2013-12-05
Madam Speaker Purick took the Chair at 10 am.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of 14 students from all levels and five staff from St Francis Xavier School at Nauiyu. Welcome to Parliament House. A special treat, I understand, so enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also draw your attention to the presence in the West Gallery of the sons of the member for Nhulunbuy, Lynne Walker. Harry and Patrick, welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: We will ask for a score at the end of Question Time on the member for Nhulunbuy.
MOTION
Establishment of an Inquiry Regarding
Stella Maris
Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that this parliament resolves, pursuant to section 4A of the Inquiries Act, to appoint a person to inquire into and report to the Administrator on the following matter:
With respect to the proposed grant of a lease over Lot 5260 Town of Darwin known as Stella Maris (the site) the inquiry will:
2. review the public policy and public accountability considerations involved in making the purported decision to grant a lease of the site to Unions NT without putting the matter out to expressions of interest or public tender
3. assess the performance of relevant persons, including the responsible minister at the time, in carrying out their obligations under the regulatory regime and ensuring the proper accountability processes were applied in the tenure management of the site
4. review the adequacy and effectiveness of the regulatory regime in ensuring transparency, good governance and community input into the process of leasing or granting Crown land
6. make recommendations to the Minister for Lands, Planning and the Environment on any measures that might help ensure transparency, good governance and community input into the process of leasing or granting land with particular reference to the purported decision to grant the site to Unions NT
7. consider, assess and make recommendations in relation to any other matter the inquiry considers relevant to the matter.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask the Chief Minister to table that.
Mr GILES: It will be circulated now.
Madam Speaker, I heard the debate about the need for suspending standing orders. As anticipated, Labor went straight for the indignation of suspending 30 minutes or so of Question Time. They then went to personal attacks on me, the Attorney-General, the member for Fong Lim and others on this side, and sought to divide this side of the Chamber. They were their tactics. They went straight to ground and to personal attacks …
Ms Walker: You already are divided. You will not be the Chief Minister …
Mr GILES: Here we go, interjections, straight to the personal attacks.
Ms Walker: Oh, you never launch personal attacks on me?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, member for Nhulunbuy! You are already on a warning.
Mr GILES: The reason standing orders were suspended during Question Time is because the opposition has been given the opportunity to respond to claims about Stella Maris. These issues have been raised a number of times. It is a long-term investigation that this government has taken looking into whether leasing out this property is fair and just on behalf of Territorians, and what would appear to be, from the outset, potentially corrupt dealings in the transaction of the lease of the site known as Stella Maris. Throughout Question Time over the last couple of weeks, we have heard many questions asked and answers and responses provided, as we have sought to uncover some of the information about Stella Maris.
I will hold up some illustrations of some of the news stories that would have given the Leader of the Opposition, and Labor more generally, an opportunity to respond. On 26 November 2013, an exclusive story by Ben Smee, ‘Labor gave building rent-free to unions’. There was an opportunity to have a chat. In the editorial, ‘Queries must be addressed’ on the same day. A story on 28 November, ‘A nice little earner’. There was an opportunity to respond. On 30 November, ‘Labor’s murky site deal’, another opportunity to respond. Yesterday, 4 December, ‘Labor caught out on Stella Maris’ – no response to date. There is another story in today’s paper, ‘Union boss denies links’. These are stories in the public domain.
However, whether they are in the public domain or not is not of importance to us. What is important is good governance in the Northern Territory. What is important is good governance in the way transactions were conducted. What is important is that Territory assets were handed over for free in the dead of night from a Labor government on its way out to its union mates. What is of concern is who owns the property at 38 Wood Street. Who would benefit from this? What is the correspondence between parties? We have already seen the letter from Unions NT to the then Planning minister, also the then Treasurer, now Leader of the Opposition, promoting what could happen with Stella Maris, how it could be turned into a business, the progression to date from 2009 and the transactions and conversations that occurred until 2011 when that deal was struck.
We had a debate in this Chamber yesterday about badminton needing a home. NT Badminton needs a home, and Labor wanted to talk about that. It is a very important issue we want to help NT Badminton with. However, they will not talk about the home known as Stella Maris and how they handed that over to Unions NT for nothing.
This warrants suspending standing orders in Question Time to launch an inquiry, under the Inquiries Act – one of the most powerful acts under which to perform an inquiry in the Territory – to identify exactly what happened.
This is at a time when we hear of what is happening in New South Wales with all those corruption inquiries through ICAC and so forth. We are hearing, through the media, about Eddie Obeid and his Labor and union mates all over the place. Here we have a deal that was orchestrated between Unions NT and the NT Labor government which, on the surface, appears to be way beyond many of those allegations in other inquiries that have been conducted in New South Wales.
That is why it is important we today launch the Stella Maris corruption inquiry and seek to have an inquiry appointed by the Administrator so we can look into all these matters, as I detailed in presenting the motion.
I will talk a little about the history of Stella Maris so I can provide some clarity on what has occurred to date, rather than some of the claims by those opposite that Stella Maris was, apparently, some sort of union legacy. History shows the operators of the Stella Maris site, from as far back as 1937, has predominantly been Stella Maris, the Apostleship of the Sea, a Catholic organisation that takes care of seafarers worldwide, not the unions.
In more than 70 years, unions have never had a principal operating role in the site. In 1976, the North Australia Railway closed, and land on which Stella Maris is situated was handed to Darwin City Council to negotiate a lease with the Stella Maris association.
In 1979, the building on the site was leased to Stella Maris for use as a licensed club. In the 1980s, the building was used for a period as a hostel run by nuns from the leprosarium. It was also used during this period as a seafarers’ centre used by Stella Maris.
In 1990, a Crown lease term was first issued over the site to Stella Maris, the Apostleship of the Sea. In 1991, a new Stella Maris bar building was completed, and the old railways residence was used as an annexe.
In 1996, the former lease was exchanged for a perpetual new Crown lease that was issued to Stella Maris, the Apostleship of the Sea.
In early 2007, the then Labor Territory government commenced discussions with Stella Maris, the Apostleship of the Sea, about the surrender of the Crown lease. The Apostleship of the Sea surrendered the Crown lease to the Northern Territory government, which paid the Catholic organisation $630 000 in compensation for improvement works that had been carried out on the property. Soon after, in the same year, a number of community organisations began corresponding with government to express interest in making use of the site. These included: the National Trust of Australia; 24HR Art, Northern Territory Centre for Contemporary Art; the Planning Action Network; and Birds Australia. The community groups were later told by government agencies there would be an opportunity for them to express their interest at an appropriate time.
In 2009, the Northern Territory government began improvement works on the site, spending more than $300 000 on renovating the property. At this time – this is where it gets interesting – Unions NT Secretary, Matt Gardiner, approached the then Treasurer, Delia Lawrie, to discuss the potential development of Stella Maris, including the clear intent to run a commercial operation which included renting out office space and operating a food and beverage outlet on-site. This intent was outlined in Unions NT’s Proposed re-development of the Stella Maris site document dated 20 May 2009. This development proposal from the union is clearly badged Business and Community Development Propriety Limited. Here is a paper I will happily table which outlines Unions NT’s proposal for redevelopment of the Stella Maris site, dated 26 May 2009.
By 2010, Matthew Gardiner was the President of the Territory Labor Party and stood as the Labor Party’s second Senate candidate. In July 2012, shortly before the caretaker period before the Territory election, the then Northern Territory Department of Lands and Planning provided advice to the then NT Labor Cabinet, recommending a public competitive process for the lease of the Stella Maris site. Let us put that into perspective. The Lands and Planning department recommended to Cabinet that a public competitive process be completed or undertaken for the lease of the Stella Maris site, with particular intention around ensuring the public had an opportunity to utilise that site.
The advice from the department was that the preferred process for the release of the site for commercial purposes was via a public competitive process. This advice was not taken and the former Labor Cabinet decided to grant a free lease for 10 years, with a 10-year option, over the Stella Maris site to Unions NT for nil rent.
On the final day before the former Labor government entered the caretaker period, a contract was quietly hand delivered to Unions NT’s building at 38 Wood Street. Unions NT signed the contract that same day and returned it to the Lands and Planning department, with payment for a paperwork fee of $442 – not bad for a 20-year lease on a rent free building.
Despite being in election mode, no public announcement was made by the former government about the gifting of this historic landmark to Unions NT. Instead, what announcements did the Labor government make on the day that lease was signed and handed over? Instead of announcing the handover of the Stella Maris site, it decided to announce a new community food garden to be built in Stuart Park. I am sure that was a very good community food garden in Stuart Park. However, I would have thought handing over a $3m Territory government asset for free to union mates might have been something that was also of interest to the public.
The murkiness of this deal becomes apparent when a title search of the building Unions NT owns shows that a part owner of their 38 Wood Street building is Harold Nelson Holdings Pty Ltd. Harold Nelson Pty Ltd is a slush company set up by the Territory Australian Labor Party in 1995. One of the current directors of the Harold Nelson Labor slush company is none other than Matthew Gardiner, who is also the person who approached the former Treasurer about turning Stella Maris into a commercial venture prior to being granted a rent-free lease for the $3m CBD site which has an annual rent valued at $150 000. Other former directors of this Labor slush company include: former Chief Minister, Paul Henderson; recent Labor Party Secretary, Varenya Mohan-Ram, long-time Labor advisor, Charlie Phillips, and the list of well-known Labor Party figures goes on.
What becomes clearly apparent and starts to unravel about this link between the part-owners of the building at 38 Wood Street is that the Labor Party and its union mates stood to directly receive significant financial benefit from the secret Stella Maris deal. This is outlined in Unions NT’s Strategic Plan 2012-13, which clearly sets out how they planned to take advantage of two new income streams from this sneaky deal.
First, Unions NT intended to vacate its Wood Street office premises and develop that property when it moved into Stella Maris. Following development, it could make a handy income out of hundreds of thousands of dollars from renting out the redeveloped Wood Street premises is shares with the Labor Party slush company.
The plan to increase the union’s group income stream also outlined an intent to develop the Stella Maris CBD site as a joint venture commercial business, with options including a restaurant, caf, bar and hosting conferences. Boosting the financial war chest of Unions NT, which has strong funding links with Territory Labor, stinks of political nepotism.
I reflect on the question in regard to the AHA by the member for Nelson about political donations. I encourage people reading or listening to this debate to go back through electoral returns and identify whether Harold Nelson Holdings has provided funding to the Territory Labor Party in support of its elections.
Who was the person leading the charge to put union mates ahead of the interests of everyday Territorians? Despite this being about the whole Labor bunch, which the Stella Maris corruption inquiry, I am sure, will look at, all roads lead back to the Opposition Leader and her former Cabinet, including the current Deputy Opposition Leader.
This point in time is an opportunity to reflect on those eight members opposite: the member for Casuarina, former member of Cabinet; the member for Wanguri, an advisor to a former member of Cabinet; the member for Johnston, advisor to a former member of Cabinet, Cabinet minister and Deputy Leader; Cabinet minister and Leader of the Opposition; the member for Fannie Bay, a former advisor of Paul Henderson, I believe …
Mr Gunner: And Clare Martin.
Mr GILES: And Clare Martin – so we have two. Thanks for that, member for Fannie Bay. Then we have the member for Nhulunbuy. It seems they are all in this.
Then, trace the heritage of Harold Nelson Holdings Pty Ltd and you start to get a good picture of people who have been involved in Harold Nelson Holdings being involved with the MLAs here and in leadership within government on the fifth floor in this place. It creates a very murky deal.
The Leader of the Opposition, Delia Lawrie, her former Cabinet colleagues, her former advisors to Cabinet colleagues who now form part of the opposition and her former Cabinet colleagues who are not in this Chamber need to come clean on why they pushed that last-minute deal through. Would it be financially favourable for the Labor movement? Would it be financially favourable for the union movement? Was it putting interests ahead of Territorians? Was it outside the area of good governance?
I go back to the first point I made when I started this debate: for all the indignation cried by the opposition about the suspension of standing orders, this is one of the most important issues I have ever seen in this parliament, either in opposition or in government.
This stinks to me like what we are seeing in New South Wales. We know, through reading the media reports, about what is happening with the alleged corruption in New South Wales over many years.
We do not have a model of ICAC in the Northern Territory; we have an Inquiries Act which presents the best opportunity for this to be investigated. That is why I moved, pursuant to section 4A of the Inquiries Act, that we seek to appoint a person to inquire into and report to the Administrator on those matters I read out. In making this referral in regard to the Inquiries Act, I do so on the basis that this just stinks. It smells of fraud and corruption. It smells of collusion. It smells of all of those things that started the whole ICAC movement in New South Wales many years ago, the same things of which we hear today.
We know that business undertakings are conducted through normal ministerial processes. We all make decisions about how we do our job regarding important matters with different issues in the responsibilities of our ministerial portfolios. However, this decision is not in the best interests of Territorians. I know I have used the term ‘stinky, dodgy, dirty deal’ and you say that flippantly, but there is no doubt this is a stinky deal. There is no doubt this is a dodgy deal that has ripped off Territorians, and it stinks of corruption. It stinks of corruption to the bone, to the vein. I think the inquiry, which will have broad-ranging powers under the Inquiries Act, will have the opportunity to look at Harold Nelson Holdings and the relationship with Harold Nelson Holdings, Unions NT and the former Labor government, particularly the Leader of the Opposition.
As I have reflected, this is not just about the Leader of the Opposition, this is about the Labor bunch which includes the union mates. The former Cabinet colleagues who sit over there and now all the new MLAs who were advisors to former Cabinet colleagues all have links to Harold Nelson Holdings and Unions NT. The sleight of hand for this lease deal on a $3m property absolutely stinks!
There have been two weeks for the Leader of the Opposition to respond ...
Mr McCarthy: Rubbish! We are out doing media every day.
Mr GILES: Yes, we received a letter from the member for Barkly. He sent a letter and put his foot in it a fair bit in that letter, but he did say he welcomes an inquiry. So he must be very happy we are using the powers of the Inquiries Act to be able to look into this.
I go back to the initial comments, once again, when I moved to suspend standing orders. This was all about democracy and what they are trying to hide. I put to you, member for Barkly and Leader of the Opposition who spoke on this, and the member for Nelson: yes, this is about democracy. This is about democracy in a process of government about issuing leases. You came in here and, yes, you were going to run your censure motion. You were going to cut Question Time short and run your censure motion ...
Mr McCarthy: Rubbish!
Mr GILES: We all know what you were going to do, member for Barkly. However, this is about democracy and good governance …
Mr McCarthy: Rubbish! You are desperate. You are a desperado.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Barkly, a bit of order!
Mr GILES: This is exactly what it is about. The desperate people are on your side of the Chamber.
I look forward to this inquiry. I would like to see the inquiry report back on the first day of parliamentary sittings next year. We will set out those terms to that inquiry with the Administrator. I would like to think the inquiry can report back on the first of day of parliamentary sittings next February and report to Territorians …
Mr Tollner: At least an interim report.
Mr GILES: At least an interim report – report to Territorians about how grubby this deal is and to what level there was any corruption, if there was any.
Should it find there was no corruption, well, it was a proper transaction. However, if it does find there was corruption or collusion, then there are serious questions to raise. Then we need to find out how long this practice has been going on and what other decisions were made. What other murky deals have occurred in the eleven-and-a-half years of the former Labor government? That is what we look forward to because we want good governance in the Northern Territory. We want good administration. That is exactly what we are after.
We answered some questions today about investing in the Northern Territory and in bush regions. We reflect back on the $5.5bn worth of debt we carry and think about the money that could have been generated through this property to go back into the budget to be able to provide more investment into the Northern Territory. If you put it into that context, you start to understand – you could put it into Power and Water – the relevance and depth of the corrupt allegations concerning the former Labor government and what it means for the Northern Territory.
Mr Deputy Speaker, this is one of the most important motions I have ever seen come before the House.
Debate suspended.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 11 375 petitioners requesting that the eviction of badminton from the Sports House facility is deferred and funds are allocated for construction of a new multipurpose facility at Marrara. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders.
Madam Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I present an e-petition from 252 petitioners praying that the eviction of badminton from the Sports House facility is deferred, and funds are allocated for construction of a new multipurpose facility at Marrara. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders.
Madam Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
MOTION
Establishment of an Inquiry Regarding
Stella Maris
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, in participating in this debate, first, I will join with the Chief Minister in immature petty politics which is, essentially, the motivation of the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory with an incredible misuse of taxpayers’ money.
This is a disreputable motion brought on by a divided and incompetent government led by an arrogant Chief Minister who everyone knows is simply not up to the job. This motion is a waste of time and the inquiry will be a significant waste of taxpayers’ money. What the Chief Minister is doing is a blatant misuse of the Inquiries Act from a basis of political motives. That his Cabinet colleagues would support the exploitation of the Inquiries Act for vindictive, political purposes is a sad reflection on their character and lack of moral fibre.
The public will see it for what it is: a desperate attempt by a desperate CLP government to divert attention from broken promises; savage cost-of-living increases; destruction of our education system; botching negotiation with Rio Tinto on gas to Gove; ignoring the needs of residents of Gove and failing to plan for a sustainable future for the region; failing the bush; increased rates of alcohol-fuelled violent crime; an alcohol management policy that is simply not working; and businesses and families will be slugged by a further increase of 5% in electricity tariffs in the new year on top of the savage increases already proposed. This list of failures continues and is far too long to read today.
The Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues, under parliamentary privilege, made untrue statements and inferences in this place, alleging impropriety in relation to a lease for the Stella Maris site offered to Unions NT by me, the member for Barkly and the then Minister for Lands and Planning.
The Chief Minister knows these allegations are totally untrue. For my will to continue to share my knowledge with members of this House, I will say a community land grant, a Crown lease, is not giving away anything. However, a community land grant, in essence, is a burden. It is a burden on the community group that wishes to take it on. For those members who listened to the condolence motion for the late Brian Manning in this House, which spoke about the incredible work of that unionist and the work in the Lingiari Wave Hill walk-off, you will get a glimpse of how unions work and support their membership. We can go back to the industrial revolution and talk about the whole history of the union movement. People need to consider the facts in their debate, particularly members on that side who are supporting this Chief Minister in what will be a very significant legacy for Northern Territory taxpayers.
I look forward to reading the findings of this inquiry. However, it will be closer to February 2015 than 2014 by the time I and the rest of the Territory see any results from this lawyers’ picnic. The CLP is in cloud cuckoo land if they think this inquiry will be reporting in February 2014. We all know it is cynically and politically motivated, but even the CLP government must realise you have to follow legal and procedural fairness. This will not take a couple of weeks; it will take a couple of months before the inquiry can even start its hearings if you are to do this fairly and properly.
Will you be taking public submissions? You should; other inquiries of this nature certainly do. People need to be given the chance to see the terms of reference and prepare their submissions. They cannot do that in a couple of days. It is not just us who will be appearing to address these matters under your terms of reference. There will be former and current public servants, ministerial officers and staff, former ministers – I imagine they will be called on or they may wish to give evidence at some stage. All these people should be entitled to legal representation and, in many cases, to have their legal costs met.
This inquiry will be looking into the work of people who were carrying out their duties to the Crown, discharging their public duty. It would be enormously unfair to expect them to bear the cost of defending their actions when they were conducting their duties as part of their public offices and jobs.
There is then the question of who you will appoint to conduct this political witch hunt. This person must be experienced, unbiased and above board, and they will not come cheap and neither will their support staff and resources. History shows these inquiries traditionally blow their time lines and budgets. As this inquiry is a cynical expensive stunt, rather than a real attempt at finding the truth, I imagine there will be an even greater chance of it going way over time and budget.
In the end, Territory taxpayers will have a bill in the order of millions of dollars. Lawyers will do very well and will find there was nothing untoward in the decisions around bringing Stella Maris back to life with the support of Unions NT.
Remember, the public purse is not 1c worse off due to the decision to grant the Crown lease on Stella Maris. There is no cost to the taxpayer as a result of the decision to grant the lease to Unions NT, but there is an enormous cost to the taxpayer from the ill-considered decision to mount this star chamber inquiry.
Madam Speaker, if there were real concerns about this, it should have gone to the Auditor-General. That is his job. The Auditor-General is a fair, reasonable and professional person, but that is not what you want from this, is it, CLP? Will you waste millions of dollars doing it? I ask those members opposite to start asking some serious questions.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Night Patrol from Ngukurr. Welcome to Parliament House for your visit. I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr TOLLNER (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I thank the Chief Minister for bringing on this motion to conduct an inquiry. To my mind, this announcement is well overdue; the decision should have been made some time ago. The lease of Stella Maris and the controversy around it is something that invites inquiry.
It was interesting to listen to the member for Barkly who, not more than a couple of days ago, was calling for an inquiry. Now, it seems he is backpedalling. He was saying, ‘What a waste of money. This is ridiculous. This is crazy,’ and the like ...
Mr McCarthy: Absolutely. Millions of dollars for the bush.
Mr TOLLNER: It is interesting that you talk about millions of dollars for the bush. You were quite prepared to throw $60m at a computer system for the Power and Water Corporation and another $50m-odd to an AMS system that is pretty well money flushed down the drain, and you are saying that is quite okay. I listened to the former minister, the member for Casuarina, speaking last night. His excuse was, ‘We do not know anything about IT, you cannot blame us. This is all those nerds’ fault.’ It is like watching money being flushed down the toilet, but the minister takes no interest in that because he knows nothing about IT. Fine, if that is your get-out-of-gaol clause. You might not know anything about property development either, but I hazard a guess that members opposite have pretty good ideas about how these things work.
I was interested to read in the newspaper today comments by Matthew Gardiner trying to suggest that unions and the Labor Party are different organisations and are not related at all. That came as a bit of a surprise and is somewhat of a cop-out. I have done a little research into similar events that have occurred around Australia that involved, particularly, Labor politicians and the dodgy deals they have done around the country.
We know the former Prime Minister is under investigation for a deal she did when she was the lover – I suppose that is the way to put it – of the Secretary of the Australian Workers Union in Western Australia. That led to some property development deals in Victoria. We all know about that. We know about Mr Williamson and the HSU, and how he ripped millions of dollars from them and has been sentenced to gaol. We know about Craig Thomson and the dodgy deals done with union money. He is another Labor Party politician supported all the way to his current court case.
In fact, I was blown away by the litany of corruption that has occurred between unions and the Labor Party over many years in Australia. It is quite stunning, and I will give a few examples: Andrew Theophanous, a Victorian Labor Party politician, was sentenced to six years gaol in 2002 for bribery and fraud. Rex Jackson, another Labor Party politician, was locked up for 10 years. He was the former minister for Corrective Services, and the 10-year sentence was increased from seven-and-a-half years on appeal. He was locked up for accepting bribes. Richard Face, another Labor Party politician, was found to be making false statements to ICAC. Labor Party politician, Gordon Nuttall, from Queensland, in 2009 and 2011, was given 15 years with a non-parole period of 10 years for corruption, receiving secret commissions and theft. Brian Burke, from Western Australia, another Labor Party politician and former Premier, was gaoled in 1994 for seven months for misappropriating public funds. In 1996, David Parker, another Labor Party politician and former State Deputy Premier was paroled after six months, but copped an 18-month sentence for perjury. The list goes on; there is a mile of them. A few other examples are: HSU General Secretary, Michael Williamson was …
Mr Elferink: Are you suggesting a pattern here?
Mr TOLLNER: There is somewhat of a pattern. Among other offices he held, he was President of the Labor Party, an executive member of the ACTU, Vice President of both unions New South Wales and the Australian Labor Party New South Wales Branch, director of a private radiology company, Imaging Partners Online, and in-house union IT company, United Edge. He did not tell people he facilitated an appointment by former New South Wales minister, Craig Knowles, when he was being paid – a company that sold millions of dollars of radiology services to hospitals and promoted the privatisation of services that his own members provided in the HSU. This guy was seriously corrupt and obviously caught up with Craig Thomson in that affair.
I do not know if you have ever heard of Tony Sheldon. A few years ago, the New South Wales Labor Party stole over $700 000 of taxpayers’ money from two government departments which was laundered through the Transport Workers Union into the Labor Party bank account. One of the key players in that was Tony Sheldon. He was also caught in relation to a slush fund he had set up where a lot of money is still unaccounted for. Tony Sheldon is now the National Vice President of the Australian Labor Party as well as National Secretary of the Transport Workers Union, not to mention one of the biggest thieves in the country. It is worth revisiting as it happened only a few years ago. The Labor Party claimed the Health Services Union corruption was a one-off and the vast majority of unions are run honestly. This is also tied into a judicial corruption matter which will happen into the future.
I have a mile of stuff here on corruption in unions and the Labor Party all over Australia. This is from ABC News on 7 May 2013:
Do some of these things sound familiar with what we are hearing today?
Get this one:
It does not matter where you look around the country, people tied up with Labor and the unions also get themselves caught up in scandals of corruption and graft.
Here is another one from 8 October this year:
Again, a Labor man:
Again, Unions NSW, Labor Party politician, same bloke:
It does not seem to stop. As soon as you start to Google ‘Labor unions corruption’ there are literally thousands of stories on the Internet. You wonder why, when we find a deal like this being done right under our noses, some people start to feel a little squeamish. Those on the other side would like us to believe all of these things happen in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia but, for some reason or other, the Labor Party and the unions in the Northern Territory are different; they are not the same breed as they are in any other part of the country. It is hard to believe.
I believe what is going on here with this Stella Maris deal is very similar to what the former federal Labor government pulled off with Centenary House, which was one of the great scandals of Australian political history. Have a look at an article from ABC online The World Today from 6 July 2005 – ‘ALP Sells Centenary House’. The article is by Alexandra Kirk:
This is going back to 2005, so the Coalition was in government:
If this is not what the former Labor government in the Northern Territory was trying to cook up with labour unions in the Northern Territory, I will eat my hat.
The fact of the matter is the deal which was attempted was that Labor would give themselves and the unions a block of land at Stella Maris for 20 years, rent free. They would then redevelop the union’s and Labor Party’s building, which they jointly own, and would find some government department to move in there. They would put a ratchet clause in the lease and guarantee that, over the period of the lease – you could almost imagine the lease would be 20 years, the same deal they had given themselves on the Stella Maris deal – they would be assured of an income stream for the next 20 years. That is what this whole deal stinks of. That is exactly what this deal stinks of, because the people on the other side and the unions would be saying, ‘Goody, goody, we can do the same deal they did in Canberra because we were actually never convicted; no one said the deal was illegal.’
It may not have been illegal, but it was clearly immoral: charging the National Audit Office three times the rent they would pay on any other office space in Canberra. The National Audit Office is a taxpayer-funded organisation. Labor never really cares about taxpayers’ money, as evidenced by everything we have seen to date in this place. The fact is they never cared about spending. Every time we come in here we are told to spend more money. ‘You cannot make savings. Just throw more money at the problem.’ Goodness me, last night was a classic example, urging the government to spend $10m to build a facility for a sporting organisation with 200 members. Their idea of fiscal responsibility is zero. They do not care about taxpayers’ money …
Mr CHANDLER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extension of time for the member.
Motion agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Speaker, I thank the Minister for Education for that extension.
As I was saying, they do not care about how taxpayers’ money is used. From the words out of their own mouths, they see this as a completely legitimate deal.
They think it is quite okay for the minister to walk a letter over five minutes before going into caretaker mode, take a cheque for $440-odd, lodge it, then run out and crow about some other thing they have done in the electorate, not telling a soul or advertising the deal. Goodness me! Imagine them advertising that before the last election. ‘We have just given Stella Maris to Unions NT for zero rent for the next 20 years.’ Can you imagine the Labor Party saying that five minutes before they go into caretaker mode? I very much doubt it.
They know what the consequences would have been of making that announcement going into an election campaign, but they, quite frankly, did not care. They tried to cover it up and hide it. They did everything they could to hide it. Now the opposition member, the Lands minister at the time, is jumping up and down, saying, ‘You should not be doing this inquiry; it is a waste of money.’ These guys know about wasting money. The whole time it was obfuscation and cover up with this idea that, ‘Unions NT has had a long association with this building’.
Stella Maris is a branch of a Catholic organisation and nothing to do with unions at all. Maybe a few unionists turned up there to drink. Maybe it was their watering hole. Maybe they are trying to assume that unions have some sort of squatters’ right in Stella Maris. Next they will be trying to claim the Buff Club or any other number of pubs or clubs around the Northern Territory as their own because unionists sometimes drink there.
This laughable comment by the Secretary of United Voice, the President of the Labor Party, that there is no way known unions and the Labor Party in the Northern Territory are the same organisation – what hogwash! We know it is absolute nonsense.
This deal they have put together stinks to high heaven. It is a dirty, grubby deal. They absolutely know it. They have nothing to defend themselves with in this case. That is why the Opposition Leader is reluctant to talk about it. That is why the member for Barkly is saying, ‘Do not have a proper inquiry, just get the Auditor-General on to it’. He does not want someone who can actually subpoena evidence. That is not what they want at all. They want this thing to be dusted under the carpet and forgotten about.
That is not going to happen because of this long history of Labor and the unions’ corruption right around Australia. They are in bed together. They work simultaneously together; they work for exactly the same goals. All over Australia, it does not matter what state, there have been unionists and Labor Party people locked up for the dirty, dodgy, shady deals they have done.
The opposition would like us to believe the Northern Territory is somehow different to the rest of Australia. Somehow, they do not do those things here. That is what happens in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia or Tasmania. It does not happen in the Northern Territory. I do not believe it, particularly when you see, five minutes before a government goes into caretaker mode, against the advice of the public service, in the face of a whole lot of interest from other sectors of the community, they literally walk the deal across to Unions NT, have it signed off, collect the money, then run to an election and say nothing about it. They expect us to believe this is all above board?
How, in the face of that, can any reasonable person not expect to have a full-blown inquiry? It is beyond belief that the opposition is trying to reduce the terms of this inquiry, to suggest this is a great waste of money, we should be using the Auditor-General or, as the member for Nelson suggested, another committee of the parliament …
Mr Wood: Hold on, that is not right.
Mr TOLLNER: He put Dracula in charge of the blood bank. You would expect a few of them might be inquiring into themselves. Goodness me, tell me it is not in their interests to obfuscate and muddy the waters? Great stuff, member for Nelson. I know how much you are in love with the Labor Party and think they are all above board and to be trusted when it comes to inquiring into their own organisation, the unions, and some of these dodgy deals.
It does not wash with me. We need someone independent. I would go as far as suggesting we need someone from interstate who has no links with anyone in the Northern Territory, who is hard-nosed, a proper snoop who can and has full powers and authority to subpoena whatever they require to get to the bottom of this deal …
Mr Wood: We cannot afford a boundaries commission.
Mr TOLLNER: Here we go again, the member for Nelson is running interference for the Labor Party.
Mr Wood: No, no.
Mr TOLLNER: That is your game, mate, you stick to it. Tell people you are Independent. No, that is fine ...
Mr Wood: You tried to get rid of me at the last election.
Mr TOLLNER: Hush up, we are not talking about you at the moment.
This was a grubby deal. We all know it was a grubby deal; even members on the other side know it. If it was not a grubby deal they would have advertised it when they walked it across to Unions NT. They would have issued a media release, made some statement, or they would have spoken about it somewhere. But, nothing; there was complete and utter silence.
It was not until some time after coming into government that this deal came to our attention. It was, to all intents, hidden. I have no idea how it came about. Maybe the NT News got whiff of what was going on. None of us can kill the stink of it now because we are all sitting around in the stench of it and have to get the rotten stink out of this place. The only way we can do that is have a full-scale inquiry.
I thank the Chief Minister for making and understanding the importance of this decision. I listened to the people on the other side crowing about three or four questions they might have asked which should take precedence over something like this. Goodness me, is that how bad it has become? Talk about accountability. They say, ‘Your government is not being accountable because you shut Question Time down four questions short’. That is because we wanted to ensure this inquiry happens. That is the last thing they want.
Madam Speaker, I say again, I congratulate the Chief Minister for this. I look forward to a long and thorough inquiry to find out exactly what was happening. If things are thrown up in the inquiry, I hope it will lead to some proper court action, and we can weed out the grubs in the system, if we do have any in the Northern Territory.
Mr CHANDLER (Lands, Planning and the Environment): Madam Speaker, I thought it was important that I contribute to this motion today, as the letter that came across my desk not long after I became the new Lands and Planning minister. I have heard in this place quite often from the member for Barkly that sometimes you need to run off your gut feelings in this House and not believe everything you have heard. Many things that come across your desk may not be right; it may be someone’s opinion or information they want you to believe. Sometimes, you have to use your gut. Well, this is one where I used a gut instinct because something did not add up and did not smell right. Rightfully so, we started to look a little deeper.
Not long after taking over the Lands and Planning portfolio, it was brought to my attention that Unions NT was seeking authorisation from the department to lodge a development application over the site known as Stella Maris. There was nothing special about that in itself. In fact, much of what I will say here today, taken out of context, probably does not really seem like much. However, it is a little like a jigsaw puzzle. Once you start to put those pieces of the puzzle together, you paint a very eerie picture.
More information began to surface over time. It was only through that gut feeling that something did not add up with this that we had to dig a little deeper. It was true; more information began to surface over time.
Most concerning is this offer of a lease was signed by the minister at the time, Mr Gerry McCarthy, on 3 August 2012, the last day prior to the government entering a caretaker period. Again, you might not think much of that at all. I am sure governments entering into an election period would be chasing up, catching up and following up on many things. Again, out of context, it probably would not seem unusual at all.
The interesting thing was that not only was the letter of offer signed on that day, but it was also hand delivered to Unions NT and returned to the department, along with the paperwork fee, all on the same day. Did that seem unusual? For normal government processes, it certainly was. I would love to think the government could do this all the time with everything we did and that our processes were that quick. However, one has to start to question why this process was rushed through as quickly as it was.
The site was not going anywhere; it had been vacant for a number of years. Again, you have to start to question why the rush was on. As I said before, I had a gut feeling; this had a smell about it. There was something that was not right. The more details that emerged about this deal, the smellier it got. It is not one department that advised the then government it was the wrong thing to do; there were a number of departments that provided information to the then Labor government that this was not the right thing to do. In fact, calling for expressions of interest in the site would have been the wisest decision and community expectations would have been met if that occurred. However, they did not. In fact, it seemed that with every new detail that emerged, the dodgier this started to look.
Let me go through a bit of the history of this deal. In 2007, the Crown lease over the site was surrendered by the Apostleship of the Sea, or Stella Maris. At the surrender of this lease, the government provided the leaseholder with $630 000 as compensation for improvements they had already made to the property. All of a sudden, we had a government which had already spent $630 000 on the site to compensate Stella Maris for that site.
During the course of 2007, the then Minister for Lands and Planning, the member for Karama, met with Unions NT to brief them about the surrender of this lease. Several other groups at the time also expressed an interest in this site. These include the National Trust of Australia, 24HR Art, Birds Australia and the Planning Action Network, PLan. These other groups, it seemed, never really got a look in. The Opposition Leader had plans for this site which involved Unions NT and no one else.
In 2009, the government commenced work on the site to bring those old buildings back up to scratch, and spent over $300 000 on works that involved a total refurbishment of the heritage listed building on the site.
It seems Unions NT had full knowledge of these works because it was, during 2009, they put together a proposal to redevelop the site. This is the proposal here from Unions NT, Proposed re-development of the Stella Maris Site.
I have heard the member for Karama say, in this House in the last couple of days, there had been no negotiations with the union, no talk and no knowledge whatsoever about Unions NT earning any money from this site. It is interesting, when you go through this Proposed re-development of the Stella Maris site – remember we are talking about 2009; in fact this document is dated 26 May 2009 – there are a couple of things worth reading out for the record. It talked about a staged development of the Stella Maris NT Workers’ Club site:
Using grant money:
In Stage One it talked about funding. The NT government gets a mention in the redevelopment. This is a business model which requires Northern Territory government funding. Stage Two talked about other grants and Stage Three about contracts and operators. There are many things in this document that suggest to me and others there had been many conversations between the then Minister for Lands and Planning, Delia Lawrie, and Unions NT.
Point four, ‘Training Centre and Accommodation’ says:
The next part I find very interesting because I have heard the members for Barkly and Karama say that of course they were going to use it and it was going to be open to the public, to community groups, to give you the impression people would be offered this for free. However, it says in this document:
In its own document, Unions NT talked about using the site to generate income from the community groups. The current Leader of the Opposition would have you believe this was all for the community, nothing about generating income for the unions or the Labor Party. It said it in its own Proposed re-development of the Stella Maris Site document of 2009.
One has to question whether there had been any discussions between the former Lands and Planning minister and Unions NT if it is in their documents and it talks about NT government funding. In fact, on one page it mentions the amount of money the NT government had already used to upgrade the heritage building. It says:
If there had not been any negotiations with the unions prior to them putting together this document, how would they know how much money was being spent on redeveloping this site? When you start to put that together it says a lot more than just the 20-year lease and the opportunity gone from the government if it chose to rent this site to a business or some other developer.
It went much further. On the last page of the proposal they acknowledge:
They even had a dollar figure against these works, calling them a $217 000 renovation. As typical with Labor governments, we now know it cost in excess of $300 000 to finish those works. By that point in time, the government had already spent nearly $1m on this site: $630 000 for the improvements on the site and a further $300 000 to complete the facelift.
All the while, Unions NT was continuing to build on its plans for this prime CBD site. It met with the minister in 2007 and again in 2009. They put a redevelopment proposal together. In 2011, there was another meeting with the minister and finally, in 2012, it hit pay dirt. On the last possible day before entering caretaker period, Labor handed the property, valued at $3m, to Unions NT for not a cent.
As I said before, what made me very uneasy when this first came across my desk on taking over the portfolio of Lands and Planning was there was information from a number of departments which had urged, encouraged and recommended to the then government not to go through with this deal.
I will read from a letter I have here from NRETAS:
That sentence alone suggests that departments had engaged with a number of organisations about the potential use of this site. There was a number of community organisations that had an idea, a perception, that the Labor government – an open and accountable government at the time, you would like to believe – would have put this site out to expressions of interest, listened to all those interests and seen the best use of that site for community groups. However, that was not done.
I will read on from the letter:
It went on to say:
The Heritage Branch had clearly indicated to the government of the day that it did not support the proposal. We know other departments had provided information to the government that did not support the proposal.
Unfortunately, it was as if the deal had already been done, as can be clearly shown in a document dated 2009. It clearly shows the future of the Stella Maris site, against the advice of a number of government departments at the time and, I would say, against the advice of the community had they known this was going on.
Madam Speaker, I wanted to put a few things on the table because, as the responsible minister for Lands and Planning, there was something about that deal which did not add up. I have heard the former Minister for Lands and Planning, the member for Barkly, say in this job there are times when you have to go with your gut. On this one, I went with my gut.
Mr STYLES (Transport): Madam Speaker, I have been listening to debate and reading the newspaper over the last few days and a couple of things occurred to me. At lunchtime we looked at a few things, and we have a flowchart as to who is possibly involved in this and the depths it goes to.
We looked at the players and we have, for those watching, a matrix of the …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, put the prop down.
Mr Vowles: What is that?
Mr STYLES: It is photographs.
Ms Walker: Am I on there?
Mr STYLES: Yes, you are on there.
Ms Walker: Can you hold it up, please, so we can see?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, please put the prop down!
Mr STYLES: These are flow charts, Madam Speaker, which I need to use to explain the depth of what this motion reveals.
Let us start with the former Treasurer, the then Planning minister in 2009 and current Opposition Leader, Delia Lawrie. It would appear somewhere in Cabinet this was discussed. I refer to the letter which started this, the only piece of evidence I have in front of me, dated 31 March 2009. It is a letter to the then Treasurer, Ms Delia Lawrie MLA, member for Karama, Treasurer, from Matthew Gardiner, Secretary, Unions NT. It is about a range of things regarding how they can get hold of the Stella Maris site. The third paragraph said:
That is where it starts. It then obviously went through to Cabinet. I believe what Matthew Gardiner was referring to is this document called Unions NT Strategic Plan 2012-13.
On page 3 of the plan the heading is, ‘Draft Unions NT Strategic Plan 2012’ then ‘The Immediate Action Plan’. It has an introduction that goes to a number of points. On that page there are six points. Point one says:
The third dot point says:
Point six says:
I am assuming – it is not written here – that is to rent out the Stella Maris operation. It said:
Moving down, the next person in the matrix is Matthew Gardiner, Secretary, Unions NT. In 2010, he was the Labor Party President and an election candidate. He was the author of the letter in March 2009 starting this shady deal in the first place.
The next person in the matrix is the member for Barkly who was, at the time, Planning minister with a strong union background. In fact, if my information is correct, he was part of the Labor union organisation. It would appear he was in Cabinet and there were discussions held in relation to what they were going to do with this. I refer to his letter dated 2 December 2013 to the Chief Minister. I quote from page two, paragraph five. At the bottom it said:
Etcetera. It went on for two pages.
When you look at who is involved – and I will come back to that part of that letter – you then go to the member for Casuarina, who was a Cabinet minister at the time. He was part of the Labor Cabinet which agreed to the deal and urged sign off.
We then move a bit further down in this matrix to the member for Casuarina. The member for Nightcliff worked for Cabinet minister, Kon Vatskalis and, I might add, has a relative who is a former Labor president as well as a board member on the Labor front company, Harold Nelson Holdings, which part-owns 38 Wood Street.
We then move to the next part of the matrix to the member for Johnston, who also was advisor to a Labor minister, the then minister Hampton, who was a member of the Cabinet who approved this shady deal. If you go from the member for Barkly’s letter, he was part of the Cabinet that approved this. The member for Johnston was part of a team on the fifth floor. One has to ask the question: did he know about this shady deal and what was his involvement in it? Did he advise the minister on this? Were there phone calls made? This is the sort of thing this inquiry will flush out.
We move further down the matrix to the member for Fannie Bay, former advisor to Chief Ministers Clare Martin and Paul Henderson. As a senior advisor in the former Labor government to, as I said, Chief Minister Henderson, he was obviously around when this deal was put to Cabinet in 2007, when this letter came to the former Treasurer. He was elected in 2008, and is now government Whip. Did he know anything about this shady deal? What was talked about on the fifth floor? One wonders because it appears that, on the last day before they went into caretaker mode, there was obviously a lot of running around on the fifth floor to get this shady deal up to the point where it was walked down and somebody said, ‘Here it is. You have to get this done right now because tomorrow we cannot do this.’
I often wonder, with some of the comments being made from those opposite, if it was such a great deal, why did it not stack up with anyone? Why did it not stack up with the heritage people and all the other organisations mentioned by my colleague, the Minister for Lands, Planning and the Environment? Plenty of people were interested. However, if Labor thought it was such a good deal, why did they not let it stack up and go to an open tender process?
The last person in this matrix is the member for Nhulunbuy, a former Rio Tinto worker and teacher, who came to parliament in 2008 and was not part of what was going on on the fifth floor. When I look at this matrix, I see the member for Nightcliff, former advisor; the member for Karama, Treasurer; the member for Casuarina, Cabinet minister; the member for Wanguri, senior advisor to a Cabinet minister in the previous Labor government; Matthew Gardiner who was with Unions NT; Michael Gunner, former advisor; the member for Johnston, former advisor to a minister; and the member for Barkly, a former minister.
It was a tight little team up there. Prior to 2008, most of these people, bar the member for Nhulunbuy, were all working on the fifth floor. It was a nice little cosy arrangement up there. I am surprised they say nothing was talked about and everything was all very cool there. It will be very interesting when this inquiry starts and people have to stump up with what happened. Of course, if they all knew about it, that is good, but if they did not know about it, and no one wants to know about this, it will not look very good. What we have is a matrix where …
Mr Elferink: A web.
Mr STYLES: Sorry?
Mr Elferink: It is not a matrix, it is a web.
Mr STYLES: It is a web, correct. Thank you, member for Port Darwin. We have a matrix here that is criss-crossed with arrows joining arrows which go right across. The only person who was perhaps not involved in this, surprisingly, is the member for Nhulunbuy, but everyone else was intrinsically tied up with what was going on. I do not know whether they will be able to say, ‘Sorry, it was not me,’ but let us wait and see.
What we have is a web of people who are joined together, almost at the hip. I do not blame them in one respect, because I do not see too much outside experience in that team. They are all very incestuous, and there does not seem to be much information coming from the outside world. There are things I heard about in those days: that there was not a great deal of depth up there, because there was no spread and breadth of life experience. Everyone was an advisor or a member of parliament. It will be very interesting.
On the day before, someone was running around with a bit of paper to get this deal set up: zero rent, 10 x 10 – not a bad deal to get it for. It cost them $420 which is a very good investment. The people of the Northern Territory, the taxpayers, deserve to get an income from that block of land. Given the $5.5bn debt we inherited, the government of the day – that is, this side of the House – should have the ability to develop it or rent it out for the benefit of the people of the Northern Territory. I, for one, know my kids and my grandkids will be assisting us to pay off this debt. We have a plan; it is called economic development in the bush. Much to the dismay of the people opposite who scream at us and say we are doing nothing out there, we are doing a great deal.
This shonky deal from the shonky Labor bunch across from me needs to be investigated to the fullest. I heard the members opposite saying, ‘Let us have an investigation by the Auditor-General’. I suspect when you look at the closeness of what was going on at the time, there needs to be a good look so the people of the Northern Territory can investigate exactly what happened. We all know where the money was going to go, of course. But, how did it happen? Who was involved, and who said what, when and how? I congratulate the Chief Minister in bringing this motion forward.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I contribute to the farce that is occurring, the political star chamber stunts. If you had any doubt whatsoever what was going on, then that was lifted when you listened to the contributions from the members opposite. It is quite incredible.
The Chief Minister has come in here with the terms of reference and said he wants to report to parliament in February next year. You would have to be in cloud cuckoo land if you think this inquiry will be reporting by February next year. It is a cynical and politically-motivated exercise. Surely, even the CLP knows you need to follow legal procedures and procedural fairness. The Deputy Opposition Leader has already asked the question, seeking confirmation today from the government as to who will cover the costs of the teams of lawyers that will be all over this inquiry. It is an inquiry that will require people to appear to talk about the work they did as ministers of the Crown. I daresay they will be interested in calling staff who were working for the ministers.
We just had the contribution from the member for Sanderson. He has, clearly, decided you need to bring forward everyone in the Labor team in his magical web, with the possible exception of the member for Nhulunbuy. They will need lawyers, because they will be brought to this inquiry to talk about the work they did as members of government or advisors working for government. By nature, procedural fairness and long-held tradition and convention, that bill is footed by the taxpayer.
I am seeking clear, clarion confirmation from the government today. It is their inquiry, they have called it on. Surely, they have thought through the legal cost. We obviously will be appointing solicitors today. I am sure the Attorney-General, in responding, as he stands next, has already worked this one out and will be able to provide the opposition with that clear advice. I will flag though, if there is no due regard to the requirement for the provision of legal fees, we will write further to the Solicitor-General for the Northern Territory.
We are over these political stunts. To call an inquiry is serious, and it is time for government to take its responsibilities in this matter seriously. Be very clear. If you give us a no on the legal costs being picked up by government because you are inquiring into the work we did as members of Cabinet, and our staff did working for ministers of the Crown as advisors – just as Denis Burke had his legal fees picked up by the Crown – guess what is happening? There will be teams of lawyers all over this, Attorney-General. This will not be February this year. You will be lucky to hit February 2015. I am looking forward to your response, Attorney-General, because surely, as the senior legal representative of the Crown, you would have already thought that one through.
As to public submissions, how could you take out advertising, give people time to receive the documentation, look at it, make submissions around it, allow people to make themselves available to attend public hearings and have it all occur by February next year? It will be running for months and months through next year.
Do you have the name of the person who will head up this inquiry? We have not heard it so far in debate. We have heard a lot of rubbish, but how about getting some of the information about the inquiry into this Chamber and this debate, because you have called the motion for the inquiry? We look forward to you, Attorney-General, when you stand to speak, advising us as to who will head up the inquiry. Who will be counsel assisting? They will probably need about three solicitors.
You have to question who will put their name and credibility to this inquiry. I cannot think of anyone with any credibility who would put their name to this inquiry which is very clearly a political stunt. If you had any misapprehensions around that, they were dispelled listening to the contributions of the members opposite. Members of government have just put themselves so far deeply into this political debacle by their contributions in the Chamber today. Foolishness writ large! A dear, wise man said to me recently, ‘You cannot stop stupidity,’ and that is what we have witnessed in this Chamber today by the members of the government.
It will not just be us appearing before this inquiry, there will be a host of people. Unpacking the legal costs: if you get anyone with any credibility, they run to about $10 000 a day. For their legal teams, you are probably looking at about $30 000 a day just for the legal team running this circus, not the teams of lawyers for the government and the opposition, and the lawyers representing whoever else wants to buy into this circus. My God, what a bonanza! What a legal pay day this will be, if they can find someone with any credibility to put their name to this inquiry.
Fundamentally, the people I have mentioned – the former ministers, the former ministerial officers and staff, the advisors – are all entitled to legal representation. I daresay they will be calling on that entitlement because this is such a damning political stunt with very serious allegations, led by the Chief Minister in this Chamber today. They are extraordinary in the fact they are lacking any fact or evidence, but he has put himself in it with his team today.
There is a question about who you appoint. They will not come cheaply, nor will their support staff. History shows these inquiries, by their nature, blow out in time frame and costs. It is a cynical, incredibly expensive stunt, rather than any genuine attempt to look at concerns they have bizarrely raised over a not-for-profit Crown lease for 10 years. When you look at the details of the Crown lease, rather than the stuff that comes out of the mouths of members opposite, it was a burden, not a benefit.
The public purse is not 1c worse off by the decision to grant the Crown lease on Stella Maris. There is no cost to the taxpayer as a result of the decision to grant the lease to Unions NT. There will be enormous cost to the taxpayer as a result of this star chamber inquiry.
We have pointed out consistently, if you had any genuine concerns, if this was not just a nasty political stunt, you would have referred the matter to the Auditor-General. The minister for Lands and Planning said he knew about it 14 months ago. What has he been doing for 14 months if it was so serious as to require an inquiry of this nature? Why has he not sought a referral to the Auditor-General? They have had plenty of other matters go to the Public Accounts Committee, why not this?
Territorians see it for what it is: a nasty political stunt designed to be a diversion to the woefully inadequate Chief Minister and his chaotic and dysfunctional government. This one is backfiring on you. We look forward to your advice, Attorney-General, of the legal costs, bearing in mind if it is not satisfactory, we will go to the Solicitor-General for the Northern Territory.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Wow, Madam Speaker! Listen to that! The Leader of the Opposition raised a number of issues in a fairly short response. The thing I note is that what we have before the House in a defence and resistance to this motion is an attack on the motion and inquiry. I was waiting to hear from both the carefully-scripted language of the member for Barkly and the Leader of the Opposition an argument resisting and touching upon the matters the inquiry will turn its attention to.
If I was trying to convince the House and, more importantly, Territorians there was nothing to see here, my response would be, ‘There is nothing to see here, let me take you through it. Let me explain to you why there is nothing to see here. Let me tell you all the reasons why this does not have to go ahead because I can explain, openly and fulsomely, my conduct, and the conduct of my colleagues, all the way through this process …’
Mr McCarthy: My legal representative will be doing that.
Ms Walker: Come on Rumpole.
Mr McCarthy: Thanks, John. Talk to my legal representative. There will be plenty of them to talk to you, John.
Ms Lawrie: The John Elferink-style chambers.
Mr Vowles: You pulled me in and I will get legal advice.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Member for Barkly! Member for Johnston! Member for Port Darwin, you have the call.
Mr ELFERINK: I hear them squirm. I hear them rail and scream. What I do not hear is a denial. What I do not hear is a response to the assertions that is long overdue. The Leader of the Opposition has assiduously avoided this issue as much as she could. I suspect they already have some legal advice. I reckon they had that legal advice over the lunch adjournment, because you have some fairly carefully scripted words. Maybe the legal advice was: whatever you do, do not talk about the issue.
I tell you who normally gets that sort of legal advice: those people who are charged with offences. When a person is charged with an offence and they go to a lawyer, the lawyer says, ‘Say nothing to the coppers’. Or, if they are under investigation, ‘Say nothing to the coppers’. That is advice given to somebody who is usually being investigated for criminality.
The advice has been over the lunchtime break, ’Say nothing to the coppers until you have a lawyer. Oh hell, you are going to need lots of lawyers.’ If you have nothing to hide, just explain it. Just come into this place and explain it. Go into the inquiry, should this House support the inquiry, and explain it. You are merely witnesses at this point. I am intrigued that the potential witnesses are seeking so much legal advice so early in the piece, and have taken legal advice not to say anything. The reason they are not saying anything, I suspect, can or might also be discovered in relation to the letter issued by Mr Gerry McCarthy MLA to the Chief Minister dated 2 December 2013.
One of the problems when you start talking about things – this is why lawyers suggest to people under investigation ‘Do not say anything’ – is you start digging a hole, particularly when you have something to hide.
I point out to you a couple of things the letter stated. In paragraph two of that letter, the member for Barkly said:
We have checked with the department, and the departmental response was there is no record of prior correspondence with Unions NT. Oh dear! It then went on to say in paragraph 2 of the member’s letter:
In October 2007, PLan wrote to the minister for Planning, at that time the current Leader of the Opposition, requesting the site remain a public open space. In May 2009, Margaret Clinch from PLan wrote to the then minister and made the same request. In March 2013, again a similar interest was expressed by PLan.
The National Trust of Australia, in October 2007, wrote to the minister expressing its interest in conserving and preserving the Stella Maris site. Also, other community organisations such as 24HR Art, Centre for Contemporary Art, wrote to the then minister in 2007 seeking temporary use of the site for an artist’s residency. Even Birds Australia expressed interest in the site. I wonder why the member for Barkly who, of course, was the fellow who walked this application over to Unions NT on the last day of the Labor government, asserts that Unions NT was the only organisation to take any real interest in the heritage value of the site?
It is not supported by the paper records the department holds. I also point out that in paragraph three the member for Barkly said the Unions NT proposal was to take:
If that was the case, why was over $300 000 worth of taxpayers’ money being poured into that building in 2009?
Once again, we see the arrangement being struck between Unions NT and the Labor Party, or certainly the arrangement that is being referred to. There was nothing wrong with this, said the Labor Party, so why are they getting lawyered up? What are all the lawyers for? ‘Nothing wrong with this, just get me a lawyer.’ ‘You had better get a lawyer, son, you had better get a real good one, you had better get your haircut way up high, you better get a shirt and tie’ – is that how the song goes? That is how the song goes. They are getting lawyered up now. ‘Getting all lawyered up, need them lawyers.’ Just because they did nothing wrong, need them lawyers.
The proposal, according to paragraph four ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! If you are talking lawyers, are you going to foot the bill? The Crown foots the bill on this one, John.
Madam SPEAKER: That is not a point of order! Sit down.
Mr ELFERINK: In paragraph four of the letter:
It is acknowledged there might have been some limited community organisations that could have done it, but you did not put it out to proposal. ‘Oh, we already know what the answer to that question will be.’ The thing is, a number of things have been done with regard to heritage sites to bring them back to life. Sue Wah Chin springs to mind as well as Admiralty House, where the Char Restaurant is. There could have been good commercial use, but the commercial use, of course, was not going out to public tender because there was already an identified commercial use in Unions NT’s own plan.
They have their business plan. What are they going to put on that site? A coffee shop. It was not a charitable coffee shop, it was a coffee shop designed to make money on a commercial basis. That is what we know from the union’s strategic plan. What the members opposite are asking us to believe is the Labor Party has nothing to do with the unions – certainly not in relation to this – despite the fact they enjoy the same residence at 38 Wood Street. As has been identified in this House today, 38 Wood Street is also part-owned by Harold Nelson Pty Ltd, AKA the Northern Territory Labor Party.
We have taxpayers funding the refurbishment of the Stella Maris site, the lease not going out to tender, automatically offering the site to the unions – which would then use it for a coffee shop as a commercial purpose, as well as for other purposes – thus vacating 38 Wood Street so it could be developed. ‘Developed’ in this part of the world generally means knocked over and a much taller building being placed on that site. Who would be the beneficiaries of that arrangement? The Northern Territory Labor Party.
Who is footing the bill? Unions NT paid $442 for a 10-plus-year lease on a site refurbished at a cost to Territory taxpayers. The response from the members opposite is, ‘Nothing to see here. Turn away, do not look at this. Nothing to see here.’
You wonder why people start to get more than a bit suspicious, particularly when the assertions in the letter alone, provided to us by Gerry McCarthy, the member for Barkly, so completely and utterly misrepresent the history of what we have going here.
Paragraph five of …
Mr McCarthy: See you in court.
Mr ELFERINK: It is not a court, it is an inquiry. I look forward, and I am sure the Territory looks forward, to your evidence, because you have not made a denial today of any wrongdoing.
The member for Barkly also said:
We will leave it at that.
The former government had the Unions NT proposal when it went to them in 2009. You had the Unions NT proposal. What you are trying to convince us is the people you share an …
Ms Lawrie: Who is heading the inquiry?
Ms Walker: Got a CLP mate picked already?
Mr ELFERINK: That is how you guys operate.
Ladies and gentleman, the Labor Party already had the business plan. What they are going to ask us to believe is, ‘We were unaware of the union’s business plan,’ despite the fact they share the site at 38 Wood Street and have conversations. Cranitch was the NT Labor Secretary Branch – what was his …
Mr Tollner: He has had every position.
Mr ELFERINK: Okay, Cranitch has had many positions in the Northern Territory Labor Party. Many of these unions are …
Mr Tollner: Wrong name.
Mr ELFERINK: Matthew Gardiner, sorry, I have been thinking about – I had so many unions. My apologies to Mr Cranitch. Matthew Gardiner, quite right.
Matthew Gardiner had all of these positions. You have to remember so many of these unions are, by their very constitution, bound to the Labor Party of the Northern Territory. The CPSU is one of them. The union movement and the Labor Party are joined at the hip. They are joined in the residential premises and they are joined in these arrangements to extract from the Northern Territory taxpayer $350 000 to do up a house and use it for commercial purposes. There are two ways they stand to make money: the unions can sell coffee in their coffee shops and pursue their commercial business plans in that area, and they can redevelop the existing site. The only losers in this environment are the Northern Territory taxpayers.
You would think if this was such a good deal – they had done this wonderful thing as a government and given this site away, which everybody would approve of – surely there would have been a media release on the day the minister walked over to Unions NT and handed over the paper?
Did you personally collect the $442? All of a sudden, ‘I am going to maintain my right to silence,’ is the response from the members opposite. You wonder how far you can push this farce along before you have to realise you guys are in it up to here.
What concerns me also – I have no evidence to support this concern other than what has been happening in other jurisdictions around this country – is personal interests. I would be very concerned if there were personal interests being fulfilled by this process. If that was the case, then you would definitely be stepping across the line.
This whole arrangement stinks. It stinks with an odium that reaches the heavens themselves. I have often spoken in this place and received such a constant and undying tirade of interjections, but it demonstrates to me that members opposite are deeply concerned about what is going on because they have been led by the nose by the current Leader of the Opposition and former Treasurer into this abyss.
If they have nothing to fear and have done nothing wrong then they can happily give evidence as witnesses before an inquiry, and I invite them to do so. Mind you, they could give the same evidence before the people of the Northern Territory in this House. Their response to that opportunity has been to maintain the right to silence. They maintain the right to silence and then attack the people who have the audacity to ask questions. Bring on the attacks. You can continue to attack the people who ask the questions, and you can even attack the inquiry itself. The inquiry, if this House chooses to pass this motion, will go on independent of anything this government or House can do. As far as we are concerned, there are questions to be answered and an inquiry should be held.
I have read the letter from the member for Barkly. He said:
Hasn’t the tune changed? All of a sudden, there is a desire to have lawyers present. That is not welcoming an opportunity …
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Could the minister table that document? I have not seen it.
Mr ELFERINK: The Gerry McCarthy letter? Yes, I can table it. I have put a couple of squiggles on it which do not qualify as notes, but I am happy to table it. It was tabled yesterday as well. Can I have it back?
The members opposite were saying. ‘Come on, let us have an inquiry,’ in a letter a few days ago. The answer is yes, let us have an inquiry. Let us do exactly that. If this opposition has something to hide all they have to do is convince everybody else of it by continuing to behave the way they are.
Madam Speaker, I support this motion wholeheartedly.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I have not known this type of debate in parliament since I started in 2001. I have been trying to listen as best I could to both sides of the argument ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nelson, could you please pause while I acknowledge previous Chief Minister, Hon Steve Hatton, in the gallery. Welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr WOOD: Trying to understand what is happening is not that simple. I am not against an inquiry into the matter before us. That does not mean I am making a decision. The difficulty is the government is asserting that previous ministers have done something wrong. That would have to come out of an inquiry. I am listening to people giving their opinion of what happened. In that opinion, I heard two things. There is, surely, a matter of law as to whether a minister acted in accordance with the law. That is a fairly clear matter which any inquiry would have to investigate.
I have before me the Crown Lands Act. I presume this is the section of the act that would apply to this decision. It says:
I do not have the legal know-all the member for Port Darwin has, but I presume if there was something outside of this act, that is the matter about which we would have this inquiry. We would be seeing if the previous government acted outside the rules it should have abided by.
The discussion I have heard muddies the waters. We have heard of conspiracies about the entire aunties, uncles and cousins twice removed, some are probably deceased, who were related to the Cabinet and, therefore, all those people have been thrown in together as if we have the sins of the father and son. Somehow, they all have entered this debate as if they are part of some corrupt process. That is getting away from what we should be trying to concentrate on in this inquiry.
The government speakers have then been making a strong point that there is a close relationship between the union and the Labor Party. We know, in general, that is the case. That has always been the case. However, the question would be: has that relationship done anything illegal? The only thing you can hang your hat on is whether someone has done something illegal against the Crown Lands Act.
That is what worries me about this inquiry, because when you look at these seven points, some of them could be done by anyone. They do not have to go to an inquiry to:
I wonder which lawyer wrote this; it is really a mouthful:
That does not need to be in this inquiry, it could be in any inquiry you wanted to set up to review the workings of the Planning Act.
I saw a smile over there; maybe I know who wrote this.
There are some things in here which do not necessarily make this inquiry any better; they probably make it more complicated. If we are to get to the bottom of this then, surely, we should be narrowing it so you are not bringing in whether you hate the unions or there is some conspiracy. You need to see whether the minister, when he gave this Crown lease to Unions NT, did something against the law. Surely, that is the matter we should be considering?
There was a great deal of discussion about whether this should go to an inquiry. The Minister for Alcohol Policy, the member for Fong Lim, of course, loves to embellish any argument, whether it is good or bad, by bringing statements from all over the place that Gerry Wood supports Labor, and all types of things. It is his favourite statement. He made it on election day when he was standing outside Kormilda College telling people, ‘If you vote for Gerry Wood, you vote for Labor’. He never wants to back down from that because that is in his genes. He will keep playing it, no matter how …
Mr Tollner: Prove me wrong.
Mr WOOD: No. See? I think for myself, thank you very much. You cannot understand that, which is the problem, because you belong to a party. One of the problems with belonging to a party – sorry, party people – is you go along with the party, otherwise you get the boot or are sent to the backbench. I have to try to work my way through these issues on my own. I do not have anyone else to advise me ...
Mr Tollner: Where do you end up?
Mr WOOD: Just a minute. I am talking for a change.
It is like talking to a brick wall, except it has two legs. Unfortunately, it does not change. We are having a serious debate and we end up with these stupid concepts the member for Fong Lim talks about.
I have said I will support an investigation. What I have been arguing is whether it should be an inquiry or it should go to a select committee. I can see some advantages in an inquiry, because you can call ministers to an inquiry; you cannot necessarily call them to a select committee. The member for Port Darwin said, ‘If we do not need lawyers, why can you not just state what the circumstances were before this House?’ A select committee is part of this House ...
Mr Elferink: We will get the same answers we are getting now.
Mr WOOD: You can ask for those answers ...
Mr Elferink: You cannot lie to an inquiry.
Mr WOOD: There are rules under an inquiry, as well. I accept there are some limitations, but I am worried that the government has put forward this proposal; it wants to clarify a matter which has been made bigger than Ben Hur.
I could have asked for an inquiry into water at Mataranka. We could ask for an inquiry into matters regarding the Jawoyn Association that were raised here last night. There are many things we could have had an inquiry into, yet we have not. Why has this r issue been picked up?
If the only way to get to the bottom of this is through an inquiry, I will support it. I say to the Chief Minister, I do not think you need all these dot points – some of them are superfluous – and I do not think you need to go down the path of some conspiracy theory all the time, because there is a fairly solid element of politics occurring here. You might say, ‘That is what this place is about’.
The fundamental issue is whether the minister has done something wrong. Has he broken the law in relation to how he gave this lease to Unions NT? Surely, that is the crux of the matter.
Talking about Obeid – fair go, that was slightly different. People were getting millions of dollars for being given land they could sell at enormous profits. I have not seen that here. You have to say, give us a break, do not exaggerate. Are you saying the ex-minister for Lands and Planning has received some financial gain by doing this?
A member: We hope not.
Mr WOOD: No! By saying this has something to do with Obeid, you are insinuating …
Members interjecting.
Mr WOOD: Excuse me, Madam Speaker! By bringing the Obeid argument into it, because we know what that case was, you are insinuating something similar has been done by the previous minister ...
Mr Conlan: Insinuating?
Mr WOOD: That is exactly right, insinuating means you say something you know relates to a big money deal, and say in the same breath you believe the previous minister did something wrong. You are insinuating that could be the same thing. I do not agree with that.
I have just received this letter from the minister, Gerry McCarthy. I had not seen it earlier. The member for Barkly said:
You have offered, I presume, an independent inquiry? What concerns me is this motion does not necessarily have much politics in it, but what has been said – it is like having the second reading. The conversation has been more about getting at the Labor Party because of its relationship with the unions. The member for Fong Lim talked about the Canberra issue and others, insinuating it is the same. I do not know.
The real issue is about whether the law was broken, surely? Are you using it as a political platform …
Mr Styles: That is why you have an inquiry, Gerry. That is the usual reason.
Mr WOOD: All right. I agree if we had an independent inquiry, at least it would get you out of the way. The member for Fong Lim criticised the idea of having a select committee because he said these people would be on it. You will be on it because you have already condemned them before anything has begun. You have already said they have done something wrong, so you will be tainted as well. These people over here are saying they have not done anything wrong so, if we are going to get an independent assessment, then I support the inquiry.
What is happening here is muddying the real issues. You are tying it up with, ‘We hate the unions’. There are conspiracy theories about how they are connected with the unions. You can say all you like, but the real issue this House wants to find about out is: was the handing over of this lease done according to the rules; that is, the Crown Lands Act, section 5?
Ms Fyles: Auditor-General.
Mr WOOD: I know what you are saying, but there has been so much mud thrown here today. The Auditor-General does not necessarily, as far as I know, conduct public inquiries. The way to clear the air and find out who is right and who is wrong is to have that public inquiry.
I know it will cost a lot of money. I put my argument, member for Fong Lim, that when you need to run proper processes, you have to pay for them. That was my argument with the boundaries commission and having elections for local government.
If it does cost you money, so be it. If it clears the air – what has gone on here has also denigrated people without due process occurring. The previous minister has not had a chance, except in Question Time, which is a very difficult time because you have to throw interjections around. It has been very difficult for him to clear his name as well.
There are benefits on both sides. As I said, I would rather have fewer of these points; you have made this far too big. You could have had a simple recommendation or a clause which said, ‘that the Assembly establish an inquiry to report on the following matter: whether the proposed grant of a lease of Lot 5260, town of Darwin, was done in accordance with all relevant legislation’. Simple, and it would have raised any other issues at the same time. You have a document that obviously – I do not know if the member for Port Darwin has read it, but he is probably the only one who can explain some of those big words to me. It has become more complicated than it needs to be.
Madam Speaker, I will support the inquiry because I would like to see, regardless of the money, the member for Barkly given a chance to clear his name. At the moment, there is so much criticism of him that he has not had a chance to give his version in public. It would be for the benefit of Territorians because they only get their information out of the newspaper. That is not good enough so, if an inquiry is held, let us clear the air, find the truth, then we can move on from there.
Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank all members for their contributions. I had an opportunity to listen to the last speaker, the member for Nelson. I appreciate his support. I want to clarify a couple of things. One, from your last point, it is not a witch hunt for the member for Barkly at all. That is not what it is about. We are well aware of the involvement of the Leader of the Opposition in the process.
There was another point you made about who is right and who is wrong. I do not think it is about that; it is about identifying if there are any weaknesses in process and if recommendations can be made about how to make improvements in process into the future. We believe it stinks. We believe it is dodgy and a mucky deal, but it is about making sure there are improvements in process in the future so we can have better governance in the Territory.
The inquiry will be fully independent. We will be making the announcement about who will be conducting the inquiry within a week so people will be well aware of that.
The opposition has spoken about different types of inquiries, the idea of a select committee or some sort of parliamentary committee. Obviously, parliamentary committees have members of parliament and, generally, it would have more government members than opposition members. That is not a complete form of independence. It also does not have the powers of inquiry available under the Inquiries Act. The Leader of the Opposition called for the Auditor-General to conduct the inquiry. That is not the most appropriate case ...
Ms Lawrie: I did not call for him at all.
Mr GILES: You put out a media release asking for the Attorney-General to undertake the inquiry. That is not the right way to go and, with all respect to the Auditor-General, I do not think the Auditor-General – as the point you made – is the right person to conduct an inquiry.
I thank members for their contributions, particularly colleagues on this side: the members for Port Darwin, Brennan, Sanderson and Fong Lim. They represent the views and interests of everyone on this side of the Chamber who has significant concerns.
In the initial debate this morning regarding suspension of standing orders, Labor members were true to their heritage in that, as soon as they are in trouble, they attack the person. The first thing they do is attack the person, and they plead innocent about accusing us of attacking the person.
I reflect on the very first Question Time of this Assembly, when the Leader of the Opposition poured scorn straight over the member for Daly on question number one and never let up. To this date, she has poured scorn over the member for Arnhem and has never let up. She has thrown barbs at the member for Namatjira, attacked the member for Arafura for talking about alcohol on the Tiwi Islands and pokes fun at the member for Brennan and the member …
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! What? The Chief Minister does not fling mud at me for sticking up for the people of Gove and 1100 jobs? Disgraceful!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, sit down, it is not a point of order.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, it is interesting to hear an interjection from the member for Nhulunbuy. Much time has been spent on Rio Tinto and Gove …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 67. This is a motion on the inquiry. Will the legal costs be met by the Crown? This is an inquiry into the activities of members of this parliament who were undertaking their work …
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, it is not a point of order. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, if she was so worried about money she might not have done the dodgy, stinky deal in the first place!
It is very interesting to hear the interjections and commentary from the opposition, particularly the member for Nhulunbuy, about the initial offer of up to 300 PJ of gas that was not accepted by Rio. If you look back at the immediate conversations after that was offered by the member for Blain, what did the Leader of the Opposition do? The Leader of the Opposition attacked the offer and said how bad it was. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.
It is interesting to see, when your backs are to the wall, the first thing you do is attack people personally, not debate the issue. That is Labor’s last stop measure.
I welcome the advances of the member for Fannie Bay, the next Leader of the Opposition, as he starts to realise his Leader of the Opposition will bring him down next year. I anticipate the wheels are in motion right now behind the scenes. People will start talking to the member for Fannie Bay, Mr Gunner, about what he is doing over the Christmas break, how he can get from four to five, or six or seven, because he knows the member for Casuarina – we have thought about that. We all know the Leader of the Opposition has dirty hands in all of this but we will wait to see what the inquiry does ...
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 67: digression. We have digressed from the topic.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The Chief Minister is summing up the argument how he sees fit.
Mr GILES: Thank you. The member for Nightcliff might have an interest in this.
However, as soon as the trouble fronts, straight to personal attacks, trying to cut people personally. They cannot debate an issue properly. We have thick skins on this side. They try to divide, attack, name people, doing everything they can rather than debate the issue – a typical Labor way.
This issue is the most serious of issues I have seen in this Chamber. The inquiry may say there was nothing wrong, but this is how you can improve process. It could come back with many different things. It is a completely independent inquiry, and we will not know exactly the outcome of that until the interim report comes down at the start of sittings next year and, then, when the findings of those reports come down. As I said, this is the most serious of allegations. The Stella Maris corruption inquiry will deliver its interim report at the start of parliament next year, after looking into the Labor bunch and what the Labor Party has done with the unions with Territory assets and how improvements can be made.
Madam Speaker, I commend the motion to the House and, in the interest of good governance and democracy and having good process and administration of Territory government finance and assets, I imagine all 25 members will support this motion today. I commend the motion to the House.
Motion agreed to.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr CONLAN (Arts and Museums): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
This bill is for an act to establish the new Board of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory as a body corporate which will be responsible for the management and financial affairs of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) at Bullocky Point, and the facilities it manages and delivers services through in Darwin and Alice Springs.
The board, instead of an agency Chief Executive Officer, will be directly responsible to government for the financial management of the MAGNT and the venues it manages. These new management arrangements bring the MAGNT in line with the major Australian government, state and territory museums and galleries across Australia which are managed by a board or council of trustees.
The bill will provide the board with an improved fundraising capacity, including the ability to independently raise funds for building works and the acquisition of major art works, scientific material or items of significance to the Territory’s cultural heritage. It will allow the MAGNT to work with the private sector to develop partnerships and sponsorships that will further enhance exhibitions and public programs.
Importantly, the board will be able to retain the use of the money it earns to further develop the MAGNT collections and provide expanded offerings for the Northern Territory arts, science, tourism, education and business sectors. It is expected that private and corporate investment in the MAGNT will increase, given the direction of the bill that such investment will be used to develop the MAGNT and its collections. In the cultural sector, it is generally accepted that private donors and corporations are more willing to invest in an independent body rather than a government department.
The MAGNT has a strong record through the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award and other initiatives in promoting and celebrating Indigenous art and working with artists and communities across the Territory in developing Indigenous art exhibitions, including national touring exhibitions.
With the expertise and direction of the board, the MAGNT will play a key role in growing Northern Territory tourism and the Territory’s reputation as a must-visit destination for traditional and iconic Indigenous art through further developing high-calibre Indigenous art exhibitions.
In the year ended September 2012, 24% of interstate and 54% of international visitors to the Northern Territory visited a museum or an art gallery, demonstrating a high degree of interest in Territory art and natural science collections. In 2012-13, around 329 000 of these visitors and locals visited the MAGNT Darwin and Alice Spring venues.
The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory at Bullocky Point is the Territory’s premier cultural institution and a key tourist attraction with many cruise ship visitors and tour groups visiting regularly. The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory also plays an important educational role for visiting school groups and other visitors in learning about the Territory’s culture and natural sciences.
The Museum of Central Australia in Alice Springs also attracts many of our tourist visitors keen on learning more about the unique natural and geological history of Central Australia. The Museum of Central Australia also houses the Strehlow Research Centre, one of Australia’s most important collections of film, sound and archival records, and also museum objects relating to Indigenous ceremonial life.
Other popular venues of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory include Lyons Cottage on the Esplanade in Darwin, Fannie Bay Gaol on East Point Road and the Defence of Darwin Experience at East Point which is operated on a day-to-day basis by the Northern Territory Branch of the Royal Australian Artillery Association, under an agreement with the Northern Territory government.
The board will play an important role to bring a renewed focus to the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory at its venues and expanding the programs provided through them.
To ensure the best interests of the Northern Territory and future generations are protected, the bill ensures the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, its collections and assets will remain under the ownership of the Territory. The board will be required to meet accountability and reporting requirements, including providing an annual report each financial year, with financial statements audited by the Auditor-General.
The MAGNT also has considerable experience in developing Asian art exhibitions and displays, and working with museums in our closest neighbouring countries, including Timor-Leste and Indonesia. Under the leadership and business experience of the new board, the MAGNT will place a greater focus on Asian engagement and developing new programs, exhibitions and cultural exchanges within the region.
Support for regional museums and art galleries will also be a key component of the board’s functions. Much of this support is currently provided through the Northern Territory government Regional Museum Grant Program. Grants are made available on an annual basis to assist local museums in keeping places throughout the Territory to develop programs and displays, manage their collections and develop skills in presenting and preserving local heritage.
As capacity improves under the new management arrangements, the MAGNT will be better placed to expand its offering to regional museums and galleries and facilitate access to specialised training and professional development opportunities.
I take this opportunity to thank the current members of the Museum and Art Gallery’s Board for their hard work and contribution. The board has played an important role in advocating for the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, including supporting the development of this bill.
The MAGNT also has a foundation: The Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory Foundation Ltd, which also plays an important role in the promotion and development of the MAGNT. The foundation has been very successful in attracting sponsorship funding and donations which have been used by the MAGNT to fund the George Chaloupka Rock Art Fellowship and preservation of the Papunya art works. I thank the foundation for its hard work to date in fundraising to support this important work and look forward to seeing added momentum to the foundation’s fundraising program with the support of the board under the new act.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and I table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 10 October 2013.
Ms MANISON (Wanguri): Mr Deputy Speaker, to many this bill before the House will look like a fairly straightforward mechanism to amend a date so one day Territorians can have their say on electing representatives to participate in a Constitutional Convention, as we work towards making the Northern Territory the seventh state of Australia. However, this is significant legislation that should not be underestimated as it goes to the heart of the determination of the Twelfth Assembly of this Northern Territory Legislative Assembly and whether the members in this Chamber will be the ones to achieve what so many before us have not managed to do.
So many hard-working and well-respected previous members of this Chamber have worked towards achieving statehood, and saw the last referendum in October 1998 fail, with 51.3% voting against it. In this Assembly today, we have some members who have been long-standing, strong supporters of statehood who have worked in many forums, inside and outside of this Chamber, to help advocate why it is important we become a state.
Today is another important step in that journey towards statehood. What a long journey it has been so far. The constitutional development of the Northern Territory and our move towards statehood is part of Australia’s strong tradition of democracy. If we are to become Australia’s seventh state one day, it will require vision, leadership, persistent effort and strong participation of the people of the Northern Territory.
The democratic election of delegates to a Constitutional Convention is another step in the journey to statehood. This bill will go some way in providing further legislative mechanisms to enable the journey towards achieving statehood to continue.
It is important to consider the historical context of this legislation. What does this bill mean and why is it before the House today? It is to make sure that we learn from the past efforts to advance statehood. Achieving statehood has a long history and has had its ups and downs, successes and failures along the way.
We all understand why it is important we continue pursuing statehood, and we support this bill so that journey continues. The simple fact is, the Territory does not have the same rights or voice when it comes to control of our own affairs or when a question is put to our nation through a referendum at a federal level.
The Territory is impacted by section 122 of the Australian Constitution and the federal parliament can overrule our laws because we are a Territory. It is a constitutional weakness and Canberra has not hesitated to overrule the will of Territorians in the past.
We have seen them exercise their muscle in the 1990s, with the Rights for the Terminally Ill Bill and, more recently, with the intervention and, of course, with their work to place a nuclear waste dump here – a decision that was based on a constitutional weakness rather than science.
I believe Territorians want the right to make their own decisions and to take responsibility for those decisions. That is why statehood is so important.
The Northern Territory misses out in regard to voting in a referendum at a national level because we are not a state. For referendum questions to be successful, they need to have both the majority support of individuals in the nation and the majority support of the states.
As the situation currently stands, we do not have equal rights to other Australians living in states. I believe there is will for Territorians wanting to become a state.
The historical context of this bill before the House is significant. We all need to remind ourselves of the commitments made in 2011 by the CLP. This bill to elect representatives for a Constitutional Convention was completely derailed by the CLP. It disregarded the massive body of work that had been done in educating, inspiring and consulting Territorians about the reasons why we should become a state.
When looking back at the history of the statehood journey and the reports, consultations, statements, debates and media coverage, it is clear there has been a tremendous effort in this space, particularly between 2004 and 2011. So far, under the new CLP government, there has been little talk of the will to work towards statehood. In the last 15 months under the CLP, we have heard next to nothing about statehood.
This bill and the commitments of the CLP government that may follow will show how serious they are about statehood. It will ensure that Territorians have a voice and an ability to make decisions that will not be quashed by Canberra or, as we have seen in recent times, decisions imposed on us by those who sit in federal parliament with or without the support of Territorians.
When this bill was introduced in 2011, it was at the peak of a real surge across the Territory to move towards making the Northern Territory the seventh state of Australia. It is important we reflect on the vast body of work done in the lead-up to the introduction of the Constitutional Convention Election Bill 2011 and why passage of this amendment today is vital but, more importantly, the will and full commitment of the government is critical if statehood is to be achieved.
Most of us remember voting in that last referendum on 3 October 1998 which did not succeed, with a no vote of 51.3%. Territorians were voting in a federal election at the time and were also given the opportunity to vote for statehood in a referendum. The vote failed and, shortly after, on 7 October in 1998, the Legislative Assembly referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee to hold an inquiry into how to make statehood happen by 2001 and to consult broadly with the NT in doing so.
The committee set to work and, in April 1999, tabled a report into the appropriate measures to facilitate statehood. In regard to why so many people voted no, the report stated:
The review also said Indigenous Territorians had real concerns about statehood at the time. It stated:
It was clear there were some real deficiencies in the process around consultation and education in the late 1990s. It was also abundantly clear that Territorians had lost trust in the politicians pushing for statehood due to the process that was followed, particularly around the Constitutional Convention and the eventual constitution that was presented to Territorians.
A range of controversial issues plagued that last referendum that we must keep in mind going forward. The first was extremely relevant to the legislation today; that is, in the 1990s it was recommended that the then CLP government have a Constitutional Convention with delegates democratically elected. Instead, the CLP decided to hand pick delegates for the convention.
I said previously that if the Territory is to achieve statehood the strong involvement of our people is essential. The Constitutional Convention was not democratically elected and the community was not adequately engaged in, or educated about, the journey to statehood. The rights and concerns of Indigenous Territorians were largely overlooked. This was a decisive factor in the eventual outcome. It would be deeply remiss of us to have not learnt from those mistakes to avoid them happening again.
The journey towards statehood was reignited a decade ago when, in 2003, the then Chief Minister Clare Martin announced work to start again on the statehood journey. She said:
This was the beginning of a massive body of work, a huge detailed process that involved consultation across the Territory. It was not a party political process; it was very much done with bipartisan support as it was clear from the experience in the 1990s that to achieve statehood it was truly a journey that needed to be taken with strong cooperative leadership from the elected members of the Territory’s Legislative Assembly.
The move to statehood also had to be owned by Territorians with statehood champions from all walks of life across the Territory to be involved to promote why this was important and help Territorians understand the benefits of being a state. There was a meticulous process that followed from when Clare Martin made that announcement in 2003 through to when this bill we are debating today was introduced.
It is important we reflect on the immense effort and work done in the lead-up to the introduction of this bill in 2011 and the momentum it was then riding. In 2004, the Statehood Steering Committee was established and the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee selected 14 community-based members to sit on that committee. The steering committee first met in 2005 and went on to conduct 27 formal meetings. Membership numbers changed over the years, and over its life the committee had 33 different members from wide-ranging backgrounds, age groups and regions.
In the first year, the Statehood Steering Committee decided upon seven key reporting milestones in the new journey to statehood which included:
1. establishing the Statehood Steering Committee
2. community education
3. community consultation
4. public meetings and hearings
5. legal requirements
6. Constitutional Convention
7. a referendum.
There was no doubt that up until the completion of the final report in December 2010 the Statehood Steering Committee was extremely active in engaging with Territorians. It submitted its report on activities to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, reporting back on its activities to 2008 which outlined the huge amount of work it had done in engaging with Territorians.
In 2005, the steering committee commenced community visits to conduct presentations and have discussions with Territorians about statehood. In that year, it visited remote communities and towns and continued this in 2006. The committee held many presentations for community groups, businesses, advisory bodies and interest groups across the Territory. It attended important community events to promote statehood such as the shows, the Barunga Festival and the Palmerston Festival; it conducted community surveys; it worked with the Education Department to develop statehood learning materials for Territory schools; it held workshops, and a mock referendum; and developed the Walking Together Towards Statehood campaign. There was an excellent communication strategy developed and a suite of material to support it.
In 2010, a massive body of work was embarked on when 50 forums across the Territory were held to engage with Territorians on a local level to hear their views on statehood. It was a huge process and workload, and each forum was reported on in the final Statehood Steering Committee report of December 2010.
Over those years when the Statehood Steering Committee was active, there was real momentum around the issue of statehood. It was visible, people were engaged with the issue, and the work of the members of the Statehood Steering Committee and the staff who worked within the Legislative Assembly as part of the statehood team should be commended for that body of work. They took on board the lessons from 1998 and ensured they were not repeated, and ensured Territorians, no matter where they lived, were part of the statehood journey.
In this parliament in February 2011, the former Speaker and member for Nightcliff, Jane Aagaard, tabled the Statehood Steering Committee report and opened it up for debate. Mrs Aagaard again stressed the importance of inclusiveness, if statehood is to succeed, when she tabled this report. She said:
The report attracted bipartisan support again, and the then Leader of the Opposition, the member for Blain, said the work done by the Statehood Steering Committee should be commended. He said:
The spirit of bipartisan support working towards statehood continued after the final Statehood Steering Committee report. On 17 June 2011, a joint media conference was held at Parliament House with the then Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, and the then Leader of the Opposition, the member for Blain, united together to announce dates for a Constitutional Convention and elections for delegates to attend. They announced the Constitutional Convention would take place from 21 to 29 April 2012, and the delegates’ election would occur on 24 March 2012. The former Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, said at the time:
At the time, it was a united, bipartisan front; the parliament was working together to make statehood a reality. Then, things changed.
Eventually, we got to the point of introducing this bill in October 2011 which we are working towards mending today. In November 2011, when this bill was debated, all the work of the Statehood Steering Committee, and the then plans, were thrown out the window by the CLP. It was a significant event for two reasons. First, it derailed statehood; it ignored the massive body of work since 2004 to get to that point and the engagement that had been achieved on the issue.
The now Deputy Chief Minister and Treasurer, the member for Fong Lim, led the charge derailing statehood and stopping the momentum by calling for the election of delegates and the Constitutional Convention to not proceed, as it had been agreed upon in July.
It was also a preview of things to come with this government. When the member for Fong Lim asserted his authority over the then Leader of the Opposition, the member for Blain, we saw more signs of deep fractures in their party room. We also saw the member for Fong Lim was, again, building his power base and had some very loyal supporters who have stuck by him to get him where he is today. It is clearly not the job he was hoping for, but near enough when you have control over the Territory’s coffers.
Had it not been for the member for Fong Lim rolling the member for Blain at the time when this bill was debated in November 2011, we would have seen the election of Constitutional Convention delegates last year in early 2012, and the Constitutional Convention would have been held. We would have been that much closer to statehood. The member for Fong Lim opposed the elections for delegates for the Constitutional Convention to occur during the local government elections and felt it would provide a platform for wannabe candidates in the Territory election in 2012. He thought this would turn out to be a process about profile building for potential Territory election candidates, not about sensible and passionate debate around people wanting to stand up to become advocates for statehood and putting their hands up to be part of the Constitutional Convention. Apparently, he was not the only one on their side who felt this way, so he took the ball for them and ran with it, smashing through the then leader and many years of work that had been done to get statehood to the point where we were almost ready to elect delegates for a Constitutional Convention.
We saw years of work shelved, thousands of hours of consultations and education disregarded. Hundreds of volunteers committed to promoting statehood across the Territory were left wondering what was to be of their efforts. Since the change of government, quite simply, we have seen the process around statehood grind to a halt, despite the promises made in November 2011 about the importance of statehood by the then CLP opposition and, after the election, the urgency with which that body of work should have been continued. It was in spectacular style that the member for Fong Lim rolled the member for Blain and managed to succeed in derailing the Constitutional Convention.
A motion was before the House, congratulating both Houses of federal parliament for passing legislation to increase the rights of Territorians. The member for Blain had spoken with no mention of stopping the Constitutional Convention election. Then, the member for Fong Lim did what he loves. He took the reins on his side, rolled the leader with no warning and announced he did not support the planned Constitutional Convention elections and time line. He rolled his leader in the most public and disrespectful way possible, right here on the floor of parliament. He showed no respect or appreciation for the immense body of work that had been done by passionate advocates of statehood around the Territory. It left those hard-working advocates devastated and, again, demonstrated who was pulling the strings in the CLP.
In the week that followed the member for Fong Lim’s announcement that he was derailing statehood and again rolling his leader, the Constitutional Convention Election Bill was debated. Clearly, the dates for election were not going to pass and the Constitutional Convention was not going to happen, as had been announced in June.
During the debate in November 2011, there were some very firm commitments by the CLP around their plans for statehood in the future under this Twelfth Assembly. The member for Blain said during the debate of action to work towards statehood:
The bill today goes some way in showing some will towards holding elections for a Constitutional Convention. However, there are some questions I have for this government and the new Minister for Statehood about will happen going forward. Given the immense gap since the Statehood Steering Committee submitted its final report to the government in December 2010, have we lost the level of momentum and community support that was in place then? Do we need to look at the awareness engagement activities again before we go down this path? Will the government continue with its initial commitment of having three delegates to be elected per electorate as per the NT Legislative Assembly boundaries? Will 16- and 17-year-olds be able to nominate as delegates and vote? Will the government provide adequate funding to support the work towards a Constitutional Convention and statehood? What staffing will be put in place to support statehood activities? Previously, there were dedicated staff within the Legislative Assembly. When will the elections for the Constitutional Convention be held? When will the Constitutional Convention be held? When will the referendum be held? Most importantly, does this government have the will to continue this journey?
To achieve statehood, we need to continue with bipartisan support. It will only be achieved with all of us in this House working together. The challenge for government now is to show us how serious they are about statehood. Put your money where your mouth is and invest in making this happen. We have a new Minister for Statehood at the helm to drive this process. I trust she has had a good look at what she is up against, if statehood is to be successful.
It is abundantly clear the Deputy Chief Minister has personally derailed the statehood process before. He is an absolute force within the CLP and government. He has his fingers on the purse strings as Treasurer, and many say he controls many of the decisions the government makes on the fifth floor.
There will need to be funding put in place to prepare and plan for a Constitutional Convention properly and give it the best shot at succeeding if we vote on statehood again.
I was concerned when I heard interviews with the Minister for Statehood. She has been recently asked about the issue of statehood. During an ABC interview on 10 September 2013, the reporter asked:
The minister replied:
I conclude my contribution to this debate by raising a point the member for Goyder spoke on during the original bill debate in 2011. It reiterates the fact we need a united approach in this Chamber if we are to be successful in achieving statehood. She said:
I agree with those sentiments. The challenge now is for the government to show whether or not it has the will to ensure the statehood agenda continues on this important journey to achieve equal rights for Territorians. The proof will be in the pudding, and I hope, going forward with this amendment removing the date on when to hold the Constitutional Convention election of delegates, we do not progress this simply to find it never happens.
Mr Deputy Speaker, we support this bill, but remind the government the next steps of the statehood journey sits firmly in its hands. We will be eagerly awaiting to see how and when it goes about taking action to progress statehood further.
Mrs PRICE (Statehood): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Wanguri for her contribution and support for this bill today. It is clear this is one issue where there is strong bipartisan support, and I thank all members.
I am a strong supporter of the Northern Territory having its independent and equal voice in Canberra. The Northern Territory has been working and building towards statehood since we lost it in 1911 when we were separated from South Australia.
It was our fight to keep our two members of parliament for Solomon and Lingiari and to keep our representation in the Senate which, in the past, even triggered a double dissolution election for the Whitlam government.
Statehood is more than being able to pass our own legislation without having the fear of Big Brother in Canberra ready to take the scissors to it, with southern-based politicians denying Territorians their voice. It means strength, democracy and equality. It means an equal voice, equal representation and equal recognition. I look forward to working with all members of this House, especially my Cabinet colleagues, to progress statehood.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mrs PRICE (Statehood)(by leave): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Mr CHANDLER (Lands, Planning and the Environment): Mr Deputy Speaker, I am pleased to table the first Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) Annual Report. The report describes the performance of NT EPA’s functions during the 2012-13 financial year.
The NT EPA was established as an independent regulatory authority following the commencement of the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority Act on 1 January 2013. This government has delivered its election commitment to Territorians in establishing the independent NT EPA to provide certainty, transparency, and efficiency to environmental assessment and regulatory functions to both industry and the community.
The members of the NT EPA comprise of Dr Bill Freeland, Chair of the NT EPA; Hon Gary Nairn, Chair of the Planning Commission; Ms Janice van Reyk; Professor David Williams; Dr John Chapman; and Dr Ian Wallis. We are extremely fortunate to have such an impressive, experienced, motivated group appointed to the NT EPA.
Activities of the NT EPA are outlined in its annual report. In summary, the NT EPA met twice in this period and achieved much during this time. The members agreed to procedures for the governance of the NT EPA and provided 11 draft environmental guidelines relating to the Environmental Assessment Act and the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act for public comment. The guidelines will promote a contemporary and consistent environmental protection regime for the Northern Territory.
The Northern Territory EPA visited the Mount Todd mine site near Katherine to gain a firsthand understanding of the environmental issues of the mine. The visit also provided a solid basis for the NT EPA’s consideration and assessment of the environmental impact statement developed for renewal of gold mining at that site.
The Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) has continued to grow since its commencement in January 2012. The NT EPA took over the administration of the scheme in January 2013. Since that time, the Northern Territory’s application for permanent exemption under the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 was progressed.
The Territory government provided financial assistance to keep the Container Deposit Scheme in operation until permanent exemption was granted. During the first quarter of administration, January to March 2013, 18 377 633 containers were returned to CDS coordinators, achieving a return rate of 67.6%. This is a massive achievement after just one year in operation.
The Environment Grants program supported a range of environmental projects which cover the categories water, waste, energy and ecosystems. In 2012-13, $731 000 in grant money was funded to 49 projects, comprising 14 schools and 35 community groups.
The establishment of a strong, transparent and independent NT EPA by this government, as well as the activities of the NT EPA, aligns with the Territory government’s Framing the Future blueprint; specifically, the balanced environment, strong society, and prosperous economy objectives.
I congratulate the NT EPA members and staff for their commitment, hard work, and achievements in the first five months of the new independent Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority.
Mr Deputy Speaker, before I table the document, I pass on my congratulations to Dr Bill Freeland. If anyone ever asks the question whether or not the NT EPA is truly independent, you have not met Bill. I cannot tell him what to do. Bill has one thing in mind; that is, good governance, protecting the environment, and making sure our processes are going to ensure the Northern Territory and the environment is protected into the future. I table the document.
TABLED PAPER
Treasurer’s 2013-14 Mid-Year Report
Mr TOLLNER (Treasurer): Mr Deputy Speaker, I now table the Treasurer’s 2013-14 Mid-Year Report that provides updated information on the Territory’s economic and fiscal outlook.
Mr TOLLNER (Treasurer): Mr Deputy Speaker, the mid-year report continues the pathway of reducing the level of debt inherited from the former Labor government and returning the budget to a sustainable fiscal position.
The 2012-13 mini-budget and the May 2013-14 budget incorporated numerous fiscal repair measures aimed at reversing the fiscal position left by the former Labor government. These included saving measures across all government agencies, a range of increases in own source revenues and addressing the commercial sustainability of the Power and Water Corporation. These measures have already realised savings of $70m in 2012-13 and will realise in excess of $1bn by the end of the current forward estimates period.
However, as foreshadowed in the May budget, the significant reduction in GST revenue which saw more than $100m per annum removed from the Territory’s budget resulted in the government taking the sensible step to defer the achievement of a fiscal balance to 2017-18.
Despite this derailment outside of our control, the 2013 mid-year report reaffirms this government’s commitment to ongoing budget restraint measures and achieving its fiscal objectives. The fiscal highlights in the 2013 mid-year report include: nett debt and nett debt to revenue have improved in all years with nett debt now projected to be a full $759m better than estimated by the former government by 2015-16; an improved general government nett operating balance in 2013-14 compared to the May 2013 budget, and still trending to improvement over the forward years; and the non-financial public sector fiscal balance projections remain on a downward pathway towards balance. I will return to the fiscal position later.
The mid-year report also includes an update on the Territory’s economic outlook. In 2012-13, the Territory economy grew by 5.6%. This was the highest growth in the nation and well above the Australian outcome of 2.6%. Record levels of private investment, strengthening household spending and a larger trade surplus ensured that the Territory economy outpaced the nation.
Construction activity is currently at record levels, driven by major resource projects at a scale never before seen in the Territory. In 2012-13, construction work done in the Territory increased by 55% to $5.1bn. While the biggest growth was in engineering construction related to major resource projects in the Top End, non-residential and private residential building were also at record levels. The CLP government’s commitment to accelerating land release and strategies to support much-needed development and more housing has seen private sector residential construction work exceed records set in the late 1990s.
There are early indications that consumer confidence in the Territory is on the rise. Following a period of subdued growth, the latest data shows that retail trade in the Territory has now increased for five consecutive months, a trend that is expected to continue, in line with increasing levels of economic activity.
The result of the strength in the Territory economy is that population and employment growth have both started to accelerate. In 2012-13, employment growth in the Territory increased by 2.4%, higher than the 2% forecast in the budget. This equates to an additional 3000 jobs being created in 2012-13. The latest forecast in the mid-year report shows population and employment growth are expected to strengthen further over the coming years.
Despite the outstanding headline outcome, this government is conscious there are sectors in the economy that continue to face strong head winds. Last week, Rio Tinto announced suspension of production at the Gove alumina refinery commencing in the first quarter of 2014. However, bauxite mining and export will continue. The suspension of the refinery operations will have an impact on both the workforce and population of Nhulunbuy and the surrounding communities. The economic nett impact cannot be fully determined until such time as revised production and export schedules are clarified, and employment and population responses are known. We will continue to have an open dialogue with Rio Tinto and the Nhulunbuy community to ensure the best possible outcome for the region.
The tourism sector is an integral part of the Northern Territory economy, providing services and vital opportunities, particularly in regional areas across the Territory. The tourism industry has faced more than its fair share of challenges in recent times, including the high Australian dollar and the flow-on impacts of the ongoing weakness in many of the Territory’s tourist source markets. This government values the tourism industry and the thousands of jobs it creates. It is why the CLP government is committed to growing the visitor economy to $2.2bn by 2020 under the Tourism Vision 2020 strategy.
I now turn back to the fiscal outlook. The 2013 mid-year report incorporates updated revenue projections, changes to Commonwealth-tied funds and government decisions made since the May 2013 budget. The report also incorporates the effect of the 2012-13 outcome, contained in the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report on the budget and the forward estimates. Overall, the updated projections contained in the mid-year report are largely offsetting and include additional taxation revenue related to payroll tax and stamp duties as a result of the buoyant Territory economy and one-off revenue increases in 2013-14 offset by the timing of expenses and capital payments, largely related to Commonwealth-tied revenues and minor policy decisions made since the May budget.
As a result of these offsetting changes, when compared to the May 2013 budget projections, the fiscal balance remains largely unchanged in all years and still remains on a downward path towards balance. The fiscal balance is projected to peak at $1181m in 2013-14, which incorporates $521m for bringing the new Darwin Correctional Precinct onto the Territory books before trending to improvement with a deficit of $175m predicted at the end of 2016-17.
Achieving the elimination of the fiscal deficit by 2017-18 will require continued budgetary restraint and ensure spending levels are constrained to below growths in revenue. This has been achieved in the May 2013 budget. In the updated projections contained in this report, expenditure is expected to grow, on average, by 1.6% over the forward estimates – 0.6% below revenue growth over the same period.
The days of Labor waste and inefficient spending are over. A growing population, as a result of high levels of economic activity in the Territory, means continued pressure will be put to bear on services delivered to Territorians. It is essential, therefore, those services are delivered in an efficient and effective manner to reduce the impost on the Territory’s debt position. This is a fact that was clearly lost on the members opposite.
This is an area that has been, and will continue to be, a focus of this government going forward. It is on the public record that this government inherited a level of debt from the former government that, by the end of 2015-16 would have amounted to $5.5bn. This level of debt equates to in excess of $1.1m in interest repayments every day. Nett debt for the non-financial public sector is now projected to be just under $4.8bn and the nett debt to revenue ratio of 81% by the end of 2015-16.
These represent a $759m and 17% improvement on the former government’s projections. This is a testament to the swift response this government took to the escalating indebtedness left by the former government.
In conclusion, the improved 2012-13 outcome in the TAFR and the projected reduced growth in debt levels in this report is evidence that since coming to office, the Country Liberals government has set the compass in the right direction to return the budget to surplus in 2017-18. Make no mistake, there is more to do but we are steadfast in our resolve to achieve our fiscal objectives and return the debt position to more manageable levels.
I table the Treasurer’s 2013-14 Mid-Year Report and commend it to the House.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the report be noted.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Mr Deputy Speaker, I contribute to the Treasurer’s statement, not so much in regard to the mid-year report, but placing focus on the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report, which was dropped on the desk at the last sittings. I am looking forward to the opportunity to have a briefing with Treasury and start with the Treasurer’s Mid-Year Report as the basis for my learnings regarding this very important area of governance in the Northern Territory.
It is important to talk about the state of the finances because the CLP boys are desperately clinging to a debt and deficit myth which was well and truly busted last February by the Auditor-General when he handed down the report in his audit of Labor’s last budget outcome 2011-12 financial year. The findings showed that Labor left a general government sector debt of $1.8bn, not the $5.5bn consistently claimed by the CLP and referred to by the Treasurer.
The Auditor-General identified that prior to the election, Labor left a nett operating balance surplus of $165.7m as of 30 June 2012, and not a deficit as erroneously claimed by the CLP. The Auditor-General pointed out that the Northern Territory had suffered from lower GST revenues provided by the Commonwealth as a direct result of the global financial crisis. As a result, there were massive reductions in revenue beyond the control of the Territory government. All state and territory jurisdictions have been hit with revenue reductions.
The global financial crisis meant a massive contraction in private-sector spending. To keep Territorians in work, Labor doubled the infrastructure budget. This responsible action worked. We created 13 000 jobs in the global financial crisis-affected years and kept the Territory economy in growth.
The 2010-11 financial year showed us if we removed the government spend contribution to the economy we would have gone into recession instead of a healthy 1.6% growth. The CLP inherited from Labor the fastest-growing economy in the nation and our largest-ever infrastructure project, the Ichthys project, to help fuel growth through the next four years.
However, this is looking in the rear view mirror. Where are we today? The Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report tells us how the Territory has fared in the 2012-13 financial year during the CLP government, and it makes for interesting reading.
When you go through the figures, there is little wonder the Treasurer slipped it in late on the last Thursday of the previous sittings to table it briefly prior to his statement and issued no media release crowing about the CLP result. We have seen the repeat of that today in this sittings, where it seems to be the transit lounge for Qantas Airlines at the moment in the House of the people.
The clock was past 4 pm, heading more to 4.30 pm, and the Treasurer dropped in the mid-year report. As I said, I am looking forward to going through this and seeking the Treasurer’s support for a briefing from Treasury.
When we deal with the CLP government and do business like this, it is really important to get that story out. The CLP does not seem to be crowing about these budget figures in any media releases or any reports to the taxpayer. Why would you crow about a debt increasing at about $1bn per annum under the CLP? That is right. All this pain is being inflicted on every sector through budget cuts which are not reducing debt. They are well and truly on track for that $5.1bn debt they predicted in their first budget, and this is the CLP 15 months into government.
Page nine of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report shows the nett operating balance has gone from $175m surplus under Labor in the 2011-12 financial year to a $101m deficit under the CLP in the 2012-13 financial year. That is right; they are taking us backwards, despite improved revenue.
GST revenue increased by $88.7m as a result of a higher Territory share of the national population following the 2011 Census. Good work, Labor! That effort to sign Territorians up has worked, and we reaped increased GST as a result. But, did the CLP use the increased GST to its full extent? No. The general government operating balance on page nine shows there was only a $62m improvement on the original budget.
But, wait, there is more! The CLP ripped $32m out of the pockets of Territorians directly from the increased Power and Water tariffs which is shown on page 11. Add to that cost of living pressures, more pain from motor vehicle rego hikes equating to $5.2m, loss of stamp duty concessions for Territorians entering the housing market reaped a further $9.7m for the CLP and other revenue measures took in $8.2m. In total, the CLP reached into Territorians’ pockets and directly took out $55.1m. No wonder we are all struggling with the cost of living.
If that was not bad enough, the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report showed business had to pay an extra $67.5m in taxes. That is right, just when business is doing it tougher in a sluggish retail and hospitality environment, and the construction sector is struggling – unless you have an Ichthys project tender – the CLP made sure your pain was all the more acute with extra taxes to pay on top of your extra Power and Water bill costs.
What happened to the extra revenue, Treasurer? Why was the financial year improvement not stronger? Where were the media releases? Where are the media releases? When will we see the media releases talking about strength and improvement under the CLP?
I do not believe we will see those media releases because it is quite apparent the CLP has been on a spending spree. You wonder what on earth we have to show for it. But, yes, they have splashed the cash to the tune of $83.9m in new nett and expanded government initiatives. Good on you, government, stimulating the economy to the tune of $83.9m. However, we have to wonder what that delivered. I have to ask the good people of Barkly: what has that delivered for Barkly? We can go right across the Territory. There has been a splash of cash to the tune of $83.9m – so it has not been all doom and gloom, Treasurer – on nett new and expanded government initiatives.
In Inflicting pain on Territorians through a $55m direct hit on the hip pocket, plus a $67m hit on business taxes, what do we get? A CLP spending spree of $83.9m. You have to wonder what has been delivered, because government agencies are struggling under budget cuts, the non-government sector is shutting down or winding back services, 7500 people are looking for work under rising unemployment, and the CLP is, essentially, increasing the debt.
Treasurer Tollner, by any stretch of the imagination, your performance is a failure. Littered throughout the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report is the reference to budget improvements, largely coming from increased GST revenue.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I have let it go up until now. The member is having a debate about a report he has not read. I heard him refer to the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report. If he is talking about the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report, then he is anticipating debate. If he is talking about this report, then I suggest he should read it.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Barkly, continue. Keep it to the subject.
Mr McCARTHY: Absolutely, Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for that.
As I was saying, the reference to budget improvements from the Treasurer largely comes from GST revenue, but it is an irony because the hard work Labor did was regarding that important Sensis work and signing Territorians up so we saw that improvement.
The good outcomes, though, seem to be offset by the additional funding provided for expanded initiatives. I look forward to the Treasurer’s briefing on those expanded initiatives because, essentially, we are paying for these expanded initiatives out of our pockets. The Treasurer, in this mid-year report, alluded to policies which I am keen on researching.
I suppose we are going to talk about the revolving door in mandatory alcohol rehabilitation. What else is there? I am interested to try to pin down – and this might have to be an estimates interrogation – the cost of public servants flying to and from Alice Springs to get to meetings with their minister. That will be an interesting area to look at in accountability and good economic management. Simply, are we paying for Business Class? We know there are the ‘let us all go together flights’ to Asia, and the Treasurer’s private jet travel while the Education budget was slashed. It is quite obvious we have the culture of ‘let us all travel together and use private jets,’ but in this House we are told by the Treasurer it is all doom and gloom, it is really tough, and we are all doing it really tough. It seems to be the haves and the have nots, and the Treasurer will be able to point that out to me in the briefing and we will start to drill down into how he can explain that.
It seems to be an issue of lifestyle choices. The Treasurer seems to be basing his 101 Economics for the Territory on lifestyle choices, and we are looking at the reality of cuts to teachers and cuts to school support staff. That is a radical alternative when you talk about funding lifestyle choices, but cutting education. It is affecting the Territory. We hear the Treasurer saying things will get better. I would like more information around that. I would also be very interested to see the revenue that will come through with the next price hikes for power, water and sewerage on 1 January. We have done some initial numbers and it looks like an increase of about $330 for Territory families. Once again, the Treasurer talked about increased revenue, which is a policy directly out of the hip pockets of Territorians.
The general government debt under Labor – as we now know on the record, as determined by the Auditor-General – was $1.8bn, and the Treasurer continues to confuse Territorians with this $5.5bn figure. To add the non-financial sector debt, which includes Power and Water, gives a debt of $2.6bn.
A year on – under your government – from your decisions in the mini-budget and the May budget, we are all suffering cut-backs, hikes in the cost of living, and debt increasing to $3.2bn. We are suffering increasing inflation, running at the annual high of 3.9%. We are suffering growing unemployment at 2.9%, which equates to 7500 Territorians struggling to live under an increasing cost of living, with no job, thanks to the CLP policies.
We can see you are very active in the space of keeping this out of the public debate in the people’s House. You had a busy day today, adding to debt in a simple political exercise to stall the presentation of the Territory books. You are going to find out the hard way, Treasurer, because the next few Cabinets you attend, you will have the Chief Minister asking for serious cash as a repercussion of that incredibly shallow, stilted and politically punitive exercise you went through today.
We are interested in the budget, Treasurer. We are interested in reducing debt. As a matter of fact, we had a step-out fiscal plan but, as the member for Daly reminded us, we were thumped and thrown out and you guys are in the saddle. I look forward to the mid-year report. I look forward to monitoring your spending sprees ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I am curious that the shadow Treasurer is looking forward to the mid-year report that has been put on his table. That is what he is debating. I suspect he has screwed up somewhat.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I do not see that as a point of order. Member for Barkly, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: For the public record and for the member for Port Darwin, the mid-year report was dropped on my desk 20 minutes ago. I have been speaking about Territory finances for the last 15 minutes. I am looking forward to going through this, member for Port Darwin, and Treasurer, Hon David Tollner, because I will be looking at continuations of your spending spree. I will be looking at continuations of your increasing debt under CLP policy.
You can bring on all the ridicule you like, because I enjoy this job. I enjoy my work, representing the people of the Northern Territory, particularly the people of Barkly. You guys, with all your bully-boy tactics, do not intimidate me one bit. You do not get it. You do not have a clue about me, and you assume so much.
I was honoured to be given the job of shadow Treasurer. I like to refer to it as the spokesperson for Treasury on behalf of the Northern Territory. I am looking forward to that job. I am looking forward to a briefing, meeting Treasury officials and establishing a professional relationship with them. I will be offering those officials my interest, my willingness to learn.
My colleagues support me every step of the way. It is good to play in a team. When we talk about the front row over there, there is not much of a team. There is not much of a back row, not many halves, and no halfback and five-eighth in the team. There is a front row that ridicules and bullies and that is about as far as it goes.
However, I am looking forward to researching your mid-year report. I am looking forward to speaking on this every opportunity I get. I am looking forward to writing in newspapers and telling this story on the mountain. This story is a bad story for the Territory’s finances. All the pain we have seen from the CLP indicates your economic policy settings are wrong.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek leave to continue my remarks at a later date.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.
I extend my best wishes for Christmas and I hope we all experience a safe festive season and return reinvigorated in the new year. I take this opportunity to extend special thanks to the following: my wife, Tamara and daughter Tahlia, thank you for your support. I know it is very difficult when I am away from home six or seven days a week. To Mr Deputy Speaker, Madam Speaker, thank you for your great stewardship of this House and your staff throughout the last year. To the transcribers of Hansard and the people who have to listen to those of us who speak quietly and those who speak loudly, thank you. To the team that works behind the scenes of the Legislative Assembly and all those associated with the workings of this parliament, to all security personnel, I thank them for ensuring the wellbeing of this building. I thank the cleaners whose vacuums I always seem to be dodging when working late at night.
I thank the drivers for their patience and the very long hours they work in supporting government and opposition. I want to let the public service know of my gratitude and thank them for their contribution. It is greatly valued and appreciated. It has been a busy year, and despite the politics and antics of this Chamber, we have had a significant reform agenda. People have responded fruitfully and worked very hard to ensure we accomplished many things, particularly in regard to mandatory alcohol rehabilitation, APOs, Housing, Lands and Planning and all other portfolios. I cannot just single out a few.
I thank all staff I am closely connected with through my portfolios as Minister for Northern Australia Development; Economic Development and Major Projects, including the port; Asian Engagement and Trade; Police, Fire and Emergency Services; and Strategic Defence Liaison. Thank you to all staff of the Department of the Chief Minister and those associated with the Cabinet Office. Thank you to the team within the office of the Chief Minister which has worked tirelessly throughout the year, not forgetting the new regional office in Tennant Creek.
I thank staff I directly work with on the fifth floor for all your hard efforts. I know it is not easy working in politics, with the time you put in. It is not easy working with someone who works intensively.
In Alice Springs, I extend deep gratitude to my electorate secretary, Dee Davies and my relief staff, Jenny Lillis. Without their tireless work in the electorate of Braitling, I would have some difficulty in balancing the competing interests of being the Chief Minister from Alice Springs.
I also extend best wishes to all electorate staff, full-time, part-time and volunteers who work across the Northern Territory, both in government and opposition. The work of the staff in those offices is tireless in their efforts to support local members.
The same applies to the Country Liberals’ membership and the branch presidents, secretaries and treasurers, and all those Territorians who support us practically year round. To my ministerial colleagues and parliamentary wing, well done for another year of endeavour. As you can see, the list is pretty much endless in who we need to thank. I will stop to reflect a second and really put out the effort and thank the parliamentary wing. When new governments come in after a long time under a previous government, it is always challenging to settle in, find the straps, work out your processes and get things right and in working order as we move along. We all grow and things get better all the time. It is good to see we are having such fantastic outcomes in all portfolio areas. It is a real testament to the parliamentary wing and ministerial colleagues.
I mentioned my family before, my wife, Tamara and daughter, Tahlia, and I will mention them again. They are the ones who suffer the perils of the job of someone who is never at home.
To put the thank you’s to one side, I take a moment to reflect on 2013. We have continued to concentrate on improving the fiscal position of the Northern Territory, developing infrastructure, framing the future and creating lasting benefit for Territorians. One regret has been witnessing the Leader of the Opposition attempting to continue her misrule through the use of scurrilous rumour, innuendo and poor performance.
As I previously outlined to the House, good governance must look at the present and what can be done simply, efficiently and carefully to plan for the future. A great deal of energy, collaboration and engagement has been contributed by my government to convert opportunities into realities. We have introduced 61 pieces of legislation since coming to office, and as we represent Territorians and provide leadership and tangible outcomes, our objectives will remain constant in 2014 and beyond: to build on our solid position, continue to lead the nation with positive economic indicators and translate our optimism for the Territory’s future into evidence we can all play a key role in.
On another note, I would like to raise to your attention a young student in the member for Stuart’s electorate. He has written a poem as part of one of his school projects and his name is Alex Bruer. He attends school through Alice Springs School of the Air and the principal, Belinda Pearson, has forwarded me a poem Alex has written about his town of Yuendumu, and I thought I might read it out. It is titled ‘My Town’:
Mr Deputy Speaker, to all colleagues, particularly in opposition, we might hustle and bustle in this place, but I respect working with you all. Have a good Christmas, do not drink and drive and be safe.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, you have five minutes.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Mr Deputy Speaker, you are an absolute champion. I do not care what they say about you, I reckon you are a good bloke.
I speak today of a dedicated and much-loved public servant, Jane Large, who sadly passed away on 2 November 2013. Jane spent more than 42 years in full-time public service employment, starting in January 1959 and an additional 12 years of public service on various boards, councils, and committees. This extraordinary 54 years of service to the public would see her cross continents, borders and areas of responsibility.
Jane’s public sector career started in 1959, spending eight-and-a-half years with the UK Foreign Office before moving to Australia, where she worked with police departments in New South Wales and Western Australia. In 1969, Jane came to Darwin and commenced work for the Commonwealth government Attorney-General’s department. Jane was attached to the Commonwealth department and the subsequent Northern Territory department of Law in the magistrates court and the Australian legal officer for a period of 10 years.
In 1980, Jane’s employment took another twist, moving into the finance arena when she became a finance manager in the Department of Mines and Energy. This was followed by a promotion to the Northern Territory Treasury as a senior budget officer in 1982. From 1982 to her retirement in 2001, Jane worked in the Northern Territory Treasury, reaching the position of senior director in the department in 1998. In keeping with Jane’s true style and one tirelessly dedicated to public service, retirement in 2001 did not mark the end of Jane’s contribution to the Northern Territory and the community.
Jane actively continued with other numerous appointments after her retirement. She was a Northern Territory JP, and because police were aware she was often at home, including over weekends, she was a popular choice for police requests for signatures on search warrants and other documents. Jane was also a JP assigned under the Commonwealth Customs Act.
Until its incorporation with Charles Darwin University, Jane was the Chairperson of the Finance Committee of the Menzies School of Health Research. She was also a specialist financial advisor to the NT Public Accounts Committee. Jane was a Northern Territory Legal Aid commissioner, a member of the Northern Territory’s School of Languages Council and, because she apparently did not have enough to do already, Jane sought and was appointed to the Northern Territory Licensing Commission in 1995.
Jane took the world of liquor, gambling, crowd controllers and escort agencies in her stride, and applied herself with the same diligence and focus that was evident in all she took on. Jane’s long public service career gave her a wealth of experience in the operations of government. In particular, the years of employment in the Attorney-General’s department of Law and as a JP provided her with critical knowledge and skills relating to the handling of investigative legal hearings. As well as being an active member on hearing panels, Jane personally chaired many hearings over the years and her decision writing skills were exemplary, further showcasing the depth of her skills and knowledge.
The Northern Territory Licensing Commission also took Jane further afield than she probably would have ever imagined, from community consultations and hearings in remote communities to late night pubs, gaming venues and strip clubs. None of it deterred Jane, however, who stepped through it all as part of her ongoing service to the NT community. The selfless commitment of Jane to public service for 54 years, 44 years of which was in the Northern Territory, is an absolutely outstanding achievement and an indicator of the kind of person Jane was with her gentle but conscientious energy.
I thank her for her service and commitment. I offer my sincere condolences to her husband of 44 years, Bryan, son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Niamh, and her grandson Braden. To her friends and colleagues, both in the public sector and in the Northern Territory community – vale Jane Large, thank you very much.
Before I complete my remarks, it would be wrong not to thank a few people for the last year. First off, I thank some of the staff in my office – Brigid Ryan, Trisha Smith, Michelle Crowther, Georgia McCabe, Stephanie Schreiner, Iain Forrest, Tony Musumeci, Steve Doherty, Tim Dixon and my part time electorate officer, Shelley Beard. They have been absolutely wonderful in sustaining me. I also make a special mention of my electorate officer, Helen Bateman. Helen has been with me since I was a federal member. She is a pillar of strength and is who gives me support to do this job. I feel guilty for this term of government because I have not spent enough time in the electorate office and Helen has had to wear the rigours of the job pretty well on her own in Ludmilla and the Narrows.
I also make a special mention of my former senior advisor, Stephen Gelding. Steve was a pillar of strength for me and had a fantastic understanding of parliamentary process and was an expert in the areas of health and public policy. I was saddened when Steve decided to take work in another government department, but I know he is doing a fantastic job at Worksafe and is enjoying it wonderfully.
To my new senior advisor, Gary Shipway – what more can you say about Shippy? He has been in politics in the Northern Territory on and off for a long time. He has worked with previous Chief Ministers, knows the Territory very well and I am extraordinarily honoured to have him. To my colleagues, particularly on this side of the Chamber – thank you in what is obviously a tough business. I would like to offer particular thanks to the Attorney-General; his wise counsel is always welcome. I do not always make him happy at times, but I take his words seriously and I look to him for guidance at times.
I also make particular mention of the Chief Minister, who has been a wonderful personal friend of mine now for many years. Not only is he a friend to me, he is now the inspiration that keeps me going in this job. It is an absolute honour and privilege to serve and work with him. I love his vision for the Northern Territory, his energy, and being around him is a great honour.
To all departmental heads of portfolios I look after: Peter Carew, Kathleen Robinson, Allan McGill and Jodie Kirkman, thank you and thank you to the staff in your departments, you are absolutely wonderful.
To opposition members – it is quite common that people think we do not like each other, but the reality is politics is something like religion. While we may disagree on some things, that generally does not mean we do not like being with people of different views. We have a fantastic bunch of people in opposition; I rarely agree with anything you say, but I do enjoy the banter. This is the toughest game in town and it takes tough people to be able to fling the sort of mud and cop it the way we do. I thank you for your good humour and ability to play this game. It is a tough game, and I acknowledge the role you have in representing people in your areas.
Finally, I would be nowhere without my wife Alicia and my two sons, William and Henry. They give me the support and inspiration it takes to keep going in this tough and difficult job. Their support is crucial, and that would be the same for every member in this place. It is our families who keep us going, keep the fires burning in our bellies and kick us out the door in the morning to make sure we are here, no matter how tough it gets.
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker and Madam Speaker. Your guidance in this Chamber is always welcome. Sometimes, I am certain you get it wrong, but at the end of the day, which umpire does not? It is great being here with you. Thank you to everybody in the Legislative Assembly for the support you have given us. It has been a tough year. I promise you, 2014 will be even tougher. Hopefully, we can all come back refreshed, ready to box on.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Mr Deputy Speaker, Darwin High School in the Fannie Bay electorate has a culture of excellence, not just in results but in how students and staff engage with the community. In November this year, every day for a week, students from Darwin High School’s Secondary Intensive English Unit hosted a lunch time sausage sizzle. It was a fundraiser in A-Block to support victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. All funds raised were donated to the Australian Red Cross Typhoon Haiyan appeal. It is a great cause, assisting hundreds of thousands of people after the widespread devastation of super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful on record. The fundraiser was only achievable thanks to the hard work of event organisers, Ms Jenny Jenkinson and Ms Jennifer Harker, along with 15 willing SIEU students. I will table the names for Hansard: Apichaya Tasawang, Darren Tom, Danny Tom, Jin Kunnikorn, Euphrasie Camille, Rizwan Ali, Parichat Taworn, Radju Batende, Lorenzo Sandoval, Sutthida Kalaya, Reuben Kwana, Li Yu, Sonny Lay, Aung San Yee, Zhibo Xiao, Jiraporn Srisunon, Angleou Castro, Linh Roberts, Ben Noichin, Hastinah Ambarwaty, Patipan Taoprasat, Agus and Philip Nyong. All students put in a big effort to make sure the fundraiser was a success.
Principal Trevor Read also wholeheartedly supported the students’ efforts and showed this by attending the barbecue each day. Mr John Naylor, Ms Anne Myerscough and Ms Sandy Ho also gave up lunchtimes to help. Ms Jenkinson, Ms Harker and the students should all be proud of their achievements. Both organisers did an amazing job managing the fundraiser and supporting the students throughout the week. All students had a great time helping and were fantastic at running the stall.
I was genuinely impressed with the students’ community spirit. Their genuine desire to work hard with each other to raise as much money as possible for the victims of the Philippines typhoon disaster left a lasting impression. The students had a great time raising the money and worked very hard to support the appeal. Many SIEU students have family in the Philippines, so for them, the situation is very personal.
A number of students who helped out lived in Indonesia and Thailand at the time of the tsunami and clearly understood the devastation the typhoon had caused. The students were upset by the tragedy, and the fundraiser gave them a chance to do something practical.
The students also asked teachers at Darwin High School for any clothing to donate to the appeal. They received two very large boxes filled with clothes and sent them to the Philippines. The super positive approach students took while participating on the stall was evident in their behaviour as soon as you spoke to them. They knew they were doing something meaningful and significant. The stall proved to be very popular with students. Every lunch time, it was very busy, which was great to see. For many of the SIEU students, it was their first chance to engage with mainstream students at Darwin High School. The purpose of the SIEU is to improve students’ English and enable them to join the mainstream classroom environment. Darwin High School has a habit of building strong, positive characters, and it is a reputation I am proud of, as local member for Fannie Bay.
A special thank you to Brumby’s Nightcliff for kindly donating bread for the fundraiser, Woolworths Nightcliff for contributing a voucher to provide all sauces and condiments, and a very big thank you to the South East Asian Livestock Services transport donation of clothing to Tacloban city, the area worst affected by the typhoon.
It was the students and Ms Jenkinson’s aim to raise $1400 through their sausage sizzle. In the end, they managed to raise over $3000 for those affected by the disaster. There was $3112.60 raised to be exact, which is an absolutely amazing effort over a five day period from such a small group of students and staff. I was especially pleased to see them surpass their original goal. It is indicative of the effort they put in over that week. Congratulations to everyone involved in this great community event. It was a wonderful idea and a great week. All your efforts have made a big difference.
I would like to thank my electorate officer, Lindsay Greene, who makes life and work possible. He puts in ridiculous hours. He is an incredibly nice boy, as all the lovely people who use my office say. He is polite, charming and hard-working. He comes along, as the member for Port Darwin would know, to Parap markets every Saturday. He puts in hours above and beyond and is a fantastic bloke. He does a fantastic job and I thank him for it.
Ari Margossian, who has been helping in my office, unfortunately leaves early next year and we will miss him. I wish Ari all the best in Melbourne. He is now a Territorian. He loves the place but has had to leave for Melbourne for work, though I am sure we will see him back.
I wish all colleagues in this Chamber a merry Christmas and a safe time with family and friends. Sometimes, we might be divided by more than a dispatch box during debates, no more than this morning and early afternoon, but in our hearts, the reason we stand in this Chamber is to do good for Territorians. I hope you all have a happy and safe Christmas and New Year, and we will see you all in February. I am sure we will also see the parliamentary staff, who do so much to support us in our jobs and making this place run. Thank you very much.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Mr Deputy Speaker, I pass my congratulations to Danni Mattiazzo from Larrakeyah Primary School. I have to declare an interest, as she is the teacher of one of my daughters. The reason I am congratulating her is she won the Northern Territory Department of Education’s primary school teacher of the year award , and it was well deserved.
I first met Danni when I was president of the Mitchell Street Childcare Centre, when my girls were young enough to go there. I met this vibrant, magnetic and alive personality, who was studying to become a teacher. She was successful and moved on from Mitchell Street Childcare Centre after then principal of the school, Graham Chadwick, was kind enough to take her on. I remember speaking to Graham about her and saying, ‘Look, she might be a neophyte, but she would be an asset to the staff’. She has been much more than a mere asset to staff and the school. Her presence, personality, passion and love for what she does percolates out of every pore of her being. It is no small wonder this young, proud and most excellent teacher has been very quickly able to elevate herself to a height of recognition few achieve. For the attention of members listening and for permanent posterity, I place on the Parliamentary Record my deep and warm congratulations to Danni for her extraordinary success as a teacher. I encourage other teachers to look to her as a role model for what an engaged, passionate, driven, loving teacher should look like.
I also pass on my Christmas greetings. I begin with my electorate officer, Linda Coulter, who has now been with me for a few years. Although she does not know it, when I interviewed her, she so impressed me in her deportment and disposition, she was hired before the first question was ever asked in the interview.
The other thing she does not know is that after speaking to her I discontinued any further interviews because I was happy with who I had in front of me. I am not sorry for that choice and I have not been wrong in that choice.
As a minister of the Crown, I now have many more staff and need to pass on my regards and best wishes to those members of staff. I will start with my chief of staff. Members in this House will know my chief of staff, Steve Dunham, a former minister of the Crown himself and a Health minister of the Northern Territory. He has been a rock upon who I could lean very heavily over the last 13 months. If I have in any way looked capable or competent as a minister of the Crown and Leader of Government Business, it has been almost exclusively because of his strength, wisdom and preparedness. This has enabled me to do my job, I hope, in a respectable fashion on behalf of the people of the Northern Territory.
Next in line is Sam Burke. Sam is a young, eager and very smart man. It is a sheer pleasure to have him in my office. He has a sense of humour to match his intellectual wit, and is a great fellow to have around. Rhianna Harker, who is known to many people in this House, is my ministerial officer in the area of Corrections. Once again, she is a dedicated and focused person, and I appreciate her forthrightness and dedication. Anybody who saw the way she conducted herself in two elections – the second one being pretty much a political suicide mission – with her disposition, pride, dignity and work ethic would know she could learn everything else because you cannot learn intelligence and loyalty. She has those in abundance and has clearly adapted to her new role very well.
I also place on record my gratitude to Rolf Nilsson, who I inherited, and happily so, from the previous minister’s office; I remain grateful to him for his work. Danielle Lede, my press secretary, proves herself to be right far more often than I do when it comes to matters at press. I rarely subordinate myself to her wisdom at my expense. However, I know she is what every good, hard-working person should be: honest, fearless and frank in her advice, even if it does earn her an irritable rebuke from me, particularly when she catches me at a bad moment.
Little Ms Kimberley Davey is the brightest little button you could ever have working in an office. She is a very switched on and smart young lady and a pleasure to have on board. I also thank Ms Linda Heidstra, who is my personal assistant. I lean upon her very heavily indeed. What I adore about her is her sheer sense of professionalism. In the last 12 months, I can point to one minor error, of such a trivial nature as to be of no consequence whatsoever, yet when it became apparent, she was aghast at letting the team down, which she did not. She demonstrated she continues to care passionately about what she does. In fact, the incident was so minor I have forgotten what it was; it was her response to it that is left in my memory, rather than the matter itself.
I also mention the DLOs I have in my offices at the moment: Mr Michael Cox from Corrections, Ms Lisa Brown from the Attorney-General’s department and Ms Cheryl Schmidt from Children and Families. I thank you all for your attendance and work in my office. I equally hope you are enjoying the experience and will continue to enjoy the experience for as long as you are in the office. A DLO has to show wisdom and thoughtfulness in a political office. DLOs are public servants seconded from the public service to understand what is happening in the corridors of power, so it can help them develop professionally. I hope they take that experience away. They also, as good public servants, continue to provide frank and fearless advice.
That is pretty much my office. I hope I have not missed anybody. I am standing here doing this off the top of my head. To the parliamentary staff, from Mr Clerk all the way down through the staff, thank you very much. Hansard – I know you are listening – thank you very much as well for your fine work and contribution to the people of the Northern Territory.
Last, but not least, I have to thank my wife, Dee, who continues to demonstrate a chronically bad taste in men. I am grateful for that because it means she will continue to show that bad taste. Equally, it seems to be a genetic problem because, for some strange reason, both my daughters, Ellie and Gwennie, continue to love their dad. I do not know why, maybe when they are a bit older and getting towards puberty they will wake up to themselves. In the meantime, I will continue to have fun with them.
To each of those people I have just mentioned, I wish you a merry, safe Christmas. As I wind up, I say to all members on both sides of this House, I wish you all a safe and peaceful Christmas. We continue to work in this place for the people of the Northern Territory and as I have plastered on every single door in my office – I will repeat it again. I have finished many statements and speeches in this House with the one line I will not forget – that it is not about me, the Chief Minister or any person in this room. It is for the true welfare of the people of the Northern Territory.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Mr Deputy Speaker, I assure other members I will not take the full 10 minutes.
It is has been a huge year, and I cannot believe that once again we are in December, our salutations to a year gone by. It never ceases to amaze me how quick this time of year comes around. We have done a lot of work this year, certainly as a government. Some of the achievements that come to mind are today’s MAGNT bill. It is historic and will prove a wonderful addition to the arts sector in the Northern Territory. The cricket we had last week was huge, probably the biggest global sporting event we have hosted in the Northern Territory. The sale of Territory Discoveries was significant as well. Much work was needed to bring together the leasing of Territory Discoveries to the AOT group. I know it has been a consideration of governments past and present, but we managed to lease it out. It is an enormous achievement to have reconstituted the Northern Territory Tourism commission and those results are starting to prove fruitful.
Some things came to mind as I was jotting down a couple of notes before. I would like to say some thank you’s and I will be out of here.
Thank you to my CEOs – Tony Mayell from Tourism; Phillip Leslie from Sport, Recreation and Racing; Hugo Leschen from the Department of Arts and Museums; and Anne Bradford, who is a new CEO. Anne and I have only recently begun working together, since I have taken over the portfolio of Housing, so thank you to those people, and to my former CEO for Parks and Wildlife, Andrew Bridges. Andrew and I worked together for about a year, so thank you, Andrew, for your assistance, help and guidance with Parks and Wildlife, it has been terrific. To all the respective departmental staff – fantastic effort, thank you for your support.
Thank you to my office in Darwin: my chief of staff or senior advisor, Tom Slattery; Racheal Curtain; Lisa Andrews and Judy D’Errico. Judy had a big year as well; she got married, so well done, Judy. To Chloe Morrell – Chloe is leaving us to go back to the Department of Parks and Wildlife, so thank you, Chloe, for your assistance during a short but bright stay. To Kay Maskell, my PA, and Viki Smith, my DLO from Housing, thank you to the team up there.
To some of my past staff: Tony Clementson, Paul McLaughlin, Jordan Grantham, Skye Connors and Danielle Lede, who was press secretary for me for a little while, thank you.
In Alice, thank you Jo Hansen, Karen Randell and Adrian Renzi for your support with my electorate office and the office of Central Australia in Alice Springs.
To my dear family, I could not do it without you and I love you to bits. I cannot wait to get back to Alice for some good quality time with you. Maybe we can string three or four days together. I hope we can string two or three weeks together over Christmas and have a wonderful time. It has been too long since we have done that – that is Elara, Harvey and Cleo, of course.
To my parliamentary colleagues, thank you, and particularly the member for Blain, the former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, who had the confidence to bring me into Cabinet when we were elected to government in August last year. I do thank you for that, Terry, and I appreciate the confidence and the nod you gave me. Without that, I may not be standing here today and we may not be able to list off some of those achievements which have benefited the Northern Territory. Thank you to all parliamentary colleagues, ministers and backbenchers, Mr Deputy Speaker and Madam Speaker, the member for Goyder.
To Legislative Assembly staff, thank you once again for an outstanding job. To Mr Clerk and the Clerk’s staff, thank you for your efforts this year; the drivers, who do an important job and spend a lot of their time driving us around Darwin and beyond in some cases, so thank you to Bill and the team, and to former staff of the Legislative Assembly, who have assisted me over the course of this year. They were the former Clerk, Ian McNeill and also the former maintenance man – he had a bit more of a technical title than that – but it was Tony Hibberd and he was always there. I could pick up the phone and say a light bulb was driving me crazy or the air conditioning was too hot or cold and he would be straight on to it. Tony has now left the Legislative Assembly. He left earlier this year after being here for a long time. Thank you, Tony, for all your efforts.
That is about it. There are a few others here who would like to say a few words, so thank you, one and all and to all of us in this Chamber, all parliamentary colleagues, on both sides of the House, to all the people of the Northern Territory, have a fantastic Christmas and all the best for 2014.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Mr Deputy Speaker, it is the end of the 2013 parliamentary year and I have never had a job like it. A job that blurs hours into days, days into weeks and weeks into years. I am about to walk out the door to go back home to the Barkly after another incredible year.
I would like to start with Madam Speaker and Mr Deputy Speaker. Thank you for your adjudication of this House and the great work you do in keeping the show on the road. To the Clerk and Legislative Assembly staff – as a former principal and teacher, I always strove for excellence and it was not easy. However, this is a great workplace. This is a really professional workplace, and not only professional but very collegial. Everybody does an incredible amount of work, but does it with a great sense of humour, great nature and with great support.
I would like to mention Committees staff – to Committees support staff, secretariat staff of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee and NT energy futures committee. Once again, their help is an extension of that incredible professionalism and professional support provided to MLAs of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. It has been a fascinating time, coming from government and taking a bit of a step back but a step into what is a really positive learning environment. I have mentioned a few times in the House the Sessional Committee on the Northern Territory’s Energy Future. It is a great committee, doing great work with great secretarial support.
I thank the Leader of the Opposition, the Honourable Delia Lawrie, member for Karama and the staff on the fourth floor. I always made jokes at functions when I dropped into the crowd and said, ‘You like the view on the fourth floor? Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet. It is a lot better on the fifth.’ I have been spending a bit of time on the fourth floor and I thank all of you for your great support. I roll into town and I roll out again. I come at all hours and you are always there, prepared to support me, Dawn and the family, and I thank you for that.
Thank you to my electorate officer in Barkly, Ktima Heathcote. When Nancy Cowan left after 4 years, Ktima came on board and I hope you are enjoying the ride. She is a very dynamic Tennant Creek identity. She is a former journalist, quite celebrated, who worked in London and took an exit stage left as an artist and author and worked in the creative fields, finding Tennant Creek. She has taken a step back to the right, which is quite challenging, and is now the Barkly electorate officer. Thank you, Ktima, and I am really looking forward to keeping on that track to use your creative skills for that other alternative we are looking for in supporting, servicing, communicating and advising the constituency of Barkly.
To all constituents in Barkly, from Tennant Creek and across the region, have a great Christmas and New Year season and celebration. Stay safe and we look forward to all those challenges and the great times ahead in 2014.
To the Barkly sub-branch of the Australian Labor Party, thank you, guys. We have had a great year and you are really important people to a local member, who put in a lot of effort and extra time. I love being around the Barkly sub-branch of the ALP to bounce around and share ideas and debate policy. You represent the true believers in Barkly who are serious about the implementation of best practice policy for the governance of the Northern Territory. Have a great festive season and I look forward to the work we can do next year.
The year 2013 was very much a highlight for the Barkly sub-branch of the ALP. We rallied, we got vehicles, swags and tuckerboxes and we did it again and showed that in a little over 12 months, we had turned the bush around; it came back our way. We are looking forward to debating hard, being able to use the new conservative government of the Northern Territory as a benchmark. We returned Warren Snowdon as the federal member for Lingiari. Well done guys, that was a big highlight of the year and provided plenty of debate.
Family has been mentioned; you cannot go far without mentioning family. I would like to thank Dawn once again. She spends a lot of time with me on the road and supporting the Leader of the Opposition, my colleagues and staff. When Dawn is not recruiting, training and placing people in regional jobs, she is up to her neck in politics and loves every minute of it.
To Robert, Abbi, Rhys and Judd in Cobar, it is great you are still following the trail, still interested in what is happening in Territory politics and we really enjoy whatever time we get to spend with you.
Well done to Thomas and Maria McCarthy. Thank you for your support from a distance, but it is always great to catch up. Thomas, congratulations, I believe it is just over 200 hours on the jumbo. That is a story in itself, mate, from when you started as a nipper, you went to the back of the line, worked your way to the front to be in a machine feeding the rest of the process line for those miners and their families. Well done, sonny boy. It is not a bad effort at your age, keep safe. Maria, you are doing an incredible job down there as well.
To Joseph McCarthy – Joey, it was good to have you home in Tennant Creek for the year. Congratulations on the studies and your work as an assistant teacher at Tennant Creek Primary School, specialising in students with challenging behaviour. Well done, mate, there is a family trait there.
To Jan and Cecelia McCarthy – Cecelia, congratulations on your NAPLAN results this year – above the state and national average. Jan is a real professor of mathematics, Cecelia is excelling in literacy, fantastic work. To Dr Lynn, good to have you in the Top End and I look forward to catching up with you; Tim, Judy, Hannah, Daniel and Ella, great work this year. You have a beautiful family and congratulations on all the good news.
To Jenny, Dawn’s sister and the kids: Jenny manages to keep her own kids together alongside 11 foster kids in a good family network. These are not 11 foster kids one at a time, but 11 all together. Well done, Jenny, and I have learned a lot from you about being a member of the Legislative Assembly.
To Gary and Jackie on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, I hope the harvest goes well and thank you for the continual contact and support you provide, Steve McVay, the political animal who texts me and takes a great interest in Northern Territory politics, I appreciate all your advice. To Glen and Tracy in Borroloola – Glen, I will try to organise as many CLP as I can find to send to you and you give them that rough justice from La Perouse, mate. You can certainly hold the floor and give them a good education.
To my colleagues in the Territory opposition team, thank you, it has been a great year. It was a very challenging transition because we were doing some amazing work in government, but then had to turn it around quite radically, and we have. It is a great team, a lot smaller, and we do not have the resources. I cannot thank all those fantastic people we worked with because they are all gone, but it is a great opportunity to work with you and I look forward to the New Year.
Good health and happiness to everyone for the festive season. Be safe, and I look forward to working with everybody again in another year as the member for Barkly in the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory.
On a last note: a little cheek. To the drivers, I only get to see you now with a wave and a smile across the car park. The cheeky part of it is, on 26 August 2016, I have booked a car to pick me up in Tennant Creek. Guys, keep that booking open, because 2013 has not cancelled that booking. I hope 2014 puts a little more certainty into it. This has been a great opportunity to get up and have a good yack in parliament, thanks everyone and cheers.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for the lovely Christmas gift. The year 2013 was a dramatic year like none of the 14 before it. For those who observed and understood it, they would realise it has been a period of significant personal adjustment. That is an adjustment I have been able to make, guided by my instinct, as always, to endeavour to serve the best interests of Territorians. I acknowledge in that period of adjustment, the year started in one way and I am now in the seat I sat in when I entered parliament in 1999. That period of adjustment has required me to consider how I can best make a contribution.
That has meant I have, perhaps, not served my electorate as well as I would like. I seek, through having a break during the Christmas period, to come back with renewed vigour. I acknowledge the tremendous support I receive from Fiona Lynch in serving the good people of the Blain electorate and the people of Palmerston generally. I know it has been a difficult period for Fiona, and I thank you for the work and support you have provided during this difficult period.
In the parliament over many years, and close to 12 years in opposition, I have made many speeches. I have not given many speeches in the last nine months, but I look forward to making an increased contribution in the New Year. Our job is not a job done unless we see the results in people around the Northern Territory, and that is something I will continue to contribute to.
I acknowledge the support I receive from many people around our community, particularly from my dear wife for whom this has also been a difficult period. I thank you, Ros, for your support over the last 30 and more years, and look forward, in 2014, to continuing our work together in serving the best interests of our community.
I acknowledge, too, our children, Kristen and her husband Peter Grove in Kununurra, and most especially, our two grandchildren, Alex and Aaron. Matthew, it has been good having you back home in the Top End. Our family seems a lot closer now than it has for a very long time. One of the results of this dramatic year is I have had a little more time to spend with my family, which I have appreciated, and I trust they have too.
I acknowledge the people of Blain I have served for many years. Thank you for your forbearance in allowing me time to come back. I very much appreciate working with the seniors, but I acknowledge – as I was looking through some old photographs the other day – it is so sad that many of the seniors I have worked with for so many years have passed away. They are the life of our community. I particularly acknowledge Margot Cox and the wonderful work she has done for many years with the community wheel in the Palmerston Shopping Centre. I admire and respect you for the work you have done in quietly contributing to the life of the Palmerston community for more years than I have been a member of parliament. There are many others who would be delighted if I mention their names, but I will, as promised, speak more in the new year, when I have more time, to acknowledge their fine service. I wish, though, to speak about something I have particularly enjoyed in my time here. Every year, I note there are people we seem to walk past each day and maybe take for granted – Hansard staff, I know you hear our words and I pity you at times. You do a remarkable job and I often think of you.
For those behind the scenes who support us in our endeavours in parliament, your names have been mentioned and I acknowledge you once again. I would like to mention the cleaners. I see those cleaners and like to say hello; there are many that come and go, but there are two in particular and they are Siri Walker – you are a very special person. Siri is our day cleaner, and to Maria Ferreira, our night supervisor, you are familiar faces who add something pretty special to our parliament. To the security team, we see you every day, every time we come in, no matter what hour of the day or night and you are here. You have become familiar faces and a part of our job. I acknowledge you and respect you for the work you do. Michael Caldwell, Esther, Bob, Bronwyn, David, Vineet, Mark, Chandra, Yanni, Sajjad and Shane, thank you for your work in providing security for us in this parliament.
To our Assembly staff, who I have acknowledged generally, there are two specifically. That does not mean others are not valued, but Annette and Steven, Stokesy and Annette – so many years in here, they are familiar faces and I acknowledge them for the service they provide, year after year; to the IT guys, Mark Trobbiani for keeping a cool head and solving complex problems and to Anton, it has been good to get to know you recently.
I also acknowledge Tasma, my electorate officer. We have worked together for many years and you do a fine job now in providing support for electorate officers across the Territory. You are still very much a part of what we do in Blain and always will be. Thank you for your constant support.
As I have acknowledged, this has been a period of adjustment and that has been understood. I appreciate the space I have been given, but the break ahead of me is an opportunity to reset my agenda for 2014, and I am certainly looking to next year. That agenda has always been, as the member for Port Darwin also cited, to advance the true welfare of all Territorians. As we move on, we need to consider the legacy we will leave. That is something I am particularly mindful of now I have grandchildren. How will they remember their grandfather? These considerations, this refreshment I have with my family and particularly my mother – we come together from time to time with my brothers, sister, son, daughter and grandchildren. It will be a very special time with our cousins as well, all spending time together in Western Australia. I am certainly looking forward to 2014 and making a much stronger contribution and adding value where best I can.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise this evening, the very last parliamentary sitting day for 2014.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: 2013.
Ms WALKER: It is 2013. Am I a year ahead of myself? That is how time flies. It has been an extraordinary week. Less than a week ago, devastating news was dropped upon my community and home of Nhulunbuy. It has been my home for more than 23 years, and the home of many others who are devastated by the news Rio has decided to curtail its operations within an absolutely brutal time frame, commencing next month, winding down by the end of August. Eleven hundred jobs will go. We will see the population go from 4000 to 1500 people. It is devastating news. I have consistently called upon Rio to reconsider that time frame, to think of the people there who need time to prepare.
Sadly, disappointingly and shamefully, the Northern Territory government and Chief Minister Adam Giles are nowhere in that space. They are taking a backseat, saying it is a mining town that has nothing to do with them, and that is shameful. The community is adjusting to the news. There are no plans in place to assist the community, residents and business owners who stand to lose so much, but I look forward to getting home and being back in my community over the weekend.
I take this opportunity in the final adjournment debate on the final sitting day of 2013 to acknowledge some of the incredible achievements in my community. On 25 October, which was World Teachers’ Day, I attended the graduation at Yirrkala of a number of graduates from Batchelor Institute, and I want to acknowledge those people who received their certificates.
For Certificate III in Conservation and Land Management, congratulations to Yupunu Marika, an incredible woman, a single mum with four kids, a hard-working individual and certainly a fantastic role model for her community. Gathapura Mununggurr also graduated with his Certificate III. Both are in full-time employment with Dhimurru and congratulations to them.
The Certificate III in Education Support was presented to the following people: Laminggirra Ganambarr, Metjmitj Mununggurr, Bulungguwuy Mununggurr, Birrpunu Mununggurr, Ngatjalpi Wanambi, Djalumbu Ngurruwutthun, Gunururr Ngurruwutthun, Yekariwuy Marika, Bronson Militjumburr Dhamarrandji and Mary Minydjalurr Dhamarrandji.
For receiving the Diploma of Education Support, congratulations to Djuna Wunungmurra, Lombinga Mununggurr, Teleta Gutkut Munyarryun and Rurruwiliny Ngurruwutthun.
That is 14 graduates with education support who are employed in roles with Yirrkala Homeland School or Yirrkala School. It is a fantastic achievement given they continued to work, study, look after their busy family lives and reach those achievements. The sad part is there is no guarantee of jobs for these people next year, with the savage cuts we have seen in education. To remove or reduce Yolngu classroom support teachers is shameful, and I wish these people well and hope and pray there are jobs for them next year.
I want to also congratulate Multhara Mununggurr and Nalwarri Ngurruwutthun who, on that same day, were recognised for their lifetime of dedication to education in the East Arnhem region. Both women are retiring from education and their achievements and advocacy for the importance of education over the years has been phenomenal.
Also on 25 October, World Teachers’ Day, there were a number of awards and nominations and I am sorry I do not have the list of nominations in front of me. They were announced in Nhulunbuy at the Arnhem Club that afternoon. I was incredibly disappointed, as the local member, not to receive an invitation to attend those presentation awards for the first time ever, but I guess that is what you get with such a spiteful CLP government.
However, I would like to place on the record some of the recipients of awards.
The Arnhem Support Staff Member of the Year and NT Support Staff Member of the Year was Lombinga Mununggurr. It was a double celebration for her because earlier that day, Lombinga had been presented with her Diploma in Education Support.
The Arnhem Primary Teacher of the Year went to Andrew McLaughlin, who has taught for a few years at Nhulunbuy Primary School and has an amazing reputation. Congratulations, Andrew. The Arnhem Early Childhood Teacher of the Year went to Jenni McDonald, who is also at Nhulunbuy Primary School. Once again, Nhulunbuy Primary School was in the spotlight, winning the School Excellence Award for the Arnhem, Palmerston and Rural District. I want to acknowledge staff and teachers at Nhulunbuy Primary School, who are so dedicated under the leadership of Principal Matt Watson.
Nhulunbuy BMX club has had a very big year. They celebrated its 30th anniversary. It competed in the BMX titles held at Satellite City in Palmerston in September. There were some outstanding results from the titles. Among the nine-year old boys group, first place was taken out by Jacob Brine. Among the 11-year old girls, first place in the Territory was taken out by Charli Leahy. Charli’s mum and dad, Ken and Donna, do incredible work with the local BMX club in Nhulunbuy, as do all the mums and dads.
In the age group 17+ men, third place was taken out by James Miegel, and in the 8 to 10 year boys cruiser age group, third place was taken out again by Jacob Brine. Well done, Jacob, and to all riders who participated. There was a fairly sizeable contingent from Nhulunbuy, as there always is at these things. The tyranny of distance does not stop Gove people from travelling to compete at events, and congratulations to them.
Gove tennis club held its club presentation night on 9 November. Congratulations to all players, coaches, volunteers and committee members for their efforts. It was a huge night. There were more than 100 people who sat down to dinner at the Arnhem Club and were treated to a fantastic night; and accolades, as always, to our club coach manager. Nicky Mayer has done an incredible job over the years, as have members of the committee. I want to highlight the role of president, Paul Mery, in the past three to four years he has been on the committee.
Congratulations to Club Volunteer of the Year, Eugene Venter, who was also Club Volunteer of the Year for Tennis NT. Congratulations to Eugene, Chantelle and their two daughters, who have recently become citizens.
Club Ambassador of the Year went to Harry Walker. I claim him as my son and am proud he had that recognition.
The Junior Encouragement Award went to Jackson Dun, and Caitlyn Mitchell was awarded the Coach’s Award, Tennis NT Junior Incentive Award, as well as winning the Tennis NT Senior Points Circuit. She has a great career in front of her. Keep an eye out for that name in future tournaments. Good luck to you, Caitlyn. The Gove tennis club also won the 2013 Tennis NT Club of the Year, which is the fourth year in a row the club has been awarded this title. The club has had recognition at national level in the past couple of years, with Tennis Australia and Newcombe Medal awards.
Once again, the Gove Peninsula Surf Life Saving Club showed what a very strong club it has when it held club presentations in November. The following people received awards as finalists from the 2012-13 Surf Lifesaving Australia national awards: Assessor of the Year, Bernie Whelan; Athlete of the Year, Alan Cross; Official of the Year, Tara Canobie and Club of the Year, Gove Peninsula Surf Life Saving Club.
The Surf Rescue Certificate Champion Lifesaver female went to Savanne Canobie; the Bronze Medallion Champion Lifesaver male award went to Alan Cross and the female recipient was Madelaine Barnett.
The Lifetime Patrol Hour Milestones for those people up to 100 hours were: Grant Barnett, Matt Houston, Blake McMahon, John O’Neal and John Papple. Serving members for up to 200 hours was Luke Hutchinson; up to 400 hours, Sheena Rudolph; up to 600 hours, Denise Marrable; and up to 700 hours, Bernie Whelan, who is a life member of the club.
The 2013 Most Patrol Hours Surf Rescue Certificate went to Savanne Canobie, recognising 27.75 hours in the 2013 season; the Bronze Medallion went to Alan Cross, who clocked up 54.25 hours; Official of the Year was Bernie Whelan; Patrol Captain of the Year was Tony Kelly; Patrol of the Year was Yellow Patrol; Young Achiever of the Year was Savanne Canobie once again; and Volunteer of the Year went to Dave and Cathy Forbes. Dave and Cathy Forbes have run the bar at the club for a couple of years, and without their volunteer support in taking on that role, things just would not happen.
I want to thank volunteers in our community who take on these roles. We are all worried about what the future holds for our clubs – the golf club, squash club, fishing club, surf club – which have, cumulatively, millions of dollars invested in their assets. There is no sign from the Northern Territory government of how they might be supported and/or saved. We know there will not be the army of volunteers when you see the population go from 4000 to 1500. I worry what the future holds. Gove people are resilient. We know the community will build back up in time, but that does not provide us with much comfort today.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: One of the privileges of sitting in this chair is you get to have the last word. On that note, I also thank all staff in this building for the help they have given me through this year. I also thank MLAs on both sides of the House who have given me much advice.
I thank my son, Joshua, who was my electorate from the time I was elected until a couple of months ago when Bess Price stole him. I thank him for helping set up that office. To Viv, the new electorate officer, I am sure next year will be very productive and I am glad she is with me.
The last person I thank is a very close friend of mine and companion, my wife, Rhonda. Without her with me all the time, I know I could not do this job properly. Thank you very much, I love you dearly.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of 14 students from all levels and five staff from St Francis Xavier School at Nauiyu. Welcome to Parliament House. A special treat, I understand, so enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also draw your attention to the presence in the West Gallery of the sons of the member for Nhulunbuy, Lynne Walker. Harry and Patrick, welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: We will ask for a score at the end of Question Time on the member for Nhulunbuy.
MOTION
Establishment of an Inquiry Regarding
Stella Maris
Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that this parliament resolves, pursuant to section 4A of the Inquiries Act, to appoint a person to inquire into and report to the Administrator on the following matter:
With respect to the proposed grant of a lease over Lot 5260 Town of Darwin known as Stella Maris (the site) the inquiry will:
2. review the public policy and public accountability considerations involved in making the purported decision to grant a lease of the site to Unions NT without putting the matter out to expressions of interest or public tender
3. assess the performance of relevant persons, including the responsible minister at the time, in carrying out their obligations under the regulatory regime and ensuring the proper accountability processes were applied in the tenure management of the site
4. review the adequacy and effectiveness of the regulatory regime in ensuring transparency, good governance and community input into the process of leasing or granting Crown land
6. make recommendations to the Minister for Lands, Planning and the Environment on any measures that might help ensure transparency, good governance and community input into the process of leasing or granting land with particular reference to the purported decision to grant the site to Unions NT
7. consider, assess and make recommendations in relation to any other matter the inquiry considers relevant to the matter.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask the Chief Minister to table that.
Mr GILES: It will be circulated now.
Madam Speaker, I heard the debate about the need for suspending standing orders. As anticipated, Labor went straight for the indignation of suspending 30 minutes or so of Question Time. They then went to personal attacks on me, the Attorney-General, the member for Fong Lim and others on this side, and sought to divide this side of the Chamber. They were their tactics. They went straight to ground and to personal attacks …
Ms Walker: You already are divided. You will not be the Chief Minister …
Mr GILES: Here we go, interjections, straight to the personal attacks.
Ms Walker: Oh, you never launch personal attacks on me?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, member for Nhulunbuy! You are already on a warning.
Mr GILES: The reason standing orders were suspended during Question Time is because the opposition has been given the opportunity to respond to claims about Stella Maris. These issues have been raised a number of times. It is a long-term investigation that this government has taken looking into whether leasing out this property is fair and just on behalf of Territorians, and what would appear to be, from the outset, potentially corrupt dealings in the transaction of the lease of the site known as Stella Maris. Throughout Question Time over the last couple of weeks, we have heard many questions asked and answers and responses provided, as we have sought to uncover some of the information about Stella Maris.
I will hold up some illustrations of some of the news stories that would have given the Leader of the Opposition, and Labor more generally, an opportunity to respond. On 26 November 2013, an exclusive story by Ben Smee, ‘Labor gave building rent-free to unions’. There was an opportunity to have a chat. In the editorial, ‘Queries must be addressed’ on the same day. A story on 28 November, ‘A nice little earner’. There was an opportunity to respond. On 30 November, ‘Labor’s murky site deal’, another opportunity to respond. Yesterday, 4 December, ‘Labor caught out on Stella Maris’ – no response to date. There is another story in today’s paper, ‘Union boss denies links’. These are stories in the public domain.
However, whether they are in the public domain or not is not of importance to us. What is important is good governance in the Northern Territory. What is important is good governance in the way transactions were conducted. What is important is that Territory assets were handed over for free in the dead of night from a Labor government on its way out to its union mates. What is of concern is who owns the property at 38 Wood Street. Who would benefit from this? What is the correspondence between parties? We have already seen the letter from Unions NT to the then Planning minister, also the then Treasurer, now Leader of the Opposition, promoting what could happen with Stella Maris, how it could be turned into a business, the progression to date from 2009 and the transactions and conversations that occurred until 2011 when that deal was struck.
We had a debate in this Chamber yesterday about badminton needing a home. NT Badminton needs a home, and Labor wanted to talk about that. It is a very important issue we want to help NT Badminton with. However, they will not talk about the home known as Stella Maris and how they handed that over to Unions NT for nothing.
This warrants suspending standing orders in Question Time to launch an inquiry, under the Inquiries Act – one of the most powerful acts under which to perform an inquiry in the Territory – to identify exactly what happened.
This is at a time when we hear of what is happening in New South Wales with all those corruption inquiries through ICAC and so forth. We are hearing, through the media, about Eddie Obeid and his Labor and union mates all over the place. Here we have a deal that was orchestrated between Unions NT and the NT Labor government which, on the surface, appears to be way beyond many of those allegations in other inquiries that have been conducted in New South Wales.
That is why it is important we today launch the Stella Maris corruption inquiry and seek to have an inquiry appointed by the Administrator so we can look into all these matters, as I detailed in presenting the motion.
I will talk a little about the history of Stella Maris so I can provide some clarity on what has occurred to date, rather than some of the claims by those opposite that Stella Maris was, apparently, some sort of union legacy. History shows the operators of the Stella Maris site, from as far back as 1937, has predominantly been Stella Maris, the Apostleship of the Sea, a Catholic organisation that takes care of seafarers worldwide, not the unions.
In more than 70 years, unions have never had a principal operating role in the site. In 1976, the North Australia Railway closed, and land on which Stella Maris is situated was handed to Darwin City Council to negotiate a lease with the Stella Maris association.
In 1979, the building on the site was leased to Stella Maris for use as a licensed club. In the 1980s, the building was used for a period as a hostel run by nuns from the leprosarium. It was also used during this period as a seafarers’ centre used by Stella Maris.
In 1990, a Crown lease term was first issued over the site to Stella Maris, the Apostleship of the Sea. In 1991, a new Stella Maris bar building was completed, and the old railways residence was used as an annexe.
In 1996, the former lease was exchanged for a perpetual new Crown lease that was issued to Stella Maris, the Apostleship of the Sea.
In early 2007, the then Labor Territory government commenced discussions with Stella Maris, the Apostleship of the Sea, about the surrender of the Crown lease. The Apostleship of the Sea surrendered the Crown lease to the Northern Territory government, which paid the Catholic organisation $630 000 in compensation for improvement works that had been carried out on the property. Soon after, in the same year, a number of community organisations began corresponding with government to express interest in making use of the site. These included: the National Trust of Australia; 24HR Art, Northern Territory Centre for Contemporary Art; the Planning Action Network; and Birds Australia. The community groups were later told by government agencies there would be an opportunity for them to express their interest at an appropriate time.
In 2009, the Northern Territory government began improvement works on the site, spending more than $300 000 on renovating the property. At this time – this is where it gets interesting – Unions NT Secretary, Matt Gardiner, approached the then Treasurer, Delia Lawrie, to discuss the potential development of Stella Maris, including the clear intent to run a commercial operation which included renting out office space and operating a food and beverage outlet on-site. This intent was outlined in Unions NT’s Proposed re-development of the Stella Maris site document dated 20 May 2009. This development proposal from the union is clearly badged Business and Community Development Propriety Limited. Here is a paper I will happily table which outlines Unions NT’s proposal for redevelopment of the Stella Maris site, dated 26 May 2009.
By 2010, Matthew Gardiner was the President of the Territory Labor Party and stood as the Labor Party’s second Senate candidate. In July 2012, shortly before the caretaker period before the Territory election, the then Northern Territory Department of Lands and Planning provided advice to the then NT Labor Cabinet, recommending a public competitive process for the lease of the Stella Maris site. Let us put that into perspective. The Lands and Planning department recommended to Cabinet that a public competitive process be completed or undertaken for the lease of the Stella Maris site, with particular intention around ensuring the public had an opportunity to utilise that site.
The advice from the department was that the preferred process for the release of the site for commercial purposes was via a public competitive process. This advice was not taken and the former Labor Cabinet decided to grant a free lease for 10 years, with a 10-year option, over the Stella Maris site to Unions NT for nil rent.
On the final day before the former Labor government entered the caretaker period, a contract was quietly hand delivered to Unions NT’s building at 38 Wood Street. Unions NT signed the contract that same day and returned it to the Lands and Planning department, with payment for a paperwork fee of $442 – not bad for a 20-year lease on a rent free building.
Despite being in election mode, no public announcement was made by the former government about the gifting of this historic landmark to Unions NT. Instead, what announcements did the Labor government make on the day that lease was signed and handed over? Instead of announcing the handover of the Stella Maris site, it decided to announce a new community food garden to be built in Stuart Park. I am sure that was a very good community food garden in Stuart Park. However, I would have thought handing over a $3m Territory government asset for free to union mates might have been something that was also of interest to the public.
The murkiness of this deal becomes apparent when a title search of the building Unions NT owns shows that a part owner of their 38 Wood Street building is Harold Nelson Holdings Pty Ltd. Harold Nelson Pty Ltd is a slush company set up by the Territory Australian Labor Party in 1995. One of the current directors of the Harold Nelson Labor slush company is none other than Matthew Gardiner, who is also the person who approached the former Treasurer about turning Stella Maris into a commercial venture prior to being granted a rent-free lease for the $3m CBD site which has an annual rent valued at $150 000. Other former directors of this Labor slush company include: former Chief Minister, Paul Henderson; recent Labor Party Secretary, Varenya Mohan-Ram, long-time Labor advisor, Charlie Phillips, and the list of well-known Labor Party figures goes on.
What becomes clearly apparent and starts to unravel about this link between the part-owners of the building at 38 Wood Street is that the Labor Party and its union mates stood to directly receive significant financial benefit from the secret Stella Maris deal. This is outlined in Unions NT’s Strategic Plan 2012-13, which clearly sets out how they planned to take advantage of two new income streams from this sneaky deal.
First, Unions NT intended to vacate its Wood Street office premises and develop that property when it moved into Stella Maris. Following development, it could make a handy income out of hundreds of thousands of dollars from renting out the redeveloped Wood Street premises is shares with the Labor Party slush company.
The plan to increase the union’s group income stream also outlined an intent to develop the Stella Maris CBD site as a joint venture commercial business, with options including a restaurant, caf, bar and hosting conferences. Boosting the financial war chest of Unions NT, which has strong funding links with Territory Labor, stinks of political nepotism.
I reflect on the question in regard to the AHA by the member for Nelson about political donations. I encourage people reading or listening to this debate to go back through electoral returns and identify whether Harold Nelson Holdings has provided funding to the Territory Labor Party in support of its elections.
Who was the person leading the charge to put union mates ahead of the interests of everyday Territorians? Despite this being about the whole Labor bunch, which the Stella Maris corruption inquiry, I am sure, will look at, all roads lead back to the Opposition Leader and her former Cabinet, including the current Deputy Opposition Leader.
This point in time is an opportunity to reflect on those eight members opposite: the member for Casuarina, former member of Cabinet; the member for Wanguri, an advisor to a former member of Cabinet; the member for Johnston, advisor to a former member of Cabinet, Cabinet minister and Deputy Leader; Cabinet minister and Leader of the Opposition; the member for Fannie Bay, a former advisor of Paul Henderson, I believe …
Mr Gunner: And Clare Martin.
Mr GILES: And Clare Martin – so we have two. Thanks for that, member for Fannie Bay. Then we have the member for Nhulunbuy. It seems they are all in this.
Then, trace the heritage of Harold Nelson Holdings Pty Ltd and you start to get a good picture of people who have been involved in Harold Nelson Holdings being involved with the MLAs here and in leadership within government on the fifth floor in this place. It creates a very murky deal.
The Leader of the Opposition, Delia Lawrie, her former Cabinet colleagues, her former advisors to Cabinet colleagues who now form part of the opposition and her former Cabinet colleagues who are not in this Chamber need to come clean on why they pushed that last-minute deal through. Would it be financially favourable for the Labor movement? Would it be financially favourable for the union movement? Was it putting interests ahead of Territorians? Was it outside the area of good governance?
I go back to the first point I made when I started this debate: for all the indignation cried by the opposition about the suspension of standing orders, this is one of the most important issues I have ever seen in this parliament, either in opposition or in government.
This stinks to me like what we are seeing in New South Wales. We know, through reading the media reports, about what is happening with the alleged corruption in New South Wales over many years.
We do not have a model of ICAC in the Northern Territory; we have an Inquiries Act which presents the best opportunity for this to be investigated. That is why I moved, pursuant to section 4A of the Inquiries Act, that we seek to appoint a person to inquire into and report to the Administrator on those matters I read out. In making this referral in regard to the Inquiries Act, I do so on the basis that this just stinks. It smells of fraud and corruption. It smells of collusion. It smells of all of those things that started the whole ICAC movement in New South Wales many years ago, the same things of which we hear today.
We know that business undertakings are conducted through normal ministerial processes. We all make decisions about how we do our job regarding important matters with different issues in the responsibilities of our ministerial portfolios. However, this decision is not in the best interests of Territorians. I know I have used the term ‘stinky, dodgy, dirty deal’ and you say that flippantly, but there is no doubt this is a stinky deal. There is no doubt this is a dodgy deal that has ripped off Territorians, and it stinks of corruption. It stinks of corruption to the bone, to the vein. I think the inquiry, which will have broad-ranging powers under the Inquiries Act, will have the opportunity to look at Harold Nelson Holdings and the relationship with Harold Nelson Holdings, Unions NT and the former Labor government, particularly the Leader of the Opposition.
As I have reflected, this is not just about the Leader of the Opposition, this is about the Labor bunch which includes the union mates. The former Cabinet colleagues who sit over there and now all the new MLAs who were advisors to former Cabinet colleagues all have links to Harold Nelson Holdings and Unions NT. The sleight of hand for this lease deal on a $3m property absolutely stinks!
There have been two weeks for the Leader of the Opposition to respond ...
Mr McCarthy: Rubbish! We are out doing media every day.
Mr GILES: Yes, we received a letter from the member for Barkly. He sent a letter and put his foot in it a fair bit in that letter, but he did say he welcomes an inquiry. So he must be very happy we are using the powers of the Inquiries Act to be able to look into this.
I go back to the initial comments, once again, when I moved to suspend standing orders. This was all about democracy and what they are trying to hide. I put to you, member for Barkly and Leader of the Opposition who spoke on this, and the member for Nelson: yes, this is about democracy. This is about democracy in a process of government about issuing leases. You came in here and, yes, you were going to run your censure motion. You were going to cut Question Time short and run your censure motion ...
Mr McCarthy: Rubbish!
Mr GILES: We all know what you were going to do, member for Barkly. However, this is about democracy and good governance …
Mr McCarthy: Rubbish! You are desperate. You are a desperado.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Barkly, a bit of order!
Mr GILES: This is exactly what it is about. The desperate people are on your side of the Chamber.
I look forward to this inquiry. I would like to see the inquiry report back on the first day of parliamentary sittings next year. We will set out those terms to that inquiry with the Administrator. I would like to think the inquiry can report back on the first of day of parliamentary sittings next February and report to Territorians …
Mr Tollner: At least an interim report.
Mr GILES: At least an interim report – report to Territorians about how grubby this deal is and to what level there was any corruption, if there was any.
Should it find there was no corruption, well, it was a proper transaction. However, if it does find there was corruption or collusion, then there are serious questions to raise. Then we need to find out how long this practice has been going on and what other decisions were made. What other murky deals have occurred in the eleven-and-a-half years of the former Labor government? That is what we look forward to because we want good governance in the Northern Territory. We want good administration. That is exactly what we are after.
We answered some questions today about investing in the Northern Territory and in bush regions. We reflect back on the $5.5bn worth of debt we carry and think about the money that could have been generated through this property to go back into the budget to be able to provide more investment into the Northern Territory. If you put it into that context, you start to understand – you could put it into Power and Water – the relevance and depth of the corrupt allegations concerning the former Labor government and what it means for the Northern Territory.
Mr Deputy Speaker, this is one of the most important motions I have ever seen come before the House.
Debate suspended.
PETITIONS
Eviction of NT Badminton from Sports House
Eviction of NT Badminton from Sports House
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 11 375 petitioners requesting that the eviction of badminton from the Sports House facility is deferred and funds are allocated for construction of a new multipurpose facility at Marrara. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders.
Madam Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
- To the honourable the Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
We the undersigned respectfully showeth: badminton has a 40-year history in Darwin and provides health benefits to a range of Territorians. It brings together a strong social and supportive network for all people across ages, gender and culture. Badminton is played seven days a week for 50 weeks of the year with 240 regular players using the current Sports House facility each week.
It is a growing sport in the Northern Territory and players compete at national and international levels and competed in previous Arafura Games. Together with training of players in Asian countries, badminton provides tangible examples of Asian engagement with the Northern Territory.
Following receipt of an eviction notice in May 2013, NT Badminton Association Inc (NTBA) together with the Department of Sport and Recreation, has been unable to identify a suitable alternative venue. Should the Northern Territory government (NTG) continue its intention to evict badminton without an adequate alternative, then badminton will most likely die.
The NT Badminton Association New Venue Proposal September 2013 was provided to the NT government on 30 September 2013 for consideration and incorporation into the government’s 2014-15 budget. It proposes the development of a multipurpose facility for badminton, judo and table tennis at Marrara and we believe it would be the best value for money for the NT government. The proceeds expected by the NT government from the sale of the Sports House site would significantly exceed the cost of building the proposed facility.
Currently, 1400 Territory families benefit each week from the Sports House (Badminton) and Gymnastics-Judo-Table Tennis (Marrara) facilities. The proposed facility would increase the capacity for these four sports and enable 2700 families to benefit each week.
The proposed facility also addresses current issues with sports, including judo and gymnastics, which already have long waiting lists for children who are unable to sign up and can’t use their $75 Sport Vouchers from the NT government.
We want badminton to be treated fairly and supported as a growing sport in the Northern Territory where other sports, such as cricket, soccer, football and racing receive the lion’s share of the funding.
Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Assembly will defer the eviction of badminton from the Sports House facility and agree to allocate funds for and facilitate construction of a new multipurpose facility for badminton, table tennis and judo at Marrara during the 2014-15 financial year as detailed in the NT Badminton Association New Venue Proposal September 2013.
Eviction of NT Badminton from Sports House
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I present an e-petition from 252 petitioners praying that the eviction of badminton from the Sports House facility is deferred, and funds are allocated for construction of a new multipurpose facility at Marrara. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders.
Madam Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
- To the honourable the Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory:
We the undersigned respectfully showeth: badminton has a 40-year history in Darwin and provides health benefits to a range of Territorians. It brings together a strong social and supportive network for all people across ages, gender and culture. Badminton is played seven days a week for 50 weeks of the year with 240 regular players using the current Sports House facility each week.
It is a growing sport in the Northern Territory and players compete at national and international levels and competed in previous Arafura Games. Together with training of players in Asian countries, badminton provides tangible examples of Asian engagement with the Northern Territory.
Following receipt of an eviction notice in May 2013, NT Badminton Association Inc. (NTBA) together with the Department of Sport and Recreation has been unable to identify a suitable alternative venue. Should the Northern Territory government (NTG) continue its intention to evict badminton without an adequate alternative, then badminton will most likely die.
The NT Badminton Association New Venue Proposal September 2013 was provided to the NT government on 30 September 2013 for consideration and incorporation into the government’s 2014-15 budget. It proposes the development of a multipurpose facility for badminton, judo and table tennis at Marrara and we believe it would be the best ‘value for money’ for the NT government. The proceeds expected by the NT government from the sale of the Sports House site would significantly exceed the cost of building the proposed facility.
Currently, 1400 Territory families benefit each week from the Sports House (Badminton) and Gymnastics-Judo-Table Tennis (Marrara) facilities. The proposed facility would increase the capacity for these four sports and enable 2700 families to benefit each week.
The proposed facility also addresses current issues with sports, including judo and gymnastics, which already have long waiting lists for children who are unable to sign up and cannot use their $75 Sport Vouchers from the NT government.
We want badminton to be treated fairly and supported as a growing sport in the Northern Territory where other sports, such as cricket, soccer, football and racing receive the lion’s share of the funding.
Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Assembly will defer the eviction of badminton from the Sports House facility and agree to allocate funds for and facilitate construction of a new multipurpose facility for badminton, table tennis and judo at Marrara during the 2014-15 financial year as detailed in the NT Badminton Association New Venue Proposal September 2013.
MOTION
Establishment of an Inquiry Regarding
Stella Maris
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, in participating in this debate, first, I will join with the Chief Minister in immature petty politics which is, essentially, the motivation of the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory with an incredible misuse of taxpayers’ money.
This is a disreputable motion brought on by a divided and incompetent government led by an arrogant Chief Minister who everyone knows is simply not up to the job. This motion is a waste of time and the inquiry will be a significant waste of taxpayers’ money. What the Chief Minister is doing is a blatant misuse of the Inquiries Act from a basis of political motives. That his Cabinet colleagues would support the exploitation of the Inquiries Act for vindictive, political purposes is a sad reflection on their character and lack of moral fibre.
The public will see it for what it is: a desperate attempt by a desperate CLP government to divert attention from broken promises; savage cost-of-living increases; destruction of our education system; botching negotiation with Rio Tinto on gas to Gove; ignoring the needs of residents of Gove and failing to plan for a sustainable future for the region; failing the bush; increased rates of alcohol-fuelled violent crime; an alcohol management policy that is simply not working; and businesses and families will be slugged by a further increase of 5% in electricity tariffs in the new year on top of the savage increases already proposed. This list of failures continues and is far too long to read today.
The Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues, under parliamentary privilege, made untrue statements and inferences in this place, alleging impropriety in relation to a lease for the Stella Maris site offered to Unions NT by me, the member for Barkly and the then Minister for Lands and Planning.
The Chief Minister knows these allegations are totally untrue. For my will to continue to share my knowledge with members of this House, I will say a community land grant, a Crown lease, is not giving away anything. However, a community land grant, in essence, is a burden. It is a burden on the community group that wishes to take it on. For those members who listened to the condolence motion for the late Brian Manning in this House, which spoke about the incredible work of that unionist and the work in the Lingiari Wave Hill walk-off, you will get a glimpse of how unions work and support their membership. We can go back to the industrial revolution and talk about the whole history of the union movement. People need to consider the facts in their debate, particularly members on that side who are supporting this Chief Minister in what will be a very significant legacy for Northern Territory taxpayers.
I look forward to reading the findings of this inquiry. However, it will be closer to February 2015 than 2014 by the time I and the rest of the Territory see any results from this lawyers’ picnic. The CLP is in cloud cuckoo land if they think this inquiry will be reporting in February 2014. We all know it is cynically and politically motivated, but even the CLP government must realise you have to follow legal and procedural fairness. This will not take a couple of weeks; it will take a couple of months before the inquiry can even start its hearings if you are to do this fairly and properly.
Will you be taking public submissions? You should; other inquiries of this nature certainly do. People need to be given the chance to see the terms of reference and prepare their submissions. They cannot do that in a couple of days. It is not just us who will be appearing to address these matters under your terms of reference. There will be former and current public servants, ministerial officers and staff, former ministers – I imagine they will be called on or they may wish to give evidence at some stage. All these people should be entitled to legal representation and, in many cases, to have their legal costs met.
This inquiry will be looking into the work of people who were carrying out their duties to the Crown, discharging their public duty. It would be enormously unfair to expect them to bear the cost of defending their actions when they were conducting their duties as part of their public offices and jobs.
There is then the question of who you will appoint to conduct this political witch hunt. This person must be experienced, unbiased and above board, and they will not come cheap and neither will their support staff and resources. History shows these inquiries traditionally blow their time lines and budgets. As this inquiry is a cynical expensive stunt, rather than a real attempt at finding the truth, I imagine there will be an even greater chance of it going way over time and budget.
In the end, Territory taxpayers will have a bill in the order of millions of dollars. Lawyers will do very well and will find there was nothing untoward in the decisions around bringing Stella Maris back to life with the support of Unions NT.
Remember, the public purse is not 1c worse off due to the decision to grant the Crown lease on Stella Maris. There is no cost to the taxpayer as a result of the decision to grant the lease to Unions NT, but there is an enormous cost to the taxpayer from the ill-considered decision to mount this star chamber inquiry.
Madam Speaker, if there were real concerns about this, it should have gone to the Auditor-General. That is his job. The Auditor-General is a fair, reasonable and professional person, but that is not what you want from this, is it, CLP? Will you waste millions of dollars doing it? I ask those members opposite to start asking some serious questions.
________________
Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Night Patrol from Ngukurr. Welcome to Parliament House for your visit. I hope you enjoy your time here.
Members: Hear, hear!
________________
Mr TOLLNER (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I thank the Chief Minister for bringing on this motion to conduct an inquiry. To my mind, this announcement is well overdue; the decision should have been made some time ago. The lease of Stella Maris and the controversy around it is something that invites inquiry.
It was interesting to listen to the member for Barkly who, not more than a couple of days ago, was calling for an inquiry. Now, it seems he is backpedalling. He was saying, ‘What a waste of money. This is ridiculous. This is crazy,’ and the like ...
Mr McCarthy: Absolutely. Millions of dollars for the bush.
Mr TOLLNER: It is interesting that you talk about millions of dollars for the bush. You were quite prepared to throw $60m at a computer system for the Power and Water Corporation and another $50m-odd to an AMS system that is pretty well money flushed down the drain, and you are saying that is quite okay. I listened to the former minister, the member for Casuarina, speaking last night. His excuse was, ‘We do not know anything about IT, you cannot blame us. This is all those nerds’ fault.’ It is like watching money being flushed down the toilet, but the minister takes no interest in that because he knows nothing about IT. Fine, if that is your get-out-of-gaol clause. You might not know anything about property development either, but I hazard a guess that members opposite have pretty good ideas about how these things work.
I was interested to read in the newspaper today comments by Matthew Gardiner trying to suggest that unions and the Labor Party are different organisations and are not related at all. That came as a bit of a surprise and is somewhat of a cop-out. I have done a little research into similar events that have occurred around Australia that involved, particularly, Labor politicians and the dodgy deals they have done around the country.
We know the former Prime Minister is under investigation for a deal she did when she was the lover – I suppose that is the way to put it – of the Secretary of the Australian Workers Union in Western Australia. That led to some property development deals in Victoria. We all know about that. We know about Mr Williamson and the HSU, and how he ripped millions of dollars from them and has been sentenced to gaol. We know about Craig Thomson and the dodgy deals done with union money. He is another Labor Party politician supported all the way to his current court case.
In fact, I was blown away by the litany of corruption that has occurred between unions and the Labor Party over many years in Australia. It is quite stunning, and I will give a few examples: Andrew Theophanous, a Victorian Labor Party politician, was sentenced to six years gaol in 2002 for bribery and fraud. Rex Jackson, another Labor Party politician, was locked up for 10 years. He was the former minister for Corrective Services, and the 10-year sentence was increased from seven-and-a-half years on appeal. He was locked up for accepting bribes. Richard Face, another Labor Party politician, was found to be making false statements to ICAC. Labor Party politician, Gordon Nuttall, from Queensland, in 2009 and 2011, was given 15 years with a non-parole period of 10 years for corruption, receiving secret commissions and theft. Brian Burke, from Western Australia, another Labor Party politician and former Premier, was gaoled in 1994 for seven months for misappropriating public funds. In 1996, David Parker, another Labor Party politician and former State Deputy Premier was paroled after six months, but copped an 18-month sentence for perjury. The list goes on; there is a mile of them. A few other examples are: HSU General Secretary, Michael Williamson was …
Mr Elferink: Are you suggesting a pattern here?
Mr TOLLNER: There is somewhat of a pattern. Among other offices he held, he was President of the Labor Party, an executive member of the ACTU, Vice President of both unions New South Wales and the Australian Labor Party New South Wales Branch, director of a private radiology company, Imaging Partners Online, and in-house union IT company, United Edge. He did not tell people he facilitated an appointment by former New South Wales minister, Craig Knowles, when he was being paid – a company that sold millions of dollars of radiology services to hospitals and promoted the privatisation of services that his own members provided in the HSU. This guy was seriously corrupt and obviously caught up with Craig Thomson in that affair.
I do not know if you have ever heard of Tony Sheldon. A few years ago, the New South Wales Labor Party stole over $700 000 of taxpayers’ money from two government departments which was laundered through the Transport Workers Union into the Labor Party bank account. One of the key players in that was Tony Sheldon. He was also caught in relation to a slush fund he had set up where a lot of money is still unaccounted for. Tony Sheldon is now the National Vice President of the Australian Labor Party as well as National Secretary of the Transport Workers Union, not to mention one of the biggest thieves in the country. It is worth revisiting as it happened only a few years ago. The Labor Party claimed the Health Services Union corruption was a one-off and the vast majority of unions are run honestly. This is also tied into a judicial corruption matter which will happen into the future.
I have a mile of stuff here on corruption in unions and the Labor Party all over Australia. This is from ABC News on 7 May 2013:
- Former union official John Maitland has admitted to lying at the corruption inquiry into a controversial mining licence he was given without a tender.
The first phone tap played at the two-month inquiry was of Mr Maitland telling his friend Archibald Tudehope about evidence he had given during a private Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) examination.
‘Mate, they gave me a pretty fair sort of a grilling,’ Mr Maitland said.
The phone tap was played straight after he told the inquiry that he was aware of the ICAC rule about private examinations being confidential.
When Counsel-Assisting Peter Braham asked him if he has lied at the inquiry, John Maitland replied, ‘It appears so’.
Mr Braham then noted it was not a very good start for the former union official’s evidence.
‘It clearly doesn’t appear to be’, Mr Maitland responded.
Mr Maitland told the hearing he is bewildered that people thought he was a good friend of former Labor minister Ian Macdonald who gave him the licence for the Doyles Creek mine without a tender in 2008.
Do some of these things sound familiar with what we are hearing today?
- Operation Acacia investigated the circumstances around the awarding of the Doyles Creek exploration licence as a closed tender to Mr Maitland for a training mine in December 2008.
It allegedly delivered Mr Maitland and other investors an $84.74m profit when the licence was sold to NUCoal in 2010. ICAC alleged Mr Maitland personally turned …
Get this one:
- … a $165 000 investment into $14m and that other investors have made similar windfalls.
It does not matter where you look around the country, people tied up with Labor and the unions also get themselves caught up in scandals of corruption and graft.
Here is another one from 8 October this year:
- New South Wales Opposition Leader John Robinson …
Again, a Labor man:
- … has drawn his old union into the fray as he continues to swat away criticisms over his failure to report a multimillion dollar bribe attempt.
Mr Robinson on Tuesday dismissed reports of leadership tensions brewing in the Labor Party, saying he was ‘not even slightly concerned’.
The Labor leader has been under attack since revealing he rejected a $3m sweetener offered to him by murdered debt collector, Michael McGurk, to sell him a Unions NSW holiday property called Currawong, in Sydney’s north, for $30m.
- At the time of the offer, Mr Robinson was head of Unions NSW.
Again, Unions NSW, Labor Party politician, same bloke:
- Currawong later came under scrutiny by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAD). It found former NSW land minister Tony Kelly acted corruptly when he backdated a letter used to buy the property two weeks before the March 2011 election.
It does not seem to stop. As soon as you start to Google ‘Labor unions corruption’ there are literally thousands of stories on the Internet. You wonder why, when we find a deal like this being done right under our noses, some people start to feel a little squeamish. Those on the other side would like us to believe all of these things happen in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia but, for some reason or other, the Labor Party and the unions in the Northern Territory are different; they are not the same breed as they are in any other part of the country. It is hard to believe.
I believe what is going on here with this Stella Maris deal is very similar to what the former federal Labor government pulled off with Centenary House, which was one of the great scandals of Australian political history. Have a look at an article from ABC online The World Today from 6 July 2005 – ‘ALP Sells Centenary House’. The article is by Alexandra Kirk:
- The controversial Centenary House lease started in 1993 and contained an escalator clause which made rents rise by 9% a year for the 15-year life of the lease.
It meant the National Audit Office …
- It meant the National Audit Office, the major occupier of the building, had to pay between two and three times the going rate for office space in Canberra. The government’s long targeted Labor over the deal …
This is going back to 2005, so the Coalition was in government:
- … trying to make it the opposition’s political millstone, but the deal has also been very lucrative for ALP coffers.
- Having sold Centenary House now for $30m to $35m, Labor will pocket between $7m to $9m, which must be reinvested to maintain the ALP’s national operations. For the foreseeable future, the party will continue to lease space in the Canberra building which it built in the 1990s.
- Two Royal Commissions have cleared the ALP of any impropriety. The second investigation was highly critical, though, of the terms of the lease, saying they were ‘neither reasonable nor prudent’, and ‘very unsatisfactory for the Commonwealth and exceptionally beneficial’ for the Labor Party.
- The inquiry concluded that taxpayers would have overpaid the ALP by $42m by the time the 15-year lease expired.
If this is not what the former Labor government in the Northern Territory was trying to cook up with labour unions in the Northern Territory, I will eat my hat.
The fact of the matter is the deal which was attempted was that Labor would give themselves and the unions a block of land at Stella Maris for 20 years, rent free. They would then redevelop the union’s and Labor Party’s building, which they jointly own, and would find some government department to move in there. They would put a ratchet clause in the lease and guarantee that, over the period of the lease – you could almost imagine the lease would be 20 years, the same deal they had given themselves on the Stella Maris deal – they would be assured of an income stream for the next 20 years. That is what this whole deal stinks of. That is exactly what this deal stinks of, because the people on the other side and the unions would be saying, ‘Goody, goody, we can do the same deal they did in Canberra because we were actually never convicted; no one said the deal was illegal.’
It may not have been illegal, but it was clearly immoral: charging the National Audit Office three times the rent they would pay on any other office space in Canberra. The National Audit Office is a taxpayer-funded organisation. Labor never really cares about taxpayers’ money, as evidenced by everything we have seen to date in this place. The fact is they never cared about spending. Every time we come in here we are told to spend more money. ‘You cannot make savings. Just throw more money at the problem.’ Goodness me, last night was a classic example, urging the government to spend $10m to build a facility for a sporting organisation with 200 members. Their idea of fiscal responsibility is zero. They do not care about taxpayers’ money …
Mr CHANDLER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extension of time for the member.
Motion agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Speaker, I thank the Minister for Education for that extension.
As I was saying, they do not care about how taxpayers’ money is used. From the words out of their own mouths, they see this as a completely legitimate deal.
They think it is quite okay for the minister to walk a letter over five minutes before going into caretaker mode, take a cheque for $440-odd, lodge it, then run out and crow about some other thing they have done in the electorate, not telling a soul or advertising the deal. Goodness me! Imagine them advertising that before the last election. ‘We have just given Stella Maris to Unions NT for zero rent for the next 20 years.’ Can you imagine the Labor Party saying that five minutes before they go into caretaker mode? I very much doubt it.
They know what the consequences would have been of making that announcement going into an election campaign, but they, quite frankly, did not care. They tried to cover it up and hide it. They did everything they could to hide it. Now the opposition member, the Lands minister at the time, is jumping up and down, saying, ‘You should not be doing this inquiry; it is a waste of money.’ These guys know about wasting money. The whole time it was obfuscation and cover up with this idea that, ‘Unions NT has had a long association with this building’.
Stella Maris is a branch of a Catholic organisation and nothing to do with unions at all. Maybe a few unionists turned up there to drink. Maybe it was their watering hole. Maybe they are trying to assume that unions have some sort of squatters’ right in Stella Maris. Next they will be trying to claim the Buff Club or any other number of pubs or clubs around the Northern Territory as their own because unionists sometimes drink there.
This laughable comment by the Secretary of United Voice, the President of the Labor Party, that there is no way known unions and the Labor Party in the Northern Territory are the same organisation – what hogwash! We know it is absolute nonsense.
This deal they have put together stinks to high heaven. It is a dirty, grubby deal. They absolutely know it. They have nothing to defend themselves with in this case. That is why the Opposition Leader is reluctant to talk about it. That is why the member for Barkly is saying, ‘Do not have a proper inquiry, just get the Auditor-General on to it’. He does not want someone who can actually subpoena evidence. That is not what they want at all. They want this thing to be dusted under the carpet and forgotten about.
That is not going to happen because of this long history of Labor and the unions’ corruption right around Australia. They are in bed together. They work simultaneously together; they work for exactly the same goals. All over Australia, it does not matter what state, there have been unionists and Labor Party people locked up for the dirty, dodgy, shady deals they have done.
The opposition would like us to believe the Northern Territory is somehow different to the rest of Australia. Somehow, they do not do those things here. That is what happens in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia or Tasmania. It does not happen in the Northern Territory. I do not believe it, particularly when you see, five minutes before a government goes into caretaker mode, against the advice of the public service, in the face of a whole lot of interest from other sectors of the community, they literally walk the deal across to Unions NT, have it signed off, collect the money, then run to an election and say nothing about it. They expect us to believe this is all above board?
How, in the face of that, can any reasonable person not expect to have a full-blown inquiry? It is beyond belief that the opposition is trying to reduce the terms of this inquiry, to suggest this is a great waste of money, we should be using the Auditor-General or, as the member for Nelson suggested, another committee of the parliament …
Mr Wood: Hold on, that is not right.
Mr TOLLNER: He put Dracula in charge of the blood bank. You would expect a few of them might be inquiring into themselves. Goodness me, tell me it is not in their interests to obfuscate and muddy the waters? Great stuff, member for Nelson. I know how much you are in love with the Labor Party and think they are all above board and to be trusted when it comes to inquiring into their own organisation, the unions, and some of these dodgy deals.
It does not wash with me. We need someone independent. I would go as far as suggesting we need someone from interstate who has no links with anyone in the Northern Territory, who is hard-nosed, a proper snoop who can and has full powers and authority to subpoena whatever they require to get to the bottom of this deal …
Mr Wood: We cannot afford a boundaries commission.
Mr TOLLNER: Here we go again, the member for Nelson is running interference for the Labor Party.
Mr Wood: No, no.
Mr TOLLNER: That is your game, mate, you stick to it. Tell people you are Independent. No, that is fine ...
Mr Wood: You tried to get rid of me at the last election.
Mr TOLLNER: Hush up, we are not talking about you at the moment.
This was a grubby deal. We all know it was a grubby deal; even members on the other side know it. If it was not a grubby deal they would have advertised it when they walked it across to Unions NT. They would have issued a media release, made some statement, or they would have spoken about it somewhere. But, nothing; there was complete and utter silence.
It was not until some time after coming into government that this deal came to our attention. It was, to all intents, hidden. I have no idea how it came about. Maybe the NT News got whiff of what was going on. None of us can kill the stink of it now because we are all sitting around in the stench of it and have to get the rotten stink out of this place. The only way we can do that is have a full-scale inquiry.
I thank the Chief Minister for making and understanding the importance of this decision. I listened to the people on the other side crowing about three or four questions they might have asked which should take precedence over something like this. Goodness me, is that how bad it has become? Talk about accountability. They say, ‘Your government is not being accountable because you shut Question Time down four questions short’. That is because we wanted to ensure this inquiry happens. That is the last thing they want.
Madam Speaker, I say again, I congratulate the Chief Minister for this. I look forward to a long and thorough inquiry to find out exactly what was happening. If things are thrown up in the inquiry, I hope it will lead to some proper court action, and we can weed out the grubs in the system, if we do have any in the Northern Territory.
Mr CHANDLER (Lands, Planning and the Environment): Madam Speaker, I thought it was important that I contribute to this motion today, as the letter that came across my desk not long after I became the new Lands and Planning minister. I have heard in this place quite often from the member for Barkly that sometimes you need to run off your gut feelings in this House and not believe everything you have heard. Many things that come across your desk may not be right; it may be someone’s opinion or information they want you to believe. Sometimes, you have to use your gut. Well, this is one where I used a gut instinct because something did not add up and did not smell right. Rightfully so, we started to look a little deeper.
Not long after taking over the Lands and Planning portfolio, it was brought to my attention that Unions NT was seeking authorisation from the department to lodge a development application over the site known as Stella Maris. There was nothing special about that in itself. In fact, much of what I will say here today, taken out of context, probably does not really seem like much. However, it is a little like a jigsaw puzzle. Once you start to put those pieces of the puzzle together, you paint a very eerie picture.
More information began to surface over time. It was only through that gut feeling that something did not add up with this that we had to dig a little deeper. It was true; more information began to surface over time.
Most concerning is this offer of a lease was signed by the minister at the time, Mr Gerry McCarthy, on 3 August 2012, the last day prior to the government entering a caretaker period. Again, you might not think much of that at all. I am sure governments entering into an election period would be chasing up, catching up and following up on many things. Again, out of context, it probably would not seem unusual at all.
The interesting thing was that not only was the letter of offer signed on that day, but it was also hand delivered to Unions NT and returned to the department, along with the paperwork fee, all on the same day. Did that seem unusual? For normal government processes, it certainly was. I would love to think the government could do this all the time with everything we did and that our processes were that quick. However, one has to start to question why this process was rushed through as quickly as it was.
The site was not going anywhere; it had been vacant for a number of years. Again, you have to start to question why the rush was on. As I said before, I had a gut feeling; this had a smell about it. There was something that was not right. The more details that emerged about this deal, the smellier it got. It is not one department that advised the then government it was the wrong thing to do; there were a number of departments that provided information to the then Labor government that this was not the right thing to do. In fact, calling for expressions of interest in the site would have been the wisest decision and community expectations would have been met if that occurred. However, they did not. In fact, it seemed that with every new detail that emerged, the dodgier this started to look.
Let me go through a bit of the history of this deal. In 2007, the Crown lease over the site was surrendered by the Apostleship of the Sea, or Stella Maris. At the surrender of this lease, the government provided the leaseholder with $630 000 as compensation for improvements they had already made to the property. All of a sudden, we had a government which had already spent $630 000 on the site to compensate Stella Maris for that site.
During the course of 2007, the then Minister for Lands and Planning, the member for Karama, met with Unions NT to brief them about the surrender of this lease. Several other groups at the time also expressed an interest in this site. These include the National Trust of Australia, 24HR Art, Birds Australia and the Planning Action Network, PLan. These other groups, it seemed, never really got a look in. The Opposition Leader had plans for this site which involved Unions NT and no one else.
In 2009, the government commenced work on the site to bring those old buildings back up to scratch, and spent over $300 000 on works that involved a total refurbishment of the heritage listed building on the site.
It seems Unions NT had full knowledge of these works because it was, during 2009, they put together a proposal to redevelop the site. This is the proposal here from Unions NT, Proposed re-development of the Stella Maris Site.
I have heard the member for Karama say, in this House in the last couple of days, there had been no negotiations with the union, no talk and no knowledge whatsoever about Unions NT earning any money from this site. It is interesting, when you go through this Proposed re-development of the Stella Maris site – remember we are talking about 2009; in fact this document is dated 26 May 2009 – there are a couple of things worth reading out for the record. It talked about a staged development of the Stella Maris NT Workers’ Club site:
- Stage One
- Redevelopment of grounds / gardens / trees and buildings
Using grant money, in-kind labour and materials for the repairs and upgrade of the facility
Using grant money:
Stage Two
- Establishment / engagement with users, office space …
In Stage One it talked about funding. The NT government gets a mention in the redevelopment. This is a business model which requires Northern Territory government funding. Stage Two talked about other grants and Stage Three about contracts and operators. There are many things in this document that suggest to me and others there had been many conversations between the then Minister for Lands and Planning, Delia Lawrie, and Unions NT.
Point four, ‘Training Centre and Accommodation’ says:
- This building currently provides the opportunity for use as any or all of the following:
Accommodation/and facilities on the ground floor
Training centre space on the first floor
Meeting venue on the first floor
Offices on the first floor
A number of organisations have expressed interest in using the building and site.
The next part I find very interesting because I have heard the members for Barkly and Karama say that of course they were going to use it and it was going to be open to the public, to community groups, to give you the impression people would be offered this for free. However, it says in this document:
- Stage Two of the plan would have this building cleaned up so it can generate income and enable people and organisations to use the site to see its potential.
In its own document, Unions NT talked about using the site to generate income from the community groups. The current Leader of the Opposition would have you believe this was all for the community, nothing about generating income for the unions or the Labor Party. It said it in its own Proposed re-development of the Stella Maris Site document of 2009.
One has to question whether there had been any discussions between the former Lands and Planning minister and Unions NT if it is in their documents and it talks about NT government funding. In fact, on one page it mentions the amount of money the NT government had already used to upgrade the heritage building. It says:
- Contractors Statewide Building maintenance are about half way through the $217 000 renovation.
If there had not been any negotiations with the unions prior to them putting together this document, how would they know how much money was being spent on redeveloping this site? When you start to put that together it says a lot more than just the 20-year lease and the opportunity gone from the government if it chose to rent this site to a business or some other developer.
It went much further. On the last page of the proposal they acknowledge:
- The old Railway House is currently under repair back to its original condition …
They even had a dollar figure against these works, calling them a $217 000 renovation. As typical with Labor governments, we now know it cost in excess of $300 000 to finish those works. By that point in time, the government had already spent nearly $1m on this site: $630 000 for the improvements on the site and a further $300 000 to complete the facelift.
All the while, Unions NT was continuing to build on its plans for this prime CBD site. It met with the minister in 2007 and again in 2009. They put a redevelopment proposal together. In 2011, there was another meeting with the minister and finally, in 2012, it hit pay dirt. On the last possible day before entering caretaker period, Labor handed the property, valued at $3m, to Unions NT for not a cent.
As I said before, what made me very uneasy when this first came across my desk on taking over the portfolio of Lands and Planning was there was information from a number of departments which had urged, encouraged and recommended to the then government not to go through with this deal.
I will read from a letter I have here from NRETAS:
- The Heritage Branch of NRETAS does not support the proposed application. Since this land was handed back to the Northern Territory government, several groups have approached the Heritage Branch about the future use of the site. Those groups have been notified that there would be an opportunity for them to express their interest at the appropriate time.
That sentence alone suggests that departments had engaged with a number of organisations about the potential use of this site. There was a number of community organisations that had an idea, a perception, that the Labor government – an open and accountable government at the time, you would like to believe – would have put this site out to expressions of interest, listened to all those interests and seen the best use of that site for community groups. However, that was not done.
I will read on from the letter:
- This was done on the basis of an understanding that the Heritage Branch had with the Department of Lands and Planning that the expressions of interest for use of this site would be sought from community groups in due course. The Heritage Branch believes that this is the appropriate course of action.
It went on to say:
- Insufficient detail is provided about the proposed use of the site. The Heritage Branch has not been consulted about the proposed use of the old Railway House – a declared heritage place – or the site as a whole.
The Heritage Branch had clearly indicated to the government of the day that it did not support the proposal. We know other departments had provided information to the government that did not support the proposal.
Unfortunately, it was as if the deal had already been done, as can be clearly shown in a document dated 2009. It clearly shows the future of the Stella Maris site, against the advice of a number of government departments at the time and, I would say, against the advice of the community had they known this was going on.
Madam Speaker, I wanted to put a few things on the table because, as the responsible minister for Lands and Planning, there was something about that deal which did not add up. I have heard the former Minister for Lands and Planning, the member for Barkly, say in this job there are times when you have to go with your gut. On this one, I went with my gut.
Mr STYLES (Transport): Madam Speaker, I have been listening to debate and reading the newspaper over the last few days and a couple of things occurred to me. At lunchtime we looked at a few things, and we have a flowchart as to who is possibly involved in this and the depths it goes to.
We looked at the players and we have, for those watching, a matrix of the …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, put the prop down.
Mr Vowles: What is that?
Mr STYLES: It is photographs.
Ms Walker: Am I on there?
Mr STYLES: Yes, you are on there.
Ms Walker: Can you hold it up, please, so we can see?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, please put the prop down!
Mr STYLES: These are flow charts, Madam Speaker, which I need to use to explain the depth of what this motion reveals.
Let us start with the former Treasurer, the then Planning minister in 2009 and current Opposition Leader, Delia Lawrie. It would appear somewhere in Cabinet this was discussed. I refer to the letter which started this, the only piece of evidence I have in front of me, dated 31 March 2009. It is a letter to the then Treasurer, Ms Delia Lawrie MLA, member for Karama, Treasurer, from Matthew Gardiner, Secretary, Unions NT. It is about a range of things regarding how they can get hold of the Stella Maris site. The third paragraph said:
- The overarching concept is to set up a business division run along commercial lines and operating under the auspices of Unions NT as a not-for-profit organisation. The business …
That is where it starts. It then obviously went through to Cabinet. I believe what Matthew Gardiner was referring to is this document called Unions NT Strategic Plan 2012-13.
On page 3 of the plan the heading is, ‘Draft Unions NT Strategic Plan 2012’ then ‘The Immediate Action Plan’. It has an introduction that goes to a number of points. On that page there are six points. Point one says:
- Utilising a working Executive with each member having portfolio responsibility …
The third dot point says:
- Stella Maris Centre tenancy and utilisations …
Point six says:
- Develop a building redevelopment and office refurbishment and/or relocation plan with other tenants to:
exploit property ownership opportunities and options for sustainable development
diversify Unions NT’s income base …
I am assuming – it is not written here – that is to rent out the Stella Maris operation. It said:
- Unions NT 2012-13 Strategic Plan explains that the move on the Stella Maris site is part of a commercial strategy that would broaden their income base with plans for a caf, restaurant, or bar on-site.
Moving down, the next person in the matrix is Matthew Gardiner, Secretary, Unions NT. In 2010, he was the Labor Party President and an election candidate. He was the author of the letter in March 2009 starting this shady deal in the first place.
The next person in the matrix is the member for Barkly who was, at the time, Planning minister with a strong union background. In fact, if my information is correct, he was part of the Labor union organisation. It would appear he was in Cabinet and there were discussions held in relation to what they were going to do with this. I refer to his letter dated 2 December 2013 to the Chief Minister. I quote from page two, paragraph five. At the bottom it said:
- In any event, at the risk of repetition, myself and my colleagues involved supported the proposal ..
Etcetera. It went on for two pages.
When you look at who is involved – and I will come back to that part of that letter – you then go to the member for Casuarina, who was a Cabinet minister at the time. He was part of the Labor Cabinet which agreed to the deal and urged sign off.
We then move a bit further down in this matrix to the member for Casuarina. The member for Nightcliff worked for Cabinet minister, Kon Vatskalis and, I might add, has a relative who is a former Labor president as well as a board member on the Labor front company, Harold Nelson Holdings, which part-owns 38 Wood Street.
We then move to the next part of the matrix to the member for Johnston, who also was advisor to a Labor minister, the then minister Hampton, who was a member of the Cabinet who approved this shady deal. If you go from the member for Barkly’s letter, he was part of the Cabinet that approved this. The member for Johnston was part of a team on the fifth floor. One has to ask the question: did he know about this shady deal and what was his involvement in it? Did he advise the minister on this? Were there phone calls made? This is the sort of thing this inquiry will flush out.
We move further down the matrix to the member for Fannie Bay, former advisor to Chief Ministers Clare Martin and Paul Henderson. As a senior advisor in the former Labor government to, as I said, Chief Minister Henderson, he was obviously around when this deal was put to Cabinet in 2007, when this letter came to the former Treasurer. He was elected in 2008, and is now government Whip. Did he know anything about this shady deal? What was talked about on the fifth floor? One wonders because it appears that, on the last day before they went into caretaker mode, there was obviously a lot of running around on the fifth floor to get this shady deal up to the point where it was walked down and somebody said, ‘Here it is. You have to get this done right now because tomorrow we cannot do this.’
I often wonder, with some of the comments being made from those opposite, if it was such a great deal, why did it not stack up with anyone? Why did it not stack up with the heritage people and all the other organisations mentioned by my colleague, the Minister for Lands, Planning and the Environment? Plenty of people were interested. However, if Labor thought it was such a good deal, why did they not let it stack up and go to an open tender process?
The last person in this matrix is the member for Nhulunbuy, a former Rio Tinto worker and teacher, who came to parliament in 2008 and was not part of what was going on on the fifth floor. When I look at this matrix, I see the member for Nightcliff, former advisor; the member for Karama, Treasurer; the member for Casuarina, Cabinet minister; the member for Wanguri, senior advisor to a Cabinet minister in the previous Labor government; Matthew Gardiner who was with Unions NT; Michael Gunner, former advisor; the member for Johnston, former advisor to a minister; and the member for Barkly, a former minister.
It was a tight little team up there. Prior to 2008, most of these people, bar the member for Nhulunbuy, were all working on the fifth floor. It was a nice little cosy arrangement up there. I am surprised they say nothing was talked about and everything was all very cool there. It will be very interesting when this inquiry starts and people have to stump up with what happened. Of course, if they all knew about it, that is good, but if they did not know about it, and no one wants to know about this, it will not look very good. What we have is a matrix where …
Mr Elferink: A web.
Mr STYLES: Sorry?
Mr Elferink: It is not a matrix, it is a web.
Mr STYLES: It is a web, correct. Thank you, member for Port Darwin. We have a matrix here that is criss-crossed with arrows joining arrows which go right across. The only person who was perhaps not involved in this, surprisingly, is the member for Nhulunbuy, but everyone else was intrinsically tied up with what was going on. I do not know whether they will be able to say, ‘Sorry, it was not me,’ but let us wait and see.
What we have is a web of people who are joined together, almost at the hip. I do not blame them in one respect, because I do not see too much outside experience in that team. They are all very incestuous, and there does not seem to be much information coming from the outside world. There are things I heard about in those days: that there was not a great deal of depth up there, because there was no spread and breadth of life experience. Everyone was an advisor or a member of parliament. It will be very interesting.
On the day before, someone was running around with a bit of paper to get this deal set up: zero rent, 10 x 10 – not a bad deal to get it for. It cost them $420 which is a very good investment. The people of the Northern Territory, the taxpayers, deserve to get an income from that block of land. Given the $5.5bn debt we inherited, the government of the day – that is, this side of the House – should have the ability to develop it or rent it out for the benefit of the people of the Northern Territory. I, for one, know my kids and my grandkids will be assisting us to pay off this debt. We have a plan; it is called economic development in the bush. Much to the dismay of the people opposite who scream at us and say we are doing nothing out there, we are doing a great deal.
This shonky deal from the shonky Labor bunch across from me needs to be investigated to the fullest. I heard the members opposite saying, ‘Let us have an investigation by the Auditor-General’. I suspect when you look at the closeness of what was going on at the time, there needs to be a good look so the people of the Northern Territory can investigate exactly what happened. We all know where the money was going to go, of course. But, how did it happen? Who was involved, and who said what, when and how? I congratulate the Chief Minister in bringing this motion forward.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I contribute to the farce that is occurring, the political star chamber stunts. If you had any doubt whatsoever what was going on, then that was lifted when you listened to the contributions from the members opposite. It is quite incredible.
The Chief Minister has come in here with the terms of reference and said he wants to report to parliament in February next year. You would have to be in cloud cuckoo land if you think this inquiry will be reporting by February next year. It is a cynical and politically-motivated exercise. Surely, even the CLP knows you need to follow legal procedures and procedural fairness. The Deputy Opposition Leader has already asked the question, seeking confirmation today from the government as to who will cover the costs of the teams of lawyers that will be all over this inquiry. It is an inquiry that will require people to appear to talk about the work they did as ministers of the Crown. I daresay they will be interested in calling staff who were working for the ministers.
We just had the contribution from the member for Sanderson. He has, clearly, decided you need to bring forward everyone in the Labor team in his magical web, with the possible exception of the member for Nhulunbuy. They will need lawyers, because they will be brought to this inquiry to talk about the work they did as members of government or advisors working for government. By nature, procedural fairness and long-held tradition and convention, that bill is footed by the taxpayer.
I am seeking clear, clarion confirmation from the government today. It is their inquiry, they have called it on. Surely, they have thought through the legal cost. We obviously will be appointing solicitors today. I am sure the Attorney-General, in responding, as he stands next, has already worked this one out and will be able to provide the opposition with that clear advice. I will flag though, if there is no due regard to the requirement for the provision of legal fees, we will write further to the Solicitor-General for the Northern Territory.
We are over these political stunts. To call an inquiry is serious, and it is time for government to take its responsibilities in this matter seriously. Be very clear. If you give us a no on the legal costs being picked up by government because you are inquiring into the work we did as members of Cabinet, and our staff did working for ministers of the Crown as advisors – just as Denis Burke had his legal fees picked up by the Crown – guess what is happening? There will be teams of lawyers all over this, Attorney-General. This will not be February this year. You will be lucky to hit February 2015. I am looking forward to your response, Attorney-General, because surely, as the senior legal representative of the Crown, you would have already thought that one through.
As to public submissions, how could you take out advertising, give people time to receive the documentation, look at it, make submissions around it, allow people to make themselves available to attend public hearings and have it all occur by February next year? It will be running for months and months through next year.
Do you have the name of the person who will head up this inquiry? We have not heard it so far in debate. We have heard a lot of rubbish, but how about getting some of the information about the inquiry into this Chamber and this debate, because you have called the motion for the inquiry? We look forward to you, Attorney-General, when you stand to speak, advising us as to who will head up the inquiry. Who will be counsel assisting? They will probably need about three solicitors.
You have to question who will put their name and credibility to this inquiry. I cannot think of anyone with any credibility who would put their name to this inquiry which is very clearly a political stunt. If you had any misapprehensions around that, they were dispelled listening to the contributions of the members opposite. Members of government have just put themselves so far deeply into this political debacle by their contributions in the Chamber today. Foolishness writ large! A dear, wise man said to me recently, ‘You cannot stop stupidity,’ and that is what we have witnessed in this Chamber today by the members of the government.
It will not just be us appearing before this inquiry, there will be a host of people. Unpacking the legal costs: if you get anyone with any credibility, they run to about $10 000 a day. For their legal teams, you are probably looking at about $30 000 a day just for the legal team running this circus, not the teams of lawyers for the government and the opposition, and the lawyers representing whoever else wants to buy into this circus. My God, what a bonanza! What a legal pay day this will be, if they can find someone with any credibility to put their name to this inquiry.
Fundamentally, the people I have mentioned – the former ministers, the former ministerial officers and staff, the advisors – are all entitled to legal representation. I daresay they will be calling on that entitlement because this is such a damning political stunt with very serious allegations, led by the Chief Minister in this Chamber today. They are extraordinary in the fact they are lacking any fact or evidence, but he has put himself in it with his team today.
There is a question about who you appoint. They will not come cheaply, nor will their support staff. History shows these inquiries, by their nature, blow out in time frame and costs. It is a cynical, incredibly expensive stunt, rather than any genuine attempt to look at concerns they have bizarrely raised over a not-for-profit Crown lease for 10 years. When you look at the details of the Crown lease, rather than the stuff that comes out of the mouths of members opposite, it was a burden, not a benefit.
The public purse is not 1c worse off by the decision to grant the Crown lease on Stella Maris. There is no cost to the taxpayer as a result of the decision to grant the lease to Unions NT. There will be enormous cost to the taxpayer as a result of this star chamber inquiry.
We have pointed out consistently, if you had any genuine concerns, if this was not just a nasty political stunt, you would have referred the matter to the Auditor-General. The minister for Lands and Planning said he knew about it 14 months ago. What has he been doing for 14 months if it was so serious as to require an inquiry of this nature? Why has he not sought a referral to the Auditor-General? They have had plenty of other matters go to the Public Accounts Committee, why not this?
Territorians see it for what it is: a nasty political stunt designed to be a diversion to the woefully inadequate Chief Minister and his chaotic and dysfunctional government. This one is backfiring on you. We look forward to your advice, Attorney-General, of the legal costs, bearing in mind if it is not satisfactory, we will go to the Solicitor-General for the Northern Territory.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice): Wow, Madam Speaker! Listen to that! The Leader of the Opposition raised a number of issues in a fairly short response. The thing I note is that what we have before the House in a defence and resistance to this motion is an attack on the motion and inquiry. I was waiting to hear from both the carefully-scripted language of the member for Barkly and the Leader of the Opposition an argument resisting and touching upon the matters the inquiry will turn its attention to.
If I was trying to convince the House and, more importantly, Territorians there was nothing to see here, my response would be, ‘There is nothing to see here, let me take you through it. Let me explain to you why there is nothing to see here. Let me tell you all the reasons why this does not have to go ahead because I can explain, openly and fulsomely, my conduct, and the conduct of my colleagues, all the way through this process …’
Mr McCarthy: My legal representative will be doing that.
Ms Walker: Come on Rumpole.
Mr McCarthy: Thanks, John. Talk to my legal representative. There will be plenty of them to talk to you, John.
Ms Lawrie: The John Elferink-style chambers.
Mr Vowles: You pulled me in and I will get legal advice.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Member for Barkly! Member for Johnston! Member for Port Darwin, you have the call.
Mr ELFERINK: I hear them squirm. I hear them rail and scream. What I do not hear is a denial. What I do not hear is a response to the assertions that is long overdue. The Leader of the Opposition has assiduously avoided this issue as much as she could. I suspect they already have some legal advice. I reckon they had that legal advice over the lunch adjournment, because you have some fairly carefully scripted words. Maybe the legal advice was: whatever you do, do not talk about the issue.
I tell you who normally gets that sort of legal advice: those people who are charged with offences. When a person is charged with an offence and they go to a lawyer, the lawyer says, ‘Say nothing to the coppers’. Or, if they are under investigation, ‘Say nothing to the coppers’. That is advice given to somebody who is usually being investigated for criminality.
The advice has been over the lunchtime break, ’Say nothing to the coppers until you have a lawyer. Oh hell, you are going to need lots of lawyers.’ If you have nothing to hide, just explain it. Just come into this place and explain it. Go into the inquiry, should this House support the inquiry, and explain it. You are merely witnesses at this point. I am intrigued that the potential witnesses are seeking so much legal advice so early in the piece, and have taken legal advice not to say anything. The reason they are not saying anything, I suspect, can or might also be discovered in relation to the letter issued by Mr Gerry McCarthy MLA to the Chief Minister dated 2 December 2013.
One of the problems when you start talking about things – this is why lawyers suggest to people under investigation ‘Do not say anything’ – is you start digging a hole, particularly when you have something to hide.
I point out to you a couple of things the letter stated. In paragraph two of that letter, the member for Barkly said:
- Unions NT had been dealing with my department for some years prior to my letter of 3 August 2012 ...
We have checked with the department, and the departmental response was there is no record of prior correspondence with Unions NT. Oh dear! It then went on to say in paragraph 2 of the member’s letter:
- For some years the site has fallen into disuse.
Unions NT was the only organisation to take any real interest in the heritage values of this site.
In October 2007, PLan wrote to the minister for Planning, at that time the current Leader of the Opposition, requesting the site remain a public open space. In May 2009, Margaret Clinch from PLan wrote to the then minister and made the same request. In March 2013, again a similar interest was expressed by PLan.
The National Trust of Australia, in October 2007, wrote to the minister expressing its interest in conserving and preserving the Stella Maris site. Also, other community organisations such as 24HR Art, Centre for Contemporary Art, wrote to the then minister in 2007 seeking temporary use of the site for an artist’s residency. Even Birds Australia expressed interest in the site. I wonder why the member for Barkly who, of course, was the fellow who walked this application over to Unions NT on the last day of the Labor government, asserts that Unions NT was the only organisation to take any real interest in the heritage value of the site?
It is not supported by the paper records the department holds. I also point out that in paragraph three the member for Barkly said the Unions NT proposal was to take:
- Full responsibility for all the costs involved in returning Stella Maris back to life and then running it in compliance with the Heritage Conservation Act including the substantial capital works and ongoing maintenance required.
If that was the case, why was over $300 000 worth of taxpayers’ money being poured into that building in 2009?
Once again, we see the arrangement being struck between Unions NT and the Labor Party, or certainly the arrangement that is being referred to. There was nothing wrong with this, said the Labor Party, so why are they getting lawyered up? What are all the lawyers for? ‘Nothing wrong with this, just get me a lawyer.’ ‘You had better get a lawyer, son, you had better get a real good one, you had better get your haircut way up high, you better get a shirt and tie’ – is that how the song goes? That is how the song goes. They are getting lawyered up now. ‘Getting all lawyered up, need them lawyers.’ Just because they did nothing wrong, need them lawyers.
The proposal, according to paragraph four ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! If you are talking lawyers, are you going to foot the bill? The Crown foots the bill on this one, John.
Madam SPEAKER: That is not a point of order! Sit down.
Mr ELFERINK: In paragraph four of the letter:
- The proposal was not put out to public tender because there was no reasonable prospect of finding any other organisation which was prepared to devote the time and resources needed to get Stella Maris back to life.
It is acknowledged there might have been some limited community organisations that could have done it, but you did not put it out to proposal. ‘Oh, we already know what the answer to that question will be.’ The thing is, a number of things have been done with regard to heritage sites to bring them back to life. Sue Wah Chin springs to mind as well as Admiralty House, where the Char Restaurant is. There could have been good commercial use, but the commercial use, of course, was not going out to public tender because there was already an identified commercial use in Unions NT’s own plan.
They have their business plan. What are they going to put on that site? A coffee shop. It was not a charitable coffee shop, it was a coffee shop designed to make money on a commercial basis. That is what we know from the union’s strategic plan. What the members opposite are asking us to believe is the Labor Party has nothing to do with the unions – certainly not in relation to this – despite the fact they enjoy the same residence at 38 Wood Street. As has been identified in this House today, 38 Wood Street is also part-owned by Harold Nelson Pty Ltd, AKA the Northern Territory Labor Party.
We have taxpayers funding the refurbishment of the Stella Maris site, the lease not going out to tender, automatically offering the site to the unions – which would then use it for a coffee shop as a commercial purpose, as well as for other purposes – thus vacating 38 Wood Street so it could be developed. ‘Developed’ in this part of the world generally means knocked over and a much taller building being placed on that site. Who would be the beneficiaries of that arrangement? The Northern Territory Labor Party.
Who is footing the bill? Unions NT paid $442 for a 10-plus-year lease on a site refurbished at a cost to Territory taxpayers. The response from the members opposite is, ‘Nothing to see here. Turn away, do not look at this. Nothing to see here.’
You wonder why people start to get more than a bit suspicious, particularly when the assertions in the letter alone, provided to us by Gerry McCarthy, the member for Barkly, so completely and utterly misrepresent the history of what we have going here.
Paragraph five of …
Mr McCarthy: See you in court.
Mr ELFERINK: It is not a court, it is an inquiry. I look forward, and I am sure the Territory looks forward, to your evidence, because you have not made a denial today of any wrongdoing.
The member for Barkly also said:
- I can categorically assure you that we had no awareness at any time of any proposal by Unions NT to derive a net financial benefit or some other pecuniary advantage from its interest under the proposed lease ...
We will leave it at that.
The former government had the Unions NT proposal when it went to them in 2009. You had the Unions NT proposal. What you are trying to convince us is the people you share an …
Ms Lawrie: Who is heading the inquiry?
Ms Walker: Got a CLP mate picked already?
Mr ELFERINK: That is how you guys operate.
Ladies and gentleman, the Labor Party already had the business plan. What they are going to ask us to believe is, ‘We were unaware of the union’s business plan,’ despite the fact they share the site at 38 Wood Street and have conversations. Cranitch was the NT Labor Secretary Branch – what was his …
Mr Tollner: He has had every position.
Mr ELFERINK: Okay, Cranitch has had many positions in the Northern Territory Labor Party. Many of these unions are …
Mr Tollner: Wrong name.
Mr ELFERINK: Matthew Gardiner, sorry, I have been thinking about – I had so many unions. My apologies to Mr Cranitch. Matthew Gardiner, quite right.
Matthew Gardiner had all of these positions. You have to remember so many of these unions are, by their very constitution, bound to the Labor Party of the Northern Territory. The CPSU is one of them. The union movement and the Labor Party are joined at the hip. They are joined in the residential premises and they are joined in these arrangements to extract from the Northern Territory taxpayer $350 000 to do up a house and use it for commercial purposes. There are two ways they stand to make money: the unions can sell coffee in their coffee shops and pursue their commercial business plans in that area, and they can redevelop the existing site. The only losers in this environment are the Northern Territory taxpayers.
You would think if this was such a good deal – they had done this wonderful thing as a government and given this site away, which everybody would approve of – surely there would have been a media release on the day the minister walked over to Unions NT and handed over the paper?
Did you personally collect the $442? All of a sudden, ‘I am going to maintain my right to silence,’ is the response from the members opposite. You wonder how far you can push this farce along before you have to realise you guys are in it up to here.
What concerns me also – I have no evidence to support this concern other than what has been happening in other jurisdictions around this country – is personal interests. I would be very concerned if there were personal interests being fulfilled by this process. If that was the case, then you would definitely be stepping across the line.
This whole arrangement stinks. It stinks with an odium that reaches the heavens themselves. I have often spoken in this place and received such a constant and undying tirade of interjections, but it demonstrates to me that members opposite are deeply concerned about what is going on because they have been led by the nose by the current Leader of the Opposition and former Treasurer into this abyss.
If they have nothing to fear and have done nothing wrong then they can happily give evidence as witnesses before an inquiry, and I invite them to do so. Mind you, they could give the same evidence before the people of the Northern Territory in this House. Their response to that opportunity has been to maintain the right to silence. They maintain the right to silence and then attack the people who have the audacity to ask questions. Bring on the attacks. You can continue to attack the people who ask the questions, and you can even attack the inquiry itself. The inquiry, if this House chooses to pass this motion, will go on independent of anything this government or House can do. As far as we are concerned, there are questions to be answered and an inquiry should be held.
I have read the letter from the member for Barkly. He said:
- My colleagues and I would welcome the opportunity to put the matters we have set out above before an independent inquiry ...
Hasn’t the tune changed? All of a sudden, there is a desire to have lawyers present. That is not welcoming an opportunity …
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Could the minister table that document? I have not seen it.
Mr ELFERINK: The Gerry McCarthy letter? Yes, I can table it. I have put a couple of squiggles on it which do not qualify as notes, but I am happy to table it. It was tabled yesterday as well. Can I have it back?
The members opposite were saying. ‘Come on, let us have an inquiry,’ in a letter a few days ago. The answer is yes, let us have an inquiry. Let us do exactly that. If this opposition has something to hide all they have to do is convince everybody else of it by continuing to behave the way they are.
Madam Speaker, I support this motion wholeheartedly.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I have not known this type of debate in parliament since I started in 2001. I have been trying to listen as best I could to both sides of the argument ...
_______________________
Distinguished Visitor
Hon Steve Hatton
Distinguished Visitor
Hon Steve Hatton
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nelson, could you please pause while I acknowledge previous Chief Minister, Hon Steve Hatton, in the gallery. Welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
_______________________
Mr WOOD: Trying to understand what is happening is not that simple. I am not against an inquiry into the matter before us. That does not mean I am making a decision. The difficulty is the government is asserting that previous ministers have done something wrong. That would have to come out of an inquiry. I am listening to people giving their opinion of what happened. In that opinion, I heard two things. There is, surely, a matter of law as to whether a minister acted in accordance with the law. That is a fairly clear matter which any inquiry would have to investigate.
I have before me the Crown Lands Act. I presume this is the section of the act that would apply to this decision. It says:
- Leases of land on which there are Territory buildings.
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Minister may, without inviting applications, by agreement in writing, grant a lease of Crown land on which there is a building the property of the Territory.
- (2) A lease may be granted under this section for business or residential purposes or for both business and residential purposes.
(3) A lease may be granted under this section on a weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly tenancy.
(4) A lease under this section:
- (a) shall contain the prescribed reservations, conditions and provisions and such additional reservations, conditions and provisions as the Minister thinks fit and specifies in the agreement; and
- (b) shall take effect according to its tenor.
- 5. This Act, other than this section, does not apply to or in relation to a lease granted under this section, but the law that would apply to and in relation to a lease of land held for an estate in fee simple shall apply to and in relation to a lease granted under this section as if the land leased were held by the Minister for an estate in fee simple.
- 6. The Land Title Act does not apply to leases granted under this section.
7. Where:
- (a) there is on Crown land a building the property of the Territory; and
- (b) a person is in occupation of that Crown land after having acknowledged in writing that he or she will occupy the Crown land as a tenant of the Territory from week to week, from fortnight to fortnight, from month to month, or from quarter to quarter,
- that Crown land shall be deemed to be leased to the person under this section and the document containing the acknowledgement shall operate and have effect according to its tenor as if it were the grant of a lease of that Crown land under subsection (1).
I do not have the legal know-all the member for Port Darwin has, but I presume if there was something outside of this act, that is the matter about which we would have this inquiry. We would be seeing if the previous government acted outside the rules it should have abided by.
The discussion I have heard muddies the waters. We have heard of conspiracies about the entire aunties, uncles and cousins twice removed, some are probably deceased, who were related to the Cabinet and, therefore, all those people have been thrown in together as if we have the sins of the father and son. Somehow, they all have entered this debate as if they are part of some corrupt process. That is getting away from what we should be trying to concentrate on in this inquiry.
The government speakers have then been making a strong point that there is a close relationship between the union and the Labor Party. We know, in general, that is the case. That has always been the case. However, the question would be: has that relationship done anything illegal? The only thing you can hang your hat on is whether someone has done something illegal against the Crown Lands Act.
That is what worries me about this inquiry, because when you look at these seven points, some of them could be done by anyone. They do not have to go to an inquiry to:
- Review the adequacy and effectiveness of the regulatory regime ...
I wonder which lawyer wrote this; it is really a mouthful:
- … in ensuring transparency, good governance and community input into the process of leasing or granting Crown land.
That does not need to be in this inquiry, it could be in any inquiry you wanted to set up to review the workings of the Planning Act.
I saw a smile over there; maybe I know who wrote this.
There are some things in here which do not necessarily make this inquiry any better; they probably make it more complicated. If we are to get to the bottom of this then, surely, we should be narrowing it so you are not bringing in whether you hate the unions or there is some conspiracy. You need to see whether the minister, when he gave this Crown lease to Unions NT, did something against the law. Surely, that is the matter we should be considering?
There was a great deal of discussion about whether this should go to an inquiry. The Minister for Alcohol Policy, the member for Fong Lim, of course, loves to embellish any argument, whether it is good or bad, by bringing statements from all over the place that Gerry Wood supports Labor, and all types of things. It is his favourite statement. He made it on election day when he was standing outside Kormilda College telling people, ‘If you vote for Gerry Wood, you vote for Labor’. He never wants to back down from that because that is in his genes. He will keep playing it, no matter how …
Mr Tollner: Prove me wrong.
Mr WOOD: No. See? I think for myself, thank you very much. You cannot understand that, which is the problem, because you belong to a party. One of the problems with belonging to a party – sorry, party people – is you go along with the party, otherwise you get the boot or are sent to the backbench. I have to try to work my way through these issues on my own. I do not have anyone else to advise me ...
Mr Tollner: Where do you end up?
Mr WOOD: Just a minute. I am talking for a change.
It is like talking to a brick wall, except it has two legs. Unfortunately, it does not change. We are having a serious debate and we end up with these stupid concepts the member for Fong Lim talks about.
I have said I will support an investigation. What I have been arguing is whether it should be an inquiry or it should go to a select committee. I can see some advantages in an inquiry, because you can call ministers to an inquiry; you cannot necessarily call them to a select committee. The member for Port Darwin said, ‘If we do not need lawyers, why can you not just state what the circumstances were before this House?’ A select committee is part of this House ...
Mr Elferink: We will get the same answers we are getting now.
Mr WOOD: You can ask for those answers ...
Mr Elferink: You cannot lie to an inquiry.
Mr WOOD: There are rules under an inquiry, as well. I accept there are some limitations, but I am worried that the government has put forward this proposal; it wants to clarify a matter which has been made bigger than Ben Hur.
I could have asked for an inquiry into water at Mataranka. We could ask for an inquiry into matters regarding the Jawoyn Association that were raised here last night. There are many things we could have had an inquiry into, yet we have not. Why has this r issue been picked up?
If the only way to get to the bottom of this is through an inquiry, I will support it. I say to the Chief Minister, I do not think you need all these dot points – some of them are superfluous – and I do not think you need to go down the path of some conspiracy theory all the time, because there is a fairly solid element of politics occurring here. You might say, ‘That is what this place is about’.
The fundamental issue is whether the minister has done something wrong. Has he broken the law in relation to how he gave this lease to Unions NT? Surely, that is the crux of the matter.
Talking about Obeid – fair go, that was slightly different. People were getting millions of dollars for being given land they could sell at enormous profits. I have not seen that here. You have to say, give us a break, do not exaggerate. Are you saying the ex-minister for Lands and Planning has received some financial gain by doing this?
A member: We hope not.
Mr WOOD: No! By saying this has something to do with Obeid, you are insinuating …
Members interjecting.
Mr WOOD: Excuse me, Madam Speaker! By bringing the Obeid argument into it, because we know what that case was, you are insinuating something similar has been done by the previous minister ...
Mr Conlan: Insinuating?
Mr WOOD: That is exactly right, insinuating means you say something you know relates to a big money deal, and say in the same breath you believe the previous minister did something wrong. You are insinuating that could be the same thing. I do not agree with that.
I have just received this letter from the minister, Gerry McCarthy. I had not seen it earlier. The member for Barkly said:
- I would welcome the opportunity to put the matters we have set out above before an independent inquiry ...
You have offered, I presume, an independent inquiry? What concerns me is this motion does not necessarily have much politics in it, but what has been said – it is like having the second reading. The conversation has been more about getting at the Labor Party because of its relationship with the unions. The member for Fong Lim talked about the Canberra issue and others, insinuating it is the same. I do not know.
The real issue is about whether the law was broken, surely? Are you using it as a political platform …
Mr Styles: That is why you have an inquiry, Gerry. That is the usual reason.
Mr WOOD: All right. I agree if we had an independent inquiry, at least it would get you out of the way. The member for Fong Lim criticised the idea of having a select committee because he said these people would be on it. You will be on it because you have already condemned them before anything has begun. You have already said they have done something wrong, so you will be tainted as well. These people over here are saying they have not done anything wrong so, if we are going to get an independent assessment, then I support the inquiry.
What is happening here is muddying the real issues. You are tying it up with, ‘We hate the unions’. There are conspiracy theories about how they are connected with the unions. You can say all you like, but the real issue this House wants to find about out is: was the handing over of this lease done according to the rules; that is, the Crown Lands Act, section 5?
Ms Fyles: Auditor-General.
Mr WOOD: I know what you are saying, but there has been so much mud thrown here today. The Auditor-General does not necessarily, as far as I know, conduct public inquiries. The way to clear the air and find out who is right and who is wrong is to have that public inquiry.
I know it will cost a lot of money. I put my argument, member for Fong Lim, that when you need to run proper processes, you have to pay for them. That was my argument with the boundaries commission and having elections for local government.
If it does cost you money, so be it. If it clears the air – what has gone on here has also denigrated people without due process occurring. The previous minister has not had a chance, except in Question Time, which is a very difficult time because you have to throw interjections around. It has been very difficult for him to clear his name as well.
There are benefits on both sides. As I said, I would rather have fewer of these points; you have made this far too big. You could have had a simple recommendation or a clause which said, ‘that the Assembly establish an inquiry to report on the following matter: whether the proposed grant of a lease of Lot 5260, town of Darwin, was done in accordance with all relevant legislation’. Simple, and it would have raised any other issues at the same time. You have a document that obviously – I do not know if the member for Port Darwin has read it, but he is probably the only one who can explain some of those big words to me. It has become more complicated than it needs to be.
Madam Speaker, I will support the inquiry because I would like to see, regardless of the money, the member for Barkly given a chance to clear his name. At the moment, there is so much criticism of him that he has not had a chance to give his version in public. It would be for the benefit of Territorians because they only get their information out of the newspaper. That is not good enough so, if an inquiry is held, let us clear the air, find the truth, then we can move on from there.
Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank all members for their contributions. I had an opportunity to listen to the last speaker, the member for Nelson. I appreciate his support. I want to clarify a couple of things. One, from your last point, it is not a witch hunt for the member for Barkly at all. That is not what it is about. We are well aware of the involvement of the Leader of the Opposition in the process.
There was another point you made about who is right and who is wrong. I do not think it is about that; it is about identifying if there are any weaknesses in process and if recommendations can be made about how to make improvements in process into the future. We believe it stinks. We believe it is dodgy and a mucky deal, but it is about making sure there are improvements in process in the future so we can have better governance in the Territory.
The inquiry will be fully independent. We will be making the announcement about who will be conducting the inquiry within a week so people will be well aware of that.
The opposition has spoken about different types of inquiries, the idea of a select committee or some sort of parliamentary committee. Obviously, parliamentary committees have members of parliament and, generally, it would have more government members than opposition members. That is not a complete form of independence. It also does not have the powers of inquiry available under the Inquiries Act. The Leader of the Opposition called for the Auditor-General to conduct the inquiry. That is not the most appropriate case ...
Ms Lawrie: I did not call for him at all.
Mr GILES: You put out a media release asking for the Attorney-General to undertake the inquiry. That is not the right way to go and, with all respect to the Auditor-General, I do not think the Auditor-General – as the point you made – is the right person to conduct an inquiry.
I thank members for their contributions, particularly colleagues on this side: the members for Port Darwin, Brennan, Sanderson and Fong Lim. They represent the views and interests of everyone on this side of the Chamber who has significant concerns.
In the initial debate this morning regarding suspension of standing orders, Labor members were true to their heritage in that, as soon as they are in trouble, they attack the person. The first thing they do is attack the person, and they plead innocent about accusing us of attacking the person.
I reflect on the very first Question Time of this Assembly, when the Leader of the Opposition poured scorn straight over the member for Daly on question number one and never let up. To this date, she has poured scorn over the member for Arnhem and has never let up. She has thrown barbs at the member for Namatjira, attacked the member for Arafura for talking about alcohol on the Tiwi Islands and pokes fun at the member for Brennan and the member …
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! What? The Chief Minister does not fling mud at me for sticking up for the people of Gove and 1100 jobs? Disgraceful!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, sit down, it is not a point of order.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, it is interesting to hear an interjection from the member for Nhulunbuy. Much time has been spent on Rio Tinto and Gove …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 67. This is a motion on the inquiry. Will the legal costs be met by the Crown? This is an inquiry into the activities of members of this parliament who were undertaking their work …
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, it is not a point of order. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, if she was so worried about money she might not have done the dodgy, stinky deal in the first place!
It is very interesting to hear the interjections and commentary from the opposition, particularly the member for Nhulunbuy, about the initial offer of up to 300 PJ of gas that was not accepted by Rio. If you look back at the immediate conversations after that was offered by the member for Blain, what did the Leader of the Opposition do? The Leader of the Opposition attacked the offer and said how bad it was. You cannot have your cake and eat it too.
It is interesting to see, when your backs are to the wall, the first thing you do is attack people personally, not debate the issue. That is Labor’s last stop measure.
I welcome the advances of the member for Fannie Bay, the next Leader of the Opposition, as he starts to realise his Leader of the Opposition will bring him down next year. I anticipate the wheels are in motion right now behind the scenes. People will start talking to the member for Fannie Bay, Mr Gunner, about what he is doing over the Christmas break, how he can get from four to five, or six or seven, because he knows the member for Casuarina – we have thought about that. We all know the Leader of the Opposition has dirty hands in all of this but we will wait to see what the inquiry does ...
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 67: digression. We have digressed from the topic.
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. The Chief Minister is summing up the argument how he sees fit.
Mr GILES: Thank you. The member for Nightcliff might have an interest in this.
However, as soon as the trouble fronts, straight to personal attacks, trying to cut people personally. They cannot debate an issue properly. We have thick skins on this side. They try to divide, attack, name people, doing everything they can rather than debate the issue – a typical Labor way.
This issue is the most serious of issues I have seen in this Chamber. The inquiry may say there was nothing wrong, but this is how you can improve process. It could come back with many different things. It is a completely independent inquiry, and we will not know exactly the outcome of that until the interim report comes down at the start of sittings next year and, then, when the findings of those reports come down. As I said, this is the most serious of allegations. The Stella Maris corruption inquiry will deliver its interim report at the start of parliament next year, after looking into the Labor bunch and what the Labor Party has done with the unions with Territory assets and how improvements can be made.
Madam Speaker, I commend the motion to the House and, in the interest of good governance and democracy and having good process and administration of Territory government finance and assets, I imagine all 25 members will support this motion today. I commend the motion to the House.
Motion agreed to.
MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY BILL
(Serial 61)
(Serial 61)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr CONLAN (Arts and Museums): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
This bill is for an act to establish the new Board of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory as a body corporate which will be responsible for the management and financial affairs of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) at Bullocky Point, and the facilities it manages and delivers services through in Darwin and Alice Springs.
The board, instead of an agency Chief Executive Officer, will be directly responsible to government for the financial management of the MAGNT and the venues it manages. These new management arrangements bring the MAGNT in line with the major Australian government, state and territory museums and galleries across Australia which are managed by a board or council of trustees.
The bill will provide the board with an improved fundraising capacity, including the ability to independently raise funds for building works and the acquisition of major art works, scientific material or items of significance to the Territory’s cultural heritage. It will allow the MAGNT to work with the private sector to develop partnerships and sponsorships that will further enhance exhibitions and public programs.
Importantly, the board will be able to retain the use of the money it earns to further develop the MAGNT collections and provide expanded offerings for the Northern Territory arts, science, tourism, education and business sectors. It is expected that private and corporate investment in the MAGNT will increase, given the direction of the bill that such investment will be used to develop the MAGNT and its collections. In the cultural sector, it is generally accepted that private donors and corporations are more willing to invest in an independent body rather than a government department.
The MAGNT has a strong record through the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award and other initiatives in promoting and celebrating Indigenous art and working with artists and communities across the Territory in developing Indigenous art exhibitions, including national touring exhibitions.
With the expertise and direction of the board, the MAGNT will play a key role in growing Northern Territory tourism and the Territory’s reputation as a must-visit destination for traditional and iconic Indigenous art through further developing high-calibre Indigenous art exhibitions.
In the year ended September 2012, 24% of interstate and 54% of international visitors to the Northern Territory visited a museum or an art gallery, demonstrating a high degree of interest in Territory art and natural science collections. In 2012-13, around 329 000 of these visitors and locals visited the MAGNT Darwin and Alice Spring venues.
The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory at Bullocky Point is the Territory’s premier cultural institution and a key tourist attraction with many cruise ship visitors and tour groups visiting regularly. The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory also plays an important educational role for visiting school groups and other visitors in learning about the Territory’s culture and natural sciences.
The Museum of Central Australia in Alice Springs also attracts many of our tourist visitors keen on learning more about the unique natural and geological history of Central Australia. The Museum of Central Australia also houses the Strehlow Research Centre, one of Australia’s most important collections of film, sound and archival records, and also museum objects relating to Indigenous ceremonial life.
Other popular venues of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory include Lyons Cottage on the Esplanade in Darwin, Fannie Bay Gaol on East Point Road and the Defence of Darwin Experience at East Point which is operated on a day-to-day basis by the Northern Territory Branch of the Royal Australian Artillery Association, under an agreement with the Northern Territory government.
The board will play an important role to bring a renewed focus to the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory at its venues and expanding the programs provided through them.
To ensure the best interests of the Northern Territory and future generations are protected, the bill ensures the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, its collections and assets will remain under the ownership of the Territory. The board will be required to meet accountability and reporting requirements, including providing an annual report each financial year, with financial statements audited by the Auditor-General.
The MAGNT also has considerable experience in developing Asian art exhibitions and displays, and working with museums in our closest neighbouring countries, including Timor-Leste and Indonesia. Under the leadership and business experience of the new board, the MAGNT will place a greater focus on Asian engagement and developing new programs, exhibitions and cultural exchanges within the region.
Support for regional museums and art galleries will also be a key component of the board’s functions. Much of this support is currently provided through the Northern Territory government Regional Museum Grant Program. Grants are made available on an annual basis to assist local museums in keeping places throughout the Territory to develop programs and displays, manage their collections and develop skills in presenting and preserving local heritage.
As capacity improves under the new management arrangements, the MAGNT will be better placed to expand its offering to regional museums and galleries and facilitate access to specialised training and professional development opportunities.
I take this opportunity to thank the current members of the Museum and Art Gallery’s Board for their hard work and contribution. The board has played an important role in advocating for the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, including supporting the development of this bill.
The MAGNT also has a foundation: The Museum and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory Foundation Ltd, which also plays an important role in the promotion and development of the MAGNT. The foundation has been very successful in attracting sponsorship funding and donations which have been used by the MAGNT to fund the George Chaloupka Rock Art Fellowship and preservation of the Papunya art works. I thank the foundation for its hard work to date in fundraising to support this important work and look forward to seeing added momentum to the foundation’s fundraising program with the support of the board under the new act.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and I table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (ELECTION) AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 47)
(Serial 47)
Continued from 10 October 2013.
Ms MANISON (Wanguri): Mr Deputy Speaker, to many this bill before the House will look like a fairly straightforward mechanism to amend a date so one day Territorians can have their say on electing representatives to participate in a Constitutional Convention, as we work towards making the Northern Territory the seventh state of Australia. However, this is significant legislation that should not be underestimated as it goes to the heart of the determination of the Twelfth Assembly of this Northern Territory Legislative Assembly and whether the members in this Chamber will be the ones to achieve what so many before us have not managed to do.
So many hard-working and well-respected previous members of this Chamber have worked towards achieving statehood, and saw the last referendum in October 1998 fail, with 51.3% voting against it. In this Assembly today, we have some members who have been long-standing, strong supporters of statehood who have worked in many forums, inside and outside of this Chamber, to help advocate why it is important we become a state.
Today is another important step in that journey towards statehood. What a long journey it has been so far. The constitutional development of the Northern Territory and our move towards statehood is part of Australia’s strong tradition of democracy. If we are to become Australia’s seventh state one day, it will require vision, leadership, persistent effort and strong participation of the people of the Northern Territory.
The democratic election of delegates to a Constitutional Convention is another step in the journey to statehood. This bill will go some way in providing further legislative mechanisms to enable the journey towards achieving statehood to continue.
It is important to consider the historical context of this legislation. What does this bill mean and why is it before the House today? It is to make sure that we learn from the past efforts to advance statehood. Achieving statehood has a long history and has had its ups and downs, successes and failures along the way.
We all understand why it is important we continue pursuing statehood, and we support this bill so that journey continues. The simple fact is, the Territory does not have the same rights or voice when it comes to control of our own affairs or when a question is put to our nation through a referendum at a federal level.
The Territory is impacted by section 122 of the Australian Constitution and the federal parliament can overrule our laws because we are a Territory. It is a constitutional weakness and Canberra has not hesitated to overrule the will of Territorians in the past.
We have seen them exercise their muscle in the 1990s, with the Rights for the Terminally Ill Bill and, more recently, with the intervention and, of course, with their work to place a nuclear waste dump here – a decision that was based on a constitutional weakness rather than science.
I believe Territorians want the right to make their own decisions and to take responsibility for those decisions. That is why statehood is so important.
The Northern Territory misses out in regard to voting in a referendum at a national level because we are not a state. For referendum questions to be successful, they need to have both the majority support of individuals in the nation and the majority support of the states.
As the situation currently stands, we do not have equal rights to other Australians living in states. I believe there is will for Territorians wanting to become a state.
The historical context of this bill before the House is significant. We all need to remind ourselves of the commitments made in 2011 by the CLP. This bill to elect representatives for a Constitutional Convention was completely derailed by the CLP. It disregarded the massive body of work that had been done in educating, inspiring and consulting Territorians about the reasons why we should become a state.
When looking back at the history of the statehood journey and the reports, consultations, statements, debates and media coverage, it is clear there has been a tremendous effort in this space, particularly between 2004 and 2011. So far, under the new CLP government, there has been little talk of the will to work towards statehood. In the last 15 months under the CLP, we have heard next to nothing about statehood.
This bill and the commitments of the CLP government that may follow will show how serious they are about statehood. It will ensure that Territorians have a voice and an ability to make decisions that will not be quashed by Canberra or, as we have seen in recent times, decisions imposed on us by those who sit in federal parliament with or without the support of Territorians.
When this bill was introduced in 2011, it was at the peak of a real surge across the Territory to move towards making the Northern Territory the seventh state of Australia. It is important we reflect on the vast body of work done in the lead-up to the introduction of the Constitutional Convention Election Bill 2011 and why passage of this amendment today is vital but, more importantly, the will and full commitment of the government is critical if statehood is to be achieved.
Most of us remember voting in that last referendum on 3 October 1998 which did not succeed, with a no vote of 51.3%. Territorians were voting in a federal election at the time and were also given the opportunity to vote for statehood in a referendum. The vote failed and, shortly after, on 7 October in 1998, the Legislative Assembly referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee to hold an inquiry into how to make statehood happen by 2001 and to consult broadly with the NT in doing so.
The committee set to work and, in April 1999, tabled a report into the appropriate measures to facilitate statehood. In regard to why so many people voted no, the report stated:
- In summary, while there is a small core of people (approximately 23% according to the market research) who are opposed to Statehood, most who voted No are not opposed to statehood per se but listed certain deficiencies in the past processes as a reason for the No vote. These included a lack of information and understanding about Statehood, concern about the Statehood Convention process and the events surrounding it, a lack of trust in those responsible for last year’s process, inadequate consultation, the role and approach of the Chief Minister, and a protest against the then Chief Minister and ‘the arrogance of politicians’.
The review also said Indigenous Territorians had real concerns about statehood at the time. It stated:
- Aboriginal people voted very much as a block No vote and while the factors described above also featured, particular issues stood out. There were an almost total lack of understanding of what Statehood meant and a distrust of the Northern Territory government. There was fear that Statehood would increase the powers of an NT government, a strong lobby for the No vote from ATSIC, the Central Land Council and the Northern Land Council (and virtually no alternative information), and no knowledge of the provisions of the Draft Constitution. These factors led to serious concerns in respect of losing existing rights, especially land rights, and concern about the impact of Statehood on law, culture and language.
It was clear there were some real deficiencies in the process around consultation and education in the late 1990s. It was also abundantly clear that Territorians had lost trust in the politicians pushing for statehood due to the process that was followed, particularly around the Constitutional Convention and the eventual constitution that was presented to Territorians.
A range of controversial issues plagued that last referendum that we must keep in mind going forward. The first was extremely relevant to the legislation today; that is, in the 1990s it was recommended that the then CLP government have a Constitutional Convention with delegates democratically elected. Instead, the CLP decided to hand pick delegates for the convention.
I said previously that if the Territory is to achieve statehood the strong involvement of our people is essential. The Constitutional Convention was not democratically elected and the community was not adequately engaged in, or educated about, the journey to statehood. The rights and concerns of Indigenous Territorians were largely overlooked. This was a decisive factor in the eventual outcome. It would be deeply remiss of us to have not learnt from those mistakes to avoid them happening again.
The journey towards statehood was reignited a decade ago when, in 2003, the then Chief Minister Clare Martin announced work to start again on the statehood journey. She said:
- Today I announce my government will work with the community on a new campaign to achieve Statehood, based on a Territory constitution we develop ourselves. This time we will get it right. We will do this with careful community consultation and community involvement from the start.
This was the beginning of a massive body of work, a huge detailed process that involved consultation across the Territory. It was not a party political process; it was very much done with bipartisan support as it was clear from the experience in the 1990s that to achieve statehood it was truly a journey that needed to be taken with strong cooperative leadership from the elected members of the Territory’s Legislative Assembly.
The move to statehood also had to be owned by Territorians with statehood champions from all walks of life across the Territory to be involved to promote why this was important and help Territorians understand the benefits of being a state. There was a meticulous process that followed from when Clare Martin made that announcement in 2003 through to when this bill we are debating today was introduced.
It is important we reflect on the immense effort and work done in the lead-up to the introduction of this bill in 2011 and the momentum it was then riding. In 2004, the Statehood Steering Committee was established and the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee selected 14 community-based members to sit on that committee. The steering committee first met in 2005 and went on to conduct 27 formal meetings. Membership numbers changed over the years, and over its life the committee had 33 different members from wide-ranging backgrounds, age groups and regions.
In the first year, the Statehood Steering Committee decided upon seven key reporting milestones in the new journey to statehood which included:
1. establishing the Statehood Steering Committee
2. community education
3. community consultation
4. public meetings and hearings
5. legal requirements
6. Constitutional Convention
7. a referendum.
There was no doubt that up until the completion of the final report in December 2010 the Statehood Steering Committee was extremely active in engaging with Territorians. It submitted its report on activities to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, reporting back on its activities to 2008 which outlined the huge amount of work it had done in engaging with Territorians.
In 2005, the steering committee commenced community visits to conduct presentations and have discussions with Territorians about statehood. In that year, it visited remote communities and towns and continued this in 2006. The committee held many presentations for community groups, businesses, advisory bodies and interest groups across the Territory. It attended important community events to promote statehood such as the shows, the Barunga Festival and the Palmerston Festival; it conducted community surveys; it worked with the Education Department to develop statehood learning materials for Territory schools; it held workshops, and a mock referendum; and developed the Walking Together Towards Statehood campaign. There was an excellent communication strategy developed and a suite of material to support it.
In 2010, a massive body of work was embarked on when 50 forums across the Territory were held to engage with Territorians on a local level to hear their views on statehood. It was a huge process and workload, and each forum was reported on in the final Statehood Steering Committee report of December 2010.
Over those years when the Statehood Steering Committee was active, there was real momentum around the issue of statehood. It was visible, people were engaged with the issue, and the work of the members of the Statehood Steering Committee and the staff who worked within the Legislative Assembly as part of the statehood team should be commended for that body of work. They took on board the lessons from 1998 and ensured they were not repeated, and ensured Territorians, no matter where they lived, were part of the statehood journey.
In this parliament in February 2011, the former Speaker and member for Nightcliff, Jane Aagaard, tabled the Statehood Steering Committee report and opened it up for debate. Mrs Aagaard again stressed the importance of inclusiveness, if statehood is to succeed, when she tabled this report. She said:
- The committee’s overarching goal has been inclusiveness. During its existence, the steering committee was clear that any model for statehood had to be adapted to meet the needs of a majority of Territorians. The committee has, therefore, recommended that delegates to the proposed conventions who will be asked to draft a constitution should be elected through a democratic process. The steering committee was also influenced by the 1999 standing committee report on appropriate measures to facilitate statehood, which was tabled in this Assembly almost 12 years ago; which found that participation was going to be the key to success.
Further, the steering committee believes that to maximise the representation of Territorians, 16- and 17-year-olds on the provisional electoral roll of the Australian Electoral Commission should be allowed to nominate as delegates if they wish, and vote for delegates.
The report attracted bipartisan support again, and the then Leader of the Opposition, the member for Blain, said the work done by the Statehood Steering Committee should be commended. He said:
- I particularly commend the Statehood Steering Committee and the support around that committee to produce those documents which provide tremendous feedback and capacity for people to engage – the education component has been outstanding. I commend you for that.
The spirit of bipartisan support working towards statehood continued after the final Statehood Steering Committee report. On 17 June 2011, a joint media conference was held at Parliament House with the then Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, and the then Leader of the Opposition, the member for Blain, united together to announce dates for a Constitutional Convention and elections for delegates to attend. They announced the Constitutional Convention would take place from 21 to 29 April 2012, and the delegates’ election would occur on 24 March 2012. The former Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, said at the time:
- It is a real opportunity tonight for people right across the Northern Territory to think about becoming a part of history, to becoming part of the first fully-elected Constitutional Convention.
- I’m encouraging anyone out there to recognise the importance of this moment and be a part of this; make that decision, put your hand up and step forward and be a part of history so that we’d become the seventh state.
At the time, it was a united, bipartisan front; the parliament was working together to make statehood a reality. Then, things changed.
Eventually, we got to the point of introducing this bill in October 2011 which we are working towards mending today. In November 2011, when this bill was debated, all the work of the Statehood Steering Committee, and the then plans, were thrown out the window by the CLP. It was a significant event for two reasons. First, it derailed statehood; it ignored the massive body of work since 2004 to get to that point and the engagement that had been achieved on the issue.
The now Deputy Chief Minister and Treasurer, the member for Fong Lim, led the charge derailing statehood and stopping the momentum by calling for the election of delegates and the Constitutional Convention to not proceed, as it had been agreed upon in July.
It was also a preview of things to come with this government. When the member for Fong Lim asserted his authority over the then Leader of the Opposition, the member for Blain, we saw more signs of deep fractures in their party room. We also saw the member for Fong Lim was, again, building his power base and had some very loyal supporters who have stuck by him to get him where he is today. It is clearly not the job he was hoping for, but near enough when you have control over the Territory’s coffers.
Had it not been for the member for Fong Lim rolling the member for Blain at the time when this bill was debated in November 2011, we would have seen the election of Constitutional Convention delegates last year in early 2012, and the Constitutional Convention would have been held. We would have been that much closer to statehood. The member for Fong Lim opposed the elections for delegates for the Constitutional Convention to occur during the local government elections and felt it would provide a platform for wannabe candidates in the Territory election in 2012. He thought this would turn out to be a process about profile building for potential Territory election candidates, not about sensible and passionate debate around people wanting to stand up to become advocates for statehood and putting their hands up to be part of the Constitutional Convention. Apparently, he was not the only one on their side who felt this way, so he took the ball for them and ran with it, smashing through the then leader and many years of work that had been done to get statehood to the point where we were almost ready to elect delegates for a Constitutional Convention.
We saw years of work shelved, thousands of hours of consultations and education disregarded. Hundreds of volunteers committed to promoting statehood across the Territory were left wondering what was to be of their efforts. Since the change of government, quite simply, we have seen the process around statehood grind to a halt, despite the promises made in November 2011 about the importance of statehood by the then CLP opposition and, after the election, the urgency with which that body of work should have been continued. It was in spectacular style that the member for Fong Lim rolled the member for Blain and managed to succeed in derailing the Constitutional Convention.
A motion was before the House, congratulating both Houses of federal parliament for passing legislation to increase the rights of Territorians. The member for Blain had spoken with no mention of stopping the Constitutional Convention election. Then, the member for Fong Lim did what he loves. He took the reins on his side, rolled the leader with no warning and announced he did not support the planned Constitutional Convention elections and time line. He rolled his leader in the most public and disrespectful way possible, right here on the floor of parliament. He showed no respect or appreciation for the immense body of work that had been done by passionate advocates of statehood around the Territory. It left those hard-working advocates devastated and, again, demonstrated who was pulling the strings in the CLP.
In the week that followed the member for Fong Lim’s announcement that he was derailing statehood and again rolling his leader, the Constitutional Convention Election Bill was debated. Clearly, the dates for election were not going to pass and the Constitutional Convention was not going to happen, as had been announced in June.
During the debate in November 2011, there were some very firm commitments by the CLP around their plans for statehood in the future under this Twelfth Assembly. The member for Blain said during the debate of action to work towards statehood:
- Once the air is clear and the two issues have been settled – local government and Territory parliament – then it is the position for the Twelfth Assembly of the Territory parliament to permit, with as much space as possible and as early as possible, the next phase to occur without delay. It is of the highest priority.
The bill today goes some way in showing some will towards holding elections for a Constitutional Convention. However, there are some questions I have for this government and the new Minister for Statehood about will happen going forward. Given the immense gap since the Statehood Steering Committee submitted its final report to the government in December 2010, have we lost the level of momentum and community support that was in place then? Do we need to look at the awareness engagement activities again before we go down this path? Will the government continue with its initial commitment of having three delegates to be elected per electorate as per the NT Legislative Assembly boundaries? Will 16- and 17-year-olds be able to nominate as delegates and vote? Will the government provide adequate funding to support the work towards a Constitutional Convention and statehood? What staffing will be put in place to support statehood activities? Previously, there were dedicated staff within the Legislative Assembly. When will the elections for the Constitutional Convention be held? When will the Constitutional Convention be held? When will the referendum be held? Most importantly, does this government have the will to continue this journey?
To achieve statehood, we need to continue with bipartisan support. It will only be achieved with all of us in this House working together. The challenge for government now is to show us how serious they are about statehood. Put your money where your mouth is and invest in making this happen. We have a new Minister for Statehood at the helm to drive this process. I trust she has had a good look at what she is up against, if statehood is to be successful.
It is abundantly clear the Deputy Chief Minister has personally derailed the statehood process before. He is an absolute force within the CLP and government. He has his fingers on the purse strings as Treasurer, and many say he controls many of the decisions the government makes on the fifth floor.
There will need to be funding put in place to prepare and plan for a Constitutional Convention properly and give it the best shot at succeeding if we vote on statehood again.
I was concerned when I heard interviews with the Minister for Statehood. She has been recently asked about the issue of statehood. During an ABC interview on 10 September 2013, the reporter asked:
- What is your personal point of view? Do you think the Northern Territory should become a state?
The minister replied:
- Look I believe everybody in the Northern Territory wants a Territory to be a state but it is going to take us a long time to get there. It seems that we have got a far bit longer to go in terms of this journey towards statehood.
I conclude my contribution to this debate by raising a point the member for Goyder spoke on during the original bill debate in 2011. It reiterates the fact we need a united approach in this Chamber if we are to be successful in achieving statehood. She said:
- More importantly, what we have learnt from past experiences is we need to move on the path to statehood in a strong bipartisan way – a path I strongly recommend we continue to adopt, otherwise the Territory is doomed to be an outcast in our Australian society and we will not achieve statehood in my lifetime.
I agree with those sentiments. The challenge now is for the government to show whether or not it has the will to ensure the statehood agenda continues on this important journey to achieve equal rights for Territorians. The proof will be in the pudding, and I hope, going forward with this amendment removing the date on when to hold the Constitutional Convention election of delegates, we do not progress this simply to find it never happens.
Mr Deputy Speaker, we support this bill, but remind the government the next steps of the statehood journey sits firmly in its hands. We will be eagerly awaiting to see how and when it goes about taking action to progress statehood further.
Mrs PRICE (Statehood): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Wanguri for her contribution and support for this bill today. It is clear this is one issue where there is strong bipartisan support, and I thank all members.
I am a strong supporter of the Northern Territory having its independent and equal voice in Canberra. The Northern Territory has been working and building towards statehood since we lost it in 1911 when we were separated from South Australia.
It was our fight to keep our two members of parliament for Solomon and Lingiari and to keep our representation in the Senate which, in the past, even triggered a double dissolution election for the Whitlam government.
Statehood is more than being able to pass our own legislation without having the fear of Big Brother in Canberra ready to take the scissors to it, with southern-based politicians denying Territorians their voice. It means strength, democracy and equality. It means an equal voice, equal representation and equal recognition. I look forward to working with all members of this House, especially my Cabinet colleagues, to progress statehood.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mrs PRICE (Statehood)(by leave): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
TABLED PAPER
Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) Annual Report
Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) Annual Report
Mr CHANDLER (Lands, Planning and the Environment): Mr Deputy Speaker, I am pleased to table the first Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) Annual Report. The report describes the performance of NT EPA’s functions during the 2012-13 financial year.
The NT EPA was established as an independent regulatory authority following the commencement of the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority Act on 1 January 2013. This government has delivered its election commitment to Territorians in establishing the independent NT EPA to provide certainty, transparency, and efficiency to environmental assessment and regulatory functions to both industry and the community.
The members of the NT EPA comprise of Dr Bill Freeland, Chair of the NT EPA; Hon Gary Nairn, Chair of the Planning Commission; Ms Janice van Reyk; Professor David Williams; Dr John Chapman; and Dr Ian Wallis. We are extremely fortunate to have such an impressive, experienced, motivated group appointed to the NT EPA.
Activities of the NT EPA are outlined in its annual report. In summary, the NT EPA met twice in this period and achieved much during this time. The members agreed to procedures for the governance of the NT EPA and provided 11 draft environmental guidelines relating to the Environmental Assessment Act and the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act for public comment. The guidelines will promote a contemporary and consistent environmental protection regime for the Northern Territory.
The Northern Territory EPA visited the Mount Todd mine site near Katherine to gain a firsthand understanding of the environmental issues of the mine. The visit also provided a solid basis for the NT EPA’s consideration and assessment of the environmental impact statement developed for renewal of gold mining at that site.
The Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) has continued to grow since its commencement in January 2012. The NT EPA took over the administration of the scheme in January 2013. Since that time, the Northern Territory’s application for permanent exemption under the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 was progressed.
The Territory government provided financial assistance to keep the Container Deposit Scheme in operation until permanent exemption was granted. During the first quarter of administration, January to March 2013, 18 377 633 containers were returned to CDS coordinators, achieving a return rate of 67.6%. This is a massive achievement after just one year in operation.
The Environment Grants program supported a range of environmental projects which cover the categories water, waste, energy and ecosystems. In 2012-13, $731 000 in grant money was funded to 49 projects, comprising 14 schools and 35 community groups.
The establishment of a strong, transparent and independent NT EPA by this government, as well as the activities of the NT EPA, aligns with the Territory government’s Framing the Future blueprint; specifically, the balanced environment, strong society, and prosperous economy objectives.
I congratulate the NT EPA members and staff for their commitment, hard work, and achievements in the first five months of the new independent Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority.
Mr Deputy Speaker, before I table the document, I pass on my congratulations to Dr Bill Freeland. If anyone ever asks the question whether or not the NT EPA is truly independent, you have not met Bill. I cannot tell him what to do. Bill has one thing in mind; that is, good governance, protecting the environment, and making sure our processes are going to ensure the Northern Territory and the environment is protected into the future. I table the document.
TABLED PAPER
Treasurer’s 2013-14 Mid-Year Report
Mr TOLLNER (Treasurer): Mr Deputy Speaker, I now table the Treasurer’s 2013-14 Mid-Year Report that provides updated information on the Territory’s economic and fiscal outlook.
MOTION
Note Report – Treasurer’s 2013-14
Mid-Year Report
Note Report – Treasurer’s 2013-14
Mid-Year Report
Mr TOLLNER (Treasurer): Mr Deputy Speaker, the mid-year report continues the pathway of reducing the level of debt inherited from the former Labor government and returning the budget to a sustainable fiscal position.
The 2012-13 mini-budget and the May 2013-14 budget incorporated numerous fiscal repair measures aimed at reversing the fiscal position left by the former Labor government. These included saving measures across all government agencies, a range of increases in own source revenues and addressing the commercial sustainability of the Power and Water Corporation. These measures have already realised savings of $70m in 2012-13 and will realise in excess of $1bn by the end of the current forward estimates period.
However, as foreshadowed in the May budget, the significant reduction in GST revenue which saw more than $100m per annum removed from the Territory’s budget resulted in the government taking the sensible step to defer the achievement of a fiscal balance to 2017-18.
Despite this derailment outside of our control, the 2013 mid-year report reaffirms this government’s commitment to ongoing budget restraint measures and achieving its fiscal objectives. The fiscal highlights in the 2013 mid-year report include: nett debt and nett debt to revenue have improved in all years with nett debt now projected to be a full $759m better than estimated by the former government by 2015-16; an improved general government nett operating balance in 2013-14 compared to the May 2013 budget, and still trending to improvement over the forward years; and the non-financial public sector fiscal balance projections remain on a downward pathway towards balance. I will return to the fiscal position later.
The mid-year report also includes an update on the Territory’s economic outlook. In 2012-13, the Territory economy grew by 5.6%. This was the highest growth in the nation and well above the Australian outcome of 2.6%. Record levels of private investment, strengthening household spending and a larger trade surplus ensured that the Territory economy outpaced the nation.
Construction activity is currently at record levels, driven by major resource projects at a scale never before seen in the Territory. In 2012-13, construction work done in the Territory increased by 55% to $5.1bn. While the biggest growth was in engineering construction related to major resource projects in the Top End, non-residential and private residential building were also at record levels. The CLP government’s commitment to accelerating land release and strategies to support much-needed development and more housing has seen private sector residential construction work exceed records set in the late 1990s.
There are early indications that consumer confidence in the Territory is on the rise. Following a period of subdued growth, the latest data shows that retail trade in the Territory has now increased for five consecutive months, a trend that is expected to continue, in line with increasing levels of economic activity.
The result of the strength in the Territory economy is that population and employment growth have both started to accelerate. In 2012-13, employment growth in the Territory increased by 2.4%, higher than the 2% forecast in the budget. This equates to an additional 3000 jobs being created in 2012-13. The latest forecast in the mid-year report shows population and employment growth are expected to strengthen further over the coming years.
Despite the outstanding headline outcome, this government is conscious there are sectors in the economy that continue to face strong head winds. Last week, Rio Tinto announced suspension of production at the Gove alumina refinery commencing in the first quarter of 2014. However, bauxite mining and export will continue. The suspension of the refinery operations will have an impact on both the workforce and population of Nhulunbuy and the surrounding communities. The economic nett impact cannot be fully determined until such time as revised production and export schedules are clarified, and employment and population responses are known. We will continue to have an open dialogue with Rio Tinto and the Nhulunbuy community to ensure the best possible outcome for the region.
The tourism sector is an integral part of the Northern Territory economy, providing services and vital opportunities, particularly in regional areas across the Territory. The tourism industry has faced more than its fair share of challenges in recent times, including the high Australian dollar and the flow-on impacts of the ongoing weakness in many of the Territory’s tourist source markets. This government values the tourism industry and the thousands of jobs it creates. It is why the CLP government is committed to growing the visitor economy to $2.2bn by 2020 under the Tourism Vision 2020 strategy.
I now turn back to the fiscal outlook. The 2013 mid-year report incorporates updated revenue projections, changes to Commonwealth-tied funds and government decisions made since the May 2013 budget. The report also incorporates the effect of the 2012-13 outcome, contained in the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report on the budget and the forward estimates. Overall, the updated projections contained in the mid-year report are largely offsetting and include additional taxation revenue related to payroll tax and stamp duties as a result of the buoyant Territory economy and one-off revenue increases in 2013-14 offset by the timing of expenses and capital payments, largely related to Commonwealth-tied revenues and minor policy decisions made since the May budget.
As a result of these offsetting changes, when compared to the May 2013 budget projections, the fiscal balance remains largely unchanged in all years and still remains on a downward path towards balance. The fiscal balance is projected to peak at $1181m in 2013-14, which incorporates $521m for bringing the new Darwin Correctional Precinct onto the Territory books before trending to improvement with a deficit of $175m predicted at the end of 2016-17.
Achieving the elimination of the fiscal deficit by 2017-18 will require continued budgetary restraint and ensure spending levels are constrained to below growths in revenue. This has been achieved in the May 2013 budget. In the updated projections contained in this report, expenditure is expected to grow, on average, by 1.6% over the forward estimates – 0.6% below revenue growth over the same period.
The days of Labor waste and inefficient spending are over. A growing population, as a result of high levels of economic activity in the Territory, means continued pressure will be put to bear on services delivered to Territorians. It is essential, therefore, those services are delivered in an efficient and effective manner to reduce the impost on the Territory’s debt position. This is a fact that was clearly lost on the members opposite.
This is an area that has been, and will continue to be, a focus of this government going forward. It is on the public record that this government inherited a level of debt from the former government that, by the end of 2015-16 would have amounted to $5.5bn. This level of debt equates to in excess of $1.1m in interest repayments every day. Nett debt for the non-financial public sector is now projected to be just under $4.8bn and the nett debt to revenue ratio of 81% by the end of 2015-16.
These represent a $759m and 17% improvement on the former government’s projections. This is a testament to the swift response this government took to the escalating indebtedness left by the former government.
In conclusion, the improved 2012-13 outcome in the TAFR and the projected reduced growth in debt levels in this report is evidence that since coming to office, the Country Liberals government has set the compass in the right direction to return the budget to surplus in 2017-18. Make no mistake, there is more to do but we are steadfast in our resolve to achieve our fiscal objectives and return the debt position to more manageable levels.
I table the Treasurer’s 2013-14 Mid-Year Report and commend it to the House.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the report be noted.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Mr Deputy Speaker, I contribute to the Treasurer’s statement, not so much in regard to the mid-year report, but placing focus on the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report, which was dropped on the desk at the last sittings. I am looking forward to the opportunity to have a briefing with Treasury and start with the Treasurer’s Mid-Year Report as the basis for my learnings regarding this very important area of governance in the Northern Territory.
It is important to talk about the state of the finances because the CLP boys are desperately clinging to a debt and deficit myth which was well and truly busted last February by the Auditor-General when he handed down the report in his audit of Labor’s last budget outcome 2011-12 financial year. The findings showed that Labor left a general government sector debt of $1.8bn, not the $5.5bn consistently claimed by the CLP and referred to by the Treasurer.
The Auditor-General identified that prior to the election, Labor left a nett operating balance surplus of $165.7m as of 30 June 2012, and not a deficit as erroneously claimed by the CLP. The Auditor-General pointed out that the Northern Territory had suffered from lower GST revenues provided by the Commonwealth as a direct result of the global financial crisis. As a result, there were massive reductions in revenue beyond the control of the Territory government. All state and territory jurisdictions have been hit with revenue reductions.
The global financial crisis meant a massive contraction in private-sector spending. To keep Territorians in work, Labor doubled the infrastructure budget. This responsible action worked. We created 13 000 jobs in the global financial crisis-affected years and kept the Territory economy in growth.
The 2010-11 financial year showed us if we removed the government spend contribution to the economy we would have gone into recession instead of a healthy 1.6% growth. The CLP inherited from Labor the fastest-growing economy in the nation and our largest-ever infrastructure project, the Ichthys project, to help fuel growth through the next four years.
However, this is looking in the rear view mirror. Where are we today? The Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report tells us how the Territory has fared in the 2012-13 financial year during the CLP government, and it makes for interesting reading.
When you go through the figures, there is little wonder the Treasurer slipped it in late on the last Thursday of the previous sittings to table it briefly prior to his statement and issued no media release crowing about the CLP result. We have seen the repeat of that today in this sittings, where it seems to be the transit lounge for Qantas Airlines at the moment in the House of the people.
The clock was past 4 pm, heading more to 4.30 pm, and the Treasurer dropped in the mid-year report. As I said, I am looking forward to going through this and seeking the Treasurer’s support for a briefing from Treasury.
When we deal with the CLP government and do business like this, it is really important to get that story out. The CLP does not seem to be crowing about these budget figures in any media releases or any reports to the taxpayer. Why would you crow about a debt increasing at about $1bn per annum under the CLP? That is right. All this pain is being inflicted on every sector through budget cuts which are not reducing debt. They are well and truly on track for that $5.1bn debt they predicted in their first budget, and this is the CLP 15 months into government.
Page nine of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report shows the nett operating balance has gone from $175m surplus under Labor in the 2011-12 financial year to a $101m deficit under the CLP in the 2012-13 financial year. That is right; they are taking us backwards, despite improved revenue.
GST revenue increased by $88.7m as a result of a higher Territory share of the national population following the 2011 Census. Good work, Labor! That effort to sign Territorians up has worked, and we reaped increased GST as a result. But, did the CLP use the increased GST to its full extent? No. The general government operating balance on page nine shows there was only a $62m improvement on the original budget.
But, wait, there is more! The CLP ripped $32m out of the pockets of Territorians directly from the increased Power and Water tariffs which is shown on page 11. Add to that cost of living pressures, more pain from motor vehicle rego hikes equating to $5.2m, loss of stamp duty concessions for Territorians entering the housing market reaped a further $9.7m for the CLP and other revenue measures took in $8.2m. In total, the CLP reached into Territorians’ pockets and directly took out $55.1m. No wonder we are all struggling with the cost of living.
If that was not bad enough, the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report showed business had to pay an extra $67.5m in taxes. That is right, just when business is doing it tougher in a sluggish retail and hospitality environment, and the construction sector is struggling – unless you have an Ichthys project tender – the CLP made sure your pain was all the more acute with extra taxes to pay on top of your extra Power and Water bill costs.
What happened to the extra revenue, Treasurer? Why was the financial year improvement not stronger? Where were the media releases? Where are the media releases? When will we see the media releases talking about strength and improvement under the CLP?
I do not believe we will see those media releases because it is quite apparent the CLP has been on a spending spree. You wonder what on earth we have to show for it. But, yes, they have splashed the cash to the tune of $83.9m in new nett and expanded government initiatives. Good on you, government, stimulating the economy to the tune of $83.9m. However, we have to wonder what that delivered. I have to ask the good people of Barkly: what has that delivered for Barkly? We can go right across the Territory. There has been a splash of cash to the tune of $83.9m – so it has not been all doom and gloom, Treasurer – on nett new and expanded government initiatives.
In Inflicting pain on Territorians through a $55m direct hit on the hip pocket, plus a $67m hit on business taxes, what do we get? A CLP spending spree of $83.9m. You have to wonder what has been delivered, because government agencies are struggling under budget cuts, the non-government sector is shutting down or winding back services, 7500 people are looking for work under rising unemployment, and the CLP is, essentially, increasing the debt.
Treasurer Tollner, by any stretch of the imagination, your performance is a failure. Littered throughout the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report is the reference to budget improvements, largely coming from increased GST revenue.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I have let it go up until now. The member is having a debate about a report he has not read. I heard him refer to the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report. If he is talking about the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report, then he is anticipating debate. If he is talking about this report, then I suggest he should read it.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Barkly, continue. Keep it to the subject.
Mr McCARTHY: Absolutely, Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for that.
As I was saying, the reference to budget improvements from the Treasurer largely comes from GST revenue, but it is an irony because the hard work Labor did was regarding that important Sensis work and signing Territorians up so we saw that improvement.
The good outcomes, though, seem to be offset by the additional funding provided for expanded initiatives. I look forward to the Treasurer’s briefing on those expanded initiatives because, essentially, we are paying for these expanded initiatives out of our pockets. The Treasurer, in this mid-year report, alluded to policies which I am keen on researching.
I suppose we are going to talk about the revolving door in mandatory alcohol rehabilitation. What else is there? I am interested to try to pin down – and this might have to be an estimates interrogation – the cost of public servants flying to and from Alice Springs to get to meetings with their minister. That will be an interesting area to look at in accountability and good economic management. Simply, are we paying for Business Class? We know there are the ‘let us all go together flights’ to Asia, and the Treasurer’s private jet travel while the Education budget was slashed. It is quite obvious we have the culture of ‘let us all travel together and use private jets,’ but in this House we are told by the Treasurer it is all doom and gloom, it is really tough, and we are all doing it really tough. It seems to be the haves and the have nots, and the Treasurer will be able to point that out to me in the briefing and we will start to drill down into how he can explain that.
It seems to be an issue of lifestyle choices. The Treasurer seems to be basing his 101 Economics for the Territory on lifestyle choices, and we are looking at the reality of cuts to teachers and cuts to school support staff. That is a radical alternative when you talk about funding lifestyle choices, but cutting education. It is affecting the Territory. We hear the Treasurer saying things will get better. I would like more information around that. I would also be very interested to see the revenue that will come through with the next price hikes for power, water and sewerage on 1 January. We have done some initial numbers and it looks like an increase of about $330 for Territory families. Once again, the Treasurer talked about increased revenue, which is a policy directly out of the hip pockets of Territorians.
The general government debt under Labor – as we now know on the record, as determined by the Auditor-General – was $1.8bn, and the Treasurer continues to confuse Territorians with this $5.5bn figure. To add the non-financial sector debt, which includes Power and Water, gives a debt of $2.6bn.
A year on – under your government – from your decisions in the mini-budget and the May budget, we are all suffering cut-backs, hikes in the cost of living, and debt increasing to $3.2bn. We are suffering increasing inflation, running at the annual high of 3.9%. We are suffering growing unemployment at 2.9%, which equates to 7500 Territorians struggling to live under an increasing cost of living, with no job, thanks to the CLP policies.
We can see you are very active in the space of keeping this out of the public debate in the people’s House. You had a busy day today, adding to debt in a simple political exercise to stall the presentation of the Territory books. You are going to find out the hard way, Treasurer, because the next few Cabinets you attend, you will have the Chief Minister asking for serious cash as a repercussion of that incredibly shallow, stilted and politically punitive exercise you went through today.
We are interested in the budget, Treasurer. We are interested in reducing debt. As a matter of fact, we had a step-out fiscal plan but, as the member for Daly reminded us, we were thumped and thrown out and you guys are in the saddle. I look forward to the mid-year report. I look forward to monitoring your spending sprees ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! I am curious that the shadow Treasurer is looking forward to the mid-year report that has been put on his table. That is what he is debating. I suspect he has screwed up somewhat.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I do not see that as a point of order. Member for Barkly, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: For the public record and for the member for Port Darwin, the mid-year report was dropped on my desk 20 minutes ago. I have been speaking about Territory finances for the last 15 minutes. I am looking forward to going through this, member for Port Darwin, and Treasurer, Hon David Tollner, because I will be looking at continuations of your spending spree. I will be looking at continuations of your increasing debt under CLP policy.
You can bring on all the ridicule you like, because I enjoy this job. I enjoy my work, representing the people of the Northern Territory, particularly the people of Barkly. You guys, with all your bully-boy tactics, do not intimidate me one bit. You do not get it. You do not have a clue about me, and you assume so much.
I was honoured to be given the job of shadow Treasurer. I like to refer to it as the spokesperson for Treasury on behalf of the Northern Territory. I am looking forward to that job. I am looking forward to a briefing, meeting Treasury officials and establishing a professional relationship with them. I will be offering those officials my interest, my willingness to learn.
My colleagues support me every step of the way. It is good to play in a team. When we talk about the front row over there, there is not much of a team. There is not much of a back row, not many halves, and no halfback and five-eighth in the team. There is a front row that ridicules and bullies and that is about as far as it goes.
However, I am looking forward to researching your mid-year report. I am looking forward to speaking on this every opportunity I get. I am looking forward to writing in newspapers and telling this story on the mountain. This story is a bad story for the Territory’s finances. All the pain we have seen from the CLP indicates your economic policy settings are wrong.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek leave to continue my remarks at a later date.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr GILES (Braitling): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.
I extend my best wishes for Christmas and I hope we all experience a safe festive season and return reinvigorated in the new year. I take this opportunity to extend special thanks to the following: my wife, Tamara and daughter Tahlia, thank you for your support. I know it is very difficult when I am away from home six or seven days a week. To Mr Deputy Speaker, Madam Speaker, thank you for your great stewardship of this House and your staff throughout the last year. To the transcribers of Hansard and the people who have to listen to those of us who speak quietly and those who speak loudly, thank you. To the team that works behind the scenes of the Legislative Assembly and all those associated with the workings of this parliament, to all security personnel, I thank them for ensuring the wellbeing of this building. I thank the cleaners whose vacuums I always seem to be dodging when working late at night.
I thank the drivers for their patience and the very long hours they work in supporting government and opposition. I want to let the public service know of my gratitude and thank them for their contribution. It is greatly valued and appreciated. It has been a busy year, and despite the politics and antics of this Chamber, we have had a significant reform agenda. People have responded fruitfully and worked very hard to ensure we accomplished many things, particularly in regard to mandatory alcohol rehabilitation, APOs, Housing, Lands and Planning and all other portfolios. I cannot just single out a few.
I thank all staff I am closely connected with through my portfolios as Minister for Northern Australia Development; Economic Development and Major Projects, including the port; Asian Engagement and Trade; Police, Fire and Emergency Services; and Strategic Defence Liaison. Thank you to all staff of the Department of the Chief Minister and those associated with the Cabinet Office. Thank you to the team within the office of the Chief Minister which has worked tirelessly throughout the year, not forgetting the new regional office in Tennant Creek.
I thank staff I directly work with on the fifth floor for all your hard efforts. I know it is not easy working in politics, with the time you put in. It is not easy working with someone who works intensively.
In Alice Springs, I extend deep gratitude to my electorate secretary, Dee Davies and my relief staff, Jenny Lillis. Without their tireless work in the electorate of Braitling, I would have some difficulty in balancing the competing interests of being the Chief Minister from Alice Springs.
I also extend best wishes to all electorate staff, full-time, part-time and volunteers who work across the Northern Territory, both in government and opposition. The work of the staff in those offices is tireless in their efforts to support local members.
The same applies to the Country Liberals’ membership and the branch presidents, secretaries and treasurers, and all those Territorians who support us practically year round. To my ministerial colleagues and parliamentary wing, well done for another year of endeavour. As you can see, the list is pretty much endless in who we need to thank. I will stop to reflect a second and really put out the effort and thank the parliamentary wing. When new governments come in after a long time under a previous government, it is always challenging to settle in, find the straps, work out your processes and get things right and in working order as we move along. We all grow and things get better all the time. It is good to see we are having such fantastic outcomes in all portfolio areas. It is a real testament to the parliamentary wing and ministerial colleagues.
I mentioned my family before, my wife, Tamara and daughter, Tahlia, and I will mention them again. They are the ones who suffer the perils of the job of someone who is never at home.
To put the thank you’s to one side, I take a moment to reflect on 2013. We have continued to concentrate on improving the fiscal position of the Northern Territory, developing infrastructure, framing the future and creating lasting benefit for Territorians. One regret has been witnessing the Leader of the Opposition attempting to continue her misrule through the use of scurrilous rumour, innuendo and poor performance.
As I previously outlined to the House, good governance must look at the present and what can be done simply, efficiently and carefully to plan for the future. A great deal of energy, collaboration and engagement has been contributed by my government to convert opportunities into realities. We have introduced 61 pieces of legislation since coming to office, and as we represent Territorians and provide leadership and tangible outcomes, our objectives will remain constant in 2014 and beyond: to build on our solid position, continue to lead the nation with positive economic indicators and translate our optimism for the Territory’s future into evidence we can all play a key role in.
On another note, I would like to raise to your attention a young student in the member for Stuart’s electorate. He has written a poem as part of one of his school projects and his name is Alex Bruer. He attends school through Alice Springs School of the Air and the principal, Belinda Pearson, has forwarded me a poem Alex has written about his town of Yuendumu, and I thought I might read it out. It is titled ‘My Town’:
- The wind sighs in quiet tones
Across the desert and through the homes
Where people lie in soft cool beds
With wisps of breath on their sleepy heads
Sky kindles a bright hot fire
Her horizon dressed in gold attire
People awake for a new day
While the gentle dawn strolls away
Movement starts to fill the town
While the sun’s growing heat glares down
Red roads remove their dusty coats
As muscly car engines clear their throats
Willy willies sweep and swirl
Dancing haphazardly in a twirl
Middle fences stand defiant
While tough old trees survive compliant
Torn toys race cans across sand
As the hot dry gusts roar over land
Roofs and trees shelter and shade
And from dark shadows streets are surveyed
As the shadows shy away
Shops and offices close for the day
The wind sleeps as the sun retreats
And stillness creeps across tired town streets
Night unfurls its dark display
With stars blinking in the Milky Way
The rich red earth rests and cools down
As the day sleeps once more in my town.
Mr Deputy Speaker, to all colleagues, particularly in opposition, we might hustle and bustle in this place, but I respect working with you all. Have a good Christmas, do not drink and drive and be safe.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, you have five minutes.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Mr Deputy Speaker, you are an absolute champion. I do not care what they say about you, I reckon you are a good bloke.
I speak today of a dedicated and much-loved public servant, Jane Large, who sadly passed away on 2 November 2013. Jane spent more than 42 years in full-time public service employment, starting in January 1959 and an additional 12 years of public service on various boards, councils, and committees. This extraordinary 54 years of service to the public would see her cross continents, borders and areas of responsibility.
Jane’s public sector career started in 1959, spending eight-and-a-half years with the UK Foreign Office before moving to Australia, where she worked with police departments in New South Wales and Western Australia. In 1969, Jane came to Darwin and commenced work for the Commonwealth government Attorney-General’s department. Jane was attached to the Commonwealth department and the subsequent Northern Territory department of Law in the magistrates court and the Australian legal officer for a period of 10 years.
In 1980, Jane’s employment took another twist, moving into the finance arena when she became a finance manager in the Department of Mines and Energy. This was followed by a promotion to the Northern Territory Treasury as a senior budget officer in 1982. From 1982 to her retirement in 2001, Jane worked in the Northern Territory Treasury, reaching the position of senior director in the department in 1998. In keeping with Jane’s true style and one tirelessly dedicated to public service, retirement in 2001 did not mark the end of Jane’s contribution to the Northern Territory and the community.
Jane actively continued with other numerous appointments after her retirement. She was a Northern Territory JP, and because police were aware she was often at home, including over weekends, she was a popular choice for police requests for signatures on search warrants and other documents. Jane was also a JP assigned under the Commonwealth Customs Act.
Until its incorporation with Charles Darwin University, Jane was the Chairperson of the Finance Committee of the Menzies School of Health Research. She was also a specialist financial advisor to the NT Public Accounts Committee. Jane was a Northern Territory Legal Aid commissioner, a member of the Northern Territory’s School of Languages Council and, because she apparently did not have enough to do already, Jane sought and was appointed to the Northern Territory Licensing Commission in 1995.
Jane took the world of liquor, gambling, crowd controllers and escort agencies in her stride, and applied herself with the same diligence and focus that was evident in all she took on. Jane’s long public service career gave her a wealth of experience in the operations of government. In particular, the years of employment in the Attorney-General’s department of Law and as a JP provided her with critical knowledge and skills relating to the handling of investigative legal hearings. As well as being an active member on hearing panels, Jane personally chaired many hearings over the years and her decision writing skills were exemplary, further showcasing the depth of her skills and knowledge.
The Northern Territory Licensing Commission also took Jane further afield than she probably would have ever imagined, from community consultations and hearings in remote communities to late night pubs, gaming venues and strip clubs. None of it deterred Jane, however, who stepped through it all as part of her ongoing service to the NT community. The selfless commitment of Jane to public service for 54 years, 44 years of which was in the Northern Territory, is an absolutely outstanding achievement and an indicator of the kind of person Jane was with her gentle but conscientious energy.
I thank her for her service and commitment. I offer my sincere condolences to her husband of 44 years, Bryan, son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Niamh, and her grandson Braden. To her friends and colleagues, both in the public sector and in the Northern Territory community – vale Jane Large, thank you very much.
Before I complete my remarks, it would be wrong not to thank a few people for the last year. First off, I thank some of the staff in my office – Brigid Ryan, Trisha Smith, Michelle Crowther, Georgia McCabe, Stephanie Schreiner, Iain Forrest, Tony Musumeci, Steve Doherty, Tim Dixon and my part time electorate officer, Shelley Beard. They have been absolutely wonderful in sustaining me. I also make a special mention of my electorate officer, Helen Bateman. Helen has been with me since I was a federal member. She is a pillar of strength and is who gives me support to do this job. I feel guilty for this term of government because I have not spent enough time in the electorate office and Helen has had to wear the rigours of the job pretty well on her own in Ludmilla and the Narrows.
I also make a special mention of my former senior advisor, Stephen Gelding. Steve was a pillar of strength for me and had a fantastic understanding of parliamentary process and was an expert in the areas of health and public policy. I was saddened when Steve decided to take work in another government department, but I know he is doing a fantastic job at Worksafe and is enjoying it wonderfully.
To my new senior advisor, Gary Shipway – what more can you say about Shippy? He has been in politics in the Northern Territory on and off for a long time. He has worked with previous Chief Ministers, knows the Territory very well and I am extraordinarily honoured to have him. To my colleagues, particularly on this side of the Chamber – thank you in what is obviously a tough business. I would like to offer particular thanks to the Attorney-General; his wise counsel is always welcome. I do not always make him happy at times, but I take his words seriously and I look to him for guidance at times.
I also make particular mention of the Chief Minister, who has been a wonderful personal friend of mine now for many years. Not only is he a friend to me, he is now the inspiration that keeps me going in this job. It is an absolute honour and privilege to serve and work with him. I love his vision for the Northern Territory, his energy, and being around him is a great honour.
To all departmental heads of portfolios I look after: Peter Carew, Kathleen Robinson, Allan McGill and Jodie Kirkman, thank you and thank you to the staff in your departments, you are absolutely wonderful.
To opposition members – it is quite common that people think we do not like each other, but the reality is politics is something like religion. While we may disagree on some things, that generally does not mean we do not like being with people of different views. We have a fantastic bunch of people in opposition; I rarely agree with anything you say, but I do enjoy the banter. This is the toughest game in town and it takes tough people to be able to fling the sort of mud and cop it the way we do. I thank you for your good humour and ability to play this game. It is a tough game, and I acknowledge the role you have in representing people in your areas.
Finally, I would be nowhere without my wife Alicia and my two sons, William and Henry. They give me the support and inspiration it takes to keep going in this tough and difficult job. Their support is crucial, and that would be the same for every member in this place. It is our families who keep us going, keep the fires burning in our bellies and kick us out the door in the morning to make sure we are here, no matter how tough it gets.
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker and Madam Speaker. Your guidance in this Chamber is always welcome. Sometimes, I am certain you get it wrong, but at the end of the day, which umpire does not? It is great being here with you. Thank you to everybody in the Legislative Assembly for the support you have given us. It has been a tough year. I promise you, 2014 will be even tougher. Hopefully, we can all come back refreshed, ready to box on.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Mr Deputy Speaker, Darwin High School in the Fannie Bay electorate has a culture of excellence, not just in results but in how students and staff engage with the community. In November this year, every day for a week, students from Darwin High School’s Secondary Intensive English Unit hosted a lunch time sausage sizzle. It was a fundraiser in A-Block to support victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. All funds raised were donated to the Australian Red Cross Typhoon Haiyan appeal. It is a great cause, assisting hundreds of thousands of people after the widespread devastation of super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful on record. The fundraiser was only achievable thanks to the hard work of event organisers, Ms Jenny Jenkinson and Ms Jennifer Harker, along with 15 willing SIEU students. I will table the names for Hansard: Apichaya Tasawang, Darren Tom, Danny Tom, Jin Kunnikorn, Euphrasie Camille, Rizwan Ali, Parichat Taworn, Radju Batende, Lorenzo Sandoval, Sutthida Kalaya, Reuben Kwana, Li Yu, Sonny Lay, Aung San Yee, Zhibo Xiao, Jiraporn Srisunon, Angleou Castro, Linh Roberts, Ben Noichin, Hastinah Ambarwaty, Patipan Taoprasat, Agus and Philip Nyong. All students put in a big effort to make sure the fundraiser was a success.
Principal Trevor Read also wholeheartedly supported the students’ efforts and showed this by attending the barbecue each day. Mr John Naylor, Ms Anne Myerscough and Ms Sandy Ho also gave up lunchtimes to help. Ms Jenkinson, Ms Harker and the students should all be proud of their achievements. Both organisers did an amazing job managing the fundraiser and supporting the students throughout the week. All students had a great time helping and were fantastic at running the stall.
I was genuinely impressed with the students’ community spirit. Their genuine desire to work hard with each other to raise as much money as possible for the victims of the Philippines typhoon disaster left a lasting impression. The students had a great time raising the money and worked very hard to support the appeal. Many SIEU students have family in the Philippines, so for them, the situation is very personal.
A number of students who helped out lived in Indonesia and Thailand at the time of the tsunami and clearly understood the devastation the typhoon had caused. The students were upset by the tragedy, and the fundraiser gave them a chance to do something practical.
The students also asked teachers at Darwin High School for any clothing to donate to the appeal. They received two very large boxes filled with clothes and sent them to the Philippines. The super positive approach students took while participating on the stall was evident in their behaviour as soon as you spoke to them. They knew they were doing something meaningful and significant. The stall proved to be very popular with students. Every lunch time, it was very busy, which was great to see. For many of the SIEU students, it was their first chance to engage with mainstream students at Darwin High School. The purpose of the SIEU is to improve students’ English and enable them to join the mainstream classroom environment. Darwin High School has a habit of building strong, positive characters, and it is a reputation I am proud of, as local member for Fannie Bay.
A special thank you to Brumby’s Nightcliff for kindly donating bread for the fundraiser, Woolworths Nightcliff for contributing a voucher to provide all sauces and condiments, and a very big thank you to the South East Asian Livestock Services transport donation of clothing to Tacloban city, the area worst affected by the typhoon.
It was the students and Ms Jenkinson’s aim to raise $1400 through their sausage sizzle. In the end, they managed to raise over $3000 for those affected by the disaster. There was $3112.60 raised to be exact, which is an absolutely amazing effort over a five day period from such a small group of students and staff. I was especially pleased to see them surpass their original goal. It is indicative of the effort they put in over that week. Congratulations to everyone involved in this great community event. It was a wonderful idea and a great week. All your efforts have made a big difference.
I would like to thank my electorate officer, Lindsay Greene, who makes life and work possible. He puts in ridiculous hours. He is an incredibly nice boy, as all the lovely people who use my office say. He is polite, charming and hard-working. He comes along, as the member for Port Darwin would know, to Parap markets every Saturday. He puts in hours above and beyond and is a fantastic bloke. He does a fantastic job and I thank him for it.
Ari Margossian, who has been helping in my office, unfortunately leaves early next year and we will miss him. I wish Ari all the best in Melbourne. He is now a Territorian. He loves the place but has had to leave for Melbourne for work, though I am sure we will see him back.
I wish all colleagues in this Chamber a merry Christmas and a safe time with family and friends. Sometimes, we might be divided by more than a dispatch box during debates, no more than this morning and early afternoon, but in our hearts, the reason we stand in this Chamber is to do good for Territorians. I hope you all have a happy and safe Christmas and New Year, and we will see you all in February. I am sure we will also see the parliamentary staff, who do so much to support us in our jobs and making this place run. Thank you very much.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Mr Deputy Speaker, I pass my congratulations to Danni Mattiazzo from Larrakeyah Primary School. I have to declare an interest, as she is the teacher of one of my daughters. The reason I am congratulating her is she won the Northern Territory Department of Education’s primary school teacher of the year award , and it was well deserved.
I first met Danni when I was president of the Mitchell Street Childcare Centre, when my girls were young enough to go there. I met this vibrant, magnetic and alive personality, who was studying to become a teacher. She was successful and moved on from Mitchell Street Childcare Centre after then principal of the school, Graham Chadwick, was kind enough to take her on. I remember speaking to Graham about her and saying, ‘Look, she might be a neophyte, but she would be an asset to the staff’. She has been much more than a mere asset to staff and the school. Her presence, personality, passion and love for what she does percolates out of every pore of her being. It is no small wonder this young, proud and most excellent teacher has been very quickly able to elevate herself to a height of recognition few achieve. For the attention of members listening and for permanent posterity, I place on the Parliamentary Record my deep and warm congratulations to Danni for her extraordinary success as a teacher. I encourage other teachers to look to her as a role model for what an engaged, passionate, driven, loving teacher should look like.
I also pass on my Christmas greetings. I begin with my electorate officer, Linda Coulter, who has now been with me for a few years. Although she does not know it, when I interviewed her, she so impressed me in her deportment and disposition, she was hired before the first question was ever asked in the interview.
The other thing she does not know is that after speaking to her I discontinued any further interviews because I was happy with who I had in front of me. I am not sorry for that choice and I have not been wrong in that choice.
As a minister of the Crown, I now have many more staff and need to pass on my regards and best wishes to those members of staff. I will start with my chief of staff. Members in this House will know my chief of staff, Steve Dunham, a former minister of the Crown himself and a Health minister of the Northern Territory. He has been a rock upon who I could lean very heavily over the last 13 months. If I have in any way looked capable or competent as a minister of the Crown and Leader of Government Business, it has been almost exclusively because of his strength, wisdom and preparedness. This has enabled me to do my job, I hope, in a respectable fashion on behalf of the people of the Northern Territory.
Next in line is Sam Burke. Sam is a young, eager and very smart man. It is a sheer pleasure to have him in my office. He has a sense of humour to match his intellectual wit, and is a great fellow to have around. Rhianna Harker, who is known to many people in this House, is my ministerial officer in the area of Corrections. Once again, she is a dedicated and focused person, and I appreciate her forthrightness and dedication. Anybody who saw the way she conducted herself in two elections – the second one being pretty much a political suicide mission – with her disposition, pride, dignity and work ethic would know she could learn everything else because you cannot learn intelligence and loyalty. She has those in abundance and has clearly adapted to her new role very well.
I also place on record my gratitude to Rolf Nilsson, who I inherited, and happily so, from the previous minister’s office; I remain grateful to him for his work. Danielle Lede, my press secretary, proves herself to be right far more often than I do when it comes to matters at press. I rarely subordinate myself to her wisdom at my expense. However, I know she is what every good, hard-working person should be: honest, fearless and frank in her advice, even if it does earn her an irritable rebuke from me, particularly when she catches me at a bad moment.
Little Ms Kimberley Davey is the brightest little button you could ever have working in an office. She is a very switched on and smart young lady and a pleasure to have on board. I also thank Ms Linda Heidstra, who is my personal assistant. I lean upon her very heavily indeed. What I adore about her is her sheer sense of professionalism. In the last 12 months, I can point to one minor error, of such a trivial nature as to be of no consequence whatsoever, yet when it became apparent, she was aghast at letting the team down, which she did not. She demonstrated she continues to care passionately about what she does. In fact, the incident was so minor I have forgotten what it was; it was her response to it that is left in my memory, rather than the matter itself.
I also mention the DLOs I have in my offices at the moment: Mr Michael Cox from Corrections, Ms Lisa Brown from the Attorney-General’s department and Ms Cheryl Schmidt from Children and Families. I thank you all for your attendance and work in my office. I equally hope you are enjoying the experience and will continue to enjoy the experience for as long as you are in the office. A DLO has to show wisdom and thoughtfulness in a political office. DLOs are public servants seconded from the public service to understand what is happening in the corridors of power, so it can help them develop professionally. I hope they take that experience away. They also, as good public servants, continue to provide frank and fearless advice.
That is pretty much my office. I hope I have not missed anybody. I am standing here doing this off the top of my head. To the parliamentary staff, from Mr Clerk all the way down through the staff, thank you very much. Hansard – I know you are listening – thank you very much as well for your fine work and contribution to the people of the Northern Territory.
Last, but not least, I have to thank my wife, Dee, who continues to demonstrate a chronically bad taste in men. I am grateful for that because it means she will continue to show that bad taste. Equally, it seems to be a genetic problem because, for some strange reason, both my daughters, Ellie and Gwennie, continue to love their dad. I do not know why, maybe when they are a bit older and getting towards puberty they will wake up to themselves. In the meantime, I will continue to have fun with them.
To each of those people I have just mentioned, I wish you a merry, safe Christmas. As I wind up, I say to all members on both sides of this House, I wish you all a safe and peaceful Christmas. We continue to work in this place for the people of the Northern Territory and as I have plastered on every single door in my office – I will repeat it again. I have finished many statements and speeches in this House with the one line I will not forget – that it is not about me, the Chief Minister or any person in this room. It is for the true welfare of the people of the Northern Territory.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Mr Deputy Speaker, I assure other members I will not take the full 10 minutes.
It is has been a huge year, and I cannot believe that once again we are in December, our salutations to a year gone by. It never ceases to amaze me how quick this time of year comes around. We have done a lot of work this year, certainly as a government. Some of the achievements that come to mind are today’s MAGNT bill. It is historic and will prove a wonderful addition to the arts sector in the Northern Territory. The cricket we had last week was huge, probably the biggest global sporting event we have hosted in the Northern Territory. The sale of Territory Discoveries was significant as well. Much work was needed to bring together the leasing of Territory Discoveries to the AOT group. I know it has been a consideration of governments past and present, but we managed to lease it out. It is an enormous achievement to have reconstituted the Northern Territory Tourism commission and those results are starting to prove fruitful.
Some things came to mind as I was jotting down a couple of notes before. I would like to say some thank you’s and I will be out of here.
Thank you to my CEOs – Tony Mayell from Tourism; Phillip Leslie from Sport, Recreation and Racing; Hugo Leschen from the Department of Arts and Museums; and Anne Bradford, who is a new CEO. Anne and I have only recently begun working together, since I have taken over the portfolio of Housing, so thank you to those people, and to my former CEO for Parks and Wildlife, Andrew Bridges. Andrew and I worked together for about a year, so thank you, Andrew, for your assistance, help and guidance with Parks and Wildlife, it has been terrific. To all the respective departmental staff – fantastic effort, thank you for your support.
Thank you to my office in Darwin: my chief of staff or senior advisor, Tom Slattery; Racheal Curtain; Lisa Andrews and Judy D’Errico. Judy had a big year as well; she got married, so well done, Judy. To Chloe Morrell – Chloe is leaving us to go back to the Department of Parks and Wildlife, so thank you, Chloe, for your assistance during a short but bright stay. To Kay Maskell, my PA, and Viki Smith, my DLO from Housing, thank you to the team up there.
To some of my past staff: Tony Clementson, Paul McLaughlin, Jordan Grantham, Skye Connors and Danielle Lede, who was press secretary for me for a little while, thank you.
In Alice, thank you Jo Hansen, Karen Randell and Adrian Renzi for your support with my electorate office and the office of Central Australia in Alice Springs.
To my dear family, I could not do it without you and I love you to bits. I cannot wait to get back to Alice for some good quality time with you. Maybe we can string three or four days together. I hope we can string two or three weeks together over Christmas and have a wonderful time. It has been too long since we have done that – that is Elara, Harvey and Cleo, of course.
To my parliamentary colleagues, thank you, and particularly the member for Blain, the former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, who had the confidence to bring me into Cabinet when we were elected to government in August last year. I do thank you for that, Terry, and I appreciate the confidence and the nod you gave me. Without that, I may not be standing here today and we may not be able to list off some of those achievements which have benefited the Northern Territory. Thank you to all parliamentary colleagues, ministers and backbenchers, Mr Deputy Speaker and Madam Speaker, the member for Goyder.
To Legislative Assembly staff, thank you once again for an outstanding job. To Mr Clerk and the Clerk’s staff, thank you for your efforts this year; the drivers, who do an important job and spend a lot of their time driving us around Darwin and beyond in some cases, so thank you to Bill and the team, and to former staff of the Legislative Assembly, who have assisted me over the course of this year. They were the former Clerk, Ian McNeill and also the former maintenance man – he had a bit more of a technical title than that – but it was Tony Hibberd and he was always there. I could pick up the phone and say a light bulb was driving me crazy or the air conditioning was too hot or cold and he would be straight on to it. Tony has now left the Legislative Assembly. He left earlier this year after being here for a long time. Thank you, Tony, for all your efforts.
That is about it. There are a few others here who would like to say a few words, so thank you, one and all and to all of us in this Chamber, all parliamentary colleagues, on both sides of the House, to all the people of the Northern Territory, have a fantastic Christmas and all the best for 2014.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Mr Deputy Speaker, it is the end of the 2013 parliamentary year and I have never had a job like it. A job that blurs hours into days, days into weeks and weeks into years. I am about to walk out the door to go back home to the Barkly after another incredible year.
I would like to start with Madam Speaker and Mr Deputy Speaker. Thank you for your adjudication of this House and the great work you do in keeping the show on the road. To the Clerk and Legislative Assembly staff – as a former principal and teacher, I always strove for excellence and it was not easy. However, this is a great workplace. This is a really professional workplace, and not only professional but very collegial. Everybody does an incredible amount of work, but does it with a great sense of humour, great nature and with great support.
I would like to mention Committees staff – to Committees support staff, secretariat staff of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee and NT energy futures committee. Once again, their help is an extension of that incredible professionalism and professional support provided to MLAs of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. It has been a fascinating time, coming from government and taking a bit of a step back but a step into what is a really positive learning environment. I have mentioned a few times in the House the Sessional Committee on the Northern Territory’s Energy Future. It is a great committee, doing great work with great secretarial support.
I thank the Leader of the Opposition, the Honourable Delia Lawrie, member for Karama and the staff on the fourth floor. I always made jokes at functions when I dropped into the crowd and said, ‘You like the view on the fourth floor? Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet. It is a lot better on the fifth.’ I have been spending a bit of time on the fourth floor and I thank all of you for your great support. I roll into town and I roll out again. I come at all hours and you are always there, prepared to support me, Dawn and the family, and I thank you for that.
Thank you to my electorate officer in Barkly, Ktima Heathcote. When Nancy Cowan left after 4 years, Ktima came on board and I hope you are enjoying the ride. She is a very dynamic Tennant Creek identity. She is a former journalist, quite celebrated, who worked in London and took an exit stage left as an artist and author and worked in the creative fields, finding Tennant Creek. She has taken a step back to the right, which is quite challenging, and is now the Barkly electorate officer. Thank you, Ktima, and I am really looking forward to keeping on that track to use your creative skills for that other alternative we are looking for in supporting, servicing, communicating and advising the constituency of Barkly.
To all constituents in Barkly, from Tennant Creek and across the region, have a great Christmas and New Year season and celebration. Stay safe and we look forward to all those challenges and the great times ahead in 2014.
To the Barkly sub-branch of the Australian Labor Party, thank you, guys. We have had a great year and you are really important people to a local member, who put in a lot of effort and extra time. I love being around the Barkly sub-branch of the ALP to bounce around and share ideas and debate policy. You represent the true believers in Barkly who are serious about the implementation of best practice policy for the governance of the Northern Territory. Have a great festive season and I look forward to the work we can do next year.
The year 2013 was very much a highlight for the Barkly sub-branch of the ALP. We rallied, we got vehicles, swags and tuckerboxes and we did it again and showed that in a little over 12 months, we had turned the bush around; it came back our way. We are looking forward to debating hard, being able to use the new conservative government of the Northern Territory as a benchmark. We returned Warren Snowdon as the federal member for Lingiari. Well done guys, that was a big highlight of the year and provided plenty of debate.
Family has been mentioned; you cannot go far without mentioning family. I would like to thank Dawn once again. She spends a lot of time with me on the road and supporting the Leader of the Opposition, my colleagues and staff. When Dawn is not recruiting, training and placing people in regional jobs, she is up to her neck in politics and loves every minute of it.
To Robert, Abbi, Rhys and Judd in Cobar, it is great you are still following the trail, still interested in what is happening in Territory politics and we really enjoy whatever time we get to spend with you.
Well done to Thomas and Maria McCarthy. Thank you for your support from a distance, but it is always great to catch up. Thomas, congratulations, I believe it is just over 200 hours on the jumbo. That is a story in itself, mate, from when you started as a nipper, you went to the back of the line, worked your way to the front to be in a machine feeding the rest of the process line for those miners and their families. Well done, sonny boy. It is not a bad effort at your age, keep safe. Maria, you are doing an incredible job down there as well.
To Joseph McCarthy – Joey, it was good to have you home in Tennant Creek for the year. Congratulations on the studies and your work as an assistant teacher at Tennant Creek Primary School, specialising in students with challenging behaviour. Well done, mate, there is a family trait there.
To Jan and Cecelia McCarthy – Cecelia, congratulations on your NAPLAN results this year – above the state and national average. Jan is a real professor of mathematics, Cecelia is excelling in literacy, fantastic work. To Dr Lynn, good to have you in the Top End and I look forward to catching up with you; Tim, Judy, Hannah, Daniel and Ella, great work this year. You have a beautiful family and congratulations on all the good news.
To Jenny, Dawn’s sister and the kids: Jenny manages to keep her own kids together alongside 11 foster kids in a good family network. These are not 11 foster kids one at a time, but 11 all together. Well done, Jenny, and I have learned a lot from you about being a member of the Legislative Assembly.
To Gary and Jackie on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, I hope the harvest goes well and thank you for the continual contact and support you provide, Steve McVay, the political animal who texts me and takes a great interest in Northern Territory politics, I appreciate all your advice. To Glen and Tracy in Borroloola – Glen, I will try to organise as many CLP as I can find to send to you and you give them that rough justice from La Perouse, mate. You can certainly hold the floor and give them a good education.
To my colleagues in the Territory opposition team, thank you, it has been a great year. It was a very challenging transition because we were doing some amazing work in government, but then had to turn it around quite radically, and we have. It is a great team, a lot smaller, and we do not have the resources. I cannot thank all those fantastic people we worked with because they are all gone, but it is a great opportunity to work with you and I look forward to the New Year.
Good health and happiness to everyone for the festive season. Be safe, and I look forward to working with everybody again in another year as the member for Barkly in the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory.
On a last note: a little cheek. To the drivers, I only get to see you now with a wave and a smile across the car park. The cheeky part of it is, on 26 August 2016, I have booked a car to pick me up in Tennant Creek. Guys, keep that booking open, because 2013 has not cancelled that booking. I hope 2014 puts a little more certainty into it. This has been a great opportunity to get up and have a good yack in parliament, thanks everyone and cheers.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for the lovely Christmas gift. The year 2013 was a dramatic year like none of the 14 before it. For those who observed and understood it, they would realise it has been a period of significant personal adjustment. That is an adjustment I have been able to make, guided by my instinct, as always, to endeavour to serve the best interests of Territorians. I acknowledge in that period of adjustment, the year started in one way and I am now in the seat I sat in when I entered parliament in 1999. That period of adjustment has required me to consider how I can best make a contribution.
That has meant I have, perhaps, not served my electorate as well as I would like. I seek, through having a break during the Christmas period, to come back with renewed vigour. I acknowledge the tremendous support I receive from Fiona Lynch in serving the good people of the Blain electorate and the people of Palmerston generally. I know it has been a difficult period for Fiona, and I thank you for the work and support you have provided during this difficult period.
In the parliament over many years, and close to 12 years in opposition, I have made many speeches. I have not given many speeches in the last nine months, but I look forward to making an increased contribution in the New Year. Our job is not a job done unless we see the results in people around the Northern Territory, and that is something I will continue to contribute to.
I acknowledge the support I receive from many people around our community, particularly from my dear wife for whom this has also been a difficult period. I thank you, Ros, for your support over the last 30 and more years, and look forward, in 2014, to continuing our work together in serving the best interests of our community.
I acknowledge, too, our children, Kristen and her husband Peter Grove in Kununurra, and most especially, our two grandchildren, Alex and Aaron. Matthew, it has been good having you back home in the Top End. Our family seems a lot closer now than it has for a very long time. One of the results of this dramatic year is I have had a little more time to spend with my family, which I have appreciated, and I trust they have too.
I acknowledge the people of Blain I have served for many years. Thank you for your forbearance in allowing me time to come back. I very much appreciate working with the seniors, but I acknowledge – as I was looking through some old photographs the other day – it is so sad that many of the seniors I have worked with for so many years have passed away. They are the life of our community. I particularly acknowledge Margot Cox and the wonderful work she has done for many years with the community wheel in the Palmerston Shopping Centre. I admire and respect you for the work you have done in quietly contributing to the life of the Palmerston community for more years than I have been a member of parliament. There are many others who would be delighted if I mention their names, but I will, as promised, speak more in the new year, when I have more time, to acknowledge their fine service. I wish, though, to speak about something I have particularly enjoyed in my time here. Every year, I note there are people we seem to walk past each day and maybe take for granted – Hansard staff, I know you hear our words and I pity you at times. You do a remarkable job and I often think of you.
For those behind the scenes who support us in our endeavours in parliament, your names have been mentioned and I acknowledge you once again. I would like to mention the cleaners. I see those cleaners and like to say hello; there are many that come and go, but there are two in particular and they are Siri Walker – you are a very special person. Siri is our day cleaner, and to Maria Ferreira, our night supervisor, you are familiar faces who add something pretty special to our parliament. To the security team, we see you every day, every time we come in, no matter what hour of the day or night and you are here. You have become familiar faces and a part of our job. I acknowledge you and respect you for the work you do. Michael Caldwell, Esther, Bob, Bronwyn, David, Vineet, Mark, Chandra, Yanni, Sajjad and Shane, thank you for your work in providing security for us in this parliament.
To our Assembly staff, who I have acknowledged generally, there are two specifically. That does not mean others are not valued, but Annette and Steven, Stokesy and Annette – so many years in here, they are familiar faces and I acknowledge them for the service they provide, year after year; to the IT guys, Mark Trobbiani for keeping a cool head and solving complex problems and to Anton, it has been good to get to know you recently.
I also acknowledge Tasma, my electorate officer. We have worked together for many years and you do a fine job now in providing support for electorate officers across the Territory. You are still very much a part of what we do in Blain and always will be. Thank you for your constant support.
As I have acknowledged, this has been a period of adjustment and that has been understood. I appreciate the space I have been given, but the break ahead of me is an opportunity to reset my agenda for 2014, and I am certainly looking to next year. That agenda has always been, as the member for Port Darwin also cited, to advance the true welfare of all Territorians. As we move on, we need to consider the legacy we will leave. That is something I am particularly mindful of now I have grandchildren. How will they remember their grandfather? These considerations, this refreshment I have with my family and particularly my mother – we come together from time to time with my brothers, sister, son, daughter and grandchildren. It will be a very special time with our cousins as well, all spending time together in Western Australia. I am certainly looking forward to 2014 and making a much stronger contribution and adding value where best I can.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise this evening, the very last parliamentary sitting day for 2014.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: 2013.
Ms WALKER: It is 2013. Am I a year ahead of myself? That is how time flies. It has been an extraordinary week. Less than a week ago, devastating news was dropped upon my community and home of Nhulunbuy. It has been my home for more than 23 years, and the home of many others who are devastated by the news Rio has decided to curtail its operations within an absolutely brutal time frame, commencing next month, winding down by the end of August. Eleven hundred jobs will go. We will see the population go from 4000 to 1500 people. It is devastating news. I have consistently called upon Rio to reconsider that time frame, to think of the people there who need time to prepare.
Sadly, disappointingly and shamefully, the Northern Territory government and Chief Minister Adam Giles are nowhere in that space. They are taking a backseat, saying it is a mining town that has nothing to do with them, and that is shameful. The community is adjusting to the news. There are no plans in place to assist the community, residents and business owners who stand to lose so much, but I look forward to getting home and being back in my community over the weekend.
I take this opportunity in the final adjournment debate on the final sitting day of 2013 to acknowledge some of the incredible achievements in my community. On 25 October, which was World Teachers’ Day, I attended the graduation at Yirrkala of a number of graduates from Batchelor Institute, and I want to acknowledge those people who received their certificates.
For Certificate III in Conservation and Land Management, congratulations to Yupunu Marika, an incredible woman, a single mum with four kids, a hard-working individual and certainly a fantastic role model for her community. Gathapura Mununggurr also graduated with his Certificate III. Both are in full-time employment with Dhimurru and congratulations to them.
The Certificate III in Education Support was presented to the following people: Laminggirra Ganambarr, Metjmitj Mununggurr, Bulungguwuy Mununggurr, Birrpunu Mununggurr, Ngatjalpi Wanambi, Djalumbu Ngurruwutthun, Gunururr Ngurruwutthun, Yekariwuy Marika, Bronson Militjumburr Dhamarrandji and Mary Minydjalurr Dhamarrandji.
For receiving the Diploma of Education Support, congratulations to Djuna Wunungmurra, Lombinga Mununggurr, Teleta Gutkut Munyarryun and Rurruwiliny Ngurruwutthun.
That is 14 graduates with education support who are employed in roles with Yirrkala Homeland School or Yirrkala School. It is a fantastic achievement given they continued to work, study, look after their busy family lives and reach those achievements. The sad part is there is no guarantee of jobs for these people next year, with the savage cuts we have seen in education. To remove or reduce Yolngu classroom support teachers is shameful, and I wish these people well and hope and pray there are jobs for them next year.
I want to also congratulate Multhara Mununggurr and Nalwarri Ngurruwutthun who, on that same day, were recognised for their lifetime of dedication to education in the East Arnhem region. Both women are retiring from education and their achievements and advocacy for the importance of education over the years has been phenomenal.
Also on 25 October, World Teachers’ Day, there were a number of awards and nominations and I am sorry I do not have the list of nominations in front of me. They were announced in Nhulunbuy at the Arnhem Club that afternoon. I was incredibly disappointed, as the local member, not to receive an invitation to attend those presentation awards for the first time ever, but I guess that is what you get with such a spiteful CLP government.
However, I would like to place on the record some of the recipients of awards.
The Arnhem Support Staff Member of the Year and NT Support Staff Member of the Year was Lombinga Mununggurr. It was a double celebration for her because earlier that day, Lombinga had been presented with her Diploma in Education Support.
The Arnhem Primary Teacher of the Year went to Andrew McLaughlin, who has taught for a few years at Nhulunbuy Primary School and has an amazing reputation. Congratulations, Andrew. The Arnhem Early Childhood Teacher of the Year went to Jenni McDonald, who is also at Nhulunbuy Primary School. Once again, Nhulunbuy Primary School was in the spotlight, winning the School Excellence Award for the Arnhem, Palmerston and Rural District. I want to acknowledge staff and teachers at Nhulunbuy Primary School, who are so dedicated under the leadership of Principal Matt Watson.
Nhulunbuy BMX club has had a very big year. They celebrated its 30th anniversary. It competed in the BMX titles held at Satellite City in Palmerston in September. There were some outstanding results from the titles. Among the nine-year old boys group, first place was taken out by Jacob Brine. Among the 11-year old girls, first place in the Territory was taken out by Charli Leahy. Charli’s mum and dad, Ken and Donna, do incredible work with the local BMX club in Nhulunbuy, as do all the mums and dads.
In the age group 17+ men, third place was taken out by James Miegel, and in the 8 to 10 year boys cruiser age group, third place was taken out again by Jacob Brine. Well done, Jacob, and to all riders who participated. There was a fairly sizeable contingent from Nhulunbuy, as there always is at these things. The tyranny of distance does not stop Gove people from travelling to compete at events, and congratulations to them.
Gove tennis club held its club presentation night on 9 November. Congratulations to all players, coaches, volunteers and committee members for their efforts. It was a huge night. There were more than 100 people who sat down to dinner at the Arnhem Club and were treated to a fantastic night; and accolades, as always, to our club coach manager. Nicky Mayer has done an incredible job over the years, as have members of the committee. I want to highlight the role of president, Paul Mery, in the past three to four years he has been on the committee.
Congratulations to Club Volunteer of the Year, Eugene Venter, who was also Club Volunteer of the Year for Tennis NT. Congratulations to Eugene, Chantelle and their two daughters, who have recently become citizens.
Club Ambassador of the Year went to Harry Walker. I claim him as my son and am proud he had that recognition.
The Junior Encouragement Award went to Jackson Dun, and Caitlyn Mitchell was awarded the Coach’s Award, Tennis NT Junior Incentive Award, as well as winning the Tennis NT Senior Points Circuit. She has a great career in front of her. Keep an eye out for that name in future tournaments. Good luck to you, Caitlyn. The Gove tennis club also won the 2013 Tennis NT Club of the Year, which is the fourth year in a row the club has been awarded this title. The club has had recognition at national level in the past couple of years, with Tennis Australia and Newcombe Medal awards.
Once again, the Gove Peninsula Surf Life Saving Club showed what a very strong club it has when it held club presentations in November. The following people received awards as finalists from the 2012-13 Surf Lifesaving Australia national awards: Assessor of the Year, Bernie Whelan; Athlete of the Year, Alan Cross; Official of the Year, Tara Canobie and Club of the Year, Gove Peninsula Surf Life Saving Club.
The Surf Rescue Certificate Champion Lifesaver female went to Savanne Canobie; the Bronze Medallion Champion Lifesaver male award went to Alan Cross and the female recipient was Madelaine Barnett.
The Lifetime Patrol Hour Milestones for those people up to 100 hours were: Grant Barnett, Matt Houston, Blake McMahon, John O’Neal and John Papple. Serving members for up to 200 hours was Luke Hutchinson; up to 400 hours, Sheena Rudolph; up to 600 hours, Denise Marrable; and up to 700 hours, Bernie Whelan, who is a life member of the club.
The 2013 Most Patrol Hours Surf Rescue Certificate went to Savanne Canobie, recognising 27.75 hours in the 2013 season; the Bronze Medallion went to Alan Cross, who clocked up 54.25 hours; Official of the Year was Bernie Whelan; Patrol Captain of the Year was Tony Kelly; Patrol of the Year was Yellow Patrol; Young Achiever of the Year was Savanne Canobie once again; and Volunteer of the Year went to Dave and Cathy Forbes. Dave and Cathy Forbes have run the bar at the club for a couple of years, and without their volunteer support in taking on that role, things just would not happen.
I want to thank volunteers in our community who take on these roles. We are all worried about what the future holds for our clubs – the golf club, squash club, fishing club, surf club – which have, cumulatively, millions of dollars invested in their assets. There is no sign from the Northern Territory government of how they might be supported and/or saved. We know there will not be the army of volunteers when you see the population go from 4000 to 1500. I worry what the future holds. Gove people are resilient. We know the community will build back up in time, but that does not provide us with much comfort today.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: One of the privileges of sitting in this chair is you get to have the last word. On that note, I also thank all staff in this building for the help they have given me through this year. I also thank MLAs on both sides of the House who have given me much advice.
I thank my son, Joshua, who was my electorate from the time I was elected until a couple of months ago when Bess Price stole him. I thank him for helping set up that office. To Viv, the new electorate officer, I am sure next year will be very productive and I am glad she is with me.
The last person I thank is a very close friend of mine and companion, my wife, Rhonda. Without her with me all the time, I know I could not do this job properly. Thank you very much, I love you dearly.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016