2013-11-26
Madam Speaker Purick took the Chair at 10 am.
LEAVE TO GIVE NOTICE
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I seek leave to give notice that on the next General Business Day I will move a motion.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, this is unusual. There is a perfectly good opportunity to give notice at the normal time of 2 pm.
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Given there is no business or question before the Chair, I have sought advice from the Clerk’s office and understand I am able to seek leave to put this motion.
Mr ELFERINK: She can seek leave, Madam Speaker, but unless there is an argument to the contrary she can go through normal processes.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Speaking to the motion, if afforded the opportunity to continue, the member for Nhulunbuy will move a motion for General Business Day – so not out of the order of business – on Gas to Gove.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, please be seated.
Leave not granted.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I seek leave to move a motion debating Gas to Gove. We are seeking leave to move a motion for General Business Day tomorrow to debate Gas to Gove ...
Mr Elferink: You can do it at 2 pm.
Ms LAWRIE: Yes, we could give notice to move the motion at 2 pm this afternoon, but what is your problem in allowing the member for Nhulunbuy to speak this morning and put on the public record her concern, and her community’s concerns, about the announcement from Rio Tinto today? Why are you being so mean as to reject the member for Nhulunbuy putting on the public record this morning a motion which, ultimately, will be debated on Wednesday?
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): In response, Madam Speaker, the answer is quite straightforward. This does not bring the debate on any quicker; it still comes on at 5.30 pm tomorrow. Whether you give leave now or at 2 pm today makes not one jot of difference. It is outside the normal protocols of this House and the answer is no.
Leave not granted.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received Message No 12 from Her Honour the Administrator notifying assent to the bills passed in the October sittings. The message is dated 18 November 2013.
Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I seek leave to move a motion.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Prior to Question Time we had the government question the opposition on the nature of the motion before we could respond to seeking leave. Could you give us the same courtesy? I am assuming it is the typhoon motion, but if you could give us a heads up on the nature of the motion?
Leave granted.
Mr GILES (Chief Minister)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that, in recognition of the devastating natural disaster that has struck the Philippines and the distress it has caused on the Northern Territory’s large Filipino-Australian community, this Assembly:
(a) notes the severity of the typhoon that struck the Philippines on Friday 8 November 2013, destroying buildings, homes and infrastructure and causing enormous loss of life
(b) notes the complex emergency response that has swung into action to treat the injured, prevent the outbreak of disease and rebuild vital infrastructure
(c) acknowledges members of Darwin’s National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre who are now on the ground in the Philippines providing emergency medical care to victims of the disaster
(d) notes the concern of the local Filipino-Australian community about the situation and acknowledges their tireless fundraising efforts for victims of the typhoon
(e) acknowledges the support of Territorians who have given generously to the relief appeals
(f) notes the enormous recovery effort now facing the Philippines and pledges the Territory’s ongoing support over the difficult months ahead.
It is with great sadness I discuss today this tragedy, but also with great pride in the way Territorians have responded.
More than 5000 people are confirmed to have died when super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines earlier this month. The powerful weather system tore cities apart, ripping buildings from their foundations, destroying homes and crushing residents beneath the debris. The first responders reported that four huge cargo vessels had been lifted out of the ocean and swept hundreds of metres into the centre of Tacloban. An Australian Red Cross relief worker who was one of the first to arrive in Tacloban described a city that was unrecognisable, with devastation everywhere and people wandering in a daze to find shelter. She described heartbreaking loss of life and the stench of dead bodies yet to be recovered from the debris. It is a humanitarian disaster of staggering proportions and we cannot underestimate the impact it has had on the large Filipino community in the Northern Territory.
I acknowledge the Philippine Honorary Consul General to the Northern Territory, John Rivas. He leads an 8000-strong Filipino community in the Northern Territory which has been completely rocked by this disaster, many of whom do not know the fate of loved ones caught up in the emergency. On behalf of the Northern Territory government, I express my great sympathy to those Filipinos in Darwin and beyond who have lost their friends and relatives in the devastating typhoon.
The Filipino community is the Territory’s second-largest cultural group with communities in Katherine, Alice Springs, Darwin, Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy. They have all rallied together in an impressive grassroots effort to raise thousands of dollars for victims of the typhoon.
I attended the Filipino Association’s recent fundraising concert at Marrara where I was overwhelmed by the support from the community, the community spirit and the compassion that was on display. I was particularly touched by the story of a young boy who came along and donated all of his pocket money to the appeal. In all, they raised more than $20 000, an impressive effort by any standard. Some of the organisers of the concert may be here with us in the gallery today, and I pay tribute to their efforts over the past few weeks. It is truly inspiring to see the way they have come together to help compatriots in need. The government stands ready to assist as you plan further fundraisers in the weeks and months ahead.
On behalf of all Territorians, the government has contributed $10 000 to the Australian Red Cross Typhoon Appeal. The money will be used to provide relief to shattered communities through the provision of emergency supplies, clean water facilities and shelter. All of these are vital resources that are desperately needed in the aftermath of the typhoon. All money raised by the Australian Red Cross appeal will also help send specialist aid workers to assist in immediate relief and longer-term recovery programs. This will add to the many thousands of dollars donated by members of the wider Territory community. I thank all Territorians for giving so generously to this hugely worthy cause.
Of course, the Northern Territory also has a more formal role to play in responding to this disaster. Our National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre at Royal Darwin Hospital had a medical team on the ground in the Philippines within days of the typhoon hitting. The first 37-member team has already treated hundreds of patients from its mobile field hospital at Tacloban Airport. Most of this team are Territory government employees and I salute them for all the difficult, but important, work they are doing. A second rotation is due to leave Darwin tomorrow, and I hope to be there to wish them well, but will check on those timings. I thank all of the centre staff for their contribution to this emergency response.
This is exactly the kind of regional emergency the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre was established to respond to. It was set up in Darwin by former Prime Minister John Howard in the wake of the Bali bombings to provide a rapid regional response to an unfolding emergency. Who could forget the role the Royal Darwin Hospital played in the days that followed the Kuta bombings? The wounded were brought in by planeload from Denpasar, then ferried in convoy from the airport by a procession of ambulances to the Royal Darwin Hospital where they received world-class medical care. Thanks to the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, we are now able to share some of those top-class medical skills in the field as emergencies unfold.
The centre has certainly proven its value in recent weeks. Be assured, the Northern Territory government will do whatever it can to assist with the trauma centre’s efforts over the difficult days and weeks ahead.
In closing, I reiterate my sadness at the enormous loss of life in Typhoon Haiyan and pledge the Territory’s help to do whatever it can to help to recover and rebuild. The Filipino community is an important part of the Territory’s multicultural fabric and we will stand shoulder to shoulder with you as you support your loved ones back home.
The Territory has always seen itself as being part of Asia, and I am proud we have been able to play a role in assisting our regional neighbours in their time of great need.
Mr Deputy Speaker, my heart goes out.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Mr Deputy Speaker, I speak in support of the motion moved by the Chief Minister, and I thank him for bringing the motion to the Chamber. It is certainly one of those occasions that transcend politics, when we speak with one voice on behalf of Territorians to support those whose lives have been shattered by the lethal power of nature.
We have all seen media coverage and heard eyewitness accounts of the loss of life, injury and destruction of homes and infrastructure when super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines with devastating force on Friday 8 November this year. We have seen the images of bewilderment and shock on the faces of children and families, and we have heard their cries for help. We have seen parents grieving for lost children and the frantic attempts of families, friends and emergency teams to save the injured. The magnitude of this disaster has truly been overwhelming.
Super Typhoon Haiyan destroyed entire towns across a long stretch of islands in the central Philippines. The typhoon brought winds of 315 kmph – the strongest ever recorded – and generated tsunami-like storm surges which literally flattened dozens of towns. In the coastal city of Tacloban, one of the worst hit areas, 5 m waves surged deep inland, destroying most buildings.
The confirmed death toll from the typhoon exceeds 5000, with more than 1600 people still missing. Even though authorities evacuated 800 000 people ahead of the typhoon, the death toll was high because schools, churches and government buildings could not withstand the power of wind and water. One-and-a-half-million children are at risk of extreme malnutrition, and 800 000 pregnant and nursing mothers need nutritional help. More than four million people have lost their homes. There have been mass hillside burials of the dead. There are extreme shortages of water, shelter, fuel, clothes and medicine.
The survivors have described their desperate need for food and medicine after losing everything in the storm. There are many stories of loss, suffering and sorrow. Sky News reported that one woman, eight months pregnant, described, through tears, how her 11 family members vanished in the storm, including two daughters:
she said.
A survivor from the island of Leyte said:
These words ring so true for me, a survivor of Cyclone Tracy. The sheer devastation brings back those horrible memories of the time in 1974 when we saw devastation to our city, loss of life and a desperate struggle for most basic essentials such as water, food and shelter. We were fortunate that we were in the lucky country of Australia. We saw our nation mobilise and bring significant forces to us, deployed through the Australian Defence Forces to quickly give us the basics in life: access to water, food, temporary shelter and to the best possible medical care.
After Cyclone Tracy, a huge evacuation effort ensued to get the bulk of the population out of the town in order to have access to the services people take for granted in their lives every day.
I know what it is like to wander around your neighbourhood to homes to see whether or not that family lived. I know what it is like to see notes pinned to the remaining parts of a house letting you know they survived. I know what it is like to be a survivor who knows people who were not so lucky, who lost family members, who suffered horrific injuries.
My heart goes out to the people in the Philippines because I also know that right now, today, they are genuinely struggling to survive horrific injuries and to get the care and the basics they need to survive.
The challenges in the Philippines are immense. The people of the Philippines need emergency relief and support in their long road to recovery. Rebuilding will take years. The global community, United Nations countries and our humanitarian charity organisations have embarked on a massive aid and recovery program. I am proud of the contribution from the Australian state and territory governments, and I congratulate our government for the Northern Territory’s contribution to the victims of the typhoon. I am inspired and uplifted by the contribution of our wonderful Australian Filipino community and the wider Territory community for its support for the victims of super Typhoon Haiyan.
Two Saturdays ago it was my honour to attend, with my colleagues the members for Casuarina, Wanguri and Johnston, a fundraiser organised by the Filipino Australian Association of the Northern Territory in Darwin to support victims of the typhoon. It was a wonderful and uplifting function, albeit very moving because of the tragic circumstances which brought it to bear. There were some 2000 people in attendance at a function delivered within only a few days of the disaster. There was that sense of loss. There was mourning for those who had died, for the injured, the homeless and those who are hungry, sick and desperate. There was also great strength, hope and optimism for the future and a commitment to provide ongoing support for the victims of the typhoon and to rebuild the regions devastated by winds and water.
The event raised $42 700. That came through the Red Cross Typhoon Haiyan appeal, with the volunteers present collecting some $12 700. The Filipino Association, FAANT, raised some $20 000 in direct donations, and the Northern Territory government responded to the call and contributed $10 000.
I am sure all honourable members will join with me in thanking the people who donated to this very worthy cause. Our congratulations are extended to the President of FAANT, the Filipino Australian Association of the Northern Territory, Oscar Parian, and the Vice-President Judith Ventic, and all the executive committee who worked so hard to pull this function together and who have shown such strong leadership during such difficult times for our Filipino community.
To the Honorary Consul of the Philippines, John Rivas, we give our thanks, support and acknowledgement of his leadership. He has been a tireless worker for his Filipino community and is at the forefront of ensuring everything that can be done is done to support the community and to reach out to their families, some of whom they are still trying to locate in the aftermath of this terrible tragedy.
The emcee, the entertainers, the performers and the many volunteers on the night all pulled together at such short notice to do their bit to support the victims of the super typhoon. I know the Australian Filipino community across the Territory has been galvanising from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek, Katherine and Nhulunbuy in each of their fundraising efforts to support the victims of the typhoon. Our Filipino community has been calling on its Catholic faith to get them through this most trying of times. I acknowledge the support of the Catholic Church through the leadership of Bishop Eugene Hurley.
There is another inspiring group of Australians who the people of the Philippines and our local community are indebted to. I refer to the men and women of our National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre which deployed to the Philippines, to the front lines, to try to save lives. These are highly-trained and dedicated professionals who went to treat the injured and the sick and to restore essential services vital to the health of the people. We saw vision of the field hospitals they established.
These members of the NCCTRC are people of courage and character who put their own safety on the line to support the needs of the victims of an incredible disaster. We are justifiably very proud of them. Their work is immensely appreciated by the government, the people of the Philippines and our local Filipino community. We have been praying for their safe return, as we pray for the second deployment heading to the Philippines.
I express my appreciation to Dr Len Notaras for his leadership of the NCCTRC. His professionalism and generosity are valued by his peers and colleagues, and I know the Filipino community is ever so grateful.
As I said earlier, this is a time for sorrow and mourning, but also a time for hope and optimism. There was a wonderful symbol of this in Tacloban, one of the worst hit cities where officials believe 10 000 people may have perished, with a baby girl born in extraordinary circumstances. Her mother was in a shelter when the typhoon hit and a storm flooded the city. She clung to a post to survive and managed to reach the relative safety of the airport where a military doctor delivered the baby. Despite the devastation and suffering, tears broke out at the airport; the human spirit is strong.
I know the road to recovery will be incredibly long and arduous, having been through our own disaster here with Tracy. Along with the international community – as they always do in a crisis – Territorians have stood up, galvanised and been incredibly resourceful in responding magnificently to this humanitarian crisis. Our thoughts and prayers go to our Filipino community in Darwin and to their families in the Philippines. Our support goes to the Filipinos here and abroad, with the hope that the best possible recovery occurs as quickly as possible.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the government for bringing this motion to the House, and I commend the motion.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Health): Mr Deputy Speaker, I speak to support the Chief Minister’s motion and to thank him for bringing it to our attention. I echo the words and sentiment of the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition on this dreadful natural disaster and how it has affected the lives of Filipino people across the world, and also non-Filipino people who have strong connections to what is the second largest cultural group in the Northern Territory, the Filipino community.
This natural disaster has affected just about every community across Australia, not to mention across the Philippines itself. Being from Alice Springs, I was reading the Centralian Advocate last week, where there was a heart-wrenching story about a group of Filipino residents of Alice Springs expressing fear for the safety of the Kennedy family, of about six people, I understand, who were in the Philippines at the time. They were overcome with grief and fear that they had lost this family. In the following edition, we discovered this family was safe and well. No doubt, there are countless stories of loss, and also of joy at finding that people’s loved ones, friends and family have escaped the grief of this terrible natural disaster.
Today, once again, I primarily acknowledge the outstanding contribution of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre. This is a Commonwealth government initiative or program that is based at the Royal Darwin Hospital. It is headed up by Dr Len Notaras, who has been with this program from its inception after the Bali bombings. Dr Len Notaras is the Executive Director of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre and has worked tirelessly for many years to establish what is definitely a first-class crisis response unit that is ready, at literally a moment’s notice, to respond to natural disasters across the globe. It provides a rapid response crisis service and, indeed, on Friday 8 November, when Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre was poised, ready to respond. Within days, the first team of 37 medical practitioners, experts, was on its way to the Philippines.
It was amazing, it was an emotional time just to be standing on the sidelines as I was, hearing and seeing what this incredible group of professional people were doing to contribute to the relief effort for the Philippines.
The first team dispatched was called Team Alpha and comprised 37 medical professionals headed up by Dr Ian Norton, the Director of Disaster Response and Preparedness. That group of 37 health professionals and logisticians were primarily from the Northern Territory. It was such an incredibly proud moment for all of us within government, opposition and the Darwin and Northern Territory community to know we were the main movers and shakers heading across so quickly to help the people of the Philippines. We helped commence this enormous task of responding to the critical health needs of these people who had been subjected to what the Leader of the Opposition so eloquently described as an extremely shocking and traumatising event.
The National Critical Care and Trauma Response team will be dispatching its second team, also comprising of 37 health professionals and logisticians, on Wednesday, which is tomorrow. It will be taking the place of the first team, Team Alpha. Team Bravo will then step in and continue the good work that commenced just two weeks ago.
This typhoon only happened 18 days ago. To me it feels like we have been responding and hearing the stories of pain and suffering for a lot longer. It is such an intense time for the people of the Philippines and for people who are directly affected by this terrible disaster.
The second contingent is made up of doctors, including surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, paramedics, an environmental health doctor, pharmacists and logisticians. It consists of personnel from all states and territories across Australia and New Zealand. It will include one team leader. The team leader for Team Bravo is Dr Nick Coatsworth. He will be accompanied by 12 doctors, including two surgeons, two anaesthetists, seven emergency physicians and an environmental health doctor. Also included will be 15 nurses, including four operating theatre nurses, two paramedics, six logisticians and one pharmacist.
Along with 14 members of the team from the Northern Territory, there are six from Western Australia and Victoria, four from South Australia and two from Queensland. New South Wales, the ACT, Tasmania and New Zealand are each providing one team member.
These are people who are highly specialised and highly skilled to be able to respond to these critical incidents, wherever they may be. It is with great pride, as I said before, that we are once again punching above our weight in the Northern Territory in responding to this crisis.
The first 37-member Australian medical assistance team, called AUSMAT, that departed Darwin on Wednesday 13 November has already established a base at Tacloban airport and is performing vital medical work and surgical operations at its field hospital.
Equipment taken with the first AUSMAT included: a 50-bed deployable field hospital, an X-ray facility, two operating theatres, medical supplies to treat up to 4000 people and perform 200 operations, five triage outpatient tents and food and water purification equipment. Seeing this operation is necessary to really understand and comprehend the sophistication and professional nature of what we are talking about here. The AUSMAT is functioning as a surgical hub for Tacloban and is managing the public health needs of the population surrounding the airport, an enormous responsibility and an enormous contribution.
Since last Saturday, the team has performed 100 surgeries and has treated more than 710 outpatient cases and 144 inpatient cases, who presented with a range of conditions from severe head injuries, spinal and long bone fractures, to minor injuries and wounds. The doctors are also dealing with contaminated wounds, tetanus and other diseases.
Like the first team, the second AUSMAT deployment is being coordinated by the Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre. As the Chief Minister said, the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre was established by former Prime Minister John Howard in response to the Bali bombings to deal with large scale crises. The medical work being undertaken in the Philippines is yet another example of the importance of having such a high-class and professional rapid response crisis centre based in Darwin.
All team members have undergone specific AUSMAT training to prepare them for the challenges they will face. The Territory’s doctors, nurses and allied health professionals do a tremendous job every day in our cities, towns and communities. We should all feel very proud of the role these wonderful professionals play in times of need throughout our region.
On behalf of Country Liberals members, I wish the second AUSMAT contingent a safe and productive deployment. Our thoughts are not only with the local Filipino community and its loved ones affected by this horrible tragedy, but also with the AUSMAT team members, their families and their loved ones. It is with the goodwill of the entire community that you leave, and we look forward to welcoming you home safely once your important work is complete.
Ms MANISON (Wanguri): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support this motion to show our support for our friends from the Philippines. It is very clear that Territorians have been moved by the impact of Typhoon Haiyan and the devastation it has left. It has been heartening to see the swift action taken across the Territory to help the victims of the typhoon in a range of ways. It shows how close we really are in Australia to the Philippines and how much we value the contribution of the Filipino community in enriching our lives in the Territory. As a parliament, it is wonderful that we have come together in a bipartisan way to support the Philippines in its recovery efforts from the recent events it has endured.
When you see these events of mass destruction you are often left wondering how you can really help. Supporting the efforts of the Territory community and the contributions of the Territory government certainly goes forward in a positive way. Today we can also express our sincere best wishes and our continued support and commitment to the victims and their families as they now embark on a journey of rebuilding.
It is little wonder there has been such a huge outpouring of support from Territorians wanting to help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. For me, growing up in Darwin, having Filipino friends was a part of life. You would struggle to find a Darwin kid who does not have Filipino mates. We can proudly say we have a very large Filipino community in the Territory, with a long and proud history here, which has contributed to the community in so many ways and continues to do so today.
As a kid in Darwin it seemed that whenever I was around one of my Filipino friends’ homes their families always welcomed you with open arms and they always had a ton of food left over from one of their own family catch ups or another gathering of the Filipino community. It was clear the Filipino community was strong, extremely active, united and proud, and that has not changed.
We have already seen the Territory’s Filipino community unite and take charge in helping their family and friends from the moment it was clear the typhoon was going to deliver some terrible results. All the experts said it was going to be a huge storm. It was awful to know this storm was going to hit people who did not necessarily have the infrastructure around them for protection. I can only imagine the stress, worry and fear people with family and friends in the Philippines were left feeling as they waited for the storm to pass. Watching the devastating events unfold after the typhoon had hit was absolutely tragic. It has been hard to watch the misery this horrendous typhoon has caused and the pain families are now suffering. There has been an overwhelming loss of life and families torn apart by the deaths of their loved ones. We have seen awful scenes of people losing their loved ones. We have seen too many people taken away. The pictures of mass burials could not be more confronting in showing how many people have been lost and the number of people who are now left without them. It has been such a sad reminder of how fragile life really is.
There have also been high levels of trauma and injuries amongst those who survived the typhoon. There is now the challenge of fighting off sickness in the aftermath of this storm, while housing, buildings and important infrastructure have been flattened. People have lost all of their possessions and, for so many, they had very little to begin with, so rebuilding their lives will be that much harder.
There is such a long road ahead for the survivors. It is hard to fathom being in their position and the years it will take to move forward. I struggle to comprehend how people can get by after going through such a devastating event, with so few resources to rebuild their lives. As Territorians, we understand the devastation that can be felt when severe weather events occur. We are all too familiar with the anticipation of cyclones and the damage they are capable of causing. It also forges another special bond between the Territory and the Philippines. Darwin has gone through massive devastation before and, as my colleague, the Leader of the Opposition said, the rebuilding process is long and tough but the resilience of the people will get them through.
It has been wonderful to see the swift action the local Filipino community has taken to help its families and friends from the moment the typhoon hit. To see pictures on the news of the local Filipino community in Darwin gathering and planning ways to advise the government on how to help out and what help was needed, and ways they could bring urgent assistance to those in need, was fantastic.
Most of us here have been involved in organising some pretty big events in our lives to raise money for sporting clubs, charities, schools and so on. When you organise those types of events you get a pretty good appreciation of how much effort goes into it. With that said, I was so impressed with what an incredibly hard-working and organised community the Filipino Australian Association of the NT is and how quickly it put together the One Big Jam fundraiser at the Filipino Centre. To get that much food donated, great entertainment and word out about the event in just a week was amazing. It was a huge and heart-warming event and it was great to see people from all walks of life there, supporting the Philippines. It raised a total of $42 700. What a huge effort.
It was clear that under the strong leadership of our local Filipino community they would raise the funds to get help in place for the victims. Congratulations to the President, Mr Oscar Parian, the Vice President Judith Ventic, the executive committee of the Filipino Australian Association of the NT and the Honorary Consul for the Philippines, Mr John Rivas, for his ongoing strong leadership and support. The hard work cannot be underestimated. They have delivered help to so many families. Well done to all involved in the organisation.
What also impressed me on the night was seeing the energy and drive of so many young people to help out: raffle ticket sellers, entertainers, helpers and the fabulous emcee. There is a terrific group of Christmas carollers visiting homes to raise money for victims of the typhoon. What I saw was a great example of community spirit, solidarity, hard work and love coming together for the families and friends in need. The Darwin Filipino community should be so proud of what it achieved on that night.
It was also wonderful to see students from Darwin High School helping out. They managed to raise $3122 for people who were victims of the typhoon by holding sausage sizzles last week at the school and asking for donations. The students were from the intensive English classes and organised donations from Brumby’s, the member for Fannie Bay and Woolworths. This is another great example of people coming together to help make a difference to the lives of those affected.
It was also great to hear about other huge efforts to support the Philippines from across the Territory. My colleague, the member for Nhulunbuy, shared with me some great news about fundraising activities happening on the ground there. She let me know that well-known, long-term Filipino Gove residents Gila Alvila and his wife, Ansel, coordinated a collection of donated essential items like clothes, bedding and non-perishable food items, and spent an entire week with an army of volunteers packaging up more than 90 boxes which filled six pallets. Toll Marine Logistics very generously barged the pallets to Darwin and the work is now under way to get these items to the Philippines.
Nhulunbuy’s Kiwi community manned a barbecue on Sunday outside the local Woolworths store, cooking up breakfast burgers and donating all money made to the victims of the typhoon. Tonight there is also a Filipino dinner at the Golf Club where the chef and operator of the waterfront kitchen will be cooking up a storm, with all profits going to the Philippines. A Blue Light Disco was held there last Friday night and attracted lots of kids who were keen to support fundraising efforts as well. The Oasis Church Nhulunbuy, led by Pastor Phil Sampson, is also coordinating fundraising efforts, as well as keeping all those people affected by the typhoon in their prayers. Nhulunbuy Primary School is helping out as well with their ‘Jelly Beans for the Philippines’ guessing competition, with all money raised going to the Philippines, as well as money raised from a free dress day and cake stalls.
What a terrific effort by the Nhulunbuy community.
The member for Barkly has also reported that the community in Tennant Creek recently held a huge fundraiser on the weekend past, appropriately named ‘The Town with a Heart of Gold’ function. It had 200 people in attendance with food catered for by the local Filipino community. There was local entertainment, raffles, quizzes and auctions and big donations from the community and local businesses. They have so far raised $14 000 with more to come.
It is great to see that support for the victims of the typhoon is out there from right across the Territory. Territorians are giving very generously.
Another contribution the Territory can be very proud of is the work of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response teams to help victims of the typhoon. It was terrific to see the federal and Territory governments announce soon after the typhoon that the first team of 37 medical professionals was heading over to the Philippines to treat victims and save the lives of so many. The team is based in Darwin to respond to these types of situations, and the impact they will have for the people they help cannot be underestimated. They are on the ground saving lives and limbs and helping manage sickness. Their contribution in helping the victims is greatly appreciated and Dr Len Notaras and his team should be proud of the difference they are making.
We know the second deployment of another 37 health professionals leaves tomorrow and we wish them all well in the trying work they are about to do and the conditions they will be working in. They cannot be thanked enough.
We know the journey ahead for the victims of the typhoon will be a very long one and often deeply painful for those who have lost loved ones and their homes. I hope the tremendous efforts of the Territory community in supporting our Filipino friends goes some way in helping them find comfort and to know they are not alone and we are here to help them.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend this motion to the House.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, just a few comments on this, a response and a fitting response from the Northern Territory parliament, a reflection, a recognition of the significant contribution the Filipino community has made to the Northern Territory over a long period of time. In fact, it was in the late 1800s the first Filipinos arrived in the Northern Territory as pearl divers, and the name Cubillo and others have now effectively passed into the DNA of the Northern Territory.
Then there was the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s when we had teachers and other professionals join our community and help us to build and grow. In more recent times there have been the 457 visa workers and their families; there have been these three different groups over different times and all of them have made such a deep contribution to the Northern Territory community. It is very good to hear the responses and reflections from right across the Northern Territory. Each of our communities has been positively affected by the presence of the Filipino community among us. In fact, I have always thought the hospitality, the joy of gathering and the strength of family the Filipino community has shown us over many years has made the Territory extra special. That is why these great friends of the Northern Territory, contributors to our community, should have a strong response granted from the Territory parliament. It is fitting these words are placed on the record, but that each of those words are accompanied by practical responses.
I know people would want to go there to help, but the best way of helping is the response we can give, most particularly in cash, to those many fundraising efforts. I commend each one of those volunteer workers and I hope we all find ways of solving logistical problems, of responding to this need and find ways of encouraging the volunteers who look for opportunities, whether it is jelly beans, sausage sizzles or another one of those great gatherings we have all enjoyed so many times. During my 14 years as a member of parliament I have enjoyed such great hospitality and friendship from the Filipino community and so many songs and dances. Everyone seems to be so talented. They are employing their talents now to help their friends not far from us.
Unfortunately, I have been away so was unable to attend some of the community events, but I was there in spirit. I note this occurred in our immediate region. It is not just the Northern Territory, not just the Top End, it is across all our communities; it is right across the country. When you consider two conversations I was able to have outside the Territory in East Timor – the contribution the Filipino community makes in East Timor providing professional support in roles of administration and other areas, they are a part of that community as well. Whether it is someone here or someone in East Timor, Indonesia or Singapore, the presence of the Filipino people in our immediate region is always responded to with fondness because of the great contribution they make.
This is a disaster that has impacted our friends of the Northern Territory community, friends of our country; they have been associated with the Territory for a very long time, are part of our history, but they are also friends of our region.
I commend the efforts of every volunteer. I am very pleased to hear the reports that have been made in this parliament about the nature of the contribution we have been able to make. May that continue and may we slowly rebuild. Through these disasters, as we have had them a number of times, comes greater connection and a greater sense of the value of life.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I also contribute to this important motion before us. As the member for Blain said, the Filipinos have been with us in the Northern Territory since the late 19th century. In fact, some of the first live exports of our buffalo were to the Philippines many years ago.
When I worked on Bathurst Island there were coconut trees which were extremely tall; you can always count the age of a coconut tree by the number of rings. My understanding was those coconuts came from the Philippines. I believe there were some Filipino people who helped with the early days of the mission on Bathurst Island. Filipinos have had a connection with Darwin for a long time.
It was probably in the 1970s when, in Australia, the population coming from the Philippines boomed. Some of that had to do with the political instability of the Philippines at the time, but in the last Census figures, we have approximately 170 000 Filipino-born people living here in Australia, and it is one of the fastest growing groups in Australia.
My connection with Filipinos is, next to the Irish – I thought just as many Filipinos lived in the rural area. They were one of those groups that popped up. If you went to your church, guess who would be singing? It would be the Filipino women especially, and the men would be playing the guitars. If you go to St Mary’s Cathedral at 7 pm on a Sunday you will see a church that is probably half-full of Filipinos and a choir that is definitely Filipino. They love to sing. There is a gene in a Filipino that has a note attached to it, because I have yet to find any Filipino who does not love to sing and dance.
We have had that connection. We heard of the tragedy that has occurred in the Philippines in which, according to one of the news report I have seen, the death toll is now around 7000 because they believe there are another 1600 people who have died in Typhoon Haiyan. We start to understand that our Cyclone Tracy, even though it was tragic and a disaster for Darwin, with just over 50 dead, was small in comparison with what has happened in the Philippines when you look at the number of buildings that have been destroyed and the high death toll, which does not include the huge number of people who have been injured.
Mentioning those injuries, thankfully we have our National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre people over there, because they are the people dealing with them. I listened to an interview on the ABC the other day where they were talking about a young girl who came in to the centre and could not be helped at that time by the local medical community simply because most of their equipment had been destroyed. This girl had a piece of wood stuck in her head which had been impaled into her skull during the storm. They were able to remove that piece of timber, which was a good story.
They also told the story of another man who lost his wife and all his children. He was injured and was taken to the trauma centre. He was paralysed from the waist down. They said there are some good stories and some tragic stories. It is terrific we have our National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre people working there. It shows what a valuable contribution they are making in helping out with people on the ground.
People have spoken about the number of people who have raised funds. I went to a fundraising event at the waterfront which raised quite a bit of money for the disaster relief. Most of the schools in my area have had days where money that might have been going to a different cause has now been directed towards Filpino disaster relief funds. It is fantastic that people, especially the young people who see people their own age walking through the devastation of these towns and cities in the Philippines, put their hands in their pockets and are doing something practical.
There is an area where we ought to also see whether we can assist more as a country. One of the biggest problems will be the loss of crops. We are looking at the devastation at the moment, where people have lost their houses, which is terrible, but people have also lost their jobs, their income and their livelihood. Looking at some of the statistics, there were some 153 000 ha of rice paddies, maize, and other high-value crops such as banana, cassava, mangoes and vegetables which have been hit. The high winds, heavy rains and localised floods have destroyed houses, infrastructure and irrigation facilities and resulted in loss of the main staple, rice paddies, sugar cane crops, as well as livestock, poultry and fisheries. The forecast damage areas include some 77 476 ha of rice crops. That is a figure I have taken from Yahoo and it states that the problem the farmers have is they have to get enough seed to start to replant and they need to replant now. They were in the middle of their harvesting season and a lot of that has been destroyed.
An area that Australia can maybe help in is with some of the financial relief. It could be slightly longer term relief aid that would allow the farmers to purchase seed, especially rice seed. Rice is not something you can just buy off the shelf. There are particular varieties that the Philippines grow because the Philippines is actually the centre for rice research in the world. There is a practical outcome we need to look at because without employment, without crops, this disaster will go on a lot longer than just what we see in the rebuilding of roads, infrastructure and houses.
The other area in which I wonder if we can help is whether – and this is not so much for Australia – we can make it easier for people to migrate to Australia. With that many Filipino people here they would have plenty of relations in Australia. Could we make it easier for those people to come and live here? The example of the golfer the other day – I cannot think of his first name, Day is his second name. He just won the World Cup individual title. My understanding is that– he is Australian-Filipino – his Filipino grandmother was killed and seven relations on his mother’s side also died. Is there an opportunity there for the government to make it easier for people who have been directly affected by this disaster to be able to migrate to Australia? I picked up a bit of interesting information this morning about the contribution Filipinos make to Australia. This is a note from the Australian department of Immigration statistics and it says that among Filipino born people aged 15 years and over, the participation rate in the labour force is 74.8% and the unemployment rate is 5.3%. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population are 65% and 5.6% respectively.
This highlights the fact that Filipinos have made a great contribution to our country and are continuing to make a great contribution to our country. I see this as an opportunity for Australia to offer some practical help in that we would at least relax some of our migration laws to allow people who have been affected by this disaster to come and live with their fellow people, their fellow Filipinos who are in Australia.
I thank the government for bringing forward this motion. It is a very important motion, as members have said, but we would also like to thank all the volunteers in Australia who are helping. We should also remember the volunteers and all those countries helping in the Philippines with the aid that is needed. We should not forget the Filipino people themselves. They are going through an enormous amount of trauma. The Filipino government has logistical nightmares. This is one of the biggest typhoons or cyclones ever to hit the mainland of the Philippines. It is a country that has volcanoes and earthquakes; it is not a country that has not known natural disasters. However, this is a natural disaster of enormous consequences. It is very difficult for a government to be able to feed all these people day in and day out without other countries helping. We should all remember the people working on the ground there, the Filipino people, and we should pray the Philippines can get through this, recover and move on to be one of those countries we all love through the people we know in the Territory.
Debate suspended.
Ms ANDERSON (Namatjira): Mr Deputy Speaker, I present a petition from 62 petitioners praying that the education cuts and proposed changes to staff numbers be reassessed. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with requirements of standing orders.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
Ms LEE (Arnhem)(by leave): Mr Deputy Speaker, I present a petition not conforming with standing orders from 99 petitioners relating to cuts to teaching positions in Ramingining School.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Mr Deputy Speaker, I present a petition from 115 petitioners praying that the education cuts and proposed changes to staff numbers be reassessed. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
Reassessment of Proposed
Education Staff Cuts
Ms PURICK (Goyder)(by leave): Mr Deputy Speaker, I present a petition not confirming with standing orders from 11 petitioners relating to education cuts and proposed changes to staff numbers. I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, it is with deep regret that I advise of the death on 2 June 2013 of Dr Yunupingu, a talented musician, a true and loving father and a great Territorian. I advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of Dr Yunupingu’s family and friends: Ms Gurruwun Yunupingu, his widow; Mr Bakamumu Marika; Mr Balupalu Yunupingu; Ms Yikanitjpi Yunupingu; Ms Gayili Yunupingu; Ms Dhapanbal Yunupingu; Ms Rhonda Yunupingu; Ms Natasha Yunupingu and Ms Gaminy Yunupingu and close and dear friends, colleagues and Territorians who have mourned his loss.
I extend a warm welcome to you all here to the parliament. I remind honourable members that on the completion of the debate I will ask members to stand in silence for one minute as a mark of respect.
Mr GILES (Chief Minister)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I acknowledge family and friends in the gallery, and I move that this Assembly express its deep regret at the death of Dr Galarrwuy Yunupingu.
I note the passing of Dr Yunupingu on 2 June 2013 and pay tribute to this outstanding Territorian. At the state memorial service held at Gulkula on 30 June 2013, we remembered one of the great men of Arnhem Land, an iconic musician and a true giant among his people.
We stood on the site of the Yothu Yindi Foundation’s annual Garma Festival and we honoured a remarkable Territorian, an ambassador for his lands and his culture, and someone who stood tall as a role model for others within his community.
Dr Yunupingu defied the odds by becoming the first man from Arnhem Land to gain a university degree, a Bachelor of Arts and Education from Deakin University. As a young man he began teaching at the Yirrkala School where he first made his mark. Indeed, Dr Yunupingu should be remembered as one of the nation’s great teachers. He was truly gifted in the classroom where he taught countless children in his groundbreaking, both-ways education system, weaving Aboriginal knowledge, language and traditions with Western learning. He went on to make history by becoming the Territory’s first Indigenous school principal, with a style of leadership that was truly collaborative, encompassing colleagues and elders. But Dr Yunupingu was also a teacher on a much bigger national stage where he helped to educate a generation of young Australians about his people and their aspirations.
Dr Yunupingu connected many white Australians with Aboriginal culture for the first time through the power of music. He co-founded the Yothu Yindi band in 1986 and taught us why reconciliation matters. He never let it slide off the national agenda. In his own words, he was always:
With his lyrics, Dr Yunupingu painted a vivid picture of the beautiful landscape of his homeland, its pristine beaches, rivers and billabongs, his priceless land.
I consider it a great honour to have met Dr Yunupingu on several occasions after listening to his songs as a young man. Yothu Yindi’s music cut through like no Indigenous band before it. The unique blend of traditional instruments and Indigenous language set the band apart and won fans around the globe. Music was Dr Yunupingu’s ticket to the world and a catapult to stardom. He was an artist who knew both the highs and lows of fame, but he never lost touch with his family roots, he never stopped listening to his tribal voice and never gave up his mission for both cultures to be respected equally.
The Yunupingus are one of the great Territory dynasties. In 1963, Dr Yunupingu’s father was a signatory to the Yirrkala bark petition that protested against mining in east/northeast Arnhem Land. The bark petition now hangs in Parliament House in Canberra. The petition was a precursor to the historic Gove land rights case and ultimately a catalyst for the Aboriginal Lands Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 that we know today.
Following in those footsteps, in 1988 Galarrwuy Yunupingu handed the then Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, the historic Barunga Statement calling for Aboriginal people to be given full civil, economic, social and cultural rights. At the time, Bob Hawke vowed that his government would enter into a treaty with Indigenous Australians by 1990. It never happened and so the song Treaty was written as a reminder of what had been promised and forgotten. It was about holding politicians to account for their promises to Aboriginal people. As the lyrics say:
It raced to the top of the charts. Dr Yunupingu’s music was a call for people to take action and not just use words.
A strong and driven man, he was never afraid to stand up for his rights and rights for his people. He was a fighter for his people’s very existence and wanted to be the master of his own life and destiny. In 1990 he established the Yothu Yindi Foundation to foster and support the passing on of Yolngu knowledge systems and cultural life.
Dr Yunupingu was recognised for his work as a bridge builder between black and white Australians when he was named the 1992 Australian of the Year. The Yothu Yindi Foundation has continued and expanded on his work from early on, increasing understanding about the rich culture of northeast Arnhem Land. The annual Garma Festival is part of his legacy of cultural exchange. Dr Yunupingu also leaves a legacy in the musical talent he has fostered. He acted as a teacher and mentor for many other Indigenous musicians and artists, taking many under his wing. This included his nephew and former Yothu Yindi colleague, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, who is now an international star in his own right.
Dr Yunupingu was a teacher to the end, documenting his struggle with kidney disease in the hope it may help others avoid a similar fate. He was a man taken too young by a disease which kills too many.
Dr Yunupingu was a man who walked in two worlds, leaving a lasting mark on both.
On behalf of all Territorians, I say to his wife of 34 years, Gurruwun Yunupingu, to their daughters and grandchildren, as well as the surrounding people, traditional owners, the Gumatj, and the Rirratjingu people, thank you for sharing this great man with us. He is a loss to the Northern Territory, a loss to Australia, and a loss to the world. He will always be remembered.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I thank the Chief Minister for bringing this condolence motion before the House. With some of my constituents here today who have travelled from northeast Arnhem Land, and as a visitor myself to this country, I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where we meet and pay my respects to the Larrakia people and their elders, past and present. Like the Chief Minister, I welcome to the parliament the many friends, colleagues and family who have come here today to join us in paying our respects to the late Dr Yunupingu, and I acknowledge the strong Yolngu leaders and family members of the Gumatj, Rirratjingu and Djapu clans who are present today.
To Gurruwun, I offer my very sincere condolences on the loss of your husband and soul mate. To your six beautiful daughters, Yikanitjpi, Batjula, Gayili, Guwalilnga, Ganbhurrminy and Bulmirri, my sincere condolences to you and your little ones on the loss of a loving and proud father and grandfather.
To those representing the Gumatj clan today, my condolences to you on the loss of your brother.
I recall at the Garma Festival in August, Djawa Yunupingu said the name Yunupingu means ‘unbreakable rock which stands against time’. It indeed symbolises the strength of your family which, in spite of the loss of loved ones, remains strong and proud now and into the future.
I also acknowledge the tribute paid to Dr Yunupingu with the holding of a state memorial service at Gulkula on Sunday 30 June. Hosted by Dr Yunupingu’s long-term friend and musical peer, Peter Garrett, the memorial service was on a scale rarely seen and was a testimony to the place this man has in our nation’s heart. I was humbled to be present at the service, along with the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Minister and several other parliamentary colleagues from this parliament and the Australian parliament.
For a man who had taken great strides in the Yolngu and Ngapaki worlds and, quite literally, had walked the world stage, it was fitting that the memorial was a blend of both worlds. He was acknowledged by his Gumatj clan with bunggul and manikay, and this was balanced with the tributes and stories shared by those who knew him or knew of his work and considerable achievements in education, music, philanthropy and human and Indigenous rights.
At the service at Gulkula we saw hundreds of people from all walks of life gather: dignitaries, rock stars, politicians, friends, peers, admirers of his work. Even the Prime Minister made a whistle stop. For those who could not make the pilgrimage to Gulkula, the service was broadcast in its three-hour entirety around the country on that Sunday afternoon, into the households of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of Australians, because he was a household name, a name respected, admired and mourned.
He was indeed a great Australian and recognised as such in 1992 as Australian of the Year for his role in building bridges of understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous, between Yolngu and Ngapaki. However, he was, first and foremost a passionate educator who knew it was only through education and two-ways learning, embracing bilingual education, that Yolngu children, djmarrkuli, could walk in both worlds and have the capacity to cross the bridge between the cultural divide.
I know, Gurruwun, you will continue to embrace and promote your both-ways vision, as you worked alongside him, a talented educator yourself for many years. You spoke about this in your speech at the memorial service, and I would like to read an extract from that speech:
It was a vision he achieved with Yirrkala School and Yirrkala Homelands School surely having one of the highest number of Indigenous trained and qualified teachers in the Territory. We know those numbers continue to grow with a recent Bachelor College graduation at Yirrkala which saw 14 Yolngu graduates – all women – presented with either a Certificate III or a Diploma in Education Support. He would have been thrilled to see that, and I have no doubt his role in actively promoting Yolngu teachers to strive for formal qualifications contributed to the result on that graduation day last month.
His passion for music also bore much fruit in education. Yothu Yindi band members, especially Stuart Kellaway, played critical roles in the development of the music program at Yirrkala. Between the Yirrkala and homeland schools, several bands have emerged: Garrangali Band, the N.E.A.L. Boys and now East Journey which I suspect to be on the same trajectory as Yothu Yindi, their heroes. I know these bands and aspiring and talented Yolngu musicians have a legacy to follow in Dr Yunupingu.
Even his own story about the emergence of Yothu Yindi and their journey is inspirational. It is a journey which started in the mid-1980s with him, nearing the completion of his studies, turning up to a sound check when the Darwin band Swamp Jockeys were preparing to perform at the Arnhem Club in Nhulunbuy. They invited him in during that sound check and he ended up joining in for a bit of a jam with them and played one of his own songs called Mainstream.
After that, when visiting Darwin, he would seek them out wherever the Swamp Jockeys were playing. From there, with his nephew Witiyana Marika, they supported the Swamp Jockeys on a tour of Arnhem Land communities, and the beginning of lifelong friendships and musical partnerships emerged.
He was renowned for his talent, his magic with lyrics, and the phrases for those who knew him: ‘straightaway I thought’, and ‘quite all right I thought’ which were sprinkled through his conversations. The musicians eventually morphed to become Yothu Yindi, a blend of Yolngu and Ngapaki musical traditions, songs and manikay, modern instruments along with yidaki and bilma, and with the added spectacle of dance or bunggul performed famously by the likes of Witiyana, Malati, Mangatjay and others which earned them strong followings in Europe and North America, first as a support band for Midnight Oil’s tours, but then on their own merit as the lead act.
Musician and poet Paul Kelly spoke at the memorial services at Gulkula about when he first met the lead singer of Yothu Yindi, not in Australia but on tour in Chicago:
I was privileged to hear him and Yothu Yindi perform on a handful of occasions in Nhulunbuy. That included a very special concert where they performed, free of charge, along with other bands for the Blues Over East Timor concert late in 1999, which raised nearly $20 000 to support humanitarian aid for the world’s newest emerging democracy.
From his role as an educator, it was a natural extension of this work that he would be a dedicated advocate for reconciliation and recognition of Indigenous people. His life’s work included establishing the Yothu Yindi Foundation and the iconic Garma Festival, an event dedicated to celebrating and teaching others about Indigenous culture, an event that has gone from strength to strength, year on year.
Above all, what I remember about him was a man who was, apart from being incredibly charismatic, also incredibly humble. In spite of his elevation to national and international platforms of fame, he remained first and foremost a strong Yolngu man, a family man and a man of strong culture.
To Gurruwun and your six beautiful daughters wearing the headbands in the image of your husband and father, I extend my sincere and heartfelt condolences. He was a proud and loving father and husband whose heart and love was always with you. To the Gumatj clan and the Yolngu family of Dr Yunupingu, my condolences on the profound loss of a strong leader, an ambassador and tireless advocate for Yolngu and all Indigenous people.
Let me close by saying that Dr Yunupingu leaves behind an inspirational legacy which begs to be embraced and built upon. He would not want us to dwell upon his passing but to turn our sights with hope and optimism to the future and what needs to be done to make his real vision for self-determination and a strong future for Yolngu kids. Humble man that he was, it was never about him. His hopes and aspirations were always about the next generation. We will always remember him with the utmost respect and admiration.
Gurruwun, to you and your family, again, my very sincere condolences on the loss of a man taken too soon.
Mr CHANDLER (Education): Madam Speaker, I join with all members of the Legislative Assembly in recognising the passing of Dr Yunupingu and to place on record Dr Yunupingu’s enormous contribution to the Northern Territory and to Australia. I also pass on my sincere condolences to his wife Gurruwun Yunupingu, his children and all his family, friends and colleagues, who I know loved and greatly respected him.
Dr Yunupingu was an outstanding educator and a strong representative for his community and his people. It was in 1975 that he started working in the early childhood section of Yirrkala School. Even back then he was active in a band with the interesting name of the Diamond Dogs. This band included a number of young Yolngu men who had a range of roles over the next few years in the bilingual program and homelands education programs.
While Dr Yunupingu’s contribution to music is well recognised, his determination to have Yolngu inspired education in place is the legacy that, as the Minister for Education, I want to share with you today.
Following the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy in 1975, the School of Australian Linguistics program was relocated from Darwin to Yirrkala. This move resulted in the formation of the first team of educators to implement a bilingual education program at Yirrkala School. Another significant outcome of this collaboration between Yirrkala School and the School of Australian Linguistics was the collection of material that resulted in the Yolngu Matha dictionary. It was through his work with these linguists that Dr Yunupingu forged important connections with the emerging teacher education program at what was then known as Batchelor College.
The pinnacle of this crucial work was the insertion of Aboriginal languages into the Batchelor College teacher education program. Another significant connection Dr Yunupingu made was the development of a strong relationship between Batchelor College and Deakin University, which commenced in the 1980s. The relationship between these two key educational institutions continues today.
Dr Yunupingu, with other community leaders, refused to embrace any requirements for potential Yolngu teachers to leave their traditional lands, communities and families to gain qualifications. He provided a community input that insisted that when they go away they grow away. Inspired by this approach, subsequent work at Yirrkala and Batchelor was taken up in Victoria to support the new Koorie Teacher Education Program at Deakin University. In time, Deakin University established the Institute of Koorie Education, offering a full range of courses delivered in a community based model.
In 2013, more than 600 Aboriginal students from all over Australia are studying undergraduate to doctoral courses at Deakin University. This significant achievement can be traced back to the inspiration and influence of Dr Yunupingu and other Yolngu community members.
In 1987, Dr Yunupingu became the first Indigenous person from northeast Arnhem Land to gain a university degree with a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Deakin University. Two years later, in 1989, he became Assistant Principal of Yirrkala School and was instrumental in the implementation of a curriculum that taught in both Yolngu Matha and English. In the following year, 1990, Dr Yunupingu took over as Principal of Yirrkala School, a position he continued until 1991 when he began touring with his band Yothu Yindi.
In 1993, Dr Yunupingu was named Australian of the Year. This was a great honour, richly deserved, and proudly remembered by his family, Yolngu people and the wider Territory community. In 1998 he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University by the Queensland University of Technology in recognition of his significant contribution to the education of Aboriginal children and a greater understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.
There is no doubt Dr Yunupingu was an inspirational man who motivated many to contribute to the ongoing education of this community and generations of Indigenous students, not only in the Northern Territory but throughout Australia.
Once again, I pass on my sincere condolences to his wife, Gurruwun Yunupingu, his children and the Yolngu community. His sad passing at the age of 56 was certainly an enormous loss to education, music, his community and his people. Thank you.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, to the family and friends of Dr Yunupingu, especially his widow, Gurruwun, and the daughters and grandchildren here today, I acknowledge that we pay our respects to an extraordinary man, and we do so on the land of the Larrakia people, a land he spent so much time living on and being welcome on.
I am honoured to speak to this condolence motion reflecting on the life of a very great Yolngu leader, a great Territorian and, indeed, a great Australian. I am pleased to see so many of Dr Yunupingu’s family and friends here today to hear our parliamentary tribute. I acknowledge the presence in the gallery of the former member for Nhulunbuy, the former Deputy Chief Minister, who was a very long-time and dear friend of Dr Yunupingu’s, Syd Stirling and his partner, Jenny Djerrkura, who spent so many years working with the family.
As we have heard, Dr Yunupingu was born at Yirrkala in 1956. It is probably worth a moment to reflect on those times. The Yolngu in the Nhulunbuy region had experienced an influx of visitors as part of World War II operations, but life had gone back to being quieter. The Yolngu went about their day to day, living a life grounded in their Yolngu culture and values. The year 1956 was the same year that British Aluminium applied for prospecting and mining rights in the Melville Bay area of northeast Arnhem Land.
In 1962, Dr Yunupingu’s father became a leader in the movement for recognition of land rights for the Yolngu, leading to the presentation of the famous Yirrkala bark petition to our national parliament in 1963. In his contribution to the 1993 Boyer Lecture series, Voices from the Land, Dr Yunupingu noted that at the time of his upbringing in Yirrkala, his teachers often had a view, in his words, that:
That was something of the times, but Dr Yunupingu had a different eye to a different way, a better way. He worked to become an educator in the broadest sense of the word, an educator deeply grounded in respect and commitment to his Yolngu culture, an educator focusing on two-ways education with a strong belief in Yolngu values, an educator, as we have heard, focused on balance and, as his wife Gurruwun said at his memorial service at Gulkula, encouraging Ngapaki and government to:
Dr Yunupingu began his teaching career in 1977, later moving to work at Galiwinku in the early 1980s. Marriage to Gurruwun came in 1979, and, over time, that partnership brought into the world six beautiful daughters. I am so pleased to see you all here today with the little ones. Gurruwun has described Dr Yunupingu, her husband, as a teacher, musician and ambassador for Yolngu people. He was a caring, dedicated and passionate teacher. He was an exciting and inspiring musician who drew you into the rhythms of his music and the messages embedded within his songs. As an educator, Dr Yunupingu pioneered the use of Yolngu language and a careful understanding of Yolngu values in his approach to education.
I acknowledge the presence in the gallery today of my friend, Alan James and his wife Britta Decker, who have had such an incredible journey through the years with Dr Yunupingu and have been so very close to the family.
Over time there was an appreciation Dr Yunupingu had that music could also provide the ability to spread his message of balance, harmony and wellbeing, and he really drove that through Yothu Yindi as a group of musicians which was able to spread that vital message to the entire world. It was such an exciting time from 1986 onwards, and it was such an inspiring time to be a Territorian and see Dr Yunupingu really grab that stage globally and inspire not just our nation, but people from many nations around the world, with the message of harmony and balance.
As an educator he found music and film a natural medium to further promote and express his ideas and values. He moved beyond the world of his own people and his home community to take this message of mutual respect and inclusion to the international stage as a very proud Yolngu man, a proud Territorian, and a proud Australian. No one can forget the energetic videos of his music, his celebration of life and identity, of family and country, and of what is truly possible. It was an exciting time in his life. He also completed a BA degree at Deakin University in 1987 and then returned to Yirrkala School as its principal in 1990.
The year 1990 also saw the establishment of that all-important groundbreaking Yothu Yindi Foundation and all the great works they have gone on to do. Much success has come his way through a combination of hard work, an eye for opportunity, partnerships to spread his vision, as well as his sheer and undeniable talent. In 1992, quite appropriately, he was recognised as the Australian of the Year for his work in education and reconciliation. In 1993 he extended his educator role, using music to promote healthy living – the well-remembered 1993 Raypirri Tour – Raypirri: a matter of being sensible.
The year 1998 saw Dr Yunupingu awarded his honorary doctorate from the University of Queensland, and in 1999 the first of the iconic Garma festivals, a festival that has evolved as a celebration of Yolngu culture, a meeting place for people of all cultures, a forum for progressing two-way learning and, more recently, a key forum for political debate and the development of Indigenous policy.
Just five years ago Dr Yunupingu had a new challenge to deal with, the diagnosis of end-stage renal disease. This is a challenging moment for anyone, especially Territorians living in remote communities. This year the Department of Health noted in its annual report that on any day there are over 200 haemodialysis treatments occurring across the Territory. Dr Yunupingu, right to the end, continued to use his music to spread a message to help educate both Yolngu and the broader community about diabetes, kidney disease and action to improve prevention and treatment of kidney disease, a song called Healing Stone.
In 2000, the year of the Sydney Olympics, The Guardian newspaper published Dr Yunupingu’s answer to some questions put to him.
These three simple questions and answers well tell the story of Dr Yunupingu.
I pass on my deep condolences to the family of Dr Yunupingu, to you, Gurruwun, to your daughters, grandsons and your newly arrived granddaughter on the passing of a very great Yolngu leader, Territorian and Australian. My thoughts are also with his brother’s close family, his home community and his many friends and work colleagues here in the Territory, across Australia and, indeed, the world. He will be forever remembered as a man who left a direction for the future and built strong foundations for generations of Yolngu to come – work his family and broader Gumatj clan proudly continue today. He was a truly extraordinary Yolngu, Territorian and Australian. My deepest condolences.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Madam Speaker, my respects to Gurruwun, daughters, grandchildren, family, and friends.
I will not go over much of the ground that has already been covered. I want to make a contribution of the observations made at his state funeral, the messages that were delivered, and the challenges that were offered. It is very significant that there were households all around our nation looking in through the portal and catching a glimpse of that which is the great challenge of our nation.
It is a requirement within each of us to leave a legacy. That legacy was clearly defined by speaker after speaker, and is something for us not so much to talk about, but to respond to. The words of Paul Kelly have been recounted, who spoke on that day so clearly and so accurately, describing the challenge undertaken by Dr Yunupingu. When you consider being the point of balance, as he was, you consider then the great weight of responsibility of being that point of balance between two cultures, of being the interpreter understanding one and having deep pride and identification with a 40 000-year culture – which, was said, has a completely operating spiritual and economic framework – being able to translate and go into the unknown which is the western culture, and to be an interpreter two ways.
The great weight of responsibility to carry that task bore heavily upon leaders such as Dr Yunupingu. Messages were delivered at that state funeral, and what struck me was the use of the opportunity of a state funeral to speak of the legacy and then point us towards the challenge that each of us, as Australians, needs to respond to. They spoke of a man who was a warrior, but a warrior through music and, better than any politician, his message cut through. The challenge of building bridges is a difficult task for anyone who has understood the other and tried to find how to bridge the gap between here and there. That was the message.
I hesitate even to reflect personally, but we were both school principals, and I am in awe of this man. To talk of going into the enterprise of education with that deep challenge of bridging a gap, not just teaching, not just doing your job, but doing something that is beyond you, above you, greater than you and eternal. To respond to the challenges of our time, to be at that point where salt water meets fresh water, and how you manage that change. To be at that point and to find that the qualified teachers who were from outside that community were occupying the chairs and the Yolngu assistant teachers were sitting on the floor around the teachers. That illustrates a point in time. That point has been passed and a contribution and legacy has been left, so that does not occur now, thank God.
Going many steps further than that comes the discussion of how we translate from one culture to another. How do we conduct this business in a community, a language group, a country? That was his challenge, to provide not just a voice in education, but an opportunity for those of us who do not share that culture to be enriched, understand new concepts, new words, new ways of understanding our great country and those treasures we have perhaps so easily overlooked. There is so much I could say, but like many on that day, I went away deeply challenged. It will be a ceremony I will never forget because it finished with words that really punched home what I was starting to form in my own mind and for many who had listened. Here is a man who left us far too early. We had speaker, after speaker, his children and his dear wife speaking of his work, and that work must go on. I wrote down the last words that were spoken. It was Wally who said:
That hit home because it is a remarkable story, it is an extraordinary achievement, but the challenge now becomes ours.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I first became aware of Dr Yunupingu as a teacher and a principal. As a Balanda teacher I was working in one-teacher schools, and I was working hard. When I became aware of Dr Yunupingu’s story, I had real faith. I had formed the opinion that the only way we will address Indigenous educational outcomes is when we have Indigenous teachers and Indigenous principals operating our schools.
I took great solace in this story. I did not know the man, I did not know that country, but I was very proud to think that he was going to fulfil my ambition to be unemployed. I saw that as the real change that needed to happen. It meant the Balanda teachers would slowly become unemployed. I then took a great interest in the next part of the story because Dr Yunupingu emerged on the world stage, not only on the world stage, but on the stage of the arts with its very important link to education. The first album, Tribal Voice, certainly added a new repertoire to my teaching tools. It was at Borroloola when I was the principal there, and the Borroloola Community Education Centre had lots of work to be done. The work that I saw as necessary immediately was the work of the wellbeing of the community, to make people feel good about themselves and make those kids feel good about coming to school so they would beat the school teachers to the gate every day.
One of the many new initiatives we put in place as a dynamic team was a school disco. I personally purchased the PA equipment. I spent some considerable money because I wanted a very crisp and clear sound for that initiative, and that is what we got. One of the best songs – and I was there for six years – the most requested song at every Borroloola school disco I went to was Djapana: Sunset Dreaming – that is my favourite song on the album as well – which got the place jumping and rocking every time and delivered that wellbeing.
Travelling to the television set, I then became aware of the vision that complemented the sound, and I immediately saw what was a very innovative and dynamic product. It was a fusion of contemporary and ancient. It was a fusion of rock music and Yolngu culture, and it was on display for the whole world. I celebrated those film clips. I watched a lot of Rage and I engaged in many conversations with family and friends in the south of the country, being able to conduct a discourse around reconciliation and something very new and very powerful that was all about good vibes.
I will say, though, that it certainly added some challenges to my life as a school principal and a father, because suddenly every child I was engaged with was doing backflips out of trees into rivers, down the beaches and off sand hills. Let me tell you, as a principal with a duty of care for the safety of all these children, when we had the whole Borroloola School running up trees and doing backflips in the playground, including my son, Thomas McCarthy, I was quite concerned. But I took the point that it had to be done and we learnt that from the Yolngu and we learnt that from Yothu Yindi. I was in Maningrida a couple of months ago, I took a walk down to the boat ramp late in the afternoon, and there were three kids building a sand dune so they could do backflips off of it. Some things never change.
I was very honoured to finally meet Dr Yunupingu at Tennant Creek High School. He was a world famous musician, a celebrated Australian, an educator and a principal who took time out to bring the band on the road and visit the small places, visit the regional and remote towns. It was a concert put on at Tennant Creek High School. The kids rose to the occasion, the staff were ecstatic, it was an amazing highlight of that time. I was running an alternative program and had serious behaviour challengers within that school community. Let me tell you, those guys did all their work early, prepared the horses and did all their industry work to make sure we got to that concert. They were the best behaved at that concert and they were honoured to meet Dr Yunupingu afterwards.
I met Dr Yunupingu when he finished as a rock star and had done all the back slapping and signing of autographs and talking to the kids. He made a beeline for the staff room where there was quite an elaborate lunch put on. He entered first and before anybody he had his plate full of food. I took the great opportunity of introducing myself and mentioning to him, ‘Hmm, you certainly know your way around a school staff room’. Anybody who knows teachers understands that when food is put out you get in quick because teachers will clean it up before you can say Jack Robinson.
It was Dr Yunupingu who said to me that he was a teacher and knew his way around a school. He gave me advice, ‘Don’t be ashamed, walk in,’ so I joined him at lunch that day, and it was great to meet the members of the band.
My next contact with Dr Yunupingu was when I was very privileged to be the Minister for Arts and Museums. I had another privilege in that time and that was working with Alan James who had just completed over two decades worth of work with the Yothu Yindi Foundation, the band and that creative brilliance I talk about. Alan embarked upon a program of how we could fuse education and the arts, health and the arts, and museums, art galleries and libraries with education and with health, particularly focusing on Indigenous outcomes.
I was really excited at that time because the initiative started to come together and Alan was driving that every step of the way. I was very privileged to work with Alan, the staff and the department.
One of those initiatives was the National Indigenous Music Awards that belongs to the Northern Territory. In building that initiative, Alan quietly said to me, ‘You need a hook, you need kudos, you need respect. I have a recommendation. I have some advice for you.’ He suggested Dr Yunupingu be one of the main players to join our push and campaign to create the National Indigenous Music Awards for the Northern Territory, and it was not without opposition.
There was some language and some discourse from the southern states. However, at a time where Dr Yunupingu was very ill, he still mustered the courage and energy to lead that initiative. We built it together, took it to Sydney, and we launched it on the steps of the Opera House. That is a moment I will never forget because it was an interesting experience for me to share a space on Bennelong Point with Dr Yunupingu and other Territorians with other recognised Indigenous musicians in announcing to Australia that the Territory would run the National Indigenous Music Awards.
It was sad to understand the nature of Dr Yunupingu’s sickness, but at the same time it was a privilege and, for me, it was inspiring to see him continue showing that leadership, that creativity and, at the end of the day, what came from all who embraced his presence, and that was respect.
My sympathy and condolence on the loss of Dr Yunupingu are offered with respect to his widow, Gurruwun Yunupingu, to his children, to his family, to the Gumatj clan and the Yolngu people of northeast Arnhem Land. May he rest in peace.
Mrs PRICE (Stuart): Madam Speaker, I thank the Chief Minister for bringing this motion before the House. Firstly, I acknowledge Gurruwun, their children, their grandchildren, and the rest of Dr Yunupingu’s family here today.
On 2 June 2013, Aboriginal Australians lost a true hero of Aboriginal culture and rights. I was also very fortunate to be able to attend Dr Yunupingu’s funeral at Gulkula. I first met Dr Yunupingu over 30 years ago when we were on the Indigenous Education Advisory Council in the 1980s. He was very passionate about education and being the first Indigenous principal. We worked together on this committee, working hard to advance the course of Indigenous education across the Territory.
When I first met him it was around the time his band, Yothu Yindi, became famous. He helped elevate the issues of our people to the national stage through the band’s songs. The band touched the nation’s soul and was nominated 14 times for ARIA Awards, winning eight. He was so proud when the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2012. This was a national testament and recognition by the industry of Dr Yunupingu’s and the band’s message and talent.
I can remember the time Yothu Yindi came to Yuendumu in the 1990s. You should have seen everybody who assembled in Yuendumu; they must have come across all of Central Australia just to be there to listen to his music and be proud of him for being an Aboriginal man who was now an international celebrity, but playing in an Aboriginal community.
One thing we all agree on is we are here for a purpose – CLP, Labor and Gerry – which is to serve the Territory. One thing I would like remembered of me is that I served the Territory with all my heart, passion, and energy to the best of my abilities, to leave a lasting legacy for all Territorians, including my people, the Warlpiri, and people such as the Yolngu.
Madam Speaker, I can say without a doubt today that Dr Yunupingu has left a legacy for all Territorians through the messages in his songs, the Aboriginal children, the Yolngu he taught for many years across northeast Arnhem Land and the Northern Territory, and through our culture. You can go to Yirrkala today and see that culture alive and prospering. That is the legacy Dr Yunupingu has left, above everything he has done and achieved throughout his life.
To Gurruwun, your family, daughters, grandchildren, my sincere condolences on your loss.
Ms ANDERSON (Namatjira): Madam Speaker, I congratulate the Chief Minister and thank him for bringing this condolence motion to the House, and thank the many speakers. Gurruwun, your six beautiful daughters, your friends, Alan James, all the people back home at Yirrkala, and your extended family and friends here, he was an extraordinary man. He was a hero, not just for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory but for Aboriginal people across Australia. I will not go back over many things people have spoken about, but he was a real inspiration.
There are many types of gifts that people can receive – money, jewellery, flowers or a weekend by the sea – but put them all together and they could not stand in lieu of one of the greatest gifts. That gift was given to Australians by the Yolngu, a great man, a leader. Sitting here, I heard people talk about balance. That balance was achieved by him. He and Alan James worked side by side together; that is a balance he achieved, the balance of two-way education, a balance of respect for each other. He fought from the bottom of his heart like the fighter he was, the fighter his father was, and the fighter his clan was. That fight and fire is still in the Yolngu family and amongst all Aboriginal people.
The message, as the member for Blain said, for us is: to where do we take what he has done? How do we build that bridge now as Australians? He tried to build that bridge, to balance things. He spoke about two-way education. How is it that we achieve those dreams for all Australians – Aboriginal Australians and non-Indigenous Australians? The task is now with us. That question and that challenge has been put to this Chamber by a man who had a dream, and a man who had his law in culture and language and used that as a foundation to challenge the non-Indigenous structure through always knowing and understanding where he came from, where his stories began and where they ended.
The challenge is now up to us. How are we going to build the dream? How are we going to build that bridge – the bridge that starts from one side and ends on the other? How is it we can achieve two-way education, respect for each other, and make sure all Australians are educated at the same level, that we all face the challenges and the dreams this man had, a poor man born, who understood – he had his law and cultural language, the strength and he knew he had to build that bridge across to the other side to challenge the non-Indigenous structure, the non-Indigenous education system, and he built that dream himself.
He got that balance and the balance we have not seen was already there in front of us: the balance he had through his music and through his friendship with Alan James and many non-Indigenous people, not just in Australia, but across the world. The meeting of fresh water and salt water, he already did that. It is now up to us. That challenge has now been put to us.
As legislators in this House, as Territorians, as Australians, can we accept that dream or half of the dream Dr Yunupingu had and carry that forward? Can we have the fire in our bellies to make sure we achieve his dream? Can we, as people, build that bridge? As Territorians and Australians, can we achieve that equality, that balance he spoke about of not recognising each other’s culture, but recognising each other as human beings and making sure we achieve everything we want?
My deepest condolences to you, Gurruwun. I know you will follow his dream and I hope you keep us honest and truthful in this House for the dreams of Dr Yunupingu and for all Australians. That is something we have to carry and that is the real challenge for us now. Let us make sure we take that stick and start crossing those bridges, the many challenges he has left for us. It is now up to us to prove to all Australians, everywhere across the world, that we are sincere about the balance. Thank you.
Ms FYLES (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, I wish to contribute today in recognition of a remarkable, talented and compassionate Territorian. I acknowledge the traditional owners of this land where we gather today and pay my respect to elders, past and present. I am honoured to speak today. My colleague, the member for Johnston, had planned on speaking today, but he has had to seek leave from the Chamber on urgent personal business. I am speaking with both his thoughts and my own.
In many ways, no words will ever adequately describe the immense contribution Dr Yunupingu made and the life that achieved so much. When I reflect on this life time of work I feel immensely proud. Dr Yunupingu made his people proud, he made the Territory proud, he made Australians proud. Born in Yirrkala, Dr Yunupingu achieved a number of firsts in history, as have already been mentioned this afternoon, but I will repeat them because of the enormity of his achievements.
He was the first Aboriginal person from Arnhem Land to receive tertiary recognition in education, gaining his Bachelor of Arts in Education from Deakin University. Through the late eighties, Dr Yunupingu was instrumental in both-ways education that saw the best from both Yolngu and Balanda culture represented in languages. Together with elders and Deakin University academics, he developed the metaphor ‘Garma’, mixing the salt and the freshwater people, mixing Yolngu and Western knowledge, something that is so important in our education system.
The fresh water from the land represents the Yolngu knowledge, and the salt water rushing in represents Western knowledge. Inside these mixing waters he saw the power and potential for a strong education, but based on Yolngu knowledge. Maybe not surprisingly, Dr Yunupingu had such a grasp of both European and Yolngu culture. His father was the signatory to the bark petition of 1963, the beginning of the process which led to, with the help of many, including Gurruwun, the historic Gove land rights case and, ultimately, the implementation of the Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) 1976.
In 1990 when Dr Yunupingu took over as Principal of the Yirrkala Community School, he became the first Aboriginal principal in Australia. What an enormous achievement which you must be so proud of. Could you imagine being a student in that school? How special would it have been to have a role model, somebody to look up to, your teacher, your principal, one of your own? This is exactly what Dr Yunupingu did. He was the leader for his community, and he was a leader in the Territory.
In 1985, he wrote Djapana: Sunset Dreaming while teaching in Galiwinku on Elcho Island, and soon after he formed Yothu Yindi. With Yothu Yindi, Dr Yunupingu co-wrote the group’s most famous song, Treaty. Yothu Yindi toured in the United States with Midnight Oil and famously performed Treaty at the launch of the UN International Year of the World’s Indigenous People in 1992. It was the first song in an Aboriginal language to gain international recognition. What a recognition!
Treaty was remixed by a Melbourne DJ and made number six on the US dance chart. It was also featured in Germany and England, whilst back home in Australia the original version sat at number one on the music charts for 22 weeks.
As we sit here in Darwin in this Chamber, it is hard to imagine the impact Yothu Yindi made across the globe. Treaty is a song which still makes me stop and think whenever I hear it. Who could forget the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games at the closing ceremony with everyone singing along – a memory I will never forget.
Dr Yunupingu toured extensively around the world through the 1990s with Yothu Yindi. But Dr Yunupingu’s work and achievements did not stop there. This remarkable Australian was awarded the 1992 Australian of the Year Award. His most notable and lasting work was through the Yothu Yindi Foundation. Set up in 1990 by Dr Yunupingu and elders from the five clans in the regions, the key objectives of the foundation are to support and further the maintenance, development, teaching and enterprise potential of the Yolngu cultural life. The most recognised form of this commitment in its early presentation is the Garma Festival, a huge event which brings the tradition of Yolngu story, music and teaching from northeast Arnhem Land directly into the mainstream spotlight.
The expansion of the alumina refinery operations through the local regions saw the Yothu Yindi Foundation introduce an Alcan cultural induction program in 2005 to ensure we had a balance between non-Indigenous and local Indigenous residents in the area and that it did not impact on the unique balance and culture of the Yolngu region – the mutual respect which has been nurtured in that area for a generation.
One aspect I personally admired about Dr Yunupingu was his unending dedication to sharing his culture and ensuring future generations did not miss out, something I appreciated firsthand as a seven-year-old visiting Yirrkala and learning about the culture. I still have the beautiful bark painting from that visit hanging on our wall at home. That is what Dr Yunupingu and Yothu Yindi were all about, preserving the 40 000-plus-year-old Yolngu wisdom and culture for future generations, but sharing it with next generations. It was about sharing music, art, and stories.
I quote from an interview with Dr Yunupingu in 1996 where he said:
Dr Yunupingu showcased Aboriginal culture to the world. Upon his passing, Australians and those over the world mourned him. Australians commented on him in social media as a true leader or a legend. Mourners said he opened the eyes and touched the hearts of many.
For Aboriginal people, thinking about what Dr Yunupingu has done for the next generation, one said:
Though we may mourn and miss him, he is still with us; his work will live on. His wonderful family will continue to share his wisdom and his visions.
Dr Yunupingu, you will never be forgotten. On behalf of my colleagues and of Australians, my deepest sympathy and condolences to Gurruwun and all your family here today. You will continue to inspire us. We will hold what you wanted close to our hearts in this Chamber.
Finally, the member for Johnston asked me to close with these words from the lyrics of Treaty:
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I support this motion of condolence for the late Dr Yunupingu and to remember the strong and positive influence he had over the lives of many Territorians, indeed many Australians. I thank the Chief Minister for bringing on this motion.
I acknowledge Dr Yunupingu’s wife, Gurruwun, and his children, grandchildren and extended family, of which there are many, no doubt. My condolences to you all on the loss of a great man.
You have already heard from many in this parliament about Dr Yunupingu’s contribution to education and his many firsts, including how he was the first Indigenous person from Arnhem Land to gain a university degree, and how he was the Northern Territory’s first Aboriginal school principal when appointed head of Yirrkala Community School in 1990. You have also heard from many here today about his excellent achievements in the music industry and his iconic and unique band Yothu Yindi and how they won eight ARIA Awards – I do not know if anyone mentioned that – and were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
You also heard about how he worked to support Aboriginal teachers and his emphasis on the importance of teaching local Aboriginal languages and culture, and about his passion for teaching and how he helped set up the Yothu Yindi Foundation, a Northern Territory cultural and educational icon. Indeed, Dr Yunupingu was a strong voice and a strong leader for his people at the national and international level. This strong leader had a great many influences over his people and this influence most likely had benefits that were perhaps unintended consequences of that leadership. The Yolngu people are strong culturally, and their desire for economic development has put them at the forefront of Indigenous economic development in the Northern Territory.
For example, long before European settlement, Yolngu people traded trepang with the Macassans. Personally, I do not see what the Macassans saw in trepang, but good luck to them. The key to increasing Indigenous economic development is real jobs and investment. Even before becoming a minister in this government, my experience was the Yolngu people were genuine and willing to prioritise economic development. As examples I cite the renewal of mining leases at Nhulunbuy, the establishment of the east Arnhem fishing network, the commencement of new fishing business activities with the Gumatj Association, and the newest small community abattoir in the Northern Territory run by the Gumatj Association and located about 100 km west of Nhulunbuy.
After years of consultation and expression of a strong desire by remote Aboriginal communities to be involved in the fishing industry, that work has established the Garngirr Fishing Aboriginal Corporation, which intends to operate fishing cooperative models across east Arnhem Land.
Even though these business ventures were developed by Yolngu people for the benefit of Yolngu people, many Territorians will benefit from the establishment and ongoing development of businesses such as these.
How many of these activities have spun off from the leadership of a great and inspiring man? He was a leader in education, a leader in culture, he was certainly a leader in the music industry, and the influence he had over his people has stretched much further than he intended. It is obvious Dr Yunupingu inspired many people, not just his own Yolngu, to seize the opportunity and not be afraid to take risks in order to improve their lives.
Madam Speaker, our thoughts today are very much with the family of Dr Yunupingu. Losing a loved one is difficult and the passing of time does not take away from the loss – a loss for his family, his community, and certainly a loss to the Northern Territory. There is no doubt Dr Yunupingu was an inspiration to many and this condolence motion, while only a small gesture, goes some way to commemorating this great man and his contributions to making the Northern Territory a better place.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also extend my condolences and sympathies to the family of the late Dr Yunupingu. To his friends on his sad departing, I extend my sincere sympathies to you for what is clearly a great loss to you as his family. He was a great Territorian, and I know he will be sorely missed by his loved ones, family, colleagues and Territorians, if not all Australians.
Motion agreed to.
Members stood in silence for one minute as a sign of respect.
Madam SPEAKER: I thank honourable members for their contributions to the motion. I invite the family and friends of Dr Yunupingu and interested members to afternoon tea in the Main Hall.
The CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that response to petition No 16 has been received and circulated to honourable members.
MOTION
Typhoon Haiyan
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I contribute to this motion on the impact of super Typhoon Haiyan on the Philippines.
This is a catastrophe of monumental proportions. In fact, the scale of this disaster, the loss of life, homes, buildings and infrastructure is such that we could only try to imagine what this looks like at ground zero. Many of the television images we see do not aptly portray the depth of what has occurred. Surely those images cannot give a real indication of the horror and suffering that remains in the wake of this terrible storm.
These impacts are being felt in the Tacloban area, of course, but also right across the Philippines, in Australia, the Northern Territory and across the globe. This catastrophic event has had a big impact on the Katherine township, which boasts a strong Filipino presence. While the Filipino community in Katherine is large and very close knit, they are also very active community members and are generally all very well known throughout the town. There are local families from Katherine who have friends and relatives who have been directly affected by this tragic storm.
My Filipino friends in Katherine are caring and generous to a fault. That is why, as the local member for Katherine, it came as no surprise to me that the fundraising efforts by the Katherine Filipino community were established and up and running in a very timely fashion. As I mentioned, some of our local community members have family directly affected by the disaster. A number of those people have travelled in the last week or so to be by the side of their loved ones in the Philippines. Local Katherine business people, Fe and Cindy Fahey, amongst others, are behind a drive to raise funds which will be used to help those in need in the Philippines.
Super Typhoon Haiyan’s official death toll is over 5000, and there are genuine fears that as many as 10 000 could have been killed in this event. However, it is the survivors we are thinking of now and putting our hands up to help.
I am proud to say the Katherine Branch of the Country Liberals kicked off Katherine appeal efforts by contributing $1000 to that appeal, which was then matched by my wife and I without the need for any deliberation. I believe the efforts to raise funds in Katherine will be extremely successful, based on the long history my community has in raising funds for important and critical causes. This is an indication of my community’s ability to pull together in times of need. The Katherine community has been the recipient of generosity from right across Australia from when we battled events such as the township flooding in 1998. The Katherine community is now giving back to those who are in need and rallying to support our friends in the Philippines. If you are passing through Katherine and want to contribute to our local appeal to help the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, please drop in to my office and we will gladly let you know where you can lodge your contribution.
I have many Filipino friends in Katherine and in Darwin, and my heart and the collective hearts of those in the Katherine community go out to you in this desperate time of need. I know you are all resilient people. I hope your feelings of hopelessness and despair will soon be replaced with feelings of hope and a knowledge that the world community is pulling behind you in these tragic times. We are there for you.
I also acknowledge the work that has been done and will be done into the future by many individuals and organisations in the form of relief. These will be difficult tasks that lie ahead. Hard work, tough work, both physical and mental, awaits you. Some of the work will also be heart-wrenching as you work closely with the people who are dealing with the tragic consequences of this terrible natural disaster. As a former emergency responder myself, I express my gratitude and the gratitude of the Katherine Filipino community at large for the substantial efforts you will apply in providing relief.
We cannot control the natural events that spawn such human suffering and tragedy. We can prepare, we can respond, and there will be a recovery. In that recovery, I wish Godspeed to the people of the Philippines and send my heartfelt condolences and those of the community of Katherine to you all.
Mr CHANDLER (Education): Madam Speaker, I will not speak for long. I listened to the Leader of the Opposition and it made me consider how long Darwin took to recover from Tracy and do you ever get over a cyclone? It made me think of when, in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans area and the flooding that occurred, the wind from the hurricane and the damage it caused that city.
The media at the time was extremely focused on Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans area, the devastation, and it brought the message home to the world, just as is happening at the moment in the Philippines. The media focuses on this event and very soon the media will not be focusing on this event again. It will take years and years to recover from an event like this, and I raise that because I had the opportunity in October 2007 to visit New Orleans. Not having heard anything in the media about that city some 26 months after Hurricane Katrina, I was devastated to arrive in New Orleans and still find the devastation that was around the city.
They had made a tremendous effort within the city centre to clean up and get established. The week I was there they were getting the tram system back up and running and they had date palms held up by ropes to get the city centre looking good. However, once you ventured out into the suburbs where people’s homes were, where people lived, it was tragic. There were still houses on their sides, twisted across the road or down the road from where they originally were, houses that had floated away in that storm. This was 26 months after the event, in what some people consider to be the most powerful nation in the world with all the resources the United States has, with the defence forces at its beck and call, its home guards and everything else that makes us look at the United States and think it has the resources to have something fixed really quickly.
I was tremendously shocked we had gone 26 months down the road and yet the devastation was still widespread across New Orleans. That devastation was brought home because when something goes outside the media cycle, perhaps we get complacent; we think it is all fixed and it is all done and dusted. I urge the media to, from time to time, revisit the Philippines and look at how things have progressed, if they have. In areas that have not progressed perhaps put a media spotlight on it so the rest of the world can understand the time it will take and the ongoing support that will be necessary.
Some of my very best friends are Filipinos living here in Darwin. I and a number of members, including the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, were at the Filipino fundraising initiative the other week. It was great to see so many people come out, and the money raised is all for good. But these things will not take weeks, not months, but years to get over. I hope the media, from time to time, can revisit some of that devastation and that we do not get 26 months or two, three or four years down the track and they are still desperate for assistance. Because the focus has been taken off the area we forget about what is going on in that part of the world.
I really want to wish our good friends in the Philippines all the very best for a speedy recovery, but I know and understand it will take years to get over. I wish them all the best. To our local Filipino families, I know you have loved ones there as well. We pay our respects and, as a government, as the Northern Territory, the call goes out to give as much ongoing assistance as possible.
Mr STYLES (Transport): Madam Speaker, much of the story has been told in this Chamber today and I do not intend to repeat it; however, I would like to say a couple of things in acknowledgement of the Filipino community which had the fundraiser. Sadly, I was interstate at the time; however, my colleagues attended and gave me a very good account of the generosity Territorians showed, particularly the local Filipino community.
None of those things happen without an awful lot of work. I was fortunate to go there on the Sunday afternoon after that event where the Chief Minister presented the Red Cross and the Filipino community with a cheque for $10 000. It was really good to see the people there, most of whom were from the committee. We all know volunteers drive these organisations, and it is appropriate to acknowledge not only the leaders, but the committee of the Filipino community, particularly the Filipino Association of the NT: the president, Oscar Parian, who was there to accept the cheque, a tireless worker for his community; Judith Ventic the vice president; secretary, Lourdes Valles; Treasurer, Elsie Barretto; and some more committee names I will mention.
The four names I just mentioned - I have been going to the Filipino community association for many years and those people have been there as long as I can remember in various roles: leadership roles, support roles and committee roles. They all started off many years ago in committees, and it is important we acknowledge those people who were, time after time, making sure the community held together so when these things happen the community can come together very quickly as a cohesive group to make sure they can help their friends, relatives and people from their home country. Those committee members: Mary Anne Samson, Matthew Mitchell, Ron Greaves, Maria Mitchell, Virginia Mitchell, Marcos Pastor, Siobahn Reed, Benedict Salandanan and Nestor Sanchez Jr. These people need to be congratulated because since this occurred, they have worked tirelessly to raise money to send to their country and the Red Cross to help in their efforts.
Last Sunday I was fortunate to have an enjoyable afternoon with a group of people from CatholicCare NT, ably assisted by Kim and Beth Mackenzie from Southern Cross Television. It was something put together several days beforehand where a group of people with links to the Philippines got together at another event and raised a considerable amount of money. I do not know exactly how much money was raised, but some of the well and truly inflated prices paid for auction items raised close to $10 000 at this lunch.
I congratulate the people from CatholicCare NT who sponsored the event, and also Kim and Beth Mackenzie from Southern Cross Television who dragged a lot of the people along to the event.
This is an extremely tragic situation, the proportion of which I could not begin to imagine unless I saw it with my own eyes. I am sure there are many people around the world contributing to this rescue event.
Whilst it has an extensive network of staff and volunteers, the Philippines Red Cross has been reaching out to some of the most remote and devastated communities. We all know Tacloban has been destroyed, but when one looks at newspaper articles and online you can see many other places have been devastated by this, some of which do not hit the headlines. The Philippines Red Cross has been doing a marvellous job reaching out.
The money raised by these appeals will be used to provide relief to shattered communities, including emergency relief supplies and access to clean water and shelter, some of the primary things people need at the moment. It also helps to send specialist aid workers to assist in initial assessments, relief and the longer-term recovery operations which will be needed for quite some time. It is uplifting to see so many people step up and give to those affected by this disaster.
While all donations are extremely valued, the Australian Red Cross has advised what is needed most is donations of money. This was also raised at the event I attended on Sunday. It is great that people give tins of food and other paraphernalia, that is very welcome, but it is something that will take time to transport. The logistics of getting all this stuff to the Philippines is difficult at times. The Red Cross does not have that many people who can gather, pack and get these goods prepared for transport – trying to put loads together in the right size for aircraft, etcetera is a very challenging situation.
I understand, and many people at the function on Sunday understood, the strong desire for people to donate items. While this donation is appreciated, Red Cross is limited in its capacity to shift, collect, store and donate these goods. What was discussed was the Australian Red Cross – I hope people who are listening to this debate in the Chamber might understand the Red Cross has the ability to source goods and services locally in the Philippines so the money is spent on the local economy. The local economy will need to be rebuilt, along with homes and shelter, and the psychological damage which has occurred.
The Red Cross has asked people to dig deep if they can and stump up with some cash. Of course, the Northern Territory government has made a contribution and we encourage businesses and people alike to donate cash to this very worthy cause.
The choosing of many of these goods which are going to help will be necessary. There is food, water and shelter which Red Cross can source within the Philippines. The message that came through loud and clear was it does not matter what people gave the Red Cross, the Filipino community and the representatives of the Philippines in Darwin were very grateful for the generosity shown by people who had also been through challenges in this country, be it bushfires, cyclones or other.
There was a great deal of thanks from the people I was with on Sunday. They were very grateful for the work of the people who had been at that function. They also made mention of the other functions that continue to go on. In fact, for those listening, there are more fundraisers at the Australian Filipino Association facility at Batten Road, Marrara. If you are not doing anything and would like to help, please keep an eye on the newspapers and the service directories to see when that function is. There will be some more, obviously before Christmas. It is a good time to think about Christmas, family and friends, and those who are affected.
It is so sad so many have lost their lives, but there are those who have survived this who will need an enormous amount of help, not only from us but the rest of Australia and, indeed, the world. I encourage all people to dig deep and give generously so those people can have some form of a Christmas celebration.
Madam SPEAKER: I also extend my condolences and sympathies to the people of the Republic of the Philippines and extend my sincere sympathies for what, clearly, is a devastating incident in their country. As members have said, it will be many years for them to overcome this loss, but I know they are now receiving help. That is, clearly, what has to happen and will happen into the future.
Motion agreed to.
PETROLEUM AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 56)
Continued from 16 October 2013.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I contribute to the debate of the bill that represents the amendment to the Petroleum Act.
I thank the departmental officials for the briefing they provided me as the opposition spokesperson. The objective of the minister, the government and the department was clear in that briefing: that this amendment is to drive competition into the exploration market.
The strategy seems to be based on the creation of a situation where multiple applications for exploration permits over multiple blocks of land will facilitate that market-driven competition. We are talking about the minister’s delegation on the applications that will come forward and those applications being judged on their merit, being subject to stricter guidelines and controls, the applications being designed to facilitate and create competition in the industry and, of course, the ministerial control in that process.
It was interesting talking to industry stakeholders. One of the questions I posed to them was whether the minister was the best person to have total delegation and control over the selection process. They did not have a problem with it, but they said they would be very interested in participating in such a selection process, should that be the will of this government.
I also asked some questions about existing exploration permit holders and I was advised there will be a six-month period for them, a grace period, a period of change. This will be a period for them to really take on board the changes to the act and accommodate these changes.
It is an interesting environment at the moment where we are seeing that NT exploration applications have declined. Speaking to stakeholders, there have been various reasons put forward for that. They were also quite articulate about the nature of this industry and the challenges involved. They see there is a great need for incentives within this industry. It is a big industry. It is a new industry in exploration for alternative gas and petroleum onshore. They did articulate the need for government to be looking at negotiation around incentives to get those exploration permits under way and to get the industry well and truly to the production stage.
Industry made it clear they would rather see conditions of exploration permits that provide incentives for companies meeting their activity targets. They gave an example of that in a reduction in permit fees. As the opposition spokesperson, I have taken their points on board and it is good to be able to debate policy and formulate ideas, particularly those coming from acknowledged and respected industry stakeholders. That incentives concept is a good one. It is a pragmatic suggestion of the possibility of a reduction in permit fees. That is a hard pill for the government to swallow, but it is something to consider in terms of legislation and the way that we do business with this industry. It is something that, as the minister says and as we know, presents as a very important industry that will provide energy not only for the Territory, but also for the east coast market; with the off-shore projects we are seeing a lot of export of that energy.
Industry said, likewise, application of higher fees for slow and no progress on activity targets leading to possible voluntary surrender of permits. That was another pragmatic idea that came from stakeholder groups I interviewed about policy formulation. It was all about incentives for investment.
The stakeholders talked about the nature of the Northern Territory. It is important we reflect on this industry and the nature of that investment, which is significant investment in exploration for petroleum products. That relates to the constraints around access to land – the climatic constraints of realistically only being able to access many of the exploration sites for six months of the year – and the cost. It was spelt out very clearly from both stakeholder groups I interviewed and the department that this is an industry with considerable costs. It is not undertaken lightly. The processes cost a lot of money and they take a significant commitment. Of course, they will deliver significant returns should they be successful, but in the landscape of exploration with that underlying uncertainty.
It is also important to mention that many of the stakeholders I talked to saw constraints around the need for access to land, and this relates to the challenges for government, any government, and their work with land councils and traditional owners to access country and to explore. The constraints around access to land were particularly evident with one stakeholder group which had a series of exploration plans and targets and wanted to explore that further block that could deliver the result and the return they were looking for. It is really important we have a government that is good at negotiating, that negotiates with goodwill and respect, works together with the land councils and the traditional owners, and provides education and awareness of this industry and the opportunities it will provide for regional and remote people, as well as people who live in the capital cities.
After speaking to stakeholder groups and asking them for ideas around policy development, I put on the record their suggestion that the exploration industry and ongoing mining, or the production industry, have an interest in investing in community infrastructure. That could be a good point of negotiation toward the future, again representing the policy of incentives to get exploration under way. We talked about roads, flood immunity projects and developing partnerships with existing landholders and landowners who could share important infrastructure. I put my thoughts and knowledge on the table regarding where things had gone wrong with the exploration industry, where infrastructure had been damaged or there had been misunderstandings, where things had to be retrofitted and explorers had to come back and repair the infrastructure and recreate goodwill. Things can always be done better and it is always good to be upfront. It is important that people know what happening. It is about education about what happening. It is about awareness in the macro sense of where these projects are going and what they will achieve.
We are talking about an important industry and an important amendment, which The opposition will not oppose. As we have discussed in our Caucus, these points are important and it is good to work together in a bipartisan nature wherever possible. Likewise, we value the environment movement and we feel that when you are achieving the best outcomes all stakeholders have to be valued and acknowledged. If you work up front and everybody goes along with the journey, you can avoid a lot of problems. As the Territory opposition, we contacted the acknowledged environment groups and sought their comments. I will put on the public record a response from David Morris, the principal lawyer and Executive Officer of the Environmental Defenders Office of the Northern Territory:
This seems straightforward and is good policy advice. We may hear the minister’s response that this is all taken care of in the Northern Territory legislation, but in this instance it is good to work in a bipartisan sense and work with all stakeholder groups within the community. I am sure the minister will address that important comment from David Morris, the principal lawyer and Executive Officer of the Environmental Defenders Office of the Northern Territory.
The second point David Morris makes in regard to guidelines where there is a lack of environmental consideration is:
That is important, and I have been conducting quite a degree of education and awareness for myself as the spokesperson in the area of natural resources, and mining and primary industries. That area needs to be looked at very carefully and is common in the debate I have engaged in, particularly with Indigenous landholders as well as the pastoral industry, which are particularly concerned with water usage and the waste water in these projects.
Point number three David Morris makes is about increased pressure on resources at the land councils. This is an interesting point which says:
That is a very important point, and the minister’s objective and ambition to create this market-driven force and take on board as many exploration permits as the government can is a real issue and one articulated to me from minerals exploration companies throughout the Barkly. They see that as one of the blockers. It is really not a debate around ideology; it is a debate around pure administrative processes and capacity. We have projects that are really keen to get on with their exploration and the business of regional and remote area economic development, but they are constrained around the administrative processes of the land councils. This is something the minister needs to be cognisant of as well.
Point number four that David Morris makes is about a lack of third party review rights. He says:
It would be interesting to hear the minister comment on the lack of third party review rights as this has come from a respected and important stakeholder group and, all in all, points to ensuring Territory legislation is good legislation, particularly in the case of this new area we are going into with an intensification around exploration for petroleum products and alternative gas.
Minister, I thank you for the opportunity to speak in this debate. I also reinforce those industry comments about the alternative policy, which suggests incentives for exploration projects and what government can bring to the table. This is to get that exploration moving and create that important environment where we are all working together with those rewards and pragmatic infrastructure outcomes industry can provide for Territorians who are living, working and raising their families in those areas. Together we will deliver something extremely exciting.
In my discussions with industry stakeholders from the big end of town in Perth through to constituents across the Barkly, I believe this industry is one which could deliver significant returns for regional and remote areas when we talk about the energy needs of the hungry east coast of our continent alone. However, there is an amazing amount of concern, gossip, innuendo and misinformation floating around. Every step in the legislative process needs to be taken very carefully. It needs to be inclusive, open and accountable and then, of course, we will achieve the outcomes the minister is looking for, together as Territorians.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I did not get a briefing on this. I might have been put into a briefing coma with the number of bills coming through this parliament, so I missed this one. However, it is an important bill, so I will ask some questions during this response to the second reading speech. That might fix up my queries.
I would like to gain an understanding if we are talking about exploration permits as in tenure. I thought that was what was being discussed in relation to the Howard East Aquifer. Some people were getting confused in that debate about what was tenure and what was an exploration licence. I thought I would make that clear in case someone asked me again.
In your second reading speech, you said:
Minister, what do you mean by ‘strategic and controlled’ release of vacant land? Does that mean you will advertise it when you believe it is an appropriate time to advertise it and you will look at all the applications? That is what I presume you mean by this, but I would like clarification of that.
The other important part of that statement you made, minister, relates to section 17(2) of the act. This section says:
Greatest merit reminds me of the word ‘amenity’. It is a very broad word. That section says ‘in accordance with the guidelines’. Are the guidelines to come or do we already have them?
Mr Westra van Holthe: Coming in draft.
Mr WOOD: That would have been nice to have simply because we would know what you are going to look at to show that an application is ‘meritorious’. I understand that under section 17(3) you will tell the unsuccessful applicants why their applications were not successful. Will that be the only public process of explaining why a company got the permit or will there be something that is brought back to parliament in a form of a paper or Gazette notice so the public can find out which company the minister decided to give that exploration permit to and the reasons why? If there was some public process there, whether it is by publication or by papers put before parliament, that would be good. That is my main issue.
I thank the department. I presume the department and the minister, before this bill came before parliament, discussed proposed amendments with industry representatives and associations. I was listening to the member for Barkly and he was talking about land councils. He spoke about the Environmental Defenders Office. I am interested to know who you spoke to in relation to finalising this bill. I raise this because we have a bill coming up in this parliament for which I do not think that sort of good process has occurred.
The model you put here says you have been to industry representatives and associations. You might be able to explain which of those associations you have been to see and whether you have involved land councils and people like that. That process is the model we should use to put bills forward to this parliament. We are looking at another bill during these sittings for which I do not believe any of that happened. I find that sad because you would hope that a bill would be right once it came here.
If you were in Queensland, this bill would go to a committee and it would come back, say in three months’ time. As long it was within a certain period, I support that kind of approach because you tend to get much more bipartisan support for bills. A bill goes to committee, the committee talks to people, checks whether the legislation is up to scratch and it comes back to the House. Then there is not much debate because it has basically been approved by that committee.
One thing the member for Barkly raised was - I have raised this in discussions the energy committee had. I do not think I am speaking out of turn. I raised it with the Australian Petroleum Industry Association …
Mr Westra van Holthe: Petroleum Production and Exploration Association.
Mr WOOD: Yes, there are two of them and I get them muddled up. One is the petroleum and mining association and the other one is the simpler version. One of the areas they have to do more work in - it should not necessarily always be up to the government - is to be able to explain, especially to Aboriginal communities, what they do. They need to be able to produce literature that people can understand. I have trouble understanding what an exploration permit is. The word ‘exploration’ has a bigger meaning than ‘permit’. Most people think there is a hole in the ground and oil will come gushing out, or gas or fracking. I know they have published some really good documentation lately. There is a glossy book which explains gas exploration and it has some great diagrams and photographs. They need to get out on the ground because there are people on the other side of the fence who are deliberately putting out misinformation and have a different agenda altogether.
This is a really important thing. We can discuss this little bill here, but this bill is more or less saying we are opening up more of the Northern Territory for gas and oil exploration. It might be other things as well, but this is what this bill is about. There is a certain amount of fear out there. Some fears may be warranted, but I believe flames are being fanned deliberately for particular purposes which are not necessarily to the benefit of the people who live in that area. They are being used, in some cases, to give the opposition some legitimacy.
There is a role for the government to play here and the department especially. The department has had meetings recently in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. I have asked whether it can have one in the rural area. In general, there has to be effort from the industry to avoid misinformation. It needs to be putting forward its case in a manner people can understand. I raise that as an issue because we are talking about development of the Northern Territory. That has to be done in a proper way. That has to be done under scrutiny, and it has to be able to stand up to debate. We want to make sure the people who are part of that debate are legitimate in their concerns and do not have some other agenda which they are trying to achieve by providing misinformation.
I thank the minister for bringing this forward. If we can create a market which is competitive and if we get the best results from that, it will be great. It would be good to see the guidelines for what makes an application a meritorious application.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Mines and Energy): Madam Speaker, I thank the members for Barkly and Nelson for their contributions to this debate. It was heartening to hear the member for Barkly suggest the opposition will not oppose the bill. That is a step in the right direction. I am glad he took the briefing and used his time wisely between when this bill was introduced and now to consult with industry, because that will help him to become a better shadow minister.
I commence by going through some of the issues raised by the members for Barkly and Nelson and try to answer their questions. I will talk about the member for Barkly’s contribution first. He indicated he had asked questions of industry about whether they thought the minister might be the best person to make decisions. That was supported by the industry, but they would like to have some form of input or consultation into the decision-making process. I do not know that direct input would be possible given that all of the applications that would come before me and/or my delegates would contain commercial-in-confidence information which could not be discussed or otherwise promulgated in the public arena.
The move from where we currently sit to where we will be after this amendment is passed, presuming it is, will mean the old system of ‘first in best dressed’ will disappear and there will be a process whereby the minister and/or his delegates will be able to make some informed decisions about the best people to run with. This will cut down on the time it takes to find a good applicant, in essence, for a parcel of land. In the current regime, an application for an EP, an exploration permit, received on a day where there are no other applications received has to be the successful one. That means my department has to go through a due diligence process in looking at that application which could take months to years before a determination can be made that the application be successful.
If that application were not successful, it would mean, effectively, you have tied that piece of land up for anywhere from nine months to three years where it sits in hiatus and cannot be dealt with in any other way. This allows the department, the experts in this area – people with a solid understanding of the petroleum and gas environment in the Northern Territory, the requirements around legislation, the geology of the Northern Territory and the economics of the oil and gas industry, particularly as it relates to the ability of a company to conduct the work it says it will do – to be left with the decision on the best applicant. We will no longer have to wait for several years, potentially, to find the best applicant. We may be able to make that decision in a far more timely fashion and bring this type of exploration on a little more quickly.
The member for Barkly also spoke about incentives. At this point I could probably say the interest in the Northern Territory’s oil and gas sector is at an all-time high. The interest in the Northern Territory’s oil and gas sector is palpable, you can feel it. With such a significant amount of the Northern Territory currently under application, at this point in time I cannot see any reason to bring on any incentives. The industry seems to be taking care of itself pretty well. It is interested in doing business with the Northern Territory government. In the Fraser Institute surveys which talk about being open for business, the lack of duplication or regulation, the lack of red tape, we feature very highly. That is one of the reasons, apart from the prospectivity of the Northern Territory, these companies are coming here. We, at this point in time, do not need to go down the path of incentives, although your comments are noted, member for Barkly, thank you.
He also talked about voluntary surrender. Voluntary surrender of title already exists. An exploration company that has tenure can, at any point, contact the Department of Mines and Energy and make arrangements to hand that petroleum permit back. That already exists in legislation, and I guess the member for Barkly will pick up those finer points as he goes along.
He talked about land access and the need to work with land councils and traditional owners. I hope the member for Barkly is aware of the requirements of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, ALRA, with respect to the type of engagement that can be done by oil and gas companies when they are seeking to explore on Aboriginal land. We are probably at a point where we have never had a better relationship with the land councils in those types of negotiations. We work very closely with all four land councils in many ways, but particularly the Central and Northern Land Councils. We have a dedicated unit within the Department of Mines and Energy which deals specifically with matters around that engagement with the land councils, because it is such a critical and important part of the application process.
We continue to do that work. We engage closely with the land councils and comply with the legislative requirements of ALRA, which can be considered, and have been considered by many, as a serious constraint in the development of the minerals and energy sector in the Northern Territory. It might be worth noting that Part 4 of ALRA was recently reviewed by Justice Mansfield, and a number of recommendations were made to the Commonwealth government around amendments to ALRA which would better facilitate oil, gas and minerals activities within the Northern Territory. I hope the Commonwealth government takes many of those on board.
He also talked about investment in community infrastructure. I note those comments and think, in a very pragmatic sense, companies which have tenure that wish to move to a higher level of exploration activity and, ultimately, production, would end up having an arrangement with landowners, whether they be traditional owners on Aboriginal land or other landholders in the Northern Territory, whereby some of those needs are met. On pastoral land, for example, there might be an arrangement whereby roads are built by the exploration company in the place the pastoralists want them. In the case of Aboriginal land, I would think in order to gain the assent of the traditional owners to that activity, there would have to be some sort of arrangement in place for that type of infrastructure to be built. I encourage that.
He raised issues around environmental groups. I am not surprised there were some issues raised there. However, this amendment relates only to tenure; it does not relate to the program of work per se. The need for any sort of review process, the concerns about these applications being rushed or the applicants cutting corners, are completely unfounded, because it would be in the company’s interest, quite frankly, to ensure it does not rush its applications or cut corners. Remember, these applications will all be considered on their merits. A company that submits an applicant that cuts corners is probably diddling itself out of a chance for tenure on that land.
The member for Nelson raised some issues around the EPs, exploration permits. They do, in fact, relate to tenure. He asked what the strategic and controlled release of vacant land means. It means at any time the Northern Territory government can bring on an application process for vacant land, or it can deal with land that becomes vacant at the end of an existing permit period. Under the act, up to 50% of the block will come back to the Northern Territory. It is all about us being able to get the timing right to be able to hold off on advertising land being available until we are comfortable the companies with the capacity, capability and expertise to engage meaningfully with the land in exploration are ready and available to undertake that activity. It gives us a further modicum of control.
He talked about the guidelines, the greatest merit provisions. The guidelines are still in draft; they are very close to being finalised. Let me reassure the member for Nelson that the circumstances we are currently in where we are passing a piece of legislation without the guidelines are not dissimilar to passing a piece of legislation where the regulations are not complete.
To put his mind at ease, that happens quite regularly. These guidelines will be the finer points of how applications will be assessed, but the overriding principles, the matters against which we must test these applications, are contained in the amendments to the legislation. I refer to those amendments where are discussed – particularly in section 16(3)(d) – a proposed technical works program and the evidence of technical and financial capabilities. They are some of the overriding principles that will inform the guidelines, and the guidelines will simply make up the finer details of it.
The member for Nelson talked about how the public will be informed of who is successful and unsuccessful. We have to be very careful with commercial-in-confidence information in this space, so these types of applications will be reported to the public through the government Gazette. They will also be made available on the website of the Department of Mines and Energy.
The member for Nelson also talked about the process of getting information out. He was saying it in a very diplomatic way, but he was talking about the misinformation being promulgated by certain groups and individuals in the Northern Territory about the oil and gas sector. Certainly, the Department of Mines and Energy and I, as the minister, are working very closely with APPEA, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, on information sharing and being able to get the truth out about the processes for oil and gas exploration in the Northern Territory. That is a process we are working on. We are very cognisant of the need to make sure the debate is fully informed and we are certainly working towards that goal. As a government as pro-development as we are, we certainly do not want misinformation to foil and spoil the opportunities that exist in the oil and gas sector. The member for Barkly spoke of the potential for significant economic development arising out of the oil and gas sector. I agree with him and I am glad he agrees with the position of government.
There are some significant opportunities for economic development, jobs growth and all sorts of things in not only regional, but remote parts of the Northern Territory. That will be an enormous boom for Indigenous folk who live in areas where other paid work might not be available.
We do need to get on top of that debate and we are cognisant of it; we are working on it. We condemn organisations like the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory and Lock the Gate Alliance which are, as the member for Nelson pointed out, using Aboriginal people and others to legitimise their misinformation and the mistruths they are spreading around about certain practices within the oil and gas sector. We are onto that, member for Nelson.
In closing, I thank the members opposite for their contributions to this. This is a sensible change to the legislation. Allowing a competitive marketplace for applications for exploration permits in the oil and gas sector makes sense. It will allow my department the opportunity to assess the very best applicant for the job. Where else do you not do that? If you are applying for a job, there are multiple applicants, and what does the employer do? They choose the best applicant on the day, and guess what? If the employer does not like any of the applicants, they can readvertise. We can do the same under this legislation. We do not have to accept any of those applicants for a piece of land in the Northern Territory which they would like to explore for oil and gas. It is about finding the best on the basis those individuals or that company will be the people best able to develop that exploration lease for a stronger, brighter future for the Northern Territory through the economic growth that this type of activity will bring.
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the support of members in the House on this legislation. As I said, it is a change that simply makes sense.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Mines and Energy) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Continued from 17 October 2013.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, this is not a controversial bill and the opposition will be supporting it. In plain speaking, this bill essentially updates NT legislation to ensure wills executed in the Northern Territory comply with international standards and, hence, have international validity.
A will executed in the NT will become a valid international will if the executor so wishes. This bill is part of a national reform process initiated several years ago. After a consultative process in 2010, the Australian government and all states and territories agreed to adopt the uniform code to ensure our wills can meet the International Uniform Code. There are sound reasons for this. The execution of a will can be a complex process without the added difficulties of inter-jurisdictional issues.
To diverge briefly, my aunt worked in a charity for pets for quite a few years, and members might know that many bequests go to charities. Often the most money they receive through donations is through wills, and often those wills are contested. Wills can be an incredibly difficult, personal and emotional area, so, as you can probably appreciate, you do not want to add inter-jurisdictional issues on top of things that can be happening at a very emotional and sensitive time.
Wills can be contested and the intent of a will debated by aggrieved parties. Of course, this is the exception. In the vast majority of cases, wills are executed with little or no controversy or animosity. However, complexities and conflict can arise, and we need a legal and legislative basis to accommodate this. While the execution of the most simple will can be complex, it is important that complex will situations be dealt with, and wills that cross jurisdictions have the potential for an increased degree of complexity.
The major complexity is essentially that it is possible for a will issued in one place to be executed in another. An individual or family could have moved and be a permanent resident in one country while the will they have was written in another. It is advisable to have a will that conforms to the country in which you live, but, of course, we never know exactly when that will might be executed.
Assets referred to in a will may be located in different countries, and in an increasingly smaller world, more and more people have assets across international borders. The uniform code seeks to accommodate this. Beneficiaries of wills may well also be across different countries. In a smaller world families and friends are more dispersed and international wills are designed to accommodate that. The uniform code outlines a legal framework for wills to conform to a standard that allows for these complexities to be accommodated as best they can.
People do not need to have an international will and existing wills are not invalid. This bill was based on a model bill produced by the Commonwealth. The Northern Territory is the last of the Australian jurisdictions to introduce this legislation, but the legislation will not come into effect until the International Uniform Code is officially introduced in Australia. I ask the Attorney-General to advise in his wrap if he knows when that may happen.
The only other question I have for the Attorney-General on this bill relates to the involvement of other countries. Of course, an international will that involves issues across different jurisdictions can only really come into effect if both jurisdictions sign up to the uniform code.
It is all very well for the NT and Australia to sign up, but for it to be truly effective the uniform code needs other countries to participate. I guess you can say that a will can only be international if the international community agrees. There is not much point to say, for example, this will gives my client the right to a villa in Tuscany if the will is not recognised by Italy. It is a little like extradition laws. Australia and the NT can have all the laws they like, but if another country does not recognise them or have an extradition agreement it does not mean much …
Mr Elferink: There is no will unless there is goodwill.
Mr GUNNER: Very well put, Attorney-General. I am sure the Attorney-General will say that in his remarks. I seek the Attorney-General’s advice on the level to which other countries have adopted the uniform code and enacted similar legislation. Of course, I do not expect him to provide a detailed breakdown on the progress of every jurisdiction, but anything that can outline whether we may be first or last cab off the rank would be appreciated – how this is occurring internationally, particularly if you have any information in relation to countries Territorians are likely to have assets or family members in. I recognise it is not the domain of the NT Justice department to monitor this information, but I never underestimate the level of detail people in the department are on top of. If that information is not available, I understand. I am sure the Attorney-General and I can catch up at a later time.
Regardless of where we are in relation to the international community, the opposition supports this legislation. Labor was in government when we signed up to the uniform code, and we welcome it being carried through. Anything else I could say on this bill has already been said in the second reading speech. We support this legislation. I am sure the Attorney-General and I will have other bills where we might have more issues to debate, but on this one we agree. The only questions we had were minor, and if they are not available to the Attorney-General now we can always talk to him at a later date.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): As the member for Fannie Bay said, this bill is not controversial and I support it. The second reading speech makes it clear what it is about. The convention seeks to harmonise and simplify the process proving the formal validity of wills which contain international characteristics, etcetera. The last bit needs repeating:
That sums up exactly what this is all about. My only question, minister, is why are we the last jurisdiction to introduce this legislation? Was there a problem, or was it regarded as a fairly minor piece of legislation that needed fixing?
Madam Speaker, I support the bill.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice) Madam Speaker, the short answer to the member for Fannie Bay is Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, it says Czechoslovakia but I presume it will be the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Ecuador, France, the Holy See, Iran, Italy, Laos, Libya, Niger, Portugal, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the former Republic of Yugoslavia. I presume that is the various republics – six of them – Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Kosovo – it has Bosnia-Herzegovina – and that is about it. I missed one, but that is my geography stretched to its limits.
I thank honourable members for their support of this legislation. The short answer is this is good legislation and the more countries that sign up to it the less pain we should have across international boundaries in relation to testimonial instruments and the like. The law of succession is well established in common law; it has a number of legislative instruments that surround it and it now has another piece of legislative structure or rigidity to it which I hope will help solve more problems than it will ever create.
I thank honourable members for their support, and you can always support good law.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed; bill read a third time.
Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I wish to inform the House about my recent visit to Japan, China and Vietnam from 18 to 31 October 2013. Before doing so, let me reiterate this government’s full commitment to advancing the Northern Territory’s engagement with our Asian neighbours and strengthening our trade and investment ties with them.
Reflecting this commitment as Chief Minister, I have specifically assumed portfolio responsibility for Asian Engagement and Trade, as well as for Northern Australia Development.
As I emphasised in my various speeches in Japan, China, and Vietnam, there is an intrinsic link between the future development of northern Australia and the growth occurring within Asia. For the benefit of honourable members, let me highlight some of those messages I delivered.
I noted the middle class of Asia is projected to grow from an estimated 500 million people in 2009 to over 3.2 billion people by 2030. This will represent five to six times the middle class of the United States and Europe combined, and highlights where the centre of the global economy is being established.
In regard to northern Australia and its capital, Darwin, I stressed we have often heard the phrase ‘not if, but when’. My message to our Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese friends was to say the answer to when is now. Now is the time for northern Australia to be recognised as a key player in the energy security of the Asian region. Now is the time for northern Australia to be developed to help address the growing issue of food security in the region. Now is the time for northern Australia to play a pivotal role in the geopolitical security within the region. Now is the time for investment and growth across northern Australia to advance the economic security of Australia. I also conveyed that the Northern Territory is open for business and ready to step up to this new role.
Let me now turn to the Vietnam/China/Japan visit itself and outline its purpose and outcomes. Broadly speaking, the purpose of my visit was to strengthen and promote NT trade and investment links with two of our priority markets – namely, Japan and China – and one of our emerging markets, that being Vietnam, to strengthen existing, and develop new, personal relationships with high-level political and corporate counterparts in each of the three countries; to maximise Japanese participation in the 52nd Australia Japan Joint Business Conference being held in Darwin from 12 to 14 October 2014; to support local NT companies in their efforts to secure foreign investment for further business development in the Territory, including mining, tourism and agricultural sectors; to support local business in securing more early manufacturing projects from prime overseas contractors associated with the INPEX project and to launch the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Northern Territory’s new Investment Guide and Northern Territory Investment Directory.
Let me draw your attention to some of the specific outcomes achieved in each country. During my second visit to Japan on 19 to 23 October 2013, I was ably supported by my ministerial colleagues, the members for Brennan and Greatorex, in their capacities as Minister for Education and Minister for Tourism. The Northern Territory business community was also strongly represented by Ms Julie Ross, President of the Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce, Mr Greg Bicknall, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Sean Mahoney, Chairman of the International Business Council, Mr Stuart Kenny, Chairman of the Manufacturers’ Council and Mr Kevin Peters, Chief Executive of the Industry Capability Network, along with a range of other individual business representatives, particularly from our resources sector, including companies such as Emerson Resources promoting its copper and gold projects in the Tennant Creek area, TNG Ltd promoting its Mount Peake titanium, vanadium and iron ore project, Tellus Holdings Ltdpromoting its Chandler salt mine development in Central Australia, and Rum Jungle Resources promoting its phosphate projects at Barrow Creek and Arganara.
In regard to outcomes in Japan, I participated in and delivered a keynote address on Northern Territory trade and investment opportunities to the prestigious 51st Annual Japan Australia Joint Business Conference, attended by over 300 leading business people from both nations, and accepted the formal declaration that the 52nd conference will be held in Darwin from 12 to 14 October next year. In doing so, I was able to renew my relationship with Dr Mimura, the Chair of the Australia Japan Business Co-operation Committee. Dr Mimura is now also the Chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, and the Chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is possibly the most influential of all current Japanese business leaders, along with his deputy, Mr Kojima, who is also Chairman of the Mitsubishi Corporation, both of whom I met during my first visit to Japan earlier this year.
I was able to establish a direct and strong personal relationship with Sir Rod Eddington, the Australian Co-Chair of the conference, President of the Australia Japan Business Co-Operation Committee, Chairman of Infrastructure Australia, and a very strong supporter of northern Australia.
Of course, I took the opportunity to meet again with my good friend, Chairman Kuroda of INPEX and his senior management team.
During my speech to the conference, I mentioned that many other Japanese companies should take a lead from INPEX and look for further investment opportunities in the Northern Territory. As mentioned, I also launched the Japanese version of the NT Investment Guide and the NT Investment Directory, developed by my new Office of Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment. I also delivered a keynote address at the NT minerals investment seminar in Tokyo.
We also recognise the need to foster specific inward and outward investment missions to help convert our promotion into tangible investment results. I have secured an opportunity for the Northern Territory to host a high-level inward delegation from the Mitsubishi Corporation to investigate Territory investment opportunities. This visit will be at a time still to be decided, either later this year or early next year, as details are currently being finalised between senior Mitsubishi Corporation management and my Office of Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment.
Similarly, there was a visit to the Northern Territory today from the Chiyoda Corporation. Chiyoda has a strong interest in investment opportunities in the energy sector as well as new strategic infrastructure projects, including new port facilities and energy pipelines.
We have also accepted an offer from the large Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, or SMBC, for us to present Northern Territory trade and investment opportunities directly to its prime clients and stakeholders in Tokyo early next year.
I also continue to promote the need for more early contracts to be awarded to local Territory businesses from prime overseas contractors associated with the INPEX project. On that note, I was pleased to see that lobbying by the joint Northern Territory government industry team, comprising of representatives from the Office of Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment, the Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce and its industry councils and the Industry Capability Network, has facilitated another local manufacturer being awarded a package of work a year earlier than the contract was to be advertised. That contract will see Austal Services, Darwin, manufacture and deliver nitrogen, water and air supply hoses to the project, all of which will be produced by the business here in Darwin. Minister Chandler and I also had the pleasure of seeing the Japanese company NEC announce its establishment of an information technology apprenticeship hub in Darwin. This, once again, demonstrates confidence in the Territory economy. We also announced a new $14.6m NT Open Education Centre which includes a $3m contribution from INPEX.
Let me turn to my inaugural visit to China between 23 and 26 October 2013, where I was ably supported by the Minister for Tourism. During this visit I supported local NT businesses in their efforts to promote trade and investment opportunities in China. I provided support by delivering a keynote address at the Chinese investment forum organised by the Northern Territory chapter of the Australia China Business Council. I also took this opportunity to launch the Chinese version of our new NT Investment Guide and NT Investment Directory.
A key priority of the visit was to advance the strategic relationship between the Northern Territory and the China Development Bank, the lead Chinese institution associated with foreign investment. I hosted an official dinner for the China Development Bank in Beijing, attended by almost 80 leading Chinese and Australian business people. Some of these people had previously met with the Deputy Chief Minister during his visit to China in June 2013 and we had wide-ranging discussions on various investment opportunities in the Northern Territory. As a result, the China Development Bank is sending a high level investment delegation to the NT in December 2013. It will examine a wide range of investment opportunities, including mining and energy, agriculture, infrastructure and tourism development.
The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, a key Chinese agency roughly the equivalent of Austrade, is also sending a 35-strong delegation to Darwin in December 2013. I was pleased to meet with CCPIT’s Vice President, Mr Yu Ping in Beijing. In Beijing, I also had several one on one meetings with various business interests, including Mr Spiro Pappas, Chief Executive Officer, Asia region for the National Australia Bank. Minister Conlan and I also promoted NT tourism opportunities to the Chinese market. One conclusion I came to while in China is that, given the sheer scale and size, we need to be more targeted and focused in our efforts to be effective and to secure trade and investment outcomes. This will mean prioritising our efforts to a number of provinces and cities of strategic relevance to the Territory, in a similar fashion to how we are now approaching Vietnam.
With regard to Vietnam, I made my inaugural visit on 26 to 30 October 2013. During my visit I established high level political relationships, including a personal meeting with the Prime Minister, the first ever such meeting for a Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. I also had personal meetings with the Vietnamese ministers for Agriculture, and Trade and Industry, and with the Chairmen of the People’s Committee of both Ho Chi Minh City, the largest industrial city and Haiphong, the third largest industrial city and the main port that services Hanoi.
I also promoted the expansion of the live cattle trade with Vietnamese cattle importer, Animex, noting we have seen a tenfold increase in trade this year. It was with great satisfaction that the Northern Territory cattle I saw at the Animex feedlot in Haiphong were in excellent condition at a well-run facility, although I am not a cattle expert. I took the opportunity to promote the development of a new buffalo export industry for the Northern Territory to Vietnam.
Furthermore, I also promoted the purchase of Northern Territory iron ore by Vietnam and a possible investment for Vietnamese companies in new iron ore projects in the Northern Territory – speculative but an opportunity. A number of potential Vietnamese investors are planning to come to Darwin later this month to follow up on specific opportunities. As a result of my visit, I have secured the collaboration of high level Vietnamese government and industry players to develop a trade and investment agreement between the Northern Territory and strategic Vietnamese city provinces of, at least, Haiphong and Ho Chi Minh City. I am also pleased to have the agreement of the respective Chairmen of the People’s Committees to join me in hosting the high level NT trade and investment forums in those cities in March 2014.
As I said at the start of my statement, the future of northern Australia is intrinsically linked to the growth of Asia. Having visited Japan again and undertaken my inaugural visit to China and Vietnam, I am more convinced of this than ever.
I acknowledge previous Northern Territory governments for their efforts to build our links with Asia. However, the priority of my government is to convert the many trade and investment opportunities that exist in the Northern Territory into reality – promotion into product. This includes securing investment in new infrastructure such as ports and energy pipelines, agricultural developments for our regions, tourism and property development, as well as new mining and energy developments.
We are currently developing a new whole-of-government Asian engagement, trade and investment strategy that will outline the priority markets and sectors that will shape our engagement and map out a tailored and targeted approach to converting our pipeline of opportunities into real trade and investment. I would welcome bipartisan support for this approach in its implementation, a concept that has already been recently canvassed with the shadow minister for Asian Engagement and Trade.
I have already acknowledged the contribution of my ministerial colleagues and local Territorians to making this visit to Japan, China and Vietnam a success. Let me also thank my chief of staff, Ron Kelly, for his great support. I also pay tribute to those officers of the Northern Territory Public Sector for laying the foundation for the visits. I acknowledge the CEO of my department, Mr Gary Barnes; the CEO of the Department of Education, Mr Ken Davies; and the CEO of Tourism NT, Mr Tony Mayell, for all providing invaluable support to me and to ministers.
Finally and definitely not least, I thank the hardworking team of the Office of Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment for constructing, facilitating and delivering an impressive and intensive program across three countries. A special thanks to Mr Brian O’Gallagher, Managing Director, who accompanied me on the whole visit, Mr Kevin Fong who assisted in both Japan and China, and Mr Tai Tuong who assisted in Vietnam. This was definitely what we term a 100% effort from team NT.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Mr Deputy Speaker, there is no more important issue than the social and economic development of the Northern Territory. I congratulate the Chief Minister for taking the time and making the effort to visit Asia. I know sometimes people say it is a junket. It is not, because you work so hard that when you return, you are exhausted. You are travelling to three or four countries in a week, it is a big effort, and our engagement and trade with Asia is about jobs, education, opportunity for business industry and strong and productive relationships with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
After all, if you look at the map we are closer to Jakarta and Singapore than Hobart or Canberra, which is sometimes a blessing. We have no objection to the CLP government building on our legacy of trade and engagement with the countries to our north, but the government’s policy and activities must be based on clearly defined strategies which underpin opportunities for our engagement and trade with the dynamic economies in our region. Just going there will not provide any opportunities for Territorians. Going there with a well-prepared plan, to meet the right people in the right places and having the right negotiations can do a lot for the Northern Territory. You need leadership. Travelling can accumulate flying points, but unless you have leadership, nothing will happen.
I learned recently during a department briefing, to my surprise, that despite all the rhetoric about Asia and travel to Asia, the CLP government does not have a documented international trade strategy. We are going to Asia, but we do not really have a plan of what we are going to do in Asia, what we want to achieve, and how we are going to achieve it.
I understand the Chief Minister confirmed the government had no strategy during his State of the Territory address to the Property Council last week. Given the number of times Asian Engagement and Trade has moved in and out of the Chief Minister’s department, we understand why progress is so slow. The only ones who seem to make money from it are the removal companies.
Asian engagement and development opportunities are the Territory’s key and emerging trading opportunities. Our trading partners in Asia want to work with us. The question is: do we really want to work with them?
In consultation with business, industry, government agencies, NGOs and our multicultural communities, we developed a five-year international trade strategy which positioned the Territory for a bright future. In the year to April 2009, Northern Territory exports grew by 57.3%. That did not happen by accident; it happened because of the hard work, the hard yakka, we put in to promote the Territory as a source of things Asia wanted.
In the same year, the Territory’s goods trade surplus grew by $500m to $2.1bn. Our trade strategy was based on the Territory’s core strengths, proximity to key markets in the Asia- Pacific region and the ongoing development of the Australasia Trade Route. The strategy focused on three key international markets and five emerging markets. I was very disappointed to hear the Chief Minister say the Territory government lost the plot in the past 10 years. No, Chief Minister, it did not. The Northern Territory Labor government led the way to Asia, not only to Indonesia, but to Malaysia, East Timor, Singapore, China, Korea and Japan. If he had the opportunity to meet some of these trading partners, it is because we put the foundations in place. If you had a chance to meet with the China Development Bank, Chief Minister, it is because the Labor government signed a memorandum of cooperation with the China Development Bank. They came here and consulted with us many times. It was this Labor government which developed strong links with China to the effect that the Chinese Ambassador and the then Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, signed an agreement for the Chinese Ambassador to have an annual briefing from our government with regard to our relationship with China and the opportunities for the Territory in China.
As a matter of fact, I travelled to China 14 times, once as minister for Tourism and the rest as minister for Resources. I went to Indonesia four, five, or six times, twice to East Timor, once to Vietnam, four times to Malaysia, and I do not know how many times to Singapore. They were not holidays or junkets. It was hard work, repeatedly meeting people to develop these strong relationships that made the Territory the number one exporter to Asia.
China is our number one trade partner. That happened through all the repeat visits made by the department and government officials to China, promoting the Territory. The same happened with Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. As a matter of fact, because of our trips to Singapore, Singapore imported sand from the Territory for the reclamation plan they had in place.
Five strategic, emerging markets that were identified were: Vietnam, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. That delivered us the $30bn Ichthys project. We launched the China mineral investment strategy and we brought numerous Chinese companies here that now do exploration and mining. We are exporting mineral resources to China.
We have supported the live beef trade to Indonesia and Vietnam, and it was with great sadness that I found out a few minutes ago that the minister for Trade in Indonesia has announced they are looking to cut the import of live cattle from Australia and are looking for other markets. I attribute that to the recent spy scandal.
We made substantial investment infrastructure at the East Arm Port and Darwin Business Park. We established a Timor-Leste Northern Territory Ministerial Council. We developed Tourism NT’s Asian Gateway Strategy. We promoted Indigenous art. As a minister for Tourism I went to Beijing and met with executives of CCTV Nine. They came to the Territory and made a documentary about Indigenous arts and Indigenous culture that was screened in China. Seven hundred million people saw that documentary. On the plane back to Australia, when I picked up the in-flight magazine, there was a big article about Indigenous art and Indigenous culture based on the CCTV Nine documentary.
Indigenous art sells in China; Indigenous culture sells in China, and I was very disappointed to hear the member for Greatorex, as Minister for Tourism, discard Indigenous culture – it is not selling anymore. My experience from the Chinese people I know, the Chinese friends I have, is that if they come to Australia, they do not want to go shopping. They want to see Uluru and experience, firsthand, Aboriginal culture, art and paintings. That would be the emerging market in China for the Northern Territory.
The CLP has done a lot of travel. Many ministers have gone here and there, some of them in queen’s class rather than business class, but what have they achieved? Have we seen anything new? The only thing we have seen in Resources is a decline in the amount of exploration. Just a quick look in the NT News – I recall the days when we had two and three pages of exploration application announcements. In the past few months, I have seen one in the NT News and one in the Centralian Advocate.
It takes more than just a trip, and the minister for Primary Industry might have to travel a bit more in the near future, especially to Indonesia, if the news that came through the ABC about cutting the importation of cattle to Indonesia from Australia is true.
I also encourage the minister to spend more time meeting people repeatedly, because in China, the first time you meet it is okay, the second time it is okay, the third time you really start getting to know people and they get to know you. You need repeated visits and repeated meetings with the same people to establish a relationship.
Their culture is different to ours. Every group of people has different ideas and different customs. The Chinese do not trust you unless they get to know you, and to get to know you needs more than one visit.
The CLP has to fight its own partners in Canberra, its old friends. What we have seen recently from the Prime Minister and the Foreign minister is clearly not very clever. The Territory and Territorians and politicians from both sides understand our relationship with Indonesia better than our counterparts in Canberra. The member for Blain went to Jakarta, and from Jakarta, because he realised the potential for damage the current diplomatic stoush has for Australia and particularly the Territory. He called on our Chief Minister to urge the Prime Minister to apologise for what happened. We have to remember these things are not political, Labor or Liberal. Spying has been going on for a long time. It happened in the Labor days, in the Howard days, and I recall very well, during the Timor emergency, Australia secretly had troops in East Timor, which was revealed recently. I recall very well that in 2005 a spy scandal emerged.
It would be wise for the Prime Minister to apologise. If the President of the United States apologised to the Chancellor of Germany for spying on her phone, I think the Prime Minister would be wise to apologise and avert any further deterioration in the Indonesian-Australian relationship.
We will not disagree with the Country Liberals travelling to Asia, but we want to see results. Going there, having nice photographs and press releases and coming back with accumulated frequent flyer points is not a good result for Territorians. What we want to see is people going there, establishing relationships and coming back with some tangible benefits for Territorians. The minister for Resources goes there and comes back, not with a bunch of photographs and press releases, but some real investors in the Territory. We will support and encourage travel to Asia. Asia has the potential to be the biggest customer for most commodities we produce in the Territory. The minister for Primary Industry talks about the food bowl of Asia. That will not happen unless we develop strong links with the appropriate persons, companies and investors in Asia.
We must have a plan, a vision. I talked earlier about tourism and the lack of vision in tourism. We talk about trying to bring airlines here. We can bring people here, but if there is nowhere to stay, these people will never come back and will tell others not to come here. We need a comprehensive approach to tourism. I saw the recent publication, Tourism Vision 2020. I have looked at it. It is quite good; it is very similar to what we had before, the one I put out in 2007 for 2007-12. Obviously the department writes similar things because that is the right thing to do. Here, however, we are talking about a different approach to attract people, to work with the industry to find innovative ways of promoting the Territory – some of this is like Tourism Vision 2020. I speak about it in my response to travel to Asia because Asia is the future of tourism for the Northern Territory.
Yes, we might talk about rich tourists. The reality is, people from the United States will not come here because it takes so long to come here and go back, and they have such a short period of annual holidays they think twice before they come here. Europe – you might as well forget it. After the global financial crisis, southern Europe is impossible. The English are reluctant to travel to Australia unless they come for work. The Irish will come here mainly for work. Scandinavia has found different markets now, cheaper markets in the Middle East and Asia.
Our target for tourism is Asia. If a small percentage of the Chinese who visit Australia come to the Territory, we will be doing very well. As I said to you before, we have to target our product to what the customer wants, not what the minister thinks is the right thing to do.
I again welcome the statement about relationships with Asia, but we need more than that. We need a comprehensive plan to engage our neighbours. We need a comprehensive plan about Asian trade relationships. We need a plan to avoid problems when they arise between Australia and southeast Asia. It is not only about travelling and having nice pictures in nice places, it is about developing a comprehensive plan on how to engage with Asia and make sure it knows about the Territory and what the Territory has to offer.
Mr STYLES (Transport): Mr Deputy Speaker, I have a couple of things I would like to contribute to this debate, but before I do, I will comment on a couple of things the member for Casuarina said in relation to tourism. He lectured us, saying that for tourism it is great – we understand that – and he then said there is nowhere to stay. It is a bit hypocritical when we inherited one of the worst housing crises ever seen in this country due to the lack of land release. Here we go, we lead with the chin again. Due to the lack of land release, we do not have sufficient housing on the go. We do not have sufficient land ready to meet the demand.
I remember, when I first came into this parliament in 2008, saying time and time again to the then Chief Minister, ‘We have an issue here. You need to release more land.’ People were telling me they were struggling to get land to do this sort of stuff. As a consequence, we have the Ichthys project up and running. We have not even seen the worst of it yet, but its staff are taking up hotel rooms that could be filled with tourists.
The member for Casuarina then said we have no plan, we just go on lots of holidays and things like that. I am hoping that is not what the member for Casuarina did when he was overseas trying to promote the Territory, because if he thinks they are holidays – he had a few – he is in for a rude awakening when he finds out what really has to happen on those trips. He should just get down to the facts on what you have to do over there. He knows it. We know it. They are hard work.
I support the Chief Minister’s statement. Sadly, the Chief Minister could not go to a recent event in Indonesia so I went on his behalf. It was the World Hakka Conference. The World Hakka Conference might not sound very much, but there were 5500 key Chinese business people from around the world present in the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, at the Expo Centre. It was fascinating to walk into the room and find you are the only European person with 5500 Chinese people. Going there created quite an amount of interest. We spoke at the conference; I was one of the seven initial speakers, and to be the only European person in a sea of Asian faces created quite a stir. In fact, everyone in the room wanted to know what I was doing there. I was the only politician from Australia who had been to one of these conferences in years.
It was very challenging to present the Territory’s case, but we did it in English. I could not speak much Mandarin, but we had some people interpret for us and we presented the case for the Northern Territory. I was overwhelmed with people wanting to know more about the Territory after I had painted the picture that we are open for business, a picture that there is now a government in the Northern Territory which is very supportive of investment, and very supportive of bringing their people, their expertise and whatever they can do to add to the Australian economy.
The President of Indonesia was there with his entourage. Sadly, I did not get to meet the president, because there were 5500 other people in the line and you had to take a ticket and get in the queue. There was not enough time, but it was fascinating.
A few months ago, before this trip, I was in Singapore for another economic development tour. That was also a fascinating tour. The Chief Minister has been on the same tour of Jurong Park, but I will get to that in a moment.
As a side trip, I ducked across to Jakarta to support a delegation from the Northern Territory which had gone there in an effort to seek support for a planning conference in Darwin next year. As a result, we have a planning conference happening next year. This is about getting architects, town planners, and anyone with an interest in planning cities – the topic is healthy tropical cities – to visit the Northern Territory next year and discuss how we might plan the city of Darwin as a tropical city and how we might progress …
Mr Vatskalis: We cannot. Water is too expensive.
Mr STYLES: What was that interjection?
Mr Vatskalis: You have increased water charges so we cannot have a tropical city, it will be dry. Remember the power and water charges?
Mr STYLES: They will come to the city, to plan it, to ensure we do not run into similar problems they may have in cities in Indonesia. It was a fascinating day we spent with these people discussing some of those issues and trying to put the conference together. I am glad to say we were successful in getting that planning conference to Darwin next year.
Trips to Jakarta have been very successful. The trip in relation to the Hakka Conference, apart from being very informative and able to paint a picture of Darwin, resulted in us having a Hakka Conference next year. I am proud to announce that as a result of that trip, we now have a Hakka Conference. I do not know if it will have 5500 people because the member for Casuarina is right, we do not have enough rooms to accommodate 5500 people in Darwin. We will have a smaller version, courtesy of much work done by me with these people, and credit to the Darwin Hakka Association, which was represented in Jakarta by Mr Henry Yap. Together, we successfully convinced many of those people to come. On his return, we have met with the Hakka community and its committee for its community group. It was very supportive of the idea, and the date has been set as 26 April next year. We look forward to that.
In Singapore, we followed the Chief Minister’s lead to look at some of the development there and how we might get some of that here, and to go along with the mantra of the CLP government that we are open for business.
When you go through Southeast Asia – I agree with other speakers on this topic – you see that Southeast Asia is where much of our future is, and Asia in general, from Japan through to China, across to India and down through Southeast Asia. We have been sending that message out and, as a result, the number of enquiries coming through is remarkable. Business confidence in the Territory is at its highest. We will see 5% growth this year and 7.5% growth next year, according to the forecasts. This is fabulous news for the Territory, Territory families, and Territory people who are looking for a job. When you look at the results of some of those inquiries, we are ramping up housing. You can see cranes in the sky to get commercial business premises and units built. We are desperately trying to catch up to fix the legacy we were left by the previous government in relation to the housing shortage.
Open for business is that mantra. I was in Singapore for this trip, and one night I was sitting with some friends who brought along a group of people who are serious investors. They invest in all sorts of petrochemical plants. It is amazing. The word is out there that we are open for business. They want to know what we are doing, what our plans are, what options there are and what opportunities there are. As a result of some of those discussions, I am excited. Today, I think about the things that are coming down the pipeline and it is very easy to be excited for the future of the Territory. We have our challenges as a result of the legacies we have been left, but we were wise to those challenges and will fix many of those issues. It may take us some time, but we will get to them.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the Chief Minister for travelling. They say that travel broadens the mind, and it does. It gives an opportunity to sell the Northern Territory, to get people interested, to tell them what we are able to do and what we have here. It is also an opportunity to give them an idea of the opportunities for development, the investment opportunities, and the opportunities for partnerships, direct foreign investments, for boot operations. We will look at anything they want to do and, provided it fits in with federal legislation, we will look very carefully at giving them the opportunity to invest in our future. I commend the Chief Minister and my colleagues for travelling, both Cabinet members and backbenchers, for seeking investment and people to help us to build the Territory and our future. I commend the motion.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Chief Minister, not for the motion before us, but the statement he brought to the Chamber which we are debating. It is an important statement because it is about his recent visit to our important trading partners of Japan, China and, of course, Vietnam.
There are some aspects of the statement we are keen to support, particularly the continuing relationships with these crucial trading partners and the opportunities that still lie ahead of us in realising greater investment in the Territory which, of course, particularly supports the emergence of regional economic development. I welcome those aspects of the statement.
I am disappointed, though, as the Chief Minister still seems to be stuck in a somewhat dogmatic, petty, domestic political way of approaching these statements, rather than rising to the occasion of what you would normally expect a statement from a Chief Minister to be. There is a disappointment there, and I hope for the sake of the Territory he can get beyond a domestic political partisan view and understand when it comes to the opportunities for trade relationships between Japan, China and Vietnam, there is bipartisan support in the Northern Territory for those trade opportunities.
When I say bipartisan support, actions always speak louder than words. I recognise the previous work done over a decade of a Labor government, where we secured the largest investment by Japan in Australia with the all-important Ichthys project, the $34bn oil and gas project that is a partnership with Total from France. That took many years. A lot of hard work commenced under Chief Minister Clare Martin, continued under Chief Minister Paul Henderson, and delivered with a final investment decision in January of last year. It was an incredibly exciting time and a real game changer for the Northern Territory.
In those relationships it was crucial to nurture an environment of certainty and trust. I was fortunate enough to be the Deputy Chief Minister for five years and nurtured that relationship in my role as Treasurer. I worked closely with INPEX and its partner Total and had to visit Japan in that role to engage with the ministry for Energy there, METI, to ensure that INPEX was doing the right thing as a corporate citizen in the Territory in pursuing that all-important project. That was before a final investment decision, engaging with INPEX itself, and with JGC, which was positioning ifself to be the prime contractor. However, in time, we ended up with JGC linking with two other companies to create JKC, which is now the prime contractor to deliver that all-important construction project. I do want to mention Chiyoda in that relationship because it is an important emerging relationship as a corporate coming into the Northern Territory, with the potential of understanding that all-important workforce in Korea and what can happen there, but that is an aside.
I go to the need to nurture relationships, because on this side of the Chamber we will not be churlish about government ministers travelling into Asia. Of course you need to do that. We will raise our eyebrows when it takes three of you to go on one trip; that is, perhaps, a little excessive. We have seen some excessive actions. For example, the Treasurer decided to take a private jet rather than travel on commercial airlines.
Speaking of commercial airlines, I will definitely be taking that all-important air link, Malaysia Airlines, when I travel to Japan at the invitation of INPEX in just two weeks’ time to continue my close relationship with Kuroda-san, who is the head of INPEX, and his successor coming through, Kitamura-san. I have enjoyed cordial and strong relationships with both of those two very important men in INPEX. I will be catching up with people I have seen, particularly around final investment decision time, in terms of other companies but also investors. I acknowledge the contribution of the Chief Minister in recognising the opportunities of investors such as Mitsubishi and Mitsui. These are significant investment opportunities
But I will provide a word of caution: do not oversell what you do not have to sell. I was concerned when I heard, at the Property Council luncheon, the Chief Minister say that Mitsubishi, the great investor, is coming to the Northern Territory. I was pleased to hear that but I was then concerned to hear him say, ‘It is okay, they are coming to Ngukkur to look at agribusiness opportunities with the traditional owners’. On first glance, that sounds like a fine thing to do. However, if you go into the details and practicalities of that you have to ask the question, what water rights do the traditional owners of Ngukurr hold to be able to consider large scale agribusiness opportunities, given they were cut out of water allocation rights by the arbitrary removal of the special Indigenous reserves? Here we have the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory pitching to major Japanese investor, Mitsubishi, that it could come to Ngukurr and look at the opportunities for large scale agricultural business, when the traditional owners of Ngukurr, whilst they may have ambitions in that regard, do not have access to a water allocation that would yield a large scale agribusiness opportunity. I see two problems in that scenario. One is, are you going to ultimately disappoint a major Japanese investor because you do not have the detail in place around the proposal. The second is, would you ultimately disappoint the traditional owners of Ngukurr because you have oversold a potential opportunity when you had already removed a special Indigenous reserve right to water?
I raise this as a concern because I spent more than four years living and working in Hong Kong before I became a member of parliament. In four years, I specialised in Southeast Asian geopolitics, but also in business. Working out of the South China Morning Post, across the desk, you deal with the business of Asia. The reality is that business works in a developed nation like Australia, and the Northern Territory, when you do not oversell, when you are genuine and honest about what you have to offer.
An example of that is the work that we did through the resources agency, when we were in government, to identify what mineral exploration opportunities existed in the Northern Territory and which companies were, at that time, in an exploration phase. We would contact the companies and say, ‘Are you interested in foreign investment?’ from, for example, China or Japan. If they said yes, they were on the list, in the prospectus and were handed over as detail to the potential foreign investment companies, including, as you have heard, the Bank of China.
We did that because it has to be evidence based when you are doing business with Asia. Do not try to sell the proverbial pup. Do not oversell because you create an environment of mistrust, and once you create an environment of mistrust, it is very difficult to come back from that.
My word of caution to the ministers of this government is to go in with a very clear knowledge of the detail of what you have to offer to the investment companies, with no whimsy or flights of fancy but genuine hard work of gathering the information and knowing you are ultimately able to deliver what you are offering.
When the Northern Territory government, under Labor, pursued the Ichthys project, everyone, including the now government, thought we were chasing a pipedream. They did not think it could be delivered here because of the vast difference between Darwin and the Browse Basin field in which Ichthys sits. We doggedly pursued it, based on fact, knowing that when we offered a project to be delivered here, we had done our homework, from the project development certainty of the legislation we introduced into parliament, to the prospectus, to understanding the opportunities around Blaydin Point where, of course, the onshore component of the project has landed. You have to go in well prepared and fully cognisant of what you truly have to offer, what you are able to deliver as a government and what you are beholden to in terms of other parties needing to deliver. I am starting to hear a bit of a cowboy approach from this government towards Asian relations and engagement. I have no issue whatsoever with ambition. I have no issue whatsoever with pursuing opportunities for the Northern Territory and our key trading partners, but I do have issue with overselling something that is not ready to be sold.
I will use another example. I have used the Ngukurr example, and I am really concerned about that and would like to hear more information from the Chief Minister about exactly what he has committed to in terms of Mitsubishi and the opportunities for agribusiness in Ngukurr. I am very interested in exactly what is being offered, because I know the traditional owners in Ngukurr do not have water rights.
Set that aside. The other opportunity the Chief Minister hung his hat on at the Property Council luncheon was the issue of the potential for the live export of buffalo into Vietnam. Chief Minister, can you understand there are many logistics to put in place when you venture into new markets? You have to understand that the regulatory environments we are trying to bed down in live beef trade into Vietnam are not fully there. The Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the feed lots in Vietnam indicate that a lot of work has occurred. A lot of effort has been packed into developing that emerging market of Vietnam for the live beef cattle trade. To now flip to the idea you will create a buffalo trade there because it sounds good and looks good is biting off a whole host of issues that you have not yet done a true logistics analysis of. My concern is if you try to move too swiftly with your promises – we have already heard that the Chief Minister got a sense of that when people started saying, ‘Well, sure, we will take our first shipment of 5000’. He is starting to say, ‘Let us look at numbers’. Do not be a used car salesperson in Vietnam, China or Japan. Know exactly what, logistically, you are able to deliver. Prepare. Have a genuine understanding of the detail around these proposals, because if you oversell the Northern Territory, you damage our reputation.
I say ‘our reputation’ collectively because we have all earned good standing in Asia. Former Country Liberals Chief Minister, Shane Stone, and former Asian Relations and Engagement minister, Daryl Manzie, have good reputations in Asia. Good reputations in Asia continued through the Labor years too, despite what this Chief Minister would have us believe. Through Clare Martin, Paul Henderson, my colleague, Kon Vatskalis, and through the work I have done in my portfolios, we have been able to maintain confidence in the Northern Territory because we did not behave like cowboys. I am really concerned that some of the language starting to creep in from the current Chief Minister is over-stretching the hand of the Northern Territory and, therefore, we will ultimately be in all sorts of strife when it comes time to deliver to our Asian trading partners.
It is a note of caution I wanted to sound given what I heard from the Chief Minister at the Property Council luncheon on Friday. It is really important we stay consistent. By all means, the CLP will have its own set of policies for international trade. You will have your own views on which markets you prioritise for the opportunities. You will have your own sets of delegations. Not surprisingly, most of your business delegations include the same business people we took on our delegations because they are the right people to take with the right connections. You will have your own strategies, but try to be above petty domestic politics and understand Asia responds well to consistency where you are providing that environment of certainty.
I will go back to the importance of the word ‘certainty’, because when Kuroda-san was asked at the final investment decision media conference on the Ichthys project as to why they chose Darwin, he said, ‘certainty’. That is because when we first started our discussions with INPEX, to when the final investment decision was signed off, we did not change. We did not put a new element into the mix of the negotiations and discussions. We knew, and had done our assessments before we commenced pursuing that project, what we were capable of delivering and who else had to deliver different elements of it. We never changed or altered. That provided certainty in landing it within the time line at a location such as Blaydin Point.
Once you start to mix around your international trade strategy because you want to put your own hallmark on it, and you put a different flavour and style to it, that can be viewed in Asia with some degree of, ‘Why are things changing? We liked what you had to offer before. Surely you still have that to offer?’ Whether it is your onshore and offshore resources, whether it is your agribusiness and tourism opportunities, just a word of caution about wanting to change too dramatically what has been bedded in international trade strategies which grew out of the work done during the Shane Stone era by the former Country Liberals government, enhanced by the work of the Labor government under Clare Martin and Paul Henderson.
We all have our role to play in being ambassadors for the Northern Territory and understanding it is not about whether you are CLP or Labor, it is about the fact we are, and have been, consistently genuine about wanting to do business and trade with Asia, and understanding the importance of those social and cultural links. I cannot underestimate the importance of those social and cultural links.
As a former Sports minister who went through Malaysia and into Vietnam to talk up the opportunities around the Arafura Games, I am very aware it gave us a unique entre into southeast Asia particularly, but into Asia more broadly in our cultural and sporting relationship. The games were changed and altered over the years. There was feedback from the heads of delegations to identify what best met the sporting needs of the countries that came to Darwin. They were used as a developmental games for their athletes. To arbitrarily have axed them, as occurred, was a big mistake. To not be engaged, very clearly right now, in what should occur to enhance a new form of Arafura Games is an even bigger mistake. However, I only hear silence from the CLP around the Arafura Games and I am really concerned.
That is partly why I am making sure I use Malaysia Airlines air links into Kuala Lumpur when I go to Tokyo to meet with INPEX and others. In Malaysia we have an exciting opportunity with this air link, the tourism opportunity, and the all-important business class investor air link into and out of Kuala Lumpur and Darwin. I am going with a very open mind about what that will provide, but I have no doubt, knowing the great nation of Malaysia as well as I do, having spent a fair amount of the 1970s in and out of there, having been in Hong Kong and gone in and out of Malaysia – it is a real power house in that southeast Asian region. With the Malaysia Airlines air links, it is a very exciting time between us and that strategic neighbour.
If you listen to the CLP, Malaysia Airlines magically came here because the CLP was elected to government. That is not the case. It took a long, hard haul of consistent lobbying from Labor when we were in government, coupled with business in the tourism sector going to Malaysia Airlines and pitching the case which, obviously, landed a great opportunity with the Ichthys project. Malaysia Airlines saw the business links and opportunities and took that all-important next step. No one party can claim that air link, but what we can all recognise is it does open up quite significant opportunities in our Asian gateway strategy.
The government needs to be more cognisant of the China minerals investment strategy. We heard the former Resources minister, the member for Casuarina, talk about the decline he is starting to see in exploration advertisements occurring in the NT News. I also find that concerning. I am interested to hear from the Resources minister specifically what they are doing in that regard. Obviously, we have opportunities around continuing the work which has been done building off that engagement strategy ...
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I ask that the member be given an extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, members, for the extension of time.
We have grown very strong connections with provinces within China through the China minerals investment strategy. One of the things I am very interested in pursuing is that all-important emerging tourism market in China. I see southern China as the next major market for us to go after. When I was the Treasurer, I was very keen to ensure we developed a very strong tourism focus on pitching into southern China. I am still convinced of the opportunities around air links into southern China, whether it is to those power houses of Shanghai, Guangzhou or Hong Kong. I will be looking at opportunities around that in the New Year.
I acknowledge the work that has been done by my predecessors, leaders of the Labor Party, in the relationship with Timor-Leste. I have been a very strong advocate for Timor-Leste as a member of parliament with a constituency in which there are a large number of Timorese people. I have never had the opportunity to go to Timor-Leste; I have been the one to stay behind and do the work when other ministerial delegations were going. I will put on notice that I am getting there as soon as I can into the first quarter of next year. I look forward to the opportunity of Timor-Leste relationships I have had onshore here and enjoyed at very senior levels being established offshore over in Timor-Leste.
I want to touch on Indonesia. It is such an important neighbour to us, and we have such an enduring and dear friendship with Indonesia. Many of us feel a growing sadness, ever present, as we watch the unfolding scandal continue, rather than be appeased. News today that there is a potential threat on trade is not welcome. I urge all parties to do everything they can to show the appeasement and respect required to get the relationship back on a much stronger footing.
I thank the member for Blain for joining with the Territory opposition in calling for an apology to be made to the President and his wife. It is appropriate that an apology occur. I hope the Chief Minister is having conversations with the Prime Minister about the importance of an apology, even if he is not doing it on the public record. He needs to at least plead the Territory’s case in conversations with the Prime Minister. It is sometimes easier to get on with the job when you have made a symbolic gesture. A sincere apology would be very symbolic as a circuit breaker in the current impasse in the relationship between our nation and our most important neighbour in Indonesia.
My thanks go to Ade Padmo Sarwono, the Indonesian Consul in the Northern Territory, for the generosity of spirit which he has shown all of us. He has extended the opportunities of business, cultural tourism and education links between Indonesia and its provinces that are close to us, particularly the Northern Territory. I know Garuda was due to be here this week in regard to some significant announcements. That may not be happening given what is occurring in the relationship between Indonesia and Australia, and that is a deep shame. Many of us have worked for a very long time to see the opportunity of Garuda flying in and out of Darwin again. If it could establish a direct link to Jakarta, it would be awesome. Jakarta would be fantastic but we will take Bali or Lombok which have terrific airports as well. We would just love to see Garuda flying in our skies again.
Chief Minister, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the statement. I hope you are able to grasp the importance of the role of Chief Minister and the consistency of the relationship between us and our major trading partners. I hope you see that we have some long-term strategic interests across just not Japan, China and Indonesia but also those all-important emerging markets of Vietnam, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. I hope you grasp the opportunity of singing loud and clear that it is bipartisan in the Northern Territory. It does not matter who is the government of the day. We all hold very dear and near to us the opportunities that arise out of the Territory being the true gateway to Asia, the resources we have and the investment we need from those great trading nations. Thank you for providing the opportunity to contribute to this debate by bringing a statement forward to the Chamber today.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Mr Deputy Speaker, I wish to support the Chief Minister’s statement on the outcomes of his recent visit to Japan, China and Vietnam, and I take this opportunity to provide the House with a report on a trip I undertook at roughly the same time, which included Japan, China and South Korea.
In late October to early November, I led delegations to China, South Korea and Japan to promote business investment opportunities for the Northern Territory’s pastoral, agricultural and mining industries, to help establish additional markets for local agricultural and horticultural products, and promote opportunities for investment in Northern Territory minerals and energy projects.
The Northern Territory is well placed to play a role in meeting the growing demands for food and resources from Asia, but we have to act now to take advantage of these opportunities. Later today I will deliver a ministerial statement to parliament which will outline, in detail, how this government will take advantage of the emerging opportunities for trade and investment for Territory producers, particularly as they relate to the primary industry sector.
Ministerial trips such as these are a vital element in identifying and pursuing trade opportunities, strengthening existing ties and establishing relationships. I take on board the gratuitous advice from both the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Casuarina, who talked up the need for these types of relationships to be built over time and with regular visits to those Asian trading neighbours that are so close to the very important and strategic port of Darwin.
In saying that, I acknowledge that prior to 2001, which is when the Labor government would like us all to believe the world began, there was a CLP government that worked tirelessly in the Asian region to promote those trade and investment opportunities with trading partners such as Indonesia. The good work of previous governments – plural – should well be touted in this House as the foundation stone of the relationships that we now have. The member for Casuarina often gets a bit cute, saying the Labor government is the beholder of all the relationship-building exercises that have occurred between the Northern Territory government and our Asian neighbours since 2001. According to him, nothing happened before that, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The current Country Liberals government is simply following the lead of the former CLP government in continuing to build these relationships with our vital trading partners to our north. It does not take a brain surgeon to figure out just how important these relationships are. While I thank the members of the opposition for their gratuitous advice, we certainly do not need their advice in this space. The energy being displayed by this Country Liberals government in attending to those matters with our trading partners to the north in Asia is going very well. Thank you to the members of the opposition, but I will leave it at that.
Ministerial trips such as these are a vital element in identifying and pursuing trade opportunities, strengthening existing ties and establishing relationships. However, it is worth noting that this is the first time in over a decade a Northern Territory Resources minister has visited Japan. During the latter part of my trip, I took the opportunity to lead a separate Northern Territory agricultural industry delegation to China to promote opportunities for Chinese investment in NT agriculture and to build on engagement with government and industry. Throughout the trip, a number of high-level meetings were held in order to maintain the Northern Territory’s profile and credibility as an exploration investment destination and to communicate this government’s willingness to be a trusted long-term and stable supplier of resources to South Korea, Japan and China.
These meetings were also an opportunity in which Territory exploration companies could identify and directly access potential investors, as well as raise the Territory’s profile as an exciting jurisdiction for onshore oil and gas exploration and renewable energy developments.
The delegation to promote opportunities for investment in NT minerals and energy projects included six members from my Department of Mines and Energy, representatives from four exploration companies and one service provider. In particular, I am excited about the successful meetings the delegation and I held with the following organisations: the Korean Resources Corporation, or KORES, the state-owned enterprise whose purpose is to secure the minerals needed to sustain South Korea’s economy; Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, JOGMEC, the Japanese government agency whose role is to ensure a stable supply of metal, oil and gas resources needed for Japan’s industry; ITOCHU corporation, a large Japanese trading house with interests in a wide range of minerals, energy and chemical investments; and, of course, INPEX, the major investor in and operator of the Ichthys LNG project. It was terrific to be hosted by the INPEX executives and it was terrific to catch up with Chairman Kuroda while I was there.
We moved on to China and met with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, or CCPIT; the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters, or CCCMC, the China Mining Association, the peak body representing China’s exploration and mining companies and the organiser of the China Mining Congress. I also met with The National Development and Reform Commission, or NDRC, which is a super ministry within the Chinese government with broad administrative and planning control over the Chinese economy that provides all large foreign investments by Chinese state-owned enterprises. This was a very significant meeting as it is the gatekeeper for Chinese foreign investment. I stand to be corrected, but I believe that was the first time a Northern Territory minister was able to meet with the NDRC. We are very pleased we were able to get in at such a high level.
We also met with China’s Ministry of Commerce, which approves all large foreign investment by state-owned enterprises. I met with the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Baosteel Resources, a Chinese state-owned enterprise which is the world’s second largest steel producer. Our message was simple: the NT is open for business and we welcome foreign investment into our minerals and energy sector. The Northern Territory government is committed to providing a responsible, investment-friendly regulatory regime for companies wanting to invest here.
For the second consecutive year, I was the only state or territory minister from Australia to attend the China Mining Congress in Tianjin, one of the world’s largest mining and exploration conferences. It was a delight to meet and speak with the new Industry minister for the Australian government, Ian Macfarlane, who addressed the conference. At the risk of sounding a little parochial, I should say, by far and away, Minister Macfarlane’s address to the conference was the most inspiring of the representations from foreign countries.
I was the only state or territory minister from Australia to attend the Melbourne Mining Club dinner in Beijing. One of the highlights of this trip was a tour of one of the bulk commodity precincts at the port of Tianjin to see firsthand the scale of China’s consumption of Australia’s mineral resources. The port is China’s second largest and employs around 40 000 people, has over 200 terminals and, so far this calendar year, has seen over 500 million tonnes of bulk commodities come through it. There were three iron ore ships in port when I was there, loaded with Australian iron ore. It was a pleasure to be on the port of Tianjin, watching Australian iron ore being unloaded from those ships to make its way into the burgeoning economy of China.
Despite short-term economic challenges, South Korea will need to secure offshore minerals and energy resources in the long term. As such, South Korea remains very interested in growing its investment and trade relationship with the NT. It is worth noting another first, in that it is the first time an NT Minister for Mines and Energy has visited South Korea.
I want to place on record that the recent delegation I lead across to those countries was a groundbreaking one. Thanks to the opposition for the gratuitous advice, but we are seriously switched on to enhancing and growing the investment opportunities that lie to our north in Asia. It just makes sense. There are huge growing economies such as China with a rabid demand for minerals, energy and food going into the future, with Australia well-positioned strategically to those Asian countries, and we have many of the resources they need.
Darwin is the closest Australian capital city to all those Asian countries. It makes perfect sense for Darwin to be the centre of the universe when it comes to the development of our north as we grow into Asia and continue to form those long-term trade relationships.
The INPEX decision to build the Ichthys LNG plant in Darwin has increased the profile of the Northern Territory as an investment destination for Japanese companies. Japanese trading houses are also interested in the Northern Territory’s mineral projects and wanted to hear about the NT’s emerging onshore oil and gas sector which has the potential to boost Japan’s energy security into the long term.
It is clear that China must continue to invest overseas to secure the mineral resources it needs. It is recognised that a better understanding of overseas legal, regulatory, cultural and social environments is needed before investing. This provides an opportunity for the Northern Territory to increase education efforts to potential investors. During my meeting with the China Mining Association, we made significant ground in forming a position whereby China can work with the Northern Territory Department of Mines and Energy to form a better understanding of the cultural, social and regulatory environment in the Northern Territory to better facilitate investments they wish to have here. We will be working very closely with the China Mining Association to pursue that because we see the value in the Northern Territory maintaining a competitive edge over the other jurisdictions of Australia when it comes to attracting investments from those overseas countries.
Overall, the delegation enabled the four participating exploration companies to promote their products to hundreds of potential investors across five cities in three countries. Officers from my Department of Mines and Energy also organised separate meetings for the exploration companies. In conjunction with Austrade, the department undertook significant forward planning to identity high-quality potential investors for the explorers to meet with in each company. The feedback from explorers has been very positive. In fact, I will go as far as to say that a number of those companies we took with us are absolutely delighted with the way the delegation performed, the meetings we had, the quality of the meetings and the seniority of the people with whom we could arrange those meetings. The trip was outstanding.
While in Japan, I represented Australia at the Minerals Australia investment seminar held at the Australian Embassy for an audience of approximately 80 trading houses and associates. Going forward, my Department of Mines and Energy is developing a road map for building investment links with South Korea, Japan and China. I look forwarding to presenting this to parliament soon.
The Northern Territory government’s openness to foreign investment was well received in all three countries. Officials in South Korea and Japan were particularly pleased to have a visit from the NT Minister for Mines and Energy.
In China, my meetings were positive. In fact, they were, on some occasions, so good I had to leave the room and virtually pinch myself to make sure I was not dreaming. The reception the new Northern Territory government was receiving in China was outstanding.
The members of the delegation to China representing the Northern Territory’s primary industry also considered the trip a great success. This delegation was made up of officers from my Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, representatives from the NT Farmers Association and the NT Cattlemen’s Association.
Australia is China’s seventh-largest trading partner, with the major trading commodities being wool, cotton, hides, meat and dairy cattle. However, there is real potential for these imports to grow as China has maintained economic growth of around 7.5% and places a high priority on food security and safety.
The delegation was able to meet with senior Chinese government officials to explore collaborative and investment opportunities, and communicate the Northern Territory’s ongoing willingness to be a trusted long-term and stable supplier of resources and commodities to China. Visits such as these will strengthen relationships with strategic partner organisations in China and maintain the Northern Territory’s profile and credibility as a food export and investment destination.
One point that was often raised and discussed in a positive light - I have touched on it here before – was the advantage of Darwin’s proximity to Asia. Representatives from several Chinese companies are planning to visit the Northern Territory soon to inspect our supply chains to deliver live cattle, melons and mangoes, so watch this space! At the end of the trip, I officially opened a combined Northern Territory minerals and primary industry investment promotion seminar in Shanghai which more than 40 potential investors attended.
Before I conclude, I want to touch on something mentioned briefly by the member for Casuarina. He spoke of an ABC report talking about a minister in Indonesia who made some utterances about Indonesia finding alternate sources of cattle. I will point out a couple of things to the member for Casuarina, and I do hope he listens to this.
First of all, that report is more than a week old and it was regurgitated, for unknown reasons, by the ABC journalist and placed on a website. Secondly, it is vitally important that cool heads prevail in the circumstances we currently face in the spying scandal issues that have arisen between Indonesia and the Australian government. There can be no purpose served by dragging any mention of the live cattle trade and the relationship the Northern Territory has with Indonesia into the debate. The rhetoric coming from Indonesia, thus far, has not included live cattle. Any references to changes to trade relationships around meat have related to boxed beef.
If the member for Casuarina, who is a former Primary Industry minister, had any sense at all, he would keep his own head cool. He would not try to introduce into the debate anything that would cause further angst, either in Indonesia or within the Northern Territory cattle sector. This is bearing in mind what his Labor colleagues did in June of 2011 with the suspension of the live cattle trade to Indonesia.
To the member for Casuarina I have just that message. Please research what you say before you say it. Be sure to get the message right, lest you damage the industry that is now on a righteous path to recovery after being in the doldrums for more than two years.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Mr Deputy Speaker, I contribute to the Chief Minister’s statement on his recent visit to Asia. I had the privilege of accompanying the Chief Minister on an extremely short trip to Bali recently. I am sure travelling to Bali conjures up all sorts of relaxing images for many people listening, but I assure you we were on the AirAsia flight out that evening, we were in meetings all day long on the Tuesday and were then on the red eye straight back to town to address our electorate issues.
It was a privilege because I had never, being a new backbencher, had the opportunity to understand where the Northern Territory sits on the international stage and engage in high level meetings like the ones I was privy to. It was a wonderful experience for me, but, more importantly, it was important I attended because there were a number of Palmerston business people who attended the Indonesia Australia Business Conference, which was one part of the reason the Chief Minister was attending Bali on this business trip. There were many facets to our trip and I will go through those in due course.
There was a twenty-strong Northern Territory delegation in Bali for the Indonesia Australia Business Conference and those included: Lord Mayor of the City of Darwin, Katrina Fong Lim; one of the aldermen, Gary Haslett; Mr John Banks, general manager of community services at City of Darwin; Greg Bicknell, the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce in the Northern Territory; Sean Mahoney, Chairman of the International Business Council NT; Mr Murray Hird, TradeStart advisor, Chamber of Commerce NT; Mr Luke Bowen, Executive Director of the NT Cattlemen’s Association, who was also speaking at the conference; Mr Alan Jape, Managing Director of the Jape Group Australia, who was also speaking; Ms Pamela Jape, Operations Director, Jape Group Australia; Mr Greg Elkins, Business Development Manager from Toll; Mr Rick Setter, OzAsia consultant and also a former member of this parliament; Mr Kevin Mulvahil, Australian Agricultural Company and Chairman of the NT Livestock Exporters Association; Mr Brad Campbell, Northern Territory manager of Atom Supply; Mr Owen Pike, Director of Mine Maintenance and Construction; Ade Padmo Sarwono, Indonesian Consul in the Northern Territory; Mr Ardian Nugroho, Vice Counsel to the Indonesian Consulate in the NT; Mr Lance Martin, Director of DHT Products; and Mr Michael Hall, Director of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training.
Mr Brad Campbell is a constituent of mine. He is the manager of Atom Supply in Winnellie. I had the opportunity to speak with him and Owen Pike, the director of Mine Maintenance and Construction. From our discussion, it became clear to me just how valuable Northern Territory businesses have found these opportunities to engage in international conferences like this one. It was great to spend some one on one time with Brad and Owen. Owen Pike and I grew up together. He was my next door neighbour in Gray for many years and his family has a wonderful homegrown Territory business. Owen’s father, Terry, and mother, Evelyn, moved here and started Mine Maintenance a good 20 years ago. It is a true business built out of hard work and sweat, and they are people with the utmost integrity. I have all the time in the world for them and I was very pleased to be able to visit Owen and his brother, Michael, who are now operating Mine Maintenance. Terry is having too much fun out the back, fixing trucks and all sorts of things. He has always been a man of the tools and that is where he remains. Looking at how much this business has grown and how fabulous its engineering, fabrication and fitting facilities are reminded me of how wonderful Territory businesses are.
You can see why there is such a connection and affinity with Indonesian businesses because of how homegrown and valuable Territory businesses connect with the everyday person. When I was with Owen, he told me a story about someone who came in with his son’s bicycle and they needed a small part for it. Obviously, Mine Maintenance produces enormous products: sheds, pieces of pipe, you name it, and yet they said, ‘Come in, we will be able to fix that for you’.
Some really wonderful businesses attended the conference. There was also Kevin Mulvahil, who is also my old Year 6/7 primary school teacher’s husband. He is now working for AACo and has been the Chairman of the NT Livestock Exporters Association for some time. It was excellent to spend some one on one time with him, equally, the Japes, who I am connected to through friends and soon to be marriage. It was excellent to spend time with all of these people at the conference.
The Chief Minister and I, along with Katrina Fong Lim, the Mayor of Darwin, also had a meeting with the IABC and KADIN, which is the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce. It was a very successful meeting. I thank President Kris Sulisto and Peter Fanning, the Vice President, for bringing such a large number of members from the Indonesia Australia Business Council to our lunch. It was great to make so many connections and share stories about opportunities between our two regions.
The Chief Minister and I also hosted a trilateral session between Timor-Leste and Indonesia, which was also attended by Katrina Fong Lim. There were some very interesting conversations in those meetings that will set the groundwork for something very special. The Chief Minister, following those meetings, spoke at the conference, and I cannot say enough that afterwards he was like a movie star in that room. People were so excited to hear about the trilateral agreement and the opportunities coming towards the Northern Territory. It was really valuable and everyone was glad the Chief Minister attended.
It was a very quick trip. It was great to meet Ambassador Greg Moriarty and many other people who attended the conference, but it was nice to see local businesses, people you have known for a long time, engaging at such a high, strategic level. It was a privilege to be in Bali in an official capacity, and I look forward to becoming more involved in these types of business interfaces well into the future. Thank you.
Ms ANDERSON (Namatjira): Madam Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement on his visit to our nearest neighbours, our Asian counterparts. It is fantastic to see the Northern Territory Chief Minister, ministers and backbenchers like the member for Drysdale going overseas to introduce the Northern Territory and start that interaction. It is really important for the Chief Minister, and our ministers with appropriate portfolios like the Tourism minister. During the tourism statement in the last sittings, I said to the Tourism minister, ‘Keep on going. Keep selling the Northern Territory,’ and that is the same message I want to give to the Chief Minister. Keep on taking the Northern Territory to our Asian neighbours. Show them what the Territory has and how the Territory can work with them.
This statement shows the opportunities the Chief Minister has given all Territorians by going to different countries, introducing the Northern Territory and talking about tourism and agriculture, having that relationship and interaction, and taking a cohort, not just of government ministers, but of business people who contribute to the economy of the Northern Territory so they can see the difference. They can start having the relationships with these people. It is a fantastic opportunity to have this two-way relationship with the people who are closer than Tasmania, as the former minister said earlier.
It is easier and quicker to go to these Asian countries than to Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne or Tasmania. They are our closest neighbours; they are our friends. It is really important we have this interaction with them – business interaction and general friendship, allowing the opportunities we have to be spoken about when we undertake these visits and to ensure they understand the makeup of the Northern Territory and that it is a multicultural society with many people from these countries who have become citizens, and we have all become good friends.
This is a great opportunity the Chief Minister has given us. It is a big opportunity for the mining industry, a food bowl, ensuring, as our closest neighbours, we interact financially and ensuring they interact with us economically and be our friends.
I suggest to the Chief Minister that he continues to take more of these trips. It is really important for the Chief Minister to keep selling the Northern Territory, like the Tourism minister. The Tourism minister has to sell the Northern Territory across the world. I said to him last time, ‘Keep on going, minister. Keep talking up the Northern Territory and keep selling the Northern Territory.’ The same opportunity is there for the Chief Minister, and he has taken that opportunity, which is fantastic. He is the key to linking Asia to the Northern Territory. It is the first time it has been done. He is the first Chief Minister to go to Vietnam, which is fantastic.
One of the things I suggest to the Chief Minister – I alluded this to my colleague earlier – is that when we look at which business people we take to our Asian neighbours, do not forget our Indigenous tourism operators and business people. Take them and show them what Asia is like. I am sure Indigenous people would love to go there and shake hands with the President of Indonesia and have a look at the country around Vietnam and China. It will give them great insight into what is happening in those countries and how they can link their businesses with these Asian countries on behalf of the Northern Territory. Too often in this House – we did it this afternoon in the condolence motion – and talk about Indigenous economic opportunities. These are the real opportunities we need to move forward with. Give these Indigenous businesses and tourism operators the same opportunities we give other people and move to Asia as Territorians, as Territory businesses and tourism. It would be a good eye-opener for these people to have that experience.
The Territory will grow from that knowledge. The Territory will only expand. The Territory will not just expand its manpower and knowledge, it will expand the experience we can get from other countries. When I went to Vietnam – this was on holidays – it was a real eye-opener for me. It was the first time I had gone from Darwin to Bali and Vietnam. We have some friends in Vietnam. I have already put on the Parliamentary Record how amazed I was to see kids from the poorest, disadvantaged little farms going to school with beautiful white socks on and their little bags on their backs. They actually go to school six times a day. It was fascinating to compare because we always say, ‘We live in poverty’ and all that. These things were an eye-opener for me, someone who went to these Asian countries for the first time. I saw the difference.
It would be a great opportunity for Indigenous tourism operators and Indigenous business entrepreneurs to go with the Chief Minister and other business people on delegations he takes to these Asian countries and open their eyes to partnerships. They can become lifelong friends. These are the great opportunities we can give these people. As I said before, take them as Territory tourism operators and give them an eye-opening experience. Make sure all the people are going to bring something back so they can contribute to their society. You might have someone from Alice Springs going on a delegation who comes back and completely overhauls their business after the interactions they have in these Asian countries where they become great friends. They can pass on that message to others to take that trip. It would be a good learning curve and an experience of a lifetime.
In supporting the Chief Minister’s statement to this House, which is wonderful, I urge the Chief Minister, when he takes these delegations to these Asian countries to take Indigenous businesses as well and introduce them to our closest neighbours.
Motion agreed to; statement noted
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I will outline the important role and opportunities the Northern Territory’s primary industry and fisheries sector has in providing food security for Territorians, Australians and, increasingly, to the growing consumer market that is Asia. There is an emerging global focus on food security. With Asia becoming an increasingly substantial consumer of food, particularly higher value products, there are significant opportunities available for the northern Australia food sector.
However, Territorians will not witness crops stretching from horizon to horizon, irrigated by an endless chain of centre pivot systems as we drive down the Stuart Highway or cross the Victoria or Arnhem Highways, nor would we want that, due to the negative impacts on our ecosystems, our rivers and catchment areas, not to mention the iconic Territory lifestyle. While the Territory cannot and will not become the complete supermarket for our northern neighbours, we can become the specialist suppliers of high quality and high value products for Asian markets, and we can guarantee security of supply.
You might well ask how we will compete with our northern neighbours in the supply of food into their region, when they have, in many cases, better soil and more consistent rainfall than we have. It is quite simply that for some produce we have technological and quality-assurance advantages backed up by solid, reliable logistics and supply chains. Further, we also produce products that are excellent in quality and highly sought after. We are clean and green and our traceability systems are world class.
This is very important in the Asian context and combines to give us a real market advantage. Further, we offer significant investment opportunities in that we have relatively large areas of land available for green field agricultural development. This is in the context that while we will not ever see, and nor do we want to see, Murray Darling style development in the Northern Territory, we are keen to see a range of precincts developed to supply product into Asia. I mention the Murray Darling quite deliberately. The naysayers and the fringe green groups, such as the Northern Territory Environment Centre, seem to take delight in comparing the new paradigm around the Northern Territory’s land and water resources with the problems experienced in the Murray Darling basin. They are running a scare campaign designed to create the impression we are heading down the same path. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Those individuals and organisations seem to be ignoring the inconvenient truth that the Northern Territory’s land and water systems are remarkably different from the Murray Darling. They are ignoring the inconvenient truth that our weather and climatic patterns are different from those in the Murray Darling. They are ignoring the inconvenient truth that every year, give or take, somewhere between one and 1.5 m of rain falls on the Top End of the Territory. This causes rivers to flow and flood, and recharges the many aquifers from which water for future agricultural development will be sourced.
These individuals and organisations, such as the NT Environment Centre, are deliberately misleading the public and seriously misinforming the debate around the water and land systems of the NT. As an example, I refer to Stuart Blanch’s recent presentation to the Australian Water Association NT branch’s conference in Darwin, in which he accused government and public servants of corruption and cronyism. Not only were his comments outrageous, but they were also patently false. His comments bring into disrepute hard-working scientists in the environmental field and were hardly fitting for the executive office of an organisation charged with a serious responsibility of advocating for balance in the environment versus development debate. His comments around the strategic Indigenous reserve issue clearly show a lack of understanding of the issues, and I would be grateful if Mr Blanch could show me which part of Daly River the proposed Warrai Dam is part of. He will know what I am referring to.
The Northern Territory Environment Centre would be well advised to consider informing the debate with science rather than with misleading emotive statements or its deep anti-development, anti-jobs philosophy. The same could be said about its contribution to the discussion on the development of natural gas resources in the Northern Territory, but that discussion is for another day.
That said, the Northern Territory government recognises the important role it has in ensuring responsible development of our agricultural, horticultural and aquacultural sectors to address food security concerns and take advantage of economic opportunities to benefit Territorians. In order to make the best use of available land and water resources, the Northern Territory government is working towards a solution that has been identified by many experts in the field of agriculture: to create a patchwork mosaic of smaller scale irrigation projects based on water availability in areas with better soils and available infrastructure.
What this patchwork of agricultural projects will look like over the next decade is taking shape now, as the private sector and government work together to take advantage of the Country Liberals government’s recent legislative changes regarding non-pastoral use activities on pastoral leases. Also, the Northern Territory water policy and this government’s commitment to provide or upgrade infrastructure to improve transport corridors and provide essential services will underpin the growth of agricultural pursuits in regional areas. Similar to the system that will be implemented for the mining and exploration sectors in the Northern Territory, this government is keen to establish priority zones for agricultural, horticultural and aquacultural developments in order that the biggest bang for buck is achieved in regard to infrastructure and other service provision.
The primary industry and fishing sectors have been consistent contributors to the Northern Territory economy over many years, and all indications point to this increasing in the future. However, these sectors will only continue to prosper under the stewardship of a Country Liberals government which has a focus on agriculture and is taking a long-term strategic approach to its development, unlike Labor with its piecemeal approach to development. The underdeveloped north of Australia has the potential to increase its production of food and contribute to global food security, and the Northern Territory can certainly play its part in helping feed the populations to our north. We have proven we can supply quality and quantity of a number of products; beef, melons and mangoes are success stories, and the areas of aquaculture development, such as barramundi farming, increasingly so.
The Northern Territory has over 30 years of research and development to draw upon. We now know what will work and what will not, and this research continues. My Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries has research and demonstration facilities strategically located throughout the Northern Territory that allow research projects and development programs to be conducted under secure and managed conditions. These facilities give regional and rural investors access to locally truthed information. Local industry advisory committees help researches to align their business with regional initiatives and stakeholder aspirations.
Outside of eastern coastal Queensland, cropping has largely failed to establish in northern Australia, despite many pioneering efforts and a long history of agricultural research. However, a combination of new research, farming practices and varieties, in conjunction with the change in economic conditions, underpins our optimism about the future. While large continuous tracts of arable soils are scarce in northern Australia and the variations between Wet and Dry Seasons cause difficulty for agricultural and horticultural industries, our extended Dry Season does provide an ideal environment for horticulture and some industrial cropping options.
What has changed that makes me so positive about the future? There is a number of things: the market and investment opportunities emerging from our northern neighbours; the focus of this government on relationship building and understanding the geopolitical climate of our trading partners; the culmination of many years of research that makes us confident we can attain sustainable production from our land and water resources; and, of course, this government’s strategic policy views that will underpin investment certainty.
This government is determined to increase the opportunities available for landowners, primary producers and those whose businesses depend on land and water. Recent legislative changes made by this government to the Pastoral Land Act will allow for the development of agricultural and horticultural projects on pastoral leases.
Mr Elferink: Hear, hear!
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. Specifically, the changes will extend the five-year limit for non-pastoral use activities on pastoral land up to 30 years, plus potential extensions, which will allow for a project to mature and provide a return on the initial capital investment. Additionally, those non-pastoral use permits will now vest with the lease and not the leaseholder. Attaching the permit to the land itself makes sense. This provision will make such non-pastoral use valuable in not only the additional revenue potential from that activity, but also to the value of the lease itself. Capital improvements and the additional revenue can be factored into the value of the lease and, ultimately, what the lease may be sold for.
This upward revaluing of pastoral properties in the Northern Territory is an important step in repairing the pastoral sector after the horrendous and disastrous suspension of the live cattle trade by federal Labor in 2011. The pastoral industry, as I predicted back in 2011, is still struggling in the wake of the ban. Only the Country Liberals government has had the foresight and courage to enact changes that will have a positive and profound effect on the Northern Territory’s pastoral industry.
When coupled with this government’s commitment to using the Northern Territory’s water resources to drive economic development in a way that is sustainable and underpinned by quality science and sensible policy, pastoral leaseholders have a unique opportunity to diversify their income streams while also contributing to economic development and food security.
The Northern Territory water policy will provide a framework for water management in the Northern Territory and will promote sustainable water resource management and underpin the identification, assessment, development, allocation and management of all water resources in the Northern Territory.
I can hear the shadow minister’s response to some of these statements now. He will try to convince us that all their time in government was characterised, in part, by strong support for the primary sector, which we know is not true. I remind Territorians of how the former Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, stood beside his federal colleagues, nodding in agreement with the decision to ban live cattle exports.
Let me also remind Territorians it was the Henderson/Lawrie outfit that placed a moratorium on land clearing in the Daly. They introduced draconian and unworkable land clearing guidelines. They were architects of the now defunct native vegetation legislation which would have added yet another impossible layer of approvals and bureaucracy to agricultural development. He will attempt to defend the indefensible and then tell us this statement lacks detail about the Northern Territory water policy, but let me assure you that work is well under way on drafting this important policy.
This government is committed to enabling development of the north, with the first step being to process the backlog of water licence applications which is, effectively, stonewalling agricultural development in parts of the Northern Territory. After coming into government, the newly-formed Department of Land Resource Management identified 75 licence applications that had never been dealt with by the former Labor government. One can only imagine the reasons behind this backlog, but lack of political courage by a government held to ransom by Green minorities is one possibility that springs to mind. For all Northern Territory Labor’s rhetoric we know that they were not, and will never be, interested in making difficult political decisions that would underpin a vibrant and growing agricultural sector in the Northern Territory. This government will.
To identify areas that have a combination of good soil and water resources where the mosaic of agricultural and horticultural projects can be established, I have instructed my Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries to work with my Department of Land Resource Management, and the Department of Lands, Planning and the Environment to classify potential areas for development. Some of this good work was done in the days of the former Country Liberals government, and we will continue that work.
These departments have formed an agricultural land development working group which is working to identify land that could be developed. It considers natural resources, infrastructure, tenure, services and labour requirements. The goal of this work is to develop strategic food industry land investment information that will provide certainty for investment for significant agricultural development.
On that matter, in November 2012, this government announced major project status for the Ord Development Project, the first time an agricultural project has received this status in the Northern Territory. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Australian, Western Australian and NT governments to work together to facilitate extension of the Ord irrigation channels into the Territory to open up 14 500 ha of new agricultural land.
The Ord Development Unit is now engaged in coordinating and facilitating native title negotiations with the Northern Land Council and traditional owners. We are in discussions with the WA government regarding water allocations and licensing, environmental approvals and biosecurity.
The Country Liberals government has done more in 15 months of government to progress the Ord than Labor did in 11 sad years in office. I suspect Henderson’s Labor team had no interest in developing the Ord simply because there were no votes for them in Kununurra.
The agricultural land development group is now working to identify the Northern Territory’s next possible Ord development. One area under consideration for development, but without the dam that exists on the Ord project, is the Douglas Daly. There has already been significant success with mixed farming in the Douglas Daly. Following on from the pilot grain farming project established in the 1980s by the then CLP government, farmers and the government have developed more intensive beef production systems based on improved pasture and opportunistic dry land and irrigated cropping for fodder, grain, high-value niche crops and horticulture.
This region has all-season road access and is ideally located between Darwin and Katherine, which places it well for supplying the live export trade with cattle during the wetter months of the year. The agricultural land development group will also build on the work of the former CLP government in looking at Fleming, the region between Katherine and the Douglas Daly.
The Mataranka area is another that has potential for expansion of horticultural production. It has good to uniform soil and water and is well located to infrastructure such as all-weather roads, rail, and gas and, through its geographic location and associated climate, allows for extended growing seasons to enable a greater window for the production and marketing of high-quality Northern Territory horticultural products.
An important group of landowners who are only now able to use their vast land holdings to create economic diversity, jobs and food security is traditional landowners. The Tiwi Islands is a great example, with potential for commercial development of significant tracts of land using a mosaic approach. The Tiwi Islands has potential for agricultural development as well as real opportunities for aquaculture development. While development must be based on sound economics for it to be sustainable – that is a core requirement – agricultural projects which are well researched and resourced have the potential to create local jobs and provide an important building block for local communities. This is economic security.
Research is currently under way to identify suitable land on the Tiwi Islands for development, to analyse the types of crops that can be grown economically and assess the underlying information that a potential investor would need prior to investment. Some examples of crops that could succeed on the Tiwi Islands include mangoes, pineapple, coffee and cocoa, as well as opportunities for aquaculture operations. The reality is, a final determination will be made on a commercial basis by investors.
My Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries’ Industry Development Plan 2013 to 2017 describes how this government’s objectives for a flourishing economy underpinned by profitable and sustainable resource-based industries will be achieved through working closely with industry sectors in order to stimulate and sustain economic development. This plan fits with the Northern Territory government’s Framing the Future blueprint, which outlines how we can maximise new and evolving opportunities within the Territory, northern Australia and with our Asian neighbours. Key measures contained within the department’s plan to foster industry growth include reducing red tape, assisting to increase export to our Asian neighbours, enabling increased flexibility for land use on pastoral leases and facilitating an increase in the availability of land for primary production.
Currently, the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries undertakes research, associated extension and biosecurity regulation for industry with a focus that is steadily moving away from productivity and leaning towards profitability. While this has served the Northern Territory well, as a fledgling jurisdiction finding its feet over the past thirty to forty years, there is now recognition that a greater focus is needed to cultivate a business development approach which will foster greater economic development. It is well known that the research that begins today has its impact in 15 to 20 years’ time.
While research must continue, it is now time to reap the rewards of the significant research that has been undertaken over the past decades. A broader approach is warranted in order to achieve the vision of obtaining food security, and in doing so, increase our domestic and international exports that will in turn create economic diversity and opportunity. The department has initiated strategic market analysis, researching individual commodity demand and supply trends through Asia, and the ability of current suppliers to compete at a similar level of quality and consistency over time, and use this information to identify the hurdles that will need to be addressed for Territory business to succeed in these areas.
It is acknowledged that by the end of this decade, Asia will be the world’s largest consumer of goods and services. It will be home to the world’s largest middle class, and this consumer group will command high-quality food products. The Northern Territory is well placed to play a role in meeting these demands if we act now. The emergence of a wealthy middle class in Asia presents vast new opportunities for trade and investment for Territory producers. Despite the effects of the previous federal government’s temporary ban on the live export trade, the good news story when it comes to the export of food product from the Northern Territory has been and continues to be the live export of cattle.
Although I have already spoken about the live cattle ban, I would like to add another brief point. An extremely high level of care and consideration is essential in order to include all the possible consequences when disrupting the food supply of another country. Clearly, federal Labor either did not consider those consequences or just did not care. The Northern Territory government will do everything within its power to contribute to, rather than detract from, the food security of our Asian neighbours. That is my commitment. Hence, the live export industry is extremely important to the Northern Territory pastoral sector and northern Australia more broadly. It is based on what is essentially a partnership between northern Australia and Indonesia.
The Top End is a very effective cattle breeding area. We produce high-quality young animals very competitively. Indonesia and potentially many other parts of Australia are competitive when it comes to turning young animals into market-ready stock. It must be noted that although there have been some positive signs recently, the cattle industry in the Northern Territory is in a challenging period with reduced profit margins, difficult market conditions and depressed property values. However, given the emerging middle class of Asia, I believe there is a strong future for live exports. On that matter, I am pleased to report on a number of successful meetings with cattle importers in China during my recent visit.
Luke Bowen from the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association and the Northern Territory Farmers Association’s Grant Fenton were also in China and provided significant industry input into discussions around the importation of live cattle and other commodities to that country. I hope to report further on that matter in coming months, but those discussions were very encouraging.
The new $90m abattoir, 50km south of Darwin, under construction by the Australian Agricultural Company, is a strategic and complementary investment. It will provide a market for livestock not suited for live export and may provide an alternative market in the advent of future disruptions to the live cattle trade.
It also provides an opportunity for diversification of the northern herd over time to supply cattle more suited to prime beef processing. While I am confident of the long-term future of the live cattle trade, I am also cognisant of the fact there will be trade issues from time to time. I believe this abattoir investment is strategic because along with the increased demand for fresh meat in Asia that is processed through the traditional methods of local wet markets which can only be supplied through the live cattle trade, there is also an increase in the demand for western restaurant-quality meat. Over time, with some diversification in the northern herd, this may be a market with some prospect for AACo’s new abattoir.
I do not think that it will be case of one market or the other, as all indications show an increased market demand for both. We are building diversity into the market.
Together with the NT Cattlemen’s Association and the NT Livestock Exporters’ Association, the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries has developed a collaborative strategy for increasing the NT’s live exports. Market opportunities for live cattle export to Vietnam continue to grow, with Vietnam now the Northern Territory’s second largest live cattle export market.
I visited Vietnam early this year and established high-level relationships with Haiphong and Dong Nai provinces, both of which are trading provinces for Northern Territory cattle. These high-level interactions are important in developing a relationship between jurisdictions that is based on trust and mutual respect. It is also important that our trading partners are assured that their reliance on trade with the Northern Territory is well placed. I am able to provide our trading partners with assurances that we are stable and secure and, most of all, reliable.
I am delighted to report that some 30 000 head of NT cattle will be exported to Vietnam this calendar year, a trade that has reached new heights in the past year of the Country Liberals government.
While I was in Vietnam, I also talked about a new potential trade in the Northern Territory’s water buffalo. Work undertaken by my Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries has progressed since then, capped off by a visit by the Chief Minister several weeks ago. On the back of this latest visit, an announcement that work would begin in earnest on establishing protocols to import buffalo was welcomed by the Country Liberals government.
The further announcement that Vietnam will consider monthly imports of 1500 head is outstanding – although I believe they might have said 5000 – and is testament to this government’s willingness to engage all parts of the primary industry sector in the broader pursuit of economic development and jobs in regional and remote parts of the Territory.
Not only does the Territory produce quality cattle, we also produce excellent mangoes, and their exports to southern states and overseas are another success story for Northern Territory horticulture. Territory mangoes even penetrate into the China market and can be found in Beijing and Shanghai.
We now lead Australia in the production of mangoes, and I am particularly proud that over 50% of Australia’s mango production comes from the Territory and of that, over 50% of the Territory’s mango production hails from the Katherine region.
A strategic plan for mango research, development and extension in the Territory is being developed in collaboration with industry stakeholders of the mango advisory panel. Considerable progress has been made with industry to expand the production window for mangoes, and this is very important.
As you will know, mangoes are currently produced in the Darwin, Katherine and Mataranka regions and there is a small farm at Ti Tree. This area could be expanded and there is also potential to develop mango production between Mataranka and Ti Tree, which would open up the market supply window for Northern Territory mangoes from September to February.
The Northern Territory’s vegetable growing industry has taken off in recent years with vegetable production in the Northern Territory in 2012-13 close to $60m, nearly triple on the previous year’s values.
Research work is currently being carried out to improve production for rambutan, passionfruit, dates and tropical flowers, and to determine the commercial viability of rice.
In a further demonstration of this government’s forward-looking and courageous thinking, this year has seen research trials in two locations into the growth and production parameters of poppies, with validating commercial research planned for 2014. There is a worldwide market for the legitimate trade of opiate substances and their derivatives. Poppies are currently only grown in Tasmania, but the results of these small-scale trials in the NT are extremely encouraging, with exceptional growth rates recorded in the plants. It is possible that poppies could become a new industry for the Northern Territory.
There is also a eucalyptus improvement program under way to improve forestry plantation on Melville Island.
In Central Australia, there has been considerable success with table grapes and dates, and research is now under way to investigate the establishment of almond plantations in the region. Rockmelons and watermelons are considered to be the next major crop for the Northern Territory with excellent export potential. Melons are farmed in the Top End in the Douglas Daly, around Katherine, Mataranka and even as far south as Ali Curung near Tennant Creek. The growth of the Northern Territory’s melon industry and its increasing export potential were also discussed on my recent trip to China.
Seafood exports to niche markets also have long-term possibilities for growing trade and achieving food security.
There is a range of agricultural enterprises focusing on low technology sea-based methods currently being trialled on Goulburn Island and Groote Eylandt. Sea cucumber ranching is likely to offer a small annual income stream to communities and part-time job opportunities, and rock oysters and giant clam farming may also provide modest economic development opportunities. It is worth noting that changes to the Pastoral Land Act around non-pastoral use may also provide opportunities for the growth of the NT’s aquaculture industry. Pastoral leases situated near the coast can potentially diversify into aquaculture operations.
The Northern Territory is well placed to deliver quality products into the domestic and Asian markets in order to contribute to food security here and for the vast customer base to our north. The NT government is determined to develop investment opportunities and transport infrastructure to assist food and agricultural exporters.
To establish and maintain a competitive edge, the NT will have to differentiate our products and maintain our brand through robust biosecurity measures. Our focus will need to be on improved transport systems to get our product to market quickly and maintain a reliable and regular supply.
Identifying new and additional markets will also be critical going forward. There is now a significant scope for future agribusiness in the Northern Territory through projects such as the Ord expansion, new production areas for mangoes, more intensive animal industries and aquaculture developments.
As I mentioned earlier regarding my recent trip to China, I, along with key members of the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries and industry representatives, met with Chinese private sector organisations and the Chinese government to build relationships to consider cattle exports and expand on markets for NT produce. This visit was on the back of a trip to China by the Chief Minister in which he promoted investment opportunities in the Northern Territory.
The extension of the Ord Irrigation Scheme is a significant northern Australian development project that will require considerable investment from Southeast Asia. It also demonstrates that government and stakeholders can work together to negotiate native title and deliver large-scale north Australian agricultural projects to the marketplace.
Importantly, this project will provide a transferrable template through developing an agricultural precinct model built by capitalising on existing resources and over $0.5bn of government investment to date.
Further, the expressions of interest process will test commercial appetite for further precinct development in northern Australia, and the development of Ord Stage 3 will provide a foundation for a number of future development opportunities, including infrastructure, tourism, small business and energy projects.
In the February sittings this year, I delivered a statement to the House entitled Opportunities for the Territory’s Agribusiness and Minerals Sector in the Asian Century. In this statement, I said the Northern Territory’s primary industries are critically important to the future of our economy. I am proud to showcase today the progress this government has taken since that statement was delivered in this parliament to ensure Northern Territory food producers are best placed to grow and deliver quality product to our northern neighbours. I am confident we are effectively using research to develop agricultural opportunities in the north, and my department has taken significant steps in the marketing and investment areas.
However, an essential component to realising the vision of north Australian agricultural development will be to put effort into quantifying the hurdles to be addressed to facilitate two-way investments. The obvious ones are demand and supply trends and market access issues but, less obvious and equally important, is to understand the different cultures and cultural gaps between Australia and Asia and accommodate these differences to establish successful investment partnerships.
The federal government is about to prepare a white paper on the development of northern Australia. There are also discussions about establishing a northern CRC focused on developing northern Australian food industries. We are engaged in these processes, and I will also be working with my Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries to increase the focus on economic development through a range of programs and dedicated resources.
There has been talk of a shift from the mining boom to the dining boom. A realistic view is that both mining and food will be essential parts of our future and, if we get it right, there is significant opportunity for the Northern Territory, and northern Australia more generally, to participate in the future secure global food supply.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I speak on the theme of the minister’s statement: food. It reminds me of the member for Greatorex. As I said, I learn from everybody in this House. The member for Greatorex used to attack the then Labor government on ministerial statements and call them puff pieces. The metaphor that created the imagery for me was puff pastry. In the minister’s food theme tonight, it seems it is about puff pastry because there is lots of air, but very little substance. The minister spent a long time telling us a story about ‘what if’, ‘we’re gonna’, ‘maybe’, and ‘there’s gonna be’. I was hoping he would put a bit of meat on the bone. I hoped that puff pastry pie would have had a bit more meat in it. It was a classic CLP delivery because the minister spent considerable time in his statement attacking people.
First there was an attack on the Northern Territory Environment Centre. We only get to page three of the statement where we are talking about the Northern Territory’s potential future, and there was an attack on the Northern Territory Environment Centre. The paragraph starts by talking about the Murray Darling and the ‘naysayers and fringe green groups’. This is a minister with a guilty conscious. It is pathetic that this minister can attack the stakeholders in our community and within the Northern Territory who want to see an environmental balance. It is as simple as that. But, no, the minister with the guilty conscience – I will get to that a bit later in my response – has to go on the front foot, waste paper, waste time, waste oxygen and attack people.
However, it did not stop with the environment centre because there was a personal attack on Dr Stuart Blanch. I found this to be disgraceful. I continually remind ministers of the Crown from the CLP that they should rise to the occasion. They should celebrate their esteemed privileged positions. There is no need to start attacking Territorians, especially somebody with the credibility and standing of Dr Stuart Blanch, a scientist, a concerned environmentalist and a continual lobbyist who is looking for balance. That is the problem with the CLP, it is all or nothing. You do it our way or it is the highway. Unfortunately, that will not work. Dr Stuart Blanch has a lot of credibility in our community and has some very wise advice for the minister and his plan for agriculture reflecting the new rhetoric of the northern Australian regions becoming the food bowl for Asia.
The minister talked about his strategic Indigenous water reserve issue and he attacked Dr Stuart Blanch but again demonstrated a serious guilty conscience. It is good to see CLP members are starting to question this minister and this very loose, unexplained position where a mega water allocation was given to a CLP candidate. The minister, in this House, is starting to show his ‘get out of gaol card, where he says, ‘Well, if this allocation is not used, we will start to scale it back’. I congratulate those members opposite who have been asking the right questions and have been lobbying this minister for a reality check, an honesty check and an integrity check on behalf of all Territorians who live in the Mataranka area, particularly those Indigenous Territorians who have their dreams and aspirations to be part of the minister’s food theme and the possibilities of agriculture, horticulture and agribusiness.
The minister continues with an attack on the environment centre on page three. This again is a waste of paper, a waste of oxygen and totally uncalled for in any sort of rational debate where the minister expects to be given credibility. We will go on to page six where the minister talks about:
That is a big statement, and it is all about this government, the minister’s government. I would like to share something with the minister because I recently addressed the public sector update in 2013 at the Convention Centre on 4 November. I talked about public sector change, and I wanted to use a case study to discuss some of the big changes and challenges coming down the public sector pipeline in the next few years.
I also presented my learnings to the constituents of Barkly in my weekly column. I would like to share it with the minister, because he goes into that paragraph about the Northern Territory government and its provision of infrastructure, transport and essential services which are underpinning this. A few challenges for the minister, a bit of meat on the bone, a bit more substance in the debate:
Minister, that is the pathway we are on, and there are considerable challenges you have completely ignored in your statement in terms of your workshop manual of how we are going to achieve this. I call upon you to give us some detail, to give us a bit of meat on the bone and talk about what the Country Liberal Party is actually doing in partnership with the federal Liberal Coalition. We eagerly await your announcement of a white paper.
This is something that is quite significant in terms of mega-infrastructure and infrastructure that will support what is a major shift in national policy. It will have to be backed up with significant resources which relate to foreign investment, private sector capital and to the challenge of how to deliver in public private partnerships. It would be good to hear the minister back this statement with something a little more real and meaningful in the road map about how we will achieve what has become federal Liberal Coalition rhetoric and simply words at this stage.
The statement went back to something that I continually challenge. The CLP are the masters of this game. It is what I call the, ‘Holier-than-thou-minister syndrome’ and we get into paragraphs like:
I did mention in my paper that I delivered to the public sector update, on 4 November, a little comment on that, just to put it out there that there is an alternative and there is a difference. I talked to that group about what I considered to be the ‘holier-than-thou syndrome’ of ministers and said I really did not agree with that concept, that sentiment, how it reflects management styles and ideology and how it is destructive. I think I used words like, ‘As a public servant of 30 years and a minister for four, I rejected the ‘holier-than-thou’ minister and the ‘my department’ syndrome. I went on to talk about how partnerships, trust respect and working with politicians and experts is definitely the best way to go. I put out that alternative for their consideration.
We got a great, ‘Hear, hear!’ from the member for Port Darwin when the minister talked about the recent legislative changes to the Pastoral Land Act, and that is good. That legislation had bipartisan support in this House and I was looking forward to the minister’s reply about the nuclear waste dump planned by the federal government, now supported by the CLP government, right in the middle of an Aboriginal land trust that is leased to a pastoralist who grows and runs beef cattle in the middle of the Barkly – a real cheapskate plan to store nuclear waste in sheds above what the Chief Minister calls the Wiso Basin, which is a massive aquifer source of important water reserves right in the middle of the Barkly. The minister chose not to talk about Muckaty. It was definitely off the table in that debate. He showed some disdain, did not respond to any of my contributions to debate, and definitely did not want to talk about a nuclear waste dump in the middle of prime cattle country on top of a significant aquifer water source that now, as we talked about, is not designed for the hospital waste coming out of the east coast, ladies and gentlemen.
The new Prime Minister’s rhetoric is serious around Australia producing nuclear energy, around intermediate- to high-level waste, including that which is coming back from France and will be steaming through the Tiwi Islands very shortly on ships looking for a dump. The Prime Minister’s rhetoric is fully supported by the CLP. You guys are head-on going down this road and the Barkly is the final destination. You are all celebrating what will be a considerable turnaround in the pastoral industry, let alone anything to do with Asia’s food bowl. I would be interested to see how many people are interested in beef, melons, mangoes or rice grown around Australia’s first nuclear waste dump located on Muckaty Station.
Minister, while we support your changes to the Pastoral Land Act - I certainly represent those traditional owners opposed - many thousands of Territorians and tens of thousands of Australians want to keep this fair and square on your agenda.
The minister, on page 10, talks about an NT water policy, a framework for water management in the Territory, the promotion of sustainable water resource management and underpinning the identification, assessment, development, allocation and management of all water resources in the Territory. The minister certainly got some coverage in this area. The recent 7.30 Report showed how intense and hands-on he is in this space. I happened to pull off the transcript of the ABC News called Water Politics:
This was updated on Friday 22 November 2013. It was an interesting program, showing the minister’s hands-on approach and reflecting his comments in the statement that he has a very hands-on approach. The minister, from Water Politics on the 7.30 Report, said:
Jane Bardon, the reporter, said:
She went on say the clans have not really decided what to grow yet. I acknowledge Marjorie Hall, who is a traditional owner. For me, she definitely articulated this whole debate between traditional owners in the Mataranka area, the Mataranka horticulture and pastoral community and the CLP government when she said:
Jane Bardon responded with:
Marianne Roberts, another Mangarrayi traditional owner, said;
Jane Bardon said:
Joe Morrison from the Northern Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance commented:
The show went on and was quite interesting when Dr Peter Stone, CSIRO Sustainable Agricultural Flagship Deputy Director said:
Jane Bardon said:
Then the minister, Willem Westra van Holthe, said:
I sum up that transcript of water politics from the ABC News 7.30 Report with a comment from Marjorie Hall, a Mangarrayi traditional owner. She said:
Those are very wise words from that traditional owner. The minister delivered his statement and talked about the food bowl for Asia – ‘Trust me, it is all under control’ – when we have this absolutely chaotic situation going on with the aquifer at Mataranka in that very minute area of the Northern Territory. It is pretty safe to say the minister seems to be making it up as he is going along. He definitely has a hands-on approach to water allocations; let us face it. Marjorie’s advice is, ‘Hey, mate, maybe you want to pull up, sit down and start to talk about the substance, talk about the real meat on the bone of how we will achieve this direction your government is taking us in’.
On page 11 is the attack on Labor. This is a cracker! This is a minister of the Crown who goes into the substance of debate with:
What a lot of rot! This guy does not know me from a bar of soap and he brings the puff pastry – sorry, I borrowed that from the member for Greatorex – into this House and wants to rattle out rubbish like that. As I said, half this statement is about trying to attack people, negative spin, politics, and does not show any substance as to where the direction is or the CLP’s real road map of how they will influence the whole of the country to change public policy into investment in northern Australia. There is nothing about that. There is no talk about his mate, Tony Abbott. There is no talk about Senator Nigel Scullion. There is just the same old discourse that is coming out of the Libs in Canberra and the minister with a guilty conscience.
The statement talks about the Ord River project, and the Ord River project is ongoing. The Ord River project does not represent any little mosaic of horticultural projects. It represents small lots like 10 000 ha under sugar. These foreign investors are looking at big bites; they are looking at big projects to serve billions of people. I do not know where he retreats to the small mosaic theory, but the Ord River will always be challenging, no matter what, in the bipartisan sense, because if we do get that mega-infrastructure investment into the Ord that would really interact with the Northern Territory side of the border, all the exports will go through Western Australia. The whole infrastructure corridor, pipeline and supply chain will be geared around Western Australia. I hope the CLP has an answer about that when it starts to look at significant investment to deliver mega-infrastructure when it is a supply chain created to support Western Australia. We are watching that space carefully and this minister regularly talks about the Ord.
We have another story about water on page 15 but I will slip over that. Then the minister gives us a little discourse around some projects and goes back on the attack; he cannot get Labor out of his sights. He then talks about something that is good, meaningful and certainly – pardon the pun – meat on the bone, with the new abattoir currently under construction, 50 km south of Darwin, by the Australian Agricultural Company, the diversity that will supply for the beef market and the opportunities of pushing that market further north into China which represents a significant market for the future. That is a bit of meat on the bone. Thank you, minister, for telling us about that because it is an example of this private sector investment, which will be needed to push any of these plans on paper forward.
In relation to the mosaic of horticulture, the minister, on page 25, talks about melons, rockmelons and watermelons, and he got all the way south to Ali Curung. That is great because that is an example of a small mosaic. There is about 400 ha there of potential, about half of that under cultivation, and what was the previous government doing? I was actively working in partnership with the department of Corrections and Centrefarm, to get prisoners there and get them training and working on that melon farm. The opportunity, immediately, was 16 beds. The infrastructure is there for 16 beds.
Corrections was red hot on that deal but, unfortunately, the minister for Corrections, with his Sentenced to a Job program, decided that did not have merit and that project has fallen over. The problem with that is the melon farm does not employ local people. It is not because the melon farm does not want to employ local people, it is because local people do not choose to work on the melon farm. What I want to hear – the minister and the CLP will be hearing more from me about this – is: what is the plan to engage Indigenous Territorians?
We have a community of about 300 people who live 4 km from the melon farm, yet backpackers and international pickers are the ones who work on that farm. I had a very good project building where Corrections could partner up down there but that, unfortunately, has fallen over under the CLP government. We will wait to see and hear what the minister’s plan is to really have local people engage in these projects, local people who will be living around these mosaics of horticulture and agriculture the minister talks about in the statement.
The statement then goes into a bit of a travel report, and it is good to see that the minister is making contact, as he said, at a high level. It will be interesting to see what his plans are for managing these high-level interventions when the big players from Asia want to start looking at mega-infrastructure projects. I am very keen to hear how you plan to manage your departments when we get to this next stage, which will really represent the delivery stage. We will pass the rhetoric, get on from the discourse and see some meat on the bone.
The minister finished his statement by talking about a white paper; his friends in the federal government will produce a white paper. That is good. We will be looking forward to that. The minister said:
That certainly finishes off with a nice golden top on the puff pastry, minister. But, seriously, let us start to hear about how it will happen, how it will work, how you are preparing the public sector, how this Country Liberals government will engage with the new transaction of public private partnerships, where this investment will come from, the change in the Australian government scene about getting the focus on northern Australia and delivering. It is all about delivering, as Terry Mills says.
Madam SPEAKER: Your time has expired member for Barkly.
Ms ANDERSON (Namatjira): Madam Speaker, I support my colleague, the minister, on his statement about the Northern Territory’s food future. It is really important. We do have the land mass. Like I said in my statement prior, Asia is our closest neighbour. They are our friends and the Northern Territory has become a multicultural society, from the Top End all the way down to the south. There are heaps of people now living here and enjoying each other’s company. Why would we not be the food bowl for Asia?
In supporting this statement, I also want to give some cultural knowledge to my colleagues on this side about rivers and catchments, and talk about how important it is to have Indigenous people involved in all aspects of economic opportunities in the Northern Territory. It is not just about being a food bowl for Asia; it is making sure we take our Indigenous people across all sectors. More than half of the land mass in the Northern Territory is either under land rights or native title. It is owned by Aboriginal people and we must be very cautious and very smart so we do not leave Aboriginal people behind in trying to move the Northern Territory forward with any kind of economic opportunities.
I see in paragraph three that Territorians will not witness crops stretching from horizon to horizon. We have seen that in many jurisdictions across Australia – Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland – where massive land clearing has happened. This government is very aware of that. We do not want to take out a unique landscape just for economic opportunities. There will be patches of economic opportunity in the Northern Territory. We will be very particular about the crops we will grow in the Northern Territory with our Asian neighbours because of the information the departments give us and the knowledge and experience we have with other jurisdictions like Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia and the types of crops they have. It is really important to understand a river is not just a river, a catchment is not just a catchment. Aboriginal people have cultural and traditional ties to the rivers and catchments. We have to respect that and ensure we take our Indigenous Territorians forward, understanding where they come from and ensuring there is proper consultation with them, ensuring at all times we drive the Territory forward for all Territorians, not just for a portion, a small part of the Northern Territory.
If we are to grow the Territory economically – we talk about education, and economic opportunities, and we have seen and heard the Chief Minister saying he will move heaven and earth to have economic opportunities for Indigenous people, the opportunities are there – we must encourage Aboriginal people to come with us. We are not saying Indigenous people should be given all the water, but there should be certain amounts of strategic Indigenous reserves allocated for Indigenous people to have economic opportunities so they are also part of driving the Northern Territory and become true partners, not just in economic opportunities in the Northern Territory, but in negotiation and relationships with the opportunities of farming and water rights with Asian people. It links people together.
We have a great ocean between Australia and Indonesia. How do we build a bridge? We can build it by all working together. We spoke in the condolence motion today for Dr Yunupingu about finding the balance. This is a great opportunity for us to find the balance of how we work together as Territorians, that we are not leaving one section of the Territory’s population out of any economic opportunity. There is opportunity for all of us; the Northern Territory is land rich. Most of the land mass in the Northern Territory is owned by Aboriginal people, and we must engage with Indigenous people in this great journey of moving the Northern Territory forward. We must bring Indigenous people with us because they are the landowners and have Dreamings, law and culture which interconnect them to catchments, rivers, swamps and lakes. It is all part of who we are.
We belong to that and it is really important. This is some advice, minister, that we take into consideration, as the Country Liberal Party, that it is the greatest opportunity for a journey that must be enjoyed by all.
When we talk about our rights, we must ensure we never extinguish the rights of others in the Northern Territory because these rights were hard fought for. When you look at the history of land rights and the people who fought for land rights, we were young teenagers watching people talk about racism and people saying we do not have these rights. We have moved in leaps and bounds in Australia, in the Northern Territory, to a situation where I hope that does not exist. We need to ensure we are not extinguishing native title that people are entitled to and have won in a court of law.
Yes, we talk about compensating these people, but I would also like to ask this question of the minister so he answers it in the wrap: if native title is extinguished, do the native title holders – Aboriginal people – have to take the pastoralist to court? If we go through a process, yet again, of lawyers getting richer off the back of other people’s misery and poverty – we have the greatest opportunity in 2013 to move all Territorians forward without extinguishing any rights of other people, building that relationship with any kind of economic opportunity we want for the Northern Territory with our Asian neighbours, but making sure Indigenous people are true partners in that.
Where do we find that balance? Where do we find that bridge? As I said in the condolence motion, the legacy has been left but the challenge is ours. How do we take on that challenge? How do we find that balance? How do we build that bridge, because we do not want to take reconciliation backwards and extinguish people’s rights? We have the greatest opportunity in this country to show other people who are losing their rights, where people have no opportunities, that we can move forward. I go back to the very first speech the Chief Minister made. ‘There is plenty for everybody. I will move heaven and earth to get economic opportunities for Indigenous people in the Northern Territory. Let us practice what we preach. Let us make sure that all Territorians move with us.
I support the minister’s statement, but would like some clarification on some of the questions I have asked in my contribution to this statement. We have the greatest opportunities to have the relationship with our neighbours in Asia. Yes, the Territory is a beautiful place and we have to be very careful. It is fantastic that all our ministers are going there and having these relationships to move all Territorians forward equally. Let us find the balance, that bridge, because as I said, the challenge is ours.
Mr HIGGINS (Daly): Madam Speaker, I was happy when the minister brought this statement on food futures on today. Many people need to realise that when we look at food futures in the Territory, we can grow anything we want and we could probably grow as much as we want, but we really need to identify our markets and the economics of supplying those markets.
One of the classics is mangoes. This year I did not pick mangoes for various reasons. One of the problems you have with the mango industry is, of course, freight and transporting goods down south and so forth. This will be the same if we start to send our food to Asia. We need to have a close look at what our markets are and the economics of supplying those markets.
The Chief Minister earlier today made a statement on his Asian visit, which I did not get to speak on. In that, there was a lot of information that related to the food futures we have in the Northern Territory as they relate to the market. The biggest thing is, if you look at the Asian market, it will grow six or sevenfold in the next 20 years. The Chief Minister’s figures were a population of 500 million, which will grow to 3.2 billion. As he pointed out, now is the time we have to start this planning.
In his statement the minister highlighted many things around food futures such as infrastructure and road transport, and all the things we will need if we move into that Asian market.
The other thing we have in Australia that supports this market approach from us is the security we have in being able to produce the food. We are a stable nation, our ability with chemicals and our technology are far more advanced than many of the Asian countries, so we can produce a hell of a lot more food in a smaller acreage.
In the speech, he also mentioned the differences we have here to the Murray Darling. I sat on the Daly River Management Advisory Committee for over 10 years, and one of the things that came up at the beginning was the difference between us and the Murray Darling. Much of the criticism that came out with land clearing and water allocations and so forth was that we would end up like the Murray Darling. I can assure you that after having asked many questions over the last 10 years, there is very little chance of that occurring. Our water here is very cyclical. We have the Wet and the Dry. Even if we get a run of bad Wet Seasons, we still have a reasonable supply of water so every year our rivers flow, provided we keep a close eye on that.
There was some criticism levelled at Stuart Blanch’s comments in the minister’s statement. I have not seen those comments. I know Stuart Blanch and have a lot of time for his input. A lot of the information he has given me over the years I have taken that in balance with my own views. I do not necessarily agree with his views but if people are going to make decisions in this area, we need views from every direction. I am not criticising the minister for picking on Stuart, but I am saying we do need to listen to all of these comments, whether we like them or not. The environmental balance we get from listening to these different opinions is very important to all of us and, depending upon what inputs we get, we will all come to different conclusions.
Infrastructure is one of the key issues we have with food futures, and I was glad to see the minister has said he will identify some priority zones for agriculture, horticulture and aquaculture developments. Initially, it seems they would be those concentrated areas closer to where we already have the infrastructure, which I see as a smart move. However, it is something I have a concern with, because with many Indigenous communities having access to large amounts of land that is quite capable of producing a lot of food into the future, there is very poor infrastructure. We really have to do a lot of work in that area to make sure we are getting the best use from the land we have access to, especially if you are talking about a population of 3.2 billion.
Another issue is the change to the Pastoral Act. When the amendments went through, in the speech I gave I said there was a great change in the value of the property. That has been interpreted as the value of selling the property. The point I was making is if you enable a pastoral lease to go into horticulture, you are actually increasing the value of the productivity of that property. If you go back, I believe I said the value of productivity for a horticultural industry was about 10 times that of the pastoral industry, so for every acre you can produce 10 times the amount of output. I see being able to unlock a lot of that pastoral land as a key strategy of this government, and I know it has bipartisan support. I wish we would get more bipartisan support when it comes to Aboriginal land.
I support the new agricultural land development working group. These sorts of decisions, as I said earlier with my comments about Stuart Blanch – if you set up a working group like this and get a lot of input, you will get a more balanced outcome. To establish something like that is very good and it dovetails with what the Commonwealth has recently set up with Warren Mundine. Both of those things will have a lot of pluses for us.
In the statement, the minister mentioned the Douglas Daly area as one of the key areas. They say that it is closed to a lot of infrastructure. The need for power out there needs to be addressed by government. Access to power will hold many areas back.
The only reference to the use of Aboriginal land in the paper is to the Tiwis. I had a meeting at Wadeye in the last month – the Chief Minister was there as well – and it became quite evident that area has a lot of potential. There is potential for forestry for starters. When you go past Palumpa, the timber changes. It becomes very tall timbers, so you can start to harvest some of that timber. The land can be then made available for agriculture and to create work opportunities. There is electricity there but not a sealed road. Once you improve access, you improve the capital.
At Wadeye, probably in the 1970s, in Gerry’s time, they had quite a large farm. It was called Chicken Farm. Martin Mulumbuk was a friend of mine there and he used to drive the tractor and collect all the vegies. They produced just about everything. It was almost fully sustainable. The chicken coop used to be behind the Catholic school and is now an oval. All the vegies were grown there and it is now appropriately called Chicken Oval, so if anyone ever goes there and is told that is where Chicken Oval is, that is how it got its name.
The minister spoke a lot about the cattle trade and he did touch on buffalo. Buffalo is one of the areas that has a lot of potential for Indigenous people. The number of buffalo around Bulman is astronomical, so there is big potential in that area. There is an increase in the number of buffalo west of the Daly. They also breed quite well on the flood plain. There is a lot of potential to increase that buffalo trade. The meat works – there was a mention of AACo, and the member for Barkly talks about meat on the bone. I am talking about taking meat off the bone; there is another abattoir at Gunbalanya and there is one at Palumpa.
Today, I was at Manoli’s, behind the Deck Bar, and a trolley came in with two boxes marked Gunbalanya Meats. I had a lamb yiros, so I did not have any of their beef, but this is an example of beef coming into Darwin that it is not from AACo, but from a local company set up by Indigenous people.
I was disappointed when the minister said mangoes are currently produced in Darwin, Katherine and Mataranka. I wish he would alter his speech and include the Daly area because I produce mangoes. That is an important point.
I mentioned timber at Wadeye and the potential for harvesting some of it. There was mention of the eucalypts on Melville Island in the statement but no mention of the African mahogany and sandalwood being produced around Douglas Daly.
Mr Wood: It is a statement on food
Mr HIGGINS: Well, we are talking about agriculture and the potential there. Okay, you’ve got me on that one, Gerry. The sandalwood is being produced for the Indian market, which is part of Asia as well.
Overall, the speech was very good. It highlighted a lot of potential for us and that Asia is a market we should be looking at.
Ms LEE (Arnhem): Madam Speaker, I would also like to contribute to the statement brought into the House by the honourable member, Willem Westra van Holthe, about the Northern Territory’s food future.
Opportunities to develop land for agriculture and horticulture purposes are being realised by traditional owners. Traditional owners have been involved in this for years. There used to be piggeries in southeast Arnhem Land. I remember working on one as I was growing up. There were banana plantations, where my older siblings would work. Farming, growing vegetables and picking is not something new to Indigenous people in the remote areas.
During my campaign, I met an old fellow in Ramingining who happens to be my grandfather. He had a little farm next door to his house where he used to sell the food to the ALPA Store at Ramingining. However, once the shire came in, they took everything away from him. He has passed away now but that was his pride and joy. He had it for 30 years. I sat with him and he was broken up about the whole thing.
The food industry, especially in remote areas – growing fruit and vegetables, collecting eggs from the chickens, piggeries and things like that – is not new to Indigenous culture. We have always been part of that. I do not know what happened. I do not know why all that was taken away because there were job opportunities for people in the bush.
Mr Wood: It is called welfare.
Ms LEE: Yes, Mal Brough. Not Mal Brough, who was it? The one who tipped us in.
A member: Whitlam.
Ms LEE: Mr Whitlam, who gave Indigenous people the right to sit back for nothing, and that was it. It destroyed our heritage.
Ms Walker: He also gave you land rights.
Ms LEE: Yes, he did. He gave us land rights, but he did not give us the land to work on, he gave us the land to sit back and do nothing with. That is a shame. Now we want to develop it and we cannot do anything. Look at the Indigenous people who want to have agriculture on that land, they cannot do anything, unless we work with the Northern Land Council, the Central Land Council and the federal government in line – we work to promote Indigenous people and agriculture and farming –, that is the only way we will go forward. But I will go back to my speech, because there is something more important which my colleague raised earlier which I will also talk about.
With Aboriginal lands – people looking to use their land to create economic diversities, jobs and food security, not only for us in the Northern Territory, but for the rest of Australia and for Asia. The Chief Minister said in his statement that Asia will grow into a big food bowl. Where is the best place to do it? Central Australia has some of the best soil, southeast Arnhem has the best soil, and the Wadeye region has the best soil. There are many places where you can grow crops and do things with the land.
However, it comes back to one thing: the strategic Indigenous reserves. It is a share of water available for consumptive commercial use in surface and ground water systems. The Indigenous water policy group, NAILSMA, has consulted widely concerning this approach – see the Murray River statement – including receiving advice from water scientists and resource economists, and locally, in conjunction with the NLC and traditional owners in the proposed Mataranka and Oolloo water allocation plans. There is specific support for this approach from these traditional owners.
The member for Barkly mentioned that when talking about beef on the bone. There was also an Indigenous reference group at Mataranka, because Marjorie Hall happens to be my mother and she told me about it. But the funding was cut some years ago so they could not go anywhere after that.
Yes, it sounds good to have an Indigenous reserve but we have to ensure we maintain the consultation. There has to be funding provided so these people can consult and work with the government and everybody else – the stakeholders – about what they want to do with their land – ongoing support. We are moving forward with the Indigenous people and with traditional owners. We are working with them so the message gets across and we are working on the right path.
We all have a great opportunity to move forward down this line, but we have to stick to our point here. We are all Northern Territory Australian people, but there are the first people, Indigenous people, who have been here for 40 000 years, before they built the Egyptian pyramids, and it is all about working towards that. If we cannot acknowledge Indigenous people in the water allocation, on top of that – under the minerals and everything else. It is their land. It is a crying shame if we move forward without supporting them, because, at the end of the day, I am Indigenous and I have my land out there too. I would like to, when I retire, use that land and do something with it. I have a buffalo company there.
It has been hard for the people there, and the other traditional owners who work there, over the last couple of years with what has happened federally, but we are working towards building that momentum again. That is all it takes, just working together.
The policy of mandating a strategic Indigenous reserves in water allocation plans under the NT Water Act is a win for all Territorians because:
1) it ensures a water allocation for Aboriginal Territorians for commercial purposes while most of our water resources are not yet fully allocated. This means there is no cost to government, the community and other users to ensure economic opportunities now and into the future for traditional owners
2) if licences are granted now that take up all or most of the consumptive pool, commercial and domestic water, there will be none left for Aboriginal landowners, or they will have to buy it at a greater cost on the water trading market in the future. That will be terrible if it ever goes down that line
3) it ensures compliance with the NWI by fulfilling clause 25.9 that provides for addressing Indigenous needs in relation to the provision of water access entitlements and access to water for commercial and cultural purposes.
As my colleague said, we connect with the land, we connect with the water. We use the water for ceremonial use and as a cultural thing. It is around us; it has always been there. We use the water to fish. We use the water to bathe our kids in when they go swimming. It is used for many purposes. There is always a cultural aspect and we have to recognise that. I would like to put on notice for my colleague, the minister, that he has to involve Indigenous people in this.
If the strategic Indigenous reserves are included as part of a water allocation plan, it maximises local Aboriginal involvement in water management and new industries. The real risk that exists if strategic Indigenous reserves are not created is Aboriginal landowners will be land rich and dirt poor, and will also be water poor. That is depriving them of substantial economic opportunities into the future.
Most Aboriginal people do not have the resources or expertise to participate in the current licence-only based application process at present. It is essential that water allocation plans are developed and finalised that include strategic Indigenous reserves before further large licences are granted in regional areas. The water allocation plan ensures there is enough water for the environment and cultural purposes before water is taken for commercial purposes.
If proper planning is not done first then cultural sites and the environment are at risk. The strategic Indigenous reserves form part of a good modern water policy because the National Water Commission, the independent statutory authority charged with monitoring the implementation of the National Water Commission, stated in a position statement released in June 2012:
The current and former Queensland governments have a statutory requirement that an Indigenous reserve of water for social and economic purposes in northern Queensland be established, and the Liberal government has held onto that. The former Labor government in Queensland put that in place and now the Liberal government has continued on with that. Why can we not do the same?
So far, nine Indigenous reserves have been established in Queensland – see the Cape York Peninsula Heritage Act 2007 and water resource plan. This will ensure Indigenous Territorians have a place at the commercial table in the development of the Northern Territory.
All we are really saying, as Indigenous parliamentarians on this side of the House, of the CLP, is that we would like to see Indigenous people have the right to be part of this commercial move into the future. We were in the past; we used to work on these farms but we no longer do. Generation after generation have gone through the washer and are just sitting down and doing nothing at home. It breaks our hearts to go back and see it. Our kids see the same thing as they grow up. The only way we can get them out of that space is to put them somewhere else. We are leaving our fathers behind who are buried on that land, our grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, sisters and brothers. We are leaving them. It is hard for us to move on. The only way we can move forward is to work together.
My colleague brought forward the condolence motion for Dr Yunupingu. I knew him really well. I could not contribute to the condolence, but he was my father’s brother – one ceremony, one song line, one everything. My grandfather was not from southeast Arnhem, he was from east Arnhem. My great-grandfather is from Ramingining. The treaty they fought for back then, they did it together. He made the song. My dad put the whole thing together with a few other leaders. No one mentioned that in this House, that it was my father who was there. He was the driver of the seed of the treaty, with all the other elders back then. I was only a kid, I remember that. I have grown up listening around the table to all my fathers, uncles and grandfathers talk about this.
The only reason I am on this side of the House is because we have been taken for a ride for a very long time. I have worked in the piggeries and on the farms. I have worked everywhere. I started working when I was only seven years old because both of my parents had jobs. My mother was in education, my father was a town clerk. My siblings had to do the job of staying home and looking after the rest of us. Moving forward is the only way we can do it.
We need to involve Indigenous people with the water, giving them the right to have the economic development they want on their land. At the moment, they have to go through lines. Under the Native Title Act and the Land Rights Act, it is complicated. To get a section 19 could take months or a year. It is working towards that plan, building a bridge, in partnership, whether it is a joint venture or whatever. If that Aboriginal organisation wants to do it head on, then it is their choice. We should support them.
By putting strategic Indigenous reserves aside – Indigenous people are not up to scratch yet. That is the truth. There are very few who are. We cannot expect them to say, ‘Yes, I will have a water licence’, as the majority of them probably do not have a plan for what they want to do on their land and what they want to grow. We have to consider that.
Ms Walker: Tina MacFarlane did not have a plan.
Ms LEE: I am talking about Indigenous people; I am not talking about Tina MacFarlane. You can bring that up in your debate, not mine.
We need to give them the same rights as everybody else. They are not going to jump up now and say, ‘Yes, I want a water allocation please because I want to do this and that on my land’. They are not up to scratch yet. We need to promote them, help them and support them.
Mr Deputy Speaker, that is my contribution to the House.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, knock me down with a feather. I have now heard the members for Arnhem and Namatjira, and you, Mr Deputy Speaker, supporting strategic Indigenous reserves for water.
There is obviously a number of people on the government side who do not support the government’s policy on this matter. The government should be listening very carefully to what the people are saying. I am interested to hear the minister’s response to that because there was a fairly passionate speech about the right of Aboriginal people for an economic future. There was a speech from the member for Arnhem saying at present they are not quite ready because they do not have the skills. That is fair enough, that is right, but if we take that water away, then we take the future of economic development away. I thank the member for what she said; she said they might be land rich, but they might be water poor. You cannot do much with your land if you do not have the water, so I am certainly interested in hearing what the minister has to say there.
I know there are at least three people in government who have certainly given different points of view to what the minister and the government is saying. That was an interesting conversation, through the member for Arnhem. I was going to get onto that area, but I start by saying that this statement is about the Northern Territory’s food future. That is the vision, a food future, but it is no good making a big statement like that unless you say, ‘What are we actually talking about?’ Why are we producing food?’ That does not come out in this except to say, Asia.
I am one of those who has always believed the Territory will not be the food bowl of the world, but will be the food saucer. It can produce crops. There are certainly areas in the Northern Territory that are suitable for cropping. I agree with the minister that it will be on a mosaic type of development, which is good, because it leaves room for the environment and room for other things to occur besides intensive development.
You have to remember, when you talk about horticultural crops, you do not need large areas of horticultural land to develop a lot of food. What is the government talking about when it talks about a food future? Is it for Asia? Is it for Australia? Is it for the Northern Territory? Is it for the local communities, the ones the member for Arnhem was talking about, like Kalano, which supplies food to the township of Katherine, or places where I worked like Daly River and Bathurst Island, where you would supply fruit and vegetables to those communities?
What is the government actually looking at when it talks about a food future? The reason I ask that is it is very different to be growing something for Asia than it is growing something for Daly River. You are dealing with a small population and someone who is just down the road. Asia has a major distance issue we would have to overcome. I do not know if you remember the days when the railway was going to be built. The CLP put up big posters showing you why it was important to develop the port and the rail. They had all these arrows going to the north. That was going to take vegetables from southern Australia to Asia, via fast boat. A grand vision. Can you tell me where that grand vision is today? It is not around, because it was impractical. I do not have anything against the government having a vision, but it has to keep its feet firmly on the ground.
I remember a discussion about the future of food for Indonesia. Except for cattle, Indonesia produces nearly all its own fruit and vegetables from its own landmass. Cattle, because they require space, need somewhere with more room to move than a place like Indonesia. Many of those countries are self-sufficient in that kind of food production. If we are to go down that path, then we have to be very clear as to what sort of markets we will look at.
The minister mentioned mangoes and melons. Melons are a crop that is bulky because it has a high water content. We do send mangoes, but we send them to specific markets. It is expensive to send mangoes overseas. It is good to have that market, but that would be at the top of the list when it comes to the price you would pay by the time they get to China. Years ago, we were looking at sending mangoes to India in their off-season. I do not know if that is happening any more. We need to focus on those things that are realistic,
The government has been doing a good job looking at increasing the opportunities for cattle. It has been looking at buffaloes. If you go through this Northern Territory Primary Industry and Fisheries Overview and Outlook 2012, you will know we were already doing those things. For people who do not know, we are already sending buffalo overseas. The estimated production is $0.8m. Ninety-four per cent were sent to Brunei and the rest to Indonesia. However, you have to put things into perspective. There were only 531 head sent to Brunei and 453 head sent to Indonesia. There has been discussion today about getting lots of buffalo out of Arnhem Land. Well, it is not quite as simple as that. Live cattle exports are about cattle that are fenced and trucked. Most of them are trucked where there are good roads to take the cattle. When someone mentions buffalo, I say, ‘Keep your feet on the ground’. One of the reasons they were shot was that – it was part of the tuberculosis and brucellosis program and they used to try to catch them for pet meat – in some parts of Arnhem Land and those places you simply cannot catch them. They were shot out because that was the only way to get rid of them. There are big environmental problems with having too many buffaloes. When we start talking about buffalos, it is not simply a case of, ‘Let’s get some buffaloes and send them overseas’.
The other issue – besides finding out what your market is and making sure that is something we can produce in the Northern Territory at a price that would be able to be sold in those markets overseas, which includes freight and storage – is we have to make sure we have the areas in the Northern Territory to grow those crops. The minister has spoken about how the department is working to identify those areas. I hope the previous government was looking at those areas. I presume that looking at soil types, vegetation types, slopes and where the water is would be an ongoing matter that governments consider all the time. The Northern Territory is not small, and classifying the Northern Territory into areas which are suitable for food production is something that government should have a fair bit of knowledge of by now. If it has not, then it would be an ongoing thing.
If you know where your soils are and you know where there is water – one of the difficulties is if you do not have enough water under the ground, but you have good soils, where do you get the water from? In comes the debate about dams or water harvesting, etcetera.
The member for Daly mentioned this too, without good infrastructure you will not be selling tomatoes anywhere. Some of that fresh produce requires good roads and transport. Look at the price of mangoes in the Northern Territory – the member for Daly can probably tell you better than I can. If you get down to about $14 a tray, you might be breaking even or you might be losing. You have to get a tray of mangoes to the Sydney or Melbourne markets at a much higher price to make a profit and cover your transport, the cost of the box, the cost of holding the produce at the wholesale markets and the cost of production. If you live way out bush, you have extra freight and extra expenses to cover. Nearly all mango production in the Northern Territory, except for Daly River, is on the Stuart Highway. You do not get commercial production of mangoes anywhere else. Even Kununurra is on the Victoria Highway. So if you do not have the infrastructure to get your crop to the market then it will be an uphill battle.
We can pick the best places to grow things and have the best water, but if governments are not willing to put in the infrastructure like good roads and electricity, as the member for Daly said – the cost of producing electricity through diesel generation is very expensive. It can be subsidised by solar, of course, but it certainly would make it a lot easier if those areas we are identifying as suitable for production are part of the electricity grid.
The minister also spoke about the Tiwi Islands. I also heard the Chief Minister talk about the Tiwi Islands. I worked on the Tiwi Islands for a long time, and there is talk about leasing a large amount of land for pineapples, cocoa, etcetera. I have no doubt pineapples will grow on Melville Island because that is the only island with a large amount of land. I would like to know what work is being done on the markets, the cost of moving pineapples off Melville Island, where the market is and how much water is on Melville Island. My understanding is there is good water. What are the limitations on that water supply? What is the basis of the government leasing this land?
As I said, horticulture does not require large amounts of land. If you have 100 ha of pineapples, you probably have a quarter of the production of pineapples in Australia. They do not take up a huge amount of land. If you are growing Asian vegetables, you do not need huge amounts of land. You are not talking about wheat farming or field crops.
The other issue is – I was speaking to one of the traditional owners when I was over there for a funeral recently – who will work this? As the member for Arnhem said—- I think she recognises that welfare is a killer at present. I know people will not work seven days a week. I am not trying to denigrate anyone, I just know the facts of life are there is footy on the weekend and the club is open. People do not want to work those hours. The reason people do not work in Ali Curung is – I can tell you because I spoke to the Central Land Council about it – because it is hard work bending over and picking up melons. It is as simple as that. The Central Land Council was looking at growing pomegranates because they are a more seasonal crop that grows for a certain length of time and can be picked relatively easily.
There are some hard decisions to make here. If the government is looking at developing the Tiwi Islands as a major source of horticultural crops, who will run it? Who will work on it? Will the government bring 457 people and others in? Are the Tiwis going to wait for the lease payments? That is another form of welfare and would be extremely disappointing.
If people like the member for Arnhem say, ‘We need water for our economic future’, the economic future, I hope, is not, ‘Give our land to someone else and we will hold our hand out for the lease payment cheque,’ because that will not do anyone any good. If we are to develop Aboriginal land, they have to come along for the ride. While we have a system of welfare which has created generations of people who are used to putting a hand out to the government, I would not want to see that if we are talking about developing real economic opportunities for Aboriginal people.
Of course, along with that economic opportunity, you are not going to get it – as the member for Arnhem said, ‘We are not quite ready for it at the moment’. The funny thing is, it was 30 years ago when I was working with people on growing bananas, paw paws and sweet potato. If you do not have educated people, you can always have labourers, but if you want to take control of your economic future you need skilled, educated people. Horticulture and agriculture is not the same as sweeping the footpath. It requires people who have knowledge about the science behind growing crops. I say to the minister that one of my bugbears is we need to upgrade the level of education in the agricultural and horticultural sections. We turn out lots of good technical people. We have people with a fairly good education in those areas but we should have a degree in tropical horticulture because this is one of the few places in Australia where that could be done. If we are to advance the sector, we need to get homegrown, educated people, including Aboriginal people, who have the knowledge, skills and education to make it really happen. That area is missed in this debate.
Otherwise it is southerners or people from big companies coming in all the time. Horticulture and agriculture are not static things. What cattle did we have 40 years ago in the Northern Territory? The member for Blain will tell me if I am wrong, but I think we had longhorns, shorthorns and, over the years, have moved to Brahmans. We have tried all the various types of cattle. We had different cattle in Alice Springs, but we have experimented. We have research stations which work to try to increase the breeding rates of our cattle so we have a larger turnover of cattle. We need to put more emphasis on the education and the research which, again, does not get much mention here. It gets a little mention. I would hate to see our research stations close. If we are to have a basis for a good food future in the Northern Territory, we also have to have a strong research and development program going from Darwin to Central Australia so we are looking at new products and at improving products.
Mr Deputy Speaker, you would already know, as a mango grower, there is a substantial disease in mangoes at the moment, the mango resin canal. We do not know whether it is a disease or if it is physiological, but it has the potential to reduce production of mangoes in the Northern Territory. There is panama disease in bananas and banana freckle, so we need to be constantly looking at ways of protecting our crops or producing new varieties to overcome some of these issues. That is why you need the research and development, which is key. I repeat that we need to promote the educational side of primary industry and bring Aboriginal people on board if we are fair dinkum about them sharing in the economic future of the Northern Territory.
There is the issue of water, and I know we touched on it earlier. I say again, I am not against water licences, but common sense has gone out the door. It appears to me the government has said that using new figures instead of using the 100-year rainfall figures, we now have the support of the Bureau of Metrology and CSIRO to use a shorter number of years to calculate how much rainfall there was and, therefore, the consumptive pool of water available in the Mataranka region. Therefore, we have more water, so we give people lots of water. It is having a bucket of water and giving people lots of water because we have lots of water. I do not think there is any science there.
I agree with the gentleman who came to the Northern Territory, it was last year or the year before, to help with the Mataranka water advisory group. I think his name was Brendan Dimech. He is a water resource engineer, so he is not just any dill. This is what he said on page 21 of his draft report which he set out in plain English:
That is from a water resource engineer. He is not the only one; the Northern Territory Farmers Association says the same thing. We are being very careless here …
Mr ELFERINK: Mr Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. We are being very careless here. We are saying we want a good economic future and we should do things right, yet we are being careless with the way we are managing our water supply. The minister is probably right that there was a great deal of delay in handing out water licences. Claire O’Brien, who was on the 7.30 Report, said, ‘Yes, there were some delays’. They admitted that, but part of that was because they were going through the process through the Mataranka Water Advisory Committee carefully.
It is one thing to give out water licences and another to give out lots of water with each one of these licences without saying, ‘Prove you have a track record and have used what you were given in the first place’. Most people were given 500 ML. The MacFarlanes were given 500 ML and had not used it, but they had this whopping big amount given to them. That is silly. I am not the only one saying it is silly. Let us be sensible about the amount of water. Let as many people as possible share in this water. This water is not just there for someone to make money from. That was the question I asked today. I did not get the full answer. When the consumptive pool is being allocated and someone wants to get some water out, will they have to buy it and will they buy it from someone who has received water and not really done anything with it? They said, ‘Well, we only did half the plan we told you we were going to do and the rest we are going to sell’.
That water is our water. I know there is water trading but I would be very concerned if water became an economy of its own. We should not forget about giving people the opportunity in the Northern Territory to grow the food the minister is talking about and giving more people that opportunity, not just one or two big farmers, but a range of farmers. I believe the minister is wrong in the way the water is allocated in the Northern Territory. I am not speaking as the expert; I am trying to use a bit of common sense from my own background, but I have got people here who have some idea of what it is all about.
I probably cannot go away from looking at the comments of the member for Barkly, talking about the nuclear waste repository. If you do not like it, it is a nuclear waste dump. That is what the ABC calls it, but that is how the ABC likes to put its point of view forward, through the words it uses. He said, ‘Well, how will we grow crops around a nuclear waste facility?’
I went to the United States, to Ohio, and I visited one of their nuclear power plants on Lake Erie. They store their waste on site. They store it in the water and use rods to keep it there. That power plant sits in a wildlife park. The people who own the nuclear power plant pay the wildlife department money to be there, and that goes towards keeping the park up to scratch. That park is surrounded on one side by water, as it is on Lake Erie. On the other side, it is surrounded by corn fields and marinas.
Fukushima was not good, but it did not blow up because it was a nuclear power plant; it blew up because it was hit by a massive tidal wave. If it had not been hit by a tidal wave, it would still be going. You have to keep things on a level. Keep a level head when you are discussing these things. It is bad in Japan, but that does not mean that all nuclear power plants are bad. You forget that America produces quite a bit of its power from nuclear power plants.
For the member for Barkly to say, ’Well, they are going to bring all these materials from France’ – yes, they are going to bring materials, we know that. He may have a different point of view on how that is stored. My understanding is we will get back some of the higher radioactive waste that comes from Lucas Heights that is being treated in France. It will be stored in glass and will be brought back to be stored somewhere in the Northern Territory.
We can argue whether Muckaty is the right place, but you have to wonder when you fly over Australia and 98% of the population does not live out here. I am not saying that people do not own the land but surely we can find a place to store some of this; we are not exactly over populated in the middle of this country. I am sure some common sense could come into this debate. But if you do not like nuclear power, nothing I say will make any difference. If you do not agree with nuclear power, you will do your darnedest to make sure it does not happen. Therefore, you will bring every argument under the sun to say, ‘We do not want this’. I am not of that ilk.
It is like some of the arguments about fracking. Many of the arguments about fracking are nothing to do with science but are to do with people not wanting fossil fuels used to produce electricity. They think the less gas we produce, the better. I can understand the philosophy, but do not use the science in a warped way for your argument.
It is the same with whether crops would be contaminated. Why would they be contaminated? Radioactive waste is in a solid base, it stays there. It does not go anywhere. We have iridium flying over on Qantas once a week. People sit in the same plane as this little esky full of iridium going to the Royal Darwin Hospital. So what? The idea of trying to say our future, when it comes to producing food, would be at risk because of a nuclear waste repository is far-fetched. I say that because of what I saw when I travelled to the United States. Of course we need to be careful and make sure the site is okay. I would not expect anything less.
I went to Esk in Queensland, 100 km out of Brisbane and there is a little house where they store all their radioactive waste 10 km from town. There was a big stink about it when it was built and now nobody even notices that it is there. Sometimes I think attitudes are based more on what you are against rather than the science. Member for Barkly, I do not agree with you. I am happy if people want to argue about where the site is but that is a different argument.
I thank the minister for his statement. I agree there is great potential there, but I remind the minister of those big posters Barry Coulter used to point out showing the new rail line and the port – the member for Blain might remember this. There were all these lines going up to Asia where there were going to be fast boats taking fresh vegetables. It did not happen. It was a nice poster. I think we need to go back and ask why it did not happen. Can we learn by that and end with a good result next time?
I hope we can supply enough food for other parts of the world and ourselves but we should keep our feet on the ground and be realistic. I think we can be the food saucer of Asia, as long as we get the right crops. Mr Deputy Speaker, that will not include sandalwood or mahogany. They are not very easy to eat.
I thank the minister for his statement.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the statement. It is an area I am particularly interested in. There are a couple of comments I have heard made, and the minister may well comment on them, but I will take this opportunity to do so.
The member for Barkly referred to the Ord, saying all the produce of the Ord, not matter how good it is from this perspective, will go to Western Australia. That is not the case because the basic infrastructure to get it to market is inadequate from the Western Australian side. It is a 70 km haul through the mudflats to the river at Wyndham. The obvious extension of the potential of the Ord is a connection across to the Northern Territory. Granted, Western Australia is well tied to thinking on its side of the border, but the region is changing and this is causing a reassessment of how this great potential can be unlocked, so I do not agree with the member for Barkly.
I also do not agree with the assertion made by the member for Nelson saying that Indonesia is largely self-sufficient in much of its horticulture. It is not. This is one of the greater concerns we have in our region. Indonesia with nearly 250 million people, and the greater ASEAN area with 700 million, have had a food crisis around cattle. The adjustments in Indonesia have been to think small and endeavour to achieve food sovereignty internally. That has not assisted the flow of the free market and it has caused significant problems in the supply of cattle. That same approach has applied to all other produce. It may surprise people that soya bean and tempeh, which is a staple in Indonesia, is barely produced there. It comes from Canada and the US. It is almost wholly dependent upon Monsanto and the production of north America to keep a population of almost 250m eating their staple vegetable protein.
It may surprise people that Indonesia imports more sugar than China. It goes nowhere near being able to meet its own requirements and is wholly dependent upon external markets. This is of deep concern to our near neighbour. The same goes with most fruits and vegetables. Indonesia is having difficulties with its internal infrastructure and the basic operation of an internal economy, and is increasingly aware it needs to connect with this large landmass that presents it with the opportunity for increased food security.
Behind that thinking and demonstration of that thinking and that shift in our region – we have seen it already with cattle with the interest in pastoral leases. I predict there will be a lot more of that, and that is why this statement is important because it is showing us there is need now, granted there is potential forever. Before I came to the Northern Territory, I read a book called Art Linkletter goes Down Under. I read it because I was going to Esperance, Western Australia, and was interested in broadacre farming, which was pioneered by Art Linkletter and his group of American investors. What I discovered in reading that book is they were in Esperance, Western Australia, because of the failed Humpy Doo rice project. I learnt a lot about the rice project. There has always been a recognition of enormous potential in the north.
Before coming here, I also read Ernestine Hill’s book about the early days in Port Essington and all the produce that could be grown there. They tried many crops, tobacco included. They grew all sorts of things here, and there has always been talk, all the way through, of the great potential of the north. We have had it, and you reminded us with former Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Barry Coulter, that big thinking has always been a hallmark of the Northern Territory, great potential being identified and talked about.
I predict we are entering a stage now where the great potential will be changed into something where we see market match, where we have the capacity of the north of the country being able to respond to a growing population to our north. The growing population to our north, Indonesia for one – 10 million extra mouths every year and that is just Indonesia. There is the Philippines and Vietnam. Each of these countries is running a security agenda through its policy considerations. Food security is becoming increasingly real. It is not the issue around whether we will run out food, because there is the potential to adjust, grow different crops and survive as a people, a nation and a region, it is the market. It is the economics of agriculture coming under significant pressure.
I will go into that in a moment, but the issue we need to recognise is that the massive shift in our region will cause us to have to respond in ways we, up to this point, have only talked about.
The Ord, if you go across there you see the enormous infrastructure that has been put in place, which is great to see. As a kid growing up in Western Australia – I grew up farming – I remember the farmers, in the 1960s, were all talking about this great thing in the north of Western Australia. I remember one Christmas holiday when all the local farmers had a subsidy from the Western Australian government to go to the Ord River and look at it. They came back and we had to sit through endless slideshows of what we saw when we went up north and how big it is. They were trying to encourage farmers to move to the north. That was the 1960s. That is some time ago, and there is still talk today of the great opportunities the Ord holds.
My daughter lives in Kununurra. I visit and look to see what has happened now it is 2013. I have met the Chinese interests who see the opportunity to feed their people. I understand where they are coming from, but then I look around and see sandalwood and chia being grown in this great potential with the looming population to our north. Something will change, something will give.
I am pleased to have been involved in the development of a conference called, ‘Food Futures of the North’. I am grateful for the support of the minister’s office. It is an initiative of a local farmers’ group, and rather than talk about another conference of what we can grow in the Northern Territory, we are now shifting our thinking to what the market requires, the economics of food. We can grow all sorts of things here, but until we know what the market requires and understand that marketplace, there is not much point in having strategic plans. We can have a strategic plan about a product we think we can grow really well but, once it has grown well and we have plenty of it, find that no one wants it. You go the other way around and find out what is required, what the economics of the region determine is required, and how we can meet that market. That is the basic framework of the conference. I would be pleased to go through a draft outline of this conference. We should give some frame to the discussions that have been had in this debate.
It will be focused on the north of Australia. It is significant that the Northern Territory is hosting this and facilitating that dialogue. We are very pleased there is now a strong focus and clear language and intention from the new government, and the formation of a white paper. We need to capitalise on that with the Northern Territory providing that leadership. We want to start the conference by having farmers from across the north of Australia talk about what works and why, and what has failed. We want to learn from their practical accounts. These are people who are running big businesses. It might surprise people that the horticulture and the food sector across the north almost equals the cattle industry in its nett worth and production, and it will grow. It seems to be almost under the radar but it is quite significant across the north.
We want to learn from northern farmers. We want to understand the marketplace and look at market opportunities – where are those opportunities? what are our competitive market advantages? – and the economics. We will be talking about Indonesian sugar, Chinese cotton, and Indian pulses, legumes and general horticulture. There will be a focus on Indigenous involvement, and our Indigenous leaders from across the north of Australia will make a contribution in one section of this conference.
We then want to look at the research underpinning current commercial development, because if we see, for example, that by connecting Australia and Indonesia, in this case, in the supply of soya bean, we may not have a product right now, but it can be developed. If we can see it is so easy with land we have here to grow soya bean for the Indonesian market, we need to focus our research on what the best type of soya bean is that we could grow best across the north of Australia to connect into that market – 250 million people who import nearly all their soya bean. It is the connection of understanding what our economic opportunities are and the underpinning research around those economic opportunities so we can make sure we can maximise that opportunity. Obviously, our proximity goes without having to reinforce that.
Then, of course, there are the resources. We will need to look at water and land resources in the north, and there will be a focus on that. It is important to have the voices of those who have concerns about the environment reflected in this conference. We will then talk about the development of policy, the policy environment, and how policy is being developed at the micro and the macro level. There will also be some insight into what is happening with the changes of thinking at government levels in our immediate region and through ASEAN and, once again, through Indonesia.
If anyone has been watching the media, they would have picked up that there are some very big changes coming in the way our region thinks about food security and how that security can be met by changing the way they operate in much bigger marketplaces and market share in other places, such as Australia. Australia is being directly considered as a place in the supply chain of food. We talk about oil and gas and the presence of the Japanese here and their interests in energy, and we see security as an economic opportunity and all the economic benefits of security. There are other considerations from our neighbours. Japan is deadly serious about energy security because without that energy supply it cannot survive as a nation. It is not just about economic opportunity and money to be made, it is about the survival of a nation. It is the same as what is now emerging in our immediate region with the change of agriculture economics and the production of food, population growth and increased demand. It is about the survival and cohesion of a population.
Going back to the live cattle trade, the impact that had on Indonesia was one that few people in Australia recognised. We saw it as an impact on producers, and it certainly was significant. However, when it goes to a national level which is dependent upon food, the interruption of food supply can disrupt a population of 230 million, and that can cause civil unrest. That makes it very difficult to manage and we can then end up with a global or regional security issue of a completely different kind. That is why food is really important in the stability of our region, and it is not just security in terms of economic opportunities and security for the Northern Territory, it is much bigger than that.
We will be looking at development strategies and how we can work from where we are to where we need to be. There will be a focus on specific crops: cotton, sugar, grains, horticulture, forestry general. And there will be other minor crops; chia gets a look in there, as well as opium, hemp, etcetera – these other products that have been talked about around the fringes. We will bring it all together in one place and put it into a proper context. That should be a very interesting conference. It is already attracting interest across the north of the country. I commend the minister for allowing me to be involved in this and for taking it into a broader context and the context of our region.
The conference will be held sometime next year. We are looking for the right date. It will probably be around March or April, but you will be advised of that. We are working on that at the moment. It is important in the context of this statement to say this important work has been going on for some time.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I have, in recent weeks, picked up some new shadow responsibilities. My interest in this statement is predominantly around water and water issues, and I thank the minister’s office for providing me with an incoming briefing just the other day; it was most insightful.
I recognise the importance of growing economic opportunities in the Northern Territory and meeting the needs of food security, but I wish the minister could get as excited about his Resources portfolio as he could about this one. He is minister for Mines and, sadly, he has been silent on the issues facing my electorate around gas to Gove. In fact, the last time he visited was soon after the announcement on 13 February that gas had been secured for Gove. He went out with the then Chief Minister and a number of members of Cabinet to shake hands and talk positively about the future. It is funny how we have not heard from him since on the matter. He certainly has not been out there, but he is clearly devoting his energy into growing the agricultural/horticultural sector in the Northern Territory.
When I became a member of this House, I served on a few parliamentary committees, and one of them was the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, which I found a fascinating experience. We investigated the sustainability of agriculture and horticulture in the Northern Territory. The terms of reference were provided to the committee by the then Minister for the Environment, the member for Namatjira. It was a bipartisan committee that worked hard over some period of time before delivering its report to the parliament in March 2011.
It was an eye-opening exercise for me to learn more about the Territory’s horticulture, its pastoral sector and agriculture. We took plenty of evidence at public hearings and made site visits to see for ourselves and learn about the opportunities in the Northern Territory. I revisited the report very quickly this evening, and 15 or 16 recommendations came with that report. Amongst them was recognition of the need to continually research in the Northern Territory, given the climate we have, the geographic space we operate in, the low population density and the diverse climates from the Central Desert regions through to the tropical north. It was an eye-opening experience and I enjoyed learning about the opportunities for Indigenous businesses, such as Centrefarm, which is producing goods successfully and getting them to market.
I recall clearly amongst some of the evidence we were provided with, the spokesperson for the Northern Territory Horticultural Association was very clear in her presentation that the Northern Territory would never be the food bowl for Asia due to the many constraints that exist in the Northern Territory. That is not to say we do not have a vision and do not endeavour to grow that industry, though the minister has shared a vision with us this evening.
What I also found interesting is the vision he holds is not shared by all members of his government. One of the key issues is around strategic Indigenous reserves, the SIRs, which has been very topical, very controversial and, quite clearly, on the other side of the House, members are quite divided and have been clear they do not share the vision of the minister. The member for Namatjira spoke about that this evening; we have also heard from the member for Arnhem who said she is a traditional owner around the Mataranka area which has been at the centre of such much controversy. We also have on the record the member for Stuart, who, as a member of this House and an Indigenous person representing an electorate with a large population of Indigenous people, is clearly very torn over this.
Let us have a quick look at some of the comments the member for Stuart has made. We know she wrote to former Chief Minister Terry Mills around the time Tina MacFarlane was looking for a water allocation. The member for Stuart supported that allocation, initially at least. But in June, she said she supports the push for a different approach by the member for Daly, the other person who is not entirely on board with this issue of strategic Indigenous reserves. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall, member for Daly, at some of your party room discussions, because he does not support taking away the water rights of Indigenous Territorians. The member for Stuart said:
The member for Stuart, on this issue of strategic Indigenous reserves, has called for more talks on the issue and says three years is too long for Indigenous communities to wait. She was interviewed on the ABC and these were her comments:
That is a really interesting position on strategic Indigenous reserves when we know three backbenchers have said they are not comfortable with it, they do not agree with it, and then we have somebody who is really wedged, the member for Stuart. This is a very interesting position and a very interesting policy issue the CLP government has to deal with.
We know the approval of strategic Indigenous reserves did not go to Cabinet; I was advised of that. I am looking at the notes I took when I had my incoming brief in the minister’s office recently. Ignoring these strategic Indigenous reserves is akin to the Chief Minister’s decision to do away with a portfolio for Indigenous Advancement. ‘We do not need that, we are all Territorians and everybody should have the same opportunity’. Clearly, many people simply do not see it that way, including at least four members of the CLP government, one of whom is a minister with a key role around environment, Parks and Wildlife and the elected representative of a bush electorate. It is not a comfortable position which the CLP is in. It demonstrates the policy on the run, the ad hoc policy positioning they take is not working for them and is certainly not gelling with the wider community. It is not gelling with members on this side of the House, nor with the member for Nelson.
We will be watching this space. They may need a clear and articulated policy about where they stand, but right now, strategic Indigenous reserves are clearly a very divisive issue.
I listened with great interest to the contribution from the member for Arnhem. She talked about, as a kid, seeing the activity happening on her country, be it with gardens or a piggery. This statement is all about the big end of town, to the detriment of people within the Northern Territory, including our Indigenous population.
There is lots of talk about food security for our Asian neighbours, but what about food security for Territorians? What about food security for people in the regions? I see when I go out from time to time that there are people who are hungry, yet if they had the capacity, as we know some communities do, to grow food, it may not be heading for the export market into Asia or to the markets on the eastern seaboard, but what about sustainable gardens and development for communities?
I was on Elcho Island the week before last and went right to the top of the island to the homeland of Gawa, where I spent the night. Just 15 minutes down the road is a small homeland called Banthula. I have not been to Banthula for just over a year, but what struck me as I drove into Bunthula on that morning with one of the people from the school to pick up children who were being transported back up to Gawa for school was a banana plantation. Alongside it was more cleared land ready to put in more plants. There were cassava plants. This will not make huge money for the Northern Territory, but it is feeding people. It is also providing people with work, opportunity and, with it, financial independence. I spoke to the senior man who was behind the banana plantation at Banthula. He was obviously, as he should be, thrilled with the work he has been undertaking and told me he was in the process of working with Marthakal Homelands to develop a business plan so bananas from the plantation could be supplying the local market just down the road at the ALPA store at Galiwinku.
In the big picture of the CLP government in wanting to do amazing things in the economy and trade with Asia, let us not forget what sits in our back yard. Let us not forget who is sitting in our remote communities, in the regions, on the homelands, and the need to assist them with the production of food if, indeed, that is what people want to do. Many of us who travel around our electorates see that in many of our schools, with kids growing gardens in – is it your electorate, member for Nelson at Girraween Primary?
Mr Wood: Yes, they have a farm.
Ms WALKER: They have a farm. They do amazing stuff.
Mr Vowles: Jingili Primary School.
Ms WALKER: Jingili Primary School. A couple of years ago when I visited Milyakburra which is Bickerton Island, there was a fantastic garden. At Yirrkala recently, Monday of last week, I attended and presented awards. They were the EduGrow School Garden Awards, which is part of the Remote Indigenous Gardens Network. It is teaching kids and community – it goes right across the curriculum actually – about gardening, growing food, utilising the bush tucker that exists within their community and learning how to grow things. There is the literacy and numeracy side of the curriculum that goes along with that. This sort of thing encourages people to grow their own gardens. This does not appear anywhere in this vision we have with the Northern Territory government. Maybe they think it is irrelevant because it is too low down, literally, the food chain. It is an area that has been overlooked, and the member for Arnhem talked about that.
If we are serious about engaging Indigenous Territorians in the economy and in the agricultural and horticultural sectors, we need to be serious about this. We cannot do that if we are not serious about recognising strategic Indigenous reserves, do not have a policy in that area and are slinging off at organisations like NAILSMA. Congratulations to Joe Morrison who has driven this issue, particularly around Mataranka, on behalf of traditional owners, because they have been ignored. They have been completely ignored.
I thought the 7.30 Report on a recent Friday evening provided a most informative report on what is happening with this water allocation issue and how angry and worried people are, particularly around the Mataranka area. We saw TOs from Mangarrayi talking on that 7.30 Report. Clearly, the story is not over, because we have four members on that side of the House who do not share the vision of the minister or the Chief Minister about strategic Indigenous reserves being wiped out.
That program also showed there has been a lack of transparency in how decisions are made, highlighted by the water allocation that was made to Tina MacFarlane, a CLP candidate. We heard that plans are a little vague around how that water allocation will be utilised. It is an enormous volume of water. It is small wonder that traditional owners in that area are upset. We then learn that, possibly, she may be trading some of that water. She was allocated water on the strength she was going to develop horticulture, but now we hear that she may sell it.
Who oversees this? Who says that is okay? Clearly, this area of government policy is an absolute mess. The minister said a mouthful in his statement towards the end on page 29:
In the report of the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, that is where we went to as well. These are enormous hurdles: the logistics of getting product to market and, as the member for Blain said, understanding what the product is that meets market demands; the logistics associated with the fact we have a low population and some 23% of the Northern Territory’s roads are sealed; the competition, the prioritising of which roads should be sealed, the logistics, the infrastructure – the member for Daly talked about the infrastructure. Until these hurdles are overcome, getting these products to market will remain a huge challenge.
I know there is a grand vision for the north between the CLP government and the new Coalition government in Canberra. From what I am seeing, the relationship between the two different governments is they seem to be reaching a number of points of difference. I am not sure that the goodwill and the cooperation is there; pre-election it all sounded fantastic but the proof will be in the pudding. We will look to see how government intends to deliver on this vision. It is a divided vision to some point with four members on that side clearly unhappy about the scrapping of strategic Indigenous reserves. There are also these enormous hurdles around infrastructure and logistics given the distance we are from markets.
Minister, I know you have not been particularly interested in Gove and the gas issue. I do not believe the CLP has any plan for Gove beyond the potential curtailing of refining operations. We know there is good infrastructure there. There is a deep water port. There is a pretty good road, the Central Arnhem Road. Thanks to Labor, three crossings are almost completed which will provide access for a little longer. We also have a massive aquifer there. We know the refinery consumes quite a bit of water, certainly sufficient to meet its needs, so what is the vision for us, minister? Banana plantations, pineapple plantations? We would love to see and hear what your vision is for Gove. It is absent from the plan. Also absent from your plan is the fact you are ignoring Indigenous Territorians. Unless you reinstate strategic Indigenous reserves, you will have some real issues, particularly on your own side.
Motion agreed; statement noted
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.
I speak today to acknowledge the life of Natalie Ede and extend my condolences to her family. Natalie worked for the Education department as the Senior Program Manager of Assessment and Reporting and has been an asset to Territory education for her entire career.
On Tuesday last week Natalie collapsed at work and was taken to hospital. Sadly, Natalie passed away on the morning of Friday 22 November with her family by her side.
Natalie was well-known and well liked within the department and, more widely, in the Territory education community. She was fiercely proud of being Darwin born and bred and, as a student, attended Ludmilla Primary School and Darwin High School. Natalie undertook her teacher training in what was then the Northern Territory University. She started her teaching career in the Territory working at Leanyer Primary School in 1998 as a classroom teacher, and a PE specialist teacher for 10 years.
This is something I said to the family at the church, on behalf of the people of the Western Desert. These people were very passionate friends of Aboriginal people in Central Australia, straight to the point and caring of our boys who went in to access their services:
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, tonight, I raise an issue of some concern which affects my electorate; the story on the front page of the paper today. I could not help but be inspired into incredulity by the member for Johnston. He started talking about secret deals in Question Time and I recall, Madam Speaker, you had to counsel me for my incredulity. However, frankly, I find it hard to imagine how a member could ask such a question in light of such a headline.
If we are to believe the evidence we have seen so far in the newspaper and matters tabled in the House tonight, something very awry occurred on 3 August last year, immediately prior to the Territory election. In fact, it was the very last day of the Henderson government before going into caretaker mode. It made a decision - the former minister, Gerry McCarthy, made a decision - to hand over, essentially, the keys to the union movement in the Northern Territory for 20 years for a fee of $442, less than the $450 reported in the newspaper.
I am astonished at that. It has an odium surrounding it which is hard to imagine and fathom. What would inspire a minister of the Crown, according to the newspaper at least, to walk to the unions on the day before you go into caretaker mode and sell $3m worth of value for the princely sum of $450? It is an extraordinary decision for a minister of the Crown to make. This minister of the Crown should have been aware of the normal processes it takes to put such a lease arrangement in place. I am curious as to whether or not the former minister can lay on the table the advertisement placed in the Northern Territory News, or wherever else, advertising this building was becoming available for – according to a comment in the newspaper – that:
I do not recall any such advertisement in the newspaper, because I do not believe there was one. There is certainly no suggestion by the members opposite today that was the case.
Was there a tender? Was a tender process engaged in? The Treasurer’s instructions are quite strong on these things. The tender processes of the former Northern Territory government have been under question on a number of occasions at the departmental level, but it now seems that, at a ministerial level, tenders are something they did not pay a great deal of attention to. Where was the announcement of this successful thing? If it was such a good thing and a thing to be proud of, why was there no press release issued by the former government saying they were going to do this thing? Surely, you would say, ‘This is us being close to the union movement. The minister is going to give this wonderful opportunity to the union movement because we are all close together, and that is a great message to take into the election we are about to go into, as the caretaker mode starts tomorrow.’ However, there was no press release.
The reason there was no press release is because the former minister genuinely thought it was something not to put a media release out about – if this was his very last act as a minister, it was a strange act not to be promoting himself prior to going to the election. It makes one wonder about the minister’s frame of mind when he engaged in what I could only describe as a furtive exercise to give away $3m worth of public assets to the union organisations for an amount of $450. Where was the press release? There was no press release because the minister did not want people to know. Every time the former government wanted people to know something, there was a press release, and more and more press releases; no press releases on this one, no announcement publicly, not even a leak to the media about it. It was all very discreet and very carefully managed.
I would expect ministers of the Crown to be announcing to the world their conflicts of interest when it comes to these types of things because the union movements are very close to the Labor Party. Many unions, if not all of them, have the support of the Labor Party as a demand in their constitutions.
There were no announcements, furtive conduct, no advertising, no tender, and no press releases in any way to describe what was actually going on. In fact, we only started to become aware of it, according to the newspaper, when the unions wanted to press on with claiming their newfound right from the new government.
What concerns me about this is another comment in this article. This is where I start to think the tentacles of this ‘thing’ stretch far beyond the minister himself. I quote from the newspaper article today:
Did I read that correctly? Oh, yes, that is what it says, ‘advice to Cabinet’. Cabinet was aware of this? This was a Cabinet decision was it, former minister? My next question is: what does the Leader of the Opposition know about this? Was she in that Cabinet meeting? I bet you she was. Why was the Cabinet seeking advice in relation to this in the first place? What were you told? What was going on here?
The focus now shifts from the former minister to the now Leader of the Opposition. ‘What did you know?’ – that is the question I have for the Leader of the Opposition. What instructions did you give? What support, Leader of the Opposition, did you give to this decision being taken? This odious, smelly, little decision that was taken to deprive the Northern Territory’s common wealth of $3m worth of property in terms of the value of the property that sells for $450? How much did the now Leader of the Opposition know about that decision? What was her commitment to the unions in relation to this? This thing does smell. It smells horribly.
I heard the Chief Minister today being sanctioned for using the term ‘Gerry Obeid’, but I have a question. If it was not just Gerry, who else was it? Clearly, it was something the Cabinet had in front of it, so the decision was taken by Cabinet. The minister himself said it is a decision taken by Cabinet, so the whole government and the now Leader of the Opposition, I can only suggest, were involved in this process. That is amazing. If you listen to all the noise coming from that side of the House about some unsubstantiated allegations about a fuel card and nothing about a $3m touch on the taxpayer, I believe there is something fundamentally wrong in the state of Rome. There is something fundamentally wrong on that side of the House. If they were angry about something small - my goodness gracious me, unsubstantiated and small, I might add - they have a great deal of answering to do for something that is that substantial - a $3m gift! Gifted away for the price of $450, and I note the comments in the editorial of the paper today, calling for an inquiry. If more information starts coming to light about this, there might have to be one! This arrangement with the unions is nasty, it smells very bad; it actually stinks, and it is all being done at the expense of the taxpayer of the Northern Territory. If there is anything more to this, woe betide the Northern Territory Labor Party!
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I have good news stories from the Barkly.
Poised for Success: local girl, Lynette Lewis Hubbard, left Tennant Creek in her teens to pursue her dream of being a dancer. She moved to Sydney at the age of 17, got into dance school and scored a part in the musical Bran Nue Dae, touring around Australia for nine months. She auditioned successfully for NIDA, but two years into her course she became very ill and had to leave her new life and go back home to recover.
This inspirational young woman is back on the stage and in the limelight, but this time as a playwright and sole performer of her inspiring work The Adventures of Namakili. Lynette’s touching and authentic theatre production is written in English, Kriol, Wambaya and Warumungu, a unique language mix rarely seen on stage. There is pathos, joy and plenty of comedy as she refuses to take herself and life too seriously. Her story is about following your dreams, even in the face of adversity. Written by Lynette Lewis Hubbard and Stephen L. Helper, The Adventures of Namakili is on at Browns Mart Theatre until November 30.
Barkly Shire Waste Management Program Scoops Territory Award: Barkly Shire Council was recognised for its continuing efforts in waste management as part of the Territory Tidy Town Awards last month. The Barkly Shire, as partner in the Central Australian Waste Management Program, took out the Best Waste Management Initiative Award in conjunction with the Central Desert and MacDonnell Shires. The award recognises the outstanding work all three shires have done, especially in relation to landfill upgrades, and highlights the value of collaborative regional partnerships. Barkly Shire president Barb Shaw said the award is a reflection of the hard work by all parties involved:
The Central Australian Waste Management Program, funded by the NT government’s Department of Health and assisted by the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory, customises the way in which landfills are managed in a remote setting. The Barkly Shire has recently completed landfill upgrades at Ampilatwatja and Elliott and has active projects at Ali Curung and Alpurrurulam, both of which are scheduled to be completed at the end of this year.’
Film Gives Muckaty Campaign a Boost: a film on the Muckaty campaign premiered at Tennant Creek’s Aboriginal Art and Cultural Centre, Nyinkka Nyunyu, on November 10. Protecting Manuwangku captured the rally and concert last May in Tennant Creek and marks six years of resistance to the Muckaty nuclear waste dump proposal. Produced by Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning Research Unit at the University of Technology, Sydney, the film interviewed several Muckaty traditional owners, including Dianne Stokes:
Qualifications were presented in the areas of hospitality, automotive, arts, electro-technology, business community services, resources and infrastructure, training and assessment and other areas.
Elliott Footballer on Track for the Big Time: local YDU footballer, Nicholas Tracker, has been offered a position on the playing list for VFL club, Bendigo Football Club, in Victoria. Nicholas Tracker, from Elliott, is expected at the first post-Christmas training session on 10 January 2014.
Bendigo Gold coach, ex-St Kilda champion, Aussie Jones, said in newspaper reports he was excited at the prospect of giving the young Indigenous player an opportunity to play on the big stage. The VFL is a second tier competition to the AFL with Geelong, Essendon, Collingwood and Carlton fielding their reserve sides while the remaining Victorian-based AFL clubs align with other VFL clubs.
Nicholas must be commended for his courageous decision to move away from family and friends in a bid to follow his football dreams. With plenty of hard work and determination, he could well be the next Barkly footballer to make it to the AFL. Jake Neade, also from Elliott, played finals for his team, Port Adelaide Power, in his first year of AFL football.
Elliott Health Practitioner Honoured: an Elliott woman was one of 33 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners recently honoured at an excellence awards ceremony. Josephine Appo, or Jo as she is known, works at Elliott health clinic. She was nominated for the remote category and received a highly commended at the awards ceremony this month.
Colleagues who nominated Jo said she is well-known for her professionalism as an Aboriginal health practitioner and is a person who always upholds the ethics and expectations of her career choice. Jo is regarded as a role model who provides positive advice and direction to other members of the health team. Jo is a well-respected member of the team and always willing to share her expertise.
The awards are an ongoing initiative of the Rotary Club of Darwin Sunrise in partnership with the Department of Health, United Voice NT, department of Health and Ageing and AMSANT.
Tennant Carers Scoop Award: a Tennant Creek couple were among a number of Territorians who won a Foster and Kinship Carer Excellence Award in October. Ian Waistcoat and Ruby Frank, both traditional owners from the area, have cared for up to 20 children for families from remote communities around the Barkly area.
The children in their care have always maintained good school attendance, despite the couple both undergoing regular dialysis. When Ruby and Ian formalised kinship care status in 2012, they took on the care of a 14 year-old nephew who remains in their care today.
The 2013 Foster and Kinship Carer Excellence Award recognises the outstanding dedication and contributions that foster and kinship carers make to the Northern Territory’s child protection system.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, tonight I speak about the recent 2013 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge which took place in October. I bring to the House’s attention the hard work done by staff from the Department of Transport and many other people who were involved.
This is a major worldwide event. It was a huge success and was a great coup originally for Darwin when it started many years ago. The event attracts people from all over the world, and it was a testament to our hard work, and the hard work of our predecessors, to obtain this event which runs from Darwin down the Stuart Highway to Adelaide.
I was very fortunate, along with the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Transport and a number of other people from the department, to attend the showgrounds at the Foskey Pavilion where they were doing the scrutineering of the solar cars.
I must say, 20 years ago my two sons were at Dripstone High School and they participated in the solar challenge with a car named Aquila. It was formerly a Charles Darwin University car, and Dripstone High School took it, reworked it, remodelled it, made sure it was roadworthy and took it from Darwin to Adelaide. It was a fascinating experience for all the team from Dripstone High School and an interesting event and road trip for my two sons.
To look at the cars, as I did 20 years ago at Dripstone High School, then 20 years later look at the technology improvements, the car improvements, the design, the electrical technology going into those cars, the solar panels and the advancements in technology was absolutely fantastic. It was great to see the Territory can host this event, and I am hoping in two years’ time we will be in a position to help Charles Darwin University, and perhaps others, re-enter the race with Territory cars sponsored by Territory businesses and help create the research at Charles Darwin University, which will help us compete with the world’s best.
The World Solar Challenge is a biennial event involving solar powered cars travelling from Darwin to Adelaide. It also involves their associated support vehicles, a minimum of two per team, being driven from Darwin to Adelaide under controlled conditions. This year’s event attracted more than 40 solar cars. The start was outside Parliament House on the Sunday morning, which was quite interesting - most of the cars got off, but some had to be push-started. There was a fantastic array of designs, some with four wheels, some with three wheels, but all eventually got going with a bit of help from the pit crews.
The Northern Territory is a major sponsor of this event providing both financial and in-kind support, via the Department of Transport, which has a long association with the event by providing vehicle assessments and conditional registration for the solar cars since the first event in 1987. The Department of Transport’s regulation and compliance vehicle standards engineering team undertake assessments of all solar cars to ensure compliance with technical and safety standards before the cars can be granted conditional registration to participate in the event. All vehicles participating in the event are required to comply with NT road laws, including speed limits.
The solar challenge number plates have had the same design for the past couple of events; however, late last year, in the lead up to this year’s World Solar Challenge, staff at Motor Vehicle Registry took the opportunity to change the design of the plates. Motor Vehicle Registry approached the number plate factory in Alice Springs as well as Motor Vehicle Registry internally, for design concepts. The successful designer was chosen unanimously by staff at Motor Vehicle Registry and World Solar Challenge organisers.
I am pleased to say the artist - an Aboriginal Territorian who works at Motor Vehicle Registry - remained anonymous by choice, but I congratulate them for this great work. The number plates are very distinctive and are a collector’s piece worldwide. We hope in the next solar challenge we will be able to print more of them and give each participant a number plate to take home to hang on their walls and talk positively about their experiences in the Northern Territory and South Australia. The design featured an outline of Australia, the road from Darwin to Adelaide and a full blazing sun.
It was a pleasure to work with the people on the day going through and checking the vehicles. Obviously, I did not have a large part, but I got an insight into what they do. They are a dedicated bunch of people and I congratulate all the people from the Department of Transport who were involved.
I move to a different subject now: the Chief Minister‘s Awards for Excellence in the Public Sector. I would like to draw the House’s attention to the recent awards. The Chief Minister’s Awards for excellence in public service are designed to reward staff, encourage innovative activities and showcase some of the great initiatives that make a difference to public sector administration and the broader Territory.
It was extremely pleasing that the Department of Transport brought home the award in the Aboriginal Advancement Category for their outstanding DriveSafe NT Remote Program.
The Office of Multicultural Affairs and Darwin Waterfront Corporation won the Enriching Our Society Category with the popular Harmony Soiree event.
The aviation workshop team also picked up a prestigious gong in the Growing Our Economy Category with their strategy for new airline services in the Northern Territory. Darwin Airport continues to go from strength to strength along with the introduction of SilkAir, AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines and Tigerair. We are cementing the Territory’s claim as the gateway to Asia. More recently, there were meetings with Garuda in the interest of reopening the Garuda flights in and out of Darwin.
The Harmony Soiree is always a popular event with growing participation every year and it is no surprise it was recognised in this category. It is such a great award and well deserved. Much hard work goes into this event and it is really appreciated by all Territorians.
I am especially pleased the DriveSafe NT remote Indigenous Driver Education and Licensing program was recognised at these awards. In fact, tonight the CEO and Karen Young are in Brisbane, hopefully picking up the Australian gong for this particular award. I sincerely hope I can stand here tomorrow night and speak further on this award that we will hopefully win in the Australian category. Much hard work was rewarded here. The program is such a valuable initiative and I am very proud of the team which brought it to fruition.
Since September, the Department of Transport has issued, under the program, 396 birth certificates, 983 learner’s licences, 226 provisional licences, undertaken 250 motor vehicle registration transactions and delivered 1793 driver’s licences. The program is making a huge difference to our remote communities and I congratulate the department on their hard work and tireless effort in getting this up and running.
DriveSafe NT Remote includes theory and practical lessons on a range of driving and road safety topics such as drink-driving, seatbelts, overcrowding in vehicles, emergency first aid and speed. Participants also learn about the responsibilities of being a driver and owning a vehicle.
A two-year initiative of the Northern Territory government, the program is jointly funded by the former National Road Safety Council, Territory Insurance Office, the Australian government and the Northern Territory Department of Transport. The Northern Territory government has committed an additional $4.5m to continue this successful program for a further three years.
I congratulate all nominees, finalists and winners and commend the invaluable work undertaken by all departments.
It is a real pleasure, as the minister, for the staff you lead to win prizes in three different categories. The staff I have worked with for nearly nine months now are well-known for their commitment to their particular roles and jobs and it is fantastic working with them. I congratulate the team at the Department of Transport and look forward to working with them in the future.
Ms MANISON (Wanguri): Madam Speaker, tonight I reiterate on the record some concerns raised by senior Territorians.
Since the change of government, there have been huge changes across the Territory and some of those changes have really hit senior Territorians. We have seen many broken promises around the cost of living. We have also now seen the public service being stripped back considerably despite the promises that public service jobs were safe, particularly those on the front line.
Of course, Territorians have not sat back. As we have seen in the last 12 months, Territorians have made their voices heard. They have come out, and I do not think I have seen more protests and rallies than I have seen in the last 12 months. It has been huge. We are seeing another massive rally tomorrow against the education cuts. People are quite active at the moment, and they are speaking up; they want to have their voices heard.
One of the groups that have formed out of that has been the NT Citizens for Action group. In that group, there has been a seniors subcommittee formed, advocating for the rights and needs of senior Territorians. I have to pay particular tribute to Roger Miller, who has been very busy advocating for senior Territorians, as well as the other members on that committee. They have added a voice for seniors out there, and have had a strong voice against the Power and Water tariff increases that have hit senior Territorians as well, and bus fares that have hit senior Territorians. We saw earlier on that there were moves afoot that might have seen the scrapping of airfares under the NT Pensioner and Carer Concession Scheme, and I believe the pressure put on from the public and groups like the NT Citizens for Action helped to ensure that although they would change, the airfares did continue in some form.
We have also seen housing costs go up, and I have met plenty of seniors in public housing who have had huge rent increases they have to live with. People who own homes would have seen their rates go up, and rents have gone up as well. It has not been easy going for senior Territorians and, on that basis, the NT Citizens for Action group has been very active. They put a petition to the government back in June, and the response to that petition was included in today’s proceedings.
The NT Citizens for Actions group have asked me to reiterate that response tonight for the record. The petition went along the lines of:
The response came into the parliament today, and read:
The next question is when will the government make their decision about whether or not they will establish a representative advisory council for seniors? If they do decide to, who gets to go on to that advisory council? How do people get the opportunity to put their hand up to say they want to be involved? Seniors do deserve a strong voice and they are vital to the future of the Territory.
I believe all families that have been here for a long time love the thought of eventually-as parents get older, as people become grandparents, unlike the old days – that people do stay around in town and stay for a long time so those family units can stay together. It is really important we do take good care of our senior Territorians. I thank the NT Citizens for Action for their ongoing work and advocacy for Territorians and raising these important matters for seniors. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I would just like to say, I probably will not finish during this adjournment debate; I will probably have to carry on for a little bit longer than that. I would like to just stay some words about a very special lady. Her name is Jane Large. She passed away recently and just to give you some idea of this person’s official background, if I can put it that way. Jane worked in the UK Foreign Office for eight years and six months. She worked in the New South Wales Police department for six months. She worked in the Western Australian Police department for two years. She worked in the Commonwealth Public Service for eight years and six months. She worked in the Northern Territory Public Service for 20 years and six months and, in her last years during that period, she was the Senior Director of Budgets. It is through the help of some special people, Denise Paech, Lesley Sullivan, and Brenda Monaghan, that I have some material that was provided at her funeral. I will read some of those and, if I need to finish in the middle of it and move it on to the next night, then that is what I will do.
This is a eulogy on behalf of family and friends of Jane Large:
This part of the eulogy was written by Denise Paech and Lesley Sullivan.
In case people wonder why I know Jane Large; when I first came to parliament, I was a bit overwhelmed. I was asked to go on the Public Accounts Committee to look at an inquiry into whether the budget had been manipulated, you might say. I was a bit bewildered by what I was required to do. The person who came to my help, who was recommended to me was Jane Large. As you can see from what I have read in the eulogy, she was a very special person. I asked her a number of times to help me, and there was no hesitation. It was because of her I was able to make a decision. It was a very stressful time for me just entering parliament, and I always remember the generosity she gave in providing her time to help me in an area I knew very little about.
I sum up with something called In Retrospect. You will get an understanding of who this person was. A wonderful woman, she wrote this herself on her retirement:
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, when working at Elkedra, Grandad spent time with cattle, fencing as the station cook.
After Elkedra, Grandad:
From the dangers of mining, Grandad jumped at a job offer through one of Jim’s sons, Jack, to work for Len Kittle in Tennant Creek as a driver. Grandad had the job of delivering water to gougers and mines in the Tennant Creek regions.
A run in with the law where Grandad was innocent led him to look for a reason to return to the scrub and he was soon mustering and droving again. This led him to Inverway and a job with Sandy McIndoo tending camp.
During the Wet, Grandad was given the job as saddler, repairing all the pack saddles and riding saddles, riveting straps and replacing bridles. En route to Wave Hill one day as a passenger with plenty of rum for company they:
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
LEAVE TO GIVE NOTICE
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I seek leave to give notice that on the next General Business Day I will move a motion.
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, this is unusual. There is a perfectly good opportunity to give notice at the normal time of 2 pm.
Ms WALKER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Given there is no business or question before the Chair, I have sought advice from the Clerk’s office and understand I am able to seek leave to put this motion.
Mr ELFERINK: She can seek leave, Madam Speaker, but unless there is an argument to the contrary she can go through normal processes.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Speaking to the motion, if afforded the opportunity to continue, the member for Nhulunbuy will move a motion for General Business Day – so not out of the order of business – on Gas to Gove.
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, please be seated.
Leave not granted.
LEAVE TO MOVE MOTION
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I seek leave to move a motion debating Gas to Gove. We are seeking leave to move a motion for General Business Day tomorrow to debate Gas to Gove ...
Mr Elferink: You can do it at 2 pm.
Ms LAWRIE: Yes, we could give notice to move the motion at 2 pm this afternoon, but what is your problem in allowing the member for Nhulunbuy to speak this morning and put on the public record her concern, and her community’s concerns, about the announcement from Rio Tinto today? Why are you being so mean as to reject the member for Nhulunbuy putting on the public record this morning a motion which, ultimately, will be debated on Wednesday?
Mr ELFERINK (Leader of Government Business): In response, Madam Speaker, the answer is quite straightforward. This does not bring the debate on any quicker; it still comes on at 5.30 pm tomorrow. Whether you give leave now or at 2 pm today makes not one jot of difference. It is outside the normal protocols of this House and the answer is no.
Leave not granted.
MESSAGE FROM ADMINISTRATOR
Message No 12
Message No 12
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received Message No 12 from Her Honour the Administrator notifying assent to the bills passed in the October sittings. The message is dated 18 November 2013.
LEAVE TO MOVE MOTION
Typhoon Haiyan
Typhoon Haiyan
Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I seek leave to move a motion.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Prior to Question Time we had the government question the opposition on the nature of the motion before we could respond to seeking leave. Could you give us the same courtesy? I am assuming it is the typhoon motion, but if you could give us a heads up on the nature of the motion?
Leave granted.
MOTION
Typhoon Haiyan
Typhoon Haiyan
Mr GILES (Chief Minister)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that, in recognition of the devastating natural disaster that has struck the Philippines and the distress it has caused on the Northern Territory’s large Filipino-Australian community, this Assembly:
(a) notes the severity of the typhoon that struck the Philippines on Friday 8 November 2013, destroying buildings, homes and infrastructure and causing enormous loss of life
(b) notes the complex emergency response that has swung into action to treat the injured, prevent the outbreak of disease and rebuild vital infrastructure
(c) acknowledges members of Darwin’s National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre who are now on the ground in the Philippines providing emergency medical care to victims of the disaster
(d) notes the concern of the local Filipino-Australian community about the situation and acknowledges their tireless fundraising efforts for victims of the typhoon
(e) acknowledges the support of Territorians who have given generously to the relief appeals
(f) notes the enormous recovery effort now facing the Philippines and pledges the Territory’s ongoing support over the difficult months ahead.
It is with great sadness I discuss today this tragedy, but also with great pride in the way Territorians have responded.
More than 5000 people are confirmed to have died when super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines earlier this month. The powerful weather system tore cities apart, ripping buildings from their foundations, destroying homes and crushing residents beneath the debris. The first responders reported that four huge cargo vessels had been lifted out of the ocean and swept hundreds of metres into the centre of Tacloban. An Australian Red Cross relief worker who was one of the first to arrive in Tacloban described a city that was unrecognisable, with devastation everywhere and people wandering in a daze to find shelter. She described heartbreaking loss of life and the stench of dead bodies yet to be recovered from the debris. It is a humanitarian disaster of staggering proportions and we cannot underestimate the impact it has had on the large Filipino community in the Northern Territory.
I acknowledge the Philippine Honorary Consul General to the Northern Territory, John Rivas. He leads an 8000-strong Filipino community in the Northern Territory which has been completely rocked by this disaster, many of whom do not know the fate of loved ones caught up in the emergency. On behalf of the Northern Territory government, I express my great sympathy to those Filipinos in Darwin and beyond who have lost their friends and relatives in the devastating typhoon.
The Filipino community is the Territory’s second-largest cultural group with communities in Katherine, Alice Springs, Darwin, Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy. They have all rallied together in an impressive grassroots effort to raise thousands of dollars for victims of the typhoon.
I attended the Filipino Association’s recent fundraising concert at Marrara where I was overwhelmed by the support from the community, the community spirit and the compassion that was on display. I was particularly touched by the story of a young boy who came along and donated all of his pocket money to the appeal. In all, they raised more than $20 000, an impressive effort by any standard. Some of the organisers of the concert may be here with us in the gallery today, and I pay tribute to their efforts over the past few weeks. It is truly inspiring to see the way they have come together to help compatriots in need. The government stands ready to assist as you plan further fundraisers in the weeks and months ahead.
On behalf of all Territorians, the government has contributed $10 000 to the Australian Red Cross Typhoon Appeal. The money will be used to provide relief to shattered communities through the provision of emergency supplies, clean water facilities and shelter. All of these are vital resources that are desperately needed in the aftermath of the typhoon. All money raised by the Australian Red Cross appeal will also help send specialist aid workers to assist in immediate relief and longer-term recovery programs. This will add to the many thousands of dollars donated by members of the wider Territory community. I thank all Territorians for giving so generously to this hugely worthy cause.
Of course, the Northern Territory also has a more formal role to play in responding to this disaster. Our National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre at Royal Darwin Hospital had a medical team on the ground in the Philippines within days of the typhoon hitting. The first 37-member team has already treated hundreds of patients from its mobile field hospital at Tacloban Airport. Most of this team are Territory government employees and I salute them for all the difficult, but important, work they are doing. A second rotation is due to leave Darwin tomorrow, and I hope to be there to wish them well, but will check on those timings. I thank all of the centre staff for their contribution to this emergency response.
This is exactly the kind of regional emergency the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre was established to respond to. It was set up in Darwin by former Prime Minister John Howard in the wake of the Bali bombings to provide a rapid regional response to an unfolding emergency. Who could forget the role the Royal Darwin Hospital played in the days that followed the Kuta bombings? The wounded were brought in by planeload from Denpasar, then ferried in convoy from the airport by a procession of ambulances to the Royal Darwin Hospital where they received world-class medical care. Thanks to the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, we are now able to share some of those top-class medical skills in the field as emergencies unfold.
The centre has certainly proven its value in recent weeks. Be assured, the Northern Territory government will do whatever it can to assist with the trauma centre’s efforts over the difficult days and weeks ahead.
In closing, I reiterate my sadness at the enormous loss of life in Typhoon Haiyan and pledge the Territory’s help to do whatever it can to help to recover and rebuild. The Filipino community is an important part of the Territory’s multicultural fabric and we will stand shoulder to shoulder with you as you support your loved ones back home.
The Territory has always seen itself as being part of Asia, and I am proud we have been able to play a role in assisting our regional neighbours in their time of great need.
Mr Deputy Speaker, my heart goes out.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Mr Deputy Speaker, I speak in support of the motion moved by the Chief Minister, and I thank him for bringing the motion to the Chamber. It is certainly one of those occasions that transcend politics, when we speak with one voice on behalf of Territorians to support those whose lives have been shattered by the lethal power of nature.
We have all seen media coverage and heard eyewitness accounts of the loss of life, injury and destruction of homes and infrastructure when super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines with devastating force on Friday 8 November this year. We have seen the images of bewilderment and shock on the faces of children and families, and we have heard their cries for help. We have seen parents grieving for lost children and the frantic attempts of families, friends and emergency teams to save the injured. The magnitude of this disaster has truly been overwhelming.
Super Typhoon Haiyan destroyed entire towns across a long stretch of islands in the central Philippines. The typhoon brought winds of 315 kmph – the strongest ever recorded – and generated tsunami-like storm surges which literally flattened dozens of towns. In the coastal city of Tacloban, one of the worst hit areas, 5 m waves surged deep inland, destroying most buildings.
The confirmed death toll from the typhoon exceeds 5000, with more than 1600 people still missing. Even though authorities evacuated 800 000 people ahead of the typhoon, the death toll was high because schools, churches and government buildings could not withstand the power of wind and water. One-and-a-half-million children are at risk of extreme malnutrition, and 800 000 pregnant and nursing mothers need nutritional help. More than four million people have lost their homes. There have been mass hillside burials of the dead. There are extreme shortages of water, shelter, fuel, clothes and medicine.
The survivors have described their desperate need for food and medicine after losing everything in the storm. There are many stories of loss, suffering and sorrow. Sky News reported that one woman, eight months pregnant, described, through tears, how her 11 family members vanished in the storm, including two daughters:
- I can’t think right now. I am overwhelmed.
she said.
A survivor from the island of Leyte said:
- Please tell my family I am alive. We need water and medicine because a lot of people we are with are wounded. Some are suffering from diarrhoea and dehydration due to shortage of food and water.
These words ring so true for me, a survivor of Cyclone Tracy. The sheer devastation brings back those horrible memories of the time in 1974 when we saw devastation to our city, loss of life and a desperate struggle for most basic essentials such as water, food and shelter. We were fortunate that we were in the lucky country of Australia. We saw our nation mobilise and bring significant forces to us, deployed through the Australian Defence Forces to quickly give us the basics in life: access to water, food, temporary shelter and to the best possible medical care.
After Cyclone Tracy, a huge evacuation effort ensued to get the bulk of the population out of the town in order to have access to the services people take for granted in their lives every day.
I know what it is like to wander around your neighbourhood to homes to see whether or not that family lived. I know what it is like to see notes pinned to the remaining parts of a house letting you know they survived. I know what it is like to be a survivor who knows people who were not so lucky, who lost family members, who suffered horrific injuries.
My heart goes out to the people in the Philippines because I also know that right now, today, they are genuinely struggling to survive horrific injuries and to get the care and the basics they need to survive.
The challenges in the Philippines are immense. The people of the Philippines need emergency relief and support in their long road to recovery. Rebuilding will take years. The global community, United Nations countries and our humanitarian charity organisations have embarked on a massive aid and recovery program. I am proud of the contribution from the Australian state and territory governments, and I congratulate our government for the Northern Territory’s contribution to the victims of the typhoon. I am inspired and uplifted by the contribution of our wonderful Australian Filipino community and the wider Territory community for its support for the victims of super Typhoon Haiyan.
Two Saturdays ago it was my honour to attend, with my colleagues the members for Casuarina, Wanguri and Johnston, a fundraiser organised by the Filipino Australian Association of the Northern Territory in Darwin to support victims of the typhoon. It was a wonderful and uplifting function, albeit very moving because of the tragic circumstances which brought it to bear. There were some 2000 people in attendance at a function delivered within only a few days of the disaster. There was that sense of loss. There was mourning for those who had died, for the injured, the homeless and those who are hungry, sick and desperate. There was also great strength, hope and optimism for the future and a commitment to provide ongoing support for the victims of the typhoon and to rebuild the regions devastated by winds and water.
The event raised $42 700. That came through the Red Cross Typhoon Haiyan appeal, with the volunteers present collecting some $12 700. The Filipino Association, FAANT, raised some $20 000 in direct donations, and the Northern Territory government responded to the call and contributed $10 000.
I am sure all honourable members will join with me in thanking the people who donated to this very worthy cause. Our congratulations are extended to the President of FAANT, the Filipino Australian Association of the Northern Territory, Oscar Parian, and the Vice-President Judith Ventic, and all the executive committee who worked so hard to pull this function together and who have shown such strong leadership during such difficult times for our Filipino community.
To the Honorary Consul of the Philippines, John Rivas, we give our thanks, support and acknowledgement of his leadership. He has been a tireless worker for his Filipino community and is at the forefront of ensuring everything that can be done is done to support the community and to reach out to their families, some of whom they are still trying to locate in the aftermath of this terrible tragedy.
The emcee, the entertainers, the performers and the many volunteers on the night all pulled together at such short notice to do their bit to support the victims of the super typhoon. I know the Australian Filipino community across the Territory has been galvanising from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek, Katherine and Nhulunbuy in each of their fundraising efforts to support the victims of the typhoon. Our Filipino community has been calling on its Catholic faith to get them through this most trying of times. I acknowledge the support of the Catholic Church through the leadership of Bishop Eugene Hurley.
There is another inspiring group of Australians who the people of the Philippines and our local community are indebted to. I refer to the men and women of our National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre which deployed to the Philippines, to the front lines, to try to save lives. These are highly-trained and dedicated professionals who went to treat the injured and the sick and to restore essential services vital to the health of the people. We saw vision of the field hospitals they established.
These members of the NCCTRC are people of courage and character who put their own safety on the line to support the needs of the victims of an incredible disaster. We are justifiably very proud of them. Their work is immensely appreciated by the government, the people of the Philippines and our local Filipino community. We have been praying for their safe return, as we pray for the second deployment heading to the Philippines.
I express my appreciation to Dr Len Notaras for his leadership of the NCCTRC. His professionalism and generosity are valued by his peers and colleagues, and I know the Filipino community is ever so grateful.
As I said earlier, this is a time for sorrow and mourning, but also a time for hope and optimism. There was a wonderful symbol of this in Tacloban, one of the worst hit cities where officials believe 10 000 people may have perished, with a baby girl born in extraordinary circumstances. Her mother was in a shelter when the typhoon hit and a storm flooded the city. She clung to a post to survive and managed to reach the relative safety of the airport where a military doctor delivered the baby. Despite the devastation and suffering, tears broke out at the airport; the human spirit is strong.
I know the road to recovery will be incredibly long and arduous, having been through our own disaster here with Tracy. Along with the international community – as they always do in a crisis – Territorians have stood up, galvanised and been incredibly resourceful in responding magnificently to this humanitarian crisis. Our thoughts and prayers go to our Filipino community in Darwin and to their families in the Philippines. Our support goes to the Filipinos here and abroad, with the hope that the best possible recovery occurs as quickly as possible.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the government for bringing this motion to the House, and I commend the motion.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Health): Mr Deputy Speaker, I speak to support the Chief Minister’s motion and to thank him for bringing it to our attention. I echo the words and sentiment of the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition on this dreadful natural disaster and how it has affected the lives of Filipino people across the world, and also non-Filipino people who have strong connections to what is the second largest cultural group in the Northern Territory, the Filipino community.
This natural disaster has affected just about every community across Australia, not to mention across the Philippines itself. Being from Alice Springs, I was reading the Centralian Advocate last week, where there was a heart-wrenching story about a group of Filipino residents of Alice Springs expressing fear for the safety of the Kennedy family, of about six people, I understand, who were in the Philippines at the time. They were overcome with grief and fear that they had lost this family. In the following edition, we discovered this family was safe and well. No doubt, there are countless stories of loss, and also of joy at finding that people’s loved ones, friends and family have escaped the grief of this terrible natural disaster.
Today, once again, I primarily acknowledge the outstanding contribution of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre. This is a Commonwealth government initiative or program that is based at the Royal Darwin Hospital. It is headed up by Dr Len Notaras, who has been with this program from its inception after the Bali bombings. Dr Len Notaras is the Executive Director of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre and has worked tirelessly for many years to establish what is definitely a first-class crisis response unit that is ready, at literally a moment’s notice, to respond to natural disasters across the globe. It provides a rapid response crisis service and, indeed, on Friday 8 November, when Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines, the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre was poised, ready to respond. Within days, the first team of 37 medical practitioners, experts, was on its way to the Philippines.
It was amazing, it was an emotional time just to be standing on the sidelines as I was, hearing and seeing what this incredible group of professional people were doing to contribute to the relief effort for the Philippines.
The first team dispatched was called Team Alpha and comprised 37 medical professionals headed up by Dr Ian Norton, the Director of Disaster Response and Preparedness. That group of 37 health professionals and logisticians were primarily from the Northern Territory. It was such an incredibly proud moment for all of us within government, opposition and the Darwin and Northern Territory community to know we were the main movers and shakers heading across so quickly to help the people of the Philippines. We helped commence this enormous task of responding to the critical health needs of these people who had been subjected to what the Leader of the Opposition so eloquently described as an extremely shocking and traumatising event.
The National Critical Care and Trauma Response team will be dispatching its second team, also comprising of 37 health professionals and logisticians, on Wednesday, which is tomorrow. It will be taking the place of the first team, Team Alpha. Team Bravo will then step in and continue the good work that commenced just two weeks ago.
This typhoon only happened 18 days ago. To me it feels like we have been responding and hearing the stories of pain and suffering for a lot longer. It is such an intense time for the people of the Philippines and for people who are directly affected by this terrible disaster.
The second contingent is made up of doctors, including surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, paramedics, an environmental health doctor, pharmacists and logisticians. It consists of personnel from all states and territories across Australia and New Zealand. It will include one team leader. The team leader for Team Bravo is Dr Nick Coatsworth. He will be accompanied by 12 doctors, including two surgeons, two anaesthetists, seven emergency physicians and an environmental health doctor. Also included will be 15 nurses, including four operating theatre nurses, two paramedics, six logisticians and one pharmacist.
Along with 14 members of the team from the Northern Territory, there are six from Western Australia and Victoria, four from South Australia and two from Queensland. New South Wales, the ACT, Tasmania and New Zealand are each providing one team member.
These are people who are highly specialised and highly skilled to be able to respond to these critical incidents, wherever they may be. It is with great pride, as I said before, that we are once again punching above our weight in the Northern Territory in responding to this crisis.
The first 37-member Australian medical assistance team, called AUSMAT, that departed Darwin on Wednesday 13 November has already established a base at Tacloban airport and is performing vital medical work and surgical operations at its field hospital.
Equipment taken with the first AUSMAT included: a 50-bed deployable field hospital, an X-ray facility, two operating theatres, medical supplies to treat up to 4000 people and perform 200 operations, five triage outpatient tents and food and water purification equipment. Seeing this operation is necessary to really understand and comprehend the sophistication and professional nature of what we are talking about here. The AUSMAT is functioning as a surgical hub for Tacloban and is managing the public health needs of the population surrounding the airport, an enormous responsibility and an enormous contribution.
Since last Saturday, the team has performed 100 surgeries and has treated more than 710 outpatient cases and 144 inpatient cases, who presented with a range of conditions from severe head injuries, spinal and long bone fractures, to minor injuries and wounds. The doctors are also dealing with contaminated wounds, tetanus and other diseases.
Like the first team, the second AUSMAT deployment is being coordinated by the Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre. As the Chief Minister said, the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre was established by former Prime Minister John Howard in response to the Bali bombings to deal with large scale crises. The medical work being undertaken in the Philippines is yet another example of the importance of having such a high-class and professional rapid response crisis centre based in Darwin.
All team members have undergone specific AUSMAT training to prepare them for the challenges they will face. The Territory’s doctors, nurses and allied health professionals do a tremendous job every day in our cities, towns and communities. We should all feel very proud of the role these wonderful professionals play in times of need throughout our region.
On behalf of Country Liberals members, I wish the second AUSMAT contingent a safe and productive deployment. Our thoughts are not only with the local Filipino community and its loved ones affected by this horrible tragedy, but also with the AUSMAT team members, their families and their loved ones. It is with the goodwill of the entire community that you leave, and we look forward to welcoming you home safely once your important work is complete.
Ms MANISON (Wanguri): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support this motion to show our support for our friends from the Philippines. It is very clear that Territorians have been moved by the impact of Typhoon Haiyan and the devastation it has left. It has been heartening to see the swift action taken across the Territory to help the victims of the typhoon in a range of ways. It shows how close we really are in Australia to the Philippines and how much we value the contribution of the Filipino community in enriching our lives in the Territory. As a parliament, it is wonderful that we have come together in a bipartisan way to support the Philippines in its recovery efforts from the recent events it has endured.
When you see these events of mass destruction you are often left wondering how you can really help. Supporting the efforts of the Territory community and the contributions of the Territory government certainly goes forward in a positive way. Today we can also express our sincere best wishes and our continued support and commitment to the victims and their families as they now embark on a journey of rebuilding.
It is little wonder there has been such a huge outpouring of support from Territorians wanting to help the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. For me, growing up in Darwin, having Filipino friends was a part of life. You would struggle to find a Darwin kid who does not have Filipino mates. We can proudly say we have a very large Filipino community in the Territory, with a long and proud history here, which has contributed to the community in so many ways and continues to do so today.
As a kid in Darwin it seemed that whenever I was around one of my Filipino friends’ homes their families always welcomed you with open arms and they always had a ton of food left over from one of their own family catch ups or another gathering of the Filipino community. It was clear the Filipino community was strong, extremely active, united and proud, and that has not changed.
We have already seen the Territory’s Filipino community unite and take charge in helping their family and friends from the moment it was clear the typhoon was going to deliver some terrible results. All the experts said it was going to be a huge storm. It was awful to know this storm was going to hit people who did not necessarily have the infrastructure around them for protection. I can only imagine the stress, worry and fear people with family and friends in the Philippines were left feeling as they waited for the storm to pass. Watching the devastating events unfold after the typhoon had hit was absolutely tragic. It has been hard to watch the misery this horrendous typhoon has caused and the pain families are now suffering. There has been an overwhelming loss of life and families torn apart by the deaths of their loved ones. We have seen awful scenes of people losing their loved ones. We have seen too many people taken away. The pictures of mass burials could not be more confronting in showing how many people have been lost and the number of people who are now left without them. It has been such a sad reminder of how fragile life really is.
There have also been high levels of trauma and injuries amongst those who survived the typhoon. There is now the challenge of fighting off sickness in the aftermath of this storm, while housing, buildings and important infrastructure have been flattened. People have lost all of their possessions and, for so many, they had very little to begin with, so rebuilding their lives will be that much harder.
There is such a long road ahead for the survivors. It is hard to fathom being in their position and the years it will take to move forward. I struggle to comprehend how people can get by after going through such a devastating event, with so few resources to rebuild their lives. As Territorians, we understand the devastation that can be felt when severe weather events occur. We are all too familiar with the anticipation of cyclones and the damage they are capable of causing. It also forges another special bond between the Territory and the Philippines. Darwin has gone through massive devastation before and, as my colleague, the Leader of the Opposition said, the rebuilding process is long and tough but the resilience of the people will get them through.
It has been wonderful to see the swift action the local Filipino community has taken to help its families and friends from the moment the typhoon hit. To see pictures on the news of the local Filipino community in Darwin gathering and planning ways to advise the government on how to help out and what help was needed, and ways they could bring urgent assistance to those in need, was fantastic.
Most of us here have been involved in organising some pretty big events in our lives to raise money for sporting clubs, charities, schools and so on. When you organise those types of events you get a pretty good appreciation of how much effort goes into it. With that said, I was so impressed with what an incredibly hard-working and organised community the Filipino Australian Association of the NT is and how quickly it put together the One Big Jam fundraiser at the Filipino Centre. To get that much food donated, great entertainment and word out about the event in just a week was amazing. It was a huge and heart-warming event and it was great to see people from all walks of life there, supporting the Philippines. It raised a total of $42 700. What a huge effort.
It was clear that under the strong leadership of our local Filipino community they would raise the funds to get help in place for the victims. Congratulations to the President, Mr Oscar Parian, the Vice President Judith Ventic, the executive committee of the Filipino Australian Association of the NT and the Honorary Consul for the Philippines, Mr John Rivas, for his ongoing strong leadership and support. The hard work cannot be underestimated. They have delivered help to so many families. Well done to all involved in the organisation.
What also impressed me on the night was seeing the energy and drive of so many young people to help out: raffle ticket sellers, entertainers, helpers and the fabulous emcee. There is a terrific group of Christmas carollers visiting homes to raise money for victims of the typhoon. What I saw was a great example of community spirit, solidarity, hard work and love coming together for the families and friends in need. The Darwin Filipino community should be so proud of what it achieved on that night.
It was also wonderful to see students from Darwin High School helping out. They managed to raise $3122 for people who were victims of the typhoon by holding sausage sizzles last week at the school and asking for donations. The students were from the intensive English classes and organised donations from Brumby’s, the member for Fannie Bay and Woolworths. This is another great example of people coming together to help make a difference to the lives of those affected.
It was also great to hear about other huge efforts to support the Philippines from across the Territory. My colleague, the member for Nhulunbuy, shared with me some great news about fundraising activities happening on the ground there. She let me know that well-known, long-term Filipino Gove residents Gila Alvila and his wife, Ansel, coordinated a collection of donated essential items like clothes, bedding and non-perishable food items, and spent an entire week with an army of volunteers packaging up more than 90 boxes which filled six pallets. Toll Marine Logistics very generously barged the pallets to Darwin and the work is now under way to get these items to the Philippines.
Nhulunbuy’s Kiwi community manned a barbecue on Sunday outside the local Woolworths store, cooking up breakfast burgers and donating all money made to the victims of the typhoon. Tonight there is also a Filipino dinner at the Golf Club where the chef and operator of the waterfront kitchen will be cooking up a storm, with all profits going to the Philippines. A Blue Light Disco was held there last Friday night and attracted lots of kids who were keen to support fundraising efforts as well. The Oasis Church Nhulunbuy, led by Pastor Phil Sampson, is also coordinating fundraising efforts, as well as keeping all those people affected by the typhoon in their prayers. Nhulunbuy Primary School is helping out as well with their ‘Jelly Beans for the Philippines’ guessing competition, with all money raised going to the Philippines, as well as money raised from a free dress day and cake stalls.
What a terrific effort by the Nhulunbuy community.
The member for Barkly has also reported that the community in Tennant Creek recently held a huge fundraiser on the weekend past, appropriately named ‘The Town with a Heart of Gold’ function. It had 200 people in attendance with food catered for by the local Filipino community. There was local entertainment, raffles, quizzes and auctions and big donations from the community and local businesses. They have so far raised $14 000 with more to come.
It is great to see that support for the victims of the typhoon is out there from right across the Territory. Territorians are giving very generously.
Another contribution the Territory can be very proud of is the work of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response teams to help victims of the typhoon. It was terrific to see the federal and Territory governments announce soon after the typhoon that the first team of 37 medical professionals was heading over to the Philippines to treat victims and save the lives of so many. The team is based in Darwin to respond to these types of situations, and the impact they will have for the people they help cannot be underestimated. They are on the ground saving lives and limbs and helping manage sickness. Their contribution in helping the victims is greatly appreciated and Dr Len Notaras and his team should be proud of the difference they are making.
We know the second deployment of another 37 health professionals leaves tomorrow and we wish them all well in the trying work they are about to do and the conditions they will be working in. They cannot be thanked enough.
We know the journey ahead for the victims of the typhoon will be a very long one and often deeply painful for those who have lost loved ones and their homes. I hope the tremendous efforts of the Territory community in supporting our Filipino friends goes some way in helping them find comfort and to know they are not alone and we are here to help them.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend this motion to the House.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, just a few comments on this, a response and a fitting response from the Northern Territory parliament, a reflection, a recognition of the significant contribution the Filipino community has made to the Northern Territory over a long period of time. In fact, it was in the late 1800s the first Filipinos arrived in the Northern Territory as pearl divers, and the name Cubillo and others have now effectively passed into the DNA of the Northern Territory.
Then there was the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s when we had teachers and other professionals join our community and help us to build and grow. In more recent times there have been the 457 visa workers and their families; there have been these three different groups over different times and all of them have made such a deep contribution to the Northern Territory community. It is very good to hear the responses and reflections from right across the Northern Territory. Each of our communities has been positively affected by the presence of the Filipino community among us. In fact, I have always thought the hospitality, the joy of gathering and the strength of family the Filipino community has shown us over many years has made the Territory extra special. That is why these great friends of the Northern Territory, contributors to our community, should have a strong response granted from the Territory parliament. It is fitting these words are placed on the record, but that each of those words are accompanied by practical responses.
I know people would want to go there to help, but the best way of helping is the response we can give, most particularly in cash, to those many fundraising efforts. I commend each one of those volunteer workers and I hope we all find ways of solving logistical problems, of responding to this need and find ways of encouraging the volunteers who look for opportunities, whether it is jelly beans, sausage sizzles or another one of those great gatherings we have all enjoyed so many times. During my 14 years as a member of parliament I have enjoyed such great hospitality and friendship from the Filipino community and so many songs and dances. Everyone seems to be so talented. They are employing their talents now to help their friends not far from us.
Unfortunately, I have been away so was unable to attend some of the community events, but I was there in spirit. I note this occurred in our immediate region. It is not just the Northern Territory, not just the Top End, it is across all our communities; it is right across the country. When you consider two conversations I was able to have outside the Territory in East Timor – the contribution the Filipino community makes in East Timor providing professional support in roles of administration and other areas, they are a part of that community as well. Whether it is someone here or someone in East Timor, Indonesia or Singapore, the presence of the Filipino people in our immediate region is always responded to with fondness because of the great contribution they make.
This is a disaster that has impacted our friends of the Northern Territory community, friends of our country; they have been associated with the Territory for a very long time, are part of our history, but they are also friends of our region.
I commend the efforts of every volunteer. I am very pleased to hear the reports that have been made in this parliament about the nature of the contribution we have been able to make. May that continue and may we slowly rebuild. Through these disasters, as we have had them a number of times, comes greater connection and a greater sense of the value of life.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I also contribute to this important motion before us. As the member for Blain said, the Filipinos have been with us in the Northern Territory since the late 19th century. In fact, some of the first live exports of our buffalo were to the Philippines many years ago.
When I worked on Bathurst Island there were coconut trees which were extremely tall; you can always count the age of a coconut tree by the number of rings. My understanding was those coconuts came from the Philippines. I believe there were some Filipino people who helped with the early days of the mission on Bathurst Island. Filipinos have had a connection with Darwin for a long time.
It was probably in the 1970s when, in Australia, the population coming from the Philippines boomed. Some of that had to do with the political instability of the Philippines at the time, but in the last Census figures, we have approximately 170 000 Filipino-born people living here in Australia, and it is one of the fastest growing groups in Australia.
My connection with Filipinos is, next to the Irish – I thought just as many Filipinos lived in the rural area. They were one of those groups that popped up. If you went to your church, guess who would be singing? It would be the Filipino women especially, and the men would be playing the guitars. If you go to St Mary’s Cathedral at 7 pm on a Sunday you will see a church that is probably half-full of Filipinos and a choir that is definitely Filipino. They love to sing. There is a gene in a Filipino that has a note attached to it, because I have yet to find any Filipino who does not love to sing and dance.
We have had that connection. We heard of the tragedy that has occurred in the Philippines in which, according to one of the news report I have seen, the death toll is now around 7000 because they believe there are another 1600 people who have died in Typhoon Haiyan. We start to understand that our Cyclone Tracy, even though it was tragic and a disaster for Darwin, with just over 50 dead, was small in comparison with what has happened in the Philippines when you look at the number of buildings that have been destroyed and the high death toll, which does not include the huge number of people who have been injured.
Mentioning those injuries, thankfully we have our National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre people over there, because they are the people dealing with them. I listened to an interview on the ABC the other day where they were talking about a young girl who came in to the centre and could not be helped at that time by the local medical community simply because most of their equipment had been destroyed. This girl had a piece of wood stuck in her head which had been impaled into her skull during the storm. They were able to remove that piece of timber, which was a good story.
They also told the story of another man who lost his wife and all his children. He was injured and was taken to the trauma centre. He was paralysed from the waist down. They said there are some good stories and some tragic stories. It is terrific we have our National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre people working there. It shows what a valuable contribution they are making in helping out with people on the ground.
People have spoken about the number of people who have raised funds. I went to a fundraising event at the waterfront which raised quite a bit of money for the disaster relief. Most of the schools in my area have had days where money that might have been going to a different cause has now been directed towards Filpino disaster relief funds. It is fantastic that people, especially the young people who see people their own age walking through the devastation of these towns and cities in the Philippines, put their hands in their pockets and are doing something practical.
There is an area where we ought to also see whether we can assist more as a country. One of the biggest problems will be the loss of crops. We are looking at the devastation at the moment, where people have lost their houses, which is terrible, but people have also lost their jobs, their income and their livelihood. Looking at some of the statistics, there were some 153 000 ha of rice paddies, maize, and other high-value crops such as banana, cassava, mangoes and vegetables which have been hit. The high winds, heavy rains and localised floods have destroyed houses, infrastructure and irrigation facilities and resulted in loss of the main staple, rice paddies, sugar cane crops, as well as livestock, poultry and fisheries. The forecast damage areas include some 77 476 ha of rice crops. That is a figure I have taken from Yahoo and it states that the problem the farmers have is they have to get enough seed to start to replant and they need to replant now. They were in the middle of their harvesting season and a lot of that has been destroyed.
An area that Australia can maybe help in is with some of the financial relief. It could be slightly longer term relief aid that would allow the farmers to purchase seed, especially rice seed. Rice is not something you can just buy off the shelf. There are particular varieties that the Philippines grow because the Philippines is actually the centre for rice research in the world. There is a practical outcome we need to look at because without employment, without crops, this disaster will go on a lot longer than just what we see in the rebuilding of roads, infrastructure and houses.
The other area in which I wonder if we can help is whether – and this is not so much for Australia – we can make it easier for people to migrate to Australia. With that many Filipino people here they would have plenty of relations in Australia. Could we make it easier for those people to come and live here? The example of the golfer the other day – I cannot think of his first name, Day is his second name. He just won the World Cup individual title. My understanding is that– he is Australian-Filipino – his Filipino grandmother was killed and seven relations on his mother’s side also died. Is there an opportunity there for the government to make it easier for people who have been directly affected by this disaster to be able to migrate to Australia? I picked up a bit of interesting information this morning about the contribution Filipinos make to Australia. This is a note from the Australian department of Immigration statistics and it says that among Filipino born people aged 15 years and over, the participation rate in the labour force is 74.8% and the unemployment rate is 5.3%. The corresponding rates in the total Australian population are 65% and 5.6% respectively.
This highlights the fact that Filipinos have made a great contribution to our country and are continuing to make a great contribution to our country. I see this as an opportunity for Australia to offer some practical help in that we would at least relax some of our migration laws to allow people who have been affected by this disaster to come and live with their fellow people, their fellow Filipinos who are in Australia.
I thank the government for bringing forward this motion. It is a very important motion, as members have said, but we would also like to thank all the volunteers in Australia who are helping. We should also remember the volunteers and all those countries helping in the Philippines with the aid that is needed. We should not forget the Filipino people themselves. They are going through an enormous amount of trauma. The Filipino government has logistical nightmares. This is one of the biggest typhoons or cyclones ever to hit the mainland of the Philippines. It is a country that has volcanoes and earthquakes; it is not a country that has not known natural disasters. However, this is a natural disaster of enormous consequences. It is very difficult for a government to be able to feed all these people day in and day out without other countries helping. We should all remember the people working on the ground there, the Filipino people, and we should pray the Philippines can get through this, recover and move on to be one of those countries we all love through the people we know in the Territory.
Debate suspended.
PETITIONS
Reassessment of Proposed Education Staff Cuts
Reassessment of Proposed Education Staff Cuts
Ms ANDERSON (Namatjira): Mr Deputy Speaker, I present a petition from 62 petitioners praying that the education cuts and proposed changes to staff numbers be reassessed. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with requirements of standing orders.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
- To the honourable Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory, we the undersigned respectfully showeth that our community is united in the belief that staffing cuts proposed by the Department of Education will have a detrimental effect on the education of students across the Northern Territory. The citizens of our community believe that reducing the number of staff in schools will decrease the achievement standards of students attending Northern Territory government schools.
Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the NT government will reassess the proposed changes to staff numbers.
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
Ramingining School Staff Cuts
Ms LEE (Arnhem)(by leave): Mr Deputy Speaker, I present a petition not conforming with standing orders from 99 petitioners relating to cuts to teaching positions in Ramingining School.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
- To the honourable Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly, we the undersigned respectfully showeth that the Ramingining community is united in their belief that the staff cuts to Ramingining School will have a detrimental effect on the education of its students. The citizens of Ramingining believe that reducing the number of teaching positions in remote schools will increase the gap between academic standards of Indigenous and mainstream students.
Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the NT government withdraw the proposed cuts to teaching positions, due to the change in staffing formulas, in Northern Territory schools.
Your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
Reassessment of Proposed
Education Staff Cuts
Education Staff Cuts
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Mr Deputy Speaker, I present a petition from 115 petitioners praying that the education cuts and proposed changes to staff numbers be reassessed. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
To the honourable Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly, we the undersigned respectfully showeth that our community is united in the belief that the staffing cuts proposed by the Department of Education will have a detrimental effect on the education of students across the Northern Territory. The citizens of our community believe that reducing the number of staff in schools will decrease the achievement standard of students attending NT government schools.
Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that the NT government will reassess the proposed changes to staff numbers.
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
Reassessment of Proposed
Education Staff Cuts
Ms PURICK (Goyder)(by leave): Mr Deputy Speaker, I present a petition not confirming with standing orders from 11 petitioners relating to education cuts and proposed changes to staff numbers. I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
- To the Honourable Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly, we the undersigned respectfully showeth that our community is united in the belief that the staffing cuts proposed by the Department of Education will have a detrimental effect on the education of students across the Northern Territory. The citizens of our community believe that reducing the number of staff in schools will decrease the achievement standards of students attending NT government schools.
Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Northern Territory government will reassess the proposed changes to staff numbers.
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Death of Dr Yunupingu
Death of Dr Yunupingu
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, it is with deep regret that I advise of the death on 2 June 2013 of Dr Yunupingu, a talented musician, a true and loving father and a great Territorian. I advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of Dr Yunupingu’s family and friends: Ms Gurruwun Yunupingu, his widow; Mr Bakamumu Marika; Mr Balupalu Yunupingu; Ms Yikanitjpi Yunupingu; Ms Gayili Yunupingu; Ms Dhapanbal Yunupingu; Ms Rhonda Yunupingu; Ms Natasha Yunupingu and Ms Gaminy Yunupingu and close and dear friends, colleagues and Territorians who have mourned his loss.
I extend a warm welcome to you all here to the parliament. I remind honourable members that on the completion of the debate I will ask members to stand in silence for one minute as a mark of respect.
CONDOLENCE MOTION
Dr Yunupingu
Dr Yunupingu
Mr GILES (Chief Minister)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I acknowledge family and friends in the gallery, and I move that this Assembly express its deep regret at the death of Dr Galarrwuy Yunupingu.
I note the passing of Dr Yunupingu on 2 June 2013 and pay tribute to this outstanding Territorian. At the state memorial service held at Gulkula on 30 June 2013, we remembered one of the great men of Arnhem Land, an iconic musician and a true giant among his people.
We stood on the site of the Yothu Yindi Foundation’s annual Garma Festival and we honoured a remarkable Territorian, an ambassador for his lands and his culture, and someone who stood tall as a role model for others within his community.
Dr Yunupingu defied the odds by becoming the first man from Arnhem Land to gain a university degree, a Bachelor of Arts and Education from Deakin University. As a young man he began teaching at the Yirrkala School where he first made his mark. Indeed, Dr Yunupingu should be remembered as one of the nation’s great teachers. He was truly gifted in the classroom where he taught countless children in his groundbreaking, both-ways education system, weaving Aboriginal knowledge, language and traditions with Western learning. He went on to make history by becoming the Territory’s first Indigenous school principal, with a style of leadership that was truly collaborative, encompassing colleagues and elders. But Dr Yunupingu was also a teacher on a much bigger national stage where he helped to educate a generation of young Australians about his people and their aspirations.
Dr Yunupingu connected many white Australians with Aboriginal culture for the first time through the power of music. He co-founded the Yothu Yindi band in 1986 and taught us why reconciliation matters. He never let it slide off the national agenda. In his own words, he was always:
- … dreaming of a brighter day
When the waters will be one
With his lyrics, Dr Yunupingu painted a vivid picture of the beautiful landscape of his homeland, its pristine beaches, rivers and billabongs, his priceless land.
I consider it a great honour to have met Dr Yunupingu on several occasions after listening to his songs as a young man. Yothu Yindi’s music cut through like no Indigenous band before it. The unique blend of traditional instruments and Indigenous language set the band apart and won fans around the globe. Music was Dr Yunupingu’s ticket to the world and a catapult to stardom. He was an artist who knew both the highs and lows of fame, but he never lost touch with his family roots, he never stopped listening to his tribal voice and never gave up his mission for both cultures to be respected equally.
The Yunupingus are one of the great Territory dynasties. In 1963, Dr Yunupingu’s father was a signatory to the Yirrkala bark petition that protested against mining in east/northeast Arnhem Land. The bark petition now hangs in Parliament House in Canberra. The petition was a precursor to the historic Gove land rights case and ultimately a catalyst for the Aboriginal Lands Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 that we know today.
Following in those footsteps, in 1988 Galarrwuy Yunupingu handed the then Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, the historic Barunga Statement calling for Aboriginal people to be given full civil, economic, social and cultural rights. At the time, Bob Hawke vowed that his government would enter into a treaty with Indigenous Australians by 1990. It never happened and so the song Treaty was written as a reminder of what had been promised and forgotten. It was about holding politicians to account for their promises to Aboriginal people. As the lyrics say:
- Words are easy, words are cheap
It raced to the top of the charts. Dr Yunupingu’s music was a call for people to take action and not just use words.
A strong and driven man, he was never afraid to stand up for his rights and rights for his people. He was a fighter for his people’s very existence and wanted to be the master of his own life and destiny. In 1990 he established the Yothu Yindi Foundation to foster and support the passing on of Yolngu knowledge systems and cultural life.
Dr Yunupingu was recognised for his work as a bridge builder between black and white Australians when he was named the 1992 Australian of the Year. The Yothu Yindi Foundation has continued and expanded on his work from early on, increasing understanding about the rich culture of northeast Arnhem Land. The annual Garma Festival is part of his legacy of cultural exchange. Dr Yunupingu also leaves a legacy in the musical talent he has fostered. He acted as a teacher and mentor for many other Indigenous musicians and artists, taking many under his wing. This included his nephew and former Yothu Yindi colleague, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, who is now an international star in his own right.
Dr Yunupingu was a teacher to the end, documenting his struggle with kidney disease in the hope it may help others avoid a similar fate. He was a man taken too young by a disease which kills too many.
Dr Yunupingu was a man who walked in two worlds, leaving a lasting mark on both.
On behalf of all Territorians, I say to his wife of 34 years, Gurruwun Yunupingu, to their daughters and grandchildren, as well as the surrounding people, traditional owners, the Gumatj, and the Rirratjingu people, thank you for sharing this great man with us. He is a loss to the Northern Territory, a loss to Australia, and a loss to the world. He will always be remembered.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I thank the Chief Minister for bringing this condolence motion before the House. With some of my constituents here today who have travelled from northeast Arnhem Land, and as a visitor myself to this country, I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where we meet and pay my respects to the Larrakia people and their elders, past and present. Like the Chief Minister, I welcome to the parliament the many friends, colleagues and family who have come here today to join us in paying our respects to the late Dr Yunupingu, and I acknowledge the strong Yolngu leaders and family members of the Gumatj, Rirratjingu and Djapu clans who are present today.
To Gurruwun, I offer my very sincere condolences on the loss of your husband and soul mate. To your six beautiful daughters, Yikanitjpi, Batjula, Gayili, Guwalilnga, Ganbhurrminy and Bulmirri, my sincere condolences to you and your little ones on the loss of a loving and proud father and grandfather.
To those representing the Gumatj clan today, my condolences to you on the loss of your brother.
I recall at the Garma Festival in August, Djawa Yunupingu said the name Yunupingu means ‘unbreakable rock which stands against time’. It indeed symbolises the strength of your family which, in spite of the loss of loved ones, remains strong and proud now and into the future.
I also acknowledge the tribute paid to Dr Yunupingu with the holding of a state memorial service at Gulkula on Sunday 30 June. Hosted by Dr Yunupingu’s long-term friend and musical peer, Peter Garrett, the memorial service was on a scale rarely seen and was a testimony to the place this man has in our nation’s heart. I was humbled to be present at the service, along with the Leader of the Opposition, the Chief Minister and several other parliamentary colleagues from this parliament and the Australian parliament.
For a man who had taken great strides in the Yolngu and Ngapaki worlds and, quite literally, had walked the world stage, it was fitting that the memorial was a blend of both worlds. He was acknowledged by his Gumatj clan with bunggul and manikay, and this was balanced with the tributes and stories shared by those who knew him or knew of his work and considerable achievements in education, music, philanthropy and human and Indigenous rights.
At the service at Gulkula we saw hundreds of people from all walks of life gather: dignitaries, rock stars, politicians, friends, peers, admirers of his work. Even the Prime Minister made a whistle stop. For those who could not make the pilgrimage to Gulkula, the service was broadcast in its three-hour entirety around the country on that Sunday afternoon, into the households of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of Australians, because he was a household name, a name respected, admired and mourned.
He was indeed a great Australian and recognised as such in 1992 as Australian of the Year for his role in building bridges of understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous, between Yolngu and Ngapaki. However, he was, first and foremost a passionate educator who knew it was only through education and two-ways learning, embracing bilingual education, that Yolngu children, djmarrkuli, could walk in both worlds and have the capacity to cross the bridge between the cultural divide.
I know, Gurruwun, you will continue to embrace and promote your both-ways vision, as you worked alongside him, a talented educator yourself for many years. You spoke about this in your speech at the memorial service, and I would like to read an extract from that speech:
- His vision for strong both-ways education developed while he was studying for his Bachelor of Arts in Education at Deakin University. Together with elders and Deakin University academics he developed the metaphor of Garma – the mixing of salt and fresh water. The fresh water from the land represents Yolngu knowledge, and the saltwater rushing in represents Western knowledge. Inside these mixing waters he saw power and the potential for a strong education based on Yolngu knowledge. He had always known something was missing in our own school education. He became a passionate believer in two-way learning for Yolngu students. And he did it; at Yirrkala School, he achieved his vision, always with the voices of Yolngu elders ringing in his ears. His vision for the Yolngu team teachers, back then known as assistant teachers, was for them to become qualified teachers, senior teachers, and educational leaders.
It was a vision he achieved with Yirrkala School and Yirrkala Homelands School surely having one of the highest number of Indigenous trained and qualified teachers in the Territory. We know those numbers continue to grow with a recent Bachelor College graduation at Yirrkala which saw 14 Yolngu graduates – all women – presented with either a Certificate III or a Diploma in Education Support. He would have been thrilled to see that, and I have no doubt his role in actively promoting Yolngu teachers to strive for formal qualifications contributed to the result on that graduation day last month.
His passion for music also bore much fruit in education. Yothu Yindi band members, especially Stuart Kellaway, played critical roles in the development of the music program at Yirrkala. Between the Yirrkala and homeland schools, several bands have emerged: Garrangali Band, the N.E.A.L. Boys and now East Journey which I suspect to be on the same trajectory as Yothu Yindi, their heroes. I know these bands and aspiring and talented Yolngu musicians have a legacy to follow in Dr Yunupingu.
Even his own story about the emergence of Yothu Yindi and their journey is inspirational. It is a journey which started in the mid-1980s with him, nearing the completion of his studies, turning up to a sound check when the Darwin band Swamp Jockeys were preparing to perform at the Arnhem Club in Nhulunbuy. They invited him in during that sound check and he ended up joining in for a bit of a jam with them and played one of his own songs called Mainstream.
After that, when visiting Darwin, he would seek them out wherever the Swamp Jockeys were playing. From there, with his nephew Witiyana Marika, they supported the Swamp Jockeys on a tour of Arnhem Land communities, and the beginning of lifelong friendships and musical partnerships emerged.
He was renowned for his talent, his magic with lyrics, and the phrases for those who knew him: ‘straightaway I thought’, and ‘quite all right I thought’ which were sprinkled through his conversations. The musicians eventually morphed to become Yothu Yindi, a blend of Yolngu and Ngapaki musical traditions, songs and manikay, modern instruments along with yidaki and bilma, and with the added spectacle of dance or bunggul performed famously by the likes of Witiyana, Malati, Mangatjay and others which earned them strong followings in Europe and North America, first as a support band for Midnight Oil’s tours, but then on their own merit as the lead act.
Musician and poet Paul Kelly spoke at the memorial services at Gulkula about when he first met the lead singer of Yothu Yindi, not in Australia but on tour in Chicago:
- The first thing I remember about him was his huge beaming smile, his proud head, his curly hair, his colourful headband – him standing in his jeans in the middle of a spectacle of sound and dance. Backstage in our very first conversation he quoted a line from one of my songs that talked about the ‘honey sun’ and said, ‘Honey sun – that’s my dreaming.’ I only realised later that within seconds of meeting me he had effortlessly and generously linked our cultures and found common ground.
This is what he did – not just with me but with so many he encountered. He found the meeting place, the hinge, the point of balance. When he invited me to his country in 1991 to work on Yothu Yindi’s second album and to write a song about the treaty I was struck by how many times he used that word ‘balance’. Sitting around the campfire at Birany Birany where we started the song he talked about balance – between parent and child, dhuwa and yirritja, fresh water and salt water. That balance was at the heart of his world view and at the heart of his band who blended the tribal and the modern, Balanda and Yolngu, art and politics, seriousness and celebration. They were much more than a band, they were a physical philosophy. A philosophy you could dance to.
I was privileged to hear him and Yothu Yindi perform on a handful of occasions in Nhulunbuy. That included a very special concert where they performed, free of charge, along with other bands for the Blues Over East Timor concert late in 1999, which raised nearly $20 000 to support humanitarian aid for the world’s newest emerging democracy.
From his role as an educator, it was a natural extension of this work that he would be a dedicated advocate for reconciliation and recognition of Indigenous people. His life’s work included establishing the Yothu Yindi Foundation and the iconic Garma Festival, an event dedicated to celebrating and teaching others about Indigenous culture, an event that has gone from strength to strength, year on year.
Above all, what I remember about him was a man who was, apart from being incredibly charismatic, also incredibly humble. In spite of his elevation to national and international platforms of fame, he remained first and foremost a strong Yolngu man, a family man and a man of strong culture.
To Gurruwun and your six beautiful daughters wearing the headbands in the image of your husband and father, I extend my sincere and heartfelt condolences. He was a proud and loving father and husband whose heart and love was always with you. To the Gumatj clan and the Yolngu family of Dr Yunupingu, my condolences on the profound loss of a strong leader, an ambassador and tireless advocate for Yolngu and all Indigenous people.
Let me close by saying that Dr Yunupingu leaves behind an inspirational legacy which begs to be embraced and built upon. He would not want us to dwell upon his passing but to turn our sights with hope and optimism to the future and what needs to be done to make his real vision for self-determination and a strong future for Yolngu kids. Humble man that he was, it was never about him. His hopes and aspirations were always about the next generation. We will always remember him with the utmost respect and admiration.
Gurruwun, to you and your family, again, my very sincere condolences on the loss of a man taken too soon.
Mr CHANDLER (Education): Madam Speaker, I join with all members of the Legislative Assembly in recognising the passing of Dr Yunupingu and to place on record Dr Yunupingu’s enormous contribution to the Northern Territory and to Australia. I also pass on my sincere condolences to his wife Gurruwun Yunupingu, his children and all his family, friends and colleagues, who I know loved and greatly respected him.
Dr Yunupingu was an outstanding educator and a strong representative for his community and his people. It was in 1975 that he started working in the early childhood section of Yirrkala School. Even back then he was active in a band with the interesting name of the Diamond Dogs. This band included a number of young Yolngu men who had a range of roles over the next few years in the bilingual program and homelands education programs.
While Dr Yunupingu’s contribution to music is well recognised, his determination to have Yolngu inspired education in place is the legacy that, as the Minister for Education, I want to share with you today.
Following the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy in 1975, the School of Australian Linguistics program was relocated from Darwin to Yirrkala. This move resulted in the formation of the first team of educators to implement a bilingual education program at Yirrkala School. Another significant outcome of this collaboration between Yirrkala School and the School of Australian Linguistics was the collection of material that resulted in the Yolngu Matha dictionary. It was through his work with these linguists that Dr Yunupingu forged important connections with the emerging teacher education program at what was then known as Batchelor College.
The pinnacle of this crucial work was the insertion of Aboriginal languages into the Batchelor College teacher education program. Another significant connection Dr Yunupingu made was the development of a strong relationship between Batchelor College and Deakin University, which commenced in the 1980s. The relationship between these two key educational institutions continues today.
Dr Yunupingu, with other community leaders, refused to embrace any requirements for potential Yolngu teachers to leave their traditional lands, communities and families to gain qualifications. He provided a community input that insisted that when they go away they grow away. Inspired by this approach, subsequent work at Yirrkala and Batchelor was taken up in Victoria to support the new Koorie Teacher Education Program at Deakin University. In time, Deakin University established the Institute of Koorie Education, offering a full range of courses delivered in a community based model.
In 2013, more than 600 Aboriginal students from all over Australia are studying undergraduate to doctoral courses at Deakin University. This significant achievement can be traced back to the inspiration and influence of Dr Yunupingu and other Yolngu community members.
In 1987, Dr Yunupingu became the first Indigenous person from northeast Arnhem Land to gain a university degree with a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Deakin University. Two years later, in 1989, he became Assistant Principal of Yirrkala School and was instrumental in the implementation of a curriculum that taught in both Yolngu Matha and English. In the following year, 1990, Dr Yunupingu took over as Principal of Yirrkala School, a position he continued until 1991 when he began touring with his band Yothu Yindi.
In 1993, Dr Yunupingu was named Australian of the Year. This was a great honour, richly deserved, and proudly remembered by his family, Yolngu people and the wider Territory community. In 1998 he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University by the Queensland University of Technology in recognition of his significant contribution to the education of Aboriginal children and a greater understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.
There is no doubt Dr Yunupingu was an inspirational man who motivated many to contribute to the ongoing education of this community and generations of Indigenous students, not only in the Northern Territory but throughout Australia.
Once again, I pass on my sincere condolences to his wife, Gurruwun Yunupingu, his children and the Yolngu community. His sad passing at the age of 56 was certainly an enormous loss to education, music, his community and his people. Thank you.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, to the family and friends of Dr Yunupingu, especially his widow, Gurruwun, and the daughters and grandchildren here today, I acknowledge that we pay our respects to an extraordinary man, and we do so on the land of the Larrakia people, a land he spent so much time living on and being welcome on.
I am honoured to speak to this condolence motion reflecting on the life of a very great Yolngu leader, a great Territorian and, indeed, a great Australian. I am pleased to see so many of Dr Yunupingu’s family and friends here today to hear our parliamentary tribute. I acknowledge the presence in the gallery of the former member for Nhulunbuy, the former Deputy Chief Minister, who was a very long-time and dear friend of Dr Yunupingu’s, Syd Stirling and his partner, Jenny Djerrkura, who spent so many years working with the family.
As we have heard, Dr Yunupingu was born at Yirrkala in 1956. It is probably worth a moment to reflect on those times. The Yolngu in the Nhulunbuy region had experienced an influx of visitors as part of World War II operations, but life had gone back to being quieter. The Yolngu went about their day to day, living a life grounded in their Yolngu culture and values. The year 1956 was the same year that British Aluminium applied for prospecting and mining rights in the Melville Bay area of northeast Arnhem Land.
In 1962, Dr Yunupingu’s father became a leader in the movement for recognition of land rights for the Yolngu, leading to the presentation of the famous Yirrkala bark petition to our national parliament in 1963. In his contribution to the 1993 Boyer Lecture series, Voices from the Land, Dr Yunupingu noted that at the time of his upbringing in Yirrkala, his teachers often had a view, in his words, that:
- ... only when Yolngu stopped being Yolngu that we could be Australians.
That was something of the times, but Dr Yunupingu had a different eye to a different way, a better way. He worked to become an educator in the broadest sense of the word, an educator deeply grounded in respect and commitment to his Yolngu culture, an educator focusing on two-ways education with a strong belief in Yolngu values, an educator, as we have heard, focused on balance and, as his wife Gurruwun said at his memorial service at Gulkula, encouraging Ngapaki and government to:
- … work with us not against us.
Dr Yunupingu began his teaching career in 1977, later moving to work at Galiwinku in the early 1980s. Marriage to Gurruwun came in 1979, and, over time, that partnership brought into the world six beautiful daughters. I am so pleased to see you all here today with the little ones. Gurruwun has described Dr Yunupingu, her husband, as a teacher, musician and ambassador for Yolngu people. He was a caring, dedicated and passionate teacher. He was an exciting and inspiring musician who drew you into the rhythms of his music and the messages embedded within his songs. As an educator, Dr Yunupingu pioneered the use of Yolngu language and a careful understanding of Yolngu values in his approach to education.
I acknowledge the presence in the gallery today of my friend, Alan James and his wife Britta Decker, who have had such an incredible journey through the years with Dr Yunupingu and have been so very close to the family.
Over time there was an appreciation Dr Yunupingu had that music could also provide the ability to spread his message of balance, harmony and wellbeing, and he really drove that through Yothu Yindi as a group of musicians which was able to spread that vital message to the entire world. It was such an exciting time from 1986 onwards, and it was such an inspiring time to be a Territorian and see Dr Yunupingu really grab that stage globally and inspire not just our nation, but people from many nations around the world, with the message of harmony and balance.
As an educator he found music and film a natural medium to further promote and express his ideas and values. He moved beyond the world of his own people and his home community to take this message of mutual respect and inclusion to the international stage as a very proud Yolngu man, a proud Territorian, and a proud Australian. No one can forget the energetic videos of his music, his celebration of life and identity, of family and country, and of what is truly possible. It was an exciting time in his life. He also completed a BA degree at Deakin University in 1987 and then returned to Yirrkala School as its principal in 1990.
The year 1990 also saw the establishment of that all-important groundbreaking Yothu Yindi Foundation and all the great works they have gone on to do. Much success has come his way through a combination of hard work, an eye for opportunity, partnerships to spread his vision, as well as his sheer and undeniable talent. In 1992, quite appropriately, he was recognised as the Australian of the Year for his work in education and reconciliation. In 1993 he extended his educator role, using music to promote healthy living – the well-remembered 1993 Raypirri Tour – Raypirri: a matter of being sensible.
The year 1998 saw Dr Yunupingu awarded his honorary doctorate from the University of Queensland, and in 1999 the first of the iconic Garma festivals, a festival that has evolved as a celebration of Yolngu culture, a meeting place for people of all cultures, a forum for progressing two-way learning and, more recently, a key forum for political debate and the development of Indigenous policy.
Just five years ago Dr Yunupingu had a new challenge to deal with, the diagnosis of end-stage renal disease. This is a challenging moment for anyone, especially Territorians living in remote communities. This year the Department of Health noted in its annual report that on any day there are over 200 haemodialysis treatments occurring across the Territory. Dr Yunupingu, right to the end, continued to use his music to spread a message to help educate both Yolngu and the broader community about diabetes, kidney disease and action to improve prevention and treatment of kidney disease, a song called Healing Stone.
In 2000, the year of the Sydney Olympics, The Guardian newspaper published Dr Yunupingu’s answer to some questions put to him.
- What is your greatest fear? Losing my culture.
What is your favourite journey? The search for truth.
How would you like to be remembered? As a man who built a foundation for generations to come.
These three simple questions and answers well tell the story of Dr Yunupingu.
I pass on my deep condolences to the family of Dr Yunupingu, to you, Gurruwun, to your daughters, grandsons and your newly arrived granddaughter on the passing of a very great Yolngu leader, Territorian and Australian. My thoughts are also with his brother’s close family, his home community and his many friends and work colleagues here in the Territory, across Australia and, indeed, the world. He will be forever remembered as a man who left a direction for the future and built strong foundations for generations of Yolngu to come – work his family and broader Gumatj clan proudly continue today. He was a truly extraordinary Yolngu, Territorian and Australian. My deepest condolences.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Madam Speaker, my respects to Gurruwun, daughters, grandchildren, family, and friends.
I will not go over much of the ground that has already been covered. I want to make a contribution of the observations made at his state funeral, the messages that were delivered, and the challenges that were offered. It is very significant that there were households all around our nation looking in through the portal and catching a glimpse of that which is the great challenge of our nation.
It is a requirement within each of us to leave a legacy. That legacy was clearly defined by speaker after speaker, and is something for us not so much to talk about, but to respond to. The words of Paul Kelly have been recounted, who spoke on that day so clearly and so accurately, describing the challenge undertaken by Dr Yunupingu. When you consider being the point of balance, as he was, you consider then the great weight of responsibility of being that point of balance between two cultures, of being the interpreter understanding one and having deep pride and identification with a 40 000-year culture – which, was said, has a completely operating spiritual and economic framework – being able to translate and go into the unknown which is the western culture, and to be an interpreter two ways.
The great weight of responsibility to carry that task bore heavily upon leaders such as Dr Yunupingu. Messages were delivered at that state funeral, and what struck me was the use of the opportunity of a state funeral to speak of the legacy and then point us towards the challenge that each of us, as Australians, needs to respond to. They spoke of a man who was a warrior, but a warrior through music and, better than any politician, his message cut through. The challenge of building bridges is a difficult task for anyone who has understood the other and tried to find how to bridge the gap between here and there. That was the message.
I hesitate even to reflect personally, but we were both school principals, and I am in awe of this man. To talk of going into the enterprise of education with that deep challenge of bridging a gap, not just teaching, not just doing your job, but doing something that is beyond you, above you, greater than you and eternal. To respond to the challenges of our time, to be at that point where salt water meets fresh water, and how you manage that change. To be at that point and to find that the qualified teachers who were from outside that community were occupying the chairs and the Yolngu assistant teachers were sitting on the floor around the teachers. That illustrates a point in time. That point has been passed and a contribution and legacy has been left, so that does not occur now, thank God.
Going many steps further than that comes the discussion of how we translate from one culture to another. How do we conduct this business in a community, a language group, a country? That was his challenge, to provide not just a voice in education, but an opportunity for those of us who do not share that culture to be enriched, understand new concepts, new words, new ways of understanding our great country and those treasures we have perhaps so easily overlooked. There is so much I could say, but like many on that day, I went away deeply challenged. It will be a ceremony I will never forget because it finished with words that really punched home what I was starting to form in my own mind and for many who had listened. Here is a man who left us far too early. We had speaker, after speaker, his children and his dear wife speaking of his work, and that work must go on. I wrote down the last words that were spoken. It was Wally who said:
- Talk of legacy is good and only goes so far, as the responsibility becomes ours to continue that work.
That hit home because it is a remarkable story, it is an extraordinary achievement, but the challenge now becomes ours.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I first became aware of Dr Yunupingu as a teacher and a principal. As a Balanda teacher I was working in one-teacher schools, and I was working hard. When I became aware of Dr Yunupingu’s story, I had real faith. I had formed the opinion that the only way we will address Indigenous educational outcomes is when we have Indigenous teachers and Indigenous principals operating our schools.
I took great solace in this story. I did not know the man, I did not know that country, but I was very proud to think that he was going to fulfil my ambition to be unemployed. I saw that as the real change that needed to happen. It meant the Balanda teachers would slowly become unemployed. I then took a great interest in the next part of the story because Dr Yunupingu emerged on the world stage, not only on the world stage, but on the stage of the arts with its very important link to education. The first album, Tribal Voice, certainly added a new repertoire to my teaching tools. It was at Borroloola when I was the principal there, and the Borroloola Community Education Centre had lots of work to be done. The work that I saw as necessary immediately was the work of the wellbeing of the community, to make people feel good about themselves and make those kids feel good about coming to school so they would beat the school teachers to the gate every day.
One of the many new initiatives we put in place as a dynamic team was a school disco. I personally purchased the PA equipment. I spent some considerable money because I wanted a very crisp and clear sound for that initiative, and that is what we got. One of the best songs – and I was there for six years – the most requested song at every Borroloola school disco I went to was Djapana: Sunset Dreaming – that is my favourite song on the album as well – which got the place jumping and rocking every time and delivered that wellbeing.
Travelling to the television set, I then became aware of the vision that complemented the sound, and I immediately saw what was a very innovative and dynamic product. It was a fusion of contemporary and ancient. It was a fusion of rock music and Yolngu culture, and it was on display for the whole world. I celebrated those film clips. I watched a lot of Rage and I engaged in many conversations with family and friends in the south of the country, being able to conduct a discourse around reconciliation and something very new and very powerful that was all about good vibes.
I will say, though, that it certainly added some challenges to my life as a school principal and a father, because suddenly every child I was engaged with was doing backflips out of trees into rivers, down the beaches and off sand hills. Let me tell you, as a principal with a duty of care for the safety of all these children, when we had the whole Borroloola School running up trees and doing backflips in the playground, including my son, Thomas McCarthy, I was quite concerned. But I took the point that it had to be done and we learnt that from the Yolngu and we learnt that from Yothu Yindi. I was in Maningrida a couple of months ago, I took a walk down to the boat ramp late in the afternoon, and there were three kids building a sand dune so they could do backflips off of it. Some things never change.
I was very honoured to finally meet Dr Yunupingu at Tennant Creek High School. He was a world famous musician, a celebrated Australian, an educator and a principal who took time out to bring the band on the road and visit the small places, visit the regional and remote towns. It was a concert put on at Tennant Creek High School. The kids rose to the occasion, the staff were ecstatic, it was an amazing highlight of that time. I was running an alternative program and had serious behaviour challengers within that school community. Let me tell you, those guys did all their work early, prepared the horses and did all their industry work to make sure we got to that concert. They were the best behaved at that concert and they were honoured to meet Dr Yunupingu afterwards.
I met Dr Yunupingu when he finished as a rock star and had done all the back slapping and signing of autographs and talking to the kids. He made a beeline for the staff room where there was quite an elaborate lunch put on. He entered first and before anybody he had his plate full of food. I took the great opportunity of introducing myself and mentioning to him, ‘Hmm, you certainly know your way around a school staff room’. Anybody who knows teachers understands that when food is put out you get in quick because teachers will clean it up before you can say Jack Robinson.
It was Dr Yunupingu who said to me that he was a teacher and knew his way around a school. He gave me advice, ‘Don’t be ashamed, walk in,’ so I joined him at lunch that day, and it was great to meet the members of the band.
My next contact with Dr Yunupingu was when I was very privileged to be the Minister for Arts and Museums. I had another privilege in that time and that was working with Alan James who had just completed over two decades worth of work with the Yothu Yindi Foundation, the band and that creative brilliance I talk about. Alan embarked upon a program of how we could fuse education and the arts, health and the arts, and museums, art galleries and libraries with education and with health, particularly focusing on Indigenous outcomes.
I was really excited at that time because the initiative started to come together and Alan was driving that every step of the way. I was very privileged to work with Alan, the staff and the department.
One of those initiatives was the National Indigenous Music Awards that belongs to the Northern Territory. In building that initiative, Alan quietly said to me, ‘You need a hook, you need kudos, you need respect. I have a recommendation. I have some advice for you.’ He suggested Dr Yunupingu be one of the main players to join our push and campaign to create the National Indigenous Music Awards for the Northern Territory, and it was not without opposition.
There was some language and some discourse from the southern states. However, at a time where Dr Yunupingu was very ill, he still mustered the courage and energy to lead that initiative. We built it together, took it to Sydney, and we launched it on the steps of the Opera House. That is a moment I will never forget because it was an interesting experience for me to share a space on Bennelong Point with Dr Yunupingu and other Territorians with other recognised Indigenous musicians in announcing to Australia that the Territory would run the National Indigenous Music Awards.
It was sad to understand the nature of Dr Yunupingu’s sickness, but at the same time it was a privilege and, for me, it was inspiring to see him continue showing that leadership, that creativity and, at the end of the day, what came from all who embraced his presence, and that was respect.
My sympathy and condolence on the loss of Dr Yunupingu are offered with respect to his widow, Gurruwun Yunupingu, to his children, to his family, to the Gumatj clan and the Yolngu people of northeast Arnhem Land. May he rest in peace.
Mrs PRICE (Stuart): Madam Speaker, I thank the Chief Minister for bringing this motion before the House. Firstly, I acknowledge Gurruwun, their children, their grandchildren, and the rest of Dr Yunupingu’s family here today.
On 2 June 2013, Aboriginal Australians lost a true hero of Aboriginal culture and rights. I was also very fortunate to be able to attend Dr Yunupingu’s funeral at Gulkula. I first met Dr Yunupingu over 30 years ago when we were on the Indigenous Education Advisory Council in the 1980s. He was very passionate about education and being the first Indigenous principal. We worked together on this committee, working hard to advance the course of Indigenous education across the Territory.
When I first met him it was around the time his band, Yothu Yindi, became famous. He helped elevate the issues of our people to the national stage through the band’s songs. The band touched the nation’s soul and was nominated 14 times for ARIA Awards, winning eight. He was so proud when the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2012. This was a national testament and recognition by the industry of Dr Yunupingu’s and the band’s message and talent.
I can remember the time Yothu Yindi came to Yuendumu in the 1990s. You should have seen everybody who assembled in Yuendumu; they must have come across all of Central Australia just to be there to listen to his music and be proud of him for being an Aboriginal man who was now an international celebrity, but playing in an Aboriginal community.
One thing we all agree on is we are here for a purpose – CLP, Labor and Gerry – which is to serve the Territory. One thing I would like remembered of me is that I served the Territory with all my heart, passion, and energy to the best of my abilities, to leave a lasting legacy for all Territorians, including my people, the Warlpiri, and people such as the Yolngu.
Madam Speaker, I can say without a doubt today that Dr Yunupingu has left a legacy for all Territorians through the messages in his songs, the Aboriginal children, the Yolngu he taught for many years across northeast Arnhem Land and the Northern Territory, and through our culture. You can go to Yirrkala today and see that culture alive and prospering. That is the legacy Dr Yunupingu has left, above everything he has done and achieved throughout his life.
To Gurruwun, your family, daughters, grandchildren, my sincere condolences on your loss.
Ms ANDERSON (Namatjira): Madam Speaker, I congratulate the Chief Minister and thank him for bringing this condolence motion to the House, and thank the many speakers. Gurruwun, your six beautiful daughters, your friends, Alan James, all the people back home at Yirrkala, and your extended family and friends here, he was an extraordinary man. He was a hero, not just for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory but for Aboriginal people across Australia. I will not go back over many things people have spoken about, but he was a real inspiration.
There are many types of gifts that people can receive – money, jewellery, flowers or a weekend by the sea – but put them all together and they could not stand in lieu of one of the greatest gifts. That gift was given to Australians by the Yolngu, a great man, a leader. Sitting here, I heard people talk about balance. That balance was achieved by him. He and Alan James worked side by side together; that is a balance he achieved, the balance of two-way education, a balance of respect for each other. He fought from the bottom of his heart like the fighter he was, the fighter his father was, and the fighter his clan was. That fight and fire is still in the Yolngu family and amongst all Aboriginal people.
The message, as the member for Blain said, for us is: to where do we take what he has done? How do we build that bridge now as Australians? He tried to build that bridge, to balance things. He spoke about two-way education. How is it that we achieve those dreams for all Australians – Aboriginal Australians and non-Indigenous Australians? The task is now with us. That question and that challenge has been put to this Chamber by a man who had a dream, and a man who had his law in culture and language and used that as a foundation to challenge the non-Indigenous structure through always knowing and understanding where he came from, where his stories began and where they ended.
The challenge is now up to us. How are we going to build the dream? How are we going to build that bridge – the bridge that starts from one side and ends on the other? How is it we can achieve two-way education, respect for each other, and make sure all Australians are educated at the same level, that we all face the challenges and the dreams this man had, a poor man born, who understood – he had his law and cultural language, the strength and he knew he had to build that bridge across to the other side to challenge the non-Indigenous structure, the non-Indigenous education system, and he built that dream himself.
He got that balance and the balance we have not seen was already there in front of us: the balance he had through his music and through his friendship with Alan James and many non-Indigenous people, not just in Australia, but across the world. The meeting of fresh water and salt water, he already did that. It is now up to us. That challenge has now been put to us.
As legislators in this House, as Territorians, as Australians, can we accept that dream or half of the dream Dr Yunupingu had and carry that forward? Can we have the fire in our bellies to make sure we achieve his dream? Can we, as people, build that bridge? As Territorians and Australians, can we achieve that equality, that balance he spoke about of not recognising each other’s culture, but recognising each other as human beings and making sure we achieve everything we want?
My deepest condolences to you, Gurruwun. I know you will follow his dream and I hope you keep us honest and truthful in this House for the dreams of Dr Yunupingu and for all Australians. That is something we have to carry and that is the real challenge for us now. Let us make sure we take that stick and start crossing those bridges, the many challenges he has left for us. It is now up to us to prove to all Australians, everywhere across the world, that we are sincere about the balance. Thank you.
Ms FYLES (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, I wish to contribute today in recognition of a remarkable, talented and compassionate Territorian. I acknowledge the traditional owners of this land where we gather today and pay my respect to elders, past and present. I am honoured to speak today. My colleague, the member for Johnston, had planned on speaking today, but he has had to seek leave from the Chamber on urgent personal business. I am speaking with both his thoughts and my own.
In many ways, no words will ever adequately describe the immense contribution Dr Yunupingu made and the life that achieved so much. When I reflect on this life time of work I feel immensely proud. Dr Yunupingu made his people proud, he made the Territory proud, he made Australians proud. Born in Yirrkala, Dr Yunupingu achieved a number of firsts in history, as have already been mentioned this afternoon, but I will repeat them because of the enormity of his achievements.
He was the first Aboriginal person from Arnhem Land to receive tertiary recognition in education, gaining his Bachelor of Arts in Education from Deakin University. Through the late eighties, Dr Yunupingu was instrumental in both-ways education that saw the best from both Yolngu and Balanda culture represented in languages. Together with elders and Deakin University academics, he developed the metaphor ‘Garma’, mixing the salt and the freshwater people, mixing Yolngu and Western knowledge, something that is so important in our education system.
The fresh water from the land represents the Yolngu knowledge, and the salt water rushing in represents Western knowledge. Inside these mixing waters he saw the power and potential for a strong education, but based on Yolngu knowledge. Maybe not surprisingly, Dr Yunupingu had such a grasp of both European and Yolngu culture. His father was the signatory to the bark petition of 1963, the beginning of the process which led to, with the help of many, including Gurruwun, the historic Gove land rights case and, ultimately, the implementation of the Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) 1976.
In 1990 when Dr Yunupingu took over as Principal of the Yirrkala Community School, he became the first Aboriginal principal in Australia. What an enormous achievement which you must be so proud of. Could you imagine being a student in that school? How special would it have been to have a role model, somebody to look up to, your teacher, your principal, one of your own? This is exactly what Dr Yunupingu did. He was the leader for his community, and he was a leader in the Territory.
In 1985, he wrote Djapana: Sunset Dreaming while teaching in Galiwinku on Elcho Island, and soon after he formed Yothu Yindi. With Yothu Yindi, Dr Yunupingu co-wrote the group’s most famous song, Treaty. Yothu Yindi toured in the United States with Midnight Oil and famously performed Treaty at the launch of the UN International Year of the World’s Indigenous People in 1992. It was the first song in an Aboriginal language to gain international recognition. What a recognition!
Treaty was remixed by a Melbourne DJ and made number six on the US dance chart. It was also featured in Germany and England, whilst back home in Australia the original version sat at number one on the music charts for 22 weeks.
As we sit here in Darwin in this Chamber, it is hard to imagine the impact Yothu Yindi made across the globe. Treaty is a song which still makes me stop and think whenever I hear it. Who could forget the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games at the closing ceremony with everyone singing along – a memory I will never forget.
Dr Yunupingu toured extensively around the world through the 1990s with Yothu Yindi. But Dr Yunupingu’s work and achievements did not stop there. This remarkable Australian was awarded the 1992 Australian of the Year Award. His most notable and lasting work was through the Yothu Yindi Foundation. Set up in 1990 by Dr Yunupingu and elders from the five clans in the regions, the key objectives of the foundation are to support and further the maintenance, development, teaching and enterprise potential of the Yolngu cultural life. The most recognised form of this commitment in its early presentation is the Garma Festival, a huge event which brings the tradition of Yolngu story, music and teaching from northeast Arnhem Land directly into the mainstream spotlight.
The expansion of the alumina refinery operations through the local regions saw the Yothu Yindi Foundation introduce an Alcan cultural induction program in 2005 to ensure we had a balance between non-Indigenous and local Indigenous residents in the area and that it did not impact on the unique balance and culture of the Yolngu region – the mutual respect which has been nurtured in that area for a generation.
One aspect I personally admired about Dr Yunupingu was his unending dedication to sharing his culture and ensuring future generations did not miss out, something I appreciated firsthand as a seven-year-old visiting Yirrkala and learning about the culture. I still have the beautiful bark painting from that visit hanging on our wall at home. That is what Dr Yunupingu and Yothu Yindi were all about, preserving the 40 000-plus-year-old Yolngu wisdom and culture for future generations, but sharing it with next generations. It was about sharing music, art, and stories.
I quote from an interview with Dr Yunupingu in 1996 where he said:
- There is a fear of losing one’s culture because of the white man’s influence. So what we’ve tried to do with Yothu Yindi is creating something about [Aborigines] taking pride in their identity, taking pride in their music, taking pride in their dance, taking their pride in their rituals, taking pride in their secret sacred ceremonies. All those aspects of reality one should take seriously, shouldn’t be considered as if trivial.
Dr Yunupingu showcased Aboriginal culture to the world. Upon his passing, Australians and those over the world mourned him. Australians commented on him in social media as a true leader or a legend. Mourners said he opened the eyes and touched the hearts of many.
For Aboriginal people, thinking about what Dr Yunupingu has done for the next generation, one said:
- He blazed a trail that gives them validated self-respect and a true sense of pride in themselves and their culture. He was a wonderful, eloquent, intelligent man; he taught the world so much.
Though we may mourn and miss him, he is still with us; his work will live on. His wonderful family will continue to share his wisdom and his visions.
Dr Yunupingu, you will never be forgotten. On behalf of my colleagues and of Australians, my deepest sympathy and condolences to Gurruwun and all your family here today. You will continue to inspire us. We will hold what you wanted close to our hearts in this Chamber.
Finally, the member for Johnston asked me to close with these words from the lyrics of Treaty:
- This land was never given up
This land was never bought and sold
The planting of the Union Jack
Never changed our law at all.
Now two rivers run their course
Separated for so long
I’m dreaming of a brighter day
When the waters will be one.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I support this motion of condolence for the late Dr Yunupingu and to remember the strong and positive influence he had over the lives of many Territorians, indeed many Australians. I thank the Chief Minister for bringing on this motion.
I acknowledge Dr Yunupingu’s wife, Gurruwun, and his children, grandchildren and extended family, of which there are many, no doubt. My condolences to you all on the loss of a great man.
You have already heard from many in this parliament about Dr Yunupingu’s contribution to education and his many firsts, including how he was the first Indigenous person from Arnhem Land to gain a university degree, and how he was the Northern Territory’s first Aboriginal school principal when appointed head of Yirrkala Community School in 1990. You have also heard from many here today about his excellent achievements in the music industry and his iconic and unique band Yothu Yindi and how they won eight ARIA Awards – I do not know if anyone mentioned that – and were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
You also heard about how he worked to support Aboriginal teachers and his emphasis on the importance of teaching local Aboriginal languages and culture, and about his passion for teaching and how he helped set up the Yothu Yindi Foundation, a Northern Territory cultural and educational icon. Indeed, Dr Yunupingu was a strong voice and a strong leader for his people at the national and international level. This strong leader had a great many influences over his people and this influence most likely had benefits that were perhaps unintended consequences of that leadership. The Yolngu people are strong culturally, and their desire for economic development has put them at the forefront of Indigenous economic development in the Northern Territory.
For example, long before European settlement, Yolngu people traded trepang with the Macassans. Personally, I do not see what the Macassans saw in trepang, but good luck to them. The key to increasing Indigenous economic development is real jobs and investment. Even before becoming a minister in this government, my experience was the Yolngu people were genuine and willing to prioritise economic development. As examples I cite the renewal of mining leases at Nhulunbuy, the establishment of the east Arnhem fishing network, the commencement of new fishing business activities with the Gumatj Association, and the newest small community abattoir in the Northern Territory run by the Gumatj Association and located about 100 km west of Nhulunbuy.
After years of consultation and expression of a strong desire by remote Aboriginal communities to be involved in the fishing industry, that work has established the Garngirr Fishing Aboriginal Corporation, which intends to operate fishing cooperative models across east Arnhem Land.
Even though these business ventures were developed by Yolngu people for the benefit of Yolngu people, many Territorians will benefit from the establishment and ongoing development of businesses such as these.
How many of these activities have spun off from the leadership of a great and inspiring man? He was a leader in education, a leader in culture, he was certainly a leader in the music industry, and the influence he had over his people has stretched much further than he intended. It is obvious Dr Yunupingu inspired many people, not just his own Yolngu, to seize the opportunity and not be afraid to take risks in order to improve their lives.
Madam Speaker, our thoughts today are very much with the family of Dr Yunupingu. Losing a loved one is difficult and the passing of time does not take away from the loss – a loss for his family, his community, and certainly a loss to the Northern Territory. There is no doubt Dr Yunupingu was an inspiration to many and this condolence motion, while only a small gesture, goes some way to commemorating this great man and his contributions to making the Northern Territory a better place.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also extend my condolences and sympathies to the family of the late Dr Yunupingu. To his friends on his sad departing, I extend my sincere sympathies to you for what is clearly a great loss to you as his family. He was a great Territorian, and I know he will be sorely missed by his loved ones, family, colleagues and Territorians, if not all Australians.
Motion agreed to.
Members stood in silence for one minute as a sign of respect.
Madam SPEAKER: I thank honourable members for their contributions to the motion. I invite the family and friends of Dr Yunupingu and interested members to afternoon tea in the Main Hall.
RESPONSE TO PETITION
Petition No 16
Petition No 16
The CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that response to petition No 16 has been received and circulated to honourable members.
- Petition No 16
Difficulty of Shared Portfolios for Seniors
Date presented: 27 June 2013
Presented by: Ms Finocchiaro
Referred to: Minister for Senior Territorians
Date response due: 17 October 2013
Date response received: 18 October 2013
Date response presented: 26 November 2013
Thank you for your letter of 27 June 2013 advising of the petition read in the Legislative Assembly on 27 June 2013 (Petition No 16).
As per the Administrative Arrangements Order, the Minister for Senior Territorians is responsible for the Office of Senior Territorians (OST). This includes Senior Territorians policy, the provision of grants for Seniors Month, the Senior Territorians Advisory Council and the Seniors Card Scheme.
There are many issues relevant to senior Territorians which cross over multiple portfolio areas such as transport, public and personal safety, employment, adult education, health, housing, planning, essential services, arts, sport and recreation. It would not be feasible to extract officers from each of these agencies to focus on the particular portfolio issue in the OST. Rather, the OST is working on developing linkages with key agencies to progress issues of importance for seniors as they related to those portfolio areas.
The transfer of the Office of Senior Territorians from the Department of Health to the Department of the Chief Minister has provided opportunity to seek innovative solutions to issues and develop linkages and synergies with key agencies across government. A proposal for a seniors representative advisory council is currently being developed and will be focused on creating real linkages between seniors and government.
I trust that this response will reassure you that services to Senior Territorians are important to government.
MOTION
Typhoon Haiyan
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I contribute to this motion on the impact of super Typhoon Haiyan on the Philippines.
This is a catastrophe of monumental proportions. In fact, the scale of this disaster, the loss of life, homes, buildings and infrastructure is such that we could only try to imagine what this looks like at ground zero. Many of the television images we see do not aptly portray the depth of what has occurred. Surely those images cannot give a real indication of the horror and suffering that remains in the wake of this terrible storm.
These impacts are being felt in the Tacloban area, of course, but also right across the Philippines, in Australia, the Northern Territory and across the globe. This catastrophic event has had a big impact on the Katherine township, which boasts a strong Filipino presence. While the Filipino community in Katherine is large and very close knit, they are also very active community members and are generally all very well known throughout the town. There are local families from Katherine who have friends and relatives who have been directly affected by this tragic storm.
My Filipino friends in Katherine are caring and generous to a fault. That is why, as the local member for Katherine, it came as no surprise to me that the fundraising efforts by the Katherine Filipino community were established and up and running in a very timely fashion. As I mentioned, some of our local community members have family directly affected by the disaster. A number of those people have travelled in the last week or so to be by the side of their loved ones in the Philippines. Local Katherine business people, Fe and Cindy Fahey, amongst others, are behind a drive to raise funds which will be used to help those in need in the Philippines.
Super Typhoon Haiyan’s official death toll is over 5000, and there are genuine fears that as many as 10 000 could have been killed in this event. However, it is the survivors we are thinking of now and putting our hands up to help.
I am proud to say the Katherine Branch of the Country Liberals kicked off Katherine appeal efforts by contributing $1000 to that appeal, which was then matched by my wife and I without the need for any deliberation. I believe the efforts to raise funds in Katherine will be extremely successful, based on the long history my community has in raising funds for important and critical causes. This is an indication of my community’s ability to pull together in times of need. The Katherine community has been the recipient of generosity from right across Australia from when we battled events such as the township flooding in 1998. The Katherine community is now giving back to those who are in need and rallying to support our friends in the Philippines. If you are passing through Katherine and want to contribute to our local appeal to help the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, please drop in to my office and we will gladly let you know where you can lodge your contribution.
I have many Filipino friends in Katherine and in Darwin, and my heart and the collective hearts of those in the Katherine community go out to you in this desperate time of need. I know you are all resilient people. I hope your feelings of hopelessness and despair will soon be replaced with feelings of hope and a knowledge that the world community is pulling behind you in these tragic times. We are there for you.
I also acknowledge the work that has been done and will be done into the future by many individuals and organisations in the form of relief. These will be difficult tasks that lie ahead. Hard work, tough work, both physical and mental, awaits you. Some of the work will also be heart-wrenching as you work closely with the people who are dealing with the tragic consequences of this terrible natural disaster. As a former emergency responder myself, I express my gratitude and the gratitude of the Katherine Filipino community at large for the substantial efforts you will apply in providing relief.
We cannot control the natural events that spawn such human suffering and tragedy. We can prepare, we can respond, and there will be a recovery. In that recovery, I wish Godspeed to the people of the Philippines and send my heartfelt condolences and those of the community of Katherine to you all.
Mr CHANDLER (Education): Madam Speaker, I will not speak for long. I listened to the Leader of the Opposition and it made me consider how long Darwin took to recover from Tracy and do you ever get over a cyclone? It made me think of when, in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans area and the flooding that occurred, the wind from the hurricane and the damage it caused that city.
The media at the time was extremely focused on Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans area, the devastation, and it brought the message home to the world, just as is happening at the moment in the Philippines. The media focuses on this event and very soon the media will not be focusing on this event again. It will take years and years to recover from an event like this, and I raise that because I had the opportunity in October 2007 to visit New Orleans. Not having heard anything in the media about that city some 26 months after Hurricane Katrina, I was devastated to arrive in New Orleans and still find the devastation that was around the city.
They had made a tremendous effort within the city centre to clean up and get established. The week I was there they were getting the tram system back up and running and they had date palms held up by ropes to get the city centre looking good. However, once you ventured out into the suburbs where people’s homes were, where people lived, it was tragic. There were still houses on their sides, twisted across the road or down the road from where they originally were, houses that had floated away in that storm. This was 26 months after the event, in what some people consider to be the most powerful nation in the world with all the resources the United States has, with the defence forces at its beck and call, its home guards and everything else that makes us look at the United States and think it has the resources to have something fixed really quickly.
I was tremendously shocked we had gone 26 months down the road and yet the devastation was still widespread across New Orleans. That devastation was brought home because when something goes outside the media cycle, perhaps we get complacent; we think it is all fixed and it is all done and dusted. I urge the media to, from time to time, revisit the Philippines and look at how things have progressed, if they have. In areas that have not progressed perhaps put a media spotlight on it so the rest of the world can understand the time it will take and the ongoing support that will be necessary.
Some of my very best friends are Filipinos living here in Darwin. I and a number of members, including the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, were at the Filipino fundraising initiative the other week. It was great to see so many people come out, and the money raised is all for good. But these things will not take weeks, not months, but years to get over. I hope the media, from time to time, can revisit some of that devastation and that we do not get 26 months or two, three or four years down the track and they are still desperate for assistance. Because the focus has been taken off the area we forget about what is going on in that part of the world.
I really want to wish our good friends in the Philippines all the very best for a speedy recovery, but I know and understand it will take years to get over. I wish them all the best. To our local Filipino families, I know you have loved ones there as well. We pay our respects and, as a government, as the Northern Territory, the call goes out to give as much ongoing assistance as possible.
Mr STYLES (Transport): Madam Speaker, much of the story has been told in this Chamber today and I do not intend to repeat it; however, I would like to say a couple of things in acknowledgement of the Filipino community which had the fundraiser. Sadly, I was interstate at the time; however, my colleagues attended and gave me a very good account of the generosity Territorians showed, particularly the local Filipino community.
None of those things happen without an awful lot of work. I was fortunate to go there on the Sunday afternoon after that event where the Chief Minister presented the Red Cross and the Filipino community with a cheque for $10 000. It was really good to see the people there, most of whom were from the committee. We all know volunteers drive these organisations, and it is appropriate to acknowledge not only the leaders, but the committee of the Filipino community, particularly the Filipino Association of the NT: the president, Oscar Parian, who was there to accept the cheque, a tireless worker for his community; Judith Ventic the vice president; secretary, Lourdes Valles; Treasurer, Elsie Barretto; and some more committee names I will mention.
The four names I just mentioned - I have been going to the Filipino community association for many years and those people have been there as long as I can remember in various roles: leadership roles, support roles and committee roles. They all started off many years ago in committees, and it is important we acknowledge those people who were, time after time, making sure the community held together so when these things happen the community can come together very quickly as a cohesive group to make sure they can help their friends, relatives and people from their home country. Those committee members: Mary Anne Samson, Matthew Mitchell, Ron Greaves, Maria Mitchell, Virginia Mitchell, Marcos Pastor, Siobahn Reed, Benedict Salandanan and Nestor Sanchez Jr. These people need to be congratulated because since this occurred, they have worked tirelessly to raise money to send to their country and the Red Cross to help in their efforts.
Last Sunday I was fortunate to have an enjoyable afternoon with a group of people from CatholicCare NT, ably assisted by Kim and Beth Mackenzie from Southern Cross Television. It was something put together several days beforehand where a group of people with links to the Philippines got together at another event and raised a considerable amount of money. I do not know exactly how much money was raised, but some of the well and truly inflated prices paid for auction items raised close to $10 000 at this lunch.
I congratulate the people from CatholicCare NT who sponsored the event, and also Kim and Beth Mackenzie from Southern Cross Television who dragged a lot of the people along to the event.
This is an extremely tragic situation, the proportion of which I could not begin to imagine unless I saw it with my own eyes. I am sure there are many people around the world contributing to this rescue event.
Whilst it has an extensive network of staff and volunteers, the Philippines Red Cross has been reaching out to some of the most remote and devastated communities. We all know Tacloban has been destroyed, but when one looks at newspaper articles and online you can see many other places have been devastated by this, some of which do not hit the headlines. The Philippines Red Cross has been doing a marvellous job reaching out.
The money raised by these appeals will be used to provide relief to shattered communities, including emergency relief supplies and access to clean water and shelter, some of the primary things people need at the moment. It also helps to send specialist aid workers to assist in initial assessments, relief and the longer-term recovery operations which will be needed for quite some time. It is uplifting to see so many people step up and give to those affected by this disaster.
While all donations are extremely valued, the Australian Red Cross has advised what is needed most is donations of money. This was also raised at the event I attended on Sunday. It is great that people give tins of food and other paraphernalia, that is very welcome, but it is something that will take time to transport. The logistics of getting all this stuff to the Philippines is difficult at times. The Red Cross does not have that many people who can gather, pack and get these goods prepared for transport – trying to put loads together in the right size for aircraft, etcetera is a very challenging situation.
I understand, and many people at the function on Sunday understood, the strong desire for people to donate items. While this donation is appreciated, Red Cross is limited in its capacity to shift, collect, store and donate these goods. What was discussed was the Australian Red Cross – I hope people who are listening to this debate in the Chamber might understand the Red Cross has the ability to source goods and services locally in the Philippines so the money is spent on the local economy. The local economy will need to be rebuilt, along with homes and shelter, and the psychological damage which has occurred.
The Red Cross has asked people to dig deep if they can and stump up with some cash. Of course, the Northern Territory government has made a contribution and we encourage businesses and people alike to donate cash to this very worthy cause.
The choosing of many of these goods which are going to help will be necessary. There is food, water and shelter which Red Cross can source within the Philippines. The message that came through loud and clear was it does not matter what people gave the Red Cross, the Filipino community and the representatives of the Philippines in Darwin were very grateful for the generosity shown by people who had also been through challenges in this country, be it bushfires, cyclones or other.
There was a great deal of thanks from the people I was with on Sunday. They were very grateful for the work of the people who had been at that function. They also made mention of the other functions that continue to go on. In fact, for those listening, there are more fundraisers at the Australian Filipino Association facility at Batten Road, Marrara. If you are not doing anything and would like to help, please keep an eye on the newspapers and the service directories to see when that function is. There will be some more, obviously before Christmas. It is a good time to think about Christmas, family and friends, and those who are affected.
It is so sad so many have lost their lives, but there are those who have survived this who will need an enormous amount of help, not only from us but the rest of Australia and, indeed, the world. I encourage all people to dig deep and give generously so those people can have some form of a Christmas celebration.
Madam SPEAKER: I also extend my condolences and sympathies to the people of the Republic of the Philippines and extend my sincere sympathies for what, clearly, is a devastating incident in their country. As members have said, it will be many years for them to overcome this loss, but I know they are now receiving help. That is, clearly, what has to happen and will happen into the future.
Motion agreed to.
PETROLEUM AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 56)
Continued from 16 October 2013.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I contribute to the debate of the bill that represents the amendment to the Petroleum Act.
I thank the departmental officials for the briefing they provided me as the opposition spokesperson. The objective of the minister, the government and the department was clear in that briefing: that this amendment is to drive competition into the exploration market.
The strategy seems to be based on the creation of a situation where multiple applications for exploration permits over multiple blocks of land will facilitate that market-driven competition. We are talking about the minister’s delegation on the applications that will come forward and those applications being judged on their merit, being subject to stricter guidelines and controls, the applications being designed to facilitate and create competition in the industry and, of course, the ministerial control in that process.
It was interesting talking to industry stakeholders. One of the questions I posed to them was whether the minister was the best person to have total delegation and control over the selection process. They did not have a problem with it, but they said they would be very interested in participating in such a selection process, should that be the will of this government.
I also asked some questions about existing exploration permit holders and I was advised there will be a six-month period for them, a grace period, a period of change. This will be a period for them to really take on board the changes to the act and accommodate these changes.
It is an interesting environment at the moment where we are seeing that NT exploration applications have declined. Speaking to stakeholders, there have been various reasons put forward for that. They were also quite articulate about the nature of this industry and the challenges involved. They see there is a great need for incentives within this industry. It is a big industry. It is a new industry in exploration for alternative gas and petroleum onshore. They did articulate the need for government to be looking at negotiation around incentives to get those exploration permits under way and to get the industry well and truly to the production stage.
Industry made it clear they would rather see conditions of exploration permits that provide incentives for companies meeting their activity targets. They gave an example of that in a reduction in permit fees. As the opposition spokesperson, I have taken their points on board and it is good to be able to debate policy and formulate ideas, particularly those coming from acknowledged and respected industry stakeholders. That incentives concept is a good one. It is a pragmatic suggestion of the possibility of a reduction in permit fees. That is a hard pill for the government to swallow, but it is something to consider in terms of legislation and the way that we do business with this industry. It is something that, as the minister says and as we know, presents as a very important industry that will provide energy not only for the Territory, but also for the east coast market; with the off-shore projects we are seeing a lot of export of that energy.
Industry said, likewise, application of higher fees for slow and no progress on activity targets leading to possible voluntary surrender of permits. That was another pragmatic idea that came from stakeholder groups I interviewed about policy formulation. It was all about incentives for investment.
The stakeholders talked about the nature of the Northern Territory. It is important we reflect on this industry and the nature of that investment, which is significant investment in exploration for petroleum products. That relates to the constraints around access to land – the climatic constraints of realistically only being able to access many of the exploration sites for six months of the year – and the cost. It was spelt out very clearly from both stakeholder groups I interviewed and the department that this is an industry with considerable costs. It is not undertaken lightly. The processes cost a lot of money and they take a significant commitment. Of course, they will deliver significant returns should they be successful, but in the landscape of exploration with that underlying uncertainty.
It is also important to mention that many of the stakeholders I talked to saw constraints around the need for access to land, and this relates to the challenges for government, any government, and their work with land councils and traditional owners to access country and to explore. The constraints around access to land were particularly evident with one stakeholder group which had a series of exploration plans and targets and wanted to explore that further block that could deliver the result and the return they were looking for. It is really important we have a government that is good at negotiating, that negotiates with goodwill and respect, works together with the land councils and the traditional owners, and provides education and awareness of this industry and the opportunities it will provide for regional and remote people, as well as people who live in the capital cities.
After speaking to stakeholder groups and asking them for ideas around policy development, I put on the record their suggestion that the exploration industry and ongoing mining, or the production industry, have an interest in investing in community infrastructure. That could be a good point of negotiation toward the future, again representing the policy of incentives to get exploration under way. We talked about roads, flood immunity projects and developing partnerships with existing landholders and landowners who could share important infrastructure. I put my thoughts and knowledge on the table regarding where things had gone wrong with the exploration industry, where infrastructure had been damaged or there had been misunderstandings, where things had to be retrofitted and explorers had to come back and repair the infrastructure and recreate goodwill. Things can always be done better and it is always good to be upfront. It is important that people know what happening. It is about education about what happening. It is about awareness in the macro sense of where these projects are going and what they will achieve.
We are talking about an important industry and an important amendment, which The opposition will not oppose. As we have discussed in our Caucus, these points are important and it is good to work together in a bipartisan nature wherever possible. Likewise, we value the environment movement and we feel that when you are achieving the best outcomes all stakeholders have to be valued and acknowledged. If you work up front and everybody goes along with the journey, you can avoid a lot of problems. As the Territory opposition, we contacted the acknowledged environment groups and sought their comments. I will put on the public record a response from David Morris, the principal lawyer and Executive Officer of the Environmental Defenders Office of the Northern Territory:
- As you will have seen, the new section 16 allows the government to advertise vacant blocks and to articulate a time period within which applications for exploration must be lodged. The intention would appear to create a flood of applications in the short term to issue as many exploration permits as possible.
- This is in line with the government’s stated policy of getting onshore production up and running in the shortest possible time frame. However, the following issues would appear to be areas on which the government needs to consider. Number one, increased competition: given the government’s policy to try and expedite exploration and, following that production, applicants may well try and rush applications or cut corners to ensure that they are the successful applicant. It is of great concern that when deciding on the successful applicant for a particular exploration licence there is no specific requirement for government to consider the applicant’s environmental credentials or for the applicant to obtain some other kind of environmental authority. This is unlike the Queensland legislation where the minister must not grant an authority to prospect – the Queensland equivalent to an exploration permit – unless the applicant – the tenderer in Queensland – has been issued an environmental authority under the Environmental Protection Act in Queensland. Similarly in New South Wales, an exploration licence is only a right to explore. Any specific work program requires some kind of environmental assessment.
In the Northern Territory this is not the case as only works and projects that trigger the Environmental Assessment Act will require some other kind of assessment. At the very least, the assessment criteria and the guidelines should require the applicant to submit, as part of its technical works program, an assessment of the environmental risks associated with the exploration and plan to manage those risks.
This seems straightforward and is good policy advice. We may hear the minister’s response that this is all taken care of in the Northern Territory legislation, but in this instance it is good to work in a bipartisan sense and work with all stakeholder groups within the community. I am sure the minister will address that important comment from David Morris, the principal lawyer and Executive Officer of the Environmental Defenders Office of the Northern Territory.
The second point David Morris makes in regard to guidelines where there is a lack of environmental consideration is:
It is appropriate for companies to give early consideration to environmental matters and put these controls into their work programs. The assessment criteria and the guidelines should specifically require an assessment of the way the work program addresses environmental issues. These should particularly touch on water usage and waste water.
That is important, and I have been conducting quite a degree of education and awareness for myself as the spokesperson in the area of natural resources, and mining and primary industries. That area needs to be looked at very carefully and is common in the debate I have engaged in, particularly with Indigenous landholders as well as the pastoral industry, which are particularly concerned with water usage and the waste water in these projects.
Point number three David Morris makes is about increased pressure on resources at the land councils. This is an interesting point which says:
- A natural consequence of the increased number of applications will be an increase in the number of referrals to land councils for negotiation under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. My understanding is that land councils are already under resource pressure and may be unable to adequately inform traditional owners and community groups about new applications. This is of particular concern given land councils are only required to consult with TOs and community groups to the extent practicable.
That is a very important point, and the minister’s objective and ambition to create this market-driven force and take on board as many exploration permits as the government can is a real issue and one articulated to me from minerals exploration companies throughout the Barkly. They see that as one of the blockers. It is really not a debate around ideology; it is a debate around pure administrative processes and capacity. We have projects that are really keen to get on with their exploration and the business of regional and remote area economic development, but they are constrained around the administrative processes of the land councils. This is something the minister needs to be cognisant of as well.
Point number four that David Morris makes is about a lack of third party review rights. He says:
- In the Northern Territory the only stage of the process where a landowner or a person with an interest in land can make an objection is at the grant of the exploration licence stage. In terms of unalienated Crown land, no person is able to object to the minister’s decision to grant a licence. This means there is almost no accountability in relation to freehold land. Interested parties should be given standing to object to all proposals and have these objections considered by the minister.
It would be interesting to hear the minister comment on the lack of third party review rights as this has come from a respected and important stakeholder group and, all in all, points to ensuring Territory legislation is good legislation, particularly in the case of this new area we are going into with an intensification around exploration for petroleum products and alternative gas.
Minister, I thank you for the opportunity to speak in this debate. I also reinforce those industry comments about the alternative policy, which suggests incentives for exploration projects and what government can bring to the table. This is to get that exploration moving and create that important environment where we are all working together with those rewards and pragmatic infrastructure outcomes industry can provide for Territorians who are living, working and raising their families in those areas. Together we will deliver something extremely exciting.
In my discussions with industry stakeholders from the big end of town in Perth through to constituents across the Barkly, I believe this industry is one which could deliver significant returns for regional and remote areas when we talk about the energy needs of the hungry east coast of our continent alone. However, there is an amazing amount of concern, gossip, innuendo and misinformation floating around. Every step in the legislative process needs to be taken very carefully. It needs to be inclusive, open and accountable and then, of course, we will achieve the outcomes the minister is looking for, together as Territorians.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I did not get a briefing on this. I might have been put into a briefing coma with the number of bills coming through this parliament, so I missed this one. However, it is an important bill, so I will ask some questions during this response to the second reading speech. That might fix up my queries.
I would like to gain an understanding if we are talking about exploration permits as in tenure. I thought that was what was being discussed in relation to the Howard East Aquifer. Some people were getting confused in that debate about what was tenure and what was an exploration licence. I thought I would make that clear in case someone asked me again.
In your second reading speech, you said:
- … this bill will facilitate a more strategic and controlled release of vacant land, allow for the acceptance of multiple applications over vacant land, provide a more competitive market in applying for that vacant land, and allow government to select the most meritorious applications for consideration of grant.
Minister, what do you mean by ‘strategic and controlled’ release of vacant land? Does that mean you will advertise it when you believe it is an appropriate time to advertise it and you will look at all the applications? That is what I presume you mean by this, but I would like clarification of that.
The other important part of that statement you made, minister, relates to section 17(2) of the act. This section says:
- The minister must decide, in accordance with the guidelines, which application has the greatest merit to be given consideration for the grant of an exploration permit.
Greatest merit reminds me of the word ‘amenity’. It is a very broad word. That section says ‘in accordance with the guidelines’. Are the guidelines to come or do we already have them?
Mr Westra van Holthe: Coming in draft.
Mr WOOD: That would have been nice to have simply because we would know what you are going to look at to show that an application is ‘meritorious’. I understand that under section 17(3) you will tell the unsuccessful applicants why their applications were not successful. Will that be the only public process of explaining why a company got the permit or will there be something that is brought back to parliament in a form of a paper or Gazette notice so the public can find out which company the minister decided to give that exploration permit to and the reasons why? If there was some public process there, whether it is by publication or by papers put before parliament, that would be good. That is my main issue.
I thank the department. I presume the department and the minister, before this bill came before parliament, discussed proposed amendments with industry representatives and associations. I was listening to the member for Barkly and he was talking about land councils. He spoke about the Environmental Defenders Office. I am interested to know who you spoke to in relation to finalising this bill. I raise this because we have a bill coming up in this parliament for which I do not think that sort of good process has occurred.
The model you put here says you have been to industry representatives and associations. You might be able to explain which of those associations you have been to see and whether you have involved land councils and people like that. That process is the model we should use to put bills forward to this parliament. We are looking at another bill during these sittings for which I do not believe any of that happened. I find that sad because you would hope that a bill would be right once it came here.
If you were in Queensland, this bill would go to a committee and it would come back, say in three months’ time. As long it was within a certain period, I support that kind of approach because you tend to get much more bipartisan support for bills. A bill goes to committee, the committee talks to people, checks whether the legislation is up to scratch and it comes back to the House. Then there is not much debate because it has basically been approved by that committee.
One thing the member for Barkly raised was - I have raised this in discussions the energy committee had. I do not think I am speaking out of turn. I raised it with the Australian Petroleum Industry Association …
Mr Westra van Holthe: Petroleum Production and Exploration Association.
Mr WOOD: Yes, there are two of them and I get them muddled up. One is the petroleum and mining association and the other one is the simpler version. One of the areas they have to do more work in - it should not necessarily always be up to the government - is to be able to explain, especially to Aboriginal communities, what they do. They need to be able to produce literature that people can understand. I have trouble understanding what an exploration permit is. The word ‘exploration’ has a bigger meaning than ‘permit’. Most people think there is a hole in the ground and oil will come gushing out, or gas or fracking. I know they have published some really good documentation lately. There is a glossy book which explains gas exploration and it has some great diagrams and photographs. They need to get out on the ground because there are people on the other side of the fence who are deliberately putting out misinformation and have a different agenda altogether.
This is a really important thing. We can discuss this little bill here, but this bill is more or less saying we are opening up more of the Northern Territory for gas and oil exploration. It might be other things as well, but this is what this bill is about. There is a certain amount of fear out there. Some fears may be warranted, but I believe flames are being fanned deliberately for particular purposes which are not necessarily to the benefit of the people who live in that area. They are being used, in some cases, to give the opposition some legitimacy.
There is a role for the government to play here and the department especially. The department has had meetings recently in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. I have asked whether it can have one in the rural area. In general, there has to be effort from the industry to avoid misinformation. It needs to be putting forward its case in a manner people can understand. I raise that as an issue because we are talking about development of the Northern Territory. That has to be done in a proper way. That has to be done under scrutiny, and it has to be able to stand up to debate. We want to make sure the people who are part of that debate are legitimate in their concerns and do not have some other agenda which they are trying to achieve by providing misinformation.
I thank the minister for bringing this forward. If we can create a market which is competitive and if we get the best results from that, it will be great. It would be good to see the guidelines for what makes an application a meritorious application.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Mines and Energy): Madam Speaker, I thank the members for Barkly and Nelson for their contributions to this debate. It was heartening to hear the member for Barkly suggest the opposition will not oppose the bill. That is a step in the right direction. I am glad he took the briefing and used his time wisely between when this bill was introduced and now to consult with industry, because that will help him to become a better shadow minister.
I commence by going through some of the issues raised by the members for Barkly and Nelson and try to answer their questions. I will talk about the member for Barkly’s contribution first. He indicated he had asked questions of industry about whether they thought the minister might be the best person to make decisions. That was supported by the industry, but they would like to have some form of input or consultation into the decision-making process. I do not know that direct input would be possible given that all of the applications that would come before me and/or my delegates would contain commercial-in-confidence information which could not be discussed or otherwise promulgated in the public arena.
The move from where we currently sit to where we will be after this amendment is passed, presuming it is, will mean the old system of ‘first in best dressed’ will disappear and there will be a process whereby the minister and/or his delegates will be able to make some informed decisions about the best people to run with. This will cut down on the time it takes to find a good applicant, in essence, for a parcel of land. In the current regime, an application for an EP, an exploration permit, received on a day where there are no other applications received has to be the successful one. That means my department has to go through a due diligence process in looking at that application which could take months to years before a determination can be made that the application be successful.
If that application were not successful, it would mean, effectively, you have tied that piece of land up for anywhere from nine months to three years where it sits in hiatus and cannot be dealt with in any other way. This allows the department, the experts in this area – people with a solid understanding of the petroleum and gas environment in the Northern Territory, the requirements around legislation, the geology of the Northern Territory and the economics of the oil and gas industry, particularly as it relates to the ability of a company to conduct the work it says it will do – to be left with the decision on the best applicant. We will no longer have to wait for several years, potentially, to find the best applicant. We may be able to make that decision in a far more timely fashion and bring this type of exploration on a little more quickly.
The member for Barkly also spoke about incentives. At this point I could probably say the interest in the Northern Territory’s oil and gas sector is at an all-time high. The interest in the Northern Territory’s oil and gas sector is palpable, you can feel it. With such a significant amount of the Northern Territory currently under application, at this point in time I cannot see any reason to bring on any incentives. The industry seems to be taking care of itself pretty well. It is interested in doing business with the Northern Territory government. In the Fraser Institute surveys which talk about being open for business, the lack of duplication or regulation, the lack of red tape, we feature very highly. That is one of the reasons, apart from the prospectivity of the Northern Territory, these companies are coming here. We, at this point in time, do not need to go down the path of incentives, although your comments are noted, member for Barkly, thank you.
He also talked about voluntary surrender. Voluntary surrender of title already exists. An exploration company that has tenure can, at any point, contact the Department of Mines and Energy and make arrangements to hand that petroleum permit back. That already exists in legislation, and I guess the member for Barkly will pick up those finer points as he goes along.
He talked about land access and the need to work with land councils and traditional owners. I hope the member for Barkly is aware of the requirements of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, ALRA, with respect to the type of engagement that can be done by oil and gas companies when they are seeking to explore on Aboriginal land. We are probably at a point where we have never had a better relationship with the land councils in those types of negotiations. We work very closely with all four land councils in many ways, but particularly the Central and Northern Land Councils. We have a dedicated unit within the Department of Mines and Energy which deals specifically with matters around that engagement with the land councils, because it is such a critical and important part of the application process.
We continue to do that work. We engage closely with the land councils and comply with the legislative requirements of ALRA, which can be considered, and have been considered by many, as a serious constraint in the development of the minerals and energy sector in the Northern Territory. It might be worth noting that Part 4 of ALRA was recently reviewed by Justice Mansfield, and a number of recommendations were made to the Commonwealth government around amendments to ALRA which would better facilitate oil, gas and minerals activities within the Northern Territory. I hope the Commonwealth government takes many of those on board.
He also talked about investment in community infrastructure. I note those comments and think, in a very pragmatic sense, companies which have tenure that wish to move to a higher level of exploration activity and, ultimately, production, would end up having an arrangement with landowners, whether they be traditional owners on Aboriginal land or other landholders in the Northern Territory, whereby some of those needs are met. On pastoral land, for example, there might be an arrangement whereby roads are built by the exploration company in the place the pastoralists want them. In the case of Aboriginal land, I would think in order to gain the assent of the traditional owners to that activity, there would have to be some sort of arrangement in place for that type of infrastructure to be built. I encourage that.
He raised issues around environmental groups. I am not surprised there were some issues raised there. However, this amendment relates only to tenure; it does not relate to the program of work per se. The need for any sort of review process, the concerns about these applications being rushed or the applicants cutting corners, are completely unfounded, because it would be in the company’s interest, quite frankly, to ensure it does not rush its applications or cut corners. Remember, these applications will all be considered on their merits. A company that submits an applicant that cuts corners is probably diddling itself out of a chance for tenure on that land.
The member for Nelson raised some issues around the EPs, exploration permits. They do, in fact, relate to tenure. He asked what the strategic and controlled release of vacant land means. It means at any time the Northern Territory government can bring on an application process for vacant land, or it can deal with land that becomes vacant at the end of an existing permit period. Under the act, up to 50% of the block will come back to the Northern Territory. It is all about us being able to get the timing right to be able to hold off on advertising land being available until we are comfortable the companies with the capacity, capability and expertise to engage meaningfully with the land in exploration are ready and available to undertake that activity. It gives us a further modicum of control.
He talked about the guidelines, the greatest merit provisions. The guidelines are still in draft; they are very close to being finalised. Let me reassure the member for Nelson that the circumstances we are currently in where we are passing a piece of legislation without the guidelines are not dissimilar to passing a piece of legislation where the regulations are not complete.
To put his mind at ease, that happens quite regularly. These guidelines will be the finer points of how applications will be assessed, but the overriding principles, the matters against which we must test these applications, are contained in the amendments to the legislation. I refer to those amendments where are discussed – particularly in section 16(3)(d) – a proposed technical works program and the evidence of technical and financial capabilities. They are some of the overriding principles that will inform the guidelines, and the guidelines will simply make up the finer details of it.
The member for Nelson talked about how the public will be informed of who is successful and unsuccessful. We have to be very careful with commercial-in-confidence information in this space, so these types of applications will be reported to the public through the government Gazette. They will also be made available on the website of the Department of Mines and Energy.
The member for Nelson also talked about the process of getting information out. He was saying it in a very diplomatic way, but he was talking about the misinformation being promulgated by certain groups and individuals in the Northern Territory about the oil and gas sector. Certainly, the Department of Mines and Energy and I, as the minister, are working very closely with APPEA, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, on information sharing and being able to get the truth out about the processes for oil and gas exploration in the Northern Territory. That is a process we are working on. We are very cognisant of the need to make sure the debate is fully informed and we are certainly working towards that goal. As a government as pro-development as we are, we certainly do not want misinformation to foil and spoil the opportunities that exist in the oil and gas sector. The member for Barkly spoke of the potential for significant economic development arising out of the oil and gas sector. I agree with him and I am glad he agrees with the position of government.
There are some significant opportunities for economic development, jobs growth and all sorts of things in not only regional, but remote parts of the Northern Territory. That will be an enormous boom for Indigenous folk who live in areas where other paid work might not be available.
We do need to get on top of that debate and we are cognisant of it; we are working on it. We condemn organisations like the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory and Lock the Gate Alliance which are, as the member for Nelson pointed out, using Aboriginal people and others to legitimise their misinformation and the mistruths they are spreading around about certain practices within the oil and gas sector. We are onto that, member for Nelson.
In closing, I thank the members opposite for their contributions to this. This is a sensible change to the legislation. Allowing a competitive marketplace for applications for exploration permits in the oil and gas sector makes sense. It will allow my department the opportunity to assess the very best applicant for the job. Where else do you not do that? If you are applying for a job, there are multiple applicants, and what does the employer do? They choose the best applicant on the day, and guess what? If the employer does not like any of the applicants, they can readvertise. We can do the same under this legislation. We do not have to accept any of those applicants for a piece of land in the Northern Territory which they would like to explore for oil and gas. It is about finding the best on the basis those individuals or that company will be the people best able to develop that exploration lease for a stronger, brighter future for the Northern Territory through the economic growth that this type of activity will bring.
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the support of members in the House on this legislation. As I said, it is a change that simply makes sense.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Mines and Energy) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
WILLS AMENDMENT (INTERNATIONAL WILLS) BILL
(Serial 50)
(Serial 50)
Continued from 17 October 2013.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, this is not a controversial bill and the opposition will be supporting it. In plain speaking, this bill essentially updates NT legislation to ensure wills executed in the Northern Territory comply with international standards and, hence, have international validity.
A will executed in the NT will become a valid international will if the executor so wishes. This bill is part of a national reform process initiated several years ago. After a consultative process in 2010, the Australian government and all states and territories agreed to adopt the uniform code to ensure our wills can meet the International Uniform Code. There are sound reasons for this. The execution of a will can be a complex process without the added difficulties of inter-jurisdictional issues.
To diverge briefly, my aunt worked in a charity for pets for quite a few years, and members might know that many bequests go to charities. Often the most money they receive through donations is through wills, and often those wills are contested. Wills can be an incredibly difficult, personal and emotional area, so, as you can probably appreciate, you do not want to add inter-jurisdictional issues on top of things that can be happening at a very emotional and sensitive time.
Wills can be contested and the intent of a will debated by aggrieved parties. Of course, this is the exception. In the vast majority of cases, wills are executed with little or no controversy or animosity. However, complexities and conflict can arise, and we need a legal and legislative basis to accommodate this. While the execution of the most simple will can be complex, it is important that complex will situations be dealt with, and wills that cross jurisdictions have the potential for an increased degree of complexity.
The major complexity is essentially that it is possible for a will issued in one place to be executed in another. An individual or family could have moved and be a permanent resident in one country while the will they have was written in another. It is advisable to have a will that conforms to the country in which you live, but, of course, we never know exactly when that will might be executed.
Assets referred to in a will may be located in different countries, and in an increasingly smaller world, more and more people have assets across international borders. The uniform code seeks to accommodate this. Beneficiaries of wills may well also be across different countries. In a smaller world families and friends are more dispersed and international wills are designed to accommodate that. The uniform code outlines a legal framework for wills to conform to a standard that allows for these complexities to be accommodated as best they can.
People do not need to have an international will and existing wills are not invalid. This bill was based on a model bill produced by the Commonwealth. The Northern Territory is the last of the Australian jurisdictions to introduce this legislation, but the legislation will not come into effect until the International Uniform Code is officially introduced in Australia. I ask the Attorney-General to advise in his wrap if he knows when that may happen.
The only other question I have for the Attorney-General on this bill relates to the involvement of other countries. Of course, an international will that involves issues across different jurisdictions can only really come into effect if both jurisdictions sign up to the uniform code.
It is all very well for the NT and Australia to sign up, but for it to be truly effective the uniform code needs other countries to participate. I guess you can say that a will can only be international if the international community agrees. There is not much point to say, for example, this will gives my client the right to a villa in Tuscany if the will is not recognised by Italy. It is a little like extradition laws. Australia and the NT can have all the laws they like, but if another country does not recognise them or have an extradition agreement it does not mean much …
Mr Elferink: There is no will unless there is goodwill.
Mr GUNNER: Very well put, Attorney-General. I am sure the Attorney-General will say that in his remarks. I seek the Attorney-General’s advice on the level to which other countries have adopted the uniform code and enacted similar legislation. Of course, I do not expect him to provide a detailed breakdown on the progress of every jurisdiction, but anything that can outline whether we may be first or last cab off the rank would be appreciated – how this is occurring internationally, particularly if you have any information in relation to countries Territorians are likely to have assets or family members in. I recognise it is not the domain of the NT Justice department to monitor this information, but I never underestimate the level of detail people in the department are on top of. If that information is not available, I understand. I am sure the Attorney-General and I can catch up at a later time.
Regardless of where we are in relation to the international community, the opposition supports this legislation. Labor was in government when we signed up to the uniform code, and we welcome it being carried through. Anything else I could say on this bill has already been said in the second reading speech. We support this legislation. I am sure the Attorney-General and I will have other bills where we might have more issues to debate, but on this one we agree. The only questions we had were minor, and if they are not available to the Attorney-General now we can always talk to him at a later date.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): As the member for Fannie Bay said, this bill is not controversial and I support it. The second reading speech makes it clear what it is about. The convention seeks to harmonise and simplify the process proving the formal validity of wills which contain international characteristics, etcetera. The last bit needs repeating:
- The key benefit to Australia in acceding to the convention is that it provides greater legal certainty for testators and beneficiaries. The practical benefit of an international will is most apparent at the probate stage of proving the validity of the will, when additional information, such as the evidence from witnesses and evidence of foreign law, may not be necessary to prove formal validity. This is considered to be beneficial to testators who may have assets or beneficiaries located in several different foreign jurisdictions.
That sums up exactly what this is all about. My only question, minister, is why are we the last jurisdiction to introduce this legislation? Was there a problem, or was it regarded as a fairly minor piece of legislation that needed fixing?
Madam Speaker, I support the bill.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice) Madam Speaker, the short answer to the member for Fannie Bay is Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, it says Czechoslovakia but I presume it will be the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Ecuador, France, the Holy See, Iran, Italy, Laos, Libya, Niger, Portugal, Russia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the former Republic of Yugoslavia. I presume that is the various republics – six of them – Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Kosovo – it has Bosnia-Herzegovina – and that is about it. I missed one, but that is my geography stretched to its limits.
I thank honourable members for their support of this legislation. The short answer is this is good legislation and the more countries that sign up to it the less pain we should have across international boundaries in relation to testimonial instruments and the like. The law of succession is well established in common law; it has a number of legislative instruments that surround it and it now has another piece of legislative structure or rigidity to it which I hope will help solve more problems than it will ever create.
I thank honourable members for their support, and you can always support good law.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr ELFERINK (Attorney-General and Justice)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed; bill read a third time.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Outcomes of the Chief Minister’s Visit to Japan, China and Vietnam
Outcomes of the Chief Minister’s Visit to Japan, China and Vietnam
Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I wish to inform the House about my recent visit to Japan, China and Vietnam from 18 to 31 October 2013. Before doing so, let me reiterate this government’s full commitment to advancing the Northern Territory’s engagement with our Asian neighbours and strengthening our trade and investment ties with them.
Reflecting this commitment as Chief Minister, I have specifically assumed portfolio responsibility for Asian Engagement and Trade, as well as for Northern Australia Development.
As I emphasised in my various speeches in Japan, China, and Vietnam, there is an intrinsic link between the future development of northern Australia and the growth occurring within Asia. For the benefit of honourable members, let me highlight some of those messages I delivered.
I noted the middle class of Asia is projected to grow from an estimated 500 million people in 2009 to over 3.2 billion people by 2030. This will represent five to six times the middle class of the United States and Europe combined, and highlights where the centre of the global economy is being established.
In regard to northern Australia and its capital, Darwin, I stressed we have often heard the phrase ‘not if, but when’. My message to our Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese friends was to say the answer to when is now. Now is the time for northern Australia to be recognised as a key player in the energy security of the Asian region. Now is the time for northern Australia to be developed to help address the growing issue of food security in the region. Now is the time for northern Australia to play a pivotal role in the geopolitical security within the region. Now is the time for investment and growth across northern Australia to advance the economic security of Australia. I also conveyed that the Northern Territory is open for business and ready to step up to this new role.
Let me now turn to the Vietnam/China/Japan visit itself and outline its purpose and outcomes. Broadly speaking, the purpose of my visit was to strengthen and promote NT trade and investment links with two of our priority markets – namely, Japan and China – and one of our emerging markets, that being Vietnam, to strengthen existing, and develop new, personal relationships with high-level political and corporate counterparts in each of the three countries; to maximise Japanese participation in the 52nd Australia Japan Joint Business Conference being held in Darwin from 12 to 14 October 2014; to support local NT companies in their efforts to secure foreign investment for further business development in the Territory, including mining, tourism and agricultural sectors; to support local business in securing more early manufacturing projects from prime overseas contractors associated with the INPEX project and to launch the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Northern Territory’s new Investment Guide and Northern Territory Investment Directory.
Let me draw your attention to some of the specific outcomes achieved in each country. During my second visit to Japan on 19 to 23 October 2013, I was ably supported by my ministerial colleagues, the members for Brennan and Greatorex, in their capacities as Minister for Education and Minister for Tourism. The Northern Territory business community was also strongly represented by Ms Julie Ross, President of the Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce, Mr Greg Bicknall, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Sean Mahoney, Chairman of the International Business Council, Mr Stuart Kenny, Chairman of the Manufacturers’ Council and Mr Kevin Peters, Chief Executive of the Industry Capability Network, along with a range of other individual business representatives, particularly from our resources sector, including companies such as Emerson Resources promoting its copper and gold projects in the Tennant Creek area, TNG Ltd promoting its Mount Peake titanium, vanadium and iron ore project, Tellus Holdings Ltdpromoting its Chandler salt mine development in Central Australia, and Rum Jungle Resources promoting its phosphate projects at Barrow Creek and Arganara.
In regard to outcomes in Japan, I participated in and delivered a keynote address on Northern Territory trade and investment opportunities to the prestigious 51st Annual Japan Australia Joint Business Conference, attended by over 300 leading business people from both nations, and accepted the formal declaration that the 52nd conference will be held in Darwin from 12 to 14 October next year. In doing so, I was able to renew my relationship with Dr Mimura, the Chair of the Australia Japan Business Co-operation Committee. Dr Mimura is now also the Chairman of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, and the Chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is possibly the most influential of all current Japanese business leaders, along with his deputy, Mr Kojima, who is also Chairman of the Mitsubishi Corporation, both of whom I met during my first visit to Japan earlier this year.
I was able to establish a direct and strong personal relationship with Sir Rod Eddington, the Australian Co-Chair of the conference, President of the Australia Japan Business Co-Operation Committee, Chairman of Infrastructure Australia, and a very strong supporter of northern Australia.
Of course, I took the opportunity to meet again with my good friend, Chairman Kuroda of INPEX and his senior management team.
During my speech to the conference, I mentioned that many other Japanese companies should take a lead from INPEX and look for further investment opportunities in the Northern Territory. As mentioned, I also launched the Japanese version of the NT Investment Guide and the NT Investment Directory, developed by my new Office of Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment. I also delivered a keynote address at the NT minerals investment seminar in Tokyo.
We also recognise the need to foster specific inward and outward investment missions to help convert our promotion into tangible investment results. I have secured an opportunity for the Northern Territory to host a high-level inward delegation from the Mitsubishi Corporation to investigate Territory investment opportunities. This visit will be at a time still to be decided, either later this year or early next year, as details are currently being finalised between senior Mitsubishi Corporation management and my Office of Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment.
Similarly, there was a visit to the Northern Territory today from the Chiyoda Corporation. Chiyoda has a strong interest in investment opportunities in the energy sector as well as new strategic infrastructure projects, including new port facilities and energy pipelines.
We have also accepted an offer from the large Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, or SMBC, for us to present Northern Territory trade and investment opportunities directly to its prime clients and stakeholders in Tokyo early next year.
I also continue to promote the need for more early contracts to be awarded to local Territory businesses from prime overseas contractors associated with the INPEX project. On that note, I was pleased to see that lobbying by the joint Northern Territory government industry team, comprising of representatives from the Office of Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment, the Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce and its industry councils and the Industry Capability Network, has facilitated another local manufacturer being awarded a package of work a year earlier than the contract was to be advertised. That contract will see Austal Services, Darwin, manufacture and deliver nitrogen, water and air supply hoses to the project, all of which will be produced by the business here in Darwin. Minister Chandler and I also had the pleasure of seeing the Japanese company NEC announce its establishment of an information technology apprenticeship hub in Darwin. This, once again, demonstrates confidence in the Territory economy. We also announced a new $14.6m NT Open Education Centre which includes a $3m contribution from INPEX.
Let me turn to my inaugural visit to China between 23 and 26 October 2013, where I was ably supported by the Minister for Tourism. During this visit I supported local NT businesses in their efforts to promote trade and investment opportunities in China. I provided support by delivering a keynote address at the Chinese investment forum organised by the Northern Territory chapter of the Australia China Business Council. I also took this opportunity to launch the Chinese version of our new NT Investment Guide and NT Investment Directory.
A key priority of the visit was to advance the strategic relationship between the Northern Territory and the China Development Bank, the lead Chinese institution associated with foreign investment. I hosted an official dinner for the China Development Bank in Beijing, attended by almost 80 leading Chinese and Australian business people. Some of these people had previously met with the Deputy Chief Minister during his visit to China in June 2013 and we had wide-ranging discussions on various investment opportunities in the Northern Territory. As a result, the China Development Bank is sending a high level investment delegation to the NT in December 2013. It will examine a wide range of investment opportunities, including mining and energy, agriculture, infrastructure and tourism development.
The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, a key Chinese agency roughly the equivalent of Austrade, is also sending a 35-strong delegation to Darwin in December 2013. I was pleased to meet with CCPIT’s Vice President, Mr Yu Ping in Beijing. In Beijing, I also had several one on one meetings with various business interests, including Mr Spiro Pappas, Chief Executive Officer, Asia region for the National Australia Bank. Minister Conlan and I also promoted NT tourism opportunities to the Chinese market. One conclusion I came to while in China is that, given the sheer scale and size, we need to be more targeted and focused in our efforts to be effective and to secure trade and investment outcomes. This will mean prioritising our efforts to a number of provinces and cities of strategic relevance to the Territory, in a similar fashion to how we are now approaching Vietnam.
With regard to Vietnam, I made my inaugural visit on 26 to 30 October 2013. During my visit I established high level political relationships, including a personal meeting with the Prime Minister, the first ever such meeting for a Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. I also had personal meetings with the Vietnamese ministers for Agriculture, and Trade and Industry, and with the Chairmen of the People’s Committee of both Ho Chi Minh City, the largest industrial city and Haiphong, the third largest industrial city and the main port that services Hanoi.
I also promoted the expansion of the live cattle trade with Vietnamese cattle importer, Animex, noting we have seen a tenfold increase in trade this year. It was with great satisfaction that the Northern Territory cattle I saw at the Animex feedlot in Haiphong were in excellent condition at a well-run facility, although I am not a cattle expert. I took the opportunity to promote the development of a new buffalo export industry for the Northern Territory to Vietnam.
Furthermore, I also promoted the purchase of Northern Territory iron ore by Vietnam and a possible investment for Vietnamese companies in new iron ore projects in the Northern Territory – speculative but an opportunity. A number of potential Vietnamese investors are planning to come to Darwin later this month to follow up on specific opportunities. As a result of my visit, I have secured the collaboration of high level Vietnamese government and industry players to develop a trade and investment agreement between the Northern Territory and strategic Vietnamese city provinces of, at least, Haiphong and Ho Chi Minh City. I am also pleased to have the agreement of the respective Chairmen of the People’s Committees to join me in hosting the high level NT trade and investment forums in those cities in March 2014.
As I said at the start of my statement, the future of northern Australia is intrinsically linked to the growth of Asia. Having visited Japan again and undertaken my inaugural visit to China and Vietnam, I am more convinced of this than ever.
I acknowledge previous Northern Territory governments for their efforts to build our links with Asia. However, the priority of my government is to convert the many trade and investment opportunities that exist in the Northern Territory into reality – promotion into product. This includes securing investment in new infrastructure such as ports and energy pipelines, agricultural developments for our regions, tourism and property development, as well as new mining and energy developments.
We are currently developing a new whole-of-government Asian engagement, trade and investment strategy that will outline the priority markets and sectors that will shape our engagement and map out a tailored and targeted approach to converting our pipeline of opportunities into real trade and investment. I would welcome bipartisan support for this approach in its implementation, a concept that has already been recently canvassed with the shadow minister for Asian Engagement and Trade.
I have already acknowledged the contribution of my ministerial colleagues and local Territorians to making this visit to Japan, China and Vietnam a success. Let me also thank my chief of staff, Ron Kelly, for his great support. I also pay tribute to those officers of the Northern Territory Public Sector for laying the foundation for the visits. I acknowledge the CEO of my department, Mr Gary Barnes; the CEO of the Department of Education, Mr Ken Davies; and the CEO of Tourism NT, Mr Tony Mayell, for all providing invaluable support to me and to ministers.
Finally and definitely not least, I thank the hardworking team of the Office of Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment for constructing, facilitating and delivering an impressive and intensive program across three countries. A special thanks to Mr Brian O’Gallagher, Managing Director, who accompanied me on the whole visit, Mr Kevin Fong who assisted in both Japan and China, and Mr Tai Tuong who assisted in Vietnam. This was definitely what we term a 100% effort from team NT.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Mr Deputy Speaker, there is no more important issue than the social and economic development of the Northern Territory. I congratulate the Chief Minister for taking the time and making the effort to visit Asia. I know sometimes people say it is a junket. It is not, because you work so hard that when you return, you are exhausted. You are travelling to three or four countries in a week, it is a big effort, and our engagement and trade with Asia is about jobs, education, opportunity for business industry and strong and productive relationships with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
After all, if you look at the map we are closer to Jakarta and Singapore than Hobart or Canberra, which is sometimes a blessing. We have no objection to the CLP government building on our legacy of trade and engagement with the countries to our north, but the government’s policy and activities must be based on clearly defined strategies which underpin opportunities for our engagement and trade with the dynamic economies in our region. Just going there will not provide any opportunities for Territorians. Going there with a well-prepared plan, to meet the right people in the right places and having the right negotiations can do a lot for the Northern Territory. You need leadership. Travelling can accumulate flying points, but unless you have leadership, nothing will happen.
I learned recently during a department briefing, to my surprise, that despite all the rhetoric about Asia and travel to Asia, the CLP government does not have a documented international trade strategy. We are going to Asia, but we do not really have a plan of what we are going to do in Asia, what we want to achieve, and how we are going to achieve it.
I understand the Chief Minister confirmed the government had no strategy during his State of the Territory address to the Property Council last week. Given the number of times Asian Engagement and Trade has moved in and out of the Chief Minister’s department, we understand why progress is so slow. The only ones who seem to make money from it are the removal companies.
Asian engagement and development opportunities are the Territory’s key and emerging trading opportunities. Our trading partners in Asia want to work with us. The question is: do we really want to work with them?
In consultation with business, industry, government agencies, NGOs and our multicultural communities, we developed a five-year international trade strategy which positioned the Territory for a bright future. In the year to April 2009, Northern Territory exports grew by 57.3%. That did not happen by accident; it happened because of the hard work, the hard yakka, we put in to promote the Territory as a source of things Asia wanted.
In the same year, the Territory’s goods trade surplus grew by $500m to $2.1bn. Our trade strategy was based on the Territory’s core strengths, proximity to key markets in the Asia- Pacific region and the ongoing development of the Australasia Trade Route. The strategy focused on three key international markets and five emerging markets. I was very disappointed to hear the Chief Minister say the Territory government lost the plot in the past 10 years. No, Chief Minister, it did not. The Northern Territory Labor government led the way to Asia, not only to Indonesia, but to Malaysia, East Timor, Singapore, China, Korea and Japan. If he had the opportunity to meet some of these trading partners, it is because we put the foundations in place. If you had a chance to meet with the China Development Bank, Chief Minister, it is because the Labor government signed a memorandum of cooperation with the China Development Bank. They came here and consulted with us many times. It was this Labor government which developed strong links with China to the effect that the Chinese Ambassador and the then Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, signed an agreement for the Chinese Ambassador to have an annual briefing from our government with regard to our relationship with China and the opportunities for the Territory in China.
As a matter of fact, I travelled to China 14 times, once as minister for Tourism and the rest as minister for Resources. I went to Indonesia four, five, or six times, twice to East Timor, once to Vietnam, four times to Malaysia, and I do not know how many times to Singapore. They were not holidays or junkets. It was hard work, repeatedly meeting people to develop these strong relationships that made the Territory the number one exporter to Asia.
China is our number one trade partner. That happened through all the repeat visits made by the department and government officials to China, promoting the Territory. The same happened with Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. As a matter of fact, because of our trips to Singapore, Singapore imported sand from the Territory for the reclamation plan they had in place.
Five strategic, emerging markets that were identified were: Vietnam, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. That delivered us the $30bn Ichthys project. We launched the China mineral investment strategy and we brought numerous Chinese companies here that now do exploration and mining. We are exporting mineral resources to China.
We have supported the live beef trade to Indonesia and Vietnam, and it was with great sadness that I found out a few minutes ago that the minister for Trade in Indonesia has announced they are looking to cut the import of live cattle from Australia and are looking for other markets. I attribute that to the recent spy scandal.
We made substantial investment infrastructure at the East Arm Port and Darwin Business Park. We established a Timor-Leste Northern Territory Ministerial Council. We developed Tourism NT’s Asian Gateway Strategy. We promoted Indigenous art. As a minister for Tourism I went to Beijing and met with executives of CCTV Nine. They came to the Territory and made a documentary about Indigenous arts and Indigenous culture that was screened in China. Seven hundred million people saw that documentary. On the plane back to Australia, when I picked up the in-flight magazine, there was a big article about Indigenous art and Indigenous culture based on the CCTV Nine documentary.
Indigenous art sells in China; Indigenous culture sells in China, and I was very disappointed to hear the member for Greatorex, as Minister for Tourism, discard Indigenous culture – it is not selling anymore. My experience from the Chinese people I know, the Chinese friends I have, is that if they come to Australia, they do not want to go shopping. They want to see Uluru and experience, firsthand, Aboriginal culture, art and paintings. That would be the emerging market in China for the Northern Territory.
The CLP has done a lot of travel. Many ministers have gone here and there, some of them in queen’s class rather than business class, but what have they achieved? Have we seen anything new? The only thing we have seen in Resources is a decline in the amount of exploration. Just a quick look in the NT News – I recall the days when we had two and three pages of exploration application announcements. In the past few months, I have seen one in the NT News and one in the Centralian Advocate.
It takes more than just a trip, and the minister for Primary Industry might have to travel a bit more in the near future, especially to Indonesia, if the news that came through the ABC about cutting the importation of cattle to Indonesia from Australia is true.
I also encourage the minister to spend more time meeting people repeatedly, because in China, the first time you meet it is okay, the second time it is okay, the third time you really start getting to know people and they get to know you. You need repeated visits and repeated meetings with the same people to establish a relationship.
Their culture is different to ours. Every group of people has different ideas and different customs. The Chinese do not trust you unless they get to know you, and to get to know you needs more than one visit.
The CLP has to fight its own partners in Canberra, its old friends. What we have seen recently from the Prime Minister and the Foreign minister is clearly not very clever. The Territory and Territorians and politicians from both sides understand our relationship with Indonesia better than our counterparts in Canberra. The member for Blain went to Jakarta, and from Jakarta, because he realised the potential for damage the current diplomatic stoush has for Australia and particularly the Territory. He called on our Chief Minister to urge the Prime Minister to apologise for what happened. We have to remember these things are not political, Labor or Liberal. Spying has been going on for a long time. It happened in the Labor days, in the Howard days, and I recall very well, during the Timor emergency, Australia secretly had troops in East Timor, which was revealed recently. I recall very well that in 2005 a spy scandal emerged.
It would be wise for the Prime Minister to apologise. If the President of the United States apologised to the Chancellor of Germany for spying on her phone, I think the Prime Minister would be wise to apologise and avert any further deterioration in the Indonesian-Australian relationship.
We will not disagree with the Country Liberals travelling to Asia, but we want to see results. Going there, having nice photographs and press releases and coming back with accumulated frequent flyer points is not a good result for Territorians. What we want to see is people going there, establishing relationships and coming back with some tangible benefits for Territorians. The minister for Resources goes there and comes back, not with a bunch of photographs and press releases, but some real investors in the Territory. We will support and encourage travel to Asia. Asia has the potential to be the biggest customer for most commodities we produce in the Territory. The minister for Primary Industry talks about the food bowl of Asia. That will not happen unless we develop strong links with the appropriate persons, companies and investors in Asia.
We must have a plan, a vision. I talked earlier about tourism and the lack of vision in tourism. We talk about trying to bring airlines here. We can bring people here, but if there is nowhere to stay, these people will never come back and will tell others not to come here. We need a comprehensive approach to tourism. I saw the recent publication, Tourism Vision 2020. I have looked at it. It is quite good; it is very similar to what we had before, the one I put out in 2007 for 2007-12. Obviously the department writes similar things because that is the right thing to do. Here, however, we are talking about a different approach to attract people, to work with the industry to find innovative ways of promoting the Territory – some of this is like Tourism Vision 2020. I speak about it in my response to travel to Asia because Asia is the future of tourism for the Northern Territory.
Yes, we might talk about rich tourists. The reality is, people from the United States will not come here because it takes so long to come here and go back, and they have such a short period of annual holidays they think twice before they come here. Europe – you might as well forget it. After the global financial crisis, southern Europe is impossible. The English are reluctant to travel to Australia unless they come for work. The Irish will come here mainly for work. Scandinavia has found different markets now, cheaper markets in the Middle East and Asia.
Our target for tourism is Asia. If a small percentage of the Chinese who visit Australia come to the Territory, we will be doing very well. As I said to you before, we have to target our product to what the customer wants, not what the minister thinks is the right thing to do.
I again welcome the statement about relationships with Asia, but we need more than that. We need a comprehensive plan to engage our neighbours. We need a comprehensive plan about Asian trade relationships. We need a plan to avoid problems when they arise between Australia and southeast Asia. It is not only about travelling and having nice pictures in nice places, it is about developing a comprehensive plan on how to engage with Asia and make sure it knows about the Territory and what the Territory has to offer.
Mr STYLES (Transport): Mr Deputy Speaker, I have a couple of things I would like to contribute to this debate, but before I do, I will comment on a couple of things the member for Casuarina said in relation to tourism. He lectured us, saying that for tourism it is great – we understand that – and he then said there is nowhere to stay. It is a bit hypocritical when we inherited one of the worst housing crises ever seen in this country due to the lack of land release. Here we go, we lead with the chin again. Due to the lack of land release, we do not have sufficient housing on the go. We do not have sufficient land ready to meet the demand.
I remember, when I first came into this parliament in 2008, saying time and time again to the then Chief Minister, ‘We have an issue here. You need to release more land.’ People were telling me they were struggling to get land to do this sort of stuff. As a consequence, we have the Ichthys project up and running. We have not even seen the worst of it yet, but its staff are taking up hotel rooms that could be filled with tourists.
The member for Casuarina then said we have no plan, we just go on lots of holidays and things like that. I am hoping that is not what the member for Casuarina did when he was overseas trying to promote the Territory, because if he thinks they are holidays – he had a few – he is in for a rude awakening when he finds out what really has to happen on those trips. He should just get down to the facts on what you have to do over there. He knows it. We know it. They are hard work.
I support the Chief Minister’s statement. Sadly, the Chief Minister could not go to a recent event in Indonesia so I went on his behalf. It was the World Hakka Conference. The World Hakka Conference might not sound very much, but there were 5500 key Chinese business people from around the world present in the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, at the Expo Centre. It was fascinating to walk into the room and find you are the only European person with 5500 Chinese people. Going there created quite an amount of interest. We spoke at the conference; I was one of the seven initial speakers, and to be the only European person in a sea of Asian faces created quite a stir. In fact, everyone in the room wanted to know what I was doing there. I was the only politician from Australia who had been to one of these conferences in years.
It was very challenging to present the Territory’s case, but we did it in English. I could not speak much Mandarin, but we had some people interpret for us and we presented the case for the Northern Territory. I was overwhelmed with people wanting to know more about the Territory after I had painted the picture that we are open for business, a picture that there is now a government in the Northern Territory which is very supportive of investment, and very supportive of bringing their people, their expertise and whatever they can do to add to the Australian economy.
The President of Indonesia was there with his entourage. Sadly, I did not get to meet the president, because there were 5500 other people in the line and you had to take a ticket and get in the queue. There was not enough time, but it was fascinating.
A few months ago, before this trip, I was in Singapore for another economic development tour. That was also a fascinating tour. The Chief Minister has been on the same tour of Jurong Park, but I will get to that in a moment.
As a side trip, I ducked across to Jakarta to support a delegation from the Northern Territory which had gone there in an effort to seek support for a planning conference in Darwin next year. As a result, we have a planning conference happening next year. This is about getting architects, town planners, and anyone with an interest in planning cities – the topic is healthy tropical cities – to visit the Northern Territory next year and discuss how we might plan the city of Darwin as a tropical city and how we might progress …
Mr Vatskalis: We cannot. Water is too expensive.
Mr STYLES: What was that interjection?
Mr Vatskalis: You have increased water charges so we cannot have a tropical city, it will be dry. Remember the power and water charges?
Mr STYLES: They will come to the city, to plan it, to ensure we do not run into similar problems they may have in cities in Indonesia. It was a fascinating day we spent with these people discussing some of those issues and trying to put the conference together. I am glad to say we were successful in getting that planning conference to Darwin next year.
Trips to Jakarta have been very successful. The trip in relation to the Hakka Conference, apart from being very informative and able to paint a picture of Darwin, resulted in us having a Hakka Conference next year. I am proud to announce that as a result of that trip, we now have a Hakka Conference. I do not know if it will have 5500 people because the member for Casuarina is right, we do not have enough rooms to accommodate 5500 people in Darwin. We will have a smaller version, courtesy of much work done by me with these people, and credit to the Darwin Hakka Association, which was represented in Jakarta by Mr Henry Yap. Together, we successfully convinced many of those people to come. On his return, we have met with the Hakka community and its committee for its community group. It was very supportive of the idea, and the date has been set as 26 April next year. We look forward to that.
In Singapore, we followed the Chief Minister’s lead to look at some of the development there and how we might get some of that here, and to go along with the mantra of the CLP government that we are open for business.
When you go through Southeast Asia – I agree with other speakers on this topic – you see that Southeast Asia is where much of our future is, and Asia in general, from Japan through to China, across to India and down through Southeast Asia. We have been sending that message out and, as a result, the number of enquiries coming through is remarkable. Business confidence in the Territory is at its highest. We will see 5% growth this year and 7.5% growth next year, according to the forecasts. This is fabulous news for the Territory, Territory families, and Territory people who are looking for a job. When you look at the results of some of those inquiries, we are ramping up housing. You can see cranes in the sky to get commercial business premises and units built. We are desperately trying to catch up to fix the legacy we were left by the previous government in relation to the housing shortage.
Open for business is that mantra. I was in Singapore for this trip, and one night I was sitting with some friends who brought along a group of people who are serious investors. They invest in all sorts of petrochemical plants. It is amazing. The word is out there that we are open for business. They want to know what we are doing, what our plans are, what options there are and what opportunities there are. As a result of some of those discussions, I am excited. Today, I think about the things that are coming down the pipeline and it is very easy to be excited for the future of the Territory. We have our challenges as a result of the legacies we have been left, but we were wise to those challenges and will fix many of those issues. It may take us some time, but we will get to them.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the Chief Minister for travelling. They say that travel broadens the mind, and it does. It gives an opportunity to sell the Northern Territory, to get people interested, to tell them what we are able to do and what we have here. It is also an opportunity to give them an idea of the opportunities for development, the investment opportunities, and the opportunities for partnerships, direct foreign investments, for boot operations. We will look at anything they want to do and, provided it fits in with federal legislation, we will look very carefully at giving them the opportunity to invest in our future. I commend the Chief Minister and my colleagues for travelling, both Cabinet members and backbenchers, for seeking investment and people to help us to build the Territory and our future. I commend the motion.
Ms LAWRIE (Opposition Leader): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the Chief Minister, not for the motion before us, but the statement he brought to the Chamber which we are debating. It is an important statement because it is about his recent visit to our important trading partners of Japan, China and, of course, Vietnam.
There are some aspects of the statement we are keen to support, particularly the continuing relationships with these crucial trading partners and the opportunities that still lie ahead of us in realising greater investment in the Territory which, of course, particularly supports the emergence of regional economic development. I welcome those aspects of the statement.
I am disappointed, though, as the Chief Minister still seems to be stuck in a somewhat dogmatic, petty, domestic political way of approaching these statements, rather than rising to the occasion of what you would normally expect a statement from a Chief Minister to be. There is a disappointment there, and I hope for the sake of the Territory he can get beyond a domestic political partisan view and understand when it comes to the opportunities for trade relationships between Japan, China and Vietnam, there is bipartisan support in the Northern Territory for those trade opportunities.
When I say bipartisan support, actions always speak louder than words. I recognise the previous work done over a decade of a Labor government, where we secured the largest investment by Japan in Australia with the all-important Ichthys project, the $34bn oil and gas project that is a partnership with Total from France. That took many years. A lot of hard work commenced under Chief Minister Clare Martin, continued under Chief Minister Paul Henderson, and delivered with a final investment decision in January of last year. It was an incredibly exciting time and a real game changer for the Northern Territory.
In those relationships it was crucial to nurture an environment of certainty and trust. I was fortunate enough to be the Deputy Chief Minister for five years and nurtured that relationship in my role as Treasurer. I worked closely with INPEX and its partner Total and had to visit Japan in that role to engage with the ministry for Energy there, METI, to ensure that INPEX was doing the right thing as a corporate citizen in the Territory in pursuing that all-important project. That was before a final investment decision, engaging with INPEX itself, and with JGC, which was positioning ifself to be the prime contractor. However, in time, we ended up with JGC linking with two other companies to create JKC, which is now the prime contractor to deliver that all-important construction project. I do want to mention Chiyoda in that relationship because it is an important emerging relationship as a corporate coming into the Northern Territory, with the potential of understanding that all-important workforce in Korea and what can happen there, but that is an aside.
I go to the need to nurture relationships, because on this side of the Chamber we will not be churlish about government ministers travelling into Asia. Of course you need to do that. We will raise our eyebrows when it takes three of you to go on one trip; that is, perhaps, a little excessive. We have seen some excessive actions. For example, the Treasurer decided to take a private jet rather than travel on commercial airlines.
Speaking of commercial airlines, I will definitely be taking that all-important air link, Malaysia Airlines, when I travel to Japan at the invitation of INPEX in just two weeks’ time to continue my close relationship with Kuroda-san, who is the head of INPEX, and his successor coming through, Kitamura-san. I have enjoyed cordial and strong relationships with both of those two very important men in INPEX. I will be catching up with people I have seen, particularly around final investment decision time, in terms of other companies but also investors. I acknowledge the contribution of the Chief Minister in recognising the opportunities of investors such as Mitsubishi and Mitsui. These are significant investment opportunities
But I will provide a word of caution: do not oversell what you do not have to sell. I was concerned when I heard, at the Property Council luncheon, the Chief Minister say that Mitsubishi, the great investor, is coming to the Northern Territory. I was pleased to hear that but I was then concerned to hear him say, ‘It is okay, they are coming to Ngukkur to look at agribusiness opportunities with the traditional owners’. On first glance, that sounds like a fine thing to do. However, if you go into the details and practicalities of that you have to ask the question, what water rights do the traditional owners of Ngukurr hold to be able to consider large scale agribusiness opportunities, given they were cut out of water allocation rights by the arbitrary removal of the special Indigenous reserves? Here we have the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory pitching to major Japanese investor, Mitsubishi, that it could come to Ngukurr and look at the opportunities for large scale agricultural business, when the traditional owners of Ngukurr, whilst they may have ambitions in that regard, do not have access to a water allocation that would yield a large scale agribusiness opportunity. I see two problems in that scenario. One is, are you going to ultimately disappoint a major Japanese investor because you do not have the detail in place around the proposal. The second is, would you ultimately disappoint the traditional owners of Ngukurr because you have oversold a potential opportunity when you had already removed a special Indigenous reserve right to water?
I raise this as a concern because I spent more than four years living and working in Hong Kong before I became a member of parliament. In four years, I specialised in Southeast Asian geopolitics, but also in business. Working out of the South China Morning Post, across the desk, you deal with the business of Asia. The reality is that business works in a developed nation like Australia, and the Northern Territory, when you do not oversell, when you are genuine and honest about what you have to offer.
An example of that is the work that we did through the resources agency, when we were in government, to identify what mineral exploration opportunities existed in the Northern Territory and which companies were, at that time, in an exploration phase. We would contact the companies and say, ‘Are you interested in foreign investment?’ from, for example, China or Japan. If they said yes, they were on the list, in the prospectus and were handed over as detail to the potential foreign investment companies, including, as you have heard, the Bank of China.
We did that because it has to be evidence based when you are doing business with Asia. Do not try to sell the proverbial pup. Do not oversell because you create an environment of mistrust, and once you create an environment of mistrust, it is very difficult to come back from that.
My word of caution to the ministers of this government is to go in with a very clear knowledge of the detail of what you have to offer to the investment companies, with no whimsy or flights of fancy but genuine hard work of gathering the information and knowing you are ultimately able to deliver what you are offering.
When the Northern Territory government, under Labor, pursued the Ichthys project, everyone, including the now government, thought we were chasing a pipedream. They did not think it could be delivered here because of the vast difference between Darwin and the Browse Basin field in which Ichthys sits. We doggedly pursued it, based on fact, knowing that when we offered a project to be delivered here, we had done our homework, from the project development certainty of the legislation we introduced into parliament, to the prospectus, to understanding the opportunities around Blaydin Point where, of course, the onshore component of the project has landed. You have to go in well prepared and fully cognisant of what you truly have to offer, what you are able to deliver as a government and what you are beholden to in terms of other parties needing to deliver. I am starting to hear a bit of a cowboy approach from this government towards Asian relations and engagement. I have no issue whatsoever with ambition. I have no issue whatsoever with pursuing opportunities for the Northern Territory and our key trading partners, but I do have issue with overselling something that is not ready to be sold.
I will use another example. I have used the Ngukurr example, and I am really concerned about that and would like to hear more information from the Chief Minister about exactly what he has committed to in terms of Mitsubishi and the opportunities for agribusiness in Ngukurr. I am very interested in exactly what is being offered, because I know the traditional owners in Ngukurr do not have water rights.
Set that aside. The other opportunity the Chief Minister hung his hat on at the Property Council luncheon was the issue of the potential for the live export of buffalo into Vietnam. Chief Minister, can you understand there are many logistics to put in place when you venture into new markets? You have to understand that the regulatory environments we are trying to bed down in live beef trade into Vietnam are not fully there. The Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the feed lots in Vietnam indicate that a lot of work has occurred. A lot of effort has been packed into developing that emerging market of Vietnam for the live beef cattle trade. To now flip to the idea you will create a buffalo trade there because it sounds good and looks good is biting off a whole host of issues that you have not yet done a true logistics analysis of. My concern is if you try to move too swiftly with your promises – we have already heard that the Chief Minister got a sense of that when people started saying, ‘Well, sure, we will take our first shipment of 5000’. He is starting to say, ‘Let us look at numbers’. Do not be a used car salesperson in Vietnam, China or Japan. Know exactly what, logistically, you are able to deliver. Prepare. Have a genuine understanding of the detail around these proposals, because if you oversell the Northern Territory, you damage our reputation.
I say ‘our reputation’ collectively because we have all earned good standing in Asia. Former Country Liberals Chief Minister, Shane Stone, and former Asian Relations and Engagement minister, Daryl Manzie, have good reputations in Asia. Good reputations in Asia continued through the Labor years too, despite what this Chief Minister would have us believe. Through Clare Martin, Paul Henderson, my colleague, Kon Vatskalis, and through the work I have done in my portfolios, we have been able to maintain confidence in the Northern Territory because we did not behave like cowboys. I am really concerned that some of the language starting to creep in from the current Chief Minister is over-stretching the hand of the Northern Territory and, therefore, we will ultimately be in all sorts of strife when it comes time to deliver to our Asian trading partners.
It is a note of caution I wanted to sound given what I heard from the Chief Minister at the Property Council luncheon on Friday. It is really important we stay consistent. By all means, the CLP will have its own set of policies for international trade. You will have your own views on which markets you prioritise for the opportunities. You will have your own sets of delegations. Not surprisingly, most of your business delegations include the same business people we took on our delegations because they are the right people to take with the right connections. You will have your own strategies, but try to be above petty domestic politics and understand Asia responds well to consistency where you are providing that environment of certainty.
I will go back to the importance of the word ‘certainty’, because when Kuroda-san was asked at the final investment decision media conference on the Ichthys project as to why they chose Darwin, he said, ‘certainty’. That is because when we first started our discussions with INPEX, to when the final investment decision was signed off, we did not change. We did not put a new element into the mix of the negotiations and discussions. We knew, and had done our assessments before we commenced pursuing that project, what we were capable of delivering and who else had to deliver different elements of it. We never changed or altered. That provided certainty in landing it within the time line at a location such as Blaydin Point.
Once you start to mix around your international trade strategy because you want to put your own hallmark on it, and you put a different flavour and style to it, that can be viewed in Asia with some degree of, ‘Why are things changing? We liked what you had to offer before. Surely you still have that to offer?’ Whether it is your onshore and offshore resources, whether it is your agribusiness and tourism opportunities, just a word of caution about wanting to change too dramatically what has been bedded in international trade strategies which grew out of the work done during the Shane Stone era by the former Country Liberals government, enhanced by the work of the Labor government under Clare Martin and Paul Henderson.
We all have our role to play in being ambassadors for the Northern Territory and understanding it is not about whether you are CLP or Labor, it is about the fact we are, and have been, consistently genuine about wanting to do business and trade with Asia, and understanding the importance of those social and cultural links. I cannot underestimate the importance of those social and cultural links.
As a former Sports minister who went through Malaysia and into Vietnam to talk up the opportunities around the Arafura Games, I am very aware it gave us a unique entre into southeast Asia particularly, but into Asia more broadly in our cultural and sporting relationship. The games were changed and altered over the years. There was feedback from the heads of delegations to identify what best met the sporting needs of the countries that came to Darwin. They were used as a developmental games for their athletes. To arbitrarily have axed them, as occurred, was a big mistake. To not be engaged, very clearly right now, in what should occur to enhance a new form of Arafura Games is an even bigger mistake. However, I only hear silence from the CLP around the Arafura Games and I am really concerned.
That is partly why I am making sure I use Malaysia Airlines air links into Kuala Lumpur when I go to Tokyo to meet with INPEX and others. In Malaysia we have an exciting opportunity with this air link, the tourism opportunity, and the all-important business class investor air link into and out of Kuala Lumpur and Darwin. I am going with a very open mind about what that will provide, but I have no doubt, knowing the great nation of Malaysia as well as I do, having spent a fair amount of the 1970s in and out of there, having been in Hong Kong and gone in and out of Malaysia – it is a real power house in that southeast Asian region. With the Malaysia Airlines air links, it is a very exciting time between us and that strategic neighbour.
If you listen to the CLP, Malaysia Airlines magically came here because the CLP was elected to government. That is not the case. It took a long, hard haul of consistent lobbying from Labor when we were in government, coupled with business in the tourism sector going to Malaysia Airlines and pitching the case which, obviously, landed a great opportunity with the Ichthys project. Malaysia Airlines saw the business links and opportunities and took that all-important next step. No one party can claim that air link, but what we can all recognise is it does open up quite significant opportunities in our Asian gateway strategy.
The government needs to be more cognisant of the China minerals investment strategy. We heard the former Resources minister, the member for Casuarina, talk about the decline he is starting to see in exploration advertisements occurring in the NT News. I also find that concerning. I am interested to hear from the Resources minister specifically what they are doing in that regard. Obviously, we have opportunities around continuing the work which has been done building off that engagement strategy ...
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I ask that the member be given an extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, members, for the extension of time.
We have grown very strong connections with provinces within China through the China minerals investment strategy. One of the things I am very interested in pursuing is that all-important emerging tourism market in China. I see southern China as the next major market for us to go after. When I was the Treasurer, I was very keen to ensure we developed a very strong tourism focus on pitching into southern China. I am still convinced of the opportunities around air links into southern China, whether it is to those power houses of Shanghai, Guangzhou or Hong Kong. I will be looking at opportunities around that in the New Year.
I acknowledge the work that has been done by my predecessors, leaders of the Labor Party, in the relationship with Timor-Leste. I have been a very strong advocate for Timor-Leste as a member of parliament with a constituency in which there are a large number of Timorese people. I have never had the opportunity to go to Timor-Leste; I have been the one to stay behind and do the work when other ministerial delegations were going. I will put on notice that I am getting there as soon as I can into the first quarter of next year. I look forward to the opportunity of Timor-Leste relationships I have had onshore here and enjoyed at very senior levels being established offshore over in Timor-Leste.
I want to touch on Indonesia. It is such an important neighbour to us, and we have such an enduring and dear friendship with Indonesia. Many of us feel a growing sadness, ever present, as we watch the unfolding scandal continue, rather than be appeased. News today that there is a potential threat on trade is not welcome. I urge all parties to do everything they can to show the appeasement and respect required to get the relationship back on a much stronger footing.
I thank the member for Blain for joining with the Territory opposition in calling for an apology to be made to the President and his wife. It is appropriate that an apology occur. I hope the Chief Minister is having conversations with the Prime Minister about the importance of an apology, even if he is not doing it on the public record. He needs to at least plead the Territory’s case in conversations with the Prime Minister. It is sometimes easier to get on with the job when you have made a symbolic gesture. A sincere apology would be very symbolic as a circuit breaker in the current impasse in the relationship between our nation and our most important neighbour in Indonesia.
My thanks go to Ade Padmo Sarwono, the Indonesian Consul in the Northern Territory, for the generosity of spirit which he has shown all of us. He has extended the opportunities of business, cultural tourism and education links between Indonesia and its provinces that are close to us, particularly the Northern Territory. I know Garuda was due to be here this week in regard to some significant announcements. That may not be happening given what is occurring in the relationship between Indonesia and Australia, and that is a deep shame. Many of us have worked for a very long time to see the opportunity of Garuda flying in and out of Darwin again. If it could establish a direct link to Jakarta, it would be awesome. Jakarta would be fantastic but we will take Bali or Lombok which have terrific airports as well. We would just love to see Garuda flying in our skies again.
Chief Minister, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the statement. I hope you are able to grasp the importance of the role of Chief Minister and the consistency of the relationship between us and our major trading partners. I hope you see that we have some long-term strategic interests across just not Japan, China and Indonesia but also those all-important emerging markets of Vietnam, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. I hope you grasp the opportunity of singing loud and clear that it is bipartisan in the Northern Territory. It does not matter who is the government of the day. We all hold very dear and near to us the opportunities that arise out of the Territory being the true gateway to Asia, the resources we have and the investment we need from those great trading nations. Thank you for providing the opportunity to contribute to this debate by bringing a statement forward to the Chamber today.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Mr Deputy Speaker, I wish to support the Chief Minister’s statement on the outcomes of his recent visit to Japan, China and Vietnam, and I take this opportunity to provide the House with a report on a trip I undertook at roughly the same time, which included Japan, China and South Korea.
In late October to early November, I led delegations to China, South Korea and Japan to promote business investment opportunities for the Northern Territory’s pastoral, agricultural and mining industries, to help establish additional markets for local agricultural and horticultural products, and promote opportunities for investment in Northern Territory minerals and energy projects.
The Northern Territory is well placed to play a role in meeting the growing demands for food and resources from Asia, but we have to act now to take advantage of these opportunities. Later today I will deliver a ministerial statement to parliament which will outline, in detail, how this government will take advantage of the emerging opportunities for trade and investment for Territory producers, particularly as they relate to the primary industry sector.
Ministerial trips such as these are a vital element in identifying and pursuing trade opportunities, strengthening existing ties and establishing relationships. I take on board the gratuitous advice from both the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Casuarina, who talked up the need for these types of relationships to be built over time and with regular visits to those Asian trading neighbours that are so close to the very important and strategic port of Darwin.
In saying that, I acknowledge that prior to 2001, which is when the Labor government would like us all to believe the world began, there was a CLP government that worked tirelessly in the Asian region to promote those trade and investment opportunities with trading partners such as Indonesia. The good work of previous governments – plural – should well be touted in this House as the foundation stone of the relationships that we now have. The member for Casuarina often gets a bit cute, saying the Labor government is the beholder of all the relationship-building exercises that have occurred between the Northern Territory government and our Asian neighbours since 2001. According to him, nothing happened before that, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The current Country Liberals government is simply following the lead of the former CLP government in continuing to build these relationships with our vital trading partners to our north. It does not take a brain surgeon to figure out just how important these relationships are. While I thank the members of the opposition for their gratuitous advice, we certainly do not need their advice in this space. The energy being displayed by this Country Liberals government in attending to those matters with our trading partners to the north in Asia is going very well. Thank you to the members of the opposition, but I will leave it at that.
Ministerial trips such as these are a vital element in identifying and pursuing trade opportunities, strengthening existing ties and establishing relationships. However, it is worth noting that this is the first time in over a decade a Northern Territory Resources minister has visited Japan. During the latter part of my trip, I took the opportunity to lead a separate Northern Territory agricultural industry delegation to China to promote opportunities for Chinese investment in NT agriculture and to build on engagement with government and industry. Throughout the trip, a number of high-level meetings were held in order to maintain the Northern Territory’s profile and credibility as an exploration investment destination and to communicate this government’s willingness to be a trusted long-term and stable supplier of resources to South Korea, Japan and China.
These meetings were also an opportunity in which Territory exploration companies could identify and directly access potential investors, as well as raise the Territory’s profile as an exciting jurisdiction for onshore oil and gas exploration and renewable energy developments.
The delegation to promote opportunities for investment in NT minerals and energy projects included six members from my Department of Mines and Energy, representatives from four exploration companies and one service provider. In particular, I am excited about the successful meetings the delegation and I held with the following organisations: the Korean Resources Corporation, or KORES, the state-owned enterprise whose purpose is to secure the minerals needed to sustain South Korea’s economy; Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, JOGMEC, the Japanese government agency whose role is to ensure a stable supply of metal, oil and gas resources needed for Japan’s industry; ITOCHU corporation, a large Japanese trading house with interests in a wide range of minerals, energy and chemical investments; and, of course, INPEX, the major investor in and operator of the Ichthys LNG project. It was terrific to be hosted by the INPEX executives and it was terrific to catch up with Chairman Kuroda while I was there.
We moved on to China and met with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, or CCPIT; the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters, or CCCMC, the China Mining Association, the peak body representing China’s exploration and mining companies and the organiser of the China Mining Congress. I also met with The National Development and Reform Commission, or NDRC, which is a super ministry within the Chinese government with broad administrative and planning control over the Chinese economy that provides all large foreign investments by Chinese state-owned enterprises. This was a very significant meeting as it is the gatekeeper for Chinese foreign investment. I stand to be corrected, but I believe that was the first time a Northern Territory minister was able to meet with the NDRC. We are very pleased we were able to get in at such a high level.
We also met with China’s Ministry of Commerce, which approves all large foreign investment by state-owned enterprises. I met with the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Baosteel Resources, a Chinese state-owned enterprise which is the world’s second largest steel producer. Our message was simple: the NT is open for business and we welcome foreign investment into our minerals and energy sector. The Northern Territory government is committed to providing a responsible, investment-friendly regulatory regime for companies wanting to invest here.
For the second consecutive year, I was the only state or territory minister from Australia to attend the China Mining Congress in Tianjin, one of the world’s largest mining and exploration conferences. It was a delight to meet and speak with the new Industry minister for the Australian government, Ian Macfarlane, who addressed the conference. At the risk of sounding a little parochial, I should say, by far and away, Minister Macfarlane’s address to the conference was the most inspiring of the representations from foreign countries.
I was the only state or territory minister from Australia to attend the Melbourne Mining Club dinner in Beijing. One of the highlights of this trip was a tour of one of the bulk commodity precincts at the port of Tianjin to see firsthand the scale of China’s consumption of Australia’s mineral resources. The port is China’s second largest and employs around 40 000 people, has over 200 terminals and, so far this calendar year, has seen over 500 million tonnes of bulk commodities come through it. There were three iron ore ships in port when I was there, loaded with Australian iron ore. It was a pleasure to be on the port of Tianjin, watching Australian iron ore being unloaded from those ships to make its way into the burgeoning economy of China.
Despite short-term economic challenges, South Korea will need to secure offshore minerals and energy resources in the long term. As such, South Korea remains very interested in growing its investment and trade relationship with the NT. It is worth noting another first, in that it is the first time an NT Minister for Mines and Energy has visited South Korea.
I want to place on record that the recent delegation I lead across to those countries was a groundbreaking one. Thanks to the opposition for the gratuitous advice, but we are seriously switched on to enhancing and growing the investment opportunities that lie to our north in Asia. It just makes sense. There are huge growing economies such as China with a rabid demand for minerals, energy and food going into the future, with Australia well-positioned strategically to those Asian countries, and we have many of the resources they need.
Darwin is the closest Australian capital city to all those Asian countries. It makes perfect sense for Darwin to be the centre of the universe when it comes to the development of our north as we grow into Asia and continue to form those long-term trade relationships.
The INPEX decision to build the Ichthys LNG plant in Darwin has increased the profile of the Northern Territory as an investment destination for Japanese companies. Japanese trading houses are also interested in the Northern Territory’s mineral projects and wanted to hear about the NT’s emerging onshore oil and gas sector which has the potential to boost Japan’s energy security into the long term.
It is clear that China must continue to invest overseas to secure the mineral resources it needs. It is recognised that a better understanding of overseas legal, regulatory, cultural and social environments is needed before investing. This provides an opportunity for the Northern Territory to increase education efforts to potential investors. During my meeting with the China Mining Association, we made significant ground in forming a position whereby China can work with the Northern Territory Department of Mines and Energy to form a better understanding of the cultural, social and regulatory environment in the Northern Territory to better facilitate investments they wish to have here. We will be working very closely with the China Mining Association to pursue that because we see the value in the Northern Territory maintaining a competitive edge over the other jurisdictions of Australia when it comes to attracting investments from those overseas countries.
Overall, the delegation enabled the four participating exploration companies to promote their products to hundreds of potential investors across five cities in three countries. Officers from my Department of Mines and Energy also organised separate meetings for the exploration companies. In conjunction with Austrade, the department undertook significant forward planning to identity high-quality potential investors for the explorers to meet with in each company. The feedback from explorers has been very positive. In fact, I will go as far as to say that a number of those companies we took with us are absolutely delighted with the way the delegation performed, the meetings we had, the quality of the meetings and the seniority of the people with whom we could arrange those meetings. The trip was outstanding.
While in Japan, I represented Australia at the Minerals Australia investment seminar held at the Australian Embassy for an audience of approximately 80 trading houses and associates. Going forward, my Department of Mines and Energy is developing a road map for building investment links with South Korea, Japan and China. I look forwarding to presenting this to parliament soon.
The Northern Territory government’s openness to foreign investment was well received in all three countries. Officials in South Korea and Japan were particularly pleased to have a visit from the NT Minister for Mines and Energy.
In China, my meetings were positive. In fact, they were, on some occasions, so good I had to leave the room and virtually pinch myself to make sure I was not dreaming. The reception the new Northern Territory government was receiving in China was outstanding.
The members of the delegation to China representing the Northern Territory’s primary industry also considered the trip a great success. This delegation was made up of officers from my Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, representatives from the NT Farmers Association and the NT Cattlemen’s Association.
Australia is China’s seventh-largest trading partner, with the major trading commodities being wool, cotton, hides, meat and dairy cattle. However, there is real potential for these imports to grow as China has maintained economic growth of around 7.5% and places a high priority on food security and safety.
The delegation was able to meet with senior Chinese government officials to explore collaborative and investment opportunities, and communicate the Northern Territory’s ongoing willingness to be a trusted long-term and stable supplier of resources and commodities to China. Visits such as these will strengthen relationships with strategic partner organisations in China and maintain the Northern Territory’s profile and credibility as a food export and investment destination.
One point that was often raised and discussed in a positive light - I have touched on it here before – was the advantage of Darwin’s proximity to Asia. Representatives from several Chinese companies are planning to visit the Northern Territory soon to inspect our supply chains to deliver live cattle, melons and mangoes, so watch this space! At the end of the trip, I officially opened a combined Northern Territory minerals and primary industry investment promotion seminar in Shanghai which more than 40 potential investors attended.
Before I conclude, I want to touch on something mentioned briefly by the member for Casuarina. He spoke of an ABC report talking about a minister in Indonesia who made some utterances about Indonesia finding alternate sources of cattle. I will point out a couple of things to the member for Casuarina, and I do hope he listens to this.
First of all, that report is more than a week old and it was regurgitated, for unknown reasons, by the ABC journalist and placed on a website. Secondly, it is vitally important that cool heads prevail in the circumstances we currently face in the spying scandal issues that have arisen between Indonesia and the Australian government. There can be no purpose served by dragging any mention of the live cattle trade and the relationship the Northern Territory has with Indonesia into the debate. The rhetoric coming from Indonesia, thus far, has not included live cattle. Any references to changes to trade relationships around meat have related to boxed beef.
If the member for Casuarina, who is a former Primary Industry minister, had any sense at all, he would keep his own head cool. He would not try to introduce into the debate anything that would cause further angst, either in Indonesia or within the Northern Territory cattle sector. This is bearing in mind what his Labor colleagues did in June of 2011 with the suspension of the live cattle trade to Indonesia.
To the member for Casuarina I have just that message. Please research what you say before you say it. Be sure to get the message right, lest you damage the industry that is now on a righteous path to recovery after being in the doldrums for more than two years.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Mr Deputy Speaker, I contribute to the Chief Minister’s statement on his recent visit to Asia. I had the privilege of accompanying the Chief Minister on an extremely short trip to Bali recently. I am sure travelling to Bali conjures up all sorts of relaxing images for many people listening, but I assure you we were on the AirAsia flight out that evening, we were in meetings all day long on the Tuesday and were then on the red eye straight back to town to address our electorate issues.
It was a privilege because I had never, being a new backbencher, had the opportunity to understand where the Northern Territory sits on the international stage and engage in high level meetings like the ones I was privy to. It was a wonderful experience for me, but, more importantly, it was important I attended because there were a number of Palmerston business people who attended the Indonesia Australia Business Conference, which was one part of the reason the Chief Minister was attending Bali on this business trip. There were many facets to our trip and I will go through those in due course.
There was a twenty-strong Northern Territory delegation in Bali for the Indonesia Australia Business Conference and those included: Lord Mayor of the City of Darwin, Katrina Fong Lim; one of the aldermen, Gary Haslett; Mr John Banks, general manager of community services at City of Darwin; Greg Bicknell, the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce in the Northern Territory; Sean Mahoney, Chairman of the International Business Council NT; Mr Murray Hird, TradeStart advisor, Chamber of Commerce NT; Mr Luke Bowen, Executive Director of the NT Cattlemen’s Association, who was also speaking at the conference; Mr Alan Jape, Managing Director of the Jape Group Australia, who was also speaking; Ms Pamela Jape, Operations Director, Jape Group Australia; Mr Greg Elkins, Business Development Manager from Toll; Mr Rick Setter, OzAsia consultant and also a former member of this parliament; Mr Kevin Mulvahil, Australian Agricultural Company and Chairman of the NT Livestock Exporters Association; Mr Brad Campbell, Northern Territory manager of Atom Supply; Mr Owen Pike, Director of Mine Maintenance and Construction; Ade Padmo Sarwono, Indonesian Consul in the Northern Territory; Mr Ardian Nugroho, Vice Counsel to the Indonesian Consulate in the NT; Mr Lance Martin, Director of DHT Products; and Mr Michael Hall, Director of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training.
Mr Brad Campbell is a constituent of mine. He is the manager of Atom Supply in Winnellie. I had the opportunity to speak with him and Owen Pike, the director of Mine Maintenance and Construction. From our discussion, it became clear to me just how valuable Northern Territory businesses have found these opportunities to engage in international conferences like this one. It was great to spend some one on one time with Brad and Owen. Owen Pike and I grew up together. He was my next door neighbour in Gray for many years and his family has a wonderful homegrown Territory business. Owen’s father, Terry, and mother, Evelyn, moved here and started Mine Maintenance a good 20 years ago. It is a true business built out of hard work and sweat, and they are people with the utmost integrity. I have all the time in the world for them and I was very pleased to be able to visit Owen and his brother, Michael, who are now operating Mine Maintenance. Terry is having too much fun out the back, fixing trucks and all sorts of things. He has always been a man of the tools and that is where he remains. Looking at how much this business has grown and how fabulous its engineering, fabrication and fitting facilities are reminded me of how wonderful Territory businesses are.
You can see why there is such a connection and affinity with Indonesian businesses because of how homegrown and valuable Territory businesses connect with the everyday person. When I was with Owen, he told me a story about someone who came in with his son’s bicycle and they needed a small part for it. Obviously, Mine Maintenance produces enormous products: sheds, pieces of pipe, you name it, and yet they said, ‘Come in, we will be able to fix that for you’.
Some really wonderful businesses attended the conference. There was also Kevin Mulvahil, who is also my old Year 6/7 primary school teacher’s husband. He is now working for AACo and has been the Chairman of the NT Livestock Exporters Association for some time. It was excellent to spend some one on one time with him, equally, the Japes, who I am connected to through friends and soon to be marriage. It was excellent to spend time with all of these people at the conference.
The Chief Minister and I, along with Katrina Fong Lim, the Mayor of Darwin, also had a meeting with the IABC and KADIN, which is the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce. It was a very successful meeting. I thank President Kris Sulisto and Peter Fanning, the Vice President, for bringing such a large number of members from the Indonesia Australia Business Council to our lunch. It was great to make so many connections and share stories about opportunities between our two regions.
The Chief Minister and I also hosted a trilateral session between Timor-Leste and Indonesia, which was also attended by Katrina Fong Lim. There were some very interesting conversations in those meetings that will set the groundwork for something very special. The Chief Minister, following those meetings, spoke at the conference, and I cannot say enough that afterwards he was like a movie star in that room. People were so excited to hear about the trilateral agreement and the opportunities coming towards the Northern Territory. It was really valuable and everyone was glad the Chief Minister attended.
It was a very quick trip. It was great to meet Ambassador Greg Moriarty and many other people who attended the conference, but it was nice to see local businesses, people you have known for a long time, engaging at such a high, strategic level. It was a privilege to be in Bali in an official capacity, and I look forward to becoming more involved in these types of business interfaces well into the future. Thank you.
Ms ANDERSON (Namatjira): Madam Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement on his visit to our nearest neighbours, our Asian counterparts. It is fantastic to see the Northern Territory Chief Minister, ministers and backbenchers like the member for Drysdale going overseas to introduce the Northern Territory and start that interaction. It is really important for the Chief Minister, and our ministers with appropriate portfolios like the Tourism minister. During the tourism statement in the last sittings, I said to the Tourism minister, ‘Keep on going. Keep selling the Northern Territory,’ and that is the same message I want to give to the Chief Minister. Keep on taking the Northern Territory to our Asian neighbours. Show them what the Territory has and how the Territory can work with them.
This statement shows the opportunities the Chief Minister has given all Territorians by going to different countries, introducing the Northern Territory and talking about tourism and agriculture, having that relationship and interaction, and taking a cohort, not just of government ministers, but of business people who contribute to the economy of the Northern Territory so they can see the difference. They can start having the relationships with these people. It is a fantastic opportunity to have this two-way relationship with the people who are closer than Tasmania, as the former minister said earlier.
It is easier and quicker to go to these Asian countries than to Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne or Tasmania. They are our closest neighbours; they are our friends. It is really important we have this interaction with them – business interaction and general friendship, allowing the opportunities we have to be spoken about when we undertake these visits and to ensure they understand the makeup of the Northern Territory and that it is a multicultural society with many people from these countries who have become citizens, and we have all become good friends.
This is a great opportunity the Chief Minister has given us. It is a big opportunity for the mining industry, a food bowl, ensuring, as our closest neighbours, we interact financially and ensuring they interact with us economically and be our friends.
I suggest to the Chief Minister that he continues to take more of these trips. It is really important for the Chief Minister to keep selling the Northern Territory, like the Tourism minister. The Tourism minister has to sell the Northern Territory across the world. I said to him last time, ‘Keep on going, minister. Keep talking up the Northern Territory and keep selling the Northern Territory.’ The same opportunity is there for the Chief Minister, and he has taken that opportunity, which is fantastic. He is the key to linking Asia to the Northern Territory. It is the first time it has been done. He is the first Chief Minister to go to Vietnam, which is fantastic.
One of the things I suggest to the Chief Minister – I alluded this to my colleague earlier – is that when we look at which business people we take to our Asian neighbours, do not forget our Indigenous tourism operators and business people. Take them and show them what Asia is like. I am sure Indigenous people would love to go there and shake hands with the President of Indonesia and have a look at the country around Vietnam and China. It will give them great insight into what is happening in those countries and how they can link their businesses with these Asian countries on behalf of the Northern Territory. Too often in this House – we did it this afternoon in the condolence motion – and talk about Indigenous economic opportunities. These are the real opportunities we need to move forward with. Give these Indigenous businesses and tourism operators the same opportunities we give other people and move to Asia as Territorians, as Territory businesses and tourism. It would be a good eye-opener for these people to have that experience.
The Territory will grow from that knowledge. The Territory will only expand. The Territory will not just expand its manpower and knowledge, it will expand the experience we can get from other countries. When I went to Vietnam – this was on holidays – it was a real eye-opener for me. It was the first time I had gone from Darwin to Bali and Vietnam. We have some friends in Vietnam. I have already put on the Parliamentary Record how amazed I was to see kids from the poorest, disadvantaged little farms going to school with beautiful white socks on and their little bags on their backs. They actually go to school six times a day. It was fascinating to compare because we always say, ‘We live in poverty’ and all that. These things were an eye-opener for me, someone who went to these Asian countries for the first time. I saw the difference.
It would be a great opportunity for Indigenous tourism operators and Indigenous business entrepreneurs to go with the Chief Minister and other business people on delegations he takes to these Asian countries and open their eyes to partnerships. They can become lifelong friends. These are the great opportunities we can give these people. As I said before, take them as Territory tourism operators and give them an eye-opening experience. Make sure all the people are going to bring something back so they can contribute to their society. You might have someone from Alice Springs going on a delegation who comes back and completely overhauls their business after the interactions they have in these Asian countries where they become great friends. They can pass on that message to others to take that trip. It would be a good learning curve and an experience of a lifetime.
In supporting the Chief Minister’s statement to this House, which is wonderful, I urge the Chief Minister, when he takes these delegations to these Asian countries to take Indigenous businesses as well and introduce them to our closest neighbours.
Motion agreed to; statement noted
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
The Northern Territory’s Food Future
The Northern Territory’s Food Future
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I will outline the important role and opportunities the Northern Territory’s primary industry and fisheries sector has in providing food security for Territorians, Australians and, increasingly, to the growing consumer market that is Asia. There is an emerging global focus on food security. With Asia becoming an increasingly substantial consumer of food, particularly higher value products, there are significant opportunities available for the northern Australia food sector.
However, Territorians will not witness crops stretching from horizon to horizon, irrigated by an endless chain of centre pivot systems as we drive down the Stuart Highway or cross the Victoria or Arnhem Highways, nor would we want that, due to the negative impacts on our ecosystems, our rivers and catchment areas, not to mention the iconic Territory lifestyle. While the Territory cannot and will not become the complete supermarket for our northern neighbours, we can become the specialist suppliers of high quality and high value products for Asian markets, and we can guarantee security of supply.
You might well ask how we will compete with our northern neighbours in the supply of food into their region, when they have, in many cases, better soil and more consistent rainfall than we have. It is quite simply that for some produce we have technological and quality-assurance advantages backed up by solid, reliable logistics and supply chains. Further, we also produce products that are excellent in quality and highly sought after. We are clean and green and our traceability systems are world class.
This is very important in the Asian context and combines to give us a real market advantage. Further, we offer significant investment opportunities in that we have relatively large areas of land available for green field agricultural development. This is in the context that while we will not ever see, and nor do we want to see, Murray Darling style development in the Northern Territory, we are keen to see a range of precincts developed to supply product into Asia. I mention the Murray Darling quite deliberately. The naysayers and the fringe green groups, such as the Northern Territory Environment Centre, seem to take delight in comparing the new paradigm around the Northern Territory’s land and water resources with the problems experienced in the Murray Darling basin. They are running a scare campaign designed to create the impression we are heading down the same path. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Those individuals and organisations seem to be ignoring the inconvenient truth that the Northern Territory’s land and water systems are remarkably different from the Murray Darling. They are ignoring the inconvenient truth that our weather and climatic patterns are different from those in the Murray Darling. They are ignoring the inconvenient truth that every year, give or take, somewhere between one and 1.5 m of rain falls on the Top End of the Territory. This causes rivers to flow and flood, and recharges the many aquifers from which water for future agricultural development will be sourced.
These individuals and organisations, such as the NT Environment Centre, are deliberately misleading the public and seriously misinforming the debate around the water and land systems of the NT. As an example, I refer to Stuart Blanch’s recent presentation to the Australian Water Association NT branch’s conference in Darwin, in which he accused government and public servants of corruption and cronyism. Not only were his comments outrageous, but they were also patently false. His comments bring into disrepute hard-working scientists in the environmental field and were hardly fitting for the executive office of an organisation charged with a serious responsibility of advocating for balance in the environment versus development debate. His comments around the strategic Indigenous reserve issue clearly show a lack of understanding of the issues, and I would be grateful if Mr Blanch could show me which part of Daly River the proposed Warrai Dam is part of. He will know what I am referring to.
The Northern Territory Environment Centre would be well advised to consider informing the debate with science rather than with misleading emotive statements or its deep anti-development, anti-jobs philosophy. The same could be said about its contribution to the discussion on the development of natural gas resources in the Northern Territory, but that discussion is for another day.
That said, the Northern Territory government recognises the important role it has in ensuring responsible development of our agricultural, horticultural and aquacultural sectors to address food security concerns and take advantage of economic opportunities to benefit Territorians. In order to make the best use of available land and water resources, the Northern Territory government is working towards a solution that has been identified by many experts in the field of agriculture: to create a patchwork mosaic of smaller scale irrigation projects based on water availability in areas with better soils and available infrastructure.
What this patchwork of agricultural projects will look like over the next decade is taking shape now, as the private sector and government work together to take advantage of the Country Liberals government’s recent legislative changes regarding non-pastoral use activities on pastoral leases. Also, the Northern Territory water policy and this government’s commitment to provide or upgrade infrastructure to improve transport corridors and provide essential services will underpin the growth of agricultural pursuits in regional areas. Similar to the system that will be implemented for the mining and exploration sectors in the Northern Territory, this government is keen to establish priority zones for agricultural, horticultural and aquacultural developments in order that the biggest bang for buck is achieved in regard to infrastructure and other service provision.
The primary industry and fishing sectors have been consistent contributors to the Northern Territory economy over many years, and all indications point to this increasing in the future. However, these sectors will only continue to prosper under the stewardship of a Country Liberals government which has a focus on agriculture and is taking a long-term strategic approach to its development, unlike Labor with its piecemeal approach to development. The underdeveloped north of Australia has the potential to increase its production of food and contribute to global food security, and the Northern Territory can certainly play its part in helping feed the populations to our north. We have proven we can supply quality and quantity of a number of products; beef, melons and mangoes are success stories, and the areas of aquaculture development, such as barramundi farming, increasingly so.
The Northern Territory has over 30 years of research and development to draw upon. We now know what will work and what will not, and this research continues. My Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries has research and demonstration facilities strategically located throughout the Northern Territory that allow research projects and development programs to be conducted under secure and managed conditions. These facilities give regional and rural investors access to locally truthed information. Local industry advisory committees help researches to align their business with regional initiatives and stakeholder aspirations.
Outside of eastern coastal Queensland, cropping has largely failed to establish in northern Australia, despite many pioneering efforts and a long history of agricultural research. However, a combination of new research, farming practices and varieties, in conjunction with the change in economic conditions, underpins our optimism about the future. While large continuous tracts of arable soils are scarce in northern Australia and the variations between Wet and Dry Seasons cause difficulty for agricultural and horticultural industries, our extended Dry Season does provide an ideal environment for horticulture and some industrial cropping options.
What has changed that makes me so positive about the future? There is a number of things: the market and investment opportunities emerging from our northern neighbours; the focus of this government on relationship building and understanding the geopolitical climate of our trading partners; the culmination of many years of research that makes us confident we can attain sustainable production from our land and water resources; and, of course, this government’s strategic policy views that will underpin investment certainty.
This government is determined to increase the opportunities available for landowners, primary producers and those whose businesses depend on land and water. Recent legislative changes made by this government to the Pastoral Land Act will allow for the development of agricultural and horticultural projects on pastoral leases.
Mr Elferink: Hear, hear!
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. Specifically, the changes will extend the five-year limit for non-pastoral use activities on pastoral land up to 30 years, plus potential extensions, which will allow for a project to mature and provide a return on the initial capital investment. Additionally, those non-pastoral use permits will now vest with the lease and not the leaseholder. Attaching the permit to the land itself makes sense. This provision will make such non-pastoral use valuable in not only the additional revenue potential from that activity, but also to the value of the lease itself. Capital improvements and the additional revenue can be factored into the value of the lease and, ultimately, what the lease may be sold for.
This upward revaluing of pastoral properties in the Northern Territory is an important step in repairing the pastoral sector after the horrendous and disastrous suspension of the live cattle trade by federal Labor in 2011. The pastoral industry, as I predicted back in 2011, is still struggling in the wake of the ban. Only the Country Liberals government has had the foresight and courage to enact changes that will have a positive and profound effect on the Northern Territory’s pastoral industry.
When coupled with this government’s commitment to using the Northern Territory’s water resources to drive economic development in a way that is sustainable and underpinned by quality science and sensible policy, pastoral leaseholders have a unique opportunity to diversify their income streams while also contributing to economic development and food security.
The Northern Territory water policy will provide a framework for water management in the Northern Territory and will promote sustainable water resource management and underpin the identification, assessment, development, allocation and management of all water resources in the Northern Territory.
I can hear the shadow minister’s response to some of these statements now. He will try to convince us that all their time in government was characterised, in part, by strong support for the primary sector, which we know is not true. I remind Territorians of how the former Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, stood beside his federal colleagues, nodding in agreement with the decision to ban live cattle exports.
Let me also remind Territorians it was the Henderson/Lawrie outfit that placed a moratorium on land clearing in the Daly. They introduced draconian and unworkable land clearing guidelines. They were architects of the now defunct native vegetation legislation which would have added yet another impossible layer of approvals and bureaucracy to agricultural development. He will attempt to defend the indefensible and then tell us this statement lacks detail about the Northern Territory water policy, but let me assure you that work is well under way on drafting this important policy.
This government is committed to enabling development of the north, with the first step being to process the backlog of water licence applications which is, effectively, stonewalling agricultural development in parts of the Northern Territory. After coming into government, the newly-formed Department of Land Resource Management identified 75 licence applications that had never been dealt with by the former Labor government. One can only imagine the reasons behind this backlog, but lack of political courage by a government held to ransom by Green minorities is one possibility that springs to mind. For all Northern Territory Labor’s rhetoric we know that they were not, and will never be, interested in making difficult political decisions that would underpin a vibrant and growing agricultural sector in the Northern Territory. This government will.
To identify areas that have a combination of good soil and water resources where the mosaic of agricultural and horticultural projects can be established, I have instructed my Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries to work with my Department of Land Resource Management, and the Department of Lands, Planning and the Environment to classify potential areas for development. Some of this good work was done in the days of the former Country Liberals government, and we will continue that work.
These departments have formed an agricultural land development working group which is working to identify land that could be developed. It considers natural resources, infrastructure, tenure, services and labour requirements. The goal of this work is to develop strategic food industry land investment information that will provide certainty for investment for significant agricultural development.
On that matter, in November 2012, this government announced major project status for the Ord Development Project, the first time an agricultural project has received this status in the Northern Territory. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Australian, Western Australian and NT governments to work together to facilitate extension of the Ord irrigation channels into the Territory to open up 14 500 ha of new agricultural land.
The Ord Development Unit is now engaged in coordinating and facilitating native title negotiations with the Northern Land Council and traditional owners. We are in discussions with the WA government regarding water allocations and licensing, environmental approvals and biosecurity.
The Country Liberals government has done more in 15 months of government to progress the Ord than Labor did in 11 sad years in office. I suspect Henderson’s Labor team had no interest in developing the Ord simply because there were no votes for them in Kununurra.
The agricultural land development group is now working to identify the Northern Territory’s next possible Ord development. One area under consideration for development, but without the dam that exists on the Ord project, is the Douglas Daly. There has already been significant success with mixed farming in the Douglas Daly. Following on from the pilot grain farming project established in the 1980s by the then CLP government, farmers and the government have developed more intensive beef production systems based on improved pasture and opportunistic dry land and irrigated cropping for fodder, grain, high-value niche crops and horticulture.
This region has all-season road access and is ideally located between Darwin and Katherine, which places it well for supplying the live export trade with cattle during the wetter months of the year. The agricultural land development group will also build on the work of the former CLP government in looking at Fleming, the region between Katherine and the Douglas Daly.
The Mataranka area is another that has potential for expansion of horticultural production. It has good to uniform soil and water and is well located to infrastructure such as all-weather roads, rail, and gas and, through its geographic location and associated climate, allows for extended growing seasons to enable a greater window for the production and marketing of high-quality Northern Territory horticultural products.
An important group of landowners who are only now able to use their vast land holdings to create economic diversity, jobs and food security is traditional landowners. The Tiwi Islands is a great example, with potential for commercial development of significant tracts of land using a mosaic approach. The Tiwi Islands has potential for agricultural development as well as real opportunities for aquaculture development. While development must be based on sound economics for it to be sustainable – that is a core requirement – agricultural projects which are well researched and resourced have the potential to create local jobs and provide an important building block for local communities. This is economic security.
Research is currently under way to identify suitable land on the Tiwi Islands for development, to analyse the types of crops that can be grown economically and assess the underlying information that a potential investor would need prior to investment. Some examples of crops that could succeed on the Tiwi Islands include mangoes, pineapple, coffee and cocoa, as well as opportunities for aquaculture operations. The reality is, a final determination will be made on a commercial basis by investors.
My Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries’ Industry Development Plan 2013 to 2017 describes how this government’s objectives for a flourishing economy underpinned by profitable and sustainable resource-based industries will be achieved through working closely with industry sectors in order to stimulate and sustain economic development. This plan fits with the Northern Territory government’s Framing the Future blueprint, which outlines how we can maximise new and evolving opportunities within the Territory, northern Australia and with our Asian neighbours. Key measures contained within the department’s plan to foster industry growth include reducing red tape, assisting to increase export to our Asian neighbours, enabling increased flexibility for land use on pastoral leases and facilitating an increase in the availability of land for primary production.
Currently, the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries undertakes research, associated extension and biosecurity regulation for industry with a focus that is steadily moving away from productivity and leaning towards profitability. While this has served the Northern Territory well, as a fledgling jurisdiction finding its feet over the past thirty to forty years, there is now recognition that a greater focus is needed to cultivate a business development approach which will foster greater economic development. It is well known that the research that begins today has its impact in 15 to 20 years’ time.
While research must continue, it is now time to reap the rewards of the significant research that has been undertaken over the past decades. A broader approach is warranted in order to achieve the vision of obtaining food security, and in doing so, increase our domestic and international exports that will in turn create economic diversity and opportunity. The department has initiated strategic market analysis, researching individual commodity demand and supply trends through Asia, and the ability of current suppliers to compete at a similar level of quality and consistency over time, and use this information to identify the hurdles that will need to be addressed for Territory business to succeed in these areas.
It is acknowledged that by the end of this decade, Asia will be the world’s largest consumer of goods and services. It will be home to the world’s largest middle class, and this consumer group will command high-quality food products. The Northern Territory is well placed to play a role in meeting these demands if we act now. The emergence of a wealthy middle class in Asia presents vast new opportunities for trade and investment for Territory producers. Despite the effects of the previous federal government’s temporary ban on the live export trade, the good news story when it comes to the export of food product from the Northern Territory has been and continues to be the live export of cattle.
Although I have already spoken about the live cattle ban, I would like to add another brief point. An extremely high level of care and consideration is essential in order to include all the possible consequences when disrupting the food supply of another country. Clearly, federal Labor either did not consider those consequences or just did not care. The Northern Territory government will do everything within its power to contribute to, rather than detract from, the food security of our Asian neighbours. That is my commitment. Hence, the live export industry is extremely important to the Northern Territory pastoral sector and northern Australia more broadly. It is based on what is essentially a partnership between northern Australia and Indonesia.
The Top End is a very effective cattle breeding area. We produce high-quality young animals very competitively. Indonesia and potentially many other parts of Australia are competitive when it comes to turning young animals into market-ready stock. It must be noted that although there have been some positive signs recently, the cattle industry in the Northern Territory is in a challenging period with reduced profit margins, difficult market conditions and depressed property values. However, given the emerging middle class of Asia, I believe there is a strong future for live exports. On that matter, I am pleased to report on a number of successful meetings with cattle importers in China during my recent visit.
Luke Bowen from the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association and the Northern Territory Farmers Association’s Grant Fenton were also in China and provided significant industry input into discussions around the importation of live cattle and other commodities to that country. I hope to report further on that matter in coming months, but those discussions were very encouraging.
The new $90m abattoir, 50km south of Darwin, under construction by the Australian Agricultural Company, is a strategic and complementary investment. It will provide a market for livestock not suited for live export and may provide an alternative market in the advent of future disruptions to the live cattle trade.
It also provides an opportunity for diversification of the northern herd over time to supply cattle more suited to prime beef processing. While I am confident of the long-term future of the live cattle trade, I am also cognisant of the fact there will be trade issues from time to time. I believe this abattoir investment is strategic because along with the increased demand for fresh meat in Asia that is processed through the traditional methods of local wet markets which can only be supplied through the live cattle trade, there is also an increase in the demand for western restaurant-quality meat. Over time, with some diversification in the northern herd, this may be a market with some prospect for AACo’s new abattoir.
I do not think that it will be case of one market or the other, as all indications show an increased market demand for both. We are building diversity into the market.
Together with the NT Cattlemen’s Association and the NT Livestock Exporters’ Association, the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries has developed a collaborative strategy for increasing the NT’s live exports. Market opportunities for live cattle export to Vietnam continue to grow, with Vietnam now the Northern Territory’s second largest live cattle export market.
I visited Vietnam early this year and established high-level relationships with Haiphong and Dong Nai provinces, both of which are trading provinces for Northern Territory cattle. These high-level interactions are important in developing a relationship between jurisdictions that is based on trust and mutual respect. It is also important that our trading partners are assured that their reliance on trade with the Northern Territory is well placed. I am able to provide our trading partners with assurances that we are stable and secure and, most of all, reliable.
I am delighted to report that some 30 000 head of NT cattle will be exported to Vietnam this calendar year, a trade that has reached new heights in the past year of the Country Liberals government.
While I was in Vietnam, I also talked about a new potential trade in the Northern Territory’s water buffalo. Work undertaken by my Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries has progressed since then, capped off by a visit by the Chief Minister several weeks ago. On the back of this latest visit, an announcement that work would begin in earnest on establishing protocols to import buffalo was welcomed by the Country Liberals government.
The further announcement that Vietnam will consider monthly imports of 1500 head is outstanding – although I believe they might have said 5000 – and is testament to this government’s willingness to engage all parts of the primary industry sector in the broader pursuit of economic development and jobs in regional and remote parts of the Territory.
Not only does the Territory produce quality cattle, we also produce excellent mangoes, and their exports to southern states and overseas are another success story for Northern Territory horticulture. Territory mangoes even penetrate into the China market and can be found in Beijing and Shanghai.
We now lead Australia in the production of mangoes, and I am particularly proud that over 50% of Australia’s mango production comes from the Territory and of that, over 50% of the Territory’s mango production hails from the Katherine region.
A strategic plan for mango research, development and extension in the Territory is being developed in collaboration with industry stakeholders of the mango advisory panel. Considerable progress has been made with industry to expand the production window for mangoes, and this is very important.
As you will know, mangoes are currently produced in the Darwin, Katherine and Mataranka regions and there is a small farm at Ti Tree. This area could be expanded and there is also potential to develop mango production between Mataranka and Ti Tree, which would open up the market supply window for Northern Territory mangoes from September to February.
The Northern Territory’s vegetable growing industry has taken off in recent years with vegetable production in the Northern Territory in 2012-13 close to $60m, nearly triple on the previous year’s values.
Research work is currently being carried out to improve production for rambutan, passionfruit, dates and tropical flowers, and to determine the commercial viability of rice.
In a further demonstration of this government’s forward-looking and courageous thinking, this year has seen research trials in two locations into the growth and production parameters of poppies, with validating commercial research planned for 2014. There is a worldwide market for the legitimate trade of opiate substances and their derivatives. Poppies are currently only grown in Tasmania, but the results of these small-scale trials in the NT are extremely encouraging, with exceptional growth rates recorded in the plants. It is possible that poppies could become a new industry for the Northern Territory.
There is also a eucalyptus improvement program under way to improve forestry plantation on Melville Island.
In Central Australia, there has been considerable success with table grapes and dates, and research is now under way to investigate the establishment of almond plantations in the region. Rockmelons and watermelons are considered to be the next major crop for the Northern Territory with excellent export potential. Melons are farmed in the Top End in the Douglas Daly, around Katherine, Mataranka and even as far south as Ali Curung near Tennant Creek. The growth of the Northern Territory’s melon industry and its increasing export potential were also discussed on my recent trip to China.
Seafood exports to niche markets also have long-term possibilities for growing trade and achieving food security.
There is a range of agricultural enterprises focusing on low technology sea-based methods currently being trialled on Goulburn Island and Groote Eylandt. Sea cucumber ranching is likely to offer a small annual income stream to communities and part-time job opportunities, and rock oysters and giant clam farming may also provide modest economic development opportunities. It is worth noting that changes to the Pastoral Land Act around non-pastoral use may also provide opportunities for the growth of the NT’s aquaculture industry. Pastoral leases situated near the coast can potentially diversify into aquaculture operations.
The Northern Territory is well placed to deliver quality products into the domestic and Asian markets in order to contribute to food security here and for the vast customer base to our north. The NT government is determined to develop investment opportunities and transport infrastructure to assist food and agricultural exporters.
To establish and maintain a competitive edge, the NT will have to differentiate our products and maintain our brand through robust biosecurity measures. Our focus will need to be on improved transport systems to get our product to market quickly and maintain a reliable and regular supply.
Identifying new and additional markets will also be critical going forward. There is now a significant scope for future agribusiness in the Northern Territory through projects such as the Ord expansion, new production areas for mangoes, more intensive animal industries and aquaculture developments.
As I mentioned earlier regarding my recent trip to China, I, along with key members of the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries and industry representatives, met with Chinese private sector organisations and the Chinese government to build relationships to consider cattle exports and expand on markets for NT produce. This visit was on the back of a trip to China by the Chief Minister in which he promoted investment opportunities in the Northern Territory.
The extension of the Ord Irrigation Scheme is a significant northern Australian development project that will require considerable investment from Southeast Asia. It also demonstrates that government and stakeholders can work together to negotiate native title and deliver large-scale north Australian agricultural projects to the marketplace.
Importantly, this project will provide a transferrable template through developing an agricultural precinct model built by capitalising on existing resources and over $0.5bn of government investment to date.
Further, the expressions of interest process will test commercial appetite for further precinct development in northern Australia, and the development of Ord Stage 3 will provide a foundation for a number of future development opportunities, including infrastructure, tourism, small business and energy projects.
In the February sittings this year, I delivered a statement to the House entitled Opportunities for the Territory’s Agribusiness and Minerals Sector in the Asian Century. In this statement, I said the Northern Territory’s primary industries are critically important to the future of our economy. I am proud to showcase today the progress this government has taken since that statement was delivered in this parliament to ensure Northern Territory food producers are best placed to grow and deliver quality product to our northern neighbours. I am confident we are effectively using research to develop agricultural opportunities in the north, and my department has taken significant steps in the marketing and investment areas.
However, an essential component to realising the vision of north Australian agricultural development will be to put effort into quantifying the hurdles to be addressed to facilitate two-way investments. The obvious ones are demand and supply trends and market access issues but, less obvious and equally important, is to understand the different cultures and cultural gaps between Australia and Asia and accommodate these differences to establish successful investment partnerships.
The federal government is about to prepare a white paper on the development of northern Australia. There are also discussions about establishing a northern CRC focused on developing northern Australian food industries. We are engaged in these processes, and I will also be working with my Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries to increase the focus on economic development through a range of programs and dedicated resources.
There has been talk of a shift from the mining boom to the dining boom. A realistic view is that both mining and food will be essential parts of our future and, if we get it right, there is significant opportunity for the Northern Territory, and northern Australia more generally, to participate in the future secure global food supply.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I speak on the theme of the minister’s statement: food. It reminds me of the member for Greatorex. As I said, I learn from everybody in this House. The member for Greatorex used to attack the then Labor government on ministerial statements and call them puff pieces. The metaphor that created the imagery for me was puff pastry. In the minister’s food theme tonight, it seems it is about puff pastry because there is lots of air, but very little substance. The minister spent a long time telling us a story about ‘what if’, ‘we’re gonna’, ‘maybe’, and ‘there’s gonna be’. I was hoping he would put a bit of meat on the bone. I hoped that puff pastry pie would have had a bit more meat in it. It was a classic CLP delivery because the minister spent considerable time in his statement attacking people.
First there was an attack on the Northern Territory Environment Centre. We only get to page three of the statement where we are talking about the Northern Territory’s potential future, and there was an attack on the Northern Territory Environment Centre. The paragraph starts by talking about the Murray Darling and the ‘naysayers and fringe green groups’. This is a minister with a guilty conscious. It is pathetic that this minister can attack the stakeholders in our community and within the Northern Territory who want to see an environmental balance. It is as simple as that. But, no, the minister with the guilty conscience – I will get to that a bit later in my response – has to go on the front foot, waste paper, waste time, waste oxygen and attack people.
However, it did not stop with the environment centre because there was a personal attack on Dr Stuart Blanch. I found this to be disgraceful. I continually remind ministers of the Crown from the CLP that they should rise to the occasion. They should celebrate their esteemed privileged positions. There is no need to start attacking Territorians, especially somebody with the credibility and standing of Dr Stuart Blanch, a scientist, a concerned environmentalist and a continual lobbyist who is looking for balance. That is the problem with the CLP, it is all or nothing. You do it our way or it is the highway. Unfortunately, that will not work. Dr Stuart Blanch has a lot of credibility in our community and has some very wise advice for the minister and his plan for agriculture reflecting the new rhetoric of the northern Australian regions becoming the food bowl for Asia.
The minister talked about his strategic Indigenous water reserve issue and he attacked Dr Stuart Blanch but again demonstrated a serious guilty conscience. It is good to see CLP members are starting to question this minister and this very loose, unexplained position where a mega water allocation was given to a CLP candidate. The minister, in this House, is starting to show his ‘get out of gaol card, where he says, ‘Well, if this allocation is not used, we will start to scale it back’. I congratulate those members opposite who have been asking the right questions and have been lobbying this minister for a reality check, an honesty check and an integrity check on behalf of all Territorians who live in the Mataranka area, particularly those Indigenous Territorians who have their dreams and aspirations to be part of the minister’s food theme and the possibilities of agriculture, horticulture and agribusiness.
The minister continues with an attack on the environment centre on page three. This again is a waste of paper, a waste of oxygen and totally uncalled for in any sort of rational debate where the minister expects to be given credibility. We will go on to page six where the minister talks about:
- … the Northern Territory water policy and this government’s commitment to provide or upgrade infrastructure to improve transport corridors and provide essential services will underpin the growth of agricultural pursuits in regional areas.
That is a big statement, and it is all about this government, the minister’s government. I would like to share something with the minister because I recently addressed the public sector update in 2013 at the Convention Centre on 4 November. I talked about public sector change, and I wanted to use a case study to discuss some of the big changes and challenges coming down the public sector pipeline in the next few years.
I also presented my learnings to the constituents of Barkly in my weekly column. I would like to share it with the minister, because he goes into that paragraph about the Northern Territory government and its provision of infrastructure, transport and essential services which are underpinning this. A few challenges for the minister, a bit of meat on the bone, a bit more substance in the debate:
- Popular political discourse reflects northern Australia becoming the food bowl for Asia as Asia’s food security becomes its economic development priority in the 21st century. This requires a major policy shift for the Australian government where southern states need to support the radical macro agricultural project in the north at the expense of urban development on the coastal fringe!
Desert Knowledge Australia, in a paper Fixing the Hole in Australia’s Heartland: How Government Needs To Work In Remote Australia, (by Dr Bruce Walker, Dr Douglas Porter and Professor Ian Marsh) stated:
‘We are reminded that over the past 30 years Australia has become the most urbanised continent in the world, shrinking to its coastal fringe with more than 85% of our population living within 50 km of the coastline with our system of democracy and national economy progressively altered to serve the coastal areas and the large mass of people in urban Australia.’
Walker, Porter and Marsh argue, in numerous ways, this has been at the expense of how remote Australia and its people and communities are governed, leading to what is nothing less than a crisis in governance and an urgent need for systemic change’.
As previous Minister for Infrastructure lobbying Canberra for nation building projects like the Darwin Port I discovered the Northern Territory competing against urban projects such as the ‘fast train’ from Chatswood to Central Station in Sydney!
Apart from geography, science, economy and ideology I see the deal breaker for northern Australia food bowl project in massive private sector capital investment including significant foreign investment.
This presents a new and complex relationship between political policy driving the agriculture boom in northern Australia and the public sector managing and administering its massive infrastructure requirements.
Mega-infrastructure supporting the agricultural boom in northern Australia features dams, irrigation channels, production bores on aquifer water resources, broad acre land clearing, fencing, road and rail infrastructure, bulk commodity ports and new power generation, transmission and supply.
The new discourse fanned by powerful political opinion makers is embraced by both federal and state governments requiring a national shift in infrastructure policy backed by foreign investment and delivered through complex public private partnerships.
The nature of this new millennium governance hell-bent on cutting red and green tape for delivering mega-infrastructure will challenge the public sector providing the administration and management of the Crown’s assets and budget appropriation through public private partnerships.
The reality sees politicians and public servants swimming in a school of 21st century global corporate sharks with substantial financial backing demanding a maximum return to shareholders and company profits.
Walker, Porter and Marsh argue, the governance of remote Australia should be about effective government arrangements, engagement and national interests in the face of global and economic activity driving government capability.
However, bipartisan policy for Asia’s food bowl requirements means governing and administering nation building projects while respecting the heritage and environmental constraints of Australia’s last wilderness and biodiversity!
Minister, that is the pathway we are on, and there are considerable challenges you have completely ignored in your statement in terms of your workshop manual of how we are going to achieve this. I call upon you to give us some detail, to give us a bit of meat on the bone and talk about what the Country Liberal Party is actually doing in partnership with the federal Liberal Coalition. We eagerly await your announcement of a white paper.
This is something that is quite significant in terms of mega-infrastructure and infrastructure that will support what is a major shift in national policy. It will have to be backed up with significant resources which relate to foreign investment, private sector capital and to the challenge of how to deliver in public private partnerships. It would be good to hear the minister back this statement with something a little more real and meaningful in the road map about how we will achieve what has become federal Liberal Coalition rhetoric and simply words at this stage.
The statement went back to something that I continually challenge. The CLP are the masters of this game. It is what I call the, ‘Holier-than-thou-minister syndrome’ and we get into paragraphs like:
- My Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries has research and demonstration facilities …
I did mention in my paper that I delivered to the public sector update, on 4 November, a little comment on that, just to put it out there that there is an alternative and there is a difference. I talked to that group about what I considered to be the ‘holier-than-thou syndrome’ of ministers and said I really did not agree with that concept, that sentiment, how it reflects management styles and ideology and how it is destructive. I think I used words like, ‘As a public servant of 30 years and a minister for four, I rejected the ‘holier-than-thou’ minister and the ‘my department’ syndrome. I went on to talk about how partnerships, trust respect and working with politicians and experts is definitely the best way to go. I put out that alternative for their consideration.
We got a great, ‘Hear, hear!’ from the member for Port Darwin when the minister talked about the recent legislative changes to the Pastoral Land Act, and that is good. That legislation had bipartisan support in this House and I was looking forward to the minister’s reply about the nuclear waste dump planned by the federal government, now supported by the CLP government, right in the middle of an Aboriginal land trust that is leased to a pastoralist who grows and runs beef cattle in the middle of the Barkly – a real cheapskate plan to store nuclear waste in sheds above what the Chief Minister calls the Wiso Basin, which is a massive aquifer source of important water reserves right in the middle of the Barkly. The minister chose not to talk about Muckaty. It was definitely off the table in that debate. He showed some disdain, did not respond to any of my contributions to debate, and definitely did not want to talk about a nuclear waste dump in the middle of prime cattle country on top of a significant aquifer water source that now, as we talked about, is not designed for the hospital waste coming out of the east coast, ladies and gentlemen.
The new Prime Minister’s rhetoric is serious around Australia producing nuclear energy, around intermediate- to high-level waste, including that which is coming back from France and will be steaming through the Tiwi Islands very shortly on ships looking for a dump. The Prime Minister’s rhetoric is fully supported by the CLP. You guys are head-on going down this road and the Barkly is the final destination. You are all celebrating what will be a considerable turnaround in the pastoral industry, let alone anything to do with Asia’s food bowl. I would be interested to see how many people are interested in beef, melons, mangoes or rice grown around Australia’s first nuclear waste dump located on Muckaty Station.
Minister, while we support your changes to the Pastoral Land Act - I certainly represent those traditional owners opposed - many thousands of Territorians and tens of thousands of Australians want to keep this fair and square on your agenda.
The minister, on page 10, talks about an NT water policy, a framework for water management in the Territory, the promotion of sustainable water resource management and underpinning the identification, assessment, development, allocation and management of all water resources in the Territory. The minister certainly got some coverage in this area. The recent 7.30 Report showed how intense and hands-on he is in this space. I happened to pull off the transcript of the ABC News called Water Politics:
- The Northern Territory government is polarising rural and remote communities with its approach to water licensing.
This was updated on Friday 22 November 2013. It was an interesting program, showing the minister’s hands-on approach and reflecting his comments in the statement that he has a very hands-on approach. The minister, from Water Politics on the 7.30 Report, said:
- The policy direction of this government is working. We intended for Indigenous groups to step forward, take control of their future and apply for water licences in the Northern Territory in the same way that other people, other non-Indigenous people are doing.
Jane Bardon, the reporter, said:
- Because their water reserve has been scrapped, Indigenous groups have been forced to join the water rush. The Northern Land Council has applied for four water licences in the Mataranka area …
She went on say the clans have not really decided what to grow yet. I acknowledge Marjorie Hall, who is a traditional owner. For me, she definitely articulated this whole debate between traditional owners in the Mataranka area, the Mataranka horticulture and pastoral community and the CLP government when she said:
- We’ve met already with the NLC how we need to use that water, and the government is not giving us a good chance to decide proper.
Jane Bardon responded with:
- The government’s call for more water licence applications, before the Mataranka water plan is finished, has Mangarrayi traditional owners worried about Ngukurr –
where they live. The community on the Roper River is fed from the Tindall aquifer in Mataranka.
Marianne Roberts, another Mangarrayi traditional owner, said;
- You’ve got to have that water usage. You know it overflows to the Roper. You can’t have no more overflows if everyone using that one water.
Jane Bardon said:
- Before the new rainfall modelling, a government water planner warned the MacFarlane licence could jeopardise Ngukurr’s town water supply. The government Power and Water Corporation also objected - worried salt could intrude up the tidal river. In August last year, Ngukurr’s town water pumps were turned off because of salinity.
Joe Morrison from the Northern Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance commented:
- That’s a pretty scary proposition where you’ve got communities where 1200 people reside having to sort of have their water switched off, you know, and there’s not proper planning, whole of catchment planning backed up by good public policy to allow these communities to flourish.
The show went on and was quite interesting when Dr Peter Stone, CSIRO Sustainable Agricultural Flagship Deputy Director said:
The water planning around the Tindall aquifer has been on the conservative side. My understanding of the allocations that have been made is that they’ve sought to retain 80% of the aquifer volume for environmental purposes, so a maximum of 20% can be used for agricultural water extractions.
Jane Bardon said:
- But that 20% for agriculture doesn’t include mine or cattle or domestic water use. The government is working on trying to factor mining into its water planning.
Then the minister, Willem Westra van Holthe, said:
- Whether or not that mining operations should draw from the 20% consumptive pool or whether that need not be the case, it’s something that we still don’t know fully yet because we still don’t fully understand the science around water allocations across most of the Territory.
I sum up that transcript of water politics from the ABC News 7.30 Report with a comment from Marjorie Hall, a Mangarrayi traditional owner. She said:
- The minister for water should sit down with us and talk to us, because we’ve all got to apply for that water you know, but in a good manner and good sense and decision-making.
Those are very wise words from that traditional owner. The minister delivered his statement and talked about the food bowl for Asia – ‘Trust me, it is all under control’ – when we have this absolutely chaotic situation going on with the aquifer at Mataranka in that very minute area of the Northern Territory. It is pretty safe to say the minister seems to be making it up as he is going along. He definitely has a hands-on approach to water allocations; let us face it. Marjorie’s advice is, ‘Hey, mate, maybe you want to pull up, sit down and start to talk about the substance, talk about the real meat on the bone of how we will achieve this direction your government is taking us in’.
On page 11 is the attack on Labor. This is a cracker! This is a minister of the Crown who goes into the substance of debate with:
- I can hear the shadow minister’s response to some of these statements now. He will try to convince us that …
What a lot of rot! This guy does not know me from a bar of soap and he brings the puff pastry – sorry, I borrowed that from the member for Greatorex – into this House and wants to rattle out rubbish like that. As I said, half this statement is about trying to attack people, negative spin, politics, and does not show any substance as to where the direction is or the CLP’s real road map of how they will influence the whole of the country to change public policy into investment in northern Australia. There is nothing about that. There is no talk about his mate, Tony Abbott. There is no talk about Senator Nigel Scullion. There is just the same old discourse that is coming out of the Libs in Canberra and the minister with a guilty conscience.
The statement talks about the Ord River project, and the Ord River project is ongoing. The Ord River project does not represent any little mosaic of horticultural projects. It represents small lots like 10 000 ha under sugar. These foreign investors are looking at big bites; they are looking at big projects to serve billions of people. I do not know where he retreats to the small mosaic theory, but the Ord River will always be challenging, no matter what, in the bipartisan sense, because if we do get that mega-infrastructure investment into the Ord that would really interact with the Northern Territory side of the border, all the exports will go through Western Australia. The whole infrastructure corridor, pipeline and supply chain will be geared around Western Australia. I hope the CLP has an answer about that when it starts to look at significant investment to deliver mega-infrastructure when it is a supply chain created to support Western Australia. We are watching that space carefully and this minister regularly talks about the Ord.
We have another story about water on page 15 but I will slip over that. Then the minister gives us a little discourse around some projects and goes back on the attack; he cannot get Labor out of his sights. He then talks about something that is good, meaningful and certainly – pardon the pun – meat on the bone, with the new abattoir currently under construction, 50 km south of Darwin, by the Australian Agricultural Company, the diversity that will supply for the beef market and the opportunities of pushing that market further north into China which represents a significant market for the future. That is a bit of meat on the bone. Thank you, minister, for telling us about that because it is an example of this private sector investment, which will be needed to push any of these plans on paper forward.
In relation to the mosaic of horticulture, the minister, on page 25, talks about melons, rockmelons and watermelons, and he got all the way south to Ali Curung. That is great because that is an example of a small mosaic. There is about 400 ha there of potential, about half of that under cultivation, and what was the previous government doing? I was actively working in partnership with the department of Corrections and Centrefarm, to get prisoners there and get them training and working on that melon farm. The opportunity, immediately, was 16 beds. The infrastructure is there for 16 beds.
Corrections was red hot on that deal but, unfortunately, the minister for Corrections, with his Sentenced to a Job program, decided that did not have merit and that project has fallen over. The problem with that is the melon farm does not employ local people. It is not because the melon farm does not want to employ local people, it is because local people do not choose to work on the melon farm. What I want to hear – the minister and the CLP will be hearing more from me about this – is: what is the plan to engage Indigenous Territorians?
We have a community of about 300 people who live 4 km from the melon farm, yet backpackers and international pickers are the ones who work on that farm. I had a very good project building where Corrections could partner up down there but that, unfortunately, has fallen over under the CLP government. We will wait to see and hear what the minister’s plan is to really have local people engage in these projects, local people who will be living around these mosaics of horticulture and agriculture the minister talks about in the statement.
The statement then goes into a bit of a travel report, and it is good to see that the minister is making contact, as he said, at a high level. It will be interesting to see what his plans are for managing these high-level interventions when the big players from Asia want to start looking at mega-infrastructure projects. I am very keen to hear how you plan to manage your departments when we get to this next stage, which will really represent the delivery stage. We will pass the rhetoric, get on from the discourse and see some meat on the bone.
The minister finished his statement by talking about a white paper; his friends in the federal government will produce a white paper. That is good. We will be looking forward to that. The minister said:
- We are engaged in these processes, and I will also be working with my Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries to increase the focus on economic development through a range of programs and dedicated resources.
That certainly finishes off with a nice golden top on the puff pastry, minister. But, seriously, let us start to hear about how it will happen, how it will work, how you are preparing the public sector, how this Country Liberals government will engage with the new transaction of public private partnerships, where this investment will come from, the change in the Australian government scene about getting the focus on northern Australia and delivering. It is all about delivering, as Terry Mills says.
Madam SPEAKER: Your time has expired member for Barkly.
Ms ANDERSON (Namatjira): Madam Speaker, I support my colleague, the minister, on his statement about the Northern Territory’s food future. It is really important. We do have the land mass. Like I said in my statement prior, Asia is our closest neighbour. They are our friends and the Northern Territory has become a multicultural society, from the Top End all the way down to the south. There are heaps of people now living here and enjoying each other’s company. Why would we not be the food bowl for Asia?
In supporting this statement, I also want to give some cultural knowledge to my colleagues on this side about rivers and catchments, and talk about how important it is to have Indigenous people involved in all aspects of economic opportunities in the Northern Territory. It is not just about being a food bowl for Asia; it is making sure we take our Indigenous people across all sectors. More than half of the land mass in the Northern Territory is either under land rights or native title. It is owned by Aboriginal people and we must be very cautious and very smart so we do not leave Aboriginal people behind in trying to move the Northern Territory forward with any kind of economic opportunities.
I see in paragraph three that Territorians will not witness crops stretching from horizon to horizon. We have seen that in many jurisdictions across Australia – Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland – where massive land clearing has happened. This government is very aware of that. We do not want to take out a unique landscape just for economic opportunities. There will be patches of economic opportunity in the Northern Territory. We will be very particular about the crops we will grow in the Northern Territory with our Asian neighbours because of the information the departments give us and the knowledge and experience we have with other jurisdictions like Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia and the types of crops they have. It is really important to understand a river is not just a river, a catchment is not just a catchment. Aboriginal people have cultural and traditional ties to the rivers and catchments. We have to respect that and ensure we take our Indigenous Territorians forward, understanding where they come from and ensuring there is proper consultation with them, ensuring at all times we drive the Territory forward for all Territorians, not just for a portion, a small part of the Northern Territory.
If we are to grow the Territory economically – we talk about education, and economic opportunities, and we have seen and heard the Chief Minister saying he will move heaven and earth to have economic opportunities for Indigenous people, the opportunities are there – we must encourage Aboriginal people to come with us. We are not saying Indigenous people should be given all the water, but there should be certain amounts of strategic Indigenous reserves allocated for Indigenous people to have economic opportunities so they are also part of driving the Northern Territory and become true partners, not just in economic opportunities in the Northern Territory, but in negotiation and relationships with the opportunities of farming and water rights with Asian people. It links people together.
We have a great ocean between Australia and Indonesia. How do we build a bridge? We can build it by all working together. We spoke in the condolence motion today for Dr Yunupingu about finding the balance. This is a great opportunity for us to find the balance of how we work together as Territorians, that we are not leaving one section of the Territory’s population out of any economic opportunity. There is opportunity for all of us; the Northern Territory is land rich. Most of the land mass in the Northern Territory is owned by Aboriginal people, and we must engage with Indigenous people in this great journey of moving the Northern Territory forward. We must bring Indigenous people with us because they are the landowners and have Dreamings, law and culture which interconnect them to catchments, rivers, swamps and lakes. It is all part of who we are.
We belong to that and it is really important. This is some advice, minister, that we take into consideration, as the Country Liberal Party, that it is the greatest opportunity for a journey that must be enjoyed by all.
When we talk about our rights, we must ensure we never extinguish the rights of others in the Northern Territory because these rights were hard fought for. When you look at the history of land rights and the people who fought for land rights, we were young teenagers watching people talk about racism and people saying we do not have these rights. We have moved in leaps and bounds in Australia, in the Northern Territory, to a situation where I hope that does not exist. We need to ensure we are not extinguishing native title that people are entitled to and have won in a court of law.
Yes, we talk about compensating these people, but I would also like to ask this question of the minister so he answers it in the wrap: if native title is extinguished, do the native title holders – Aboriginal people – have to take the pastoralist to court? If we go through a process, yet again, of lawyers getting richer off the back of other people’s misery and poverty – we have the greatest opportunity in 2013 to move all Territorians forward without extinguishing any rights of other people, building that relationship with any kind of economic opportunity we want for the Northern Territory with our Asian neighbours, but making sure Indigenous people are true partners in that.
Where do we find that balance? Where do we find that bridge? As I said in the condolence motion, the legacy has been left but the challenge is ours. How do we take on that challenge? How do we find that balance? How do we build that bridge, because we do not want to take reconciliation backwards and extinguish people’s rights? We have the greatest opportunity in this country to show other people who are losing their rights, where people have no opportunities, that we can move forward. I go back to the very first speech the Chief Minister made. ‘There is plenty for everybody. I will move heaven and earth to get economic opportunities for Indigenous people in the Northern Territory. Let us practice what we preach. Let us make sure that all Territorians move with us.
I support the minister’s statement, but would like some clarification on some of the questions I have asked in my contribution to this statement. We have the greatest opportunities to have the relationship with our neighbours in Asia. Yes, the Territory is a beautiful place and we have to be very careful. It is fantastic that all our ministers are going there and having these relationships to move all Territorians forward equally. Let us find the balance, that bridge, because as I said, the challenge is ours.
Mr HIGGINS (Daly): Madam Speaker, I was happy when the minister brought this statement on food futures on today. Many people need to realise that when we look at food futures in the Territory, we can grow anything we want and we could probably grow as much as we want, but we really need to identify our markets and the economics of supplying those markets.
One of the classics is mangoes. This year I did not pick mangoes for various reasons. One of the problems you have with the mango industry is, of course, freight and transporting goods down south and so forth. This will be the same if we start to send our food to Asia. We need to have a close look at what our markets are and the economics of supplying those markets.
The Chief Minister earlier today made a statement on his Asian visit, which I did not get to speak on. In that, there was a lot of information that related to the food futures we have in the Northern Territory as they relate to the market. The biggest thing is, if you look at the Asian market, it will grow six or sevenfold in the next 20 years. The Chief Minister’s figures were a population of 500 million, which will grow to 3.2 billion. As he pointed out, now is the time we have to start this planning.
In his statement the minister highlighted many things around food futures such as infrastructure and road transport, and all the things we will need if we move into that Asian market.
The other thing we have in Australia that supports this market approach from us is the security we have in being able to produce the food. We are a stable nation, our ability with chemicals and our technology are far more advanced than many of the Asian countries, so we can produce a hell of a lot more food in a smaller acreage.
In the speech, he also mentioned the differences we have here to the Murray Darling. I sat on the Daly River Management Advisory Committee for over 10 years, and one of the things that came up at the beginning was the difference between us and the Murray Darling. Much of the criticism that came out with land clearing and water allocations and so forth was that we would end up like the Murray Darling. I can assure you that after having asked many questions over the last 10 years, there is very little chance of that occurring. Our water here is very cyclical. We have the Wet and the Dry. Even if we get a run of bad Wet Seasons, we still have a reasonable supply of water so every year our rivers flow, provided we keep a close eye on that.
There was some criticism levelled at Stuart Blanch’s comments in the minister’s statement. I have not seen those comments. I know Stuart Blanch and have a lot of time for his input. A lot of the information he has given me over the years I have taken that in balance with my own views. I do not necessarily agree with his views but if people are going to make decisions in this area, we need views from every direction. I am not criticising the minister for picking on Stuart, but I am saying we do need to listen to all of these comments, whether we like them or not. The environmental balance we get from listening to these different opinions is very important to all of us and, depending upon what inputs we get, we will all come to different conclusions.
Infrastructure is one of the key issues we have with food futures, and I was glad to see the minister has said he will identify some priority zones for agriculture, horticulture and aquaculture developments. Initially, it seems they would be those concentrated areas closer to where we already have the infrastructure, which I see as a smart move. However, it is something I have a concern with, because with many Indigenous communities having access to large amounts of land that is quite capable of producing a lot of food into the future, there is very poor infrastructure. We really have to do a lot of work in that area to make sure we are getting the best use from the land we have access to, especially if you are talking about a population of 3.2 billion.
Another issue is the change to the Pastoral Act. When the amendments went through, in the speech I gave I said there was a great change in the value of the property. That has been interpreted as the value of selling the property. The point I was making is if you enable a pastoral lease to go into horticulture, you are actually increasing the value of the productivity of that property. If you go back, I believe I said the value of productivity for a horticultural industry was about 10 times that of the pastoral industry, so for every acre you can produce 10 times the amount of output. I see being able to unlock a lot of that pastoral land as a key strategy of this government, and I know it has bipartisan support. I wish we would get more bipartisan support when it comes to Aboriginal land.
I support the new agricultural land development working group. These sorts of decisions, as I said earlier with my comments about Stuart Blanch – if you set up a working group like this and get a lot of input, you will get a more balanced outcome. To establish something like that is very good and it dovetails with what the Commonwealth has recently set up with Warren Mundine. Both of those things will have a lot of pluses for us.
In the statement, the minister mentioned the Douglas Daly area as one of the key areas. They say that it is closed to a lot of infrastructure. The need for power out there needs to be addressed by government. Access to power will hold many areas back.
The only reference to the use of Aboriginal land in the paper is to the Tiwis. I had a meeting at Wadeye in the last month – the Chief Minister was there as well – and it became quite evident that area has a lot of potential. There is potential for forestry for starters. When you go past Palumpa, the timber changes. It becomes very tall timbers, so you can start to harvest some of that timber. The land can be then made available for agriculture and to create work opportunities. There is electricity there but not a sealed road. Once you improve access, you improve the capital.
At Wadeye, probably in the 1970s, in Gerry’s time, they had quite a large farm. It was called Chicken Farm. Martin Mulumbuk was a friend of mine there and he used to drive the tractor and collect all the vegies. They produced just about everything. It was almost fully sustainable. The chicken coop used to be behind the Catholic school and is now an oval. All the vegies were grown there and it is now appropriately called Chicken Oval, so if anyone ever goes there and is told that is where Chicken Oval is, that is how it got its name.
The minister spoke a lot about the cattle trade and he did touch on buffalo. Buffalo is one of the areas that has a lot of potential for Indigenous people. The number of buffalo around Bulman is astronomical, so there is big potential in that area. There is an increase in the number of buffalo west of the Daly. They also breed quite well on the flood plain. There is a lot of potential to increase that buffalo trade. The meat works – there was a mention of AACo, and the member for Barkly talks about meat on the bone. I am talking about taking meat off the bone; there is another abattoir at Gunbalanya and there is one at Palumpa.
Today, I was at Manoli’s, behind the Deck Bar, and a trolley came in with two boxes marked Gunbalanya Meats. I had a lamb yiros, so I did not have any of their beef, but this is an example of beef coming into Darwin that it is not from AACo, but from a local company set up by Indigenous people.
I was disappointed when the minister said mangoes are currently produced in Darwin, Katherine and Mataranka. I wish he would alter his speech and include the Daly area because I produce mangoes. That is an important point.
I mentioned timber at Wadeye and the potential for harvesting some of it. There was mention of the eucalypts on Melville Island in the statement but no mention of the African mahogany and sandalwood being produced around Douglas Daly.
Mr Wood: It is a statement on food
Mr HIGGINS: Well, we are talking about agriculture and the potential there. Okay, you’ve got me on that one, Gerry. The sandalwood is being produced for the Indian market, which is part of Asia as well.
Overall, the speech was very good. It highlighted a lot of potential for us and that Asia is a market we should be looking at.
Ms LEE (Arnhem): Madam Speaker, I would also like to contribute to the statement brought into the House by the honourable member, Willem Westra van Holthe, about the Northern Territory’s food future.
Opportunities to develop land for agriculture and horticulture purposes are being realised by traditional owners. Traditional owners have been involved in this for years. There used to be piggeries in southeast Arnhem Land. I remember working on one as I was growing up. There were banana plantations, where my older siblings would work. Farming, growing vegetables and picking is not something new to Indigenous people in the remote areas.
During my campaign, I met an old fellow in Ramingining who happens to be my grandfather. He had a little farm next door to his house where he used to sell the food to the ALPA Store at Ramingining. However, once the shire came in, they took everything away from him. He has passed away now but that was his pride and joy. He had it for 30 years. I sat with him and he was broken up about the whole thing.
The food industry, especially in remote areas – growing fruit and vegetables, collecting eggs from the chickens, piggeries and things like that – is not new to Indigenous culture. We have always been part of that. I do not know what happened. I do not know why all that was taken away because there were job opportunities for people in the bush.
Mr Wood: It is called welfare.
Ms LEE: Yes, Mal Brough. Not Mal Brough, who was it? The one who tipped us in.
A member: Whitlam.
Ms LEE: Mr Whitlam, who gave Indigenous people the right to sit back for nothing, and that was it. It destroyed our heritage.
Ms Walker: He also gave you land rights.
Ms LEE: Yes, he did. He gave us land rights, but he did not give us the land to work on, he gave us the land to sit back and do nothing with. That is a shame. Now we want to develop it and we cannot do anything. Look at the Indigenous people who want to have agriculture on that land, they cannot do anything, unless we work with the Northern Land Council, the Central Land Council and the federal government in line – we work to promote Indigenous people and agriculture and farming –, that is the only way we will go forward. But I will go back to my speech, because there is something more important which my colleague raised earlier which I will also talk about.
With Aboriginal lands – people looking to use their land to create economic diversities, jobs and food security, not only for us in the Northern Territory, but for the rest of Australia and for Asia. The Chief Minister said in his statement that Asia will grow into a big food bowl. Where is the best place to do it? Central Australia has some of the best soil, southeast Arnhem has the best soil, and the Wadeye region has the best soil. There are many places where you can grow crops and do things with the land.
However, it comes back to one thing: the strategic Indigenous reserves. It is a share of water available for consumptive commercial use in surface and ground water systems. The Indigenous water policy group, NAILSMA, has consulted widely concerning this approach – see the Murray River statement – including receiving advice from water scientists and resource economists, and locally, in conjunction with the NLC and traditional owners in the proposed Mataranka and Oolloo water allocation plans. There is specific support for this approach from these traditional owners.
The member for Barkly mentioned that when talking about beef on the bone. There was also an Indigenous reference group at Mataranka, because Marjorie Hall happens to be my mother and she told me about it. But the funding was cut some years ago so they could not go anywhere after that.
Yes, it sounds good to have an Indigenous reserve but we have to ensure we maintain the consultation. There has to be funding provided so these people can consult and work with the government and everybody else – the stakeholders – about what they want to do with their land – ongoing support. We are moving forward with the Indigenous people and with traditional owners. We are working with them so the message gets across and we are working on the right path.
We all have a great opportunity to move forward down this line, but we have to stick to our point here. We are all Northern Territory Australian people, but there are the first people, Indigenous people, who have been here for 40 000 years, before they built the Egyptian pyramids, and it is all about working towards that. If we cannot acknowledge Indigenous people in the water allocation, on top of that – under the minerals and everything else. It is their land. It is a crying shame if we move forward without supporting them, because, at the end of the day, I am Indigenous and I have my land out there too. I would like to, when I retire, use that land and do something with it. I have a buffalo company there.
It has been hard for the people there, and the other traditional owners who work there, over the last couple of years with what has happened federally, but we are working towards building that momentum again. That is all it takes, just working together.
The policy of mandating a strategic Indigenous reserves in water allocation plans under the NT Water Act is a win for all Territorians because:
1) it ensures a water allocation for Aboriginal Territorians for commercial purposes while most of our water resources are not yet fully allocated. This means there is no cost to government, the community and other users to ensure economic opportunities now and into the future for traditional owners
2) if licences are granted now that take up all or most of the consumptive pool, commercial and domestic water, there will be none left for Aboriginal landowners, or they will have to buy it at a greater cost on the water trading market in the future. That will be terrible if it ever goes down that line
3) it ensures compliance with the NWI by fulfilling clause 25.9 that provides for addressing Indigenous needs in relation to the provision of water access entitlements and access to water for commercial and cultural purposes.
As my colleague said, we connect with the land, we connect with the water. We use the water for ceremonial use and as a cultural thing. It is around us; it has always been there. We use the water to fish. We use the water to bathe our kids in when they go swimming. It is used for many purposes. There is always a cultural aspect and we have to recognise that. I would like to put on notice for my colleague, the minister, that he has to involve Indigenous people in this.
If the strategic Indigenous reserves are included as part of a water allocation plan, it maximises local Aboriginal involvement in water management and new industries. The real risk that exists if strategic Indigenous reserves are not created is Aboriginal landowners will be land rich and dirt poor, and will also be water poor. That is depriving them of substantial economic opportunities into the future.
Most Aboriginal people do not have the resources or expertise to participate in the current licence-only based application process at present. It is essential that water allocation plans are developed and finalised that include strategic Indigenous reserves before further large licences are granted in regional areas. The water allocation plan ensures there is enough water for the environment and cultural purposes before water is taken for commercial purposes.
If proper planning is not done first then cultural sites and the environment are at risk. The strategic Indigenous reserves form part of a good modern water policy because the National Water Commission, the independent statutory authority charged with monitoring the implementation of the National Water Commission, stated in a position statement released in June 2012:
- Allocation of water entitlements to Indigenous Australians to facilitate economic development should be explicitly considered as a strategy for contributing to the Australian government’s Closing the Gap agenda.
The current and former Queensland governments have a statutory requirement that an Indigenous reserve of water for social and economic purposes in northern Queensland be established, and the Liberal government has held onto that. The former Labor government in Queensland put that in place and now the Liberal government has continued on with that. Why can we not do the same?
So far, nine Indigenous reserves have been established in Queensland – see the Cape York Peninsula Heritage Act 2007 and water resource plan. This will ensure Indigenous Territorians have a place at the commercial table in the development of the Northern Territory.
All we are really saying, as Indigenous parliamentarians on this side of the House, of the CLP, is that we would like to see Indigenous people have the right to be part of this commercial move into the future. We were in the past; we used to work on these farms but we no longer do. Generation after generation have gone through the washer and are just sitting down and doing nothing at home. It breaks our hearts to go back and see it. Our kids see the same thing as they grow up. The only way we can get them out of that space is to put them somewhere else. We are leaving our fathers behind who are buried on that land, our grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, sisters and brothers. We are leaving them. It is hard for us to move on. The only way we can move forward is to work together.
My colleague brought forward the condolence motion for Dr Yunupingu. I knew him really well. I could not contribute to the condolence, but he was my father’s brother – one ceremony, one song line, one everything. My grandfather was not from southeast Arnhem, he was from east Arnhem. My great-grandfather is from Ramingining. The treaty they fought for back then, they did it together. He made the song. My dad put the whole thing together with a few other leaders. No one mentioned that in this House, that it was my father who was there. He was the driver of the seed of the treaty, with all the other elders back then. I was only a kid, I remember that. I have grown up listening around the table to all my fathers, uncles and grandfathers talk about this.
The only reason I am on this side of the House is because we have been taken for a ride for a very long time. I have worked in the piggeries and on the farms. I have worked everywhere. I started working when I was only seven years old because both of my parents had jobs. My mother was in education, my father was a town clerk. My siblings had to do the job of staying home and looking after the rest of us. Moving forward is the only way we can do it.
We need to involve Indigenous people with the water, giving them the right to have the economic development they want on their land. At the moment, they have to go through lines. Under the Native Title Act and the Land Rights Act, it is complicated. To get a section 19 could take months or a year. It is working towards that plan, building a bridge, in partnership, whether it is a joint venture or whatever. If that Aboriginal organisation wants to do it head on, then it is their choice. We should support them.
By putting strategic Indigenous reserves aside – Indigenous people are not up to scratch yet. That is the truth. There are very few who are. We cannot expect them to say, ‘Yes, I will have a water licence’, as the majority of them probably do not have a plan for what they want to do on their land and what they want to grow. We have to consider that.
Ms Walker: Tina MacFarlane did not have a plan.
Ms LEE: I am talking about Indigenous people; I am not talking about Tina MacFarlane. You can bring that up in your debate, not mine.
We need to give them the same rights as everybody else. They are not going to jump up now and say, ‘Yes, I want a water allocation please because I want to do this and that on my land’. They are not up to scratch yet. We need to promote them, help them and support them.
Mr Deputy Speaker, that is my contribution to the House.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, knock me down with a feather. I have now heard the members for Arnhem and Namatjira, and you, Mr Deputy Speaker, supporting strategic Indigenous reserves for water.
There is obviously a number of people on the government side who do not support the government’s policy on this matter. The government should be listening very carefully to what the people are saying. I am interested to hear the minister’s response to that because there was a fairly passionate speech about the right of Aboriginal people for an economic future. There was a speech from the member for Arnhem saying at present they are not quite ready because they do not have the skills. That is fair enough, that is right, but if we take that water away, then we take the future of economic development away. I thank the member for what she said; she said they might be land rich, but they might be water poor. You cannot do much with your land if you do not have the water, so I am certainly interested in hearing what the minister has to say there.
I know there are at least three people in government who have certainly given different points of view to what the minister and the government is saying. That was an interesting conversation, through the member for Arnhem. I was going to get onto that area, but I start by saying that this statement is about the Northern Territory’s food future. That is the vision, a food future, but it is no good making a big statement like that unless you say, ‘What are we actually talking about?’ Why are we producing food?’ That does not come out in this except to say, Asia.
I am one of those who has always believed the Territory will not be the food bowl of the world, but will be the food saucer. It can produce crops. There are certainly areas in the Northern Territory that are suitable for cropping. I agree with the minister that it will be on a mosaic type of development, which is good, because it leaves room for the environment and room for other things to occur besides intensive development.
You have to remember, when you talk about horticultural crops, you do not need large areas of horticultural land to develop a lot of food. What is the government talking about when it talks about a food future? Is it for Asia? Is it for Australia? Is it for the Northern Territory? Is it for the local communities, the ones the member for Arnhem was talking about, like Kalano, which supplies food to the township of Katherine, or places where I worked like Daly River and Bathurst Island, where you would supply fruit and vegetables to those communities?
What is the government actually looking at when it talks about a food future? The reason I ask that is it is very different to be growing something for Asia than it is growing something for Daly River. You are dealing with a small population and someone who is just down the road. Asia has a major distance issue we would have to overcome. I do not know if you remember the days when the railway was going to be built. The CLP put up big posters showing you why it was important to develop the port and the rail. They had all these arrows going to the north. That was going to take vegetables from southern Australia to Asia, via fast boat. A grand vision. Can you tell me where that grand vision is today? It is not around, because it was impractical. I do not have anything against the government having a vision, but it has to keep its feet firmly on the ground.
I remember a discussion about the future of food for Indonesia. Except for cattle, Indonesia produces nearly all its own fruit and vegetables from its own landmass. Cattle, because they require space, need somewhere with more room to move than a place like Indonesia. Many of those countries are self-sufficient in that kind of food production. If we are to go down that path, then we have to be very clear as to what sort of markets we will look at.
The minister mentioned mangoes and melons. Melons are a crop that is bulky because it has a high water content. We do send mangoes, but we send them to specific markets. It is expensive to send mangoes overseas. It is good to have that market, but that would be at the top of the list when it comes to the price you would pay by the time they get to China. Years ago, we were looking at sending mangoes to India in their off-season. I do not know if that is happening any more. We need to focus on those things that are realistic,
The government has been doing a good job looking at increasing the opportunities for cattle. It has been looking at buffaloes. If you go through this Northern Territory Primary Industry and Fisheries Overview and Outlook 2012, you will know we were already doing those things. For people who do not know, we are already sending buffalo overseas. The estimated production is $0.8m. Ninety-four per cent were sent to Brunei and the rest to Indonesia. However, you have to put things into perspective. There were only 531 head sent to Brunei and 453 head sent to Indonesia. There has been discussion today about getting lots of buffalo out of Arnhem Land. Well, it is not quite as simple as that. Live cattle exports are about cattle that are fenced and trucked. Most of them are trucked where there are good roads to take the cattle. When someone mentions buffalo, I say, ‘Keep your feet on the ground’. One of the reasons they were shot was that – it was part of the tuberculosis and brucellosis program and they used to try to catch them for pet meat – in some parts of Arnhem Land and those places you simply cannot catch them. They were shot out because that was the only way to get rid of them. There are big environmental problems with having too many buffaloes. When we start talking about buffalos, it is not simply a case of, ‘Let’s get some buffaloes and send them overseas’.
The other issue – besides finding out what your market is and making sure that is something we can produce in the Northern Territory at a price that would be able to be sold in those markets overseas, which includes freight and storage – is we have to make sure we have the areas in the Northern Territory to grow those crops. The minister has spoken about how the department is working to identify those areas. I hope the previous government was looking at those areas. I presume that looking at soil types, vegetation types, slopes and where the water is would be an ongoing matter that governments consider all the time. The Northern Territory is not small, and classifying the Northern Territory into areas which are suitable for food production is something that government should have a fair bit of knowledge of by now. If it has not, then it would be an ongoing thing.
If you know where your soils are and you know where there is water – one of the difficulties is if you do not have enough water under the ground, but you have good soils, where do you get the water from? In comes the debate about dams or water harvesting, etcetera.
The member for Daly mentioned this too, without good infrastructure you will not be selling tomatoes anywhere. Some of that fresh produce requires good roads and transport. Look at the price of mangoes in the Northern Territory – the member for Daly can probably tell you better than I can. If you get down to about $14 a tray, you might be breaking even or you might be losing. You have to get a tray of mangoes to the Sydney or Melbourne markets at a much higher price to make a profit and cover your transport, the cost of the box, the cost of holding the produce at the wholesale markets and the cost of production. If you live way out bush, you have extra freight and extra expenses to cover. Nearly all mango production in the Northern Territory, except for Daly River, is on the Stuart Highway. You do not get commercial production of mangoes anywhere else. Even Kununurra is on the Victoria Highway. So if you do not have the infrastructure to get your crop to the market then it will be an uphill battle.
We can pick the best places to grow things and have the best water, but if governments are not willing to put in the infrastructure like good roads and electricity, as the member for Daly said – the cost of producing electricity through diesel generation is very expensive. It can be subsidised by solar, of course, but it certainly would make it a lot easier if those areas we are identifying as suitable for production are part of the electricity grid.
The minister also spoke about the Tiwi Islands. I also heard the Chief Minister talk about the Tiwi Islands. I worked on the Tiwi Islands for a long time, and there is talk about leasing a large amount of land for pineapples, cocoa, etcetera. I have no doubt pineapples will grow on Melville Island because that is the only island with a large amount of land. I would like to know what work is being done on the markets, the cost of moving pineapples off Melville Island, where the market is and how much water is on Melville Island. My understanding is there is good water. What are the limitations on that water supply? What is the basis of the government leasing this land?
As I said, horticulture does not require large amounts of land. If you have 100 ha of pineapples, you probably have a quarter of the production of pineapples in Australia. They do not take up a huge amount of land. If you are growing Asian vegetables, you do not need huge amounts of land. You are not talking about wheat farming or field crops.
The other issue is – I was speaking to one of the traditional owners when I was over there for a funeral recently – who will work this? As the member for Arnhem said—- I think she recognises that welfare is a killer at present. I know people will not work seven days a week. I am not trying to denigrate anyone, I just know the facts of life are there is footy on the weekend and the club is open. People do not want to work those hours. The reason people do not work in Ali Curung is – I can tell you because I spoke to the Central Land Council about it – because it is hard work bending over and picking up melons. It is as simple as that. The Central Land Council was looking at growing pomegranates because they are a more seasonal crop that grows for a certain length of time and can be picked relatively easily.
There are some hard decisions to make here. If the government is looking at developing the Tiwi Islands as a major source of horticultural crops, who will run it? Who will work on it? Will the government bring 457 people and others in? Are the Tiwis going to wait for the lease payments? That is another form of welfare and would be extremely disappointing.
If people like the member for Arnhem say, ‘We need water for our economic future’, the economic future, I hope, is not, ‘Give our land to someone else and we will hold our hand out for the lease payment cheque,’ because that will not do anyone any good. If we are to develop Aboriginal land, they have to come along for the ride. While we have a system of welfare which has created generations of people who are used to putting a hand out to the government, I would not want to see that if we are talking about developing real economic opportunities for Aboriginal people.
Of course, along with that economic opportunity, you are not going to get it – as the member for Arnhem said, ‘We are not quite ready for it at the moment’. The funny thing is, it was 30 years ago when I was working with people on growing bananas, paw paws and sweet potato. If you do not have educated people, you can always have labourers, but if you want to take control of your economic future you need skilled, educated people. Horticulture and agriculture is not the same as sweeping the footpath. It requires people who have knowledge about the science behind growing crops. I say to the minister that one of my bugbears is we need to upgrade the level of education in the agricultural and horticultural sections. We turn out lots of good technical people. We have people with a fairly good education in those areas but we should have a degree in tropical horticulture because this is one of the few places in Australia where that could be done. If we are to advance the sector, we need to get homegrown, educated people, including Aboriginal people, who have the knowledge, skills and education to make it really happen. That area is missed in this debate.
Otherwise it is southerners or people from big companies coming in all the time. Horticulture and agriculture are not static things. What cattle did we have 40 years ago in the Northern Territory? The member for Blain will tell me if I am wrong, but I think we had longhorns, shorthorns and, over the years, have moved to Brahmans. We have tried all the various types of cattle. We had different cattle in Alice Springs, but we have experimented. We have research stations which work to try to increase the breeding rates of our cattle so we have a larger turnover of cattle. We need to put more emphasis on the education and the research which, again, does not get much mention here. It gets a little mention. I would hate to see our research stations close. If we are to have a basis for a good food future in the Northern Territory, we also have to have a strong research and development program going from Darwin to Central Australia so we are looking at new products and at improving products.
Mr Deputy Speaker, you would already know, as a mango grower, there is a substantial disease in mangoes at the moment, the mango resin canal. We do not know whether it is a disease or if it is physiological, but it has the potential to reduce production of mangoes in the Northern Territory. There is panama disease in bananas and banana freckle, so we need to be constantly looking at ways of protecting our crops or producing new varieties to overcome some of these issues. That is why you need the research and development, which is key. I repeat that we need to promote the educational side of primary industry and bring Aboriginal people on board if we are fair dinkum about them sharing in the economic future of the Northern Territory.
There is the issue of water, and I know we touched on it earlier. I say again, I am not against water licences, but common sense has gone out the door. It appears to me the government has said that using new figures instead of using the 100-year rainfall figures, we now have the support of the Bureau of Metrology and CSIRO to use a shorter number of years to calculate how much rainfall there was and, therefore, the consumptive pool of water available in the Mataranka region. Therefore, we have more water, so we give people lots of water. It is having a bucket of water and giving people lots of water because we have lots of water. I do not think there is any science there.
I agree with the gentleman who came to the Northern Territory, it was last year or the year before, to help with the Mataranka water advisory group. I think his name was Brendan Dimech. He is a water resource engineer, so he is not just any dill. This is what he said on page 21 of his draft report which he set out in plain English:
- The water controller should consider granting entitlements for new licences or increases in licences up to 1000 ML each time. Return applicants would have to demonstrate during the licence application process, to the controller’s satisfaction, the full use of any previous water licence volume has occurred before any additional water licence entitlement is granted.
That is from a water resource engineer. He is not the only one; the Northern Territory Farmers Association says the same thing. We are being very careless here …
Mr ELFERINK: Mr Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. We are being very careless here. We are saying we want a good economic future and we should do things right, yet we are being careless with the way we are managing our water supply. The minister is probably right that there was a great deal of delay in handing out water licences. Claire O’Brien, who was on the 7.30 Report, said, ‘Yes, there were some delays’. They admitted that, but part of that was because they were going through the process through the Mataranka Water Advisory Committee carefully.
It is one thing to give out water licences and another to give out lots of water with each one of these licences without saying, ‘Prove you have a track record and have used what you were given in the first place’. Most people were given 500 ML. The MacFarlanes were given 500 ML and had not used it, but they had this whopping big amount given to them. That is silly. I am not the only one saying it is silly. Let us be sensible about the amount of water. Let as many people as possible share in this water. This water is not just there for someone to make money from. That was the question I asked today. I did not get the full answer. When the consumptive pool is being allocated and someone wants to get some water out, will they have to buy it and will they buy it from someone who has received water and not really done anything with it? They said, ‘Well, we only did half the plan we told you we were going to do and the rest we are going to sell’.
That water is our water. I know there is water trading but I would be very concerned if water became an economy of its own. We should not forget about giving people the opportunity in the Northern Territory to grow the food the minister is talking about and giving more people that opportunity, not just one or two big farmers, but a range of farmers. I believe the minister is wrong in the way the water is allocated in the Northern Territory. I am not speaking as the expert; I am trying to use a bit of common sense from my own background, but I have got people here who have some idea of what it is all about.
I probably cannot go away from looking at the comments of the member for Barkly, talking about the nuclear waste repository. If you do not like it, it is a nuclear waste dump. That is what the ABC calls it, but that is how the ABC likes to put its point of view forward, through the words it uses. He said, ‘Well, how will we grow crops around a nuclear waste facility?’
I went to the United States, to Ohio, and I visited one of their nuclear power plants on Lake Erie. They store their waste on site. They store it in the water and use rods to keep it there. That power plant sits in a wildlife park. The people who own the nuclear power plant pay the wildlife department money to be there, and that goes towards keeping the park up to scratch. That park is surrounded on one side by water, as it is on Lake Erie. On the other side, it is surrounded by corn fields and marinas.
Fukushima was not good, but it did not blow up because it was a nuclear power plant; it blew up because it was hit by a massive tidal wave. If it had not been hit by a tidal wave, it would still be going. You have to keep things on a level. Keep a level head when you are discussing these things. It is bad in Japan, but that does not mean that all nuclear power plants are bad. You forget that America produces quite a bit of its power from nuclear power plants.
For the member for Barkly to say, ’Well, they are going to bring all these materials from France’ – yes, they are going to bring materials, we know that. He may have a different point of view on how that is stored. My understanding is we will get back some of the higher radioactive waste that comes from Lucas Heights that is being treated in France. It will be stored in glass and will be brought back to be stored somewhere in the Northern Territory.
We can argue whether Muckaty is the right place, but you have to wonder when you fly over Australia and 98% of the population does not live out here. I am not saying that people do not own the land but surely we can find a place to store some of this; we are not exactly over populated in the middle of this country. I am sure some common sense could come into this debate. But if you do not like nuclear power, nothing I say will make any difference. If you do not agree with nuclear power, you will do your darnedest to make sure it does not happen. Therefore, you will bring every argument under the sun to say, ‘We do not want this’. I am not of that ilk.
It is like some of the arguments about fracking. Many of the arguments about fracking are nothing to do with science but are to do with people not wanting fossil fuels used to produce electricity. They think the less gas we produce, the better. I can understand the philosophy, but do not use the science in a warped way for your argument.
It is the same with whether crops would be contaminated. Why would they be contaminated? Radioactive waste is in a solid base, it stays there. It does not go anywhere. We have iridium flying over on Qantas once a week. People sit in the same plane as this little esky full of iridium going to the Royal Darwin Hospital. So what? The idea of trying to say our future, when it comes to producing food, would be at risk because of a nuclear waste repository is far-fetched. I say that because of what I saw when I travelled to the United States. Of course we need to be careful and make sure the site is okay. I would not expect anything less.
I went to Esk in Queensland, 100 km out of Brisbane and there is a little house where they store all their radioactive waste 10 km from town. There was a big stink about it when it was built and now nobody even notices that it is there. Sometimes I think attitudes are based more on what you are against rather than the science. Member for Barkly, I do not agree with you. I am happy if people want to argue about where the site is but that is a different argument.
I thank the minister for his statement. I agree there is great potential there, but I remind the minister of those big posters Barry Coulter used to point out showing the new rail line and the port – the member for Blain might remember this. There were all these lines going up to Asia where there were going to be fast boats taking fresh vegetables. It did not happen. It was a nice poster. I think we need to go back and ask why it did not happen. Can we learn by that and end with a good result next time?
I hope we can supply enough food for other parts of the world and ourselves but we should keep our feet on the ground and be realistic. I think we can be the food saucer of Asia, as long as we get the right crops. Mr Deputy Speaker, that will not include sandalwood or mahogany. They are not very easy to eat.
I thank the minister for his statement.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the statement. It is an area I am particularly interested in. There are a couple of comments I have heard made, and the minister may well comment on them, but I will take this opportunity to do so.
The member for Barkly referred to the Ord, saying all the produce of the Ord, not matter how good it is from this perspective, will go to Western Australia. That is not the case because the basic infrastructure to get it to market is inadequate from the Western Australian side. It is a 70 km haul through the mudflats to the river at Wyndham. The obvious extension of the potential of the Ord is a connection across to the Northern Territory. Granted, Western Australia is well tied to thinking on its side of the border, but the region is changing and this is causing a reassessment of how this great potential can be unlocked, so I do not agree with the member for Barkly.
I also do not agree with the assertion made by the member for Nelson saying that Indonesia is largely self-sufficient in much of its horticulture. It is not. This is one of the greater concerns we have in our region. Indonesia with nearly 250 million people, and the greater ASEAN area with 700 million, have had a food crisis around cattle. The adjustments in Indonesia have been to think small and endeavour to achieve food sovereignty internally. That has not assisted the flow of the free market and it has caused significant problems in the supply of cattle. That same approach has applied to all other produce. It may surprise people that soya bean and tempeh, which is a staple in Indonesia, is barely produced there. It comes from Canada and the US. It is almost wholly dependent upon Monsanto and the production of north America to keep a population of almost 250m eating their staple vegetable protein.
It may surprise people that Indonesia imports more sugar than China. It goes nowhere near being able to meet its own requirements and is wholly dependent upon external markets. This is of deep concern to our near neighbour. The same goes with most fruits and vegetables. Indonesia is having difficulties with its internal infrastructure and the basic operation of an internal economy, and is increasingly aware it needs to connect with this large landmass that presents it with the opportunity for increased food security.
Behind that thinking and demonstration of that thinking and that shift in our region – we have seen it already with cattle with the interest in pastoral leases. I predict there will be a lot more of that, and that is why this statement is important because it is showing us there is need now, granted there is potential forever. Before I came to the Northern Territory, I read a book called Art Linkletter goes Down Under. I read it because I was going to Esperance, Western Australia, and was interested in broadacre farming, which was pioneered by Art Linkletter and his group of American investors. What I discovered in reading that book is they were in Esperance, Western Australia, because of the failed Humpy Doo rice project. I learnt a lot about the rice project. There has always been a recognition of enormous potential in the north.
Before coming here, I also read Ernestine Hill’s book about the early days in Port Essington and all the produce that could be grown there. They tried many crops, tobacco included. They grew all sorts of things here, and there has always been talk, all the way through, of the great potential of the north. We have had it, and you reminded us with former Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Barry Coulter, that big thinking has always been a hallmark of the Northern Territory, great potential being identified and talked about.
I predict we are entering a stage now where the great potential will be changed into something where we see market match, where we have the capacity of the north of the country being able to respond to a growing population to our north. The growing population to our north, Indonesia for one – 10 million extra mouths every year and that is just Indonesia. There is the Philippines and Vietnam. Each of these countries is running a security agenda through its policy considerations. Food security is becoming increasingly real. It is not the issue around whether we will run out food, because there is the potential to adjust, grow different crops and survive as a people, a nation and a region, it is the market. It is the economics of agriculture coming under significant pressure.
I will go into that in a moment, but the issue we need to recognise is that the massive shift in our region will cause us to have to respond in ways we, up to this point, have only talked about.
The Ord, if you go across there you see the enormous infrastructure that has been put in place, which is great to see. As a kid growing up in Western Australia – I grew up farming – I remember the farmers, in the 1960s, were all talking about this great thing in the north of Western Australia. I remember one Christmas holiday when all the local farmers had a subsidy from the Western Australian government to go to the Ord River and look at it. They came back and we had to sit through endless slideshows of what we saw when we went up north and how big it is. They were trying to encourage farmers to move to the north. That was the 1960s. That is some time ago, and there is still talk today of the great opportunities the Ord holds.
My daughter lives in Kununurra. I visit and look to see what has happened now it is 2013. I have met the Chinese interests who see the opportunity to feed their people. I understand where they are coming from, but then I look around and see sandalwood and chia being grown in this great potential with the looming population to our north. Something will change, something will give.
I am pleased to have been involved in the development of a conference called, ‘Food Futures of the North’. I am grateful for the support of the minister’s office. It is an initiative of a local farmers’ group, and rather than talk about another conference of what we can grow in the Northern Territory, we are now shifting our thinking to what the market requires, the economics of food. We can grow all sorts of things here, but until we know what the market requires and understand that marketplace, there is not much point in having strategic plans. We can have a strategic plan about a product we think we can grow really well but, once it has grown well and we have plenty of it, find that no one wants it. You go the other way around and find out what is required, what the economics of the region determine is required, and how we can meet that market. That is the basic framework of the conference. I would be pleased to go through a draft outline of this conference. We should give some frame to the discussions that have been had in this debate.
It will be focused on the north of Australia. It is significant that the Northern Territory is hosting this and facilitating that dialogue. We are very pleased there is now a strong focus and clear language and intention from the new government, and the formation of a white paper. We need to capitalise on that with the Northern Territory providing that leadership. We want to start the conference by having farmers from across the north of Australia talk about what works and why, and what has failed. We want to learn from their practical accounts. These are people who are running big businesses. It might surprise people that the horticulture and the food sector across the north almost equals the cattle industry in its nett worth and production, and it will grow. It seems to be almost under the radar but it is quite significant across the north.
We want to learn from northern farmers. We want to understand the marketplace and look at market opportunities – where are those opportunities? what are our competitive market advantages? – and the economics. We will be talking about Indonesian sugar, Chinese cotton, and Indian pulses, legumes and general horticulture. There will be a focus on Indigenous involvement, and our Indigenous leaders from across the north of Australia will make a contribution in one section of this conference.
We then want to look at the research underpinning current commercial development, because if we see, for example, that by connecting Australia and Indonesia, in this case, in the supply of soya bean, we may not have a product right now, but it can be developed. If we can see it is so easy with land we have here to grow soya bean for the Indonesian market, we need to focus our research on what the best type of soya bean is that we could grow best across the north of Australia to connect into that market – 250 million people who import nearly all their soya bean. It is the connection of understanding what our economic opportunities are and the underpinning research around those economic opportunities so we can make sure we can maximise that opportunity. Obviously, our proximity goes without having to reinforce that.
Then, of course, there are the resources. We will need to look at water and land resources in the north, and there will be a focus on that. It is important to have the voices of those who have concerns about the environment reflected in this conference. We will then talk about the development of policy, the policy environment, and how policy is being developed at the micro and the macro level. There will also be some insight into what is happening with the changes of thinking at government levels in our immediate region and through ASEAN and, once again, through Indonesia.
If anyone has been watching the media, they would have picked up that there are some very big changes coming in the way our region thinks about food security and how that security can be met by changing the way they operate in much bigger marketplaces and market share in other places, such as Australia. Australia is being directly considered as a place in the supply chain of food. We talk about oil and gas and the presence of the Japanese here and their interests in energy, and we see security as an economic opportunity and all the economic benefits of security. There are other considerations from our neighbours. Japan is deadly serious about energy security because without that energy supply it cannot survive as a nation. It is not just about economic opportunity and money to be made, it is about the survival of a nation. It is the same as what is now emerging in our immediate region with the change of agriculture economics and the production of food, population growth and increased demand. It is about the survival and cohesion of a population.
Going back to the live cattle trade, the impact that had on Indonesia was one that few people in Australia recognised. We saw it as an impact on producers, and it certainly was significant. However, when it goes to a national level which is dependent upon food, the interruption of food supply can disrupt a population of 230 million, and that can cause civil unrest. That makes it very difficult to manage and we can then end up with a global or regional security issue of a completely different kind. That is why food is really important in the stability of our region, and it is not just security in terms of economic opportunities and security for the Northern Territory, it is much bigger than that.
We will be looking at development strategies and how we can work from where we are to where we need to be. There will be a focus on specific crops: cotton, sugar, grains, horticulture, forestry general. And there will be other minor crops; chia gets a look in there, as well as opium, hemp, etcetera – these other products that have been talked about around the fringes. We will bring it all together in one place and put it into a proper context. That should be a very interesting conference. It is already attracting interest across the north of the country. I commend the minister for allowing me to be involved in this and for taking it into a broader context and the context of our region.
The conference will be held sometime next year. We are looking for the right date. It will probably be around March or April, but you will be advised of that. We are working on that at the moment. It is important in the context of this statement to say this important work has been going on for some time.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I have, in recent weeks, picked up some new shadow responsibilities. My interest in this statement is predominantly around water and water issues, and I thank the minister’s office for providing me with an incoming briefing just the other day; it was most insightful.
I recognise the importance of growing economic opportunities in the Northern Territory and meeting the needs of food security, but I wish the minister could get as excited about his Resources portfolio as he could about this one. He is minister for Mines and, sadly, he has been silent on the issues facing my electorate around gas to Gove. In fact, the last time he visited was soon after the announcement on 13 February that gas had been secured for Gove. He went out with the then Chief Minister and a number of members of Cabinet to shake hands and talk positively about the future. It is funny how we have not heard from him since on the matter. He certainly has not been out there, but he is clearly devoting his energy into growing the agricultural/horticultural sector in the Northern Territory.
When I became a member of this House, I served on a few parliamentary committees, and one of them was the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, which I found a fascinating experience. We investigated the sustainability of agriculture and horticulture in the Northern Territory. The terms of reference were provided to the committee by the then Minister for the Environment, the member for Namatjira. It was a bipartisan committee that worked hard over some period of time before delivering its report to the parliament in March 2011.
It was an eye-opening exercise for me to learn more about the Territory’s horticulture, its pastoral sector and agriculture. We took plenty of evidence at public hearings and made site visits to see for ourselves and learn about the opportunities in the Northern Territory. I revisited the report very quickly this evening, and 15 or 16 recommendations came with that report. Amongst them was recognition of the need to continually research in the Northern Territory, given the climate we have, the geographic space we operate in, the low population density and the diverse climates from the Central Desert regions through to the tropical north. It was an eye-opening experience and I enjoyed learning about the opportunities for Indigenous businesses, such as Centrefarm, which is producing goods successfully and getting them to market.
I recall clearly amongst some of the evidence we were provided with, the spokesperson for the Northern Territory Horticultural Association was very clear in her presentation that the Northern Territory would never be the food bowl for Asia due to the many constraints that exist in the Northern Territory. That is not to say we do not have a vision and do not endeavour to grow that industry, though the minister has shared a vision with us this evening.
What I also found interesting is the vision he holds is not shared by all members of his government. One of the key issues is around strategic Indigenous reserves, the SIRs, which has been very topical, very controversial and, quite clearly, on the other side of the House, members are quite divided and have been clear they do not share the vision of the minister. The member for Namatjira spoke about that this evening; we have also heard from the member for Arnhem who said she is a traditional owner around the Mataranka area which has been at the centre of such much controversy. We also have on the record the member for Stuart, who, as a member of this House and an Indigenous person representing an electorate with a large population of Indigenous people, is clearly very torn over this.
Let us have a quick look at some of the comments the member for Stuart has made. We know she wrote to former Chief Minister Terry Mills around the time Tina MacFarlane was looking for a water allocation. The member for Stuart supported that allocation, initially at least. But in June, she said she supports the push for a different approach by the member for Daly, the other person who is not entirely on board with this issue of strategic Indigenous reserves. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall, member for Daly, at some of your party room discussions, because he does not support taking away the water rights of Indigenous Territorians. The member for Stuart said:
- He believes that Aboriginal people should be able to own their water and be able to sell it if they need to, especially to the mining companies that have to use a lot of water.
The member for Stuart, on this issue of strategic Indigenous reserves, has called for more talks on the issue and says three years is too long for Indigenous communities to wait. She was interviewed on the ABC and these were her comments:
- I think there should be talks with the traditional owners and our government and the minister to be able to get things moving quicker. That is what our government is about, making sure there is economic development.
- Don’t really want to talk about that issue if I may, because it’s, right now it’s just, I think we have to discuss it further with our government
That is a really interesting position on strategic Indigenous reserves when we know three backbenchers have said they are not comfortable with it, they do not agree with it, and then we have somebody who is really wedged, the member for Stuart. This is a very interesting position and a very interesting policy issue the CLP government has to deal with.
We know the approval of strategic Indigenous reserves did not go to Cabinet; I was advised of that. I am looking at the notes I took when I had my incoming brief in the minister’s office recently. Ignoring these strategic Indigenous reserves is akin to the Chief Minister’s decision to do away with a portfolio for Indigenous Advancement. ‘We do not need that, we are all Territorians and everybody should have the same opportunity’. Clearly, many people simply do not see it that way, including at least four members of the CLP government, one of whom is a minister with a key role around environment, Parks and Wildlife and the elected representative of a bush electorate. It is not a comfortable position which the CLP is in. It demonstrates the policy on the run, the ad hoc policy positioning they take is not working for them and is certainly not gelling with the wider community. It is not gelling with members on this side of the House, nor with the member for Nelson.
We will be watching this space. They may need a clear and articulated policy about where they stand, but right now, strategic Indigenous reserves are clearly a very divisive issue.
I listened with great interest to the contribution from the member for Arnhem. She talked about, as a kid, seeing the activity happening on her country, be it with gardens or a piggery. This statement is all about the big end of town, to the detriment of people within the Northern Territory, including our Indigenous population.
There is lots of talk about food security for our Asian neighbours, but what about food security for Territorians? What about food security for people in the regions? I see when I go out from time to time that there are people who are hungry, yet if they had the capacity, as we know some communities do, to grow food, it may not be heading for the export market into Asia or to the markets on the eastern seaboard, but what about sustainable gardens and development for communities?
I was on Elcho Island the week before last and went right to the top of the island to the homeland of Gawa, where I spent the night. Just 15 minutes down the road is a small homeland called Banthula. I have not been to Banthula for just over a year, but what struck me as I drove into Bunthula on that morning with one of the people from the school to pick up children who were being transported back up to Gawa for school was a banana plantation. Alongside it was more cleared land ready to put in more plants. There were cassava plants. This will not make huge money for the Northern Territory, but it is feeding people. It is also providing people with work, opportunity and, with it, financial independence. I spoke to the senior man who was behind the banana plantation at Banthula. He was obviously, as he should be, thrilled with the work he has been undertaking and told me he was in the process of working with Marthakal Homelands to develop a business plan so bananas from the plantation could be supplying the local market just down the road at the ALPA store at Galiwinku.
In the big picture of the CLP government in wanting to do amazing things in the economy and trade with Asia, let us not forget what sits in our back yard. Let us not forget who is sitting in our remote communities, in the regions, on the homelands, and the need to assist them with the production of food if, indeed, that is what people want to do. Many of us who travel around our electorates see that in many of our schools, with kids growing gardens in – is it your electorate, member for Nelson at Girraween Primary?
Mr Wood: Yes, they have a farm.
Ms WALKER: They have a farm. They do amazing stuff.
Mr Vowles: Jingili Primary School.
Ms WALKER: Jingili Primary School. A couple of years ago when I visited Milyakburra which is Bickerton Island, there was a fantastic garden. At Yirrkala recently, Monday of last week, I attended and presented awards. They were the EduGrow School Garden Awards, which is part of the Remote Indigenous Gardens Network. It is teaching kids and community – it goes right across the curriculum actually – about gardening, growing food, utilising the bush tucker that exists within their community and learning how to grow things. There is the literacy and numeracy side of the curriculum that goes along with that. This sort of thing encourages people to grow their own gardens. This does not appear anywhere in this vision we have with the Northern Territory government. Maybe they think it is irrelevant because it is too low down, literally, the food chain. It is an area that has been overlooked, and the member for Arnhem talked about that.
If we are serious about engaging Indigenous Territorians in the economy and in the agricultural and horticultural sectors, we need to be serious about this. We cannot do that if we are not serious about recognising strategic Indigenous reserves, do not have a policy in that area and are slinging off at organisations like NAILSMA. Congratulations to Joe Morrison who has driven this issue, particularly around Mataranka, on behalf of traditional owners, because they have been ignored. They have been completely ignored.
I thought the 7.30 Report on a recent Friday evening provided a most informative report on what is happening with this water allocation issue and how angry and worried people are, particularly around the Mataranka area. We saw TOs from Mangarrayi talking on that 7.30 Report. Clearly, the story is not over, because we have four members on that side of the House who do not share the vision of the minister or the Chief Minister about strategic Indigenous reserves being wiped out.
That program also showed there has been a lack of transparency in how decisions are made, highlighted by the water allocation that was made to Tina MacFarlane, a CLP candidate. We heard that plans are a little vague around how that water allocation will be utilised. It is an enormous volume of water. It is small wonder that traditional owners in that area are upset. We then learn that, possibly, she may be trading some of that water. She was allocated water on the strength she was going to develop horticulture, but now we hear that she may sell it.
Who oversees this? Who says that is okay? Clearly, this area of government policy is an absolute mess. The minister said a mouthful in his statement towards the end on page 29:
- An essential component to realising the vision of north Australian agricultural development will be to put effort into quantifying the hurdles to be addressed to facilitate two-way investments. The obvious ones are demand and supply trends and market access issues.
In the report of the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, that is where we went to as well. These are enormous hurdles: the logistics of getting product to market and, as the member for Blain said, understanding what the product is that meets market demands; the logistics associated with the fact we have a low population and some 23% of the Northern Territory’s roads are sealed; the competition, the prioritising of which roads should be sealed, the logistics, the infrastructure – the member for Daly talked about the infrastructure. Until these hurdles are overcome, getting these products to market will remain a huge challenge.
I know there is a grand vision for the north between the CLP government and the new Coalition government in Canberra. From what I am seeing, the relationship between the two different governments is they seem to be reaching a number of points of difference. I am not sure that the goodwill and the cooperation is there; pre-election it all sounded fantastic but the proof will be in the pudding. We will look to see how government intends to deliver on this vision. It is a divided vision to some point with four members on that side clearly unhappy about the scrapping of strategic Indigenous reserves. There are also these enormous hurdles around infrastructure and logistics given the distance we are from markets.
Minister, I know you have not been particularly interested in Gove and the gas issue. I do not believe the CLP has any plan for Gove beyond the potential curtailing of refining operations. We know there is good infrastructure there. There is a deep water port. There is a pretty good road, the Central Arnhem Road. Thanks to Labor, three crossings are almost completed which will provide access for a little longer. We also have a massive aquifer there. We know the refinery consumes quite a bit of water, certainly sufficient to meet its needs, so what is the vision for us, minister? Banana plantations, pineapple plantations? We would love to see and hear what your vision is for Gove. It is absent from the plan. Also absent from your plan is the fact you are ignoring Indigenous Territorians. Unless you reinstate strategic Indigenous reserves, you will have some real issues, particularly on your own side.
Motion agreed; statement noted
ADJOURNMENT
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.
I speak today to acknowledge the life of Natalie Ede and extend my condolences to her family. Natalie worked for the Education department as the Senior Program Manager of Assessment and Reporting and has been an asset to Territory education for her entire career.
On Tuesday last week Natalie collapsed at work and was taken to hospital. Sadly, Natalie passed away on the morning of Friday 22 November with her family by her side.
Natalie was well-known and well liked within the department and, more widely, in the Territory education community. She was fiercely proud of being Darwin born and bred and, as a student, attended Ludmilla Primary School and Darwin High School. Natalie undertook her teacher training in what was then the Northern Territory University. She started her teaching career in the Territory working at Leanyer Primary School in 1998 as a classroom teacher, and a PE specialist teacher for 10 years.
Natalie worked on a range of school leadership roles including Woodroffe Primary School. Natalie has most recently worked in corporate positions and has held the role of Senior Program Manager Assessment and Reporting for the last two years.
Natalie made an outstanding and significant contribution to education in the Northern Territory both as a teacher and in corporate leadership roles. In 2012, this was recognised with her receipt of the Chief Minister’s Medal for outstanding and meritorious public service. Natalie also made a substantial contribution at the national level through her involvement in the national assessment program. Her knowledge, intellect, professionalism and compassion will be sorely missed by her colleagues within school support services across the Territory and nationally.
My thoughts are with Natalie’s family, her work colleagues and friends at this very sad time.
Ms FYLES (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, where has the year gone? Someone once told me, as a parent, the days drag on but the weeks race by. The weeks racing by certainly stands true as we are near the end of the year. I would like to take the opportunity tonight to reflect on the events of 2013 in my electorate of Nightcliff.
The start of the parliamentary New Year began with the Chung Wah Society’s blessing of the parliament as well as my office in Nightcliff and a number of other local businesses in the village. Over the year, I have attended many community events and worked with many local groups and as I wrote this speech, the year’s events came back to me.
Early in the year I had a great time attending different events such as the Northern Territory swimming championships, presenting awards at the Royal Lifesaving Sunday Lifesaving Program and Milo cricket, just to name a few. The Greek Orthodox School of Darwin is located in my electorate and it was wonderful to celebrate Greek Easter, Oxi Independence Day and help prepare dolmades with the Greek ladies for the Greek Glenti at the school. As it is located in my electorate, I like to visit the Greek School, which has students from all over Darwin, Palmerston and the rural area, and appreciate the efforts of the teachers who take pride in sharing their knowledge and teach the students Greek language and culture. I congratulate all the staff and principal, John Skoufezis, on their year.
It was great to hold a seniors Easter morning tea with my colleague, the member for Johnston; just one of the many community events I held in 2013; barbecues, foreshore mobile offices and my family fun day were a few of the community events I held. As we rolled into the Dry Season in the Nightcliff/Rapid Creek area it was wonderful to celebrate the Seabreeze Festival, which just gets bigger and better each year. This community event really appreciates the support, and I trust the government will continue its long-standing and much appreciated support next year.
I am passionate about education and have enjoyed the opportunity to regularly visit and be involved with my local schools in 2013. To Sarah and Eva, and all the staff at Nightcliff Middle School, congratulations on a wonderful 2013. This school is going from strength to strength with enrolments set to be over 300 next year. To the school council members at Nightcliff Middle School: Liz Hendry, Peter Hendry, Zelia Bailey, Melissa Davey, Anita Issma, Deborah Moore and Justine Davis – thank you for your efforts.
Nightcliff Primary School is bursting with energy and wonderful students. To the school council members there; also Liz Hendry, who is Chair of both Nightcliff Middle and Nightcliff Primary School councils - what an amazing effort! To Azaria Neeman, Shani Jarvis, Andreas, Ali Fitzgerald, Stephanie, Ange Kelly, Pam Dobie, Phillipa Cotter, Mark Monk, Yvette Nickles – thank you for your support by being on the school council. To Graham Chadwick, Tim Morgan and Jill Finch and all the staff at the primary school; well done on another great year and with my oldest son starting pre-school there next year I look forward to contributing and being involved, not only as the local member but as a parent in 2014.
To Anthony and the staff, students and parents at St Paul’s primary school, well done on all your school activities in 2013. There have been so many events through the year and it has been wonderful to be invited and be able to participate in the school’s activities.
It was also wonderful to attend the Essington School fair earlier this year, and I am very much looking forward to their school presentation evening next week and celebrating all the hard work of Essington School from the year.
All of the schools in my electorate have active student representative councils and well done to those students’ efforts and involvement in fundraising and being leaders in their schools. I have had interactions with all of them and there are some fine young students there who, I am sure, one day may end up in this House.
It was wonderful to help Irene Billias celebrate 25 years at the Nightcliff Family Centre, a local not-for-profit community based childcare centre. Twenty five years in one job is amazing, let alone caring for our children day in and day out. To the director at the centre, Pam and the hard-working committee members, Nadia, Doug, Katie, Anthony, Kylie, Barbara – just to name the ones I can remember – thank you for your support to our local childcare centre.
To the Nightcliff Evergreens seniors group, thank you for your support and assistance this year. To the committee members: Pauline Plummer, Mary May, Norah Smiles, Val Burns, Carol Furlan, Sylvia McGoff, Carol Smith – thank you for your assistance to me. The Nightcliff Evergreens have helped me with a number of events, providing folding of newsletters and making lolly bags for the Christmas parties. I really appreciate your support, and also the effort you put into the Evergreens group. The Evergreens provides activities to our seniors; you do not have to be from Nightcliff to attend, and they organise activities every fortnight from lunches together to excursions. Thank you for your work in providing that important activity for our seniors.
In my electorate we still have a number of outstanding issues heading into 2014 and I will continue to work with local residents on these issues, including education cuts affecting our schools, the Rapid Creek flooding issues, along with local traffic and road safety issues, particularly around our schools. I take this opportunity to remind the Education minister and his chief executive that I appreciate the work you have done to date, although we still have some outstanding issues; you have committed to the traffic study and I look forward to following that through.
I am looking forward to catching up with people heading into Christmas, although it was very disappointing to have to cancel my electorate community Christmas party last weekend due to the cyclone warning. We had everything organised but, obviously, in that weather we could not be out at the swimming pool and on the jumping castle etcetera.
To the staff who have supported me in my office this year: Carly, Sharon, Sierra, Belinda, Ari, Charles, Anne and Dawn; a special thank you. A special thank you to my volunteers who have helped with the endless tasks such as letterboxing my newsletters or cooking the sausages at my barbecue: Warren, Emily, Luke, Vida, Karen, Stuart, Sally, David, Kirby, John, Peter, Ashley, Tim, Brett, Vida, and Kerry, thank you. To my colleagues in this House I wish you a Merry Christmas; may it be a safe one with family and friends. To colleagues on my side a special thank you for your support. As a member of parliament with two young boys, I sometimes face unique challenges and your endless support is very much appreciated. A special note to Dawn McCarthy for her support, particularly during sittings times.
I could not do this role without the wonderful support of family, friends, my wonderful childcare ladies, and my parents, Andrew and Cheryl. To my two little boys Oliver and Henry, thank you for letting mummy go to lots of meetings and maybe Santa will bring you that toy truck. To my partner, Paul, thank you for your support.
Finally, I would like to say 2013 was a fantastic year, but I cannot; I cannot feel that 2013 was fantastic. It was a good year, so as we head into the holiday season I would like to acknowledge and think of all those who have lost loved ones this year and to those who are suffering from illness - we are thinking of you as well. Take care, and may 2014 be a little more optimistic.
I am passionate about the Territory and my electorate of Nightcliff. I look forward to many more debates next year. Thank you.
Ms FINOCCHIARO (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, tonight in adjournment I want to make a couple of different contributions. Probus in Palmerston recently celebrated its first birthday. Unfortunately, I was unable to be there for this very special moment, but to escape my guilt for not being there I bought them an extremely large, delicious cake that hopefully eased some of the pain of not being there and I know they enjoyed that very much.
Probus stands for Professional and Business which originated in the UK and reached Australian shores in 1976. Probus continues to grow and is present in over 22 countries worldwide. It is an association of active retirees who join together in clubs which provide regular opportunities to keep their minds active, expand their interests and enjoy time with new friends they will surely make.
Probus clubs are non-political and non-sectarian, non-profit making and non-fundraising. The club’s activities normally fall into two categories, that being meetings and outings. The club has a formal meeting on a set day each month; this comprises a club business section, a coffee break, followed by a guest speaker and/or a discussion on a topic of interest.
I have been fortunate in that the Palmerston Combined Probus Club is always keen to discuss government business and provide timely, relevant feedback to me as a government member to take to my Cabinet colleagues. I thank Ken and all the members for their recent feedback relating to eyesight testing for those aged over 70 years along with their comments on the Advance Personal Planning Bill.
The second activity club members undertake are outings, held between meetings. They visit places or organisations of interest to members - the theatre, social or sporting events. These outings even include overnight trips and tours.
The Palmerston Combined Probus Club recently held a Melbourne Cup luncheon on 5 November at Finlay’s Joint caf. The club will be holding their Christmas function during December at the Salt ‘n’ Pepper restaurant in Durack, which is a delightful local restaurant in my electorate.
Although I am not yet a retiree, I am connected to the Palmerston Combined Probus Club as I recently accepted their humbling offer to become club patron. Over the last 12 months I have regularly attended Probus meetings held at Cazalys and am honoured to be the patron of a community group that offers so much to our senior Territorians.
Before I finish, a special mention must be given to the members of the Palmerston Combined Probus Club. As we all know, it is the members and volunteers that keep great groups like this alive and well. The members are, as of the meeting held on 17 October 2013: Freda Andrews, Meg Angus-Welcome, Darryel Binns, Gwen Campbell, Dot Chapman, Connie Cohalan, Ken Cohalan, Shirley Collins, Jennie Copley, Ian Dawson, Pat Gallagher, Ray Grimshaw, Anne Harding, Ila Heskins, Terry Heskins, Christine Ilic, Marg Lee, Andrew Leo, Mavis Leo, Sylvia McGough, Margaret Norman, Ivy Pearse, Ron Pearse, Marilyn Roberts, June Roos, Rob Roos, Bala Velukutty Nair, Hazel Stevens, Ruth Whitford, Ulic Wong, Carol Woolodridge, Jim Wright and Jenny Wright.
I am a strong advocate for seniors participating in our community. The Palmerston Combined Probus Club offers active retirees the opportunity to spend quality time with like-minded people while broadening their interests and learning new things. Once again, I am humbled to be the patron of such a stimulating and worthwhile community group and wish the Palmerston Combined Probus Club much success in the future.
I would like to take the time to acknowledge a passionate, energetic member of our community, Dottie Daby. Dottie is the driving force behind a lively group called the Groovy Grans, also known as the Palmerston Senior Scooters. In order to encourage people over 60 years of age to engage in physical activity, this line dancing group was established and is coordinated by Dottie. Dancing is a fun, low impact way for older Territorians to keep their muscles toned and helps them form relationships with like-minded people. Being active is fundamental for our seniors, and community groups like this serve a very important purpose in providing enjoyment, companionship and exercise to those who often have chronic health issues. The Groovy Grans perform at public events all through the year and particularly enjoy dancing for other senior Territorians, providing many laughs and they always astonish crowds with their fitness levels and routines.
A significant moment for the group, and Dottie, was when they were asked to audition for the television show Australia’s Got Talent in June this year. It was a great surprise and, indeed, a great promotion of the capabilities of our society’s oldest members. An individual honour that Dottie should be immensely proud of is her nomination for the Pride of Australia Medal in the category of Community Spirit. Without a doubt, people like Dottie typify what community is all about; that is, providing a safe, enjoyable and worthwhile experience.
Dottie and the Groovy Grans practice at the multipurpose Gray Community Hall in my electorate of Drysdale. Dance class is held every Wednesday with the senior performers commencing at 1 pm and interested beginners are welcome from 2.30 pm onwards. I wish to publicly praise Dottie for giving her time and energy to such a worthy cause. The entire group is also to be thanked for their dedication to their performances and for providing senior Territorians, often in nursing homes, with the enjoyment of watching their peers participate in such a lively and entertaining activity.
I congratulate the new committee of Business and Professional Women Darwin. BPW Darwin held their AGM on 3 October 2013, and a new committee was elected at that time. I am pleased to say that Natalie Bell continues on as President of BPW Darwin, as she will be seeing out her full two-year term, which is great news. New positions were First Vice President Rebecca Tinkham, who brings great experience and enthusiasm to that role and I commend her for stepping into the position. Second Vice President is Jana Tumuls who has been with BPW for a number of years now as the secretary, and has now elevated herself to Vice President. She will make an enormous contribution in that position.
I am very excited that Linda Murphy, a dear friend of mine, has decided to come on board and join the committee. When I was involved with BPW I used to try very hard to get Linda to join our committee, but she was happy being a participant. She is now the Treasurer and is more than qualified for the role as she runs a number of tax agent businesses. BPW Darwin’s secretary is Frieda Evans who has held this role in a number of forms over a couple of years and does an amazing job, and we could not do anything without her.
New committee members are Angela Tomazos, Heather Veal, and Cheryl Richardson. I am particularly pleased to see Angela and Cheryl come on board. Heather has been with us for a long time, well before I ever became involved with BPW. Angela and Cheryl are extremely well-respected businesswomen in our community. It is a real testament to the journey of BPW Darwin that its committee is now attracting very high profile female leaders in our community.
BPW Darwin is focused on delivering the personal and professional development of its members and is driven by the need to empower women through training and networking opportunities. BPW Darwin ensures that each event is well organised and structured with high content so their time-poor members receive maximum impact with minimum fuss. BPW Darwin is made up of a dynamic group of women who share in the passion of bettering themselves and their careers.
BPW Darwin’s vision is to be the leading professional and personal development networking organisation for Northern Territory women. Its mission is to support and actively promote professional and personal development, to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, knowledge and experiences and to be an advocate for issues affecting women. Its goals are to provide Territory women with the opportunity to network with like-minded women, to provide opportunities for women to develop and grow themselves personally and professionally and to promote advocacy for issues affecting women.
When I first came into contact with BPW Darwin, it had seven members and the national body was on the brink of closing it down. Natalie Bell, the now President, and I decided to take the opportunity and we worked tirelessly to drag this organisation out of insignificance; it had a negative stigma in the community and is now something that is alive and well.
BPW Darwin has been the largest BPW in Australia for the last two or three years now. To go from being on the brink of closing down to being the most vibrant, most active, most dynamic and largest club in the country really says something. I really do wish BPW Darwin all the best for the future. I have stepped down as President, I have stepped down from the committee, and I have stepped down as the BPW Australia representative, but I keep a watchful eye. I cannot always come to events like I used to, but BPW will always be a big part of my life; it will always have a special place in my heart and, whilst I might not be around as much anymore, I certainly have very fond memories. I am extremely proud of the work that BPW Darwin continues to do and will continue to do well into the future.
Ms ANDERSON (Namatjira): Madam Speaker, I wish to put on record the passing of a very special person, Jill Brooks, and my condolences and those of all my colleagues on this side of the House, and in Alice Springs, to Peter, Ben, Rick, Paddy and Annie.
This woman was extraordinary. She was always a volunteer at the Finke Desert Race and Antony Yoffa spoke at her memorial service in Alice Springs. She was a friend to everyone. She was that thread, that bond, and it was absolutely amazing to walk into the Catholic church in Alice Springs and see the amount of people who had come to farewell Jill and pay their respects to her children and her husband, Peter. They have also been long, loving friends of Indigenous people in Central Australia as well. I put on public record the speech made by her son:
- A word of warning before I start; please do not sit at home listening to country music, sipping red wine by yourself, writing memorial speeches - things only get messy.
Life is a brilliant journey with strange twists and turns. You smile when you think of the adventures you have had and who you have had them with. Life is precious, full of wonderful moments and wonderful people creating wonderful memories. When you leave this Earth you leave it without regret knowing that you have lived it to the full. This is a fair summary of Jill Brooks’ life.
My mum ticked all the boxes. My relationship with my mum was in a dark place over the past few years. We only discovered about four months ago that a brain tumour had been growing inside her head, causing her all sorts of problems with her decision making and thought process. It was a huge relief to know that once the tumour was discovered we had an answer to her illness. Relief quickly turned to sadness as the family were told that, with treatment, mum had 12 months to live and no more than six months without treatment. She opted for the latter.
My beautiful sisters made these last months as happy as they could be, also easing the strain on Brooksy. This strain and our loss will keep hitting us for a while. Sadness is a season and it will pass.
Over the last 10 days, spending time with family and friends, you are reminded of all the wonderful times that we shared over the years. This was made even more obvious when my sister, Paddy, included a pictorial tribute at the funeral service for mum at Henley Beach. This reminded us of the great times, and there were plenty - some funny, some not, some that weren’t then but are now. We have a lot to be thankful for:
• I thank mum for trying her best
• I thank her for long Sundays at the claypans, riding motorbikes and enjoying life with lifelong friends
• I thank her for leaving port on the table after a long night. Two drunken toddlers with bean bags and a balcony always makes a good story
• I want to thank her for volunteering
• I want to thank her for taking me to the hospital
• I want to thank her for trying to push start me in the sand at Deep Well. We both fell down and that sand is still in our veins
• I want to thank her for bringing us to Alice Springs. It is here that we have the best friends and lifestyle in the world
• I want to thank her for taking us to the snow in the most unreliable Toyota Corona ever made - yet we still made it
• I want to thank her for her generosity and laughter
• I want to thank her for organising a Honda when no other bike seemed to like me
• I will thank mum for dressing me as a Christmas present at kindy. A big colourful box with a head, two small hands and feet sticking out
In saying goodbye, I would like to mention all our beautiful friends for their messages of love and support; thank you. To all of mum’s wonderful friends in the ladies Beefsteak and Burgundy Club; thank you. To our Finke family; thank you. To my sisters, Paddy, Annie and Judy for all of the palliative care; thank you.
To Alison Anderson and Antony Yoffa for their wonderful tributes to mum, thank you. To Brooksy for his patience and kindness, thank you.
Thank you to my beautiful wife, Julie, and wonderful children for giving me strength, courage and inspiration, which allows me to do this today.
To Jill on behalf of all your B&B friends past and present.
There are many types of gifts we know that people can receive
Money, jewellery, flowers or a weekend by the sea
But put them all together, and they couldn’t stand in lieu
Of one of the greatest gifts we own, the gift of knowing you
Jill you meant so much to us, so happy and full of caring
A generous soul who loved to help the less fortunate and despairing
This room is full of people who find it hard to say goodbye
Because no one wants to see you go, we’re still asking ‘why?’
We feel your hand in our hands, and see your smiling face
You haven’t gone, we sense you here, a love we can’t replace
Your generous nature and infectious laugh that we all got to know
Will always be remembered in the hearts that loved you so
Thank goodness we have memories, that we can hold so dear
Knowing that you’re watching, and always very near
So we’ll smile while remembering those great times that we had
Treasuring all the happy times, so we won’t feel so sad
Now here’s a toast to you my friend, from the girls here that you see
And every month we’ll know you’re here saying, ‘Hello Darlings’ at the B&B.
This is something I said to the family at the church, on behalf of the people of the Western Desert. These people were very passionate friends of Aboriginal people in Central Australia, straight to the point and caring of our boys who went in to access their services:
- Jill Brooks
Peter, Ben, Rick, Paddy, Annie
We knew Jill as Ukuman; knowledgeable Elder
Jill, from the Western Desert, thank you for all your fearless unpatronising advice straight to the point; we really appreciated it. You taught us good lessons in our conversations while waiting for the boys:
Hard work was the key
A good education will bring you to good standing
- Don’t whinge and whine
Do something about the situation.
You told the boys to live within their means – if you spend this much money on a car do you have enough money left to feed your family?’
That is the Jill we knew and loved
Another piece of advice was to look after the cars - check the oil and water
Jill gave her time openly, freely and always loving
When I heard about Jill’s passing I rang around to her usual customers she knew - Lance, Amos, Sid, Tobias, Dennis and Douglas and told them. There was silence and then: kunyi ukumanunya lilta paluru nyananya kuru watjalpai nyurra kuta arra. These people respected Jill for her straight talk.
Jill, from us the Aboriginal people, nyulla nyananka.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, tonight, I raise an issue of some concern which affects my electorate; the story on the front page of the paper today. I could not help but be inspired into incredulity by the member for Johnston. He started talking about secret deals in Question Time and I recall, Madam Speaker, you had to counsel me for my incredulity. However, frankly, I find it hard to imagine how a member could ask such a question in light of such a headline.
If we are to believe the evidence we have seen so far in the newspaper and matters tabled in the House tonight, something very awry occurred on 3 August last year, immediately prior to the Territory election. In fact, it was the very last day of the Henderson government before going into caretaker mode. It made a decision - the former minister, Gerry McCarthy, made a decision - to hand over, essentially, the keys to the union movement in the Northern Territory for 20 years for a fee of $442, less than the $450 reported in the newspaper.
I am astonished at that. It has an odium surrounding it which is hard to imagine and fathom. What would inspire a minister of the Crown, according to the newspaper at least, to walk to the unions on the day before you go into caretaker mode and sell $3m worth of value for the princely sum of $450? It is an extraordinary decision for a minister of the Crown to make. This minister of the Crown should have been aware of the normal processes it takes to put such a lease arrangement in place. I am curious as to whether or not the former minister can lay on the table the advertisement placed in the Northern Territory News, or wherever else, advertising this building was becoming available for – according to a comment in the newspaper – that:
- The application was to use the site as a community centre and meeting rooms and office space.
I do not recall any such advertisement in the newspaper, because I do not believe there was one. There is certainly no suggestion by the members opposite today that was the case.
Was there a tender? Was a tender process engaged in? The Treasurer’s instructions are quite strong on these things. The tender processes of the former Northern Territory government have been under question on a number of occasions at the departmental level, but it now seems that, at a ministerial level, tenders are something they did not pay a great deal of attention to. Where was the announcement of this successful thing? If it was such a good thing and a thing to be proud of, why was there no press release issued by the former government saying they were going to do this thing? Surely, you would say, ‘This is us being close to the union movement. The minister is going to give this wonderful opportunity to the union movement because we are all close together, and that is a great message to take into the election we are about to go into, as the caretaker mode starts tomorrow.’ However, there was no press release.
The reason there was no press release is because the former minister genuinely thought it was something not to put a media release out about – if this was his very last act as a minister, it was a strange act not to be promoting himself prior to going to the election. It makes one wonder about the minister’s frame of mind when he engaged in what I could only describe as a furtive exercise to give away $3m worth of public assets to the union organisations for an amount of $450. Where was the press release? There was no press release because the minister did not want people to know. Every time the former government wanted people to know something, there was a press release, and more and more press releases; no press releases on this one, no announcement publicly, not even a leak to the media about it. It was all very discreet and very carefully managed.
I would expect ministers of the Crown to be announcing to the world their conflicts of interest when it comes to these types of things because the union movements are very close to the Labor Party. Many unions, if not all of them, have the support of the Labor Party as a demand in their constitutions.
There were no announcements, furtive conduct, no advertising, no tender, and no press releases in any way to describe what was actually going on. In fact, we only started to become aware of it, according to the newspaper, when the unions wanted to press on with claiming their newfound right from the new government.
What concerns me about this is another comment in this article. This is where I start to think the tentacles of this ‘thing’ stretch far beyond the minister himself. I quote from the newspaper article today:
- Mr McCarthy said that advice to Cabinet had been given by the department and was confidential.
Did I read that correctly? Oh, yes, that is what it says, ‘advice to Cabinet’. Cabinet was aware of this? This was a Cabinet decision was it, former minister? My next question is: what does the Leader of the Opposition know about this? Was she in that Cabinet meeting? I bet you she was. Why was the Cabinet seeking advice in relation to this in the first place? What were you told? What was going on here?
The focus now shifts from the former minister to the now Leader of the Opposition. ‘What did you know?’ – that is the question I have for the Leader of the Opposition. What instructions did you give? What support, Leader of the Opposition, did you give to this decision being taken? This odious, smelly, little decision that was taken to deprive the Northern Territory’s common wealth of $3m worth of property in terms of the value of the property that sells for $450? How much did the now Leader of the Opposition know about that decision? What was her commitment to the unions in relation to this? This thing does smell. It smells horribly.
I heard the Chief Minister today being sanctioned for using the term ‘Gerry Obeid’, but I have a question. If it was not just Gerry, who else was it? Clearly, it was something the Cabinet had in front of it, so the decision was taken by Cabinet. The minister himself said it is a decision taken by Cabinet, so the whole government and the now Leader of the Opposition, I can only suggest, were involved in this process. That is amazing. If you listen to all the noise coming from that side of the House about some unsubstantiated allegations about a fuel card and nothing about a $3m touch on the taxpayer, I believe there is something fundamentally wrong in the state of Rome. There is something fundamentally wrong on that side of the House. If they were angry about something small - my goodness gracious me, unsubstantiated and small, I might add - they have a great deal of answering to do for something that is that substantial - a $3m gift! Gifted away for the price of $450, and I note the comments in the editorial of the paper today, calling for an inquiry. If more information starts coming to light about this, there might have to be one! This arrangement with the unions is nasty, it smells very bad; it actually stinks, and it is all being done at the expense of the taxpayer of the Northern Territory. If there is anything more to this, woe betide the Northern Territory Labor Party!
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I have good news stories from the Barkly.
Poised for Success: local girl, Lynette Lewis Hubbard, left Tennant Creek in her teens to pursue her dream of being a dancer. She moved to Sydney at the age of 17, got into dance school and scored a part in the musical Bran Nue Dae, touring around Australia for nine months. She auditioned successfully for NIDA, but two years into her course she became very ill and had to leave her new life and go back home to recover.
This inspirational young woman is back on the stage and in the limelight, but this time as a playwright and sole performer of her inspiring work The Adventures of Namakili. Lynette’s touching and authentic theatre production is written in English, Kriol, Wambaya and Warumungu, a unique language mix rarely seen on stage. There is pathos, joy and plenty of comedy as she refuses to take herself and life too seriously. Her story is about following your dreams, even in the face of adversity. Written by Lynette Lewis Hubbard and Stephen L. Helper, The Adventures of Namakili is on at Browns Mart Theatre until November 30.
Barkly Shire Waste Management Program Scoops Territory Award: Barkly Shire Council was recognised for its continuing efforts in waste management as part of the Territory Tidy Town Awards last month. The Barkly Shire, as partner in the Central Australian Waste Management Program, took out the Best Waste Management Initiative Award in conjunction with the Central Desert and MacDonnell Shires. The award recognises the outstanding work all three shires have done, especially in relation to landfill upgrades, and highlights the value of collaborative regional partnerships. Barkly Shire president Barb Shaw said the award is a reflection of the hard work by all parties involved:
- This joint waste management project with our sister shires further demonstrates that a Central Australian approach can be adopted for a wide range of environmental initiatives to maximise the potential of local resources to achieve real outcomes.
The Central Australian Waste Management Program, funded by the NT government’s Department of Health and assisted by the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory, customises the way in which landfills are managed in a remote setting. The Barkly Shire has recently completed landfill upgrades at Ampilatwatja and Elliott and has active projects at Ali Curung and Alpurrurulam, both of which are scheduled to be completed at the end of this year.’
Film Gives Muckaty Campaign a Boost: a film on the Muckaty campaign premiered at Tennant Creek’s Aboriginal Art and Cultural Centre, Nyinkka Nyunyu, on November 10. Protecting Manuwangku captured the rally and concert last May in Tennant Creek and marks six years of resistance to the Muckaty nuclear waste dump proposal. Produced by Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning Research Unit at the University of Technology, Sydney, the film interviewed several Muckaty traditional owners, including Dianne Stokes:
- We are happy that we had lots of people from town come along to support us and give us strength for the future. This new film, Protecting Manuwangku, is something we have put out after Muckaty Voices and it came out really strong. I will tell the world, tell all the people that we are still standing strong. We want to thank Jumbunna for helping us put this film together.
- Each student had their own challenges and demands, so to complete a qualification is something each graduate and their families can be proud of.
Qualifications were presented in the areas of hospitality, automotive, arts, electro-technology, business community services, resources and infrastructure, training and assessment and other areas.
Elliott Footballer on Track for the Big Time: local YDU footballer, Nicholas Tracker, has been offered a position on the playing list for VFL club, Bendigo Football Club, in Victoria. Nicholas Tracker, from Elliott, is expected at the first post-Christmas training session on 10 January 2014.
Bendigo Gold coach, ex-St Kilda champion, Aussie Jones, said in newspaper reports he was excited at the prospect of giving the young Indigenous player an opportunity to play on the big stage. The VFL is a second tier competition to the AFL with Geelong, Essendon, Collingwood and Carlton fielding their reserve sides while the remaining Victorian-based AFL clubs align with other VFL clubs.
Nicholas must be commended for his courageous decision to move away from family and friends in a bid to follow his football dreams. With plenty of hard work and determination, he could well be the next Barkly footballer to make it to the AFL. Jake Neade, also from Elliott, played finals for his team, Port Adelaide Power, in his first year of AFL football.
Elliott Health Practitioner Honoured: an Elliott woman was one of 33 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners recently honoured at an excellence awards ceremony. Josephine Appo, or Jo as she is known, works at Elliott health clinic. She was nominated for the remote category and received a highly commended at the awards ceremony this month.
Colleagues who nominated Jo said she is well-known for her professionalism as an Aboriginal health practitioner and is a person who always upholds the ethics and expectations of her career choice. Jo is regarded as a role model who provides positive advice and direction to other members of the health team. Jo is a well-respected member of the team and always willing to share her expertise.
The awards are an ongoing initiative of the Rotary Club of Darwin Sunrise in partnership with the Department of Health, United Voice NT, department of Health and Ageing and AMSANT.
Tennant Carers Scoop Award: a Tennant Creek couple were among a number of Territorians who won a Foster and Kinship Carer Excellence Award in October. Ian Waistcoat and Ruby Frank, both traditional owners from the area, have cared for up to 20 children for families from remote communities around the Barkly area.
The children in their care have always maintained good school attendance, despite the couple both undergoing regular dialysis. When Ruby and Ian formalised kinship care status in 2012, they took on the care of a 14 year-old nephew who remains in their care today.
The 2013 Foster and Kinship Carer Excellence Award recognises the outstanding dedication and contributions that foster and kinship carers make to the Northern Territory’s child protection system.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, tonight I speak about the recent 2013 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge which took place in October. I bring to the House’s attention the hard work done by staff from the Department of Transport and many other people who were involved.
This is a major worldwide event. It was a huge success and was a great coup originally for Darwin when it started many years ago. The event attracts people from all over the world, and it was a testament to our hard work, and the hard work of our predecessors, to obtain this event which runs from Darwin down the Stuart Highway to Adelaide.
I was very fortunate, along with the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Transport and a number of other people from the department, to attend the showgrounds at the Foskey Pavilion where they were doing the scrutineering of the solar cars.
I must say, 20 years ago my two sons were at Dripstone High School and they participated in the solar challenge with a car named Aquila. It was formerly a Charles Darwin University car, and Dripstone High School took it, reworked it, remodelled it, made sure it was roadworthy and took it from Darwin to Adelaide. It was a fascinating experience for all the team from Dripstone High School and an interesting event and road trip for my two sons.
To look at the cars, as I did 20 years ago at Dripstone High School, then 20 years later look at the technology improvements, the car improvements, the design, the electrical technology going into those cars, the solar panels and the advancements in technology was absolutely fantastic. It was great to see the Territory can host this event, and I am hoping in two years’ time we will be in a position to help Charles Darwin University, and perhaps others, re-enter the race with Territory cars sponsored by Territory businesses and help create the research at Charles Darwin University, which will help us compete with the world’s best.
The World Solar Challenge is a biennial event involving solar powered cars travelling from Darwin to Adelaide. It also involves their associated support vehicles, a minimum of two per team, being driven from Darwin to Adelaide under controlled conditions. This year’s event attracted more than 40 solar cars. The start was outside Parliament House on the Sunday morning, which was quite interesting - most of the cars got off, but some had to be push-started. There was a fantastic array of designs, some with four wheels, some with three wheels, but all eventually got going with a bit of help from the pit crews.
The Northern Territory is a major sponsor of this event providing both financial and in-kind support, via the Department of Transport, which has a long association with the event by providing vehicle assessments and conditional registration for the solar cars since the first event in 1987. The Department of Transport’s regulation and compliance vehicle standards engineering team undertake assessments of all solar cars to ensure compliance with technical and safety standards before the cars can be granted conditional registration to participate in the event. All vehicles participating in the event are required to comply with NT road laws, including speed limits.
The solar challenge number plates have had the same design for the past couple of events; however, late last year, in the lead up to this year’s World Solar Challenge, staff at Motor Vehicle Registry took the opportunity to change the design of the plates. Motor Vehicle Registry approached the number plate factory in Alice Springs as well as Motor Vehicle Registry internally, for design concepts. The successful designer was chosen unanimously by staff at Motor Vehicle Registry and World Solar Challenge organisers.
I am pleased to say the artist - an Aboriginal Territorian who works at Motor Vehicle Registry - remained anonymous by choice, but I congratulate them for this great work. The number plates are very distinctive and are a collector’s piece worldwide. We hope in the next solar challenge we will be able to print more of them and give each participant a number plate to take home to hang on their walls and talk positively about their experiences in the Northern Territory and South Australia. The design featured an outline of Australia, the road from Darwin to Adelaide and a full blazing sun.
It was a pleasure to work with the people on the day going through and checking the vehicles. Obviously, I did not have a large part, but I got an insight into what they do. They are a dedicated bunch of people and I congratulate all the people from the Department of Transport who were involved.
I move to a different subject now: the Chief Minister‘s Awards for Excellence in the Public Sector. I would like to draw the House’s attention to the recent awards. The Chief Minister’s Awards for excellence in public service are designed to reward staff, encourage innovative activities and showcase some of the great initiatives that make a difference to public sector administration and the broader Territory.
It was extremely pleasing that the Department of Transport brought home the award in the Aboriginal Advancement Category for their outstanding DriveSafe NT Remote Program.
The Office of Multicultural Affairs and Darwin Waterfront Corporation won the Enriching Our Society Category with the popular Harmony Soiree event.
The aviation workshop team also picked up a prestigious gong in the Growing Our Economy Category with their strategy for new airline services in the Northern Territory. Darwin Airport continues to go from strength to strength along with the introduction of SilkAir, AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines and Tigerair. We are cementing the Territory’s claim as the gateway to Asia. More recently, there were meetings with Garuda in the interest of reopening the Garuda flights in and out of Darwin.
The Harmony Soiree is always a popular event with growing participation every year and it is no surprise it was recognised in this category. It is such a great award and well deserved. Much hard work goes into this event and it is really appreciated by all Territorians.
I am especially pleased the DriveSafe NT remote Indigenous Driver Education and Licensing program was recognised at these awards. In fact, tonight the CEO and Karen Young are in Brisbane, hopefully picking up the Australian gong for this particular award. I sincerely hope I can stand here tomorrow night and speak further on this award that we will hopefully win in the Australian category. Much hard work was rewarded here. The program is such a valuable initiative and I am very proud of the team which brought it to fruition.
Since September, the Department of Transport has issued, under the program, 396 birth certificates, 983 learner’s licences, 226 provisional licences, undertaken 250 motor vehicle registration transactions and delivered 1793 driver’s licences. The program is making a huge difference to our remote communities and I congratulate the department on their hard work and tireless effort in getting this up and running.
DriveSafe NT Remote includes theory and practical lessons on a range of driving and road safety topics such as drink-driving, seatbelts, overcrowding in vehicles, emergency first aid and speed. Participants also learn about the responsibilities of being a driver and owning a vehicle.
A two-year initiative of the Northern Territory government, the program is jointly funded by the former National Road Safety Council, Territory Insurance Office, the Australian government and the Northern Territory Department of Transport. The Northern Territory government has committed an additional $4.5m to continue this successful program for a further three years.
I congratulate all nominees, finalists and winners and commend the invaluable work undertaken by all departments.
It is a real pleasure, as the minister, for the staff you lead to win prizes in three different categories. The staff I have worked with for nearly nine months now are well-known for their commitment to their particular roles and jobs and it is fantastic working with them. I congratulate the team at the Department of Transport and look forward to working with them in the future.
Ms MANISON (Wanguri): Madam Speaker, tonight I reiterate on the record some concerns raised by senior Territorians.
Since the change of government, there have been huge changes across the Territory and some of those changes have really hit senior Territorians. We have seen many broken promises around the cost of living. We have also now seen the public service being stripped back considerably despite the promises that public service jobs were safe, particularly those on the front line.
Of course, Territorians have not sat back. As we have seen in the last 12 months, Territorians have made their voices heard. They have come out, and I do not think I have seen more protests and rallies than I have seen in the last 12 months. It has been huge. We are seeing another massive rally tomorrow against the education cuts. People are quite active at the moment, and they are speaking up; they want to have their voices heard.
One of the groups that have formed out of that has been the NT Citizens for Action group. In that group, there has been a seniors subcommittee formed, advocating for the rights and needs of senior Territorians. I have to pay particular tribute to Roger Miller, who has been very busy advocating for senior Territorians, as well as the other members on that committee. They have added a voice for seniors out there, and have had a strong voice against the Power and Water tariff increases that have hit senior Territorians as well, and bus fares that have hit senior Territorians. We saw earlier on that there were moves afoot that might have seen the scrapping of airfares under the NT Pensioner and Carer Concession Scheme, and I believe the pressure put on from the public and groups like the NT Citizens for Action helped to ensure that although they would change, the airfares did continue in some form.
We have also seen housing costs go up, and I have met plenty of seniors in public housing who have had huge rent increases they have to live with. People who own homes would have seen their rates go up, and rents have gone up as well. It has not been easy going for senior Territorians and, on that basis, the NT Citizens for Action group has been very active. They put a petition to the government back in June, and the response to that petition was included in today’s proceedings.
The NT Citizens for Actions group have asked me to reiterate that response tonight for the record. The petition went along the lines of:
- We the undersigned respectfully showeth that senior Northern Territorians are important to all Territorians and deserve recognition of the issues they raise.
Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that a solution to the agreed difficulties of shared portfolios for seniors be found immediately. One solution suggested is that the minister for seniors represents all seniors in all matters relevant to seniors. This will alleviate the problem of seniors having to go to separate ministers.
The response came into the parliament today, and read:
- Thank you for your letter of 27 June 2013 advising of the Petition read in the Legislative Assembly on 27 June 2013 (Petition No. 16).
As per Administrative Arrangements Order the Minister for Senior Territorians is responsible for the Office of Senior Territorians (OST). This includes Senior Territorians policy, the provision of grants for Seniors’ Month, the Senior Territorians Advisory Council and the Seniors Card Scheme.
There are many issues relevant to senior Territorians which cross over multiple portfolios such as transport, public and personal safety, employment, adult education, health, housing, planning, essential services, arts, sport and recreation. It would not be feasible to extract officers from each of these agencies to focus on the particular portfolio issue in the OST. Rather, the OST is working on developing linkages with key agencies to progress issues of importance for seniors as they relate to those portfolio areas.
The transfer of the Office of Senior Territorians from the Department of Health to the Department of Chief Minister has provided opportunity to seek innovative solutions to issues and develop linkages and synergies with key agencies across government. A proposal for a seniors representative advisory council is currently being developed and will be focused on creating real linkages between seniors and government.
The next question is when will the government make their decision about whether or not they will establish a representative advisory council for seniors? If they do decide to, who gets to go on to that advisory council? How do people get the opportunity to put their hand up to say they want to be involved? Seniors do deserve a strong voice and they are vital to the future of the Territory.
I believe all families that have been here for a long time love the thought of eventually-as parents get older, as people become grandparents, unlike the old days – that people do stay around in town and stay for a long time so those family units can stay together. It is really important we do take good care of our senior Territorians. I thank the NT Citizens for Action for their ongoing work and advocacy for Territorians and raising these important matters for seniors. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I would just like to say, I probably will not finish during this adjournment debate; I will probably have to carry on for a little bit longer than that. I would like to just stay some words about a very special lady. Her name is Jane Large. She passed away recently and just to give you some idea of this person’s official background, if I can put it that way. Jane worked in the UK Foreign Office for eight years and six months. She worked in the New South Wales Police department for six months. She worked in the Western Australian Police department for two years. She worked in the Commonwealth Public Service for eight years and six months. She worked in the Northern Territory Public Service for 20 years and six months and, in her last years during that period, she was the Senior Director of Budgets. It is through the help of some special people, Denise Paech, Lesley Sullivan, and Brenda Monaghan, that I have some material that was provided at her funeral. I will read some of those and, if I need to finish in the middle of it and move it on to the next night, then that is what I will do.
This is a eulogy on behalf of family and friends of Jane Large:
- The family of Jane Marie Large thank you all for coming here today to honour the life of a very special wife, mother, grandmother, friend and colleague. Jane died peacefully in hospital on Saturday, 2 November, and we all feel the loss.
Put simply, Jane was a treasure:
• the loving wife of Bryan for 44 years – two 10 Poms who made Darwin their home
• the devoted mother of Michael - her very special son, the apple of her eye
• a welcoming mother-in-law to Niamh – who left Ireland and her large Kilmurray clan to join a family, small in number but Large in name and spirit.
• a completely besotted grandmother to Braden – a little lad who won her heart in an instant and made her smile every day thereafter.
Everyone who knows Jane is well aware that she was the ultimate public servant, the very best - hard-working, loyal and highly competent. You will hear more about her working life and her committee and voluntary work from Richard, Lesley and Denise. Rest assured, her family are so proud of her and so pleased that you have come here today to honour her long-standing contribution to the Northern Territory community.
What mattered most to Jane however was not her work, but the people around her – from the man who served her at the local supermarket to her colleague who stayed late when needed.
But none were more important to her than her family and friends - both here, interstate and across the sea. Each of us felt her warmth when we received those special e-mails and cards or a thoughtful gift brought back from her travels or when we shared stories and laughs over coffee - or as Wally would say, ‘having a smoke together on an apple box’.
We will all treasure those memories.
We can also take comfort from the fact that Jane lived her life to the fullest. Jane spent her 20s travelling and working - including some time with the British Intelligence Service. Dubbed ‘Jane Bond’ by a Treasury friend, she disclosed no details as in her words, ‘If I told you, I’d have to kill you’.
Bryan remembers well the vibrant young woman he met all those years ago in their home country. When Jane ventured out to Australia, apple picking in Tasmania and travelling with friends, she soon persuaded Bryan to join her. They married and travelled for months through WA to Darwin in a converted van. That van became their home for a year until they moved to Kurringal Flats – the home to many families and young people. Their son Michael was born just before Cyclone Tracy demolished Darwin.
Although Jane’s work was always important to her, Michael remembers that his mother was always there for him - on the side line at his footy and cricket games and at school events. In his mum’s eyes, he ranked higher than the Chief Minister and if he needed her, she would be there for him. Michael appreciates keenly the fact that his mother supported him in every decision he made as a young adult – encouraging him to travel widely and enjoy his freedom and independence. But he was well aware of her delight when he and Niamh (who she called ‘the daughter she never had’) married in Ireland – and even more so when her grandson Braden was born. Never was there a prouder grandmother!
- Bryan and Michael also remember that the door to their home was never closed to anyone. There was many an occasion when a neighbour or friend in need of a listening ear or wise counsel would knock on their door looking for Jane – and she would never say no.
Although this is a very sad time, it is also a time to reflect and be thankful for many things:
• that this was a woman who treasured the little things in life – so that every single day of her life was lived to the full
- • that this was a woman who gave hugely of herself – leaving us all with fine memories to warm our hearts and make us smile
• that this was a woman of strength and character who lived by her principles and left her small part of the world a better place.
- I end with a poem written by Jane:
As I walk through the fields of my
memories
I can smell the sweet perfume of our
close friendship
I can feel the gentle touch of kindness
and love
So far away and in times past
Yet so near and clear in my mind and in
my heart
Jane.
This part of the eulogy was written by Denise Paech and Lesley Sullivan.
My name is Denise Paech and I am Lesley Sullivan. Between us, we had the pleasure of knowing Jane for over 27 years, firstly as colleagues in Treasury and then as we grew into true and trusted friendships that have withstood the years and the tyranny of distance.
We would like to take a moment to share with you some glimpses into our world with Jane. Imagine, if you will, any Monday to Friday, on any week, some time been 1989 and 1998. My telephone in Treasury rings. It is Jane. A plaintive voice says, ‘Coffee?’ and a well-oiled machine swings into action. I leap to my feet, pause fleetingly outside Lesley’s office. She glances up and knowingly says ‘Coffee?’, and we both head off to Michael’s coffee shop downstairs to meet with Jane. We didn’t really need to order - Michael knew. For the next half an hour, we would find a moment’s sanity in each other’s company. We laughed and cried together at that corner table. We plotted and planned and schemed together, and with some amazing and little-known successes.
With Jane’s flair for literature and language, we came to see ourselves as the three witches around the cauldron of our coffees. These three witches became a lasting symbol of our friendship as we moved to other jobs and Lesley moved interstate. These witches came together and sat beside Jane when she was in hospital in the nineties, and when she returned home. They watched over her to speed her recovery and to look after her. When Jane was better, she returned our witches to us and they are here today to watch over all of us and we know that magic still happens when the witches come together.
In Treasury, Jane ran the Budgets Division – the engine room of Treasury – where the demands were incredibly high and the deadlines impossible. Over the years, Jane would be totally immersed in the melodramas that inevitably came from working so closely with a myriad of strong characters – Chief Ministers, Cabinet ministers, Chief Executive Officers, and her colleagues in Treasury. Yet Jane was always a rock, an island of calm control, a voice of wisdom, and a champion for the people side of things. The ‘conscience of the department’ was one apt description of Jane that was shared with us recently. Jane’s compassion, her sense of humour and her strong will were a formidable combination! Jane was a quietly spoken English rose, but never backward in coming forward with her views which were always presented in measured tones, tactfully and diplomatically.
But woe betide anyone who misjudged this or saw it as a weakness to be exploited. Jane stood her ground and stood for what she knew to be right and correct no matter who you were. Jane would attend the Budget Cabinet retreats at far flung places in the Territory, entrusted with the unenviable job of capturing what was decided during days of long, arduous and heated political haggling about how the money was to be divvied up. Those who tried to influence Jane to change her record of what was decided or to find out these decisions before they were announced quickly found themselves powerless when faced with Jane’s integrity and strong will.
And in this pressure-cooker environment, Jane’s caring for others was subtle and well-known. We remember the quizzes and games she set up at Treasury executive conferences, the Budgets’ cookbook, the celebrations, the collection of mystery and who-done-it novels in her office that were available for anyone to borrow, her ready advice on a cryptic crossword clue and her compassion for her staff and colleagues when they needed her wise counsel or just a shoulder to cry on.
She was the behind the scenes champion of the FOITS – the Finance Officers in Training Scheme that was run across Treasury. True to form, Jane referred to herself as the FOITS Assistant. Today, there are many senior executives across government who developed and spread their wings under Jane’s foresight and guidance, and we can see several of them here today.
Jane’s ability to inspire others to step up and do whatever was needed was legendary. We remember a celebration Jane arranged when our Corporate Services Division was transferred out of Treasury. Who else but Jane could have influenced one of her Directors to read a proclamation, Julius Caesar style, in the middle of Treasury dressed only in a white sheet as a toga!
We know that Jane brought the best out in us as well. When Jane returned to work after her long illness, we started Jane Patrol. Every day at 5 pm, one of us would make a phone call or head up to Jane’s office, or check the car park, or do whatever else was needed to make sure she was actually going home at a reasonable hour. We were grateful to be able to return the favour to someone who asked for so little for herself.
Our friendships with Jane continued long past Treasury and, indeed, the public sector. We came to realise how special that was when Lesley moved to Queensland and her coffee changed to long lunches with Jane’s family at Christmas time in Brisbane. For Denise, while the coffee venue might have changed and the frequency might have lessened - and, indeed, Jane’s coffee changed to green tea with lemon - the same comfortable, easy conversation of female friends continued right up to now. Of course, every time Lesley came to Darwin, the three witches were together again and the magic continued.
When you know someone for over 27 years, it is easier to see their essence. Two things stand out in relation to Jane. First, Jane saw people for who they were at heart, not for what they did or for what they could do for her. Her 70th birthday party was full of people from all walks of life. With Jane, there was no standing on ceremony or status. Jane treated everyone with the same respect, dignity and interest, no matter whether you were her staff, the Chief Minister, running the coffee shops or restaurants, her cleaning lady or her friend. Secondly, Jane’s strong will continued to shine through after she retired.
In fact, let us share with you the time when Jane came to realise that even she was powerless in the face of her own strong will. Some years ago, Jane sought the help of a hypnotherapist so she could surprise Bryan by finally giving up smoking. This technique involved Jane choosing something she really enjoyed to substitute for a cigarette. It was an easy choice. Jane loved strawberries and, after her first session, she bought big, juicy strawberries on her way home. She was looking forward to that first craving for a cigarette so she could indulge in one of these strawberries instead. When the craving hit, she headed to the fridge. To her utter amazement and dismay, Jane could no longer stand to eat her much anticipated strawberry. She could not even stand to put it in her mouth. Even of recent times, strawberries were not on the menu for Jane, though the cigarette had always remained firmly entrenched. Jane’s legendary strong will had prevailed even over Jane herself.
We take heart that Jane will do far more than live on in our memories. We, like so many others, are so much better people for having known Jane. So many times in the past week, we have been looking for a word or wanting another point of view or just someone to talk to. These are the times we would have immediately turned to Jane as our trusted and reliable go-to person. So now instead, we say WWJS; ‘what would Jane say?’ When we remember WWJS, we take heart. In this way, Jane’s influence will continue to live on through us in the future.
Finally, over the past week, one word has come up time and time again as we talk with others about Jane. That word is ‘wonderful’ and, indeed, we know Jane as a wonderful person, a wonderful friend, and we look back in wonder at everything we have shared with her. We thank you, Jane, for giving us the privilege of being part of your world.
In case people wonder why I know Jane Large; when I first came to parliament, I was a bit overwhelmed. I was asked to go on the Public Accounts Committee to look at an inquiry into whether the budget had been manipulated, you might say. I was a bit bewildered by what I was required to do. The person who came to my help, who was recommended to me was Jane Large. As you can see from what I have read in the eulogy, she was a very special person. I asked her a number of times to help me, and there was no hesitation. It was because of her I was able to make a decision. It was a very stressful time for me just entering parliament, and I always remember the generosity she gave in providing her time to help me in an area I knew very little about.
I sum up with something called In Retrospect. You will get an understanding of who this person was. A wonderful woman, she wrote this herself on her retirement:
- The experts say that you must tailor your speeches to match the audience requirements.
As today I am with my Treasury colleagues, I know that I must include statistics - lots of facts and figures to meet the Treasury working persona. However, I also know Treasury staff very, very well and I know that they would prefer to hoe into the free booze and food rather than listen to waffle so I must keep it brief.
Forty years working in the public sector is a long, long time and, for me, results in the following statistics.
I have worked:
• on three continents of the world-Europe, North America and Australia
• in five different government jurisdictions, namely: the British Civil Service, New South Wales and Western Australia state governments, Commonwealth and the Territory governments
• in eight different cities and towns
• in 16 varied jobs
• for 20 different bosses
- In the Northern Territory, I have worked under:
• four Treasurers: Tuxworth, Perron, Coulter and Reed
• six Chief Ministers: Everingham, Tuxworth, Hatton, Perron, Stone and Burke
• seven Chief Executive Officers
But do you know all these facts and figures are irrelevant because it really does not matter where you worked. When you look backwards on your working life, even the memories of the work that you did fade into significance. I do not recall:
• the details of the bail applications that I approved or the number of arrest warrants that I issued
I do not remember :
• the details of the reports that I have written
• why I attended thousands of meetings or what the results were of the interviews that I conducted.
I do not even remember what was contained in the 20 Territory Budgets I was so heavily involved in.
What I do remember are the people I worked for, the people I worked with and the departmental clients that I had to attend. I remember the people who sat at their desks nearby, ran the nearby coffee shops and restaurants, the people who occupied the adjacent offices, worked down the road or across the street.
I particularly remember the people:
• who worked the long hours alongside me without complaining
• who came in over the weekends and public holidays just to get the job done
• who told me jokes and funny stories and made me laugh
• who shared the ups and downs of their lives with me.
They were my workmates and they form my memories of my working life. Everyone here are my Treasury workmates and thus you will form my memories of working in Treasury. They are happy memories. I thank you all. I will miss you all but I will remember you all.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, when working at Elkedra, Grandad spent time with cattle, fencing as the station cook.
After Elkedra, Grandad:
- … took up residence at the pub in Barrow Creek. Jim English owned the pub along with his son Joe, almost blind and badly scarred from misfire underground at the Joker mine back in the thirties; Joe held the licence and handled the bar.
So for no wages and working only for my keep, I went mining with whistling Jim, best described as a dapper sprightly man, he required someone with more strength than brains to help him extract tin from a lease he held … some miles north of Barrow Creek along the Stuart Highway from the pub.
I sweated like a pig while Jim instructed me in firing and bogging, no one was too worried about safety, common sense prevailed and the work was undertaken with a great deal of care, mainly by me.
From the dangers of mining, Grandad jumped at a job offer through one of Jim’s sons, Jack, to work for Len Kittle in Tennant Creek as a driver. Grandad had the job of delivering water to gougers and mines in the Tennant Creek regions.
- After several months I was one day asked by Jim Mannion, the local police sergeant, whether I had a licence. I informed him I didn’t think I needed one, he explained that it would be an excellent idea if I brought ten shillings to the police station and obtained one.
Time spent with Sonny Kunoth had given me the ability to recognise sarcasm, so I complied with his request.
A run in with the law where Grandad was innocent led him to look for a reason to return to the scrub and he was soon mustering and droving again. This led him to Inverway and a job with Sandy McIndoo tending camp.
- Inverway opened my ideas to what a station running eight to ten thousand head of cattle was like to work on, branding camps that took all day to clear, cattle that you never saw, only heard, and cut off ex-Army rifles to shoot old bulls with.
- Tending camp meant gathering together who and what the two main camps had rejected both in men and gear and tending musters from Limbunyah to Waterloo and Burundooda.
During the Wet, Grandad was given the job as saddler, repairing all the pack saddles and riding saddles, riveting straps and replacing bridles. En route to Wave Hill one day as a passenger with plenty of rum for company they:
- … whacked not the flimsy gate but the gate post that like all gate posts put in by mad bushmen was over a foot thick, me head went into the glove box and the radiator wrapped itself around the engine.
- The driver walked to Newcastle Waters … a taxi was dispatched …at the wreck they found only one stockman, a very sick one, whose face bearing the imprint of the truck’s glove box was, upon arrival Newcastle Waters, delivered to Sergeant Stott at the police station and was pronounced dead.
This was done by both the sergeant and his wife who … was a nursing sister to boot. My body, wrapped in an old piece of tarpaulin, lay in the back of the police utility for the rest of the night awaiting burial the next day.
- My resurrection took place at about three in the morning when, awakening from my sleep with a raging thirst, I fought my way clear of my binding and, guided only by starlight, made my way to Schober’s pub. Where, to my consternation, I found that Max, becoming become irritated by the constant waste of water from his rain tanks by careless drunks, had removed all the tap handles.
My thirst was such that it could not be denied, and I hammered on the pub door until I had Max’s angry intention.
His inspection of me with a hurricane lamp brought about some statements about my demise which I soon laid to rest.
Daylight and back with the living, a trip to the police station was called for where the inhabitants, already aware of my luck, were good and ready to explain how the mistake could not be laid at their door. These included no clouding of a mirror held close to my mouth and a needle being stuck in various tender places.
Stott’s wife put it all down to a rum induced coma; I never drank the bloody stuff again.
- Fred was nicknamed Whinger, and I felt it suited him after I found myself being fired and rehired, just as regularly. Finally, enough was enough and I returned to Tennant Creek and another stint with Len Kittle.
- Len always answered my query for employment the same way, ‘Get rid of the bloody boots and you can start tomorrow’. Len was against long hair, beards and riding boots.
I was promoted from the water cart to driving a Bedford tip truck and four-wheel trailer travelling back and forwards to Larrimah picking up drummed fuel off the train that in those days came from as far south as Birdum.
Imports had recommenced from the USA and Len and Geoff Kittle purchased two Maple Leaf prime movers.
The vehicles by today’s standards were small, but the Maple Leafs, both fitted with ex-Army semitrailers, could carry 12 ton of drummed fuel against the seven ton I had been carrying with the Bedford tip truck.
- … after only a few months Len decided he was going to repower … one with a diesel motor.
… it was given to me to take on its first trip … that motor in the Maple Leaf was obscene. It had no muffler. I don’t know what decibels of noise it was generating but the side of my head close to the windows was aching from neck to scalp.
- I borrowed two sledgehammers from the works crew at Elliott and hammered the end of the exhaust pipe into a frog’s mouth, but all that did was change the bellow into a roar.
- I was kept on the Larrimah run, the truck was too noisy to be poking around in Alice Springs, and with a bigger motor I was pulling a four-wheel dog trailer behind a semitrailer and now carting 16 ton a trip.
I did so many trips up and down that particular stretch of highway that if travelling in a vehicle with someone else driving, I could wake at any hour of night and just by looking at the bitumen know exactly where we were.
Road trains had not commenced running on general freight.
Kurt Johansson had a couple of ex-Army units with homemade self-tracking trailers carting cattle, then it all changed. Kurt got a contract to return empty 44 gallon fuel drums, the excess from the war, back to the railhead in Alice Springs.
Then next it was an old loco engine and before you knew it, everyone was putting on an extra trailer behind trucks they had purchased at disposal sales in Darwin.
Len purchased two GMC six-wheel prime movers; one was cut in half and the rear end fitted under a heavier built trailer top.
With one of the units as the prime mover and with an additional six-wheel dog added we were pulling 22 ton.
This was the Kittle Bros first road train. It was 1950.
I started doing a few runs to Darwin, as the rail from there to Birdum would go out now and then and we would have to go all the way for fuel.
The writing was on the wall ... droving as a way of life was definitely finished.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016