application of section 186C of the Criminal Code Act to adult women rather just applying to children. The amendment will ensure the offence of taking another person from the Northern Territory, or making arrangements for the same, with the intention of performing female genital mutilation is applicable to both children and adult woman.
Female genital mutilation is the intentional alteration of female genital organs including the excision, infibulation or any other mutilation of the whole or any part of the labia majora, labia minora or clitoris. There is no medical reason for performing female genital mutilation and the long-term medical consequences are significant, including infertility, childbirth complications, and maternal and infant mortality.
Female genital mutilation is a cultural practice most often undertaken in African countries and, to a lesser extent, some Middle Eastern and Asian nations. Accordingly, the criminalisation of female genital mutilation in Australia is relevant to immigrants and refugees from those nations.
Offences for female genital mutilation were introduced in the Northern Territory by the Criminal Code Amendment Act (No 2) 1995. These offences were introduced in direct response to various law reform reports, including the Family Law Council of Australia report, and were based on model laws considered by the then Standing Committee of Attorneys-General.
In March 2013, the Commonwealth government released its final report on the review of Australia’s female genital mutilation framework. The report highlighted seven recommendations, and was considered at the April 2013 meeting of the Standing Council on Law and Justice. At the meeting, the Standing Council on Law and Justice agreed that states and territories would undertake various measures to ensure uniformity and the utmost protection for woman and children from female genital mutilation. It was agreed that the Commonwealth, states and territories would amend their legislation to ensure that: (a) penalties were consistent across each jurisdiction; (b) each jurisdiction criminalised the removal of a person for the purpose of female genital mutilation; and (c) that offences would be applied extraterritorially to ensure it is an offence to perform female genital mutilation on an Australian resident, wherever the operation is performed.
The Northern Territory’s current female genital mutilation provisions under section 186B and 186C of the Criminal Code Act effectively address the majority of the agreement of the Standing Council on Law and Justice by providing for a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment and ensuring extraterritorial application through section 186B(2), which provides for the offence of female genital mutilation against a Territory resident even if the conduct occurs in another jurisdiction.
Accordingly, based on the Standing Council on Law and Justice agreement, the only area the Territory is deficient is in relation to the removal of a person from the Territory with the intention of having female genital mutilation performed, as the current provisions only provide for the removal of a child and do not cover the removal of an adult woman.
All states and territories have provisions criminalising the performance of female genital mutilation. In addition, all jurisdictions, excluding New South Wales, have criminalised the removal of a child from the jurisdiction with the intention of performing female genital mutilation. Currently, Victoria is the only state to prohibit the removal of both children and adult women from the jurisdiction with the intention of having female genital mutilation performed. However, given the agreement of the Standing Council on Law and Justice, it is anticipated that each jurisdiction will make relevant amendment to make their female genital mutilation offences in line with that agreement.
Although the World Health Organisation has suggested that female genital mutilation is mostly carried out on girls aged between infancy and 15 years, it is foreseeable that adult woman could forcibly be removed or coerced from Australia for the purposes of female genital mutilation.
The United Nations Resolution on Female Genital Mutilation urges countries to condemn all harmful practices that affect both woman and girls, and to take all necessary measures to protect them from this form of violence. On this basis, the UN resolution does not limit the practice or protections by age.
Accordingly, it is necessary to amend section 186C of the Criminal Code Act in order to protect both adult woman and girls from removal from the Northern Territory with the intention of having female genital mutilation performed.
It is not the intention of the legislation that the victim will be prosecuted under the provision, and such specific wording of the amendment will ensure that section 186C only criminalises the actions of others and not the victim.
The particulars of the bill are section 186C will be amended so that each reference to a child is replaced with the words ‘another person’, ‘person’ or ‘that person’ where applicable. This will ensure that the restriction of the offence to children only is removed and such is applicable to both girls and adult women. The wording of the amendment is also specific to clarify that the offence against a person who removes or arranges ‘another person’ to be taken from the Territory so that the section only criminalises the actions of the others, and not the victims.
A transitional provision has also been included in the bill. Section 447 will be inserted into the Criminal Code Act which will provide that an offence is only committed against the amended section 186C if all offending conduct occurs after commencement. This will ensure that there is no confusion if a defendant were to be charged ‘between dates’, where a course of conduct is alleged to have occurred both before and after the commencement.
Female genital mutilation is an unnecessary and harmful practice which will not be tolerated in the Northern Territory nor when it is afflicted on Northern Territory residents, children or adult women outside our jurisdiction.
I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
Bill presented and read a first time. Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of the Succession to the Crown (Request)(National Uniform Legislation) Bill 2013, is to provide for the parliament of the Northern Territory to formally request the Commonwealth parliament to enact legislation to change the laws of succession to the Crown throughout Australia consistent with changes to the law of Royal Succession in the United Kingdom.
This will ensure that the Sovereign of Australia and the Sovereign of the United Kingdom is the same person. The changes the Commonwealth has requested to enact are:
to end the system of male preference primogeniture whereby a young son displaces an elder daughter in the line of succession
Commonwealth legislation will fulfil Australia’s commitment to the agreement that was reached by the 16th Commonwealth Realm Heads of Government in Perth in October 2011 to work together towards a common approach to amending the rules of succession to their respective Crowns, and to work within their respective administrations to bring forward the necessary measures to enable the realms to give effect to the changes simultaneously.
The former Australian Prime Minister had previously consulted with the Premiers and Chief Ministers concerning the proposed changes. The former Northern Territory Chief Minister, Hon Paul Henderson, gave in-principle support on behalf of the Territory.
The bill joins the Northern Territory in the process agreed at the April 2013 COAG meeting for effecting the changes in Australia. Informed by the advice of Solicitors-General, COAG agreed to implement the reforms for a cooperative request and consent scheme relying on section 51(38) of the Australian Constitution.
Under the agreed scheme, each state parliament and the Northern Territory parliament is to pass request legislation for the Commonwealth to enact legislation on the matter.
Request acts have been passed in Queensland and New South Wales, and bills have been introduced in Victoria and Tasmania with the remaining states to follow shortly. The bill is based on a model developed under the auspices of COAG and contains a ‘text-based’ reference.
The specific legislation the states and territories have agreed to request the Commonwealth to enact is set out in the schedule to the bill and is, or will be, similarly set out in the request acts of the states.
By virtue of the states’ request acts the Commonwealth will only be authorised to enact the Succession to the Crown Bill the state parliaments have agreed to.
The Northern Territory’s constitutional position means it is not constitutionally necessary for the Territory to request or consent to the Commonwealth enactment. However, the government considers it desirable to ensure, so far as possible, arrangements in place in the Northern Territory mirror those in place between the Commonwealth and the states.
A request by the Territory for the Commonwealth to legislate would be consistent with general longstanding practice which ensures consistency among jurisdictions. Moreover, the Northern Territory strongly supports the reforms which remove some archaic elements of gender bias and religious discrimination from the arrangements that govern the succession of Australia’s head of state. The bill demonstrates the Territory’s support and is consistent with our active role within the federation and our aspirations towards statehood.
The matter of succession to the Crown does not fall within the specific matters for which Territory ministers have executive authority under the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act. That being so, assent to the bill, once passed, would normally need to be reserved for the pleasure of the Governor-General acting on the advice of Commonwealth ministers. Given the symbolic nature of the bill going to constitutional arrangements concerning the Crown and the Territory, I have, on behalf of the Territory, entered into a formal arrangement with the former Prime Minister specifically for the purposes of the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Regulation 4(5)(f), which explicitly extends the Northern Territory’s executive authority to the enactment of legislation which would mirror arrangements made by the states in relation to the changes to the law of royal succession. This will enable the bill, when it has passed the Northern Territory parliament, to be assented to by the Northern Territory Administrator on the advice of Territory ministers.
I turn to key provisions of the bill. The request to the Commonwealth parliament by the Northern Territory parliament is set out in clause 4 of the bill. It references the proposed Commonwealth act which is set out in the schedule. Clause 3 of the bill clarifies that the enactment of this legislation, or the subsequent Commonwealth legislation, is not intended to affect in any way the existing relationship between the sovereign and the Northern Territory. This is reiterated by clause 4 of the proposed Commonwealth act which will make similar provision in relation to the existing relationship between the sovereign and the Commonwealth, the states and the territories.
Clause 6 of the proposed Commonwealth act will provide that, in determining succession to the Crown, the gender of a person born after 28 October 2011 does not give that person, or their descendants, precedence over any other person whenever that person was born. The provision is expressed to have retrospective effect from 28 October 2016, which is the date of agreement on the reforms by the 16 Commonwealth realms and is consistent with the equivalent provision in the United Kingdom Succession to the Crown Act.
Honourable members would be aware that His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge, the newly born son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, is now third in the line of succession to the Crown. Had the Duke and Duchess instead had a daughter, a practical effect of the retrospective provision would have been to ensure that daughter would not have been displaced in the line of succession by the subsequent birth of a brother occurring before the act commenced.
Clause 7 of the proposed Commonwealth act provides that a person will not be disqualified from succeeding to the Crown or from being the monarch as a result of their marriage to a Roman Catholic. Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the proposed act makes related amendments to the Act of Settlement and the Bill of Rights.
Clause 8 and Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the proposed Commonwealth act will have the effect of:
repealing the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 to remove the requirement for any descendant of George II to obtain the monarch’s consent before marriage, otherwise the marriage is void, and
I commend this bill to honourable members and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill.
Debate adjourned.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr GILES (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The Disasters Act, the act, as it stands, provides for the establishment of the Counter Disaster Council, which is chaired by the Territory Counter Disaster Controller, the Commissioner of Police, Fire and Emergency Services, (the Territory Controller).
The act prescribes a three-tiered approach to counter disaster planning, operational control and support coordination, as well as special powers for Police, Fire and Emergency Services through the declaration of a state of emergency or state of disaster. Accordingly, the act outlines the functions and the powers of:
the Counter Disaster Council
With respect to recovery from an event, no legislation covers this phase of an emergency management and arrangements are only generally outlined in plans. As seen in other jurisdictions following bushfires in the ACT and Victoria, cyclones and floods in Queensland, earthquakes in New Zealand and the tsunami in Japan, recovery periods can extend over months, even years, and coordination of effort is of particular importance following a large-scale emergency with an extended recovery period.
Almost all recent commissions of inquiry and reviews of major events highlight coordination of government support services as an issue. The fact agency staff are keen to focus on providing services is not questioned. It is the coordinated direction of resources across government to deliver services effectively and efficiently that is often lacking in some areas.
Addressing this requires scalable governance arrangements that provide clear authority to coordinate recovery and direct agency resources to best effect. Several Australian states and overseas countries like New Zealand have legislation which incorporates the appointment of a recovery coordinator with the authorities and powers necessary to coordinate those resources.
Having clear leadership and effective partnerships across government and the private sector are crucial to business continuity and a resilient community that can maintain recovery momentum post event.
The Department of the Chief Minister, in consultation with Northern Territory Emergency Services, reviewed the Disasters Act and identified a number of recommended changes to enhance the emergency management command and control structure to lead and coordinate cross-agency recovery activities, and to ensure proper prioritisation and focus of government resources following an emergency or disaster event.
Shortly after commencing work on the amendments, the Office of Parliamentary Counsel provided advice to the Department of the Chief Minister that problems stemming from the structure and drafting of the Disasters Act were constraining their ability to attach new concepts while maintaining a coherent piece of legislation.
The Office of Parliamentary Counsel further advised that although the Disasters Act created a perception of flexibility, if it were to be examined over the context of the legislation, for example, if someone challenged and exercised the power under the act, issues would arise and it would likely not stand up to scrutiny.
As a result of this advice it was determined that to ensure legislative amendments provided the best possible platform for all phases of emergency management, rather than amend the Disasters Act it be repealed and replaced with a new bill.
The shift from amending the Disasters Act to repealing and replacing the act does not affect the policy directions behind the amendments. The amendments proposed by the Emergency Management Bill 2013 can be broadly categorised into four specific areas. First, to enable the minister to declare an emergency situation and to amend the period and extension provisions for a state of emergency; second, to establish the legislative authority and governance arrangements to coordinate recovery and direct resources across government at the conclusion of the response and initial relief phase, and continuing through the recovery phase of an emergency situation; third, to address technical issues regarding the appointment of local controllers and counter disaster council members; and fourth, to repeal the Disasters Act and replace it with the Emergency Management Act to reflect the broader scope of the legislation as proposed.
The period of a state of emergency: under Part VII of the Disasters Act, if it appears to the Administrator that the extent or severity of a disaster, or impending disaster, is beyond the resources of services in the Northern Territory at the time, he or she can declare a state of disaster which continues for seven days and may be extended.
A state of emergency can be declared by the minister for Police when satisfied that extraordinary measures are necessary for the protection of life and property, but are generally within the capacity of the Northern Territory services.
Under the Disasters Act, unless superseded by a state of disaster or revoked, a state of emergency is in force for two days and there is no ability to extend that.
The bill proposes that the state of emergency period be extended to three days and provision be included in the act to enable three-day extensions. This will allow responders to carry out their duties regarding initial relief following a catastrophic event such as a flood, where it may take a number of days for waters to recede.
A declaration of an emergency situation: under existing Northern Territory All Hazard Emergency Management Arrangements, the Territory Controller, in consultation with the Chief Executive of the Department of the Chief Minister, may declare an emergency situation; however, this has no legal or operational consequence. This bill proposes the declaration of an emergency situation be established in legislation, and the declaration will be made by the minister on advice from the Emergency Management Council (the council) having regard to the impact of an event and the subsequent redirection of substantial government resources in respect of so much of the Northern Territory that is likely to be affected by an emergency.
Additionally, the provisions of an emergency situation would automatically come into effect if a cyclone watch or warning was issued for part of the Northern Territory by the Bureau of Meteorology, or if a state of emergency or disaster was declared.
An emergency situation would provide the council, Territory Controller, and the Territory Recovery Coordinator with the authority to activate the Northern Territory All Hazard Emergency Management Arrangements, which incorporates NT recovery management arrangements which are not formally referred to in the Disasters Act. An emergency situation may also instigate the activation of an agency’s plans, depending on the event, and would have the added positive effects of emphasising the significance of the situation, focusing NT government agency efforts and heightening awareness of the gravity of the situation to both the public and the Commonwealth.
It is further proposed that an emergency situation not be time limited, enabling it to stay in force until revoked upon the completion of a recovery phase. Other than the ability to evacuate and exclude any person from a particular location - for instance, a location which may be dangerous due to damage sustained during an event - an emergency situation would not provide special powers to Police and Emergency Services.
A continuing emergency situation may require the establishment and operation of temporary emergency accommodation centres, known as evacuation centres, and/or welfare recovery centres. In some cases, these may need to be established in facilities or locations which are not owned or operated by the NT government. This bill proposes that authority to occupy these facilities during an emergency situation.
In recent years, recovery coordination and whole-of-government public information during events would have benefitted from an emergency situation declaration. A declaration would focus the efforts of all levels of government through the formal activation of the Northern Territory All Hazard Emergency Management and Information Group Arrangements, and allay common concern about who is controlling the response, which is often heard from both within and external to government.
Recent events since 2011 in the Northern Territory, where an emergency situation would have been declared if it was legislated include: flash flooding in the Edith and Cullen Rivers and associated recovery; flooding event in Palumpa and associated recovery; flooding events in Daly River and associated recovery; flooding events in East and West Arnhem Shires, long-term relief and associated recovery; and recovery activities following tropical cyclones Carlos and Grant.
It is not proposed an emergency situation declaration be automatically linked to the NT government personal hardship payments. The Treasurer would still make the decision to make payments available based on an assessment of the situation and advice from the Department of Treasury and Finance.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, could I ask you to pause so I can welcome someone?
Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Year 10 students from Casuarina Senior College. On behalf of honourable members, welcome to Parliament House. I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr GILES: It is proposed that a provision in the Disasters Act which prevents special powers of evacuation from, or preventing entry to a local government area, town, or specific area, or Aboriginal land without a declaration from the Administrator not be included in the Emergency Management Act. These powers are intended to be activated upon declaration of a state of disaster, state of emergency, or emergency situation as intended by the Administrator or minister making the declaration. Retaining this provision only creates an administrative burden as it would require that a second declaration be made by the Administrator whenever a state of disaster, state of emergency or emergency situation is declared.
The appointment of Local Controllers: there is a technical issue with the application of section 28 of the Disasters Act relating to the appointment of a local counter disaster controller in that is must be the officer in charge of a police station or a resident where no police station is situated. This bill proposes to amend this in the Emergency Management Act to include the ability for the Territory Controller to appoint a member of the police force to be a local controller for the emergency situation to provide more flexibility in this regard.
The appointment of council members: there is a technical issue with the application of section 7 of the Disasters Act regarding the appointment of counter-disaster council members. The Disasters Act allows only named persons to be appointed by the minister. This requires significant administrative work in the form of a ministerial or gazettal process whenever a member is on leave and acting arrangements are in place. Other than those positions noted in the Disasters Act, council membership is comprised of agency chief executives appointed by name. This bill proposes to amend this in the Emergency Management Act to reflect that in addition to appointing a person, appointments can also be made by position. This will enable acting chief executives to legally represent their agency as members of the council without the need for a further appointment process.
This bill further proposes procedures of emergency management bodies, including the council, which the Disaster Act does not cover. The procedures include convening a meeting, having a quorum, nominating proxies and voting.
Naming the act: the purpose of the Disasters Act is to provide for adoption of measures necessary for the protection of life and property from the effects of disasters and emergencies, and for other purposes. This bill proposes the purpose of the new act to provide for matters relating to emergency management and for related matters and be named the Emergency Management Act.
This better reflects the contemporary approaches and developments such as nationally accepted emergency management methodology regarding resilience, and an all-hazards approach to prevention, preparedness and response to all emergencies and disasters natural or otherwise. The establishment of authorities for recovery coordination proposed in the bill will, for the first time in the Northern Territory, provide a legislative framework that covers all four phases of emergency management: prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
Mr CONLAN (Tourism and Major Events): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to report to members on tourism activities and major events which contribute to the Territory’s economy, and share our thinking for future growth in these areas.
I am proud that despite the doom and gloom predictions of those opposite and the relocation of Tourism NT’s head office to Alice Springs, there has been a success story.
We maintain a significant presence in Darwin with numbers equally split between Darwin and Alice Springs, and that was always to be the case. We have not had any recruitment issues, and have a fantastic team in place working hard with our industry with no loss of business momentum throughout this period.
Industry sentiment, which we measure regularly, indicates that for the first time in a long time our industry has some positivity around its future outlook, another indicator that the relocation has had anything but a negative impact on our partners.
In this day and age, the role of an agency such as Tourism NT can be performed from almost anywhere. To suggest that the world would end with Alice Springs becoming the HQ bordered on hysteria.
The Northern Territory government is making tourism a priority, recognising it as crucial to its plans to build a bigger NT economy. The draft Tourism Vision 2020: Northern Territory’s Strategy for Growth sets out the direction for the Northern Territory tourism sector over the next seven years. It outlines the vision to grow the visitor economy in the Northern Territory to $2.2bn by 2020, as measured by overnight visitor expenditure. The strategy outlines the lack of investment and business in the usual approach taken by the previous Labor government will not deliver the turnaround required to return the sector to growth.
So you have an idea of the challenge, a survey of consumer sentiment commissioned by Tourism NT in December 2012 found more than 50% of Australians have a visit to the Northern Territory on their bucket list. One in four rated Uluru as the most iconic landmark over other national treasures, including the Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier Reef, and more than 50% of Australians like to recommend the Northern Territory as a holiday destination to family and friends.
These are tremendous statistics and something to be proud of. Yet, despite these, just 6% of Australians plan to visit the Northern Territory this year, and almost three in four Australians have never visited the Northern Territory on holiday.
We are serious about promoting the Northern Territory and converting the strong interest into visitation. Our plans are outlined in the draft strategy released for public consultation in early June. That will be finalised through Cabinet in the next few months. I will expand on these plans during this statement.
In January 2013, under the stewardship of our new Tourism Board of commissioners and new leadership team at Tourism NT, we introduced a new tourism marketing strategy for the Territory. We have shifted from a brand-driven approach to one that focuses on conversion to generate actual visitation and business to our industry through sales-focused activity.
I am pleased to report management was able to identify significant savings and efficiencies within the operation which has resulted in more resources being directed to advertising, ultimately driving business. This approach is already showing good results. For example, our NT retail campaign in partnership with Qantas, from 13 to 20 June, produced a 206% increase in passengers into the Northern Territory versus forecasts should we not have run any activity, which exceeded our expectations.
We are working more effectively and aggressively with powerful partners such as Flight Centre, Wotif and Qantas Holidays, and a significant number of international trade partners who are all keen to work with the Northern Territory because we are all about generating business for them and our product suppliers. I make particular mention of cooperative campaigns running with Flight Centre and Wotif, both of which leveraged our ‘best story NT’ campaign and delivered fantastic results. The Flight Centre campaign saw a combined increase in sales of over 60%, compared to the brand-driven campaign conducted with them last year. The year-on-year growth in the Wotif campaign was 24%, which is a fantastic result.
The Territory is a great touring destination. This has been forgotten in recent years, but we are now intent on providing Australians and international visitors the great Australian road trip experience. You can expect to see more and more promotion of the self-drive opportunities within this great Territory of ours. It is something the consumer wants, and we are listening to the consumer and the market more than ever before.
The drive campaign Adventure all the Way has completed its third wave of activity, motivating the self-drive traveller to book now. The campaign with the South Australia Tourism Commission and Britz has been a great example of a true partnership with both organisations investing heavily and promoting it through their own channels. There is a great deal to be achieved through working with South Australia and promoting, again, the Explorer Highway experience being the touring route following the Stuart Highway and celebrating the feats of John McDouall Stuart, one of our great explorers.
The Tourism NT Board has been given the task of rebuilding tourism and growing its contribution to the economy. That is why this government has approved an additional $8m in the 2013-14 budget for Tourism NT to market the Northern Territory.
An additional $3m will be spent on international trade and consumer campaigns. This will double the amount of consumers facing trade conversion-focused campaigns across 10 international markets. We will continue to invest in the remarkably strong traditional markets of the UK, Europe, United States and Japan, and have a genuine and strategic focus to the Pan Asia region with, of course, particular attention on China.
The Territory starred in The Best Jobs in the World global cooperative marketing campaign targeting the youth market. This campaign was launched at ITB, Berlin in March this year, where I was present. The competition attracted in excess of 300 000 entries all vying for jobs created by each state and the Northern Territory. The successful person is tasked with generating awareness and stories from their respective locations, with heavy emphasis on social media and imagery.
In cooperation with Tourism Australia and other states, the $4m campaign culminated in six jobs around Australia, with Tasmania, of course, being the exception. Over a six-month selection and assessment process, Allan Dixon, from Ireland, beat competition from all over the world to claim one of the best jobs in the world: the Northern Territory’s outback adventurer. Allan arrived in the NT in the second week of August in time to capture all the action of the Darwin Festival along with the Henley-on-Todd in Alice Springs.
Throughout his time in the NT, Allan will be capturing content featuring the best festivals, best destinations and the best experiences the Territory has to offer. This content will be shared across social media platforms of Tourism NT and our industry partners so we can show the world why we are one of the best holidays.
In July, we took the opportunity to utilise our runner-up candidates, Aude Mayans from France and Graham Freeman from the United States. They spent a month travelling through the Northern Territory promoting their experiences through social media. This included a Territory first, with live streaming of the famous Beer Can Regatta on the Tourism NT YouTube channel. They also shared experiences at the Camel Cup in Alice Springs, and a range of other great activities across the Top End and Red Centre on social media. It is fantastic stuff.
Both runners-up are of such high quality we intend using them wherever their skills can be best utilised, both here and in their home countries once they return. Tasmania has even snaffled Graham to do some work there once he has completed his work for us. This is another measure of the quality of characters striving to be involved with the Northern Territory.
We have expanded activity in digital media with an additional $3m for digital advertising. Market research indicates digital advertising is rapidly growing and is an increasingly important mechanism. There clearly has not been sufficient investment and interest in this issue in recent times so we have some ground to make up. Our ‘always on’ approach includes digital activity such as Google Adwords, Facebook ads, Google display ads, and retargeting ads to potential visitors who have been on Tourism NT’s website.
This will ensure the Northern Territory is seen as part of the digital searches on ‘What to do in Australia’ where, previously, we had little or no presence. Increasing our investment in these areas means consumers will be seeing messages about the Northern Territory 24 hours a day seven days a week, not just when a certain TV program is showing. That is very important - ‘always on’.
Our promotion and increased engagement through social media channels domestically and globally has seen a 190% fan growth on Instagram, from 769 users in May to 2225 users in June. There has also been an increase in Twitter users of 54%, from 435 in May to 667 users in June. There are some terrific increases over the last few months.
We believe this full-on concentrated exposure will help us address barriers consumers may have to visiting, and will encourage people to see what their back yard, the Northern Territory, has to offer.
In December 2012, a survey showed only 2% of NT operators were working effectively in digital media. In a world where digital commerce is so critically important for the consumer, this is a concerning statistic and prompted focus from Tourism NT’s board of management team.
We are bringing industry operators along with us. There is $1m allocated to an industry digital marketing activation to bring the industry into the digital world of marketing. The board has identified that digital marketing is a fundamental area in which the industry must be proficient and is integral to successfully realising the Territory’s tourism industry potential.
The program offered NT-based tourism partners a $500 rebate on search engine marketing, retargeting or Facebook advertising campaigns. A total of 57 tourism business applied for the funding in just two months. This was a sevenfold increase on the eight operators in 12 months under the cooperative advertising campaign it replaced.
We had 26 applications from accommodation providers, mostly hotels, six from attractions, 24 tour or fishing operators, and a number of others. There were 23 from Darwin, 15 from Alice Springs and the balance across the rest of the Territory.
An additional $1m has allowed us to revitalise the Tourism NT brand. A new suite of brolga logos has been designed to reinvigorate the Territory’s tourism brand. The new brolga logos, which modernise the previous monotone logo, are being used as part of the government’s new strategy to sell the Northern Territory to the rest of the world as a vibrant and exciting destination to visit.
I recently launched the new logo at the AFL game in Darwin between Port Power and the Western Bulldogs. This is an example of how we are working more effectively with other Northern Territory government agencies - a whole-of-government approach - capitalising on their projects and activities, in contrast to the silo approach under the previous government where opportunities were not being maximised from a tourism perspective.
It does not stop there. The new logo was viewed internationally, roaring around Hidden Valley on two Brad Jones racing team V8 cars and, prior to that, in Texas and, subsequently, in Townsville.
We have the coloured brolga on the coach’s box, media shirts, and media backdrops of the Melbourne Football Club. As part of the tourism sponsorship package of the Dees we can send one electronic digital marketing piece - an eDM in marketing speak - to members via direct e-mail per year. That was undertaken in June, just prior to the Darwin game. We ran a competition on their landing page which received 120 000 views, 1500 click throughs and 440 entries. A retail offer was highlighted on this page too. While the number of packages sold was not high, at around 10 passengers, this was our first stab at attempting to extract value from the Melbourne Football Club database. It also provided some learnings that the Tourism NT team has taken away in pricing points and fluctuations, and the need to convert awareness of Melbourne Football Club members into consideration of the Northern Territory.
You will also see the Northern Territory brand featured when international cricket returns to Alice Springs with the Chairman’s XI taking on England in November.
Viewers of the Darwin Cup this year would have seen the Tourism NT logo around Fannie Bay racetrack. It featured prominently during the post-race interviews on SKY. We are putting it out there; it is about putting the Northern Territory on the world map.
Considerable effort has been made to identify the brand essence of the Territory, which will underpin every activity we take to market. It is not just about the logo or a tag line; it is about the emotional connection people have with the Northern Territory. Industry was involved in this process and has some ownership of the end product. This approach will be best presented in the activities Tourism NT initiates going forward in the areas of advertising campaigns, information provision, and media and trade activities. I was proud to launch the new brand on 30 July, and am excited to see how this will be taken in the marketplace.
Almost all the Tourism NT management team took this brand on a road show down the track running workshops for our industry and other interested stakeholders. It kicked off in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Yulara. These forums provided a great opportunity for us not only to share our new brand and positioning and the work that led us to it, but, most importantly, our industry can identify how it can be part of the action and work with us in partnership. We are very aware of the importance of communicating effectively and regularly with our industry.
Tourism Vision 2020 aims to achieve the best possible economic benefit to the Northern Territory. It is not just about increasing the number of holiday visitors, although that is expected to be a fully-funded strategy that will arrest the decline and deliver an additional $325m in overnight visitor spend in the Northern Territory. More importantly, the strategy aims to improve the economic yield and flow-on effects for the wider community.
Tourism is estimated to contribute about $1.6bn, or 9.1%, in gross value added to the Northern Territory economy. That is direct and indirect contribution. It employs an estimated 16 000 people or 13.1% of the Territory’s workforce, which is no mean feat. It is important to note the new strategy will not only turn the industry around overnight, but will provide a foundation upon which to reposition the Northern Territory and promote the destination to a broader and different audience.
While the Territory has a high level of reliance on domestic tourism, international markets will become increasingly important to drive industry growth from a yield perspective. Countries with high growth potential markets include the emerging markets of China and Singapore. China is identified as the key Asian destination to driving future growth to Australia. Currently, the Northern Territory receives only a low share of Chinese visitors. It is estimated that of the 754 000 Chinese/Hong Kong visitors who arrived in Australia in 2012, the Territory’s market share was only 1.7%. However, Tourism NT has set an aggressive target of 30 000 visitors by 2020, with a value of about $46m.
Right now in China we are finalising major trade partnerships with three preferred wholesalers: CYTS, CTRIP and GZL. GZL is the wholesaler which delivers the WolfPack group for the Finke Desert Race. It was the second year this high-profile group participated in the event and we hope their involvement will continue. We need to keep a strong presence in this market in order to build for the future.
Details for the next NT China mission, NT Singapore mission, and the corresponding east coast inbound tour operator events occurring in October have been finalised. We will build and maintain our traditional international sourcing markets, including the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, and Japan.
The target for these markets is to grow them at a rate of 3% above the Tourism Forecasting Committee’s forecast average annual growth rate. This will maximise the Territory’s marketing investment by leveraging the investments made by Tourism Australia and the relevant gateway state tourism organisations.
It has been an exciting period for international airlines with the signing of the Qantas MOU and the arrival of Philippine Airlines and AirAsia.
Only a few weeks ago Tourism NT and Qantas made history by entering into the biggest airline marketing partnership deal in the Territory’s history. I signed a $7m, three-year cooperative agreement which will market the Territory as a leading tourist and event destination to the rest of the world.
The MOU runs from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2016, and relates to Qantas and QantasLink services. Other members of the Qantas group and other partners, including Jetstar, Emirates and other alliances, are considered. Cooperative marketing partnerships are the way most of our marketing is done with partners, both airlines and other trade partners. For example, Qantas may provide a special ‘sale fare’ which it will promote across its networks and Tourism NT will promote across digital and other mediums. In other words, we promote them, they promote us, and we all promote the Northern Territory.
This arrangement was driven very much by Tourism NT with it presenting Qantas with compelling reasons and opportunities in our shared source markets to deliver increased visitation to the NT. For a previous minister on the other side of the House to recently suggest on a Facebook page that Tourism NT had no role in arriving at this agreement shows a complete ignorance and lack of understanding of how commercially-based partnerships are formed and nurtured. That is hardly a surprise when one looks back at his record in the portfolio I proudly have carriage of.
This agreement with one of the world’s most respected airlines will help deliver this government’s vision of 1.7 million visitors by 2020: 400 000 more than we currently receive. Our relationship remains incredibly strong with Tourism Australia, and we will continue to partner effectively with it and other airline partners.
Philippine Airlines’ inaugural flight was welcomed into Darwin in June, connecting the Top End to an international network across Asia and North America. The resumption of AirAsia’s Bali to Darwin service strengthens our ties to the region and further positions Darwin as an important gateway to the rest of Australia.
There is more fantastic news with Malaysia Airlines once again flying between Darwin and Kuala Lumpur, bringing approximately 800 additional inbound seats per week to the Territory. The reintroduction of Malaysia Airlines offers improved connectivity across Asia into our key European markets through oneworld. For example, Malaysia Airlines’ double daily A380 service from London will connect conveniently with the Kuala Lumpur to Darwin service.
Regional Northern Territory is not forgotten. Tigerair was welcomed back to Alice Springs in April this year. Four flights per week from both Melbourne and Sydney have given visitors more choice when travelling to the Red Centre, and provided in excess of 1400 more seats into the Centre per week.
We have seen resurgence in the backpacker and youth market into the Centre following years of declining visitation.
We welcome the inaugural Jetstar flight from Sydney to Yulara in June, making one of Australia’s great icons more accessible to visitors.
These all present exciting marketing opportunities for Tourism NT, and great economic opportunities for the rest of the Territory.
We continue to identify and pursue aviation opportunities with Virgin Australia being a primary target to attract back into Central Australia, opening the Centre up to the capacity provided by the Star Alliance carrier network.
Visitors can now travel to and through the Territory by air, road, sea and rail. We have a mode of transport to suit everyone.
The Ghan, in 2012, operated 61 return services from Adelaide to Darwin. Great Southern Rail has indicated an increase in guests’ ‘take up of tours’ with significant increases in Alice Springs and Katherine.
I comment on the relationship with Voyages, the operators of Ayers Rock Resort. This government has not been frightened to engage and work with this operator to maximise the potential of the global icon of Uluru, whose visitors it so effectively services. We have entered into a number of effective marketing campaigns and activities and will continue to work closely with Voyages.
While on Uluru, this government has nominated both Grant Hunt and Tony Mayell to represent its interest on the Uluru Kata Tjuta and Kakadu National Park Boards respectively. Declining visitation to both these iconic parks has been a concern for this government and our industry for some time. It is imperative that Parks Australia’s management revisits its attitude towards visitation and tourism in general, embracing it as an avenue to improve the wellbeing of the traditional owners of both parks, and provide it with a solid revenue stream that will enable it to continue to maintain the facilities and assets within each to a standard that will attract visitors from all around the world.
There is a direct correlation between the visitor performance of these parks and the health of our tourism industry. This government does not intend to give up on driving change that will see the parks present for enjoyment of all Australians and visitors, as per the charter under which Parks Australia is meant to operate.
Under this government’s leadership in tourism, industry sentiment is improving. Overall, the tourism region outlook for the Northern Territory for the March quarter 2013 was strong with an index of 113, which is a large improvement on results over the past two years. Importantly, there has been considerable improvement in sentiment in the Centre associated with new airline services to the region.
With regard to promoting the Territory as a business as well as a leisure destination, I have spoken previously in this House about the valuable growth market of the meetings, conventions and conference sector.
I previously advised the House that Darwin has been chosen to host the National Rural Health Alliance Conference for May 2015. On the back of this, this past financial year the Northern Territory has been successful in attracting the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons, the Health Information Management Association, the Australian Head and Neck Surgeons, the Australian HIV/AIDS Society, CRANAplus Nurses, Baker IDI, and the Australian Sexual Health Conference, to name a few.
These health-related events are some of the 65 secured during this financial year for the future, generating an estimated $53.6m in expenditure. They are also a reflection of the Northern Territory focusing its attention on those areas in which it has specialist standing and profile, tropical and remote health being examples of that.
Besides the obvious tourism impact and the prestige of hosting such health-related events, there will be enormous benefit to the Northern Territory health community in having such high-profile industry events in the NT. Indeed, we hope the legacies to the broader community will far outweigh the direct tourism benefit. These events are hard won.
The business events division of Tourism NT, known as the Northern Territory Convention Bureau, or NTCB, works in conjunction with industry and government partners to bring these events to fruition. In some cases, like the recently staged Mortgage Choice conference in Alice Springs for around 600 delegates, negotiations and relationship management began in 2007, some six years ago.
Detailed bid documentation and business cases are regularly provided to client organisations looking to host their events in the Northern Territory. The NTCB designs and executes a variety of targeted famil programs which expose them to not only the fantastic destinations we have, but also the business and community leaders in the NT.
An enormous amount of work goes into delivery outcomes like this, and I congratulate Tourism NT on securing these important events for the Territory.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, it is 12 noon.
Mr CONLAN: I will continue after lunch, Madam Speaker, if that is okay.
Debate suspended.
Mr HIGGINS (Daly)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a petition not conforming with standing orders from 536 petitioners relating to permits for fishing on the Finniss River.
Madam Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
Mr CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that response to petition no 13 has been received and circulated to honourable members. The text of the response has been placed on the Legislative Assembly website. A copy of the response will be provided to the member who tabled the petition for distribution to the petitioners.
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr CONLAN (Tourism and Major Events): Madam Speaker, business events are worth approximately $51m in direct delegate expenditure in the Northern Territory: around $10m for Central Australia and $41m for the Top End according to data from the Alice Springs and Darwin Convention Centres.
Another tangible example of how much importance this government places on tourism is the Chief Minister has taken on the role of patron of the Business Events Ambassador initiative. Great work, and I congratulate him. This initiative will see a group of high-profile corporate and opinion leaders promoting the Territory nationally and internationally as a great business events destination and a great place to do business. We are not sitting idly by waiting and hoping for business to arrive on our doorstep, we are actively seeking it.
Tourism NT is working on various projects to maximise the economic benefit of the cruise sector to the Northern Territory. The draft cruise sector activation plan, nearing completion, will focus on three areas: cruise ship attraction, infrastructure and services, and experience development. The Northern Territory government agencies and other stakeholders will work together to ensure the ongoing development of a healthy and sustainable cruise environment in the Northern Territory. We are working with key cruise line partners to encourage more ships to visit Darwin. It is as simple as that. We want them to visit Darwin more often and stay longer, promoting Darwin’s ideal geographic location as the gateway to Australia for cruise ships relocating from Asia.
The Northern Territory was represented at the largest cruise ship conference in the world, Cruise Shipping Miami, in March by Tourism NT and the Darwin Port Corporation. Meetings were held with key senior decision-makers from the world’s largest cruise lines to promote Darwin as a northern gateway port to Australia.
The Department of Business, as well as working with city retailers and local service providers such as fuel, food, and provisions, is working with our tour operators to develop experiences that meet or exceed the expectations of cruise ship visitors to the Territory.
There are many organisations involved in the cruise industry. For example, the City of Darwin is engaged in ensuring a welcoming and inviting city awaits cruise ship visitors. The Darwin Port Corporation has a close eye on infrastructure and service provision on the technical aspects of cruise ship visits and, under this government, the Darwin Waterfront Corporation has embraced tourism as a key consideration in the ongoing development of that precinct.
Tourism Top End represents local tour operators, ensuring all cruise visits to Darwin and the NT are able to access quality tourism products. An important aspect of the cruise experience is the impact of hospitality elements such as retail outlets, restaurants and cafs.
It is important to the Territory’s economy that shop owners, restaurant owners and other community groups embrace the opportunities that come from visiting cruise ships and be ready to serve them, whether it is during the weekend or on a public holiday. We cannot emphasise that enough. To do otherwise puts up yet another barrier to visitation and impedes development of this important industry. An estimated $8m was spent in the Northern Territory by cruise travellers last year.
Altogether, the flow-on effects to Territory businesses are considerable. Crew spend, refuelling etcetera contributed an estimated $55.5m according to the Australian peak body, Cruise Down Under. We are looking at big money, and the opportunities are there for Territory businesses to be seized and acted upon.
Major events and local festivals play an important role moving towards realising this government’s commitment to tourism and the NT economy. The V8 Supercars - I would be surprised if anyone in this House or the Territory has not heard of them. Their fame stretches beyond the Territory, and they bring in valuable dollars to our economy. The SKYCITY Triple Crown V8 Supercars Championship is the largest event on the Northern Territory’s sporting calendar.
The V8s make a significant contribution to tourism. This event brings nearly 10 000 motor sport enthusiasts to the Territory, and drew a crowd of about 48 000 people last year. Research for Tourism NT estimated the 2012 V8 Supercars event contributed $32m, including direct and indirect contributions, to the Territory economy. Numbers were effectively line ball this year.
Spending is generated from purchasing event tickets, accommodation, food and beverages. Visitors undertake paid tours and seek out popular attractions throughout the region. Surveys have shown that 71% of attendees reside in the Northern Territory, demonstrating the strong support of Territorians for this premier event.
Let us now turn to BASSINTHEGRASS, the Territory’s very own 11-hour music festival. Young Territorians are exhilarated by the atmosphere and the spectacle of national bands performing at the Darwin Amphitheatre. BASSINTHEGRASS has rapidly become the Territory’s largest and most successful music event and has also become an established part of our suite of visitor attractions.
The Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race staged in Alice Springs on the Queen’s Birthday weekend in June each year is a huge drawcard for visitors near and far. The Finke is undoubtedly an iconic event for Central Australia, and is the premier event of the Australian Off Road Championship.
Events such as the V8 Supercars, the Finke Desert Race and BASSINTHEGRASS are only some of the Territory’s rich blend of events which help brand the Northern Territory as a destination and also encourages visitors to further investigate tourism opportunities in our region. These events provide considerable economic benefit for the Territory.
In October, the biennial World Solar Challenge will be starting from Darwin bringing over 1800 people, competitors, support staff, spectators and media not only to Darwin, but to the regional areas of the Territory as well. Regional events such as the Alice Springs Cup Carnival also make a major contribution. Based on Tourism NT research in 2011, the cup carnival injects an estimated $1.8m into the Alice Springs economy. By delivering the world first at Uluru with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra performing in October, the outer regions are also benefiting from this initiative.
The opportunities are incredible and, unfortunately, I only have time to quickly mention the emergence of the Larapinta Trail, one of only seven walks in Alice Springs which features in the Great Walks of Australia program. The program is being distributed and marketed worldwide by us, in partnership with Tourism Australia and a number of trade partners. We are working to identify and position similar high quality walking experiences in the Top End for inclusion in the next round of this program.
There is also the provision of free WiFi in the Todd Mall in Alice Springs. Visitors are now sending images and stories of their holiday in Central Australia to friends and family all over the world.
There is also provision of funding to establish world-class mountain bike trails around Alice Springs with the ultimate objective of positioning it as one of the world’s best venues for this fast-growing sport. There is also the revamp of the Masters Games and the support of the national dirt go-cart championships in Alice this September, which will bring at least 2000 people to the town for at least a week.
Apart from the events I mentioned earlier which occur in Darwin and the Top End, there is the Darwin Festival, a great event this government is keen to see grow even bigger and better. Stay tuned for that one.
Sports-based tourism is an opportunity that, once again, was not recognised by the previous government. We see significant potential in the Top End and Central Australia. Our people are working with the appropriate organisations to realise these with a whole-of-government approach.
I want to reiterate a couple of key points: Tourism NT and Qantas made history by entering into the biggest airline marketing partnership deal in the Territory’s history. I signed the $7m three-year cooperative agreement which will market the Territory as a leading tourist and event destination to the world. The MOU runs from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2016 inclusive, and relates to Qantas and QantasLink services. Other members of the Qantas group and other partners, including Jetstar, Emirates and other alliances, were also considered. Cooperative marketing partnerships are the way most of our marketing is done with partners, both airlines and trade partners. This agreement is not only significant, but is also with one of the world’s most respected airlines and will help deliver this government’s vision of 1.7 million visitors by 2020 – 400 000 more than we currently receive.
Our relationship with Voyages, operators of Ayers Rock resort: this government has not been frightened of engaging and working with this operator to maximise the potential of the global icon of Uluru, whose visitors it so effectively services. We have entered into a number of effective marketing campaigns and activities and will continue to work closely with Voyages.
Declining visitation to both icon parks - Uluru and Kakadu - has been of great concern for this government and our industry for some time. It is imperative Parks Australia management revisit its attitude towards visitation and tourism in general and embrace it as an avenue to improve the wellbeing of the traditional owners of both parks, and provide it with a solid revenue stream enabling it to continue to maintain these facilities and assets to a standard which will attract visitors from all over the world. There is a direct correlation between visitor performance of these parks and the health of our tourism industry. Make no mistake, this government does not intend to give up on driving change which will see the parks present for the enjoyment of all Australians and visitors, as per the charter under which Parks Australia is meant to operate.
I also reiterate the importance of the cruise sector and its impact related directly to hospitality elements such as retail outlets, restaurants and cafs. It is important to the Territory’s economy that shop owners, restaurant owners, and other community groups embrace the opportunities which can come from visiting cruise ships and be ready to serve them, whether it is during the weekend or on public holidays. To do otherwise, as I said, puts up yet another barrier to visitation and impedes development of this very important industry which was worth $8m last year, and altogether $55.5m according to the Australian peak body, Cruise Down Under. In the hospitality and retail side of things, that is an $8m injection into the Darwin community.
In closing, over the coming year our new Tourist Commission will be reviewing its Northern Territory’s event portfolio and resourcing to identify opportunities to increase the strategic performance of key events and drivers for tourism and economic benefit.
I am pleased to have had the opportunity to provide insight on how tourism and major events can benefit the Territory’s economy now and into the future.
Madam Speaker, I commend the statement to the House and move that the statement be noted.
Mr VOWLES (Johnston): Madam Speaker, I welcome this ministerial statement from the Minister for Tourism and Major Events in relation to the Territory’s economy. Clearly, the minister did not write it, but I thank him nonetheless.
The Country Liberal Party went to the election 12 months ago with a three-hub economy. Quoting from Terry Mills’ five-point action plan, point three says:
Essentially, it has taken the County Liberals government a year to bring on a statement about tourism. This is the first ministerial statement we have had about one of the three hubs of your economy and, given it has taken a year, I get the feeling it remains the poor cousin of the three-hub economy. This is the case given the minister the Country Liberal Party has selected to have carriage of the portfolio. The member for Drysdale would make an excellent and better Minister for Tourism and Major Events.
It is interesting the minister has led with his chin, going straight to the Tourism headquarters forced move to Alice Springs. You do not get it minister. It was revealed during estimates that the Country Liberal Party had no report, no study, no investigation, and no survey, and no evidence was provided as to why spending almost $1m of taxpayers’ money would bring more tourists to the Northern Territory.
It is a bad government which makes decisions with no evidence or expert advice. It is a bad government which spends almost $1m at the whim of a minister, meanwhile cutting much-needed services to Territorians. I give him credit though, he must have some serious clout in the Cabinet room to gain an extra $8m for Tourism. Perhaps the Minister for Education could get some tips and apply for more money to save all the teachers who will be sacked. I remember a Country Liberal Party commitment that no frontline positions would go, including - wait for it – teachers.
Perhaps the member for Greatorex is getting ready for a tilt at the top job. We are hearing many things coming out of your camp, and the loudest is the member for Greatorex and the member for Braitling, the failed and future candidate for Lingiari, are not the best of buddies. We have even heard he has done some numbers.
Mr Conlan: Who has done numbers? I have?
Mr VOWLES: The member for Greatorex has done some numbers.
I welcome the initiatives the minister and the government are attempting, but to say the previous Labor government did nothing is untrue and is misleading the House.
Talking to local tourism operators recently - something the minister does not do too often - they said it was a very tough July and August, one of the toughest they remember. In Darwin and Alice Springs, tourism operators and retailers are telling me the increase in antisocial behaviour, mainly drunks on our streets, is worse than ever and something needs to be done about it.
They will tell you how drunks are affecting their ability to conduct business, costing much-needed revenue in tough times. Top End tourism retail and accommodation providers are still coming to terms with the lost revenue from cancellation of the Arafura Games - the games you cancelled. You did not know what portfolio they were under in estimates, getting it wrong - under Sport or Major Events. That proved, once again, he is not up to his role as a minister of the Crown.
Even the Chamber of Commerce commented that the games brought over $10m to the Northern Territory economy in tough times. Tourism operators are asking when they will return. The minister for Tourism and the current Chief Minister have said, on numerous occasions, they will be back, but when? I call on the minister and the Chief Minister to update the House and tell Territorians when the games will be held, how much work has been done, what is the focus, and how much it will cost.
The missing minister said parks are important, yet did not attend the Alice Springs Parks Tourism and Recreation Masterplan forum on 13 August. He did not attend to hear local tourism operators and interested local people discuss Northern Territory parks, or the elders’ discussions on the region’s national park, Uluru-Kata Tjuta. Parks and Wildlife staff were there, tourism staff were there, but no minister. There was not even a brief visit to welcome people.
I was there. I travelled to Alice Springs and spoke to local operators and others. I learnt from the two-hour forum. My presence was well-received and your non-attendance, minister, was mentioned a few times, both during and after the forum. The missing minister, even in his own town, did not bother to turn up. Tourism and sports people told me if there is no free beer or wine, you will not see him.
I welcome the government’s focus on the Chinese and Hong Kong markets. This is an important and growing market for Australian tourism and should be a focus for Northern Territory tourism. On my calculation of Tourism Australia statistics, there were just over 800 000 visitors from those regions in 2012, not 754 000. I am happy to be wrong; I am going off figures on the website. In dollar terms, it equates to $5bn into the Australian economy. We need to tap into this market, increase awareness, and capture a high percentage of the tourism market coming to the Northern Territory from these regions.
I mention my disappointment that the Melbourne Football Club deal has seen only 10 people come to the Territory directly from the once-a-year electronic digital marketing strategy. The deal was worth around $300 000 - we do not have an exact figure. Taking it off the $300 000 figure, that equates to $30 000 of taxpayers’ money per person. Ten people came to the Territory from a $300 000 deal with the Melbourne Football Club. Let us hope there is more to report on that when the AFL season finishes.
I mention the new $4m eight-match deal with NRL team Parramatta. I am sure this falls under Major Events. What is it with you mob and deals with crap performing teams in 2013? First it was Melbourne Football Club and now Parramatta Eels. The last deal the previous government had for an NRL match to be played in Darwin cost $285 000. With this government, one year later, taxpayers are forking out $500 000 per match.
Last week I called on the minister, in an adjournment, to inform me and Territorians if there are any extra costs associated with the deal. The CEO of the Eels stated in a media interview the deal does not include accommodation and travel. My guesstimate, with my experience in this area, is it will be an extra $1m minimum over the four years. There are also extra costs like match day preparation, which is around $100 000, and the extra cost of accommodation and travel for the match officials on the day - the referees. They are all legitimate questions the minister should answer, and I am still waiting.
This is not even an up-to-date statement. Most statements are written by the department then sent to the fifth floor for advisors to add political points and check where they can attack or discredit us. I doubt that happened this time. You mentioned the Best Job in the World global campaign NT winner will be arriving in the first two weeks of August, just in time to capture all the action of the great Henley-on-Todd. It is now the end of August and those events have finished. I look forward to the minister updating the House on Allan’s adventures, what he has been up to, where, what markets he is attracting, and what research has come out of him winning the Best Jobs in the World competition.
You mentioned a previous minister on this side of the House, his comments on a social media site, and how they show his:
The minister you mentioned is none other than the member for Casuarina, who is very proud of his time as Tourism minister. We are talking about one of the hardest-working politicians and ministers this House has seen. We are talking about a Tourism minister to whom you should show some respect. Do your job properly before you throw insults at previous ministers like the member for Casuarina! He is the minister who brought Jetstar to the Territory …
Mr Conlan: Kon?
Mr VOWLES: That is right, member for Greatorex, Minister for Tourism and Major Events, he brought Jetstar to the Northern Territory to base a hub here. They are still here ...
Mr Conlan: What a great success that deal has been too, Kon. Fabulous!
Mr VOWLES: History will tell how you performed ...
Mr Conlan: How many aircraft were we going to get? How many are you supposed to have? Seven. How many do you have now?
Mr VOWLES: History will judge your performance …
Mr Conlan: You have four and they are pulling one out. Great success story, Kon.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr VOWLES: Madam Speaker, I will keep going regardless of the insults the member for Greatorex is throwing our way. All your personal attacks and insults mean nothing to us because we have respect for your role as a minister of the Crown. That is what your role should be ...
Mr Conlan interjecting.
Mr VOWLES: I am not listening to you, mate. In your role as a minister of the Crown there are certain responsibilities you need to have in how you act and perform. We expect bigger things from our elected members.
The minister did not make any mention …
Mr Conlan: Like turning up to parliament. I certainly expect our members of parliament to turn up. He is digging a hole for himself.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Greatorex, cease interjecting.
Mr VOWLES: I was rudely interrupted by the member for Greatorex again. He expects us to listen, we give him respect as a minister of the Crown and listen, but when it is our time to talk he shows no respect whatsoever. History will tell how you perform, minister. That is what we are waiting for.
The minister did not mention visits to the regions since taking on the Tourism portfolio. Given it has been a year, I am sure the minister has visited the important tourism regions of Arnhem, Nhulunbuy, Tennant Creek, Tiwi and the Katherine region. The minister may like to correct me if I am wrong in assuming he has not visited these places. Has he performed, has he visited each place? I am happy for you to get back to me with that information, minister.
In all, it is a flimsy lazy statement: a puff piece to waste time. It is the same type of statement the now minister for Tourism would rant and rave like a lunatic about, but that is what I expect from this minister and this government. This is the CLP’s way of running government. It is the worst year of government in Northern Territory history, and that is coming from your rank and file members who are only too happy to speak to me now.
Mr Westra van Holthe interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr VOWLES: What was your area again? Was it Katherine somewhere? Nobody sees you there either.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Johnston, stick to your speech.
Mr VOWLES: In finishing, I take this opportunity to once again thank the public servants for their efforts. They continue to work tirelessly to promote and sell our beautiful Northern Territory to the rest of the world. Thank you.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, it is good to see the more things change the more they stay the same. Goodness me, what a response from the member opposite who is, presumably, the shadow minister for Tourism.
What I gleaned from that was if the Labor government was in power in the Northern Territory, it would continue to cut tourism as it did for so many years under the former regime. That is the message I received from the shadow minister. He is not really interested in tourism and would cut tourism - they have priors for that - but I will come back to that.
I support this statement on tourism and its growing contribution to the Northern Territory economy. I will come back to that in a moment as well.
Tourism has an impact across the Northern Territory from city to country, from townships to communities, with the impact and benefit to the local community depending on the size of the event and, importantly, the size of the spend in promoting that event.
Growing the Territory’s tourism industry is a priority for the Country Liberals government. This government has already implemented a number of new initiatives and marketing strategies since August last year in an effort to turn around the 11 years of decline in visitation numbers under the previous Labor government. I am not surprised by the downturn in tourism over those 11 years given the former government’s disinterest in the tourism sector.
As the opposition spokesman on Tourism for a time, I had the dubious pleasure of shadowing the former Labor minister, Malarndirri McCarthy. That was eye-opening to say the least. As I went through successive budget papers under the former government, I saw the budget for Tourism reduced from around 2004 through to the time they lost government, and thank goodness they did. In checking the figures - I spoke about this in estimates last year - the last Labor budget for tourism in the NT would have required an injection of approximately $6m just to keep track with the gnawing effect of inflation between those years.
From 2004 through to the time they lost government, the tourism budget should have been $6m more than it was just to keep track with inflation. Over those years, Labor cut tourism by stealth. In fact, during the period of the Labor government the budget for tourism was halved from 1.8% of the entire appropriation for the Northern Territory to 0.9% of appropriation. It shows what priority the former government placed on tourism. Not only did the spend not keep track with inflation, but while everything else was being attended to - all the social programs - the real amount for tourism fell by half.
That did not happen under just one minister. I am unsure when minister Malarndirri McCarthy took over the reins, but it happened over a number of years and a number of ministers. For the member for Johnston to talk up the member for Casuarina upsets me slightly, because he was the Minister for Tourism while the budget over those years - 2004 to 2012 - was being cut.
If you believe, member for Johnston, it is okay to talk up ministers who cut the budget for tourism - I will leave that with you. I hope to God you are never minister for Tourism in the Northern Territory.
Thank goodness the Territory has a new government that understands the importance of tourism in contributing to our economy, its contribution to jobs and, more specifically, jobs in the bush. Unlike the former Labor government, we would rather be spending money to support growth of the private sector which employs local people.
The difference between our two governments is stark: we support jobs growth through this approach whilst Labor - minister McCarthy, at the time - essentially said Labor would support social programs over jobs growth. That is effectively what she said during estimates. Again, the differences between our two governments could not be starker.
This government has already implemented a number of initiatives and marketing strategies since August in an effort to turn around the 11 years of malaise in tourism under Labor. Our local tourism industry clearly endorses the new initiatives, which is important. Perhaps the member for Johnston has not heard what the local tourism industry is saying. It is reflected by industry sentiment, which we measure regularly, indicating for the first time in a long time the industry is seeing positivity in the outlook for the future. For 11 years the industry did not have a positive outlook. Finally, the Country Liberals government has a positive outlook for tourism.
The Northern Territory government is making tourism a priority, recognising it is crucial to its plans to build a bigger NT economy. The government’s Tourism Vision 2020: Northern Territory’s Strategy for Growth, once finalised, will set the direction for the Northern Territory tourism sector for the next seven years.
While it is ambitious, with an aim to grow the visitor economy in the Northern Territory to $2.2bn by 2020, as measured by overnight visitor expenditure, it is achievable because this government is getting behind our tourism industry. This government believes the Territory’s destinations, events, and experiences are unique. London Mayor, Boris Johnson, in his recent visit to Australia, declared that the Northern Territory is a great, undiscovered global treasure. While he acknowledged the Territory is mind-bogglingly beautiful, he was surprised by how few people he encountered at some of the sites he visited. The Country Liberals government has some news for Mayor Johnson; that is about to change.
Our new tourism marketing strategy for the Territory shifts from a brand-driven approach to one that will generate actual visitation and business to our industry through sales-focused activity. What this government’s Tourism Vision 2020 also does is highlight the lack of investment and lacklustre business-as-usual approach taken by the previous ALP government, which did not deliver the turnaround required to return the sector to growth. Our new approach is already showing good results.
I might be biased, and this will come as no surprise to members, but I firmly believe the Katherine region is the best by far. The Katherine region is the jewel in the crown of Territory tourism opportunities. The Katherine region really epitomises the words ‘adventure Territory’. Katherine is the ideal location to explore our iconic parks and reserves. It is located only a couple of hours from Kakadu, Litchfield and Gregory National Parks, not to mention sitting on the doorstep of the stunning Nitmiluk, or Katherine Gorge, National Park. The Katherine region also has a packed calendar of popular and quirky festivals and events which range from the Walking with Spirits festival, the Barunga Festival, the Katherine Show, the Katherine Festival and the Katherine Country Music Muster. There are also annual fishing competitions which draw competitors from across Australia.
For a small regional centre, Katherine punches well above its weight. It has five art galleries, as well as the Katherine Museum; an abundance of safe swimming spots in the region, including the Hot Springs, Mataranka thermal pools, Bitter Springs to the south and Edith Falls to the north. There are the Cutta Cutta Caves, a series of limestone caverns dating back 500 million years with sparkling columns, pillars and flowstones of calcite crystal; or the Springvale Homestead, the oldest original homestead in the Territory, built in 1879 by Alfred Giles - no relation to the Chief Minister - the former overland telegraph linesman.
Further out from Katherine there are magnificent fishing and camping spots to explore, such as Borroloola and the gulf region. Across the Roper River there is the Elsey National Park area, Mataranka Thermal Pools, the majestic scenery of the Victoria River region, Pine Creek and the Douglas Daly River areas. The Katherine region also boasts the Goldrush Festival, rodeos and campdrafts, and an annual canoe marathon. In short, if Katherine is not on your bucket list, it should be.
There is a terrific tourism operator in the Katherine region. I am proud to say Nitmiluk Tours has been accepted into the 2013 Indigenous Tourism Champions Program. This is a national program facilitated by Tourism Australia and Indigenous Business Australia, with the Northern Territory component managed and supported by the Indigenous Tourism Development Unit within the Commonwealth department of Regional Development. In order to be accepted into this program, Nitmiluk Tours had to demonstrate it is a reliable business partner with strong industry knowledge and is able to make a valuable contribution to wholesale and inbound programs.
As a member of the Indigenous Tourism Champions Program, Nitmiluk Tours can now participate in Aboriginal tourism marketing initiatives which include: trade events; road shows; trade trading initiatives; online marketing; print marketing and other marketing initiatives. Congratulations are in order for the hard-working staff and operators at Nitmiluk Tours.
While visitors can travel to and through the Territory by air, road, sea and rail, road and rail are the most used modes of transport in reaching Katherine. To this end, it is important for tourism operators in the Katherine region to learn the new tourism strategy will see greater promotion of self-drive opportunities.
The Territory is a great touring destination and it is terrific to hear that in 2012 the Ghan operated 61 return services from Adelaide to Darwin and Great Southern Rail indicated an increase in guests utilising local tours in Alice Springs and Katherine.
As Minister for Mines and Energy, it would be remiss of me not to mention a growing and fascinating area of tourism: fossicking. Striking it rich in the Northern Territory has been made easy with a dedicated fossicking website launched earlier this year. The website provides all the information needed to start discovering the Territory’s hidden gems. Fossicking is also a great way to see some of our best outback landscapes, and you still have the opportunity to possibly strike it rich. The fossicking website lists dedicated fossicking areas in the Northern Territory where you do not need permission to fossick, and provides information on how to obtain consent to access private land. Fossickers can also access information to help make their holiday enjoyable and safe. It even offers a few tips and tricks on how to pan for gold. While fossickers often spend lengthy periods of time in the Territory hoping to strike it rich, at the same time they are contributing to the local economy.
Prior to the election last year, the Country Liberals contract with Katherine committed to strengthening the local economy, in part with a renewed focus on tourism opportunities for the region. The first step was the establishment of a Tourism Commission with real input from industry representatives. Last year, the Tourism minister stated the Tourism Commission would bring new rigour and a depth of expertise to grow our tourism sector, and it certainly has done that.
The Country Liberals government is determined to see the Territory marketed as one product: the Northern Territory. Airnorth CEO, Michael Bridge, was appointed commission chair, and long-time Territory tourism administrator, Tony Mayell, was made CEO. This was the first step in returning tourism to the powerhouse industry it once was. When I say ‘once was’ I mean before 2001 when the ALP got their hands on it and ran it dry.
Whilst I acknowledge the new tourism strategy will not turn the industry around overnight, it will provide a solid foundation upon which we can reposition the Territory and promote this destination to a broader and different audience.
I refer to the Tourism minister’s closing reference that our new Tourist Commission will be reviewing the NT's event portfolio to identify additional opportunities. As local member for Katherine, I would like to put Katherine forward as the ideal location for the Territory’s next big thing.
Tourism minister, I have a few suggestions for you. Why not a BASSINTHEGRASS style event, obviously located at the breathtaking Katherine Gorge ...
Mr Conlan: Bass in the Gorge.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Yes, Bass in the Gorge.
Mr Conlan: There you go; got a name for it.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Yes, you have a name.
Mr Elferink: Groove at the Gorge.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: There you go; some great suggestions. I will not be as crass as the previous Labor Chief Minister, who insisted it be named after him.
A member: Hendo’s Big Day Out!
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: We could have Kicking it up in Katherine, or Getting Down in K-town. Perhaps we will leave that one out.
It is these types of fora where we can tease out ideas and come up with the next best thing for regional parts of the Northern Territory, Katherine included.
There is not the infrastructure to hold a round of V8s in Katherine, but there is room for motor sports events to be a part of a greater Northern Territory motor sport calendar. Motor sport might not look like tourism, but it is because it attracts huge numbers of people from across the country who all contribute to the economy of the Northern Territory.
Surely, cyclists from around the world would clamour to participate in a road race where there are no mountains. How is that for an idea? Cycling tourism in the Northern Territory - a road race from Darwin to Katherine, out to the gorge, and back again. How would that be? What an ideal opportunity. They are the innovative ideas happening with the Country Liberals government as we drive new ideas into tourism.
However, on a serious note, I applaud Tourism NT for its hard work and excellent results in a short space of time to reposition the Northern Territory to become a preferred holiday destination for Territorians, Australians and people worldwide.
Tourism is vitally important to many Katherine region businesses which stand to benefit from the increased visitation numbers stemming from the Tourism Vision 2020 strategy initiatives. Tourism is vitally important to all businesses in the Northern Territory, because they will also benefit from the strategies involved in the new vision.
I commend the businesses involved in tourism in the Northern Territory. There are a great many rich, diverse businesses, those that have been around for a long time and those that have been around for a short time, each and every one passionate about tourism in the Northern Territory. They employ thousands of people and continue to contribute significantly to the growth of the Northern Territory.
It is this government’s responsibility, one adopted willingly, to grow the tourism sector in the Northern Territory. Unlike the suggestions coming from the member for Johnston, we are willing to invest in growing the tourism sector of the Northern Territory. That is what good, responsible, sensible, business-driven governments do, and is the stark difference between the conservative side of politics and Labor. They would prefer to keep people on welfare, deny them the opportunities existing for real jobs in a real economy, and deny them the same opportunities as everyone else.
I commend this great statement. I thank the Minister for Tourism and Major Events for bringing it on, and look forward to seeing these initiatives roll out towards 2020. Thank you.
Mr HIGGINS (Daly): Madam Speaker, I rise to speak about this, having had my own tourism business and been involved in it for the last 15 years …
Ms Anderson: And the best place, too!
Mr HIGGINS: Yes, a good place to stay. I thank the minister, whose speech shows renewed enthusiasm in this sector. To put it into perspective, something that annoyed me under the previous government was where we came from to be where we are today. I spent four years on the Katherine Region Tourist Association. I used to spend hours driving from the Daly to attend those meetings. I was chairman for two years, and the member for Katherine was vice chairman. The previous government took funding from us thinking, ‘Tourism is not important, we will build an Office of the Chief Minister in Katherine’. That is what happened.
Their compensation was, ‘We will build a big information bay for you’. Everyone at the Daly said, ‘We do not want an information bay, we want signs to tell people how to get to the Daly’. No, they built an information bay at the Daly. How many signs are on it today? This information bay cost over $1m. I cannot remember the exact figure, but at the moment there are three signs on it belonging to the Daly River Mango Farm. There are no other signs; however, there is room for about 50 different businesses.
They then said, ‘We will set up an information bay at the train museum at Adelaide River’. I am yet to see that happen. There is a train museum there, but it is not an information bureau for tourists.
I am glad the minister brought up the logo and how we are revitalising it - the push into the digital media area and the funding and rebates available to people. I would like to talk about that also.
I received something from TripAdvisor which is an example of the digital media and communications we can get involved in. People need to realise this government has supported that in regional areas. It may not seem important, but joining with Telstra and putting more towers in regional areas means tourists not only have access to telephone communication, they also have access to applications like TripAdvisor, etcetera. Most people plan their trip while they are at one location. They arrive at the Daly River and say, ‘Where will we go next?’ and they use the Internet to do this.
This morning we had questions about health and mentioned Borroloola. These things are also important. The clinic at Borroloola, like the one at Daly, has a big increase in the number of people when tourists are there. It is good to see this government considers that. You are helping tourism by increasing health facilities. Many of the grey nomads who come to the Daly and travel around the Territory have health issues and are entitled to access reasonable health services. I am glad to see the minister is looking into that.
The tourism industry is worth $1.6bn to the economy, not a small amount of money. When we consider spending money on tourism and health, we need to put that into perspective.
The Asian market was mentioned, and the minister mentioned a resurgence in the Centre. There seems to be a resurgence - this may be anecdotal - in the Asian market in the Top End. Until this year, I have never had e-mails from Asian backpackers seeking work. This year, at least 50% of the applications sent to my business have come from Asian backpackers. This is a direct result of improvements in the airline industry and so forth.
I am glad about the take-up of tours in Katherine. For me, that prompted another area where this government is spending a lot of time and effort: the introduction of SeaLink ferries. Not only will SeaLink ferries provide a terrific service to Mandorah and the Tiwi Islands, but they also have extensive tourism experience. They do runs to Magnetic Island and Kangaroo Island. This company will facilitate the development of our tourism industry in the Northern Territory to a great extent.
We mentioned conferences, but one that did not come up was the uranium conference, where I gave a presentation on behalf of the Minister for Mines and Energy. This was an international conference held in Darwin earlier this year. Our emphasis on this type of tourism is very good.
The minister mentioned bike tracks but did not mention four-wheel drives. There has been much emphasis in the past on four-wheel drive tracks, but we need to look at this outside the regional areas of Alice Springs and Darwin.
If we look at Indigenous people in my area - the NLC needs to be pushed to ensure they enable Indigenous people to get involved in tourism. There are some fantastic tourism sites west of the Daly. Unless the land councils give people access to them, Indigenous people will miss out on that opportunity. I want to see us continue our work in that area.
The other thing not mentioned in this statement, which I will point out to the minister is the smaller end of the market - workers. We talk about the fly-in fly-outs, but many of these workers want to catch a barramundi and that type of thing. That area of the market needs to be promoted more.
Sports-based tourism initiatives are excellent. Tourists with caravans are also interested in sport. Not only do they want to watch it on television, they also want to attend it. They see it as a great opportunity to drive their car almost to where the event is being held, get out of their car and walk to it. They attend sporting events here they would not in their own state.
I thank the minister for bringing this statement on. Tourism Vision 2020 is not just a measure of eyesight; it is a measure of foresight by this government.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I will talk about the rural area and tourism. It is sometimes forgotten because it is close to Darwin and does not have big highlights like Yulara and Nitmiluk. However, the area should be promoted, especially to people here for a short stay. I take up what the member for Daly said about the fly-in fly-out market.
Howard Springs will have 3500 people living at the INPEX village. There is certainly scope for tourist operators to work closely with INPEX. Workers will have a day off a week, and when people are not working they will look for something to do. At the moment, I am working with some of the businesses at Howard Springs to ensure those workers can use facilities at the Howard Springs shopping centre and pub, especially on Sundays when there is a good band playing. On a bigger scale, there is room for the tourist industry to be at the INPEX village giving workers an opportunity to look around the Territory. Even if limited to one day, they can find many things in the rural area.
I will give you a few examples. Naturally, we have Howard Springs. I have been there several times during the Dry Season. I was there about two weeks ago and the number of people now using the Howard Springs Nature Park is fantastic. Yes, many people are disappointed you cannot swim in the springs, but the rock pools - hopefully the shade will go up this year - have made that a family-friendly park. With the adventure playground, one of the best adventure playgrounds you will see, the park is starting to get back to what it originally was. It is a good, easy drive for people from Darwin to enjoy the park, not just because it has some rock pools and an adventure playground, but it also has the springs, wildlife, a walking path through the rainforest, and you can see the barramundi and turtles and feed them. It has a sign saying not to feed bread to the barra, but people go down just to watch or feed them.
We have a variety of places people sometimes forget. We have Leaders Creek, but the biggest problem with Leaders Creek is access; the road takes a fair pounding. One issue if we are to promote tourism, especially off the bitumen, is to have more work done on some of our roads, especially maintaining them. The Leaders Creek road gets corrugated. It is even more corrugated now some of the extractive mining trucks use that area. I hope the issue regarding the state of the road, which I have had some discussion with the CEO of Infrastructure about, can be sorted out. It is a place not only for locals, but also for quite a number of tourists because it gives access through the Adelaide River out to the Vernon Islands, a very popular spot for fishing.
Further out we have Windows on the Wetlands, sometimes called Windows on the Weedland because it overlooks a far bit of mimosa, but it is still a great place to go. Aboriginal people are involved in the management of that facility and you can see the history of Aboriginal people in the area as well as industries in the area.
The history of rice is interesting because it is a well-known part of the history of the Northern Territory. Many people down south remember Humpty Doo for the rice failure, but it is still an important part of our tourism industry today.
We have three Jumping Crocodile tours. I told the minister there is too much advertising on that section of road. It is a beautiful part of the wetlands as you come into Adelaide River and the advertising signs should be amalgamated because the over-advertising spoils the look.
I also raise the issue, not necessarily with the minister for Tourism but the ministers for Transport or Infrastructure - whoever looks after highways - that the amount of advertising on our highways, considering they are major tourist routes, is over the top. If anyone comes into Humpty Doo, there is a plethora of higgledy-piggledy signs not all to do with tourism. That is not a good image when it comes to tourism. I have nothing against advertising, but if we are to have signage it has to be professional and in certain places. There are issues with the highway through the Litchfield area into the 11 Mile. Signs have gone up here, there and everywhere.
Tourists need to know where to go, where the tourist spots are, where they can have their cars repaired, etcetera, but we could be more professional in that area. At the moment, anyone who wants to put up a sign can, regardless of permission.
An area I hope the government will look at - to some extent the previous government did although I would have liked more - is our World War II heritage. It took a long time for the airstrip at Strauss to be saved. I give credit where it is due; at that time Nigel Scullion helped me get some money through the Howard government. The intention of the previous government department was to run the highway straight through Strauss Airstrip. They said to take it around the airstrip would cost a certain amount of money, which was provided. We now have an airstrip which has been, more or less, kept intact. There have been some improvements in the bush to show where the planes parked. There is some good signage giving the history of the airstrip. It is a popular spot for people to stop.
However, let us not forget we have Sattler, Hughes, Livingstone, and quite a few facilities in the rural area, including Howard Springs, which was built during the war to supply water to the abattoir. It may have even have supplied water to Darwin at one stage. It was also a place for recreation.
There are many other airstrips and we need to do more work preserving and promoting them. There are also plenty in the member for Katherine’s area. We should make an effort to conserve those areas and promote them as unique in Australia.
The Strauss family from America visited and were so pleased to see we had maintained some of these places. We saw action in the Northern Territory. Many airstrips were built in America as part of the World War II effort but have been bulldozed and built on. There is an opportunity to use this as an important part of our heritage and our tourism industry.
We have the Territory Wildlife Park, which is going through a renaissance; it has had various versions. One important thing the government can do - I did not see it in this year’s budget - is finish the Litchfield loop road. One of the reasons the Wildlife Park has lost some of its customers is because the road does not extend through to Litchfield National Park. The Litchfield loop road would go through Batchelor, Litchfield National Park, and come back via the wildlife park, so people have a circular route they can do in a day. That would be a great advantage to places like the Wildlife Park.
There should be a public bus to the Territory Wildlife Park. A public bus goes to Crocodylus Park so why not have a public bus to the wildlife park, which would also be important for local people as part of public transport to Palmerston and Darwin.
We also have Berry Springs which, like Howard Springs, from time to time has issues about water quality and crocodiles. It also is a very popular area. It is a great place for people to go and, at this time of year, there are large numbers of people.
We have to remember tourism is not just about the formal tourists; let us not forget the rellies arriving in the Dry Season. There is a ‘relly’ industry we should not forget. Come the weekend, let us pack grandma and grandpa in the car and go down to Litchfield or Howard Springs. That is part of our tourism industry which, sometimes, is not recognised as much as it should be.
People go to Barden Lake where there is skiing, water slides and a restaurant. A private developer provides a service. The Noonamah Rodeo is on a few times each year. Tumbling Waters is a great place as well. Many small tourist places do not get a mention when we are dealing with the bigger picture.
There are also several industries - Reidy’s Lures and the Didgeridoo Hut, both important parts of our tourism industry. We have local wetlands. People go to Kakadu for bird watching and other things. I can show you around McMinns Lagoon, which is run by the McMinns Lagoon Landcare Group. If you want to go bird watching, that is the place to go - birds all year round. It retains water all year round, and is well managed by a voluntary group of people. It is an excellent area, but how many people would have been there? Very few probably. If you go down McMinns Drive, turn left at Orion Way, through Dreamtime Drive, you will find a beautiful spot. It is a surprise.
Girraween Lagoon belongs to the Churcher Estate. People might know 80 blocks are to be developed around there – one of the best lagoons you will ever see. It never runs out of crystal clear water. It is just a beautiful place. Many people have used it for fun water-skiing. That will probably disappear over time because as people move into the area they will not want the noise. There will still be opportunities for boating, and it is fantastic spot.
We should not forget Knuckey Lagoon. The minister for Planning has, through the Planning Commission, put out ideas about developing that area. If you want a jewel in the crown five minutes from Karama Shopping Centre, go to Knuckey Lagoon. How many people would know that exists? One end of it is full of magpie geese right now. The lagoon near the highway dries up sometimes but, generally speaking, there is water in it. If you go further in, you will see pelicans, more magpie geese, ducks, and other birds. One of the options mentioned for the Knuckey Lagoon area is to develop it in a sensitive way, because people who only have half a day may be able to look at it.
Within an hour’s reach of Darwin there are opportunities for tourism we need to develop. There are many little spots where people can enjoy themselves without having to travel long distances. I am not against people going to Litchfield and Kakadu, but sometimes people do not have the opportunity and there is a great number of really top sites very close to Darwin.
The member for Daly spoke about fly-in fly-out workers. We are getting 2500 American soldiers, another part of the market we should be pushing for as much as the 3500 people living at INPEX.
The member for Daly mentioned the mobile phone service. I laugh when I hear that, because the member for Fong Lim, when he was the minister, spoke about having mobile phone connections all the way down the highway. I would love that to happen. I also hope to have radio all the way down the main highway, because it is annoying when, halfway between Mataranka and Larrimah, you lose the ABC. You can always put Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and Troy Cassar-Daley on, but sometimes it is nice to hear the news. If you want to develop tourism, develop communication. People from Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide or elsewhere want to hear the news. They are used to listening to the news and catching up. You cannot hear it in parts of the Northern Territory, and the government could push the ABC to expand broadcasting areas throughout the Northern Territory.
The member for Fong Lim said, ‘I promise we will get mobile phone coverage all the way down the highway’. It does not exist but we should keep trying, not just from a safety point of view, but so the grey nomads can call family to tell them they are safe. It is important and gives people security when they are on the road.
Perhaps the government could conduct a survey to obtain information from caravaners about the cost of staying in the Territory. Earlier this year I received an e-mail from someone saying people were turning away from Darwin because of the cost of caravan sites. I am unsure if that is true, but with the shortage of accommodation - the caravan park near me is chockers. I do not know if there has been an increase in prices, but the person who sent me the e-mail - they sent it to others too - said people are turning off at Katherine and going home.
The way to find out is for the department to conduct a survey of costs compared to other places. Are we pricing ourselves out of the market? Are people increasing prices because there is a shortage of accommodation?
FreeSpirit Resort, a great park, had permission to remove many caravan sites and replace them with cabins. I am unsure if the cabin market has taken over from caravans.
I want to talk about remote communities. They are not always discussed in the bigger issues, but I went through Limmen National Park and to Roper Bar along the Roper Highway. I saw the state of the road. I spoke to the owners of Limmen fishing camp and the owners of Lorella Springs. They are small tourist facilities that attract the locals and interstate people via the Savannah Way.
I do not mind the Savannah Way being dusty, gravelly and a bit corrugated, but parts of it were dangerous. They are death traps for travellers unaware of some of the problems on that road. It is like many things, we want that outback experience, but we also want to ensure people are safe on roads we are promoting. The Savannah Way is very popular. When I went to Redback copper mine - I was travelling towards the Queensland border - there were a number of caravans and four-wheel drives coming the opposite way. It is a popular route and gives people an alternative way into the Territory without using the Stuart Highway.
Another area the minister did not cover was promotion of our national parks. I have been to a fair number of national parks - I try to visit national parks every year. I love the Gregory National Park, it is fantastic. It is probably one of the slowest trips I have had. It took me seven hours to travel 74 km on the Bullita Stock Route. It is a fantastic part of the world; it is just great.
Keep River National Park is a wonderful place. You can do that in a short time, or you can take a long time. Flora River National Park is another fantastic place. If we are to develop regional economies, because these parks generally - Keep River is different - have joint management plans. Part of the plan - and the reason I support them - was to develop opportunities for Indigenous people who had involvement in the parks. We have to promote that area.
People are looking for the Indigenous experience as well. You could spend ages in Gregory National Park if it could be developed more, but there are only limited facilities within the park at present. It is new, it is growing, but it is a wonderful park.
It is the same with Limmen National Park. The minister is asking for people to comment on the park. I only went to one of the lost cities as I did not have enough time. One day I will get in the car and not be in a hurry. What a beautiful park. The lost city is magnificent in the morning. It is a stunning part of the Territory. Our parks are sometimes not promoted as well. That is not a criticism because we have our major parks, but some of the little parks are wonderful; they are little jewels in the crown in the Northern Territory.
Thank you for the statement, minister. It gave me an opportunity to say, yes, there is a big picture but there is also a smaller picture, especially in the Darwin rural area in relation to World War II sites, which we can do more with and promote. People want to see what happened in the Northern Territory in the past.
I hope the minister will take some of my comments on board and see where we go from there.
Ms ANDERSON (Regional Development): Madam Speaker, I thank the Minister for Tourism and Major Events for bringing this statement to the House and giving us the opportunity to talk about the beautiful parts of the country we come from. I also want to challenge the member for Katherine.
The minister for Tourism is not just the minister for Tourism when he travels all over the country talking up the Northern Territory and speaking about the beauty and strength we have in the Northern Territory. We have given him an Aboriginal name Jabba. He carries that tag with him when he goes overseas, fully supported by his Aboriginal colleagues and Aboriginal people in Central Australia. He does not just go there as the minister for Tourism, but ‘go Jabba’.
Mr Conlan: Jabba Nardi.
Ms ANDERSON: Yes, ‘go Jabba Nardi’, and sell tourism worldwide, Australia-wide, and encourage people to visit the Northern Territory. You have certainly done that. You are the greatest ambassador the Territory can have to sell the beautiful gorges and places we enjoy in our electorates in the Northern Territory.
In Question Time today the Treasurer said you do not have business opportunities for only one minister in this government. We are a conservative group of people who come up with ideas all the time.
The member for Katherine mentioned an idea while contributing to the statement. He said what he hoped, as a government, we can do in Katherine. That is fantastic, member for Katherine, to come up with something for the Katherine region and give ideas to this government to ensure we support the regions.
The Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister have gone outside the Northern Territory, outside Australia, to talk up the Northern Territory, not just for economic opportunities, but tourism opportunities, and the employment opportunities our ministers are bringing into the Northern Territory. It gives us all an opportunity to ensure we partner with our Asian neighbours, with other people around the country and outside Australia, and this is important to this government.
We will not be like Labor for 11 years and do nothing but run down tourism, economic opportunities, have no input, and give out bits and pieces of welfare money. ‘You are right, stay there. You can live in a park but we will not encourage any kind of tourism opportunity for you. We will come back in four years’ time and you can vote for us again. Okay, no worries.’ Off they go. Nothing ever grows. It is all whingeing and whining and talking down the Territory. There were no real opportunities in 11 years.
If you look at the first 20-odd years under a Country Liberal Party, the railway was built from South Australia into the Northern Territory, the biggest project ever, creating tourism opportunities. What did they do? Nothing! They have no runs on the board. If they were playing a game of footy or softball it would be 20:0.
I want to speak about the beautiful things I have in my electorate and I challenge the member for Katherine. I live in the beautiful part of the Northern Territory with Uluru and the Olgas, Kings Canyon, Glen Helen, Dalhousie Springs, clear skies, beautiful winters and beautiful summers. We all need to harness the beauty and richness we see in the Northern Territory, and we have seen that.
I want to pick up on something the member for Nelson said about Indigenous tourism. This statement is about tourism. Indigenous tourism sits within my portfolio under Regional Development. We do not have Greek tourism or Chinese tourism. Aboriginal tourism sits under Regional Development.
This statement is about tourism in the Northern Territory. We want to encourage every person in Australia, and outside Australia, to come to the Northern Territory and share the beauty, wealth and knowledge we have here. At the same time, we are working to address the social issues we have because we need tourists to feel safe when they come to the Northern Territory.
The Chief Minister, as minister for Police, is putting extra police officers on the beat and on the road in all our regions. That is because we are working together, ensuring economic opportunities in the building the future revolution in the Northern Territory - the statement the Chief Minister made last week. We are also addressing antisocial behaviour in the Northern Territory with our mandatory rehabilitation legislation.
We are taking the Northern Territory seriously. We want people outside the Northern Territory to enjoy the great beauty we have. These beautiful valleys and gorges go from South Australia right up to the top, where the member for Arafura comes from. I have been to the Tiwi Islands many times. What a beautiful part of the world you come from, Francis. The member for Stuart comes from a beautiful part of the desert as well. The areas of Yuendumu, Nyirripi, Kalkarindji, Dagaragu and Ti Tree have beautiful places we all enjoy. This government is serious and has a commitment.
The minister is committed to being the voice of the Territory. He has taken our product out of the Northern Territory to Australia and around the world saying, ‘This is our product; it is beautiful. Come to the Northern Territory.’
You can see that by the amount of money we put into tourism, something you did not see under the Labor Party for 11 years. They downgraded and denigrated tourism in the 11 years they had control of it. It is a shame. It will not take this government long to put the good news back into tourism.
We say thank you to the businesses supporting tourism. In particular, I say thank you to Liz and Cal at the Transport Hall of Fame. I said to the Chief Minister, after representing him there last weekend, ‘What tourism opportunities that brings for us - absolutely fantastic’. We will be looking at that. Thanks again, Cal and Liz. They brought in thousands of people last weekend from all around the country with the old trucks and cars, things of the past we bring back to the future for new tourism opportunities.
Madam Speaker, I take this opportunity to thank the minister. Keep going with the flag of Jabba.
Mr KURRUPUWU (Arafura): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on tourism and thank him for providing an overview of infrastructure assets across the Territory.
I would like to focus on my electorate of Arafura. The Tiwi Islands host several major events, including the AFL Tiwi Islands Grand Final and the Tiwi Islands Grand Final art sales in April, which brings together Tiwi Design Aboriginal Corporation, Jilamara Arts and Crafts, and Munupi Arts. The Tiwi Island Milimika Festival is in August.
Domestic marketing specifically undertaken by Tourism NT for the Arafura electorate includes the Tiwi football grand final with The Age, and plans for a freelance in-flight magazine contributor to also attend; retail travel agent exposure for tourism businesses contracted through trade such as Flight Centre to cover the arts scene and tie with the new ferry service; and Aussie Adventure’s Tiwi Island tours are being sold by Territory Discoveries. Territory Discoveries filled one charter each day of the World Indigenous Network Conference held in Darwin in May. This was a great result and provided valuable income for residents and the Tiwi Art Centre.
The Tiwi have received regular visits from two specialty cruise ships, Orion and Coral Princess, at Wurrumiyanga and Pularumpi. Wurrumiyanga has the Patakajiyali Museum and two art centres, Tiwi Design and Ngaruwanajirri, which are well received by visitors.
The Caledonia Sky, through APT, is considering cultural themed tours between Papua New Guinea and Darwin in September 2015, which will also visit Arnhem Land and coastal communities. This opportunity is being advanced by Tourism NT and Lirrwi Yolngu Tourism.
The Department of Regional Development has also been working to support tourism development by assisting to help identify and support individual micro and small business tourism. Recently, the Tiwi people, through the Tiwi Land Council, purchased Melville Island Lodge, which will hold 16 guests, and the Johnston River Camp Melville Island fishing lodges from a private operator and have established Tiwi Island Adventure.
The former Bathurst Island Lodge, known as Barra Base, has also been re-established as a commercial operation aimed at the guided fishing market. They plan to deliver further experiences to expand their market and increase night stays and their shoulder season. This presents good opportunities for other Tiwi businesses and individuals.
The Melville Island Lodge in Milikapiti has been working with the local art centre, Jilamara Arts and Craft, to provide cultural activities, including art centre tours and art activities. This has resulted in a fruitful partnership that has seen good art sales and client satisfaction.
The Milikapiti Sports and Recreation Association has also expressed interest to, jointly with Jilamara Arts and Craft, promote a weekend tourism product through a partnership providing cultural experiences. The aim is for the club, together with the Jilamara art centre, to develop a weekend short stay product.
This will include artist talks, small art workshops, and cultural walks. It will be aimed at the Indigenous art market and speciality groups interested in cultural experiences.
At Pirlangimpi, Clearwater, the former Munupi Fishing Lodge, has expressed interest in receiving support to strengthen their Indigenous cultural product to offer this experience on a more regular basis.
Kakadu has featured across numerous domestic cooperative campaigns over the last 12 months, including conversion-led activity with Wotif, Qantas Holidays and Flight Centre.
Tourism NT also partnered with Inspiring Journeys in August 2012 on the Catch a Kakadu Cab campaign that positioned Kakadu as Australia’s premier destination for world-class nature and cultural activities. Kakadu is also one of the locations included in Tourism NT’s new brand shoot, which is collecting photographic and video images for the new Do the NT campaign being launched in the next few months.
The Garig Gunak Barlu National Park at Cobourg Peninsula will benefit from work being undertaken by government around the new parks master plan. This master plan will identify tourism and recreational opportunities in the park.
I make a special point of thanking this government for delivering on its promises for the Tiwis regarding investing in transport infrastructure and services. I am excited the new Tiwi ferry service will start on 19 September 2013, maybe earlier, especially after the failed Labor ferry service. The previous ferry service was not viable due to Labor’s botched handling. Their process was rushed, the service started too late for Dry Season traffic with the wrong type of boat: one with a single hull, no air conditioning, and no toilet facilities, which led to the ferry being poorly utilised. The cost to the taxpayer was $10 000 per return journey, which made the service unsustainable and unaffordable.
The Country Liberals government committed to Tiwi Islanders, and to me, that the situation would be fixed. Not long after taking government, the Chief Minister, as Minister for Transport, called for expressions of interest to run the service. It is great to see a national ferry company, SeaLink, has been selected to operate an extended 12-month trial. SeaLink NT is a new, local Northern Territory subsidiary of the SeaLink Travel Group, a substantial national tourism operator providing tourism and ferry services in three states across Australia, with more than 20 vessels and 600 staff.
The service will cater for up to 160 passengers travelling at one time and is expected to commence on 19 September, providing services for regular travel between Darwin and the Tiwi Islands. The service will use the Pacific Cat 22.5 m twin-hull vessel with three air-conditioned levels and toilets. Tickets will cost $80 adult return, $60 concession return, and $40 return for children. Kids under four are free.
This is a great result for my electorate and, more importantly, for growing our local tourism industry and local Tiwi economy, providing jobs for my people. I have been told SeaLink will be looking to employ local Tiwi, and also promoting Tiwi tourism businesses through their national and international markets. This is a fantastic opportunity to promote all the great things Tiwi people do in the world: our outstanding fishing, great local fishing lodges and tours you can do on the Tiwis, our arts and culture, our achievements and our history.
Also on the subject of transport, this government is investing in fixing the barge landing with a $2m commitment to constructing a hardstand area, and storage and refrigeration areas at Nguiu. This supports local business being able to have more supplies delivered by barge throughout the day. More storage areas and facilities to keep goods cold will provide a better choice of fresh products for locals as well as supporting tourism businesses.
You cannot trust Labor but you can trust the Country Liberals, and you can trust me to deliver real outcomes for the Tiwi people. I thank the Chief Minister for keeping his word to the Tiwi people and making this happen. I also thank the Department of Transport, Tiwi Shire Council, Tiwi Land Council and SeaLink. I look forward to being on the first ferry to the Tiwis.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement.
Ms LEE (Arnhem): Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to comment on the Tourism minister’s statement regarding the contribution by Tourism and Major Events to the Northern Territory economy.
Tourism Vision 2020 aims to achieve the best possible benefit for the Territory. I would like to make a number of points on that. In my electorate of Arnhem, there are many opportunities for tourism. Some are world-class and, so far, remain off the radar for tourism investment. Indigenous cultural and ecotourism could make a substantial contribution to the Northern Territory economy if we work in that direction and invest in the communities as well.
Investment opportunities for community-based activities in major regional tourism ventures are an aspect of business life in the Northern Territory that need to be acted upon immediately. We need to support the establishment and further development of our regional economy in land-based ecotourism, marine ecotourism, game fishing, game hunting, cultural heritage festivals and media documentaries. There are many cultural festivals in remote areas. The successful Garma Festival in the member for Nhulunbuy’s electorate - close to mine, but many people in my electorate are affiliated with it. You also have the Barunga community cultural festival. Ngukurr has its own Yugul Mangi cultural festival every year, and there is the Walamun festival in Bulman.
When visitors come to Australia they want to experience, firsthand, Indigenous culture. What better way than by engaging with the cultural festivals. All these things could make a huge difference to the Northern Territory tourism economy and Aboriginal people in remote areas. There needs to be a formal focus on my electorate as there is so much there that tourists from around the world would love to experience.
China is a key Asian country to bring future growth to Australia. Currently, the Northern Territory only receives a small share of Chinese visitors. I would like to see further marketing of attractions targeted at the ever-expanding Asian market.
Infrastructure and business development of our potential tourism assets in Arnhem, and other regions across the Northern Territory as a whole, need an injection of funds and promotional focus. This will open up the vast potential in the electorate of Arnhem and elsewhere in the Northern Territory. It also reflects back to the man with the hat and moustache. Since I was one-year old - 28 years - what has he done? Has he opened up opportunities for people in the bush to have their own business?
Mr Westra van Holthe: Has he improved the lives of Aboriginal people? No!
Ms LEE: No! Warren Snowdon has not improved one life out there. He has not made anything easier for us. We are still fighting an uphill battle which will probably never be won during his time in parliament. Look at the 25 years and see the poverty we still live in, in remote areas. I was subject to that. I grew up in that atmosphere. It is no different for any other bush member in this House. Where are our opportunities? Under the Howard government, and a few other conservatives, we had farms, we had piggeries, we had our own chicken egg collecting company and would weigh them, clean them, box them and send them to the next community. We no longer have that; there are no jobs there. There are no job opportunities or business opportunities for people in the bush.
Arnhem Land has one of the biggest tourism attractions in the world, hidden away in bushland. It has never been discovered, never been given the opportunity to be seen. People are crying out to have their own business, especially Indigenous people; they are getting smarter. They would like to have their own tourism business, but where is the support? They were asking for it 11 years ago; they are still asking for it.
This government has taken notice of that and is looking in that direction. However, we cannot do it with Warren Snowdon doing nothing for Indigenous people. He will continue to do that because that is all he is; a man with a hat and a mo. That would constitute a long-term view that would play a major role in establishing grassroots, regionally-based economies. I do not know if Warren understands that.
If tourism in my electorate is to be taken seriously, it needs serious long-term policy to explore and develop the natural and cultural heritage experience for the national and international tourism market. I have not seen a tourism policy from the federal Labor government. I do not even know what exists, especially for Indigenous people in the Northern Territory. That is left in the NLC bucket for all I know. Where is the opportunity for Indigenous people in the NLC? This needs to come to the light of day; everybody needs to know about this. It has been hidden for years.
Aboriginal people have been held down for years. They deserve the same opportunities as any other Australian. Look at other states, they are doing pretty well. Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory are 10 steps behind other states. In Western Australia, Indigenous people are booming, especially when it comes to mining, tourism, and everything else. They have their own stuff going on, yet in the Northern Territory we are behind.
I would like to see a change. I hope in my time I move this place enough to change direction; that we work together to improve Indigenous people’s lives in tourism, business, and everything else. With Labor, they were left and told to do nothing; given jobs to work for the dole. How do they provide for their families? How will their kids go to school from crowded houses?
The former Labor government failed them. Warren Snowdon failed them dramatically. These communities are in the same state they were 20 years ago with no big improvement. A few houses have been knocked down because of asbestos, but have there been repairs or disposal of asbestos from communities? Things are left at the rubbish dump like everywhere else. People still go to the dump to throw things out, get whatever from broken down cars or look for spare parts. It is appalling. The conditions these people live in are appalling. We talk about lack of education; it is a lack of education. We concentrated so much in one area we forgot the little areas. These are the people I represent in this House.
The electorate of Arnhem contains some of the most iconic assets in Australia. The Northern Territory economy, as a whole, can only expand and develop, and further develop economic opportunities for Indigenous people if we look in that direction and invest, which the Country Liberals are, unlike the Labor Party.
I would like to see and be part of the formal process which enables further development of what is already happening, including more professional development of our cultural festivals that make up part of the calendar of events - to market in a coordinated way and then establish many more tourism business in the Northern Territory.
I thank the Tourism minister for bringing this statement to the House and I commend it. As a team, we are all here to support you and ensure we do the best for the bush, the regional areas - I cannot leave the member for Nelson out of this or Mr Deputy Speaker - also the towns and regional centres. We all need to work towards that to make this a better place. Thank you very much.
Mr CONLAN (Tourism and Major Events): Mr Deputy Speaker, there was only one contribution by the opposition. He made a song and dance that it has taken so long to make a statement, yet there was only one contribution.
I refer the opposition to the Tourism NT corporate website, not the consumer site. This is from the tourismnt.com.au website under the drop down box About Us. I will read it to you:
It is pretty clear, ‘market the Northern Territory as a desirable visitor destination’ and ‘responsible for marketing and influencing the development of the Northern Territory as a competitive visitor destination for the continuing benefit of Territorians’.
In other words, it is to promote the Northern Territory as a desirable visitor destination above all others and get bums on seats. Tourism NT is a marketing agency, not unlike any other marketing agency around the world. It is a marketing agency with financial appropriation from the Northern Territory government, but, nevertheless, it is a marketing agency.
I highlight that the member for Katherine spoke twice as long as the shadow minister. He spoke for 26 minutes or so, and the member for Johnston spoke for about 12 minutes. It was not much of a contribution, and was full of personal insults, slander and diminishing other peoples’ abilities.
Additional expenditure of $8m, he said, is pretty good but, at the same time, said we are not doing a good job. The shadow minister for Tourism does not believe $54m is good enough. He said it is the first statement. Yes, it may be the first statement, but that is because we looked back on the last eight months or so since constitution of the Tourism Commission to say what we have achieved. There are about 5400 words in that statement saying what we have achieved.
There is no point bringing a statement on earlier unless we can say, ‘Look what we have done!’ The government has spoken on other areas of tourism, including the bill we brought to the House which is now the Tourism NT Act 2012, and a number of questions and policy statements relating to tourism when speaking on other portfolios.
Tourism has been front and centre in this Chamber for the last 36 or so days of sittings since the election.
What else did he say? The missing minister - I am unsure what that was about. He said it was about free beer and wine and if there is none I do not show up. I will not go there. He is trying to have a personal stab. This is where he goes and is all he has. I suppose he learnt to sledge from padding up and playing cricket. That is all there is: talk about empty vessels. Nevertheless, all he can talk about is free beer and wine. If there is a poker machine and a fist fight to be had, you would probably see the member for Johnston because …
Mr Vowles: Seventeen minutes about tourism.
Mr CONLAN: … he would not be too far away, perhaps a TAB just around the corner as well. He spoke about the Melbourne Football Club ...
Mr Vowles: Clarky - Darren Clarke.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: A bit of order, member for Johnston, please.
Mr CONLAN: I can see where it is going. It is bordering on lunacy. The contribution by the member for Johnston was pathetic. Again, he is keen to charge through and have a fight.
Michael, you need to start addressing this stuff because it is becoming ridiculous - the personal slander …
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Digression from subject. I ask that the member for Greatorex talks about tourism.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, if you could continue.
Mr CONLAN: It is a response to some of the interjections and the feeble, pathetic and puerile contribution by the member for Johnston. All he wants to do is pick fights, whether it is a verbal fight, a sledging fight, or, as we know - it has been well documented - a physical fight.
Mr VOWLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I ask that the member for Greatorex withdraws that last comment about me fighting and my history.
Mr Conlan: I do not know what he is talking about, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Mr VOWLES: Hansard will tell you. Standing Order 67: digression from subject. The minister for Tourism has 14 minutes to talk about tourism. I hope he will, and expect him to, speak about tourism.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: The minister has 14 minutes.
Mr CONLAN: I spent an hour introducing the statement; I spoke on tourism for one hour. He had 30 minutes and spoke for 12. The inconsistencies - it is a Swiss cheese argument, is it not?
Mr Vowles: How dare you have a crack at me …
Mr CONLAN: For 12 minutes he spoke on tourism; he had 30 and now is upset because I am highlighting some of his issues.
Mr Vowles: When you were drunk at the Brolga Awards and asked somebody …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Johnston, can we cease the interjections please. Standing Order 51. Thank you. Minister.
Mr CONLAN: He spoke about the Melbourne Football Club and how ridiculous that deal is, what a shame job and all this sort of stuff. The Melbourne Football Club arrangement with Tourism NT is not just about the quantity of visitation, it is also about quality. It is about generating a business case for the club with the highest propensity to travel to the Northern Territory. Victoria is our biggest domestic market, just edging out New South Wales. It is an important domestic market for us. Melbourne Football Club has a database of 35 000 members with more corporate and industry leaders than any other club.
Visitation, at this stage, is lower than we had hoped, but the business events and the propensity for business or conferencing to occur in the Northern Territory is real and worth, potentially, millions of dollars. There are several on the horizon we are working very hard to secure. The Melbourne Football Club sponsorship arrangement is still relevant and critical to that brand conversion in the business events sector.
The member for Johnston suggested paying respect to Kon because he brought Jetstar here – the Jetstar hub of seven aircraft. We are now down to four aircraft. It will be three shortly, and money needs to change hands between the Qantas Group and the Northern Territory government as a result of the failure of that deal. The deal has failed, but the member for Johnston says I should pay respect to the member for Casuarina, the former Minister for Tourism, because of his great success in attracting Jetstar to the Northern Territory. I do not think so.
This is also the minister who, in 2003, unilaterally called for a ban on scenic flights over Katherine Gorge. This is the Tourism minister and tourism space we were in under the previous government and the member for Casuarina, who we should be bowing to and offering respect to, the great member for Casuarina, the former Minister for Tourism. Yes, let us ban scenic flights over Katherine Gorge. Is that not a great tourism initiative? Fabulous stuff!
However, the Golden Globe goes to the Leader of the Opposition. Let me read something from a radio interview of 25 July, a little over four weeks ago. I will read it the other way round, because the tail end is quite funny in itself. The crux of the interview, and the frightening part, is at the beginning, but let us read it the other way round. This is an interview between Greg someone on Mix FM breakfast, the announcer I would say. He is having a light-hearted piece with the Leader of the Opposition and says, ‘So tell us, are we over-governed?’ Delia Lawrie, ‘Yes’. ‘A bikini or a one piece?’ ‘A one piece in the hot tub.’ Reporter, ‘The last movie you saw in a cinema?’ ‘Oh God, please pass.’ ‘Well, the last movie you saw?’ ‘Well, look …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. What does this have to do with the tourism statement?
Mr Conlan: You will see shortly.
Mr Vowles: I know where this is going. You can see from the previous questions it is pretty lighthearted.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Can we have some order and cease the interjections.
Mr CONLAN: So we have, ‘Oh God.’ ‘Please, seriously, what is the last movie you ever saw?’ Delia Lawrie, ‘The last big movie was probably Avatar’. If we go back to the beginning, the first question asked by Greg on Mix FM of the Leader of the Opposition was, ‘What is the best thing about the Northern Territory?’ She said, ‘The people’. ‘What is the worst thing about the Northern Territory?’ She said, ‘Tourists’. He said, ‘You can’t say that’. The Leader of the Opposition replied, ‘Well, a bunch of southerners’.
This is the attitude of the Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition said the worst thing about the Northern Territory is tourists.
Mr VOWLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 67: digression from subject. Discussing bikinis and other things, come on, you are wasting time.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is not a point of order, let the minister continue. Thank you, member for Johnston. You are already on a warning from this morning so …
Mr Vowles: No, I am not.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I will give you one now for interjecting. Thank you.
Mr Vowles: He should get one for the crap he is talking!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! The member opposite used a word beneath this House and should withdraw it.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: What word was that?
Mr Vowles: Crap.
Mr ELFERINK: Yes, that is the one.
Mr VOWLES: I withdraw crap. Thank you.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Johnston.
Mr CONLAN: That says it all. The Leader of the Opposition thinks the worst thing about the Northern Territory is tourists. It is breathtaking to think the Leader of the Opposition would, on public radio, say the best thing is the people the worst the tourists. When questioned about that she said, ‘Well, a bunch of southerners’.
Is it little wonder in the last 10 years we have seen the industry haemorrhage? Talk about turning a big ship around. The mess left by the previous government, and the member for Casuarina, was followed swiftly by the member for Arnhem, Malarndirri McCarthy.
Delia hates tourists, we have established that. I suppose that is a reflection on the entire opposition.
Like his leader, the member for Johnston does not seem to like the industry too much. He did not contribute anything when it came to the new brand position of the Northern Territory. He did not have anything to say about the digital marketing activation plan or the vital and important cruise sector, made no contribution to aviation or where he thought that sat, and the importance of aviation to the tourism industry. He had nothing to say about the Qantas MOU, nothing about conventions; he was conspicuous in his silence. Remarkable! Yet, he is quite happy to level personal insults at members opposite, sit there and sledge, thinks he is padded up out in the middle ready to have a go; that is his style. However, when it comes to putting some meat on the bone …
Mr VOWLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I place on the record that I did not throw any personal insults. I hope that is removed from the Hansard.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is not a point of order.
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! If the member feels aggrieved he knows full well he can offer a personal explanation to the House.
Mr CONLAN: I believe the Hansard will demonstrate otherwise. It was a litany of personal insults directed at me, and the rest, with no contribution about tourism. It was just how bad, evil, horrible, nasty, and drunk - one of the comments you made - everyone is on this side of the House. That was the 12-minute contribution from the shadow minister for Tourism. The Minister for Mines and Energy’s contribution was twice as long as the shadow minister for Tourism’s.
The record will speak for itself. Where he sits on tourism is exposed for the world to see. As I said, there was no comment on the new brand position, on digital marketing, on cruises, aviation, and nothing on the business conventions or business tourism which is our conferencing and convention market. It is a real shame.
The good news will kill this guy. He does not like it because he cannot get his head around it. We need to take it as a compliment when the member for Johnston, the shadow minister for Tourism, starts levelling personal insults at whichever member it might be at the time. We will know we are on the right track because we are doing something good and he has no response except to level personal insults.
He has made one response in this parliament speaking to one bill. He has made a 12-minute response to a 5400-word statement. I do not know when he last asked a question on tourism, sport, or anything. His silence is conspicuous. He may as well take the time off, like the member for Barkly, because you would not know he was here. Talk about not living up to the expectations of his constituents of Johnston …
Mr Vowles: You are out of your depth.
Mr CONLAN: All he can do is interject and level insults; that is his modus operandi. So be it, more fool him …
Mr Vowles: You are out of your depth. The member for Drysdale would make a 10 times better minister than you.
Mr CONLAN: Mr Deputy Speaker, I believe we have highlighted and articulated …
Mr Vowles: Worst thing your deceitful government said …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Johnston, I remind you of Standing Order 51, please. Thank you. Could you have a read? Thank you. Minister.
Mr CONLAN: Thank you, I have said enough on that topic.
Member for Katherine, the ‘Get Down’ and ‘K-Town’ ideas were pretty good. We have a strong focus when it comes to re-resourcing Katherine for tourism.
There was a fair bit from the member for Nelson to which I would like to respond. I only have a couple of minutes …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I move an extension of time, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr CONLAN: The member for Nelson raised some good points today and I want to address some of them.
You mentioned the Territory Wildlife Park - I am trying to track through some of those e-mails - but it is important to state the core business of Tourism NT is to market the Territory as a preferred destination above all others. We get that.
Our job is to bring tourists here: bums on seats. Tourists will arrive, and it is the job of the RTOs - member for Nelson, I say this in response to some of your contribution with regard to specific places; you talked about Knuckey Lagoon and other potential tourist opportunities around the rural area. I agree, there are some magnificent spots tucked away which are not promoted through Tourism NT. It is the job of the RTOs, the regional tourism organisations, to sell tours and promote areas of interest in their own back yard. We make no apologies, and have made it clear to the RTOs - TTE and TCA that their job is to sell tours.
Tourism NT does not sell tours, run hotels or airlines. We do a little through Territory Discoveries, but when it comes to on-the-ground public interface, it is the job of the RTOs. In the case of the rural area, it is Tourism Top End.
You made some great points and are right. There are many best-kept little secrets in the rural area and the RTOs, in your case TTE, need to explore a bit more. Trevor Cox has been the GM since the beginning of the year and is doing a great job. You will receive some favourable responses from Trevor and the team at TTE. They do a great job, as do the gang at TCA. We have made it very clear that is their job.
We fund TTE about $800 000 a year and TCA about $700 000. Their job is to sell the tours; our job is to bring the tourists to their doorstep, and that is what we will do.
I agree on World War II heritage; it is very important. We have been active with arts and museums. I also agree about tourist radio. I have often thought about that for regional parts of Australia. I do not know about the ABC, but you see tourist radio signs - 88 FM and whatever it is. They are under-utilised and, in some cases, not utilised at all. Signs were put up and there is no broadcast. I am unsure if the frequency is active.
Other commercial organisations can take up that area and the community stations can utilise it. It is a matter for them and the community, and, to a degree, me as minister for Tourism. All of us in the Chamber can encourage the radio stations to take up that licence or invest in the region. A fair amount of resources is involved in running a radio program - I have been involved in it before - but it is not insurmountable, just resource intensive. It is a great service for tourists who can not only listen to the news, but also what is happening in the region. It is like a sign post; the radio will point them to a tour or destination. It can also provide updates on roads and conditions.
It is under-utilised; however, Western Australia, through the Kimberley, does it well. In the NT we do not. It is not the responsibility of Tourism NT, being a marketing agency. It is not our core business but is something we can advocate for.
I also wanted to talk about national parks. I have an e-mail which specifically mentions national parks. I will read through some of this. I have a list of things we have set up to do since coming to government, some of which may answer your questions.
We re-established a stand-alone Parks and Wildlife Commission with an operational focus on park service delivery. We have invited community stakeholders and the tourism industry to help set the direction of a master plan. We recognise our national parks are a major tourism magnet. We continue to see visitor enjoyment, and community and business engagement in Territory parks. Litchfield recently received the prestigious TripAdvisor Award, being ranked in the top 10% worldwide for traveller feedback, which is great news.
We launched the biggest and most comprehensive visitor guide to parks. You may have seen it at the shows. It is a fantastic brochure, A4 size, this thick, and I can provide you with a copy. It is really comprehensive and an impressive piece of tourism promotion. We ran out at the shows. It is four years since Parks and Wildlife - you may have noticed - had a stand at the shows, but this year at Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin and Alice Springs we had the Parks and Wildlife stand. It was not part of the super department it used to be, being the stand-alone commission it is. It is a good brochure. With the stand coming back to the shows we saw 4000 visitors at Alice Springs, 2500 in Katherine, and 1800 in Tennant Creek. I do not have figures for Darwin.
We have honoured our election commitment to open up Northern Territory parks and reserves. We are about opening them up rather than closing them. We signed the historic MOU with Four Wheel Drive Northern Territory about a month ago with benefits for both parties. We are promoting conservation, ecologically sustainable visitor use - I do not want to labour on this too much because some of it might not answer your questions. We are in discussions with Field and Game Australia, parks projects have been completed, two exclusive tented campsites - these were fantastic - the Larapinta Trail from World Expeditions. I am unsure if you have seen those, but next time you are in Central Australia have a look, they are fantastic.
The Wangi Visitor Centre in Litchfield National Park is completed and open. The disallowance of the Litchfield and Mary River plans of management caused a little controversy in this Chamber, but our commitment is to bring those back strengthened and more open-minded rather than inward looking. We felt they were inward looking when it came to opening up our parks for visitors and tourists. Those two parks, particularly, are critical to our tourism story.
In the budget there is an additional $1.5m into parks to fund frontline positions, $1m to improve Alice Springs parks and reserves, and $1.35m to upgrade walking and cycling tracks across the Territory. As you can see, the front end of it has been resourced by the Northern Territory government. We are committed to our parks, which is why the minister for Tourism is also the minister for Parks and the minister for Arts and Sport. There is such synergy between them.
I was at a Tourism and Transport Forum several months ago and they were astounded and thought it was a great idea. This government has led the way in putting those portfolios together. It makes sense to have a minister for Tourism who is also the minister for Parks. These things change, and probably will change as members move on, but at this stage it seems to be working very well.
I thank the members for Namatjira, Arafura and Arnhem, and everyone for their contributions. It is a shame the member for Johnston, the shadow minister, made very little contribution apart from personal abuse and slander. Everyone else did pretty well, so thank you very much. Overall, it was a good debate.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Mr Deputy Speaker, the Chief Minister, on 16 May 2013, addressed the House on this government’s comprehensive policing, justice and corrections strategy titled the Pillars of Justice. Members would be aware I am the lead minister on this multi-portfolio policy initiative. At that time I undertook to brief the House on a frequent basis. Significant work is under way simultaneously on a number of the elements with the broad policy areas encompassed by the Pillars of Justice. I take the opportunity to inform the House further on the initiatives to be undertaken under the banner of one particular pillar.
The Pillars of Justice is the government’s criminal law reform strategy stretching from the time before arrest to the time beyond parole. I am pleased to inform this House that the primary agencies involved in the strategy, namely police, Corrections and the Department of Attorney-General and Justice, are working individually and together in a professional and committed manner to see the government’s vision through to fruition.
The five primary Pillars of Justice cover the five major participants or stakeholders in the criminal justice process, namely police, courts, corrections, youth justice and victims. The pillar I wish to speak further on today is titled Swift Justice, which deals with the courts and the reforms in this area.
The Territory’s criminal justice system has two levels of court. The Supreme Court deals with the most serious and grave matters such as murder, sexual assault, robbery, and other cases involving extreme levels of violence, among other matters. While the Supreme Court deals with the most heinous matters in our criminal justice system, these only form a minority of matters in the total volume that pass through the system: indeed, only some 5%.
The Court of Summary Jurisdiction deals with the remainder of criminal matters that come before our courts to finalisation and, indeed, the vast majority of criminal charges laid in this jurisdiction. These can include matters as diverse as shoplifting, traffic offences, lower level possession of drugs, assaults, domestic violence and fisheries offences to name a few. Additionally, all matters eventually dealt with in the Supreme Court originate in the Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
Not surprisingly, the Court of Summary Jurisdiction is an exceptionally busy place. In 2012, a total of 5516 matters were lodged in Darwin alone. This figure is enumerated as most files invariably involve multiple charges. The figure is further inflated by matters in other regional areas such as Katherine, Alice Springs or Tennant Creek, thus over 11 000 criminal files are processed across the Territory in a single year. If these criminal files could be resolved and finalised with only one appearance before a court we would be dealing with 40 less files on any single sitting in the Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
However, a court file will inevitably be mentioned and adjourned a number of times before it is finally disposed of meaning our lower courts deal with a high volume of files every day of sittings. This obviously poses various challenges to our courts and stakeholders appearing before them. Despite the Territory having at its disposal an abundance of legal skill and knowledge in the shape of the magistracy and committed police, prosecutors and legal practitioners, we still compare badly in the report of government services. I am an adherent to the old maxim, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.
In this case there can be no doubt the system is in urgent need of repair. Perhaps the best basis for comparison is to look at national benchmarks with other Australian jurisdictions. The most recent report on government services showed the Territory had the highest number of magistrates per 100 000 people, at 6.2 per 100 000. The next closest ranking state was Tasmania, with a significantly lower 2.3 magistrates per 100 000 people. The sheer distances in the Northern Territory means we need more magistrates to cover the work spread out over various geographical areas. It is also disappointing to note the Territory ranked last in Australia in judicial officers per 100 000 matters finalised by the Magistrates Court.
Additionally, the Territory ranked third last, or sixth of eight states and territories, in having the highest level of backlog of criminal matters in the Magistrates Court that were more than 12 months old. We also ranked fourth out of seven states and territories in the average number of attendances for finalisation of criminal matters.
These figures suggest the Territory has more magistrates per head of population, yet our matters are still requiring more court dates and taking more time to finalise than in other parts of the country. The capacity and capability of human resources can only yield minor efficiencies if we are to improve our court systems. There can be no doubt constraints within the existing legislation, practice directions formulated by the former Chief Magistrate and file management principles are major impediments to efficiency.
The right to a speedy trial is an ancient liberty. During the reign of Henry II the English Crown promulgated the Assize of Clarendon, a legal code comprised of 22 articles, one of which comprised speedy justice to all litigants. In 1215, the Magna Carta prohibited the king from delaying justice to any person in the realm.
Mr Vowles: Back in Darwin 2013.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: Several of the charters of early American colonies protected the right to a speedy trial, as did most of the constitutions of the original 13 states.
The government’s vision is to introduce reforms in the Court of Summary Jurisdiction to encourage and facilitate swift justice to the benefit of courts, offenders, victims, and the community at large. While this will bring financial benefits, its motivation is substantially more than fiscal. To provide context, it is important to consider what currently occurs to understand how the proposed reforms will improve efficiencies. For the benefit of members, I will trace the route of an average criminal file that falls within the jurisdiction of the Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
A file originates with the police who, depending on a number of factors, will either arrest a person who has committed an offence or issue them with a summons to appear in court. A person required to appear before the court for a criminal matter may appear on remand having been denied bail, or at liberty, appearing pursuant to a bail agreement or summons. The part of the process we are most interested in for the purposes of this pillar is what occurs from the first attendance at court.
Generally, on this day the offender or their representative is provided with a small bundle of documents that includes a prcis and the offender’s criminal history if they had one. A prcis is commonly defined as a concise summary of essential points, statements or facts, and in this context is essentially the story of the alleged offence. In my career I have authored well over 1000. At this point, the offender may plead guilty or seek an adjournment for various purposes to seek legal advice to consider their position, get references, or because they intend to plead not guilty or contest part or all of the allegations against them. If an offender does not plead guilty at an early opportunity, the subsequent adjournments act as stressors or stalls on the system. These delays indicate the system is currently failing and/or struggling.
This is an area currently subject to a practice direction. Practice directions are authored by the Chief Magistrate and have the stated purpose to facilitate improved management of the listing of summary criminal offences in order to efficiently manage the court’s resources. On the criteria of efficiency, the current practice directions are in urgent want of an overhaul.
The proposed reforms of this government are not just aimed at the management of the court’s resources but also at facilitating effective management of police, prosecution, and legal aid resources so the whole community benefits from improved efficiencies. Most importantly, the client is the major beneficiary of the improved court process.
Let us not forget that, along with the accused, a number of ordinary innocent Territorians are also required to have some involvement in these processes as witnesses, victims, and family and friends of these parties. They too should be recognised as players in this protracted and demonstrably inefficient intrusion in their lives.
One practice direction sets out a process for the listing of matters where an offender intends to plead not guilty for contest mention. Once a matter is listed for contest mention, the court orders an entire brief of evidence is served on the offender within four weeks. This means police are required to compile all the evidence and statements and provide these to the offender. At the next mention the expectation is the offender will have reviewed the brief with their legal representative and, having seen all the evidence against them, advise the court if they are pleading guilty or not guilty. If they intend to plead not guilty, a hearing date is allocated.
While this may sound in theory like a reasonable process, in practice there are identifiable, predictable downfalls. These are illustrated by statistics recorded by the courts Integrated Information Justice System otherwise known as IJIS.
From 2006 to 2012, the number of matters listed for hearing as a percentage of the total number of matters lodged has remained between 12.9% and 18.5%. This is not a huge variation over the years, at only about 5%. For the same period, the numbers of matters listed for a contest mention as a percentage of total matters lodged has ranged between 16.4% and 33.6%. This is a larger variation of about 17%.
A measure of efficiency is to compare the number of matters listed for contest mention with the number of matters listed for hearing in the same year. If these figures are close it indicates matters are being listed for contest mention and are matters with genuine issues in dispute that are unlikely to be resolved without a hearing.
For example, in 2007, 16.4% of the total number of matters lodged were listed for contest mention, following which 13.2% of the total number of matters lodged were listed for hearing.
By contrast, in 2012, just five years later, 33.6% of the total number of matters lodged were listed for contest mention, but only 12.9%, just 0.3%, of the total number of matters lodged were listed for hearing - a 0.3% reduction over five years.
Since 2007, the number of matters listed for contest mention has been increasing. However, this has not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the number of matters listed for hearing. This suggests matters are being listed for contest mention even though there may not be genuine matters in dispute. It may be the matters are being listed for contest mention so the defendant can see the extent of the evidence the prosecution has against him - a legal fishing trip.
In particular, from 2010 to 2012 the number of matters listed for contest mention increased by 38%. In the same period the number of matters listed only increased by 6%. This means, in practical terms, the police prepared an additional 700 briefs. That is 700 complete compilations of evidence for only 47 extra hearing listings. This is a serious problem our court system and police force faces, because I can only imagine the amount of time and resources that goes into preparing 700 files of which only 47 see the light of day.
It is of concern to this government and the community that more and more frontline policing resources are being consumed by preparing full and comprehensive briefs of evidence for matters that invariably resolve as a result of discussions on the steps of the courthouse on the day of a contest mention or a contested hearing. In addition, large amounts of resources are consumed by having police and civilian witnesses attend courts around the Territory for hearing matters which ultimately resolve or for which they do not end up being called to give evidence. These stalls are inconvenient, costly and do not pass the fundamental test of improving justice. Moreover, the inconvenience and costs for people from remote locations attending court in a major centre are significant and should be addressed.
This government is committed to reforming criminal justice procedures in the summary courts so parties are compelled to discuss the issues in a criminal case at an early stage of the proceedings, and so disclosure by police can be guided by the relevant issues. The relevant issues can often be distilled quickly and accurately without the current practice of providing full details and briefs on the entirety of the matters attending on the case.
The proposed reforms under the pillar of Swift Justice will introduce a preliminary brief of evidence to be provided by police in all criminal matters. The preliminary brief will replace the current prcis provided and move from a story-based summary to an evidence-based document. The introduction of preliminary briefs of evidence will mean alleged offenders and their representatives will receive a clear outline of the evidence available to support the charges against them from the outset of proceedings. If relevant statements are available at this point, they too could be included with the preliminary brief. Having an accurate picture of what evidentiary material is available early in the proceedings will give an accused more information about the charges they face. This will help to encourage early resolution of charges. Where early resolution is not possible, it will help to encourage early decisions about how to proceed to a contested hearing.
If a matter does not resolve to a plea of guilty after the provision of a preliminary brief of evidence, the preliminary brief will become an essential tool in assisting meaningful discussion between the prosecution and the defence in a process called case conferencing. The courts will require parties to participate in a case conference before advancing the matter to a future mention date for service of evidentiary material or to a contest mention or hearing date.
A case conference is an out-of-court discussion between the prosecution and the defence to identify a resolution to a file or plan for the summary hearing of the matter. Case conferencing will encourage early identification of the issues in a criminal hearing and allow for specific disclosure requests relevant to the facts at issue.
The preliminary brief will provide information to the parties to assist in identifying what relevant extra material is required to assist in resolving a matter. This will streamline the process as it currently stands by allowing for targeted disclosure of the items that will help progress a matter rather than requiring a full brief to be prepared for every matter in which an aspect is contested.
Therefore, the summary case conference will assist in excluding the need for non-material witnesses to complete statements. For example, CCTV footage which shows the offending in full will obviously be direct relevant evidence likely to resolve a matter one way or the other and would be provided if immediately available or identified in the preliminary brief at a case conference. However, a police officer who assisted in the transport of an exhibit or the guarding of a crime scene would not be diverted away from frontline policing to complete a statement or attend court for a contested hearing where their evidence has no bearing on the issue in dispute.
Another reform envisaged by this government to see swift justice achieved is the introduction of statutory sentence indications. The government intends to amend the Justices Act to allow magistrates to give indications of the type of sentence to be imposed if an accused pleads guilty at a particular time. The purpose of a sentence indication is to formally inform the accused what will or will not happen on sentence if they plead guilty at a particular time. Sentence indications are aimed at allowing an accused to make an early and informed decision about how they wish to proceed.
A sentence indication is not an indication of the exact term or length of sentence to be given, but an indication of the type of sentence the magistrate considers would be imposed in the event of a guilty plea. For example, an accused has seen the preliminary brief against him or her and is somewhat reluctant to plead guilty to the charges offered through fear of a full-time custodial sentence. Such an accused may seek a sentence indication from a magistrate. The magistrate hears the charges, considers the nature and conduct alleged, and any other relevant information such as the offender’s criminal history. The magistrate can indicate the type of sentence considered appropriate; for example, a fine, a bond or other community-based sentence, a fully suspended sentence, or a sentence of full-time imprisonment.
The accused may choose to plead guilty at this stage. If they do, the magistrate is not permitted to impose a more severe type of sentence than the one indicated. If the accused chooses not to plead guilty, the matter will be adjourned and a hearing must be before a different magistrate unless the parties agree otherwise. Any evidence of a sentence indication is inadmissible in future proceedings, and magistrates are not bound by any sentence indication given by another magistrate.
The proposed reforms are in line with changes over recent years in Queensland and Victoria. It is envisaged they will result in significant savings in a number of areas, including court time and unnecessary attendance of witnesses at court. They will also allow for more police operational hours to be spent pursuing frontline policing rather than unnecessary brief preparation and court attendance.
The Queensland Magistrates Court Annual Report 2010-11 reported that since the introduction of the equivalent of preliminary briefs half the matters which would have previously required a full brief of evidence were resolved without the need for a full brief. The resulting benefits of this for police and prosecution resources, as well as court resources, are obvious and clear.
Similarly in Victoria, extraordinary savings have been achieved in police operational shifts and court time expended, as well as reduction in the amount of witnesses required to attend court. Victoria has a very prescriptive Criminal Procedure Act 2009 which has provisions for preliminary briefs, case conferencing and sentence indications. Since these changes were introduced, savings have continued to increase each financial year. Most recently, in the 2012-13 financial year, over 19 000 civilian witnesses were saved from attending court and over 27 000 police shifts and 45 000 hours of court time were saved when compared to the financial year immediately preceding the introduction of these reforms. I will repeat that so honourable members understand the enormity of what we are trying to do: in the 2012-13 financial year, 19 000 civilian witnesses were saved from attending court and over 27 000 police shifts and 45 000 hours of court time were saved when compared to the financial year immediately preceding the introduction of these reforms.
These savings are real and tangible. Of course, Victoria deals with a much greater volume of work than the Northern Territory, with the metropolitan area dealing with about 1500 contested matters per month compared to about 6800 over a year in the Darwin area. Nevertheless, I am sure you will agree these savings are impressive.
The potential benefits of the proposed reforms to victims of crimes cannot be underestimated. A guilty plea or a swift and efficient resolution may be considered as the optimum outcome of criminal proceedings for a number of reasons. These include the minimisation of inconvenience, disruption, trauma and stress for witnesses and victims, as well as achieving the important aim of bringing closure to the victim of the crime.
The proposed reform will allow the courts and practitioners to focus on timely outcomes in criminal proceedings whilst ensuring the right to a fair hearing is upheld. The benefits of the reforms will be the provision of early and credible disclosure of a police case, the reduction of unnecessary adjournments, and the saving of court and police time by directed and efficient listing practises.
I commend this statement to honourable members. I know all members will see it as a good, sound policy which will benefit the criminal justice system and the community at large.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly takes note of this important statement.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Mr Deputy Speaker, it was a surprise yesterday evening when I saw the Pillars of Justice statement for today’s parliamentary sittings. My initial reaction was, ‘Hang on, we have done this’. We talked about the Pillars of Justice in May. However, we have another version of Pillars of Justice before us today.
Ultimately, this is an attempt by the Attorney-General to cover the fact he is probably the first Attorney-General in the western world to oversee a week of parliament without any legislation to debate. Not since 1990 has the House had one piece of legislation for debate. In fact, it might have been zero had the Criminal Code Amendment (Cheating at Gambling) Bill gone through, as was originally planned on the Notice Paper, in the early hours of 28 June. We were prepared for debate to come on, it was listed on the Notice Paper but, at 3 am, members opposite were worn out, tired, had enough and spat the dummy over the lengthy debate on the Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Bill and pulled the Criminal Code Amendment (Cheating at Gambling) Bill and held it over until these sittings. With hindsight, it is lucky you made that decision so there was at least one bill up for debate during these sittings. This week there has been zero legislation before the House.
The Attorney-General spoke about Henry II and the Assize of Clarendon. I wonder if Henry ever convened the Royal Court without any legislation before those present. I also suspect Henry II would have tried to gag anyone who said his laws were not working. It would be a little like when the Attorney-General jumped in front of a policeman at a media conference to prevent him talking about tackling alcohol crime, gagging that debate knowing the police have plenty of advice to offer the Attorney-General about the flawed alcohol policies the government has introduced.
Henry II probably also tried to gag judges who spoke out on public policy, just like the Attorney-General did earlier this year when he told the Chief Magistrate she was not allowed to comment publicly on policy. God forbid that she offer a different view based on years of experience, and God forbid she would potentially criticise. He said only politicians could do that, and if she wanted to offer comment on government policy she was welcome to run for parliament.
Basically, this statement is a result of the Attorney-General with no legislative debates to prepare for, having time to sit at his computer trying to impress his former law professors. In the debate on the tourism ministerial statement the member for Johnston rightly pointed out the minister had not written that statement. It is clear the Attorney-General has written this statement. Having listened to him for a few years in this House, he has a distinctive style. I am quite certain he prepared this statement. We are talking about the man everyone in government is blaming for having no legislation, and the fact he now wants to be an academic on the floor of the House.
This is the second statement this week. It is really the Attorney-General’s musings as much as a ministerial statement. The previous Pillars of Justice statement has not even been completed; it is still on the Notice Paper. Given we have Pillars of Justice part one on the Notice Paper, it is difficult to understand why you did not bring that debate back on and have some of the new members from your backbench participate. It was adjourned following contributions from you, the Chief Minster, and me. Why do we not have debate on Pillars of Justice part one? No, we have to move into a second one because there is nothing else to talk about in this House. We have had more ministerial statements than I have seen in five years and no legislation to debate.
We have Pillars Part II, the Return of the Pillars, the Sequel to the Pillars of Justice starring the Attorney-General, written and produced by the Attorney-General, and funded by taxpayers in a bid to kill time in parliament because he has nothing else to offer. However, we have no legislation for our pillars. None of the pillars have been implemented, but let us talk about them again.
There is a distinct difference, which has not escaped my attention or, I suspect, anyone else’s, or anyone listening to the live broadcast of our parliamentary sittings. The last pillar statement was given by the Chief Minister.
How dare anyone but the Attorney-General speak about the pillars! Listen to this quote from the beginning of the statement he delivered today:
Can you imagine if we were not aware of that important and undeniable fact! He is the lead minister. It is not the Chief Minister; it is the Attorney-General. Do we all understand that? It reminds me of when the Attorney-General issued a media release last September saying he was the lead minister for alcohol reform. As soon as he said it the then Chief Minister took it off him. It was given to the member for Fong Lim then the member for Araluen, anyone but the member for Port Darwin.
Also, for a short time, he was Minister for Education and, for an even shorter period - six days I believe - he was Treasurer until they took that off him too. In spite of the merry-go-round that is the CLP government and the constant reshuffles, the Attorney-General is back where he started. Attorney-General, Justice, and Corrections, and he has picked up OCPE as well. It is a shame because he is hard-working and dedicated. Unlike some of his colleagues, he possesses an intellect and wants to do more but his Cabinet colleagues will not let him.
He wanted to be Chief Minister back in February but realised one of his Cabinet colleagues would not let him. That one had been a bit tricky saying she would support him then did not so the leadership spill was called off. Nobly, the Attorney-General offered to resign following that debacle.
The Attorney-General is seeking an outlet for his energy and intellect and, in the absence of legislation, we have two statements on the Pillars of Justice. Meanwhile, violent assaults in the Territory are climbing through the roof.
With the release of quarterly crime statistics last week, we saw the hard data that domestic violence in the Territory is skyrocketing. Let us not talk about that. There is no statement on why domestic violence is up by 14% since you scrapped the Banned Drinker Register and allowed 2500 problem drinkers who were banned from purchasing takeaway alcohol back on the grog. There is no word from your colleagues about the shameful increase in domestic violence, and the recognition that Indigenous women are 45 times more likely to be the victims of domestic and family violence.
Never short of a word when it suits her, I hope the member for Namatjira speaks in this debate, and others. The member for Namatjira is on the public record standing up for victims of domestic and family violence - women and children. When she was a member of the Labor government Cabinet she voiced support for mandatory reporting of domestic violence. When an independent member, she spoke in this House supporting Labor’s Enough is Enough reforms, including the Banned Drinker Register.
On Monday, the Police Association said the government has breached their trust. Perhaps talking about the Magna Carta from 1215 will win it back, as the member for Johnston interjected on that line, ‘Back in Darwin 2013’. Police are outraged you have civilianised police prosecutions, but none of that matters to the CLP government.
The Chief Minister announced that instead of reducing crime by 10% every year, it will take four years. That is yet another broken election promise, but none of that matters when we can again speak about the Pillars of Justice.
Most of the statement explains how courts work. There are pages about the Supreme Court and the Court of Summary Jurisdiction. Listen to the following from page six:
We then have pages of explanation for our benefit, nothing to do with his desire to read into Hansard the route of an average criminal file. We wade through statistics that, when you bother to read through them, are an attempt to justify the CLP’s decision to take police out of prosecutions and put civilians in their place. It is an attempt at pretending the decision is about the concerns of the community when we all know it is about the CLP claiming it has 120 police when, in fact, it does not.
Let me be clear, we are not arguing against making the justice process more efficient, but there is little of any substance in this statement. Bring forward some real reforms; do not just talk about them! Do not talk about them twice!
Magistrates, judges, lawyers and police, not to mention social justice advocates, organisations like APO NT - Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory - have been telling you until they are blue in the face your alcohol policies are failing. They are the ones dealing with the carnage you are creating.
You are clogging the courts, Attorney-General; you are clogging the justice system. If you want justice to be swift, do something about the number of assault cases coming through the courts. Stop the alcohol-fuelled violence. Listen to the magistrates, the legal representatives, and the experts advocating in this area for a year. If you want to clean up the matters before the courts start listening to the experts. You say your swift justice will result in less evidence having to be collated. How about trying to stop the crime in the first place? You say fewer witnesses will be called. How about we have fewer people witnessing crime and the rise in assaults since the CLP came to government? You say you want more guilty pleas. How about we have less people guilty of committing crimes! You say you want to save police time. Why did you put 2500 problem drinkers back on the grog? Far too much police time is spent running around after drunks, and now running around after drunks who are running away from mandatory treatment.
On the last page of the statement, the Attorney-General talks about the minimisation of inconvenience, disruption, trauma and stress for witnesses and victims, and achieving the important aim of bringing closure to the victims of crime. No one could argue with that, but how about the Attorney-General minimises it by listening to the experts instead of ignoring them? I look forward to the CLP bringing forward some of these reforms rather than just talking about them. All we have so far is pillars of puff.
I conclude by talking about something that will help clean up our courts. Crime statistics released last week told a stark tale of two towns: Gove and Tennant Creek. Gove and Tennant Creek, on many levels, are similar towns - similar populations, similar isolation - but they are also different, especially when it comes to crime. In the last year there were 592 assaults in Tennant Creek, in Gove there were 85. Tennant Creek has seven times the rate of assault of Gove. When it comes to alcohol-related assaults, Tennant Creek has eight times as many as Gove.
Why the difference? It is not rocket science. In Gove we have a takeaway alcohol system which was introduced in March 2008. In Tennant Creek the Banned Drinker Register was scrapped. In Gove you need to apply for, and be approved for, a permit to purchase takeaway alcohol. In Tennant Creek anyone can buy as much alcohol as they like. Let us remember that 70% of all sales of alcohol in the Northern Territory are from takeaway liquor outlets.
You scrapped the Banned Drinker Register. You ignored police, magistrates and doctors. The increase in violence is the fault of the CLP. If the CLP and the Attorney-General want to clear the courts and want swift justice they need to listen to the experts who have told them, and the Chief Minister, supply measures like the BDR, which are not silver bullets but successful harm minimisation measures, work.
I heard on radio this morning, just before 9 am - I only heard the tail end of an interview with the Mayor of Katherine, Ms Fay Miller. I realised somebody had phoned in, and it was a constituent of mine talking about the takeaway permit system which has existed in Gove for a number of years which works successfully. He was explaining to the ABC interviewer and Fay Miller that if the Mayor of Katherine was concerned about alcohol-related issues, and the terrible social issues and the mess it leaves behind, perhaps the mayor should consider the system that is working in Gove. She listened intently to what this gentleman had to say about how it works in Gove, the difference it has made to people’s lives, and to our community and all who live there.
I urge the Mayor of Katherine, and the member for Katherine, to look into the systems that have existed in northeast Arnhem Land to manage alcohol. Obviously, different regions may have different requirements, but let us not ignore the fact there are effective systems in place and, essentially, out of the lessons from northeast Arnhem Land, the Banned Drinker Register emanated. In northeast Arnhem Land the system had come not from the government but the grassroots level community - speaking on behalf of their people, four very strong Marika women from the Rirratjingu clan pleaded with stakeholders in a heartfelt letter about the fact alcohol was killing too many of the young ones and the alcohol issue needed to be addressed.
While this ministerial statement addresses some plans to improve the court systems, and I welcome that, it has been brought on essentially to fill time in this parliament. I note we have legislation introduced for debate in the next sittings. I hope that means we will not subjected to further musings of the Attorney-General on another puff piece about the Pillars of Justice part three. I fear there is more to come knowing the Chief Minister’s statement in May mentioned five Pillars of Justice, so it is a five-part serious we are in for.
The Attorney-General said at the outset he had undertaken to brief the House on a frequent basis. Fascinating though his statements and musings might be on the legal system and the history of the law to some, the opposition is far more interested in receiving updates on how the CLP’s policies and new laws around alcohol, which are all too often at the centre of crime, are failing and, far from reducing crime by 10% a year, are driving it up.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like speak on this statement. The minister could have given it a better title. Swift Justice was an American television series which ran from 13 March 1996 to 31 July 1996. It only went for 13 episodes and was scrapped. In fact, James McCaffrey was Mac Swift and Len Cariou was his offsider, Sergeant Al Swift.
I watched the end of Young Guns recently and they had a form of swift justice. I hope this is not what this is about. It would have been better to call it either Streamlining the Judicial Processes or Changes to Summary Procedure, because that is what it is about. It is an important area, but the title is a little flippant. It is an important issue and needs to be dealt with in that way.
I have read the minister’s statement as best I can. For a lay person, to have this dropped on you late at night - it is not easy to go through the statement without a little assistance. Minister, I reached a part where I was confused by the process. Basically, the government is saying there is a need to reform the Court of Summary Jurisdiction or the processes which occur around that. About 11 000 files per year are heard a number of times through the court system, which overloads the court system. We are the worst in matters finalised before the Magistrates Court. We have one of the highest levels of backlog cases for over 12 months. We nearly have the worst number of attendances per finalisation of matters. You hope these efficiencies will bring financial benefits, and you mention other benefits later on. You also mentioned how the process works: police arrest or given a summons, are required to appear at court, they could be on bail or remand.
The reform is about the first appearance in court. The offender or representative is presented with a prcis, a short story of the alleged offence, which includes a criminal history if there is one. I am unsure what that means exactly. I could say, big deal, it is a prcis or a story. I looked up the Victorian summary and they give an example in relation to what they expect the change to be. They give an example which says:
This may be what the minister was talking about:
I love that title:
I understand what they have said but I do not have enough understanding of the law to know the difference between the two. Perhaps the minister could explain.
Then the offender can plead guilty or request an adjournment to consider their position, or get legal advice because they intend to plead not guilty. If a person does not plead guilty the system struggles.
Practice direction or practice decision - I was going to ask the minister. I pulled out my lonely book I have on my desk at times. I do not use it very often, but thought I would look up ‘practice decision’. This refers to practice decision in family law. It says a practice decision is a rule or direction regarding practice and procedures made by judges of the court under a rule-making power conferred upon the court by statute.
Mr Elferink: No, practice direction.
Mr WOOD: Practice direction. The definition of practice direction relates to family law, practice decision does not. You referred to practice direction so I wanted to ask if that is correct.
You said practice direction comes into play which sets up a system you have to follow. You said the proposed reforms of this government are not just aimed at management of the court’s resources but also to facilitate effective management of police, the prosecution, and legal aid resources and the whole community benefits from the improved efficiencies. Most importantly, the client is the major beneficiary of improved court procedures, and that is good. It also helps witnesses and families.
The direction for a not guilty plea requires that an entire brief of the evidence be served on the offender within four weeks. Next time the offender appears, they will have all the information and can tell the court if they plead guilty or not guilty. If pleading guilty, a hearing is set.
It then becomes a bit complicated. You said you would explain the prcis versus the story. It gives the accused more information about the charges. Again, that relates to going from a prcis to a story, and I could not understand that. This will encourage early resolution. If still pleading not guilty, information already documented can go to case conferencing and has to be done before the case can go any further.
Before I get to that, minister, there is the area I had trouble understanding because I do not understand the language. You talked about giving examples of why we need to bring in the changes. You said:
I had trouble understanding what that meant. I looked in the dictionary to see what ‘contest mention’ meant. Minister, if you could explain that in your summing up …
Mr Elferink: I will.
Mr WOOD: I also note in the Victorian inquiry they say at the end of the summary:
This is what you propose for this parliament in the future. It goes on to say:
I did not want to go to conferencing at the moment. The Victorian review wanted to ensure the quality of the brief was up to a certain standard so everything was correct when it reached the first stage. That is an important area you may want to look at. It was not just a matter of getting it ready, it was to ensure:
It is not just about a new process; there are some guidelines to ensure the new process is fair and reasonable.
You then talked about case conferencing and said it will encourage early identification of issues and allow targeting of items to progress a matter. That was introduced in Western Australia in 2006 and was called voluntary criminal case conferencing. A document from the Supreme Court on criminal case conferencing said:
It goes on to give some details …
Mr Elferink: Was that the Supreme Court?
Mr WOOD: Yes, but it is talking about the same type of thing.
Mr Elferink: The same thing?
Mr WOOD: Yes, and reducing the time taken.
You mention savings; that is good. The magistrate may give indications of the type of sentence he or she might impose if the person pleads guilty. The offender can make an informed decision on how they wish to plead. If they plead guilty, the magistrate cannot apply a harsher penalty. If they plead guilty a new magistrate is required as previous comments about sentencing are not admissible. This change, as you said, will result in considerable savings in time and money. It has been introduced in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
How does this work in relation to our laws? We have mandatory sentencing. Would this complicate matters from the point of view of a person charged with striking someone where the minimum sentence is three months? If he pleads guilty he automatically gets three months. During the conferencing the judge cannot give a sentence of less than the three months so he has no give …
Mr Elferink: Not true. He can give …
Mr WOOD: He can give three months and one day. That is not much give if I am the bloke standing in the docks. My problem is - judges mentioned this in the debate about mandatory sentencing – it is likely people will plead not guilty in an attempt to get out of it. Whilst I agree this might be a good idea in times without mandatory sentencing, you will go back to people pleading not guilty because they do not have much room to move.
Another area raised in the Victorian government report on sentence indication and specific sentence discounts was whether discounts could be given for a plea of guilty as well as the sentence indication. They did not agree with that in the end, but it might be something …
Mr Elferink: We already discount.
Mr WOOD: I understand that. I thought the Victorian government would have it too so I am surprised it is in here. That was another area they looked at.
This speeds up the system. If someone pleads guilty we wipe our hands - sentenced and finished. What happens where someone is covering for another person? There are cases where someone pleads guilty so another person does not get into trouble. That might not happen often. Is the process strict enough and thorough enough, when going through conferencing, to ensure the guilty person is the one who committed the crime rather than someone who might - I occasionally hear of cases where someone - it may be a lover - says, ‘I am guilty of drink-driving. It was me.’ It really was not that person; it was the other person. Is there enough strength in the process to ensure the right person is convicted? It might not happen often, but I have heard of it on occasion. Is the system strong enough or thorough enough to ensure the person who should be punished is and not someone who is putting their hand up to save the other person?
Minister, I found it interesting reading. I am not a lawyer. I like my Concise Australian Legal Dictionary. If I can beat the Attorney-General, I can quote from here. If he wants to doubt me he will have to take on Mr Butterworth.
I criticised the title Swift Justice. Has the Attorney-General been watching too many westerns? There was swift justice in the 1880s out west. That was the first thing I thought when I saw the title. This is serious and has been looked at by other states. One of things I enjoy about statements is I learn - I do not have time to follow all these things - that things have been looked at by other states. Reducing the cost is not the only issue. There is the inconvenience to witnesses and pressure on people who have to attend court then not attend court. It puts a strain on people. There are also the wasted resources of police coming and going and the courts being full. If the judicial system does not lose its quality of decision-making and we can provide the community with savings, whether they are financial, personal, or resources, I support it. That is the bottom line.
The principle the minister is putting forward today is a good one, but we will see more detail when the legislation comes out. Perhaps you will put out a document for comment.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I thank the Attorney-General for the statement on Swift Justice and the Chief Minister for bringing his overarching statement on the Pillars of Justice to the House earlier this year.
The Pillars of Justice is a visionary approach to justice in the Northern Territory, an area often examined in a piecemeal way but which now will be subject to holistic results-driven reform. When I campaigned at the 2012 Territory election, the people of Drysdale gave me a clear message I take very seriously. They said they want their streets safe for kids to play in; parks which are the natural domain of families, not a hangout for delinquents or troublemakers; a visible and active police force; real justice and punishment that fits the crime; help if they are victims of crime; and a government which delivers results without punishing the whole community.
I stand here today proud of the statements by the Chief Minister and Attorney-General. The plans outlined in the Pillars of Justice will see some of my electorate’s issues addressed. I am also pleased the entire system from before arrest to beyond parole will come under the policy directive of one minister, the Attorney-General, not because of the reasons given by the member for Nhulunbuy in her contribution, or lack thereof, to this debate, but because it is efficient and logical, and it benefits Territorians.
Drysdale has Palmerston’s one police station along with several schools. I have the commercial district of Yarrawonga and a diverse mixture of socioeconomic groups within the various residential suburbs. There is no doubt I have constituents who are police officers, corrections officers, lawyers, judges, victims of crime, offenders, released prisoners, families of those in prison, families of young people going off the rails, and almost everyone knows someone in one of those categories. This reality puts the Pillars of Justice into perspective. These pillars, as developed, refined and eventually implemented, will most likely effect every constituent I represent, along with most of the people of the Northern Territory.
I support the great achievements of the government so far in the area of justice reform. I applaud the introduction of mandatory sentencing for serious violent offenders, a policy which received strong support in Drysdale and which will see the reasonable sentencing expectations of the community met, whilst ensuring safeguards against absurd outcomes and injustice.
When considering the debate on this topic I am reminded of the quote, ‘Punishment is now unfashionable because it creates moral distinctions among men which, to the left wing minded, are odious. We prefer a meaningless collective guilt to a meaningful individual responsibility.’ In any event, the debate has been had and the new laws are now in place.
I support the additional funding allocated in this budget for extra police on the streets of the Northern Territory. These are frontline positions which protect the community and ensure people feel safe in their homes and their streets. I have an excellent relationship with the OIC of Palmerston Police Station, Daniel Shean, and his officers are shining examples of the proud Northern Territory Police Force. They do an excellent job, are highly visible, and are heavily engaged with our community. I hope some of the new recruits have the privilege to join this fine police station.
I am glad police now have the power to test for drugs when they arrest a person for another offence. Illicit drug use is the quiet culprit of a large amount of crime in our community. The crimes range from assaults directly resulting from drug use, to break and enters into homes and businesses as a way for drug users to steal what they must to purchase these destructive substances.
I was shocked by the legacy of the former Labor government when it came to domestic and commercial break-ins in Palmerston. We have witnessed huge increases in domestic and commercial break-ins over the last few years. The people of Palmerston have had enough. I note these increases in offences coincided with the introduction of the Banned Drinker Register. Thankfully, the latest statistics show reductions in home break-ins - a good thing. It is important that the link between drugs and crime is understood and monitored by police and government. I am pleased with the steps taken so far.
It is fantastic there is specific reference to school-based policing in these statements, particularly the direct reference to the diversionary role youth engagement police officers play. Young people at school need good role models who they can have regular contact with in addition to their wonderful teachers. This is the role often performed by the youth engagement police officer. A youth engagement police officer, when coupled with the pastoral care element of the school, has a vital role when you have children from broken or troubled households. The youth engagement police officer can be the first contact a student has with the law and, I hope, the last. You only have to speak to a youth engagement police officer to realise they know their student population very well. Most importantly, they will often have identified students who are travelling down the wrong path, either alone or by association, and this makes school-based constables an excellent starting point for diversion.
Diversion may take the form of a relationship of trust between the officer and the student, which allows them to be guided and monitored. It may be achieved through internal school systems of behavioural change and special attention, or it may be achieved by school referral of a student to the intervention youth camps or I-camps proposed as part of the Pillars of Justice.
I want to thank Constable Kim from Palmerston Police Station, a youth engagement police officer for Drysdale schools. I see Kim at just about every school assembly or function I attend. She sits on various City of Palmerston committees relating to safety in our community. I see Kim at the Palmerston Markets, an initiative of OIC Shean, who sees the value in having youth engagement police officers patrol the Palmerston Markets because they are so well-known and well-respected by young people in our community.
Police need to be supported so they can perform the vital frontline role they have. Their job can be difficult, stressful, and emotional. However, I have never met a Territory police officer who was anything other than dedicated and committed to protecting and serving Territorians. I am proud the first Pillar of Justice recognises the importance of before arrest initiatives and is dedicated to empowering police.
As a former commercial litigation lawyer, my exposure to the criminal justice system has been minimal. However, I am acutely aware from constituent feedback and personal observations that a number of improvements are needed. I am pleased the second Pillar of Justice is focused on court law reforms and swift justice for the community, as we have heard from the Attorney-General today.
The adversarial nature of criminal justice means cases require time for issues to be ventilated and resolved. There is no escaping this reality. However, the system needs to be restructured so delays are not the norm, and both defendants and prosecutors are focused on resolution and outcomes.
Narrowing the scope of disputes and encouraging disclosure between parties has seen more guilty pleas and more cases being disputed on discrete matters of fact and law rather than fishing expeditions which clog our courts. I hope the Pillars of Justice will achieve a more open judicial system which is accessible and understood more widely by the public. Too often, as we have heard from the member for Nelson, we hear public opinions and expectations written off by those within the system on the basis they do not understand the law and the legal system.
What is being done to ensure the public understands and appreciates the system it pays for? What is being done to ensure the justice system reflects, within reason, public expectation? I look forward to development in this area.
I am also interested in the development of advanced technology which will expand on our sentencing and bail options for offenders, particularly in the area of tracking bracelets which can contain a person in a specific area or restrict them from entering a specific area. The manpower required for surveillance on every person sentenced to home detention, or bail conditions restricting them from associating with someone or going to a certain place, is extreme. This type of technology allows resources to be better allocated and may reduce the number of people required to be locked in our prisons, which are full, thanks to the former Labor government, even before they open.
I commend the Chief Minister and the Attorney-General, the Minister for Correctional Services, on the fantastic initiatives I have been briefed on in the area of Sentenced to a Job. The thought of prisons full of people sitting watching TV, getting three square meals a day, is completely unacceptable. A job adds worth to a person’s life and gives them purpose. A job whilst in prison skills the prisoner up, passes the hours, and produces worth and value from their time.
The behaviour which leads most people to prison is counterproductive to society. It is only right the punishment for that behaviour should be productive. I am excited about the work being done to see prisoners released into private employment, and I again commend the minister for his work. I believe the last number I heard was 50 prisoners holding down private jobs ...
Mr Elferink: It is 63.
Ms FINOCCHIARO: There are 63 prisoners holding down jobs that see them get up in the morning, have a shower, get dressed, eat a good breakfast, and head off to private employment. After work, they come back to the prison, have a good dinner and get a full night’s sleep. These are choice employees. Such a routine is so beneficial and, hopefully, will continue beyond parole and final release ...
Mrs Price: Hear, hear! They have a routine. Good.
Ms FINOCCHIARO: I pick up on the interjection. My colleagues are applauding the minister for his efforts in this area. They have seen enormous results in their communities and the impact this initiative is having across the Territory.
I spent some time with the Attorney-General and visited the Barkly Work Camp. Great things are happening there as well. The manual labour performed by these prisoners is of great benefit to small towns and communities and helps reduce government costs.
I am pleased the budget has an allocation for a stand-alone youth justice court in Darwin. Youth offending is a serious problem in Palmerston, as in most parts of the Northern Territory. The key is these misguided and criminal youths may not be beyond all hope. Some are, make no mistake, and that is sad, but others need real punishment, real rehabilitation and real correction. This requires specific facilities which allow them the opportunity to change. Mixing borderline kids in with hard criminals in the Magistrates Court only reinforces their fate.
This is not about being soft. If they break into your house or hurt you or your family they should be punished hard. However, this is about retaining some hope they will be corrected and their lives turned around. Bad kids can become good, they just need the right structure around them, and purpose. Locking 12-year-old girls in a courtroom cell within eye shot of adult sexual offenders is a recipe for permanent damage. Even the worst child offender does not deserve that. It is a real shame Labor did nothing to correct this in 11 years. In just 12 months a new youth court is on the budget books.
I am also interested in the plans for boot camps and look forward to more detail from the Attorney-General.
Last but not least under this Giles government and the Pillars of Justice are victims. Victims should be the first priority. It is all well and good to rehabilitate, educate and get jobs for offenders, but if victims are forgotten there is no justice. I am proud the Chief Minister’s pillars, which are enforced by the Attorney-General, include a strong emphasis on victims. The safer homes policy will see support, both financial and emotional, to victims of property crimes. Victims of Crime NT does a fantastic job and I am impressed by the commitment and drive to get real results. I look forward to an expansion in this area from the Attorney-General and the Chief Minister, and I assure all members this government is determined to see victims supported.
I am very supportive of this policy as outlined, and look forward to working with the Attorney-General to achieve the justice outcomes needed in Drysdale and the Northern Territory as a whole. I would like to thank the Attorney-General for his contribution to pillars today and to the Chief Minister for his contribution in May. I wish the Attorney-General the best of luck with the development of our pillars policy and I commend the statement to the House.
Debate suspended.
WORKERS REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION AMENDMENT (FIRE-FIGHTERS) BILL
(Serial 43)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
We are joined in the gallery today by a significant number of firefighters who support this legislation, and support their mates. They do a tough job and …
Madam SPEAKER: If you could pause member for Fannie Bay as we have members from the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service in the parliament. I welcome you here and hope you enjoy your time here tonight.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr GUNNER: They do a tough job and it forges strong bonds. Firefighters are in one of our most respected professions. They have earned that respect over generations by doing hard work in unsafe conditions to protect the general public. While others run away, they run towards danger and often that danger is physical: a bushfire, a chemical leak or a burning building. The danger is not always visible. Firefighters often battle fires without the full knowledge of what materials are burning, but that lack of information cannot stop them doing their duty. They are also called, as we know, to deal with chemical spills.
They have had a variety of protective gear over the years, from a cloth for the mouth to breathing apparatus. Clothing and equipment has improved dramatically, but even today there is penetration and standards are constantly improving but never perfect.
The tragic reality is the sacrifice of a firefighter often comes at a cost to their personal health. Firefighters are at a greater risk of developing a range of cancers than the general population. They are our first respondents; they are the people we call when there is need. Now our firefighters need us and this is why we are introducing this bill.
The purpose of the bill is to establish a rebuttable presumption that particular forms of cancer developed by firefighters are taken to be work-related for the purpose of claiming compensation under the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. The presumption is based on numerous scientific studies which indicate firefighters are at a greater risk of developing certain types of cancers because of exposure to hazardous materials. The amendments make the process of applying for compensation less onerous for firefighters who contract certain types of cancer.
Firefighters in all their guises – those employed, those who work as auxiliaries and those who volunteer - do a tremendous job in the Territory.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr GUNNER: Every year as bushfires sweep the Territory we are reminded of the magnitude of their work. When we see stories of tragic house fires or car accidents we are reminded of the efforts taken to protect our lives and those of ones we love, and they put their lives at risk doing it. We know the statistics of firefighters having a greater prevalence of certain cancers. We also know the personal stories.
Colin ‘Snogga’ Snowdon is 17 years strong a firefighter. He is battling testicular and secondary cancer to the lungs and bones. He has used all his sick leave, recreation and long service leave in his quest to beat cancer. Snogga asks, ‘Who will rescue the rescuer?’ To quote Snogga:
Under the arrangements in most states and territories, a firefighter seeking compensation for a disease must establish his or her employment was the major or most significant contributing factor. This can be a difficult task, with seriously ill people and their families struggling to gather the evidence required to meet this threshold at possibly one of the most stressful times in their lives. It is not the case in all areas of Australia. The Commonwealth government and the government of Tasmania have both legislated to provide a person’s work as a firefighter will be taken to satisfy this test unless there is evidence to the contrary. It is this presumption that we seek to introduce into the law of the Northern Territory.
I turn to the details of the bill. The bill is simple in its construction. Clause 1 sets out the name of the bill, while clause 2 provides the bill, once passed, will commence on assent. Clause 3 inserts into the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act a rebuttable presumption that particular illnesses and diseases have been contracted by a worker in the course of his or her employment. For the presumption to apply, a person must have been employed as a firefighter and exposed to the hazards of a fire scene. For the operation of the presumption, the relevant diseases are set out in Schedule 1AA, which are contained in clause 4 of the bill. It includes the range of cancers known to be caused by fire exposure and the burning of hazardous materials.
It also recognises the involvement of firefighters in dealing with other incidents such as chemical spills and asbestos-related materials. This list is informed by the best available medical evidence and is the most comprehensive in the country. Before the disease occurred, the firefighter must have been employed as a firefighter for a certain period known as the qualifying period. The length of qualifying period is linked to the nature of the disease, ranging from five years for a primary site brain cancer to 25 years for primary site oesophageal cancer. As scientific evidence improves, there is also the option to prescribe additional diseases by regulation.
The coverage provided by this bill is the most comprehensive in the country. It applies not only to career firefighters, but volunteer members, auxiliaries and bushfire brigade volunteers. It also extends to the whole range of duties performed by firefighters: extinguishing, preventing the spread, preventing injury and property damage by fires; attending accidents involving hazardous materials; undergoing training in relation to firefighting and prevention; and providing sustenance to those directly involved in firefighting.
Unlike the Tasmanian legislation, there is no limitation on the application to presumption post-retirement. Unlike both the Commonwealth and Tasmanian legislation, under the Territory bill those firefighters who have already developed one of the illnesses listed in the schedule will also be able to seek compensation. We should look after those firefighters still with us.
I would like to place on the record my appreciation for the work of Erina Early and Matthew Gardiner from United Voice, the firefighters union and its union delegates, and the firefighters whose advice helped frame this bill, Mr Jock McLeod and Mr Colin Snowden. They are supported side by side by their firefighter colleagues.
I seek leave to table a petition from the firefighters of the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service.
Leave granted.
Mr GUNNER: They are asking the NT government to stand with them. To quote the petition:
The NT opposition is happy to work with the NT government to provide this protection to firefighters. The NT government has flagged a review. This bill will provide immediate protection, and we ask the government to join with us and firefighters to make it a reality.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members.
Mr TOLLNER (Business) (by leave): Madam Speaker, firefighting is seen as one of the most respected professions in the world, and I pay tribute to firefighters in the Northern Territory. I would like to speak on this bill, given we have a gallery full of firefighters. I imagine they have come not only to hear what the opposition has to say, but get some initial comment from the government. I intend to do that then adjourn the debate. Anyone who wants to speak on it at a later date can do so.
Discussion on presumptive legislation started in the early 2000s. The majority of jurisdictions in the US and Canada have enacted presumptive legislation for firefighters since that time.
In 2009, 71 studies were undertaken, of which only 17 met scientific methods. Those studies identified there were 35 cancers associated with firefighting, and a number of cases researched had a strong association with cancer. The research, ultimately, concluded it could not support or refute firefighting as a cause of cancer so the court was out in that regard.
The issue first raised its head in Australia in around 2010. In 2011, the federal Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee Senate report was published. The report considered studies to be compelling and resulted in amendment to Commonwealth legislation covering 12 primary cancers. To date, the Commonwealth is the only jurisdiction, to my knowledge, to have enacted this presumptive legislation. Other jurisdictions of Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia are currently moving to introduce similar legislation, but it is my understanding that, to date, nothing has been enacted in those states. Victoria has commissioned a study through Monash University, and I am not aware of any current inquiries or action being taken in this regard in Queensland or New South Wales.
The Northern Territory has the most generous workers compensation scheme of any of these jurisdictions, a long-held situation. The fact is - and the opposition knows this quite well - a complete review of the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act is currently being undertaken by the government. Almost immediately on becoming minister for this portfolio I started addressing this issue, and we are undertaking a thorough review. This is the first time a full review has been done on the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act since 1986.
There is a specific reference to the review committee to look at presumptive legislation. I can inform the House that George Roussos, former Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Mark Crossin, former Secretary of the Trades and Labour Council, are spearheading that review. I expect to hear something of that in the next few months.
It is worth reminding people that presumptive legislation is not necessarily an answer because it simply reverses the onus of proof from an employee to an employer. For instance, for a nurse contracting HIV, the onus of proof is on the hospital to prove the nurse did not contract HIV through her work rather than the nurse proving they did. Presumptive legislation does not necessarily mean people will be in line for workers compensation or rehabilitation payouts. It means the onus of proof is reversed. This government is looking seriously at this and how it may fit into our legislation.
It interesting that, after 12 months in opposition, the first bill put forward is this piece of legislation. During 11 years in government they had more than adequate time to address this issue. If the Opposition Leader and others were serious about firefighters, they would apologise to the people in the gallery for their lack of action over the past 11 years.
That is shameful and smacks of politics. It is your first bill in 12 months after 11 years in government when you could have done something. You are suggesting it is the government’s fault nothing has been done, being fully aware a review of the act is being undertaken as we speak.
I make those comments to let the firies know the facts around this - the fact the government is sympathetic to their case and is undertaking a full review of the act. A specific reference has been given to this issue and I expect we will get feedback on it.
I can signal the government will not be supporting this bill because it is about petty politics. This is about putting in place a scheme that works best for the men and women in our emergency services and for the people of the Northern Territory. This is not about petty politics on the eve of a federal election when you had 11 years to do it. This has been on the cards since 2000, and the opposition now believes, after 11 years in government, it is appropriate to call us a disgrace. How pathetic is the opposition and the Opposition Leader? If it was such an issue, they would have done it during their term of government. Of course, they did not.
Madam Speaker, I seek leave to continue my remarks at a later date and move that debate be adjourned.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, if you ever want to understand why people are condemning this government you would tune in to the disgraceful response the minister for WorkSafe just gave. He had an opportunity to support firefighters. He obviously did not listen to the second reading contribution by the shadow minister pointing out this is a real and present issue in the lives of firefighters and their families. It was an opportunity to show statesmanlike behaviour, but instead we had the shouting political rhetoric we are so used to from the member for Fong Lim.
I move that the Assembly condemns the CLP for a year of failures including:
the cost of living skyrocketing while wages growth drops to lowest in the nation
cutting education and health services to Territorians
Territory unemployment rising every single month this year
violent alcohol-related crime up by 17%, alcohol-related domestic violence up 24%, and alcohol laws a miserable failure
vital public servants being sacked, including teachers and child protection workers
renaming shires as regional councils and claiming it is your greatest achievement
supporting Tony Abbott’s plan to follow your lead and make further cuts in the Northern Territory
reneging on the gas to Gove deal and hurting Territory business.
This motion touches on some of the failures of this pathetic CLP government. Whether I am entering a lift in this parliament, shopping down the street, attending meetings with businesses, meeting with non-governmental organisations, listening to the concerns of teachers, nurses, and people working across the broader healthcare system or the allied health service delivery system, or the mums and dads trying to make ends meet, they all consistently say, ‘When can we get these ‘expletives’ out?’ They are desperate to see the end of the worst government since self-government.
It is a crying shame this government steeps itself in its cloak of arrogance and ignores the cries of its own community - the cries it should be hearing loud and clear. When it came to the arbitrary increase the government effected on Territorians which rapidly increased the cost of living through the power and water tariff changes, they say it was the carbon tax. What a disgrace. It is a joke. People can do the sums, they are not silly. They say, ‘Hang on, the CLP talks about a carbon tax at 10% which we were compensated for, yet they hiked up our power and water costs by 20%, going on to 30%, plus water and sewerage’. People can do their sums; they get it. However, the contentious arrogance of this government wishes to treat Territorians like they are fools.
People are not fools. Every time they receive their power and water bills - an average household is paying $2000 a year. Many people are getting quarterly bills, and if you have a large household it is no surprise for people whose bills were around $1000 to be up around $1700. That is a real and present reminder every quarter of how this government was happy to inflict pain on Territorians.
You have to question, given the headlong pursuit of commercialisation of the Power and Water Corporation, the former Treasurer, who was sacked as Treasurer or walked out - the stories coming from that Budget Cabinet meeting were quite murky - the member for Araluen, when explaining to the public the power and water price increases, said it needed to operate on a commercially viable basis. I pointed out consistently, and will continue to point out to the government, although it falls on cloth ears, power and water are essential services. Residents and businesses alike do not have a choice about whether they turn the power on, whether they use the sewerage system, or whether they use water. They are essential services. Our geography is too vast and our population too small for there to be a commercially sustainable return on that operation. No, this government wants to fatten the pig before it takes it to market for sale.
The weasel words of the Chief Minister in Question Time ruling out sale of the Power and Water Corporation are cute because he never rules out the partial sale of any asset of the Power and Water Corporation. I have been on the public record consistently saying the government is preparing to sell Weddell Power Station. We see people coming to the Northern Territory with close connections to the CLP who are in the energy business. People talk; it is a small jurisdiction. People are aware of who has been tracking in and out of the Northern Territory in the last month.
There is no doubt splitting Power and Water into different entities - generations, networks and water/sewerage - is preparation for the sale or lease, or part thereof, of networks, generations, or both.
We do not know exactly what is going on because of the deceit visited upon us by this government. Time will tell whether or not they have, yet again, been treating Territorians like fools when they, ultimately, publicly go to the sale of assets owned by the taxpayer. It is outrageous behaviour but they do not care. They are hell-bent on governing the way they want to, irrespective of what the community says or wants. They do so without a mandate.
The CLP did not go to the 2012 election saying, ‘By the way, if we are elected we will sell off some of the assets of Power and Water’. They obviously, deliberately and completely, reneged on the promise to cut the cost of living. By increasing the tariff for power and water they have ratcheted up the cost of living. Their own budget books explain the cost of living increase is impacted upon by the tariff increase decision made by the CLP government, yet they choose to ignore this. They choose to pretend that fact does not exist in their own budget book.
You are to be condemned for the skyrocketing cost of living and Territorians, every time they receive their power and water bills, will condemn you. That will continue all the way through to the 2016 Northern Territory general election, if you last that long. There are deep divisions within the government ranks.
At the same time we see inflation increasing from 2.9% to 3.1% up to 3.9% - we have a rapid increase in inflation in the Northern Territory while it is not increasing elsewhere in our nation - real wages are being supressed by this government. We have a round of enterprise bargaining agreements right now where the government is offering no more than a 3% pay increase. That is a real cut in wages for Territorians. Evidence has shown, through data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, that wages growth is dropping to the lowest in the nation.
Then we have the cutting of education and health services to Territorians. You only had to witness the debate in Question Time today to see how this government has sunk to new lows. Yesterday the Education minister was saying, ‘There will be a nett loss of 35 teachers to the education system so that is okay’. Today in Question Time we had the Education minister pretending, ‘No teachers will be cut or sacked from the education system’. That is despite the fact our senior schools in the Territory are losing five teachers, despite the fact our middle schools are losing five teachers, and they have this great pretence it is okay because they are increasing teacher numbers in our primary school system. Yet, when you go through the list of schools and their notified cuts to teacher numbers, you can highlight all the primary schools were numbers are being reduced. When I look at my own electorate, two of my three public primary schools are losing portions of a teacher position, not gaining as the government would have you believe.
In Question Time today, we pointed out losses at Maningrida and Nyirripi. During Question Time yesterday we pointed out the loss at Angurugu. There is no honesty from this government around those losses, just a pretence it is all, somehow, magically made up when the data we are referring to comes from the Education department. Then there is this pretence it has nothing to do with the Education minister, it is up to principals. No, it is not up to principals. If the principals had their way there would be no cuts to teachers because they know if you cut teachers you cut subjects.
Right now at Casuarina Senior College students are being asked to complete a survey about subject choices for next year. The survey is to inform the school of what teachers and subjects to cut. It is a disgrace, when even the students of a senior college in Darwin realise they are being asked, essentially, to decide the fate of their teachers. How low does the government go? New depths have been found by this CLP government.
More will be said on cuts to education. In Question Time today the Education minister said many foolish things. Much more will be said; this debate has just started to gain momentum. The community will gather outside Parliament House tomorrow and rally against the cuts to education. Far too much is at stake - future opportunities for our children currently in the education system who rely on those teachers for improved learning outcomes. Cutting teachers reduces teacher contact time with students. Cutting those grants to challenging behaviours and special needs is impacting on the education system. Removing the ICT support unit, which the Education minister today tried to pretend has not occurred, has a direct impact on a teacher’s ability to keep pace with ICT changes in the classroom delivering improved learning for students.
All these things are compounding. All your horrendous chickens are coming home to roost when it comes to delivery of education in the Territory.
What could be a cornerstone of growth for prosperity and strengthening our culture, if you look at the Framing the Future objectives, is education. Yet, it does not rate a mention in the 14 objectives laid out in the Framing the Future document of the CLP government. How can you have 14 objectives to be achieved in future plans for the Northern Territory and not include education? Extraordinary!
In health services, you just had to look at the behaviour of the Chief Minister today - how despicable! I presented a petition signed by 73 nurses who work in the emergency department of Royal Darwin Hospital who say that department is in crisis. They use the word ‘crisis’ in their petition. For the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory to laugh, mock and dismiss that petition because there were only 73 signatures - they are nurses who work in the emergency department of Royal Darwin Hospital. To mock, dismiss and laugh at that is truly appalling. I will read the petition, just in case the Health minister has not bothered to pass it on to the Chief Minister:
When you have nurses from the emergency department signing a petition and calling on the government for action because it is in crisis, you ought to listen and work with them to improve safe care arrangements at the emergency department. For the Minister for Health to pretend today the opposition is proposing you take a patient from the emergency department and put them into the medi-hotel shows how bizarre this government is in its responses. Quite obviously, we are not.
We heard that, in July, 70 people were waiting for beds in the hospital. We also heard on any given day there are 20 to 30 people waiting for acute beds in Royal Darwin Hospital. You have a genuine, real and present problem. Sometimes it is difficult to find a solution to a problem, particularly when it comes to the care of patients, but the solution is there. It was built and constructed under Labor governments. The medi-hotel was built to reduce bed blocks in acute wards - people who need care, but not the high-level care required in acute beds, decanted into the medi-hotel, a pre- and post-hospital option.
Every nurse at the hospital will tell the government, if they care to listen, that needs to happen. The 100 beds sitting idle because of the failed mandatory alcohol rehab system of this government need to be used as intended, as built, to decant from the beds into the medi-hotel.
We are not talking about people going from the emergency department straight into the medi-hotel. We are talking about patients who are currently bed blocking for a variety of reasons. The minister talks about aged care. She condemns the fact there have been sanctions across nursing homes in Darwin and blames that for bed block, whilst the Chief Minister blames the detention centre.
An elderly person said to me, when hearing the Health minister complain about the sanctions and blame that for bed block, ‘Does she realise the sanctions are there to ensure appropriate care of the elderly in aged-care homes? To rail against the sanctions and demand they be lifted is abrogating her responsibilities and not understanding the care elderly people require in nursing homes.’
The medi-hotel could be used to deal with the aged-care bed block in RDH; it is an appropriate nursing setting. It could be used for the many patients from outlying areas across the Northern Territory and remote communities who are not well enough to go home but do not need the high level of care required in the acute bed wards of Royal Darwin Hospital. They are in those beds because the medi-hotel is not available.
You have created this crisis in health. It is of your making; however, pretend otherwise to your shame. The crisis in health extends to the damage occurring through removal of the BDR and the fact people have gone back onto the grog with a vengeance. The crisis in health is occurring to individuals with chronic alcoholism, and we have seen a spike in violent crime since the BDR was removed, all being ignored by the Northern Territory government. They pretend it is okay, they have it under control because property crime is under control and it is all good. It is not all good. People are feeling the real pain of the government’s failed alcohol policies. Barkly is a horrendous example of an escalation in violent crime since the Banned Drinker Register was removed. Turn your attention to Katherine, Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs and you will see all these places are suffering because of the failures of this arrogant CLP government. They cannot envisage any other government could have done anything good for Territorians. Only they - they believe in their arrogance - have the right solutions to issues. Territorians are feeling the brunt of this arrogance every day.
With rising unemployment while in an economic boom phase you know something has gone terribly wrong. When you listen to Territory businesses across the construction sector that are downsizing - engineering businesses, civil contractors, plumbers, sparkies - they have all consistently told us how they cannot stand the CLP government because it is hurting their business. They have put off staff just to keep their business afloat, and they point to the dramatic reduction in the government spend on repairs and maintenance, minor new works and its capital program. The only things left in the capital program are items the Labor government put on the capital program and funded. The large funding sitting in the capital program is Commonwealth funds. However, if you listen to the political rhetoric, the mantra chanted from the other side, Labor has not done anything for Territorians, despite the fact the bulk of the capital program funding comes from the federal Labor government.
Then we had the debate around sacking public servants. It is extraordinary a government would pretend public servants have not been sacked when you do not have to go very far to meet someone who has lost their job because of the CLP. I am not talking about executives, I am talking about people earning around $110 000. Across agencies people have lost jobs, yet this government pretends public servants have not been sacked – extraordinary.
As they are now going after teachers, and we have seen massive job losses in child protection, you wonder where their priorities are. I guess we have seen plenty of examples of that because they can find $300 000 for the Alice Springs Golf Club while they cut $280 000 from the education disability needs budget. That screams their priorities. They can afford to fly to a concert in the Kimberley together and have a good time, while they cut the education budget and staff out of child protection.
I remember watching the Chief Minister’s media conference when he was sworn in after he knifed the member for Blain, who had won the election for the CLP. He said, ‘We will have fun. We are here to have fun.’ He and his mates might be having fun, but Territorians are certainly not having fun while losing their jobs under this government. Businesses are not having fun while scrambling to keep their doors open and save their livelihoods.
Another reneging of a commitment at the election - there are so many - was, ‘Don’t worry, we will give you back your own council’. You said that to Ampilawatja and Kalkarindji, and mentioned it across the communities of the Northern Territory. Instead, a year in, you have renamed shires to regional councils. The shires have said publically it was just a renaming exercise with no boundary changes, no small councils back, yet the Minister for Local Government said, ‘That is our greatest achievement’. I guess she would say that because she does not get on with the Chief Minister. She would not see the person she described as a ‘little boy’ having achieved anything in his tenure as Chief Minister. There will be more on that later.
There is little doubt they are supporting Tony Abbott, their Canberra master. During Question Time, you saw how much of a puppet the Chief Minister is for Tony Abbott. Their plan will see further cuts in the Territory.
To his shame, the Treasurer would not even write to Tony Abbott seeking a written assurance we would not lose $2.2bn in GST funding when he follows through on the deal with his Liberal Premier mates down south to change the GST funding formula to per capita so GST dollars are stripped away from the Territory. The Treasurer would not stand up for the Territory, write to Tony Abbott, and seek reassurance around our $2.2bn GST funding. If it was not under threat, why not write the letter? Why not get the response in writing we seek as a reassurance? Julie Bishop, Deputy Leader of the Opposition federally, gave it away on radio in Western Australia saying the deal had been done with the Liberal state Premiers.
To his shame, in this motion we are condemning the Chief Minister’s decision to renege on the gas to Gove deal. The economic contribution of that region to the Northern Territory economy is $800m. Of that, $200m to $300m goes into the pockets of Territory businesses in Darwin and Palmerston. Yet, on a public holiday, Show Day, the Chief Minister, without a heads up to the company involved, Pacific Aluminium, dropped the bombshell that they are reneging on the 300 PJ of gas proclaimed by the former Chief Minister, the member for Blain. If you were not doing the wrong thing - you knew you were - you would not have dropped it on the public holiday Show Day, you would have done it on a working day with the company sitting alongside you, explaining exactly what was happening and how it is in the best interests of keeping the refinery open - the 1000 direct jobs, about 1000 indirect jobs, and the opportunities there. You knew you were doing the wrong thing. You know you were damaging our sovereign-risk reputation at the same time with this behaviour, yet you continue to pursue these bizarre ways of managing the Territory. It is damaging and hurting our reputation.
The chopping and changing of Chief Ministers and ministers, the chaos existing within the CLP, everyone across the public service looks at it - I would not say everyone, I daresay some pockets are saying, ‘It is what it is, we are getting on with it’. However, public servants are saying, ‘This is unmitigated chaos’. They are good; they are hard-working and will serve the government of the day without fear or favour.
Without fear or favour is a curious thing because there is no doubt fear exists across sectors of Northern Territory society when it comes to the punitive way the CLP responds to criticism. Whether I am listening to the concerns of business, their industry peak organisations, specific non-government organisations or their peak, NTCOSS, people who work across the public sector for different agencies, or people in the regions or urban centres, I hear a consistent theme, ‘I cannot speak out because they will cut my funding. I cannot speak out because I will lose my job.’
The fear is real, it exists, and, from my point of view, is understandable. I consistently say to people, ‘You may not be able to speak out but we will. We will speak on your behalf.’ The government will pretend that is something made up by Labor. Pretend to your folly, because we are giving you the words Territorians say to us.
Madam Speaker, I condemn this government.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, one could be forgiven for thinking the sun did not come up this morning. Whilst I appreciate the nature of opposition is to oppose, to rant without offering too much by way of substantive argument is, essentially, a waste of this House’s time. Nevertheless, we will do the Leader of the Opposition the courtesy of responding.
I will start where she finished, on the fear she describes as crystallising in the public service which leaves public servants bereft of an opportunity to express themselves. I walk through my departments and talk to many of the people putting into place the policies of the Northern Territory government. The first time I walked through the Corrections department in Admiralty House, there was a great deal of surprise to see a minister on the shop floor. It caused some apprehension. It is something I have continued to do since becoming a minister of the Crown, and now my appearance on the shop floor, both in the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice, and the Corrections department, is not met with fear.
I have met public servants enthusiastic to tell me how they are going about their business. These are AO4s and AO5s who want to tell me what they are doing. They are interested in what is happening, in the policies of government, and some of them will say they disagree or agree with government policy. Generally, they are enthusiastic about what they are doing, particularly in the area of Corrections. It is a great delight to walk through the prisons and administrative sections of the department and see the enthusiasm with which the services of the Corrections department are being delivered, and that people are taking to some fundamental policy changes. Normally, change is a driver of fear, but in my experience, particularly in the Corrections department, it has been a source of enthusiasm. I love the fact public servants will enthusiastically tell me what they are doing.
The experience described by the Leader of the Opposition does not accord with the experience I have when walking through the departments. I do not doubt, amongst some of her union mates, there are people who will seek every opportunity to deride a conservative government no matter what we do, in the same fashion a Labor Party will seek to deride a conservative government no matter what we do. We could walk across a swimming pool and they would still find some reason to complain, probably that we have left our sandals on the other side. They would find a reason to complain about whatever, and this is typical of the Labor Party.
I do not mind being criticised; we are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I do not mind that we live in a democracy in which Her Majesty enjoys the service of a loyal opposition. However, use the opportunity to give us a more constructive approach than you are giving. Moreover, give Territorians a more constructive approach.
I will pick up on some of the points: cost of living skyrockets whilst wages growth drops to the lowest in the nation. We are currently engaged in a potential industrial dispute. We are trying to engage in a settled EBA and, as a matter of good faith, the first offer we gave was the only offer we could in that EBA negotiation, given our parlous financial circumstances - 3%. Tracking it out over four years, it is 12.55% if you allow for the compounding component. Moreover, the CPI over that four-year period is under 12% so it is real wages growth we are offering. However, because there is a federal election in the air, the mates of the Labor Party have determined to take this on as a fight.
I will give you an example of why we know this. Prior to the election being announced we negotiated the EBA with Power and Water workers, which was almost in the same terms as is being offered to the CPSU, and they accepted it.
Before the election was announced the union accepted the proposed EBA, and for a much shorter period than the one proposed for the CPSU. The election was announced and, all of a sudden, there was a wonderful opportunity to make hay and that is what is happening. The union movement, which represents about 25% of the public service, is now withholding from the average public servant a pay increase of $80 a fortnight so it can play games to support its Canberra masters. Members opposite suggest we are marching to the beat of Tony Abbott’s drum.
If this is not about getting Kevin Rudd re-elected, what is? It is all about getting Kev re-elected and trying to cause as much mischief as possible. That is why we see an organisation representing a small fraction of the public service agitating so aggressively and depriving the average public servant of $80 a fortnight from their pay packet. If this is not resolved, in the next fortnight the average public servant in the Northern Territory will have lost $160, and in the fortnight after they will have lost $240, then $320, then $400 and so on infinitum whilst they hold out.
This is the penalty being paid by the average public servant and it is not good enough. Whilst the cost of living is skyrocketing according to the Leader of the Opposition, she is still engaged in, and in bed with, the same organisation which has a constitutional duty to support the Labor Party; it is written into their constitution. That is depriving the average Territory public servant of $80 a fortnight from their pay. They then say they represent the workers.
Education budgets have increased. I note from the paper dropped on the table today by the leader of opposition business when he said, ‘There is a small cut coming out there. You can see $280 000 coming out from services’, but if you look at the bottom line there was an increase. It was not a government document; it was an answer to a question on notice. There was an increase of $2.8m. We are spending more in education than ever and they choose to ignore that. They took one figure from a list in a document; they pick up one thing and that is it. That is the shock and awe of this mob opposite.
They talk about unemployment going up. I love the way they gloss over and massage the statistics to suit their argument.
There is nothing better than the allegation that violent alcohol-related crime is up by 17% - they are not even comparing the quarter - and domestic violence is up by 24%. It is curious the member for Barkly is not here, he is probably hanging his head in shame because the member for Barkly explained in detail to this House why those figures were increasing, and explained it as a product of Labor government policy - government policy we adopted and continued to pursue it even harder. Their policy drove it up.
We could easily have reduced those numbers by 10% by winding up Project Respect. The police would have returned to a policy of dealing with domestic violence cases only under domestic violence legislation. There would have been a sharp decrease in the number of assaults associated with domestic violence and we would have achieved our 10%.
You come to a crossroads when you deal with these issues in government and ask yourself a question, the same question the Labor Party asked, ‘Do we change a policy for the sake of statistics, or do we continue a policy for the sake of protecting Territorians?’ We came up with the same answer as the Australian Labor Party: it is not about the numbers or massaging statistics, it is about protecting Territorians.
We are looking harder than they did in the same places they started by continuing policies they promoted and knew were driving up domestic violence assault complaints. Therefore, they know it. It was described in detail by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in this House last week. For that reason, it is more than a little mischievous for them suddenly to come into this House and rant about numbers when they know what is behind the numbers and what is driving them. Interestingly, when I was on that side of the House, I heard them explain exactly what I am explaining now when I raised questions. They are stirring up as much trouble as they can around these figures.
Crime in the Territory has been reduced by 5%. It is not the 10% we aimed for, but 5% is better than what they managed. In fact, we have seen a sharp reduction in property crime. The Leader of the Opposition believes all property is theft, therefore she has scant regard for people’s property. However, property crime is down nearly 10%. We are proud of that because we believe property should be protected. It is nice to know we were close to our 10% figure, something they could not dream of in their wildest imaginings. Nevertheless, we had the temerity to suggest we could set a target like that and went after it and, proudly, were close to achieving it. It is much closer than any target they ever set, but they were not good at setting targets for themselves because that would have meant committing to something rather than some nebulous statement that you were setting out to achieve an aspirational outcome. That is the type of language we heard from the members opposite.
The business of public servants being sacked is a furphy, and they know it. It was completely and clearly explained to members opposite during the estimates process to the point of exhaustion where they had no further questions. They could not get their heads around it, but, nevertheless, it was explained. No public servant earning under $110 000 has been sacked. Contracts have ended, yes, but contracts, by their very nature, are not permanent documents or permanent arrangements. People earning over $110 000 have been moved on. We are not the only government in history to move people on.
Do you remember Margaret Banks, Leader of the Opposition? Margaret was terminated in a most unceremonious fashion and most unjustifiable way. However, the members opposite would like to expunge these incidents out of their mind’s eye.
Let us talk about a government in crisis. Who remembers the brink of an election we were brought to because a government was falling apart left right and centre because it could not hold itself together? We had the execution of a former Chief Minister. Remember the great CLP killer of 2001, summarily executed in a most unceremonious fashion and, all of a sudden, they think they have some righteous high ground to comment on other people. They are hypocrites when they come into this House and try to set themselves up as some glorious institution. They are hypocrites when they suggest they are the perfect substitute government in the Northern Territory. Above all else, they left us the $5.5bn projected debt. They would be, if still in government, ramping that up way beyond the projected debt because they cannot contain themselves. It is beyond Labor fibre to contain themselves.
When you ask where they would make savings, how they would balance the books, they say, ‘It will happen in the better times’. There is no projection of better times in any budget book they produced. The projected debt continued to increase, and the former Treasurer continued to rack it up on the credit card. If you have the audacity, whilst there is a Labor government in this jurisdiction, to suggest debt needs to be reined in, you are an economic rationalist. Economic rationalism is an insult, according to the left, but the counterpoint to economic rationalism is economic irrationalism. That is how they govern, and how they believe a jurisdiction should be governed. The pixies pay for it in the end. The pixies and fairies from the bottom of the garden come with magical buckets of gold which they sprinkle around and the Treasury books are magically returned to surplus. I cannot understand how they could believe that is a good idea for the long-term future.
I remember the protest out the front when a firie described having to hold the hand of a little girl who was dying, and he wanted to be properly supported to do that job. I agree. That was a touching speech. If I had capacity to respond to him at the time – the union movement was there in force screaming at anyone who tried to enter into the debate I would have said, ‘I agree, but if we spend all the money now, at some point the fire officer who replaces you will have to hold her hand for three hours because there is no money for the fire service because we are paying the interest bill’.
However, we do not think about those things because it is the immediacy of dealing with what is happening, which is the hallmark of the Labor government. It is a political problem right now, we have to deal with it right now, let us rack it up on the credit card. If you suggest you should contain or restrain that you are heartless, an economic rationalist, and a villain of the lowest order. I care about today, but I also care about the future. The future is about how you plan today. I could quote any number of Aesop’s Fables to support this, but I would not bore the House with such tedium.
This is a nasty, relentless diatribe which does not deserve the time this House has dedicated to it. However, that is the nature of this House. It is a House of debate and we welcome the democratic processes. However, this motion cannot and will not be supported.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Mr Deputy Speaker, today we debate a motion about a year of failure. We are one year into the term of the CLP government. They had a 100-day action plan, which has not been too successful. The first page of the 100-day action plan said they would immediately remove all problem drunks.
As we debated last week, less than one problem drunk has been dealt with in a year. The CLP’s own measure of success was 5%. They said a measure of success was 18 problem drunks picked up; 5% of 18 is less than one problem drunk in a year.
Territorians are angry with the current government because of broken promises; the fact the CLP made promise after promise knowing full well they would break those promises after being elected.
The CLP knew the state of the budget books before the election. We sat through six days of estimates recently. All members of this Chamber, even new members, would appreciate the level of information you get through the estimates process. There is no doubt the then opposition, now government, knew exactly what the budget books said before the election. They also had the PEFO. The position of the budget was known before the election, yet the CLP made election promises they knew they would break. They said one thing before the election and did something completely different after, which sticks in the craw of Territorians. It upset a significant number of Territorians.
The member for Karama, the Leader of the Opposition, spoke about power and water prices and the cost of living. We have often debated that in this Chamber. It was remarkable that the member for Port Darwin, when talking about cuts to education, highlighted one area where they have received extra money. Yes, they have received money to help pay for power and water tariffs the CLP increased. It was quite a remarkable thing for the member for Port Darwin to highlight amongst the lists of cuts to special needs students, to children with extreme behaviours and to VET in Schools. What did he highlight? The increase in payments to schools to meet the power and water bills the CLP increased. Perhaps the member for Port Darwin did not peruse the full list or realise what he was highlighting when he mentioned an increase in one area, which was to pay for the CLP’s power and water bills.
People in education, and other sectors, are not happy. Much of the anger stems from an election promise from the CLP which said, ‘Your job is safe’. It was a personal pledge from the CLP, and the then Leader of the Opposition, who was briefly Chief Minister. He personally wrote to public servants saying, ‘If you are on the front line of police, education or health, regardless of how much you earn, I promise your job is safe, I guarantee it’. That was an election promise and a personal pledge from the CLP to public servants, ‘Your job is safe’. Yet, we know teachers who have already lost their jobs.
We have debated what jobs might be in schools next year, but let us not forget there was a loss of teachers between 2012 and 2013. For example, at Casuarina Senior College, seven teachers were lost between the CLP being elected and the 2013 school term. Legal Studies and IT were the subjects lost.
We are now talking about further cuts to education by the CLP government when we debate what will happen in schools next year. We should not forget the teachers and subjects already gone because of decisions by the government to break their promise of, ‘Your job is safe’. There are fewer teachers in schools today. You cannot get any more front line than police, education or health.
Another group of people on the front line are the firefighters who were in today. They were not happy with the government’s response to a proposed bill to help cover them for cancer they may develop in their job.
Firefighters deal with trauma all the time, so I do not want to say it is the most trauma they will deal with, but at a time when they are stressed, the family is stressed, and they are going through a difficult circumstance, by reversing the onus of proof and assuming, in the first instance, this developed in the workplace, unless the employer or insurance company proves otherwise - it is extremely stressful to prove they developed cancer in the job.
Often the only way to prove it is after going through treatment with doctors, specialists and surgeons. It comes toward the end of the process, not the beginning. You deal with stress around sick leave, finding out and dealing with it, and paying for it out of your own pocket without any support. We want to ensure they have support at that time. The firefighters are not happy, and the government has a chance, and we are prepared to give them a chance, to change their position through the review being undertaken and join with the firefighters. They put their hand out - before they turn their backs - saying, ‘Let us do this together’. They are not happy, and that is a developing issue.
We have had several debates on education in this House. We wanted to debate education cuts on Tuesday but, unfortunately, that debate was gagged. You cannot gag teachers, parents and students. The AEU is doing some good work, and there is also a group called Students Left Behind, which is a collective of parents, teachers and students who are also making their voices heard. They are working with the union, and others, to get their message out. They are organising a rally for 4.30 pm Thursday, and are putting out fliers which I am sure members have seen.
The Students Left Behind flier says:
That is the flier from Students Left Behind and the AEU. If the minister has not seen it, I would be happy to table it or give him a copy. The rally is happening on Thursday at 4.30 pm. Parents, teachers and students will make very clear their concerns around cuts to education and, in particular, cuts to teachers, because it is a broken election promise.
Teachers would have no doubt, going to the last election based on the words of the CLP, their jobs were safe. Unfortunately, the government’s actions have let teachers down. As much as we feel for the teachers, let us measure the outcome. We will see fewer subjects, crowded classrooms, and less individual attention for children in those classes. The outcome of fewer teachers is not good.
The CLP has broken faith with Territorians and betrayed a trust in its failure to keep an election promise that frontline workers would be safe then, shockingly, sacked them. It has also betrayed the contract all political parties should have with parents and students to provide a quality public education so all children have an equality of opportunity through equality in education.
There is no simpler responsibility to a government than to do better for the next generation. There is no better way to do that than by providing quality public education, which is at the core of this debate. Governments should ensure quality public education is available to all. Parents can have a choice between public and private schools, but it should be a choice between two good schools.
The CLP is putting this choice under threat by cutting teachers, services and grants within education. They knew the Territory’s budget before the last election. They knew when they made election promises that they would break them. That upsets Territorians; I cannot put it any more simply. When you say one thing before the election and do another after, you are judged harshly.
The CLP cuts to education go to the bone. They go beyond seeking efficiencies and make detrimental and unforgivable changes to our schools. The CLP is sacking teachers. You do not get much more front line than a teacher in a classroom. Teachers, along with other frontline workers - police, firies, nurses, doctors - were promised their jobs would be safe; they were not safe. The CLP is sacking teachers, cutting teachers’ pay, and does not defend teachers from attacks. The CLP is offering teachers a pay deal which is less than inflation, a cut in real wages.
Teachers are sensitive to the false accusation they have too much downtime. Rather than defending teachers, the minister joined the chorus agreeing teachers have too much downtime. Minister, teachers reject accusations they are lazy. We reject accusations teachers are lazy. Minister, teachers want you to defend them. I welcome you, if you rise in this debate, to defend teachers and retract your accusation that they have too much downtime.
The minister and the department have spoken about ratios, formulas and full-time equivalents. This hides the real cuts and the real cost of cuts. Teachers on the front line seeing their colleagues go estimate the impact of these cuts will total 180 teachers at least, which will be devastating. We will have fewer teachers, crowded classrooms and fewer subjects. It is already happening. The loss of seven teachers from Casuarina Senior College in 2012-13 saw the loss of Legal Studies, IT and other subjects. It is already happening in our schools and we are talking about further cuts.
Parents and students are extremely concerned, particularly parents with students in the primary school years because you do not stop learning at Year 6, you go into Year 7. The majority of students go through to Year 12, and the majority of parents want their children to go through to Year 12. Parents of primary school kids are looking ahead to see what is happening in our middle and senior schools and are extremely worried about the future. They want to know their children will get a quality public education when they go into middle and senior school. Those areas of our schooling system are under attack.
The CLP is cutting grants and programs. It is cutting grants dealing with extreme behaviours. Our teachers can do it tough sometimes; we all know that. The minister has acknowledged it. We should not tolerate extreme behaviour in our schools which affects the safety of teachers or students. The minister has previously said that, so I do not understand why they cut grants to deal with extreme behaviours when we know the minister agrees teachers and students should not tolerate an unsafe workplace. We agree on this, yet the CLP is cutting grants dealing with extreme behaviours of students in classes.
The CLP is cutting Vocational Education and Training in our schools, a failure of vision. The CLP is failing to prepare our current generation of students for the future opportunities of our modern economy. You should not be cutting into VET. You should be developing the current generation to embrace the work opportunities of a modern economy in the Northern Territory.
The CLP is cutting grants which help schools purchase specialist equipment and run programs for disabled students. The CLP has almost halved funding for the special needs program. We do not understand why you would target this area of schooling. We do not understand many of the education cuts, but you would skip past this and say, ‘Do not worry about that one. Let that one slide.’ However, $280 000 is gone. I find it hard to believe the CLP, in the entire Territory government budget, could not find $280 000 ...
Mr Vowles: Alice Springs Golf Club!
Mr GUNNER: As the member for Johnston said, $300 000 for the Alice Springs Golf Club. I do not want to pick on the golf club, but I would have chosen the special needs students and their grant program and fund the $280 000. You have $20 000 in change for the golf club. Perhaps the CLP has its priorities wrong when making decisions like this.
The member for Johnston has spoken in great detail about the grant to the Alice Springs Golf Club and how the CLP made that decision. It makes it harder to understand when you see a cut to special needs kids. The list, tragically, goes on, and the victims of these bad decisions are our students. We will have more students in a class and less support for teachers. That is the effect of these cuts. It is becoming harder for a teacher to do their job.
By reducing teacher numbers - this will be a little complicated unless you are back at school - you will see a change in the way lines are done in schools - how the rosters and timetables are done. It will put pressure on teachers and principals working out how they manage the timetable and how they make decisions. The minister has put these decisions onto principals - which subjects and which teachers go.
We have spoken with many principals who are extremely concerned about how they make these decisions. They realise attrition will not take care of this, and know even if you rely on attrition and it leads to the right number of teachers going - if by some chance the right number of teachers leave by natural attrition - nothing guarantees the teachers they lose will help cover specialist subjects. Principals know they have a responsibility to the students in that cohort to ensure they provide the right specialist classes. They have an extremely hard decision to make, even with attrition, which might mean they no longer have a manual arts teacher in a middle school. ‘We need a manual arts teacher. Somehow I’ll have to find a way to get a manual arts teacher into our school.’
They have given example after example of the pressure they are under. The conversations they are having with parents and students are causing extreme stress. I am sure the minister would be aware of this. ANSTEL, the principal’s association, was already worried about the emotional state and wellbeing of principals before this was put on a principal’s shoulder. I am sure the minister has been given the same thing I have, which is the health and wellbeing survey. This looked at a range of recommendations for principals across Australia and deals with some of the stresses principals are under.
This was done without them having to make decisions about which subjects and teachers go from their school. To read from one of the recommendations:
Motion agreed to.
Mr GUNNER: I will start that sentence again.
We spoke about cuts to the extreme behaviour grants and touched upon this in Question Time. The most pertinent example of high school emotional behavioural needs in the bush relates to the ongoing tensions and assault of teachers in Angurugu School on Groote Eylandt. The minister is probably aware of other incidents across the Northern Territory, but Angurugu probably highlights it better than most. Those concerns are why the government decision to cut into these grants is disturbing. Given the spike in extreme violence in Angurugu School in recent times, we do not understand why you cut into extreme behaviour grants. We know the union and people from the department visited on Monday trying to fix this. I have no doubt the government is taking it seriously and working on it, yet, at the same time, made a decision to cut into the grants program. A teacher was badly assaulted with a slingshot a fortnight ago at Angurugu. That comes on top of a series of disturbing incidents at the school in recent times, including a teacher being punched, kicked and spat on by a student in the last week of Term 2.
We and the CLP believe - we agree on this - that teachers and students should feel safe at school. We do not understand why you cut into those programs. We also know the importance of having multiple pathways so we can teach all our students at school. When dealing with students with complicated needs we should ensure that does not necessarily affect a student who is following a traditional education path. There are many ways through our school system. It makes no sense that the CLP would cut grants which help schools address extreme behaviours.
However, the part of the system that most deals with difficult students is our middle school system. This was specifically created to deal with students at an extraordinary difficult time in their lives; Years 7, 8, and 9. That is when students are at the greatest risk of dropping out, are disengaged, distracted, and distracting, and where the longest suspensions are served. The national stats show that 80% of long suspensions are served in the middle school years. We can all understand why Years 7, 8 and 9 are the most troublesome years as students are going through a hormonal spurt. We recognise the need to create a middle school system with teachers who are well aware of, and give priority to, retaining and teaching students in those years.
This engagement is at its peak and behaviour is at its most unstable as children try to discover who they are and how they fit into modern society. Therefore, the middle years of school require the most active interventions into a student’s learning and future pathways. You need an incredibly flexible school to deal with different needs from cohort to cohort. When running at their best and fully staffed, middle schools provide alternative streams of education; they do not lump all the students into one class. This ensures students learn at their best, are retained, and make it through to their senior years. These classes are at risk if teacher numbers are cut.
This is what Darwin Middle School highlighted when writing to the minister, me, and to COGSO about the programs which will be lost through the loss of teachers - classes that deal with disengaged kids. Our middle school system has significant needs around providing alternative pathways.
Our senior schools are likely to lose small specialist classes. The ones identified to me are languages, perhaps Japanese. That is an important class but, in some ways, a want. However, in our middle schools, when you lose classes based around disengagement - you need that class. These are the classes middle schools are struggling to fit into their timetable for 2014 with the cut in teacher numbers. The purpose of middle schools is at risk through cuts to teacher numbers in the Northern Territory. That is being said clearly by principals, teachers and parents. They are the ones at risk and we are extremely concerned the point of middle schools is being lost.
With fewer teachers you have less flexibility to adjust to the differing needs of each cohort. Middle schools feel they do not have a champion. They are a new sector performing an important role of retaining our children in the education system, ensuring disengaged kids learn, and kids who are following the traditional education path keep doing that. With cuts to classes, programs are at risk.
One program Darwin Middle School identified was its award winning Good Standing program, a fantastic program. It won an award at the Smart School Awards, which I believe have ended.
Also at risk are most areas of intensive literacy and numeracy intervention - you need a lot of intervention in the middle school years - the school’s Peer Observation and Coaching Performance Enhancement Strategy, several student electives, and some subjects, particularly the arts and languages, as well as student intervention and wellbeing programs. There is a constant theme. A principal recently said they are good pathways not alternative pathways. We are at risk of losing these good pathways in our school and returning to a mainstream traditional set up which defeats the purpose of the middle school system which was to ensure we had that focus and retained kids in those years.
Obviously, our senior schools are under threat at Darwin High School where five teachers a year for four years have been cut, Casuarina has lost three already and will lose five for the next three years. The cuts to our senior schools will affect subject choice. I hope it does not affect the quality of education that students receive because I believe teachers will always do their best in the classroom environment. It definitely will affect subject choices, and teachers will feel much more pressure and have a greater workload trying to deliver classes.
We see risk and threats in our senior years, but in some ways the most disheartening aspect is to see the purpose of middle schools is at risk of being lost through teacher cuts. The incremental targets are one thing, and looking for efficiencies is a good thing, but these measures go way beyond that.
A teacher recently told me they would be prepared to accept the pay cut the minister is offering if he was to reverse the cuts to education. At the end of the day, teachers are following a vocation; they want to educate the children in their care. It was incredible when he said he would accept a pay cut if the minister reversed the cuts in education, including teacher losses, so he could provide the best education for our children. That is a powerful thing for a teacher to say. I am sure many teachers would agree with that.
We support our teachers and will work with them to ensure they can fight this government and we can find some way to reverse these cuts or make some difference to what the CLP is doing. We hope the minister listens and cuts to special needs students are reversed. We hope he reverses the decision and does not cut into teacher numbers in our senior and middle schools next year so we can ensure a quality education system in the Northern Territory.
I commend the motion to the House.
Mr VOWLES (Johnston): Mr Deputy Speaker, tonight I speak on this very important issue. The people of Johnston were promised by the failed CLP candidate that her party would fight to drive down the high cost of living. They said they would tackle this issue head on, bizarrely mentioning in a radio debate that Territorians, especially the people of Johnston, are forced to eat mince at least two to three times a week. I eat mince probably four times a week and love it. They said they would tackle the issue head on. We have seen nothing of the sort.
I have spoken to public housing tenants, seniors and families, and they are all struggling with the increases. I have met people who are leaving Darwin because of it. I know of many families from Jingili who have left the Territory not because they want to, they do not like the lifestyle or do not want their children to grow up here, but because they cannot afford to live here with the rising cost of living, especially due to the power and water increases.
That is a shame as this place is beautiful. We have a great lifestyle and the CLP is destroying it with price rises. Businesses and organisations are all saying, ‘These rising costs are crippling us’. Community groups are worried about meeting the cost of their bills. Some of those community groups have had funding cuts, which are also crippling them.
Let us move to pensioners and pensioner bus fares. Pensioners on fixed low incomes have been compelled to pay $1 to catch a bus. The former Labor government made bus travel free for seniors. I can tell seniors in the Northern Territory we will reverse seniors’ bus fares, this money grab from the CLP government, if we are elected in 2016. We recognise many senior Territorians are doing it tough and this measure could help alleviate the cost of living. The bus fare decision is stopping seniors and pensioners from accessing services they desperately need for their health and wellbeing. I admit that $1 is not very much money for me or anyone in this Chamber, but to our most vulnerable, our seniors who should be looked after, $1 goes a long way.
I have had one service provider tell me their numbers have had a dramatic drop and they can trace it directly to the moment Adam Giles decided to charge pensioners $1 to get on a bus. I still do not understand it and never will. Show some compassion and change this decision. How can we hurt our most frail, marginalised and vulnerable people in our society with these cuts?
Somehow, we still find the money to put a heap of past CLP members of parliament and failed candidates on the payroll on six-figure salaries. I do not get it.
I am deeply concerned about the teacher cuts. My colleague, the member for Fannie Bay, said it all in this debate. I am concerned about Casuarina Senior College in my electorate of Johnston. CSC is a wonderful school, like most other schools around the Northern Territory. It has a proud history, and to hear about the low morale of staff and students because of the cuts in education is saddening. At the end of the day, the students will be disadvantaged by this decision.
I turn to tourism. During the election campaign there was no mention of the forced move of tourism staff, or even moving tourism headquarters to Alice Springs. As I have already mentioned, we are left wondering how on earth this CLP government can justify spending almost $1m moving six people to create a new tourism headquarters in Alice Springs, making the decision at the minister’s whim and without a shred of evidence.
The minister for Tourism issued a strange and confusing media release congratulating Qantas for cutting direct flights from Darwin to Canberra, then congratulating the scrapping of seven flights from Sydney to Uluru to be replaced with four Jetstar flights. It was strange and further proof he is drowning as a minister; he is simply not up to it. We know it on this side of the House, and all your colleagues on that side of the House know it as well. He said I like a fight, in another bizarre rant and rave this afternoon in his tourism wrap. I can tell the minister and the CLP I do like a fight. I like to fight bad decisions, I like to fight for the people of Johnston, and I will fight on behalf of all Territorians.
What a year in sport! The minister cancelled the Super 15 Rugby League deal with the Brumbies. No bang for buck was what the minister stated in a forced and hurried media release ...
Ms Fyles: He does not like rugby.
Mr VOWLES: He does not like rugby, that is true, member for Nightcliff. I say ‘forced and hurried’ because I issued a media release asking if the minister could confirm future deals of Super 15 Rugby in the Northern Territory. Lo and behold, an hour or two later, a media release came out saying he is cancelling the Super 15 Rugby deal.
His comments were no bang for buck for $300 000 per match to see top world-class rugby in the Northern Territory, but the minister’s and Chief Minister’s golf club in Alice Springs got $300 000 in the mini-budget. Even your side commented in the media they did not know how that got through and it could have been spent elsewhere. That is taxpayers’ dollars. Are taxpayers getting their bang for buck? I do not think so. It stinks, everyone knows it stinks, and it will continue to stink and be a blight on you as a minister.
Not only did he cancel the Super 15 matches, he also cancelled the iconic Arafura Games. What is next? Is it BASSINTHEGRASS, the Super Bikes, which is now five to six months late and includes Supercross at an extra $100 000 to taxpayers, or perhaps no future AFL games?
How about taking the AFL game for points match from Darwin to Alice Springs? I believe that is on the cards. The five-year $8m AFL deal this side of the House brought in when we were in government is running out very soon. I, once again, call on the minister for Sport and Recreation to guarantee the future of AFL matches in the Northern Territory.
There are the sporting vouchers the CLP promised during the election, which I welcome. Any initiative to allow children to participate in sport and active recreation is a great initiative. However, with this minister always comes some problem. This was a bungle and parents were coming to me saying they were frustrated they could not use the vouchers for activities such as ballet and scouts as promised by the then Leader of the Opposition, future Chief Minister, then dumped and stabbed Chief Minister, Terry Mills. In a radio interview he said ballet and scouts would be included, but when the Sport Voucher came out it did not include them. Many parents asked what good a $75 Sport Voucher was if you have to pay an extra $2000 a year for higher power bills, and the sports club has raised its fees to cover the increase in running ovals, lights and watering costs.
One sporting organisation advised me - I have said this many times in parliament already - they had an increased power and water bill of $39 000.
Another promise that, before the election, your leader, the man who led you to an election win after 11 years, the bloke stabbed in the back while on international government business, Terry Mills, member for Blain, who sits closer to us, announced in his five-point plan, ‘Problem drinkers will be removed from the streets. Your parks and neighbourhoods will be made clean and safe.’ That is a broken promise if I have ever heard one. Seniors, parents with babies and bus commuters have all contacted my office telling me about the problem drunks in their neighbourhoods. Many people are saying things have become worse since the Banned Drinker Register was scrapped. I am talking about the member for Nightcliff’s neighbourhood, the member for Wanguri’s neighbourhood, and my neighbourhood. We are talking about Wanguri, Nightcliff and Johnston, probably the electorate of Casuarina as well. There is a marked increase in people back on the streets drinking. I still do not understand what the Chief Minister was thinking. The evidence is in front of you wherever you go.
When the former Chief Minister bizarrely advised people to confront drunks, my office received many calls from people shocked about how out of touch he must be with ordinary people. The Country Liberal Party has made decision after decision directly affecting the number of drunks on our streets. You scrapped the BDR with nothing in its place, and then cut funding to non-government organisations that helped with antisocial behaviour and drunks. Violent alcohol-related crime has increased by 17%, and alcohol-related domestic violence is up 24%. These figures are disgraceful. We all need to address this, we all …
Mr Elferink: Not true.
Mr VOWLES: I will give you a rap here, John, so you might want to listen.
We all need to address this issue. Every victim of domestic violence is a failure by all of us in this Chamber. We had the BDR, you have mandatory alcohol rehabilitation. History will judge if it fails, like all the experts have said. If it stops domestic violence - men and women being beaten up by partners in a drunken stupor - I will applaud your policy and give credit where it is due. However, it is already failing with an overwhelming number of drunks back in our parks and on the streets.
I move to my electorate of Johnston and the $1.5m election commitment by the CLP towards the Rapid Creek flooding issue. We understood the importance of keeping families in the area safe and promised $2m to start works immediately on the issue. In the mini-budget last year, the Country Liberal Party broke our promise, allocating only $750 000 for another study - a study that had already been done: a delaying tactic.
In the Chief Minister’s response to my letter dated 5 December, he said:
That is December 2012:
I can inform the House that residents of Rapid Creek are still waiting. We have another Wet Season coming, and families in Rapid Creek deserve better than the treatment they are getting from this government. I once again call on the Giles government, as I called on the Mills government, to put politics aside, release the report promised in December 2012, consult with residents, and allocate funding to start works immediately.
The CLP needs to remember you cannot have a string of failures and expect no one to be watching or to remember the pain you are causing. I have spoken to many people who voted CLP at the last election and their sentiments are the same: they regret it. If there was an election tomorrow, there is no way they would put this mob in again. Let time tell.
Mr Deputy Speaker, the CLP will say this motion is all hype, but it reflects what people are saying. In 2016 the people of the Northern Territory will decide.
Ms MANISON (Wanguri): Mr Deputy Speaker, this evening I speak to this important motion which outlines some of the many failures of the CLP government and points to what people have gone through across the Territory over the last 12 months.
Under the new CLP government, Territorians have experienced immense changes above and beyond their expectations. We all appreciate that people expect, with a change of government, the new government will make changes as they implement their policy and put their stamp on government. However, no one was expecting what they have seen over the last year.
It has been a year of disappointment, despair, and dysfunction. It has seen Territorians experience hardship they were not expecting and did not vote for. The CLP went to Territorians with a range of campaign documents outlining their so-called ‘commitment to people’. They had a five-point plan, written contracts, the ‘your job is safe’ flier they gave out and, of course, there was the post-election plan - what they would do in their first 100 days of government.
So far, numerous promises have been broken in a year of failures and disappointments. People have been left feeling betrayed and continue to ask, ‘What is next from this government?’ They are no longer shocked by the mean-spirited decisions with no apparent care for the impact it has on people’s lives. People are constantly saying, ‘This is a one-term government’, and are expressing their despair of having to go through another three years of this.
We are all in this Chamber because we want to see opportunities for Territorians and help them live good lives with their families with a bright future ahead. With this in mind, it seems the new government has lost its way, and I hope we see it get back on a reasonable track.
I have seen changes in and around my electorate and across the Territory in places I have visited. The performance of the Mills and now Giles government is a hot topic and everyone has a view. Everyone has been impacted by this government for a range of different reasons. One of the biggest disappointments of this government is its effort to reduce the cost of living. The CLP went to the election promising to reduce the cost of living, and this is an area where we have seen massive fails.
Instead, what have we seen? Power, water and sewerage up, and rates from local government increasing as they struggle to meet the power and water increases. The cost of goods and services - the cost of a cup of coffee has increased because businesses have increased power and water charges.
The price of buying or renting a home continues to be on the rise. Bus fares for seniors have increased, car registration has increased, and public housing rents have increased for many people. However, airfares for seniors have gone down in value so seniors need to find a bit more money for that.
Sport, something I am heavily involved in, will cost people a bit more, especially when you look at the power and water costs and the impact they have had. For example, Darwin Netball Association is bearing the cost increases this year to give clubs a year to prepare. At the moment, clubs are charged $22 and the association pays $28. They are giving clubs a $6 discount and bearing the cost. Next season it is anticipated the cost to hire a netball court for one hour will be $44; court hire is very expensive. It is a huge cost to clubs and, unfortunately, most clubs - certainly the club I play for, Waratahs - will have to pass that on to players because we already do a lot of fundraising to keep costs down.
We have CPI at 3.9%, the highest in the nation. It is costing more to live in the Territory under this CLP government. This is a broken promise by the government that Territorians are paying for.
It is not uncommon to hear people are leaving because they can no longer afford to live here. It is not uncommon to hear people say if their work did not provide housing or accommodation, or a housing allowance, they could not afford to live here and would leave. Territorians have been let down on the cost of living. The government must work harder in this area and stop putting costs up that are hurting people. It is becoming too much for people to bear.
We all know low-income earners are already suffering and will always find it tough, there is no doubt about that. However, this is moving and the load is getting far too heavy for those in the middle income bracket. We are talking about average families, couples, singles on reasonably good wages, all feeling the pressures of living here more than ever, and you are hitting Territorians hard. Low-income earners have been the group to suffer most under this government, and were targeted initially in some ways. Others have suffered due to flow-on effects this government has not considered as part of its decisions.
I have spoken about public housing rents and the agony that has caused many people. On Monday, I had another family tell me how their rent has fallen behind. This family had their rent inrease by $200 a week. These people are in their mid to late 60s and are paying over $10 000 a year in rent to stay in their public housing dwelling. He is wheelchair bound most of the time as he is quite ill. They worked over their lives and have some money put away because they did not want to be a burden on the system as they became older. However, they are struggling to keep up. Their bills are high and the extra rent is putting more pressure on them. They are finding it extremely tough and will be eating into their life savings much sooner. It is causing great stress when they look down the line. You have increased rents for many Territorians by far too much far too soon and they are struggling and suffering.
Another mean-spirited cost increase the government has not thought through is hospital parking. We know Royal Darwin Hospital is not a place people go for fun or want to spend much time at. Unfortunately, sometimes people have to spend time there and parking costs have been introduced. This would have been an unintended consequence of their actions, and I wrote to the Minister for Health asking her to look into it.
The government did not consider the flow-on effects to families, such as one I have in my electorate which fosters a highly disabled child with medical conditions and is frequently at the hospital. Cost considerations for them - they often go to the hospital. They are not a high income earning family; they do not have much money to spare. I was glad the minister looked into the matter. Have people in those situations been considered?
One of the biggest topics of conversation with public servants has been the shocking year they have experienced and the uncertainty surrounding them. We have many dedicated hard-working public servants in the Territory. We have all had the opportunity to work with many of them. Everybody knows a public servant in the Territory, and they feel incredibly let down by this government because, prior to the election, they were given some pretty firm commitments. First and foremost was that their jobs were safe. Some on the other side stood in front of workplaces handing out this brochure. I will show it again because it was fairly phenomenal, ‘Your Job is Safe’. What happened after election day? What did we see? What has happened?
In the 100-day action plan some fairly firm commitments were given to Territory public servants. One was to support and strengthen the NT Public Sector. On day four the Commissioner for Public Employment was to:
Mr Elferink: Not true, they did not lose them. You are making stuff up.
Ms MANISON: Not having a job, what is that then?
Mr Elferink: The contract comes to an end and normal attrition.
Ms MANISON: They lost their jobs. You made a commitment their jobs were safe and frontline service jobs were safe. I will get to that in a minute …
Mr Elferink: None of those jobs were terminated prematurely.
Ms MANISON: Good Lord, go into the real world and talk to people.
The only effort we have seen this government make around permanency is making public servants permanently unemployed. In some departments no one can understand why you are decimating the numbers. One is a vital agency protecting the welfare of the most vulnerable children in the Territory: the Office of Children and Families. By your own numbers provided through the estimates process, in the first six months 171 jobs went from the Office of Children and Families. The most vulnerable and innocent children across the Territory have fewer staff in that department to support them and families that need help.
In Education we saw numbers in the first six months reduce by about 180, and there are more jobs to go. We know frontline teachers are losing their jobs and that this number will grow.
We have also seen a bit of language around Power and Water employees. Questions were asked last week about whether or not their jobs were safe and no commitment was given. Power and Water seems to be in their sights as well.
The smaller agencies might not have those high, hefty figures, but there is no doubt they have seen job losses too. They might not be in the three figures, but any job losses, particularly in small teams, affect people. Staff are seeing departments restructured, further restructured, then moved around again.
Teachers are firmly in the sight of the government at the moment. They plan to shed teacher jobs. Having fewer teachers in our schools makes no sense to me or anyone I have spoken to. In my electorate we are experiencing significant growth but are seeing cuts to teachers in our local schools: our middle and senior schools of Dripstone and Casuarina. The feeder areas to those schools include Lyons and the emerging suburb of Muirhead. Houses are coming out of the ground very quickly and many families are moving into them. That means more kids in our suburbs, which means they need to attend one of the local schools.
Yesterday, the Minister for Education made a statement around this which has left me feeling confused. In the northern suburbs, with an influx of Defence families coming in later this year, many houses will be turned off. The keys will be handed over to Defence, and there is the likelihood additional families will be posted to the Northern Territory at Christmas. That means we will need more teachers in some schools.
The statement is coming at a time when we see teacher numbers at Dripstone Middle School and Casuarina Senior College cut next year. We saw teacher numbers cut at Casuarina Senior College in the previous year. The fact is, at Casuarina Senior College we have fewer teachers. We have seen a broken promise around frontline service delivery and teachers in the education system. There is less subject selection at that school, and teachers will now have more students in their classrooms.
I stress, Casuarina Senior College is our premier senior school in the northern suburbs. It is a great school with a long and proud history of students receiving a wonderful education which has set them on a promising pathway in their life. Parents want to see a senior school which prepares their children for a pathway into work, training, or into university. Cutting teachers will not help that. It will make things harder for teachers.
At Dripstone Middle School you are cutting teachers in the critical middle years. Again, you are letting students, parents, and our hard-working teachers down.
I do not understand how cutting frontline teachers is catering for a growing population in the feeder areas or why it is being done. It means bigger classrooms, less subject selection, and students will miss out. This is another stark example of where the CLP government has failed Territorians and broken a promise not to cut frontline services in education.
Public servants now have bigger workloads than ever as restructures have occurred and jobs have disappeared around them. People are not being replaced and workloads are high for those who are left. Public servants were not standing around doing nothing before the change of government; they were working hard and now have a heavier load on their shoulders - a bigger load than ever before. The way this government is treating public servants is a disgrace.
Today in Question Time we saw the voice of over 70 frontline nurses effectively ignored or mocked in many ways. That was a tragedy. These are frontline people of the emergency department with some fairly tough situations in front of them on a day-to-day basis. Their views were completely disregarded.
In the critical area of housing, the government has not spent the last 12 months doing Territorians much good. Prior to the election, the CLP made a promise to:
One year on this is a massive fail. Housing costs and land prices have not been reduced. It costs more for people to buy a home in the Territory, despite the promises of the CLP. The government has scrapped significant planning work which will create a big lag in land release. It will mean, once Palmerston East is finished, there will be time between the next lots being turned off.
Another fail in housing for Territorians is the opportunity to buy a home. The government - I have spoken about this before - has scrapped some very effective home ownership programs. What made them so effective, particularly HOMESTART NT and the shared equity scheme, was they helped people meet repayments and not be put into housing stress, especially in those first critical years when people tend to be on lower wages. They might be starting a family and feeling the pressure of not having a high income. It was a good scheme which helped people get a foot in the door of the housing market. It was especially helpful for young Territorians to build lifelong financial stability by buying a home. This scheme was scratched as well as the My New Home scheme. Territorians supported these schemes in droves.
The government replaced these schemes with HomeBuild Access and, last week, pointed out that in the first six months from July to December last year there were about 300 applicants for the HOMESTART or My New Home products compared to about 30 for HomeBuild Access in seven months. That is a big gap.
You have also made home ownership harder for families by scrapping the Stamp Duty First Home Owner Concession. People now have to save longer to buy a home. As I pointed out, previously it meant that somebody buying a property in the vicinity of $540 000 was provided with a saving of $26 730. Under this government, if they were to buy an established property in Darwin, Palmerston or the rural area for $540 000, they would have to find an extra $22 000. If they were to do that with a new property in Darwin, Palmerston or the rural area, under the CLP government they need an extra $19 000. There is a big difference and those dollars add up. In the last year the government has failed to make inroads into affordable housing for Territorians; in fact, it is far worse.
Another topic of conversation about this government is the statement in the 100-day action plan to ‘immediately remove drunks from our streets’. Again, that has been a tremendous fail. You will be sick of hearing me tell stories about running around Darwin, but it gives you a great …
Mr VOWLES: I am enthralled by the member for Wanguri’s comments. Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extension of time.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! The question has to be put before the extension of time is granted. Because the member for Johnston waffled his way trying to be a smart aleck …
Mr Vowles: Come on!
Mr ELFERINK: … you have run out of time!
Mr GUNNER: Speaking to the point of order!
Mr Vowles: I am a smart aleck.
Mr ELFERINK: Do your job, move the extension, and the question would have been put. Mr Deputy Speaker, despite the member for Johnston’s stupidity, I will accept, as Leader of Government Business, the motion so the member for Wanguri can finish her comments. What a dill!
Mr Vowles: Seriously, mate.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Settle down!
Motion agreed to.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I ask that the member withdraw the words he used to describe the member for Johnston, which I do not want to repeat.
Mr Vowles: Standing Order 62.
Mr ELFERINK: Hallelujah! I withdraw, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Ms MANISON: Mr Deputy Speaker, getting back to running around Darwin. It gives you an opportunity to get a real sense of what is happening on the ground, something you do not get when you drive. You can hear and see what is happening from a different perspective.
From the moment the Banned Drinker Register was scrapped I saw, and everyone else tells me they saw, a flood of problem drinkers back in the parks and on the streets. I have been running this week and seen people having a good time on The Esplanade at 7 am and 8 am. It is probably the example I use most, because it is where you see the mess the morning after. It is also where you see interaction between people.
East Point is another example where you will see people passed out, 2 L bladders around and empty casks. I have seen it. People are telling me they have seen it. Generally, the feedback I am getting is people do not understand why the government has - it is one commitment they delivered on instantly, there is no doubt there. People saw a difference and were frustrated the CLP government scrapped the Banned Drinker Register without putting anything in place. Their policy on mandatory alcohol rehabilitation does not tackle the issue of supply.
That is one aspect of this government I have received much feedback on. People do not believe mandatory alcohol rehabilitation will work. People have watched ‘Brewdini’ in amazement as the government claims a person constantly running away is a measure of success. People do not understand that logic.
I spoke to someone who worked on implementation of that policy who had been a health worker in the area of substance abuse and alcohol for most of their professional career. They were ethically and morally challenged in what they were asked to do in putting that policy together. It is a great concern when you hear that from someone working on it, and I understand others have also struggled with implementation of that policy.
It has been a tough 12 months for many Territorians. A big topic of discussion amongst people is the new government. It is disappointing, and I want to see a few more runs on the board. I want to see better outcomes for Territorians, and I believe we all want to see improvements. It has been 12 months of broken promises. This government should be condemned for its actions and some of the misery it has caused. I hope we see a change for the better in the way it governs because Territorians deserve better.
Madam Speaker, I commend this motion to the House.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Madam Speaker, our Westminster system is usually an adversarial system where we argue with the government. The government says its thing, we say the opposite, and everybody expects us to bag the government. It would be easy for me to list a litany of CLP mistakes; however, I will relay what people talk about in the streets of Darwin.
I have kept a tradition, member for Port Darwin. People talk, and their comments are not complimentary towards many of your colleagues or policies. One thing I maintain through my political career is to tell the truth. I did not think I would be a politician in the Northern Territory. I was elected in 2001 at a time of change which caught many by surprise, even this side, and certainly people on the CLP side of politics.
Do not lock yourself in an ivory tower on the fifth floor of this building. Go to the shopping centres and walk the streets. Talk to the people and, most importantly, listen to what they say. In August 2012 there was a change of government in the Northern Territory and many people asked why. We know the reason. If you look at the politics and what happened at the time and read the analysis of the 2012 election, you will find some strange things happened. Additional seats for the CLP, but the CLP did not win seats in their heartland and came close to losing some of them. People were surprised and asked why the CLP won seats in Indigenous areas. Never before has that happened. Little by little, things came out.
I saw the 7.30 Report and a person from Kalkarindji said Bess Price, member for Stuart, promised full-strength beer if the CLP was elected. The same thing was repeated in the media regarding the Tiwi Islands. The same allegation was made against the current member for Arafura. Then we found it was alleged if the CLP was elected it would cancel the BasicsCard, which they cannot do because it is a federal issue. Also, they promised they would roll back the intervention. That is interesting because the intervention was put in place by a Liberal federal government and will not be rolled back because they cannot roll it back.
In an electorate not as educated as those in other urban areas, and probably linked by cultural and family ties, there was a change in the voting pattern. There was a change of government because four Labor seats voted for the Country Liberals. It will be interesting to see what happens at the next election.
There was an air of optimism in the Country Liberals ranks. Some people were elected for the first time: the member for Drysdale. Like you, I came into government and wanted to change the world. She will be disappointed. Some are more experienced, like the member for Port Darwin, who has been around a long time - twice, I believe, in this House - who understands it takes a bit more than an election, or two or three, to change the world. Sometimes things stay the same even if the same party is in power for 26 years, like the previous CLP government.
After August 2012, many people had hopes. Many people thought the new government would produce new policies and make significant changes, because in opposition they had many ideas and proposals. They would say, ‘You are doing that wrong. We can do it better.’ I remember when the member for Greatorex was shadow minister for Health and would question me about my health portfolio. On many occasions he would say, ‘You are not doing very well. You don’t know what you are doing. We know what we are doing.’ That was interesting because when the Country Liberals won the election the member for Greatorex, who had many ideas on how to fix health, did not become Minister for Health but was given another portfolio.
We can say these are failures of the CLP, but there is an excuse. They did not do much in the first few months because they were more occupied with leadership of the party rather than putting policies in place and changing things in the Territory. The first six months of the Country Liberal Party in government were wasted by undermining the then leader, Terry Mills. We have seen so many challenges. We saw one from the member for Port Darwin. He wanted to be Chief Minister but only received one vote. We saw unsuccessful challenges by David Toller, the member for Fong Lim, who wanted to be Chief Minister but could not. Then we saw a challenge by Adam Giles, member for Braitling, who could not do it and was called a ‘little boy’ by the member for Namatjira. That stuck and Colin Wicking has fun every time he draws a cartoon for the NT News.
They did not do much in the first – oh, yes they did, they sacked a lot of public servants because they dared to work for the Labor government: public servants like Richard Galton who, before the Labor government came to power, was one of the golden boys with the CLP. He worked very well under the Labor government. He was one of the best CEOs I worked with in my career as a politician and a minister.
They sacked Clare Gardiner-Barnes who, under enormously difficult circumstances, turned around the department of Child Protection. We cannot say the same now. The department of Child Protection is suffering and in total disarray. Thank God somebody had the brains to re-employ Clare Gardiner-Barnes in another position because Clare is a smart lady, well-educated, and knows how to run a department.
The other change was the increase in power and water tariffs. The 30% increase for power, water and sewerage hit Territorians hard. Of course, that came as a slap in the face for Territorians who voted for the Country Liberals because they believed the campaign propaganda to lower the cost of living. How can you lower the cost of living when you increase power and water by 30%? It is an interesting thing.
The carbon tax came into effect recently. I looked at my account, and I invite you to look at your power account. You will find that while power and water tariffs were increased by 30%, the increase in power prices from the carbon tax is insignificant. It is minuscule and does not have any significant effect on your power bill.
Of course, they were preoccupied with internal politics rather than running a government. We saw three Treasurers, three Health ministers and two Chief Ministers. In the past few months we have seen some stability, but that is questionable because we are hearing the member for Namatjira is on shaky ground as Minister for Children and Families and Minister for Local Government because the member for Stuart has been heard in communities saying she will be the next Minister for Children and Families. That is interesting. Watch this space. As they say on television ‘to be continued’.
It seems the Country Liberals are not as cohesive as they tell us or are trying to portray. We also hear the Chief Minister is using his current position as a springboard because his ultimate target is to be member for Lingiari and find a way to Canberra. That does not excuse why he did nothing in the first six months and is doing less in the second.
My shadow portfolios are Health, Primary Industry and Fisheries, Mines and Energy, and Asian Engagement. Let us start with Health.
What the current government has done with Health is reduce services, especially in the bush. Do I have to remind you it was the member for Fong Lim, as Minister for Health, who cancelled the bush bus which provided renal dialysis to people in remote communities? On top of that, this government had refused funding from the federal government for renal dialysis facilities in Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.
When we were in government we struggled with Indigenous health and poured $40m into renal dialysis and renal disease. We managed to increase the life expectancy of Indigenous people with renal disease by seven years, equal to those in the rest of Australia. In four years’ time what will the life expectancy of Indigenous Territorians be, bearing in mind this Country Liberal government slashed the bush bus and refused to accept money from the federal government for renal dialysis facilities in the bush and some small urban centres?
It was with pride I would attend forums in Australia to say we had expanded renal facilities around the Territory, even in remote communities. We were even accommodating people from Western Australia and Western Australia would pay for it. Even people from South Australia would come to the Northern Territory for treatment, but this cannot happen now because everything has been rolled back.
The other disaster by the Country Liberals in the past 12 months is Palmerston hospital. For political reasons, the Country Liberals were hell-bent on bringing down the Palmerston hospital. ‘That was a Labor announcement. We do not want it there, we want it somewhere else.’ They tried to discredit it saying it was too small. The size of the hospital we planned was equivalent to Royal Melbourne Hospital. ‘It is not cyclone-coded’. You cannot build something in the Northern Territory which does not comply with cyclone codes. ‘It does not have enough space.’ The first stage of three had 12 000 m2 of space in three levels, with potential for another two sections to be built because the block was so big. Instead, they announced a new site for Palmerston hospital which, incidentally, is not in Palmerston, it is in Litchfield.
We see a block of land with no services and no access. They told us that within 12 months they will bring the services into the area. The services were already at the site in Palmerston. I do not have a problem with choosing a new site, but I want to utilise the site efficiently for a new hospital.
However, there are questions about the new hospital. We have seen a photograph of the Royal Darwin Hospital campus superimposed on that map in the media release showing this area is big enough for a hospital. Bear in mind every Territorian knows Royal Darwin Hospital campus has a private hospital, the Menzies School of Health, a swimming pool, tennis court, accommodation for nurses, childcare, houses for doctors, the oncology unit, the helipad, expectant mothers, the medi-hotel - the ‘hotel for long-grassers’ as the member for Fong Lim called it.
That campus is big because it was a design of the 1970s and 1980s. If you look at the tower - the hospital on Royal Darwin Hospital campus - you will see it fits many times in the site selected in Palmerston.
We have a Palmerston hospital that is not in Palmerston. An announcement was to be made by Tony Abbott but was not because you, Madam Speaker, announced it first on social media. Thank you for that. Of course, the Minister for Health arrived then Tony Abbott arrived and said, ‘Hello, Tina’, mistaking you for his candidate for Lingiari. It was a comedy of errors.
You have a hospital with no roads and no services. We have $150m. They told us many times they would build a state-of-the-art hospital, but do they have money for the $20m or $30m required for road realignment, road access, sewerage, power and water? Is all this money coming from the existing budget? If it comes from the existing budget, how much and what can you build with $120m?
Also, if the Liberal opposition is not elected and the Labor government is returned and insists Palmerston hospital be built on the original site, what would the position of this government be?
We have the announcement of a big hospital being built in the next few years and, at the same time, the announcement of expansion of the emergency department. We also have an announcement of an upgrade of the children’s wing at Royal Darwin Hospital. How can these things be put together? In the next two to three years we will build a hospital in Palmerston, but are spending money to upgrade Royal Darwin Hospital.
Another thing that rings alarm bells is the statement from the Minister for Health that there should be many private providers for elective surgery and radiology. That really worries me because will this be part of the new hospital in Palmerston/Litchfield? Is it going to be a private facility or a public private partnership?
Something else that really worries me is that if the hospital is built there, what is the future of Palmerston Super Clinic? Will it stay there or be closed down and the facilities transferred to the proposed Palmerston hospital? I should say the ‘imaginary’ Palmerston hospital, because I do not believe the Country Liberals will build that hospital in the first term of government, or even if they win a second term of government.
I mentioned the medi-hotel, and today in Question Time we heard of a petition from 75 nurses who work at the emergency department of Royal Darwin Hospital. The nurses are concerned about the safety of doctors, nurses and patients due to double bunking.
What is double bunking? When a large number of people arrive at the emergency department and cannot be decanted to a ward because there are no beds available, there will be two people in a cubicle. The minister said today they will expand the emergency department. Minister, you can expand the emergency department as much as you like, but if you do not have beds available in the wards nothing will change. What will most likely change is there will be three people in a cubicle. The problem is not the emergency department; it is too many people, for many reasons, who cannot go anywhere.
The minister argued this is because the federal government did not allow nursing homes to take senior Territorians from the hospital. Of course it did not, because the nursing homes did not meet the standards imposed by the federal government. The federal government said they could not take any more people until they met the standards. Because they could not guarantee the safety and health of the people they were receiving, there was a blockage of beds. In July, 70 people were in wards who should not have been, taking up 70 beds.
As a result, people arriving in the emergency department had to be decanted to Katherine Hospital because beds were available there. At the same time, the medi-hotel was sitting idle. The minister says, ‘But it happened in your time’. Yes, it did. That is why we put a proposal to the federal government to build a medi-hotel because we realised the biggest problem was bed blockage. They were not well enough to go home and not sick enough to stay at the hospital. These people should be at a half-way home - the medi-hotel. We have a 100-bed facility occupied by two drunks for ideological reasons. I have difficulty understanding that.
The minister, in a press conference with the member for Port Darwin, the minister for Justice, said in the future all people undergoing compulsory rehabilitation will be moved to the low-security prison in Berrimah and the medi-hotel will be returned to its original purpose. That is great.
You admit, minister, that the medi-hotel had an original purpose, which was to receive people from the hospital into the medi-hotel so they could be treated there rather than in a ward. They would have access to facilities, nurses and doctors, and the medi-hotel would be returned to its original purpose. Even you will admit the medi-hotel was not built to accommodate people …
Mr VOWLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extension of time for the member for Casuarina.
Motion agreed to.
Mr VATSKALIS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Country Liberal Party stuffed up the hospital in Palmerston, stuffed up the RDH emergency department, and is now stuffing up the medi-hotel. That is only a little of what has happened in the last 12 months.
Let me turn to Asian relations, an important portfolio. I was at the Indonesian Independence Day reception earlier today. The Chief Minister was there and he said this is the only jurisdiction in Australia with an Asian Engagement minister. Yes, and the minister has been to China in a private jet, queen class. On his return he told us one of the biggest heavy machinery manufacturers will set up a base in the Territory. What for? To assemble machinery to be exported from China to the Northern Territory.
It is a good idea, but if that is all he achieved from a trip to China I do not know why he wasted his time. He went to Thailand - and I welcome ministers travelling for their portfolios - but I did not hear anything about Thailand. We heard that somebody might look at hotels in the Territory.
I was minister for Mines and for Tourism, and in the past six years I went to China 12 or 14 times. Because of my trips to China we saw a positive effect in the mining sector. It was such a positive effect that the current Mines minister took great pride in announcing mines initiated under a Labor government. He talked about the ilmenite mine. In 2007 I was in China promoting that mine to Chinese industry. They were interested in coming here. The only difficulty was access to the mine for a railway or road. Then we had Western Desert Resources and Sherwin Iron - a big fanfare by the minister for Mines. Minister, in 2009 and 2010 I was in China promoting Western Desert Resources and Sherwin Iron. The Labor government excluded the province from Limmen National Park in order to have a proper mining province in the area without affecting the park or this mine going ahead.
I had oversight of the expansion of Xstrata at McArthur River, the expansion of Groote Eylandt, the underground mining for ERA, and the establishment of a concentrator at ERA, Jabiru. I do not have a problem talking about mines in the Territory. It is good to talk about the things we do well in the Territory, but please do not tell us in the last 12 months you achieved all this because you did not.
What you did was ride the crest of the wave. You rode on the success of your predecessors and what happened before your time. As a matter of fact, the only thing you have done recently is anger the mining industry by an ill-conceived levy, no discussion with the mining industry, and a like it or lump it attitude. Talk to the exploration industry and AMEC and see what they think about this government and you, minister. Talk to the Minerals Council of the Northern Territory and see what they think about you, minister, and your government. Some of the expressions the CEO of the Minerals Council used during the budget briefing I will not repeat in this parliament.
Primary Industries is great. The minister is on his high horse about the Ord and talks about how important the Ord is to Western Australia. He failed to mention that stage one of the Ord scheme started over 30 years ago. Since then the Western Australian government has poured money into it and successfully negotiated with both Liberal and Labor governments in Canberra for Commonwealth money to spend in the Ord. The minister said nothing was done by the Northern Territory government in the past 11 years. Minister, we would have done a lot if your government, before we came to power, had the manners to speak to the appropriate traditional owners about the Ord. In addition, minister, we know the current proponent of the Ord, the Chinese company Zhongfu, wants the lease for the whole Ord area and has said - it has been published in the media - the Ord will not happen for another four to six years and they have not started real negotiations with the Northern Territory government.
The minister says, ‘We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Western Australian government’. There was a memorandum of understanding with the Western Australian government, and we had a working team from the Northern Territory, so you have not really done anything important with the Ord. In the last 12 months you have said a lot but we have not seen anything.
I have received an e-mail from the Northern Land Council advising that a large number of traditional owners in the Ord are objecting to the opening of a large area for agricultural purposes. These people, custodians of the area, have met with the minister to express their opposition and told him it is difficult to approve development of that area. Not once has the minister mentioned that meeting or the discussion with traditional owners.
On Fisheries, the minister said they bought back barra licences. When in government, we announced we would do this. He mentioned closing the Mary River and surrounds to barramundi fishermen, something that has pleased retailers. At the time it pleased AFANT, but AFANT is now critical of some of the actions of this government. I refer to the allocation of water to Mrs Tina MacFarlane and her husband for Stylo Station.
Everyone is complaining about the significant allocation of water, including people from the agricultural sector, people on stations surrounding the area, and AFANT. The member for Fong Lim said, ‘It is only a trickle’. I invite you to look at what this significant allocation of water means. I looked at the volume and did a calculation. That trickle is equivalent to 2500 Olympic-sized swimming pools a year. If you do not know about swimming pools I will put it another way: 69 Lake Alexanders a year. That is a volume of water equivalent to 69 Lake Alexanders a year to one person who does not know what to do with it, who has a wish to grow wheat and sheep in the area. Everyone else is extremely angry. That is not to mention the fact they have taken away the right of Indigenous people to that water. It is amazing the four Indigenous members opposite will not argue about this government stealing the water rights of Indigenous people.
Some of the achievements of the CLP are the shortest-lived minister, the member for Drysdale, and the shortest-lived Deputy Chief Minister, the member for Katherine. That is an achievement I have not seen in any Commonwealth jurisdiction. I apologise to the members, but it is the harsh truth. In politics, sometimes you have to wear it and you never know what will happen in the future. At least you have a record. When you retire you can say, ‘I was the shortest-lived minister in the government’.
I congratulate this government for being the only Territory government to become so unpopular so quickly. I came here in 1993 and lived through a series of CLP governments. I have never seen one become so unpopular so quickly. Even Shane Stone, the then Chief Minister, was not so unpopular. Steve Hatton was booed and hissed outside Parliament House. The other one was Terry Mills.
I also congratulate this government for making so many Territorians politically aware in so little time - students, teacher students, teachers, pensioners, firemen, policemen. It is amazing what you see in the media today - the level of politicisation and political debate on what this government has done wrong and how its actions and policies have affected people in the Territory. That is the only thing I congratulate the government for, the rest is a failure.
Ms FYLES (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, I support this motion and want to focus on my shadow portfolio areas as well as my electorate of Nightcliff.
The department of Children and Families is in chaos. Child protection in the Territory is in chaos. In the 12 months since the CLP was elected to government we have seen Children and Families merged with the department of Education then slipped quietly back out again. We have seen two ministers deliver no policies, no direction and no legislation. Even the website this afternoon is in chaos. It is the Office of Children and Families within the Department of Children and Families. Our Treasurer does not know whether it is an office within the department of Education or a stand-alone department.
In 12 months we have seen nothing from the CLP government on this. We have seen the chief executive sacked, most of the leadership team in the department sacked or leave, and frontline staff sacked or their contracts not renewed.
This government delivered the most appalling budget for Children and Families, cutting it by $9m. The same budget acknowledged, sadly, that child abuse and neglect levels are predicted to increase, but the CLP budget cut the funding to child protection services. The budget anticipates reports of child abuse and neglect will increase from 8000 to 10 000 cases in one year, yet the number of investigations will drop from 5400 to 4000. These figures cause alarm and concern: an increase in notifications, but less funding, fewer resources, and less investigation into child protection in the Territory. At the same time, we will see child protection notifications increase, and a decrease in notifications investigated. We know that since the CLP came to government frontline staff in child protection and children and family services have been sacked, contracts not renewed, positions left vacant, senior staff sacked, and from all this the children will be the ones to suffer.
At the estimates hearings in June we heard that child protection had lost 171 full-time equivalent staff positions - 171 staff gone, sacked, contracts not renewed, positions vacant. How can the safety and welfare of children improve with such large staffing cuts? One must ask, two months later, what the current staffing levels are for the Office of Children and Families. The latest figures from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment show the average number of FTE positions for the Office of Children and Families in the June quarter has dropped again. We have gone from close to 800 staff a year ago to 600. It had dropped 171 at estimates and, from figures from OCPE, it has dropped again: a further reduction of staff within the department.
In June, minister Anderson said she was busy recruiting. It is two months later and we have seen more positions go. These figures show that since the CLP came to government there has been a 25% reduction in staff in the Office of Children and Families. What does this do to caseload ratios; that is, the number of cases a single child protection staff member has to look after? The last figures we saw showed some child protection workers in the Territory were already dealing with caseload ratios as high as 58 children per worker. What are the numbers now, considering another decrease in staff? The average should be seven to eight caseloads for a staff member to work efficiently and productively in the best interests of a child. That is good child protection policy, not 58 cases per worker.
Under this government, child abuse is being swept under the carpet. You cannot have so many positions unfilled in an office and provide an acceptable level of service to Territory children. As a government, you constantly talk about strengthening the child protection system, but there is no evidence in the last 12 months that you have done this. We have had 12 months of chaos and cuts.
You have turned your back on the experts. The board of inquiry was the most comprehensive inquiry into child protection in the Northern Territory’s history. It was expert advice and held back nothing. A total of 156 submissions were received from a range of organisations, individuals and government departments, including the then CLP opposition. The board of inquiry also incorporated recommendations from other reports including the High Risk Audit and the Tolhurst review of Intake Services. The board of inquiry took nearly 12 months to complete its report, and it was the most thorough investigation into child protection the Northern Territory has seen. It comprised 147 recommendations made by three experts: Howard Bath; Rob Roseby and Muriel Bamblett. All provided independent advice. It was not a political piece of work; it was independently authored by experts, aimed solely at supporting Territory families and ensuring the safety of our children.
Since coming to power the CLP has decimated child protection resources and thrown out this body of work. You turned your back on it for political reasons. It was not a political document; it was brought together in good faith by the Minister for Child Protection when our system was in chaos and crisis after we had seen coronial after coronial, inquiry after inquiry. It was independently authored with a wide range of submissions, but you, as a government, have thrown this policy out.
In the last six months, the CLP government has removed independent oversight of child protection, including scrapping the independent reporting and monitoring committee and the Coordinator-General, moved child protection into the department of Education against a recommendation of the board of inquiry, cut the Children and Families support budget by 24%, cut $4.8m to child protection and youth services, and slashed funding to NGOs. You have sacked the CE, despite saying she was doing a good job, paid her out, and then re-employed her as the CEO of Transport. You sacked the child protection executive team, and have also removed the chief executive child protection network - all key aspects to improving child protection services in the Territory.
The increased funding to the NGO sector under the previous Labor government must be reinstated, but the Giles CLP government has done none of this, only cutting the NGO sector. Minister for Children and Families, you say we must not muck around with child protection, but it is from your government we have seen cuts to the public service and the NGO budget. You have cut funding to NGOs that work so hard. You do not respect the NGOs, minister Anderson.
During estimates earlier this year you indicated funding had been cut as you felt NGOs were not pulling their weight and said, ‘NGOs tick the boxes’ in relation to their government funding, implying they took the money for something to do. People working in NGOs work harder than most, and do not do it just to get the money and tick the boxes.
Modern child protection is based on a dual pathway model - NGOs working together with government agencies - but your government has cut their funding in the last 12 months, claiming they ticked the boxes for their funding, implying they do nothing. Modern child protection practices work with non-government organisations and government agencies to ensure statutory obligations are met and families are supported in the early days so children do not suffer.
Most of our cases in the Territory are around child neglect. NGOs can provide the dual pathway service to protect and support them, but you have cut this. Child protection in the Northern Territory currently has no plan; there is no oversight or monitoring. You sacked the independent monitoring committee late last year and we have seen nothing else. Minister Lambley, when Minister for Children and Families, told this House - around the recommendations of the board of inquiry – ‘Regarding a new watchdog for the Office of Children and Families, I dismissed the external monitoring and reporting committee and am looking into alternatives’.
Nothing has happened. That was months ago and to date, after 12 months of the CLP in government, we have seen no alternate independent monitoring of child protection. We have seen nothing except minister’s changing. One of the main recommendations of the Growing them strong, together report was to fund and develop the establishment and ongoing work of a peak NGO on child and family safety and child protection, known as SAF,T. Your government decimated it. Where is the funding? What happened to the director? What happened to its purpose, its body of work to be a voice for children in care, a voice silenced by the CLP government?
This peak body was meant to ensure these children had a voice and had care plans, but no, you silenced that. We have seen you throw out the recommendations of the most comprehensive inquiry into child protection yet put nothing in place.
The board of inquiry report was the most comprehensive report into child protection in the Territory’s history, a unique, independently authored body of work. You chose to turn your back on that, most likely for political reasons. However, as a government you have put nothing in place, something that causes even more concern. In 12 months of government we have seen one or two ministerial statements on child protection. You have no policies, no direction; the ship has sailed and there is no leadership on board.
Where are your policies? Where are your directions? Minister Anderson, you constantly tell us we belong on this side of the House but, as Minister for Children and Families, you have done nothing.
As an elected government, you have the right to put your policies in place and for them to be scrutinised. However, you must accept that 12 months have gone and you have done nothing for child protection in the Territory - no policies, no plans, no legislation, nothing in this parliament from the government except rambling.
What is the status of the outstanding NT Coroner’s recommendations which, under Labor, were being implemented? Cases were discussed and there are outstanding recommendations from the Coroner that, as far as we can see, your government has not met.
Will it take another coronial investigation for these to be addressed? Will it be another case of your government losing focus and letting the children of the Northern Territory down in your 12 months of government?
The Department of Children and Families website, as at this afternoon, still has the strategic plan from the Labor government. It is dated July 2012 and refers to the board of inquiry report, the document this government has turned its back on. That sums it up. We have nothing except a few pages on a website of an outdated strategic plan. Perhaps it is the current strategic plan. Perhaps the minister should address these serious issues in the House tonight.
We have a strategic plan addressed by a chief executive who has been sacked. Earlier this year, Minister for Children and Families, you spoke about the magic, ‘Signs of Safety’ your new child protection framework. At the time, your government was unable to provide any detailed modelling for use in the Territory. We have no strategic plan apart from, one would assume, the old strategic plan of the Labor government, and no modelling or framework for Signs of Safety, which you claim to be your new plan. Nothing on your website has been updated. Minister Anderson, what is it? Is it your Signs of Safety we have seen nothing of, or is it the strategic plan currently on the Department of Children and Families’ website with a foreword by Clare Gardiner-Barnes from July 2012? It would be interesting to know what policy the Department of Children and Families or the Office of Children and Families is following today.
From mobile polling, the talk in the bush is the member for Stuart is about to become Minister for Local Government. It is talk from the Daly and the Tiwis. I urge the Chief Minister to look at minister Anderson’s performance in child protection because it is appalling.
As a minister, you have let the children of the Territory down. Perhaps you should also lose child protection.
While on the topic, we also hear minister Anderson has told Tony Abbott she should have accepted his offer to run in Lingiari and regrets not walking out on Adam Giles. She has asked to join Warren Mundine on Tony Abbott’s Indigenous Advisory Council if he is elected. Apparently, the response was not positive. Perhaps when the minister addresses the serious child protection issue she can let us know what Tony Abbott’s response was.
Minister Anderson, today in the tourism debate you spoke positively about the CLP’s previous 20 years of government. Minister, must I remind you that under the CLP previously we saw child protection neglected for 27 years, as evidenced in the State of Denial report ...
Ms Finocchiaro: Eleven under you.
Ms FYLES: Child protection had a budget of $7m. I pick up on the member for Drysdale’s interjection about 11 years of Labor. In 11 years of Labor, child protection grew from a budget of $7m under the CLP to a budget of over $130m.
What have we achieved? In the 12 months of the CLP government we have seen no strategy, no results, child protection cases not being investigated, and large numbers of staff vacancies in offices. Do I need to bring you back to the staffing figures I quoted earlier?
Minister, you speak so often of the need to talk in Cabinet and talk in the lobby. Minister, the time for talking is over; you need to act. I have been saying for 12 months that child protection is in crisis. It is about early intervention. It is about having a strong department with good policies to ensure the welfare of our children. Your website, which would be fairly simple to update if there are any policies and plans, cannot even advise if it is an Office of Children and Families, a department of Children and Families, or what the strategic plan is.
We have heard reports that the minister has offended staff, creating division in her department, saying unsavoury things and personally attacking the character and diligence of staff, behaving in ways unbecoming of a minister of the Crown. That is hardly the leadership required in this difficult and important area. We are talking about children’s lives and futures. We have seen no leadership in 12 months. Minister for Children and Families, the children of the Territory expect far more from you.
It is about having a strong system in place to support families, early intervention, and having a strong department with good policies to ensure the welfare of our children. We have great people working there. I should say were working there, because people are leaving. These strong people who want to make a difference are heartbroken. They put in so much energy building the department and now see it wash away to nothing in the last 12 months. They genuinely care. They spent weekends working. They did not make up these policies; they were following the board of inquiry, meeting recommendations and were proud. They were reporting to an independent reporting and monitoring committee providing details of what they were doing. In 12 months you have let all that work go. It is devastating.
I must touch on the sad domestic violence rates in the Territory, which continue to rise. Indigenous women are being hospitalised for assaults at a rate far higher than non-Indigenous women. Under the CLP government, alcohol-related domestic violence is up by 24%. Exposing our children to this violence has tragic and lifelong consequences.
What has happened to the purpose-built secure care facility in Darwin not being used for its original purpose? That facility was finished when you won government. It was planned to be used appropriately and legislation was in train so it could be. Instead, it is being used as an out-of-home care facility, although the chief executive of the department or the office, I am not sure what it is, claims it is a short-term out-of-home care residential facility.
This is a purpose-built health facility being used for out-of-home care, another health facility not being used for its original purpose. While we are talking about the secure care facility used to house out-of-home care for children, under what legislation are you doing this? That raises serious questions mentioned previously.
Moving from child protection to women’s policy, we have seen nothing from this CLP government except one statement and the appointment of a former CLP candidate as Executive Director of the Office of Women’s Policy with no proper recruitment process. Bang, that is it for women’s policy. That is really supporting the women of the Territory. There is no focus on women and family-friendly policies that might make a difference.
A staff member at Royal Darwin Hospital recently approached management for policies on family-friendly working hours because they need to work school hours. Bang, nothing. Surely, the Office of Women’s Policy would look at policies like that across government. There are no proper policies, no proper recruitment, just a CLP candidate given a good job.
Moving to my shadow portfolios, when speaking about the environment and this government’s record over the last 12 months, one decision covers it all for me: the decision to give the CLP candidate for Lingiari, Tina MacFarlane, a water allocation potentially worth millions of dollars. As a government, you have ignored science and the environment and gifted the water extraction allocation against the advice of experts, a community advisory group, the ruling of an independent panel, and the adjudication of the Supreme Court. You have ignored the concerns of Indigenous communities and other landowners of the region, granting a licence to extract a huge amount of water to a CLP mate. The amount available for extraction under the licence exceeds the combined total of the other 15 existing water extraction licences for the Mataranka Tindall aquifer. These licences are issued on an annual basis.
I have spoken in the House on this before, but it is a big decision to give such a large amount of water for 10 years. It is a huge amount of water for a long period of time. CLP ministers are up to their necks in this. That is why they will not release the documents in relation to this licence for public scrutiny. So much for their election commitment of being open and accountable!
Our land and water resources are precious. Territorians expect decisions made on allocation of those resources to be based on the best available information, not a phone call. How convenient that when people want to question the advice it is not written or available. There is widespread concern in the community about this licence generally, particularly amongst those who rely on the sustainable use of the Tindall aquifer. Again, I call on the CLP government to rescind this licence; it is appalling.
Earlier this year the government disallowed the management plan for Litchfield National Park and the joint management plan for the Mary River National Park citing further work, yet months later we have seen nothing.
Mr VOWLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I request an extension of time for the member.
Motion agreed to.
Ms FYLES: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The management plans were withdrawn on the floor of this House in a process which was a little confusing to say the least. The Minister for Parks and Wildlife just said he was withdrawing them with no explanation. He cut us out of debate and, months later, we have seen no further work on this.
The removal of two parks and wildlife rangers from the Indigenous ranger groups on the Gove Peninsula is another poor decision of this government. These positions provided vital support to the local community, particularly assisting with the removal of nuisance wildlife such as feral dogs, buffalo and crocodiles. Often these rangers were the first on the scene for search and rescue or retrieval in the event of a fatal crocodile attack. I urge the minister to once again look at this decision.
Your government has scrapped the Daly River Management Advisory Committee, the Darwin Harbour Advisory Committee, and I am still waiting for the minister to respond to my recent letter requesting an update on the status of the Rapid Creek Catchment Advisory Group. These are community reference groups designed to allow the community to be involved in the management of environmental and community assets, but your government does not like to hear from the community even though it was in your action plan to be open and accountable.
In the last 12 months this CLP government has let down the people of my electorate immensely. Not a day goes by when I do not hear a different story about the pain your government has caused people. You are charging seniors to catch the bus because, ‘They just catch the bus for the air conditioning and ride it all day long’. You do not realise that in the Nightcliff/Rapid Creek area, sometimes they have to catch two buses to get to the hospital and two buses to get home. If they stop at Casuarina to buy groceries, get a coffee or catch up with friends, they now have to pay $3 or $4. It might not seem much to those who are working, but if you are on a pension or a low income, that is a big deal.
The changes you made to the airfare scheme upset people. They felt, most of all, insulted. They have worked hard all their lives. We should be supporting them to stay in the Territory. It is wonderful having them. I grew up without any grandparents here and not many seniors about, and it is beautiful to have them in our community; it teaches my children we have many different ages.
The people of Coconut Grove, Nightcliff, and Rapid Creek have seen their power prices increase by 30%, go down 20%, and they will eventually go back up. They found it amusing that the Chief Minister could not understand his power and water bill and was on the radio saying so. How do you think they felt? We could not work out the bills.
In my electorate people have had their rent increased. People say landlords have put rent up by $100 a week to meet water costs. This government insisted it would reduce the cost of living. A government is meant to serve the people and act in their best interests, yet this government has caused so much pain.
A week does not go by without people sharing stories of how they love Darwin, love the Territory, but cannot afford to stay here. The bills are expensive, and they point to the recent power and water increases and rent increases from landlords passing on rising costs. People reach a point where their children might be starting school, starting high school, and they think, ‘Let’s go back south. It’s closer to family and we don’t have to put up with this.’ There are no incentives to stay. It is heartbreaking. Some of these people are childcare workers, mums and dads who want to stay in the Territory. We want them to stay; we need them. This government is forcing them to leave; you broke your promise to them. You promised to cut the cost of living and have done the opposite.
This government has completely torn up and broken its promise to the people of Nightcliff on the issue of law and order. You said you would reduce crime by 10% and would open Nightcliff Police Station 24/7. Crime has increased and the people of Nightcliff have been let down with no funding in the budget for the promised Nightcliff Police Station. The former Chief Minister, Terry Mills, said he would honour his commitments, but we have seen nothing from the Giles government - no funding and no plans for the Nightcliff Police Station upgrade as promised. The contract signed with the community of Nightcliff has been torn up. There was a commitment to deliver a 24/7 station to a growing area already dealing with increased antisocial behaviour which, with your infill policies, will only increase.
This government has allowed 2500 people to start drinking again by removing the BDR. Police said at the time it was the best tool they had. The foreshore and others areas of Nightcliff have seen an increase in antisocial behaviour, and many residents raise with me the direct correlation between the removal of the BDR and that increase. They ask, ‘Why would they not sit back and wait for evidence or information?’ No, it was a political move to remove it.
Chief Minister, last week you stood in this Chamber and implied antisocial behaviour had reduced. It has not. I heard a horrible story from my electorate this week, and on the weekend I heard of a spiteful incident firsthand. Antisocial behaviour has not improved.
Your government’s teacher cuts have impacted on our local schools causing angst amongst teachers, parents, and students. The minister’s lack of respect for teachers, accusing them of having too much downtime, is appalling. Next year Nightcliff Middle School is set to lose several teachers. It is a difficult time for teachers, students, and families at the moment.
The Education minister says it is the responsibility of principals to decide, but principals are not cutting teacher numbers. That is you, Minister for Education. Teachers are stressed by this decision. Their colleagues are losing positions. If they are in contract positions on their way to becoming a permanent staff member, they do not know what will happen next year. Permanent staff are handing in their rsums to see who gets what position. They are asking children to choose their subjects early so they can decide which teachers stay.
It is not just middle and senior school parents who are worried; primary school parents are extremely worried too and wondering what comes next. You are cutting programs which support students - the extreme behaviour grants. As a government, you promised not to cut frontline positions. You cannot get any more front line than classroom teachers. My colleague, the member for Fannie Bay, spoke of the pressure school staff are under.
It reminds me of the harsh school and education cuts of the late 1980s and 1990s when the CLP government shut down schools literally overnight. Rapid Creek Primary School, Tiwi Primary School - does that bring back memories? It does to people in my electorate. Those were dark days. It was education in the Stone Age. Tomorrow afternoon people will express their displeasure and call on you to rethink this ill-thought-out decision.
In Question Time today you claimed the ICT for Learning Unit is still there. Of course, it is still there physically, but teachers are telling us otherwise. The unit facilities are there, but the learning staff of 24 are not.
You have scrapped the much-needed children’s wing at RDH. You arrogantly laugh off the concerns of emergency department nurses.
The Minister for Health laughs at us saying, ‘How can people go from ED to the medi-hotel?’ Seriously! Does she not know the issues? Probably not! She chooses not to meet with the nursing federation.
In the chaos of this government over the last 12 months we have seen the Minister for Children and Families’ daughter given a $170 000 pay rise in the minister’s own department. We have seen, at last count, 11 former CLP candidates and members gifted taxpayer-funded jobs. You have removed all the independent oversight of child protection, and there are no policies or plans. We cannot work out from the website what the name of the department is, let alone where their strategic plan is. You have cut child protection and youth services, and cut the children and families support budget. You have slashed funding to child protection organisations and sacked the chief executive. You have removed the chief executive child protection network - the minister probably does not know what that means. This CLP government has broken its commitment and promises to Territorians. It is a serious issue and they do not understand. You have hurt everyone in our community: families, seniors, the people in children and families. That is why I support this motion.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for bringing this motion before the House, summarising the litany of failures we have observed in the last 12 months which Territorians have had to live and breathe. It has been a horrendous 12 months. Well done to the member for Nightcliff for her excellent contribution summarising the litany of failures across not only her electorate but her shadow portfolio areas. Well done also to the members for Johnston and Wanguri.
They are our three new members of parliament. They are working incredibly hard, they get it, and are doing a fantastic job holding this woeful, shameful shambles of a government to account for the 12 months of failures.
Where do you start? The first six months were a shambles because they were so busy fighting amongst themselves. They even admitted that. We have had Cabinet reshuffle after Cabinet reshuffle, three Education ministers, a couple of Health ministers, four Treasurers and two Chief Ministers.
Does the Country Liberals five-point plan and the ‘please keep this contract so you can hold us to account’ signed by the member for Blain still count now the member for Blain has been knifed in the back and is not Chief Minister? Can I get my crayon and cross Terry Mills out and ask the member for Braitling, the new Chief Minister, to put his ‘X’ on there to say, ‘Yes, I will own that five-point plan. I will own up to the fact will be accountable, reduce waste and debt, and tackle crime at its roots.’
All these things promised in the five-point plan, ripped straight from the Queensland plan - we saw what happened when Campbell Newman stepped in. Does the CLP still own this contract with Territorians? That is an important question and people want to know. Does the member for Port Darwin still own the claim, ‘Your job is safe!’ Is that not a picture of a smiling assassin holding up for a Facebook selfie?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, withdraw that comment.
Ms WALKER: I withdraw that comment. I would hate to offend the sensibilities of the member for Port Darwin because he is such a nice man. Here he was promising everyone their jobs were safe. No, they are not. Frontline jobs have gone; we heard that summarised tonight and heard it in Question Time.
Let us look at Education under the three ministers we have had, all hopeless. Those cuts are very real and are hurting. There is $250m gone from the Education budget in four years and, with that, 180 teachers. What will that mean? Well, fewer teachers in schools, bigger classes, fewer subject choices, limited access to resources and, ultimately, a decline in the outcomes and results for our kids. That is shameful and appalling.
What else is shameful and appalling is the current Education minister calling teachers lazy when trying to defend the revised teacher ratio. He said there was quite a bit of downtime for teachers.
Quoting from the NT News of 2 September 2013:
Sitting around with their feet up on desks? I do not think so! I am an ex-teacher, I am married to a teacher. I am the parent of school-aged children and have many friends who are teachers. What they are doing when not teaching - this is not only in their downtime during a school day, this is their evenings and weekends – is marking papers, preparing programs, undertaking professional reading, and they may be undertaking professional development in their own time. They are probably planning and driving school fundraising activities, which is probably even higher on their agenda now they have had their budgets cut so horrendously by you.
I look forward to you attending the rally tomorrow and hearing what you say to people. They will not be grubs, as the member for Greatorex likes to call unionists, they will be parents, hard-working teachers, all the other school staff who support teachers, and students. I look forward to seeing the CLP members there listening, because they tell us they are a government that is listening, ‘We are listening to you. We are listening to Territorians.’ I look forward to seeing you on the steps of parliament tomorrow, minister, listening to what people tell you.
When we talk about what teachers do, there are always camps. I had written a list for the censure motion we were not allowed to have this morning. ‘No, let’s not talk about education. Gag the opposition when they want to talk about education because we do not want to hear what they say.’ I have a long list of the things teachers do in their own time with no thanks. We have an Education minister who believes they are lazy!
He also believes there is no clear research suggesting students perform better in small classes. What parallel universe have you been living in? What have you been doing at all those school council meetings? Not listening, that is for sure. What about our bush schools? It is shameful! Those cuts in the bush schools, my word they will hurt. Where are the bush members? They are silent. I do not know where they are, but they are silent; they do not speak up. They do not defend the people in their electorates against this disgraceful government not interested in the bush. They are denying they won government on bush seats. Are they listening to bush people? Absolutely not!
What about power price increases in the bush? The power cards used to last about five days in the average home. You are lucky if people can get them to last two days now. What do impoverished people in remote communities do? They do not have the opportunity to miraculously find money to meet the cost of power bills. Instead, they sit in the dark, their fridges do not run, their lights are not on, their fans are not on, and they cannot recharge basic things like an electric wheelchair for people dependent upon it. For my efforts in raising that issue I was labelled a liar by the member for Katherine, the minister who was shameful in his Power and Water responsibilities.
Madam Speaker, being a person who represents the bush and has lived in Nhulunbuy for 20-odd years, I want to condemn the Minister for Regional Development for her woeful effort in the time she has been in that position. We all know the member for Namatjira well. She was a colleague of ours. I have sat on that side of the House with her, and in Caucus meetings with her. She is not to be trusted; she is not loyal. She will turn on you as sure as night turns to day. As the member for Nightcliff mentioned, we know she had a conversation with Tony Abbott, ‘Gee Tony, I made a mistake. I should not have supported Adam Giles. I wish I had taken the offer you made to run in Lingiari. If you would have me, I still want to join you should Warren Mundine be heading up the advisory council you announced. If you are elected, can you give me a job there?’ She is looking for a way out. We can spot the tensions on that side. At the end of the day, she is next to useless. She is conniving, and was quite happy to allow the Chief Minister to get rid of the portfolio for Indigenous advancement.
This woman stands proud saying, ‘My people. I stand for Indigenous people’, and then is happy for the new Chief Minister to say, ‘We don’t need a portfolio for Indigenous advancement any more’, and she says, ‘Yes, no worries’. That is unbelievable and in complete contrast to the claims Tony Abbott makes, should he be elected Prime Minister, about elevating Indigenous affairs into the Prime Minister’s office. The two viewpoints from two conservative governments do not match.
In regard to regional economic development, the people of Gove would love to see her there so she can explain, firsthand, how reneging on the gas to Gove deal is somehow a win/win deal and something we should be excited about. People want to hear from her, as well as the Chief Minister, but she will not come out. She was scheduled to come out but pulled out of the trip. The poor old Deputy Chief Minister had to front up to Gove, attend meetings, and talk with people because there is no way the member for Namatjira will get into a situation like that. We know only too well when the heat is on in the kitchen she is the first one running out the door; she is not prepared to stand and take the bullets.
There are many other things I could be talking about in this debate. I congratulate my colleagues who have summarised, in great detail and with great passion, the litany of failures across their shadow portfolio areas and their electorates.
I will allow a couple of minutes for the member for Karama to wrap up this debate.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for contributing to the motion. They covered off on their shadow portfolios extensively and pointed out the litany of failures in 12 months of the CLP. Predictably, there was a short, angry and churlish contribution from the member for Port Darwin.
It is interesting to note this government is, in just 12 months, already out of ideas. Not only have they torn up their contract with Territorians, a contract signed by Terry Mills, member for Blain, with great fanfare, the big question mark is over whether there is a view within the CLP Cabinet and the broader party wing to stick to any of the election commitments they made. They have been busy tearing them up or reneging on them all over the place.
It has been the worst year of a government since self-government. The CLP likes to believe that is what Labor is saying, they are all okay, and it is just mean and nasty Labor which does not have anything nice to say about them. Genuinely, that is what people are saying. A broad and diverse group of Territorians, some long-standing supporters of the CLP, are saying they cannot believe how bad this government is. People have been shocked at how quickly the CLP has returned to some of the worst excesses and practices of the late 1990s.
One of the reasons momentum gained in the Territory to see the first change of government from CLP to Labor in 2001 was because people had had enough of the excesses of government. The public are genuinely shocked to see how quickly those excesses came to the fore and to see the Treasurer believe it is fine to fly around in a private jet - to see ministers, their friends and Caucus members on a plane heading off to the Kimberley Moon Festival and have a party courtesy of the taxpayer.
You stand condemned, and I put this motion to the Chamber.
The Assembly divided:
Ayes 7 Noes 13
Ms Fyles Ms Anderson
Mr Gunner Mr Chandler
Ms Lawrie Mr Conlan
Ms Manison Mr Elferink
Mr Vatskalis Ms Finocchiaro
Mr Vowles Mr Giles
Ms Walker Mr Higgins
Mr Kurrupuwu
Mrs Lambley
Ms Lee
Mrs Price
Mr Tollner
Mr Westra van Holthe
Motion negatived.
Continued from earlier today.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, I listened very carefully to the member for Nhulunbuy. She has done what many people in opposition do: give up work in favour of simple abuse as a response to a government statement. She can do that. However, she loses precious hours in this House available for better criticism. I am happy to receive criticism and critique from members opposite; however, that was just vitriol and, therefore, not useful to the people of the Northern Territory. I will treat it with as much attention as she gave the statement.
Nevertheless, the member for Nelson asked some important questions. Sadly, I took some notes but mislaid them, so will have to do this from memory. It is worth responding to the member for Nelson. This Pillar of Justice is about making the system work for everybody. One of the reasons I could convince my Cabinet colleagues of the importance of a single minister with carriage of Pillars of Justice is because the process envisaged means the minister with carriage can not only look at the court system, but look at how it affects the police and police systems. Police paperwork is a big problem. There is a massive load on coppers to do paperwork. Their computer systems, both PROMIS and IJIS, place a demand on police officers that they do all their work on those systems as well as the arrest files they are required to do.
I asked members to picture this process in the courts and how it sends paperwork back down to the police. When a police officer arrests somebody they do a preliminary brief. That brief, after they do all the computerised paperwork, includes an apprehension report and a prcis. The prcis is a statement of facts of what a third-party observer would see an offender do.
I will give you an example. I have not written a prcis for 15 years but it would go something like this: ‘At 9.06 pm on Wednesday 28 August 2013, the defendant now before the court was driving his blue Toyota, registered number 123-456, south along Smith Street. The defendant was apprehended and subjected to a roadside breath test which blew positive and the resulting analysis gave a reading of 1.5%. At the time of the offence, Smith Street was a public street open to and used by the public.’
That covers the points of proof. What the prcis does not state is the quality of the evidence against the person. The prcis outlines what happens. If you allow other information into the prcis, such as ‘police observed’ and those types of things, there is direct evidence inside the prcis as to the quality of the evidence in the police file.
The reason that is important is that a defence lawyer who receives the prcis on face value has no idea of the quality of the evidence against their client so is tempted to go on a fishing expedition. To do that you walk into the court and say, ‘My client will indicate a plea of not guilty’. When that occurs, the court will set it down for a contest mention or a hearing.
The file then goes from the prosecutor back through the system to the police officer, and the police officer has to collect all the statements. In the instance of an assault, they have to get statements from people putting the defendant on the scene, from the bar manager saying, ‘Yes, I saw the defendant’, the bouncer, ‘Yes, the defendant was there’, a victim statement from the victim, the subject of the assault, and they do a full investigation taking a lot of time.
All that material is investigated, comes back to the court, and at that stage the defence lawyer gets to see, for the first time, the quality of the evidence against their client. The result is these cases often become guilty pleas at the last moment.
As I said in the statement, the increase in files went up by 700 with only 47 going to a hearing so the evidence is tested. A massive body of paperwork has been done which never sees the light of day or the courtroom.
I well understand our justice system requires the Crown, when it brings a case, to prove the case. Often when you look at the fight about to be had between the defence and the prosecution, the issue comes down to a single point. For example, someone is charged with an assault because they smacked someone in the mouth in a pub. That person is arrested, indicates a not guilty plea, goes to a contest mention or a hearing and the file goes back to the copper. Little does the police officer or prosecutor know the client is telling the lawyer, ‘The guy had a glass bottle in his hand, I was defending myself’. Whether or not the defendant was at the scene of the alleged crime will not be an issue. He already admitted he was. The prosecutor has to send the file back to the coppers who have to collect statements from witnesses who will never give evidence. There is no requirement for Bill Smith to say, ‘Yes, I saw that person, who I know as Fred Bloggs, at the scene’ because we know he will not say in court, ‘I was not there’. He will say, ‘I was there’. All the evidence collected to place the person at the scene is unnecessary.
If there is a pre-trial conference the defence says, ‘I will indicate a plea of not guilty’. The magistrate says to the prosecutor and the defence team, ‘Go into a room for a conference; talk about it.’ In that conference there will be an obligation, particularly on the police, to outlay the quality of evidence they have available. That will be changed police paperwork as a result of these changes. However, the defence will also have an obligation, eventually, to point out what the point in issue is. You do not have to have a trial about the whole thing; you are trying to distil it down to the point of difference.
Let us use an example. My client says he was not at the scene of the criminal damage. The prosecutor looks at the file and says, ‘The prosecution can get five statements saying your client was there. They have CCTV footage available, five photographs and fingerprints.’ The police prosecutor says to the defence, ‘That is the quality of our case’. The defence will look at that and say, ‘I will have a chat to my client’. Obviously the client is telling fibs to his lawyer and, ultimately, the lawyer will have to serve his client. However, one of the services a lawyer gives to his client is to say, ‘Mate, you will lose this’ or ‘you will struggle’.
Alternatively, the defence walks into the pre-trial conference and says, ‘My client says he was not there’. The police officer opens the file and all they have is the witness evidence of one person who was drunk at the time. At that point you know the prosecution will not succeed and you pull the prosecution; it will not work. If you go to a hearing on evidence like that it will not happen.
Would it not be better if you knew that before you sent the file back to police to pursue? Would it not be better if the prosecutor could say to the investigating officer, ‘The point in issue is the person was defending themselves at the time. What evidence can you find?’ The police officer stumbles across evidence that the person who was smacked in the mouth was holding a broken bottle at the time and the file is pulled.
Experienced lawyers know how these cases will go long before they walk into a courtroom. The civil courts have been doing this for decades. It is called discovery. It is all types of things. The civil courts have been saying to lawyers for a long time, ‘Before you come into this courtroom talk to each other, disclose to each other, and find out what the points of issue are. If there is something for us to adjudicate on, by all means bring it into the courtroom and we will adjudicate on it.’
The criminal courts have not been doing this. At the risk of being crass, the lower courts are the sausage factory of our legal system; they are a meat grinder, not high justice. There is nothing wrong with saying to people, ‘Disclose information to each other and find out where this is going’. If there is a point of difference, like the prosecution insists it has enough evidence or the defence believes it has a good defence, that is the issue alone which is bought before the court. When the file goes back to the arresting officer he knows the evidence he or she has to collect.
Alternatively, you can take it all to a hearing every time. These are the reasons for such dramatic declines, particularly in Victoria, in the amount of matters going to hearing. A hearing is when you collect all the evidence together. However, there is something more practical operating here as well. Because police know the amount of contest mention files they are getting. These massive files they have to put together are forever coming back from the courts in greater and greater numbers. The effect is - I am not accusing anybody of being lazy, there is another dynamic at work here - the police can also become arrest adverse. They know if they have to do a bunch of evening shifts the sergeant will be poking them all day saying, ‘Get out of the station. Stop doing that bloody paperwork and get onto the streets.’ They know with every arrest they make there is an increasing risk the paperwork that arrest generates will prevent them from performing their primary function of keeping the streets safe, because they are collecting rafts of evidence that will rarely see the light of day in a courtroom.
If we can give the average PC Plod on the road comfort that when he makes an arrest it will not lead to a massive prosecution file, he will be less arrest adverse because he will be able to effectively police the streets without being loaded down with reams of paperwork. Surely that is a desirable outcome. Where do we want our coppers? I want PC Plod walking around the streets, driving around in a patrol car knowing he or she has control of the streets without the courts loading him up with paperwork.
I hope that explains, in more technical terms, what is in the ministerial statement. It is for that reason one minister has carriage across the whole system. It washes all the way from the point of arrest through to the end of parole. There are interactions the whole way through. They were good questions and I am grateful for the opportunity to explain them in more detail.
This will lead to savings in our system. It will ultimately lead to savings of time, money, and resources, but it will not have the effect of denying justice because at no stage is a person forced into pleading guilty.
You made the other point, if memory serves, of how mandatory sentencing works with reference to sentencing indications. The answer is it continues to operate. Where these jurisdictions have mandatory sentencing, and every jurisdiction has mandatory sentencing in one function or another, be it for traffic offences or whatever, this system operates perfectly well. In relation to something like sentencing indications, ‘Your Honour, my client would like to know what sentence you may give’, His or Her Honour can reply, ‘I am going to give three months gaol time because that is what the law requires’.
However, bear in mind that for offences where mandatory sentencing applies, His Honour has huge latitude between three months and seven years. Capacity to make a decision within that range remains. The lawyer will, quite rightly, indicate to the client being charged with an aggravated assault, ‘You stand to go down for three months. If you plead not guilty and lose the case because you are pleading not guilty to avoid the consequences, it may be more.’ That is often what courts do; there is a discount for early pleas.
This parliament has said to the courts a mandatory sentence of three years is the bare minimum, but there is still a latitude between three months and seven years for these forms of serious harm assaults so it will still operate in that fashion. The indication is merely an indication to the person accused that this is roughly what you will get so that person can better make their decision. The reason that is useful is, occasionally, people will avoid testing the quality of the evidence against them for no other reason - which is their right - than to avoid a particular type of penalty.
If somebody has committed an aggravated assault and is thinking, ‘Goodness, I could get up to seven years’, and the sentence indication comes back saying, ‘You will get three-and-a-half months’, they may choose to plead guilty on that. If a person has been done for stealing and is worried about going to gaol and who will look after their kids they think, ‘I should plead not guilty’ but the sentence indication comes back to say they will get a two-year good behaviour bond and $500 fine, that may be the difference between a person saying, ‘Yes, I can cop that; I can live with that.’ That is the idea. It is not plea bargaining, it is simply saying to a person, ‘For what you have done, considering your criminal history and the nature of the actions you have taken, and what you have been charged with, this is what you will get’. That helps them make a more informed decision. That is how the sentencing indication system works.
I thank the member for Nelson for taking the time to do some homework on this. I will be reporting regularly on the Pillars of Justice system because I believe this House should be informed on what the policies of government are. Yes, I will inform them in a way my style dictates.
The member for Johnston had a good old giggle when I started referring to some of the oldest principles in our legal system. I understand; it is all very amusing, ‘Here is that eccentric moron who keeps making all these obscure references’. I do not forget where our legal system comes from. I invite the member for Johnston to ask how much he knows about the history of the parliamentary system we currently use. I ask him to consider, ‘What am I doing in this place? What does this place represent? How did it come into being?’ If he seeks some answers, he will find the history of these places is written in the blood of millions. In homage to those people who have died for a freer and fairer system, I am careful not to insult it. I am careful to show due deference and care for it.
I suspect the member for Johnston would say, quite rightly, we have to respect 40 000 years of Aboriginal law. I do, but let us not immediately use that as a vehicle to dismiss the last 1000 years of the development of our parliamentary democracy and our legal systems, which have served the people of the Commonwealth and the free world very well. I do not resile for one second from knowing the history of this place and the growth of our legal system, because it is important to know. The more you know about it, the better you are equipped to use it to the advantage of not only yourself, but the people in your electorate. That is why a little knowledge can go a long way.
I was disappointed in the member for Nhulunbuy, not because she was critical, but for the lack of effort she made. She replaced it with vitriol and it was not useful.
I thank the member for Nelson for being thoughtful, and welcome him at any time into my office in relation to this. I am happy to brief him on any component of Pillars of Justice at any time. I am happy to explain to this House what I am doing. There will be legislative changes associated with this but, to be fair to the people of the Northern Territory and members of this House, I will keep this House updated so people know exactly what I, and the Northern Territory government, am doing and the things we will be proud of.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the Auditor-General’s August 2013 Report to the Legislative Assembly.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the report, and that I have leave to continue my remarks at a later date.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do not adjourn.
Madam Speaker, I went to a play reading the other day written by a young Territorian, a lady by the name of Samantha Young, who would be known to many people in this Chamber, I do not doubt. She is a young Territorian who has been noted as a young achiever. She is 27 years old and she wrote a play which was presented to the public of the Northern Territory in the form of a play reading last Sunday, To the End of Reckoning.
It is the much publicised story of Jock Palfreeman, who currently languishes in a Bulgarian gaol for an offence he may or may not have committed. I do not particularly want to enter into the debate surrounding Mr Palfreeman, I have yet to sufficiently familiarise myself with the details of the circumstances that saw him incarcerated for murder in Bulgaria; but I do wish to talk about the play reading that I witnessed.
Ms Young takes my breath away. It is not often I find myself listening to a little known playwright’s play, first play, and I was absolutely aghast - in a pleasant way. It was an extraordinary play and the fact is that it was wonderfully well-written, showed great humour but, moreover, what really resonated through it was a maturity that you would not expect from a 27-year old playwright.
From time to time, I like to distract myself with other people’s artistic efforts to remind myself it is not all about the hurly burly of daily life which is, all too often, all we get to deal with in this House. It is about our integrity as people and what we do and the things we say, and the things we think that represent the measure of us.
This play was presented in a very honest fashion, and I will not give too much away about it, suffice to say that Ms Young, in this semi-autobiographical work, actually had contact with Mr Palfreeman whilst he was in gaol in Bulgaria and raised many of the issues in the play about him. And while she reaches a conclusion at the end of the play, she is brave and honest enough to challenge herself and her own assumptions about Mr Palfreeman and represents him in a very honest light. Something you would not expect and so interwoven in a very complex way is the self-doubt, if you like, that Ms Young has in relation to Mr Palfreeman but, nevertheless, the graciousness she was prepared to extend to him in terms of representing him in a very human way.
Her integrity in the way she presented this to the people of Darwin stands as a wonderful reminder of the integrity that we should all pursue when we are dealing with controversial topics.
The only tradable currency a politician can possibly have is their own integrity. Once that is traded away, once you become a person who has the reputation of Craig Thomson - whether he is guilty of anything or not, or Peter Slipper - whether he is guilty of anything or not - once you have traded away your integrity in the public domain it is essentially the end of you.
The way Ms Young presented this play, in my opinion, elevated her integrity and made me pause to take time out from thinking about all the things that are important in my life, to listen to somebody else’s view on an issue that I have nothing to do with, and to have it presented in such a courageous and honest fashion, to me was an absolute highlight of my month.
I did not expect when I walked into Brown’s Mart Theatre to walk away from this play reading with a deep sense of thought and introspection about a number of issues that affect both me and the community and the world in which I live. To have a 27-year old do that demonstrates the level of maturity she has, and I am enormously grateful to have spent that hour and a half sitting in Brown’s Mart because it was a marvellous experience.
I would recommend, when this play goes into production, all members of this House take the time to go and see the production because you will walk away from it very surprised it is the work of a first-time playwright a mere 27-years of age. It is far more mature and far more complex than anything I would have expected from someone with those antecedents.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I congratulate Ms Young, and thank honourable members for their attention.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Mr Deputy Speaker, tonight I pay tribute to the excellent work the nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, and support staff do each and every day caring for people in need in our hospitals and health clinics throughout the Territory.
I specifically acknowledge the hard work and dedication of nursing staff within the Royal Darwin Hospital Emergency Department, and applaud those who put their name to a petition highlighting their concerns with the level of overcrowding occurring in that facility. The Giles government is an open, honest, and transparent government which welcomes hard-working Territorians raising their concerns with us, be they nurse, teacher, truck driver, sales assistant, or tradie.
To the nurses who signed the petition expressing their concerns, on behalf of the Northern Territory government, I say thank you. I applaud your courage and your commitment to your career. The issues raised by the nurses are significant and real. No one - I say again no one - wants to see double-bunking occurring on a regular basis in our hospitals. I understand the incidence of double bunking has increased over time.
It is also worth noting, however, that overcrowding has been an issue at the Royal Darwin Hospital emergency department for many years. The solutions employed by the hospital on how to deal with it have, over time, changed in accordance with current practice, but the issue itself is not a new one.
Labor should have got on with the job of building Palmerston hospital with a full emergency department years ago, rather than allowing the project to gather dust for 11 years. Labor should have invested more in the Royal Darwin Hospital over the past 11 years. We are now in a position of playing catch-up.
Just about to start is an upgrade to the RDH emergency department and Short Stay Unit that will assist in taking some pressure off. But building bigger emergency departments and bringing a second emergency department online in the Palmerston hospital will only solve part of the problem.
Today I met with the representatives of the Northern Territory Branch of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation. When asked what could be done to take pressure off the emergency department at the Royal Darwin Hospital they, like other stakeholders before them, spoke about the need for better communication between the emergency department and the wards.
The Royal Darwin Hospital is one hospital and the issues impacting on the emergency department will affect the wards, and vice versa. It is only through working together in a coordinated fashion that we can improve the overall patient flow within the hospital. I am not, for a second, being critical of one part of the hospital versus another, but rather understand a more coordinated hospital is a more efficient hospital which gives better outcomes to patients and their families, and provides better working conditions for staff.
There are many issues affecting the patient flow through the hospital. Aged care sanctions still in place in two of the three nursing homes in Darwin continue to impact on the wards’ ability to discharge patients. Asylum seekers, whilst fully offset financially from the Department of Immigration, are having an ever-increasing impact on both the emergency department and the wards.
Ensuring patients are discharged in a timely and safe manner is an ongoing challenge that I know the hospital is working hard to maintain. The Northern Territory government has already announced our intention to return the short-term patient accommodation at the Royal Darwin Hospital facility to its original purpose of taking low acute patients pre- and post-operation from the middle of next year. If used correctly, and not just another demand inducer, this should see beds in wards opened up quicker which, in turn, will improve the flow from the emergency department. Hospital management and staff are also actively engaged in the clinical redesign of the hospital to ensure patient flow is improved.
Nurses in the emergency department and on the wards do an amazing job and perform miracles on a daily basis. I sincerely thank those nurses who raised this important issue with me, and commit to working with them, and the hospital, so together we can improve patient outcomes and working conditions for hospital staff.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Mr Deputy Speaker, my Grandfather spent some time working in Utopia, often with one of the Kunoth boys, Alec Mcleod.
I hope his faith has held true, and my Grandfather is now with family and friends.
Back at Ammaroo:
From the beginning, I thank Peter Chandler, Minister for Education, for attending the last school council meeting. I was there, as was the member for Nelson, and the Chief Executive of the department, Ken Davies, to meet with councillors and to hear some of the key issues, of which the staffing model is one, which I may come back to at a later time.
During that meeting food was provided by the VET hospitality students, Brock Willet and Jayke Demestichas. They provided superb food on par with any first-class restaurant I have been to in Darwin, if not elsewhere. Thank you to the VET hospitality students, I am sure they have a good career in front of them.
Also, on 16 August, four of the Year 10 Leading Learning students, Jasmine Aitken, Cheya Clarke, Thomas Cole and Stevie Pocock travelled to Charles Darwin University to compete in the NT finals of the National Brain Bee Challenge. This challenge involves individual and group challenges focusing on the study of neuroscience, which sounds pretty amazing to me.
Congratulations to Jasmine Aitken, who won the individual challenge against students from Casuarina Senior College and St John’s College - which goes to show bush kids are brighter than urban townie kids. She will now represent the NT in the National Brain Bee Final in Adelaide in January 2014, and should she win, she will be flown to Washington DC in the United States of America to represent Australia in the International Brain Bee Final. I am quite sure she will go that far.
Thomas Cole came a close second to Jasmine in the individual final, and the group came third in the group challenge.
Well done to those four students for their excellence in the work they do, and their future exploits. I am sure they will go on further in regards to the Bee Challenges.
Congratulations to student Emma Kellaway, who was a participant in the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy. She was selected to participate in this academy in Sydney last week, From a summary Emma wrote in regard to participating in that Academy, I quote:
That was from Emma Kellaway, who is in Year 11.
Congratulations to Emma for participating in that leadership academy and also for travelling interstate. I am sure she learnt a great deal and will bring it back to share amongst her student friends and also other members of the community to get them to change their conversations.
It is also with pleasure that I report on the Taminmin Cattle Team, as it is called. We finished the show season, and it saw 23 agricultural students from both Certificate II Rural Operations and Certificate III Agriculture attend and compete in Darwin in Katherine rural shows.
Taminmin entered 10 of their own homegrown Brahman cattle for exhibition and were rewarded greatly for the quality produced , which included the champion exhibit at both Darwin and Katherine …
Mr Wood: Hurricane.
Ms PURICK: Hurricane the bull, is it?
Mr Wood: That is his name.
Ms PURICK: Hurricane the bull.
Students from the agriculture programs presented well in uniforms kindly sponsored through Territory Rural, and were supported through local business, Domador. Many thanks to those organisations for their support of the programs, and the students who represented the uniforms well throughout.
2013 is now the second and consecutive year the college has been able to enter its homegrown stock produced on the farm, which is at Taminmin College, supported through the agriculture programs. Students from both courses worked tirelessly preparing and handling the livestock to be exhibited, and received major achievements and accolades through classes showing the extent of their efforts and work, especially as students gave up their holidays to continue to do their show preparations and compete in Katherine.
Thanks and appreciation goes to the two farm techs, Guy McSkimming and Rob Kelly for their work with the cattle and Boer goats when required, and Amanda Adams for stepping up to the challenge in her first year and presenting the Boer goats and middle school programs so well. Any of us who have been to the Katherine Show or the Royal Darwin Show know the cattle displayed by the Taminmin students are exemplary, to say the least.
I list the highlights and championship in prizes achieved through the Senior School agricultural programs this year in the cattle section.
Katherine Show Student Awards:
Mickaela Butt – 1st place Junior Handler
Kalvin Kempster – 2nd place Junior Handler
Janita Woods – 3rd place Junior Handler
Michael Sikyr - Best Cattle Groom, and runner up Kalvin Kempster.
Kalvin Kempster – 1st place Junior Judging
Kody Mayo – 2nd place Junior Judging
Janita Woods and Kirrah Codrington - tied 3rd place Junior Judging.
Well done and congratulations, not only for their places, but also for the fact they took time out of their own school and private schedules to travel to Katherine and compete and, obviously, bring a lot of enjoyment to people who loved watching them in the grand parades and elsewhere.
Royal Darwin Show Student Awards:
Georgia Lowery – 1st Juvenile Cattle Judging
Jessica Dowling – 2nd Juvenile Cattle Judging
Kyle Schwarze – 3rd Juvenile Cattle Judging.
Janita Woods – 1st Junior Cattle Judge
Kody Mayo – 2nd Junior Cattle Judge
Kirrah Codrington – 3rd Junior Cattle Judge.
Matt Deveraux – 1st Senior Cattle Judge.
Jack Bail – 1st Juvenile Cattle Handler
Samara Durbidge –2nd Juvenile Cattle Handler
Georgia Lowery – 3rd Juvenile Cattle Handler
Kirrah Codrington – 1st Junior Cattle Handler
Mickaela Butt – 2nd Junior Cattle Handler
Janita Woods – 3rd Junior Cattle Handler
Georgia Lowery – 1st Juvenile Cattle Attendant
Chris Anderson - 1st Junior Cattle Attendant
It has been a great year for the college and the students who presented so well throughout the show season with so many opportunities from being out and about on display for industry to see the high standard now being displayed and supported through the agricultural programs of the college.
I note, as do other members in this parliament, that many of these students go on to work in the pastoral industry and, clearly, they will take with them a great deal of talent, skills and education.
A couple of the students from Taminmin College also worked as part of the back of house people for the big Turf Club Ball at SkyCity. They were from Certificate II in Hospitality, Brock Willet and Jayke Demestichas and …
A member: Hear, hear!
Ms PURICK: … from all accounts, they had a lovely time. They participated in the preparation of food for the Gala Ball on 3 August 2013. Six students from the Top End went and, of course, two from Taminmin, which was a greater number, and they plated 2900 entries for this event which people say is the largest outdoor black tie event in the southern hemisphere.
Well done to Brock and Jayke for showing such diligence and being selected to do this type of work and, no doubt, their careers will be becoming chefs and perhaps one day they will be in charge of running such a major event in the Top End.
At the beginning of my speech I mentioned that the minister visited the school for their last council meeting, which I also attended. Over recent months school council members have had several meetings with both the minister and the Chief Executive of the department concerning a wide range of educational issues, most importantly, staffing and reimbursements.
In previous years, the council had negotiated with the then government for additional positions of Assistant Principal, Career Advisor and School Counsellor, in recognition of the unique situation at Taminmin College; it being a large comprehensive school which includes middle and senior secondary education and large agricultural and VET programs. However, each year the council has had to retain these positions as, understandably, these are positions within the departments and governments in competition for resources and positions.
It was pleasing that the work of the council and the council chairman has paid off, because the minister has assured the commitment of funding to ensure these three positions at Taminmin College will be honoured, and advice has been received by the Chief Executive that these positions will remain at the college for, I would expect, the long term.
It is a large college, Mr Deputy Speaker, as you know; it has in excess of 1200 students. When it was first built it started as a college of about 300 or 400 students, so it has grown enormously and it is bursting at the seams. Whilst there is competition for educational resources, Taminmin College is in a unique position being the only senior high school within a very large and growing rural area.
No doubt the college and the parents and the council members, and people like me and you and the member for Nelson will keep knocking on the minister’s door and the department’s door to ensure they are not overlooked and they do get their due funding and support.
Congratulations to all at Taminmin College, to the Principal, Miriam McDonald, who is doing a terrific job; the Council Chairman, Beverley Ratahi, all council members and, of course, all the teachers at Taminmin College. I will leave it at that.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Mr Deputy Speaker, first I wish commend my federal colleague, Natasha Griggs, the federal member for Solomon, for fighting so stridently to deliver exceptional levels of funding, certainly much higher levels of funding under a Coalition government than we would have ever seen under any form of Labor government, be it Territory or federal.
A couple of things have spurred me on, not just to commend my colleague, Natasha, but because I am sick and tired of the lies that are being pedalled by Labor during this federal campaign. We have spoken about Labor lies at length in the last two weeks and I have spoken about Labor lies and scaremongering a number of times myself in adjournment or otherwise. Last night when I came home from sittings, I found this wonderful little DL full of lies and it says:
Really quite remarkable stuff. I thought it very prudent to go through the history of the Palmerston hospital. In 1999, the residents of Palmerston decided that hospital services were something they were particularly interested in and believed it was something needed in our community.
In 2000, the Palmerston health precinct was constructed, the whole purpose of which was to have a 24-hour operational health facility in Palmerston that suited the demand at the time and the expectations of the people of Palmerston. Then, unfortunately, the Country Liberals lost government in 2001 and a Labor government was elected. Sure as night follows day the 24-hour service was closed by Labor.
In 2005, the Country Liberals promised during the election campaign to reinstate the 24-hour emergency facility. At that time, it was still very much the view of the Palmerston people that it needed an all-hours service.
In 2007, the Labor government announced a super clinic investment by federal Labor. In 2008, the Country Liberals committed $100m over 15 years for the planning and construction of a staged hospital at Palmerston. By 2008, the Labor government failed to attract private operators to this new and improved super clinic from 10 pm to 8 am.
The super clinic completely failed the expectations of Palmerston residents in every way. I had a personal experience taking my mother, who had fallen over at home, straight to the super clinic thinking that is the best place to go, this is where Palmerston people feel they can go when something happens at home, only to sit there for …
Mr Wood: The ambulance cannot stop at the super clinic at the moment.
Ms FINOCCHIARO: … only to sit there for a number of hours so my mother could be given a few Panadol and be made comfortable. We then hopped back in our own car and went off to Royal Darwin Hospital. The super clinic completely failed the expectations of Palmerston residents - a completely failed Labor government with a completely failed health scheme for Palmerston and the rural area.
In 2009, Labor had a brain wave and thought: why don’t we announce a new hospital in Palmerston? Even though we cannot get a super clinic right, why don’t we not go for the big guns and try and organise a Palmerston hospital?
At that time, the member for Casuarina had said it should be constructed by the end of 2010. That was incredibly wishful thinking, and there was an enormous time blowout, of course, as we all know.
In 2011, Labor made the budget announcement of a $110m hospital, and later that year it announced the site. Now the site, if we talk about Labor failures, is just another slice of the cake that failed residents’ expectations yet again, and it failed council’s expectations.
The site chosen by Labor was completely unsuitable. It did not fit in with the council’s master plan, it did not allow for growth, and it would have caused extreme traffic congestion. It is sandwiched between Roystonea Avenue and Temple Terrace, as we all know, and it did not have any continuity with the rural area. It is a site sandwiched between the CBD, residential area and Yarrawonga, which is an industrial precinct in Palmerston.
By December 2011, Labor thought this scheme up, and thought the block up because they were extremely desperate as we headed into the 2012 election. In the meantime, my colleague, Natasha Griggs, member for Solomon, who had been to the very first meeting of Palmerston residents championing this cause recognised that Palmerston did have needs and has been striving very hard ever since, even from opposition, to secure that for Palmerston.
I attended a presentation prior to the 2012 Northern Territory general election which promised all sorts of things the Palmerston hospital would be, and that it would be operational by 2016. But I note the major concerns of people at that public meeting were: location, room to develop, standard of emergency services, and paediatric beds. There is a theme through all of this.
Labor people are very convincing, and we see this a great deal. They thought: now we have money, we have an announcement, we have a block, what is the next step? We put up a temporary fence. I spoke about the temporary fence last week.
There is a beaut Northern Territory News article on 18 April 2012 saying:
I am not sure how you can commence construction of a hospital without knowing what is going to go into the hospital - it really boggles the mind - and I do not believe a fence constitutes construction by any stretch of the imagination. Further down in the article you learn a little more about what this ‘construction’ means. It says:
Luke Gosling, the Labor candidate for Solomon, whose name I should not mention but I will for the record, seems very confused. Perhaps he did not get the briefing he ought to have had from his party. He said the other day on Pete Davies that if it was not for us, the Northern Territory government, the hospital would be half built by now.
We have only been in government 12 months and the temporary fence was there right up until recently, but there was certainly no construction on site, so I am not sure how the candidate for Solomon thinks a hospital would be half built. In any event, I am not sure why he would want to peddle to Palmerston residents that the site was suitable in the first place. He goes on to say during his radio interview that the CLP stopped building the Palmerston hospital. Candidate for Solomon, you cannot stop building something that has not commenced. I really believe someone should give this man a briefing. It is quite embarrassing when you look at it closely.
In any event, late last week we had spectacular news that Tony Abbott had come to town and had promised $110m should the Coalition win government and should Natasha be returned to her seat - which she should be because she is an extremely good local member. On top of that, the Country Liberals have committed $40m for the hospital. In total, we have a $150m hospital which meets the expectations of Palmerston and rural residents.
The new site has been overwhelmingly accepted by Palmerston residents. We had a stand at Palmerston markets on Friday which showed the site, and people applauded the decision. I know we have had an overwhelming, positive response from people in the rural area who agree this site suits and meets their needs because it is located on a large arterial road, the Stuart Highway.
I commend Natasha Griggs for securing this funding. Make no mistake, she banged on the door of shadow Health minister, Peter Dutton, she has done the hard yards over the last three years of her term and should be applauded for bringing something that meets the needs and expectations of Palmerston and rural residents.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, tonight I wanted to make a couple of observations. I have a bit to get through in 10 minutes, but I need to make an observation about the member for Johnston today. He hardly covered himself in glory. It is worth noting and putting on the public record that it was a very sad performance by the member for Johnston. I am referring to his contribution to tourism, his attitude towards tourism, and his 12 minute response to a 5400 word statement which took me, as minister, an hour to deliver and half an hour to wrap up, and about five other members also contributed throughout the course of the debate.
There was nothing about aviation - very important I would have thought. There was nothing about hotels, digital activation or conferencing; there was nothing about anything of substance. There was nothing about anything from the member for Johnston except personal abuse, personal attacks and slanderous statements.
I pick up on what the member for Port Darwin said. He said often in this place you will see members, such as the member for Johnston, give up working and resort to personal abuse. They put down pen and paper, they stop working for the people of the Northern Territory, and they start banging their own drum, if you like, and resort to personal attacks.
I wonder, however, if the member for Johnston ever began work in the first place. If you have a look at his contributions to debates over the past 12 months in this parliament, not many of them have gone longer than about 12 minutes, if he has ever bothered to get to his feet in the first place. I wonder whether or not he began work in the first place.
What we have learnt today from the opposition with regard to tourism is the member for Johnston has nothing to contribute, and the Leader of the Opposition hates tourists. The Leader of the Opposition is on the record saying she hates tourists.
I also provide you tonight with an update on Tourism NT’s brand shift campaign. The Northern Territory is currently a destination that consumers are aware of and aspire to travel to. Declining visitor numbers, however, clearly indicate there is a gap between the awareness and the bookings of a trip to the Northern Territory. Based on recent research conducted by Tourism NT’s creative agency publicist, Mojo, our domestic target audience view the Northern Territory as one dimensional, passive, inaccessible, expensive, and too remote and vast for travellers.
Tourism NT is currently implementing a brand shift for the Northern Territory towards a more fun and social position in a way that is unique, credible, and motivating. This new position, primarily targeted at the domestic market, will also assist in breaking down the perceived barriers that prevent the consumer from travelling to the Northern Territory.
To support this positioning, new photographs and videos are required to enable Tourism NT to accurately and convincingly reposition the brand. This work will commence from this week.
There will be two concentrated bursts of brand awareness activity in 2013-14. The first burst will be in-market across Australia in September and is designed for high-reaching mass coverage TV awareness with supporting high-frequency media and television, print, radio and digital focusing on age 50-plus market over a period of six weeks. Supporting digital promotion to the secondary market, age 18 to 35, will also occur over the six-week period.
The second similarly constructed burst will be in February 2014 with a slightly larger spend and reach to coincide with key booking times domestically for all of the Northern Territory. Tourism NT’s primary target market for this campaign is focused on two demographics, being 18 to 35 and 50-plus, and concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne. The TV awareness component will focus on the capital cities to assist in driving bookings. The targeted communications will have further reach in regional New South Wales, regional Victoria, Brisbane and Adelaide, and through the digital channels to this rest of the nation.
Madam Speaker, I thought it was wise to update the House on Tourism NT’s new brand shift campaign.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I congratulate you on being one of the first to announce the site of the new Litchfield/Palmerston hospital. You got in even before the Leader of the Opposition. It was very good. I did announce it on ABC three weeks before that, by the way.
I continue the report on my trip down through the Roper River to Borroloola and the gulf. Last week, I reported on the part that went through the Limmen National Park, and tonight I will talk about the mines I visited. The first mine I visited was the ilmenite mine on the Roper Highway just over 100 km from Mataranka.
Ilmenite, for those who do not know, is used for strengthening steel; it is also used in paints and prevents rusting. The ilmenite mine area has been known for a long time. Basically, it is sand mining. They strip the soil to about 1.5 m in depth, and out of that they get 10% ilmenite and 90% is returned back to the environment. The expected life of the mine is 40 years. Balmoral, are the mining contractors doing the job, and the ilmenite is exported to Saudi Arabia, China and Japan. Ilmenite was originally discovered in 1950, and it is hoped the mine will last for at least six years.
There are about 10 to 11 workers there, six are 457 workers from China, and their job is to commission the processing plant pumps - the spiral, as it is called - from China. It is the process which separates the ilmenite out as it gets washed. The steel that was used in the construction of that spiral all came from Australia but, as I said, the spiral itself came from China and had to be put together on-site.
I was there about a month ago, and nearly 2500 tonne of ilmenite was already on the wharf in Darwin, with approximately 500 tonne on-site on the Roper, and the first shipment to China should be about 7000-8000 tonne. Hopefully, the total amount to eventually come from that mine is about 500 000 tonne.
Water is pumped from the Roper, and this was one of the issues when we were discussing the Mataranka water allocations. When the water drops below a certain height the mine has to stop unless it has its own supply of water. They are trying to recycle their water because it is scarce in the area, but if there is an effect upstream that causes the water to drop below a certain level, and they have to stop mining.
I was shown around the ilmenite mine by Rod Illingworth, who has a stake in this mine. I believe he is Executive Director. Jerry Ren is the owner of the ilmenite mine.
Rod Illingworth showed me around as he is part of the Sherwin mine which is an iron ore mine further down the track. I believe BHP did a substantial amount of work there years ago, but they headed off to the Pilbara which was a larger site for them.
There is good iron there, they call it hematite iron which is used for general steel, and there is, I believe, up to 150 million tonnes of it available, and a good thing is there is no acid leeching which is an issue with some mines. It is interesting to see how they mine the iron ore. The iron comes in strips and is not very far below the surface, and when the company drills holes in a pattern it can produce a three dimensional model of the actual iron ore that is in the ground. Bulldozers, which are programmed by a computerised version of the model, strip off the top soil and know exactly how deep to put the blade and how deep to go below the surface. The operator knows exactly where to operate, and in the Sherwin Iron area there are sometimes two layers of iron ore which might be one or two metres thick, and below that will be other materials, and then below that there might be a different quality iron ore as well. It is quite an impressive operation from that point of view.
There is about 20-25 people working there. A number of those are from the local cattle stations, there are five Indigenous people, and they do try to employ the traditional owners so they are involved in what is happening.
There are big spin-offs for a facility like this. Tristar Industries built 80 trailers to move the iron ore from here into Darwin. My understanding is it is not going by rail because rail is too expensive. The Roper Highway, of course, is narrow and they will go in convoy with a vehicle at the front and back and, hopefully, will not disrupt local traffic too much. Of course, the big issue is what damage that will do to the road.
When I was there, they were grading the dirt section of the Roper Highway and watering it down and they intend to keep maintaining that section. They were looking at polymer to strengthen the edges on the narrow sections of bitumen, which is something INPEX has been using. It will be interesting to see how the road stands up to so much traffic. Of course, the Roper Highway is also used by tourists, so I hope it does not disrupt the tourist traffic either, because there is not much room to pass on that road, especially as it is single bitumen.
The mine is putting together approximately a 70 000 to 80 000 tonne sample shipment to China, which is being offloaded presently at the wharf. Hopefully they will get a good report back from China about the quality of the iron ore, which will mean, I presume, the mine will eventually get a licence from the government to operate. I imagine there are also some other issues in relation to the environment.
I asked one of the gentlemen there about revegetation. He said, ‘Over there on the hill we will take out the iron ore, then we will bring back the materials, which has the seed in it, and the vegetation will regrow’. I said to him, nicely, that I will be back next year to see if that is the case.
On the way down the Nathan River Road from the mine I stopped at Tomato Island, a Parks and Wildlife camping area. There was some controversy about it last year or the year before because people were camped there for nothing, year in and year out. They have now developed a wonderful park there with high-quality facilities. Some people still do not like it and if you keep going down the Roper Highway you will find them camped in the bush. But it is a really good facility for people who want to camp there; it has good barbecues, green grass around the place, and you are right on the Roper River.
I went further down through the national park, past Borroloola, and down to the Queensland border where the Redbank mine is. The Redbank mine was developed in 1916. I have forgotten the name of the gentleman who found it, but he lived in a cave there for many years, and the day he was to leave because he had sold the mine, he bumped his head inside the cave and died.
That mine has had many owners. Following on from the question I asked the minister today, there are major issues with that mine. Hanrahan’s Creek, which is right next door, is quite polluted further down, and it goes into Settlement Creek, which is the creek that goes past Woollogorang Station. So, there are issues there.
The question for the government is: should you get the mine going so it can produce enough money to rehabilitate the creek and the area that has been killed off by pollution from the mine, or do you expect them to fix it up before they start, which will cost a lot of money? They are million dollar questions that have to be answered, and I am interested to see what moves the government makes in that region. I heard from the minister for Lands and Planning that he is going to visit there next week, and I am interested to see the report he brings back.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Member for Sanderson
Member for Sanderson
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that a leave of absence for today and tomorrow be granted to the member for Sanderson due to illness. By way of explanation to the House, the member for Sanderson was taken to hospital yesterday as a result of abdominal pains. It now appears he has an inflamed appendix and has undergone an appendectomy. As a consequence, he will be unable to attend the House today or tomorrow. Of course, whilst it is by modern standards a minor operation, I am sure all members in this House wish him well.
Members: Hear, hear!
Leave granted.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, Leader of Government Business, if you could pass our thoughts on to the member for Sanderson in due course that would be good.
DISTINGUISHED VISITOR
Hon Neville Perkins
Hon Neville Perkins
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Hon Neville Perkins, a previous member of the Legislative Assembly. On behalf of honourable members, I welcome you again to the Northern Territory parliament.
Members: Hear, hear!
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Year 9 students from MacKillop Catholic College accompanied by their teacher, Daniel Yore. On behalf of honourable members, I welcome to parliament and I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT (FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION) BILL
(Serial 37)
(Serial 37)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to expand the application of section 186C of the Criminal Code Act to adult women rather just applying to children. The amendment will ensure the offence of taking another person from the Northern Territory, or making arrangements for the same, with the intention of performing female genital mutilation is applicable to both children and adult woman.
Female genital mutilation is the intentional alteration of female genital organs including the excision, infibulation or any other mutilation of the whole or any part of the labia majora, labia minora or clitoris. There is no medical reason for performing female genital mutilation and the long-term medical consequences are significant, including infertility, childbirth complications, and maternal and infant mortality.
Female genital mutilation is a cultural practice most often undertaken in African countries and, to a lesser extent, some Middle Eastern and Asian nations. Accordingly, the criminalisation of female genital mutilation in Australia is relevant to immigrants and refugees from those nations.
Offences for female genital mutilation were introduced in the Northern Territory by the Criminal Code Amendment Act (No 2) 1995. These offences were introduced in direct response to various law reform reports, including the Family Law Council of Australia report, and were based on model laws considered by the then Standing Committee of Attorneys-General.
In March 2013, the Commonwealth government released its final report on the review of Australia’s female genital mutilation framework. The report highlighted seven recommendations, and was considered at the April 2013 meeting of the Standing Council on Law and Justice. At the meeting, the Standing Council on Law and Justice agreed that states and territories would undertake various measures to ensure uniformity and the utmost protection for woman and children from female genital mutilation. It was agreed that the Commonwealth, states and territories would amend their legislation to ensure that: (a) penalties were consistent across each jurisdiction; (b) each jurisdiction criminalised the removal of a person for the purpose of female genital mutilation; and (c) that offences would be applied extraterritorially to ensure it is an offence to perform female genital mutilation on an Australian resident, wherever the operation is performed.
The Northern Territory’s current female genital mutilation provisions under section 186B and 186C of the Criminal Code Act effectively address the majority of the agreement of the Standing Council on Law and Justice by providing for a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment and ensuring extraterritorial application through section 186B(2), which provides for the offence of female genital mutilation against a Territory resident even if the conduct occurs in another jurisdiction.
Accordingly, based on the Standing Council on Law and Justice agreement, the only area the Territory is deficient is in relation to the removal of a person from the Territory with the intention of having female genital mutilation performed, as the current provisions only provide for the removal of a child and do not cover the removal of an adult woman.
All states and territories have provisions criminalising the performance of female genital mutilation. In addition, all jurisdictions, excluding New South Wales, have criminalised the removal of a child from the jurisdiction with the intention of performing female genital mutilation. Currently, Victoria is the only state to prohibit the removal of both children and adult women from the jurisdiction with the intention of having female genital mutilation performed. However, given the agreement of the Standing Council on Law and Justice, it is anticipated that each jurisdiction will make relevant amendment to make their female genital mutilation offences in line with that agreement.
Although the World Health Organisation has suggested that female genital mutilation is mostly carried out on girls aged between infancy and 15 years, it is foreseeable that adult woman could forcibly be removed or coerced from Australia for the purposes of female genital mutilation.
The United Nations Resolution on Female Genital Mutilation urges countries to condemn all harmful practices that affect both woman and girls, and to take all necessary measures to protect them from this form of violence. On this basis, the UN resolution does not limit the practice or protections by age.
Accordingly, it is necessary to amend section 186C of the Criminal Code Act in order to protect both adult woman and girls from removal from the Northern Territory with the intention of having female genital mutilation performed.
It is not the intention of the legislation that the victim will be prosecuted under the provision, and such specific wording of the amendment will ensure that section 186C only criminalises the actions of others and not the victim.
The particulars of the bill are section 186C will be amended so that each reference to a child is replaced with the words ‘another person’, ‘person’ or ‘that person’ where applicable. This will ensure that the restriction of the offence to children only is removed and such is applicable to both girls and adult women. The wording of the amendment is also specific to clarify that the offence against a person who removes or arranges ‘another person’ to be taken from the Territory so that the section only criminalises the actions of the others, and not the victims.
A transitional provision has also been included in the bill. Section 447 will be inserted into the Criminal Code Act which will provide that an offence is only committed against the amended section 186C if all offending conduct occurs after commencement. This will ensure that there is no confusion if a defendant were to be charged ‘between dates’, where a course of conduct is alleged to have occurred both before and after the commencement.
Female genital mutilation is an unnecessary and harmful practice which will not be tolerated in the Northern Territory nor when it is afflicted on Northern Territory residents, children or adult women outside our jurisdiction.
I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
SUCCESSION TO THE CROWN (REQUEST) (NATIONAL UNIFORM LEGISLATION) BILL
(Serial 39)
(Serial 39)
Bill presented and read a first time. Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of the Succession to the Crown (Request)(National Uniform Legislation) Bill 2013, is to provide for the parliament of the Northern Territory to formally request the Commonwealth parliament to enact legislation to change the laws of succession to the Crown throughout Australia consistent with changes to the law of Royal Succession in the United Kingdom.
This will ensure that the Sovereign of Australia and the Sovereign of the United Kingdom is the same person. The changes the Commonwealth has requested to enact are:
to end the system of male preference primogeniture whereby a young son displaces an elder daughter in the line of succession
Commonwealth legislation will fulfil Australia’s commitment to the agreement that was reached by the 16th Commonwealth Realm Heads of Government in Perth in October 2011 to work together towards a common approach to amending the rules of succession to their respective Crowns, and to work within their respective administrations to bring forward the necessary measures to enable the realms to give effect to the changes simultaneously.
The former Australian Prime Minister had previously consulted with the Premiers and Chief Ministers concerning the proposed changes. The former Northern Territory Chief Minister, Hon Paul Henderson, gave in-principle support on behalf of the Territory.
The bill joins the Northern Territory in the process agreed at the April 2013 COAG meeting for effecting the changes in Australia. Informed by the advice of Solicitors-General, COAG agreed to implement the reforms for a cooperative request and consent scheme relying on section 51(38) of the Australian Constitution.
Under the agreed scheme, each state parliament and the Northern Territory parliament is to pass request legislation for the Commonwealth to enact legislation on the matter.
Request acts have been passed in Queensland and New South Wales, and bills have been introduced in Victoria and Tasmania with the remaining states to follow shortly. The bill is based on a model developed under the auspices of COAG and contains a ‘text-based’ reference.
The specific legislation the states and territories have agreed to request the Commonwealth to enact is set out in the schedule to the bill and is, or will be, similarly set out in the request acts of the states.
By virtue of the states’ request acts the Commonwealth will only be authorised to enact the Succession to the Crown Bill the state parliaments have agreed to.
The Northern Territory’s constitutional position means it is not constitutionally necessary for the Territory to request or consent to the Commonwealth enactment. However, the government considers it desirable to ensure, so far as possible, arrangements in place in the Northern Territory mirror those in place between the Commonwealth and the states.
A request by the Territory for the Commonwealth to legislate would be consistent with general longstanding practice which ensures consistency among jurisdictions. Moreover, the Northern Territory strongly supports the reforms which remove some archaic elements of gender bias and religious discrimination from the arrangements that govern the succession of Australia’s head of state. The bill demonstrates the Territory’s support and is consistent with our active role within the federation and our aspirations towards statehood.
The matter of succession to the Crown does not fall within the specific matters for which Territory ministers have executive authority under the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act. That being so, assent to the bill, once passed, would normally need to be reserved for the pleasure of the Governor-General acting on the advice of Commonwealth ministers. Given the symbolic nature of the bill going to constitutional arrangements concerning the Crown and the Territory, I have, on behalf of the Territory, entered into a formal arrangement with the former Prime Minister specifically for the purposes of the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Regulation 4(5)(f), which explicitly extends the Northern Territory’s executive authority to the enactment of legislation which would mirror arrangements made by the states in relation to the changes to the law of royal succession. This will enable the bill, when it has passed the Northern Territory parliament, to be assented to by the Northern Territory Administrator on the advice of Territory ministers.
I turn to key provisions of the bill. The request to the Commonwealth parliament by the Northern Territory parliament is set out in clause 4 of the bill. It references the proposed Commonwealth act which is set out in the schedule. Clause 3 of the bill clarifies that the enactment of this legislation, or the subsequent Commonwealth legislation, is not intended to affect in any way the existing relationship between the sovereign and the Northern Territory. This is reiterated by clause 4 of the proposed Commonwealth act which will make similar provision in relation to the existing relationship between the sovereign and the Commonwealth, the states and the territories.
Clause 6 of the proposed Commonwealth act will provide that, in determining succession to the Crown, the gender of a person born after 28 October 2011 does not give that person, or their descendants, precedence over any other person whenever that person was born. The provision is expressed to have retrospective effect from 28 October 2016, which is the date of agreement on the reforms by the 16 Commonwealth realms and is consistent with the equivalent provision in the United Kingdom Succession to the Crown Act.
Honourable members would be aware that His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge, the newly born son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, is now third in the line of succession to the Crown. Had the Duke and Duchess instead had a daughter, a practical effect of the retrospective provision would have been to ensure that daughter would not have been displaced in the line of succession by the subsequent birth of a brother occurring before the act commenced.
Clause 7 of the proposed Commonwealth act provides that a person will not be disqualified from succeeding to the Crown or from being the monarch as a result of their marriage to a Roman Catholic. Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the proposed act makes related amendments to the Act of Settlement and the Bill of Rights.
Clause 8 and Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the proposed Commonwealth act will have the effect of:
repealing the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 to remove the requirement for any descendant of George II to obtain the monarch’s consent before marriage, otherwise the marriage is void, and
I commend this bill to honourable members and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill.
Debate adjourned.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT BILL
(Serial 38)
(Serial 38)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr GILES (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The Disasters Act, the act, as it stands, provides for the establishment of the Counter Disaster Council, which is chaired by the Territory Counter Disaster Controller, the Commissioner of Police, Fire and Emergency Services, (the Territory Controller).
The act prescribes a three-tiered approach to counter disaster planning, operational control and support coordination, as well as special powers for Police, Fire and Emergency Services through the declaration of a state of emergency or state of disaster. Accordingly, the act outlines the functions and the powers of:
the Counter Disaster Council
With respect to recovery from an event, no legislation covers this phase of an emergency management and arrangements are only generally outlined in plans. As seen in other jurisdictions following bushfires in the ACT and Victoria, cyclones and floods in Queensland, earthquakes in New Zealand and the tsunami in Japan, recovery periods can extend over months, even years, and coordination of effort is of particular importance following a large-scale emergency with an extended recovery period.
Almost all recent commissions of inquiry and reviews of major events highlight coordination of government support services as an issue. The fact agency staff are keen to focus on providing services is not questioned. It is the coordinated direction of resources across government to deliver services effectively and efficiently that is often lacking in some areas.
Addressing this requires scalable governance arrangements that provide clear authority to coordinate recovery and direct agency resources to best effect. Several Australian states and overseas countries like New Zealand have legislation which incorporates the appointment of a recovery coordinator with the authorities and powers necessary to coordinate those resources.
Having clear leadership and effective partnerships across government and the private sector are crucial to business continuity and a resilient community that can maintain recovery momentum post event.
The Department of the Chief Minister, in consultation with Northern Territory Emergency Services, reviewed the Disasters Act and identified a number of recommended changes to enhance the emergency management command and control structure to lead and coordinate cross-agency recovery activities, and to ensure proper prioritisation and focus of government resources following an emergency or disaster event.
Shortly after commencing work on the amendments, the Office of Parliamentary Counsel provided advice to the Department of the Chief Minister that problems stemming from the structure and drafting of the Disasters Act were constraining their ability to attach new concepts while maintaining a coherent piece of legislation.
The Office of Parliamentary Counsel further advised that although the Disasters Act created a perception of flexibility, if it were to be examined over the context of the legislation, for example, if someone challenged and exercised the power under the act, issues would arise and it would likely not stand up to scrutiny.
As a result of this advice it was determined that to ensure legislative amendments provided the best possible platform for all phases of emergency management, rather than amend the Disasters Act it be repealed and replaced with a new bill.
The shift from amending the Disasters Act to repealing and replacing the act does not affect the policy directions behind the amendments. The amendments proposed by the Emergency Management Bill 2013 can be broadly categorised into four specific areas. First, to enable the minister to declare an emergency situation and to amend the period and extension provisions for a state of emergency; second, to establish the legislative authority and governance arrangements to coordinate recovery and direct resources across government at the conclusion of the response and initial relief phase, and continuing through the recovery phase of an emergency situation; third, to address technical issues regarding the appointment of local controllers and counter disaster council members; and fourth, to repeal the Disasters Act and replace it with the Emergency Management Act to reflect the broader scope of the legislation as proposed.
The period of a state of emergency: under Part VII of the Disasters Act, if it appears to the Administrator that the extent or severity of a disaster, or impending disaster, is beyond the resources of services in the Northern Territory at the time, he or she can declare a state of disaster which continues for seven days and may be extended.
A state of emergency can be declared by the minister for Police when satisfied that extraordinary measures are necessary for the protection of life and property, but are generally within the capacity of the Northern Territory services.
Under the Disasters Act, unless superseded by a state of disaster or revoked, a state of emergency is in force for two days and there is no ability to extend that.
The bill proposes that the state of emergency period be extended to three days and provision be included in the act to enable three-day extensions. This will allow responders to carry out their duties regarding initial relief following a catastrophic event such as a flood, where it may take a number of days for waters to recede.
A declaration of an emergency situation: under existing Northern Territory All Hazard Emergency Management Arrangements, the Territory Controller, in consultation with the Chief Executive of the Department of the Chief Minister, may declare an emergency situation; however, this has no legal or operational consequence. This bill proposes the declaration of an emergency situation be established in legislation, and the declaration will be made by the minister on advice from the Emergency Management Council (the council) having regard to the impact of an event and the subsequent redirection of substantial government resources in respect of so much of the Northern Territory that is likely to be affected by an emergency.
Additionally, the provisions of an emergency situation would automatically come into effect if a cyclone watch or warning was issued for part of the Northern Territory by the Bureau of Meteorology, or if a state of emergency or disaster was declared.
An emergency situation would provide the council, Territory Controller, and the Territory Recovery Coordinator with the authority to activate the Northern Territory All Hazard Emergency Management Arrangements, which incorporates NT recovery management arrangements which are not formally referred to in the Disasters Act. An emergency situation may also instigate the activation of an agency’s plans, depending on the event, and would have the added positive effects of emphasising the significance of the situation, focusing NT government agency efforts and heightening awareness of the gravity of the situation to both the public and the Commonwealth.
It is further proposed that an emergency situation not be time limited, enabling it to stay in force until revoked upon the completion of a recovery phase. Other than the ability to evacuate and exclude any person from a particular location - for instance, a location which may be dangerous due to damage sustained during an event - an emergency situation would not provide special powers to Police and Emergency Services.
A continuing emergency situation may require the establishment and operation of temporary emergency accommodation centres, known as evacuation centres, and/or welfare recovery centres. In some cases, these may need to be established in facilities or locations which are not owned or operated by the NT government. This bill proposes that authority to occupy these facilities during an emergency situation.
In recent years, recovery coordination and whole-of-government public information during events would have benefitted from an emergency situation declaration. A declaration would focus the efforts of all levels of government through the formal activation of the Northern Territory All Hazard Emergency Management and Information Group Arrangements, and allay common concern about who is controlling the response, which is often heard from both within and external to government.
Recent events since 2011 in the Northern Territory, where an emergency situation would have been declared if it was legislated include: flash flooding in the Edith and Cullen Rivers and associated recovery; flooding event in Palumpa and associated recovery; flooding events in Daly River and associated recovery; flooding events in East and West Arnhem Shires, long-term relief and associated recovery; and recovery activities following tropical cyclones Carlos and Grant.
It is not proposed an emergency situation declaration be automatically linked to the NT government personal hardship payments. The Treasurer would still make the decision to make payments available based on an assessment of the situation and advice from the Department of Treasury and Finance.
_____________________
Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, could I ask you to pause so I can welcome someone?
Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Year 10 students from Casuarina Senior College. On behalf of honourable members, welcome to Parliament House. I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
______________________
Mr GILES: It is proposed that a provision in the Disasters Act which prevents special powers of evacuation from, or preventing entry to a local government area, town, or specific area, or Aboriginal land without a declaration from the Administrator not be included in the Emergency Management Act. These powers are intended to be activated upon declaration of a state of disaster, state of emergency, or emergency situation as intended by the Administrator or minister making the declaration. Retaining this provision only creates an administrative burden as it would require that a second declaration be made by the Administrator whenever a state of disaster, state of emergency or emergency situation is declared.
The appointment of Local Controllers: there is a technical issue with the application of section 28 of the Disasters Act relating to the appointment of a local counter disaster controller in that is must be the officer in charge of a police station or a resident where no police station is situated. This bill proposes to amend this in the Emergency Management Act to include the ability for the Territory Controller to appoint a member of the police force to be a local controller for the emergency situation to provide more flexibility in this regard.
The appointment of council members: there is a technical issue with the application of section 7 of the Disasters Act regarding the appointment of counter-disaster council members. The Disasters Act allows only named persons to be appointed by the minister. This requires significant administrative work in the form of a ministerial or gazettal process whenever a member is on leave and acting arrangements are in place. Other than those positions noted in the Disasters Act, council membership is comprised of agency chief executives appointed by name. This bill proposes to amend this in the Emergency Management Act to reflect that in addition to appointing a person, appointments can also be made by position. This will enable acting chief executives to legally represent their agency as members of the council without the need for a further appointment process.
This bill further proposes procedures of emergency management bodies, including the council, which the Disaster Act does not cover. The procedures include convening a meeting, having a quorum, nominating proxies and voting.
Naming the act: the purpose of the Disasters Act is to provide for adoption of measures necessary for the protection of life and property from the effects of disasters and emergencies, and for other purposes. This bill proposes the purpose of the new act to provide for matters relating to emergency management and for related matters and be named the Emergency Management Act.
This better reflects the contemporary approaches and developments such as nationally accepted emergency management methodology regarding resilience, and an all-hazards approach to prevention, preparedness and response to all emergencies and disasters natural or otherwise. The establishment of authorities for recovery coordination proposed in the bill will, for the first time in the Northern Territory, provide a legislative framework that covers all four phases of emergency management: prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Contribution by Tourism and Major Events to the Territory’s Economy
Contribution by Tourism and Major Events to the Territory’s Economy
Mr CONLAN (Tourism and Major Events): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to report to members on tourism activities and major events which contribute to the Territory’s economy, and share our thinking for future growth in these areas.
I am proud that despite the doom and gloom predictions of those opposite and the relocation of Tourism NT’s head office to Alice Springs, there has been a success story.
We maintain a significant presence in Darwin with numbers equally split between Darwin and Alice Springs, and that was always to be the case. We have not had any recruitment issues, and have a fantastic team in place working hard with our industry with no loss of business momentum throughout this period.
Industry sentiment, which we measure regularly, indicates that for the first time in a long time our industry has some positivity around its future outlook, another indicator that the relocation has had anything but a negative impact on our partners.
In this day and age, the role of an agency such as Tourism NT can be performed from almost anywhere. To suggest that the world would end with Alice Springs becoming the HQ bordered on hysteria.
The Northern Territory government is making tourism a priority, recognising it as crucial to its plans to build a bigger NT economy. The draft Tourism Vision 2020: Northern Territory’s Strategy for Growth sets out the direction for the Northern Territory tourism sector over the next seven years. It outlines the vision to grow the visitor economy in the Northern Territory to $2.2bn by 2020, as measured by overnight visitor expenditure. The strategy outlines the lack of investment and business in the usual approach taken by the previous Labor government will not deliver the turnaround required to return the sector to growth.
So you have an idea of the challenge, a survey of consumer sentiment commissioned by Tourism NT in December 2012 found more than 50% of Australians have a visit to the Northern Territory on their bucket list. One in four rated Uluru as the most iconic landmark over other national treasures, including the Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier Reef, and more than 50% of Australians like to recommend the Northern Territory as a holiday destination to family and friends.
These are tremendous statistics and something to be proud of. Yet, despite these, just 6% of Australians plan to visit the Northern Territory this year, and almost three in four Australians have never visited the Northern Territory on holiday.
We are serious about promoting the Northern Territory and converting the strong interest into visitation. Our plans are outlined in the draft strategy released for public consultation in early June. That will be finalised through Cabinet in the next few months. I will expand on these plans during this statement.
In January 2013, under the stewardship of our new Tourism Board of commissioners and new leadership team at Tourism NT, we introduced a new tourism marketing strategy for the Territory. We have shifted from a brand-driven approach to one that focuses on conversion to generate actual visitation and business to our industry through sales-focused activity.
I am pleased to report management was able to identify significant savings and efficiencies within the operation which has resulted in more resources being directed to advertising, ultimately driving business. This approach is already showing good results. For example, our NT retail campaign in partnership with Qantas, from 13 to 20 June, produced a 206% increase in passengers into the Northern Territory versus forecasts should we not have run any activity, which exceeded our expectations.
We are working more effectively and aggressively with powerful partners such as Flight Centre, Wotif and Qantas Holidays, and a significant number of international trade partners who are all keen to work with the Northern Territory because we are all about generating business for them and our product suppliers. I make particular mention of cooperative campaigns running with Flight Centre and Wotif, both of which leveraged our ‘best story NT’ campaign and delivered fantastic results. The Flight Centre campaign saw a combined increase in sales of over 60%, compared to the brand-driven campaign conducted with them last year. The year-on-year growth in the Wotif campaign was 24%, which is a fantastic result.
The Territory is a great touring destination. This has been forgotten in recent years, but we are now intent on providing Australians and international visitors the great Australian road trip experience. You can expect to see more and more promotion of the self-drive opportunities within this great Territory of ours. It is something the consumer wants, and we are listening to the consumer and the market more than ever before.
The drive campaign Adventure all the Way has completed its third wave of activity, motivating the self-drive traveller to book now. The campaign with the South Australia Tourism Commission and Britz has been a great example of a true partnership with both organisations investing heavily and promoting it through their own channels. There is a great deal to be achieved through working with South Australia and promoting, again, the Explorer Highway experience being the touring route following the Stuart Highway and celebrating the feats of John McDouall Stuart, one of our great explorers.
The Tourism NT Board has been given the task of rebuilding tourism and growing its contribution to the economy. That is why this government has approved an additional $8m in the 2013-14 budget for Tourism NT to market the Northern Territory.
An additional $3m will be spent on international trade and consumer campaigns. This will double the amount of consumers facing trade conversion-focused campaigns across 10 international markets. We will continue to invest in the remarkably strong traditional markets of the UK, Europe, United States and Japan, and have a genuine and strategic focus to the Pan Asia region with, of course, particular attention on China.
The Territory starred in The Best Jobs in the World global cooperative marketing campaign targeting the youth market. This campaign was launched at ITB, Berlin in March this year, where I was present. The competition attracted in excess of 300 000 entries all vying for jobs created by each state and the Northern Territory. The successful person is tasked with generating awareness and stories from their respective locations, with heavy emphasis on social media and imagery.
In cooperation with Tourism Australia and other states, the $4m campaign culminated in six jobs around Australia, with Tasmania, of course, being the exception. Over a six-month selection and assessment process, Allan Dixon, from Ireland, beat competition from all over the world to claim one of the best jobs in the world: the Northern Territory’s outback adventurer. Allan arrived in the NT in the second week of August in time to capture all the action of the Darwin Festival along with the Henley-on-Todd in Alice Springs.
Throughout his time in the NT, Allan will be capturing content featuring the best festivals, best destinations and the best experiences the Territory has to offer. This content will be shared across social media platforms of Tourism NT and our industry partners so we can show the world why we are one of the best holidays.
In July, we took the opportunity to utilise our runner-up candidates, Aude Mayans from France and Graham Freeman from the United States. They spent a month travelling through the Northern Territory promoting their experiences through social media. This included a Territory first, with live streaming of the famous Beer Can Regatta on the Tourism NT YouTube channel. They also shared experiences at the Camel Cup in Alice Springs, and a range of other great activities across the Top End and Red Centre on social media. It is fantastic stuff.
Both runners-up are of such high quality we intend using them wherever their skills can be best utilised, both here and in their home countries once they return. Tasmania has even snaffled Graham to do some work there once he has completed his work for us. This is another measure of the quality of characters striving to be involved with the Northern Territory.
We have expanded activity in digital media with an additional $3m for digital advertising. Market research indicates digital advertising is rapidly growing and is an increasingly important mechanism. There clearly has not been sufficient investment and interest in this issue in recent times so we have some ground to make up. Our ‘always on’ approach includes digital activity such as Google Adwords, Facebook ads, Google display ads, and retargeting ads to potential visitors who have been on Tourism NT’s website.
This will ensure the Northern Territory is seen as part of the digital searches on ‘What to do in Australia’ where, previously, we had little or no presence. Increasing our investment in these areas means consumers will be seeing messages about the Northern Territory 24 hours a day seven days a week, not just when a certain TV program is showing. That is very important - ‘always on’.
Our promotion and increased engagement through social media channels domestically and globally has seen a 190% fan growth on Instagram, from 769 users in May to 2225 users in June. There has also been an increase in Twitter users of 54%, from 435 in May to 667 users in June. There are some terrific increases over the last few months.
We believe this full-on concentrated exposure will help us address barriers consumers may have to visiting, and will encourage people to see what their back yard, the Northern Territory, has to offer.
In December 2012, a survey showed only 2% of NT operators were working effectively in digital media. In a world where digital commerce is so critically important for the consumer, this is a concerning statistic and prompted focus from Tourism NT’s board of management team.
We are bringing industry operators along with us. There is $1m allocated to an industry digital marketing activation to bring the industry into the digital world of marketing. The board has identified that digital marketing is a fundamental area in which the industry must be proficient and is integral to successfully realising the Territory’s tourism industry potential.
The program offered NT-based tourism partners a $500 rebate on search engine marketing, retargeting or Facebook advertising campaigns. A total of 57 tourism business applied for the funding in just two months. This was a sevenfold increase on the eight operators in 12 months under the cooperative advertising campaign it replaced.
We had 26 applications from accommodation providers, mostly hotels, six from attractions, 24 tour or fishing operators, and a number of others. There were 23 from Darwin, 15 from Alice Springs and the balance across the rest of the Territory.
An additional $1m has allowed us to revitalise the Tourism NT brand. A new suite of brolga logos has been designed to reinvigorate the Territory’s tourism brand. The new brolga logos, which modernise the previous monotone logo, are being used as part of the government’s new strategy to sell the Northern Territory to the rest of the world as a vibrant and exciting destination to visit.
I recently launched the new logo at the AFL game in Darwin between Port Power and the Western Bulldogs. This is an example of how we are working more effectively with other Northern Territory government agencies - a whole-of-government approach - capitalising on their projects and activities, in contrast to the silo approach under the previous government where opportunities were not being maximised from a tourism perspective.
It does not stop there. The new logo was viewed internationally, roaring around Hidden Valley on two Brad Jones racing team V8 cars and, prior to that, in Texas and, subsequently, in Townsville.
We have the coloured brolga on the coach’s box, media shirts, and media backdrops of the Melbourne Football Club. As part of the tourism sponsorship package of the Dees we can send one electronic digital marketing piece - an eDM in marketing speak - to members via direct e-mail per year. That was undertaken in June, just prior to the Darwin game. We ran a competition on their landing page which received 120 000 views, 1500 click throughs and 440 entries. A retail offer was highlighted on this page too. While the number of packages sold was not high, at around 10 passengers, this was our first stab at attempting to extract value from the Melbourne Football Club database. It also provided some learnings that the Tourism NT team has taken away in pricing points and fluctuations, and the need to convert awareness of Melbourne Football Club members into consideration of the Northern Territory.
You will also see the Northern Territory brand featured when international cricket returns to Alice Springs with the Chairman’s XI taking on England in November.
Viewers of the Darwin Cup this year would have seen the Tourism NT logo around Fannie Bay racetrack. It featured prominently during the post-race interviews on SKY. We are putting it out there; it is about putting the Northern Territory on the world map.
Considerable effort has been made to identify the brand essence of the Territory, which will underpin every activity we take to market. It is not just about the logo or a tag line; it is about the emotional connection people have with the Northern Territory. Industry was involved in this process and has some ownership of the end product. This approach will be best presented in the activities Tourism NT initiates going forward in the areas of advertising campaigns, information provision, and media and trade activities. I was proud to launch the new brand on 30 July, and am excited to see how this will be taken in the marketplace.
Almost all the Tourism NT management team took this brand on a road show down the track running workshops for our industry and other interested stakeholders. It kicked off in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Yulara. These forums provided a great opportunity for us not only to share our new brand and positioning and the work that led us to it, but, most importantly, our industry can identify how it can be part of the action and work with us in partnership. We are very aware of the importance of communicating effectively and regularly with our industry.
Tourism Vision 2020 aims to achieve the best possible economic benefit to the Northern Territory. It is not just about increasing the number of holiday visitors, although that is expected to be a fully-funded strategy that will arrest the decline and deliver an additional $325m in overnight visitor spend in the Northern Territory. More importantly, the strategy aims to improve the economic yield and flow-on effects for the wider community.
Tourism is estimated to contribute about $1.6bn, or 9.1%, in gross value added to the Northern Territory economy. That is direct and indirect contribution. It employs an estimated 16 000 people or 13.1% of the Territory’s workforce, which is no mean feat. It is important to note the new strategy will not only turn the industry around overnight, but will provide a foundation upon which to reposition the Northern Territory and promote the destination to a broader and different audience.
While the Territory has a high level of reliance on domestic tourism, international markets will become increasingly important to drive industry growth from a yield perspective. Countries with high growth potential markets include the emerging markets of China and Singapore. China is identified as the key Asian destination to driving future growth to Australia. Currently, the Northern Territory receives only a low share of Chinese visitors. It is estimated that of the 754 000 Chinese/Hong Kong visitors who arrived in Australia in 2012, the Territory’s market share was only 1.7%. However, Tourism NT has set an aggressive target of 30 000 visitors by 2020, with a value of about $46m.
Right now in China we are finalising major trade partnerships with three preferred wholesalers: CYTS, CTRIP and GZL. GZL is the wholesaler which delivers the WolfPack group for the Finke Desert Race. It was the second year this high-profile group participated in the event and we hope their involvement will continue. We need to keep a strong presence in this market in order to build for the future.
Details for the next NT China mission, NT Singapore mission, and the corresponding east coast inbound tour operator events occurring in October have been finalised. We will build and maintain our traditional international sourcing markets, including the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, and Japan.
The target for these markets is to grow them at a rate of 3% above the Tourism Forecasting Committee’s forecast average annual growth rate. This will maximise the Territory’s marketing investment by leveraging the investments made by Tourism Australia and the relevant gateway state tourism organisations.
It has been an exciting period for international airlines with the signing of the Qantas MOU and the arrival of Philippine Airlines and AirAsia.
Only a few weeks ago Tourism NT and Qantas made history by entering into the biggest airline marketing partnership deal in the Territory’s history. I signed a $7m, three-year cooperative agreement which will market the Territory as a leading tourist and event destination to the rest of the world.
The MOU runs from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2016, and relates to Qantas and QantasLink services. Other members of the Qantas group and other partners, including Jetstar, Emirates and other alliances, are considered. Cooperative marketing partnerships are the way most of our marketing is done with partners, both airlines and other trade partners. For example, Qantas may provide a special ‘sale fare’ which it will promote across its networks and Tourism NT will promote across digital and other mediums. In other words, we promote them, they promote us, and we all promote the Northern Territory.
This arrangement was driven very much by Tourism NT with it presenting Qantas with compelling reasons and opportunities in our shared source markets to deliver increased visitation to the NT. For a previous minister on the other side of the House to recently suggest on a Facebook page that Tourism NT had no role in arriving at this agreement shows a complete ignorance and lack of understanding of how commercially-based partnerships are formed and nurtured. That is hardly a surprise when one looks back at his record in the portfolio I proudly have carriage of.
This agreement with one of the world’s most respected airlines will help deliver this government’s vision of 1.7 million visitors by 2020: 400 000 more than we currently receive. Our relationship remains incredibly strong with Tourism Australia, and we will continue to partner effectively with it and other airline partners.
Philippine Airlines’ inaugural flight was welcomed into Darwin in June, connecting the Top End to an international network across Asia and North America. The resumption of AirAsia’s Bali to Darwin service strengthens our ties to the region and further positions Darwin as an important gateway to the rest of Australia.
There is more fantastic news with Malaysia Airlines once again flying between Darwin and Kuala Lumpur, bringing approximately 800 additional inbound seats per week to the Territory. The reintroduction of Malaysia Airlines offers improved connectivity across Asia into our key European markets through oneworld. For example, Malaysia Airlines’ double daily A380 service from London will connect conveniently with the Kuala Lumpur to Darwin service.
Regional Northern Territory is not forgotten. Tigerair was welcomed back to Alice Springs in April this year. Four flights per week from both Melbourne and Sydney have given visitors more choice when travelling to the Red Centre, and provided in excess of 1400 more seats into the Centre per week.
We have seen resurgence in the backpacker and youth market into the Centre following years of declining visitation.
We welcome the inaugural Jetstar flight from Sydney to Yulara in June, making one of Australia’s great icons more accessible to visitors.
These all present exciting marketing opportunities for Tourism NT, and great economic opportunities for the rest of the Territory.
We continue to identify and pursue aviation opportunities with Virgin Australia being a primary target to attract back into Central Australia, opening the Centre up to the capacity provided by the Star Alliance carrier network.
Visitors can now travel to and through the Territory by air, road, sea and rail. We have a mode of transport to suit everyone.
The Ghan, in 2012, operated 61 return services from Adelaide to Darwin. Great Southern Rail has indicated an increase in guests’ ‘take up of tours’ with significant increases in Alice Springs and Katherine.
I comment on the relationship with Voyages, the operators of Ayers Rock Resort. This government has not been frightened to engage and work with this operator to maximise the potential of the global icon of Uluru, whose visitors it so effectively services. We have entered into a number of effective marketing campaigns and activities and will continue to work closely with Voyages.
While on Uluru, this government has nominated both Grant Hunt and Tony Mayell to represent its interest on the Uluru Kata Tjuta and Kakadu National Park Boards respectively. Declining visitation to both these iconic parks has been a concern for this government and our industry for some time. It is imperative that Parks Australia’s management revisits its attitude towards visitation and tourism in general, embracing it as an avenue to improve the wellbeing of the traditional owners of both parks, and provide it with a solid revenue stream that will enable it to continue to maintain the facilities and assets within each to a standard that will attract visitors from all around the world.
There is a direct correlation between the visitor performance of these parks and the health of our tourism industry. This government does not intend to give up on driving change that will see the parks present for enjoyment of all Australians and visitors, as per the charter under which Parks Australia is meant to operate.
Under this government’s leadership in tourism, industry sentiment is improving. Overall, the tourism region outlook for the Northern Territory for the March quarter 2013 was strong with an index of 113, which is a large improvement on results over the past two years. Importantly, there has been considerable improvement in sentiment in the Centre associated with new airline services to the region.
With regard to promoting the Territory as a business as well as a leisure destination, I have spoken previously in this House about the valuable growth market of the meetings, conventions and conference sector.
I previously advised the House that Darwin has been chosen to host the National Rural Health Alliance Conference for May 2015. On the back of this, this past financial year the Northern Territory has been successful in attracting the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons, the Health Information Management Association, the Australian Head and Neck Surgeons, the Australian HIV/AIDS Society, CRANAplus Nurses, Baker IDI, and the Australian Sexual Health Conference, to name a few.
These health-related events are some of the 65 secured during this financial year for the future, generating an estimated $53.6m in expenditure. They are also a reflection of the Northern Territory focusing its attention on those areas in which it has specialist standing and profile, tropical and remote health being examples of that.
Besides the obvious tourism impact and the prestige of hosting such health-related events, there will be enormous benefit to the Northern Territory health community in having such high-profile industry events in the NT. Indeed, we hope the legacies to the broader community will far outweigh the direct tourism benefit. These events are hard won.
The business events division of Tourism NT, known as the Northern Territory Convention Bureau, or NTCB, works in conjunction with industry and government partners to bring these events to fruition. In some cases, like the recently staged Mortgage Choice conference in Alice Springs for around 600 delegates, negotiations and relationship management began in 2007, some six years ago.
Detailed bid documentation and business cases are regularly provided to client organisations looking to host their events in the Northern Territory. The NTCB designs and executes a variety of targeted famil programs which expose them to not only the fantastic destinations we have, but also the business and community leaders in the NT.
An enormous amount of work goes into delivery outcomes like this, and I congratulate Tourism NT on securing these important events for the Territory.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, it is 12 noon.
Mr CONLAN: I will continue after lunch, Madam Speaker, if that is okay.
Debate suspended.
PETITION
Fishing Permits for the Finniss River
Fishing Permits for the Finniss River
Mr HIGGINS (Daly)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a petition not conforming with standing orders from 536 petitioners relating to permits for fishing on the Finniss River.
Madam Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
- We the undersigned demand that recreational fishing on the Finniss River system be permit free for all to enjoy.
RESPONSE TO PETITION
Mr CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that response to petition no 13 has been received and circulated to honourable members. The text of the response has been placed on the Legislative Assembly website. A copy of the response will be provided to the member who tabled the petition for distribution to the petitioners.
Petition No 13
Barkly Regional Sports Infrastructure Program in the Growth Towns of Borroloola, Elliott and Ali Curung
Date presented: 20 February 2013
Presented by: Mr McCarthy
Referred to: Minister for Regional Development
Date response due: 28 August 2013
Date response received: 27 August 2013
Date response presented: 28 August 2013
Response:
I wish to thank all signatories of this petition for this demonstration of care for their communities. I am reminded by your action that sporting infrastructure can provide an important focus for local communities and wish, wherever feasible, to support the specific needs of residents seeking opportunities to engage in competition or recreation.
While no specific funding has been identified to support improvements to the sporting infrastructure in Borroloola, Elliott and Ali Curung, I look forward to lending my support to such projects wherever possible. In keeping with government’s commitment to fiscal responsibility, I must remind all signatories that, at this time, non-essential expenditure must often be deferred in favour of more critical works. This is one of the difficulties in providing responsible leadership.
I wish to assure you that Regional Development remains at the forefront of my agenda and I will carry your concerns forward as I continue to pursue positive outcomes for regional and remote Territorians.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Contribution of Tourism and Major Events to the Territory’s Economy
Contribution of Tourism and Major Events to the Territory’s Economy
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr CONLAN (Tourism and Major Events): Madam Speaker, business events are worth approximately $51m in direct delegate expenditure in the Northern Territory: around $10m for Central Australia and $41m for the Top End according to data from the Alice Springs and Darwin Convention Centres.
Another tangible example of how much importance this government places on tourism is the Chief Minister has taken on the role of patron of the Business Events Ambassador initiative. Great work, and I congratulate him. This initiative will see a group of high-profile corporate and opinion leaders promoting the Territory nationally and internationally as a great business events destination and a great place to do business. We are not sitting idly by waiting and hoping for business to arrive on our doorstep, we are actively seeking it.
Tourism NT is working on various projects to maximise the economic benefit of the cruise sector to the Northern Territory. The draft cruise sector activation plan, nearing completion, will focus on three areas: cruise ship attraction, infrastructure and services, and experience development. The Northern Territory government agencies and other stakeholders will work together to ensure the ongoing development of a healthy and sustainable cruise environment in the Northern Territory. We are working with key cruise line partners to encourage more ships to visit Darwin. It is as simple as that. We want them to visit Darwin more often and stay longer, promoting Darwin’s ideal geographic location as the gateway to Australia for cruise ships relocating from Asia.
The Northern Territory was represented at the largest cruise ship conference in the world, Cruise Shipping Miami, in March by Tourism NT and the Darwin Port Corporation. Meetings were held with key senior decision-makers from the world’s largest cruise lines to promote Darwin as a northern gateway port to Australia.
The Department of Business, as well as working with city retailers and local service providers such as fuel, food, and provisions, is working with our tour operators to develop experiences that meet or exceed the expectations of cruise ship visitors to the Territory.
There are many organisations involved in the cruise industry. For example, the City of Darwin is engaged in ensuring a welcoming and inviting city awaits cruise ship visitors. The Darwin Port Corporation has a close eye on infrastructure and service provision on the technical aspects of cruise ship visits and, under this government, the Darwin Waterfront Corporation has embraced tourism as a key consideration in the ongoing development of that precinct.
Tourism Top End represents local tour operators, ensuring all cruise visits to Darwin and the NT are able to access quality tourism products. An important aspect of the cruise experience is the impact of hospitality elements such as retail outlets, restaurants and cafs.
It is important to the Territory’s economy that shop owners, restaurant owners and other community groups embrace the opportunities that come from visiting cruise ships and be ready to serve them, whether it is during the weekend or on a public holiday. We cannot emphasise that enough. To do otherwise puts up yet another barrier to visitation and impedes development of this important industry. An estimated $8m was spent in the Northern Territory by cruise travellers last year.
Altogether, the flow-on effects to Territory businesses are considerable. Crew spend, refuelling etcetera contributed an estimated $55.5m according to the Australian peak body, Cruise Down Under. We are looking at big money, and the opportunities are there for Territory businesses to be seized and acted upon.
Major events and local festivals play an important role moving towards realising this government’s commitment to tourism and the NT economy. The V8 Supercars - I would be surprised if anyone in this House or the Territory has not heard of them. Their fame stretches beyond the Territory, and they bring in valuable dollars to our economy. The SKYCITY Triple Crown V8 Supercars Championship is the largest event on the Northern Territory’s sporting calendar.
The V8s make a significant contribution to tourism. This event brings nearly 10 000 motor sport enthusiasts to the Territory, and drew a crowd of about 48 000 people last year. Research for Tourism NT estimated the 2012 V8 Supercars event contributed $32m, including direct and indirect contributions, to the Territory economy. Numbers were effectively line ball this year.
Spending is generated from purchasing event tickets, accommodation, food and beverages. Visitors undertake paid tours and seek out popular attractions throughout the region. Surveys have shown that 71% of attendees reside in the Northern Territory, demonstrating the strong support of Territorians for this premier event.
Let us now turn to BASSINTHEGRASS, the Territory’s very own 11-hour music festival. Young Territorians are exhilarated by the atmosphere and the spectacle of national bands performing at the Darwin Amphitheatre. BASSINTHEGRASS has rapidly become the Territory’s largest and most successful music event and has also become an established part of our suite of visitor attractions.
The Tattersall’s Finke Desert Race staged in Alice Springs on the Queen’s Birthday weekend in June each year is a huge drawcard for visitors near and far. The Finke is undoubtedly an iconic event for Central Australia, and is the premier event of the Australian Off Road Championship.
Events such as the V8 Supercars, the Finke Desert Race and BASSINTHEGRASS are only some of the Territory’s rich blend of events which help brand the Northern Territory as a destination and also encourages visitors to further investigate tourism opportunities in our region. These events provide considerable economic benefit for the Territory.
In October, the biennial World Solar Challenge will be starting from Darwin bringing over 1800 people, competitors, support staff, spectators and media not only to Darwin, but to the regional areas of the Territory as well. Regional events such as the Alice Springs Cup Carnival also make a major contribution. Based on Tourism NT research in 2011, the cup carnival injects an estimated $1.8m into the Alice Springs economy. By delivering the world first at Uluru with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra performing in October, the outer regions are also benefiting from this initiative.
The opportunities are incredible and, unfortunately, I only have time to quickly mention the emergence of the Larapinta Trail, one of only seven walks in Alice Springs which features in the Great Walks of Australia program. The program is being distributed and marketed worldwide by us, in partnership with Tourism Australia and a number of trade partners. We are working to identify and position similar high quality walking experiences in the Top End for inclusion in the next round of this program.
There is also the provision of free WiFi in the Todd Mall in Alice Springs. Visitors are now sending images and stories of their holiday in Central Australia to friends and family all over the world.
There is also provision of funding to establish world-class mountain bike trails around Alice Springs with the ultimate objective of positioning it as one of the world’s best venues for this fast-growing sport. There is also the revamp of the Masters Games and the support of the national dirt go-cart championships in Alice this September, which will bring at least 2000 people to the town for at least a week.
Apart from the events I mentioned earlier which occur in Darwin and the Top End, there is the Darwin Festival, a great event this government is keen to see grow even bigger and better. Stay tuned for that one.
Sports-based tourism is an opportunity that, once again, was not recognised by the previous government. We see significant potential in the Top End and Central Australia. Our people are working with the appropriate organisations to realise these with a whole-of-government approach.
I want to reiterate a couple of key points: Tourism NT and Qantas made history by entering into the biggest airline marketing partnership deal in the Territory’s history. I signed the $7m three-year cooperative agreement which will market the Territory as a leading tourist and event destination to the world. The MOU runs from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2016 inclusive, and relates to Qantas and QantasLink services. Other members of the Qantas group and other partners, including Jetstar, Emirates and other alliances, were also considered. Cooperative marketing partnerships are the way most of our marketing is done with partners, both airlines and trade partners. This agreement is not only significant, but is also with one of the world’s most respected airlines and will help deliver this government’s vision of 1.7 million visitors by 2020 – 400 000 more than we currently receive.
Our relationship with Voyages, operators of Ayers Rock resort: this government has not been frightened of engaging and working with this operator to maximise the potential of the global icon of Uluru, whose visitors it so effectively services. We have entered into a number of effective marketing campaigns and activities and will continue to work closely with Voyages.
Declining visitation to both icon parks - Uluru and Kakadu - has been of great concern for this government and our industry for some time. It is imperative Parks Australia management revisit its attitude towards visitation and tourism in general and embrace it as an avenue to improve the wellbeing of the traditional owners of both parks, and provide it with a solid revenue stream enabling it to continue to maintain these facilities and assets to a standard which will attract visitors from all over the world. There is a direct correlation between visitor performance of these parks and the health of our tourism industry. Make no mistake, this government does not intend to give up on driving change which will see the parks present for the enjoyment of all Australians and visitors, as per the charter under which Parks Australia is meant to operate.
I also reiterate the importance of the cruise sector and its impact related directly to hospitality elements such as retail outlets, restaurants and cafs. It is important to the Territory’s economy that shop owners, restaurant owners, and other community groups embrace the opportunities which can come from visiting cruise ships and be ready to serve them, whether it is during the weekend or on public holidays. To do otherwise, as I said, puts up yet another barrier to visitation and impedes development of this very important industry which was worth $8m last year, and altogether $55.5m according to the Australian peak body, Cruise Down Under. In the hospitality and retail side of things, that is an $8m injection into the Darwin community.
In closing, over the coming year our new Tourist Commission will be reviewing its Northern Territory’s event portfolio and resourcing to identify opportunities to increase the strategic performance of key events and drivers for tourism and economic benefit.
I am pleased to have had the opportunity to provide insight on how tourism and major events can benefit the Territory’s economy now and into the future.
Madam Speaker, I commend the statement to the House and move that the statement be noted.
Mr VOWLES (Johnston): Madam Speaker, I welcome this ministerial statement from the Minister for Tourism and Major Events in relation to the Territory’s economy. Clearly, the minister did not write it, but I thank him nonetheless.
The Country Liberal Party went to the election 12 months ago with a three-hub economy. Quoting from Terry Mills’ five-point action plan, point three says:
- Grow a ‘3-hub’ economy.
Created around a mining and energy hub, a tourism and education hub, and a food and export hub for Asia, providing long-term employment for Territorians.
Essentially, it has taken the County Liberals government a year to bring on a statement about tourism. This is the first ministerial statement we have had about one of the three hubs of your economy and, given it has taken a year, I get the feeling it remains the poor cousin of the three-hub economy. This is the case given the minister the Country Liberal Party has selected to have carriage of the portfolio. The member for Drysdale would make an excellent and better Minister for Tourism and Major Events.
It is interesting the minister has led with his chin, going straight to the Tourism headquarters forced move to Alice Springs. You do not get it minister. It was revealed during estimates that the Country Liberal Party had no report, no study, no investigation, and no survey, and no evidence was provided as to why spending almost $1m of taxpayers’ money would bring more tourists to the Northern Territory.
It is a bad government which makes decisions with no evidence or expert advice. It is a bad government which spends almost $1m at the whim of a minister, meanwhile cutting much-needed services to Territorians. I give him credit though, he must have some serious clout in the Cabinet room to gain an extra $8m for Tourism. Perhaps the Minister for Education could get some tips and apply for more money to save all the teachers who will be sacked. I remember a Country Liberal Party commitment that no frontline positions would go, including - wait for it – teachers.
Perhaps the member for Greatorex is getting ready for a tilt at the top job. We are hearing many things coming out of your camp, and the loudest is the member for Greatorex and the member for Braitling, the failed and future candidate for Lingiari, are not the best of buddies. We have even heard he has done some numbers.
Mr Conlan: Who has done numbers? I have?
Mr VOWLES: The member for Greatorex has done some numbers.
I welcome the initiatives the minister and the government are attempting, but to say the previous Labor government did nothing is untrue and is misleading the House.
Talking to local tourism operators recently - something the minister does not do too often - they said it was a very tough July and August, one of the toughest they remember. In Darwin and Alice Springs, tourism operators and retailers are telling me the increase in antisocial behaviour, mainly drunks on our streets, is worse than ever and something needs to be done about it.
They will tell you how drunks are affecting their ability to conduct business, costing much-needed revenue in tough times. Top End tourism retail and accommodation providers are still coming to terms with the lost revenue from cancellation of the Arafura Games - the games you cancelled. You did not know what portfolio they were under in estimates, getting it wrong - under Sport or Major Events. That proved, once again, he is not up to his role as a minister of the Crown.
Even the Chamber of Commerce commented that the games brought over $10m to the Northern Territory economy in tough times. Tourism operators are asking when they will return. The minister for Tourism and the current Chief Minister have said, on numerous occasions, they will be back, but when? I call on the minister and the Chief Minister to update the House and tell Territorians when the games will be held, how much work has been done, what is the focus, and how much it will cost.
The missing minister said parks are important, yet did not attend the Alice Springs Parks Tourism and Recreation Masterplan forum on 13 August. He did not attend to hear local tourism operators and interested local people discuss Northern Territory parks, or the elders’ discussions on the region’s national park, Uluru-Kata Tjuta. Parks and Wildlife staff were there, tourism staff were there, but no minister. There was not even a brief visit to welcome people.
I was there. I travelled to Alice Springs and spoke to local operators and others. I learnt from the two-hour forum. My presence was well-received and your non-attendance, minister, was mentioned a few times, both during and after the forum. The missing minister, even in his own town, did not bother to turn up. Tourism and sports people told me if there is no free beer or wine, you will not see him.
I welcome the government’s focus on the Chinese and Hong Kong markets. This is an important and growing market for Australian tourism and should be a focus for Northern Territory tourism. On my calculation of Tourism Australia statistics, there were just over 800 000 visitors from those regions in 2012, not 754 000. I am happy to be wrong; I am going off figures on the website. In dollar terms, it equates to $5bn into the Australian economy. We need to tap into this market, increase awareness, and capture a high percentage of the tourism market coming to the Northern Territory from these regions.
I mention my disappointment that the Melbourne Football Club deal has seen only 10 people come to the Territory directly from the once-a-year electronic digital marketing strategy. The deal was worth around $300 000 - we do not have an exact figure. Taking it off the $300 000 figure, that equates to $30 000 of taxpayers’ money per person. Ten people came to the Territory from a $300 000 deal with the Melbourne Football Club. Let us hope there is more to report on that when the AFL season finishes.
I mention the new $4m eight-match deal with NRL team Parramatta. I am sure this falls under Major Events. What is it with you mob and deals with crap performing teams in 2013? First it was Melbourne Football Club and now Parramatta Eels. The last deal the previous government had for an NRL match to be played in Darwin cost $285 000. With this government, one year later, taxpayers are forking out $500 000 per match.
Last week I called on the minister, in an adjournment, to inform me and Territorians if there are any extra costs associated with the deal. The CEO of the Eels stated in a media interview the deal does not include accommodation and travel. My guesstimate, with my experience in this area, is it will be an extra $1m minimum over the four years. There are also extra costs like match day preparation, which is around $100 000, and the extra cost of accommodation and travel for the match officials on the day - the referees. They are all legitimate questions the minister should answer, and I am still waiting.
This is not even an up-to-date statement. Most statements are written by the department then sent to the fifth floor for advisors to add political points and check where they can attack or discredit us. I doubt that happened this time. You mentioned the Best Job in the World global campaign NT winner will be arriving in the first two weeks of August, just in time to capture all the action of the great Henley-on-Todd. It is now the end of August and those events have finished. I look forward to the minister updating the House on Allan’s adventures, what he has been up to, where, what markets he is attracting, and what research has come out of him winning the Best Jobs in the World competition.
You mentioned a previous minister on this side of the House, his comments on a social media site, and how they show his:
- … complete ignorance … of how commercially-based partnerships are formed and nurtured.
The minister you mentioned is none other than the member for Casuarina, who is very proud of his time as Tourism minister. We are talking about one of the hardest-working politicians and ministers this House has seen. We are talking about a Tourism minister to whom you should show some respect. Do your job properly before you throw insults at previous ministers like the member for Casuarina! He is the minister who brought Jetstar to the Territory …
Mr Conlan: Kon?
Mr VOWLES: That is right, member for Greatorex, Minister for Tourism and Major Events, he brought Jetstar to the Northern Territory to base a hub here. They are still here ...
Mr Conlan: What a great success that deal has been too, Kon. Fabulous!
Mr VOWLES: History will tell how you performed ...
Mr Conlan: How many aircraft were we going to get? How many are you supposed to have? Seven. How many do you have now?
Mr VOWLES: History will judge your performance …
Mr Conlan: You have four and they are pulling one out. Great success story, Kon.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr VOWLES: Madam Speaker, I will keep going regardless of the insults the member for Greatorex is throwing our way. All your personal attacks and insults mean nothing to us because we have respect for your role as a minister of the Crown. That is what your role should be ...
Mr Conlan interjecting.
Mr VOWLES: I am not listening to you, mate. In your role as a minister of the Crown there are certain responsibilities you need to have in how you act and perform. We expect bigger things from our elected members.
The minister did not make any mention …
Mr Conlan: Like turning up to parliament. I certainly expect our members of parliament to turn up. He is digging a hole for himself.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Greatorex, cease interjecting.
Mr VOWLES: I was rudely interrupted by the member for Greatorex again. He expects us to listen, we give him respect as a minister of the Crown and listen, but when it is our time to talk he shows no respect whatsoever. History will tell how you perform, minister. That is what we are waiting for.
The minister did not mention visits to the regions since taking on the Tourism portfolio. Given it has been a year, I am sure the minister has visited the important tourism regions of Arnhem, Nhulunbuy, Tennant Creek, Tiwi and the Katherine region. The minister may like to correct me if I am wrong in assuming he has not visited these places. Has he performed, has he visited each place? I am happy for you to get back to me with that information, minister.
In all, it is a flimsy lazy statement: a puff piece to waste time. It is the same type of statement the now minister for Tourism would rant and rave like a lunatic about, but that is what I expect from this minister and this government. This is the CLP’s way of running government. It is the worst year of government in Northern Territory history, and that is coming from your rank and file members who are only too happy to speak to me now.
Mr Westra van Holthe interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr VOWLES: What was your area again? Was it Katherine somewhere? Nobody sees you there either.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Johnston, stick to your speech.
Mr VOWLES: In finishing, I take this opportunity to once again thank the public servants for their efforts. They continue to work tirelessly to promote and sell our beautiful Northern Territory to the rest of the world. Thank you.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, it is good to see the more things change the more they stay the same. Goodness me, what a response from the member opposite who is, presumably, the shadow minister for Tourism.
What I gleaned from that was if the Labor government was in power in the Northern Territory, it would continue to cut tourism as it did for so many years under the former regime. That is the message I received from the shadow minister. He is not really interested in tourism and would cut tourism - they have priors for that - but I will come back to that.
I support this statement on tourism and its growing contribution to the Northern Territory economy. I will come back to that in a moment as well.
Tourism has an impact across the Northern Territory from city to country, from townships to communities, with the impact and benefit to the local community depending on the size of the event and, importantly, the size of the spend in promoting that event.
Growing the Territory’s tourism industry is a priority for the Country Liberals government. This government has already implemented a number of new initiatives and marketing strategies since August last year in an effort to turn around the 11 years of decline in visitation numbers under the previous Labor government. I am not surprised by the downturn in tourism over those 11 years given the former government’s disinterest in the tourism sector.
As the opposition spokesman on Tourism for a time, I had the dubious pleasure of shadowing the former Labor minister, Malarndirri McCarthy. That was eye-opening to say the least. As I went through successive budget papers under the former government, I saw the budget for Tourism reduced from around 2004 through to the time they lost government, and thank goodness they did. In checking the figures - I spoke about this in estimates last year - the last Labor budget for tourism in the NT would have required an injection of approximately $6m just to keep track with the gnawing effect of inflation between those years.
From 2004 through to the time they lost government, the tourism budget should have been $6m more than it was just to keep track with inflation. Over those years, Labor cut tourism by stealth. In fact, during the period of the Labor government the budget for tourism was halved from 1.8% of the entire appropriation for the Northern Territory to 0.9% of appropriation. It shows what priority the former government placed on tourism. Not only did the spend not keep track with inflation, but while everything else was being attended to - all the social programs - the real amount for tourism fell by half.
That did not happen under just one minister. I am unsure when minister Malarndirri McCarthy took over the reins, but it happened over a number of years and a number of ministers. For the member for Johnston to talk up the member for Casuarina upsets me slightly, because he was the Minister for Tourism while the budget over those years - 2004 to 2012 - was being cut.
If you believe, member for Johnston, it is okay to talk up ministers who cut the budget for tourism - I will leave that with you. I hope to God you are never minister for Tourism in the Northern Territory.
Thank goodness the Territory has a new government that understands the importance of tourism in contributing to our economy, its contribution to jobs and, more specifically, jobs in the bush. Unlike the former Labor government, we would rather be spending money to support growth of the private sector which employs local people.
The difference between our two governments is stark: we support jobs growth through this approach whilst Labor - minister McCarthy, at the time - essentially said Labor would support social programs over jobs growth. That is effectively what she said during estimates. Again, the differences between our two governments could not be starker.
This government has already implemented a number of initiatives and marketing strategies since August in an effort to turn around the 11 years of malaise in tourism under Labor. Our local tourism industry clearly endorses the new initiatives, which is important. Perhaps the member for Johnston has not heard what the local tourism industry is saying. It is reflected by industry sentiment, which we measure regularly, indicating for the first time in a long time the industry is seeing positivity in the outlook for the future. For 11 years the industry did not have a positive outlook. Finally, the Country Liberals government has a positive outlook for tourism.
The Northern Territory government is making tourism a priority, recognising it is crucial to its plans to build a bigger NT economy. The government’s Tourism Vision 2020: Northern Territory’s Strategy for Growth, once finalised, will set the direction for the Northern Territory tourism sector for the next seven years.
While it is ambitious, with an aim to grow the visitor economy in the Northern Territory to $2.2bn by 2020, as measured by overnight visitor expenditure, it is achievable because this government is getting behind our tourism industry. This government believes the Territory’s destinations, events, and experiences are unique. London Mayor, Boris Johnson, in his recent visit to Australia, declared that the Northern Territory is a great, undiscovered global treasure. While he acknowledged the Territory is mind-bogglingly beautiful, he was surprised by how few people he encountered at some of the sites he visited. The Country Liberals government has some news for Mayor Johnson; that is about to change.
Our new tourism marketing strategy for the Territory shifts from a brand-driven approach to one that will generate actual visitation and business to our industry through sales-focused activity. What this government’s Tourism Vision 2020 also does is highlight the lack of investment and lacklustre business-as-usual approach taken by the previous ALP government, which did not deliver the turnaround required to return the sector to growth. Our new approach is already showing good results.
I might be biased, and this will come as no surprise to members, but I firmly believe the Katherine region is the best by far. The Katherine region is the jewel in the crown of Territory tourism opportunities. The Katherine region really epitomises the words ‘adventure Territory’. Katherine is the ideal location to explore our iconic parks and reserves. It is located only a couple of hours from Kakadu, Litchfield and Gregory National Parks, not to mention sitting on the doorstep of the stunning Nitmiluk, or Katherine Gorge, National Park. The Katherine region also has a packed calendar of popular and quirky festivals and events which range from the Walking with Spirits festival, the Barunga Festival, the Katherine Show, the Katherine Festival and the Katherine Country Music Muster. There are also annual fishing competitions which draw competitors from across Australia.
For a small regional centre, Katherine punches well above its weight. It has five art galleries, as well as the Katherine Museum; an abundance of safe swimming spots in the region, including the Hot Springs, Mataranka thermal pools, Bitter Springs to the south and Edith Falls to the north. There are the Cutta Cutta Caves, a series of limestone caverns dating back 500 million years with sparkling columns, pillars and flowstones of calcite crystal; or the Springvale Homestead, the oldest original homestead in the Territory, built in 1879 by Alfred Giles - no relation to the Chief Minister - the former overland telegraph linesman.
Further out from Katherine there are magnificent fishing and camping spots to explore, such as Borroloola and the gulf region. Across the Roper River there is the Elsey National Park area, Mataranka Thermal Pools, the majestic scenery of the Victoria River region, Pine Creek and the Douglas Daly River areas. The Katherine region also boasts the Goldrush Festival, rodeos and campdrafts, and an annual canoe marathon. In short, if Katherine is not on your bucket list, it should be.
There is a terrific tourism operator in the Katherine region. I am proud to say Nitmiluk Tours has been accepted into the 2013 Indigenous Tourism Champions Program. This is a national program facilitated by Tourism Australia and Indigenous Business Australia, with the Northern Territory component managed and supported by the Indigenous Tourism Development Unit within the Commonwealth department of Regional Development. In order to be accepted into this program, Nitmiluk Tours had to demonstrate it is a reliable business partner with strong industry knowledge and is able to make a valuable contribution to wholesale and inbound programs.
As a member of the Indigenous Tourism Champions Program, Nitmiluk Tours can now participate in Aboriginal tourism marketing initiatives which include: trade events; road shows; trade trading initiatives; online marketing; print marketing and other marketing initiatives. Congratulations are in order for the hard-working staff and operators at Nitmiluk Tours.
While visitors can travel to and through the Territory by air, road, sea and rail, road and rail are the most used modes of transport in reaching Katherine. To this end, it is important for tourism operators in the Katherine region to learn the new tourism strategy will see greater promotion of self-drive opportunities.
The Territory is a great touring destination and it is terrific to hear that in 2012 the Ghan operated 61 return services from Adelaide to Darwin and Great Southern Rail indicated an increase in guests utilising local tours in Alice Springs and Katherine.
As Minister for Mines and Energy, it would be remiss of me not to mention a growing and fascinating area of tourism: fossicking. Striking it rich in the Northern Territory has been made easy with a dedicated fossicking website launched earlier this year. The website provides all the information needed to start discovering the Territory’s hidden gems. Fossicking is also a great way to see some of our best outback landscapes, and you still have the opportunity to possibly strike it rich. The fossicking website lists dedicated fossicking areas in the Northern Territory where you do not need permission to fossick, and provides information on how to obtain consent to access private land. Fossickers can also access information to help make their holiday enjoyable and safe. It even offers a few tips and tricks on how to pan for gold. While fossickers often spend lengthy periods of time in the Territory hoping to strike it rich, at the same time they are contributing to the local economy.
Prior to the election last year, the Country Liberals contract with Katherine committed to strengthening the local economy, in part with a renewed focus on tourism opportunities for the region. The first step was the establishment of a Tourism Commission with real input from industry representatives. Last year, the Tourism minister stated the Tourism Commission would bring new rigour and a depth of expertise to grow our tourism sector, and it certainly has done that.
The Country Liberals government is determined to see the Territory marketed as one product: the Northern Territory. Airnorth CEO, Michael Bridge, was appointed commission chair, and long-time Territory tourism administrator, Tony Mayell, was made CEO. This was the first step in returning tourism to the powerhouse industry it once was. When I say ‘once was’ I mean before 2001 when the ALP got their hands on it and ran it dry.
Whilst I acknowledge the new tourism strategy will not turn the industry around overnight, it will provide a solid foundation upon which we can reposition the Territory and promote this destination to a broader and different audience.
I refer to the Tourism minister’s closing reference that our new Tourist Commission will be reviewing the NT's event portfolio to identify additional opportunities. As local member for Katherine, I would like to put Katherine forward as the ideal location for the Territory’s next big thing.
Tourism minister, I have a few suggestions for you. Why not a BASSINTHEGRASS style event, obviously located at the breathtaking Katherine Gorge ...
Mr Conlan: Bass in the Gorge.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Yes, Bass in the Gorge.
Mr Conlan: There you go; got a name for it.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Yes, you have a name.
Mr Elferink: Groove at the Gorge.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: There you go; some great suggestions. I will not be as crass as the previous Labor Chief Minister, who insisted it be named after him.
A member: Hendo’s Big Day Out!
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: We could have Kicking it up in Katherine, or Getting Down in K-town. Perhaps we will leave that one out.
It is these types of fora where we can tease out ideas and come up with the next best thing for regional parts of the Northern Territory, Katherine included.
There is not the infrastructure to hold a round of V8s in Katherine, but there is room for motor sports events to be a part of a greater Northern Territory motor sport calendar. Motor sport might not look like tourism, but it is because it attracts huge numbers of people from across the country who all contribute to the economy of the Northern Territory.
Surely, cyclists from around the world would clamour to participate in a road race where there are no mountains. How is that for an idea? Cycling tourism in the Northern Territory - a road race from Darwin to Katherine, out to the gorge, and back again. How would that be? What an ideal opportunity. They are the innovative ideas happening with the Country Liberals government as we drive new ideas into tourism.
However, on a serious note, I applaud Tourism NT for its hard work and excellent results in a short space of time to reposition the Northern Territory to become a preferred holiday destination for Territorians, Australians and people worldwide.
Tourism is vitally important to many Katherine region businesses which stand to benefit from the increased visitation numbers stemming from the Tourism Vision 2020 strategy initiatives. Tourism is vitally important to all businesses in the Northern Territory, because they will also benefit from the strategies involved in the new vision.
I commend the businesses involved in tourism in the Northern Territory. There are a great many rich, diverse businesses, those that have been around for a long time and those that have been around for a short time, each and every one passionate about tourism in the Northern Territory. They employ thousands of people and continue to contribute significantly to the growth of the Northern Territory.
It is this government’s responsibility, one adopted willingly, to grow the tourism sector in the Northern Territory. Unlike the suggestions coming from the member for Johnston, we are willing to invest in growing the tourism sector of the Northern Territory. That is what good, responsible, sensible, business-driven governments do, and is the stark difference between the conservative side of politics and Labor. They would prefer to keep people on welfare, deny them the opportunities existing for real jobs in a real economy, and deny them the same opportunities as everyone else.
I commend this great statement. I thank the Minister for Tourism and Major Events for bringing it on, and look forward to seeing these initiatives roll out towards 2020. Thank you.
Mr HIGGINS (Daly): Madam Speaker, I rise to speak about this, having had my own tourism business and been involved in it for the last 15 years …
Ms Anderson: And the best place, too!
Mr HIGGINS: Yes, a good place to stay. I thank the minister, whose speech shows renewed enthusiasm in this sector. To put it into perspective, something that annoyed me under the previous government was where we came from to be where we are today. I spent four years on the Katherine Region Tourist Association. I used to spend hours driving from the Daly to attend those meetings. I was chairman for two years, and the member for Katherine was vice chairman. The previous government took funding from us thinking, ‘Tourism is not important, we will build an Office of the Chief Minister in Katherine’. That is what happened.
Their compensation was, ‘We will build a big information bay for you’. Everyone at the Daly said, ‘We do not want an information bay, we want signs to tell people how to get to the Daly’. No, they built an information bay at the Daly. How many signs are on it today? This information bay cost over $1m. I cannot remember the exact figure, but at the moment there are three signs on it belonging to the Daly River Mango Farm. There are no other signs; however, there is room for about 50 different businesses.
They then said, ‘We will set up an information bay at the train museum at Adelaide River’. I am yet to see that happen. There is a train museum there, but it is not an information bureau for tourists.
I am glad the minister brought up the logo and how we are revitalising it - the push into the digital media area and the funding and rebates available to people. I would like to talk about that also.
I received something from TripAdvisor which is an example of the digital media and communications we can get involved in. People need to realise this government has supported that in regional areas. It may not seem important, but joining with Telstra and putting more towers in regional areas means tourists not only have access to telephone communication, they also have access to applications like TripAdvisor, etcetera. Most people plan their trip while they are at one location. They arrive at the Daly River and say, ‘Where will we go next?’ and they use the Internet to do this.
This morning we had questions about health and mentioned Borroloola. These things are also important. The clinic at Borroloola, like the one at Daly, has a big increase in the number of people when tourists are there. It is good to see this government considers that. You are helping tourism by increasing health facilities. Many of the grey nomads who come to the Daly and travel around the Territory have health issues and are entitled to access reasonable health services. I am glad to see the minister is looking into that.
The tourism industry is worth $1.6bn to the economy, not a small amount of money. When we consider spending money on tourism and health, we need to put that into perspective.
The Asian market was mentioned, and the minister mentioned a resurgence in the Centre. There seems to be a resurgence - this may be anecdotal - in the Asian market in the Top End. Until this year, I have never had e-mails from Asian backpackers seeking work. This year, at least 50% of the applications sent to my business have come from Asian backpackers. This is a direct result of improvements in the airline industry and so forth.
I am glad about the take-up of tours in Katherine. For me, that prompted another area where this government is spending a lot of time and effort: the introduction of SeaLink ferries. Not only will SeaLink ferries provide a terrific service to Mandorah and the Tiwi Islands, but they also have extensive tourism experience. They do runs to Magnetic Island and Kangaroo Island. This company will facilitate the development of our tourism industry in the Northern Territory to a great extent.
We mentioned conferences, but one that did not come up was the uranium conference, where I gave a presentation on behalf of the Minister for Mines and Energy. This was an international conference held in Darwin earlier this year. Our emphasis on this type of tourism is very good.
The minister mentioned bike tracks but did not mention four-wheel drives. There has been much emphasis in the past on four-wheel drive tracks, but we need to look at this outside the regional areas of Alice Springs and Darwin.
If we look at Indigenous people in my area - the NLC needs to be pushed to ensure they enable Indigenous people to get involved in tourism. There are some fantastic tourism sites west of the Daly. Unless the land councils give people access to them, Indigenous people will miss out on that opportunity. I want to see us continue our work in that area.
The other thing not mentioned in this statement, which I will point out to the minister is the smaller end of the market - workers. We talk about the fly-in fly-outs, but many of these workers want to catch a barramundi and that type of thing. That area of the market needs to be promoted more.
Sports-based tourism initiatives are excellent. Tourists with caravans are also interested in sport. Not only do they want to watch it on television, they also want to attend it. They see it as a great opportunity to drive their car almost to where the event is being held, get out of their car and walk to it. They attend sporting events here they would not in their own state.
I thank the minister for bringing this statement on. Tourism Vision 2020 is not just a measure of eyesight; it is a measure of foresight by this government.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I will talk about the rural area and tourism. It is sometimes forgotten because it is close to Darwin and does not have big highlights like Yulara and Nitmiluk. However, the area should be promoted, especially to people here for a short stay. I take up what the member for Daly said about the fly-in fly-out market.
Howard Springs will have 3500 people living at the INPEX village. There is certainly scope for tourist operators to work closely with INPEX. Workers will have a day off a week, and when people are not working they will look for something to do. At the moment, I am working with some of the businesses at Howard Springs to ensure those workers can use facilities at the Howard Springs shopping centre and pub, especially on Sundays when there is a good band playing. On a bigger scale, there is room for the tourist industry to be at the INPEX village giving workers an opportunity to look around the Territory. Even if limited to one day, they can find many things in the rural area.
I will give you a few examples. Naturally, we have Howard Springs. I have been there several times during the Dry Season. I was there about two weeks ago and the number of people now using the Howard Springs Nature Park is fantastic. Yes, many people are disappointed you cannot swim in the springs, but the rock pools - hopefully the shade will go up this year - have made that a family-friendly park. With the adventure playground, one of the best adventure playgrounds you will see, the park is starting to get back to what it originally was. It is a good, easy drive for people from Darwin to enjoy the park, not just because it has some rock pools and an adventure playground, but it also has the springs, wildlife, a walking path through the rainforest, and you can see the barramundi and turtles and feed them. It has a sign saying not to feed bread to the barra, but people go down just to watch or feed them.
We have a variety of places people sometimes forget. We have Leaders Creek, but the biggest problem with Leaders Creek is access; the road takes a fair pounding. One issue if we are to promote tourism, especially off the bitumen, is to have more work done on some of our roads, especially maintaining them. The Leaders Creek road gets corrugated. It is even more corrugated now some of the extractive mining trucks use that area. I hope the issue regarding the state of the road, which I have had some discussion with the CEO of Infrastructure about, can be sorted out. It is a place not only for locals, but also for quite a number of tourists because it gives access through the Adelaide River out to the Vernon Islands, a very popular spot for fishing.
Further out we have Windows on the Wetlands, sometimes called Windows on the Weedland because it overlooks a far bit of mimosa, but it is still a great place to go. Aboriginal people are involved in the management of that facility and you can see the history of Aboriginal people in the area as well as industries in the area.
The history of rice is interesting because it is a well-known part of the history of the Northern Territory. Many people down south remember Humpty Doo for the rice failure, but it is still an important part of our tourism industry today.
We have three Jumping Crocodile tours. I told the minister there is too much advertising on that section of road. It is a beautiful part of the wetlands as you come into Adelaide River and the advertising signs should be amalgamated because the over-advertising spoils the look.
I also raise the issue, not necessarily with the minister for Tourism but the ministers for Transport or Infrastructure - whoever looks after highways - that the amount of advertising on our highways, considering they are major tourist routes, is over the top. If anyone comes into Humpty Doo, there is a plethora of higgledy-piggledy signs not all to do with tourism. That is not a good image when it comes to tourism. I have nothing against advertising, but if we are to have signage it has to be professional and in certain places. There are issues with the highway through the Litchfield area into the 11 Mile. Signs have gone up here, there and everywhere.
Tourists need to know where to go, where the tourist spots are, where they can have their cars repaired, etcetera, but we could be more professional in that area. At the moment, anyone who wants to put up a sign can, regardless of permission.
An area I hope the government will look at - to some extent the previous government did although I would have liked more - is our World War II heritage. It took a long time for the airstrip at Strauss to be saved. I give credit where it is due; at that time Nigel Scullion helped me get some money through the Howard government. The intention of the previous government department was to run the highway straight through Strauss Airstrip. They said to take it around the airstrip would cost a certain amount of money, which was provided. We now have an airstrip which has been, more or less, kept intact. There have been some improvements in the bush to show where the planes parked. There is some good signage giving the history of the airstrip. It is a popular spot for people to stop.
However, let us not forget we have Sattler, Hughes, Livingstone, and quite a few facilities in the rural area, including Howard Springs, which was built during the war to supply water to the abattoir. It may have even have supplied water to Darwin at one stage. It was also a place for recreation.
There are many other airstrips and we need to do more work preserving and promoting them. There are also plenty in the member for Katherine’s area. We should make an effort to conserve those areas and promote them as unique in Australia.
The Strauss family from America visited and were so pleased to see we had maintained some of these places. We saw action in the Northern Territory. Many airstrips were built in America as part of the World War II effort but have been bulldozed and built on. There is an opportunity to use this as an important part of our heritage and our tourism industry.
We have the Territory Wildlife Park, which is going through a renaissance; it has had various versions. One important thing the government can do - I did not see it in this year’s budget - is finish the Litchfield loop road. One of the reasons the Wildlife Park has lost some of its customers is because the road does not extend through to Litchfield National Park. The Litchfield loop road would go through Batchelor, Litchfield National Park, and come back via the wildlife park, so people have a circular route they can do in a day. That would be a great advantage to places like the Wildlife Park.
There should be a public bus to the Territory Wildlife Park. A public bus goes to Crocodylus Park so why not have a public bus to the wildlife park, which would also be important for local people as part of public transport to Palmerston and Darwin.
We also have Berry Springs which, like Howard Springs, from time to time has issues about water quality and crocodiles. It also is a very popular area. It is a great place for people to go and, at this time of year, there are large numbers of people.
We have to remember tourism is not just about the formal tourists; let us not forget the rellies arriving in the Dry Season. There is a ‘relly’ industry we should not forget. Come the weekend, let us pack grandma and grandpa in the car and go down to Litchfield or Howard Springs. That is part of our tourism industry which, sometimes, is not recognised as much as it should be.
People go to Barden Lake where there is skiing, water slides and a restaurant. A private developer provides a service. The Noonamah Rodeo is on a few times each year. Tumbling Waters is a great place as well. Many small tourist places do not get a mention when we are dealing with the bigger picture.
There are also several industries - Reidy’s Lures and the Didgeridoo Hut, both important parts of our tourism industry. We have local wetlands. People go to Kakadu for bird watching and other things. I can show you around McMinns Lagoon, which is run by the McMinns Lagoon Landcare Group. If you want to go bird watching, that is the place to go - birds all year round. It retains water all year round, and is well managed by a voluntary group of people. It is an excellent area, but how many people would have been there? Very few probably. If you go down McMinns Drive, turn left at Orion Way, through Dreamtime Drive, you will find a beautiful spot. It is a surprise.
Girraween Lagoon belongs to the Churcher Estate. People might know 80 blocks are to be developed around there – one of the best lagoons you will ever see. It never runs out of crystal clear water. It is just a beautiful place. Many people have used it for fun water-skiing. That will probably disappear over time because as people move into the area they will not want the noise. There will still be opportunities for boating, and it is fantastic spot.
We should not forget Knuckey Lagoon. The minister for Planning has, through the Planning Commission, put out ideas about developing that area. If you want a jewel in the crown five minutes from Karama Shopping Centre, go to Knuckey Lagoon. How many people would know that exists? One end of it is full of magpie geese right now. The lagoon near the highway dries up sometimes but, generally speaking, there is water in it. If you go further in, you will see pelicans, more magpie geese, ducks, and other birds. One of the options mentioned for the Knuckey Lagoon area is to develop it in a sensitive way, because people who only have half a day may be able to look at it.
Within an hour’s reach of Darwin there are opportunities for tourism we need to develop. There are many little spots where people can enjoy themselves without having to travel long distances. I am not against people going to Litchfield and Kakadu, but sometimes people do not have the opportunity and there is a great number of really top sites very close to Darwin.
The member for Daly spoke about fly-in fly-out workers. We are getting 2500 American soldiers, another part of the market we should be pushing for as much as the 3500 people living at INPEX.
The member for Daly mentioned the mobile phone service. I laugh when I hear that, because the member for Fong Lim, when he was the minister, spoke about having mobile phone connections all the way down the highway. I would love that to happen. I also hope to have radio all the way down the main highway, because it is annoying when, halfway between Mataranka and Larrimah, you lose the ABC. You can always put Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and Troy Cassar-Daley on, but sometimes it is nice to hear the news. If you want to develop tourism, develop communication. People from Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide or elsewhere want to hear the news. They are used to listening to the news and catching up. You cannot hear it in parts of the Northern Territory, and the government could push the ABC to expand broadcasting areas throughout the Northern Territory.
The member for Fong Lim said, ‘I promise we will get mobile phone coverage all the way down the highway’. It does not exist but we should keep trying, not just from a safety point of view, but so the grey nomads can call family to tell them they are safe. It is important and gives people security when they are on the road.
Perhaps the government could conduct a survey to obtain information from caravaners about the cost of staying in the Territory. Earlier this year I received an e-mail from someone saying people were turning away from Darwin because of the cost of caravan sites. I am unsure if that is true, but with the shortage of accommodation - the caravan park near me is chockers. I do not know if there has been an increase in prices, but the person who sent me the e-mail - they sent it to others too - said people are turning off at Katherine and going home.
The way to find out is for the department to conduct a survey of costs compared to other places. Are we pricing ourselves out of the market? Are people increasing prices because there is a shortage of accommodation?
FreeSpirit Resort, a great park, had permission to remove many caravan sites and replace them with cabins. I am unsure if the cabin market has taken over from caravans.
I want to talk about remote communities. They are not always discussed in the bigger issues, but I went through Limmen National Park and to Roper Bar along the Roper Highway. I saw the state of the road. I spoke to the owners of Limmen fishing camp and the owners of Lorella Springs. They are small tourist facilities that attract the locals and interstate people via the Savannah Way.
I do not mind the Savannah Way being dusty, gravelly and a bit corrugated, but parts of it were dangerous. They are death traps for travellers unaware of some of the problems on that road. It is like many things, we want that outback experience, but we also want to ensure people are safe on roads we are promoting. The Savannah Way is very popular. When I went to Redback copper mine - I was travelling towards the Queensland border - there were a number of caravans and four-wheel drives coming the opposite way. It is a popular route and gives people an alternative way into the Territory without using the Stuart Highway.
Another area the minister did not cover was promotion of our national parks. I have been to a fair number of national parks - I try to visit national parks every year. I love the Gregory National Park, it is fantastic. It is probably one of the slowest trips I have had. It took me seven hours to travel 74 km on the Bullita Stock Route. It is a fantastic part of the world; it is just great.
Keep River National Park is a wonderful place. You can do that in a short time, or you can take a long time. Flora River National Park is another fantastic place. If we are to develop regional economies, because these parks generally - Keep River is different - have joint management plans. Part of the plan - and the reason I support them - was to develop opportunities for Indigenous people who had involvement in the parks. We have to promote that area.
People are looking for the Indigenous experience as well. You could spend ages in Gregory National Park if it could be developed more, but there are only limited facilities within the park at present. It is new, it is growing, but it is a wonderful park.
It is the same with Limmen National Park. The minister is asking for people to comment on the park. I only went to one of the lost cities as I did not have enough time. One day I will get in the car and not be in a hurry. What a beautiful park. The lost city is magnificent in the morning. It is a stunning part of the Territory. Our parks are sometimes not promoted as well. That is not a criticism because we have our major parks, but some of the little parks are wonderful; they are little jewels in the crown in the Northern Territory.
Thank you for the statement, minister. It gave me an opportunity to say, yes, there is a big picture but there is also a smaller picture, especially in the Darwin rural area in relation to World War II sites, which we can do more with and promote. People want to see what happened in the Northern Territory in the past.
I hope the minister will take some of my comments on board and see where we go from there.
Ms ANDERSON (Regional Development): Madam Speaker, I thank the Minister for Tourism and Major Events for bringing this statement to the House and giving us the opportunity to talk about the beautiful parts of the country we come from. I also want to challenge the member for Katherine.
The minister for Tourism is not just the minister for Tourism when he travels all over the country talking up the Northern Territory and speaking about the beauty and strength we have in the Northern Territory. We have given him an Aboriginal name Jabba. He carries that tag with him when he goes overseas, fully supported by his Aboriginal colleagues and Aboriginal people in Central Australia. He does not just go there as the minister for Tourism, but ‘go Jabba’.
Mr Conlan: Jabba Nardi.
Ms ANDERSON: Yes, ‘go Jabba Nardi’, and sell tourism worldwide, Australia-wide, and encourage people to visit the Northern Territory. You have certainly done that. You are the greatest ambassador the Territory can have to sell the beautiful gorges and places we enjoy in our electorates in the Northern Territory.
In Question Time today the Treasurer said you do not have business opportunities for only one minister in this government. We are a conservative group of people who come up with ideas all the time.
The member for Katherine mentioned an idea while contributing to the statement. He said what he hoped, as a government, we can do in Katherine. That is fantastic, member for Katherine, to come up with something for the Katherine region and give ideas to this government to ensure we support the regions.
The Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister have gone outside the Northern Territory, outside Australia, to talk up the Northern Territory, not just for economic opportunities, but tourism opportunities, and the employment opportunities our ministers are bringing into the Northern Territory. It gives us all an opportunity to ensure we partner with our Asian neighbours, with other people around the country and outside Australia, and this is important to this government.
We will not be like Labor for 11 years and do nothing but run down tourism, economic opportunities, have no input, and give out bits and pieces of welfare money. ‘You are right, stay there. You can live in a park but we will not encourage any kind of tourism opportunity for you. We will come back in four years’ time and you can vote for us again. Okay, no worries.’ Off they go. Nothing ever grows. It is all whingeing and whining and talking down the Territory. There were no real opportunities in 11 years.
If you look at the first 20-odd years under a Country Liberal Party, the railway was built from South Australia into the Northern Territory, the biggest project ever, creating tourism opportunities. What did they do? Nothing! They have no runs on the board. If they were playing a game of footy or softball it would be 20:0.
I want to speak about the beautiful things I have in my electorate and I challenge the member for Katherine. I live in the beautiful part of the Northern Territory with Uluru and the Olgas, Kings Canyon, Glen Helen, Dalhousie Springs, clear skies, beautiful winters and beautiful summers. We all need to harness the beauty and richness we see in the Northern Territory, and we have seen that.
I want to pick up on something the member for Nelson said about Indigenous tourism. This statement is about tourism. Indigenous tourism sits within my portfolio under Regional Development. We do not have Greek tourism or Chinese tourism. Aboriginal tourism sits under Regional Development.
This statement is about tourism in the Northern Territory. We want to encourage every person in Australia, and outside Australia, to come to the Northern Territory and share the beauty, wealth and knowledge we have here. At the same time, we are working to address the social issues we have because we need tourists to feel safe when they come to the Northern Territory.
The Chief Minister, as minister for Police, is putting extra police officers on the beat and on the road in all our regions. That is because we are working together, ensuring economic opportunities in the building the future revolution in the Northern Territory - the statement the Chief Minister made last week. We are also addressing antisocial behaviour in the Northern Territory with our mandatory rehabilitation legislation.
We are taking the Northern Territory seriously. We want people outside the Northern Territory to enjoy the great beauty we have. These beautiful valleys and gorges go from South Australia right up to the top, where the member for Arafura comes from. I have been to the Tiwi Islands many times. What a beautiful part of the world you come from, Francis. The member for Stuart comes from a beautiful part of the desert as well. The areas of Yuendumu, Nyirripi, Kalkarindji, Dagaragu and Ti Tree have beautiful places we all enjoy. This government is serious and has a commitment.
The minister is committed to being the voice of the Territory. He has taken our product out of the Northern Territory to Australia and around the world saying, ‘This is our product; it is beautiful. Come to the Northern Territory.’
You can see that by the amount of money we put into tourism, something you did not see under the Labor Party for 11 years. They downgraded and denigrated tourism in the 11 years they had control of it. It is a shame. It will not take this government long to put the good news back into tourism.
We say thank you to the businesses supporting tourism. In particular, I say thank you to Liz and Cal at the Transport Hall of Fame. I said to the Chief Minister, after representing him there last weekend, ‘What tourism opportunities that brings for us - absolutely fantastic’. We will be looking at that. Thanks again, Cal and Liz. They brought in thousands of people last weekend from all around the country with the old trucks and cars, things of the past we bring back to the future for new tourism opportunities.
Madam Speaker, I take this opportunity to thank the minister. Keep going with the flag of Jabba.
Mr KURRUPUWU (Arafura): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on tourism and thank him for providing an overview of infrastructure assets across the Territory.
I would like to focus on my electorate of Arafura. The Tiwi Islands host several major events, including the AFL Tiwi Islands Grand Final and the Tiwi Islands Grand Final art sales in April, which brings together Tiwi Design Aboriginal Corporation, Jilamara Arts and Crafts, and Munupi Arts. The Tiwi Island Milimika Festival is in August.
Domestic marketing specifically undertaken by Tourism NT for the Arafura electorate includes the Tiwi football grand final with The Age, and plans for a freelance in-flight magazine contributor to also attend; retail travel agent exposure for tourism businesses contracted through trade such as Flight Centre to cover the arts scene and tie with the new ferry service; and Aussie Adventure’s Tiwi Island tours are being sold by Territory Discoveries. Territory Discoveries filled one charter each day of the World Indigenous Network Conference held in Darwin in May. This was a great result and provided valuable income for residents and the Tiwi Art Centre.
The Tiwi have received regular visits from two specialty cruise ships, Orion and Coral Princess, at Wurrumiyanga and Pularumpi. Wurrumiyanga has the Patakajiyali Museum and two art centres, Tiwi Design and Ngaruwanajirri, which are well received by visitors.
The Caledonia Sky, through APT, is considering cultural themed tours between Papua New Guinea and Darwin in September 2015, which will also visit Arnhem Land and coastal communities. This opportunity is being advanced by Tourism NT and Lirrwi Yolngu Tourism.
The Department of Regional Development has also been working to support tourism development by assisting to help identify and support individual micro and small business tourism. Recently, the Tiwi people, through the Tiwi Land Council, purchased Melville Island Lodge, which will hold 16 guests, and the Johnston River Camp Melville Island fishing lodges from a private operator and have established Tiwi Island Adventure.
The former Bathurst Island Lodge, known as Barra Base, has also been re-established as a commercial operation aimed at the guided fishing market. They plan to deliver further experiences to expand their market and increase night stays and their shoulder season. This presents good opportunities for other Tiwi businesses and individuals.
The Melville Island Lodge in Milikapiti has been working with the local art centre, Jilamara Arts and Craft, to provide cultural activities, including art centre tours and art activities. This has resulted in a fruitful partnership that has seen good art sales and client satisfaction.
The Milikapiti Sports and Recreation Association has also expressed interest to, jointly with Jilamara Arts and Craft, promote a weekend tourism product through a partnership providing cultural experiences. The aim is for the club, together with the Jilamara art centre, to develop a weekend short stay product.
This will include artist talks, small art workshops, and cultural walks. It will be aimed at the Indigenous art market and speciality groups interested in cultural experiences.
At Pirlangimpi, Clearwater, the former Munupi Fishing Lodge, has expressed interest in receiving support to strengthen their Indigenous cultural product to offer this experience on a more regular basis.
Kakadu has featured across numerous domestic cooperative campaigns over the last 12 months, including conversion-led activity with Wotif, Qantas Holidays and Flight Centre.
Tourism NT also partnered with Inspiring Journeys in August 2012 on the Catch a Kakadu Cab campaign that positioned Kakadu as Australia’s premier destination for world-class nature and cultural activities. Kakadu is also one of the locations included in Tourism NT’s new brand shoot, which is collecting photographic and video images for the new Do the NT campaign being launched in the next few months.
The Garig Gunak Barlu National Park at Cobourg Peninsula will benefit from work being undertaken by government around the new parks master plan. This master plan will identify tourism and recreational opportunities in the park.
I make a special point of thanking this government for delivering on its promises for the Tiwis regarding investing in transport infrastructure and services. I am excited the new Tiwi ferry service will start on 19 September 2013, maybe earlier, especially after the failed Labor ferry service. The previous ferry service was not viable due to Labor’s botched handling. Their process was rushed, the service started too late for Dry Season traffic with the wrong type of boat: one with a single hull, no air conditioning, and no toilet facilities, which led to the ferry being poorly utilised. The cost to the taxpayer was $10 000 per return journey, which made the service unsustainable and unaffordable.
The Country Liberals government committed to Tiwi Islanders, and to me, that the situation would be fixed. Not long after taking government, the Chief Minister, as Minister for Transport, called for expressions of interest to run the service. It is great to see a national ferry company, SeaLink, has been selected to operate an extended 12-month trial. SeaLink NT is a new, local Northern Territory subsidiary of the SeaLink Travel Group, a substantial national tourism operator providing tourism and ferry services in three states across Australia, with more than 20 vessels and 600 staff.
The service will cater for up to 160 passengers travelling at one time and is expected to commence on 19 September, providing services for regular travel between Darwin and the Tiwi Islands. The service will use the Pacific Cat 22.5 m twin-hull vessel with three air-conditioned levels and toilets. Tickets will cost $80 adult return, $60 concession return, and $40 return for children. Kids under four are free.
This is a great result for my electorate and, more importantly, for growing our local tourism industry and local Tiwi economy, providing jobs for my people. I have been told SeaLink will be looking to employ local Tiwi, and also promoting Tiwi tourism businesses through their national and international markets. This is a fantastic opportunity to promote all the great things Tiwi people do in the world: our outstanding fishing, great local fishing lodges and tours you can do on the Tiwis, our arts and culture, our achievements and our history.
Also on the subject of transport, this government is investing in fixing the barge landing with a $2m commitment to constructing a hardstand area, and storage and refrigeration areas at Nguiu. This supports local business being able to have more supplies delivered by barge throughout the day. More storage areas and facilities to keep goods cold will provide a better choice of fresh products for locals as well as supporting tourism businesses.
You cannot trust Labor but you can trust the Country Liberals, and you can trust me to deliver real outcomes for the Tiwi people. I thank the Chief Minister for keeping his word to the Tiwi people and making this happen. I also thank the Department of Transport, Tiwi Shire Council, Tiwi Land Council and SeaLink. I look forward to being on the first ferry to the Tiwis.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement.
Ms LEE (Arnhem): Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to comment on the Tourism minister’s statement regarding the contribution by Tourism and Major Events to the Northern Territory economy.
Tourism Vision 2020 aims to achieve the best possible benefit for the Territory. I would like to make a number of points on that. In my electorate of Arnhem, there are many opportunities for tourism. Some are world-class and, so far, remain off the radar for tourism investment. Indigenous cultural and ecotourism could make a substantial contribution to the Northern Territory economy if we work in that direction and invest in the communities as well.
Investment opportunities for community-based activities in major regional tourism ventures are an aspect of business life in the Northern Territory that need to be acted upon immediately. We need to support the establishment and further development of our regional economy in land-based ecotourism, marine ecotourism, game fishing, game hunting, cultural heritage festivals and media documentaries. There are many cultural festivals in remote areas. The successful Garma Festival in the member for Nhulunbuy’s electorate - close to mine, but many people in my electorate are affiliated with it. You also have the Barunga community cultural festival. Ngukurr has its own Yugul Mangi cultural festival every year, and there is the Walamun festival in Bulman.
When visitors come to Australia they want to experience, firsthand, Indigenous culture. What better way than by engaging with the cultural festivals. All these things could make a huge difference to the Northern Territory tourism economy and Aboriginal people in remote areas. There needs to be a formal focus on my electorate as there is so much there that tourists from around the world would love to experience.
China is a key Asian country to bring future growth to Australia. Currently, the Northern Territory only receives a small share of Chinese visitors. I would like to see further marketing of attractions targeted at the ever-expanding Asian market.
Infrastructure and business development of our potential tourism assets in Arnhem, and other regions across the Northern Territory as a whole, need an injection of funds and promotional focus. This will open up the vast potential in the electorate of Arnhem and elsewhere in the Northern Territory. It also reflects back to the man with the hat and moustache. Since I was one-year old - 28 years - what has he done? Has he opened up opportunities for people in the bush to have their own business?
Mr Westra van Holthe: Has he improved the lives of Aboriginal people? No!
Ms LEE: No! Warren Snowdon has not improved one life out there. He has not made anything easier for us. We are still fighting an uphill battle which will probably never be won during his time in parliament. Look at the 25 years and see the poverty we still live in, in remote areas. I was subject to that. I grew up in that atmosphere. It is no different for any other bush member in this House. Where are our opportunities? Under the Howard government, and a few other conservatives, we had farms, we had piggeries, we had our own chicken egg collecting company and would weigh them, clean them, box them and send them to the next community. We no longer have that; there are no jobs there. There are no job opportunities or business opportunities for people in the bush.
Arnhem Land has one of the biggest tourism attractions in the world, hidden away in bushland. It has never been discovered, never been given the opportunity to be seen. People are crying out to have their own business, especially Indigenous people; they are getting smarter. They would like to have their own tourism business, but where is the support? They were asking for it 11 years ago; they are still asking for it.
This government has taken notice of that and is looking in that direction. However, we cannot do it with Warren Snowdon doing nothing for Indigenous people. He will continue to do that because that is all he is; a man with a hat and a mo. That would constitute a long-term view that would play a major role in establishing grassroots, regionally-based economies. I do not know if Warren understands that.
If tourism in my electorate is to be taken seriously, it needs serious long-term policy to explore and develop the natural and cultural heritage experience for the national and international tourism market. I have not seen a tourism policy from the federal Labor government. I do not even know what exists, especially for Indigenous people in the Northern Territory. That is left in the NLC bucket for all I know. Where is the opportunity for Indigenous people in the NLC? This needs to come to the light of day; everybody needs to know about this. It has been hidden for years.
Aboriginal people have been held down for years. They deserve the same opportunities as any other Australian. Look at other states, they are doing pretty well. Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory are 10 steps behind other states. In Western Australia, Indigenous people are booming, especially when it comes to mining, tourism, and everything else. They have their own stuff going on, yet in the Northern Territory we are behind.
I would like to see a change. I hope in my time I move this place enough to change direction; that we work together to improve Indigenous people’s lives in tourism, business, and everything else. With Labor, they were left and told to do nothing; given jobs to work for the dole. How do they provide for their families? How will their kids go to school from crowded houses?
The former Labor government failed them. Warren Snowdon failed them dramatically. These communities are in the same state they were 20 years ago with no big improvement. A few houses have been knocked down because of asbestos, but have there been repairs or disposal of asbestos from communities? Things are left at the rubbish dump like everywhere else. People still go to the dump to throw things out, get whatever from broken down cars or look for spare parts. It is appalling. The conditions these people live in are appalling. We talk about lack of education; it is a lack of education. We concentrated so much in one area we forgot the little areas. These are the people I represent in this House.
The electorate of Arnhem contains some of the most iconic assets in Australia. The Northern Territory economy, as a whole, can only expand and develop, and further develop economic opportunities for Indigenous people if we look in that direction and invest, which the Country Liberals are, unlike the Labor Party.
I would like to see and be part of the formal process which enables further development of what is already happening, including more professional development of our cultural festivals that make up part of the calendar of events - to market in a coordinated way and then establish many more tourism business in the Northern Territory.
I thank the Tourism minister for bringing this statement to the House and I commend it. As a team, we are all here to support you and ensure we do the best for the bush, the regional areas - I cannot leave the member for Nelson out of this or Mr Deputy Speaker - also the towns and regional centres. We all need to work towards that to make this a better place. Thank you very much.
Mr CONLAN (Tourism and Major Events): Mr Deputy Speaker, there was only one contribution by the opposition. He made a song and dance that it has taken so long to make a statement, yet there was only one contribution.
I refer the opposition to the Tourism NT corporate website, not the consumer site. This is from the tourismnt.com.au website under the drop down box About Us. I will read it to you:
Tourism NT has been established as a commission by the Northern Territory government under the Tourism NT Act 2012. Tourism NT is responsible for marketing and influencing the development of the Northern Territory as a competitive visitor destination for the continuing benefit of Territorians.
Under the Tourism NT Act 2012, the functions of Tourism NT are:
Market the Northern Territory as a desirable visitor destination.
It is pretty clear, ‘market the Northern Territory as a desirable visitor destination’ and ‘responsible for marketing and influencing the development of the Northern Territory as a competitive visitor destination for the continuing benefit of Territorians’.
In other words, it is to promote the Northern Territory as a desirable visitor destination above all others and get bums on seats. Tourism NT is a marketing agency, not unlike any other marketing agency around the world. It is a marketing agency with financial appropriation from the Northern Territory government, but, nevertheless, it is a marketing agency.
I highlight that the member for Katherine spoke twice as long as the shadow minister. He spoke for 26 minutes or so, and the member for Johnston spoke for about 12 minutes. It was not much of a contribution, and was full of personal insults, slander and diminishing other peoples’ abilities.
Additional expenditure of $8m, he said, is pretty good but, at the same time, said we are not doing a good job. The shadow minister for Tourism does not believe $54m is good enough. He said it is the first statement. Yes, it may be the first statement, but that is because we looked back on the last eight months or so since constitution of the Tourism Commission to say what we have achieved. There are about 5400 words in that statement saying what we have achieved.
There is no point bringing a statement on earlier unless we can say, ‘Look what we have done!’ The government has spoken on other areas of tourism, including the bill we brought to the House which is now the Tourism NT Act 2012, and a number of questions and policy statements relating to tourism when speaking on other portfolios.
Tourism has been front and centre in this Chamber for the last 36 or so days of sittings since the election.
What else did he say? The missing minister - I am unsure what that was about. He said it was about free beer and wine and if there is none I do not show up. I will not go there. He is trying to have a personal stab. This is where he goes and is all he has. I suppose he learnt to sledge from padding up and playing cricket. That is all there is: talk about empty vessels. Nevertheless, all he can talk about is free beer and wine. If there is a poker machine and a fist fight to be had, you would probably see the member for Johnston because …
Mr Vowles: Seventeen minutes about tourism.
Mr CONLAN: … he would not be too far away, perhaps a TAB just around the corner as well. He spoke about the Melbourne Football Club ...
Mr Vowles: Clarky - Darren Clarke.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: A bit of order, member for Johnston, please.
Mr CONLAN: I can see where it is going. It is bordering on lunacy. The contribution by the member for Johnston was pathetic. Again, he is keen to charge through and have a fight.
Michael, you need to start addressing this stuff because it is becoming ridiculous - the personal slander …
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Digression from subject. I ask that the member for Greatorex talks about tourism.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, if you could continue.
Mr CONLAN: It is a response to some of the interjections and the feeble, pathetic and puerile contribution by the member for Johnston. All he wants to do is pick fights, whether it is a verbal fight, a sledging fight, or, as we know - it has been well documented - a physical fight.
Mr VOWLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I ask that the member for Greatorex withdraws that last comment about me fighting and my history.
Mr Conlan: I do not know what he is talking about, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Mr VOWLES: Hansard will tell you. Standing Order 67: digression from subject. The minister for Tourism has 14 minutes to talk about tourism. I hope he will, and expect him to, speak about tourism.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: The minister has 14 minutes.
Mr CONLAN: I spent an hour introducing the statement; I spoke on tourism for one hour. He had 30 minutes and spoke for 12. The inconsistencies - it is a Swiss cheese argument, is it not?
Mr Vowles: How dare you have a crack at me …
Mr CONLAN: For 12 minutes he spoke on tourism; he had 30 and now is upset because I am highlighting some of his issues.
Mr Vowles: When you were drunk at the Brolga Awards and asked somebody …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Johnston, can we cease the interjections please. Standing Order 51. Thank you. Minister.
Mr CONLAN: He spoke about the Melbourne Football Club and how ridiculous that deal is, what a shame job and all this sort of stuff. The Melbourne Football Club arrangement with Tourism NT is not just about the quantity of visitation, it is also about quality. It is about generating a business case for the club with the highest propensity to travel to the Northern Territory. Victoria is our biggest domestic market, just edging out New South Wales. It is an important domestic market for us. Melbourne Football Club has a database of 35 000 members with more corporate and industry leaders than any other club.
Visitation, at this stage, is lower than we had hoped, but the business events and the propensity for business or conferencing to occur in the Northern Territory is real and worth, potentially, millions of dollars. There are several on the horizon we are working very hard to secure. The Melbourne Football Club sponsorship arrangement is still relevant and critical to that brand conversion in the business events sector.
The member for Johnston suggested paying respect to Kon because he brought Jetstar here – the Jetstar hub of seven aircraft. We are now down to four aircraft. It will be three shortly, and money needs to change hands between the Qantas Group and the Northern Territory government as a result of the failure of that deal. The deal has failed, but the member for Johnston says I should pay respect to the member for Casuarina, the former Minister for Tourism, because of his great success in attracting Jetstar to the Northern Territory. I do not think so.
This is also the minister who, in 2003, unilaterally called for a ban on scenic flights over Katherine Gorge. This is the Tourism minister and tourism space we were in under the previous government and the member for Casuarina, who we should be bowing to and offering respect to, the great member for Casuarina, the former Minister for Tourism. Yes, let us ban scenic flights over Katherine Gorge. Is that not a great tourism initiative? Fabulous stuff!
However, the Golden Globe goes to the Leader of the Opposition. Let me read something from a radio interview of 25 July, a little over four weeks ago. I will read it the other way round, because the tail end is quite funny in itself. The crux of the interview, and the frightening part, is at the beginning, but let us read it the other way round. This is an interview between Greg someone on Mix FM breakfast, the announcer I would say. He is having a light-hearted piece with the Leader of the Opposition and says, ‘So tell us, are we over-governed?’ Delia Lawrie, ‘Yes’. ‘A bikini or a one piece?’ ‘A one piece in the hot tub.’ Reporter, ‘The last movie you saw in a cinema?’ ‘Oh God, please pass.’ ‘Well, the last movie you saw?’ ‘Well, look …
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 113: relevance. What does this have to do with the tourism statement?
Mr Conlan: You will see shortly.
Mr Vowles: I know where this is going. You can see from the previous questions it is pretty lighthearted.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Can we have some order and cease the interjections.
Mr CONLAN: So we have, ‘Oh God.’ ‘Please, seriously, what is the last movie you ever saw?’ Delia Lawrie, ‘The last big movie was probably Avatar’. If we go back to the beginning, the first question asked by Greg on Mix FM of the Leader of the Opposition was, ‘What is the best thing about the Northern Territory?’ She said, ‘The people’. ‘What is the worst thing about the Northern Territory?’ She said, ‘Tourists’. He said, ‘You can’t say that’. The Leader of the Opposition replied, ‘Well, a bunch of southerners’.
This is the attitude of the Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition said the worst thing about the Northern Territory is tourists.
Mr VOWLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 67: digression from subject. Discussing bikinis and other things, come on, you are wasting time.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is not a point of order, let the minister continue. Thank you, member for Johnston. You are already on a warning from this morning so …
Mr Vowles: No, I am not.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I will give you one now for interjecting. Thank you.
Mr Vowles: He should get one for the crap he is talking!
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! The member opposite used a word beneath this House and should withdraw it.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: What word was that?
Mr Vowles: Crap.
Mr ELFERINK: Yes, that is the one.
Mr VOWLES: I withdraw crap. Thank you.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Johnston.
Mr CONLAN: That says it all. The Leader of the Opposition thinks the worst thing about the Northern Territory is tourists. It is breathtaking to think the Leader of the Opposition would, on public radio, say the best thing is the people the worst the tourists. When questioned about that she said, ‘Well, a bunch of southerners’.
Is it little wonder in the last 10 years we have seen the industry haemorrhage? Talk about turning a big ship around. The mess left by the previous government, and the member for Casuarina, was followed swiftly by the member for Arnhem, Malarndirri McCarthy.
Delia hates tourists, we have established that. I suppose that is a reflection on the entire opposition.
Like his leader, the member for Johnston does not seem to like the industry too much. He did not contribute anything when it came to the new brand position of the Northern Territory. He did not have anything to say about the digital marketing activation plan or the vital and important cruise sector, made no contribution to aviation or where he thought that sat, and the importance of aviation to the tourism industry. He had nothing to say about the Qantas MOU, nothing about conventions; he was conspicuous in his silence. Remarkable! Yet, he is quite happy to level personal insults at members opposite, sit there and sledge, thinks he is padded up out in the middle ready to have a go; that is his style. However, when it comes to putting some meat on the bone …
Mr VOWLES: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I place on the record that I did not throw any personal insults. I hope that is removed from the Hansard.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is not a point of order.
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! If the member feels aggrieved he knows full well he can offer a personal explanation to the House.
Mr CONLAN: I believe the Hansard will demonstrate otherwise. It was a litany of personal insults directed at me, and the rest, with no contribution about tourism. It was just how bad, evil, horrible, nasty, and drunk - one of the comments you made - everyone is on this side of the House. That was the 12-minute contribution from the shadow minister for Tourism. The Minister for Mines and Energy’s contribution was twice as long as the shadow minister for Tourism’s.
The record will speak for itself. Where he sits on tourism is exposed for the world to see. As I said, there was no comment on the new brand position, on digital marketing, on cruises, aviation, and nothing on the business conventions or business tourism which is our conferencing and convention market. It is a real shame.
The good news will kill this guy. He does not like it because he cannot get his head around it. We need to take it as a compliment when the member for Johnston, the shadow minister for Tourism, starts levelling personal insults at whichever member it might be at the time. We will know we are on the right track because we are doing something good and he has no response except to level personal insults.
He has made one response in this parliament speaking to one bill. He has made a 12-minute response to a 5400-word statement. I do not know when he last asked a question on tourism, sport, or anything. His silence is conspicuous. He may as well take the time off, like the member for Barkly, because you would not know he was here. Talk about not living up to the expectations of his constituents of Johnston …
Mr Vowles: You are out of your depth.
Mr CONLAN: All he can do is interject and level insults; that is his modus operandi. So be it, more fool him …
Mr Vowles: You are out of your depth. The member for Drysdale would make a 10 times better minister than you.
Mr CONLAN: Mr Deputy Speaker, I believe we have highlighted and articulated …
Mr Vowles: Worst thing your deceitful government said …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Johnston, I remind you of Standing Order 51, please. Thank you. Could you have a read? Thank you. Minister.
Mr CONLAN: Thank you, I have said enough on that topic.
Member for Katherine, the ‘Get Down’ and ‘K-Town’ ideas were pretty good. We have a strong focus when it comes to re-resourcing Katherine for tourism.
There was a fair bit from the member for Nelson to which I would like to respond. I only have a couple of minutes …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I move an extension of time, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr CONLAN: The member for Nelson raised some good points today and I want to address some of them.
You mentioned the Territory Wildlife Park - I am trying to track through some of those e-mails - but it is important to state the core business of Tourism NT is to market the Territory as a preferred destination above all others. We get that.
Our job is to bring tourists here: bums on seats. Tourists will arrive, and it is the job of the RTOs - member for Nelson, I say this in response to some of your contribution with regard to specific places; you talked about Knuckey Lagoon and other potential tourist opportunities around the rural area. I agree, there are some magnificent spots tucked away which are not promoted through Tourism NT. It is the job of the RTOs, the regional tourism organisations, to sell tours and promote areas of interest in their own back yard. We make no apologies, and have made it clear to the RTOs - TTE and TCA that their job is to sell tours.
Tourism NT does not sell tours, run hotels or airlines. We do a little through Territory Discoveries, but when it comes to on-the-ground public interface, it is the job of the RTOs. In the case of the rural area, it is Tourism Top End.
You made some great points and are right. There are many best-kept little secrets in the rural area and the RTOs, in your case TTE, need to explore a bit more. Trevor Cox has been the GM since the beginning of the year and is doing a great job. You will receive some favourable responses from Trevor and the team at TTE. They do a great job, as do the gang at TCA. We have made it very clear that is their job.
We fund TTE about $800 000 a year and TCA about $700 000. Their job is to sell the tours; our job is to bring the tourists to their doorstep, and that is what we will do.
I agree on World War II heritage; it is very important. We have been active with arts and museums. I also agree about tourist radio. I have often thought about that for regional parts of Australia. I do not know about the ABC, but you see tourist radio signs - 88 FM and whatever it is. They are under-utilised and, in some cases, not utilised at all. Signs were put up and there is no broadcast. I am unsure if the frequency is active.
Other commercial organisations can take up that area and the community stations can utilise it. It is a matter for them and the community, and, to a degree, me as minister for Tourism. All of us in the Chamber can encourage the radio stations to take up that licence or invest in the region. A fair amount of resources is involved in running a radio program - I have been involved in it before - but it is not insurmountable, just resource intensive. It is a great service for tourists who can not only listen to the news, but also what is happening in the region. It is like a sign post; the radio will point them to a tour or destination. It can also provide updates on roads and conditions.
It is under-utilised; however, Western Australia, through the Kimberley, does it well. In the NT we do not. It is not the responsibility of Tourism NT, being a marketing agency. It is not our core business but is something we can advocate for.
I also wanted to talk about national parks. I have an e-mail which specifically mentions national parks. I will read through some of this. I have a list of things we have set up to do since coming to government, some of which may answer your questions.
We re-established a stand-alone Parks and Wildlife Commission with an operational focus on park service delivery. We have invited community stakeholders and the tourism industry to help set the direction of a master plan. We recognise our national parks are a major tourism magnet. We continue to see visitor enjoyment, and community and business engagement in Territory parks. Litchfield recently received the prestigious TripAdvisor Award, being ranked in the top 10% worldwide for traveller feedback, which is great news.
We launched the biggest and most comprehensive visitor guide to parks. You may have seen it at the shows. It is a fantastic brochure, A4 size, this thick, and I can provide you with a copy. It is really comprehensive and an impressive piece of tourism promotion. We ran out at the shows. It is four years since Parks and Wildlife - you may have noticed - had a stand at the shows, but this year at Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin and Alice Springs we had the Parks and Wildlife stand. It was not part of the super department it used to be, being the stand-alone commission it is. It is a good brochure. With the stand coming back to the shows we saw 4000 visitors at Alice Springs, 2500 in Katherine, and 1800 in Tennant Creek. I do not have figures for Darwin.
We have honoured our election commitment to open up Northern Territory parks and reserves. We are about opening them up rather than closing them. We signed the historic MOU with Four Wheel Drive Northern Territory about a month ago with benefits for both parties. We are promoting conservation, ecologically sustainable visitor use - I do not want to labour on this too much because some of it might not answer your questions. We are in discussions with Field and Game Australia, parks projects have been completed, two exclusive tented campsites - these were fantastic - the Larapinta Trail from World Expeditions. I am unsure if you have seen those, but next time you are in Central Australia have a look, they are fantastic.
The Wangi Visitor Centre in Litchfield National Park is completed and open. The disallowance of the Litchfield and Mary River plans of management caused a little controversy in this Chamber, but our commitment is to bring those back strengthened and more open-minded rather than inward looking. We felt they were inward looking when it came to opening up our parks for visitors and tourists. Those two parks, particularly, are critical to our tourism story.
In the budget there is an additional $1.5m into parks to fund frontline positions, $1m to improve Alice Springs parks and reserves, and $1.35m to upgrade walking and cycling tracks across the Territory. As you can see, the front end of it has been resourced by the Northern Territory government. We are committed to our parks, which is why the minister for Tourism is also the minister for Parks and the minister for Arts and Sport. There is such synergy between them.
I was at a Tourism and Transport Forum several months ago and they were astounded and thought it was a great idea. This government has led the way in putting those portfolios together. It makes sense to have a minister for Tourism who is also the minister for Parks. These things change, and probably will change as members move on, but at this stage it seems to be working very well.
I thank the members for Namatjira, Arafura and Arnhem, and everyone for their contributions. It is a shame the member for Johnston, the shadow minister, made very little contribution apart from personal abuse and slander. Everyone else did pretty well, so thank you very much. Overall, it was a good debate.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Pillars of Justice – Swift Justice
Pillars of Justice – Swift Justice
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Mr Deputy Speaker, the Chief Minister, on 16 May 2013, addressed the House on this government’s comprehensive policing, justice and corrections strategy titled the Pillars of Justice. Members would be aware I am the lead minister on this multi-portfolio policy initiative. At that time I undertook to brief the House on a frequent basis. Significant work is under way simultaneously on a number of the elements with the broad policy areas encompassed by the Pillars of Justice. I take the opportunity to inform the House further on the initiatives to be undertaken under the banner of one particular pillar.
The Pillars of Justice is the government’s criminal law reform strategy stretching from the time before arrest to the time beyond parole. I am pleased to inform this House that the primary agencies involved in the strategy, namely police, Corrections and the Department of Attorney-General and Justice, are working individually and together in a professional and committed manner to see the government’s vision through to fruition.
The five primary Pillars of Justice cover the five major participants or stakeholders in the criminal justice process, namely police, courts, corrections, youth justice and victims. The pillar I wish to speak further on today is titled Swift Justice, which deals with the courts and the reforms in this area.
The Territory’s criminal justice system has two levels of court. The Supreme Court deals with the most serious and grave matters such as murder, sexual assault, robbery, and other cases involving extreme levels of violence, among other matters. While the Supreme Court deals with the most heinous matters in our criminal justice system, these only form a minority of matters in the total volume that pass through the system: indeed, only some 5%.
The Court of Summary Jurisdiction deals with the remainder of criminal matters that come before our courts to finalisation and, indeed, the vast majority of criminal charges laid in this jurisdiction. These can include matters as diverse as shoplifting, traffic offences, lower level possession of drugs, assaults, domestic violence and fisheries offences to name a few. Additionally, all matters eventually dealt with in the Supreme Court originate in the Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
Not surprisingly, the Court of Summary Jurisdiction is an exceptionally busy place. In 2012, a total of 5516 matters were lodged in Darwin alone. This figure is enumerated as most files invariably involve multiple charges. The figure is further inflated by matters in other regional areas such as Katherine, Alice Springs or Tennant Creek, thus over 11 000 criminal files are processed across the Territory in a single year. If these criminal files could be resolved and finalised with only one appearance before a court we would be dealing with 40 less files on any single sitting in the Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
However, a court file will inevitably be mentioned and adjourned a number of times before it is finally disposed of meaning our lower courts deal with a high volume of files every day of sittings. This obviously poses various challenges to our courts and stakeholders appearing before them. Despite the Territory having at its disposal an abundance of legal skill and knowledge in the shape of the magistracy and committed police, prosecutors and legal practitioners, we still compare badly in the report of government services. I am an adherent to the old maxim, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.
In this case there can be no doubt the system is in urgent need of repair. Perhaps the best basis for comparison is to look at national benchmarks with other Australian jurisdictions. The most recent report on government services showed the Territory had the highest number of magistrates per 100 000 people, at 6.2 per 100 000. The next closest ranking state was Tasmania, with a significantly lower 2.3 magistrates per 100 000 people. The sheer distances in the Northern Territory means we need more magistrates to cover the work spread out over various geographical areas. It is also disappointing to note the Territory ranked last in Australia in judicial officers per 100 000 matters finalised by the Magistrates Court.
Additionally, the Territory ranked third last, or sixth of eight states and territories, in having the highest level of backlog of criminal matters in the Magistrates Court that were more than 12 months old. We also ranked fourth out of seven states and territories in the average number of attendances for finalisation of criminal matters.
These figures suggest the Territory has more magistrates per head of population, yet our matters are still requiring more court dates and taking more time to finalise than in other parts of the country. The capacity and capability of human resources can only yield minor efficiencies if we are to improve our court systems. There can be no doubt constraints within the existing legislation, practice directions formulated by the former Chief Magistrate and file management principles are major impediments to efficiency.
The right to a speedy trial is an ancient liberty. During the reign of Henry II the English Crown promulgated the Assize of Clarendon, a legal code comprised of 22 articles, one of which comprised speedy justice to all litigants. In 1215, the Magna Carta prohibited the king from delaying justice to any person in the realm.
Mr Vowles: Back in Darwin 2013.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: Several of the charters of early American colonies protected the right to a speedy trial, as did most of the constitutions of the original 13 states.
The government’s vision is to introduce reforms in the Court of Summary Jurisdiction to encourage and facilitate swift justice to the benefit of courts, offenders, victims, and the community at large. While this will bring financial benefits, its motivation is substantially more than fiscal. To provide context, it is important to consider what currently occurs to understand how the proposed reforms will improve efficiencies. For the benefit of members, I will trace the route of an average criminal file that falls within the jurisdiction of the Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
A file originates with the police who, depending on a number of factors, will either arrest a person who has committed an offence or issue them with a summons to appear in court. A person required to appear before the court for a criminal matter may appear on remand having been denied bail, or at liberty, appearing pursuant to a bail agreement or summons. The part of the process we are most interested in for the purposes of this pillar is what occurs from the first attendance at court.
Generally, on this day the offender or their representative is provided with a small bundle of documents that includes a prcis and the offender’s criminal history if they had one. A prcis is commonly defined as a concise summary of essential points, statements or facts, and in this context is essentially the story of the alleged offence. In my career I have authored well over 1000. At this point, the offender may plead guilty or seek an adjournment for various purposes to seek legal advice to consider their position, get references, or because they intend to plead not guilty or contest part or all of the allegations against them. If an offender does not plead guilty at an early opportunity, the subsequent adjournments act as stressors or stalls on the system. These delays indicate the system is currently failing and/or struggling.
This is an area currently subject to a practice direction. Practice directions are authored by the Chief Magistrate and have the stated purpose to facilitate improved management of the listing of summary criminal offences in order to efficiently manage the court’s resources. On the criteria of efficiency, the current practice directions are in urgent want of an overhaul.
The proposed reforms of this government are not just aimed at the management of the court’s resources but also at facilitating effective management of police, prosecution, and legal aid resources so the whole community benefits from improved efficiencies. Most importantly, the client is the major beneficiary of the improved court process.
Let us not forget that, along with the accused, a number of ordinary innocent Territorians are also required to have some involvement in these processes as witnesses, victims, and family and friends of these parties. They too should be recognised as players in this protracted and demonstrably inefficient intrusion in their lives.
One practice direction sets out a process for the listing of matters where an offender intends to plead not guilty for contest mention. Once a matter is listed for contest mention, the court orders an entire brief of evidence is served on the offender within four weeks. This means police are required to compile all the evidence and statements and provide these to the offender. At the next mention the expectation is the offender will have reviewed the brief with their legal representative and, having seen all the evidence against them, advise the court if they are pleading guilty or not guilty. If they intend to plead not guilty, a hearing date is allocated.
While this may sound in theory like a reasonable process, in practice there are identifiable, predictable downfalls. These are illustrated by statistics recorded by the courts Integrated Information Justice System otherwise known as IJIS.
From 2006 to 2012, the number of matters listed for hearing as a percentage of the total number of matters lodged has remained between 12.9% and 18.5%. This is not a huge variation over the years, at only about 5%. For the same period, the numbers of matters listed for a contest mention as a percentage of total matters lodged has ranged between 16.4% and 33.6%. This is a larger variation of about 17%.
A measure of efficiency is to compare the number of matters listed for contest mention with the number of matters listed for hearing in the same year. If these figures are close it indicates matters are being listed for contest mention and are matters with genuine issues in dispute that are unlikely to be resolved without a hearing.
For example, in 2007, 16.4% of the total number of matters lodged were listed for contest mention, following which 13.2% of the total number of matters lodged were listed for hearing.
By contrast, in 2012, just five years later, 33.6% of the total number of matters lodged were listed for contest mention, but only 12.9%, just 0.3%, of the total number of matters lodged were listed for hearing - a 0.3% reduction over five years.
Since 2007, the number of matters listed for contest mention has been increasing. However, this has not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the number of matters listed for hearing. This suggests matters are being listed for contest mention even though there may not be genuine matters in dispute. It may be the matters are being listed for contest mention so the defendant can see the extent of the evidence the prosecution has against him - a legal fishing trip.
In particular, from 2010 to 2012 the number of matters listed for contest mention increased by 38%. In the same period the number of matters listed only increased by 6%. This means, in practical terms, the police prepared an additional 700 briefs. That is 700 complete compilations of evidence for only 47 extra hearing listings. This is a serious problem our court system and police force faces, because I can only imagine the amount of time and resources that goes into preparing 700 files of which only 47 see the light of day.
It is of concern to this government and the community that more and more frontline policing resources are being consumed by preparing full and comprehensive briefs of evidence for matters that invariably resolve as a result of discussions on the steps of the courthouse on the day of a contest mention or a contested hearing. In addition, large amounts of resources are consumed by having police and civilian witnesses attend courts around the Territory for hearing matters which ultimately resolve or for which they do not end up being called to give evidence. These stalls are inconvenient, costly and do not pass the fundamental test of improving justice. Moreover, the inconvenience and costs for people from remote locations attending court in a major centre are significant and should be addressed.
This government is committed to reforming criminal justice procedures in the summary courts so parties are compelled to discuss the issues in a criminal case at an early stage of the proceedings, and so disclosure by police can be guided by the relevant issues. The relevant issues can often be distilled quickly and accurately without the current practice of providing full details and briefs on the entirety of the matters attending on the case.
The proposed reforms under the pillar of Swift Justice will introduce a preliminary brief of evidence to be provided by police in all criminal matters. The preliminary brief will replace the current prcis provided and move from a story-based summary to an evidence-based document. The introduction of preliminary briefs of evidence will mean alleged offenders and their representatives will receive a clear outline of the evidence available to support the charges against them from the outset of proceedings. If relevant statements are available at this point, they too could be included with the preliminary brief. Having an accurate picture of what evidentiary material is available early in the proceedings will give an accused more information about the charges they face. This will help to encourage early resolution of charges. Where early resolution is not possible, it will help to encourage early decisions about how to proceed to a contested hearing.
If a matter does not resolve to a plea of guilty after the provision of a preliminary brief of evidence, the preliminary brief will become an essential tool in assisting meaningful discussion between the prosecution and the defence in a process called case conferencing. The courts will require parties to participate in a case conference before advancing the matter to a future mention date for service of evidentiary material or to a contest mention or hearing date.
A case conference is an out-of-court discussion between the prosecution and the defence to identify a resolution to a file or plan for the summary hearing of the matter. Case conferencing will encourage early identification of the issues in a criminal hearing and allow for specific disclosure requests relevant to the facts at issue.
The preliminary brief will provide information to the parties to assist in identifying what relevant extra material is required to assist in resolving a matter. This will streamline the process as it currently stands by allowing for targeted disclosure of the items that will help progress a matter rather than requiring a full brief to be prepared for every matter in which an aspect is contested.
Therefore, the summary case conference will assist in excluding the need for non-material witnesses to complete statements. For example, CCTV footage which shows the offending in full will obviously be direct relevant evidence likely to resolve a matter one way or the other and would be provided if immediately available or identified in the preliminary brief at a case conference. However, a police officer who assisted in the transport of an exhibit or the guarding of a crime scene would not be diverted away from frontline policing to complete a statement or attend court for a contested hearing where their evidence has no bearing on the issue in dispute.
Another reform envisaged by this government to see swift justice achieved is the introduction of statutory sentence indications. The government intends to amend the Justices Act to allow magistrates to give indications of the type of sentence to be imposed if an accused pleads guilty at a particular time. The purpose of a sentence indication is to formally inform the accused what will or will not happen on sentence if they plead guilty at a particular time. Sentence indications are aimed at allowing an accused to make an early and informed decision about how they wish to proceed.
A sentence indication is not an indication of the exact term or length of sentence to be given, but an indication of the type of sentence the magistrate considers would be imposed in the event of a guilty plea. For example, an accused has seen the preliminary brief against him or her and is somewhat reluctant to plead guilty to the charges offered through fear of a full-time custodial sentence. Such an accused may seek a sentence indication from a magistrate. The magistrate hears the charges, considers the nature and conduct alleged, and any other relevant information such as the offender’s criminal history. The magistrate can indicate the type of sentence considered appropriate; for example, a fine, a bond or other community-based sentence, a fully suspended sentence, or a sentence of full-time imprisonment.
The accused may choose to plead guilty at this stage. If they do, the magistrate is not permitted to impose a more severe type of sentence than the one indicated. If the accused chooses not to plead guilty, the matter will be adjourned and a hearing must be before a different magistrate unless the parties agree otherwise. Any evidence of a sentence indication is inadmissible in future proceedings, and magistrates are not bound by any sentence indication given by another magistrate.
The proposed reforms are in line with changes over recent years in Queensland and Victoria. It is envisaged they will result in significant savings in a number of areas, including court time and unnecessary attendance of witnesses at court. They will also allow for more police operational hours to be spent pursuing frontline policing rather than unnecessary brief preparation and court attendance.
The Queensland Magistrates Court Annual Report 2010-11 reported that since the introduction of the equivalent of preliminary briefs half the matters which would have previously required a full brief of evidence were resolved without the need for a full brief. The resulting benefits of this for police and prosecution resources, as well as court resources, are obvious and clear.
Similarly in Victoria, extraordinary savings have been achieved in police operational shifts and court time expended, as well as reduction in the amount of witnesses required to attend court. Victoria has a very prescriptive Criminal Procedure Act 2009 which has provisions for preliminary briefs, case conferencing and sentence indications. Since these changes were introduced, savings have continued to increase each financial year. Most recently, in the 2012-13 financial year, over 19 000 civilian witnesses were saved from attending court and over 27 000 police shifts and 45 000 hours of court time were saved when compared to the financial year immediately preceding the introduction of these reforms. I will repeat that so honourable members understand the enormity of what we are trying to do: in the 2012-13 financial year, 19 000 civilian witnesses were saved from attending court and over 27 000 police shifts and 45 000 hours of court time were saved when compared to the financial year immediately preceding the introduction of these reforms.
These savings are real and tangible. Of course, Victoria deals with a much greater volume of work than the Northern Territory, with the metropolitan area dealing with about 1500 contested matters per month compared to about 6800 over a year in the Darwin area. Nevertheless, I am sure you will agree these savings are impressive.
The potential benefits of the proposed reforms to victims of crimes cannot be underestimated. A guilty plea or a swift and efficient resolution may be considered as the optimum outcome of criminal proceedings for a number of reasons. These include the minimisation of inconvenience, disruption, trauma and stress for witnesses and victims, as well as achieving the important aim of bringing closure to the victim of the crime.
The proposed reform will allow the courts and practitioners to focus on timely outcomes in criminal proceedings whilst ensuring the right to a fair hearing is upheld. The benefits of the reforms will be the provision of early and credible disclosure of a police case, the reduction of unnecessary adjournments, and the saving of court and police time by directed and efficient listing practises.
I commend this statement to honourable members. I know all members will see it as a good, sound policy which will benefit the criminal justice system and the community at large.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly takes note of this important statement.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Mr Deputy Speaker, it was a surprise yesterday evening when I saw the Pillars of Justice statement for today’s parliamentary sittings. My initial reaction was, ‘Hang on, we have done this’. We talked about the Pillars of Justice in May. However, we have another version of Pillars of Justice before us today.
Ultimately, this is an attempt by the Attorney-General to cover the fact he is probably the first Attorney-General in the western world to oversee a week of parliament without any legislation to debate. Not since 1990 has the House had one piece of legislation for debate. In fact, it might have been zero had the Criminal Code Amendment (Cheating at Gambling) Bill gone through, as was originally planned on the Notice Paper, in the early hours of 28 June. We were prepared for debate to come on, it was listed on the Notice Paper but, at 3 am, members opposite were worn out, tired, had enough and spat the dummy over the lengthy debate on the Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Bill and pulled the Criminal Code Amendment (Cheating at Gambling) Bill and held it over until these sittings. With hindsight, it is lucky you made that decision so there was at least one bill up for debate during these sittings. This week there has been zero legislation before the House.
The Attorney-General spoke about Henry II and the Assize of Clarendon. I wonder if Henry ever convened the Royal Court without any legislation before those present. I also suspect Henry II would have tried to gag anyone who said his laws were not working. It would be a little like when the Attorney-General jumped in front of a policeman at a media conference to prevent him talking about tackling alcohol crime, gagging that debate knowing the police have plenty of advice to offer the Attorney-General about the flawed alcohol policies the government has introduced.
Henry II probably also tried to gag judges who spoke out on public policy, just like the Attorney-General did earlier this year when he told the Chief Magistrate she was not allowed to comment publicly on policy. God forbid that she offer a different view based on years of experience, and God forbid she would potentially criticise. He said only politicians could do that, and if she wanted to offer comment on government policy she was welcome to run for parliament.
Basically, this statement is a result of the Attorney-General with no legislative debates to prepare for, having time to sit at his computer trying to impress his former law professors. In the debate on the tourism ministerial statement the member for Johnston rightly pointed out the minister had not written that statement. It is clear the Attorney-General has written this statement. Having listened to him for a few years in this House, he has a distinctive style. I am quite certain he prepared this statement. We are talking about the man everyone in government is blaming for having no legislation, and the fact he now wants to be an academic on the floor of the House.
This is the second statement this week. It is really the Attorney-General’s musings as much as a ministerial statement. The previous Pillars of Justice statement has not even been completed; it is still on the Notice Paper. Given we have Pillars of Justice part one on the Notice Paper, it is difficult to understand why you did not bring that debate back on and have some of the new members from your backbench participate. It was adjourned following contributions from you, the Chief Minster, and me. Why do we not have debate on Pillars of Justice part one? No, we have to move into a second one because there is nothing else to talk about in this House. We have had more ministerial statements than I have seen in five years and no legislation to debate.
We have Pillars Part II, the Return of the Pillars, the Sequel to the Pillars of Justice starring the Attorney-General, written and produced by the Attorney-General, and funded by taxpayers in a bid to kill time in parliament because he has nothing else to offer. However, we have no legislation for our pillars. None of the pillars have been implemented, but let us talk about them again.
There is a distinct difference, which has not escaped my attention or, I suspect, anyone else’s, or anyone listening to the live broadcast of our parliamentary sittings. The last pillar statement was given by the Chief Minister.
How dare anyone but the Attorney-General speak about the pillars! Listen to this quote from the beginning of the statement he delivered today:
- Members would be aware I am the lead minister on this multi-portfolio policy initiative.
Can you imagine if we were not aware of that important and undeniable fact! He is the lead minister. It is not the Chief Minister; it is the Attorney-General. Do we all understand that? It reminds me of when the Attorney-General issued a media release last September saying he was the lead minister for alcohol reform. As soon as he said it the then Chief Minister took it off him. It was given to the member for Fong Lim then the member for Araluen, anyone but the member for Port Darwin.
Also, for a short time, he was Minister for Education and, for an even shorter period - six days I believe - he was Treasurer until they took that off him too. In spite of the merry-go-round that is the CLP government and the constant reshuffles, the Attorney-General is back where he started. Attorney-General, Justice, and Corrections, and he has picked up OCPE as well. It is a shame because he is hard-working and dedicated. Unlike some of his colleagues, he possesses an intellect and wants to do more but his Cabinet colleagues will not let him.
He wanted to be Chief Minister back in February but realised one of his Cabinet colleagues would not let him. That one had been a bit tricky saying she would support him then did not so the leadership spill was called off. Nobly, the Attorney-General offered to resign following that debacle.
The Attorney-General is seeking an outlet for his energy and intellect and, in the absence of legislation, we have two statements on the Pillars of Justice. Meanwhile, violent assaults in the Territory are climbing through the roof.
With the release of quarterly crime statistics last week, we saw the hard data that domestic violence in the Territory is skyrocketing. Let us not talk about that. There is no statement on why domestic violence is up by 14% since you scrapped the Banned Drinker Register and allowed 2500 problem drinkers who were banned from purchasing takeaway alcohol back on the grog. There is no word from your colleagues about the shameful increase in domestic violence, and the recognition that Indigenous women are 45 times more likely to be the victims of domestic and family violence.
Never short of a word when it suits her, I hope the member for Namatjira speaks in this debate, and others. The member for Namatjira is on the public record standing up for victims of domestic and family violence - women and children. When she was a member of the Labor government Cabinet she voiced support for mandatory reporting of domestic violence. When an independent member, she spoke in this House supporting Labor’s Enough is Enough reforms, including the Banned Drinker Register.
On Monday, the Police Association said the government has breached their trust. Perhaps talking about the Magna Carta from 1215 will win it back, as the member for Johnston interjected on that line, ‘Back in Darwin 2013’. Police are outraged you have civilianised police prosecutions, but none of that matters to the CLP government.
The Chief Minister announced that instead of reducing crime by 10% every year, it will take four years. That is yet another broken election promise, but none of that matters when we can again speak about the Pillars of Justice.
Most of the statement explains how courts work. There are pages about the Supreme Court and the Court of Summary Jurisdiction. Listen to the following from page six:
- For the benefit of members, I will trace the route of an average criminal file that falls within the jurisdiction of the Court of Summary Jurisdiction.
We then have pages of explanation for our benefit, nothing to do with his desire to read into Hansard the route of an average criminal file. We wade through statistics that, when you bother to read through them, are an attempt to justify the CLP’s decision to take police out of prosecutions and put civilians in their place. It is an attempt at pretending the decision is about the concerns of the community when we all know it is about the CLP claiming it has 120 police when, in fact, it does not.
Let me be clear, we are not arguing against making the justice process more efficient, but there is little of any substance in this statement. Bring forward some real reforms; do not just talk about them! Do not talk about them twice!
Magistrates, judges, lawyers and police, not to mention social justice advocates, organisations like APO NT - Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory - have been telling you until they are blue in the face your alcohol policies are failing. They are the ones dealing with the carnage you are creating.
You are clogging the courts, Attorney-General; you are clogging the justice system. If you want justice to be swift, do something about the number of assault cases coming through the courts. Stop the alcohol-fuelled violence. Listen to the magistrates, the legal representatives, and the experts advocating in this area for a year. If you want to clean up the matters before the courts start listening to the experts. You say your swift justice will result in less evidence having to be collated. How about trying to stop the crime in the first place? You say fewer witnesses will be called. How about we have fewer people witnessing crime and the rise in assaults since the CLP came to government? You say you want more guilty pleas. How about we have less people guilty of committing crimes! You say you want to save police time. Why did you put 2500 problem drinkers back on the grog? Far too much police time is spent running around after drunks, and now running around after drunks who are running away from mandatory treatment.
On the last page of the statement, the Attorney-General talks about the minimisation of inconvenience, disruption, trauma and stress for witnesses and victims, and achieving the important aim of bringing closure to the victims of crime. No one could argue with that, but how about the Attorney-General minimises it by listening to the experts instead of ignoring them? I look forward to the CLP bringing forward some of these reforms rather than just talking about them. All we have so far is pillars of puff.
I conclude by talking about something that will help clean up our courts. Crime statistics released last week told a stark tale of two towns: Gove and Tennant Creek. Gove and Tennant Creek, on many levels, are similar towns - similar populations, similar isolation - but they are also different, especially when it comes to crime. In the last year there were 592 assaults in Tennant Creek, in Gove there were 85. Tennant Creek has seven times the rate of assault of Gove. When it comes to alcohol-related assaults, Tennant Creek has eight times as many as Gove.
Why the difference? It is not rocket science. In Gove we have a takeaway alcohol system which was introduced in March 2008. In Tennant Creek the Banned Drinker Register was scrapped. In Gove you need to apply for, and be approved for, a permit to purchase takeaway alcohol. In Tennant Creek anyone can buy as much alcohol as they like. Let us remember that 70% of all sales of alcohol in the Northern Territory are from takeaway liquor outlets.
You scrapped the Banned Drinker Register. You ignored police, magistrates and doctors. The increase in violence is the fault of the CLP. If the CLP and the Attorney-General want to clear the courts and want swift justice they need to listen to the experts who have told them, and the Chief Minister, supply measures like the BDR, which are not silver bullets but successful harm minimisation measures, work.
I heard on radio this morning, just before 9 am - I only heard the tail end of an interview with the Mayor of Katherine, Ms Fay Miller. I realised somebody had phoned in, and it was a constituent of mine talking about the takeaway permit system which has existed in Gove for a number of years which works successfully. He was explaining to the ABC interviewer and Fay Miller that if the Mayor of Katherine was concerned about alcohol-related issues, and the terrible social issues and the mess it leaves behind, perhaps the mayor should consider the system that is working in Gove. She listened intently to what this gentleman had to say about how it works in Gove, the difference it has made to people’s lives, and to our community and all who live there.
I urge the Mayor of Katherine, and the member for Katherine, to look into the systems that have existed in northeast Arnhem Land to manage alcohol. Obviously, different regions may have different requirements, but let us not ignore the fact there are effective systems in place and, essentially, out of the lessons from northeast Arnhem Land, the Banned Drinker Register emanated. In northeast Arnhem Land the system had come not from the government but the grassroots level community - speaking on behalf of their people, four very strong Marika women from the Rirratjingu clan pleaded with stakeholders in a heartfelt letter about the fact alcohol was killing too many of the young ones and the alcohol issue needed to be addressed.
While this ministerial statement addresses some plans to improve the court systems, and I welcome that, it has been brought on essentially to fill time in this parliament. I note we have legislation introduced for debate in the next sittings. I hope that means we will not subjected to further musings of the Attorney-General on another puff piece about the Pillars of Justice part three. I fear there is more to come knowing the Chief Minister’s statement in May mentioned five Pillars of Justice, so it is a five-part serious we are in for.
The Attorney-General said at the outset he had undertaken to brief the House on a frequent basis. Fascinating though his statements and musings might be on the legal system and the history of the law to some, the opposition is far more interested in receiving updates on how the CLP’s policies and new laws around alcohol, which are all too often at the centre of crime, are failing and, far from reducing crime by 10% a year, are driving it up.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like speak on this statement. The minister could have given it a better title. Swift Justice was an American television series which ran from 13 March 1996 to 31 July 1996. It only went for 13 episodes and was scrapped. In fact, James McCaffrey was Mac Swift and Len Cariou was his offsider, Sergeant Al Swift.
I watched the end of Young Guns recently and they had a form of swift justice. I hope this is not what this is about. It would have been better to call it either Streamlining the Judicial Processes or Changes to Summary Procedure, because that is what it is about. It is an important area, but the title is a little flippant. It is an important issue and needs to be dealt with in that way.
I have read the minister’s statement as best I can. For a lay person, to have this dropped on you late at night - it is not easy to go through the statement without a little assistance. Minister, I reached a part where I was confused by the process. Basically, the government is saying there is a need to reform the Court of Summary Jurisdiction or the processes which occur around that. About 11 000 files per year are heard a number of times through the court system, which overloads the court system. We are the worst in matters finalised before the Magistrates Court. We have one of the highest levels of backlog cases for over 12 months. We nearly have the worst number of attendances per finalisation of matters. You hope these efficiencies will bring financial benefits, and you mention other benefits later on. You also mentioned how the process works: police arrest or given a summons, are required to appear at court, they could be on bail or remand.
The reform is about the first appearance in court. The offender or representative is presented with a prcis, a short story of the alleged offence, which includes a criminal history if there is one. I am unsure what that means exactly. I could say, big deal, it is a prcis or a story. I looked up the Victorian summary and they give an example in relation to what they expect the change to be. They give an example which says:
- A shop theft which previously would have been described in the summary of offence as follows:
‘The accused then walked down the aisle, stopped, picked up a bottle of Jim Beam and stuck it down his pants’.
Using the new style …
This may be what the minister was talking about:
- … the same event can be described as follows:
‘The Loss Prevention Officer …
I love that title:
- … saw the accused walk down the aisle, stop, pick up a bottle of Jim Beam and stick it down his pants’; or
‘The CCTV footage shows the accused walking down the aisle …’
I understand what they have said but I do not have enough understanding of the law to know the difference between the two. Perhaps the minister could explain.
Then the offender can plead guilty or request an adjournment to consider their position, or get legal advice because they intend to plead not guilty. If a person does not plead guilty the system struggles.
Practice direction or practice decision - I was going to ask the minister. I pulled out my lonely book I have on my desk at times. I do not use it very often, but thought I would look up ‘practice decision’. This refers to practice decision in family law. It says a practice decision is a rule or direction regarding practice and procedures made by judges of the court under a rule-making power conferred upon the court by statute.
Mr Elferink: No, practice direction.
Mr WOOD: Practice direction. The definition of practice direction relates to family law, practice decision does not. You referred to practice direction so I wanted to ask if that is correct.
You said practice direction comes into play which sets up a system you have to follow. You said the proposed reforms of this government are not just aimed at management of the court’s resources but also to facilitate effective management of police, the prosecution, and legal aid resources and the whole community benefits from the improved efficiencies. Most importantly, the client is the major beneficiary of improved court procedures, and that is good. It also helps witnesses and families.
The direction for a not guilty plea requires that an entire brief of the evidence be served on the offender within four weeks. Next time the offender appears, they will have all the information and can tell the court if they plead guilty or not guilty. If pleading guilty, a hearing is set.
It then becomes a bit complicated. You said you would explain the prcis versus the story. It gives the accused more information about the charges. Again, that relates to going from a prcis to a story, and I could not understand that. This will encourage early resolution. If still pleading not guilty, information already documented can go to case conferencing and has to be done before the case can go any further.
Before I get to that, minister, there is the area I had trouble understanding because I do not understand the language. You talked about giving examples of why we need to bring in the changes. You said:
- From 2006 to 2012, the number of matters listed for hearing as a percentage of the total number of matters lodged has remained between 12.9% and 18.5%. This is not a huge variation …
For the same period, the number of matters listed for contest mention as a percentage of the total matters lodged has ranged between 16.4% and 33.6%.
I had trouble understanding what that meant. I looked in the dictionary to see what ‘contest mention’ meant. Minister, if you could explain that in your summing up …
Mr Elferink: I will.
Mr WOOD: I also note in the Victorian inquiry they say at the end of the summary:
- The new summary procedure introduces 3 new features to existing procedure to:
bring an excused before the court more quickly
This is what you propose for this parliament in the future. It goes on to say:
- Best practice - commencing with informants producing credible and adequate preliminary briefs - should result in meaningful case conferencing. Where the parties are not far apart the availability of an early sentence indication may assist resolution.
I did not want to go to conferencing at the moment. The Victorian review wanted to ensure the quality of the brief was up to a certain standard so everything was correct when it reached the first stage. That is an important area you may want to look at. It was not just a matter of getting it ready, it was to ensure:
- To make the new procedures work effectively for informants, the prosecution, the accused and his or her representatives, and the Court the following best practice indicators are recommended.
It is not just about a new process; there are some guidelines to ensure the new process is fair and reasonable.
You then talked about case conferencing and said it will encourage early identification of issues and allow targeting of items to progress a matter. That was introduced in Western Australia in 2006 and was called voluntary criminal case conferencing. A document from the Supreme Court on criminal case conferencing said:
- … Supreme Court of Western Australia commenced a voluntary criminal case conferencing process … to resolve issues in criminal cases speedily and, in some cases, to avoid the need for a trial altogether. Results of this initiative were encouraging, and the Court widened the program’s scope by engaging the services of a second facilitator, and by making VCCC available prior to committal of an accused.
It goes on to give some details …
Mr Elferink: Was that the Supreme Court?
Mr WOOD: Yes, but it is talking about the same type of thing.
Mr Elferink: The same thing?
Mr WOOD: Yes, and reducing the time taken.
You mention savings; that is good. The magistrate may give indications of the type of sentence he or she might impose if the person pleads guilty. The offender can make an informed decision on how they wish to plead. If they plead guilty, the magistrate cannot apply a harsher penalty. If they plead guilty a new magistrate is required as previous comments about sentencing are not admissible. This change, as you said, will result in considerable savings in time and money. It has been introduced in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
How does this work in relation to our laws? We have mandatory sentencing. Would this complicate matters from the point of view of a person charged with striking someone where the minimum sentence is three months? If he pleads guilty he automatically gets three months. During the conferencing the judge cannot give a sentence of less than the three months so he has no give …
Mr Elferink: Not true. He can give …
Mr WOOD: He can give three months and one day. That is not much give if I am the bloke standing in the docks. My problem is - judges mentioned this in the debate about mandatory sentencing – it is likely people will plead not guilty in an attempt to get out of it. Whilst I agree this might be a good idea in times without mandatory sentencing, you will go back to people pleading not guilty because they do not have much room to move.
Another area raised in the Victorian government report on sentence indication and specific sentence discounts was whether discounts could be given for a plea of guilty as well as the sentence indication. They did not agree with that in the end, but it might be something …
Mr Elferink: We already discount.
Mr WOOD: I understand that. I thought the Victorian government would have it too so I am surprised it is in here. That was another area they looked at.
This speeds up the system. If someone pleads guilty we wipe our hands - sentenced and finished. What happens where someone is covering for another person? There are cases where someone pleads guilty so another person does not get into trouble. That might not happen often. Is the process strict enough and thorough enough, when going through conferencing, to ensure the guilty person is the one who committed the crime rather than someone who might - I occasionally hear of cases where someone - it may be a lover - says, ‘I am guilty of drink-driving. It was me.’ It really was not that person; it was the other person. Is there enough strength in the process to ensure the right person is convicted? It might not happen often, but I have heard of it on occasion. Is the system strong enough or thorough enough to ensure the person who should be punished is and not someone who is putting their hand up to save the other person?
Minister, I found it interesting reading. I am not a lawyer. I like my Concise Australian Legal Dictionary. If I can beat the Attorney-General, I can quote from here. If he wants to doubt me he will have to take on Mr Butterworth.
I criticised the title Swift Justice. Has the Attorney-General been watching too many westerns? There was swift justice in the 1880s out west. That was the first thing I thought when I saw the title. This is serious and has been looked at by other states. One of things I enjoy about statements is I learn - I do not have time to follow all these things - that things have been looked at by other states. Reducing the cost is not the only issue. There is the inconvenience to witnesses and pressure on people who have to attend court then not attend court. It puts a strain on people. There are also the wasted resources of police coming and going and the courts being full. If the judicial system does not lose its quality of decision-making and we can provide the community with savings, whether they are financial, personal, or resources, I support it. That is the bottom line.
The principle the minister is putting forward today is a good one, but we will see more detail when the legislation comes out. Perhaps you will put out a document for comment.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I thank the Attorney-General for the statement on Swift Justice and the Chief Minister for bringing his overarching statement on the Pillars of Justice to the House earlier this year.
The Pillars of Justice is a visionary approach to justice in the Northern Territory, an area often examined in a piecemeal way but which now will be subject to holistic results-driven reform. When I campaigned at the 2012 Territory election, the people of Drysdale gave me a clear message I take very seriously. They said they want their streets safe for kids to play in; parks which are the natural domain of families, not a hangout for delinquents or troublemakers; a visible and active police force; real justice and punishment that fits the crime; help if they are victims of crime; and a government which delivers results without punishing the whole community.
I stand here today proud of the statements by the Chief Minister and Attorney-General. The plans outlined in the Pillars of Justice will see some of my electorate’s issues addressed. I am also pleased the entire system from before arrest to beyond parole will come under the policy directive of one minister, the Attorney-General, not because of the reasons given by the member for Nhulunbuy in her contribution, or lack thereof, to this debate, but because it is efficient and logical, and it benefits Territorians.
Drysdale has Palmerston’s one police station along with several schools. I have the commercial district of Yarrawonga and a diverse mixture of socioeconomic groups within the various residential suburbs. There is no doubt I have constituents who are police officers, corrections officers, lawyers, judges, victims of crime, offenders, released prisoners, families of those in prison, families of young people going off the rails, and almost everyone knows someone in one of those categories. This reality puts the Pillars of Justice into perspective. These pillars, as developed, refined and eventually implemented, will most likely effect every constituent I represent, along with most of the people of the Northern Territory.
I support the great achievements of the government so far in the area of justice reform. I applaud the introduction of mandatory sentencing for serious violent offenders, a policy which received strong support in Drysdale and which will see the reasonable sentencing expectations of the community met, whilst ensuring safeguards against absurd outcomes and injustice.
When considering the debate on this topic I am reminded of the quote, ‘Punishment is now unfashionable because it creates moral distinctions among men which, to the left wing minded, are odious. We prefer a meaningless collective guilt to a meaningful individual responsibility.’ In any event, the debate has been had and the new laws are now in place.
I support the additional funding allocated in this budget for extra police on the streets of the Northern Territory. These are frontline positions which protect the community and ensure people feel safe in their homes and their streets. I have an excellent relationship with the OIC of Palmerston Police Station, Daniel Shean, and his officers are shining examples of the proud Northern Territory Police Force. They do an excellent job, are highly visible, and are heavily engaged with our community. I hope some of the new recruits have the privilege to join this fine police station.
I am glad police now have the power to test for drugs when they arrest a person for another offence. Illicit drug use is the quiet culprit of a large amount of crime in our community. The crimes range from assaults directly resulting from drug use, to break and enters into homes and businesses as a way for drug users to steal what they must to purchase these destructive substances.
I was shocked by the legacy of the former Labor government when it came to domestic and commercial break-ins in Palmerston. We have witnessed huge increases in domestic and commercial break-ins over the last few years. The people of Palmerston have had enough. I note these increases in offences coincided with the introduction of the Banned Drinker Register. Thankfully, the latest statistics show reductions in home break-ins - a good thing. It is important that the link between drugs and crime is understood and monitored by police and government. I am pleased with the steps taken so far.
It is fantastic there is specific reference to school-based policing in these statements, particularly the direct reference to the diversionary role youth engagement police officers play. Young people at school need good role models who they can have regular contact with in addition to their wonderful teachers. This is the role often performed by the youth engagement police officer. A youth engagement police officer, when coupled with the pastoral care element of the school, has a vital role when you have children from broken or troubled households. The youth engagement police officer can be the first contact a student has with the law and, I hope, the last. You only have to speak to a youth engagement police officer to realise they know their student population very well. Most importantly, they will often have identified students who are travelling down the wrong path, either alone or by association, and this makes school-based constables an excellent starting point for diversion.
Diversion may take the form of a relationship of trust between the officer and the student, which allows them to be guided and monitored. It may be achieved through internal school systems of behavioural change and special attention, or it may be achieved by school referral of a student to the intervention youth camps or I-camps proposed as part of the Pillars of Justice.
I want to thank Constable Kim from Palmerston Police Station, a youth engagement police officer for Drysdale schools. I see Kim at just about every school assembly or function I attend. She sits on various City of Palmerston committees relating to safety in our community. I see Kim at the Palmerston Markets, an initiative of OIC Shean, who sees the value in having youth engagement police officers patrol the Palmerston Markets because they are so well-known and well-respected by young people in our community.
Police need to be supported so they can perform the vital frontline role they have. Their job can be difficult, stressful, and emotional. However, I have never met a Territory police officer who was anything other than dedicated and committed to protecting and serving Territorians. I am proud the first Pillar of Justice recognises the importance of before arrest initiatives and is dedicated to empowering police.
As a former commercial litigation lawyer, my exposure to the criminal justice system has been minimal. However, I am acutely aware from constituent feedback and personal observations that a number of improvements are needed. I am pleased the second Pillar of Justice is focused on court law reforms and swift justice for the community, as we have heard from the Attorney-General today.
The adversarial nature of criminal justice means cases require time for issues to be ventilated and resolved. There is no escaping this reality. However, the system needs to be restructured so delays are not the norm, and both defendants and prosecutors are focused on resolution and outcomes.
Narrowing the scope of disputes and encouraging disclosure between parties has seen more guilty pleas and more cases being disputed on discrete matters of fact and law rather than fishing expeditions which clog our courts. I hope the Pillars of Justice will achieve a more open judicial system which is accessible and understood more widely by the public. Too often, as we have heard from the member for Nelson, we hear public opinions and expectations written off by those within the system on the basis they do not understand the law and the legal system.
What is being done to ensure the public understands and appreciates the system it pays for? What is being done to ensure the justice system reflects, within reason, public expectation? I look forward to development in this area.
I am also interested in the development of advanced technology which will expand on our sentencing and bail options for offenders, particularly in the area of tracking bracelets which can contain a person in a specific area or restrict them from entering a specific area. The manpower required for surveillance on every person sentenced to home detention, or bail conditions restricting them from associating with someone or going to a certain place, is extreme. This type of technology allows resources to be better allocated and may reduce the number of people required to be locked in our prisons, which are full, thanks to the former Labor government, even before they open.
I commend the Chief Minister and the Attorney-General, the Minister for Correctional Services, on the fantastic initiatives I have been briefed on in the area of Sentenced to a Job. The thought of prisons full of people sitting watching TV, getting three square meals a day, is completely unacceptable. A job adds worth to a person’s life and gives them purpose. A job whilst in prison skills the prisoner up, passes the hours, and produces worth and value from their time.
The behaviour which leads most people to prison is counterproductive to society. It is only right the punishment for that behaviour should be productive. I am excited about the work being done to see prisoners released into private employment, and I again commend the minister for his work. I believe the last number I heard was 50 prisoners holding down private jobs ...
Mr Elferink: It is 63.
Ms FINOCCHIARO: There are 63 prisoners holding down jobs that see them get up in the morning, have a shower, get dressed, eat a good breakfast, and head off to private employment. After work, they come back to the prison, have a good dinner and get a full night’s sleep. These are choice employees. Such a routine is so beneficial and, hopefully, will continue beyond parole and final release ...
Mrs Price: Hear, hear! They have a routine. Good.
Ms FINOCCHIARO: I pick up on the interjection. My colleagues are applauding the minister for his efforts in this area. They have seen enormous results in their communities and the impact this initiative is having across the Territory.
I spent some time with the Attorney-General and visited the Barkly Work Camp. Great things are happening there as well. The manual labour performed by these prisoners is of great benefit to small towns and communities and helps reduce government costs.
I am pleased the budget has an allocation for a stand-alone youth justice court in Darwin. Youth offending is a serious problem in Palmerston, as in most parts of the Northern Territory. The key is these misguided and criminal youths may not be beyond all hope. Some are, make no mistake, and that is sad, but others need real punishment, real rehabilitation and real correction. This requires specific facilities which allow them the opportunity to change. Mixing borderline kids in with hard criminals in the Magistrates Court only reinforces their fate.
This is not about being soft. If they break into your house or hurt you or your family they should be punished hard. However, this is about retaining some hope they will be corrected and their lives turned around. Bad kids can become good, they just need the right structure around them, and purpose. Locking 12-year-old girls in a courtroom cell within eye shot of adult sexual offenders is a recipe for permanent damage. Even the worst child offender does not deserve that. It is a real shame Labor did nothing to correct this in 11 years. In just 12 months a new youth court is on the budget books.
I am also interested in the plans for boot camps and look forward to more detail from the Attorney-General.
Last but not least under this Giles government and the Pillars of Justice are victims. Victims should be the first priority. It is all well and good to rehabilitate, educate and get jobs for offenders, but if victims are forgotten there is no justice. I am proud the Chief Minister’s pillars, which are enforced by the Attorney-General, include a strong emphasis on victims. The safer homes policy will see support, both financial and emotional, to victims of property crimes. Victims of Crime NT does a fantastic job and I am impressed by the commitment and drive to get real results. I look forward to an expansion in this area from the Attorney-General and the Chief Minister, and I assure all members this government is determined to see victims supported.
I am very supportive of this policy as outlined, and look forward to working with the Attorney-General to achieve the justice outcomes needed in Drysdale and the Northern Territory as a whole. I would like to thank the Attorney-General for his contribution to pillars today and to the Chief Minister for his contribution in May. I wish the Attorney-General the best of luck with the development of our pillars policy and I commend the statement to the House.
Debate suspended.
WORKERS REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION AMENDMENT (FIRE-FIGHTERS) BILL
(Serial 43)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
We are joined in the gallery today by a significant number of firefighters who support this legislation, and support their mates. They do a tough job and …
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Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: If you could pause member for Fannie Bay as we have members from the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service in the parliament. I welcome you here and hope you enjoy your time here tonight.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Mr GUNNER: They do a tough job and it forges strong bonds. Firefighters are in one of our most respected professions. They have earned that respect over generations by doing hard work in unsafe conditions to protect the general public. While others run away, they run towards danger and often that danger is physical: a bushfire, a chemical leak or a burning building. The danger is not always visible. Firefighters often battle fires without the full knowledge of what materials are burning, but that lack of information cannot stop them doing their duty. They are also called, as we know, to deal with chemical spills.
They have had a variety of protective gear over the years, from a cloth for the mouth to breathing apparatus. Clothing and equipment has improved dramatically, but even today there is penetration and standards are constantly improving but never perfect.
The tragic reality is the sacrifice of a firefighter often comes at a cost to their personal health. Firefighters are at a greater risk of developing a range of cancers than the general population. They are our first respondents; they are the people we call when there is need. Now our firefighters need us and this is why we are introducing this bill.
The purpose of the bill is to establish a rebuttable presumption that particular forms of cancer developed by firefighters are taken to be work-related for the purpose of claiming compensation under the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. The presumption is based on numerous scientific studies which indicate firefighters are at a greater risk of developing certain types of cancers because of exposure to hazardous materials. The amendments make the process of applying for compensation less onerous for firefighters who contract certain types of cancer.
Firefighters in all their guises – those employed, those who work as auxiliaries and those who volunteer - do a tremendous job in the Territory.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr GUNNER: Every year as bushfires sweep the Territory we are reminded of the magnitude of their work. When we see stories of tragic house fires or car accidents we are reminded of the efforts taken to protect our lives and those of ones we love, and they put their lives at risk doing it. We know the statistics of firefighters having a greater prevalence of certain cancers. We also know the personal stories.
Colin ‘Snogga’ Snowdon is 17 years strong a firefighter. He is battling testicular and secondary cancer to the lungs and bones. He has used all his sick leave, recreation and long service leave in his quest to beat cancer. Snogga asks, ‘Who will rescue the rescuer?’ To quote Snogga:
- Firefighters put themselves between the public and any threats, sometimes at the detriment of their own wellbeing. Sure, a legislation emplaced to protect and serve these people is but a small semblance of recognition, but even more so a support net for firefighters and their families when needed. Now is the time to reciprocate and recognise the outstanding contribution that NT firefighters make to the community ... now is the time to adopt the legislation and cover NT firies and, most importantly, their families.
- I am cancer sufferer. I have two types, bladder and kidney cancer, which was certainly caused by exposure to the many things that firefighters do in their normal day-to-day duties. In the list of primary cancers which affect firies, bladder and kidney cancer are in the top three. Incidentally, I have a medical checkup every August to see where my health is at. Everything was normal at my last checkup. When I started to feel ill my weight dropped rapidly from 90 kgs to 72 kgs over a three-month period.
My general practitioner sent for scans which showed some abnormal things, so it was off to the specialist for me, who decided to do a procedure straightaway.
The result was that I had an aggressive grade 3 tumour on the wall of my bladder which had to be removed as soon as possible. I also had some cancer problems in my kidney area.
My second bout with the specialist revealed that he had made a reasonably successful attempt at removing the tumour. He said, in his words ‘If I didn’t get it, it was cactus for you’, and he also stated that the cancer I had was typical of being a heavy smoker. I explained that I had never smoked and lived in a smoke free environment. When I explained my work situation and exposures he agreed that there was a problem there.
My next phase was off to do six weeks of chemotherapy. In my case it was the BCG immunotherapy type - very invasive and by the hell does it make you sick after each session.
Whilst having time on my hands, I contacted most fire services about where they were with their Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act for their firefighters. Most fire services will have it in this year. It seems strange that our own brothers, the firies at the airport, have coverage of legislation to protect them and we don’t. As per usual, we will probably be the last ones to get the legislation through. Please support our union, United Voice, to get this up and running.
Further, I went through the lists of NT firefighters who had passed away in the last 25 years. I came up with 21 who died from cancer-related illness. At present we have four confirmed cases employed today and, on the balance of probability, there may be a few walking around with it undiagnosed at this time.
Think about it.
Boys and girls, have regular checkups and keep a diary of your exposures. In the 1960s. 1970s, 1980s and the early 1990s, our protective clothing was a joke, but firies being what they are went ahead and did their jobs. In the 1960s and 1970s firies were lucky to get a breathing apparatus set. Our engine rooms are full of diesel fumes which do us big mobs of harm.
- Fire investigators are another group at risk. It goes on and on You, as a firefighter, are in an extremely high risk category compared to other occupations.
I will be filling out a workers compensation form for this disease through our insurers, TIO. I expect them to knock it back - see if I’m right. I don’t want to see any of you go through the things that I have. Hopefully I will beat this illness and enjoy my retirement.
Under the arrangements in most states and territories, a firefighter seeking compensation for a disease must establish his or her employment was the major or most significant contributing factor. This can be a difficult task, with seriously ill people and their families struggling to gather the evidence required to meet this threshold at possibly one of the most stressful times in their lives. It is not the case in all areas of Australia. The Commonwealth government and the government of Tasmania have both legislated to provide a person’s work as a firefighter will be taken to satisfy this test unless there is evidence to the contrary. It is this presumption that we seek to introduce into the law of the Northern Territory.
I turn to the details of the bill. The bill is simple in its construction. Clause 1 sets out the name of the bill, while clause 2 provides the bill, once passed, will commence on assent. Clause 3 inserts into the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act a rebuttable presumption that particular illnesses and diseases have been contracted by a worker in the course of his or her employment. For the presumption to apply, a person must have been employed as a firefighter and exposed to the hazards of a fire scene. For the operation of the presumption, the relevant diseases are set out in Schedule 1AA, which are contained in clause 4 of the bill. It includes the range of cancers known to be caused by fire exposure and the burning of hazardous materials.
It also recognises the involvement of firefighters in dealing with other incidents such as chemical spills and asbestos-related materials. This list is informed by the best available medical evidence and is the most comprehensive in the country. Before the disease occurred, the firefighter must have been employed as a firefighter for a certain period known as the qualifying period. The length of qualifying period is linked to the nature of the disease, ranging from five years for a primary site brain cancer to 25 years for primary site oesophageal cancer. As scientific evidence improves, there is also the option to prescribe additional diseases by regulation.
The coverage provided by this bill is the most comprehensive in the country. It applies not only to career firefighters, but volunteer members, auxiliaries and bushfire brigade volunteers. It also extends to the whole range of duties performed by firefighters: extinguishing, preventing the spread, preventing injury and property damage by fires; attending accidents involving hazardous materials; undergoing training in relation to firefighting and prevention; and providing sustenance to those directly involved in firefighting.
Unlike the Tasmanian legislation, there is no limitation on the application to presumption post-retirement. Unlike both the Commonwealth and Tasmanian legislation, under the Territory bill those firefighters who have already developed one of the illnesses listed in the schedule will also be able to seek compensation. We should look after those firefighters still with us.
I would like to place on the record my appreciation for the work of Erina Early and Matthew Gardiner from United Voice, the firefighters union and its union delegates, and the firefighters whose advice helped frame this bill, Mr Jock McLeod and Mr Colin Snowden. They are supported side by side by their firefighter colleagues.
I seek leave to table a petition from the firefighters of the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service.
Leave granted.
Mr GUNNER: They are asking the NT government to stand with them. To quote the petition:
- These amendments would demonstrate a strong commitment from your government recognising the occupational illnesses suffered by our firefighter members. We place our lives at risk every day to ensure the safety of the NT community. We are seeking that same protection through this legislation to compensate for the exposure and diagnosis of occupational illnesses whilst performing our duties for their community.
The NT opposition is happy to work with the NT government to provide this protection to firefighters. The NT government has flagged a review. This bill will provide immediate protection, and we ask the government to join with us and firefighters to make it a reality.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members.
Mr TOLLNER (Business) (by leave): Madam Speaker, firefighting is seen as one of the most respected professions in the world, and I pay tribute to firefighters in the Northern Territory. I would like to speak on this bill, given we have a gallery full of firefighters. I imagine they have come not only to hear what the opposition has to say, but get some initial comment from the government. I intend to do that then adjourn the debate. Anyone who wants to speak on it at a later date can do so.
Discussion on presumptive legislation started in the early 2000s. The majority of jurisdictions in the US and Canada have enacted presumptive legislation for firefighters since that time.
In 2009, 71 studies were undertaken, of which only 17 met scientific methods. Those studies identified there were 35 cancers associated with firefighting, and a number of cases researched had a strong association with cancer. The research, ultimately, concluded it could not support or refute firefighting as a cause of cancer so the court was out in that regard.
The issue first raised its head in Australia in around 2010. In 2011, the federal Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee Senate report was published. The report considered studies to be compelling and resulted in amendment to Commonwealth legislation covering 12 primary cancers. To date, the Commonwealth is the only jurisdiction, to my knowledge, to have enacted this presumptive legislation. Other jurisdictions of Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia are currently moving to introduce similar legislation, but it is my understanding that, to date, nothing has been enacted in those states. Victoria has commissioned a study through Monash University, and I am not aware of any current inquiries or action being taken in this regard in Queensland or New South Wales.
The Northern Territory has the most generous workers compensation scheme of any of these jurisdictions, a long-held situation. The fact is - and the opposition knows this quite well - a complete review of the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act is currently being undertaken by the government. Almost immediately on becoming minister for this portfolio I started addressing this issue, and we are undertaking a thorough review. This is the first time a full review has been done on the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act since 1986.
There is a specific reference to the review committee to look at presumptive legislation. I can inform the House that George Roussos, former Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Mark Crossin, former Secretary of the Trades and Labour Council, are spearheading that review. I expect to hear something of that in the next few months.
It is worth reminding people that presumptive legislation is not necessarily an answer because it simply reverses the onus of proof from an employee to an employer. For instance, for a nurse contracting HIV, the onus of proof is on the hospital to prove the nurse did not contract HIV through her work rather than the nurse proving they did. Presumptive legislation does not necessarily mean people will be in line for workers compensation or rehabilitation payouts. It means the onus of proof is reversed. This government is looking seriously at this and how it may fit into our legislation.
It interesting that, after 12 months in opposition, the first bill put forward is this piece of legislation. During 11 years in government they had more than adequate time to address this issue. If the Opposition Leader and others were serious about firefighters, they would apologise to the people in the gallery for their lack of action over the past 11 years.
That is shameful and smacks of politics. It is your first bill in 12 months after 11 years in government when you could have done something. You are suggesting it is the government’s fault nothing has been done, being fully aware a review of the act is being undertaken as we speak.
I make those comments to let the firies know the facts around this - the fact the government is sympathetic to their case and is undertaking a full review of the act. A specific reference has been given to this issue and I expect we will get feedback on it.
I can signal the government will not be supporting this bill because it is about petty politics. This is about putting in place a scheme that works best for the men and women in our emergency services and for the people of the Northern Territory. This is not about petty politics on the eve of a federal election when you had 11 years to do it. This has been on the cards since 2000, and the opposition now believes, after 11 years in government, it is appropriate to call us a disgrace. How pathetic is the opposition and the Opposition Leader? If it was such an issue, they would have done it during their term of government. Of course, they did not.
Madam Speaker, I seek leave to continue my remarks at a later date and move that debate be adjourned.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
MOTION
Condemnation of CLP Government for a Year of Failure
Condemnation of CLP Government for a Year of Failure
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, if you ever want to understand why people are condemning this government you would tune in to the disgraceful response the minister for WorkSafe just gave. He had an opportunity to support firefighters. He obviously did not listen to the second reading contribution by the shadow minister pointing out this is a real and present issue in the lives of firefighters and their families. It was an opportunity to show statesmanlike behaviour, but instead we had the shouting political rhetoric we are so used to from the member for Fong Lim.
I move that the Assembly condemns the CLP for a year of failures including:
the cost of living skyrocketing while wages growth drops to lowest in the nation
cutting education and health services to Territorians
Territory unemployment rising every single month this year
violent alcohol-related crime up by 17%, alcohol-related domestic violence up 24%, and alcohol laws a miserable failure
vital public servants being sacked, including teachers and child protection workers
renaming shires as regional councils and claiming it is your greatest achievement
supporting Tony Abbott’s plan to follow your lead and make further cuts in the Northern Territory
reneging on the gas to Gove deal and hurting Territory business.
This motion touches on some of the failures of this pathetic CLP government. Whether I am entering a lift in this parliament, shopping down the street, attending meetings with businesses, meeting with non-governmental organisations, listening to the concerns of teachers, nurses, and people working across the broader healthcare system or the allied health service delivery system, or the mums and dads trying to make ends meet, they all consistently say, ‘When can we get these ‘expletives’ out?’ They are desperate to see the end of the worst government since self-government.
It is a crying shame this government steeps itself in its cloak of arrogance and ignores the cries of its own community - the cries it should be hearing loud and clear. When it came to the arbitrary increase the government effected on Territorians which rapidly increased the cost of living through the power and water tariff changes, they say it was the carbon tax. What a disgrace. It is a joke. People can do the sums, they are not silly. They say, ‘Hang on, the CLP talks about a carbon tax at 10% which we were compensated for, yet they hiked up our power and water costs by 20%, going on to 30%, plus water and sewerage’. People can do their sums; they get it. However, the contentious arrogance of this government wishes to treat Territorians like they are fools.
People are not fools. Every time they receive their power and water bills - an average household is paying $2000 a year. Many people are getting quarterly bills, and if you have a large household it is no surprise for people whose bills were around $1000 to be up around $1700. That is a real and present reminder every quarter of how this government was happy to inflict pain on Territorians.
You have to question, given the headlong pursuit of commercialisation of the Power and Water Corporation, the former Treasurer, who was sacked as Treasurer or walked out - the stories coming from that Budget Cabinet meeting were quite murky - the member for Araluen, when explaining to the public the power and water price increases, said it needed to operate on a commercially viable basis. I pointed out consistently, and will continue to point out to the government, although it falls on cloth ears, power and water are essential services. Residents and businesses alike do not have a choice about whether they turn the power on, whether they use the sewerage system, or whether they use water. They are essential services. Our geography is too vast and our population too small for there to be a commercially sustainable return on that operation. No, this government wants to fatten the pig before it takes it to market for sale.
The weasel words of the Chief Minister in Question Time ruling out sale of the Power and Water Corporation are cute because he never rules out the partial sale of any asset of the Power and Water Corporation. I have been on the public record consistently saying the government is preparing to sell Weddell Power Station. We see people coming to the Northern Territory with close connections to the CLP who are in the energy business. People talk; it is a small jurisdiction. People are aware of who has been tracking in and out of the Northern Territory in the last month.
There is no doubt splitting Power and Water into different entities - generations, networks and water/sewerage - is preparation for the sale or lease, or part thereof, of networks, generations, or both.
We do not know exactly what is going on because of the deceit visited upon us by this government. Time will tell whether or not they have, yet again, been treating Territorians like fools when they, ultimately, publicly go to the sale of assets owned by the taxpayer. It is outrageous behaviour but they do not care. They are hell-bent on governing the way they want to, irrespective of what the community says or wants. They do so without a mandate.
The CLP did not go to the 2012 election saying, ‘By the way, if we are elected we will sell off some of the assets of Power and Water’. They obviously, deliberately and completely, reneged on the promise to cut the cost of living. By increasing the tariff for power and water they have ratcheted up the cost of living. Their own budget books explain the cost of living increase is impacted upon by the tariff increase decision made by the CLP government, yet they choose to ignore this. They choose to pretend that fact does not exist in their own budget book.
You are to be condemned for the skyrocketing cost of living and Territorians, every time they receive their power and water bills, will condemn you. That will continue all the way through to the 2016 Northern Territory general election, if you last that long. There are deep divisions within the government ranks.
At the same time we see inflation increasing from 2.9% to 3.1% up to 3.9% - we have a rapid increase in inflation in the Northern Territory while it is not increasing elsewhere in our nation - real wages are being supressed by this government. We have a round of enterprise bargaining agreements right now where the government is offering no more than a 3% pay increase. That is a real cut in wages for Territorians. Evidence has shown, through data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, that wages growth is dropping to the lowest in the nation.
Then we have the cutting of education and health services to Territorians. You only had to witness the debate in Question Time today to see how this government has sunk to new lows. Yesterday the Education minister was saying, ‘There will be a nett loss of 35 teachers to the education system so that is okay’. Today in Question Time we had the Education minister pretending, ‘No teachers will be cut or sacked from the education system’. That is despite the fact our senior schools in the Territory are losing five teachers, despite the fact our middle schools are losing five teachers, and they have this great pretence it is okay because they are increasing teacher numbers in our primary school system. Yet, when you go through the list of schools and their notified cuts to teacher numbers, you can highlight all the primary schools were numbers are being reduced. When I look at my own electorate, two of my three public primary schools are losing portions of a teacher position, not gaining as the government would have you believe.
In Question Time today, we pointed out losses at Maningrida and Nyirripi. During Question Time yesterday we pointed out the loss at Angurugu. There is no honesty from this government around those losses, just a pretence it is all, somehow, magically made up when the data we are referring to comes from the Education department. Then there is this pretence it has nothing to do with the Education minister, it is up to principals. No, it is not up to principals. If the principals had their way there would be no cuts to teachers because they know if you cut teachers you cut subjects.
Right now at Casuarina Senior College students are being asked to complete a survey about subject choices for next year. The survey is to inform the school of what teachers and subjects to cut. It is a disgrace, when even the students of a senior college in Darwin realise they are being asked, essentially, to decide the fate of their teachers. How low does the government go? New depths have been found by this CLP government.
More will be said on cuts to education. In Question Time today the Education minister said many foolish things. Much more will be said; this debate has just started to gain momentum. The community will gather outside Parliament House tomorrow and rally against the cuts to education. Far too much is at stake - future opportunities for our children currently in the education system who rely on those teachers for improved learning outcomes. Cutting teachers reduces teacher contact time with students. Cutting those grants to challenging behaviours and special needs is impacting on the education system. Removing the ICT support unit, which the Education minister today tried to pretend has not occurred, has a direct impact on a teacher’s ability to keep pace with ICT changes in the classroom delivering improved learning for students.
All these things are compounding. All your horrendous chickens are coming home to roost when it comes to delivery of education in the Territory.
What could be a cornerstone of growth for prosperity and strengthening our culture, if you look at the Framing the Future objectives, is education. Yet, it does not rate a mention in the 14 objectives laid out in the Framing the Future document of the CLP government. How can you have 14 objectives to be achieved in future plans for the Northern Territory and not include education? Extraordinary!
In health services, you just had to look at the behaviour of the Chief Minister today - how despicable! I presented a petition signed by 73 nurses who work in the emergency department of Royal Darwin Hospital who say that department is in crisis. They use the word ‘crisis’ in their petition. For the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory to laugh, mock and dismiss that petition because there were only 73 signatures - they are nurses who work in the emergency department of Royal Darwin Hospital. To mock, dismiss and laugh at that is truly appalling. I will read the petition, just in case the Health minister has not bothered to pass it on to the Chief Minister:
- This petition is made by the Royal Darwin Hospital Emergency Department nurses to demand the practice of double-bunking two or more patients in one bay stops immediately. Double-bunking prevents emergency nursing and medical staff from being able to practice safely within the guidelines of APRA. Patients have a right to privacy, confidentiality and, of utmost importance, safe care. This practice of double-bunking is a danger to patients and nursing staff.
- We demand that the hospital and ED have a functional escalation plan and that ED is supported by the rest of the hospital through this crisis. The fact that patients are awaiting admission from ED to the wards for extended periods is a hospital-wide issue. As signatories to this petition, we respectfully request that you address our demands to enable us to continue to provide safe quality care to the public.
When you have nurses from the emergency department signing a petition and calling on the government for action because it is in crisis, you ought to listen and work with them to improve safe care arrangements at the emergency department. For the Minister for Health to pretend today the opposition is proposing you take a patient from the emergency department and put them into the medi-hotel shows how bizarre this government is in its responses. Quite obviously, we are not.
We heard that, in July, 70 people were waiting for beds in the hospital. We also heard on any given day there are 20 to 30 people waiting for acute beds in Royal Darwin Hospital. You have a genuine, real and present problem. Sometimes it is difficult to find a solution to a problem, particularly when it comes to the care of patients, but the solution is there. It was built and constructed under Labor governments. The medi-hotel was built to reduce bed blocks in acute wards - people who need care, but not the high-level care required in acute beds, decanted into the medi-hotel, a pre- and post-hospital option.
Every nurse at the hospital will tell the government, if they care to listen, that needs to happen. The 100 beds sitting idle because of the failed mandatory alcohol rehab system of this government need to be used as intended, as built, to decant from the beds into the medi-hotel.
We are not talking about people going from the emergency department straight into the medi-hotel. We are talking about patients who are currently bed blocking for a variety of reasons. The minister talks about aged care. She condemns the fact there have been sanctions across nursing homes in Darwin and blames that for bed block, whilst the Chief Minister blames the detention centre.
An elderly person said to me, when hearing the Health minister complain about the sanctions and blame that for bed block, ‘Does she realise the sanctions are there to ensure appropriate care of the elderly in aged-care homes? To rail against the sanctions and demand they be lifted is abrogating her responsibilities and not understanding the care elderly people require in nursing homes.’
The medi-hotel could be used to deal with the aged-care bed block in RDH; it is an appropriate nursing setting. It could be used for the many patients from outlying areas across the Northern Territory and remote communities who are not well enough to go home but do not need the high level of care required in the acute bed wards of Royal Darwin Hospital. They are in those beds because the medi-hotel is not available.
You have created this crisis in health. It is of your making; however, pretend otherwise to your shame. The crisis in health extends to the damage occurring through removal of the BDR and the fact people have gone back onto the grog with a vengeance. The crisis in health is occurring to individuals with chronic alcoholism, and we have seen a spike in violent crime since the BDR was removed, all being ignored by the Northern Territory government. They pretend it is okay, they have it under control because property crime is under control and it is all good. It is not all good. People are feeling the real pain of the government’s failed alcohol policies. Barkly is a horrendous example of an escalation in violent crime since the Banned Drinker Register was removed. Turn your attention to Katherine, Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs and you will see all these places are suffering because of the failures of this arrogant CLP government. They cannot envisage any other government could have done anything good for Territorians. Only they - they believe in their arrogance - have the right solutions to issues. Territorians are feeling the brunt of this arrogance every day.
With rising unemployment while in an economic boom phase you know something has gone terribly wrong. When you listen to Territory businesses across the construction sector that are downsizing - engineering businesses, civil contractors, plumbers, sparkies - they have all consistently told us how they cannot stand the CLP government because it is hurting their business. They have put off staff just to keep their business afloat, and they point to the dramatic reduction in the government spend on repairs and maintenance, minor new works and its capital program. The only things left in the capital program are items the Labor government put on the capital program and funded. The large funding sitting in the capital program is Commonwealth funds. However, if you listen to the political rhetoric, the mantra chanted from the other side, Labor has not done anything for Territorians, despite the fact the bulk of the capital program funding comes from the federal Labor government.
Then we had the debate around sacking public servants. It is extraordinary a government would pretend public servants have not been sacked when you do not have to go very far to meet someone who has lost their job because of the CLP. I am not talking about executives, I am talking about people earning around $110 000. Across agencies people have lost jobs, yet this government pretends public servants have not been sacked – extraordinary.
As they are now going after teachers, and we have seen massive job losses in child protection, you wonder where their priorities are. I guess we have seen plenty of examples of that because they can find $300 000 for the Alice Springs Golf Club while they cut $280 000 from the education disability needs budget. That screams their priorities. They can afford to fly to a concert in the Kimberley together and have a good time, while they cut the education budget and staff out of child protection.
I remember watching the Chief Minister’s media conference when he was sworn in after he knifed the member for Blain, who had won the election for the CLP. He said, ‘We will have fun. We are here to have fun.’ He and his mates might be having fun, but Territorians are certainly not having fun while losing their jobs under this government. Businesses are not having fun while scrambling to keep their doors open and save their livelihoods.
Another reneging of a commitment at the election - there are so many - was, ‘Don’t worry, we will give you back your own council’. You said that to Ampilawatja and Kalkarindji, and mentioned it across the communities of the Northern Territory. Instead, a year in, you have renamed shires to regional councils. The shires have said publically it was just a renaming exercise with no boundary changes, no small councils back, yet the Minister for Local Government said, ‘That is our greatest achievement’. I guess she would say that because she does not get on with the Chief Minister. She would not see the person she described as a ‘little boy’ having achieved anything in his tenure as Chief Minister. There will be more on that later.
There is little doubt they are supporting Tony Abbott, their Canberra master. During Question Time, you saw how much of a puppet the Chief Minister is for Tony Abbott. Their plan will see further cuts in the Territory.
To his shame, the Treasurer would not even write to Tony Abbott seeking a written assurance we would not lose $2.2bn in GST funding when he follows through on the deal with his Liberal Premier mates down south to change the GST funding formula to per capita so GST dollars are stripped away from the Territory. The Treasurer would not stand up for the Territory, write to Tony Abbott, and seek reassurance around our $2.2bn GST funding. If it was not under threat, why not write the letter? Why not get the response in writing we seek as a reassurance? Julie Bishop, Deputy Leader of the Opposition federally, gave it away on radio in Western Australia saying the deal had been done with the Liberal state Premiers.
To his shame, in this motion we are condemning the Chief Minister’s decision to renege on the gas to Gove deal. The economic contribution of that region to the Northern Territory economy is $800m. Of that, $200m to $300m goes into the pockets of Territory businesses in Darwin and Palmerston. Yet, on a public holiday, Show Day, the Chief Minister, without a heads up to the company involved, Pacific Aluminium, dropped the bombshell that they are reneging on the 300 PJ of gas proclaimed by the former Chief Minister, the member for Blain. If you were not doing the wrong thing - you knew you were - you would not have dropped it on the public holiday Show Day, you would have done it on a working day with the company sitting alongside you, explaining exactly what was happening and how it is in the best interests of keeping the refinery open - the 1000 direct jobs, about 1000 indirect jobs, and the opportunities there. You knew you were doing the wrong thing. You know you were damaging our sovereign-risk reputation at the same time with this behaviour, yet you continue to pursue these bizarre ways of managing the Territory. It is damaging and hurting our reputation.
The chopping and changing of Chief Ministers and ministers, the chaos existing within the CLP, everyone across the public service looks at it - I would not say everyone, I daresay some pockets are saying, ‘It is what it is, we are getting on with it’. However, public servants are saying, ‘This is unmitigated chaos’. They are good; they are hard-working and will serve the government of the day without fear or favour.
Without fear or favour is a curious thing because there is no doubt fear exists across sectors of Northern Territory society when it comes to the punitive way the CLP responds to criticism. Whether I am listening to the concerns of business, their industry peak organisations, specific non-government organisations or their peak, NTCOSS, people who work across the public sector for different agencies, or people in the regions or urban centres, I hear a consistent theme, ‘I cannot speak out because they will cut my funding. I cannot speak out because I will lose my job.’
The fear is real, it exists, and, from my point of view, is understandable. I consistently say to people, ‘You may not be able to speak out but we will. We will speak on your behalf.’ The government will pretend that is something made up by Labor. Pretend to your folly, because we are giving you the words Territorians say to us.
Madam Speaker, I condemn this government.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, one could be forgiven for thinking the sun did not come up this morning. Whilst I appreciate the nature of opposition is to oppose, to rant without offering too much by way of substantive argument is, essentially, a waste of this House’s time. Nevertheless, we will do the Leader of the Opposition the courtesy of responding.
I will start where she finished, on the fear she describes as crystallising in the public service which leaves public servants bereft of an opportunity to express themselves. I walk through my departments and talk to many of the people putting into place the policies of the Northern Territory government. The first time I walked through the Corrections department in Admiralty House, there was a great deal of surprise to see a minister on the shop floor. It caused some apprehension. It is something I have continued to do since becoming a minister of the Crown, and now my appearance on the shop floor, both in the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice, and the Corrections department, is not met with fear.
I have met public servants enthusiastic to tell me how they are going about their business. These are AO4s and AO5s who want to tell me what they are doing. They are interested in what is happening, in the policies of government, and some of them will say they disagree or agree with government policy. Generally, they are enthusiastic about what they are doing, particularly in the area of Corrections. It is a great delight to walk through the prisons and administrative sections of the department and see the enthusiasm with which the services of the Corrections department are being delivered, and that people are taking to some fundamental policy changes. Normally, change is a driver of fear, but in my experience, particularly in the Corrections department, it has been a source of enthusiasm. I love the fact public servants will enthusiastically tell me what they are doing.
The experience described by the Leader of the Opposition does not accord with the experience I have when walking through the departments. I do not doubt, amongst some of her union mates, there are people who will seek every opportunity to deride a conservative government no matter what we do, in the same fashion a Labor Party will seek to deride a conservative government no matter what we do. We could walk across a swimming pool and they would still find some reason to complain, probably that we have left our sandals on the other side. They would find a reason to complain about whatever, and this is typical of the Labor Party.
I do not mind being criticised; we are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I do not mind that we live in a democracy in which Her Majesty enjoys the service of a loyal opposition. However, use the opportunity to give us a more constructive approach than you are giving. Moreover, give Territorians a more constructive approach.
I will pick up on some of the points: cost of living skyrockets whilst wages growth drops to the lowest in the nation. We are currently engaged in a potential industrial dispute. We are trying to engage in a settled EBA and, as a matter of good faith, the first offer we gave was the only offer we could in that EBA negotiation, given our parlous financial circumstances - 3%. Tracking it out over four years, it is 12.55% if you allow for the compounding component. Moreover, the CPI over that four-year period is under 12% so it is real wages growth we are offering. However, because there is a federal election in the air, the mates of the Labor Party have determined to take this on as a fight.
I will give you an example of why we know this. Prior to the election being announced we negotiated the EBA with Power and Water workers, which was almost in the same terms as is being offered to the CPSU, and they accepted it.
Before the election was announced the union accepted the proposed EBA, and for a much shorter period than the one proposed for the CPSU. The election was announced and, all of a sudden, there was a wonderful opportunity to make hay and that is what is happening. The union movement, which represents about 25% of the public service, is now withholding from the average public servant a pay increase of $80 a fortnight so it can play games to support its Canberra masters. Members opposite suggest we are marching to the beat of Tony Abbott’s drum.
If this is not about getting Kevin Rudd re-elected, what is? It is all about getting Kev re-elected and trying to cause as much mischief as possible. That is why we see an organisation representing a small fraction of the public service agitating so aggressively and depriving the average public servant of $80 a fortnight from their pay packet. If this is not resolved, in the next fortnight the average public servant in the Northern Territory will have lost $160, and in the fortnight after they will have lost $240, then $320, then $400 and so on infinitum whilst they hold out.
This is the penalty being paid by the average public servant and it is not good enough. Whilst the cost of living is skyrocketing according to the Leader of the Opposition, she is still engaged in, and in bed with, the same organisation which has a constitutional duty to support the Labor Party; it is written into their constitution. That is depriving the average Territory public servant of $80 a fortnight from their pay. They then say they represent the workers.
Education budgets have increased. I note from the paper dropped on the table today by the leader of opposition business when he said, ‘There is a small cut coming out there. You can see $280 000 coming out from services’, but if you look at the bottom line there was an increase. It was not a government document; it was an answer to a question on notice. There was an increase of $2.8m. We are spending more in education than ever and they choose to ignore that. They took one figure from a list in a document; they pick up one thing and that is it. That is the shock and awe of this mob opposite.
They talk about unemployment going up. I love the way they gloss over and massage the statistics to suit their argument.
There is nothing better than the allegation that violent alcohol-related crime is up by 17% - they are not even comparing the quarter - and domestic violence is up by 24%. It is curious the member for Barkly is not here, he is probably hanging his head in shame because the member for Barkly explained in detail to this House why those figures were increasing, and explained it as a product of Labor government policy - government policy we adopted and continued to pursue it even harder. Their policy drove it up.
We could easily have reduced those numbers by 10% by winding up Project Respect. The police would have returned to a policy of dealing with domestic violence cases only under domestic violence legislation. There would have been a sharp decrease in the number of assaults associated with domestic violence and we would have achieved our 10%.
You come to a crossroads when you deal with these issues in government and ask yourself a question, the same question the Labor Party asked, ‘Do we change a policy for the sake of statistics, or do we continue a policy for the sake of protecting Territorians?’ We came up with the same answer as the Australian Labor Party: it is not about the numbers or massaging statistics, it is about protecting Territorians.
We are looking harder than they did in the same places they started by continuing policies they promoted and knew were driving up domestic violence assault complaints. Therefore, they know it. It was described in detail by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in this House last week. For that reason, it is more than a little mischievous for them suddenly to come into this House and rant about numbers when they know what is behind the numbers and what is driving them. Interestingly, when I was on that side of the House, I heard them explain exactly what I am explaining now when I raised questions. They are stirring up as much trouble as they can around these figures.
Crime in the Territory has been reduced by 5%. It is not the 10% we aimed for, but 5% is better than what they managed. In fact, we have seen a sharp reduction in property crime. The Leader of the Opposition believes all property is theft, therefore she has scant regard for people’s property. However, property crime is down nearly 10%. We are proud of that because we believe property should be protected. It is nice to know we were close to our 10% figure, something they could not dream of in their wildest imaginings. Nevertheless, we had the temerity to suggest we could set a target like that and went after it and, proudly, were close to achieving it. It is much closer than any target they ever set, but they were not good at setting targets for themselves because that would have meant committing to something rather than some nebulous statement that you were setting out to achieve an aspirational outcome. That is the type of language we heard from the members opposite.
The business of public servants being sacked is a furphy, and they know it. It was completely and clearly explained to members opposite during the estimates process to the point of exhaustion where they had no further questions. They could not get their heads around it, but, nevertheless, it was explained. No public servant earning under $110 000 has been sacked. Contracts have ended, yes, but contracts, by their very nature, are not permanent documents or permanent arrangements. People earning over $110 000 have been moved on. We are not the only government in history to move people on.
Do you remember Margaret Banks, Leader of the Opposition? Margaret was terminated in a most unceremonious fashion and most unjustifiable way. However, the members opposite would like to expunge these incidents out of their mind’s eye.
Let us talk about a government in crisis. Who remembers the brink of an election we were brought to because a government was falling apart left right and centre because it could not hold itself together? We had the execution of a former Chief Minister. Remember the great CLP killer of 2001, summarily executed in a most unceremonious fashion and, all of a sudden, they think they have some righteous high ground to comment on other people. They are hypocrites when they come into this House and try to set themselves up as some glorious institution. They are hypocrites when they suggest they are the perfect substitute government in the Northern Territory. Above all else, they left us the $5.5bn projected debt. They would be, if still in government, ramping that up way beyond the projected debt because they cannot contain themselves. It is beyond Labor fibre to contain themselves.
When you ask where they would make savings, how they would balance the books, they say, ‘It will happen in the better times’. There is no projection of better times in any budget book they produced. The projected debt continued to increase, and the former Treasurer continued to rack it up on the credit card. If you have the audacity, whilst there is a Labor government in this jurisdiction, to suggest debt needs to be reined in, you are an economic rationalist. Economic rationalism is an insult, according to the left, but the counterpoint to economic rationalism is economic irrationalism. That is how they govern, and how they believe a jurisdiction should be governed. The pixies pay for it in the end. The pixies and fairies from the bottom of the garden come with magical buckets of gold which they sprinkle around and the Treasury books are magically returned to surplus. I cannot understand how they could believe that is a good idea for the long-term future.
I remember the protest out the front when a firie described having to hold the hand of a little girl who was dying, and he wanted to be properly supported to do that job. I agree. That was a touching speech. If I had capacity to respond to him at the time – the union movement was there in force screaming at anyone who tried to enter into the debate I would have said, ‘I agree, but if we spend all the money now, at some point the fire officer who replaces you will have to hold her hand for three hours because there is no money for the fire service because we are paying the interest bill’.
However, we do not think about those things because it is the immediacy of dealing with what is happening, which is the hallmark of the Labor government. It is a political problem right now, we have to deal with it right now, let us rack it up on the credit card. If you suggest you should contain or restrain that you are heartless, an economic rationalist, and a villain of the lowest order. I care about today, but I also care about the future. The future is about how you plan today. I could quote any number of Aesop’s Fables to support this, but I would not bore the House with such tedium.
This is a nasty, relentless diatribe which does not deserve the time this House has dedicated to it. However, that is the nature of this House. It is a House of debate and we welcome the democratic processes. However, this motion cannot and will not be supported.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Mr Deputy Speaker, today we debate a motion about a year of failure. We are one year into the term of the CLP government. They had a 100-day action plan, which has not been too successful. The first page of the 100-day action plan said they would immediately remove all problem drunks.
As we debated last week, less than one problem drunk has been dealt with in a year. The CLP’s own measure of success was 5%. They said a measure of success was 18 problem drunks picked up; 5% of 18 is less than one problem drunk in a year.
Territorians are angry with the current government because of broken promises; the fact the CLP made promise after promise knowing full well they would break those promises after being elected.
The CLP knew the state of the budget books before the election. We sat through six days of estimates recently. All members of this Chamber, even new members, would appreciate the level of information you get through the estimates process. There is no doubt the then opposition, now government, knew exactly what the budget books said before the election. They also had the PEFO. The position of the budget was known before the election, yet the CLP made election promises they knew they would break. They said one thing before the election and did something completely different after, which sticks in the craw of Territorians. It upset a significant number of Territorians.
The member for Karama, the Leader of the Opposition, spoke about power and water prices and the cost of living. We have often debated that in this Chamber. It was remarkable that the member for Port Darwin, when talking about cuts to education, highlighted one area where they have received extra money. Yes, they have received money to help pay for power and water tariffs the CLP increased. It was quite a remarkable thing for the member for Port Darwin to highlight amongst the lists of cuts to special needs students, to children with extreme behaviours and to VET in Schools. What did he highlight? The increase in payments to schools to meet the power and water bills the CLP increased. Perhaps the member for Port Darwin did not peruse the full list or realise what he was highlighting when he mentioned an increase in one area, which was to pay for the CLP’s power and water bills.
People in education, and other sectors, are not happy. Much of the anger stems from an election promise from the CLP which said, ‘Your job is safe’. It was a personal pledge from the CLP, and the then Leader of the Opposition, who was briefly Chief Minister. He personally wrote to public servants saying, ‘If you are on the front line of police, education or health, regardless of how much you earn, I promise your job is safe, I guarantee it’. That was an election promise and a personal pledge from the CLP to public servants, ‘Your job is safe’. Yet, we know teachers who have already lost their jobs.
We have debated what jobs might be in schools next year, but let us not forget there was a loss of teachers between 2012 and 2013. For example, at Casuarina Senior College, seven teachers were lost between the CLP being elected and the 2013 school term. Legal Studies and IT were the subjects lost.
We are now talking about further cuts to education by the CLP government when we debate what will happen in schools next year. We should not forget the teachers and subjects already gone because of decisions by the government to break their promise of, ‘Your job is safe’. There are fewer teachers in schools today. You cannot get any more front line than police, education or health.
Another group of people on the front line are the firefighters who were in today. They were not happy with the government’s response to a proposed bill to help cover them for cancer they may develop in their job.
Firefighters deal with trauma all the time, so I do not want to say it is the most trauma they will deal with, but at a time when they are stressed, the family is stressed, and they are going through a difficult circumstance, by reversing the onus of proof and assuming, in the first instance, this developed in the workplace, unless the employer or insurance company proves otherwise - it is extremely stressful to prove they developed cancer in the job.
Often the only way to prove it is after going through treatment with doctors, specialists and surgeons. It comes toward the end of the process, not the beginning. You deal with stress around sick leave, finding out and dealing with it, and paying for it out of your own pocket without any support. We want to ensure they have support at that time. The firefighters are not happy, and the government has a chance, and we are prepared to give them a chance, to change their position through the review being undertaken and join with the firefighters. They put their hand out - before they turn their backs - saying, ‘Let us do this together’. They are not happy, and that is a developing issue.
We have had several debates on education in this House. We wanted to debate education cuts on Tuesday but, unfortunately, that debate was gagged. You cannot gag teachers, parents and students. The AEU is doing some good work, and there is also a group called Students Left Behind, which is a collective of parents, teachers and students who are also making their voices heard. They are working with the union, and others, to get their message out. They are organising a rally for 4.30 pm Thursday, and are putting out fliers which I am sure members have seen.
The Students Left Behind flier says:
- The Northern Territory government is slashing $250m from education over the next four years. At least 180 teachers gone. What will this mean for students? Lack of subject choice, larger class sizes, less attention in class, limited access to subject specialists, overworked and stressed teachers, a decline in results, many programs unavailable, particularly for those with extra needs.
Australia is already slipping down the international education league table. The NT needs more funding not less. This is our children’s future at serious risk. Please support our efforts to protect students. Talk to your MLA, express your dissatisfaction to the media, sign our petition, make contributions to our discussion.
That is the flier from Students Left Behind and the AEU. If the minister has not seen it, I would be happy to table it or give him a copy. The rally is happening on Thursday at 4.30 pm. Parents, teachers and students will make very clear their concerns around cuts to education and, in particular, cuts to teachers, because it is a broken election promise.
Teachers would have no doubt, going to the last election based on the words of the CLP, their jobs were safe. Unfortunately, the government’s actions have let teachers down. As much as we feel for the teachers, let us measure the outcome. We will see fewer subjects, crowded classrooms, and less individual attention for children in those classes. The outcome of fewer teachers is not good.
The CLP has broken faith with Territorians and betrayed a trust in its failure to keep an election promise that frontline workers would be safe then, shockingly, sacked them. It has also betrayed the contract all political parties should have with parents and students to provide a quality public education so all children have an equality of opportunity through equality in education.
There is no simpler responsibility to a government than to do better for the next generation. There is no better way to do that than by providing quality public education, which is at the core of this debate. Governments should ensure quality public education is available to all. Parents can have a choice between public and private schools, but it should be a choice between two good schools.
The CLP is putting this choice under threat by cutting teachers, services and grants within education. They knew the Territory’s budget before the last election. They knew when they made election promises that they would break them. That upsets Territorians; I cannot put it any more simply. When you say one thing before the election and do another after, you are judged harshly.
The CLP cuts to education go to the bone. They go beyond seeking efficiencies and make detrimental and unforgivable changes to our schools. The CLP is sacking teachers. You do not get much more front line than a teacher in a classroom. Teachers, along with other frontline workers - police, firies, nurses, doctors - were promised their jobs would be safe; they were not safe. The CLP is sacking teachers, cutting teachers’ pay, and does not defend teachers from attacks. The CLP is offering teachers a pay deal which is less than inflation, a cut in real wages.
Teachers are sensitive to the false accusation they have too much downtime. Rather than defending teachers, the minister joined the chorus agreeing teachers have too much downtime. Minister, teachers reject accusations they are lazy. We reject accusations teachers are lazy. Minister, teachers want you to defend them. I welcome you, if you rise in this debate, to defend teachers and retract your accusation that they have too much downtime.
The minister and the department have spoken about ratios, formulas and full-time equivalents. This hides the real cuts and the real cost of cuts. Teachers on the front line seeing their colleagues go estimate the impact of these cuts will total 180 teachers at least, which will be devastating. We will have fewer teachers, crowded classrooms and fewer subjects. It is already happening. The loss of seven teachers from Casuarina Senior College in 2012-13 saw the loss of Legal Studies, IT and other subjects. It is already happening in our schools and we are talking about further cuts.
Parents and students are extremely concerned, particularly parents with students in the primary school years because you do not stop learning at Year 6, you go into Year 7. The majority of students go through to Year 12, and the majority of parents want their children to go through to Year 12. Parents of primary school kids are looking ahead to see what is happening in our middle and senior schools and are extremely worried about the future. They want to know their children will get a quality public education when they go into middle and senior school. Those areas of our schooling system are under attack.
The CLP is cutting grants and programs. It is cutting grants dealing with extreme behaviours. Our teachers can do it tough sometimes; we all know that. The minister has acknowledged it. We should not tolerate extreme behaviour in our schools which affects the safety of teachers or students. The minister has previously said that, so I do not understand why they cut grants to deal with extreme behaviours when we know the minister agrees teachers and students should not tolerate an unsafe workplace. We agree on this, yet the CLP is cutting grants dealing with extreme behaviours of students in classes.
The CLP is cutting Vocational Education and Training in our schools, a failure of vision. The CLP is failing to prepare our current generation of students for the future opportunities of our modern economy. You should not be cutting into VET. You should be developing the current generation to embrace the work opportunities of a modern economy in the Northern Territory.
The CLP is cutting grants which help schools purchase specialist equipment and run programs for disabled students. The CLP has almost halved funding for the special needs program. We do not understand why you would target this area of schooling. We do not understand many of the education cuts, but you would skip past this and say, ‘Do not worry about that one. Let that one slide.’ However, $280 000 is gone. I find it hard to believe the CLP, in the entire Territory government budget, could not find $280 000 ...
Mr Vowles: Alice Springs Golf Club!
Mr GUNNER: As the member for Johnston said, $300 000 for the Alice Springs Golf Club. I do not want to pick on the golf club, but I would have chosen the special needs students and their grant program and fund the $280 000. You have $20 000 in change for the golf club. Perhaps the CLP has its priorities wrong when making decisions like this.
The member for Johnston has spoken in great detail about the grant to the Alice Springs Golf Club and how the CLP made that decision. It makes it harder to understand when you see a cut to special needs kids. The list, tragically, goes on, and the victims of these bad decisions are our students. We will have more students in a class and less support for teachers. That is the effect of these cuts. It is becoming harder for a teacher to do their job.
By reducing teacher numbers - this will be a little complicated unless you are back at school - you will see a change in the way lines are done in schools - how the rosters and timetables are done. It will put pressure on teachers and principals working out how they manage the timetable and how they make decisions. The minister has put these decisions onto principals - which subjects and which teachers go.
We have spoken with many principals who are extremely concerned about how they make these decisions. They realise attrition will not take care of this, and know even if you rely on attrition and it leads to the right number of teachers going - if by some chance the right number of teachers leave by natural attrition - nothing guarantees the teachers they lose will help cover specialist subjects. Principals know they have a responsibility to the students in that cohort to ensure they provide the right specialist classes. They have an extremely hard decision to make, even with attrition, which might mean they no longer have a manual arts teacher in a middle school. ‘We need a manual arts teacher. Somehow I’ll have to find a way to get a manual arts teacher into our school.’
They have given example after example of the pressure they are under. The conversations they are having with parents and students are causing extreme stress. I am sure the minister would be aware of this. ANSTEL, the principal’s association, was already worried about the emotional state and wellbeing of principals before this was put on a principal’s shoulder. I am sure the minister has been given the same thing I have, which is the health and wellbeing survey. This looked at a range of recommendations for principals across Australia and deals with some of the stresses principals are under.
This was done without them having to make decisions about which subjects and teachers go from their school. To read from one of the recommendations:
- Principals and teachers deal daily with parents’ greatest hopes and deepest fears: the lives and potential futures of their children. Whilst this is recognised in the law of loco parentis, the emotional aspects of this condition remain under-researched … This means high levels of emotion are attached to many aspects of school functioning, and principals have to learn how to deal with this on the job, rather than through systematic preparation. This can be particularly difficult for principals who must communicate …
Motion agreed to.
Mr GUNNER: I will start that sentence again.
- This can be particularly difficult for principals who must communicate the way education policy is being developed and practised to parents, in emotionally charged situations.
We spoke about cuts to the extreme behaviour grants and touched upon this in Question Time. The most pertinent example of high school emotional behavioural needs in the bush relates to the ongoing tensions and assault of teachers in Angurugu School on Groote Eylandt. The minister is probably aware of other incidents across the Northern Territory, but Angurugu probably highlights it better than most. Those concerns are why the government decision to cut into these grants is disturbing. Given the spike in extreme violence in Angurugu School in recent times, we do not understand why you cut into extreme behaviour grants. We know the union and people from the department visited on Monday trying to fix this. I have no doubt the government is taking it seriously and working on it, yet, at the same time, made a decision to cut into the grants program. A teacher was badly assaulted with a slingshot a fortnight ago at Angurugu. That comes on top of a series of disturbing incidents at the school in recent times, including a teacher being punched, kicked and spat on by a student in the last week of Term 2.
We and the CLP believe - we agree on this - that teachers and students should feel safe at school. We do not understand why you cut into those programs. We also know the importance of having multiple pathways so we can teach all our students at school. When dealing with students with complicated needs we should ensure that does not necessarily affect a student who is following a traditional education path. There are many ways through our school system. It makes no sense that the CLP would cut grants which help schools address extreme behaviours.
However, the part of the system that most deals with difficult students is our middle school system. This was specifically created to deal with students at an extraordinary difficult time in their lives; Years 7, 8, and 9. That is when students are at the greatest risk of dropping out, are disengaged, distracted, and distracting, and where the longest suspensions are served. The national stats show that 80% of long suspensions are served in the middle school years. We can all understand why Years 7, 8 and 9 are the most troublesome years as students are going through a hormonal spurt. We recognise the need to create a middle school system with teachers who are well aware of, and give priority to, retaining and teaching students in those years.
This engagement is at its peak and behaviour is at its most unstable as children try to discover who they are and how they fit into modern society. Therefore, the middle years of school require the most active interventions into a student’s learning and future pathways. You need an incredibly flexible school to deal with different needs from cohort to cohort. When running at their best and fully staffed, middle schools provide alternative streams of education; they do not lump all the students into one class. This ensures students learn at their best, are retained, and make it through to their senior years. These classes are at risk if teacher numbers are cut.
This is what Darwin Middle School highlighted when writing to the minister, me, and to COGSO about the programs which will be lost through the loss of teachers - classes that deal with disengaged kids. Our middle school system has significant needs around providing alternative pathways.
Our senior schools are likely to lose small specialist classes. The ones identified to me are languages, perhaps Japanese. That is an important class but, in some ways, a want. However, in our middle schools, when you lose classes based around disengagement - you need that class. These are the classes middle schools are struggling to fit into their timetable for 2014 with the cut in teacher numbers. The purpose of middle schools is at risk through cuts to teacher numbers in the Northern Territory. That is being said clearly by principals, teachers and parents. They are the ones at risk and we are extremely concerned the point of middle schools is being lost.
With fewer teachers you have less flexibility to adjust to the differing needs of each cohort. Middle schools feel they do not have a champion. They are a new sector performing an important role of retaining our children in the education system, ensuring disengaged kids learn, and kids who are following the traditional education path keep doing that. With cuts to classes, programs are at risk.
One program Darwin Middle School identified was its award winning Good Standing program, a fantastic program. It won an award at the Smart School Awards, which I believe have ended.
Also at risk are most areas of intensive literacy and numeracy intervention - you need a lot of intervention in the middle school years - the school’s Peer Observation and Coaching Performance Enhancement Strategy, several student electives, and some subjects, particularly the arts and languages, as well as student intervention and wellbeing programs. There is a constant theme. A principal recently said they are good pathways not alternative pathways. We are at risk of losing these good pathways in our school and returning to a mainstream traditional set up which defeats the purpose of the middle school system which was to ensure we had that focus and retained kids in those years.
Obviously, our senior schools are under threat at Darwin High School where five teachers a year for four years have been cut, Casuarina has lost three already and will lose five for the next three years. The cuts to our senior schools will affect subject choice. I hope it does not affect the quality of education that students receive because I believe teachers will always do their best in the classroom environment. It definitely will affect subject choices, and teachers will feel much more pressure and have a greater workload trying to deliver classes.
We see risk and threats in our senior years, but in some ways the most disheartening aspect is to see the purpose of middle schools is at risk of being lost through teacher cuts. The incremental targets are one thing, and looking for efficiencies is a good thing, but these measures go way beyond that.
A teacher recently told me they would be prepared to accept the pay cut the minister is offering if he was to reverse the cuts to education. At the end of the day, teachers are following a vocation; they want to educate the children in their care. It was incredible when he said he would accept a pay cut if the minister reversed the cuts in education, including teacher losses, so he could provide the best education for our children. That is a powerful thing for a teacher to say. I am sure many teachers would agree with that.
We support our teachers and will work with them to ensure they can fight this government and we can find some way to reverse these cuts or make some difference to what the CLP is doing. We hope the minister listens and cuts to special needs students are reversed. We hope he reverses the decision and does not cut into teacher numbers in our senior and middle schools next year so we can ensure a quality education system in the Northern Territory.
I commend the motion to the House.
Mr VOWLES (Johnston): Mr Deputy Speaker, tonight I speak on this very important issue. The people of Johnston were promised by the failed CLP candidate that her party would fight to drive down the high cost of living. They said they would tackle this issue head on, bizarrely mentioning in a radio debate that Territorians, especially the people of Johnston, are forced to eat mince at least two to three times a week. I eat mince probably four times a week and love it. They said they would tackle the issue head on. We have seen nothing of the sort.
I have spoken to public housing tenants, seniors and families, and they are all struggling with the increases. I have met people who are leaving Darwin because of it. I know of many families from Jingili who have left the Territory not because they want to, they do not like the lifestyle or do not want their children to grow up here, but because they cannot afford to live here with the rising cost of living, especially due to the power and water increases.
That is a shame as this place is beautiful. We have a great lifestyle and the CLP is destroying it with price rises. Businesses and organisations are all saying, ‘These rising costs are crippling us’. Community groups are worried about meeting the cost of their bills. Some of those community groups have had funding cuts, which are also crippling them.
Let us move to pensioners and pensioner bus fares. Pensioners on fixed low incomes have been compelled to pay $1 to catch a bus. The former Labor government made bus travel free for seniors. I can tell seniors in the Northern Territory we will reverse seniors’ bus fares, this money grab from the CLP government, if we are elected in 2016. We recognise many senior Territorians are doing it tough and this measure could help alleviate the cost of living. The bus fare decision is stopping seniors and pensioners from accessing services they desperately need for their health and wellbeing. I admit that $1 is not very much money for me or anyone in this Chamber, but to our most vulnerable, our seniors who should be looked after, $1 goes a long way.
I have had one service provider tell me their numbers have had a dramatic drop and they can trace it directly to the moment Adam Giles decided to charge pensioners $1 to get on a bus. I still do not understand it and never will. Show some compassion and change this decision. How can we hurt our most frail, marginalised and vulnerable people in our society with these cuts?
Somehow, we still find the money to put a heap of past CLP members of parliament and failed candidates on the payroll on six-figure salaries. I do not get it.
I am deeply concerned about the teacher cuts. My colleague, the member for Fannie Bay, said it all in this debate. I am concerned about Casuarina Senior College in my electorate of Johnston. CSC is a wonderful school, like most other schools around the Northern Territory. It has a proud history, and to hear about the low morale of staff and students because of the cuts in education is saddening. At the end of the day, the students will be disadvantaged by this decision.
I turn to tourism. During the election campaign there was no mention of the forced move of tourism staff, or even moving tourism headquarters to Alice Springs. As I have already mentioned, we are left wondering how on earth this CLP government can justify spending almost $1m moving six people to create a new tourism headquarters in Alice Springs, making the decision at the minister’s whim and without a shred of evidence.
The minister for Tourism issued a strange and confusing media release congratulating Qantas for cutting direct flights from Darwin to Canberra, then congratulating the scrapping of seven flights from Sydney to Uluru to be replaced with four Jetstar flights. It was strange and further proof he is drowning as a minister; he is simply not up to it. We know it on this side of the House, and all your colleagues on that side of the House know it as well. He said I like a fight, in another bizarre rant and rave this afternoon in his tourism wrap. I can tell the minister and the CLP I do like a fight. I like to fight bad decisions, I like to fight for the people of Johnston, and I will fight on behalf of all Territorians.
What a year in sport! The minister cancelled the Super 15 Rugby League deal with the Brumbies. No bang for buck was what the minister stated in a forced and hurried media release ...
Ms Fyles: He does not like rugby.
Mr VOWLES: He does not like rugby, that is true, member for Nightcliff. I say ‘forced and hurried’ because I issued a media release asking if the minister could confirm future deals of Super 15 Rugby in the Northern Territory. Lo and behold, an hour or two later, a media release came out saying he is cancelling the Super 15 Rugby deal.
His comments were no bang for buck for $300 000 per match to see top world-class rugby in the Northern Territory, but the minister’s and Chief Minister’s golf club in Alice Springs got $300 000 in the mini-budget. Even your side commented in the media they did not know how that got through and it could have been spent elsewhere. That is taxpayers’ dollars. Are taxpayers getting their bang for buck? I do not think so. It stinks, everyone knows it stinks, and it will continue to stink and be a blight on you as a minister.
Not only did he cancel the Super 15 matches, he also cancelled the iconic Arafura Games. What is next? Is it BASSINTHEGRASS, the Super Bikes, which is now five to six months late and includes Supercross at an extra $100 000 to taxpayers, or perhaps no future AFL games?
How about taking the AFL game for points match from Darwin to Alice Springs? I believe that is on the cards. The five-year $8m AFL deal this side of the House brought in when we were in government is running out very soon. I, once again, call on the minister for Sport and Recreation to guarantee the future of AFL matches in the Northern Territory.
There are the sporting vouchers the CLP promised during the election, which I welcome. Any initiative to allow children to participate in sport and active recreation is a great initiative. However, with this minister always comes some problem. This was a bungle and parents were coming to me saying they were frustrated they could not use the vouchers for activities such as ballet and scouts as promised by the then Leader of the Opposition, future Chief Minister, then dumped and stabbed Chief Minister, Terry Mills. In a radio interview he said ballet and scouts would be included, but when the Sport Voucher came out it did not include them. Many parents asked what good a $75 Sport Voucher was if you have to pay an extra $2000 a year for higher power bills, and the sports club has raised its fees to cover the increase in running ovals, lights and watering costs.
One sporting organisation advised me - I have said this many times in parliament already - they had an increased power and water bill of $39 000.
Another promise that, before the election, your leader, the man who led you to an election win after 11 years, the bloke stabbed in the back while on international government business, Terry Mills, member for Blain, who sits closer to us, announced in his five-point plan, ‘Problem drinkers will be removed from the streets. Your parks and neighbourhoods will be made clean and safe.’ That is a broken promise if I have ever heard one. Seniors, parents with babies and bus commuters have all contacted my office telling me about the problem drunks in their neighbourhoods. Many people are saying things have become worse since the Banned Drinker Register was scrapped. I am talking about the member for Nightcliff’s neighbourhood, the member for Wanguri’s neighbourhood, and my neighbourhood. We are talking about Wanguri, Nightcliff and Johnston, probably the electorate of Casuarina as well. There is a marked increase in people back on the streets drinking. I still do not understand what the Chief Minister was thinking. The evidence is in front of you wherever you go.
When the former Chief Minister bizarrely advised people to confront drunks, my office received many calls from people shocked about how out of touch he must be with ordinary people. The Country Liberal Party has made decision after decision directly affecting the number of drunks on our streets. You scrapped the BDR with nothing in its place, and then cut funding to non-government organisations that helped with antisocial behaviour and drunks. Violent alcohol-related crime has increased by 17%, and alcohol-related domestic violence is up 24%. These figures are disgraceful. We all need to address this, we all …
Mr Elferink: Not true.
Mr VOWLES: I will give you a rap here, John, so you might want to listen.
We all need to address this issue. Every victim of domestic violence is a failure by all of us in this Chamber. We had the BDR, you have mandatory alcohol rehabilitation. History will judge if it fails, like all the experts have said. If it stops domestic violence - men and women being beaten up by partners in a drunken stupor - I will applaud your policy and give credit where it is due. However, it is already failing with an overwhelming number of drunks back in our parks and on the streets.
I move to my electorate of Johnston and the $1.5m election commitment by the CLP towards the Rapid Creek flooding issue. We understood the importance of keeping families in the area safe and promised $2m to start works immediately on the issue. In the mini-budget last year, the Country Liberal Party broke our promise, allocating only $750 000 for another study - a study that had already been done: a delaying tactic.
In the Chief Minister’s response to my letter dated 5 December, he said:
- The flood study report raised concerns regarding creek and floodplain levels and recommended a resurvey of the area. This survey is complete and new flood maps will be developed with a view to release both the report and the flood extent mapping in December …
That is December 2012:
- This release will be followed by community consultations to ensure a thorough understanding of the new inundation mapping and the potential impacts on the affected community.
I can inform the House that residents of Rapid Creek are still waiting. We have another Wet Season coming, and families in Rapid Creek deserve better than the treatment they are getting from this government. I once again call on the Giles government, as I called on the Mills government, to put politics aside, release the report promised in December 2012, consult with residents, and allocate funding to start works immediately.
The CLP needs to remember you cannot have a string of failures and expect no one to be watching or to remember the pain you are causing. I have spoken to many people who voted CLP at the last election and their sentiments are the same: they regret it. If there was an election tomorrow, there is no way they would put this mob in again. Let time tell.
Mr Deputy Speaker, the CLP will say this motion is all hype, but it reflects what people are saying. In 2016 the people of the Northern Territory will decide.
Ms MANISON (Wanguri): Mr Deputy Speaker, this evening I speak to this important motion which outlines some of the many failures of the CLP government and points to what people have gone through across the Territory over the last 12 months.
Under the new CLP government, Territorians have experienced immense changes above and beyond their expectations. We all appreciate that people expect, with a change of government, the new government will make changes as they implement their policy and put their stamp on government. However, no one was expecting what they have seen over the last year.
It has been a year of disappointment, despair, and dysfunction. It has seen Territorians experience hardship they were not expecting and did not vote for. The CLP went to Territorians with a range of campaign documents outlining their so-called ‘commitment to people’. They had a five-point plan, written contracts, the ‘your job is safe’ flier they gave out and, of course, there was the post-election plan - what they would do in their first 100 days of government.
So far, numerous promises have been broken in a year of failures and disappointments. People have been left feeling betrayed and continue to ask, ‘What is next from this government?’ They are no longer shocked by the mean-spirited decisions with no apparent care for the impact it has on people’s lives. People are constantly saying, ‘This is a one-term government’, and are expressing their despair of having to go through another three years of this.
We are all in this Chamber because we want to see opportunities for Territorians and help them live good lives with their families with a bright future ahead. With this in mind, it seems the new government has lost its way, and I hope we see it get back on a reasonable track.
I have seen changes in and around my electorate and across the Territory in places I have visited. The performance of the Mills and now Giles government is a hot topic and everyone has a view. Everyone has been impacted by this government for a range of different reasons. One of the biggest disappointments of this government is its effort to reduce the cost of living. The CLP went to the election promising to reduce the cost of living, and this is an area where we have seen massive fails.
Instead, what have we seen? Power, water and sewerage up, and rates from local government increasing as they struggle to meet the power and water increases. The cost of goods and services - the cost of a cup of coffee has increased because businesses have increased power and water charges.
The price of buying or renting a home continues to be on the rise. Bus fares for seniors have increased, car registration has increased, and public housing rents have increased for many people. However, airfares for seniors have gone down in value so seniors need to find a bit more money for that.
Sport, something I am heavily involved in, will cost people a bit more, especially when you look at the power and water costs and the impact they have had. For example, Darwin Netball Association is bearing the cost increases this year to give clubs a year to prepare. At the moment, clubs are charged $22 and the association pays $28. They are giving clubs a $6 discount and bearing the cost. Next season it is anticipated the cost to hire a netball court for one hour will be $44; court hire is very expensive. It is a huge cost to clubs and, unfortunately, most clubs - certainly the club I play for, Waratahs - will have to pass that on to players because we already do a lot of fundraising to keep costs down.
We have CPI at 3.9%, the highest in the nation. It is costing more to live in the Territory under this CLP government. This is a broken promise by the government that Territorians are paying for.
It is not uncommon to hear people are leaving because they can no longer afford to live here. It is not uncommon to hear people say if their work did not provide housing or accommodation, or a housing allowance, they could not afford to live here and would leave. Territorians have been let down on the cost of living. The government must work harder in this area and stop putting costs up that are hurting people. It is becoming too much for people to bear.
We all know low-income earners are already suffering and will always find it tough, there is no doubt about that. However, this is moving and the load is getting far too heavy for those in the middle income bracket. We are talking about average families, couples, singles on reasonably good wages, all feeling the pressures of living here more than ever, and you are hitting Territorians hard. Low-income earners have been the group to suffer most under this government, and were targeted initially in some ways. Others have suffered due to flow-on effects this government has not considered as part of its decisions.
I have spoken about public housing rents and the agony that has caused many people. On Monday, I had another family tell me how their rent has fallen behind. This family had their rent inrease by $200 a week. These people are in their mid to late 60s and are paying over $10 000 a year in rent to stay in their public housing dwelling. He is wheelchair bound most of the time as he is quite ill. They worked over their lives and have some money put away because they did not want to be a burden on the system as they became older. However, they are struggling to keep up. Their bills are high and the extra rent is putting more pressure on them. They are finding it extremely tough and will be eating into their life savings much sooner. It is causing great stress when they look down the line. You have increased rents for many Territorians by far too much far too soon and they are struggling and suffering.
Another mean-spirited cost increase the government has not thought through is hospital parking. We know Royal Darwin Hospital is not a place people go for fun or want to spend much time at. Unfortunately, sometimes people have to spend time there and parking costs have been introduced. This would have been an unintended consequence of their actions, and I wrote to the Minister for Health asking her to look into it.
The government did not consider the flow-on effects to families, such as one I have in my electorate which fosters a highly disabled child with medical conditions and is frequently at the hospital. Cost considerations for them - they often go to the hospital. They are not a high income earning family; they do not have much money to spare. I was glad the minister looked into the matter. Have people in those situations been considered?
One of the biggest topics of conversation with public servants has been the shocking year they have experienced and the uncertainty surrounding them. We have many dedicated hard-working public servants in the Territory. We have all had the opportunity to work with many of them. Everybody knows a public servant in the Territory, and they feel incredibly let down by this government because, prior to the election, they were given some pretty firm commitments. First and foremost was that their jobs were safe. Some on the other side stood in front of workplaces handing out this brochure. I will show it again because it was fairly phenomenal, ‘Your Job is Safe’. What happened after election day? What did we see? What has happened?
In the 100-day action plan some fairly firm commitments were given to Territory public servants. One was to support and strengthen the NT Public Sector. On day four the Commissioner for Public Employment was to:
- … review temporary contract positions, and move key workers immediately to permanent contracts.
Mr Elferink: Not true, they did not lose them. You are making stuff up.
Ms MANISON: Not having a job, what is that then?
Mr Elferink: The contract comes to an end and normal attrition.
Ms MANISON: They lost their jobs. You made a commitment their jobs were safe and frontline service jobs were safe. I will get to that in a minute …
Mr Elferink: None of those jobs were terminated prematurely.
Ms MANISON: Good Lord, go into the real world and talk to people.
The only effort we have seen this government make around permanency is making public servants permanently unemployed. In some departments no one can understand why you are decimating the numbers. One is a vital agency protecting the welfare of the most vulnerable children in the Territory: the Office of Children and Families. By your own numbers provided through the estimates process, in the first six months 171 jobs went from the Office of Children and Families. The most vulnerable and innocent children across the Territory have fewer staff in that department to support them and families that need help.
In Education we saw numbers in the first six months reduce by about 180, and there are more jobs to go. We know frontline teachers are losing their jobs and that this number will grow.
We have also seen a bit of language around Power and Water employees. Questions were asked last week about whether or not their jobs were safe and no commitment was given. Power and Water seems to be in their sights as well.
The smaller agencies might not have those high, hefty figures, but there is no doubt they have seen job losses too. They might not be in the three figures, but any job losses, particularly in small teams, affect people. Staff are seeing departments restructured, further restructured, then moved around again.
Teachers are firmly in the sight of the government at the moment. They plan to shed teacher jobs. Having fewer teachers in our schools makes no sense to me or anyone I have spoken to. In my electorate we are experiencing significant growth but are seeing cuts to teachers in our local schools: our middle and senior schools of Dripstone and Casuarina. The feeder areas to those schools include Lyons and the emerging suburb of Muirhead. Houses are coming out of the ground very quickly and many families are moving into them. That means more kids in our suburbs, which means they need to attend one of the local schools.
Yesterday, the Minister for Education made a statement around this which has left me feeling confused. In the northern suburbs, with an influx of Defence families coming in later this year, many houses will be turned off. The keys will be handed over to Defence, and there is the likelihood additional families will be posted to the Northern Territory at Christmas. That means we will need more teachers in some schools.
The statement is coming at a time when we see teacher numbers at Dripstone Middle School and Casuarina Senior College cut next year. We saw teacher numbers cut at Casuarina Senior College in the previous year. The fact is, at Casuarina Senior College we have fewer teachers. We have seen a broken promise around frontline service delivery and teachers in the education system. There is less subject selection at that school, and teachers will now have more students in their classrooms.
I stress, Casuarina Senior College is our premier senior school in the northern suburbs. It is a great school with a long and proud history of students receiving a wonderful education which has set them on a promising pathway in their life. Parents want to see a senior school which prepares their children for a pathway into work, training, or into university. Cutting teachers will not help that. It will make things harder for teachers.
At Dripstone Middle School you are cutting teachers in the critical middle years. Again, you are letting students, parents, and our hard-working teachers down.
I do not understand how cutting frontline teachers is catering for a growing population in the feeder areas or why it is being done. It means bigger classrooms, less subject selection, and students will miss out. This is another stark example of where the CLP government has failed Territorians and broken a promise not to cut frontline services in education.
Public servants now have bigger workloads than ever as restructures have occurred and jobs have disappeared around them. People are not being replaced and workloads are high for those who are left. Public servants were not standing around doing nothing before the change of government; they were working hard and now have a heavier load on their shoulders - a bigger load than ever before. The way this government is treating public servants is a disgrace.
Today in Question Time we saw the voice of over 70 frontline nurses effectively ignored or mocked in many ways. That was a tragedy. These are frontline people of the emergency department with some fairly tough situations in front of them on a day-to-day basis. Their views were completely disregarded.
In the critical area of housing, the government has not spent the last 12 months doing Territorians much good. Prior to the election, the CLP made a promise to:
- … reduce the cost of housing through a balanced and timely land release policy.
One year on this is a massive fail. Housing costs and land prices have not been reduced. It costs more for people to buy a home in the Territory, despite the promises of the CLP. The government has scrapped significant planning work which will create a big lag in land release. It will mean, once Palmerston East is finished, there will be time between the next lots being turned off.
Another fail in housing for Territorians is the opportunity to buy a home. The government - I have spoken about this before - has scrapped some very effective home ownership programs. What made them so effective, particularly HOMESTART NT and the shared equity scheme, was they helped people meet repayments and not be put into housing stress, especially in those first critical years when people tend to be on lower wages. They might be starting a family and feeling the pressure of not having a high income. It was a good scheme which helped people get a foot in the door of the housing market. It was especially helpful for young Territorians to build lifelong financial stability by buying a home. This scheme was scratched as well as the My New Home scheme. Territorians supported these schemes in droves.
The government replaced these schemes with HomeBuild Access and, last week, pointed out that in the first six months from July to December last year there were about 300 applicants for the HOMESTART or My New Home products compared to about 30 for HomeBuild Access in seven months. That is a big gap.
You have also made home ownership harder for families by scrapping the Stamp Duty First Home Owner Concession. People now have to save longer to buy a home. As I pointed out, previously it meant that somebody buying a property in the vicinity of $540 000 was provided with a saving of $26 730. Under this government, if they were to buy an established property in Darwin, Palmerston or the rural area for $540 000, they would have to find an extra $22 000. If they were to do that with a new property in Darwin, Palmerston or the rural area, under the CLP government they need an extra $19 000. There is a big difference and those dollars add up. In the last year the government has failed to make inroads into affordable housing for Territorians; in fact, it is far worse.
Another topic of conversation about this government is the statement in the 100-day action plan to ‘immediately remove drunks from our streets’. Again, that has been a tremendous fail. You will be sick of hearing me tell stories about running around Darwin, but it gives you a great …
Mr VOWLES: I am enthralled by the member for Wanguri’s comments. Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extension of time.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! The question has to be put before the extension of time is granted. Because the member for Johnston waffled his way trying to be a smart aleck …
Mr Vowles: Come on!
Mr ELFERINK: … you have run out of time!
Mr GUNNER: Speaking to the point of order!
Mr Vowles: I am a smart aleck.
Mr ELFERINK: Do your job, move the extension, and the question would have been put. Mr Deputy Speaker, despite the member for Johnston’s stupidity, I will accept, as Leader of Government Business, the motion so the member for Wanguri can finish her comments. What a dill!
Mr Vowles: Seriously, mate.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Settle down!
Motion agreed to.
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I ask that the member withdraw the words he used to describe the member for Johnston, which I do not want to repeat.
Mr Vowles: Standing Order 62.
Mr ELFERINK: Hallelujah! I withdraw, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Ms MANISON: Mr Deputy Speaker, getting back to running around Darwin. It gives you an opportunity to get a real sense of what is happening on the ground, something you do not get when you drive. You can hear and see what is happening from a different perspective.
From the moment the Banned Drinker Register was scrapped I saw, and everyone else tells me they saw, a flood of problem drinkers back in the parks and on the streets. I have been running this week and seen people having a good time on The Esplanade at 7 am and 8 am. It is probably the example I use most, because it is where you see the mess the morning after. It is also where you see interaction between people.
East Point is another example where you will see people passed out, 2 L bladders around and empty casks. I have seen it. People are telling me they have seen it. Generally, the feedback I am getting is people do not understand why the government has - it is one commitment they delivered on instantly, there is no doubt there. People saw a difference and were frustrated the CLP government scrapped the Banned Drinker Register without putting anything in place. Their policy on mandatory alcohol rehabilitation does not tackle the issue of supply.
That is one aspect of this government I have received much feedback on. People do not believe mandatory alcohol rehabilitation will work. People have watched ‘Brewdini’ in amazement as the government claims a person constantly running away is a measure of success. People do not understand that logic.
I spoke to someone who worked on implementation of that policy who had been a health worker in the area of substance abuse and alcohol for most of their professional career. They were ethically and morally challenged in what they were asked to do in putting that policy together. It is a great concern when you hear that from someone working on it, and I understand others have also struggled with implementation of that policy.
It has been a tough 12 months for many Territorians. A big topic of discussion amongst people is the new government. It is disappointing, and I want to see a few more runs on the board. I want to see better outcomes for Territorians, and I believe we all want to see improvements. It has been 12 months of broken promises. This government should be condemned for its actions and some of the misery it has caused. I hope we see a change for the better in the way it governs because Territorians deserve better.
Madam Speaker, I commend this motion to the House.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Madam Speaker, our Westminster system is usually an adversarial system where we argue with the government. The government says its thing, we say the opposite, and everybody expects us to bag the government. It would be easy for me to list a litany of CLP mistakes; however, I will relay what people talk about in the streets of Darwin.
I have kept a tradition, member for Port Darwin. People talk, and their comments are not complimentary towards many of your colleagues or policies. One thing I maintain through my political career is to tell the truth. I did not think I would be a politician in the Northern Territory. I was elected in 2001 at a time of change which caught many by surprise, even this side, and certainly people on the CLP side of politics.
Do not lock yourself in an ivory tower on the fifth floor of this building. Go to the shopping centres and walk the streets. Talk to the people and, most importantly, listen to what they say. In August 2012 there was a change of government in the Northern Territory and many people asked why. We know the reason. If you look at the politics and what happened at the time and read the analysis of the 2012 election, you will find some strange things happened. Additional seats for the CLP, but the CLP did not win seats in their heartland and came close to losing some of them. People were surprised and asked why the CLP won seats in Indigenous areas. Never before has that happened. Little by little, things came out.
I saw the 7.30 Report and a person from Kalkarindji said Bess Price, member for Stuart, promised full-strength beer if the CLP was elected. The same thing was repeated in the media regarding the Tiwi Islands. The same allegation was made against the current member for Arafura. Then we found it was alleged if the CLP was elected it would cancel the BasicsCard, which they cannot do because it is a federal issue. Also, they promised they would roll back the intervention. That is interesting because the intervention was put in place by a Liberal federal government and will not be rolled back because they cannot roll it back.
In an electorate not as educated as those in other urban areas, and probably linked by cultural and family ties, there was a change in the voting pattern. There was a change of government because four Labor seats voted for the Country Liberals. It will be interesting to see what happens at the next election.
There was an air of optimism in the Country Liberals ranks. Some people were elected for the first time: the member for Drysdale. Like you, I came into government and wanted to change the world. She will be disappointed. Some are more experienced, like the member for Port Darwin, who has been around a long time - twice, I believe, in this House - who understands it takes a bit more than an election, or two or three, to change the world. Sometimes things stay the same even if the same party is in power for 26 years, like the previous CLP government.
After August 2012, many people had hopes. Many people thought the new government would produce new policies and make significant changes, because in opposition they had many ideas and proposals. They would say, ‘You are doing that wrong. We can do it better.’ I remember when the member for Greatorex was shadow minister for Health and would question me about my health portfolio. On many occasions he would say, ‘You are not doing very well. You don’t know what you are doing. We know what we are doing.’ That was interesting because when the Country Liberals won the election the member for Greatorex, who had many ideas on how to fix health, did not become Minister for Health but was given another portfolio.
We can say these are failures of the CLP, but there is an excuse. They did not do much in the first few months because they were more occupied with leadership of the party rather than putting policies in place and changing things in the Territory. The first six months of the Country Liberal Party in government were wasted by undermining the then leader, Terry Mills. We have seen so many challenges. We saw one from the member for Port Darwin. He wanted to be Chief Minister but only received one vote. We saw unsuccessful challenges by David Toller, the member for Fong Lim, who wanted to be Chief Minister but could not. Then we saw a challenge by Adam Giles, member for Braitling, who could not do it and was called a ‘little boy’ by the member for Namatjira. That stuck and Colin Wicking has fun every time he draws a cartoon for the NT News.
They did not do much in the first – oh, yes they did, they sacked a lot of public servants because they dared to work for the Labor government: public servants like Richard Galton who, before the Labor government came to power, was one of the golden boys with the CLP. He worked very well under the Labor government. He was one of the best CEOs I worked with in my career as a politician and a minister.
They sacked Clare Gardiner-Barnes who, under enormously difficult circumstances, turned around the department of Child Protection. We cannot say the same now. The department of Child Protection is suffering and in total disarray. Thank God somebody had the brains to re-employ Clare Gardiner-Barnes in another position because Clare is a smart lady, well-educated, and knows how to run a department.
The other change was the increase in power and water tariffs. The 30% increase for power, water and sewerage hit Territorians hard. Of course, that came as a slap in the face for Territorians who voted for the Country Liberals because they believed the campaign propaganda to lower the cost of living. How can you lower the cost of living when you increase power and water by 30%? It is an interesting thing.
The carbon tax came into effect recently. I looked at my account, and I invite you to look at your power account. You will find that while power and water tariffs were increased by 30%, the increase in power prices from the carbon tax is insignificant. It is minuscule and does not have any significant effect on your power bill.
Of course, they were preoccupied with internal politics rather than running a government. We saw three Treasurers, three Health ministers and two Chief Ministers. In the past few months we have seen some stability, but that is questionable because we are hearing the member for Namatjira is on shaky ground as Minister for Children and Families and Minister for Local Government because the member for Stuart has been heard in communities saying she will be the next Minister for Children and Families. That is interesting. Watch this space. As they say on television ‘to be continued’.
It seems the Country Liberals are not as cohesive as they tell us or are trying to portray. We also hear the Chief Minister is using his current position as a springboard because his ultimate target is to be member for Lingiari and find a way to Canberra. That does not excuse why he did nothing in the first six months and is doing less in the second.
My shadow portfolios are Health, Primary Industry and Fisheries, Mines and Energy, and Asian Engagement. Let us start with Health.
What the current government has done with Health is reduce services, especially in the bush. Do I have to remind you it was the member for Fong Lim, as Minister for Health, who cancelled the bush bus which provided renal dialysis to people in remote communities? On top of that, this government had refused funding from the federal government for renal dialysis facilities in Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.
When we were in government we struggled with Indigenous health and poured $40m into renal dialysis and renal disease. We managed to increase the life expectancy of Indigenous people with renal disease by seven years, equal to those in the rest of Australia. In four years’ time what will the life expectancy of Indigenous Territorians be, bearing in mind this Country Liberal government slashed the bush bus and refused to accept money from the federal government for renal dialysis facilities in the bush and some small urban centres?
It was with pride I would attend forums in Australia to say we had expanded renal facilities around the Territory, even in remote communities. We were even accommodating people from Western Australia and Western Australia would pay for it. Even people from South Australia would come to the Northern Territory for treatment, but this cannot happen now because everything has been rolled back.
The other disaster by the Country Liberals in the past 12 months is Palmerston hospital. For political reasons, the Country Liberals were hell-bent on bringing down the Palmerston hospital. ‘That was a Labor announcement. We do not want it there, we want it somewhere else.’ They tried to discredit it saying it was too small. The size of the hospital we planned was equivalent to Royal Melbourne Hospital. ‘It is not cyclone-coded’. You cannot build something in the Northern Territory which does not comply with cyclone codes. ‘It does not have enough space.’ The first stage of three had 12 000 m2 of space in three levels, with potential for another two sections to be built because the block was so big. Instead, they announced a new site for Palmerston hospital which, incidentally, is not in Palmerston, it is in Litchfield.
We see a block of land with no services and no access. They told us that within 12 months they will bring the services into the area. The services were already at the site in Palmerston. I do not have a problem with choosing a new site, but I want to utilise the site efficiently for a new hospital.
However, there are questions about the new hospital. We have seen a photograph of the Royal Darwin Hospital campus superimposed on that map in the media release showing this area is big enough for a hospital. Bear in mind every Territorian knows Royal Darwin Hospital campus has a private hospital, the Menzies School of Health, a swimming pool, tennis court, accommodation for nurses, childcare, houses for doctors, the oncology unit, the helipad, expectant mothers, the medi-hotel - the ‘hotel for long-grassers’ as the member for Fong Lim called it.
That campus is big because it was a design of the 1970s and 1980s. If you look at the tower - the hospital on Royal Darwin Hospital campus - you will see it fits many times in the site selected in Palmerston.
We have a Palmerston hospital that is not in Palmerston. An announcement was to be made by Tony Abbott but was not because you, Madam Speaker, announced it first on social media. Thank you for that. Of course, the Minister for Health arrived then Tony Abbott arrived and said, ‘Hello, Tina’, mistaking you for his candidate for Lingiari. It was a comedy of errors.
You have a hospital with no roads and no services. We have $150m. They told us many times they would build a state-of-the-art hospital, but do they have money for the $20m or $30m required for road realignment, road access, sewerage, power and water? Is all this money coming from the existing budget? If it comes from the existing budget, how much and what can you build with $120m?
Also, if the Liberal opposition is not elected and the Labor government is returned and insists Palmerston hospital be built on the original site, what would the position of this government be?
We have the announcement of a big hospital being built in the next few years and, at the same time, the announcement of expansion of the emergency department. We also have an announcement of an upgrade of the children’s wing at Royal Darwin Hospital. How can these things be put together? In the next two to three years we will build a hospital in Palmerston, but are spending money to upgrade Royal Darwin Hospital.
Another thing that rings alarm bells is the statement from the Minister for Health that there should be many private providers for elective surgery and radiology. That really worries me because will this be part of the new hospital in Palmerston/Litchfield? Is it going to be a private facility or a public private partnership?
Something else that really worries me is that if the hospital is built there, what is the future of Palmerston Super Clinic? Will it stay there or be closed down and the facilities transferred to the proposed Palmerston hospital? I should say the ‘imaginary’ Palmerston hospital, because I do not believe the Country Liberals will build that hospital in the first term of government, or even if they win a second term of government.
I mentioned the medi-hotel, and today in Question Time we heard of a petition from 75 nurses who work at the emergency department of Royal Darwin Hospital. The nurses are concerned about the safety of doctors, nurses and patients due to double bunking.
What is double bunking? When a large number of people arrive at the emergency department and cannot be decanted to a ward because there are no beds available, there will be two people in a cubicle. The minister said today they will expand the emergency department. Minister, you can expand the emergency department as much as you like, but if you do not have beds available in the wards nothing will change. What will most likely change is there will be three people in a cubicle. The problem is not the emergency department; it is too many people, for many reasons, who cannot go anywhere.
The minister argued this is because the federal government did not allow nursing homes to take senior Territorians from the hospital. Of course it did not, because the nursing homes did not meet the standards imposed by the federal government. The federal government said they could not take any more people until they met the standards. Because they could not guarantee the safety and health of the people they were receiving, there was a blockage of beds. In July, 70 people were in wards who should not have been, taking up 70 beds.
As a result, people arriving in the emergency department had to be decanted to Katherine Hospital because beds were available there. At the same time, the medi-hotel was sitting idle. The minister says, ‘But it happened in your time’. Yes, it did. That is why we put a proposal to the federal government to build a medi-hotel because we realised the biggest problem was bed blockage. They were not well enough to go home and not sick enough to stay at the hospital. These people should be at a half-way home - the medi-hotel. We have a 100-bed facility occupied by two drunks for ideological reasons. I have difficulty understanding that.
The minister, in a press conference with the member for Port Darwin, the minister for Justice, said in the future all people undergoing compulsory rehabilitation will be moved to the low-security prison in Berrimah and the medi-hotel will be returned to its original purpose. That is great.
You admit, minister, that the medi-hotel had an original purpose, which was to receive people from the hospital into the medi-hotel so they could be treated there rather than in a ward. They would have access to facilities, nurses and doctors, and the medi-hotel would be returned to its original purpose. Even you will admit the medi-hotel was not built to accommodate people …
Mr VOWLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extension of time for the member for Casuarina.
Motion agreed to.
Mr VATSKALIS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Country Liberal Party stuffed up the hospital in Palmerston, stuffed up the RDH emergency department, and is now stuffing up the medi-hotel. That is only a little of what has happened in the last 12 months.
Let me turn to Asian relations, an important portfolio. I was at the Indonesian Independence Day reception earlier today. The Chief Minister was there and he said this is the only jurisdiction in Australia with an Asian Engagement minister. Yes, and the minister has been to China in a private jet, queen class. On his return he told us one of the biggest heavy machinery manufacturers will set up a base in the Territory. What for? To assemble machinery to be exported from China to the Northern Territory.
It is a good idea, but if that is all he achieved from a trip to China I do not know why he wasted his time. He went to Thailand - and I welcome ministers travelling for their portfolios - but I did not hear anything about Thailand. We heard that somebody might look at hotels in the Territory.
I was minister for Mines and for Tourism, and in the past six years I went to China 12 or 14 times. Because of my trips to China we saw a positive effect in the mining sector. It was such a positive effect that the current Mines minister took great pride in announcing mines initiated under a Labor government. He talked about the ilmenite mine. In 2007 I was in China promoting that mine to Chinese industry. They were interested in coming here. The only difficulty was access to the mine for a railway or road. Then we had Western Desert Resources and Sherwin Iron - a big fanfare by the minister for Mines. Minister, in 2009 and 2010 I was in China promoting Western Desert Resources and Sherwin Iron. The Labor government excluded the province from Limmen National Park in order to have a proper mining province in the area without affecting the park or this mine going ahead.
I had oversight of the expansion of Xstrata at McArthur River, the expansion of Groote Eylandt, the underground mining for ERA, and the establishment of a concentrator at ERA, Jabiru. I do not have a problem talking about mines in the Territory. It is good to talk about the things we do well in the Territory, but please do not tell us in the last 12 months you achieved all this because you did not.
What you did was ride the crest of the wave. You rode on the success of your predecessors and what happened before your time. As a matter of fact, the only thing you have done recently is anger the mining industry by an ill-conceived levy, no discussion with the mining industry, and a like it or lump it attitude. Talk to the exploration industry and AMEC and see what they think about this government and you, minister. Talk to the Minerals Council of the Northern Territory and see what they think about you, minister, and your government. Some of the expressions the CEO of the Minerals Council used during the budget briefing I will not repeat in this parliament.
Primary Industries is great. The minister is on his high horse about the Ord and talks about how important the Ord is to Western Australia. He failed to mention that stage one of the Ord scheme started over 30 years ago. Since then the Western Australian government has poured money into it and successfully negotiated with both Liberal and Labor governments in Canberra for Commonwealth money to spend in the Ord. The minister said nothing was done by the Northern Territory government in the past 11 years. Minister, we would have done a lot if your government, before we came to power, had the manners to speak to the appropriate traditional owners about the Ord. In addition, minister, we know the current proponent of the Ord, the Chinese company Zhongfu, wants the lease for the whole Ord area and has said - it has been published in the media - the Ord will not happen for another four to six years and they have not started real negotiations with the Northern Territory government.
The minister says, ‘We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Western Australian government’. There was a memorandum of understanding with the Western Australian government, and we had a working team from the Northern Territory, so you have not really done anything important with the Ord. In the last 12 months you have said a lot but we have not seen anything.
I have received an e-mail from the Northern Land Council advising that a large number of traditional owners in the Ord are objecting to the opening of a large area for agricultural purposes. These people, custodians of the area, have met with the minister to express their opposition and told him it is difficult to approve development of that area. Not once has the minister mentioned that meeting or the discussion with traditional owners.
On Fisheries, the minister said they bought back barra licences. When in government, we announced we would do this. He mentioned closing the Mary River and surrounds to barramundi fishermen, something that has pleased retailers. At the time it pleased AFANT, but AFANT is now critical of some of the actions of this government. I refer to the allocation of water to Mrs Tina MacFarlane and her husband for Stylo Station.
Everyone is complaining about the significant allocation of water, including people from the agricultural sector, people on stations surrounding the area, and AFANT. The member for Fong Lim said, ‘It is only a trickle’. I invite you to look at what this significant allocation of water means. I looked at the volume and did a calculation. That trickle is equivalent to 2500 Olympic-sized swimming pools a year. If you do not know about swimming pools I will put it another way: 69 Lake Alexanders a year. That is a volume of water equivalent to 69 Lake Alexanders a year to one person who does not know what to do with it, who has a wish to grow wheat and sheep in the area. Everyone else is extremely angry. That is not to mention the fact they have taken away the right of Indigenous people to that water. It is amazing the four Indigenous members opposite will not argue about this government stealing the water rights of Indigenous people.
Some of the achievements of the CLP are the shortest-lived minister, the member for Drysdale, and the shortest-lived Deputy Chief Minister, the member for Katherine. That is an achievement I have not seen in any Commonwealth jurisdiction. I apologise to the members, but it is the harsh truth. In politics, sometimes you have to wear it and you never know what will happen in the future. At least you have a record. When you retire you can say, ‘I was the shortest-lived minister in the government’.
I congratulate this government for being the only Territory government to become so unpopular so quickly. I came here in 1993 and lived through a series of CLP governments. I have never seen one become so unpopular so quickly. Even Shane Stone, the then Chief Minister, was not so unpopular. Steve Hatton was booed and hissed outside Parliament House. The other one was Terry Mills.
I also congratulate this government for making so many Territorians politically aware in so little time - students, teacher students, teachers, pensioners, firemen, policemen. It is amazing what you see in the media today - the level of politicisation and political debate on what this government has done wrong and how its actions and policies have affected people in the Territory. That is the only thing I congratulate the government for, the rest is a failure.
Ms FYLES (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, I support this motion and want to focus on my shadow portfolio areas as well as my electorate of Nightcliff.
The department of Children and Families is in chaos. Child protection in the Territory is in chaos. In the 12 months since the CLP was elected to government we have seen Children and Families merged with the department of Education then slipped quietly back out again. We have seen two ministers deliver no policies, no direction and no legislation. Even the website this afternoon is in chaos. It is the Office of Children and Families within the Department of Children and Families. Our Treasurer does not know whether it is an office within the department of Education or a stand-alone department.
In 12 months we have seen nothing from the CLP government on this. We have seen the chief executive sacked, most of the leadership team in the department sacked or leave, and frontline staff sacked or their contracts not renewed.
This government delivered the most appalling budget for Children and Families, cutting it by $9m. The same budget acknowledged, sadly, that child abuse and neglect levels are predicted to increase, but the CLP budget cut the funding to child protection services. The budget anticipates reports of child abuse and neglect will increase from 8000 to 10 000 cases in one year, yet the number of investigations will drop from 5400 to 4000. These figures cause alarm and concern: an increase in notifications, but less funding, fewer resources, and less investigation into child protection in the Territory. At the same time, we will see child protection notifications increase, and a decrease in notifications investigated. We know that since the CLP came to government frontline staff in child protection and children and family services have been sacked, contracts not renewed, positions left vacant, senior staff sacked, and from all this the children will be the ones to suffer.
At the estimates hearings in June we heard that child protection had lost 171 full-time equivalent staff positions - 171 staff gone, sacked, contracts not renewed, positions vacant. How can the safety and welfare of children improve with such large staffing cuts? One must ask, two months later, what the current staffing levels are for the Office of Children and Families. The latest figures from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment show the average number of FTE positions for the Office of Children and Families in the June quarter has dropped again. We have gone from close to 800 staff a year ago to 600. It had dropped 171 at estimates and, from figures from OCPE, it has dropped again: a further reduction of staff within the department.
In June, minister Anderson said she was busy recruiting. It is two months later and we have seen more positions go. These figures show that since the CLP came to government there has been a 25% reduction in staff in the Office of Children and Families. What does this do to caseload ratios; that is, the number of cases a single child protection staff member has to look after? The last figures we saw showed some child protection workers in the Territory were already dealing with caseload ratios as high as 58 children per worker. What are the numbers now, considering another decrease in staff? The average should be seven to eight caseloads for a staff member to work efficiently and productively in the best interests of a child. That is good child protection policy, not 58 cases per worker.
Under this government, child abuse is being swept under the carpet. You cannot have so many positions unfilled in an office and provide an acceptable level of service to Territory children. As a government, you constantly talk about strengthening the child protection system, but there is no evidence in the last 12 months that you have done this. We have had 12 months of chaos and cuts.
You have turned your back on the experts. The board of inquiry was the most comprehensive inquiry into child protection in the Northern Territory’s history. It was expert advice and held back nothing. A total of 156 submissions were received from a range of organisations, individuals and government departments, including the then CLP opposition. The board of inquiry also incorporated recommendations from other reports including the High Risk Audit and the Tolhurst review of Intake Services. The board of inquiry took nearly 12 months to complete its report, and it was the most thorough investigation into child protection the Northern Territory has seen. It comprised 147 recommendations made by three experts: Howard Bath; Rob Roseby and Muriel Bamblett. All provided independent advice. It was not a political piece of work; it was independently authored by experts, aimed solely at supporting Territory families and ensuring the safety of our children.
Since coming to power the CLP has decimated child protection resources and thrown out this body of work. You turned your back on it for political reasons. It was not a political document; it was brought together in good faith by the Minister for Child Protection when our system was in chaos and crisis after we had seen coronial after coronial, inquiry after inquiry. It was independently authored with a wide range of submissions, but you, as a government, have thrown this policy out.
In the last six months, the CLP government has removed independent oversight of child protection, including scrapping the independent reporting and monitoring committee and the Coordinator-General, moved child protection into the department of Education against a recommendation of the board of inquiry, cut the Children and Families support budget by 24%, cut $4.8m to child protection and youth services, and slashed funding to NGOs. You have sacked the CE, despite saying she was doing a good job, paid her out, and then re-employed her as the CEO of Transport. You sacked the child protection executive team, and have also removed the chief executive child protection network - all key aspects to improving child protection services in the Territory.
The increased funding to the NGO sector under the previous Labor government must be reinstated, but the Giles CLP government has done none of this, only cutting the NGO sector. Minister for Children and Families, you say we must not muck around with child protection, but it is from your government we have seen cuts to the public service and the NGO budget. You have cut funding to NGOs that work so hard. You do not respect the NGOs, minister Anderson.
During estimates earlier this year you indicated funding had been cut as you felt NGOs were not pulling their weight and said, ‘NGOs tick the boxes’ in relation to their government funding, implying they took the money for something to do. People working in NGOs work harder than most, and do not do it just to get the money and tick the boxes.
Modern child protection is based on a dual pathway model - NGOs working together with government agencies - but your government has cut their funding in the last 12 months, claiming they ticked the boxes for their funding, implying they do nothing. Modern child protection practices work with non-government organisations and government agencies to ensure statutory obligations are met and families are supported in the early days so children do not suffer.
Most of our cases in the Territory are around child neglect. NGOs can provide the dual pathway service to protect and support them, but you have cut this. Child protection in the Northern Territory currently has no plan; there is no oversight or monitoring. You sacked the independent monitoring committee late last year and we have seen nothing else. Minister Lambley, when Minister for Children and Families, told this House - around the recommendations of the board of inquiry – ‘Regarding a new watchdog for the Office of Children and Families, I dismissed the external monitoring and reporting committee and am looking into alternatives’.
Nothing has happened. That was months ago and to date, after 12 months of the CLP in government, we have seen no alternate independent monitoring of child protection. We have seen nothing except minister’s changing. One of the main recommendations of the Growing them strong, together report was to fund and develop the establishment and ongoing work of a peak NGO on child and family safety and child protection, known as SAF,T. Your government decimated it. Where is the funding? What happened to the director? What happened to its purpose, its body of work to be a voice for children in care, a voice silenced by the CLP government?
This peak body was meant to ensure these children had a voice and had care plans, but no, you silenced that. We have seen you throw out the recommendations of the most comprehensive inquiry into child protection yet put nothing in place.
The board of inquiry report was the most comprehensive report into child protection in the Territory’s history, a unique, independently authored body of work. You chose to turn your back on that, most likely for political reasons. However, as a government you have put nothing in place, something that causes even more concern. In 12 months of government we have seen one or two ministerial statements on child protection. You have no policies, no direction; the ship has sailed and there is no leadership on board.
Where are your policies? Where are your directions? Minister Anderson, you constantly tell us we belong on this side of the House but, as Minister for Children and Families, you have done nothing.
As an elected government, you have the right to put your policies in place and for them to be scrutinised. However, you must accept that 12 months have gone and you have done nothing for child protection in the Territory - no policies, no plans, no legislation, nothing in this parliament from the government except rambling.
What is the status of the outstanding NT Coroner’s recommendations which, under Labor, were being implemented? Cases were discussed and there are outstanding recommendations from the Coroner that, as far as we can see, your government has not met.
Will it take another coronial investigation for these to be addressed? Will it be another case of your government losing focus and letting the children of the Northern Territory down in your 12 months of government?
The Department of Children and Families website, as at this afternoon, still has the strategic plan from the Labor government. It is dated July 2012 and refers to the board of inquiry report, the document this government has turned its back on. That sums it up. We have nothing except a few pages on a website of an outdated strategic plan. Perhaps it is the current strategic plan. Perhaps the minister should address these serious issues in the House tonight.
We have a strategic plan addressed by a chief executive who has been sacked. Earlier this year, Minister for Children and Families, you spoke about the magic, ‘Signs of Safety’ your new child protection framework. At the time, your government was unable to provide any detailed modelling for use in the Territory. We have no strategic plan apart from, one would assume, the old strategic plan of the Labor government, and no modelling or framework for Signs of Safety, which you claim to be your new plan. Nothing on your website has been updated. Minister Anderson, what is it? Is it your Signs of Safety we have seen nothing of, or is it the strategic plan currently on the Department of Children and Families’ website with a foreword by Clare Gardiner-Barnes from July 2012? It would be interesting to know what policy the Department of Children and Families or the Office of Children and Families is following today.
From mobile polling, the talk in the bush is the member for Stuart is about to become Minister for Local Government. It is talk from the Daly and the Tiwis. I urge the Chief Minister to look at minister Anderson’s performance in child protection because it is appalling.
As a minister, you have let the children of the Territory down. Perhaps you should also lose child protection.
While on the topic, we also hear minister Anderson has told Tony Abbott she should have accepted his offer to run in Lingiari and regrets not walking out on Adam Giles. She has asked to join Warren Mundine on Tony Abbott’s Indigenous Advisory Council if he is elected. Apparently, the response was not positive. Perhaps when the minister addresses the serious child protection issue she can let us know what Tony Abbott’s response was.
Minister Anderson, today in the tourism debate you spoke positively about the CLP’s previous 20 years of government. Minister, must I remind you that under the CLP previously we saw child protection neglected for 27 years, as evidenced in the State of Denial report ...
Ms Finocchiaro: Eleven under you.
Ms FYLES: Child protection had a budget of $7m. I pick up on the member for Drysdale’s interjection about 11 years of Labor. In 11 years of Labor, child protection grew from a budget of $7m under the CLP to a budget of over $130m.
What have we achieved? In the 12 months of the CLP government we have seen no strategy, no results, child protection cases not being investigated, and large numbers of staff vacancies in offices. Do I need to bring you back to the staffing figures I quoted earlier?
Minister, you speak so often of the need to talk in Cabinet and talk in the lobby. Minister, the time for talking is over; you need to act. I have been saying for 12 months that child protection is in crisis. It is about early intervention. It is about having a strong department with good policies to ensure the welfare of our children. Your website, which would be fairly simple to update if there are any policies and plans, cannot even advise if it is an Office of Children and Families, a department of Children and Families, or what the strategic plan is.
We have heard reports that the minister has offended staff, creating division in her department, saying unsavoury things and personally attacking the character and diligence of staff, behaving in ways unbecoming of a minister of the Crown. That is hardly the leadership required in this difficult and important area. We are talking about children’s lives and futures. We have seen no leadership in 12 months. Minister for Children and Families, the children of the Territory expect far more from you.
It is about having a strong system in place to support families, early intervention, and having a strong department with good policies to ensure the welfare of our children. We have great people working there. I should say were working there, because people are leaving. These strong people who want to make a difference are heartbroken. They put in so much energy building the department and now see it wash away to nothing in the last 12 months. They genuinely care. They spent weekends working. They did not make up these policies; they were following the board of inquiry, meeting recommendations and were proud. They were reporting to an independent reporting and monitoring committee providing details of what they were doing. In 12 months you have let all that work go. It is devastating.
I must touch on the sad domestic violence rates in the Territory, which continue to rise. Indigenous women are being hospitalised for assaults at a rate far higher than non-Indigenous women. Under the CLP government, alcohol-related domestic violence is up by 24%. Exposing our children to this violence has tragic and lifelong consequences.
What has happened to the purpose-built secure care facility in Darwin not being used for its original purpose? That facility was finished when you won government. It was planned to be used appropriately and legislation was in train so it could be. Instead, it is being used as an out-of-home care facility, although the chief executive of the department or the office, I am not sure what it is, claims it is a short-term out-of-home care residential facility.
This is a purpose-built health facility being used for out-of-home care, another health facility not being used for its original purpose. While we are talking about the secure care facility used to house out-of-home care for children, under what legislation are you doing this? That raises serious questions mentioned previously.
Moving from child protection to women’s policy, we have seen nothing from this CLP government except one statement and the appointment of a former CLP candidate as Executive Director of the Office of Women’s Policy with no proper recruitment process. Bang, that is it for women’s policy. That is really supporting the women of the Territory. There is no focus on women and family-friendly policies that might make a difference.
A staff member at Royal Darwin Hospital recently approached management for policies on family-friendly working hours because they need to work school hours. Bang, nothing. Surely, the Office of Women’s Policy would look at policies like that across government. There are no proper policies, no proper recruitment, just a CLP candidate given a good job.
Moving to my shadow portfolios, when speaking about the environment and this government’s record over the last 12 months, one decision covers it all for me: the decision to give the CLP candidate for Lingiari, Tina MacFarlane, a water allocation potentially worth millions of dollars. As a government, you have ignored science and the environment and gifted the water extraction allocation against the advice of experts, a community advisory group, the ruling of an independent panel, and the adjudication of the Supreme Court. You have ignored the concerns of Indigenous communities and other landowners of the region, granting a licence to extract a huge amount of water to a CLP mate. The amount available for extraction under the licence exceeds the combined total of the other 15 existing water extraction licences for the Mataranka Tindall aquifer. These licences are issued on an annual basis.
I have spoken in the House on this before, but it is a big decision to give such a large amount of water for 10 years. It is a huge amount of water for a long period of time. CLP ministers are up to their necks in this. That is why they will not release the documents in relation to this licence for public scrutiny. So much for their election commitment of being open and accountable!
Our land and water resources are precious. Territorians expect decisions made on allocation of those resources to be based on the best available information, not a phone call. How convenient that when people want to question the advice it is not written or available. There is widespread concern in the community about this licence generally, particularly amongst those who rely on the sustainable use of the Tindall aquifer. Again, I call on the CLP government to rescind this licence; it is appalling.
Earlier this year the government disallowed the management plan for Litchfield National Park and the joint management plan for the Mary River National Park citing further work, yet months later we have seen nothing.
Mr VOWLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I request an extension of time for the member.
Motion agreed to.
Ms FYLES: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The management plans were withdrawn on the floor of this House in a process which was a little confusing to say the least. The Minister for Parks and Wildlife just said he was withdrawing them with no explanation. He cut us out of debate and, months later, we have seen no further work on this.
The removal of two parks and wildlife rangers from the Indigenous ranger groups on the Gove Peninsula is another poor decision of this government. These positions provided vital support to the local community, particularly assisting with the removal of nuisance wildlife such as feral dogs, buffalo and crocodiles. Often these rangers were the first on the scene for search and rescue or retrieval in the event of a fatal crocodile attack. I urge the minister to once again look at this decision.
Your government has scrapped the Daly River Management Advisory Committee, the Darwin Harbour Advisory Committee, and I am still waiting for the minister to respond to my recent letter requesting an update on the status of the Rapid Creek Catchment Advisory Group. These are community reference groups designed to allow the community to be involved in the management of environmental and community assets, but your government does not like to hear from the community even though it was in your action plan to be open and accountable.
In the last 12 months this CLP government has let down the people of my electorate immensely. Not a day goes by when I do not hear a different story about the pain your government has caused people. You are charging seniors to catch the bus because, ‘They just catch the bus for the air conditioning and ride it all day long’. You do not realise that in the Nightcliff/Rapid Creek area, sometimes they have to catch two buses to get to the hospital and two buses to get home. If they stop at Casuarina to buy groceries, get a coffee or catch up with friends, they now have to pay $3 or $4. It might not seem much to those who are working, but if you are on a pension or a low income, that is a big deal.
The changes you made to the airfare scheme upset people. They felt, most of all, insulted. They have worked hard all their lives. We should be supporting them to stay in the Territory. It is wonderful having them. I grew up without any grandparents here and not many seniors about, and it is beautiful to have them in our community; it teaches my children we have many different ages.
The people of Coconut Grove, Nightcliff, and Rapid Creek have seen their power prices increase by 30%, go down 20%, and they will eventually go back up. They found it amusing that the Chief Minister could not understand his power and water bill and was on the radio saying so. How do you think they felt? We could not work out the bills.
In my electorate people have had their rent increased. People say landlords have put rent up by $100 a week to meet water costs. This government insisted it would reduce the cost of living. A government is meant to serve the people and act in their best interests, yet this government has caused so much pain.
A week does not go by without people sharing stories of how they love Darwin, love the Territory, but cannot afford to stay here. The bills are expensive, and they point to the recent power and water increases and rent increases from landlords passing on rising costs. People reach a point where their children might be starting school, starting high school, and they think, ‘Let’s go back south. It’s closer to family and we don’t have to put up with this.’ There are no incentives to stay. It is heartbreaking. Some of these people are childcare workers, mums and dads who want to stay in the Territory. We want them to stay; we need them. This government is forcing them to leave; you broke your promise to them. You promised to cut the cost of living and have done the opposite.
This government has completely torn up and broken its promise to the people of Nightcliff on the issue of law and order. You said you would reduce crime by 10% and would open Nightcliff Police Station 24/7. Crime has increased and the people of Nightcliff have been let down with no funding in the budget for the promised Nightcliff Police Station. The former Chief Minister, Terry Mills, said he would honour his commitments, but we have seen nothing from the Giles government - no funding and no plans for the Nightcliff Police Station upgrade as promised. The contract signed with the community of Nightcliff has been torn up. There was a commitment to deliver a 24/7 station to a growing area already dealing with increased antisocial behaviour which, with your infill policies, will only increase.
This government has allowed 2500 people to start drinking again by removing the BDR. Police said at the time it was the best tool they had. The foreshore and others areas of Nightcliff have seen an increase in antisocial behaviour, and many residents raise with me the direct correlation between the removal of the BDR and that increase. They ask, ‘Why would they not sit back and wait for evidence or information?’ No, it was a political move to remove it.
Chief Minister, last week you stood in this Chamber and implied antisocial behaviour had reduced. It has not. I heard a horrible story from my electorate this week, and on the weekend I heard of a spiteful incident firsthand. Antisocial behaviour has not improved.
Your government’s teacher cuts have impacted on our local schools causing angst amongst teachers, parents, and students. The minister’s lack of respect for teachers, accusing them of having too much downtime, is appalling. Next year Nightcliff Middle School is set to lose several teachers. It is a difficult time for teachers, students, and families at the moment.
The Education minister says it is the responsibility of principals to decide, but principals are not cutting teacher numbers. That is you, Minister for Education. Teachers are stressed by this decision. Their colleagues are losing positions. If they are in contract positions on their way to becoming a permanent staff member, they do not know what will happen next year. Permanent staff are handing in their rsums to see who gets what position. They are asking children to choose their subjects early so they can decide which teachers stay.
It is not just middle and senior school parents who are worried; primary school parents are extremely worried too and wondering what comes next. You are cutting programs which support students - the extreme behaviour grants. As a government, you promised not to cut frontline positions. You cannot get any more front line than classroom teachers. My colleague, the member for Fannie Bay, spoke of the pressure school staff are under.
It reminds me of the harsh school and education cuts of the late 1980s and 1990s when the CLP government shut down schools literally overnight. Rapid Creek Primary School, Tiwi Primary School - does that bring back memories? It does to people in my electorate. Those were dark days. It was education in the Stone Age. Tomorrow afternoon people will express their displeasure and call on you to rethink this ill-thought-out decision.
In Question Time today you claimed the ICT for Learning Unit is still there. Of course, it is still there physically, but teachers are telling us otherwise. The unit facilities are there, but the learning staff of 24 are not.
You have scrapped the much-needed children’s wing at RDH. You arrogantly laugh off the concerns of emergency department nurses.
The Minister for Health laughs at us saying, ‘How can people go from ED to the medi-hotel?’ Seriously! Does she not know the issues? Probably not! She chooses not to meet with the nursing federation.
In the chaos of this government over the last 12 months we have seen the Minister for Children and Families’ daughter given a $170 000 pay rise in the minister’s own department. We have seen, at last count, 11 former CLP candidates and members gifted taxpayer-funded jobs. You have removed all the independent oversight of child protection, and there are no policies or plans. We cannot work out from the website what the name of the department is, let alone where their strategic plan is. You have cut child protection and youth services, and cut the children and families support budget. You have slashed funding to child protection organisations and sacked the chief executive. You have removed the chief executive child protection network - the minister probably does not know what that means. This CLP government has broken its commitment and promises to Territorians. It is a serious issue and they do not understand. You have hurt everyone in our community: families, seniors, the people in children and families. That is why I support this motion.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for bringing this motion before the House, summarising the litany of failures we have observed in the last 12 months which Territorians have had to live and breathe. It has been a horrendous 12 months. Well done to the member for Nightcliff for her excellent contribution summarising the litany of failures across not only her electorate but her shadow portfolio areas. Well done also to the members for Johnston and Wanguri.
They are our three new members of parliament. They are working incredibly hard, they get it, and are doing a fantastic job holding this woeful, shameful shambles of a government to account for the 12 months of failures.
Where do you start? The first six months were a shambles because they were so busy fighting amongst themselves. They even admitted that. We have had Cabinet reshuffle after Cabinet reshuffle, three Education ministers, a couple of Health ministers, four Treasurers and two Chief Ministers.
Does the Country Liberals five-point plan and the ‘please keep this contract so you can hold us to account’ signed by the member for Blain still count now the member for Blain has been knifed in the back and is not Chief Minister? Can I get my crayon and cross Terry Mills out and ask the member for Braitling, the new Chief Minister, to put his ‘X’ on there to say, ‘Yes, I will own that five-point plan. I will own up to the fact will be accountable, reduce waste and debt, and tackle crime at its roots.’
All these things promised in the five-point plan, ripped straight from the Queensland plan - we saw what happened when Campbell Newman stepped in. Does the CLP still own this contract with Territorians? That is an important question and people want to know. Does the member for Port Darwin still own the claim, ‘Your job is safe!’ Is that not a picture of a smiling assassin holding up for a Facebook selfie?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, withdraw that comment.
Ms WALKER: I withdraw that comment. I would hate to offend the sensibilities of the member for Port Darwin because he is such a nice man. Here he was promising everyone their jobs were safe. No, they are not. Frontline jobs have gone; we heard that summarised tonight and heard it in Question Time.
Let us look at Education under the three ministers we have had, all hopeless. Those cuts are very real and are hurting. There is $250m gone from the Education budget in four years and, with that, 180 teachers. What will that mean? Well, fewer teachers in schools, bigger classes, fewer subject choices, limited access to resources and, ultimately, a decline in the outcomes and results for our kids. That is shameful and appalling.
What else is shameful and appalling is the current Education minister calling teachers lazy when trying to defend the revised teacher ratio. He said there was quite a bit of downtime for teachers.
Quoting from the NT News of 2 September 2013:
- If there's 27 students in a class with one teacher, but you've got a teacher-student ratio of 14:1, what are all the other teachers doing?
Sitting around with their feet up on desks? I do not think so! I am an ex-teacher, I am married to a teacher. I am the parent of school-aged children and have many friends who are teachers. What they are doing when not teaching - this is not only in their downtime during a school day, this is their evenings and weekends – is marking papers, preparing programs, undertaking professional reading, and they may be undertaking professional development in their own time. They are probably planning and driving school fundraising activities, which is probably even higher on their agenda now they have had their budgets cut so horrendously by you.
I look forward to you attending the rally tomorrow and hearing what you say to people. They will not be grubs, as the member for Greatorex likes to call unionists, they will be parents, hard-working teachers, all the other school staff who support teachers, and students. I look forward to seeing the CLP members there listening, because they tell us they are a government that is listening, ‘We are listening to you. We are listening to Territorians.’ I look forward to seeing you on the steps of parliament tomorrow, minister, listening to what people tell you.
When we talk about what teachers do, there are always camps. I had written a list for the censure motion we were not allowed to have this morning. ‘No, let’s not talk about education. Gag the opposition when they want to talk about education because we do not want to hear what they say.’ I have a long list of the things teachers do in their own time with no thanks. We have an Education minister who believes they are lazy!
He also believes there is no clear research suggesting students perform better in small classes. What parallel universe have you been living in? What have you been doing at all those school council meetings? Not listening, that is for sure. What about our bush schools? It is shameful! Those cuts in the bush schools, my word they will hurt. Where are the bush members? They are silent. I do not know where they are, but they are silent; they do not speak up. They do not defend the people in their electorates against this disgraceful government not interested in the bush. They are denying they won government on bush seats. Are they listening to bush people? Absolutely not!
What about power price increases in the bush? The power cards used to last about five days in the average home. You are lucky if people can get them to last two days now. What do impoverished people in remote communities do? They do not have the opportunity to miraculously find money to meet the cost of power bills. Instead, they sit in the dark, their fridges do not run, their lights are not on, their fans are not on, and they cannot recharge basic things like an electric wheelchair for people dependent upon it. For my efforts in raising that issue I was labelled a liar by the member for Katherine, the minister who was shameful in his Power and Water responsibilities.
Madam Speaker, being a person who represents the bush and has lived in Nhulunbuy for 20-odd years, I want to condemn the Minister for Regional Development for her woeful effort in the time she has been in that position. We all know the member for Namatjira well. She was a colleague of ours. I have sat on that side of the House with her, and in Caucus meetings with her. She is not to be trusted; she is not loyal. She will turn on you as sure as night turns to day. As the member for Nightcliff mentioned, we know she had a conversation with Tony Abbott, ‘Gee Tony, I made a mistake. I should not have supported Adam Giles. I wish I had taken the offer you made to run in Lingiari. If you would have me, I still want to join you should Warren Mundine be heading up the advisory council you announced. If you are elected, can you give me a job there?’ She is looking for a way out. We can spot the tensions on that side. At the end of the day, she is next to useless. She is conniving, and was quite happy to allow the Chief Minister to get rid of the portfolio for Indigenous advancement.
This woman stands proud saying, ‘My people. I stand for Indigenous people’, and then is happy for the new Chief Minister to say, ‘We don’t need a portfolio for Indigenous advancement any more’, and she says, ‘Yes, no worries’. That is unbelievable and in complete contrast to the claims Tony Abbott makes, should he be elected Prime Minister, about elevating Indigenous affairs into the Prime Minister’s office. The two viewpoints from two conservative governments do not match.
In regard to regional economic development, the people of Gove would love to see her there so she can explain, firsthand, how reneging on the gas to Gove deal is somehow a win/win deal and something we should be excited about. People want to hear from her, as well as the Chief Minister, but she will not come out. She was scheduled to come out but pulled out of the trip. The poor old Deputy Chief Minister had to front up to Gove, attend meetings, and talk with people because there is no way the member for Namatjira will get into a situation like that. We know only too well when the heat is on in the kitchen she is the first one running out the door; she is not prepared to stand and take the bullets.
There are many other things I could be talking about in this debate. I congratulate my colleagues who have summarised, in great detail and with great passion, the litany of failures across their shadow portfolio areas and their electorates.
I will allow a couple of minutes for the member for Karama to wrap up this debate.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for contributing to the motion. They covered off on their shadow portfolios extensively and pointed out the litany of failures in 12 months of the CLP. Predictably, there was a short, angry and churlish contribution from the member for Port Darwin.
It is interesting to note this government is, in just 12 months, already out of ideas. Not only have they torn up their contract with Territorians, a contract signed by Terry Mills, member for Blain, with great fanfare, the big question mark is over whether there is a view within the CLP Cabinet and the broader party wing to stick to any of the election commitments they made. They have been busy tearing them up or reneging on them all over the place.
It has been the worst year of a government since self-government. The CLP likes to believe that is what Labor is saying, they are all okay, and it is just mean and nasty Labor which does not have anything nice to say about them. Genuinely, that is what people are saying. A broad and diverse group of Territorians, some long-standing supporters of the CLP, are saying they cannot believe how bad this government is. People have been shocked at how quickly the CLP has returned to some of the worst excesses and practices of the late 1990s.
One of the reasons momentum gained in the Territory to see the first change of government from CLP to Labor in 2001 was because people had had enough of the excesses of government. The public are genuinely shocked to see how quickly those excesses came to the fore and to see the Treasurer believe it is fine to fly around in a private jet - to see ministers, their friends and Caucus members on a plane heading off to the Kimberley Moon Festival and have a party courtesy of the taxpayer.
You stand condemned, and I put this motion to the Chamber.
The Assembly divided:
Ayes 7 Noes 13
Ms Fyles Ms Anderson
Mr Gunner Mr Chandler
Ms Lawrie Mr Conlan
Ms Manison Mr Elferink
Mr Vatskalis Ms Finocchiaro
Mr Vowles Mr Giles
Ms Walker Mr Higgins
Mr Kurrupuwu
Mrs Lambley
Ms Lee
Mrs Price
Mr Tollner
Mr Westra van Holthe
Motion negatived.
MOTION
Note Statement –
Pillars of Justice – Swift Justice
Note Statement –
Pillars of Justice – Swift Justice
Continued from earlier today.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Madam Speaker, I listened very carefully to the member for Nhulunbuy. She has done what many people in opposition do: give up work in favour of simple abuse as a response to a government statement. She can do that. However, she loses precious hours in this House available for better criticism. I am happy to receive criticism and critique from members opposite; however, that was just vitriol and, therefore, not useful to the people of the Northern Territory. I will treat it with as much attention as she gave the statement.
Nevertheless, the member for Nelson asked some important questions. Sadly, I took some notes but mislaid them, so will have to do this from memory. It is worth responding to the member for Nelson. This Pillar of Justice is about making the system work for everybody. One of the reasons I could convince my Cabinet colleagues of the importance of a single minister with carriage of Pillars of Justice is because the process envisaged means the minister with carriage can not only look at the court system, but look at how it affects the police and police systems. Police paperwork is a big problem. There is a massive load on coppers to do paperwork. Their computer systems, both PROMIS and IJIS, place a demand on police officers that they do all their work on those systems as well as the arrest files they are required to do.
I asked members to picture this process in the courts and how it sends paperwork back down to the police. When a police officer arrests somebody they do a preliminary brief. That brief, after they do all the computerised paperwork, includes an apprehension report and a prcis. The prcis is a statement of facts of what a third-party observer would see an offender do.
I will give you an example. I have not written a prcis for 15 years but it would go something like this: ‘At 9.06 pm on Wednesday 28 August 2013, the defendant now before the court was driving his blue Toyota, registered number 123-456, south along Smith Street. The defendant was apprehended and subjected to a roadside breath test which blew positive and the resulting analysis gave a reading of 1.5%. At the time of the offence, Smith Street was a public street open to and used by the public.’
That covers the points of proof. What the prcis does not state is the quality of the evidence against the person. The prcis outlines what happens. If you allow other information into the prcis, such as ‘police observed’ and those types of things, there is direct evidence inside the prcis as to the quality of the evidence in the police file.
The reason that is important is that a defence lawyer who receives the prcis on face value has no idea of the quality of the evidence against their client so is tempted to go on a fishing expedition. To do that you walk into the court and say, ‘My client will indicate a plea of not guilty’. When that occurs, the court will set it down for a contest mention or a hearing.
The file then goes from the prosecutor back through the system to the police officer, and the police officer has to collect all the statements. In the instance of an assault, they have to get statements from people putting the defendant on the scene, from the bar manager saying, ‘Yes, I saw the defendant’, the bouncer, ‘Yes, the defendant was there’, a victim statement from the victim, the subject of the assault, and they do a full investigation taking a lot of time.
All that material is investigated, comes back to the court, and at that stage the defence lawyer gets to see, for the first time, the quality of the evidence against their client. The result is these cases often become guilty pleas at the last moment.
As I said in the statement, the increase in files went up by 700 with only 47 going to a hearing so the evidence is tested. A massive body of paperwork has been done which never sees the light of day or the courtroom.
I well understand our justice system requires the Crown, when it brings a case, to prove the case. Often when you look at the fight about to be had between the defence and the prosecution, the issue comes down to a single point. For example, someone is charged with an assault because they smacked someone in the mouth in a pub. That person is arrested, indicates a not guilty plea, goes to a contest mention or a hearing and the file goes back to the copper. Little does the police officer or prosecutor know the client is telling the lawyer, ‘The guy had a glass bottle in his hand, I was defending myself’. Whether or not the defendant was at the scene of the alleged crime will not be an issue. He already admitted he was. The prosecutor has to send the file back to the coppers who have to collect statements from witnesses who will never give evidence. There is no requirement for Bill Smith to say, ‘Yes, I saw that person, who I know as Fred Bloggs, at the scene’ because we know he will not say in court, ‘I was not there’. He will say, ‘I was there’. All the evidence collected to place the person at the scene is unnecessary.
If there is a pre-trial conference the defence says, ‘I will indicate a plea of not guilty’. The magistrate says to the prosecutor and the defence team, ‘Go into a room for a conference; talk about it.’ In that conference there will be an obligation, particularly on the police, to outlay the quality of evidence they have available. That will be changed police paperwork as a result of these changes. However, the defence will also have an obligation, eventually, to point out what the point in issue is. You do not have to have a trial about the whole thing; you are trying to distil it down to the point of difference.
Let us use an example. My client says he was not at the scene of the criminal damage. The prosecutor looks at the file and says, ‘The prosecution can get five statements saying your client was there. They have CCTV footage available, five photographs and fingerprints.’ The police prosecutor says to the defence, ‘That is the quality of our case’. The defence will look at that and say, ‘I will have a chat to my client’. Obviously the client is telling fibs to his lawyer and, ultimately, the lawyer will have to serve his client. However, one of the services a lawyer gives to his client is to say, ‘Mate, you will lose this’ or ‘you will struggle’.
Alternatively, the defence walks into the pre-trial conference and says, ‘My client says he was not there’. The police officer opens the file and all they have is the witness evidence of one person who was drunk at the time. At that point you know the prosecution will not succeed and you pull the prosecution; it will not work. If you go to a hearing on evidence like that it will not happen.
Would it not be better if you knew that before you sent the file back to police to pursue? Would it not be better if the prosecutor could say to the investigating officer, ‘The point in issue is the person was defending themselves at the time. What evidence can you find?’ The police officer stumbles across evidence that the person who was smacked in the mouth was holding a broken bottle at the time and the file is pulled.
Experienced lawyers know how these cases will go long before they walk into a courtroom. The civil courts have been doing this for decades. It is called discovery. It is all types of things. The civil courts have been saying to lawyers for a long time, ‘Before you come into this courtroom talk to each other, disclose to each other, and find out what the points of issue are. If there is something for us to adjudicate on, by all means bring it into the courtroom and we will adjudicate on it.’
The criminal courts have not been doing this. At the risk of being crass, the lower courts are the sausage factory of our legal system; they are a meat grinder, not high justice. There is nothing wrong with saying to people, ‘Disclose information to each other and find out where this is going’. If there is a point of difference, like the prosecution insists it has enough evidence or the defence believes it has a good defence, that is the issue alone which is bought before the court. When the file goes back to the arresting officer he knows the evidence he or she has to collect.
Alternatively, you can take it all to a hearing every time. These are the reasons for such dramatic declines, particularly in Victoria, in the amount of matters going to hearing. A hearing is when you collect all the evidence together. However, there is something more practical operating here as well. Because police know the amount of contest mention files they are getting. These massive files they have to put together are forever coming back from the courts in greater and greater numbers. The effect is - I am not accusing anybody of being lazy, there is another dynamic at work here - the police can also become arrest adverse. They know if they have to do a bunch of evening shifts the sergeant will be poking them all day saying, ‘Get out of the station. Stop doing that bloody paperwork and get onto the streets.’ They know with every arrest they make there is an increasing risk the paperwork that arrest generates will prevent them from performing their primary function of keeping the streets safe, because they are collecting rafts of evidence that will rarely see the light of day in a courtroom.
If we can give the average PC Plod on the road comfort that when he makes an arrest it will not lead to a massive prosecution file, he will be less arrest adverse because he will be able to effectively police the streets without being loaded down with reams of paperwork. Surely that is a desirable outcome. Where do we want our coppers? I want PC Plod walking around the streets, driving around in a patrol car knowing he or she has control of the streets without the courts loading him up with paperwork.
I hope that explains, in more technical terms, what is in the ministerial statement. It is for that reason one minister has carriage across the whole system. It washes all the way from the point of arrest through to the end of parole. There are interactions the whole way through. They were good questions and I am grateful for the opportunity to explain them in more detail.
This will lead to savings in our system. It will ultimately lead to savings of time, money, and resources, but it will not have the effect of denying justice because at no stage is a person forced into pleading guilty.
You made the other point, if memory serves, of how mandatory sentencing works with reference to sentencing indications. The answer is it continues to operate. Where these jurisdictions have mandatory sentencing, and every jurisdiction has mandatory sentencing in one function or another, be it for traffic offences or whatever, this system operates perfectly well. In relation to something like sentencing indications, ‘Your Honour, my client would like to know what sentence you may give’, His or Her Honour can reply, ‘I am going to give three months gaol time because that is what the law requires’.
However, bear in mind that for offences where mandatory sentencing applies, His Honour has huge latitude between three months and seven years. Capacity to make a decision within that range remains. The lawyer will, quite rightly, indicate to the client being charged with an aggravated assault, ‘You stand to go down for three months. If you plead not guilty and lose the case because you are pleading not guilty to avoid the consequences, it may be more.’ That is often what courts do; there is a discount for early pleas.
This parliament has said to the courts a mandatory sentence of three years is the bare minimum, but there is still a latitude between three months and seven years for these forms of serious harm assaults so it will still operate in that fashion. The indication is merely an indication to the person accused that this is roughly what you will get so that person can better make their decision. The reason that is useful is, occasionally, people will avoid testing the quality of the evidence against them for no other reason - which is their right - than to avoid a particular type of penalty.
If somebody has committed an aggravated assault and is thinking, ‘Goodness, I could get up to seven years’, and the sentence indication comes back saying, ‘You will get three-and-a-half months’, they may choose to plead guilty on that. If a person has been done for stealing and is worried about going to gaol and who will look after their kids they think, ‘I should plead not guilty’ but the sentence indication comes back to say they will get a two-year good behaviour bond and $500 fine, that may be the difference between a person saying, ‘Yes, I can cop that; I can live with that.’ That is the idea. It is not plea bargaining, it is simply saying to a person, ‘For what you have done, considering your criminal history and the nature of the actions you have taken, and what you have been charged with, this is what you will get’. That helps them make a more informed decision. That is how the sentencing indication system works.
I thank the member for Nelson for taking the time to do some homework on this. I will be reporting regularly on the Pillars of Justice system because I believe this House should be informed on what the policies of government are. Yes, I will inform them in a way my style dictates.
The member for Johnston had a good old giggle when I started referring to some of the oldest principles in our legal system. I understand; it is all very amusing, ‘Here is that eccentric moron who keeps making all these obscure references’. I do not forget where our legal system comes from. I invite the member for Johnston to ask how much he knows about the history of the parliamentary system we currently use. I ask him to consider, ‘What am I doing in this place? What does this place represent? How did it come into being?’ If he seeks some answers, he will find the history of these places is written in the blood of millions. In homage to those people who have died for a freer and fairer system, I am careful not to insult it. I am careful to show due deference and care for it.
I suspect the member for Johnston would say, quite rightly, we have to respect 40 000 years of Aboriginal law. I do, but let us not immediately use that as a vehicle to dismiss the last 1000 years of the development of our parliamentary democracy and our legal systems, which have served the people of the Commonwealth and the free world very well. I do not resile for one second from knowing the history of this place and the growth of our legal system, because it is important to know. The more you know about it, the better you are equipped to use it to the advantage of not only yourself, but the people in your electorate. That is why a little knowledge can go a long way.
I was disappointed in the member for Nhulunbuy, not because she was critical, but for the lack of effort she made. She replaced it with vitriol and it was not useful.
I thank the member for Nelson for being thoughtful, and welcome him at any time into my office in relation to this. I am happy to brief him on any component of Pillars of Justice at any time. I am happy to explain to this House what I am doing. There will be legislative changes associated with this but, to be fair to the people of the Northern Territory and members of this House, I will keep this House updated so people know exactly what I, and the Northern Territory government, am doing and the things we will be proud of.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
TABLED PAPERS
Auditor-General’s August 2013 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Auditor-General’s August 2013 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the Auditor-General’s August 2013 Report to the Legislative Assembly.
MOTION
Note Paper - Auditor-General’s August 2013 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Note Paper - Auditor-General’s August 2013 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the report, and that I have leave to continue my remarks at a later date.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do not adjourn.
Madam Speaker, I went to a play reading the other day written by a young Territorian, a lady by the name of Samantha Young, who would be known to many people in this Chamber, I do not doubt. She is a young Territorian who has been noted as a young achiever. She is 27 years old and she wrote a play which was presented to the public of the Northern Territory in the form of a play reading last Sunday, To the End of Reckoning.
It is the much publicised story of Jock Palfreeman, who currently languishes in a Bulgarian gaol for an offence he may or may not have committed. I do not particularly want to enter into the debate surrounding Mr Palfreeman, I have yet to sufficiently familiarise myself with the details of the circumstances that saw him incarcerated for murder in Bulgaria; but I do wish to talk about the play reading that I witnessed.
Ms Young takes my breath away. It is not often I find myself listening to a little known playwright’s play, first play, and I was absolutely aghast - in a pleasant way. It was an extraordinary play and the fact is that it was wonderfully well-written, showed great humour but, moreover, what really resonated through it was a maturity that you would not expect from a 27-year old playwright.
From time to time, I like to distract myself with other people’s artistic efforts to remind myself it is not all about the hurly burly of daily life which is, all too often, all we get to deal with in this House. It is about our integrity as people and what we do and the things we say, and the things we think that represent the measure of us.
This play was presented in a very honest fashion, and I will not give too much away about it, suffice to say that Ms Young, in this semi-autobiographical work, actually had contact with Mr Palfreeman whilst he was in gaol in Bulgaria and raised many of the issues in the play about him. And while she reaches a conclusion at the end of the play, she is brave and honest enough to challenge herself and her own assumptions about Mr Palfreeman and represents him in a very honest light. Something you would not expect and so interwoven in a very complex way is the self-doubt, if you like, that Ms Young has in relation to Mr Palfreeman but, nevertheless, the graciousness she was prepared to extend to him in terms of representing him in a very human way.
Her integrity in the way she presented this to the people of Darwin stands as a wonderful reminder of the integrity that we should all pursue when we are dealing with controversial topics.
The only tradable currency a politician can possibly have is their own integrity. Once that is traded away, once you become a person who has the reputation of Craig Thomson - whether he is guilty of anything or not, or Peter Slipper - whether he is guilty of anything or not - once you have traded away your integrity in the public domain it is essentially the end of you.
The way Ms Young presented this play, in my opinion, elevated her integrity and made me pause to take time out from thinking about all the things that are important in my life, to listen to somebody else’s view on an issue that I have nothing to do with, and to have it presented in such a courageous and honest fashion, to me was an absolute highlight of my month.
I did not expect when I walked into Brown’s Mart Theatre to walk away from this play reading with a deep sense of thought and introspection about a number of issues that affect both me and the community and the world in which I live. To have a 27-year old do that demonstrates the level of maturity she has, and I am enormously grateful to have spent that hour and a half sitting in Brown’s Mart because it was a marvellous experience.
I would recommend, when this play goes into production, all members of this House take the time to go and see the production because you will walk away from it very surprised it is the work of a first-time playwright a mere 27-years of age. It is far more mature and far more complex than anything I would have expected from someone with those antecedents.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I congratulate Ms Young, and thank honourable members for their attention.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Mr Deputy Speaker, tonight I pay tribute to the excellent work the nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, and support staff do each and every day caring for people in need in our hospitals and health clinics throughout the Territory.
I specifically acknowledge the hard work and dedication of nursing staff within the Royal Darwin Hospital Emergency Department, and applaud those who put their name to a petition highlighting their concerns with the level of overcrowding occurring in that facility. The Giles government is an open, honest, and transparent government which welcomes hard-working Territorians raising their concerns with us, be they nurse, teacher, truck driver, sales assistant, or tradie.
To the nurses who signed the petition expressing their concerns, on behalf of the Northern Territory government, I say thank you. I applaud your courage and your commitment to your career. The issues raised by the nurses are significant and real. No one - I say again no one - wants to see double-bunking occurring on a regular basis in our hospitals. I understand the incidence of double bunking has increased over time.
It is also worth noting, however, that overcrowding has been an issue at the Royal Darwin Hospital emergency department for many years. The solutions employed by the hospital on how to deal with it have, over time, changed in accordance with current practice, but the issue itself is not a new one.
Labor should have got on with the job of building Palmerston hospital with a full emergency department years ago, rather than allowing the project to gather dust for 11 years. Labor should have invested more in the Royal Darwin Hospital over the past 11 years. We are now in a position of playing catch-up.
Just about to start is an upgrade to the RDH emergency department and Short Stay Unit that will assist in taking some pressure off. But building bigger emergency departments and bringing a second emergency department online in the Palmerston hospital will only solve part of the problem.
Today I met with the representatives of the Northern Territory Branch of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation. When asked what could be done to take pressure off the emergency department at the Royal Darwin Hospital they, like other stakeholders before them, spoke about the need for better communication between the emergency department and the wards.
The Royal Darwin Hospital is one hospital and the issues impacting on the emergency department will affect the wards, and vice versa. It is only through working together in a coordinated fashion that we can improve the overall patient flow within the hospital. I am not, for a second, being critical of one part of the hospital versus another, but rather understand a more coordinated hospital is a more efficient hospital which gives better outcomes to patients and their families, and provides better working conditions for staff.
There are many issues affecting the patient flow through the hospital. Aged care sanctions still in place in two of the three nursing homes in Darwin continue to impact on the wards’ ability to discharge patients. Asylum seekers, whilst fully offset financially from the Department of Immigration, are having an ever-increasing impact on both the emergency department and the wards.
Ensuring patients are discharged in a timely and safe manner is an ongoing challenge that I know the hospital is working hard to maintain. The Northern Territory government has already announced our intention to return the short-term patient accommodation at the Royal Darwin Hospital facility to its original purpose of taking low acute patients pre- and post-operation from the middle of next year. If used correctly, and not just another demand inducer, this should see beds in wards opened up quicker which, in turn, will improve the flow from the emergency department. Hospital management and staff are also actively engaged in the clinical redesign of the hospital to ensure patient flow is improved.
Nurses in the emergency department and on the wards do an amazing job and perform miracles on a daily basis. I sincerely thank those nurses who raised this important issue with me, and commit to working with them, and the hospital, so together we can improve patient outcomes and working conditions for hospital staff.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Mr Deputy Speaker, my Grandfather spent some time working in Utopia, often with one of the Kunoth boys, Alec Mcleod.
- His young son Alec and I toyed with the idea of taking up a bit of no man’s land just east of Utopia, but nothing came of it. We equipped a new bore with a mill, tank and troughing, and made some other improvements to the old place.
I commenced a relationship with a young Aboriginal girl, Topsy. She was a few years older than I was and worked with Dora at the homestead, and although frowned upon by authorities, she would come to my hut at night. The result of this I found some years later was that she had, after I had left for Elkedra, given birth to a son whom Dora and Topsy named Peter Johnathon.
After learning of his existence in the fifties, I followed his progress through school with the aid of his teacher, and also Ted Kunoth, who had employed Peter as a stockman at Mt Ebenezer and advised me he was a smart lad and doing a good job.
His mother, Topsy, had placed him in the hands of native welfare officers and he was taken to St Mary’s Hostel and educated at Hartley Street School. I do not think he was much inclined to be a scholar any more than I was.
Through it all, he never lost faith in his own people at Utopia and, after his marriage to a Mount Liebig woman, extended the assistance he showed to Utopia to others at Mount Liebig.
I never met him though all his half brothers and sisters knew him well. He said to them that he respected my privacy and he knew I respected his. I often wished he had breached it; I would have loved to have known him better.
In October 1999, I was summoned to appear in the Federal Court Darwin as a witness in the Cubillo & Gunner v Commonwealth case, more widely known as the Stolen Generation claims.
The proceedings had a huge impact on Peter. A retiring person, the subsequent relentless publicity took its toll on his health. He continued to live at Utopia in a camp away from the settlement. In April 2005 he died from a heart attack and, sometime later after a service held at St Mary’s Chapel, he was laid to rest at the Alice Springs Garden Cemetery.
So, now I have two sons, Connie and Peter, who have passed on before me and I find it hard at times to accept that fate should have made it so. I am reassured by my belief in the truths of my God that I will meet them in a time to come.
I hope his faith has held true, and my Grandfather is now with family and friends.
Back at Ammaroo:
- … a period of work followed that didn’t find my mood improving. Hogan and I didn’t fall out, but he didn’t discourage me either when I decided once and for all to leave for good, this time I would go north to Elkedra.
Hogan didn’t seem too upset to see me go, which didn’t surprise me at all, we were older now and personal feelings didn’t amount to all that much, we would always be mates. I rode off and never looked back. I never saw Hogan again.
The day I left Ammaroo for good, it was Gypsy who carried all my worldly goods, she shared a lot of miles and would often at night stand close to the camp, never hobbled. When I eventually left Elkedra I turned Gypsy loose to run with the station horses. I hated parting with her, but where I intended going was much too far, it would have been more than selfish, only cruel.
From the beginning, I thank Peter Chandler, Minister for Education, for attending the last school council meeting. I was there, as was the member for Nelson, and the Chief Executive of the department, Ken Davies, to meet with councillors and to hear some of the key issues, of which the staffing model is one, which I may come back to at a later time.
During that meeting food was provided by the VET hospitality students, Brock Willet and Jayke Demestichas. They provided superb food on par with any first-class restaurant I have been to in Darwin, if not elsewhere. Thank you to the VET hospitality students, I am sure they have a good career in front of them.
Also, on 16 August, four of the Year 10 Leading Learning students, Jasmine Aitken, Cheya Clarke, Thomas Cole and Stevie Pocock travelled to Charles Darwin University to compete in the NT finals of the National Brain Bee Challenge. This challenge involves individual and group challenges focusing on the study of neuroscience, which sounds pretty amazing to me.
Congratulations to Jasmine Aitken, who won the individual challenge against students from Casuarina Senior College and St John’s College - which goes to show bush kids are brighter than urban townie kids. She will now represent the NT in the National Brain Bee Final in Adelaide in January 2014, and should she win, she will be flown to Washington DC in the United States of America to represent Australia in the International Brain Bee Final. I am quite sure she will go that far.
Thomas Cole came a close second to Jasmine in the individual final, and the group came third in the group challenge.
Well done to those four students for their excellence in the work they do, and their future exploits. I am sure they will go on further in regards to the Bee Challenges.
Congratulations to student Emma Kellaway, who was a participant in the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy. She was selected to participate in this academy in Sydney last week, From a summary Emma wrote in regard to participating in that Academy, I quote:
- Recently I was lucky enough to spend a week in Sydney with 50 amazing youth leaders from all across Australia to participate in the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy’s national gathering. Over the week we participated in many inspiring and motivational workshops around leadership skills and values. This led us into creating five campaigns around nationwide topics evident in today’s society. These were: climate change, closing the gap, suicide prevention, asylum seekers, and refugees and constitutional recognition.
My co-founded campaign is called Change the Conversation, which aims to eliminate biased views around asylum seekers and refugees that have been influenced by the media’s propaganda. The group asks that you learn the facts about asylum seekers and refugees before jumping to conclusions, and pass on your new learnt knowledge to another member of the community to help change the conversation from a negative to a positive.
You can also head to our Facebook page called ‘Change the Conversation’ and upload your pictures, facts and opinions about asylum seekers and refugees. Don’t forget to …
- #PassItOn.
That was from Emma Kellaway, who is in Year 11.
Congratulations to Emma for participating in that leadership academy and also for travelling interstate. I am sure she learnt a great deal and will bring it back to share amongst her student friends and also other members of the community to get them to change their conversations.
It is also with pleasure that I report on the Taminmin Cattle Team, as it is called. We finished the show season, and it saw 23 agricultural students from both Certificate II Rural Operations and Certificate III Agriculture attend and compete in Darwin in Katherine rural shows.
Taminmin entered 10 of their own homegrown Brahman cattle for exhibition and were rewarded greatly for the quality produced , which included the champion exhibit at both Darwin and Katherine …
Mr Wood: Hurricane.
Ms PURICK: Hurricane the bull, is it?
Mr Wood: That is his name.
Ms PURICK: Hurricane the bull.
Students from the agriculture programs presented well in uniforms kindly sponsored through Territory Rural, and were supported through local business, Domador. Many thanks to those organisations for their support of the programs, and the students who represented the uniforms well throughout.
2013 is now the second and consecutive year the college has been able to enter its homegrown stock produced on the farm, which is at Taminmin College, supported through the agriculture programs. Students from both courses worked tirelessly preparing and handling the livestock to be exhibited, and received major achievements and accolades through classes showing the extent of their efforts and work, especially as students gave up their holidays to continue to do their show preparations and compete in Katherine.
Thanks and appreciation goes to the two farm techs, Guy McSkimming and Rob Kelly for their work with the cattle and Boer goats when required, and Amanda Adams for stepping up to the challenge in her first year and presenting the Boer goats and middle school programs so well. Any of us who have been to the Katherine Show or the Royal Darwin Show know the cattle displayed by the Taminmin students are exemplary, to say the least.
I list the highlights and championship in prizes achieved through the Senior School agricultural programs this year in the cattle section.
Katherine Show Student Awards:
Mickaela Butt – 1st place Junior Handler
Kalvin Kempster – 2nd place Junior Handler
Janita Woods – 3rd place Junior Handler
Michael Sikyr - Best Cattle Groom, and runner up Kalvin Kempster.
Kalvin Kempster – 1st place Junior Judging
Kody Mayo – 2nd place Junior Judging
Janita Woods and Kirrah Codrington - tied 3rd place Junior Judging.
Well done and congratulations, not only for their places, but also for the fact they took time out of their own school and private schedules to travel to Katherine and compete and, obviously, bring a lot of enjoyment to people who loved watching them in the grand parades and elsewhere.
Royal Darwin Show Student Awards:
Georgia Lowery – 1st Juvenile Cattle Judging
Jessica Dowling – 2nd Juvenile Cattle Judging
Kyle Schwarze – 3rd Juvenile Cattle Judging.
Janita Woods – 1st Junior Cattle Judge
Kody Mayo – 2nd Junior Cattle Judge
Kirrah Codrington – 3rd Junior Cattle Judge.
Matt Deveraux – 1st Senior Cattle Judge.
Jack Bail – 1st Juvenile Cattle Handler
Samara Durbidge –2nd Juvenile Cattle Handler
Georgia Lowery – 3rd Juvenile Cattle Handler
Kirrah Codrington – 1st Junior Cattle Handler
Mickaela Butt – 2nd Junior Cattle Handler
Janita Woods – 3rd Junior Cattle Handler
Georgia Lowery – 1st Juvenile Cattle Attendant
Chris Anderson - 1st Junior Cattle Attendant
It has been a great year for the college and the students who presented so well throughout the show season with so many opportunities from being out and about on display for industry to see the high standard now being displayed and supported through the agricultural programs of the college.
I note, as do other members in this parliament, that many of these students go on to work in the pastoral industry and, clearly, they will take with them a great deal of talent, skills and education.
A couple of the students from Taminmin College also worked as part of the back of house people for the big Turf Club Ball at SkyCity. They were from Certificate II in Hospitality, Brock Willet and Jayke Demestichas and …
A member: Hear, hear!
Ms PURICK: … from all accounts, they had a lovely time. They participated in the preparation of food for the Gala Ball on 3 August 2013. Six students from the Top End went and, of course, two from Taminmin, which was a greater number, and they plated 2900 entries for this event which people say is the largest outdoor black tie event in the southern hemisphere.
Well done to Brock and Jayke for showing such diligence and being selected to do this type of work and, no doubt, their careers will be becoming chefs and perhaps one day they will be in charge of running such a major event in the Top End.
At the beginning of my speech I mentioned that the minister visited the school for their last council meeting, which I also attended. Over recent months school council members have had several meetings with both the minister and the Chief Executive of the department concerning a wide range of educational issues, most importantly, staffing and reimbursements.
In previous years, the council had negotiated with the then government for additional positions of Assistant Principal, Career Advisor and School Counsellor, in recognition of the unique situation at Taminmin College; it being a large comprehensive school which includes middle and senior secondary education and large agricultural and VET programs. However, each year the council has had to retain these positions as, understandably, these are positions within the departments and governments in competition for resources and positions.
It was pleasing that the work of the council and the council chairman has paid off, because the minister has assured the commitment of funding to ensure these three positions at Taminmin College will be honoured, and advice has been received by the Chief Executive that these positions will remain at the college for, I would expect, the long term.
It is a large college, Mr Deputy Speaker, as you know; it has in excess of 1200 students. When it was first built it started as a college of about 300 or 400 students, so it has grown enormously and it is bursting at the seams. Whilst there is competition for educational resources, Taminmin College is in a unique position being the only senior high school within a very large and growing rural area.
No doubt the college and the parents and the council members, and people like me and you and the member for Nelson will keep knocking on the minister’s door and the department’s door to ensure they are not overlooked and they do get their due funding and support.
Congratulations to all at Taminmin College, to the Principal, Miriam McDonald, who is doing a terrific job; the Council Chairman, Beverley Ratahi, all council members and, of course, all the teachers at Taminmin College. I will leave it at that.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Mr Deputy Speaker, first I wish commend my federal colleague, Natasha Griggs, the federal member for Solomon, for fighting so stridently to deliver exceptional levels of funding, certainly much higher levels of funding under a Coalition government than we would have ever seen under any form of Labor government, be it Territory or federal.
A couple of things have spurred me on, not just to commend my colleague, Natasha, but because I am sick and tired of the lies that are being pedalled by Labor during this federal campaign. We have spoken about Labor lies at length in the last two weeks and I have spoken about Labor lies and scaremongering a number of times myself in adjournment or otherwise. Last night when I came home from sittings, I found this wonderful little DL full of lies and it says:
- Under Labor we get a hospital in Palmerston now, under Country Liberals we don’t. This election if the Country Liberals win Territorians lose.
- For sale, vacant hospital block, never used.
Really quite remarkable stuff. I thought it very prudent to go through the history of the Palmerston hospital. In 1999, the residents of Palmerston decided that hospital services were something they were particularly interested in and believed it was something needed in our community.
In 2000, the Palmerston health precinct was constructed, the whole purpose of which was to have a 24-hour operational health facility in Palmerston that suited the demand at the time and the expectations of the people of Palmerston. Then, unfortunately, the Country Liberals lost government in 2001 and a Labor government was elected. Sure as night follows day the 24-hour service was closed by Labor.
In 2005, the Country Liberals promised during the election campaign to reinstate the 24-hour emergency facility. At that time, it was still very much the view of the Palmerston people that it needed an all-hours service.
In 2007, the Labor government announced a super clinic investment by federal Labor. In 2008, the Country Liberals committed $100m over 15 years for the planning and construction of a staged hospital at Palmerston. By 2008, the Labor government failed to attract private operators to this new and improved super clinic from 10 pm to 8 am.
The super clinic completely failed the expectations of Palmerston residents in every way. I had a personal experience taking my mother, who had fallen over at home, straight to the super clinic thinking that is the best place to go, this is where Palmerston people feel they can go when something happens at home, only to sit there for …
Mr Wood: The ambulance cannot stop at the super clinic at the moment.
Ms FINOCCHIARO: … only to sit there for a number of hours so my mother could be given a few Panadol and be made comfortable. We then hopped back in our own car and went off to Royal Darwin Hospital. The super clinic completely failed the expectations of Palmerston residents - a completely failed Labor government with a completely failed health scheme for Palmerston and the rural area.
In 2009, Labor had a brain wave and thought: why don’t we announce a new hospital in Palmerston? Even though we cannot get a super clinic right, why don’t we not go for the big guns and try and organise a Palmerston hospital?
At that time, the member for Casuarina had said it should be constructed by the end of 2010. That was incredibly wishful thinking, and there was an enormous time blowout, of course, as we all know.
In 2011, Labor made the budget announcement of a $110m hospital, and later that year it announced the site. Now the site, if we talk about Labor failures, is just another slice of the cake that failed residents’ expectations yet again, and it failed council’s expectations.
The site chosen by Labor was completely unsuitable. It did not fit in with the council’s master plan, it did not allow for growth, and it would have caused extreme traffic congestion. It is sandwiched between Roystonea Avenue and Temple Terrace, as we all know, and it did not have any continuity with the rural area. It is a site sandwiched between the CBD, residential area and Yarrawonga, which is an industrial precinct in Palmerston.
By December 2011, Labor thought this scheme up, and thought the block up because they were extremely desperate as we headed into the 2012 election. In the meantime, my colleague, Natasha Griggs, member for Solomon, who had been to the very first meeting of Palmerston residents championing this cause recognised that Palmerston did have needs and has been striving very hard ever since, even from opposition, to secure that for Palmerston.
I attended a presentation prior to the 2012 Northern Territory general election which promised all sorts of things the Palmerston hospital would be, and that it would be operational by 2016. But I note the major concerns of people at that public meeting were: location, room to develop, standard of emergency services, and paediatric beds. There is a theme through all of this.
Labor people are very convincing, and we see this a great deal. They thought: now we have money, we have an announcement, we have a block, what is the next step? We put up a temporary fence. I spoke about the temporary fence last week.
There is a beaut Northern Territory News article on 18 April 2012 saying:
Construction work has started on the Territory’s next hospital but details on exactly what services it will offer – particularly after hours – are still sketchy.
I am not sure how you can commence construction of a hospital without knowing what is going to go into the hospital - it really boggles the mind - and I do not believe a fence constitutes construction by any stretch of the imagination. Further down in the article you learn a little more about what this ‘construction’ means. It says:
- Earth-moving equipment and a ute with a sticker of a naked lady provided a nice backdrop for another Budget media event.
Luke Gosling, the Labor candidate for Solomon, whose name I should not mention but I will for the record, seems very confused. Perhaps he did not get the briefing he ought to have had from his party. He said the other day on Pete Davies that if it was not for us, the Northern Territory government, the hospital would be half built by now.
We have only been in government 12 months and the temporary fence was there right up until recently, but there was certainly no construction on site, so I am not sure how the candidate for Solomon thinks a hospital would be half built. In any event, I am not sure why he would want to peddle to Palmerston residents that the site was suitable in the first place. He goes on to say during his radio interview that the CLP stopped building the Palmerston hospital. Candidate for Solomon, you cannot stop building something that has not commenced. I really believe someone should give this man a briefing. It is quite embarrassing when you look at it closely.
In any event, late last week we had spectacular news that Tony Abbott had come to town and had promised $110m should the Coalition win government and should Natasha be returned to her seat - which she should be because she is an extremely good local member. On top of that, the Country Liberals have committed $40m for the hospital. In total, we have a $150m hospital which meets the expectations of Palmerston and rural residents.
The new site has been overwhelmingly accepted by Palmerston residents. We had a stand at Palmerston markets on Friday which showed the site, and people applauded the decision. I know we have had an overwhelming, positive response from people in the rural area who agree this site suits and meets their needs because it is located on a large arterial road, the Stuart Highway.
I commend Natasha Griggs for securing this funding. Make no mistake, she banged on the door of shadow Health minister, Peter Dutton, she has done the hard yards over the last three years of her term and should be applauded for bringing something that meets the needs and expectations of Palmerston and rural residents.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, tonight I wanted to make a couple of observations. I have a bit to get through in 10 minutes, but I need to make an observation about the member for Johnston today. He hardly covered himself in glory. It is worth noting and putting on the public record that it was a very sad performance by the member for Johnston. I am referring to his contribution to tourism, his attitude towards tourism, and his 12 minute response to a 5400 word statement which took me, as minister, an hour to deliver and half an hour to wrap up, and about five other members also contributed throughout the course of the debate.
There was nothing about aviation - very important I would have thought. There was nothing about hotels, digital activation or conferencing; there was nothing about anything of substance. There was nothing about anything from the member for Johnston except personal abuse, personal attacks and slanderous statements.
I pick up on what the member for Port Darwin said. He said often in this place you will see members, such as the member for Johnston, give up working and resort to personal abuse. They put down pen and paper, they stop working for the people of the Northern Territory, and they start banging their own drum, if you like, and resort to personal attacks.
I wonder, however, if the member for Johnston ever began work in the first place. If you have a look at his contributions to debates over the past 12 months in this parliament, not many of them have gone longer than about 12 minutes, if he has ever bothered to get to his feet in the first place. I wonder whether or not he began work in the first place.
What we have learnt today from the opposition with regard to tourism is the member for Johnston has nothing to contribute, and the Leader of the Opposition hates tourists. The Leader of the Opposition is on the record saying she hates tourists.
I also provide you tonight with an update on Tourism NT’s brand shift campaign. The Northern Territory is currently a destination that consumers are aware of and aspire to travel to. Declining visitor numbers, however, clearly indicate there is a gap between the awareness and the bookings of a trip to the Northern Territory. Based on recent research conducted by Tourism NT’s creative agency publicist, Mojo, our domestic target audience view the Northern Territory as one dimensional, passive, inaccessible, expensive, and too remote and vast for travellers.
Tourism NT is currently implementing a brand shift for the Northern Territory towards a more fun and social position in a way that is unique, credible, and motivating. This new position, primarily targeted at the domestic market, will also assist in breaking down the perceived barriers that prevent the consumer from travelling to the Northern Territory.
To support this positioning, new photographs and videos are required to enable Tourism NT to accurately and convincingly reposition the brand. This work will commence from this week.
There will be two concentrated bursts of brand awareness activity in 2013-14. The first burst will be in-market across Australia in September and is designed for high-reaching mass coverage TV awareness with supporting high-frequency media and television, print, radio and digital focusing on age 50-plus market over a period of six weeks. Supporting digital promotion to the secondary market, age 18 to 35, will also occur over the six-week period.
The second similarly constructed burst will be in February 2014 with a slightly larger spend and reach to coincide with key booking times domestically for all of the Northern Territory. Tourism NT’s primary target market for this campaign is focused on two demographics, being 18 to 35 and 50-plus, and concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne. The TV awareness component will focus on the capital cities to assist in driving bookings. The targeted communications will have further reach in regional New South Wales, regional Victoria, Brisbane and Adelaide, and through the digital channels to this rest of the nation.
Madam Speaker, I thought it was wise to update the House on Tourism NT’s new brand shift campaign.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I congratulate you on being one of the first to announce the site of the new Litchfield/Palmerston hospital. You got in even before the Leader of the Opposition. It was very good. I did announce it on ABC three weeks before that, by the way.
I continue the report on my trip down through the Roper River to Borroloola and the gulf. Last week, I reported on the part that went through the Limmen National Park, and tonight I will talk about the mines I visited. The first mine I visited was the ilmenite mine on the Roper Highway just over 100 km from Mataranka.
Ilmenite, for those who do not know, is used for strengthening steel; it is also used in paints and prevents rusting. The ilmenite mine area has been known for a long time. Basically, it is sand mining. They strip the soil to about 1.5 m in depth, and out of that they get 10% ilmenite and 90% is returned back to the environment. The expected life of the mine is 40 years. Balmoral, are the mining contractors doing the job, and the ilmenite is exported to Saudi Arabia, China and Japan. Ilmenite was originally discovered in 1950, and it is hoped the mine will last for at least six years.
There are about 10 to 11 workers there, six are 457 workers from China, and their job is to commission the processing plant pumps - the spiral, as it is called - from China. It is the process which separates the ilmenite out as it gets washed. The steel that was used in the construction of that spiral all came from Australia but, as I said, the spiral itself came from China and had to be put together on-site.
I was there about a month ago, and nearly 2500 tonne of ilmenite was already on the wharf in Darwin, with approximately 500 tonne on-site on the Roper, and the first shipment to China should be about 7000-8000 tonne. Hopefully, the total amount to eventually come from that mine is about 500 000 tonne.
Water is pumped from the Roper, and this was one of the issues when we were discussing the Mataranka water allocations. When the water drops below a certain height the mine has to stop unless it has its own supply of water. They are trying to recycle their water because it is scarce in the area, but if there is an effect upstream that causes the water to drop below a certain level, and they have to stop mining.
I was shown around the ilmenite mine by Rod Illingworth, who has a stake in this mine. I believe he is Executive Director. Jerry Ren is the owner of the ilmenite mine.
Rod Illingworth showed me around as he is part of the Sherwin mine which is an iron ore mine further down the track. I believe BHP did a substantial amount of work there years ago, but they headed off to the Pilbara which was a larger site for them.
There is good iron there, they call it hematite iron which is used for general steel, and there is, I believe, up to 150 million tonnes of it available, and a good thing is there is no acid leeching which is an issue with some mines. It is interesting to see how they mine the iron ore. The iron comes in strips and is not very far below the surface, and when the company drills holes in a pattern it can produce a three dimensional model of the actual iron ore that is in the ground. Bulldozers, which are programmed by a computerised version of the model, strip off the top soil and know exactly how deep to put the blade and how deep to go below the surface. The operator knows exactly where to operate, and in the Sherwin Iron area there are sometimes two layers of iron ore which might be one or two metres thick, and below that will be other materials, and then below that there might be a different quality iron ore as well. It is quite an impressive operation from that point of view.
There is about 20-25 people working there. A number of those are from the local cattle stations, there are five Indigenous people, and they do try to employ the traditional owners so they are involved in what is happening.
There are big spin-offs for a facility like this. Tristar Industries built 80 trailers to move the iron ore from here into Darwin. My understanding is it is not going by rail because rail is too expensive. The Roper Highway, of course, is narrow and they will go in convoy with a vehicle at the front and back and, hopefully, will not disrupt local traffic too much. Of course, the big issue is what damage that will do to the road.
When I was there, they were grading the dirt section of the Roper Highway and watering it down and they intend to keep maintaining that section. They were looking at polymer to strengthen the edges on the narrow sections of bitumen, which is something INPEX has been using. It will be interesting to see how the road stands up to so much traffic. Of course, the Roper Highway is also used by tourists, so I hope it does not disrupt the tourist traffic either, because there is not much room to pass on that road, especially as it is single bitumen.
The mine is putting together approximately a 70 000 to 80 000 tonne sample shipment to China, which is being offloaded presently at the wharf. Hopefully they will get a good report back from China about the quality of the iron ore, which will mean, I presume, the mine will eventually get a licence from the government to operate. I imagine there are also some other issues in relation to the environment.
I asked one of the gentlemen there about revegetation. He said, ‘Over there on the hill we will take out the iron ore, then we will bring back the materials, which has the seed in it, and the vegetation will regrow’. I said to him, nicely, that I will be back next year to see if that is the case.
On the way down the Nathan River Road from the mine I stopped at Tomato Island, a Parks and Wildlife camping area. There was some controversy about it last year or the year before because people were camped there for nothing, year in and year out. They have now developed a wonderful park there with high-quality facilities. Some people still do not like it and if you keep going down the Roper Highway you will find them camped in the bush. But it is a really good facility for people who want to camp there; it has good barbecues, green grass around the place, and you are right on the Roper River.
I went further down through the national park, past Borroloola, and down to the Queensland border where the Redbank mine is. The Redbank mine was developed in 1916. I have forgotten the name of the gentleman who found it, but he lived in a cave there for many years, and the day he was to leave because he had sold the mine, he bumped his head inside the cave and died.
That mine has had many owners. Following on from the question I asked the minister today, there are major issues with that mine. Hanrahan’s Creek, which is right next door, is quite polluted further down, and it goes into Settlement Creek, which is the creek that goes past Woollogorang Station. So, there are issues there.
The question for the government is: should you get the mine going so it can produce enough money to rehabilitate the creek and the area that has been killed off by pollution from the mine, or do you expect them to fix it up before they start, which will cost a lot of money? They are million dollar questions that have to be answered, and I am interested to see what moves the government makes in that region. I heard from the minister for Lands and Planning that he is going to visit there next week, and I am interested to see the report he brings back.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016